HOT NEWS !

By Cammy Clark - Miami Herald
 

A dozen digitally composed photographs were submerged 90 feet below the ocean’s surface, encased in Plexiglas with stainless steel frames and silicone seals.

After sharing habitat with parrot fish, barracudas and Goliath groupers for more than four months in 2011, the art was removed from its unusual exhibit site — the deck of the USNS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg shipwreck.

The silicone seals did not work perfectly, allowing seawater seepage on the sides of the photos, and the Plexiglas was covered with algae, microorganisms and marine-life skeletons.

But when photographer Andreas Franke saw the results, he was not upset.

“Look how cool it is,” he says. “Now it’s unique. You can’t reproduce this because of the help of Mother Nature.”

Franke’s underwater art can now be seen without SCUBA gear at The Studios of Key West in a free exhibit, Vandenberg Project: The Life Above Refined Below, through Feb. 15.

“But don’t come in here with Windex and paper towels,” says Erin Stover-Sickmen, The Studios’ artistic director.

“Yes, please tell everybody in Spanish and English not to clean them,” Franke says with a smile.

The project began with Franke photographing the sunken Vandenberg in April 2010.

The commercial photographer from Vienna had seen the ship on the cover of a dive magazine, and knew, he says, that it would be the perfect “theatrical stage” for his new art.

Full article...

From Paul Fraser Collectibles
 

A fascinating, early 18th century Continental Flintlock Holster pistol, which was previously owned by British explorer Captain James Cook (1728-1799), is to auction in Australia on February 14.

The Godefroi Corbau Le Jeune-made gun is estimated to achieve between A$100,000 and A$200,000 ($104,565-209,057) ahead of the highly anticipated sale.

A fascinating, early 18th century Continental Flintlock Holster pistol, which was previously owned by British explorer Captain James Cook (1728-1799), is to auction in Australia on February 14.

The Godefroi Corbau Le Jeune-made gun is estimated to achieve between A$100,000 and A$200,000 ($104,565-209,057) ahead of the highly anticipated sale.

By Flora Graham - New Scientist
 

Looking like the weathered skeleton of some ancient dinosaur, the rusting remains of an American Civil War battleship have been imaged in their underwater grave by 3D sonar.

The USS Hatteras sank during battle with the CSS Alabama in 1863, coming to rest in 17 metres of water in the Gulf of Mexico, 30 kilometres off the coast of Galveston, Texas.

One hundred and fifty years later, the bones of the iron-hulled paddle-wheel steamship have been mapped by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA made the scans after local underwater photographer Jesse Cancelmo noticed that recent storms had shifted some of the sediment and sand that covered the wreck.

The main image above shows the curved tooth-like outline of the stern on the right.

The paddle-wheel shaft stretches from the top to the bottom of the picture, where the remains of the port paddle wheel lie crumpled like the bones of a skeletal hand.

More than half of the ship still lies beneath the seabed."

Most shipwreck survey maps are two-dimensional and based on observations made by sight, photographs or by feeling around in murky water while stretching a measuring tape," said James Delgado of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

Full article...

From National Parks Traveler
 

High seas and pounding surf have revealed a piece of the past at Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, where a shipwreck thought to date to the mid-1800s has surfaced.

Whether the remains are those of a freighter hauling corn, tobacco or cotton, or maybe a blockade runner with Civil War ties, is not yet known, and might never be. Seashore officials say the remains depict a craft roughly 80 feet long. Unfortunately, there are few clues as to the ship's provenance.

"This is only a section of the boat and is not the full craft.

Due to the broken nature of the wreck, archaeologists are unable to determine the function. However, based on the boat’s construction, it is believed that it was built in the mid-19th century," read a release from the Seashore.

"The two most prominent features uncovered are the 30+ ribs and approximately 10 pieces of the outer shell planking. The wooden timbers are fastened together by pegs or treenails."

So far archaeologists have been unable to identify the wood used in the construction, but hope they'll be able to both identify the wood and date it from samples they took.

That information could help them narrow down the date of the shipwreck.

Full article...

By Andrew David Thaler - Southern Fried Science
 

Newsweek, in is new and impressive digital format, released a series of articles this week on deep-sea exploration, the challenges of human occupied and remotely-operated vehicles, and the decline in funding for ocean science, particularly in the deep sea.

The main article, The Last Dive ? Funding for Human Expeditions in the Ocean May Have Run Aground, is a deep, detailed look at the state of deep-sea science, seen through the eyes of Dr. Sylvia Earle and Dr. Robert Ballard, two giants in the ocean community.

The follow-up, James Cameron Responds to Robert Ballard on Deep-Sea Exploration, provides insight into the mind of James Cameron, who last year successfully dove the Challenger Deep in his own deep-sea submersible. Both the articles continue to perpetrate the canard that there is a deep chasm between the human-occupied submersible (HOV) and remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) communities.

