Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Diving Into History

For maritime archaeologist James Delgado, each shipwreck he explores is like opening up a time capsule from the past. As the founding director of the Maritime Heritage Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Delgado has dived on sites all over the world in search of sunken history. From the great ships at Pearl Harbor to lost Spanish galleons in the Caribbean, he's uncovered some extraordinary finds over his 30-year career.

Delgado's passion for the sea started early. As a young boy growing up in California, he loved visiting the maritime museums in San Francisco. He was fascinated by the ships, artifacts, and stories behind them. By age 11, he was volunteering at the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Delgado knew then that he wanted to devote his life to studying maritime history.

After earning a doctorate in maritime archaeology, Delgado began working at the Vancouver Maritime Museum in Canada. It was here that he got his first taste of underwater archaeology on the historic wreck of the steamship Beaver. Delgado was instantly hooked on the thrill of diving down and touching a piece of the past. Since then, he's led expeditions to various famous shipwrecks, including the Titanic, the German battleship Bismarck, and the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

For Delgado, every dive is an opportunity to dive into history itself. As he surveys a wreck site, he imagines what life was like on the ship centuries ago. He wonders about her final voyage and the people on board. Each artifact recovered provides a clue to the ship's untold stories. From copper nails to ceramic plates to glass bottles, the smallest objects open a portal to the past.

Delgado's work has also highlighted the need to protect these precious archaeological sites. Shipwrecks face looting, damage from severe weather, and impacts from climate change. Through his advocacy, Delgado has established marine sanctuaries across the world to preserve maritime treasures for the future. He also co-founded the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology and invented an underwater vacuum to carefully recover fragile artifacts.

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Chasing Clues Below the Waves

For maritime archaeologists like Delgado, the real thrill comes when they finally suit up and plunge below the waves in search of sunken ships. While remote sensing technology has advanced tremendously, nothing beats the exhilaration and insights gained from diving on a wreck firsthand.

As Delgado descends through the water column, the ambient light fades away. Equipped with lights, cameras, and other tools, he enters a silent, ethereal world. Suddenly, the ghostly silhouette of a shipwreck emerges from the gloom. His pulse quickens. What stories and secrets lie buried here?

Many of Delgado's colleagues share this sense of wonder and excitement. Maritime archaeologist Melanie Damour was similarly awestruck when she dove on the wreck of La Salle's ship La Belle in Matagorda Bay, Texas. Lost in 1686, the 17th century French ship was painstakingly excavated in the 1990s. Damour will never forget the moment the wooden hull came into view. "It was incredibly humbling and awe-inspiring," she recalls. "The thrill of descending down a line into the past is impossible to describe."

Of course, chasing clues below the waves requires rigorous training and care. Archaeologists must master skills like underwater navigation, artifact recovery, and emergency protocols. Conditions can be unpredictable, with zero visibility, strong currents, or entanglement hazards. To stay safe, divers use guidelines, tenders, and strict buddy systems. They take care not to disturb the seabed or wreck structure. Meticulous notes and drawings are made underwater to record each new discovery in situ.

With acute powers of observation, maritime archaeologists scan for the smallest of clues. A glint of glass or metal. Odd contours on the seafloor. An anomaly nestled in marine growth. Each subtle indicator could lead to an artifact that unlocks more of the ship's secrets. On La Belle, Damour spotted ceramic shards so covered in silt that they were nearly indistinguishable from the bottom. Gentle excavation revealed a nearly intact pharmaceutical jar - a tiny but thrilling find.

For many wrecks, time is running out. Natural decay, storms, and illegal salvage can rapidly destroy these cultural treasures. There is urgency for archaeologists to document sites and recover artifacts before they are lost. Yet they also have a duty to preserve wrecks for the future. It's a delicate balancing act. "As stewards, we're just passing through," reflects Damour. "These ships' stories continue long after us."

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Rediscovering Lost Riches

For maritime archaeologists, rediscovering lost riches is not about striking it rich or finding treasure for personal gain. Rather, it is about recovering pieces of our shared human history that were lost at sea. Each artifact offers precious clues into how people lived, worked, and traveled centuries ago. Even the most unremarkable items can unlock captivating insights into the past.

Take the Beaufort Inlet Shipwreck, discovered off the coast of North Carolina in the 1960s. This 18th century merchant ship sunk with a mundane cargo of bricks and nails. Yet maritime archaeologists were thrilled by the find. The ship was owned by the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly on the English slave trade. Mundane as the bricks were, they provided evidence of the Atlantic slave trade route. Nails revealed information about 18th century shipbuilding methods. Who would have thought such everyday objects could open a portal into this turbulent period of globalization?

The field's pioneers understood these riches need not be gold or jewels. George Bass, considered the father of nautical archaeology, excavated a 14th century shipwreck off Turkey in the 1960s. His team found utilitarian objects like copper cauldrons, ceramic bowls, and glass beads. Bass marveled at "the drama of the commonplace things used by commonplace men who lived centuries ago.” For him, riches lay in learning how ordinary sailors lived centuries ago.

