142-year-old shipwreck site now a safe haven for fresh water, habitats

Yahoo

02-07-2025

The Great Lakes are renowned for their pristine waters, habitats and even shipwrecks. So, it stands to reason then that one of the ships that plunged into the waters is part of a crucial, ecological habitat.
A shipwreck that occurred in 1883 has been converted into a 29-hectare conservation project west of Tobermory, Ont., in an area known as China Cove.
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It happened just in time, too, as the site only has about eight kilometres of undeveloped shoreline left. So, the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) stepped in, with help from local landowners, partners and NCC supporters, to protect nearly one kilometre of Lake Huron shoreline and coastal habitats.
It contains wetlands, forests and alvars that help expand an existing network of more than 24,200 hectares of protected and public lands on the peninsula.
What people may not know is that the property supports 44 different species of orchids, which is the highest diversity north of the everglades in Florida, said Esme Batten, NCC program director for midwestern Ontario.
China Cove shore. (Esme Batten/Nature Conservancy of Canada/Submitted to The Weather Network)
"We're especially excited to have had the opportunity to protect it because it was at immediate threat of development. So, we're really grateful that we were able to work with our provincial and federal partners, and many NCC donors and supporters, to kind of make sure that the species and people [that depend on this place] can enjoy it kind of in perpetuity," said Batten, in a recent interview with The Weather Network.
"I remember when I first visited [there more than] a decade ago, I was really shocked that we had such a spectacular landscape here in Ontario."
The China Cove was originally named after the wreck of the China, a two-masted schooner that crashed offshore in 1883.
But, with the acquisition of the site, the property has been renamed Aah Mahwi Nibi (Crying Water) as a tribute to the China.
China Cove shoreline. (Esme Batten/Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)/Submitted to The Weather Network)
"An elder, Miptoon, who sits on our Ontario regional advisory board, came to the property with us last year and heard the stories of the water crying out to him," said Batten. "He asked us if we would call it Crying Water to kind of honour the history of that area."
The newly protected habitats will safeguard drinking water and air quality, and provide sanctuary for species like eastern Massasauga (threatened), Hill's thistle (threatened), and midland painted turtle (special concern).
While the site supports 44 different species of orchids, so far more than six have been discovered on Crying Water, Batten noted. It also has other wildlife, including black bears and foxes.
Painted turtle. (Cameron Curran/Submitted and supplied by Nature Conservancy of Canada)
"We're really just kind of learning a little bit more about what this property protects. That's kind of going to be what we're focusing on over the next few years in terms of developing a management plan for the property, and understanding what rare species and habitats are there [and] what things might threaten them, so that we can ensure that we can protect them into the future," said Batten.
Batten noted that the Bruce Peninsula houses one of the oldest, living forests in North America, and one of the "most unchanged forests in the world."
"That's the small eastern white cedar that clings along the 400-million-year-old face of the Niagara Escarpment. Some of them have been aged [more than] 1,300 years old. There's such a high diversity of species and habitats here, and even habitats that can't be found in many other places in the world," said Batten.
China Cove. (Esme Batten/Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)/Submitted to The Weather Network)
Also, one of North America's rarest habitats, alvars, are found on the peninsula and other pockets around the Great Lakes basin in Ontario, she added.
"These areas are really unique. They go through extreme environmental conditions. So, they can flood in the spring and fall. They can go through periods of drought in the summer and get up to 52 degrees Celsius," said Batten.
The species that have adapted to live on the Bruce Peninsula are "really specialized," Batten said, noting that type of landscape is "often where we find the at-risk and rare species that really can only survive in these areas."
"On the soggy peninsula, we have the best examples of alvar in the world. Alvars just look like these barren landscapes, but they're really home to this kind of spectacular array of species," said Batten.
China Cove. (Esme Batten/Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)/Submitted to The Weather Network)
"When we think about our forests and our wetlands, they provide a lot of really essential ecosystem services to us. Forests clean our air, wetlands clean our water. They help to mitigate against flood and erosion."
Click here to view the video
Thumbnail courtesy of Nature Conservancy of Canada/Inspired Planet.
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