Hundreds of shipwrecks may still be waiting to be discovered beneath Wisconsin waters, preserving pieces of Great Lakes history that can stretch back more than a century.
On the latest episode of Scaffidiology, Steve Scaffidi sits down with Kevin Cullen, executive director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, to discuss underwater archaeology, historic shipwrecks and the museum’s work preserving Wisconsin’s maritime heritage.
Cullen estimates there could be between 800 and 1,000 shipwrecks in Wisconsin waters, with roughly 1,500 across Lake Michigan.
For Cullen, archaeology is ultimately about noticing the history that remains around us—and preserving enough context to understand the story behind it.
“The spark of curiosity, you don’t know where that leads in a kid’s life or in a parent’s,” Cullen said. “That’s really where museums, I think, play a pivotal role.”
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