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Shipworm: The Scourge of Wooden Wrecks is Really a Mussel

Have you ever wondered why some bodies of water, such as the Baltic, have so many wooden wrecks in great condition while other areas have almost no wooden wrecks at all? It has something to do with salinity; however, it is not the salt in seawater that consumes the wrecks but a mussel, which somewhat confusingly is called a worm—and it only lives in saltwater.

Words:
Christian Skauge
Images:
Christian Skauge
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Wrecks & Archaeology

In fact, shipworms are not worms at all, but rather a group of unusual saltwater clams with long, soft, naked bodies. Sometimes called “termites of the sea,” or pileworm, the shipworm is a group of approximately 65 species of marine bivalve mollusks, which are responsible and notorious for boring into and eventually destroying wood that is immersed in seawater—and not just wrecks but also piers, dykes, bulwarks and other submerged wooden structures.

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Great Lakes: Lake Michigan Shipwreck Mysteries

My first dive in the Great Lakes was 20 years ago. I remember descending into dark green water and limited visibility. My joke for years was, “Do you know why they call it Lake Erie? Because it’s just that—it’s Erie.” Soon after that, I moved to Florida with my family and forgot all about the Great Lakes because I had warm, tropical reefs in my backyard. Fast-forward to five years ago and I had my next experience diving in Lake Superior. I was blown away by the wrecks, and it ignited a new passion for diving the Great Lakes.

Words:
Becky Kagan Schott
Images:
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Travel & Trips
Wrecks & Archaeology

I was then fortunate enough to work on a documentary in Lake Huron where we located and explored several new wrecks. I was amazed by how blue and clear the water was.

 

The unfortunate introduction of invasive zebra mussels has improved the water clarity dramatically in many of the lakes. Unfortunately, they now cover the wrecks in four out of five of the Great Lakes, but visibility can now push 30m (100ft) or more. The water looks Caribbean blue on most days, and the lakes are no longer as dark and murky like they once were.

 

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Great Lakes: Shipwrecks of Presque Isle

The year is 1880, and you are working on a wooden schooner, one of the most dangerous jobs during the time. It is late November and it is the last run of the season. The ship is overloaded with coal and the seas start to pick up. It is now dark and the icy waves are crashing over the sides, and all you can do is work to keep the ship afloat. Ice is now forming on the rigging, and out of the fog, the bow of another ship suddenly appears. Before you can react, it collides with your bow. In minutes, the schooner and everyone on board disappears below the cold, dark waves descending into the depths—a watery grave and a ship that will not be seen again for over a century.

Words:
Becky Kagan Schott
Images:
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Travel & Trips
Wrecks & Archaeology

In 2011, I was fortunate to work on Project Shiphunt, a documentary film for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Sony. We spent a few weeks in the small town of Alpena, Michigan searching for shipwrecks. The team found the schooner M.F. Merrick and steel freighter Etura in over 91m (300ft) of water, and we were the first to lay eyes on them in over a century. I left Michigan a changed person, and a new obsession with diving the Great Lakes had manifested.

 

Beer brewed with yeast believed to be from a 220-year-old shipwreck

In June the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, Tasmania identified what is believed to be the world's oldest beer, surviving as contents of a bottle salvaged from the protected Historic Shipwreck Sydney Cove (1797) at Preservation Island, Tasmania

Wrecks & Archaeology

The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, Tasmania has achieved scientific results of interest to beer brewers and drinkers worldwide.

The museum has identified what is believed to be the world's oldest beer, surviving as contents of a bottle salvaged from the protected Historic Shipwreck Sydney Cove (1797) at Preservation Island, Tasmania.

Michigan shipwrecks to be marked with buoys

Plans for marking shipwrecks in Michigan's underwater preserves with mooring buoys as part of an effort to help preserve them have been several years in the making.

Wrecks & Archaeology

The goal is to help preserve the state's shipwrecks by giving divers another option besides hooking a line directly onto the wreck, as is customary now.

"Putting a mooring buoy on a shipwreck is absolutely, hands-down, the best form of physical protection you can do for a wreck," Wayne Lusardi, a state maritime archaeologist at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, told Mlive.com

Well-preserved 300 year-old frigate discovered in the gulf of Finland

Divers reported that the vessel was extremely well-preserved and that the wooden structures were in surprisingly good condition, since all cannons were still located on the gun deck.

Wrecks & Archaeology

The wreck, which has been confirmed to be that of 300-year-old frigate Huis te Warmelo was found at a depth of 64 metres near Helsinki. The vessel was once part of the Dutch navy, specifically a region known as West Frisia. The ship was identified on the basis of hull dimensions, location, structure and armament.

Vasco da Gama shipwreck discovered off the coast of Oman

Vasco da Gama was the first person to sail directly from Europe to India. Historians hope the discovery could provide a treasure trove of new information.

Portuguese ship wrecked on a remote island in the Sultanate of Oman in 1503 is the earliest ship of discovery to be found and scientifically investigated by archaeologists
Wrecks & Archaeology

Vasco da Gama was the first European to reach India by sea, linking Europe and Asia for the first time by ocean route, as well as linking the Atlantic and the Indian oceans entirely and definitively, and in this way, the West and the Orient. This was accomplished on his first voyage to India (1497–1499)

The ship, which sank in a storm in May 1503 off the coast of Al Hallaniyah island in Oman's Dhofar region, is the earliest ship from Europe's Age of Discovery ever to be found and scientfically investigated by a team of archaeologists and other experts.

Spanish galleon laden with vast treasure located

Colombia has found the wreck of a Spanish galleon that sank off the coast of Cartagena and is thought to be laden with emeralds and gold and silver coins, the country’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, said on Friday.

Wrecks & Archaeology

The San Jose was carrying gold, silver, gems and jewellery collected in the South American colonies to be shipped to Spain's king to help finance his war of succession against the British when it was sunk in June 1708 during heavy fighting off the coast of Cartagena. In the fighting the vessel was reported to have exploded, with most of its crew killed.

Centuries-old shipwreck located off Eastern US seaboard

Sonar spots an unknown shipwreck, possibly dating to the American Revolution off the coast of North Carolina.

Wrecks & Archaeology

Artefacts on the wreck indicate it might date to the American Revolution. Amid the shipwreck’s broken remains are an iron chain, a pile of wooden ship timbers, red bricks (possibly from the ship cook’s hearth), glass bottles, an unglazed pottery jug, a metal compass, and another navigational instrument that might be an octant or sextant.

Finnish media report the find of 15th century treasure ship

Wreck hunter claim to have found the wreck of the Hanneke Wrome, which sank with valuable cargo and some 200 passengers and crew on 20 November 1468.

Wrecks & Archaeology

Finland’s accomplished diver and wreck researcher Rauno Koivusaari, who discovered the famous treasure ship Vrouw Maria in 1999, has now also found the wreck of the Hanneke Wrome just south of the island of Jussarö in Finland. According to historic documents, the ship was carrying 10,000 gold coins, estimated to be worth around €50 million today.

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