Join us for an evening presentation by local photographer/cinematographer Roger McDonell as he explores the last four decades of Discovery Passage (British Columbia).

Sponsored by Ripple Rock Power Squadron.

In lieu of admission, cash donations to the Campbell River Food Bank will be accepted.

Learn more at: https://www.facebook.com/roger.mcdonell.5

The narrative of the ships, which is a crucial aspect of the Halifax Explosion, is largely missing from the many excellent books that have been written about it. That day, there were far more than 150 boats in the harbour. We have very little knowledge of them. The enormous task of identifying and narrating the histories of the ships and the sailors who manned them is taken on by The Dangerous Harbour: Revealing the Unknown Ships and Wrecks of the Halifax Explosion.

Read The Scuba News Canada article on Atlantic’s Last Stop Courage, Folly, and Lies in the White Star Line’s Worst Disaster Before Titanic

This is Bob Chaulk’s sixth book about the seas and sailors of Eastern Canada, drawing from more than 1,200 dives in Halifax Harbour. The author of Atlantic’s Last Stop: Courage, Folly, and Lies in the White Star Line’s Worst Disaster Before the Titanic, Bob is a well-known writer and speaker on nautical history. He recently came back from Liverpool, United Kingdom, where he told the tale of Nova Scotia’s worst shipwreck in the port where the Atlantic sailed.

About the Author Robert B Chaulk

Robert G. Chaulk is the SS Atlantic Heritage Park’s historian and a recognized expert on the SS Atlantic accident. He is the author of five volumes about the maritime history of Atlantic Canada. He co-authored SS Atlantic: The White Star Line’s First Disaster at Sea, which received three literary honours, with Greg Cochkanoff. Bob is an ardent scuba diver who has done over fifty dives on the Atlantic wreck, giving him a unique viewpoint on this significant piece of Canadian history.

Details:

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 6:30 pm

We’ll be showcasing Chris’s videos in collaboration with The Scuba News Canada. These are educational and informative, and Chris admits that he hopes to inspire people to try scuba diving. On TikTok, he has over 145,000 followers from all over the world. He makes regular scuba diving adventure and instructional videos, as well as answering viewer questions in his videos about anything scuba or water-related. He feels seasoned divers can stay current with the new dive industry and training philosophies, so his channel has something for the novice to experienced divers.

About Chris Foisey

Chris was certified at Dans Dive Shop in 2011 and started working there that summer. After a few years, he started to pursue technical diving as well as becoming a Padi Dive Master. Over the years he has built his certifications up to a Level 1 cave diver and trimix decompression diver, Padi Master Scuba Diver Trainer as well as a hydrostatic technician and a full-time employee at Dan’s Dive Shop. Over the last 10 years, Chris has completed over 1200 dives all over the world and personally certified over 300 students.

Follow Chris on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube & Modern Diver

Follow Chris on Facebook

Only 1 week away. Join us for our annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest!

Every year this event is a blast, make sure to bring your own pumpkin and cutting tool and we’ll supply mesh bags. Rules: no pre-cutting your pumpkin, it must be fully carved underwater!

Bring the Kids! We’ll have Pumpkin Painting Contest topside for the Jrs. Have them bring a pumpkin and we’ll supply the paint and glitter.

This is the most fun you can have underwater! Plus there will be Prizes!

Details

Sunday, October 29, 2023 from 4pm – 7pm

Welland Scuba Park

Learn more at: Dan’s Dive Shop on Facebook

Becky Kagan-Schott, an underwater videographer, explores the Sandusky shipwreck, one of thousands of perfectly preserved time capsules in the Great Lakes. “Some of these shipwrecks look like they sank yesterday,” Becky quoted. The Sandusky, built in 1848 in Sandusky, Ohio, is the oldest known shipwreck in the Straits of Mackinac Shipwreck Preserve and is frequently visited by divers.

On September 20th, 1856, a violent gale erupted on Lake Michigan’s northern end, catching the two masked brig Sandusky in the Straits and sinking her in 84 feet of water. She was sailing east from Chicago to Buffalo, New York, loaded with grain. In total, nine crew members pershished. According to the story, three men clung to the mast that protruded from the water, but they died before they could be rescued by side-wheeler Queen City, along with the other six crew members.

The Sandusky is located five miles west of the Mackinac Bridge. The decks are crumbling in places, but there are some interesting artifacts on and around the wreck for underwater photographers, but divers are strongly advised to “observe not expropriate” anything off the sunken ship.

From May to September, a mooring line is in place to help divers with location and to prevent damage from anchors and hooks.

Intermediate to Advance dive skills are required and the location is:

Shipwreck: N45° 47.959′  W084° 50.249′

Mooring:    N45° 47.978′   W084° 50.248′

YouTube Video featuring Becky Kagan-Schott @ Liquid Productions

On a beautiful evening after work, Sean from Nova Scotia went out for another underwater exploration and clean-up.

Now what the heck is a bottle from New York City doing all the way up here? The first image has the words M.B. & Co. 145 West 35th Street N.Y. 1861 embossed on it. I couldn’t believe it when I came across it on tonight’s dive.

The next item of interest was another button, this time with the image of an elephant, the number 78 and the phrase Assaye Maida Java. A quick Google search reveals it was from a soldier from the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot, from the United Kingdom.

Saltwater Sean

M.B. & Co.

There isn’t much information available on the M. B. & Co in New York in 1861. However, many bottles from this company are available for around $35.00 on eBay and Amazon.

78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot

On March 8, 1793, Francis Humberston MacKenzie, Chief of the Clan Mackenzie and later Lord Seaforth, raised the 78th (Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. Formed at Fort George in July 1793, the regiment relocated to the Channel Islands in August 1893, and embarked for Holland in September 1794 to serve in the French Revolutionary Wars.[ It saw action in November 1794 during the defense of Nijmegen. The regiment arrived in England in April 1795, then sailed to France for the Battle of Quiberon Bay in June 1795 and the landing at Île d’Yeu, off the coast of Brittany, in September 1795, before returning to England.

In 1865, the regiment embarked for Gibraltar, and in May 1869, it sailed on the troopship HMS Crocodile to Halifax, Nova Scotia, arriving on May 14, 1869. During the summer, the regiment camped at Bedford to practice musketry at the military range. Alexander Keith, Grandmaster of the Masonic Lodge of Nova Scotia, hosted a farewell ball for them before they left in 1871. In November 1871, the regiment, along with 17 young local women who had married soldiers, boarded the troopship HMS Orontes bound for Ireland.

The 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) Pipe Band, a grade one pipe band formed in 1983, is managed by Citadel Hill, which features a living history program with animators portraying the 78th Highland Regiment.

Follow Saltwater Sean on YouTube

On 14 October 1942, 78 years ago, at 3:40 am, the Newfoundland passenger ferry SS Caribou was torpedoed by the German submarine U-69 37 km (20 nmi) southwest of Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, and sunk five minutes later. 137 people died, including civilian woman/children, Captain Benjamin Taverner, the long-time ship’s captain, and his sons Stanley and Harold, who served as first and third officers, respectively. Her sinking and large death toll made it clear that the war had really arrived on the home front of Canada and Newfoundland, and is cited by many historians as the most important sinking during the Second World War in Canadian-controlled waters.

SS Caribou was constructed for the Newfoundland Railway in 1925 at Rotterdam, Netherlands. Launched in 1925, the Caribou had a capacity of 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) and was able to attain a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h) when fully loaded. Between 1928 and 1942, the SS Caribou was a Newfoundland Railway passenger ferry running between Port aux Basques, in the Dominion of Newfoundland, and North Sydney, Nova Scotia. She was considered a luxury ferry for the times, due to the fact she had electric lights and steam heat in all the rooms. In addition, Caribou also helped during the seal hunt along the Newfoundland coast every spring due to its ice-breaking design.

On 13 October 1942, SS Caribou was part of the convoy Sydney-Port aux Basque (SPAB), organized by HMCS Defender, a Royal Canadian Navy base. The SPAB convoy series normally occurred three times a week and was carried out in the dark. The naval escort vessel on this ill-fated voyage was HMCS Grandmère, a Bangor-class minesweeper. Sadly, the German submarine U-69 was patrolling the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was a dark evening and the U-69 was silhouetted against the night horizon by the thick smoke from the coal-fired steam boilers of the Caribou. Grandmere saw the submarine and attempted to ram it, but the U-69 submerged. The minesweeper (Grandmere) launched six deep charges over the next two hours but did not damage the submarine and U-69 crept away undetected into the Atlantic. Following procedure, Grandmère then went back for survivors.

The Canadian naval vessel Grandmere was criticized in the Sydney Post-Record and The Globe and Mail as well as other media outlets in the days after the sinking for not stopping and helping save survivors immediately; but it was against operating protocols, and would have put her in immediate danger of being sunk as well. Grandmère sailed for Sydney, Nova Scotia after picking up survivors because it had better hospital facilities than Port aux Basques, Newfoundland.

It was suggested by Gordon Payne, listening to the lyrics of the song, that it was composed by someone who was on The Caribou when it sunk. Many years ago, he heard a portion of the song and later got the full version of Cox’s Cove from Eli Payne. One of the survivors from the Caribou was William Lundrigan of Corner Brook.

The SS Caribou has not been pinpointed, according to Neil Burgess of the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland & Labrador, and is situated at 450 metres, (1476 feet) beyond the depth of technical divers. To collect photos/videos, an ROV would be required.

After being launched in Cleveland for her initial owners, R. John W. Moore, et al., on April 7, 1887, The Mather experienced a number of mishaps and ownership changes. On October 20, 1887, the tug Mystic tow her to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan with broken machinery as she made her way from Sandusky, Ohio to Duluth, Minnesota. She was sold to Samuel Mather, et al. of Cleveland, Ohio, on May 9th, 1888. She was harmed by a strong gale on August 11th, 1888, near Detour, Michigan, and later repaired in Cleveland. She was sold to James Pickard, et al. of the Interlake Transportation Company on April 13, 1889. She towed the Senator and the Winana in June 1889. She was defamed for sinking the steamer Ohio on September 30, 1890. A steamer that transported coal, the Mather “perished with an abnormal cargo of wheat.”

The wooden Mather was rammed on the starboard side near the aft hatch by the steel package freighter Brazil on November 22, 1891, at 2:00 am while she was headed down from Duluth, Minnesota to Buffalo, New York with a load of 58,000 bushels of wheat. This incident occurred in Whitefish Bay, which is located 8 miles (13 km) north of Point Iroquois, during a dense, heavy fog. On her starboard side, the collision left an 11-foot (3.4 m) hole. The crew of twenty sustained no casualties. Her crew managed to escape with her lifeboats during the 25 minutes she was at sea, but they were left without any personal belongings. The Brazil picked up the crew, who were then moved to the steamer Parks Foster to be taken to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Brazil continued on to Duluth with her load of coal, where it was discovered that the collision had broken three frames and a stringer. The Mather was worth $50,000, and when combined with her wheat cargo, the loss was estimated to be over $226,000.

Bob Smith of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan made the discovery of the Mather’s wreck in May 1978, and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society (GLSHS) has produced a substantial amount of film about it. The Mather’s artifacts were taken by the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society for preservation and display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, according to shipwreck historian Janice Gerred. The 1980 Michigan Antiquities Act, however, made it illegal to take items from shipwrecks on Great Lakes bottomlands. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and GLSHS offices were raided by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment in 1992, and among the items seized were some that had been forcibly removed from the Samuel Mather in the 1980s. As a result of a 1993 settlement agreement with the GLSHS following the DNR raid on the museum in 1992, artifacts from the Mather’s wreck are on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a loan from the State of Michigan. The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve has begun to protect the Samuel Mather’s wreck as part of an underwater museum.

