next »

TRAILBLAZERS
for students

ArchaeoFind
Archaeology News
Articles
Browse Attachments
Calendar
Downloads
Forum
Gallery
Links
Member Map
Our News Feeds
Submit Article
Tag Cloud
Video Channel

Trailblazers
Play Phaos
Chat
Trailblazers: Virtual Tours
History's Hinge - 'Ain Jalut

[Diving Doc]

23 March 2007
Media Release

SEARCH FOR HMAS SYDNEY UNDERWAY
23 March 2007
Media Release

SEARCH FOR HMAS SYDNEY UNDERWAY
? SOUTHERN? KORMORAN SITE INVESTIGATED

HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd (HMA3S), the company formed to search for Australian warship HMAS Sydney, lost off the WA coast in 1941, reports that Geo Subsea have investigated the ?southern ? site known as KDLS3 strongly believed by researchers Warren Whittaker and (the late) Lindsay Knight to contain the final resting place of HSK Kormoran, the German vessel that sank HMAS Sydney. 

The site, located seaward of the Abrolhos Islands off WA, was surveyed using a state -of?the-art, hull-mounted multibeam echo sounder (MBES) system, with the capacity to map the seabed up to a distance of three kilometres either side of the vessel's track, at depths of up to 5,000 metres. The purpose of the survey was to identify any significant seabed features and to finally verify the validity of any claims related to the site. This was achieved and no wreckage was found.

The survey was carried out using the MV Geosounder, en route from Fremantle to Dampier. Geosounder is operated by leading Perth-based Geo Subsea Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of an internationally renowned offshore survey and investigation company with worldwide operations, DOF Subsea.


HMA3S Chairman, Ted Graham, said the results of the survey were very positive in eliminating a site that had received much publicity and attention.

"The results of the survey make it possible for us to eliminate this particular site because the MBES imagery conclusively shows no evidence in the area to indicate the presence of a shipwreck". he said.


Mr Graham said the survey had been run by Geo Subsea on a pro bono basis, as an "in kind" contribution to the search effort, and was a very important first step in our efforts to find the wreck of HMAS Sydney and solve Australia's greatest maritime mystery.

"We are very appreciative of Geo Subsea's gesture, and the valuable seabed information they have provided. We are hopeful that MV Geosounder will be able to carry out further reconnaissance surveys to gain a better understanding of the seabed topography in our designated northern search area. These could be performed on a sail-through basis whenever the vessel transits the Search area between its various company projects this year.

David L. Mearns, Director of Blue Water Recoveries, Ltd., who will be directing the search for HMAS Sydney on behalf of HMA3S and has carefully reviewed the survey results, says ?the KDLS3 site was ideal for searching with Geosounder?s MBES because the average depth is only 850 metres and the seabed is relatively flat and featureless with a gentle slope of only 1.4 to 2 degrees.  If a ship the size of Kormoran (157 metres long and 9,400 GRT), which was the biggest auxiliary cruiser used by the Kreigsmarine in WWII, had exploded and sunk on the site it would clearly show up in the MBES images for all to see.?



Mr. Mearns said the survey was the most definitive and conclusive ever conducted at the KDLS3 site.  ?Unlike earlier surveys the MBES completely covered a 2,000 metre swathe centered on the KDLS3 position with such a concentration of depth soundings that a wreck the size of Kormoran would have registered a minimum of 55 individual soundings.  The fact that there wasn?t even the slightest hint of wreckage finally shuts the door on the KDLS3 position and should allow everyone to focus on our upcoming search of the ?northern? position.

HMA3S have submitted a copy of the Geo Subsea survey report to the WA Maritime Museum, the official custodian of wrecks and wreck sites under Commonwealth legislation.  A copy of this report has also been posted onto the HMA3S website http://www.findingsydney.com.

For further information, contact:

Bob King ? Director & General Manager, HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd., - Tel:

Steve Brown ? Managing Director, Geo Subsea Pty Ltd., -

David Mearns - Blue Water Recoveries Ltd., UK., ? Tel:

[Administration]

David Mearns has been promoted to Charter Member in recognition of his outstanding contributions to revealing the treasures of history.

