While most of the ship's wood has long since disintegrated, copper that sheathed the hull beneath the waterline as a protection against marine-boring organisms remains, leaving a copper shell retaining the form of the ship. The copper has turned green due to oxidation and chemical processes over in excess of a century on the seafloor. Oxidized copper sheathing and possible outline marks are visible on the bow of the ship.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
During a recent Gulf of Mexico expedition, NOAA, BOEM and partners discovered an historic wooden-hulled vessel which is believed to have sunk as long as 200 years ago. Scientists on board the N.O.A.A. Ship Okeanos Explorer used underwater robots with lights and high definition cameras to view remnants of the ship laden with anchors, navigational instruments, glass bottles, ceramic plates, cannons, and boxes of muskets.
Equipped with telepresence technology, Okeanos Explorer reached audiences around the world who participated in the expedition through live streaming Internet video. As members of the public ashore watched live video from the ocean bottom, they became "citizen explorers," sharing in the discovery with maritime archaeologists, scientists and resource managers from a variety of federal, academic, and private organizations.
The NOAA-funded 56-day expedition that ended April 29 was exploring poorly known regions of the Gulf, mapping and imaging unknown or little-known features and habitats, developing and testing a method to measure the rate that gas rises from naturally-occurring seeps on the seafloor, and investigating potential shipwreck sites.
Video footage (mp3) captured by the Little Hercules remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and camera platform during the April 26 ROV dive from N.O.A.A. Ship Okeanos Explorer during the Gulf of Mexico Expedition 2012.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
The shipwreck location was originally identified as an unknown sonar contact during a 2011 oil and gas survey for Shell Oil Company. The Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) requested this and other potential shipwreck sites be investigated during NOAA's Gulf of Mexico expedition. Surveys and archaeological assessments are required by BOEM to aid in its decision-making prior to issuing permits for bottom-disturbing activities related to oil and gas exploration and development.
"Artifacts in and around the wreck and the hull's copper sheathing may date the vessel to the early to mid-19th century," said Jack Irion, Ph.D., a maritime archaeologist with BOEM. "Some of the more datable objects include what appears to be a type of ceramic plate that was popular between 1800 and 1830, and a wide variety of glass bottles. A rare ship's stove on the location is one of only a handful of surviving examples in the world and the 2nd one found on a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico."
Significant historical events occurring in the regions around the Gulf of Mexico during this time include the War of 1812, events leading to the Texas Revolution, and the Mexican-American War, he said.
"Shipwrecks help to fill in some of the unwritten pages of history," said Frank Cantelas, a maritime archaeologist with NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. "We explored 4 shipwrecks during this expedition and I believe this wreck was by far the most interesting and historic. The location is nearly 200 miles off the Gulf coast in over 4,000 feet of water in a relatively unexplored area."
The expedition also discovered areas exhibiting rich biodiversity. At the base of the West Florida Escarpment, a steep undersea cliff, explorers found a "forest" of deep corals, several of which were new to scientists on the ship and ashore. For several days the expedition team also imaged deep-coral communities in the vicinity of the Macondo oil spill site. On another part of the expedition, team members designed and installed a device on the ship's undersea robot system, or ROV (remotely-operated vehicle), to measure the rate that gas rises in the water column.
"Testing new methods and technologies is a priority," said Tim Arcano, director of NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research. "We project for ocean exploration to foster both follow-on research, and develop new technologies to help ocean resource managers and others better understand, use, and protect our largely unknown ocean and its resources."
An anemone lives on top of a musket that lies across a whole group of muskets at the location of the shipwreck.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
Okeanos Explorer is equipped with: a state-of-the-art multibeam mapping sonar; the Institute for Exploration's Little Hercules ROV, which made 29 dives; and telepresence technology that uses satellite and high-speed Internet pathways between ship and shore, allowing scientists ashore to participate in the mission in real-time, and general audiences to be "citizen explorers" as the mission unfolds, live.
Background information, web logs from scientists at sea and ashore, video clips, still images, and education lesson projects describing the expedition are accessible online.
Partners in the 2012 Gulf of Mexico expedition included a number of N.O.A.A. offices, BOEM, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, C&C Technologies, Florida Atlantic University, Geoscience Earth & Marine Services, Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University's Science and Technology Center at Stennis, Naval History and Heritage Command, N.O.A.A. Northern Gulf Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, Tesla Offshore LLC, Institute for Exploration, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Joint Office for Science Support, University of New Hampshire, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of Rhode Island, University of Texas at Austin, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
BOEM manages the exploration and development of the nation's offshore energy and mineral resources. The bureau looks for to balance economic development, energy production, and environmental protection through oil and gas leasing, renewable energy development and environmental reviews and studies.
The N.O.A.A. Ocean Exploration Plan is the only federal Plan dedicated to systematic exploration of the planet's largely unknown ocean. N.O.A.A. Ship Okeanos Explorer is operated, managed and maintained by NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations which includes commissioned officers of the N.O.A.A. Corps and civilian wage mariners. NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research operates, manages and maintains the cutting-edge ocean exploration systems on the vessel and ashore.
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook , Twitter and our other social media channels.
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A map produced by N.O.A.A. Ship Okeanos Explorer's sonar shows the West Florida Escarpment, a steep undersea cliff. The base of the escarpment (2,600 meters deep) is shown in blue with the upper rim in excess of 600 meters above. ROV dives explored the physical structure of the seafloor and biodiversity on soft and hard bottom areas.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
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An octocoral, as evidenced by the 8 tentacles seen on its polyps, is observed during the N.O.A.A. Ship Okeanos Explorer mission.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
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A variety of artifacts inside the ship's hull relates either to daily life on board or to the ship's cargo. Artifacts include ceramic plates, platters, and bowls; and glass liquor, wine, medicine, and food storage bottles of many shapes and colors (some with the contents still sealed inside).
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
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NOAA's Seirios Camera Platform, operating above the Little Hercules ROV, images the ROV and an anchor inside the hull of a copper-sheathed shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico. The wood has nearly all disintegrated after in excess of a century on the seafloor.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
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Underwater "rivers" and ponds of liquid brine were discovered during the expedition. When enough pressure is applied to buried salt by overlying seafloor sediments, the salt flows up near the seafloor where it mixes with seawater and dissolves into brine, which is then brought to the seafloor by buoyant gas and oil. Because brine is denser than seawater, it flows along the seafloor as rivers and streams, often collecting in massive pools to form brine lakes. Note the corals and numerous sea anemones on the banks of this brine river.
Download here. (Credit: N.O.A.A. Okeanos Explorer Program.)
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