Return to Antikythera: Divers revisit wreck

[nflca]

Fascinating article from the UK Guardian about this wreck.....enjoy.....here: Return to Antikythera: Divers revisit wreck where ancient computer found | Jo Marchant | Science | guardian.co.uk

From NFLCA See our post on our Cozumel Diving Contest Dive Contest

 

[descent]

In a sidebar, The Guardian also posted a short but interesting video montage showing

• a modern one atmosphere suit
• rebreather divers scanning the bottom with metal detectors
• the same divers using a DSMB to raise that giant spear they just found (much too large for humans to use as a weapon)
• open circuit support divers at around 20m looking down on the other divers between 45m - 70m

Robotic dive suit helps explore ancient shipwreck off Antikythera island - video

 

[scoobydrew]

For those interested, one of the guys flying those exosuits can be followed here: https://www.facebook.com/philshorttechnical?fref=ts

 

[descent]

At the very end of the video I linked, you can see a man in a rigid hull inflatable receive the spear tip from a diver. He is the American lead researcher on the project, Brendan Foley of Woods Hole.

I re-watched the video about twenty times, fast and slow, but couldn't identify his Greek counterpart anywhere -- not on the surface, and not in a drysuit fighting current on the wreck below.

I wondered. Was he ill? Did he have to stay in port? Couldn't be. I would have had the crew lift my hospital bed onto the deck of the ship. Was he shooting the video on the surface? Surely there must be at least one grad student who could help hold a camera.

This morning, The Guardian posted a new science blog entry with more pics.

Scientists hope to unravel mystery of the ‘Titanic of the ancient world’

Third search for truth about sunken vessel near Antikythera island in Greece reveals objects including bronze spear

At the end of that blog post, you can finally recognize the Greek sponsor of the project, Theotokis Theodoulou, peeking out of the 1A rig after the faceplate is removed. He was the exosuit pilot.

The ship looks like the Greek naval vessel HS Thetis (A307).

 

[descent]

The sheer size of the wreck didn't stand out for me until I started viewing photos of the dives from multiple sources.

I thought all the references to the RMS Titanic just came from ignorance, or exaggeration.

... [The archaeology divers found] multiple lead anchors over a metre long [and identified wreckage] scattered over a much larger area than the sponge divers realized, covering 300 meters of the seafloor. This together with the huge size of the anchors and recovered hull planks proves that the Antikythera ship was much larger than previously thought, perhaps up to 50 meters long.

“The evidence shows this is the largest ancient shipwreck ever discovered,” says Brendan Foley. “It’s the Titanic of the ancient world.”