According to Stonehouse, the Mather’s wreck is “one of the best known examples of a wooden freighter that is still available for examination.”The Mather, which sits upright with an intact deck and a largely intact stern superstructure, is a well-liked wreck site for scuba diving. She is in excellent condition overall, probably because she sank gradually enough for pressures to equalize. She has a mast that is 75 feet high, a deck that is 155 feet high, and a bottom that is 180 feet deep.

Despite not being the deepest dive in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve, the Mather claimed the lives of three scuba divers: one in 1998, one in 1999, and one in 2012, despite not being the deepest dive.

Harrington, a Great Lakes diver, issues this warning: “Divers must be certain of their abilities and equipment” when diving the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve.

Toronto, Ont./ Traditional territories of several First Nations including the Williams Treaties First Nations, Huron-Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Chippewas, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation — Ecojustice lawyer, Laura Bowman, has welcomed the reversal of the decision by the Ontario government to remove 7,400 acres of environmentally sensitive land from the Greenbelt. This is a key victory for everyone in Ontario including dedicated community activists, environmental groups, farmers, and Indigenous Peoples.

Following the announcement this afternoon by Premier Ford, she said:

“Greenbelt giveaways were never going to meet our affordable housing needs. Finally, today the Ontario government put the brakes on one key part of a biased process that is undermining plans to develop in urban areas.

“Developing on the Greenbelt would have resulted in large, unsustainable, and unaffordable homes. Destroying environmentally sensitive land, and destroying Ontario’s future food security, is not the answer to Ontario’s housing crisis.

“But the provincial government is still using poor planning policies such as highways through the Greenbelt and forcing communities like Hamilton to expand onto greenspaces. These are big giveaways to many of the same speculators who benefited from the Greenbelt removals, and many followed the same kind of biased, chaotic process. These other attacks on greenspace around the Greenbelt and across Southern Ontario need to be reversed too.

“It is time for this provincial government to stop treating our greenspace like a windfall to be granted to whoever comes begging and return to balanced planning to protect the environment, health and people.

“Today’s decision is thanks to the journalists who have covered this scandal, to the local communities who rallied and campaigned for its reversal, and to environmental groups like Ecojustice and our allies who highlighted the importance of the Greenbelt to this province.”

About:

Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions and law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems.

Ecojustice Newsletter

The merchant ship HMS Investigator was acquired in 1848 to look for Sir John Franklin’s disastrous Northwest Passage expedition. She made two trips to the Arctic before being forced to be abandoned in 1853 when she got stuck in the pack ice. She was the fourth ship to carry the name in the Royal Navy.

The 422-ton Investigator, built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Greenock on the Firth of Clyde, was bought by the Admiralty in February 1848 and modified by R. & H. Green at Blackwall Yard on the River Thames for arctic exploration. Woolwich Dockyard’s master shipwright William M. Rice strengthened her for use in the Arctic. She was heavily reinforced with 516 in (8 mm) steel plating and timber, including teak, English oak, and Canadian elm. Ten pairs of diagonal plates and ten pairs of wrought iron diagonal riders were installed on the sides of the ship between decks. The upper decks were doubled with 3 in (76 mm) fir planking to handle snow and ice loads. To enhance lighting and ventilation, Preston’s Patent Ventilating Illuminators were installed. A modern stove system designed by Charles Sylvester that could warm the entire ship was also used successfully. William Edward Parry had used a similar or identical device in 1821 to aerate the lowest deck and prevent condensation.

Career

Investigator travelled with HMS Enterprise on James Clark Ross’ search for Franklin’s missing expedition in 1848. Captain Robert McClure was in charge when they set out on their return trip, but at Mercy Bay, which is next to Banks Island, the ship got stuck in the pack ice.

She was unable to break free of the ice, leaving her crew stranded for two years before being rescued by the HMS Resolute, another British vessel. The crew of 66 went through unspeakable hardships during those two years. Many men suffered from scurvy and three of the 66 sailors died.

Investigator was abandoned after the crew was saved and left to sink to the bottom of the Beaufort Sea, where she remained until July 2010 with her secrets frozen in place. However, due to difficulties in accessing the area—which is extremely inhospitable and frequently iced over—her exact location was unknown for more than 150 years.

The circumstances surrounding Investigator’s abandonment are not a mystery, unlike the losses of Erebus and Terror. Alexander Armstrong, the ship’s physician, published an unofficial account of the voyage in 1857.

Inuit oral traditions contain tales about the ship. The local natives used the abandoned ship as a source of copper and iron; when smaller boats were found on the shore, metal nails were missing. According to an Inuit report from 1910, “one year she had still been on the beach and the next year she was gone without a trace.” During his Arctic expedition in 1915, Canadian anthropologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson reached Mercy Bay, but he was unable to locate her remains.

Discovery

A team of archaeologists, scientists, and surveyors from Parks Canada started looking for the Investigator’s sunken wreck in Mercy Bay at the park’s northernmost point in July 2010. The expedition was the first to look specifically for the ship. Based on the original Royal Navy records of the ship’s location when it was abandoned, the team reached Banks Island in the Beaufort Sea on July 22 and started a sonar scan of the region three days later. The ship’s deck was located about 8 meters (26 feet) below the surface, 150 meters (490 feet) off the north shore of Banks Island.

An official with Parks Canada stated that the ship was discovered “sitting upright in silt; the three masts have been removed, probably by ice.” Due to the chilly Arctic water, her hull is partially buried in silt, and the outer deck is not degrading as quickly. Although the team sent a remotely operated underwater vehicle to take pictures and assess the wreckage, there are no plans to raise the ship’s remains.

As a site for archeological and cultural heritage, Parks Canada acknowledges that Great Britain still has legal ownership of the HMS Investigator.

Many books on scuba diving have been published over the course of time, almost since the beginning of the scuba era. The Scuba News Canada will post these “nostalgia” books considered a “blast from the past” on a regular basis, and we want you, our readers, to make suggestions of “older nostalgia diving books” you have enjoyed, or believe our readers will. We will publish it and add your social media/website link to the article if you send us the proposal. Contact us.

The SS Anglo Saxon was an iron screw steamship owned by the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company that was wrecked on the Newfoundland Coast (Chance Cove) on April 27, 1863, with a large loss of life. About 300 people were thought to have perished, and some were buried on the beach nearby. The remains of those lost were reburied inland after the beach cemetery was dug up. The beach was being washed away by rising sea levels.

An Interesting But Tragic Read

“Tragic Wreck of the Anglo Saxon” available at Amazon

“I was able to get out for one last adventure before a rainy weekend ahead of us. I found a bunch of stuff, including a peculiar old “quack medicine bottle” (Nerviline) from the early 1900s.”

Saltwater Sean

If you enjoy watching old-style western television programs, you may occasionally have come across a plot involving a travelling medicine wagon and a person posing as a “Doc”. This could be regarded as the start of marketing campaigns in the early 1900s. The “doctor,” who was in charge, would send representatives to neighbouring towns to promote the show, hang banners and posters, and pique interest in the wonder drug that would be displayed. Some of these townsfolk would seem to be suffering from a condition that the elixir would miraculously cure. Despite the fact that these medications were very popular, the ingredients were not controlled. The majority of these elixirs contained morphine, cocaine, and significant amounts of alcohol; some had alcohol content of over 30%. A “Cure For What Ails You”

At the time, Nerviline, one of these medications, was promoted as a treatment for neuralgia, toothaches, rheumatic pains, sore throat, lumbago, sore, aching joints, muscular strains, sprains, chest soreness from colds, chilblains, hoarseness, and insect bites. a panacea for all ailments! The packaging for Nerviline included a rectangular, transparent, glass bottle without a cork with visible mould lines and information embossed on the bottle.

Medicine Shows became less and less popular as people started to doubt the efficacy of these tonics. The government started paying attention after some of these “medicines” caused terrible side effects and even deaths. The Food and Drug Administration was eventually established after the Pure Food and Drug Act was eventually passed in 1906.

About Nerviline

After having studied at Queen’s University, Neil C. Polson established a drug business in Kingston in 1877. N.C. Polson & Co. became widely known across North America as a druggist and chemical manufacturer. They manufactured “Catarrhozone” and “Nerviline” under the Polson Co. umbrella. One of their products, Catarrhozone, was widely advertised as an inhaled germ-killer and remedy for all respiratory ailments. The Vapor treatment was meant to be dropped onto a small piece of wool held inside the portable wood inhaler, then inhaled periodically through the mouth. The company Polson Co. also produced Nerviline, a remedy for every ailment. On a bottle labelled “Polson’s Tasteless Preparation, the ingredients are cod liver oil and is pleasant and palatable along with doses for adults and children. Neither a confirmation that the aforementioned bottle was Nerviline nor a list of the ingredients for Nerviline can be found. It’s possible that Nerviline included morphine, cocaine, and a sizable amount of alcohol but unknown.

The United States and the West Indies received shipments of Polson’s goods from Kingston, Ontario.

In 1893, Polson was elected mayor of Kingston.

Follow Saltwater Sean’s Clean-Up Adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

We’ll be showcasing Chris’s videos in collaboration with The Scuba News Canada. These are educational and informative, and Chris admits that he hopes to inspire people to try scuba diving. On TikTok, he has over 145,000 followers from all over the world. He makes regular scuba diving adventure and instructional videos, as well as answering viewer questions in his videos about anything scuba or water-related. He feels seasoned divers can stay current with the new dive industry and training philosophies, so his channel has something for the novice to experienced divers.

About Chris Foisey

Chris was certified at Dans Dive Shop in 2011 and started working there that summer. After a few years, he started to pursue technical diving as well as becoming a Padi Dive Master. Over the years he has built his certifications up to a Level 1 cave diver and trimix decompression diver, Padi Master Scuba Diver Trainer as well as a hydrostatic technician and a full-time employee at Dan’s Dive Shop. Over the last 10 years, Chris has completed over 1200 dives all over the world and personally certified over 300 students.

Follow Chris on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube & Modern Diver

Follow Chris on Facebook

From 1892 to 1898, the City of Ainsworth operated as a paddle steamer sternwheeler on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia, Canada. She was one of the first sternwheelers on Kootenay Lake, and regrettably the most tragic. The SS City of Ainsworth was constructed in 1892 to give the expanding community at Ainsworth a way to reliably transport goods and passengers.

This third sternwheeler constructed for use on Kootenay Lake, City of Ainsworth was launched on May 4, 1892. The first two were Nelson, which was launched in June 1891, and Spokane, which served the Great Northern Railway. Ainsworth travelled from Kaslo to Nelson, stopping at Ainsworth, Pilot Bay, and Balfour along the way. The famous Moyie, which would serve the region for 59 years and be the last commercial sternwheeler to operate in the province, was among the many sternwheelers built for Kootenay Lake in the years after her launch. It is also one of the very few that have been preserved and can be seen today. City of Ainsworth, on the other hand, faced a much more bleak future.

City of Ainsworth Demise:

City of Ainsworth left Nelson for Bonner’s Ferry on November 29, 1898, but was caught in a gale-force storm. She started to founder after being weighed down with eight cords of wood on her bow. The firewood was quickly thrown overboard by the crew and passengers, but then water suddenly rushed up onto her stern, turning her broadside and causing her to roll in the waves. She occasionally rolled over to the point where water poured into her smokestack. One of the two lifeboats was deployed by the first officer, but as soon as five people boarded it, it was swamped and four of them perished in the waves. Five more people perished after the second lifeboat was launched with less successful results. Captain Lean, Seaman Donnelly, and Engineer Kale helped Captain Lean row four passengers 3.2 km (two miles) through the storm-tossed water and safely land them at the shore. One of the lifeboats was reclaimed. The remaining passengers were all saved by the three men on two additional trips, but the final death toll of seven crew members and two passengers made it the worst sternwheeler accident on Kootenay Lake.

