Running ships on electricity, a casket made from mushrooms, a Lake Ontario shipwreck older than Canada, and more

Summary

Your World Tonight (CBC)

Episode: Running ships on electricity, a casket made from mushrooms, a Lake Ontario shipwreck older than Canada, and more
Date: December 27, 2025
Host: Stephanie Skenderis

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Episode Overview

In this special end-of-year edition, Your World Tonight highlights some of 2025’s most distinct and hopeful stories about people innovating in response to environmental challenges. The episode explores efforts to reduce the ecological footprint of shipping, advances in food preservation in Nigerian markets, sustainable approaches to wool and textile production, new methods to protect threatened wildlife, eco-conscious burial options, and the discovery of a remarkably old shipwreck in Lake Ontario.

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Key Stories & Insights

1. Running Ships on Electricity: Shore Power for Cleaner Ports

[00:38-04:45]

• The Problem: Ships docked at Canadian ports are significant polluters, even when stationary, as they burn fuel to keep operations running.
• Shore Power Solution: Shore power allows ships to "plug in" to the electric grid at port, cutting emissions by about 68% while docked.
• Canadian Lag: Only 4 out of 17 Canadian port authorities have shore power available, compared to full coverage in ports like Hamburg, Shanghai, and Long Beach.
• Investment vs. Regulation: Although governments have invested $40 million in shore power, there’s no mandate for ships to use it, reducing potential impact.
• Positive Impacts Noted:
  • Decreased local air pollution.
  • Surprise effect: “We’ve already seen whales in larger numbers than normal.” — Curt Slocum, Port of Prince Rupert ([03:26])
• Economic and Market Pressure: European consumers and regulations are pushing for greener shipping, which could limit Canadian competitiveness if not matched.

Notable Quote:

“If ships don’t have to plug in, we’re not really maximizing the benefits of that investment.” — Brent Dancy, Ocean's North ([03:53])

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2. Solar-Powered Cold Rooms Transforming Nigeria’s Markets

[04:45-07:46]

• Background: Frequent power outages and the high cost of diesel have made food preservation (especially of perishables like tomatoes and peppers) difficult for Nigerian traders, especially women.
• Innovation: Introduction of solar-powered cold storage rooms allows vendors to keep unsold produce fresh, dramatically reducing waste.
• Social & Economic Benefits:
  • Food waste down 80%
  • Incomes up 25% for vendors
  • Over 11,000 users now benefit in 58 cold rooms nationwide.
  • Empowers women (the majority of vendors) and supports their families.
• Access Gap: The technology isn’t yet widespread, and experts urge broader government support for scaling up.

Memorable Moment:

“Before, I threw away lots of tomatoes and peppers every week. Now with the cold room, I store them at an affordable price overnight and they stay fresh.” — Mina Miner, Market Vendor ([05:11])

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3. The Return of Sustainable Wool

[07:46-11:05]

• Modern Problem: Although wool is biodegradable, mass production and the rise of synthetics have greatly reduced its market share and devalued local production.
• Movement for Change: Farmers, designers, and activists are working to revive sustainable, local wool industries.
• Examples:
  • Wool marches in the Netherlands raise awareness by parading sheep through city streets.
  • Initiatives like Ireland’s Galway Wool Co-op lobby for traceability and support for local producers.
  • At the World Hope Forum near Rome, global efforts to reconnect consumers with sustainable wool are showcased.
• Consumer Awareness: Emphasis on knowing the source and impact of clothing, fostering “farm to fashion” initiatives.

Notable Quotes:

“Wool is a biodegradable resource that used to be the Golden Fleece, but has been kicked out.” — Cynthia Hathaway, Canadian designer ([08:49])
“Here you see the local communities making outsider art insanely beautiful. It's so rich.” — Lee Edelcourt, Dutch trend forecaster ([10:58])

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4. Fighting White-Nose Syndrome: A Probiotic for Bats

[12:20-15:07]

• Threat: White-nose syndrome, a fungal disease, is devastating bat populations in eastern Canada and spreading west.
• Hopeful Solution: Scientists in BC are experimenting with a “probiotic cocktail”—a spray of beneficial bacteria from bats themselves, applied in roosts to suppress the fungus.
• Preliminary Results: Promising evidence from both Canadian and U.S. trials suggests the probiotic helps keep infection at bay.
• Race Against Time: The disease is not yet confirmed in BC, but is spreading; scientists are eager to protect bat populations before major damage occurs.

