WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:19.560 Hi everybody my name is Hannah McDonald and I work for national marine 00:00:19.560 --> 00:00:24.200 sanctuaries. Today I'm coming to you live from the inner space center here at the 00:00:24.200 --> 00:00:28.560 University of Rhode Island. The rest of the expedition team is onboard the 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:33.000 research vessel 'Connecticut' off the coast of Massachusetts. They are 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:37.589 including Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary staff as well as Woods 00:00:37.589 --> 00:00:42.480 Hole Oceanographic Institution researchers exploring the sea floor of 00:00:42.480 --> 00:00:46.110 Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. They're looking at various 00:00:46.110 --> 00:00:50.340 ecosystems as well as shipwrecks that lie in the sanctuary. 00:00:50.340 --> 00:00:54.030 Now the vessel they're operating on is the research vessel 'Connecticut' owned 00:00:54.030 --> 00:00:57.719 and operated by the University of Connecticut. The project that they're 00:00:57.719 --> 00:01:01.879 funding is provided from NOAA, or the National Oceanic Atmospheric 00:01:01.879 --> 00:01:06.720 Administration, to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Now, they're 00:01:06.720 --> 00:01:11.789 being funded to perform state-of-the-art marine research using the latest and 00:01:11.789 --> 00:01:16.590 greatest in marine technology including remotely operated vehicles as 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:23.009 well as cinematography-class cameras to bring the seafloor directly to you. So 00:01:23.009 --> 00:01:28.050 they're sending their data and video feeds up to a satellite to here at the 00:01:28.050 --> 00:01:31.380 interspace Center at the University of Rhode Island and right 00:01:31.380 --> 00:01:36.270 to your screens. So with that, I want to give you an overview of how this program 00:01:36.270 --> 00:01:40.920 works and how it's interactive. So you're tuning in online: there's going to be a 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.970 question box below you where you get to submit any questions you have for our 00:01:44.970 --> 00:01:49.739 expedition team. Before the question and answer session, I'm going to introduce 00:01:49.739 --> 00:01:54.090 you to all of the expedition team players. So you get to submit your 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:58.020 questions at any point in time and I'll relay those to our team when it's time 00:01:58.020 --> 00:02:02.190 for them to answer. We're gonna bring the entire team together at the end, so 00:02:02.190 --> 00:02:06.479 they'll all be ready and eager to answer your questions. The first team player 00:02:06.479 --> 00:02:10.560 that I'm gonna introduce you to is Ben Haskell, but before that, I'm gonna show 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:14.819 you the introductory expedition video that provides you a little bit more 00:02:14.819 --> 00:02:18.620 information about the entire project. 00:02:21.849 --> 00:02:29.120 842 square miles. Up to 600 feet deep: enough to submerge the Seattle Space 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:35.420 Needle. The final resting place of hundreds of shipwrecks, and one of the 00:02:35.420 --> 00:02:43.370 top 10 whale watching destinations in the world. Created in 1992, Stellwagen 00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:50.239 Bank National Marine Sanctuary lies 25 miles off the coast of Boston. It's home 00:02:50.239 --> 00:02:56.590 to a rich assortment of marine life, including Atlantic cod, haddock, flounder, 00:02:56.590 --> 00:03:02.060 bluefin tuna, and many species of whales including the critically endangered 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:08.540 North Atlantic right whale. And all this life attracts many visitors; over 00:03:08.540 --> 00:03:17.000 half-a-million whale watchers visit the sanctuary each year. The crossroads of 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:21.230 critical fishing grounds and shipping routes for centuries, Stellwagen Bank 00:03:21.230 --> 00:03:26.810 National Marine Sanctuary also contains vast numbers of shipwrecks ranging from 00:03:26.810 --> 00:03:32.449 wooden sailing ships to modern fishing trawlers. These wrecks are both windows 00:03:32.449 --> 00:03:39.439 into the past and important habitats for marine life. Stellwagen Bank sanctuary is 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:44.840 one of 14 marine protected areas within the National Marine Sanctuary system, a 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:50.880 network encompassing more than 600,000 square miles of underwater parks. 00:03:50.880 --> 00:03:55.200 Managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:59.580 sanctuaries promote responsible, sustainable use of ocean and Great Lakes 00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:05.700 resources. They also serve to connect people to the ocean so they can better 00:04:05.700 --> 00:04:12.150 understand its critical roles in climate weather and human health. To foster that 00:04:12.150 --> 00:04:17.820 connection, NOAA awarded funding to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, often 00:04:17.820 --> 00:04:22.860 referred to as WHOI, to conduct state-of-the-art research. Based on 00:04:22.860 --> 00:04:27.840 nearby Cape Cod, WHOI is the world's oldest and largest nonprofit ocean 00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:32.910 research and education institution. Using tools and technologies pioneered at 00:04:32.910 --> 00:04:37.860 Woods Hole, we can bring live dives, research, and exploration over the 00:04:37.860 --> 00:04:42.050 internet in real-time to you. 00:04:47.169 --> 00:04:52.099 Now as you may have picked up in that video, Stellwagen Bank National 00:04:52.099 --> 00:04:56.030 Marine Sanctuary has a vast number of shipwrecks. The shipwrecks are caused for 00:04:56.030 --> 00:05:00.470 a number of reasons, but one of those is hazardous weather conditions. So, 00:05:00.470 --> 00:05:04.430 unfortunately during this week's expedition, there were hazardous weather 00:05:04.430 --> 00:05:08.330 conditions like the footage you're seeing here