Marc-André Bernier:
Hi I’m Marc-André Bernier,
I’m the underwater archaeology
manager at Parks Canada.
So archaeology, the work of an
archaeologist is basically to study
history through the remains
left by man in the past.
So we’re looking at history
through objects.
Underwater archaeology is the same thing,
it’s archaeology,
but it’s studying sites and
objects that are now underwater.
These things could be pre-contact
or prehistoric sites.
It could be also habitation sites,
dam sites,
but there’s a lot of shipwrecks
because we have three oceans,
the Great Lakes, the St-Laurent River
and so many other rivers.
That’s why ships and navigation
is such a part of our country’s history.
What’s really incredible and quite
amazing here at Fathom Five
National Marine Park is the assemblage of
the shipwrecks that we have here.
We have a really nice collection of
wrecks from the late 19th century
to the beginning of the 20th century
and even a little more.
During that period where you can see sail
transitioning, ships transitioning
from sail to steam and you can see at
times the conflict
between the sail trying to
compete with steam.
And that you can see, you can have a very
wide angle on this
navigation history here at the park.
You can dive on sailboats, schooners and
see the proud bows still upright.
You can also see steamships with the
powerful boilers and engine
that tell us about that transition
into a new history of navigation.
So it’s really important for us at Parks
Canada here at Fathom Five National
Marine Park to obviously preserve the
shipwrecks and protect them
for generations to come, but also and
most importantly to give access
to people to these sites so they can
enjoy their history, understand it
and touch this rich maritime history
that is so important to the
history and story of our country.
