WEBVTT

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>>NARRATOR:
 The oceans are a graveyard

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of man's seafaring journeys.

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Today, underwater archaeologists
 are scanning the sea floor

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for clues to our maritime past.

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>>It's pretty amazing
 what can be reconstructed

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about people's lives by looking
 at the few artifacts.

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They look like trinkets
 to us today,

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but they help illustrate
 the past in ways

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that we haven't seen before.

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>>NARRATOR:
 Some explorers are using

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state-of-the-art equipment
 to survey the bottom

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of the ocean.

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Others rely on skilled divers
 to map unknown shipwrecks.

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>>You have to have
 a trained eye.

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You have to look for those
 odd shapes, those colors

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that don't occur in nature.

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>>Every little piece down there
 is a piece of a map,

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a piece of a puzzle.

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It's like a detective story
 when you go down;

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you're getting all these
 little clues.

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>>NARRATOR: Once retrieved,
 experts meticulously conserve

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centuries-old artifacts
 from their watery grave,

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hoping to identify
 their origins.

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With history preserved
 in a liquid time capsule,

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what stories will archaeologists
 uncover?

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Can they piece together the past
 from tiny clues found today?

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>> Major funding for this 
 program was provided

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 by the Batchelor Foundation,

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 encouraging people 
 to preserve and protect

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 America's underwater resources.

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 And by Divers Direct, 
 inspiring the pursuit

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 of tropical adventure 
 scuba diving.

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>>NARRATOR: It's springtime
 in South Florida,

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and members from

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the National Association
 of Black Scuba Divers,

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or NABS, are in
 Biscayne National Park

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for their annual DWP
 training workshop.

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>>DWP stands
 for "Diving With a Purpose."

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>>NARRATOR: Divers attend
 the week-long workshop

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that teaches volunteers
 some of the basic skills

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of underwater archaeology.

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Ken Stewart is the program's
 director and co-founder.

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In 2004, he created DWP with
 Biscayne National Park's

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former archaeologist,
 Brenda Lazendorf.

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>>She was the only person
 in the park,

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and that she needed some help.

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>>NARRATOR:
 Located just south of Miami,

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a majority of the park's 173,000
 acres is covered by water.

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Within its boundaries,

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there are approximately 75 known
 submerged archaeological sites.

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>>Anything that humans
 have modified and left behind

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is potentially...
 is an archaeological site,

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and potentially a significant
 one that tells the stor

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of the park that we want
 to interpret.

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>>NARRATOR: Chuck Lawson is the
 park's current archaeologist

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and sole member
 of the cultural resources team

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at Biscayne National Park.

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>>For the most part,
 I'm not able to mobilize

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the team big enough
 to do decent documentation

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on the shipwreck sites.

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So DWP was created
 by my predecessor

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and the members of DWP
 to help augment the work force

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at Biscayne National Park.

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Biscayne National Park
 has been working

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directly with DWP annually
 for eight years.

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>>We start out the first day
 with just kind of an overview

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of archaeology artifacts
 and basic principles

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of underwater archaeology
 in general.

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And that afternoon,
 we do a mock wreck site.

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>>Swim to the other end.

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I'm going to come
 straight through here.

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>>We actually teach things
 that you will actually do

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in the water.

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>>We always have to make sure
 we have it taut.

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>>That's correct.

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>>So the first day
 is very intense, very long.

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>>NARRATOR: The next morning,
 the DWP-ers load up

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and head to Ledbury Reef,
 an unidentified shipwreck

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that Chuck has selected
 for their training site.

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>>The biggest part
 of this training

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is actually diving
 on these wreck sites.

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Most shipwrecks
 are scattered debris fields.

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>>NARRATOR: To an untrained
 eye, historical shipwrecks

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are often difficult to spot.

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Years of exposure can destroy
 a ship's structure,

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and, with time, the remains
 are buried in sand

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or are overgrown with coral,

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making the archaeological
 research more challenging.

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>>When a ship first wrecks,
 there are a number

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of environmental factors
 that act upon

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their rapid deterioration.

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However, eventually, what's left
 of the archaeological site

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comes to equilibrium
 with the environment,

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and, at that point in time,
 they may stay stable

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for hundreds of years.

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We're an agency with a mission
 to preserve and protect.

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We want to protect these sites
 in situ.

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Like I said, they are not
 at risk of deterioration

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unless they are manipulated,
 and it is only done after

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a lot of consideration on what
 the value in the research is.