from earlier today on the 00:05:08.330 --> 00:05:11.810 research vessel 'Connecticut' that has brought our team out of Stellwagen bank 00:05:11.810 --> 00:05:16.400 National Marine Sanctuary and not on the sites of the shipwrecks, but a little bit 00:05:16.400 --> 00:05:21.169 closer to safety and closer to the coast. This hasn't stopped our expedition team 00:05:21.169 --> 00:05:25.009 from wanting to show you their latest research using some of the footage that 00:05:25.009 --> 00:05:28.759 they've collected throughout this expedition season and to discuss the 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:32.900 highlights and the most exciting things that they found so far. So that's a 00:05:32.900 --> 00:05:36.710 little bit of an expedition update; with that, I want to introduce you to Ben 00:05:36.710 --> 00:05:40.370 Haskell, the deputy superintendent of Stellwagen Bank National Marine 00:05:40.370 --> 00:05:44.539 Sanctuary, who's going to provide you a little bit more about the history of the 00:05:44.539 --> 00:05:47.149 shipwreck 'Portland'. Hi Ben! 00:05:47.149 --> 00:05:51.650 Hi Hannah, and hello everybody out there, thanks for 00:05:51.650 --> 00:05:58.729 joining us tonight on this final broadcast of our 2019 season. Before I 00:05:58.729 --> 00:06:02.539 give you a little overview of the history of the Portland and it's sinking, 00:06:02.539 --> 00:06:07.699 I wanted to give a shout-out to our sanctuary ambassadors out there who are 00:06:07.699 --> 00:06:13.759 helping with the various venues tonight, so thank you very much for doing that. I 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:18.110 also understand we have a special guest at Cape Cod Museum of Natural History 00:06:18.110 --> 00:06:27.340 Dr. Richard Limeburner, who helped discover the 'Portland' back in 1989 18 00:06:27.340 --> 00:06:35.659 1989. So beside me here is a beautiful model of the Portland as she looked in 00:06:35.659 --> 00:06:42.199 her heyday, and as you can see she was a side paddlewheel steamer that made the 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:48.530 trip from Boston to Portland overnight. So the passengers would wake up the next 00:06:48.530 --> 00:06:53.289 morning at their destination, and they would pay a whopping one dollar for that 00:06:53.289 --> 00:06:56.289 trip. 00:06:56.479 --> 00:07:04.039 So on the on the night of November 26, 1898, 00:07:04.039 --> 00:07:10.520 captain Hollis Blanchard made the fateful decision to leave on time at 7 00:07:10.520 --> 00:07:14.449 p..m, despite hearing that there might be a 00:07:14.449 --> 00:07:21.050 coastal storm coming up the coast from the south. So, he wanted to get his 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:26.689 passengers home to Portland after they celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday in 00:07:26.689 --> 00:07:34.129 the Boston area. So he headed north from Boston and the minute he turned the 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:39.020 corner around Cape Anne, where Gloucester is, he found himself in the teeth of a 00:07:39.020 --> 00:07:44.449 howling gale. It turned out it became known as the Portland gale because of this 00:07:44.449 --> 00:07:51.249 tragedy, and he tried to make headway into this storm for a few hours and then 00:07:51.249 --> 00:07:57.249 decided he needed to turn around and go south where the wind's towards Cape Cod. 00:07:57.249 --> 00:08:04.159 So on the way somewhere south of Gloucester, the ship was overcome by 00:08:04.159 --> 00:08:09.919 towering 30 and 40 foot waves that started to tear apart the upper 00:08:09.919 --> 00:08:15.469 superstructure, the wheelhouse, tore off the top of the smokestacks, 00:08:15.469 --> 00:08:22.159 and water started to pour into the bottom of the hull of the ship 00:08:22.159 --> 00:08:29.659 and she sank with all hands on board. Over a hundred ninety-two people, but of 00:08:29.659 --> 00:08:33.529 course we don't know how many exactly because they didn't leave a passenger 00:08:33.529 --> 00:08:40.490 list on land. So, she now rests on the sea floor of the sanctuary, she's our most 00:08:40.490 --> 00:08:46.399 iconic historic wreck, and she was listed on the National Register of Historic 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:52.220 Places along with several other wrecks thanks to the hard work of Matthew 00:08:52.220 --> 00:09:01.069 Lawrence and Deborah Marx. Her final resting place was not known for 00:09:01.069 --> 00:09:09.470 decades, until Arnie Carr and John Fish came along and spent a good 10 years of 00:09:09.470 --> 00:09:12.100 their own time and money searching for in 00:09:12.100 --> 00:09:19.630 Massachusetts Bay. And one of the clues or aids that they use to help them 00:09:19.640 --> 00:09:28.120 pinpoint her location was the work the oceanographic modeling work of Dr. Limeburner 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:40.200 And they were able to use the bodies and records that came ashore on the Cape Cod beaches along with 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:50.680 the time that the wristwatch is stopped on the bodies which ,was 9:30 it was either a.m. or p.m. And they were able to track back 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:58.750 with that from that wreckage and time to better pinpoint where they should search 00:09:58.750 --> 00:10:06.040 with side-scan sonar and finally John Fish and Arnie Carr found an object that 00:10:06.040 --> 00:10:12.130 was large enough to be the Portland. They put an ROV down on it, and 00:10:12.130 --> 00:10:20.290 unfortunately were not able to collect enough data to actually pinpoint the 00:10:20.290 --> 00:10:26.410 identity as that being of the Portland. So when I came to the sanctuary in 2000, 00:10:26.410 --> 00:10:30.730 I asked Arnie if he would share with me the location of the Portland and he did. 00:10:30.730 --> 00:10:38.920 I then put together the first expedition to the wreck in 2002 on this 00:10:38.920 --> 00:10:46.510 very research vessel with some of the same crew, and we were able to use the 00:10:46.510 --> 00:10:53.560 best side scan and remotely operated vehicle at the time to definitively show 00:10:53.560 --> 00:10:58.960 that it was in fact the Portland lying there where John and Arnie thought it 