The reality is that deep-sea scientists use a variety of tools, from mechanical samplers to autonomous robots, to study and understand the deep.

The choice comes down to which tool is most efficient, least expensive, and currently available. Absent a sea change, ROV’s will continue to be the workhorses of deep-sea research. And that is a good thing.

I sang the praise of my robot underlings the last time this debate breached the public consciousness.

I also discussed why basic deep-sea research and training highly skilled ROV pilots is a matter of national security. Ballard and Earle have been on opposite sides of this divide for a long time, with Earle pushing for a greater human presence in the ocean and Ballard supporting the continued expansion of telepresence technologies that allow scientist and the public to interact with deep-sea assets from the comfort of facilities like the Inner Space Center in Rhode Island.

Cameron, whose most successful movie to date is a essentially a meditation on how awesome it is to pilot a really sophisticated ROV, takes the stance that young minds cannot be inspired by remotely-operated exploration, that someone must be there to “experience it first hand and return to tell the story”, claiming “the quickest way to get even less interest and engagement is to take human explorers out of the vehicles.”

I categorically reject the implication that people cannot be inspired unless another person is physically there. The Mars Curiosity Rover is proof enough that our robotic brethren are nothing less than extensions of our own senses.

Full article...

From Huffington Post

After storms lashed Scotland over the holidays, some strange World War II-era relics turned up on the country's chilly coast, including decades-old lard from a shipwreck and bunker blocks buried on a beach, local officials said.

At St. Cyrus Natural Reserve, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Edinburgh, four large chunks of lard washed up after the storms.

Though their wooden containers disintegrated long ago, the lard chunks retained their barrel shape, and they were still bright white under a thick crust of barnacles, local officials said.

"The depth of the swell during the storms we had over the holidays must have broke apart the shipwreck some more and caused the lard to escape," Therese Alampo, manager at the reserve, said in a statement from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

"It's given us some interesting sights recently on the reserve: I'm sure there have been people wondering what on earth has washed up on the beach.

The lard was covered in the largest barnacles I've ever seen," Alampo added.

"Animals, including my dog, have certainly enjoyed the lard, and it still looks and smells good enough to have a fry-up with !" Vicki Mowat of SNH explained to LiveScience in an email that scientists haven't examined the lard yet, and the story of its origins comes from local history and knowledge.

"The lard was washed up for the first time after a merchant ship was bombed during World War II, and has continued to wash up every few decades after bad storms when we believe the wreck has been subject to deep swells," Mowat said. Local resident, Angus McHardy, told SNH that he first saw fat washing up on the beach in the early 1940s.

Full article...

By Cheryl Walker - UT San Diego
 

John Downing has always had a passion for archaeology. But instead of confining his explorations to ruins on land, he does his digging underwater — scuba diving to excavate shipwreck sites.

Downing, 61, of Valley Center, volunteers for the Anglo-Danish Maritime Archaeological Team, an international nonprofit, based in the United Kingdom.

Already an experienced scuba diver, joining the team was a natural fit for Downing.

“My wife and I love to go scuba diving, but after going so many times and seeing the fish enough times, I wanted to try something new,” he said.

“When I read about maritime archaeology, it was natural to put the two together.

It became diving with a purpose.” Downing’s interest in archaeology began well before the “Indiana Jones” movies popularized the subject.

In junior high school he read about exotic temples and artifacts, but he never thought about pursuing archaeology as a career.

After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Navy with the idea of learning electronics. He was reading Archaeology Magazine when he learned about maritime archaeology volunteering.

He immediately wrote to the director, Dr. Simon Q. Spooner, about signing up for the next class. There wasn’t going to be another session soon, but Spooner, who was impressed with Downing’s enthusiasm, offered to teach him personally.

Spooner invited him to come to the Dominican Republic for training. “I couldn’t believe it,” Downing said. “I was getting private lessons from a person with a Ph.D. in maritime archaeology.

It was a wonderful opportunity — one I couldn’t say no to.”

Full article...

From gCaptain

The US Navy reports this morning that all 79 crew members have been transferred from the stricken USS Guardian (MCM-5) while 7th Fleet salvors works to try and free the vessel which is solidly aground on Tubbataha Reef in the Philippines.

The sailors were safely transferred by small boat to the nearby support vessels USNS Bowditch (T-AGS 62) and MSV C-Champion.

“Seventh Fleet ships remain on scene and essential Guardian Sailors will continue conducting survey operations onboard the ship as needed until she is recovered,” said Vice Adm. Scott Swift, U.S. Seventh Fleet commander.

“Several support vessels have arrived and all steps are being taken to minimize environmental effects while ensuring the crew’s continued safety.”

The Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship had just completed a port call in Subic Bay, Olongapo City, and was en route to her next port of call when the grounding occurred.

The US Navy’s salvage operation continues today in close coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines while an investigation into the cause of the grounding continues.