Scientists: Timber at possible Griffin shipwreck site has been in Lake Michigan for centuries

FAIRPORT, Mich. - Scientists say a wooden beam extending from the floor of northern Lake Michigan appears to have been there for centuries, an important finding as they try to determine whether it’s part of the Griffin, the first European-style ship to sail on North America’s upper Great Lakes.

Marine archaeologists from the U.S. and France are studying the timber and digging a pit beneath it. They said Tuesday a probing device has detected what appears to be a solid surface up to 20 feet (6 metres) below the lake floor.

They say they’re not certain they’re dealing with a shipwreck. But Michel L’Hour of France’s Department of Underwater Archaeological Research says the timber appears to be a bowsprit, a pole that extends from a vessel’s stem.

The Griffin disappeared in 1679.