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:10.210 was. So she is now, as I said, our most iconic wreck, and one of several that are 00:11:10.210 --> 00:11:17.670 listed on the National Register, and part of NOAA's job is to document and protect 00:11:17.670 --> 00:11:23.800 historic resources but also bring the stories alive to folks like you. 00:11:23.800 --> 00:11:29.290 So that's what we're doing on this this expedition and live broadcast, so thanks 00:11:29.290 --> 00:11:32.855 for joining us and Hannah I will turn it back over to you. 00:11:32.855 --> 00:11:34.269 Thank you Ben, and what 00:11:34.269 --> 00:11:38.649 a great overview of the Portland. The next team member I'm going to introduce 00:11:38.649 --> 00:11:42.549 you to it studies the Portland as well as other shipwrecks in Stellwagen Bank 00:11:42.549 --> 00:11:48.069 National Marine Sanctuary, including the Palmer and the Crary. Dr. Kelvin Myers is 00:11:48.069 --> 00:11:51.910 a maritime archaeologist, and was the lead maritime archaeologist 00:11:51.910 --> 00:11:55.660 on this expedition. I'm going to turn it back over to Kelvin on the research 00:11:55.660 --> 00:11:59.739 vessel 'Connecticut' to tell us a little bit more about his work on the project 00:11:59.739 --> 00:12:03.680 Hi Kelvin! 00:12:03.680 --> 00:12:05.019 Hey Hannah, thank you very much and welcome to everybody tuning in. 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:09.459 Welcome to the back of the RV Connecticut on absolutely gorgeous night 00:12:09.459 --> 00:12:13.449 I can tell you for sure, though, last night wasn't as gorgeous; the waves 00:12:13.449 --> 00:12:16.779 picked up, and I remember thinking whether or not I was going to be thrown 00:12:16.779 --> 00:12:21.220 from my berth onto the floor which was problematic because I was at the top berth, 00:12:21.220 --> 00:12:26.110 and so anyone below me would have figured that out pretty fast. And this, 00:12:26.110 --> 00:12:30.519 morning, as I was thinking on that, I was imagining what it must have been like a 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:36.639 hundred and twenty-one years ago when 130 passengers went to sleep in one of 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:41.980 514 berths on the Portland and somewhere in the middle of the night, they woke up 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:49.079 to 30-plus foot seas, and they didn't make it home two days after Thanksgiving 00:12:49.079 --> 00:12:54.779 from Boston to Portland. They never got to see their families. And one of my 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:59.679 roles and responsibilities as a maritime archaeologist is to understand that 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:04.089 while I look at shipwrecks as the material remains of the past, my ultimate 00:13:04.089 --> 00:13:10.209 responsibility is to give voice to those people aboard the ship. And at that depth 00:13:10.209 --> 00:13:13.629 of the ship 80 fathoms below the sea and Stellwagen bank National Marine 00:13:13.629 --> 00:13:19.059 Sanctuary, we need special equipment such as the ROV Pixel behind me, which 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:23.439 you'll hear more about later. But it doesn't change that impact of seeing the 00:13:23.439 --> 00:13:27.939 bow come into view on the screen as you're sitting 500 feet above and 00:13:27.939 --> 00:13:34.869 realizing this was that moment, resting on the sea, that you have a glimpse a 00:13:34.869 --> 00:13:40.300 window into the past that very few have. And it's a privilege as you scroll, as you 00:13:40.300 --> 00:13:45.250 sweep back and you see the engines and the paddle wheels, and wonder what 00:13:45.250 --> 00:13:50.620 exactly happened. Intimate artifacts are there reminding you of the last meal 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:58.080 that the passengers shared: cups and bowls...And our job is to put that together and 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:04.600 to work as a team onboard the ship to understand why people go out to sea and 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:10.030 what risks they take: and it's not just the Portland. One dramatic site that we 00:14:10.030 --> 00:14:17.430 are investigating is the Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary site: two coal schooners 00:14:17.430 --> 00:14:23.770 early 20th century in December 17th, 1902, have been sailing up from Newport News, 00:14:23.770 --> 00:14:28.030 Virginia, bringing coal back up to New England, and they needed to get to Boston. 00:14:28.030 --> 00:14:34.660 It was a classic horse race (boat race in this case), for the first one to market set 00:14:34.660 --> 00:14:41.530 the price, and the consolation prize for number two was a big drop-off. And so as 00:14:41.530 --> 00:14:46.540 they rounded Cape Cod and came into the Massachusetts Bay, there was a stiff 00:14:46.540 --> 00:14:50.560 northwesterly-westerly breeze and they chose different tacks with the Crary 00:14:50.560 --> 00:14:55.180 taking a port tack, or to the left, and Palmer taking a starboard tack, or to the 00:14:55.180 --> 00:14:58.990 right, and when they came about, they set a collision course. The right-of-way was to 00:14:58.990 --> 00:15:05.350 the Frank A Palmer but the mate in charge of the Crary decided he could 00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:10.960 make it, he thought he could get ahead of the bow, and so he took the wind. But he was 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:16.270 wrong; a miscalculation caused the two to go bow-to-bow and within minutes, they 00:15:16.270 --> 00:15:19.660 were at the bottom of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. It's a 00:15:19.660 --> 00:15:23.310 dramatic picture even to today to see them still interlocked in this embrace. 00:15:23.310 --> 00:15:31.770 Six died immediately, including the mate who made the tragic decision, J.E. Smith. 