Bopaiah Biddanda’s ongoing research on sinkholes in Lake Huron is getting international exposure.
A crew from Discovery Channel Canada has documented the work of Biddanda, a research scientist with the Annis Water Resources Institute, and Steve Ruberg with the Great Lakes Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.
The crew spent two days in June filming at the research site in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary near Alpena. The footage will be featured on an episode of “Daily Planet” in September. Biddanda and his research technician Scott Kendall were interviewed.
Biddanda said the sinkholes, some of which are larger than a football field, are formed by salty groundwater that seeps into the lake and dissolves the underlying seabed. He said fish avoid the oxygen-deprived sinkholes and that it is likely there are sinkholes under the other Great Lakes.
To view a YouTube video about the sinkhole project, visit