Some of them are legendary ships which have fascinated people for generations, akin to the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ship that sank in Antarctica in 1915. Some are mere workhorses that disappear into the depths, like the Ironton, a barge carrying 1,000 tons of grain when it sank in Lake Huron in 1894.
Regardless of their place in history, more wrecks are being found than ever before, in line with those working in the rarefied world of deep-sea exploration.
“More and more are being found, and I think more and more people are paying attention,” said James P. Delgado, an underwater archaeologist in Washington. He added: “We are in a transitional phase where the real period of deep-sea discovery begins and ocean exploration in general really begins.”
So what’s behind the increase?
Experts point to several aspects. They say the technology has made scanning the ocean floor easier and cheaper, making hunting possible for amateurs and professionals alike. More and more persons are exploring the oceans for research and industrial purposes. Shipwreck hunters also search for wrecks for his or her historical value slightly than sunken treasure. Climate change has increased storms and beach erosion, exposing shipwrecks in shallow water.
Underwater robots and latest imaging are helping.
Experts agreed that the latest technology has revolutionized deep sea exploration.
According to director J. Carl Hartsfield, free-floating robots, called autonomous underwater vehicles, are far more common than they were 20 years ago and may scan large swathes of the ocean floor without having to be attached to a research vessel. and senior program manager Oceanographic Systems Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts.
He added that in the polar regions, remotely operated vehicles can travel 40 km under the ice cover. Satellite imagery can detect shipwrecks sediment streaks moving around them visible from space.
“The technology is more powerful, more portable and based on scientists’ budgets,” Hartsfield said, adding: “For a dollar, you can study larger and larger areas of the ocean.”
Jeremy Weirich, director of ocean research at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said greater use telepresence systemswhich stream images of the ocean floor to anyone with an online connection, has allowed more people to explore and discover shipwrecks in real time.
The digitization of archives has made it easier to search out and review historical documents, said David L. Means, a marine scientist and shipwreck researcher.
Still, it’s still easier to mount a mission to search out a famous wreck than an obscure one, Hartsfield said.
“You can get investors to find out what happened to Amelia Earhart, but not to find freighters,” he said. “It’s a fascinating story.”
Climate change is an element.
Experts say climate change is playing a task, causing more frequent and stronger storms that erode coastlines and fire up sunken ships.
For example, in late January, a couple of months after Hurricane Fiona hit Canada, a Nineteenth-century shipwreck washed ashore in a distant part of Newfoundland’s Cape Ray, causing confusion in the small community of about 250 people.
In 2020, a pair walking on the beach in St. Augustine, Florida, noticed picket beams and bolts protruding of the sand. Archaeologists said the stays were almost definitely those of the Caroline Eddy, a Civil War-built ship that sank in 1880. Experts say they were likely exposed by coastal erosion attributable to Tropical Storm Eta and Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Irma in 2017
These types of coastal discoveries may develop into more common, Dr. Delgado says. “As the ocean rises,” he said, “it digs up things that have been buried or hidden for over a hundred years.”
Treasure hunting is not what it was.
Private treasure hunters proceed to go looking for shipwrecks, hoping to search out sunken gold, coins and gems. But their discoveries are sometimes mired in legal disputes and their claims are rarely realized, says Deborah N. Carlson, president of the Institute of Maritime Archeology, a nonprofit research organization.
She identified that underwater archaeologist Peter Throckmorton once called ocean treasure hunting “worst investment in the world” and stated that “it only benefits promoters and lawyers.”
Private claims to a sunken ship may be disputed by nations or insurers. For example, Spain successfully defended its claim that it maintained ownership of a Spanish frigate sunk by the British in 1804 after an American treasure-hunting company found the shipwreck off the coast of Portugal in 2007 and took its trove of gold and silver coins to a warehouse in Florida .
UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, adopted in 2001sought to protect shipwrecks from robbers and stated that countries should protect them and other undersea relics “for the good of humanity”.
Hartsfield said that if the goal is to “observe the shipwreck and never disturb it,” costs come down because it is not required to lower the submarine onto a winch to retrieve items from the ocean floor. Scientists, he said, can simply use a video camera to record the artifacts they find.
“Now your gold coin is 4K,” Hartsfield said, referring to a type of high-definition video. “If your sensors are better, you don’t necessarily have to find an object to study it.”
More and more are joining in and exploring the depths of the ocean.
Although treasure hunters continue to ply their trade, they have been joined by more commercial and research ventures that have expanded the sphere of deep sea exploration.
Weirich said more shipwrecks have been discovered over the years, largely thanks to private companies seeking leases on oil and gas deposits, cables and pipelines.
Phil Hartmeyer, a marine archaeologist at NOAA Ocean Exploration, said more private research groups are scanning the ocean floor and helping scientists around the world get closer to the goal of mapping the entire seabed by 2030.
NOAA, for example, works with Schmidt Ocean Institutea nonprofit research group founded by Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, and his wife Wendy Schmidt; Ocean Research Fundnon-profit organization founded by Robert Ballard, who led the expedition that found the Titanic in 1985; AND OceanXan ocean exploration company founded by billionaire investor Ray Dalio and his son Mark.
Dr. Carlson said the field of underwater archeology has also “grown significantly,” with an increasing number of master’s programs educating archaeologists interested in excavating sunken ships for their historical value.
“There are a lot more people working in this discipline than there were 50 years ago,” Dr. Carlson said, “and a lot more people are looking for and finding shipwrecks.”