His main page is here: Blue Water Recoveries

[Diving Doc]

Admin,

I couldn't agree more. The accomplishments of Mr. David Mearns are truly remarkable. He truly deserves the Charter Membership. This man has an amazing record for every type of recovery in deep water, both underwater archaeology and salvage. His credentials are without blemish for his ability to work within the protocols of the science. This equipment is truly amazing! I can hardly wait until he finds the "Kormoran". I built this ship model when I was in high school. I look forward to his next release on the pages of History Hunters.
Cheers,
Doc

[Diving Doc]

One of the recoveries that Mr. Mearns was involved in was the Liberty ship "John Barry"
The "John Barry" was a straight forward modern deep water salvage operation with the agreement of the ship owners, who bought the rights from the US Navy, and the cargo owners. The shipment of silver Ryals from the Philadelphia Mint was destined for Saudi when this ship was sunk. There was no underwater archaeology involved, nor was there any question that the owners in partnership with salvors were simply recovering their property. There are many Liberty ships still floating or in mothballs.

David Mearns is a Director of Blue Water Recoveries (BWR), a leading deep-sea technology firm specialising in the location and investigation of modern and historic shipwrecks. During his 15-year career based in America and Britain he has led the research and discovery of over 45 shipwrecks lost in water depths from 600 to 5,800 metres. His most celebrated finds include Lucona ? a cargo ship sunk by a time bomb as part of an Austrian insurance fraud scheme, Derbyshire ? a bulk carrier lost with all hands in 1980 that represents the single largest loss in British maritime history, and Esmeralda ? an early 16th century Portuguese caravel in the fleet of Vasco da Gama located by BWR 494 years after it sank.
http://www.shipwreckconference.org/conference_bios2.htm
Doc

[Diving Doc]

There was nothing left of the ship but the protocols were followed at 8,000 feet.

The Abbatucci Cargo at 8,000 feet.


THE TIMES, 13 MAY 1869
The Abbatucci Cargo
"Intelligence has been received of the loss of the steam packet General Abbatucci. A French Intendant General, the Pontifical Consul at Marseilles, 16 French soldiers and 15 Papal recruits, on their way to Civitavecchia, have perished... "

On the 7th May 1869 The General Abbatucci sank in tragic circumstances. She had left her home port of Marseilles the previous day on a routine monthly run to Civitavecchia, Italy, but on this trip, as well as the normal trade shipments, she was said to have been carrying a much more exciting cargo. It was thought to have consisted of several million French francs destined for the Vatican, gifts for the birthday of Pope Pius IX from Church officials in France, and possible pay for the French army in Italy.
Her passengers included many powerful dignitaries and wealthy merchantmen, some with their families, a group of Pontifical guards, and the Pontifical Consul representing the Holy See in Marseilles, who was returning to Rome.

Sadly this particular voyage was to be short-lived, during the early hours of the morning the 282-ton 12 year old ship was involved in a collision 24 miles off the north Corsican coast. The Edward Hwidt, a 500-ton Norwegian barquentine, holed The General Abbatucci below her starboard anchor, she took on water at great speed and sank within two hours of being hit, with the loss of 54 lives. The newspapers were full of survivors' tales of the futile attempts made by panic-stricken noblemen to buy their safety by casting their valuables at the feet of the crew, but little could be done and for many, their fates were sealed. The Times reported "The Captain and 54 persons were saved, and have been brought to Leghorn almost naked, the accident having happened early in the morning, when most of them were in their berths. Several sailors and a much larger number of passengers were lost".

Shortly after she sank her captain and the survivors were picked up by the sailing vessel The Embla, which also escorted the damaged Edward Hwidt to the Italian coast of Livorno. An inquiry held by the Italian maritime judges ruled that The General Abbatucci was negligent for failing to keep a proper lockout, and the captain of The Edward Hwidt was penalised for leaving the scene of the incident without making any attempt to pick up survivors.

The rumour of the existence of Papal gifts was reinforced by the behaviour of the guards and the Consul who remained on the ship, making no attempt to save themselves.

The General Abbatucci and her secrets lay untouched on the seabed until she was located in May 1996, nearly 127 years after her tragic end.

It took Blue Water Recoveries Ltd 32 days of searching before they finally found the wreck they were looking for, scanning over 1000 square miles plagued by bad weather and unpredictable currents - attested to by the numerous other wrecks discovered during the search.

On the 19th May 1996 the latest wreck discovered was inspected by a remote operated vehicle with colour and wide angle black and white cameras. It bore no resemblance to the artist's impression of what they thought they would find; 127 years on the seabed had taken its toll.