00:15:32.270 --> 00:15:37.130 Fifteen survived and were on a lifeboat that sailed for four days, were rescued 00:15:37.130 --> 00:15:41.810 on December 21st. In those four days, four succumbed to frostbite in the 00:15:41.810 --> 00:15:44.870 conditions. One drank the salt water and thought he could make it back to shore: 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:48.530 he did not. These are the stories that are out there, and it's a privilege as a 00:15:48.530 --> 00:15:52.510 maritime archaeologists to go out there with a team that we have assembled here 00:15:52.510 --> 00:15:59.390 who have a mission to bring these unique artifacts from the depths all 00:15:59.390 --> 00:16:02.720 symbolically and literally through technology, through 3D models, through 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:09.260 virtual reality, that we were putting together. These are also sites, not just 00:16:09.260 --> 00:16:15.980 sites of commemoration, but sites of life, biological life, from the smallest to the 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:21.020 highest apex predators all grow there. But fortunately for me as a cultural 00:16:21.020 --> 00:16:26.000 resource specialist, we have a biologist leading the project. So Hannah, thank you 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.510 for your time. I look forward to questions a little bit later in the show, 00:16:29.510 --> 00:16:34.160 but I think we'll turn it back to you. 00:16:34.160 --> 00:16:36.620 Beautifully said Kelvin, you did a great 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:41.120 job articulating that a tragedy can be transformed into a great host for life. 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:46.460 So this leads us into introducing the principal investigator, Dr. Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser. 00:16:46.460 --> 00:16:52.040 Now she studies the biology and the life that live on shipwrecks. So I'm 00:16:52.040 --> 00:16:55.700 gonna hand it back over to Kirsten to tell us a little bit more about her 00:16:55.700 --> 00:16:59.720 research and how she studies the life on shipwrecks like the Portland and the 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:01.600 Palmer and the Crary. Hi Kirsten! 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:08.150 Hi Hannah! So, shipwrecks are isolated island-like 00:17:08.150 --> 00:17:13.370 habitats. Most shipwrecks are located in the middle of sandy or muddy plains, 00:17:13.370 --> 00:17:17.510 which is absolutely the case for both of the wrecks we've been investigating this 00:17:17.510 --> 00:17:22.640 year, the Portland and the Palmer and Crary. This means that the wreck is the 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:28.640 only solid object in that immediate area it's the only hard-bottom habitat for 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:34.040 organisms that need solid objects to attach to. We call these animals sessile 00:17:34.040 --> 00:17:37.760 because they live in one place throughout their entire adult life; they 00:17:37.760 --> 00:17:42.590 attach to a surface and stay there and just filter the water to feed. Some 00:17:42.590 --> 00:17:47.440 examples include sponges and anemones and hydroids which are 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:51.760 actually the most common organisms on both the Portland and the Palmer and 00:17:51.760 --> 00:17:56.710 Crary wrecks. When we were investigating the Palmer and Crary, I noticed that it had a 00:17:56.710 --> 00:18:02.020 really abundant sponge community, there's actually numerous yellow bulbous sponges 00:18:02.020 --> 00:18:07.870 that are living on the rigging and on the gunnel of those wrecks. And also some 00:18:07.870 --> 00:18:13.780 really beautiful white cup-shaped glass sponges on that Palmer and Crary wreck. It 00:18:13.780 --> 00:18:17.500 also seems to have a little higher species richness than the Portland, there 00:18:17.500 --> 00:18:21.400 were some things on the Palmer and Crary that I did not observe on the Portland, 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:27.190 for example, some large barnacles on the stern of the Palmer. So it appears that 00:18:27.190 --> 00:18:30.580 there are some slight differences between those two wrecks. It's 00:18:30.580 --> 00:18:35.650 interesting for me as a biologist to analyze the differences between those 00:18:35.650 --> 00:18:40.270 wrecks because I can start to get a handle of the connectivity between those 00:18:40.270 --> 00:18:44.290 different communities and the populations of organisms on each of 00:18:44.290 --> 00:18:47.410 those sites. In addition, I'll be comparing 00:18:47.410 --> 00:18:52.420 both of those wrecks to other wrecks throughout the sanctuary and to natural 00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:57.250 hard-bottom habitats, these are boulder reefs in the area. Along with the boulder 00:18:57.250 --> 00:19:02.560 reefs, the shipwrecks form an archipelago: So a network of islands, where those 00:19:02.560 --> 00:19:07.030 sessile fauna can live. One of the things we've actually been doing onboard the 00:19:07.030 --> 00:19:12.550 Connecticut is collecting multi-beam sonar data in order to map the seafloor 00:19:12.550 --> 00:19:17.470 at very high resolution and identify new shipwreck sites that we can then go 00:19:17.470 --> 00:19:21.280 investigate in the coming years. So, there's a lot of interesting biology 00:19:21.280 --> 00:19:24.420 going on, and with that I will hand back to you Hannah. 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:28.360 Thank You Kirsten for the great information about the biology of the 00:19:28.360 --> 00:19:32.710 wrecks and Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Just to remind you all, 00:19:32.710 --> 00:19:36.610 their research, both the maritime archaeology and the biology research 00:19:36.610 --> 00:19:42.580 taking place, is taking place over 400 feet deep within the sanctuary. So 00:19:42.580 --> 00:19:46.510 they're using some of the greatest technology available to explore this 00:19:46.510 --> 00:19:50.620 place. So I'm going to send you over to a video that goes into the marine 00:19:50.620 --> 00:19:54.450 technology used on this expedition. 