Of course, spectacular treasures still capture imaginations today. Mel Fisher famously discovered the shipwrecked Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha in 1985. The 1622 wreck yielded a haul of gold coins, Columbian emeralds, and silver platters worth over $400 million. Finds like these understandably excite the public. However, most archaeologists are enriched not by gold, but by recovering knowledge otherwise lost to time.

Modern technologies are accelerating these rediscoveries. Sonar, magnetometers, ROVs, and 3D photogrammetry enable archaeologists to survey and visualize wrecks in new ways. The Digital Index of North American Archaeology makes thousands of records accessible worldwide. Advanced imaging can even scan artifacts without removing them from the seabed. Who knows what lost histories will resurface through these emerging techniques?

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Preserving Perilous Stories

While discovering shipwrecks offers a thrilling glimpse into the past, Delgado emphasizes these are more than just fascinating sites to explore. They are graveyards, bearing witness to perilous voyages that ended in tragedy. As such, they demand both scientific inquiry and respectful commemoration.

Take the steamboat Lexington, which tragically caught fire and sank in 1840, claiming over 100 lives. When Delgado dove on the wreck in 2016, he was profoundly moved by the bullet casings and personal artifacts still on board. Each object spoke to the horror people faced as flames engulfed the ship. “Standing on the wreck, feeling those souls around me, I pledged to tell their stories,” Delgado recalls. “Their memories deserve to be preserved.”

Delgado has since written extensively about the Lexington’s demise, even penning an entire book titled Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: The Extraordinary Stories of the Most Famous Shipwrecks. His vivid narratives humanize the anonymous passengers and capture the full drama of their fight for survival.

Meanwhile, other archaeologists labor to preserve oral histories before they are lost. Many elderly islanders in the Pacific still have living memory of WWII shipwrecks in their waters. Daniel Thraves, founder of Archeonautic, records their handed-down tales of American planes falling from the sky or heroic tugboat rescues. “It’s powerful when science meets culture in archaeology,” he says. "Local insights can lead us to sites we never knew existed.” By melding archaeology with community memories, their perilous stories are preserved for posterity.

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Mapping Mysteries on the Ocean Floor

For experienced divers like Delgado, historic shipwrecks are akin to time capsules resting silently on the seafloor. But locating these hidden treasures amidst thousands of miles of seabed poses immense challenges. New mapping technologies are providing vital clues that allow archaeologists to pinpoint elusive wrecks and survey them in unprecedented detail.

Sonar scanning is revolutionizing the search for sunken ships. Sound waves penetrate the water column all the way to the bottom, producing detailed maps of the seafloor. Strange contours or unnatural shapes often indicate manmade objects hidden beneath the sand and mud. Targeted scanning has led archaeologists to lost vessels all over the world, from Captain Cook's famously elusive HMS Endeavour to the mid-19th century shipwreck Isaac Allerton off Canada's East Coast.

But seeing truly is believing. In the past, archaeologists had to dive sites themselves to confirm a sonar target. Now, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) equipped with cameras allow researchers to visually investigate targets from the ship above. When marine archaeologist Melanie Damour deployed an ROV on a target in the Gulf of Mexico, the unmistakable shape of an early 19th century wooden hull emerged on the video feed. “It’s incredible we have the technology to see these wrecks long before we get in the water,” she marvels.

New imaging tools also enable detailed wreck mapping and 3D modeling. Photogrammetry compiles thousands of still images to digitally reconstruct a site down to the centimeter. And multibeam sonar provides high resolution 3D maps accurate enough to measure deterioration or collapse over time. Damour has overseen remarkable advances. “When I started 20 years ago, we mapped wrecks by hand with tape measures underwater. Now technology does that work for us.”

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Braving Treacherous Waters

For maritime archaeologists, braving treacherous waters is part of the job description. To access historic shipwrecks, they must be prepared to dive in extremely hazardous conditions. Storm swells, powerful currents, poor visibility, and frigid temperatures are ever-present risks. As thrilling as it is to uncover hidden history, safety must come first. Lives have been lost in the pursuit of sunken wrecks.

James Delgado is intimately familiar with the perils of the sea. While surveying wrecks off the rugged Point Reyes coastline in California, he's been slammed by fierce waves and swept off his feet by surging surf. During a night dive in the Bering Sea, he suddenly found himself completely blinded when his light malfunctioned. He still shudders recalling the terrifying experience of feeling his way hand-over-hand along the guideline back to the surface.

Yet the rewards make the risks worthwhile for Delgado and his peers. "We have a duty to visit these ships on the bottom and bear witness," he says. The window to document many wrecks is closing as they deteriorate over time. And for archaeologists like Delgado who learned to dive specifically to explore wrecks, they feel drawn back to the depths again and again. "Once you dive on a great wreck, nothing else really satisfies that fix," laughs Delgado.