City of Ainsworth sank in 110 m (360 feet) of water, and it wasn’t until 1990—nearly a century later—that its wreckage was found. Several Cambrian Foundation members successfully completed two dives to City of Ainsworth in September 1997. Due to the wreck’s extreme depth, the poor visibility in the water, and the hazardous surface conditions on Kootenay Lake, no prior attempts to dive down to it had been made. After only 10 minutes at the bottom, the dive team had to decompress for 75 minutes, but they were still able to film City of Ainsworth and report that she was largely undamaged and sitting upright.

During the week of August 28 to September 1, 2023, highly experienced divers from Alberta and British Columbia dove the shipwreck. The VexNow team (Divers: Brian Nadwidny, Johnny Ryan, Alan Drake and Glenn Farquhar. Supported by John McCuaig, Terina Hancock and Cathie McCuaig) visited the site 3 times and obtained video and photographic images that show the collapse over the years.

As a “Provincial Heritage Site,” the location is legally protected under the Heritage Conservation Act. The City of Ainsworth’s wreck is significant as a memorial to the biggest maritime catastrophe in the history of the inland lakes of British Columbia.

Last summer underwater explorer Jill Heinerth joined forces with a passionate young diver. That partnership turned out to be transformative for them both.

Last summer, I embarked on a transformative journey alongside the passionate young environmental scientist, Kayla Martin. It was a season that left an indelible mark on both our lives, a tale of mentorship, perseverance, and the power of community.

The story began when I seized a unique opportunity to nurture Kayla’s burgeoning talent. She was a beacon of potential, and I was determined to foster her growth. Drawing upon the network of organizations that support me, I took a leap of faith and dipped into my personal funds to launch an expedition. This venture was more than just a scientific mission; it was the next step in her career in environmental science and communication.

As we prepared for the adventure that lay ahead, we ventured into local waters, diving to enhance our skills in the cold underwater environments we were about to explore and document. Yet, it didn’t take long for me to realize that Kayla needed more reliable gear to navigate these unforgiving waters. In this critical moment, when determination met resourcefulness, Suunto came to our aid by transferring my annual gear support to her. Hollis, recognizing the importance of our mission, provided Kayla with a state-of-the-art sidemount harness, and Fourth Element crafted a snug, protective drysuit to keep her warm in the chilly depths. I passed along essential equipment like a backup computer, undergarments, and various other items she required for our underwater expedition.

The result was a remarkable collaboration that transcended the boundaries of our initial project. Our shared dedication to environmental preservation and scientific exploration continues to flourish. Fast forward to the present day, and Kayla has emerged as a trailblazing leader in her field. This year, she is at the helm of an expedition dedicated to surveying an undocumented shipwreck, an endeavor that exemplifies her unwavering commitment to education, conservation, and groundbreaking environmental research.

Our journey serves as a testament to the profound impact that a helping hand and the right tools can have on shaping a promising career. Diving is an expensive passion, and the financial barriers often deter young enthusiasts from pursuing studies that could safeguard our precious planet. This experience has reinforced the belief that if you encounter a young and eager individual in your midst, someone who harbors the potential to be a future leader in their field, consider rallying your community to lend support. When we equip and empower the next generation, the possibilities are limitless, and together, we can shape a brighter future for our world.

More people have walked on the moon than have been to some of the remote places Jill Heinerth has explored on Earth. Jill Heinerth is a veteran of over thirty years of scientific diving, filming/photography, and exploration. Her expeditions include the first dives inside Antarctica icebergs and record-breaking scientific missions in deep underwater caves worldwide.

Jill’s book INTO THE PLANET – My Life as a Cave Diver has drawn wide acclaim from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and even Oprah magazine. Her children’s book, THE AQUANAUT, has been selected by Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library as a part of her inspirational initiative.

For more info: www.IntoThePlanet.com

Article and Photos Submitted by Jill Heinerth

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Sean McMullen (Saltwater Sean) and The Scuba News Canada are happy to announce that the short environmental documentary “Saltwater Souvenirs,” which was produced last year, won the Best Environmental Short Documentary prize at the Sugar Loaf Film Festival in New York earlier this year.

Sean McMullen will visit New York to attend the festival and see the short film’s premiere along with director Sean MacDougall.

Learn more at The Scuba News Canada: Saltwater Souvenirs – Upcoming Documentary

Treasure hunter, free diver, and explorer Sean McMullen is on a quest to discover what lies beneath Nova Scotia’s waters. Sean resides in Chester, Nova Scotia.

The Scuba News Canada is pleased to have presented many of Sean’s videos and his underwater finds.

For one of the dives of the year’s highlights, Garrett Clement got together with a couple of friends for a Campbell River salmon run via snorkelling.

An annual fish migration phenomenon known as a salmon run occurs when many salmonid species, which are typically born in freshwater and spend the majority of their adult lives in the ocean downstream, swim back upstream to the upper reaches of rivers to spawn on the gravel beds of small creeks.

Salmon are anadromous, which means they spend their early years in rivers or lakes before migrating to the sea where they spend their adult years and put on the majority of their body mass. The adults return to the upstream rivers to reproduce once they reach sexual maturity. (2-3 years) Usually, they return with uncanny accuracy to the river where they gave birth, sometimes even to the exact spawning grounds. It is believed that once they are close to their natal river, they use their sense of smell to focus on the river entrance and even their natal spawning ground. When they are in the ocean, it is thought that they use magnetoreception to locate the general location of their natal river.

What takes place when salmon spawn?

Thousands of fertilized eggs are laid in the gravel by salmon once they reach their spawning grounds. With a male standing by her side, each female digs a nest. The female makes a depression where she releases her eggs using her tail. The male also exhales a cloud of milt at the same time.

Campbell River can legitimately claim to be the “Salmon Capital of the World” due to the presence of five different species of salmon. Sport fishers have long been drawn to the east coast of Campbell River, Vancouver Island. Naturalists are equally compelled to look for the pink, coho, chinook, chum, and sockeye as well.

The annual salmon run is a significant feeding event for predators like grizzly bears and bald eagles. Salmon post-spawning deaths have significant ecological repercussions because the nitrogen, sulphur, carbon, and phosphorus-rich nutrients in their carcasses are transferred from the ocean and released to inland aquatic ecosystems, terrestrial animals (like bears), and the wetlands and riparian woodlands next to rivers.

Why do salmon turn red during spawning?

Salmon alter their colour to entice a spawning partner. To get back to their home stream, lay eggs, and dig their nest, Pacific salmon expend all of their energy. When they get back to freshwater, (after traveling hundreds of miles) the majority of them stop eating. They run out of energy after spawning to make the trek back to the ocean. All Pacific salmon species and the majority of Atlantic salmon (about 70%) die after spawning, and the salmon life cycle then restarts with the new generation of hatchlings.

Salmon in particular, and fish in general, do not taste good after spawning primarily due to their low fat content. It is advised to consume them prior to spawning.

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According to Wayne T. Joy, late summer brings Sea Horses to the waters around Halifax. This video was taken at Paddy’s Head, September 9, 2023. A great find and video!

Sizes of seahorses range from 0.6 to 13.8 in (1.5 to 35 cm). Their long snouted heads, bent necks, and distinctive trunk and tail give them an equine appearance, earning them the name. Despite being bony fish, they lack scales and instead have a thin layer of skin stretched over a series of bony plates that are distributed throughout their bodies in rings. The number of rings varies depending on the species.They are also protected from predators by the armour of bony plates, and because of this outer skeleton, they no longer have ribs. Seahorses propel themselves forward while swimming upright, a trait that their close relatives, the pipefish, who swim horizontally, do not share.

The pectoral fins, which are situated behind their eyes on either side of the head, are used for steering. They lack the fish-specific caudal fin. Their prehensile tail is made up of square-shaped rings that can only be unlocked under the most difficult circumstances.They can grow and reabsorb spiny appendages depending on their habitat, and they are skilled at camouflaging.

There is insufficient information to determine the risk of seahorse extinction, and the possibility of losing more seahorses is still a concern because data are lacking on the sizes of the various seahorse populations, as well as other issues like how many seahorses are dying each year, how many are being born, and how many are used as souvenirs. Seahorse habitats like coral reefs and seagrass beds are becoming less and less viable. Additionally, bycatch has a significant cumulative impact on seahorses in many places, where it is thought that 37 million of them are taken each year across 21 nations.

The male seahorses’ most remarkable trait is that they can become pregnant and give birth, which makes them a rare animal adaptation. Usually, male seahorses carry their eggs for two to four weeks. Then, 100 to 1,000 babies are born at a time.

Deep Perspective Diving (Wayne T. Joy)

Wanted: Divers, Paddlers, Shore Support Volunteers for the 20th Annual Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Underwater Cleanup.

Schedule

9am :: Registration and Waivers
10am :: Dive Safety Briefing and Divers Start
10:30am :: Paddlers at launch to assist divers (weather permitting)
12 Noon :: Lunch for participants & volunteers
1 pm :: T-Shirts for Volunteers

Details

Sponsored by Cathie McCuaig and Alberta Underwater Council – Scuba Diving, Underwater Hockey

Sylvan Lake Pier

September 24, 2023 from 11:00am to 3pm

All welcome :: On or off Facebook

Learn more at: Sylvan Underwater Cleanup, 2023

“Saltwater Sean” has been finding bits and pieces of underwater history as he free dives and shares his discoveries through photographs and video on social media outlets. His mission to promote ocean and lake conservancy has taken the professional photographer on a wave of popularity across Nova Scotia and beyond.

Details

Sponsored by Colchester Historeum Museum & Archives

September 21, 2023; 6pm to 7pm

Location: Colchester Historeum Museum and Archives, 29 Young Street, Truro, Nova Scotia

Admission: Donation

Learn more at: Dive Into History With Saltwater Sean

As the new guardian of the Oliver Mowat, Kayla Martin makes good on a promise to survey and document this once-secret wreck and make it available to all divers

The lake was as still as glass as I led team members Charlotte Pilon-McCullough and Jill Heinerth down the shot line, which was disappearing into the darkness below. It felt like I was sinking forever when a cold shiver ran down my spine thinking about that fateful accident that led to this moment.

That night

September 1, 1921, was a clear moonless night as Captain Van Dusen manned the helm of the Oliver Mowat sailing from Picton, Ontario, to Oswego, New York. Near midnight, lights appeared out of the east from a large steamer heading directly toward his ship. Using an oil lantern, Dusen attempted to signal their position and warn the oncoming vessel away.

Onboard the Steamer Key West, the Captain was off duty while the second mate was on the bridge recording the day’s events in the ship’s logbook. With calm winds on this quiet night, the lookout left his post to light a fire in the galley to prepare coffee for the long night ahead.

At 10:57 pm, the fate of the Oliver Mowat was sealed as two thousand tons of steel struck her amidship, driving a wall of water into her heart, and sending the schooner to the bottom in just four minutes. The Captain made a heroic attempt to save his crew of five, but in the end, he went down with his ship along with the first mate and cook. The remaining two sailors were pulled from the icy waters and survived to tell the tale.

As I continued my descent, a shape began to take shape in the gloom, and the ship’s wheel appeared before me. The vessel was breathtaking and lived up to the tales I had been told by the four shipwreck hunters that found her position in June of 1996. Since then, the wreck has been kept secret, and only a few have had the privilege of diving on her. 

New guardian

Last fall, with the passing of Rick Neilson, the remaining hunters, Barbara Carson, Spencer Shoniker and Tim Legate, decided that the Oliver Mowat belongs to Canada and the public, so they chose me as its guardian. They would only pass on guardianship if I promised to ensure that the wreck was surveyed, documented, and had a proper mooring buoy. With funding from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the support of the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee and Save Ontario Shipwrecks, I mounted this expedition to tell her tale, documenting the wreck through video and stills and completing an archaeological survey that will help with placement of a permanent marker buoy on the site. 

