Here are a few stats, many from this website https://www.touropia.com/largest-lakes-in-the-world/
First of them, none are “the biggest in the world”. That title goes to the Caspian Sea…Despite its misleading name, the Caspian Sea is actually a lake as it is entirely landlocked – the world’s largest lake or body of water, in fact. The caspiansea is not fresh water; it is partially salty, albeit only a third as salty as seawater, because it once formed part of the ancient Paratethys Sea.
However, at #2, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, the third-largest by volume, and the largest, deepest, and coldest of North America’s Great Lakes. It is also Canada’s largest lake, bordering the US states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. We did not visit Lake Superior on this trip, as one needs to go to the “Michigan upper Peninsula” to see it. The article goes on to say that it is more than 400 meters deep in some places, is prone to riptides, it is one of the most dangerous lakes to swim in on Earth
Next comes Lake Huron. Connected to Lake Michigan by the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron is the 4th largest lake in the world. It is also the second-largest by surface area and the third-largest by volume of the five Great Lakes of North America. Stretching for over 3,800 miles, the coastline is the longest of all the Great Lakes and encompasses over 30,000 islands. Lake Huron is most infamous for its many shipwrecks.
Next, Lake Michigan. It is the second-largest by volume and the third-largest by surface area. Extending to a maximum depth of 280 meters, it is the only one of the Great Lakes to be found wholly within the borders of the United States – spreading across Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin from east to west. The article states that swimming in Lake Michigan is risky for several reasons: not only is its shoreline prone to dangerous rip currents, but the bottom is often uneven with holes and deep drop-offs while few beaches have lifeguards. As a matter of fact, while we were at Grand Haven State Park beach yesterday, we saw the police scanning the shore for a missing person. (updated 8/8 – we searched the news and found that it was a 21 year old man who drowned)
Erie and Lake Ontario are not on the world’s top ten lakes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes goes on to say that collectively the Great Lakes are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes with certain sea-like characteristics in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. Hydrologically, lakes Michigan and Huron are a single body joined at the Straits of Mackinac. The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes.
The Great Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and are second-largest by total volume, containing 21% of the world’s surface fresh water by volume. Because of their sea-like characteristics, such as rolling waves, sustained winds, strong currents, great depths, and distant horizons, the five Great Lakes have long been called inland seas.