00:20:00.530 --> 00:20:06.660 Technology allows us to explore places that humans aren't equipped to go, like 00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:13.350 underwater. For this project, we're using a custom underwater robot named Pixel to 00:20:13.350 --> 00:20:19.350 film the shipwrecks and collect samples for our scientists. Pixel is a remotely 00:20:19.350 --> 00:20:27.330 operated vehicle, or ROV, equipped with seven cameras and two samplers. GPS works 00:20:27.330 --> 00:20:33.120 on the surface, but it doesn't work underwater. To find our way to the wreck, 00:20:33.120 --> 00:20:41.550 we use USBL, or ultra short baseline. This technology uses sound waves to 00:20:41.550 --> 00:20:47.040 figure out where Pixel is in relation to the wreck and our ship. In addition to 00:20:47.040 --> 00:20:56.940 USBL we also use acoustic sonar to help us see through dark or murky waters. One 00:20:56.940 --> 00:21:02.640 of our main jobs is to create a 3D model of the shipwreck: an important tool for 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:08.580 scientists studying the wreck. To create the models, we capture thousands of 00:21:08.580 --> 00:21:14.240 images and use sophisticated computer software to recreate the ship's geometry. 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:19.350 By comparing the new model every few years, we can see how the wreck is 00:21:19.350 --> 00:21:24.540 collapsing naturally or being damaged by human activity over time. 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:29.580 We're also collecting images to create virtual reality movies during this 00:21:29.580 --> 00:21:35.909 expedition, which we will process and share was ashore. VR is an incredible way 00:21:35.909 --> 00:21:42.450 to experience both the expedition and diving underwater without getting wet. It's also 00:21:42.450 --> 00:21:50.520 another way to put the eyes and minds of scientists, historians, and all of you, right there on the wreck. 00:21:55.180 --> 00:21:59.879 I hope you were able to gain a little bit more insight on how our team has been exploring the 00:21:59.879 --> 00:22:04.320 seafloor this season. The next two people I'm gonna introduce you to that are a 00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:09.720 part of the expedition team are Evan Kovacs and Mike Skowronski. Now Evan is 00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:14.789 the expedition's cinematographer and Mike is the ROV pilot. Both of them are 00:22:14.789 --> 00:22:19.529 also Co-designers of ROV Pixel, which you saw in that video and what's behind them 00:22:19.529 --> 00:22:23.820 right now. So I'm gonna turn it over to Evan to tell us a little bit more about 00:22:23.820 --> 00:22:28.780 the marine technology as well as what he might have in store for 2020's expedition. 00:22:28.780 --> 00:22:30.920 Hey Evan! 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:34.920 Hey Hannah, and hey everybody else out there. 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:39.900 What I thought I'd do is let Mike Skowronski, who's one of the chief 00:22:39.900 --> 00:22:43.109 designers of the vehicle and pilot and engineer, tell us a little bit about the 00:22:43.109 --> 00:22:45.809 vehicle, and then I'll talk a little bit about more about what we're gonna do 00:22:45.809 --> 00:22:51.629 with that information later. Hello and good evening everyone, as to have a 00:22:51.629 --> 00:22:54.840 mention, we're gonna discuss a little bit of the technology of the vehicle we use to get 00:22:54.840 --> 00:22:59.460 down to the site and document the areas we're looking at. One of the hardest 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:03.239 things to do when you're underwater is locate where the vehicle is so you can 00:23:03.239 --> 00:23:06.899 get to the site as quickly as possible. On the surface it's nice and easy: ships 00:23:06.899 --> 00:23:10.259 have GPS it can find their way. It doesn't really work that well below 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:15.330 about 30 feet underwater. So what we use is a system called a USBL 00:23:15.330 --> 00:23:18.869 acoustic tracking system, which sends pings into the water, 00:23:18.869 --> 00:23:23.759 lets us locate exactly where the vehicle is relative to the ship. From there we 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:28.979 can find the site that we're looking for. We also use forward-looking sonar that 00:23:28.979 --> 00:23:33.869 will allow us to see much farther than we can see with the lights. The lighting 00:23:33.869 --> 00:23:37.320 system on the vehicle will only penetrate about 20, maybe 30 feet into 00:23:37.320 --> 00:23:41.100 the water as well. The sonar system can let us see out to 00:23:41.100 --> 00:23:45.630 well over a hundred feet, so that helps us locate exactly where the wreck is and 00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:48.690 again, everything is about getting on site as quickly as possible and knowing 00:23:48.690 --> 00:23:52.350 where we are so we can stay away from a lot of obstacles likes nets and so forth, 00:23:52.350 --> 00:23:58.200 that can really be a hazard for us when we're down there. So we also, for this 00:23:58.200 --> 00:24:02.779 particular project, had a last-minute request to do some science sampling, and 00:24:02.779 --> 00:24:07.529 we ended up putting together a slurp system, a suction system, so we could 00:24:07.529 --> 00:24:11.580 collect some science. And there's kind of a weekend project that we put together 00:24:11.580 --> 00:24:17.340 from hardware store parts. Works quite well, and we look forward to using that 00:24:17.340 --> 00:24:20.039 again next year. I'll hand it over to Evan now and he can 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:23.399 talk a little bit about the video system on the vehicle and give you some details 00:24:23.399 --> 00:24:29.010 on that. So what we're doing is we actually carry about seven cameras on 00:24:29.010 --> 00:24:35.639 here we've got high resolution still cameras, 4k raw UHD cameras, and then a 00:24:35.639 --> 00:24:40.289 whole series of HD and 4k IP cameras, and the IP camera is what we use for 00:24:40.289 --> 00:24:44.419 situational awareness essentially, but we can also use them for collecting data. 00:24:44.419 --> 00:24:49.139 Situational awareness is basically... With Mike as the as the pilot, he needs 00:24:49.139 --> 00:24:52.409 eyes everywhere, especially on the shipwrecks up here which are just 00:24:52.409 --> 00:24:57.750 littered with debris and fishing detritus and things of that nature. So at 00:24:57.750 --> 00:25:00.720 the end of the project, what we start to do is we take all of the images, the 