The metal hull had long since rusted away leaving the huge single engined boiler exposed in the centre of the wreck. The sides of the ship had fallen outwards, collapsing to reveal the skeletal remains of the hull.

 Once the age had been ascertained by the careful examination of surrounding artefacts, a more detailed search was made in order to establish the wreck's identity.

The first pieces of porcelain examined proved to be disappointing as it was cargo destined for Italy and not the ship's china which would bear the company crest for Valery, Freres & Fils and provide a positive identification. Some time later during the survey, the wreck still not having been positively identified, a severe problem developed with the remote operated vehicle - its sonar equipment, essentially its "eyes" failed. The weather on the surface was forecast to blow for two days, which would mean a further excruciating delay before the vehicle could get back on the wreck. With the sort of luck that is only found at sea, and then only rarely, the ship's compass binnacle was sighted lying on the seabed, just a few feet in front of the vehicle's camera, having been torn from the deck as the ship plummeted to the seabed 127 years previously. The binnacle was grabbed with the ROV manipulator arm and slowly raised to the surface on to the deck of the search vessel. Details had been obtained of the original equipment supplied to the vessel and the name of the manufacturer of the compass was known.

Unfortunately, when the revolving compass card was rinsed, a different name was revealed, much to the dismay and bitter disappointment of the search team. Their spirits rose, however, when a short time later there came an excited cry from the team member cleaning the body of the compass - he had discovered the sought after name on its base. This was the proof they required and the full recovery operation began. The next group of crockery examined was found to bear the company logo, the excitement mounted as much of the wreck's cargo was brought to the surface. The results were mixed. The expected main cargo of gold was not found but jewellery, watches and coins were recovered from a depth of over 8000 feet. Time ran out and it was decided to leave the remainder of the elusive cargo for another day.

When the jewellery was first brought into Christie's it was almost impossible to recognise and only professional cleaning has revealed its true glory. Nearly all of the jewellery has now been cleaned, and the transformation is unbelievable, but a few lots have been kept in recovered condition. It would appear to be part of a jeweller's stock due to the quantity of repeats of the same item, including guard chains, brooches, earrings, bangles, and rings, enabling some to be grouped together to provide matching suites.

Other items include coins and some artefacts such as pressed glass, porcelain and bottles, revealing a fascinating insight into the trading of the time.

The majority of the jewelry is extremely wearable, and its appeal enhanced by the exciting provenance, providing a unique opportunity to buy a "brand new" piece of antique gold jewellery from the 1860's.    
 
With thanks and acknowledgments to Christies. E & OE
 

[Diving Doc]

The project that was mentioned by Mr. Mearns is here, http://www.findingsydney.com/

Welcome to the Finding Sydney website, created and maintained by HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd (Sydney Search) as Trustee for Finding Sydney Foundation.

The Finding Sydney Foundation was formed to find the Royal Australian Navy battle cruiser HMAS Sydney.

HMAS Sydney was a modified Leander-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy. The ship had great success in the first years of World War II, but controversy and mystery surrounds the loss of Sydney and its crew in November 1941. Its sinking with all hands represents the greatest ever loss of life in an Australian warship; Sydney was also the largest vessel of any country to be lost with no survivors during the war.

Sydney Search intends to find and commemorate the wreck of the Sydney to ensure preservation of this important war grave for the entire community.
   


Hunt for 'Sydney' seeks to solve nation's greatest wartime mystery
Independent, The (London),  Aug 17, 2005  by Christopher Zinn in Sydney

Australia's greatest wartime mystery, the loss of the pride of the navy, HMAS Sydney, with all hands in 1941, may be solved after the federal government reversed years of policy to help fund a search for its wreck.

The grant of A$1.3m (pounds 550,000) comes after decades of speculation, debate and official inquiries as to how the light cruiser went down in the Indian Ocean after a chance encounter with the smaller and less armed German raider Kormoran.

Prime Minister John Howard said: 'The finding of the HMAS Sydney would close a significant chapter in Australia's wartime history and bring a long-awaited closure to the suffering of the families, as well as allowing the proper recognition of the sacrifice made by the 645 crew,' he said.

The change of heart came after the shipwreck hunter who in 2001 found the remains of the German battleship Bismarck and the British battlecruiser Hood in the Atlantic uncovered new evidence about the two ships' possible locations.