Glancing at my dive computers, I noticed we were 121 feet (37m) down and knew our time limit would be fourteen minutes. With time being of the essence, we each proceeded to our assigned tasks. While Jill captured images, Charlotte and I surveyed the site, heading towards the bow 130 feet (40m) away.

All three masts were broken, the mizzenmast and mainmast were lying to starboard, and the foremast was to port with the crow’s nest still intact. Passing up the portside, I was stunned by the size of the hole in the hull where the Key West had collided with her. I could understand how a schooner this large could sink so fast.  

The wreck was picture-perfect, sitting upright; it was hard to believe that it had been resting on the bottom for over a century. Gliding across her deck allowed me to slip back in time, and for a moment, it felt like I was part of the crew during the golden age of Great Lakes Schooners.

Documenting and sharing

With visibility at an exceptional 100 feet (30m), capturing images was the goal of the dive, particularly the two most breathtaking features, the bowsprit and the wheel. The foremast fife rail was still intact, including a belaying pin. Fife rails circle the bottom of the masts and are usually destroyed when the masts are broken. Deadeyes were lining the rails; they would have been used to secure the rigging that held the masts upright. Near the spectacular bow was a coal-fired donkey boiler that would have generated steam to power a winch to assist the crew.

Shipwrecks are underwater museums and cultural heritage sites. They are vital to understanding and preserving our past. One of the expedition’s goals is to have a mooring system placed to protect the wreck from being damaged by people hooking onto the wreck. Once an archeological survey and photogrammetry of the wreck are complete, the plan is to release the coordinates to the diving community, as this wreck belongs to all of us. These conditions are being completed at the request of the original hunters as we share the goal of protecting wrecks from harm while ensuring the safety of the diving community. 

Diving on the Oliver Mowat is like looking into the past. It is a treasure trove of life in a different period. We feel very humbled swimming down the length of her graceful curves, and I think of how privileged we are to enjoy her beauty again. 

As our bottom time was quickly running out, we reluctantly left the wreck. Looking down as we slowly ascended, the Oliver Mowat was swallowed up by the darkness and would be hidden from sight until the next time that we could return to uncover more of her secrets.

Article written and submitted by Kayla Martin

Photography by Jill Heinerth and Durrell Martin

The small town of Tobermory, which bears that name and is situated at the very tip of the Bruce Peninsula, is also referred to as the “capital of freshwater scuba diving in the world.” The Chi-Cheemaun ferry, which connects Manitoulin Island to the mainland, is also located there. The magnificent Niagara Escarpment, Flowerpot Island, and two national parks are all visible to tourists. Visitors can enjoy an experience like no other thanks to the Tobermory landscape. Some of nature’s most stunning vistas are set against the imposing cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment.

Tobermory is home to over 20 shipwrecks

The Fathom Five National Marine Park offers a wide range of underwater activities, including some of Canada’s best freshwater diving opportunities.

A variety of underwater diving experiences are available thanks to the clear, clean water, underwater geological formations (cliffs, caves, and overhangs), and more than 20 historic shipwrecks. You can see shipwrecks while diving, snorkelling, boating, or even right from the harbour!

Everyone can find something to explore and enjoy in the park, from inexperienced snorkelers to the most experienced divers. The City of Grand Rapids and the Sweepstakes, two shipwrecks in Big Tub Harbour, are accessible to snorkelers and open water divers.

Sweepstakes

The Canadian schooner Sweepstakes, also known as Sweeps, was constructed in Burlington, Ontario, in 1867. It was damaged off Cove Island and towed to Big Tub Harbour in Lake Huron’s Georgian Bay, where it sank in September 1885 after being damaged there. Ontario’s Fathom Five National Marine Park, Big Tub Harbour is home to Sweepstakes’ wreckage. The schooner is reportedly one of the most well-liked wrecks in the park, and tourists, divers, and snorkelers frequently stop by to explore it. The hull of Sweepstakes is said to be in perfect condition, and the 20 foot depth makes it camera perfect.

City of Grand Rapids

Another well-traveled shipwreck close to the sweepstakes is the City of Grand Rapids. It lies in 15 feet of water, perfect for snorkelers to see. A double-decked steamer named the City of Grand Rapids operated the coastal trade route between Owen Sound and the communities on Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula. The Grand Rapids caught fire that evening, October 29, 1907, as it was berthed in Little Tub Harbour. The tug Clucas took the burning ship in tow, towed it out of the harbour, and released it under Captain Alex Craigie’s direction. After that, the City of Grand Rapids slid into Big Tub Harbour. As it burned on, it eventually came to rest at the head of the harbour, where it rolled to starboard, burned to the water’s edge, and sank.

Tobermory offers a variety of activities for divers and snorkelers. There are options for boat tours, sightseeing, camping, cottages, and taking in the view of the crystal clear waters. Tobermory has a population of about 1,000 people, but it has been reported that over 700,000 tourists, particularly divers from all over the world, are drawn there during the summer.

Thunder Bay is close to one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the Great Lakes system and is situated in northwest Lake Huron. “Shipwreck Alley” is the name given to the region because of its unpredictable weather, dense fog banks, jarring gales, and rocky shoals. Shipwreck Alley’s, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve safeguards approximately 200 historically significant shipwrecks, ranging from wooden sidewheelers from the nineteenth century to steel-hulled steamers from the twentieth century. The sanctuary is home to a large number of wrecks, and national policymakers are concerned about preserving and protecting them. The sanctuary’s landward boundary stretches from Alcona County’s southern border to Presque Isle County’s western border. The largest city in the region is Alpena.

In March 2019, researchers from NOAA, Michigan, and Ocean Exploration Trust discovered a brand-new, intact shipwreck beneath Lake Huron that will also be protected by The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The Great Lakes’ frigid waters, where the sailing ship Ironton sank, did a stellar job of preserving her. The 191-foot Ironton has been lying upright for more than a century with all three of its masts and the anchor still in place. It was also noted that a lifeboat was still attached.

Due to NOAA’s desire for more time to investigate the shipwreck, the discovery of the Ironton was only announced in March 2023.

In September, 1894, the Ironton and another ship, the Moonlight, were heading toward the port city of Marquette, Michigan. Both boats were being towed by a steamer. Strong winds nearly forced the two barges into their guide after the steamer broke down. The crew of the Moonlight cut the tow line, leaving the Ironton drifting a few miles north of Shipwreck Alley. The Ohio, a freighter carrying 1,000 tons of flour, reportedly veered off course and struck the Ironton. The Ironton quickly started to take on water after suffering a hole in its bow and made an attempt to launch its lifeboat.

The Ironton and another ship, the Moonlight, were sailing in the direction of Marquette, Michigan, a port city, in September of that year. A steamer was towing both vessels. The steamer broke down, and the two barges were almost pushed into their guide by strong winds. The Ironton was left drifting a few miles north of Shipwreck Alley after the crew of the Moonlight severed the tow line. According to reports, the Ohio, a freighter carrying 1,000 tons of flour, veered off course and collided with the Ironton. After suffering a hole in its bow, the Ironton quickly began to take on water and made an attempt to launch its lifeboat. The rope that connected the lifeboat to the ship, known as the painter, could not be cut, though. Two crew members managed to survive by staying afloat and clinging to floating debris until a passing boat could rescue them. The other five crew members perished. The Ohio sank even though all 16 of its crew members survived the collision. But the painter, the rope that bound the lifeboat to the ship, could not be severed. By remaining afloat and clinging to floating debris until a passing boat could rescue them, two crew members were able to survive. The five additional crew members died. All 16 members of the crew of the Ohio survived the collision, but the ship sank.

According to NOAA, the sanctuary will put up a buoy to mark the shipwreck’s location and help divers visit the wreck site safely. The precise location of the Ironton is not known at this time.

Acclaimed for her courage and voracious curiosity as she pursues discoveries in the most arduous water landscapes in the world, Jill Heinerth is receiving her first honorary doctorate, from Victoria University in the University of Toronto. She will be honoured for her role as a deep-sea diver, explorer, scientist, author, teacher, photographer, filmmaker, documentarian and environmental advocate with a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. Chancellor Nick Saul, renowned food and social justice activist, will confer the degree on Oct. 11, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre on Victoria University’s campus, as part of Charter Day celebrations, marking the anniversary of the University’s founding in 1836.  

“More people have been to the moon than to places that Jill Heinerth has explored deep inside our watery planet. A world-class technical diver and filmmaker, Jill’s extraordinary path from under Antarctic icebergs to tropical blue holes is proof that real life is far more exciting than fiction.” —James Cameron, Academy Award-winning director. 

As one of the world’s most respected explorers, cave divers, polar explorers and scientists, Jill Heinerth has discovered and surveyed some of the most remote water-filled cave systems on the planet, illuminating and advancing our understanding of the planet’s inner workings. Her contributions to public education about the environment and climate change through her books (bestseller and critically acclaimed Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver), television and radio series (CBC, BBC, NPR, A&E, PBS), podcasts, photography and art exhibits, and public speaking engagements inspire awe and have earned her many prestigious awards including being named the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s first Explorer-in-Residence in 2016. She is the inaugural recipient of the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration, was awarded the Canadian Polar Medal and has been named to the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame. 

“On the farthest fringe of adventure is a world unseen, a place with the merest hint of light, short breaths of air, abundant danger and one extraordinary woman, Jill Heinerth.” —Sports Illustrated Women

Ms. Heinerth has been a speaker in Vic One, Victoria College’s acclaimed first-year program, her stories leaving attendees in awe. By speaking honestly about risk and fear, she related her personal experiences to the daily lives of Victoria College students and their long-range aspirations, inspiring them to be their calmest, most curious and most disciplined selves.  

“At Victoria University, we are committed to helping our students explore big ideas and landscapes so that they can envision their roles in shaping our world in meaningful ways. Jill Heinerth exemplifies someone who, through deep exploration and determination, is helping us all understand our relationship with our wonderous planet, and we are so pleased to celebrate her remarkable achievements,” said Dr. Rhonda N. McEwen, president and vice-chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.    

To learn more about Jill Heinerth, visit her website

About Victoria University in The University of Toronto

Victoria University, federated with The University of Toronto, was founded in 1836 and is one of the oldest universities in Canada. As a recognized leader in undergraduate education in the arts and sciences and in graduate education in theology, Victoria University creates an environment where students discover how to match their distinctive talents to some of the world’s most pressing issues. It is home to two outstanding colleges. Victoria College—with its small class sizes, its distinctive first-year programs and its exceptional students—is recognized as one of the most rewarding places in Canada to pursue an undergraduate education. Emmanuel College prepares students from many faiths and backgrounds for leadership roles in religious contexts. The iconic campus is located on the east side of Queen’s Park, south of Bloor Street, in Toronto.

Learn more at: Victoria University @ University of Toronto

I don’t often use the word “epic,” but this is the most epic expedition I have ever planned. I could not be more proud of the team that helped accomplish this unique experience of diving in a glacial moulin in Alaska. Only a handful of people have ever tried this. A moulin is basically a sinkhole in a glacier, a vertical channel in ice that is formed in a glacier by flowing water. These crevasses can be dry or water-filled. They are part of a glacier’s internal “plumbing” that carry meltwater from the surface to deep inside and under the glacier. The water-filled moulins might be still, have a little drainage, or have a plug which can suddenly release if the glacier moves, causing the water to drain very quickly and forcefully. This is why glacier diving is very rare and challenging: this is not a tourist diving destination. We set out to dive these in the winter when the glacier would possibly be more stable. We had seven to 14 inches of ice on the surface, depending on the location. After Alex cut the ice hole, the water would steam like a hot tub: the balmy 32f water was much warmer than the-15f / -26c degree air temps. The hole would instantly start icing back over, requiring regular clearing. We had an extensive safety plan in place, as well as very experienced topside support. We used harnesses and ropes that were tended on the surface and anchored in by ice screws. If the moulin suddenly drained, we would have a chance at making it out.

