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When the Sea Speaks: Team examining Gulf shipwreck finds 2 other wrecks
#1
Great Stuff Marine History Archeology . . . ~!~!~!~ ymmv

http://news.yahoo.com/team-examining-gul...29341.html


MICHAEL GRACZYK 58 minutes ago
GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Marine archaeologists made a thrilling discovery this week while examining a well-preserved shipwreck deep in the Gulf of Mexico — two other sunken vessels that likely went down with it during an early 19th century storm.

Much isn't known about the ships, including the flag or flags they sailed under and the year they sank about 170 miles southeast of Galveston. They came to rest 4,363 feet, or nearly three-quarters of a mile, below the surface, making them the deepest Gulf or North American shipwrecks to have been systematically investigated by archaeologists, the researchers said.

"What you're going to see and hear I hope will blow your mind. Because it has ours," lead investigator Fritz Hanselmann told reporters at a Thursday news conference in which the team revealed its initial findings.

"We went out with a lot of questions and we returned with even more. The big question we're all asking is: What is the shipwreck? And the answer is we still don't know," said Hanselmann, a researcher from Texas State University in San Marcos' Meadows Center for Water and the Environment.

During eight days of exploration that ended Wednesday, the scientists used remote-controlled machines to recover more than 60 artifacts from the initial shipwreck site, including musket parts, ceramic cups and dishes, liquor bottles, clothing and even a toothbrush. The artifacts, including china from Britain, ceramics from Mexico and at least one musket from Canada, will help researchers determine the ships' histories, Hanselmann said.

"Nationalities, cultures, all collide in these shipwrecks. We hope to return in the future next year with more work," he said.

Although they weren't allowed to retrieve artifacts from the two new sites under the terms of their agreement to examine the initial one, the researchers took thousands of photos and closely examined the wreckage of all three ships, which came to rest within five miles of one another.
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#2
Sounds like this type of exploration is very expensive. I wonder how they fund their work? Since they cannot take any artifacts, I wonder if a private venture is using them for initial leg work. I.e., to determine whether its worth the trouble of a full-blown private salvage expedition?
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#3
I'll bet it's private money hoping to find. . . gold! Pieces o' eight!

/Mr Lynn
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#4
You never know when you might trip over a shipwreck...

There was a lump on the ground of the courtyard where my parents had their apartment in San Francisco. Over the years, the lump grew, and something had to be done; there were liability issues.
The lump turned out to be chunk of a ship that was trying its best to re-surface.

Here's a map of some of the identified shipwrecks under San Francisco:

http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/hpshpb.jpg

Eustace
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#5
Thank you for the link eustacetilley ~!~
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