What lies beneath

By Lisa Sonnenburg

Have you ever wanted to see beneath the waters of Lake Superior? Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team spent this August doing just that, to inventory the underwater cultural resources at Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) and ensure their protection for future generations.

I first fell in love with the north shore of Lake Superior over twenty years ago, but I never really thought what might be under the waters of the big lake. Later, as an Anthropology student at Lakehead University, I became interested in the underwater world of Lake Superior. Not just the shipwrecks, which were well known, but the potential for submerged landscapes. Over the past 10,000 years, the water levels of Lake Superior have fluctuated tens of meters, allowing landscapes to emerge and submerge through time. These landscapes are seen on land as large beach ridges kilometers inland from the modern lake, and as old shorelines now underwater. Imagine people living, travelling, and hunting along landscapes that are now immersed by 2 to 30 meters of water!

Locating and documenting underwater archaeological sites can be challenging in the best conditions. With 10,000 square kilometers of water, unpredictable weather, and winters that can be long and hard, this makes the job of cultural resource management in Lake Superior NMCA a daunting task.

One way to protect these amazing resources is to call in the experts! At Parks Canada, we are fortunate enough to have a dedicated National Underwater Archaeology Team, based in Ottawa. This summer, despite challenges due to COVID-19, four underwater specialists, led by Dr. Charles Dagneau, spent August combing the waters of Lake Superior. Aboard the research vessel Investigator, they documented shipwrecks and docks, and collected high-resolution mapping data of the lake bottom—a significant need for Lake Superior. Over four weeks, the team was able to work across the NMCA, including in Silver Islet, Nipigon Bay, Rossport, and Jackfish Bay. They were able to obtain more accurate location coordinates and high-resolution 3D scans of well-known shipwrecks, such as the Gunilda and Mary E. McLachlan, as well as new imaging of areas that had not previously been documented, such as the now-submerged coal dock at the Jackfish ghost town site.

The next few months will be spent analyzing the collected data, and seeing what else might be underneath the waves of Lake Superior. The team will be returning again in 2022, to continue to build a more comprehensive cultural resource inventory, allowing for further protection of the amazing underwater cultural features within the Lake Superior NMCA.

What else might lie under the waters of Lake Superior? If you know of any underwater cultural resources in Lake Superior, please contact Lisa Sonnenburg, the Cultural Resources Management Advisor at Lake Superior NMCA and help protect the area’s underwater heritage.