Our ride was a R44 helicopter operated by Mark and it ran like clockwork. We had to take multiple flights each way every day to move gear and people out to our basecamp on the glacier. The ride was amazing flying over mountains, moose and a few sheep. We only had about 7 hours of daylight to work with so every hour counted. Everything froze. We experienced gear issues in the freezing temps that I’ve never experienced before. Masks covered in ice, inflators freezing shut instantly, 7 reg failures in one day, ice forming in front of our eyes on the cameras dome ports and on our Seiko Ice Diver watch faces. My safety rope even froze to the glaciers ceiling at one point. I had equipment issues I have never encountered before.

We were most definitely on the edge of what we could physically do and the limitations of our gear. When we finally got underwater, the experience was magical, worth every bit of effort. I was blown away by the gin-clear water. It felt like swimming in air! We had just entered an ice cave, pure white glacial ice in every direction. The formations and cracks in the ice were stunning. Tunnels and long pressure cracks that refilled with clear ice just stood out as they flowed down the walls at least 30 feet. There were tunnels heading into the glacier, and light just bounced off the reflective white surfaces. We swam about 100 feet down one of the tunnels before it got very narrow and headed deeper into the glacier. We experienced formations that looked like giant egg cartons, and even ice so clear it froze bubbles into it. I ran my hand along the smooth, cold, and silky ice wall, just amazed at it all. I was diving inside a glacier! Someday this piece I just touched will calve off and become an iceberg. The thought of that just blew my mind.

I personally spent a total of four hours underwater on four dives in two different locations. One of the dives was 100 minutes. When I surfaced after the dive that day, my dry gloves were covered in ice and frozen in place on my Santi dry suit. My watch was encased in ice and frozen to my suit as well. In fact, about the only gear that had no failures in the extreme cold were the Seiko Ice Diver watches; they all kept happily ticking away. We really put those watches to the test, and I was truly impressed. I find it hard to truly wrap words around this amazing adventure and incredibly beautiful place. A challenging project such as this requires an experienced and professional team. For this to be a success, Everyone toughed it out and we got to explore and come back with some incredible images. These were long days and at night we would hit our beds, bodies aching, feet still cold, noses still sore, worn out. But oh man, it was worth it!

This expedition would not have been possible without the expert surface and air support of Alex Fancher Mark Fleenor along with my dive team Jeff Lindsay and Rick Witter. We spent months planning this in great detail. Also a big thanks to Bryan Smith and David Pearson from Reel Water Productions for capturing the entire journey. I can’t wait to see the final video! Lastly thank you to Seiko Luxe USA for supporting adventure and exploration! I hope to return, maybe in the summer when it’s “warmer and my eyelashes won’t be frozen together!

Becky Schott

Story Submitted by Becky Kagan Schott Of Liquid Diving

Follow Becky’s Dive Adventures on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

The Northerner was a two-masted schooner measuring 81 feet in length (24.7 meters). On November 29, 1868, she went down in Lake Michigan, five miles southeast of Port Washington, Wisconsin, United States. The ship’s hull is submerged in 130 feet (40 meters) of water.

The depth of Northerner is somewhat debatable. According to some sources, the Northerner is under 130 feet (40 meters) of water, while others claim it is 135 feet (41 meters). The foremast has fallen but is still attached to the wreck. The mast in the middle of the ship is no longer on or near the wreck. The ship is mostly intact, though the pilothouse was ripped off when it sank.

John Oades built the Northerner in Clayton, New York, in 1850. Henry T. Bacon, a New York merchant, was her original owner, and Russell Disbrow was her co-owner and operator. Northerner primarily operated on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River at the time. She was damaged in a storm on Lake Ontario in 1859 and rebuilt at Wells Island, New York. The ship was sold to Chicago, Illinois, interests in 1863. Northerner was then involved in lumber shipping on Lake Michigan.

Prior to the development of road and rail networks, the Northerner was a rare example of a vessel type that was critical to the Great Lakes’ economic and transportation infrastructure. Lakeshoring schooners like the Northerner served as an important economic and cultural link for hinterland communities.

The Northerner suffered hull damage while loading at a pier in Amsterdam, Wisconsin, in 1868, and was subsequently lost while being towed by the Cayauga to Milwaukee for repairs. There were no fatalities.

This shipwreck is protected by both state (Michigan) and federal laws (USA). Divers visiting this shipwreck must not remove any artifacts or structures. Anyone apprehended and convicted of removing “artifacts/structures” faces confiscation of their boats, cars, and equipment, as well as up to two years in prison and stiff fines. Anyone with information about illegal artifact removal should contact the Michigan Department of Natural Resources at 800-292-7800.

Jett Britnell’s planned diving trip to Newfoundland with Ocean Quest has been cancelled, The Scuba News Canada has been informed. The trip will not take place in October 2023 as planned due to uncontrollable factors.

Let’s Go Scuba Diving in Newfoundland with Jett Britnell and Ocean Quest

For an upcoming episode of Northwestel Community TV, Jeremy Macdonald and his diver buddies went looking for gold in a big way at Hidden Lake in the NorthWest Territories: with a floating gold sluice box and dredge.

Gold Dredge

A gold dredge is a type of placer mining machine that uses water and mechanical methods to extract gold from sand, gravel, and dirt.

The first gold dredges were large, multi-story machines built in the first half of the twentieth century. The fundamental concept of obtaining gold through placer mining has not changed since antiquity. Because gold is heavy/dense, gold in sand or soil will settle to the bottom, and dirt, sand, and rock will wash away, leaving the gold behind.

A large gold dredge excavates material (sand, gravel, dirt, etc.) mechanically using steel “buckets” on a circular, continuous “bucketline” at the front end of the dredge. Water is then used to sort/sift the material. The buckets on large gold dredges dump the material into a steel rotating cylinder (a type of trommel known as “the screen”) that is sloped downward toward a rubber belt (the stacker) that carries away oversize material (rocks) and dumps the rocks behind the dredge. Many holes in the cylinder allow undersized material (including gold) to fall into a sluice box. Tailings are the materials that have been washed or sorted. The rocks that are deposited behind the dredge (by the stacker) are referred to as “tailing piles.” The screen holes were designed to screen out rocks (for example, 3/4 inch holes in the screen sent anything larger than 3/4 inch to the stacker).

Hidden Lake

Hidden Lake is one of the most picturesque lakes east of Yellowknife. On a bright day, the lake appears aquamarine. The fish can be seen swimming in the crystal clear water.

Hidden Lake is a water-based park that has yet to be developed.

Dive Report

Jeremy reported the dive was around 50 feet and they “ground gold”. When asked if he was a millionaire, his response was “Nowhere close to breaking even”.

Follow Jeremy’s dive adventures on Shit, I found Diving in YK on Facebook and YouTube.

Replying to a diver’s inquiry. Diver almost hit by cargo ship. Who’s at fault? Let’s talk about it.

We’ll be showcasing Chris’s videos in collaboration with The Scuba News Canada. These are educational and informative, and Chris admits that he hopes to inspire people to try scuba diving. On TikTok, he has over 145,000 followers from all over the world. He makes regular scuba diving adventure and instructional videos, as well as answering viewer questions in his videos about anything scuba or water-related. He feels seasoned divers can stay current with the new dive industry and training philosophies, so his channel has something for the novice to experienced divers.

About Chris Foisey

Chris was certified at Dans Dive Shop in 2011 and started working there that summer. After a few years, he started to pursue technical diving as well as becoming a Padi Dive Master. Over the years he has built his certifications up to a Level 1 cave diver and trimix decompression diver, Padi Master Scuba Diver Trainer as well as a hydrostatic technician and a full-time employee at Dan’s Dive Shop. Over the last 10 years, Chris has completed over 1200 dives all over the world and personally certified over 300 students.

Follow Chris on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube & Modern Diver

Follow Chris on Facebook

Join us for the Geographica Dinner (previously named the College of Fellows Annual Dinner), on Wednesday, November 15th, 2023 at the Canadian War Museum, 1 Vimy Place, Ottawa.

This is the Royal Canadian Geographical Society’s most important event of the year, and as such it is attended by an illustrious group of dignitaries, astronauts, explorers and community leaders. In the past, speakers have included The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, Sir Michael Palin, Harrison Schmidt (the last man to walk on the moon), Margaret Atwood, Wade Davis, and the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

Enjoy our early bird pricing of $250 per person if you purchase your tickets before September 15th 2023. Following September 15th tickets will be $275 per person.

If you are interested in purchasing a table of 10 for $2,500 please contact Norman Osman by email at osman@rcgs.org

All proceeds from the evening will support the Society’s vital programs, from landmark expeditions to Canadian Geographic Education’s hugely impactful learning resources. 

Cancellations made 1 month or more in advance of the event date, will receive a 100% refund. Cancellations made within 3 – 4 weeks will incur a 50% fee. Cancellations made within 2 weeks of the event will not be refunded. Tickets cannot be exchanged or transferred. 

Learn more and purchase tickets at: The Royal Canadian Geographical Society

Combined advanced Nitrox and Decompression training

You will learn safe planning, the use of enriched air mixtures containing between 21 and 100% oxygen for dives at depths of up to 150 feet. Upon successful completion of the course, divers are qualified to plan and execute decompression stop dives without supervision and under conditions similar to those of the training.

You can follow this training in double or side configuration (sidemount).

AOW-nitrox / 25 dives / excellent buoyancy are required. As always, our students receive 15% off a variety of equipment in the shop.

Details

Event by Nathalie Lasselin Aquanath

September 26 evening; 30 September/1 October all day

Dives: 6 over 3 days at Ivy Lea, Ontario

All welcome on or off Facebook

Contact: info@pixnat.com

Learn more at: https://www.facebook.com/events/6711229548940200

As Divers we tend be very aware of the environment we explore. We are especially aware when changes to that environment occur. Within the Great Lakes, we have been most aware of how introduced species have had a greatly detrimental effect to the freshwater ecosystem of these lakes. Having had the pleasure of diving in the Lower Great Lakes for over 50 years, the introduction of zebra mussels, quagga mussels and the Round Goby have certainly changed that experience!

New divers no longer have the opportunity to witness what it once was like before this new reality.

As most of us are aware these introduced species came when ships travelling through the Great Lakes emptied their ballast tanks. Zebra mussels were the first to be noticed in the 1990’s but quickly followed by the two other species that also were native to the same regions- the quagga mussel and the Round Goby.

Round Gobies have become, on a lot of dives in Southern Ontario, the most predominant species of fish observed. I can remember a dive on the CB Benson off Port Colborne in Lake Erie where, as I was descending near the bow, it appeared that the entire deck was moving. It was literally the movement of hundreds of the little buggers moving about on the deck. This observation has been repeated several times on other wrecks. They even appeared to be gazing up at me as I reached the wrecks-eerie indeed!

Like the mussels, the Round gobies have had a deleterious effect on freshwater ecosystems they have ‘invaded’. They do, however have one redeeming feature-the are adapted to eat zebra mussels and they certainly now have an abundant food source in the Great Lakes. For me, they have become an interesting subject during underwater photography dives. Although they are quite skittish, moving about quickly, they can be approached and photographed with a little patience. They make a good ‘practice subject’!

Thanks to David Gilchrist for his article and the photos.

Follow David’s Dive Adventures on Facebook and Instagram.

Divemaster Allan Parrish believes he saw a shipwreck deep in the waters off Skinner’s Pond on Prince Edward Island’s northwest tip.

Last week, Parrish led a team of five divers to survey the debris and film the exhibition.

Allan Parrish’s Dive Report

The site is approximately 3.5 miles northwest of Skinner’s pond, resting at a max depth of 73 feet at high tide. We were informed of the wreckage via Facebook, on PEI Scuba Divers by a team of divers that had come here in search of U-boats.

They had sailed out and inspected the site before turning the dive due to the fact that it was not a U-boat. Later that day, they made a post claiming that it was another dead end.

