Mussels reveal a 128-year-old underwater secret

2023-12-05 2023-12-05T14:29:15Z

Arabia Weather - On a stormy night in October 1895 , the cargo ship known as “Africa” disappeared in the embrace of Lake Huron, and the ship’s location remained a mystery for many years, and 128 years after that mysterious incident, the secrets of the ship Africa were revealed.

Mussels reveal a 130-year-old underwater secret

This summer, two filmmakers working on a documentary about the harmful environmental impact caused by invasive mussels in the Great Lakes discovered the location of the sunken ship as the last place it docked, according to a report by Christina Franju on the website Canadian Geographic .

Yvonne Drapert and Zach Melnyk were enjoying a boating trip with friends in June, when they stumbled upon a shipwreck where they were in the process of producing their upcoming documentary , "All Too Clear." In the process, they discovered information about a mysterious mound at the bottom of Lake Huron. They decided to check this out.

They arrived at the site of the alleged mound, located off the western coast of the Saugeen Peninsula in Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada. They used a remotely operated underwater vehicle to explore the area, and the robot's camera revealed a vessel covered in quagga mussels at an estimated depth of 280 feet below the surface.

At first, they were unsure of the identity of the shipwreck, as the vessel was completely covered in mussels, and they could not see the name, and decided to call in local maritime historian Patrick Foulkes and marine archaeologist Scarlett Janusas to help.

They obtained an archaeological license from Ontario, went back to taking underwater video footage and taking measurements, and the dimensions of the wreck matched those of the Africa, which was 148 feet long, 26 feet wide and 12.5 feet high , according to Claire McCormack of the Broadcast News Center in Bayshore.

They also found coal on the lake bottom near the ship, which is consistent with Africa's story: The ship was carrying about 1,270 tons of coal during its disastrous voyage. The Africa left Ashtabula, Ohio, on October 5, 1895 , with a cargo of coal. As she was passing Lake Erie, and heading towards Lake Huron, she was struck by a strong blizzard, causing the sloop Severn to collide with a reef, and although the sloop's crew were rescued, the Africa disappeared that night, and all her crew were killed in the accident.

Commenting on the incident, James Silverside, captain of the Severn, said:

“I've been in some bad weather in my 35 years of sailing, but that experience on Lake Huron was as bad as any other.”

Contribution of invasive mussels to shipwreck detection

Invasive mussels, as Colin Butler reported for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, make a valuable contribution to the detection of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, purifying the water and improving researchers' vision. However, this diminutive-sized creature appears to be wreaking havoc on shipwrecks; Because of their harmful activity, Todd Richmond of the Associated Press reports, the mussels burrow into wooden vessels and corrode steel and iron ships.

Despite their positive role in detecting debris, quagga mussels and their relatives wreak havoc on the marine ecosystem, competing with and killing native mussels, displacing native arthropods and poisoning birds. Not only that, they also cause problems for humans, clogging pipes and covering beaches. And the sidewalks are in thick layers, which affects water treatment plants, and poses a threat to marine facilities, and Melnyk spoke about their significant impact on marine life in the deep waters of the Great Lakes, which embodies the major environmental challenges facing this aquatic environment.