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>>The first day we get
 in the water

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we do what we call
 like a reconnaissance dive

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or just kind of get an overview
 of the size of the shipwreck.

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So we'll run a baseline,
 which is just basically a rope

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from one end to the other,
 and we try to run it down

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the middle of where
 all this debris field is.

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And we would split the wreck
 site up into four quadrants,

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and we would actually
 assign teams to each one

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of those quadrants.

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We have DWP-- Diving
 with a Purpose-- instructors

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with each team that would
 be leading and teaching

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those students.

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We actually place what we call
 "pin clips" along the baseline.

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The pin clips are in increments
 of feet, like ten feet, 20 feet,

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30 feet, 40 feet.

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>>NARRATOR: Once the baseline
 and quadrants have been set up,

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the volunteers search
 the wreck site for objects

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that might be
 of historical significance.

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>>We have what we call
 "pin flags" that we place

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around a wreck,
 and we place those pin flags

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to areas of interest.

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It could be artifacts
 or pieces of the wreck.

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We have to know where
 those artifacts are in relation

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to the wreck, to the baseline.

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So we take what are called
 trilateration measurements.

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Basically, you measure
 the distance from that pin flag

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where that artifact is located
 to a baseline clip;

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you'll do two measurements,

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and that will actually
 triangulate

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and tell you exactly where
 that particular artifact is.

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>>NARRATOR:
 After measurements are taken,

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divers begin their "in situ"
 or underwater drawings

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of the objects they flagged.

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These drawings will later be
 transferred to a large site map

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that illustrates the layout
 of the wreck site.

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After two days of diving,
 the volunteers return

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to the classroom.

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They discuss their findings...

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>>It clearly appeared
 to be a joint, double-ended,

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and it was made of metal.

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>>NARRATOR:
 ...refine their drawings

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and begin work on the site map,

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which depicts
 the entire wreck site.

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>>They're learning how
 to put the flag pin-points

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on the map using the compass.

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That's the old fashioned way;
 of course, I use the computer,

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so they can see how mapping
 is done.

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>>We used to do little sketches
 on the site map, too,

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but Gayle Patrick,
 who's been working with us,

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she's an architect,
 and she has been able

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to take those student drawings,
 scan them using a CAD tool,

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a computer aided design tool,
 actually put those

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in situ drawings
 on the maps themselves, too.

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>>NARRATOR: The volunteers
 continue diving and working

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in the classroom
 for several days

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until the site map is complete.

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The finished map
 is a valuable resource

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for park officials who can use
 it as a reference tool

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for management decisions.

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>>The first year,
 it was just three of us

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that finished the program.

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And I would say by the end
 of this year,

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we'll have trained almost
 80 advocates

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in underwater archaeology
 in eight years.

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>>NARRATOR:
 Dinizulu Gene Tinnie

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is a Miami artist whose
 creations are influenced

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by the Middle Passage.

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>>The Middle Passage
 is the name that was given

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to the Atlantic,
 the transatlantic slave trade.

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Trade goods from Europe
 were taken to Africa,

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traded for people.

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The people were then transported
 across the ocean

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from the west coast of Africa
 to the Americas.

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And in the Americas,
 they were sold

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and the ships were then loaded
 with the products

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of slave labor-- cotton, sugar,
 tobacco, indigo, rice, coffee,

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so forth-- and then taken back
 to Europe.

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>>NARRATOR: Few artifacts
 from this brutal chapter

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in the history
 of the New World remain.

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In Key West, Florida,

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the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage
 Society and Museum

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displays a rare collection
 of items recovered

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from a slave ship called
 the "Henrietta Marie."

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>>Probably the signature
 artifact from

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the "Henrietta Marie"
 are the shackles.

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There are also a lot
 of trade goods;

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things like iron bars...

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glass beads...

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and pewter.

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It was the first slave ship
 that really gives us a snapshot

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of what the slave trade
 was like,

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how it was organized and how
 a slave ship functioned.

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>>NARRATOR:
 First discovered in 1972

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in the waters off Key West,
 the "Henrietta Marie"

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was finally identified
 nearly ten years later

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when divers uncovered
 the ship's bell.

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In 1993,
 the National Association

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of Black Scuba Divers laid
 a plaque in sanctuary waters

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to honor those captives
 who were brutally transported

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aboard the "Henrietta Marie."

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And the "Henrietta Marie"
 wasn't the only slave ship

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which sunk in Florida waters.

