A DNR Boat

I caught this one while taking pictures of the Algoma Buffalo.

It is a conservation officer boat.  It belongs to the Department of Natural Resources.  I'm not sure where it was going though.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources Channel Cat

This boat was following the Tregurtha pretty closely.

 This particular boat was the Channel Cat and is a research vessel owned by the Michigan Depart of Natural Resources.  She was built in 1968 by the Maybee Boat Company of Point Place, Ohio.  Her hull is based on the fish tug hull that is seen elsewhere.

She is 46 feet long and has a beam of 13 feet.  She is powered by two 210 horsepower Detroit Allison diesel engines.  She conducts fish sampling on Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair and the Saginaw Bay.  She is homeported at the Fisheries at the mouth of the Clinton River.  Her crew is two captains, a biologist, a technician and a fisheries assistant.  She will typically operate from March to November.

A DNR Boat

The DNR stands for the Department of Natural Resources and is the entity that oversees the State Parks, Hunting and Fishing in Michigan.  Because of the State Parks and money from hunting and fishing licenses, I think they are pretty close to self sufficient.

 This is one of the boats used by conservation officers.

It sort of reminded me of a Coast Guard boat.

Random Boats on the River

Just some other boats that didn't really warrant a separate post.

 A Michigan Conservation Officer headed somewhere.  I think with fishing season in full swing again, these guys are in full swing.

 The tanker Nordic Oslo.  She is owned by Nordic Tankers out of Copenhagen, Denmark.  Built in 2005 she can can carry almsot 13,000 tons of cargo.

The Manitou and William C. Gaynor.

Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery

The GPS brought me home by way of M-43 and I noticed a sign for this fish hatchery.  I'd never been to a fish hatchery before so I decided to stop.  I guess that is one of the things I like about doing this blog because it gets me to do stuff outside of the box (for me).

The hatchery was established in 1927 and renovated in 1983.  It is run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and provides a number of different fish species for the Great Lakes.  There is a little visitors center at the hatchery that is pretty neat.

 As I was walking in, I noticed the snow on these trees and kind of liked the effect.

 In the visitors center were some exhibits.  This particular one is a fish tank full of little salmon.

 This is a stuffed Missassagua Rattlesnake which I believe is Michigan's only poisonous reptile.

 A lake sturgeon.  This particular one was the record sturgeon caught on the lakes.

 In another part of the center, there was a fish tank full of younger sturgeon.  Unfortunately, it wasn't too well lit.

 I believe this is a chinook.

 This is a coho salmon.

 Outside there is a pond where they let you feed the fish.  It was pretty neat watching them swirl around to get at the food.

 I kind of liked the reflection of the trees on the water.

 Another shot of the tree stands.

 In order to feed the fish, they gave you some tokens for a dispenser.  I was going to keep it but I figured a picture of it was just as good.

 The back of the token.

 A path of trees on the way out.

 Another shot of snow covered trees.

 I kind of liked the look of staring up at the trees.

One more shot.

All in all, I had a pretty fun day.  The weather held up for the most part although it was snowy during parts of the day but it wasn't causing too much trouble.  The fact that I got home at a realistic time was a plus as well.

I guess I'm gonna have to head back to get pictures of Grand Haven at some point.