Enjoy,
Doc

 

 

 
   

 

[Diving Doc]

Divers find wreck of HMS Hood

July 24, 2001 Posted: 1:13 PM EDT (1713 GMT)
The wreck of HMS Hood lies at 3,000 metres in Denmark Strait



LONDON, England -- An undersea expedition has discovered the wreck of the Royal Navy battle cruiser HMS Hood which sank 60 years ago.

The Hood -- considered to be the most advanced naval ship in the world when she was built -- was sunk in May 1941 by a single shell from the German battleship Bismarck.



All but three of her 1,416 crew perished.

The Hood was built at Clydebank and launched in 1918.

Although the world's largest warship for 20 years, she was lightly armoured and vulnerable to fire from heavy shells.

Three days after sinking the Hood, the Bismarck was itself sunk with the loss of over 2,000 men.

The expedition has already relocated the wreck of the Bismarck and beamed colour footage back by satellite to the UK for the first time.

The Hood's remains, which include substantial portions of the ship's hull, were found at a depth of 3,000 metres in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland.

The first pictures of the wreck were broadcast on television in Britain on Monday by Channel 4 News.

It was found by a team led by deep-sea explorer David Mearns as part of an expedition funded by Channel 4 with the support of the Ministry of Defence, the Hood Association, the Royal Naval Association and the Royal British Legion.

Mearns said: "Our immediate reaction has been one of surprise by the damage suffered by Hood.

"It is far worse than any of us expected."
The battleship's bell lay among the remains

 

He added: "The images we have seen is a constant reminder that the wreck site is a massive war grave and in that regards I have the deepest respect for the 1,415 men who died here 60 years ago.

"Before we leave the site we plan to leave a bronze memorial plaque that lists all their names with the hope that their relatives can be comforted by the knowledge that their grave is properly marked."

Ted Briggs, the sole survivor of the Hood who is still alive, said: "Many of the relatives of the men lost with the Hood have spoken to me to say how happy they are that we are going out to the site.

"This is a chance to say a final goodbye to the men who died there."

He added: "I've been haunted by this for the last 60 years and I feel that I've finally laid a ghost to rest."

                                                 
Author:     David Mearns, Rob White                                                 
Format:    Hardcover
Published:    January 2002
ISBN-10:    0752220357
ISBN-13:    9780752220352

[Diving Doc]

Endurance Rush
Two rival British teams launch a tenacious race to find Shackleton's long-lost ship

By Brad Wieners

   Hunter and hunted: wreck detective David Mearns (Rob White)
   
      
"WHAT THE ICE GETS, IT KEEPS," said Irish polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton?ruefully, one imagines. In 1914, Shackleton set out with a crew of 27 men to become the first to cross Antarctica, the last big polar prize, only to have a gale lodge his ship, the Endurance, in the ferocious mass of ice that swirls in a vortex atop the Weddell Sea. Over a span of ten months, the pack carried the ship 570 miles before sinking her on November 21, 1915.

What followed was a legendary saga that in recent years has been celebrated in more than a dozen books, four films, and an immensely popular exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York. The men drifted for five and a half months on the shifting ice before landing on barren Elephant Island; from there Shackleton and five others made an 800-mile crossing of the South Atlantic in a 22-foot open boat, followed by a mountainous traverse of South Georgia Island to a Norwegian whaling station. When Shackleton finally sailed back to retrieve the rest of the crew?miraculously, all survived?nine months had passed since the Endurance went down. Now, 90 years later, two British syndicates are in a race to find the wreckage of the Endurance, and see if the ice might relinquish some of her after all. Both teams plan to set sail in the austral summer, possibly as soon as 2004-05, and once on site?about 1,100 miles south of Cape Horn, at 68?39.5' south, 52?26.5' west?they'll use sonar, magnetic sensors, and remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) mounted with cameras to locate the ship's remains, some 10,000 feet below the surface.

"Mearns is very capable, but we can't bring him on board or our code of ethics would go right out the window."
Numerous vessels have been discovered at similar depths, but rarely in a spot as remote, and never beneath a shifting plain of six-foot-thick ice. The mission will cost upwards of $5 million, so it's likely that only one team will raise enough money to pull it off. Right now the expeditions are locked in a fierce battle?playing out in corporate board rooms, museum offices, and the cocktail circuit?for cash and credibility.

