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A ship that vanished with its entire crew on a stormy night nearly 130 years ago has been found in near-perfect condition \u2013 but an ‘alien species’ has taken hold of her.<\/p>\n
“The Africa” was towing another vessel, “The Severn”, through Lake Huron, on the US-Canada border, when it disappeared in a snowstorm in October 1895.<\/p>\n
With the towline broken, the Severn ran aground on Canada\u2019s Bruce Peninsula, where her crew was rescued \u2013 but the Africa was never seen again.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the first misfortune the ship had suffered \u2013 it had already burned down to the waterline in 1886 before being rebuilt.<\/p>\n
Now its bad luck continues even as a shipwreck \u2013 the Africa has been found entombed in quagga mussels which threaten her with collapse.<\/p>\n
Don’t miss… <\/strong> \u2018Remarkable detail\u2019 emerges from newly discovered Dunkirk shipwrecks[SHIPWRECK] <\/strong><\/p>\n Yvonne Drebert and Zach Melnick were shooting a documentary about the mussels \u2013 an invasive species that\u2019s alien to the Great Lakes \u2013 when they found the wreck.<\/p>\n Mr Melnick said: \u201cWe received a tip that scientists doing an offshore fish survey had noticed an anomaly on their sonar readout \u2013 basically an unusual bump on an otherwise flat lakebed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe honestly expected to find a pile of rocks,\u201d said Ms Drebert.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were down for only a few minutes when a huge structure loomed up from the depths \u2013 it was a shipwreck. We couldn\u2019t believe it. Everyone onboard was floored \u2013 and more than one expletive was thrown around! We really couldn’t believe our eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ship is in pristine condition \u2013 sitting upright on the lakebed, as though it’s just fallen straight from the surface and is resting on the bottom.\u201d<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n The Africa was found using an underwater ROV (remotely operated vehicle) at a depth of some 280 feet. But the ship is covered in invasive quaggas, which arrived in the Great Lakes some 30 years ago, so identifying her was a challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many quaggas filtering the Great Lakes, that the lakes are up to three times as clear as they were before the mussels,\u201d said Yvonne.<\/p>\n \u201cThe quaggas are the reason we\u2019re able to see the shipwreck in almost 300 feet of water without any additional lights. But they\u2019re also responsible for making wreck identification in the Great Lakes incredibly difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued: \u201cThe quagga mussels are slowly but surely causing the deterioration of the ship. They have small, hairy protrusions called byssal threads which they use to attach themselves to surfaces, working their way into wood, which causes deterioration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn some cases, the weight of millions of mussels can cause ship components, or even whole vessels to collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n To identify the ship, the filmmakers enlisted the help of historian, Patrick Folkes, and marine archaeologist, Scarlett Janusas. One clue was the enormous dimensions of the wreck \u2013 which is 148ft long, 26ft wide and 12.5ft high.<\/p>\n There is also a debris field of coal surrounding the vessel \u2013 the same cargo carried by the Africa and the Severn that fateful night. Having identified the wreck as the Africa, Ms Drebert can now shed some light on the mystery of why she sank, taking her crew of 11 with her.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cThe Africa sank during an early season snowstorm. Intense winds would’ve been pounding the ship, driving it into the trough of the waves, and causing it to take on water.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our video we can see that there is some hull damage to the ship, however that could’ve been caused by the ship settling on the lakebed.\u00a0Most likely, it was taking on water that brought the Africa down.\u201d<\/p>\n In their documentary,\u00a0All Too Clear<\/i>, Mr Melnick and Ms Drebert explore how quaggas are re-engineering the Great Lakes\u2019 ecosystem on a scale not seen since the retreat of the glaciers.<\/p>\n Mr Melnick said: \u201cBefore discovering the Africa, our work focused on the ecological impacts of the mussels \u2013 which have devastated fisheries around the lakes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hadn\u2019t considered the effect they could have on our cultural heritage. But the mussels have truly changed everything in the deep waters of the Great Lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n Built in 1873, the Africa was carrying coal from the US city of Ashtabula, Ohio, to Owen Sound in Ontario, Canada, when she sank.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/78\/590x\/secondary\/The-Africa-is-encrusted-in-quagga-mussels-5019110.jpg?r=1697632747156\")
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