Notable Exchange:

“It's not a matter of whether it will get here, it is a matter of when. And it might already be here.” — Corey Lawson, Wildlife Conservation Society ([13:34])

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5. Making Railways Safer for Wildlife in BC

[15:07-18:09]

• Issue: Trains in British Columbia frequently collide with wildlife—hundreds of animals (elk, moose, bears, etc.) are killed yearly.
• Data Unveiled: CN Railway reported 340 wildlife collisions (2020–2023); Canadian Pacific Kansas City reported 182 just in the Kootenays (2022–2023).
• Mitigation Efforts:
  • Calls for slowing trains in hotspot areas.
  • Testing warning devices to alert animals, with some initial success, but limited implementation.
• Challenges: Little transparency or accountability from railway companies.

Notable Quote:

“It's not a very good feeling to run over an animal with a train.” — Jim Atkinson, retired locomotive engineer ([15:39])

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6. Greener Graves: Mushroom-based Caskets

[18:09-21:41]

• New Option: The “Loop Living Cocoon” is a casket made from mycelium (mushroom roots) and upcycled hemp fibers, designed to biodegrade quickly and enrich soil.
• Environmental Motivation: Offers a much lower carbon impact compared to conventional burials or cremations.
• Early Adoption: While new to North America, thousands have been sold in Europe.
• Cultural Adjustment: Religious and societal institutions are encouraged to update rituals and thinking to support more ecologically conscious burial choices.

Striking Quote:

“There wasn't any option for our bodies that aligned with my desire to like... leave the planet a better place when I finally leave the planet.” — Interviewee, Brampton ([20:39])

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7. Discovery: A Lake Ontario Shipwreck Older Than Canada

[22:09-24:58]

• The Find: Divers discovered a pristine shipwreck, potentially from the first half of the 19th century, at 100 meters depth near Toronto.
• Historical Significance: Few such old, intact Great Lakes vessels exist; they typically rot, collapse, or are destroyed.
• Ongoing Mystery: Experts are eager to study wood samples to pinpoint its exact age—if it predates Confederation, it is an exceptionally rare artifact.

Memorable Moments:

“It took us a few moments to calm ourselves down because it’s overwhelming finding a pristine wreck that is all in one piece.” — Hyson Chak, diver ([22:45])
“If this truly turns out... pre-US Civil War, that’s rare.” — Charles Beaker, shipwreck researcher ([24:09])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Shore Power for Ports (Running ships on electricity): [00:38 - 04:45]
• Solar-Powered Cold Rooms in Nigeria: [04:45 - 07:46]
• Sustainable Wool Movement: [07:46 - 11:05]
• Bat Probiotic Fight Against White-Nose: [12:20 - 15:07]
• Train and Wildlife Collisions in BC: [15:07 - 18:09]
• Mushroom Casket Burial Option: [18:09 - 21:41]
• Discovery of Lake Ontario Shipwreck: [22:09 - 24:58]

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Episode Tone

Throughout the episode, the tone is hopeful and constructive, balancing hard environmental realities with innovative, sometimes quirky, solutions and stories that illuminate the way forward. The hosts and reporters maintain a respectful, thoughtful approach, with a focus on personal stories, expert perspectives, and the intersection of tradition and innovation.

Transcript

[A]

There are two kinds of Canadians those who feel something when they hear this music and those who've been missing out so far.

[B]

I'm Chris Howden.

[C]

And I'm Nil Kergzel. We are the co hosts of as It Happens and every day we speak with people at the center of the day's most hard hitting, heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious news stories.

[A]

Also, we have puns here. Why as It Happens is one of Canada's longest running and most beloved shows. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts.

[B]

This is a CBC podcast.

[C]

Hi, I'm Stephanie Skenderas and this is a special edition of youf World. Tonight we're looking back at some of our favorite stories of 2025, most of them involving challenges to the natural world and how people are rallying to meet them. From disease facing bats in Canadian caves and the probiotic that can help to the cold room transformation taking place in Nigeria's open air markets. You'll hear about the efforts to stop wildlife from being hit by trains and a more environmentally friendly method for humans to return to the earth. We begin with a way of stopping a big polluter that's pulling into our harbors, Whether they are carrying people or goods. Ships are a huge source of greenhouse gas emissions and other kinds of pollution, even when docked. But there is a way to help cut those emissions when ships are at port. Plugging them in, Emily Chung explains.

[D]

Hundreds of cruise ships come and go from Canadian ports each year. New arrivals spill their contents into the city.

