As of: February 22, 2024, 6:21 p.m
By: Ulrike Hagen, Kilian Bäuml
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A violent storm brings a mysterious shipwreck to the shores of Canada.
Its origin is still unknown.
The age also seems uncertain for now.
Cape Ray - On the coast of a community on the southwestern tip of Newfoundland, a violent storm uncovered a shipwreck similar to one recently seen in the Caribbean.
As another storm approaches eastern Canada, a desperate attempt to preserve the wreckage begins.
Scientists are worried about the mysterious treasure.
The mysterious wreck was discovered in the shallows near the small town of Cape Ray,
CNN
reports.
Shawn Bath and Trevor Croft from the Clean Harbors initiative heard about the discovery and didn't hesitate to grab their scuba gear and rush to the beach.
They circled the ship and tried to stabilize it by stretching ropes across the approximately 30-meter-long frame.
“It's a pretty magical experience when you're the first two people to stand on this ship in probably 200 years,” Croft told the station.
Bath suspects that Hurricane Fiona originally swept the shipwreck toward the southwest coast of the island of Newfoundland, driven by storms and waves.
A centuries-old wreck was also recently recovered in Germany.
Mysterious shipwreck in Newfoundland: A race against time begins for researchers
But with a new storm already on its way, the community desperately tried to protect the ship from the same elements that brought it to their shores.
The tides are already affecting the ship.
Although the wood is in good condition, it is held together with copper and brass pins.
“Every time the wave passes under the ship and lifts it a little, the beams become looser and looser,” reports Bath, “it’s a race against time.”
On Monday (February 12), the environmentalist wrote on Facebook: "Little by little the ship is being dismantled, but fortunately it is a huge ship and it will take a long time."
The origin and age of the wreck are still a mystery.
Croft suggests it could be a French or British ship, possibly around 200 years old.
Lisa Briggs, an underwater archaeologist and research fellow at the University of Cranfield in the United Kingdom, believes the wreck could be important to the community because it could provide clues about how people got to the island.
"There's a good chance that the descendants of those who came on that ship are still living on the island today," she told
CNN
.
Jamie Brake, the archaeologist for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, told the
Canadian Press
that the massive ship's hull probably had no archaeological significance, but was significant to the community near the beach where it was discovered.
A storm also washed away a rare find on the Baltic Sea beach.
Mysterious wreck in Newfoundland: Researchers fear for historical treasure
Briggs explains that it is not uncommon for storms to dislodge shipwrecks from the ocean floor, where they have sometimes lain undisturbed for centuries, especially as climate change leads to stronger and more intense storms.
If these storms wash away the protective layers of sand from shipwrecks, they could cause irreparable damage.
“It is much better if the archaeologists themselves remove the sand carefully and in a controlled manner,” says the researcher.
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But Briggs warns that climate change poses further threats to shipwrecks: increasing carbon pollution in the atmosphere is changing the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic.
This can accelerate the decay of delicate organic materials preserved on the wrecks, such as ropes, sails and textiles.
Trevor Croft and Shawn Bath hold a piece of the shipwreck's hull plank.
The three archaeologists and supporters from Cape Ray and Port aux Basques are watching.
© Clean Harbors Initiative/Shawn Bath/facebook/Screenshot
Another problem for underwater archaeologists are shipworms, which traditionally only live in warmer waters, so wrecks in colder waters were considered safe from destruction.
But as the oceans warm, the mollusks are spreading further and further north.
In 2016, archaeologists recovered a piece of wood from the Arctic seabed that was riddled with slimy, white shipworms: “The more climate change impacts our world, the more damage we will see to submerged cultural heritage,” Briggs said.
With the government failing to provide funding for the recovery and conservation of the wreck, Bath and Croft are attempting to raise funds through a GoFundMe campaign.
Their goal is to pull the wreckage out of the water to preserve it and eventually display it as a tourist attraction for this remote community.
By February 15th, 9,000 Canadian dollars (around 6,200 euros) had already been raised.
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