Accidentally Discovered Shipwreck in Gulf of Mexico
In mid-May, researchers aboard the NOAA vessel Okeanos Explorer “accidentally” discovered a 19th century wooden shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico during a training and equipment test trip. Awesome accident!
On May 12, NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer set sail for a shakedown and sea-trial expedition in the Gulf of Mexico. On May 16, while conducting an "engineering dive" to test new remotely operated vehicle equipment, the team made an unexpected – and exciting – discovery: the wreck of what is likely a mid-19th century wooden sailing vessel. Thanks to telepresence technology, we were able to quickly assemble a team of archaeologists to virtually participate in the remainder of the dive and make some initial observations of the wreck: https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1902/welcome.html.This exciting find, and the fact that we basically randomly "stumbled" upon a wreck, further illustrates just how little we know about what lies on the seafloor.