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More than 100 years later,
 the "Guerrero" was sailing

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for Cuba with more than
 500 captive Africans on board.

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>>When we look
 at the "Henrietta Marie"

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sailing in 1700,
 the slave trade was legal

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and it was an accepted business.

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When we look at a ship
 like "Guerrero,"

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that vessel is operating

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in entirely different
 circumstances.

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>>NARRATOR:
 While slavery was still legal

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in the New World,
 several countries,

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including the United States,
 Great Britain and Spain,

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banned the transatlantic
 transportation and sale

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of slaves by the early 1800s.

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However, demand for free labor
 was still high

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on Cuba's plantations,
 and the now illegal slave trade

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from Africa continued
 on pirate ships.

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At the time, the British Navy
 patrolled the waters

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for pirates.

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One evening in 1827,
 the British warship "Nimble"

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spotted the "Guerrero"


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and chased it towards
 Florida's coast.

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>>The "Nimble" started
 chasing them.

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They were going
 at a pretty good clip.

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A gun battle broke out.

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In the excitement,
 they weren't paying attention

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to where they were.

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They both slammed headlong
 into the reef.

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The "Guerrero," her bottom
 was torn out;

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her sails both flew forward
 and was finished;

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never moved again.

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>>NARRATOR:
 41 of the captured Africans

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perished when the ship
 went aground.

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>>The "Nimble" threw over
 iron ballast ingots,

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threw over cannon shot
 just to lighten their load

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and be able to float
 off the reef.

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>>NARRATOR:
 However, according to reports,

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the "Nimble's" anchor line
 parted, drifting them back

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onto the reef.

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The next morning, salvage crews
 known as wreckers

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towed the British ship
 off the reef and provided aid

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to survivors aboard
 the "Guerrero."

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>>That evening, the pirates who
 were on a couple of the wreckers

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rose up and wound up hijacking
 the wreckers and getting to Cuba

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anyway with 400
 of the African people.

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>>NARRATOR:
 The hijacked wreckers

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were eventually released
 and returned to Florida.

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121 of the rescued slaves
 aboard a separate wrecker

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were brought to Key West.

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>>They were going
 to be liberated at some point

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from their intended slavery.

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That was the U.S. law.

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>>NARRATOR: Years later,
 some of the rescued captives

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returned to Africa.

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>>It should be dead ahead.

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>>NARRATOR:
 Today, archaeologists

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from the Mel Fisher
 Maritime Museum

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and the Florida Keys
 National Marine Sanctuar

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are trying to identif

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the "Guerrero's" final resting
 place.

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Luckily for researchers,
 the "Nimble's" captain

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took notes of their
 watery location,

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which was near modern-day
 Key Largo.

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>>He took a bearing
 from what was called

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"Black Sarah's Creek,"
 and he took another bearing

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from the "Carysfort" lightship.

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>>NARRATOR: With the help
 of archival records,

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researchers think they
 have located

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what used to be called
 "Black Sarah's Creek,"

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and from there have pinpointed
 potential wreck sites

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using a magnetometer.

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>>The magnetometer is a device
 that we use that measures

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variations in the earth's
 magnetic field caused by iron,

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and that iron is either
 a shipwreck or cannons

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or anchors or something
 like that.

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We found four shipwrecks,
 but one in particular

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was pretty interesting.

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>>NARRATOR: During one of the
 magnetometer surveys,

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experts discovered
 a large anchor.

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>>It matches exactly the sort
 of anchor that "Nimble"

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would have carried.

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It's the right size,
 it's the right date.

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Doesn't have a name on it
 that we can see,

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but it matches everything.

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>>NARRATOR: While they can't
 say for certain that the anchor

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belonged to the "Nimble,"
 researchers think it's likely,

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and they have started studying
 a nearby site they believe

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might be the "Guerrero."

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They are joined in their efforts
 by the DWP volunteers,

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who have been involved
 in the search for the "Guerrero"

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since 2010.

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>>This particular wreck
 is different from all the rest

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of them because there
 were slaves on this one

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when it went down;
 there weren't any slaves

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on the "Henrietta Marie"
 when it went down.

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>>For a lot of people,
 it was about being where

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their ancestors lay and
 just being a part of history.

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>>You know, it's the
 little clues that are making

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a difference on this wreck--
 the single fragment of pottery,

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or the single bottleneck,
 or the single piece of metal.

