Ever since a shipwreck ran aground in the remote Canadian coastal area of Cape Ray on the island of Newfoundland at the end of January, it has caused a stir in the small community of approximately 250 people.
Residents posed for photos with parts of the wooden ship, which a local hunter spotted and which is believed to date back to the 19th century. They encouraged the authorities to secure the facility. And they speculated on social media about its mysterious origins.
The posts, We have a community page on Facebook, caught the attention of a local photographer, Corey Purchase, who lives 15 minutes from the area. He used a drone to take aerial photos showing the size of the vessel, which he estimated was about 90 feet long.
“The drone definitely put it into perspective,” he said. “It was a truly surprising discovery.”
Shipwrecks in this region they are not that rare. There have probably been thousands along Newfoundland’s coast over the past 500 years, said Jamie Brake, the provincial archaeologist.
“It has a long history of ship traffic,” Dr Brake said. «Cape Ray is an exposed and dangerous coast, with fog and coral reefs. Now there is a lighthouse that protects sailors, but it wasn’t always there.”
However, experts say it is rare for such a large ship to land in Cape Ray Cove, near the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
It is possible that the ship was washed ashore by Hurricane Fiona. a Category 4 storm that destroyed about 100 homes along Newfoundland’s southwestern coast, from Port aux Basques eastward to Burgeo, in September 2022, said Neil Burgess, president of the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Mr Burgess plans to inspect the vessel this weekend to learn more about its origins. Just looking at photos captured by Mr. Purchase and others, he suspects it could be from the 1800s because of some construction details. For example, it is held together by large mast nails, wooden pegs usually made of dry, compressed lumber, and copper pegs, which he said were common in ships of that era.
About a dozen shipwrecks have been recorded in the Cape Ray area over the past three centuries, Burgess said. During an inspection of the vessel, he hopes to determine the type of wood used and how old it is. This way there is a better chance of identifying the shipwreck.
Such a discovery would be a “local victory,” he said.
“People have stories in their family of shipwrecks that happened 100 or 150 years ago,” Burgess said. “It’s always a bit of a mystery to name the wrecks that wash up on the beach.”
If nothing is done to deal with the wreck it is possible it will be swept into the ocean or pushed further onto shore, he said.
What ultimately happens to the ship will depend on the Provincial Archaeological Office. Dr. Brake said the office has not yet made a decision on next steps. He said they will review the poll this weekend with an “open mind.”
In the past, the government buried shipwrecks in the sand so they could be preserved if someone wanted to dig them up and search for them later.
Some people in Cape Ray, however, have posted on the Facebook community page that they hope the wreck could be used as some sort of tourist attraction. They feared the sunken ship, which appeared to be in about three to seven feet of water along the coast, was drifting back into the water and this week they called in someone to help them secure it.
Shawn Bath and Trevor Croft by Clean Ports Initiativean organization made up mostly of volunteer divers that helps clean up debris after storms, volunteered its services.
They used ropes and straps to secure the vessel and prevent it from drifting, Mr. Croft said in an interview. They also took underwater footage, so there is recorded evidence of the ship, in case she were to be swept away in a storm, he said.
Speaking about the mysterious vessel, Mr Croft said: “This is something that probably hasn’t been seen for 100 to 200 years. It’s quite exciting when you see it for the first time.