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:05.490 video, and we process it into models. Part of what we're hoping to do, and part of 00:25:05.490 --> 00:25:11.460 we're planning to do next year, is build virtual reality...almost like virtual 00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:17.460 reality sets, if you will, but build models and do live VR so that we can 00:25:17.460 --> 00:25:22.289 create a...basically create a video that'll allow people to go and see the site in 00:25:22.289 --> 00:25:27.779 its entire context, which is important for scientists and archeologists to be able 00:25:27.779 --> 00:25:32.010 to really understand how the site is as a whole. Something that we're also going 00:25:32.010 --> 00:25:35.580 to do which is kind of unique for up here is, Mike and I worked on a project to 00:25:35.580 --> 00:25:41.490 build an internal ROV to go inside shipwrecks, In particular on the USS 00:25:41.490 --> 00:25:45.360 Arizona. So we're gonna apply some of that technology, and we plan to try to 00:25:45.360 --> 00:25:49.110 get inside the Portland next year and look at some of the internals there. Now, 00:25:49.110 --> 00:25:52.320 it's a very different site than the Arizona, because it's 00:25:52.320 --> 00:25:57.330 it's so covered in nets and just broken down in a different way, but we think we 00:25:57.330 --> 00:26:01.410 can do a...you know, a pretty good job of getting in and trying to document some 00:26:01.410 --> 00:26:06.960 new and interesting things and really put that entire model together. In 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:11.190 addition, we're gonna go out and and look at hopefully some of the sites that we 00:26:11.190 --> 00:26:14.400 found from the multi-beam surveys this yea So next year is gonna be an 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.610 exciting season and we can't wait to get out there. But anyway, I think that's 00:26:17.610 --> 00:26:23.082 that's it for now so Hannah, I'll pass it back to you thank you! 00:26:23.082 --> 00:26:24.450 Great, thank you 00:26:24.450 --> 00:26:29.190 so much Evan and Mike. I'm very excited for 2020, that sounds like some very 00:26:29.190 --> 00:26:33.870 exciting things you're gonna be doing with the new marine technology. So now, 00:26:33.870 --> 00:26:38.100 we're gonna bring together the entire expedition team to answer your questions 00:26:38.100 --> 00:26:41.850 that you've been submitting online. Please continue to submit as well, as 00:26:41.850 --> 00:26:46.500 I'll be scrolling through and addressing those questions to our team. Just as a 00:26:46.500 --> 00:26:51.150 reminder, the team includes Ben Haskell, the deputy superintendent from 00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:55.500 Stellwagen bank National Marine Sanctuary, Dr. Kirsten Meyer-Kaiser, the 00:26:55.500 --> 00:27:00.810 biology lead and principal investigator, Dr. Kelvin Meyers, who is the maritime 00:27:00.810 --> 00:27:05.700 archaeologist on the expedition, as well as Evan Kovacs, the expedition's 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:10.560 cinematographer, and Mike Skowronski, the ROV pilot. So we're gonna bring them all 00:27:10.560 --> 00:27:13.980 together on the research vessel 'Connecticut' to address your questions. 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:18.690 I've seen some amazing questions coming in, especially from Clark middle school 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:24.090 who tuned in earlier today and still had tons of questions for the team. So I'm 00:27:24.090 --> 00:27:29.550 very excited to turn those questions back over. The first one that I have from 00:27:29.550 --> 00:27:36.210 Clark middle is about these sessile marine animals on the shipwrecks and why 00:27:36.210 --> 00:27:42.090 they prefer shipwrecks over natural hard bottom surface areas. So Kirsten I think 00:27:42.090 --> 00:27:45.600 you could take that away. 00:27:45.600 --> 00:27:48.480 I love questions from Clark middle school, you 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:53.640 guys rock! So, sessile organisms, the game is all 00:27:53.640 --> 00:27:59.490 about filter feeding. When your food is small particles in the water, you need to 00:27:59.490 --> 00:28:05.090 be exposed to as much of the water per unit time as possible. 00:28:05.090 --> 00:28:10.760 means you want to get into a faster current, and so shipwrecks offer a really 00:28:10.760 --> 00:28:15.170 good advantage for filter-feeding because the structure stands up really 00:28:15.170 --> 00:28:20.960 high off of the seafloor, higher than you're usually going to find for just a 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.710 boulder. Especially in the case of the Portland, it stands up really high off 00:28:24.710 --> 00:28:29.720 the seafloor. And so, a lot of times I'll see the sessile fauna like the anemones 00:28:29.720 --> 00:28:33.530 and the sponges up higher on the shipwreck because that's where the 00:28:33.530 --> 00:28:39.080 current is faster. Generally speaking, if you are close to the seafloor, there's 00:28:39.080 --> 00:28:42.920 some friction between the water and the sediment, it's called the benthic 00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:46.610 boundary layer, and so the current is slower the closer you are to the 00:28:46.610 --> 00:28:50.270 sediment. So the higher you up you can get, the faster the current is going to 00:28:50.270 --> 00:28:54.260 be, the more particulate food particles are going to be brought past your 00:28:54.260 --> 00:28:59.180 location per unit time, and so you can feed a lot better. So, the sessile 00:28:59.180 --> 00:29:03.020 organisms really enjoy being exposed to that fast current, which sometimes is 00:29:03.020 --> 00:29:07.298 more possible on shipwrecks than on the boulder reefs. 00:29:07.300 --> 00:29:10.100 Thank You Kristen, that's fascinating! 