It’s a chance of a lifetime…discover and then map an entire shipwreck to share with the rest of the world. Thanks to Sony and Intel’s Project Shiphunt not only does a team get to do it but they get to do it in 3D and….they are a team of kids!
Project Shiphunt is a cooperative effort between Sony, Intel and NOAA. The plan was to bring in young explorers, scientists and historians to seek out a shipwreck and then, using the science of 3D mapping, map and share their discovery with the world. These weren’t the top scientific kids in the US but a group of five, James Willett, Yer Vang, Tirrea Billings, Tiesha Anderson and Cody Frost, chosen from Arthur Hill High School, in Saginaw. Michigan. What did they have to do to show that they deserved a spot on the team? They had to tell the Project Shipwreck coordinators why they wanted to do it; everyone had a chance to be a part of the project.
Once the students were chosen the project began in May and the students along with a team from NOAA including Dr. James Delgado, as well as scientists and historians from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, took to Lake Huron in search of their shipwreck. This was the task of a lifetime conducted in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The team’s mission was to hunt for a historically meaningful sunken ship, investigate its identity, and document the journey in 3D video. Thanks to Sony and Intel the team was outfitted with the latest Sony VAIO computers and 3D map rendering equipment and now….just months after the project began, the team has seen success.
The Project Shiphunt team made an underwater discovery; shipwrecks of the schooner M.F. Merrick and the steel freighter Etruria, in deep water off of Presque Isle in Lake Huron. Current Media, the Peabody and Emmy Award winning independent television and online network founded in 2005, aired the teams’ adventure as the hour-long special “Project Shiphunt” on August 30th. The response to the program was wonderful. “Ship hunting was once a long, arduous process – more of a hobby than a science,” explained expedition leader Dr. James Delgado of NOAA. “With today’s compact, powerful technology, we have the ability to collect data by pinging the ocean floor, processing the data set, and creating a three dimensional image. Watching that, I was excited to see how the students, like the technology, are up to the task of being the next generation of explorers, oceanographers and maritime archaeologists.” Delgado added that he himself had a great deal of fun. “While I have had a four decade long career in archeology and I have very much enjoyed it,” Delgado said. “It has been incredible to take a group of young people out and see them embrace a project like this and basically see it change their lives; it has just been amazing. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world.”
Steven Nickel, vice president of Networked Technology and Services Division at Sony Electronics, agreed with Delgado and says that the kids inspired his team as well. “All of us involved from Sony and Intel are inspired by the efforts of the crew on this discovery,” said Nickel. “It is exciting to see Sony VAIO’s remarkable computing power and innovative technologies applied to this shipwreck hunting expedition and ultimately contribute to a poignant story of personal discovery for the talented student crew.”
Delgado says that the technology worked hand in hand with the kids and it was fascinating seeing how well these young people took to using it. “The technology used in ship hunting is akin to using your eyes now,” said Delgado. “How much of what you see is dependent on your field of view. Historically, ship hunting was like looking through a microscope. Your perspective was limited to what you could physically see. However, today’s technology, advances in computing and SONAR allow us to step away from the microscope, widening our field of view while also preserving the detail.”
The schooner M.F. Merrick was lost when a passing steamer struck her in a dense fog off Presque Isle in May 1889. Laden with a heavy cargo of iron ore, the 230-foot Rufus P. Ranney hit the M.F. Merrick on her starboard (right) side and opened a hole 12-feet wide in the old schooner, causing her to sink immediately. Five crewmen went down with her. Built in 1863 in Clayton, N.Y., by well-known shipbuilder John Oades, the 139 x 26 ft. vessel was a typical “canaller,” designed to pass through the locks of the Welland Ship Canal, bypassing Niagara Falls and connecting Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River with the Upper Great Lakes. The find was exciting for the team because the mapping part of the project was made more interesting by the ship itself. The second find, the Etruria was built for the Hawgood Transit Company of Cleveland, but only lasted three years. She sank in 1905, after colliding with a steamer in the fog off Presque Isle Light. Again, this was a perfect shipwreck for mapping because there was so much of the ship left to see.
Delgado says that the project would not have been a success without the support of the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary. “The entire sanctuary system jumped behind this project, especially the Thunder Bay team,” Delgado says. “It was more than just a survey; it was putting on the 3D equipment to map it so it can be shared with the world. These kids got the chance to be a part of something that will continue to give to other students for a very long time.” Delgado adds that now that the mission of Project Shiphunt is complete, Sony and Intel Corp. will partner with NOAA on a comprehensive educational curriculum for high school science and history teachers. Students will be able to experience Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary through the Project Shiphunt adventure directly from their classrooms. “NOAA is always very focused on outreach and education programs,” says Delgado. “We are America’s marine scientist and this is just one more way we can share the world’s ocean systems with the world. It really was a labor of love for everyone involved.”
The Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary was very proud to have taken part in the project as well. “Project Shiphunt was an extraordinary opportunity to bring the excitement and science of shipwreck exploration to students and classrooms across the nation,” said Jeff Gray, the sanctuary superintendent. “We look forward to continuing our work with Sony to enrich the lives of young people so they will understand and appreciate the value in protecting our nation’s underwater treasures.”
According to Delgado this will probably not be the last team of students to look for and map shipwrecks. Project Shiphunt is an effort that could see more teams of students and film crews out on the Great Lakes mapping other wrecks and bringing them to the classrooms of the world. “We have an opportunity to teach about the past through actual hands on experince,” Delgado says. “What a great way to show future generations what can be done through science.”
For more information please visit http://blog.sony.com/tag/project-shiphunt.
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