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>>You know, people have this
 cartoon notion of shipwrecks,

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and they think that,
 you know, we dive down

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and there's a ship
 sitting there.

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And there are skeletons
 laying on the deck

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and tattered sails and,
 you know, maybe a shark

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swimming in and out of the hull.

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That's for aquariums, you know.

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That's not real life.

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We're left with basically
 the hard things--

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the ballast stones,
 the iron fasteners,

17:09.962 --> 17:15.868
the fittings, copper nails,
 pottery, the glass--

17:15.868 --> 17:18.704
the things that the critters
 can't eat.

17:18.704 --> 17:21.207
One of the things that we know
 about the "Guerrero" is that

17:21.207 --> 17:23.843
its hull was sheathed
 with copper.

17:23.843 --> 17:27.480
We found pieces of copper
 sheeting crumpled and rolled up.

17:27.480 --> 17:31.150
Copper corrodes in a very
 distinctive, greenish way.

17:31.150 --> 17:32.552
>>NARRATOR:
 This site is located

17:32.552 --> 17:35.087
in the Florida Keys National
 Marine Sanctuary,

17:35.087 --> 17:37.990
which aims to safeguard
 the maritime histor

17:37.990 --> 17:40.226
found in its waters.

17:40.226 --> 17:42.828
>>In the Florida Keys,
 shipwrecks are protected.

17:42.828 --> 17:47.500
We want to have our next
 generations protect and promote

17:47.500 --> 17:50.603
the stories that lie within
 and around these ships

17:50.603 --> 17:53.506
that came into the coast.

17:53.506 --> 17:57.243
>>NARRATOR: By law, artifacts
 can't be brought to the surface

17:57.243 --> 17:59.579
without special permits.

17:59.579 --> 18:03.282
At times, permission is given
 to researchers to remove items

18:03.282 --> 18:07.420
for further study
 and conservation.

18:07.420 --> 18:10.756
During the 2010 expedition,
 select items from

18:10.756 --> 18:13.225
the wreck sites were brought
 to the conservation lab

18:13.225 --> 18:16.362
at the Mel Fisher Museum.

18:16.362 --> 18:18.297
>>What may have been a dish,

18:18.297 --> 18:21.500
you know, a full-sized dinner
 plate is now a fragment

18:21.500 --> 18:24.770
of a full-sized dinner plate.

18:24.770 --> 18:28.874
Because this has a scalloped
 edge like this,

18:28.874 --> 18:32.078
this sort of rough undulating
 edge that was a style

18:32.078 --> 18:37.049
that reached its peak popularity
 in the 1820s,

18:37.049 --> 18:39.852
so that matches very closely
 with what we're looking for

18:39.852 --> 18:41.320
in the wrecks.

18:41.320 --> 18:44.790
Another piece that we recovered
 from the site

18:44.790 --> 18:51.163
is a glass bottleneck;
 it's from a very large glass jar

18:51.163 --> 18:53.699
called a "demijohn."

18:53.699 --> 18:56.602
It was just completely covered
 with coral and algae,

18:56.602 --> 18:59.972
so, to get it to this state
 required a fair amount of work

18:59.972 --> 19:02.408
using a sharp blade

19:02.408 --> 19:05.044
and just sort of prying it off
 of there.

19:05.044 --> 19:07.179
We can't date it as precisel

19:07.179 --> 19:10.616
as we can this blue and white
 ceramic, but, nonetheless,

19:10.616 --> 19:13.986
it's pretty easy to imagine
 a big bottle of rum

19:13.986 --> 19:18.024
onboard a pirate ship.

19:18.024 --> 19:21.060
>>NARRATOR: Special care needs
 to be taken with each item

19:21.060 --> 19:25.931
to keep it from deteriorating
 after it has left the water.

19:25.931 --> 19:30.102
>>Every material type has
 its own conservation needs,

19:30.102 --> 19:34.640
so there's no one-size-fits-all
 treatment in the laboratory.

19:34.640 --> 19:37.576
With a metal object, we use
 what's called an "air scribe,"

19:37.576 --> 19:40.079
and it's like this
 little air-driven chisel

19:40.079 --> 19:44.450
that just chips the encrustation
 off a little bit at a time.

19:44.450 --> 19:47.586
Once that's done,
 it goes into a tank

19:47.586 --> 19:50.022
that has this
 electrochemical process.

