The lengthy search for the 17th century French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle’s ship, Le Griffon, continues.
Last summer, Great Lakes Exploration Group LLC, along with French archaeologists, dove to the depths of Lake Michigan in search of the famous shipwreck. While they did not find the ship as they’d originally hoped, what they did manage to recover was a large, wooden beam that the French archeologists concluded is, in fact, the bowsprit of a vessel submerged for at least a century or more.
According to a report by the Associated Press, the timber underwent CT scans and carbon dating and also was examined by U.S. and French experts to determine if it was part of the ship.
While two U.S. scientists have argued that the timber is actually part of an underwater fishing apparatus used in the 19th and 20th centuries, Steve Libert of Great Lakes Exploration Group is certain that it is Le Griffon.
“Our next step is… to send in divers — that will hopefully yield some information by the end of June,” Libert was quoted as saying. “If not, there is still more probing to do, and we will pick up where left off last year. The biggest thing for me is to find the rest of that ship.”
For more information, visit greatlakesexploration.org.
Photo Courtesy of Great Lakes Exploration Group, LLC