[B]

You see waves of tourists walking around with big smiles. You also see, every once in a.

[E]

While, a cloud of blue smoke wafting.

[B]

Over the first couple blocks of downtown.

[D]

That's Brent Dancy from Ocean's North. He's in Halifax often for his work with the Marine Conservation Group. He himself has choked on that pollution and says locals complain too.

[B]

They call the port about it, but it's really a human health issue.

[D]

The problem is that ships burn fuel even while in port to power what's essentially a floating city. But they don't have to. With the right equipment and infrastructure, they could plug in at the dock and use electricity instead. That's called shore power. A research brief from Oceans north shows it's widely available in ports like Hamburg, Shanghai and Long beach.

[B]

Basically full coverage for cruise and container shipping.

[D]

But only four of Canada's 17 port authorities have have any shore power. Despite the many benefits.

[E]

What we've noticed plugging in a vessel reduces the emissions for that vessel while it's plugged in by about 68%.

[D]

Curt Slocum is in charge of planning and infrastructure at the Port of Prince Rupert in BC. It installed shore power at two of its five berths for container ships in 2023. Slocum says the reduced noise from ships plugging in has already had unexpected benefits.

[E]

We've already seen whales in larger numbers than normal.

[D]

So far, Prince Rupert's shore power has only been used by 15 vessels.

[E]

Part of that is which vessels are calling that can plug in and which ones can't.

[D]

But Dancy says it's also because, unlike other countries, Canada doesn't make ships plug in. So far, Canadian governments have spent more than 40 million installing shore power, the Ocean's north report found. But if ships don't have to plug.

[B]

In, we're not really maximizing the benefits of that investment.

[D]

The Port of Montreal's expansion is one of the projects recently fast tracked by the federal government.

[A]

We're building it for the next generation.

[D]

Spokesperson Julien Baudry says. It will serve many ships from Europe, and every ship that arrives at the new terminal will be able to access shore power.

[A]

And the consumers in Europe, they want green product.

[B]

So having a green ship at the Port of Montreal, a ship that's electrified.

[A]

When at shore, that's something that will benefit not only the people that lives.

[B]

Nearby, but also the companies who will be using that terminal to export goods.

[D]

In Europe, brent Danty says. With global regulations coming in to cut pollution and emissions from shipping, Canadian ports are going to need more shore power to stay competitive. Emily Chung, CBC News, Toronto.

[C]

In Nigeria's capital, a quiet transformation is taking place in some of its open air markets. Solar powered cold rooms are cutting food waste, boosting earnings for women vendors and keeping prices steady for shoppers. As Kunle Babs reports, it's a simple idea that's reshaping local food trade and driving climate resilience.

[B]

Before, I threw away lots of tomatoes and peppers every week. Now with the cold room, I store them at an affordable price overnight and they stay fresh.

[F]

For years, traders like Mina Miner watched part of their goods rot in the heat before they could sell them. But with solar powered cold storage inside the market, things are changing. Mina now rent space to keep our unsold goods overnight. And what used to be wasted is now sold the next day.

[B]

My income is better now. I can save more. Even late in the evening, the tomatoes still look new.

[F]

With frequent power cuts and high diesel costs, keeping food fresh without electricity has always been a major challenge. The solar runs everything. We work 24 hours. Our uptime is more than 95%. Nasiri Belli runs a solar powered cold room at Gariki International Market in Abuja. He says the system is not only reliable, but also making a real difference for women vendors. Vendors pay about 68 cents to store a crate for a day. Most of our customers are women and when they earn more, it supports their families. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Nigeria loses up to 50% of highly perishable crops after harvest yearly. But ColdOps, a leading cold storage provider, says vendors using solar powered cold rooms have cut those losses by as much as 80% and boosted their incomes by 25%. The company currently serves more than 11,100 farmers, retailers and wholesalers across the country through 58 solar cold rooms.

[B]

The cold storage helps us a lot, so when we cool the perishables before bringing them to the market, they arrive fresh.

[F]

For small scale farmers like Sadiya Yahaya, pre cooling their produce before transport helps protect its quality and reduce waste. And with less spoilage on the road, they earn more from every harvest.

[B]

We lose less and buyers pay better.

[F]

However, climate expert Pana Samuel says the impact remains limited because access to these solar cold rooms is still uneven across the country.

[B]

The cold room facilities are not enough for a country as big as Nigeria. Every major market should have one right now. That's not the case.