19:50.022 --> 19:51.891
We call it
 "electrolytic reduction,"

19:51.891 --> 19:54.860
and really all it is doing
 is forcing the salt

19:54.860 --> 19:57.730
out of the metal,
 because if we left them in,

19:57.730 --> 20:01.000
the combination of the salt,
 the oxygen and the metal

20:01.000 --> 20:04.036
would just corrode the piece
 to the point that

20:04.036 --> 20:05.938
it was totally destroyed.

20:09.942 --> 20:12.645
Right now, we have a shipwreck
 that we know is

20:12.645 --> 20:15.648
from the early part
 of the 1800s.

20:15.648 --> 20:18.884
It matches everything that
 we know about the "Guerrero,"

20:18.884 --> 20:22.621
but we don't have
 the smoking gun yet.

20:22.621 --> 20:25.024
We are looking for that
 one thing that will just cement

20:25.024 --> 20:27.393
the case for us and
 we go from thinking

20:27.393 --> 20:29.929
it's the "Guerrero" to knowing
 it's the "Guerrero."

20:35.401 --> 20:37.002
>>NARRATOR:
 Maritime archaeolog

20:37.002 --> 20:39.438
is conducted
 in many different ways.

20:39.438 --> 20:42.541
In shallow water,
 divers can study a site;

20:42.541 --> 20:46.145
but in deep water,
 experts use high-tech tools

20:46.145 --> 20:49.048
to survey the sea floor.

20:49.048 --> 20:51.751
Ian Koblick and his team
 from the Aurora Trust

20:51.751 --> 20:54.920
map the ocean bottom
 with a side-scan sonar

20:54.920 --> 20:59.024
they like to call "The Fish."

20:59.024 --> 21:05.297
>>We let out enough two cable
 so the Fish is 15 feet or so

21:05.297 --> 21:08.434
off the seafloor,
 and it emits sound signals

21:08.434 --> 21:11.837
out either side of the Fish.

21:11.837 --> 21:15.040
And those sound signals
 reflect off of objects

21:15.040 --> 21:18.010
on the seafloor
 back to the Fish,

21:18.010 --> 21:21.280
and they register as a target
 on our instruments

21:21.280 --> 21:23.015
here on the boat.

21:23.015 --> 21:25.684
>>When you emit that sound,
 it's called a "ping,"

21:25.684 --> 21:29.922
and every ping that comes back
 you can display it across.

21:29.922 --> 21:31.924
It's like scan lines
 on a TV;

21:31.924 --> 21:34.827
it all laces together
 and makes an image.

21:34.827 --> 21:38.631
>>Aurora, we started out
 doing archaeological work

21:38.631 --> 21:42.301
in the Mediterranean,
 finding shipwrecks.

21:42.301 --> 21:46.005
And then we set up
 an educational program

21:46.005 --> 21:48.007
to teach kids
 about the importance

21:48.007 --> 21:52.044
of the ocean
 through marine archaeology.

21:52.044 --> 21:54.013
>>NARRATOR: The Aurora Trust,
 which specializes

21:54.013 --> 21:56.682
in underwater exploration,
 is also working

21:56.682 --> 22:00.619
in the Florida Keys
 National Marine Sanctuary.

22:00.619 --> 22:04.323
>>We're making a map
 of the bottom of the ocean

22:04.323 --> 22:09.061
that shows corals,
 geological features

22:09.061 --> 22:12.765
and historical, cultural
 features like shipwrecks.

22:12.765 --> 22:15.201
>>NARRATOR:
 Using a low-frequency signal,

22:15.201 --> 22:19.038
analysts can see up to 500 feet
 out from either side

22:19.038 --> 22:20.773
of the Fish.

22:20.773 --> 22:23.542
>>Generally, we can see
 the difference between geolog

22:23.542 --> 22:27.179
and something manmade
 with the high-frequency.

22:27.179 --> 22:31.116
This is a big coral reef
 that's coming out right now.

22:31.116 --> 22:34.086
You know, we've got sand
 over here and a coral patch

22:34.086 --> 22:36.255
right here, and there's
 a big coral reef here,

22:36.255 --> 22:40.626
so we're coming into
 a strong reef area.

22:40.626 --> 22:45.397
These are sand ripples
 over in here.

22:45.397 --> 22:49.835
>>Today's technology allows us
 to go down with ROVs

22:49.835 --> 22:53.706
and everything is electronic so
 that you get a complete picture

22:53.706 --> 22:58.510
of what's on the bottom.

