Question: do the great lakes connected to the ocean

Answer: Yes, Together with the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Waterway allows both ocean-going vessels and the ore and coal-bearing lake freighters to travel from the system's saltwater outlet to its far interior. The Waterway has larger locks and deeper drafts than the lower Seaway, limiting large freighters to the four lakes upstream of the Welland Canal and Lake Ontario, and similarly restricting passage beyond the canal by larger ocean vessels. The two waterways are often jointly and simply referred to as the ``St. Lawrence Seaway'', since the Great Lakes, together with the St. Lawrence River, comprise a single navigable body of freshwater linking the Atlantic Ocean to the continental interior.