[F]

Experts say wider government support and investment could help expand solar powered cold rooms to more markets nationwide, ensuring more farmers and traders benefit and helping Nigeria drastically cause post harvest losses. Kunle Babs for CBC News, Abuja, Nigeria.

[C]

Wool is one of the world's oldest textiles. It's naturally occurring, biodegradable and keeps you warm in those cold winter months. But these days, most wool is mass produced, leaving small scale farmers and mills struggling to survive. As Megan Williams reports from Rome, a new movement led by designers, producers, activists and farmers is trying to bring wool back sustainably.

[G]

On a blustery fall day outside Rome, sheep graze in the pastures of Ilaria Venturini Fendi's farm. Once a fashion designer at her family's luxury label, Fendi left that world behind to focus on circular design and sustainability sustainable wool. Today, her farm is a meeting place for the World Hope Forum, with farmers, activists and designers determined to prove that wool produced locally can once again have worth. Among them is Canadian designer Cynthia Hathaway. Wool is a biodegradable resource that used.

[H]

To be the Golden Fleece but has been kicked out.

[G]

I guess you could say Hathaway started thinking about wool when doing a design stint on A farm, and there were.

[H]

Sheep in the landscape.

[G]

And so I followed the wool trail.

[H]

And found out that wool is part.

[G]

Of a global system now, one that obscures the fact that most wool is now industrially produced and environmentally damaging. Today, wool makes up less than 1% of the world's textile fibers, with cheaper petroleum based synthetics now dominating the global market. Hathaway organizes regular wool marches in her adopted country of the Netherlands, leading flocks of sheep through city streets. Slaughtered soft mobs, she calls them, to highlight how devalued locally produced wool is in much of the world. In Europe, cost to produce it is so high, many sheep farmers simply burn it. The wool march also points to how far fashion has drifted from the land. Take Irish wool, for example, most of which actually comes from China and is passed off as local. Blonaid Gallaher, founder of Ireland's Galway Wool Co Op, is is trying to change that. She'll soon join an EU focused group looking at how to rebuild the continent's wool economy. We want to ensure that the policy.

[H]

Also includes consumers given the opportunity to.

[G]

Know where that fibre grew. Italian actor and now farmer Isabella Rossellini is also working to reconnect people to the fiber's origins.

[B]

We started with a vegetable and then it became chickens and now the heritage.

[G]

Breed of sheep for wool. At her mama farm in New York, she and her daughter Elettra Wideman run a program called Farm to Fashion, pairing young designers with heritage wool.

[C]

That really explains to people where this sweater comes from, who created it. The artist is involved when you buy it, what you're supporting.

[G]

Weidman says people are more invested in what they buy when they know it's supporting local economies and biodiversity.

[H]

It's a very ancient fiber.

[G]

Dutch future forecaster Lee Edelcourt, the organizer of the World Hope Forum, says wool has become a way to tell new stories about how fashion can be made.

[B]

Here you see the local communities making outsider art insanely beautiful. It's so rich.

[G]

As sheep graze in the distance, these artists and farmers are trying to reshape how we value the materials and the lives of those behind what we wear. Megan Williams, CBC News, Rome.

[C]

Still ahead, it started as a shadow no one could identify 100 meters below Lake Ontario. From there, the mystery only grew. A potential ship. From a time period shrouded in uncertainty. You'll hear why it has experts so excited. That's coming up on youn World. Tonight. Bats living in caves across eastern Canada are under threat. White nose syndrome has already devastated those bat populations. Now, as the Fungal disease starts spreading west to British Columbia. One scientist is fighting back with a unique tool, a probiotic cocktail. The remedy, which is already gaining traction across the border, could be the key to giving BC's bats a chance at survival. Camille Vernet explains, Now we're going to hear the bat.

[H]

In a shed near Mission, bc, scientist Corey Lawson lightly shakes a bag with a bat. Inside that sound is the bat detector, which allows you to humans to hear the sound of echolocation. And it helps identify the bat that.

[G]

Is definitely a Yuma myotis. This particular species is only found in the west, so we don't know yet how badly they're going to be hit by white nose syndrome, but we do suspect they're going to be devastated.

[H]

White nose syndrome is a fungal disease that has devastated eastern bat populations. It affects their skin wings and nose while they hibernate and ultimately kills them. Lawson is part of a team from the Wildlife Conservation Society looking for a remedy.

[G]

We just call it a cocktail.