22:58.510 --> 23:01.947
>>NARRATOR: An ROV, or remotely
 operated vehicle,

23:01.947 --> 23:05.651
allows technicians to get
 a closer and clearer view

23:05.651 --> 23:08.420
of objects that
 are hard to reach.

23:08.420 --> 23:10.389
>>It's a little robot
 at the end of the cable

23:10.389 --> 23:15.094
that swims around and is guided
 by an operator in the boat.

23:15.094 --> 23:18.397
>>Yeah, it looks like I have
 the bow of the wreck in sight.

23:18.397 --> 23:21.333
>>NARRATOR: To demonstrate
 its abilities, Chris Olstad,

23:21.333 --> 23:23.168
an underwater technician

23:23.168 --> 23:26.038
for the Marine Resources
 Development Foundation,

23:26.038 --> 23:29.408
deploys the ROV
 on the Benwood Wreck,

23:29.408 --> 23:31.543
a well-known dive site
 in the Keys.

23:36.582 --> 23:39.585
>>You have a thruster control,
 and when you push the joystick,

23:39.585 --> 23:41.987
the vehicle goes, essentially.

23:41.987 --> 23:45.891
For vertical, you can tilt
 the camera up and down.

23:45.891 --> 23:48.827
You've got a focus adjustment,
 you've got lights here

23:48.827 --> 23:52.498
for night or diving in caves,
 maybe inside the wreck.

23:52.498 --> 23:54.767
We have an option
 for a manipulator

23:54.767 --> 23:57.403
to grab something
 at depth, bring it back,

23:57.403 --> 23:59.571
and I've also got
 a recorder here

23:59.571 --> 24:02.908
so I can record the video that
 you are seeing on the monitor.

24:02.908 --> 24:05.411
This particular unit
 I have right now,

24:05.411 --> 24:07.513
it goes down to 500 feet.

24:07.513 --> 24:10.916
Another model, the same size,
 it goes down to 1,000 feet.

24:15.020 --> 24:16.855
>>NARRATOR:
 Although remote sensing tools

24:16.855 --> 24:20.025
can provide incredible access
 to underwater sites,

24:20.025 --> 24:21.860
surveying the ocean bottom

24:21.860 --> 24:26.832
is tedious
 and time-consuming work.

24:26.832 --> 24:29.368
>>We have only begun.

24:29.368 --> 24:32.538
We're able to cover about
 a half a square mile a day;

24:32.538 --> 24:37.743
we've been out about ten days,
 so we have a long ways to go.

24:37.743 --> 24:41.413
>>This is a great opportunity
 to continue on with something

24:41.413 --> 24:44.283
that I think makes
 a contribution to societ

24:44.283 --> 24:49.421
and to history,
 and I love to do it anyway.

24:49.421 --> 24:53.859
>>Shipwrecks and maritime
 archaeology, I think,

24:53.859 --> 25:00.099
brings history to life in a way
 that people can't imagine.

25:00.099 --> 25:02.534
>>There's a story
 behind each ship;

25:02.534 --> 25:05.404
some of them, it tells where
 they were coming from

25:05.404 --> 25:07.473
and what they were carrying.

25:07.473 --> 25:10.409
The remains of these ships
 are a vital part

25:10.409 --> 25:15.247
of the Keys history.

25:15.247 --> 25:18.517
>>You know, we can read about
 the slave trade all we want,

25:18.517 --> 25:21.520
but when you have something
 that you know was onboard

25:21.520 --> 25:24.957
a slave ship or was held
 in a pirate's hands,

25:24.957 --> 25:31.296
that is powerful, and it
 makes it that much more real.

25:31.296 --> 25:33.432
>>NARRATOR:
 With countless artifacts strewn

25:33.432 --> 25:36.802
across the oceans,
 researchers will continue

25:36.802 --> 25:42.107
to scour the sea floor in hopes
 of uncovering and confirming

25:42.107 --> 25:44.176
stories of our past.

26:20.879 --> 26:23.582
>> Major funding for this 
 program was provided

26:23.582 --> 26:25.851
 by the Batchelor Foundation,

26:25.851 --> 26:28.854
 encouraging people 
 to preserve and protect

26:28.854 --> 26:33.859
 America's underwater resources.

26:33.859 --> 26:38.130
 And by Divers Direct, 
 inspiring the pursuit

26:38.130 --> 26:42.130
 of tropical adventure 
 scuba diving.