Maritime Heritage in America’s Inland Seas: A Multi-Tiered Autonomous Vehicle-Based Survey of Two Proposed Great Lakes National Marine Sanctuaries

Past Expedition

Dates

July 28 to August 20, 2021

Location

Great Lakes

Overview

From July 28 to August 20, 2021, an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries searched for maritime heritage resources in Lakes Michigan and Ontario using a suite of crewed and uncrewed (autonomous) systems. The research team, composed of Marine Magnetics, Ocean Infinity, University of Delaware, University of Miami, and the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, investigated portions of Lakes Michigan and Ontario using autonomous vehicles outfitted with remote sensing instruments. The collected data will be used to characterize lakebed habitat and identify submerged maritime heritage resources such as shipwrecks. The research team was joined by several partners at each location. In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Historical Society, Wisconsin Sea Grant, and Wisconsin Maritime Museum collaborated on the project. In New York, The Sackets Harbor State Historic Battlefield Site supported the project.

Map of broad valley with previously unknown valley system mapped from previous exploration.

Expedition Summary

From July 28 to August 20, 2021, an interdisciplinary team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries searched for maritime heritage resources in Lakes Michigan and Ontario using a suite of crewed and uncrewed (autonomous) systems.

July 6, 2022

A split core, recovered in 2010, shows the transition from modern marine sediment (top right), through the Pleistocene clay (lower left).

Opportunities Above and Below the Waves

One of the most exciting things about working for NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries is finding creative ways to engage the public in the work we do. In fact, public engagement aimed at fostering an appreciation for sanctuary resources is one of the principal ways we manage national marine sanctuaries and promote conservation of the oceans and Great Lakes. Jacques Cousteau put it pretty simply when he said “people will protect what they love.” With this in mind, we incorporated outreach events into this ocean exploration project.

September 14, 2021

Evans (left) and Metcalfe (right) monitor acquisition of the parametric sonar data onboard the R/V Nikola.

Research, Partnerships, and Technology in the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary

The biggest perk about being an archaeologist is the sense of exploration when you start a field project. Gather the right team, assemble the right bits of technology, sprinkle in a little nice weather, and that sense of exploration can turn into discovery.

August 12, 2021

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A shipwreck in 80 feet of water in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico was imaged using side-scan sonar (left); photographs taken by divers of the same wreck were obscured by lack of light and sediment in the water column (right).

Expedition Plan

An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries will be conducting autonomous survey and exploration of the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary and the proposed Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary.

July 21, 2021