News

Thanks to Walter for bringing to my attention this particularly resonant and
compelling image from the recent coverage of the investigation of a dramatic
shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s part of the original report from NOAA:

NOAA, BOEM: Historic, 19th century shipwreck discovered in northern

Gulf of Mexico

May 16, 2012

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
more than a century on the seafloor. Oxidized copper sheathing and possible
draft marks are visible on the bow of the ship.(Credit: NOAA 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 NOAA 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.

The shipwreck site 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 site
is one of only a handful of surviving examples in the world and the second
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 four shipwrecks during this expedition and I believe this wreck
was by far the most interesting and historic. The site is nearly 200 miles
off the Gulf coast in over 4,000 feet of water in a relatively unexplored
area.”

The news has been reported widely, these extracts being from [CBS News and the Associated
Press](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57437579/200-year-
old-shipwreck-found-in-gulf-of-mexico/):

“When we saw it we were all just astonished because it was beautifully
preserved, and by that I mean for a 200-year-old shipwreck,” said Jack
Irion, maritime archaeologist with the Department of the Interior’s Bureau
of Ocean Energy Management in New Orleans… Among the wreckage were “a rather
astonishing number of bottles,” particularly square gin bottles known as
case bottles, as well as wine bottles, Irion said. There were many ceramic
cups, plates and bowls that didn’t appear to be cargo. Some were green
shell-edged pearl ware, a British import popular in the United States
between 1800 and 1830. The ship’s kitchen stove was found intact. “Very few
shipwrecks have been found that still have the stove intact,” Irion said.
“You can very clearly see the features of the stove. It’s in rather good
shape.” Also discovered were an anchor, cannons and muskets. Irion said
researchers have not yet determined whether it was a merchant, military or
pirate ship… The wreckage can also give insight to the lives of the crew,
where they had been, where they were going and their role in the economy and
world history. “It’s as if we get a glimpse into what their lives were like,
like a time capsule,” Irion said.

All kinds of fascinating stuff, but I can’t understand why no mention of the
sandglasses lying in the sand…

Originally published at: https://throughthesandglass.typepad.com/through_the_sandglass/news/page/2/