The Superior Shoal is a geologic shoal

Shoal

Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...

 of approximately 20 square miles (51.8 km²) located 50 miles (80.5 km) north of Copper Harbor, Michigan

Copper Harbor, Michigan

Copper Harbor is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is within Grant Township on the Keweenaw Peninsula that juts from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Superior.-History:...

 in the middle of Lake Superior

Lake Superior

Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...

 whose highest point lies only 21 feet (6.4 m) below the lake's surface. The shoal is a volcanic hump in an otherwise deep part of the lake, and though fishermen had known of its existence for generations it was only officially charted in 1929. It has been theorized that the World War I Inkerman and Cerisoles Minesweepers

Inkerman and Cerisoles Minesweepers

The Inkerman and Cerisoles Minesweepers are two French warships named after two major battles fought during the Crimean War, that vanished on their maiden voyage in a Great Lakes storm in Lake Superior sometime in mid-November 1918. No traces of the two vessels have ever been found. Seventy-six...

, which disappeared during their maiden voyage on Lake Superior in mid November 1918, may have run aground on this shoal and some have theorized that it may have been to blame for the November 10, 1975 sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald

SS Edmund Fitzgerald

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...

, and the November 21, 1902 disappearance of the Bannockburn

SS Bannockburn

The Bannockburn was a Canadian registered steel-hulled freighter which disappeared on Lake Superior in snowy weather on Friday, 21 November 1902. She was sighted by the captain of a passing vessel, the SS Algonquin, around noon of that day but minutes later disappeared. The wreck of the ship has...

, the "Flying Dutchman of the Great Lakes", as well. It is one of the known off-shore spawning and foraging habitats for the juvenile lean lake trout.

A different shoal with the same name is located just off Delf Island in Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay

Georgian Bay is a large bay of Lake Huron, located entirely within Ontario, Canada...

 east of Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...

 in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....