Kelly Campbell then asked them what it was that they had found, in which they had replied that it was an old barge and essentially not within their interests.

Devon Lynn, set up a dive to this site on the vessel “Squeeze the breeze”, captained by Isaac Knox. She messaged me and asked me if I was interested and this turned into a team of five divers, Two dives were conducted, first one was to survey the perimeter for less localized wreckage and the second dive was for the camera work on the central wreck itself.

Alan Parrish

Skinners Pond

Skinners Pond is a rural unincorporated community in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.

It is located northwest of Tignish in the township of near the province’s northwestern tip. Agriculture and fishing are the primary industries in the area. Skinners Pond is named after a small lake of the same name. Skinner Pond was the original name of the settlement, but it was changed to Skinners Pond in 1966.

Skinners Pond’s exact population is unknown because it is incorporated into Lot 1 township (population 1,900 in 2001).

Skinners Pond is best known as the boyhood home of Canadian musician Stompin’ Tom Connors, who was adopted and raised by a local farm family.

According to the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation, a wooden sailing ship called the Brittanis is known to have sunk in the area in 1852, but the wreckage could not be positively identified as the Brittanis.

Alan plans to conduct additional dives to further investigate the wreckage.

Thanks for the report, video and photo, Alan Parrish.

Follow Alan’s Dive Adventures on Facebook

The best dive of the Lake Saint Charles project to date occurred on May 22, 2023. Lots of fish and 45+ fishing hooks removed in less than 20 minutes.

Thank you to the citizens who came to exchange ideas, the project’s very curious children, and the very respectful fishermen who raised their rods during my dive in their area! Thank you, by the way, to the gentleman who stayed afloat to ask the fishermen who couldn’t fish because I was below haha! This is fantastic!

Manuel ANO

Manuel ANO scheduled another dive in Lake Charles in June 2023. He and his team have an exceptional diving permit at Lake Saint-Charles for scientific and educational purposes. It is strictly forbidden to dive there. Please be mindful of this delicate ecosystem.

Lake Saint Charles

Lake Saint-Charles is a lake in Quebec, Canada’s Capitale-Nationale region. It is part of the Quebec City borough of La Haute-Saint-Charles (section West) and part of the Stoneham-et-Tewkesbury united township municipality (section East).

The Saint-Charles River originates in Lake Saint-Charles. It is an important natural habitat for residents of Quebec City because it is less than 20 minutes from downtown. A portion of the drainage basin is also administered by Lac-Delage and the borough of Charlesbourg.

Lac Saint-Charles is primarily served on the east by the Grande Ligne road and on the west by the Lac-Saint-Charles road for recreational tourism and forestry.

From the end of December to the beginning of March, the surface of Lake Saint-Charles is generally frozen; safe circulation on the ice is generally done from the end of December to the beginning of March.

The Cyrille-Delage dam raises the level of Lake Saint-Charles because it serves as a reservoir for the water supply of the city of Quebec’s drinking water treatment plant. Erected at the lake’s exit in 1934, it was replaced in 1948, and the lake was raised again. The surrounding lowlands were submerged over widths of up to 50 meters (160 feet) as a result of this dam. The lake level is now about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) higher than it was originally. This impoundment thus disrupted the physical and biological balance of the lake by altering its morphometry, bringing a massive supply of sediment, and causing a significant deficit in oxygen over half of the water column on a regular basis.

In the fall of 2006, the presence of blue algae, or cyanobacteria, revealed a new problem at Lake Saint-Charles. Although the causes of this phenomenon are being investigated, steps have already been taken to limit phosphorus supplies.

The lake serves as the starting point for the Saint-Charles and Berger rivers’ Linear Park.

Thanks to Manuel ANO for his photo contributions.

Follow Manuel’s Dive Adventures on Facebook.

On July 15th, Bob Jaeck and Brendon Baillod located an historic Wisconsin shipwreck in deep water. They have now completed their work with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Archeology program to survey and document the site and are ready to reveal its identity.

Join them for a one hour live program during which Bob Jaeck and Brendon Baillos will discuss the fascinating history of this ship as well as how it was located and documented. Be the first to see the stunning photogrammetry model of the vessel as well as underwater video.

Bob and Brendon will take your questions live.

The press release announcing the find to the media will go out immediately after the program.

Details

Event by Brendon Baillod and Great Lakes Shipwreck Research Group.

Tuesday August 29, 2023, at 8pm, live on Facebook.

All welcome; on or off Facebook.

Learn more at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1659979704469671/

The issue of abandoned boats continues to be a scourge across the global boating community. In Canada, the Coast Guard is upping their enforcement.

There is growing pressure worldwide to deal with the issue of abandoned boats.

In places like Venice, Italy, small abandoned boats are such a problem that they’re affecting the region’s aquatic landscape. For Cape Town, South Africa, even luxury superyachts have been abandoned, becoming a longstanding issue for locals.

The problem has reached such a fever pitch that Canada has instituted an Abandoned Boat Program to collect derelict vessels and hold the owners responsible for their removal.

The problem is so widespread, however, that countries like Canada have been forced to level up their enforcement capabilities.

According to the Globe & Mail, there are over 1700 abandoned vessels registered with the Canadian Coast Guard, 70% of which are in the province of British Columbia alone.

Even with the nationwide launch of the Abandoned Boats Program four years ago, the Canadian government had only levied two fines against derelict owners until this year.

In one of those cases, the owner of a wrecked cabin cruiser named Akoo, which washed ashore on Vancouver Island, was fined $15,000 by the Canadian Coast Guard. The fine was levied using the Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act — a 2019 law that gives authorities more power to penalize owners whose boats are hazardous to marine environments and public safety.

Paul Barrett, the agency’s superintendent of compliance and enforcement, told The Globe that the Akoo had been anchored in Cadboro Bay in Victoria before breaking loose and washing ashore on a popular beach. The agency contacted the boat’s owner, Ryan Brackenbury, who failed to establish a salvage plan.

“When it first ran aground, it was discharging fuel into the sand,” Barrett told the Vancouver Sun. “There’s smashed glass, there’s people climbing on it. It’s a clearcut case of a hazardous vessel.”

For Brackenbury and the Akoo, it appears there were several months between when it first drifted ashore and the eventual enforcement.

Brackenbury claims he proposed a way of removing the Akoo from the beach to authorities, but the Coast Guard didn’t accept his plan. He also claims he can’t be proven to be the registered owner of the boat.

“It’s not even my boat, like it’s not registered to me. They can’t really prove that it’s mine,” he told The Globe.

In a case like Brackenbury’s, sourcing the boat’s registration and determining the owner are two feats that rarely happen in short order.

“If a vessel’s been left for a really long time, the registries might have lapsed and might not be valid anymore,” Barrett told The Globe.

But while some vessels are difficult to trace, there are several others on the Canadian registry that are well-known and border on public spectacle.

The most notorious Canadian example is probably the McBarge, an abandoned floating McDonald’s restaurant that even has its own Wikipedia page showing the coordinates to its location. The 187-foot barge was built for Expo 86′ in Vancouver and has attracted so much attention it was used for the 2004 Hollywood film Blade: Trinity.

Another unfortunately notorious example is the MV Sun Sea, a Thai cargo ship that was intercepted by the Coast Guard in August 2010. Onboard, authorities found 492 Sri Lankan asylum seekers who all made refugee claims. The incident made international headlines and is believed to have cost Canadian taxpayers some $25 million between the seizure, search, and removal. The vessel was abandoned at the Nanaimo Shipyard shortly thereafter before it was finally dismantled in 2019 when the Public Works and Government Services of Canada got involved.

Nico Preston, a wharf keeper on Mayne Island, between Vancouver Island and the mainland, told The Globe there are many reasons why vessels are abandoned.

“I imagine there are going to be a lot of abandoned boats from kind of the COVID era, where a lot of people got into boating and then had lost interest or became unable to keep up with the costs of keeping a boat on the water,” said Preston. “Then there’s also limited moorage available. It’s difficult to find a place to dock a boat that’s protected. You know, there’s only so many protected harbours in British Columbia.”

So, what’s the solution?

In the case of British Columbia, there’s a growing aspect of locally-operated tracking and enforcement.

John Roe, a longtime mariner in Victoria, BC, started the Dead Boats Society after getting involved with the seizure and disposal of “numerous” problematic vessels over the years.

For Roe and his team, the aim of Dead Boats Society is to promote “research, education, inventory, removal, assessment, remediation, and disposal of dead boats and marine debris.” The not-for-profit organization has undertaken over 10 restoration projects around greater Vancouver Island focusing on particularly troublesome bays, islands, and harbours.

All proceeds they raise go towards cleaning up their beloved waterway.

He told The Globe that many boats end up abandoned due to “urban pressures,” with marina space in short supply.

“The prices have gone up exponentially. I can’t afford to keep a boat in the marina myself, so none of my boats are in the water right now,” he said. “There’s no economical way to dispose of these things. There just isn’t.”

But while the abandoned boat problem isn’t likely to decrease under current economic conditions in the near term, Roe and his team will continue to make a difference. So will the Coast Guard.

“We can govern what happens, both municipally and provincially, and federally what happens in our water,” Roe said. “So, we just need to say, ‘your rotten old boat’s got to go.’”

For Barrett and the Coast Guard, “We’re less worried about eyesores. What we’re worried about with this act in particular is hazards,” he said.

BoatBlurb Newsletter

The Cora W Post Brick Barge is a freshwater dive accessible from the shore on Howe Island in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, near the lighthouse and across from Wolfe Island. She sits in 36-40 feet (11-12 m) of water on the mud bottom of Lake Ontario, making it a good dive for recreational divers.

The Cora W Post was a two-masted schooner barge carrying about 15,000 bricks. The schooner measured 40.0 x 12.2 x 4.7 feet. According to all reports, the Cora W Post had no visible signal lights when she was involved in a collision and sank quickly in August 1891. There was no loss of lives.

When you arrive at the wreck, you will notice that the Cora Post’s cargo of bricks has caused it to gradually sink into Lake Ontario’s mud bottom. There is still a small portion of the mast and what appears to be the remains of a stove visible in the centre of the boat. The wreck usually has some fish for the underwater photographer to photograph. If you want to keep diving, there are holes nearby that drop to 130 feet, and you’ll be deeper in the St Lawrence River as you head south.

As a side note, there are trucks and cars underwater in the area as a result of blotched attempted ice crossings that were common in the winter months. Historically, Kingston was a commonwealth pilot training centre. According to legend, at the end of WWII, a flight plane crashed on the ice. After the ice melted, the plane sank and was never found.

Dive Report

The maximum depth is 36-40 feet / 11-12 meters. The average visibility is 16-20 feet (5-6 meters). Entering through the white light beacon, swim SE and look for a line that will take you to the wreck. The wreck has sunk into the mud, but the bricks can still be seen. Swim south down the bank to reach 120 feet of water. You must take the pay ferry across to Howe Island.

Chris Haslip

Thanks to Chris Haslip for his video and information.

A diver is someone who swims under water while wearing special breathing equipment. Why?

Scuba diving allows you to move freely underwater, giving you the impression that you are a part of the marine life. Another advantage of diving is that it is the closest thing to flying. Not having to deal with gravity makes you feel weightless and flying into the sky.

If you ask a diver why they dive, the answer may be to see shipwrecks and get a glimpse of history that non-divers can only read about. Shipwreck hunters can be found all over the world, and many will tell you that discovering a new shipwreck was their most thrilling experience.

A team of divers searching the waters off Quebec’s Magdalen Islands this summer claims to have discovered seven shipwrecks dating back to the 1800s. These were discovered between May and July. It was definitely an exciting experience! Five of the seven wrecks appear to be small schooners of 12 to 15 meters in length, with the remaining two measuring 40 meters. So, why is this discovery being made now? Changes in ocean currents and severe storms, such as last year’s post-tropical storm Fiona, are thought to have swept away the sand that had hidden shipwrecks. The ocean floor, however, is “vast,” and it’s possible that the wrecks were simply missed.

