A coastal community in Newfoundland has been left baffled and excited by the sudden and unexplained appearance of a centuries-old shipwreck on the sands of a nearby shore.
Gordon Blackmore, a local resident, was hunting seabirds on the sandy shores of Cape Ray when he spotted a dark shadow under the turbid waters. It had not been there when he visited the spot just a few days earlier. He rushed back into the family home, shouting about the discovery, his mother told the Canadian Press. She grabbed her jacket and hurried to the beach to see it for herself. “It’s amazing, there is no other word for it.”
Cape Ray, a community of 350 on the south-west coast of Newfoundland, shares a common history with an island known as “the Rock”: it is the final resting site of at least eight ships that fell victim to hostile weather, poor navigation or plain bad luck.
But what makes the latest discovery unique is the unexplained nature of the wreck’s sudden appearance.
Neil Burgess, president of the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, suspects the ship was freed by a combination of coastal erosion and the force of post-tropical storm Fiona, which destroyed homes in the region last year.
Large oceans swells last week may finally have nudged the wreck free, pushing it towards the shore, he told the Canadian Press.
“This is perfect,” he said. “This is a great, great event.”
Photographs of the wreck on social media – a pile of soggy wood beams and planks – have given some clues into the ship’s origins. Wooden dowels and copper pegs were commonly used in the 1800s. And the size – at least 24 meters – suggests the vessel was larger than a schooner.
The provincial government has sent a team to visit the wreck, with the hopes of identifying and possibly preserving what remains of the ship. But the same tides and weather which have long determined a ship’s fate will also dictate how soon experts can visit the site.
Locals expressed concern that strong waves could pull the wreck back into the depths. And while officials have warned residents not to tamper with the site, others point out that nature could also damage the wreck faster than residents pilfering souvenirs.
“Everyone seems to forget that some years we experience sea ice here,” wrote Wayne Osmond, a Cape Ray resident. “If that happens, within a few hours it can cause more damage to the wreck crushing it than a century or more of it submerged in deeper water.”
The community’s Facebook page has transformed into a forum for speculation and research into the wreck’s possible origins, with local residents trawling through old records and family knowledge of fatal voyages.
But it also serves as a stark reminder, one all too familiar to Newfoundlanders, of the tenuous relationship communities have with the the ocean.
“It is a part of our history that has just been awakened. Some descendants will still want to know the names and the places where their ancestors were lost in the icy waters off our shores. It would be good for all of us if we could offer some history we know and a place for remembrance. At least a marker,” wrote Elizabeth Gover, a resident. “This is our history. Let’s find out.”