[H]

This cocktail is a mixture of probiotic bacteria that comes naturally from bats. The scientists spray it into their habitat and the bats spread it around as they groom themselves. It's a race against time because the fungal disease is not yet in bc, but it's present in Alberta and Washington state.

[G]

So it's not a matter of whether it will get here, it is a matter of when. And it might already be here.

[H]

Since 2022, the US has been testing the Canadian cocktail. Abigail Tobin is a scientist for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. She and her team of volunteers are near Darrington to capture bats. And it's a tricky task.

[C]

They're onto us, so we'll see.

[H]

Finally, a few bats are caught. Tobin looks at a bat with white spots at the end of its wings.

[C]

But over here looks more suspicious of white nose damage. Right there, through the swabs we collect from bats wings, the lab that's processing those is finding that there are higher levels of probiotic and lower levels of the fungus on bats that are being treated. It's showing that the probiotic is staying and hopefully suppressing the growth of that fungus.

[H]

Once all the data is collected, they release the bat.

[G]

There she goes.

[H]

Preliminary results are promising. According to Corey Lawson.

[G]

So far, it does look like the probiotic bacteria that we're using is keeping.

[C]

The fungus that causes the disease. It's keeping it at bay.

[H]

In the fall, some bat species are heading into the forest. Despite tagging, it's still not clear where they hibernate in bc, But Lawson hopes that if the disease is here. Her cocktail will give the bats the protection they need to return in spring. Camille Verney, CBC News, Mission, B.C.

[C]

Bigger animals in B.C. like grizzlies and moose, are facing another kind of threat. Trains, thousands of kilometers of railway crisscross the province, and much of it passes through remote wilderness. Hundreds of animals have been struck and sometimes killed by trains in B.C. in recent years. An investigation by CBC News and the Narwhal is shedding light on the collisions. CBC's Jackie McKay looks at the efforts to bring the number of collisions down.

[E]

There's a problem out there, there's a.

[B]

Problem on our railways, and people have to know that this is happening. Retired locomotive engineer Jim Atkinson has been trying to raise the alarm for years. The former CN employee did everything he could to not hit animals, but sometimes it was unavoidable. It's not a very good feeling to run over an animal with a train. The exact number of animals hit by trains each year is hard to know. Journalists at the Narwhal filed a Freedom of Information request to the B.C. government and shared the responses with CBC News. Data shows CN Railway reported 340 collision incidents with wildlife such as elk, deer and bears from 2020 to 2023. Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway Company's data shows 182 animals in the Kootenays were hit on its rails between 2022 and 2023. Just feels like an unacceptable number. Wildlife scientist Clayton Lamb stands under a rail bridge where he found a grizzly bear and three cubs killed by a passing train. Lamb has been tracking animals using wildlife collars in the Elk valley of southeastern B.C. for more than a decade. There's costs of having people on the landscape and doing things to wildlife, but.

[A]

I think it feels better.

[B]

When everybody's trying to make it better for wildlife, there are things that can help. Biologist Colleen St. Clair has studied the problem around Banff. She says the best thing trains could do is slow down places where they know that collisions are more likely, probably.

[C]

To reduce train speed.

[B]

St. Clair also worked on a warning device that flashes lights and beeps to let animals know a train is coming. It found that large animals left the tracks six seconds earlier, but they aren't being used. The railway companies did not answer a number of our questions, but in a statement, CPKC says it prioritizes practical mitigation strategies. CN says the company is actively evaluating a range of detection devices. Jackie McKay, CBC News, Elk Valley, BC.

[C]

It's not something a lot of people are comfortable thinking about, but where you End up after you die can also be an environmental choice. A new burial option available in Canada promises to be much less carbon intensive than conventional caskets or cremation. It's a kind of coffin made partly of mushroom roots. Anand Ram has more.

[E]

In the solemnity of a Brampton, Ontario funeral centre, there's a room where people come to see the kinds of caskets that are, for lack of a better word, on offer. But there's something new in there. Tell me about what we're seeing.

[H]

Yes, it's more in the shape of somewhat of a cocoon.

[E]

Angie Aquino has been in the funeral business for more than four years, 40 years, and what she's showing us is a casket. Its name, like its shape, is the loop living cocoon.

[H]

It is made of mycelium, which is the root structure of mushroom, and it's a blend of that along with the upcycled hemp fibers.

[E]

Spongy Styrofoam, like this coffin biodegrades in the soil in a matter of months, giving its unadorned, unembalmed occupant a less carbon intensive way to return to the earth.

[H]

For some, it's about giving back to the environment. For some, it's about enriching the soil. For some it's about nature.