Hundreds of ships are thought to have sunk in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near the Magdalen Islands :: a 12-island chain or group of islands located between Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland — but the majority of their final resting places are unknown.

Magdalen Islands

The Magdalen Islands are a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, covering 205.53 square kilometres (79.36 square miles). While the islands are part of Quebec, they are closer to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland than to the Gaspé Peninsula on the Quebec mainland. The islands are part of Mi’kma’ki’s Epegwitg aq Pigtug district, which is known as Menagoesenog by the Mi’kmaw Nation. Amherst, Grande Entrée, Grindstone, Grosse-Île, House Harbour, Pointe-Aux-Loups, Entry Island, and Brion are the eight major islands; all but Brion are inhabited. Other tiny islands included in the archipelago include Bird Rock (Rocher aux Oiseaux), Seal Island (Île aux Loups-marins), Île Paquet, and Rocher du Corps Mort.

Some of the islanders are descended from survivors of the islands’ more than 400 shipwrecks. Some of the historic homes were built with wood salvaged from shipwrecks.

Until the twentieth century, the islands were completely isolated during the winter because pack ice made the journey to the mainland by boat impassable. There was no way for the islands to communicate with the mainland. An underwater cable was installed to allow telegraph communication, but the cable broke in winter 1910, re-isolating the islands.

To ensure winter communication, the government built new wireless telegraph stations on the Magdalens within a few years. Every tourist shop sells replicas of the puncheon, which became famous as a symbol of survival.

With ever-improving technology, scuba gear, cameras, and underwater sonar devices, this will not be the last discovery of “multiple” shipwrecks in one area.

This event by COJO diving is planned as part of the Great Fundy Coastal Cleanup, by the Nature Trust of NB. This is an interesting site, adjacent to the Meredith Houseworth Memorial Seashore nature preserve. 

https://www.naturetrust.nb.ca/en/meredith-houseworth-memorial-seashore

Meet time at the site is 10:00am, and will consist of a shore cleanup until approx 1pm, and a dive at 2pm. Participants should plan to be on the 07:30 ferry from Blacks Harbour if participating in the shore cleanup, or the 09:30 ferry if only participating in the dive.

Same day ferry return can be at 5:30pm or 7:15pm. NOTE – Ferry reservations are strongly recommended!

Additional details for the event will be posted as they become available!

We will provide bags for collecting debris on shore and in the water. As always equipment rentals are discounted 25% for the event!

Divers attending the event with rentals from COJO must make arrangement to pickup rentals prior to the event, and return to COJO in Lincoln – we are unable to transport rentals to/from this event, sorry!

Details

Event by COJO Diving: Saturday August 19, 2023 From 9am to 3pm

Whale Cove Rd, Grand Manan, NB E5G, Canada

Duration: 6 hr

Public anyone on or off Facebook

Learn more at: https://www.facebook.com/events/274478305168798

Saltwater Sean (Sean McMullen) of Nova Scotia discovered this J. Quinn Ginger Beer bottle during one of his freediving cleanups in and around Nova Scotia. Sean is a freediver and explorer on a mission to discover and protect what lies beneath the sea! His main motivation for this project is to raise awareness about ocean, lake, and river conservation. Sean brings everything he discovers with him to show others that what lies beneath the surface isn’t always beautiful.

Sean recently discovered a J. Quinn Ginger Beer bottle in Terence Bay, Nova Scotia.

Earthenware (coarse)
Dates range from 1835 to 1900.
Origin: Developed in Bristol, England, but manufactured elsewhere as well.

The Powell family in Bristol, England, created the Bristol-style glazed earthenware bottles, which were used from 1835 to 1900. The ware’s texture ranged from coarse to moderately coarse. Beverage bottles and preserve/condiment jars were the most common vessel types.

Between 1888 and 1914, Felix J. Quinn made bottles in Halifax. The bottles were frequently made of glass toward the end of this range. The bottles were mostly imported from Britain, but the contents were made in Nova Scotia.

Video by Saltwater Sean in Nova Scotia

“”Ever wonder what else comes out at night in our lakes and rivers?

Night diving in Lower Niagara river at Navy Hall allows us to photograph the Carnivorous Necturus Maculosus aka mud puppy/mud pout. During the day they hide under rocks and such. They eat worms, but little toes in the water could get nibbled on too!””

Jimmy Lockard

The common mud puppy is a salamander in the Proteidae family. It spends its entire life in lakes, rivers, and ponds throughout North America. It undergoes paedomorphosis (retention of juvenile characters into adulthood) and keeps its external gills. Because skin and lung respiration alone are insufficient for gas exchange, the common mud puppy is forced to rely on external gills as its primary means of gas exchange. It is typically rusty brown in colour and can reach a total length (including tail) of 13in (330 mm). It is a nocturnal creature that only comes out during the day if the water in which it lives is murky. When lakes freeze, mud puppies can even live beneath the ice. It eats almost anything it can get its hands on, including insects, mollusks, and earthworms (along with other annelids).

The common mud puppy is rusty brown with grey and black spots and usually has blackish-blue spots, but albino adults have been reported in Arkansas USA. In clear, light water, their skin darkens, while in darker water, their skin lightens.

It takes six years for mud puppies to reach sexual maturity. Mating occurs in the autumn, but eggs are not laid until much later. Males’ cloacae swell when they are ready to breed. Males deposit their spermatophores in the environment’s substratum. The female will then collect them with her cloaca and deposit them in a small specialized gland called a spermatheca until the eggs are fertilized. Females store sperm until ovulation and internal fertilization occur, which occurs usually just before deposition in the spring. Male mud puppies leave the nest before the eggs are laid. When the eggs are ready, the female places them in a safe place, usually on the underside of a rock or log. They can lay anywhere from 20 to 200 eggs, with an average of 60. The eggs are unpigmented and measure approximately 5-6 mm (0.20-0.24 in) in diameter. During the incubation period (around 40 days), the female remains with her eggs. Hatchlings are approximately 2.5 cm (0.98 in) long and grow to 3.6 cm (1.4 in) before the yolk is consumed completely.

Thanks Jimmy Lockard for the Quote and Pictures. Pictures taken three years ago during a night dive at Lower Navy Hall on the Lower Niagara River.

Follow Jimmy’s Dive Adventures on Facebook

A Hamilton photographer and a Brantford model have scored a Guinness World Record for a 2021 photo shoot deep in the depths of Tobermory waters.

Source: CHCH News

The sea lamprey is an invasive species that has been kept under control in Canada’s Great Lakes for decades – until now. Erica Vella explains how the pandemic fueled a surge in the population of “vampire fish,” and what’s being done to stop them.

About Sea Lamprey aka Vampire Fish

The body of the sea lamprey is eel-like, with no paired fins. It has a jawless mouth that is round and sucker-like, as wide as or wider than the head, with sharp teeth arranged in many concentric circular rows. Behind the eye, there are seven branchial or gill-like openings. The dorsal and lateral parts of the body are olive or brown-yellow, with some black marblings and a lighter coloration on the belly. Adults can grow to be 120 cm (47 in) long and weigh up to 2.3 kg (5.1 lb).

The Welland Canal, which connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, was used as an entrance for sea lamprey into the Great Lakes in the early nineteenth century. Within ten years, they had gained access to all five Great Lakes, where they quickly set to work predating on the lakes’ commercially important fishes, including trout, whitefish, perch, and sturgeon.

The lamprey attaches itself to the skin of a fish with its suction cup-like mouth and rasps away tissue with its sharp, probing tongue and keratinized teeth. Lamphredin, a fluid produced in the lamprey’s mouth, prevents the victim’s blood from clotting. Victims usually die as a result of excessive blood loss or infection. A year and a half after metamorphosis, lampreys return to the river to spawn and die after one year of hematophagous feeding.

Their populations are now rapidly increasing, and lampreys are becoming a growing problem for commercial fishermen.

New methods for controlling sea lampreys are constantly being developed. Because sea lampreys communicate using odours, scientists have replicated these odours to improve the efficacy of current control methods.

“Leave well enough alone” is an expression. This easily applied to the Alvin Clark, a schooner that sailed the Great Lakes for two decades in the 1800s. It was built in 1846 or 1847 and sank in Green Bay during a storm in 1864. It was salvaged in 1969 and moored on the Menominee River at the Mystery Ship Seaport in Menominee, Michigan.

Alvin Clark was a 105-foot-long (32-meter-long) square-stern lumber schooner with a beam of 25 feet (8 meters) and a displacement of 218 tons. It was made mostly of white oak, with 2+12-inch (63.5 mm) planking and 10-inch (254 mm)-wide ribs. The ship had a single deck, two masts, including a mainmast of 110 feet (34 meters), and was rigged as a brigantine with a square foremast.

On June 19, 1864, the ship was sailing empty through Lake Michigan to Oconto, Wisconsin, to pick up a load of lumber. As the ship approached Green Bay, Captain Dunnin ordered the holds cleaned and the hatches removed. A sudden storm capsized the ship just off the coast of Green Bay’s Chambers Island. Captain Dunnin, the mate, and another sailor drowned, but two other sailors were saved. A few months after the wreck, an attempt was made to salvage the ship, but it was unsuccessful, and the Alvin Clark was abandoned on the lakebed.

In 1967, a commercial fisherman hired sport diver Frank Hoffman to free nets that had become entangled on a “unknown obstruction” beneath the surface of Green Bay. Hoffman dove in and discovered the nets tangled in what appeared to be the mast of a ship. Hoffman initially referred to the wreck as “the Mystery Ship at 19 Fathoms,” but the ship was later identified as the Alvin Clark, thanks to a stencil made below decks by one of the sailors. The ship was completely intact and in excellent condition, and Hoffman obtained salvage rights the following year. He assembled a salvage team that recovered artifacts and removed silt from the wreck.

According to historian Theodore Karamanski, the Alvin Clark was the “finest preserved historic vessel in the United States” at the time. It was completely intact, with some mechanical systems still operational and a variety of preserved artifacts. Even after the water was pumped out of the holds, the ship remained afloat. Hoffman berthed the ship in Menominee, cleaning and re-rigging it before easing it into an earthen slip. Hoffman built a museum nearby and displayed the ship as a tourist attraction at Menominee’s “Mystery Ship Seaport” on Sixth Street. The ship was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1972 and a National Register of Historic Places member in 1974.

Alvin Clark began to deteriorate almost immediately after being freed from the cold, low-oxygen waters at the bay’s bottom. The museum’s earnings did not cover Hoffman’s $300,000 debt, let alone provide restoration funds. The ship eventually deteriorated to the point where it could no longer be restored. In 1985, an inebriated Hoffman attempted to burn what was left of the ship with kerosene, but he was apprehended and sentenced to a week in prison and a year on probation. He sold the ship, now a hulk, to a group of local investors in 1987 for $117,000. The investors relocated and stabilized the ship, but they were unable to adequately protect it. The ship was eventually determined to be beyond repair and declared a public hazard. The Mystery Ship Seaport and the Alvin Clark were demolished in 1994 to make way for a parking lot.

What happens to waterlogged wood?

Uncontrolled drying of wet wood causes evaporation, and when water evaporates, it exerts surface tension. This can cause the wood to split, twist, and even shrink, and if left unchecked, the wood will develop cracks and disintegrate, resulting in the loss of valuable information and even entire artifacts.

At the time, the Alvin Clark was regarded as the best preserved historic vessel in the United States. It was completely intact, with some mechanical systems still operational and a variety of preserved artifacts, but once freed from Lake Michigan’s cold, low oxygen waters, its fate became a parking lot.

Have you ever wanted to scuba dive the Niagara River? Come along with Bill Lindberg on a dive and see what divers see.

