A shipwreck discovered off Cape Croker on Canada Day is now a registered marine archeological site that is protected from being disturbed under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport spokesperson Denelle Balfour confirmed on Tuesday that the ministry had received A Shipwreck Record Form and a marine licence report, which has allowed the ministry to enter the J H Jones into the Ontario Archeological Site Database.

“The J H Jones is now a registered site,” Balfour wrote via e-mail. “The registering of a marine archaeological sites helps to enable their protection under the Ontario Heritage Act. Any disturbance to an archaeological site is in violation of the Ontario Heritage Act.”

It was announced Thursday that a team of divers had discovered the wreck of the coastal steamer J H Jones on July 1, exactly where it had reportedly last been seen by the Cape Croker lighthouse keeper almost 112 years ago.

The ship went down in a storm on Nov. 22, 1906, with as many as 30 passengers and crew on board. There were no survivors and up until this summer the exact location of the wreck was unknown.

The team that found the wreck included diver and archaeological licence holder Ken Merryman and sonar and drop camera electronics expert Jerry Eliason, both of Minnesota, and diver and maritime historian Cris Kohl of Windsor, Ont. Also with the team at the time the discovery was made was Robert Crawford, the great-grandson of J. V. Crawford, the captain of the J H Jones.

With the help of extensive research done by Kohl, the team found the ship with their sonar on just their third pass after searching for less than two hours. Two dives were done on the ship to document their find, taking pictures and video of the wreck, which can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/286302072

“As a shipwreck hunter, to me it is my job or my responsibility when I hunt for these things to document the initial state, because you only get to do that once on a shipwreck,” said Merryman. “It is important that we do that so that for historical purposes, people will know what this thing looked like when it was found.”

While the shipwreck was heavily encrusted in mussels, it was largely intact and sitting with a heavy tilt to port on the bottom of the bay. It was missing many pieces where its doors and windows had been as well as some hull siding. The team could easily make out features such as the capstan, the stack and whistle which had fallen over, engine, bilge pump, anchor, boiler, rudder and propeller, a luggage cart, a hand truck and the steering post.

Last summer, Merryman and Eliason were involved in finding the Jane Miller in Colpoy’s Bay. The 78-foot package and passenger steamer that sank on Nov. 25, 1881, killing all 25 onboard.

Like the Jones, the Miller is now also a registered marine heritage site. The OPP is currently investigating the wreck of the Jane Miller to determine the presence of human remains and provide recommendations, Balfour wrote.

Further details from the OPP were unavailable at press time.

While wrecks can be visited by recreational divers and photographed for personal use, penetration of a wreck is restricted and requires a licence from the ministry.

Such licences are generally restricted to qualified marine archaeologists for research or assessment purposes. The restrictions and licence requirements are to prevent damage to the wrecks through accidents, looting and deterioration as a result of too many visits.

The ministry also supports Save Ontario Shipwrecks in an effort to conserve and protect marine archaeological resources through public awareness.

In order to alter or remove artifacts or any other physical evidence of past human use or activity from a site, an archeological licence is required. Balfour wrote in her e-mail that since its discovery, no further archaeological licences have been granted for the Jane Miller.

Merryman said last week that the Jones wreck is at a depth that can be reached comfortably by a technical diver, but beyond the limits of recreational divers.

According to the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, experienced recreational divers are advised to stay within non-decompression limits of less than 130 feet.

In the case of both the Jones and the Miller, Merryman did not give the exact location of the wrecks to allow government officials to determine how to proceed with protection and preservation.