Two local filmmakers, Zach Melnick and Yvonne Drebert, discovered an unknown shipwreck deep within Lake Huron near Bruce Peninsula while working on a documentary about quagga mussels.
The married couple used an underwater robot to get footage of the creatures.
"We descended to about 85 metres, which is pretty deep, 275 feet or so," said Melnick. "We just slowly came upon this massive, incredible shipwreck as if it was appearing from the midst of time and very well intact."
The steamer was covered in mussels, which actually helped with the discovery.
"When these mussels attach to hard surfaces like this, there can be up to 40,000 of them per square metre," he said. "Each one of those little guys can filter up to seven litres [of water] per day."
Melnick said all of the water in Lake Huron and Michigan gets filtered through the mussels every few days, cleaning it. He explained the mussels pull the plankton out of the water, pulling it to the bottom of the lake.
"That plankton used to be available for food for zooplankton, which is then food for the little fish that we all love and like to catch and eat," he said. "That's been dramatically reduced."
Although quagga mussels are an invasive species, they have been a big contributor to the clarity of the water and allowing the light to get down far enough to see the ship on the robotic camera.
The name plate of the ship was encrusted in mussels too, so Melnick and Drebert weren't sure which ship it was. After consulting with a local marine historian and marine archaeologist, they had some ideas.
"We needed to measure how big it was, so we got an archaeological license and went back on a calm day a few weeks later," said Melnick. "The dimensions matched almost exactly the dimensions with the 'Africa'."
You can watch the discovery here.
They learned the ship sank in an early winter storm in October 1895, taking 11 lives with it. It was on its way from Ohio, heading to Owen Sound.
"One of the amazing things that has happened to come out of this discovery is that a number of the descendants of people who did pass away on the ship have reached out to us," he said. "Great grandchildren of the ship, Hans Larsen, reached out to us. It's been incredible to talk with them and hear about their family lore about what happened to their ancestors."
The family was even able to bring a picture of Larsen. The situation was able to offer a little bit of closure for an unsolved mystery.
Melnick said a big shock factor involved in all of this is where the couple lives, Larsen's Cove, Ontario, just so happens to be named after Captain Hans Larsen.
"We were pretty excited when we learned that," he said. "A lot of people locally are interested in having this piece of local history."
Drebert and Melnick are thrilled to have two stories to share now.
The documentary is called All Too Clear. It will premiere on TV Ontario in 2024 and the Africa will make an appearance.
"We're also maybe telling a bigger story about the Africa or shipwrecks in general in the Great Lakes because they're a pivotal moment in history," said Melnick. "There's so many mussels on them that they're slowly degrading, so it's a really good time to get out there and try to document them while we can."
The trailer for All Too Clear can be seen here.