[B]

The more overall mission is to enrich nature.

[E]

Bob Hendricks of Loup Biotech in the Netherlands invented this coffin and he is very much a product guy thinking about how to disrupt a traditional funeral industry. That hasn't changed much.

[B]

The whole intention of the product was to make sure the industry, for the industry. It should not be a different product only for the environment.

[E]

The mushrooms, he says, help bodies decompose while enriching soil biodiversity. It's early days in North America, but he says they've sold a couple thousand cocoons in Europe.

[B]

The number of people becoming interested in diverse options of funerals, that's just God.

[E]

Ballistic Douglas Davis is with the University of Durham in the UK and has been studying death for decades. He says this environmental enthusiasm needs to be met by the establishment.

[B]

I think that religious organizations need to think much harder about these aspects of life and indeed what kind of liturgies are appropriate. There wasn't any option for our bodies that aligned with my desire to like.

[C]

Leave the planet a better place when.

[B]

I finally leave the planet.

[E]

Katrina Spade is the CEO of a company that offers another alternative technology to turn the deceased into soil through composting, a service that's now legal in 14 US states.

[B]

I think when people are choosing this.

[C]

Option, it's because it feels personally meaningful to them.

[B]

That is a pretty profound idea that those molecules will truly and literally become part of that tree. That forest.

[E]

Back in Brampton. Aquino takes us to where those mountains mushroom coffins could go. The wild and overgrown natural burial area.

[H]

It is not maintained where we don't mow the lawn. Here, it's not pristine in the same way that the rest of the cemetery is.

[E]

And it's here among the seven foot tall goldenrods and buzzing insects that you can listen to life growing out of death. Anandhram CBC News, Brampton, Ontario.

[C]

You are listening to your World Tonight from CBC News. I'm Stephanie Scandaris. You can hear your World Tonight and other CBC radio programs wherever you are on your favorite podcast.

[B]

Appreciate.

[C]

When Canadian divers went searching for a century old shipwreck under the surface of Lake Ontario, they found something much older and rarer. A pristine vessel that likely predates Canadian confederation. As Colin Butler reports, the relic could open a window on a poorly understood period of shipbuilding history.

[B]

And when we saw that, we were like overjoyed.

[A]

Hyson Chak remembers the moment well. The veteran diver was 100 meters below the surface of Lake Ontario when the lights cut through the gloom and uncovered a ghost from a long forgotten era.

[B]

It took us a few moments to calm ourselves down because it's overwhelming finding a pristine wreck that is all in one piece.

[A]

A rarity in the Great Lakes where most wrecks collapse under quagga. Mussels are crushed by storms, anchors or human interference. Or remarkably, this one has survived near Toronto's watery doorstep.

[E]

There's a lot of shipping that goes back and forth, but it somehow managed to escape any, any damage.

[A]

Trent University archaeology professor James Connolly says the wreck was first spotted in 2017 during a fiber optic cable survey between Buffalo and Toronto. Large and unusual, it appeared as a shadow no one could identify. Connolly hoped it might be a pristine ship, possibly the Rapid City, a century old schooner long lost to Lake Ontario.

[B]

This is, this is different than what.

[E]

We thought it was.

[B]

This is something else.

[A]

This is something far stranger and maybe far older on it. Rope rigging, a rounded bow, an early windless design, both masts still upright, top masts intact. The dive team thinks it could date back to the first half of the 19th century, a period of Great Lakes shipbuilding that's poorly understood.

[B]

Well, it's not that we know so little about it, but we have so rare examples.

[A]

Charles Beaker is a professor at Indiana University. He's been researching and preserving Great Lakes shipwrecks for over 40 years.

[B]

If this truly turns out diagnostically for the artifacts to give it a terminus post qim of pre US Civil War, that's that's rare.

[A]

Pre1850 Great Lakes ships rarely survived. Most sank in storms, rotted away, or were scrapped. Few records remain.

[B]

I'm most excited if it turns out this is older. I don't want to diminish the value because it's a great example.

[A]

The dive team will return to the wreck next season. Wood samples will allow them to pinpoint the year it grew. For now, the ship waits beneath the waves near Toronto, silent, intact, guarding secrets we're only beginning to understand. Colin Butler, CBC News, London, Ontario.

[C]

And that's it for this special edition of youf World Tonight. I'm Stephanie Skenderas. Thank you for listening. Good night. For more cbc podcasts, go to cbc ca podcasts.