Great pic.Reminds me of a show i watched on the History Channel re:Edmund Fitzgerald and killer storms on the Great Lakes.More miles of shoreline than the entire left coast?I'm not surprised-but must agree it's difficult to imagine.With that much area,hydrologically it is more like an "ocean" than a series of lakes.
Yes, but our tides aren't like an ocean. I've never seen measurements on them. And they will freeze more quickly because there's no salt. They seldom freeze over completely, but when they do our winters are extremely cold and windy.