Given the possibility that the ship is now little more than smashed timber, some Shackleton historians wonder if it's worth all the trouble. "I'm not sure what the mystery is," says Caroline Alexander, author of the 1998 bestseller that sparked Shackletonmania, The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. "Usually when you search for a lost ship, there's something you want to know. We have film of her death agony and know everything that was on board. They may find some souvenirs, but I'm not sure we'll learn very much."

Maybe, but a shot at uncovering Endurance relics has attracted some of the biggest players in deep-sea exploration. "This will be one of the most ambitious searches ever," says David Mearns, 45, the director of Blue Water Recoveries, a UK-based underwater-survey-and-salvage company. "I expect there will be quite a bit of the ship left. We would like to rediscover the lost science. There was a tremendous amount of samples and instruments left behind."

On the strength of his r?sum? and progress with sponsors, Mearns is the race's clear front-runner. He's found some 50 deep-water wrecks, including the WWII battle cruiser HMS Hood, which, in 2001, he uncovered 9,200 feet below the Denmark Strait (between Greenland and Iceland) in just 39 hours. To find the Endurance, he's won the support of the British Antarctic Survey, the Royal Navy, and as-yet-unnamed corporate donors. As of early October, Blue Water was in advanced discussions with Mearns's first-choice media partner, the Washington, D.C.-based National Geographic Society.

The rival team is co-led by Scottish adventurer Jock Wishart, 46, and Jonathan Adams, 52, director of the Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southampton. Wishart has rowed the Atlantic, hiked to the magnetic North Pole, and, in 2001, re-created Shackleton's traverse of South Georgia Island. In 1982, Adams accomplished one of the most notable feats in modern nautical archaeology when he raised King Henry VIII's Mary Rose, 437 years after it disappeared. Besides hunting for the Endurance, the duo plans to search for the Antarctic, a Swedish shipwreck from 1903, and complete a scientific survey of the Bransfield Strait. "It'll be the largest British-led scientific expedition in five decades," says Wishart, who declined to name prospective funders, saying only that two are UK oil companies.

To win the money round, the rivals have embraced clashing tactics. While Mearns has toiled quietly to get all his ducks in a row, the Wishart-Adams camp has chosen a more PR-hungry approach, announcing expedition plans to the British press last spring and now attempting to sow doubt about Mearns's qualifications. Exploiting a major rift in oceanographic circles?crudely put, the scientists versus the salvagers?they're suggesting that Blue Water's past for-profit salvaging projects make the company unfit for a role in such a historically significant endeavor. Asked if he'd ever considered collaborating with Blue Waters, Wishart said Mearns's reputation as a salvager made that unthinkable: "He's very capable, but we can't, as a scientific expedition, bring him on board or our code of ethics would go right out the window."

Mearns hotly denies that he's mercenary. "Nothing could be further from the truth," he says, citing plans to mount an exhibition with any Endurance finds at the National Maritime Museum, in Greenwich, England. He has also signed a legal agreement with Shackleton's granddaughter Alexandra that grants him the right to recover artifacts on behalf of the family, and guarantees that everything will be properly preserved.

For all the hustling, what do they stand to find? The biggest prize is a small selection of glass-plate photos left behind by expedition photographer Frank Hurley when the crew abandoned ship. Shackleton supposedly told Hurley to break 400 plates so he wouldn't be tempted to go back for them, but Shane Murphy, 56, an amateur historian who's transferred all of Hurley's diaries onto CD, insists that "if Hurley had a good photo, he wouldn't have destroyed it." (Though the Weddell Sea might have?the plates' emulsion makes a fine meal for seaborne bacteria.)

Wishart, Adams, and Mearns aren't the first to announce plans to find the Endurance. In 2001, Robert Ballard, the Mystic, Connecticut-based explorer who found the Titanic, proclaimed his intentions but failed to raise enough cash. The same could happen for these two, though for now both teams are confident. "There are very few truly virgin seas," says Mearns. "We will be the first ever to go to the bottom of the Weddell, and that's part and parcel with what Shackleton was doing when he was there."

[Diving Doc]

Date: June 1, 2005
Organization: Oceaneering International Inc.
ROV Produces First Photographic Evidence of the Cause of the Tsunami

A scientific team has just returned from the first scientific expedition to dive 4,500 metres into ocean water to explore the seabed site of the 2004 Asian tsunami. They have revealed dramatic photographic evidence of seafloor ruptures that contributed to the deadly December 26 tsunami wave.