00:29:10.100 --> 00:29:14.540 The next question we have comes from Maxwell from Florida, and it's 00:29:14.540 --> 00:29:19.490 geared towards Mike and Evan, and it's about the ROV design, and the question 00:29:19.490 --> 00:29:25.720 was "How was it designed, and was it inspired by WALL-E? 00:29:26.050 --> 00:29:30.500 Question for Mike and Evan, how was the ROV designed and was it inspired by 00:29:30.500 --> 00:29:39.080 WALL-E? No, but good question! So, the ROV actually evolved; Devin and I had done 00:29:39.080 --> 00:29:45.140 several projects where we were having to cobble together, using vehicles of 00:29:45.140 --> 00:29:48.590 opportunity basically, just some available ROV and then put all this gear 00:29:48.590 --> 00:29:52.970 on it, and so one day was decided that we should just...you know, basically build a 00:29:52.970 --> 00:29:57.860 purpose-built vehicles such as Pixel right now to do exactly this kind of 00:29:57.860 --> 00:30:02.090 work. This is what it does, this is what it's meant for. And one of the other 00:30:02.090 --> 00:30:05.300 things that we really wanted to do is we wanted to...wanted to make something that 00:30:05.300 --> 00:30:09.710 was a little fun, we wanted to make it like a character and...you know give it a 00:30:09.710 --> 00:30:13.940 little bit of...well, a lot of times we do documentaries, and we wanted it to almost be a 00:30:13.940 --> 00:30:18.770 character in the documentary. And I figured if my son Jamie likes it, then a 00:30:18.770 --> 00:30:20.570 lot of other kids out there will like it, and 00:30:20.570 --> 00:30:23.820 you know, that was some of the inspiration. 00:30:25.900 --> 00:30:27.320 That's great, and I do have 00:30:27.320 --> 00:30:31.940 to agree that pixel is rather cute. We have another question coming in from 00:30:31.940 --> 00:30:36.440 Falmouth High School, and it's about the ghost nets that they've seen on the ROV 00:30:36.440 --> 00:30:41.990 footage, and a question about why we aren't removing these ghost nets from 00:30:41.990 --> 00:30:43.780 the shipwreck. 00:30:44.860 --> 00:30:49.240 It's a Ben question, the question is why not remove ghost nets 00:30:49.250 --> 00:30:57.110 from a shipwreck? Removing ghost nets from a shipwreck is an extremely 00:30:57.110 --> 00:31:03.890 hazardous thing to do for the people involved and for the for the technology 00:31:03.890 --> 00:31:09.920 involved. Like, it would probably involve an ROV that's got cutters, heavy-duty 00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:16.610 cutters on it, and the ROV could easily get entangled. If divers were moving it, 00:31:16.610 --> 00:31:21.230 they could get entangled and shoot to the surface and that would be a bad 00:31:21.230 --> 00:31:28.790 thing. So it's a very hazardous, very expensive undertaking, and rarely is it 00:31:28.790 --> 00:31:32.230 worth the risk. 00:31:34.690 --> 00:31:40.130 Thank You Ben. We have another question from Clark middle, and it's about the 00:31:40.130 --> 00:31:44.960 merchandise and artifacts that were on the Portland; the forty five thousand 00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:51.700 dollars worth of merchandise and any of the artifacts: did those ever wash ashore? 00:31:52.420 --> 00:31:57.280 Calvin, the question is "there were forty five thousand dollars worth of 00:31:57.280 --> 00:32:03.160 merchandise on the Portland and artifacts, have they ever washed ashore?" 00:32:10.450 --> 00:32:20.080 So, Portland sank at 9:30 on November 27th, and soon thereafter, later in the evening, 00:32:20.080 --> 00:32:25.450 both bodies and some of the artifacts from the Portland started to wash ashore 00:32:25.450 --> 00:32:31.560 down in Provincetown, along Cape Cod, and were discovered and recorded and 00:32:31.560 --> 00:32:39.520 actually, these pieces of evidence were used to locate the resting place of the 00:32:39.520 --> 00:32:45.550 Portland by...it was actually a combination between two explorers Arnie 00:32:45.550 --> 00:32:51.490 Carr and John Fish, as well as going and talking to a Woods Hole 00:32:51.490 --> 00:32:57.940 Oceanographer, Dr Limeburner. And he calculated the currents based on that 00:32:57.940 --> 00:33:02.050 time of 9:30 a.m., and we know that's roughly when it went down because that's 00:33:02.050 --> 00:33:10.210 when the watches and and the bodies that washed up stopped. So you have that we'd 00:33:10.210 --> 00:33:17.320 called that you know time after which the sinking occurred so yes, they did, and 00:33:17.320 --> 00:33:25.820 they actually used that to relocate or locate the Portland. 00:33:25.820 --> 00:33:30.220 Great, thank you so much. The last question that we're gonna ask 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:35.440 the team for this program is about all of your careers and what led you to 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:39.840 decide the pathway that you all took. 00:33:39.840 --> 00:33:42.430 Alright, the question is for each of us 00:33:42.430 --> 00:33:47.620 about our careers and "how did we decide on the pathway we took?" So, let's go down 00:33:47.620 --> 00:33:53.950 the line starting with Calvin. I will try to keep this short and say it was a 00:33:53.950 --> 00:33:57.580 windy path. I'm originally from out west. I grew up 00:33:57.580 --> 00:34:04.600 in Montana State, not known for its particular coastlines, but I fell in 00:34:04.600 --> 00:34:09.610 love with the sea at an early age, as well as with history. I got into scuba diving, and I 00:34:09.610 --> 00:34:13.870 found a project where I could volunteer over in Israel at an ancient 1st century 00:34:13.870 --> 00:34:20.590 B.C. Harbor, just north of Tel Aviv, and when I was working there I 00:34:20.590 --> 00:34:23.230 I didn't know what I was doing, I was told what to do, and I did it. And 00:34:23.230 --> 00:34:26.980 suddenly, this Roman oil lamp fell into my hand, and the pure thrill of 00:34:26.980 --> 00:34:30.310 connection, and then followed immediately by the moments of terror realizing I 00:34:30.310 --> 00:34:35.200 wasn't qualified to hold this. But I wanted to become qualified, and so when I 00:34:35.200 --> 00:34:43.390 came back, went to school and here we are, and I couldn't be happier with it. I love 00:34:43.390 --> 00:34:50.290 the color turquoise, and so that's kept me engaged but seriously, I've always 00:34:50.290 --> 00:34:56.710 wanted to be a marine biologist and just pursued that and became a scuba diver, 00:34:56.710 --> 00:35:02.290 and that was that opened some doors, because a lot of marine labs need scuba 00:35:02.290 --> 00:35:09.900 divers. So I used that to get some jobs, and then eventually I ended up with NOAA 00:35:09.900 --> 00:35:15.450 twenty-five years ago, and I have absolutely no