The stunning ship washed up on a rural Canadian beach (Picture: Corey Purchase/Anne Osmond)
A shipwreck thought to be centuries old has re-emerged from the ocean after a storm dredged it up.
The wreck appeared on the shores of Cape Ray, Newfoundland after tropical storm Fiona moved through the area.
A local bird hunter first noticed the wreck under the waves around January 20, and word spread quickly in the community.
Local Gordon Blackmore, 21, told CBC: ‘It’s amazing, there is no other word for it. I’m just curious if they can name the ship, how old it is and if there were any souls lost on her.’
The wooden ship could date back to the 19th century, experts believe, due to the wooden dowels seen on the boat.
Measuring at an astounding 80 feet, the ship was originally believed to be a schooner – but others believe it’s too large.
The incredible shipwreck washed up after a storm (Picture: Corey Purchase)
The wooden beams of the ship are clear (Picture: Anne Osmond)
President of the Shipwreck Preservation Society of Newfoundland and Labrador told the Guardian: ‘This is a great, great event. If it’s oak or beech or a hardwood species like that, it will tell us it wasn’t made here in Newfoundland and was probably made over in Europe somewhere.’
The local databases of shipwrecks will help researchers find out if the ship was marked as missing, or if it truly is an unknown ship.
A local team has been dispatched to the rural area to help – but some artifacts have already been removed from the wreck after gaining attention.
Resident Bert Osmond has been standing by the ship day and night, and even tied a rope around it to keep it from being sucked back out to sea.
Local Anne Osmond posted: ‘This story has gone world wide and hopefully we can secure the wreck so the officials can document it.
‘We want to give a big shoutout to Bert for being there daily to watch over this piece of history as well as everyone else who helped out and offered ropes to secure it.’
Locals tied a rope to the wreck to ensure it doesn’t drift away (Picture: Cecil Sheaves)
The ship is clearly visible from a drone camera (Picture: Corey Purchase)
The Atlantic coast is littered with shipwrecks, as the region is a former major shipping route.
In 2021, a combination of winter storms and very low tides, revealed wooden structures – believed to date back to the 1800s or possibly even earlier – near St Ives, where many locals had never seen them before.
One of the earliest recorded shipwrecks on the beach is that of a Spanish ship carrying cloth in 1514, when Porth Kidney Sands was known as Polkemyas.
There are also accounts of the cargo ship Recovery being wrecked in the area during a storm in November 1780, as well as the Severn in 1859.
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