Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) is an American non-profit corporation based in Holland, Michigan. Formed in 2001 by the former directors of the committee which originally established the Southwest Michigan Underwater Preserve, their stated purpose is to "Preserve Michigan’s Submerged Maritime History." With the discovery of the steamer H. C. Akeley outside the boundaries of the preserve, the group broadened their area of focus and formed MSRA. MSRA works with a number of affiliates, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, the United States Coast Guard, the University of Michigan, and the Michigan State Police. Other affiliates include authors, archaeologists, oceanographers, marine engineers, historians, and explorers. MSRA has conducted joint operations with David Trotter's Undersea Research Associates (URA) and Clive Cussler's National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). Founding and current board members include: Craig Rich, Valerie (Olson) van Heest, Jack van Heest, and Neel Zoss. Rich and the van Heests serve as part of the MSRA Dive Team. The technical dive team consists of Jeff Vos, Todd White, and Bob Underhill. They also do the majority of the underwater photography and videography. Activities Until 1998 when MSRA began regular side-scan survey work, the waters off the coast of West Michigan were some of the least explored in the Great Lakes. Up until that time there were only a few wreck locations known and regularly dived, including the Ironsides off Grand Haven, Michigan, and the Havana off Benton Harbor, Michigan, as well as a scuttled fireboat off Saugatuck, Michigan. The waters off West Michigan are not sheltered with harbors like so many other areas in Michigan. Prevailing west and northwest winds have scoured out the bottom, creating one of the deepest areas in the lake. While just across the lake, off Chicago and Milwaukee, the water is as shallow as 100 feet ten miles offshore, the Michigan side drops off to that depth only three miles from shore. This condition may be the limiting factor in shipwreck discoveries. Discoveries are usually made by scuba divers interested in diving on virgin wrecks. Until recent advances in technical diving, which now allow divers to go deeper for longer, shipwreck hunters paid very little attention to the region off West Michigan due to its excessive depth. Shipwreck discovery offers the opportunity to revisit the circumstances of the wreck and delve deeper into the history surrounding these tragedies. Careful