regrets. It's a great 00:35:15.450 --> 00:35:21.130 organization to work for, and I've been at Stellwagen Bank sanctuary for the last 20 00:35:21.130 --> 00:35:29.530 years. So...it's been great. I originally come from the Midwest, so I grew up on a 00:35:29.530 --> 00:35:33.970 lot of inland lakes, but I always knew that I was fascinated by the ocean from 00:35:33.970 --> 00:35:39.730 a very young age. So when it came time for college, I chose a school where I 00:35:39.730 --> 00:35:43.600 could major in zoology, study of animals, which I had been told was a good 00:35:43.600 --> 00:35:47.710 springboard for getting into marine biology. I always knew that was my 00:35:47.710 --> 00:35:53.440 direction. After college, I lived in Germany for a year and there I was 00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:57.850 introduced to analyzing photographs of the seafloor, and I just became really 00:35:57.850 --> 00:36:02.140 fascinated by what was living on the hard objects. In this case, they were 00:36:02.140 --> 00:36:07.050 random rocks that had been dropped off on the seafloor by melting icebergs. And 00:36:07.050 --> 00:36:12.760 so that eventually led me to focus on Island-like habitats, and I got involved 00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:18.160 with the project investigating shipwrecks in graduate school, and have 00:36:18.160 --> 00:36:23.730 never really looked back. This is the type of research that I enjoy the most. 00:36:23.730 --> 00:36:31.570 I wanted to be rich, and I went into ocean- ah no...not at all actually. I started off 00:36:31.570 --> 00:36:36.799 as an actor I was in the theater. Ever since I was a kid, about fifteen, 00:36:36.799 --> 00:36:42.979 sixteen, I was fascinated by scuba diving and actually diving shipwrecks. And most 00:36:42.979 --> 00:36:46.549 of my diving career had been involved with diving shipwrecks. And then around 00:36:46.549 --> 00:36:51.799 2001-2002, I started getting into underwater documentary, and I worked my 00:36:51.799 --> 00:36:58.039 way up as a cameraman, grip, lighting, all of that. And then in 2005, I met the folks 00:36:58.039 --> 00:37:03.499 from Woods Hole Oceanographic, and I started doing a lot more. We're still 00:37:03.499 --> 00:37:07.400 doing science communication, documentary, filming, but also a lot of engineering. 00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:11.900 And I had a bunch of ideas that were probably pretty bad, but people and 00:37:11.900 --> 00:37:16.519 mentors like Mike said "No they're not bad, let me help you!"...and that kind of 00:37:16.519 --> 00:37:21.019 brought us to where we were today you know...it's just a whole whole mix of 00:37:21.019 --> 00:37:24.859 great circumstances and people along the way. And it's always the people that 00:37:24.859 --> 00:37:29.260 really make it make it worthwhile. 00:37:29.260 --> 00:37:32.869 So I was a gentleman farmer operating an 00:37:32.869 --> 00:37:39.170 organic farm and doing engineering work on the side, in the aviation industry, 00:37:39.170 --> 00:37:44.479 and came across an article about a gentleman named Pat Hickey and his 600th 00:37:44.479 --> 00:37:48.499 dive in Alvin, the submersible over at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 00:37:48.499 --> 00:37:56.209 and somehow sent my resume in and three weeks later I was on a ship for the next 00:37:56.209 --> 00:38:02.269 four months or so learning to dive Alvin. And that was about 10 years ago, almost 00:38:02.269 --> 00:38:10.540 11 years ago now, and I've been kinda doing that ever since. Ran into Evan some time around 2009-'10. 00:38:10.540 --> 00:38:16.240 I ended up out on a project with him on the Titanic, and we started talking about 00:38:16.249 --> 00:38:22.069 some of the somewhat wild ideas that he had at the time and decided that some of 00:38:22.069 --> 00:38:25.339 them we could actually probably do. And that's kind of...he and I've been working 00:38:25.339 --> 00:38:30.109 on these things, and one of those culminated in creating Pixel here to do 00:38:30.109 --> 00:38:36.220 projects like this. 00:38:36.220 --> 00:38:38.209 I don't know about all of the viewers out there, but I'm 00:38:38.209 --> 00:38:42.439 sure inspired by the variety of pathways you all took to get where you are today, 00:38:42.439 --> 00:38:47.640 and to put on a fantastic program that we ran today. Your research is great, I'm 00:38:47.640 --> 00:38:53.010 super excited for 2020, and I hope the viewers are as well. With all of that, I 00:38:53.010 --> 00:38:56.760 want to say goodbye one last time to all of you on board the research vessel 00:38:56.760 --> 00:39:02.550 'Connecticut', and thank you so much for all of your hard work this season. So 00:39:02.550 --> 00:39:08.130 we'll send them off now, and with that, I want to thank all of you, all of the 00:39:08.130 --> 00:39:11.610 viewers, for tuning in and exploring Stellwagen Bank National Marine 00:39:11.610 --> 00:39:17.460 Sanctuary with us. This is the last live program for the 2019 season, but we'll be 00:39:17.460 --> 00:39:21.990 back again in 2020 to share more of the exciting things that Evan had mentioned 00:39:21.990 --> 00:39:26.460 earlier with our new marine technology. if you're interested in following along 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:30.840 this expedition and other explorations of national marine sanctuaries, follow the 00:39:30.840 --> 00:39:36.760 hashtag "#SanctuariesLIVE" on our social media channels. Additionally, our website 00:39:36.760 --> 00:39:40.680 will host the broadcasts that were streamed today and throughout this week. 00:39:40.680 --> 00:39:44.550 Currently, the only one that's up there is the Facebook live that was the 00:39:44.550 --> 00:39:48.810 Portland memorial ceremony that was recorded on Tuesday, but all of the other 00:39:48.810 --> 00:39:54.390 interactions will be up shortly so stay tuned for those. And we really hope you 00:39:54.390 --> 00:39:59.460 tune in again, whether it's on social media, or stay tuned for an announcement 00:39:59.460 --> 00:40:04.470 about how to connect in 2020. From all of us here at the National Marine Sanctuary 00:40:04.470 --> 00:40:09.300 system, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Inner Space Center, 00:40:09.300 --> 00:40:13.100 thank you for exploring with us.