The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is working with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society to survey the last ships of Antarctic explorers Sir Ernest Shackleton and Captain Robert Falcon Scott. First stop is the Quest, in the Labrador Sea, where the expedition team started diving this week.
Anna Michel is chief scientist for the National Deep Submergence Facility, housed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She says the team is “doing some exploration and discovery of the shipwreck and looking at what the shipwreck looks like. Doing some 3D reconstruction, some imagery, and also looking at some of the biology on the shipwreck.”
According to a press release from WHOI and RCGS, "Much of the ship is still visible including the bow, the deck, and some portholes, while the main mast was down. The entire wreck was populated with pink corals, and several species of fish including cod, red fish, and wolf fish."
Expedition team members include shipwreck hunter David Mearns, marine archaeologist Cora Annamaiya Norling (Njord Center, National Museum of Denmark), benthic ecologist Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser (WHOI), research director Antoine Normandin (RCGS), historian and author Jan Chojecki (author, The Quest Chronicle) and historian Geir Kløver (director, Fram Museum).
The press release noted, "Meta has donated several pairs of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses for use by expedition members. The AI-powered wearables provide a hands-free way to capture and share the expedition as it unfolds, demonstrating how emerging technology can enhance scientific discovery and storytelling in extreme environments."
Next, R/V Atlantis will take Alvin and the team toward Greenland to survey Scott’s Terra Nova.
Alvin and Atlantis are owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by WHOI with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The mission’s remotely operated vehicle is supplied by the Ocean Observatories Initiative at WHOI and also supported by the NSF.
This is Alvin's first expedition after a routine overhaul and recertification. Michel said Alvin gets re-certified about every five years.