 An international team of the world's leading scientists has just returned from the first ever scientific expedition to dive an amazing 4,500 metres deep into ocean water to explore the seabed site of the 2004 Asian Tsunami. They have revealed dramatic photographic evidence of seafloor ruptures that contributed to the deadly December 26 tsunami wave.

David L Mearns, Director of Blue Water Recoveries Ltd UK, who conceived the expedition and is acting as Marine Coordinator says: "Everyone involved in the project is thrilled that we have made such a significant scientific discovery in the relatively short period of time we have been at sea. We had a good scientific plan and our share of good fortune but we owe a great deal to the UK Hydrographic Ship HMS Scott, which surveyed the area earlier this year and provided a roadmap of seabed features that allowed us to zero-in with our high-resolution cameras on the most likely fault areas."

Since May 10, scientists have spent 17 days at sea exploring the seafloor off the coast of Sumatra in order to gain a better understanding of the forces that led to the devastating tsunami. Their results will help them to piece together the dramatic sequence of events of how the giant earthquake caused the tsunami. Using geophysical survey tools, operated by the Geological Survey of Canada, and a unique deep-water remotely-operated vehicle, operated by Oceaneering International Inc., the Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami Offshore Survey (SEATOS) team's mission is the first time that marine scientists have been able to find and film such critical ruptures at such an incredible depth deep in the Indian ocean.

The project is being filmed exclusively for a BBC, Discovery and ProSieben documentary, by award-winning UK production company Darlow Smithson Productions, for broadcast later this year.

The mosaic of photographs the team has released today show a 3 metre high x 8 metre wide section of compacted sediment, only a small part of a huge cliff that was faulted and upthrust during the enormous earthquake and undoubtedly contributed to the creation of the tsunami wave.

Dr Don Fisher from Pennsylvania State University said: "The faults are absolutely fresh and it's mind-blowing that we were fortunate enough to find these faults nearly 3 miles down."

The faults, which were found on the outer edge of the continental shelf, provide important evidence for reconstructing the events of December 26. The observed seafloor fault surface is referred to by geologists as striated because it is smoothed by rocks moving against each other as the seafloor is ripped open. Leading the Census of Marine Life biologists, Professor Paul Tyler of the National Oceanography Centre, UK, was, "surprised to find absolutely no evidence of deep-sea animals at the site during a 14h dive with the ROV submersible. This is unprecedented in 25 years of sampling the deep sea."

"This discovery is a critical piece of the puzzle for reconstructing the December 26 tsunami wave," said Dave Tappin, Co-chief Scientist of the expedition from the British Geological Survey. Seafloor models that re-create the motions from the measured earthquake energy are crude in terms of their ability to pinpoint exact locations of fault movements at the seabed. The SEATOS expedition is specifically designed to explore the seafloor in search of direct evidence for the critical locations where the seabed moved and generated the giant wave.

The SEATOS team, comprises a group of 22-strong scientists from six countries, combining a variety of scientific disciplines, including tsunami wave model experts, geophysicists, biologists, seismologists, engineers, geologists, and visualization experts. This unique range of experts enabled a fully integrated approach to the expedition. Dr Kate Moran, Co-chief Scientist from the University of Rhode Island, explained that "we've gathered an experienced and diverse team of specialists for SEATOS because its one of the essential ingredients for this challenging goal to find evidence of the sources that created this most devastating of tsunamis."

The data from the expedition will take months to analyse, and the full implications of the results will also take some time to gauge, but the scientific team are all delighted with the mission's success and are confident that their findings will enable them a far greater and detailed understanding of the forces that led to the tsunami. The team will re-convene later this year to draw their conclusions after initial analysis has taken place.

The expedition is being filmed on location for - Journey To The Heart Of The Tsunami - by Darlow Smithson Productions. Directed by Ed Wardle with Julian Ware as the executive producer, it will be broadcast later this year on BBC ONE, Discovery US, ProSieben in Germany and Discovery International. Also supporting the expedition is the National Science Foundation's ARMADA Project (http://www.armadaproject.org/), the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Census of Marine Life Program (http://www.coml.org/), Oceaneering Inc, BP Marine Limited and Science Application International Corporation (SAIC).