The first dive team to explore a century-old shipwreck came back to the surface with photos and video of a ship found in remarkable condition for its time underwater.

Robert MacKay, lead diver of the team, says this is one of the nicest wrecks in Nova Scotia. "It's never been touched," MacKay told CTV Atlantic.

MacKay and a team of six divers from P.E.I. and Nova Scotia captured images of their trip below on Friday. The team shared preliminary photographic evidence of the schooner off the coast of Pictou Harbour, N.S.

"Being on a newly-discovered shipwreck is something that sometimes only happens once in a diver’s career, or maybe never," said Laura Brake, one of the divers.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service accidentally discovered the shipwreck in the Northumberland Strait last month. The CHS was updating navigational maps using new sonar technology.

The CHS created a 3D image of the wreck that showed a ship in incredibly good shape for not only its age, but its location.

A mysterious 84-metre shipwreck has been discovered resting on the bottom of the harbour in Pictou, N.S.

"It's wooden and it's three-dimensional, and that's very rare,” said Harvey Morash, another diver on the team. Morash said that it’s rare to find salt water wrecks in such good condition. "That's something like you would see in the fresh water lakes in Central Canada," he said. "Not here."

The group of divers spent three hours collecting images and raw video of the schooner located less than 200 metres from the harbour. There are still many mysteries surrounding the sunken vessel, such as its name and when it sank. But MacKay said there is evidence that suggests a fire could have caused it to sink.

Part of a shipwreck is seen in images collected by a dive team in Pictou Harbour, N.S.

MacKay believes the ship is more than 120 years old, and measured it at 60 metres long. But he was especially thrilled to see the schooner's two enormous propellers which stood about 2.5 metres high.

"You wouldn't get each propeller in a dump truck," MacKay said. "It's absolutely massive."

MacKay and his team couldn't believe the ship hadn't been discovered sooner, as it was lying just 12 metres below the surface of the harbour. However, they think that its inland location may have helped preserve the schooner.

MacKay plans to apply for a Heritage Research Permit from the Nova Scotia government to protect the wreck. Meanwhile he and the team will be back in the waters on Monday to continue exploring the rare find.

"It was probably one of the nicest-powered ships of that era," MacKay said. "We were all in awe."

With files from CTV Atlantic and The Canadian Press.