Niagara River

The Niagara River flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario in the north. It forms part of the border between the Canadian province of Ontario (on the west) and the state of New York (on the east). There are several theories as to how the river got its name. According to Iroquoian scholar Bruce Trigger, the name Niagara comes from a branch of the locally residing native Neutral Confederacy, who are referred to as the Niagagarega people on several late-17th-century French maps of the area. It derives from the name of an Iroquois town called Ongniaahra, which means “point of land cut in two,” according to George R. Stewart.

The river, which is sometimes referred to as a strait, is about 58 kilometres (36 miles) long and runs through Niagara Falls. In the last 12,000 years, the falls have moved approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) upstream from the Niagara Escarpment, resulting in a gorge below the falls. The diversion of the river for power generation has significantly reduced the rate of erosion today. The total elevation change along the river is 99 meters (325 feet). The Niagara Gorge, which runs downstream from the Falls, contains the Niagara Whirlpool and another section of rapids.

The Niagara River and Falls have been known outside of North America since the late 17th century, when French explorer Father Louis Hennepin first saw them. In A New Discovery of a Vast Country in America (1698), he wrote about his travels.

The Niagara River was the site of America’s first recorded railway. In 1764, John Montresor (1736-1799), a British military engineer, built an inclined wooden tramway. It was known as “The Cradles” and “The Old Lewiston Incline,” and it featured loaded carts being dragged up wooden rails by rope. It aided in the transportation of goods across the Niagara Escarpment in present-day Lewiston, New York.

Several battles occurred along the Niagara River, which was historically defended by Fort George (Canadian side), Fort Niagara (American side), and Fort Erie (Canadian side) at the river’s mouth and Fort Erie (Canadian side) at the river’s head. During the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War in the United States) and the American Revolutionary War, these forts were crucial. During the War of 1812, the Battle of Queenston Heights took place near the river.

Before the American Civil War, the river was an important route to freedom, with many African-Americans escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad crossing it to find freedom in Canada. In Lewiston, the Freedom Crossing Monument commemorates the bravery of those who crossed the river.

Dive Statistics

Bill stated in the video; this is an advanced dive due to the strong current usually around 8km/h or 5miles/h. It varies depending on hydro requirements at the falls and width of the river. Narrow sections between the peace bridge and international train bridge is where the flow is the fastest, as it widens out downstream from international train bridge. With being wider there, the current slows down a little. It is impossible to stay stationary in the river due to force of the current. Bill also advised in the video that a diver that knows the river/current should accompany you.

Bill Lindberg

Niagara Falls is also known as “The Honeymoon Capital,” attracting many newlyweds.

Thanks to Bill Lindberg for his dive statistics and video contribution.

Follow Bill’s dive adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube

Sarnia, Ontario’s waterfront has the Bluewater Bridge, connecting Sarnia, Ontario to Port Huron Michigan, a walking path, benches and of course the french fry truck. This is a popular place for locals and visitors to sit, watch and enjoy the freighters leaving Lake Huron and passing under the bridge on their journeys south, usually with a full cargo. Common cargoes carried on lake freighters are taconite, limestone, grain, salt, coal, cement, gypsum, sand, slag, and potash. Because of the ease of transport, some of their cargo supplies the auto industry’s steel mills, which are centred on the Great Lakes.

About Rocky the Snake

Wendy Marsden, a Sarnia retiree who, with her partner, placed 13 painted stones and a hand-written sign next to a sidewalk overlooking the St. Clair River at the Rotary Flag Plaza, near the Blue Water Bridge, in mid-June. What began with 13 painted rocks has now grown to over 3,000 (as of this article) and is still growing. Wendy, was inspired by a video she saw online for this project.

Volunteers from the Alzheimer Society of Sarnia-Lambton recently set up a table with art supplies, thanks to funding from Bluewater Power, so kids could paint stones to add to Rocky.

Some rocks are artistic impressions, messages and even a proposal.

The City of Sarnia has not inferred with Rocky, as he continues to grow. Rocky makes no hiss or slither, just a line of colourful rocks for people to enjoy.

TikTok Video: Christy Bartts

Join us at Mariners Park Museum on August 12th at 1:00pm for a special presentation by diver Corey Phillips. Corey will speak about the shipwrecks which are moored in the Prince Edward County area, the mooring process, and a little history about each the wrecks.

About Corey Phillips

My wife comes up with the most amazing gifts. In 2002, she “gifted” me with getting open water certified. Diving on evening charters, I expanded my knowledge and skills with the GUE Fundamentals and eventually Tech 1 courses. Once I had in-water skills, I wanted to go places that hadn’t been explored in some time, usually long forgotten shipwrecks using a “shotline” as my only guide to the bottom. Ever since I have been hooked on diving. I have not had much opportunity to dive outside of Ontario but have visited Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Vancouver, Florida, and Tortola, completing dives in each location.

Highlights of my diving background:

900+ dives.
Technical diver certified to 170’ using normoxic trimix, deco gases 50%, and 100% oxygen.
DPV (Underwater scooter)
No touch diving techniques used.
Videographer and Photographer.
Past Vice-President of Preserve Our Wrecks (Kingston).
Involved in getting a mooring block installed on the shipwreck, the Eureka.
Current Mooring Director of Save Ontario Shipwrecks – Picton Chapter.
Working away at getting all moorings up to SOS Corporate standard.
Member of the Florence project, which installed a block and line.
Current diver on the P-51 Mustang project
Officer Barry Newman recovery team
Shot video in Little Marble Lake and passed it on so the Cloyne and District Historical Society
Co-founder of Ontario Diving on Facebook (over 3700 members).
Co-founder of shotlinediving.com, which documents shipwrecks and is quickly becoming the go-to location to track wrecks in Ontario waters.

I enjoy passing images and videos from my passion for those who don’t dive to see.

Corey Phillips

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Kayla Martin is very excited to be presenting “3 Different Times” about her diving experiences with shipwrecks at the Port Colborne Marine Museum on July 29th.

Registration and tickets are not required, but RVSPs are requested to ensure adequate seating. Please RSVP by calling (905) 835-2900 ext. 550 or emailing fallon.gervais@portcolborne.ca.

About Kayla Martin

Kayla Martin is a recent Wilfred Laurier University BSc Water Science and Environmental Health graduate. She began diving at the age of thirteen and has logged hundreds of dives exploring historic shipwrecks and beautiful coral reefs.

Kayla is involved in Great Lakes conservation and education. She researches invasive species and methods to prevent and control their spread into water bodies, particularly inland lakes and rivers. She most recently worked for Parks Canada in the Rouge National Urban Park Drinking Water Quality Program, where she helped tenants transition from bottled water to healthy tap water. Her research focuses on our interactions with water, the environmental impacts of water use, and strategies for achieving sustainability for future generations. She is currently working as a Research Assistant for the Wetlands Hydrology Research Group at the University of Waterloo, investigating peatlands in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region.

Kayla hopes to inspire the next generation of divers with her passion for diving and all things water-related. She has spoken at diving conventions all over North America, including the prestigious Our World Underwater film festival in Chicago and the Niagara Divers Association Shipwrecks Show. She is an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQ community and has organized and taken part in “Women’s Day of Diving” activities to encourage women of all ages and abilities to explore the underwater world. Kayla is a spokesperson for a number of Canadian marine conservation organizations. She works with Save Our Shipwrecks (SOS) to promote the preservation of historic shipwrecks and low-impact diving, and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee to document submerged historical sites. She is the Niagara Divers Association’s Membership Director.

Kayla Martin on Facebook

Back during mooring season we got word the cabin had fallen down on the Ellie May shipwreck but really didn’t know the extent of the damage. I got a chance to see it this week, and my pictures show the story. (Matthew Charlesworth)

It looks like it was lifted and dropped during the off season on its spine and cracked at the keel and split the hull. There was no evidence I could tell of anchors or other human interaction to cause its collapse. We have had some incredible storms lately, though its surprising to see something 50ft down affected. I was reminded by a colleague that its a stark reminder that even in conditions like ours (colder, fresh water) none of these sites will last forever.

Not to jump on some soap box but this is a prime example of why I am happy to belong/and contribute to preservation and heritage groups. Folks like shotlinediving.com, 3Dshipwrecks.org & GLSPS, Preserve Our Wrecks Kingston, and last but not least Save Ontario Shipwrecks do some amazing work. None of them are perfect, however their efforts to record and educate folks on our marine heritage play a huge part keeping our communities history alive. I would encourage you to visit each of those online sites to see the Effie Mae in her glory. I intend to make a 3d model at some point soon of her current state.

Get out there dive the great lakes sites while you can, take only pictures leave only bubbles.

About the Effie May

The Elffie Mae arrived at the Metal Craft Dry Dock in the spring of 1993 to be prepared for sinking. The Effie Mae was laid to rest on October 17, 1993, twenty-five years after her christening. She is now a popular dive site, sitting upright next to the wreck of the schooner barge Aloha. Local divers affectionately refer to the “Effie” wreck as “Ken’s wreck,” as Ken Mullings did the majority of the work to sink the Effie for all to enjoy.

Thanks to Matthew Charlesworth for the contribution of this article and photographs.

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As a diver for close to 3 decades, I have developed a fascination for the diverse nature of Canada’s Marine environments. During that time, I have had the opportunity to dive in a variety of these environments from the Queen Charlotte Islands, to the waters off Nova Scotia at Cape Breton and Lunenburg. One of my most fascinating underwater adventures, however, was the opportunity to photograph the diverse aquatic life of an arctic kelp bed at Resolute Bay in the North West Territories.

In the late 1980’s , my diving partner Jim Lockard and I visited Resolute with Dr. Mike Dickman who, at that time, was conducting research on freshwater meromictic lakes. During that first trip, Jim and I took the opportunity to dive several times in the waters of Resolute Bay. On those dives, we were quite astounded at the variety and beauty of the underwater life in these seemingly hostile, frigid waters. Our use of underwater still camera systems proved fruitful and we were able to return with some interesting images.

Two years later, with the assistance of Energy, Mines & Resources, Canada and the Exploration program of the Canada Council, I received support through the Arctic Awareness Program. This program allowed artists, writers , photographers and film makers the opportunity to use the facilities of the Polar Continental Shelf Project as they worked on a wide variety of projects. My project was to conduct underwater photography in Resolute Bay . While at Resolute, I also was fortunate to receive much advice and support from Dr. Harold ‘Buster’ Welch and Bruce Townshend of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Jim Lockard, Ed Butski both from St. Catharines Ontario and John Veber of Brantford, Ontario accompanied me on the trip to act as support divers for the project.

It proved to be quite fascinating. As a photographer, I was particularly amazed at the colouration and size of some of the invertebrates that we saw during our dives. Richly coloured anemones and vibrant soft corals proved to be very beautiful subjects. During one series of dives, I was able to use a variety of close-up equipment fitted to the Nikonis cameras to capture the ‘planktonic’ invertebrates. Although, at times, difficult to capture on film these creatures, when spotted, became a highlight of our dives. Often drifting with the tidal flow, they provided a never-ending variety of photographic possibilities. The images taken, when viewed back at home, proved to be quite interesting. Many of the creatures, I felt, resembled alien life-forms, but they have inhabited our arctic seas for millenia.

I was also intrigued by the natural formations seen on the ice that grounded in the bay. Above water the shapes proved to be interesting, but below the surface these natural sculptures were often quite intricate and very delicate. During the 24 hours of daylight, the upper portion of the ice was exposed to a lot of sun. As it melted, the ice often took on a diverse variety of shapes. When re-immersed during high tide, we could swim around to inspect these natural creations. They were often quite incredible.

From the large collection of slide images taken during the two trips, a selection was made into a set of Cibachrome prints. This set of prints has been displayed at several locations in the intervening years. It continues to provide viewers with an interesting glimpse of the variety of life beneath Arctic Waters.

Article/Photo Contribution: David Gilchrist

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