Still, caution is key. Renowned French explorer Jacques Cousteau famously said "The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonders forever." But enchantment can lead divers to exceed their training and experience. Archaeology demands strict adherence to dive safety protocols. Diving with nitrox gas mixtures and specialized equipment like rebreathers enables longer bottom times with reduced decompression obligations. Rigorous training, emergency drills, and dive redundancy are essential safeguards as well.

Ultimately, the hazards encountered in the field demand unwavering vigilance. Veteran researcher Melanie Damour has faced close calls in her career, like the sudden failure of her primary air regulator 60 feet down on a colonial shipwreck. With preternatural calm, she switched to her backup and signaled her dive buddy to head up. In that moment, her intensive dive training took over. "When things go wrong, you can't panic. You fall back on drills until the danger passes."

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Uncovering Underwater Secrets

For maritime archaeologists, uncovering underwater secrets is the very heart of their work. Beneath the waves lie countless shipwrecks, drowned settlements, and other submerged sites that reveal fascinating insights into human history. By studying these hidden treasures, researchers reconstruct lost chapters of our shared past that would otherwise remain obscure.

James Delgado has dedicated his career to shining light on these obscured slivers of history. One of his most impactful discoveries came in the late 1980s, when he led a survey of Golden Gate National Recreation Area's waters. Delgado expected they might find some 19th century shipwrecks from before the famous bridge spanned the bay. Yet neither he nor anyone else anticipated the astounding underwater landscape revealed by the side-scan sonar images.

The sonar mapped an entire drowned historic district under the waves. Two miles of abandoned docks, wharves, and ship hulls were clearly visible on the seafloor. This astonishing find was the long-lost Gold Rush boomtown of Rome. Founded in 1849, Rome was once San Francisco’s main commercial rival. But it plunged into the bay during an 1880s earthquake and had been forgotten for over a century.

Thanks to Delgado’s survey, the secrets of this lost frontier-era town were finally uncovered. His discovery ignited excitement to dive and document Rome’s remains before they deteriorated further. Delgado later led National Park Service teams on over 300 dives to the site. Meticulous underwater excavations revealed exquisite details about daily life, technology, and trade during San Francisco’s Wild West era.

Meanwhile, marine archaeologist Melanie Damour also revels in illuminating history’s forgotten narratives. In the grim days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests awakened many Americans to the enduring impacts of systemic racism. Damour wondered - how might sunken wrecks reveal African ancestors’ early struggles? She decided to shine a light on wrecked slave ships, pivoting her Ph.D. research to focus on African diaspora maritime heritage for the first time.

Damour is currently surveying archives and dive sites in Ghana, Senebon, and South Africa to uncover this neglected aspect of the Atlantic slave trade. By fusing archaeology with African oral histories, she aims to restore dignity and visibility to the millions trafficked during the brutal Middle Passage. As Damour explains, “We can’t forget the trauma of the past; underwater cultural heritage preserves those memories.” Her work showcases how maritime archaeology can unearth overlooked voices and raise up forgotten stories from history’s depths.

Shipwreck Detective: Meet the Maritime Archaeologist Who Hunts Sunken Treasures - Following Fleeting Leads

Following fleeting leads is an integral part of uncovering maritime mysteries. The remote, dynamic nature of the underwater environment means evidence is often ephemeral. Shipwrecks get buried in sediment or broken apart by storms. Critical clues literally float away on the currents. With such impermanence, archaeologists must act swiftly when promising new leads surface. Otherwise, they risk losing a tantalizing thread that could unravel a site's secrets.

Veteran diver James Delgado knows the agony of seeing leads wash away. While surveying along the rugged California coast, he spotted artifacts eroding from a cliff face. Delgado immediately recognized ceramics, glass trade beads, and other relics dating back to the 1500s. His pulse quickened - could these be remnants of the storied Manila galleons, fabled Spanish ships that linked Asia, Mexico, and Europe via trade? He had long dreamed of discovering one of these elusive wrecks. If they existed here, their treasures could rewrite history.

Yet there was little time to act. Winter storms soon collapsed the site, sweeping its contents into the sea. Delgado was crushed. "It was devastating to lose a site that could have told us so much," he recalls. With it went perhaps the best lead anyone had found in centuries of searching for a Manila galleon along this perilous coast.

Such experiences have taught Delgado the mantra of maritime archaeology: document fast, because tomorrow may be too late. Modern technologies like 3D photogrammetry enable rapid, comprehensive wreck mapping to record sites before deterioration. Even for famous wrecks like the Titanic, race is on between exploration and inevitable decay. Its mast just collapsed in 2022. "We have to move quickly and capture everything we can," says researcher Melanie Damour, who has led Titanic expeditions. "These wrecks hold clues to the past, but they won't be here forever."

Meanwhile, other fleeting leads appear only briefly due to natural cycles. In North Carolina's treacherous Graveyard of the Atlantic, violent storms and shifting sands regularly expose and re-bury shipwrecks. Archaeologists have mere days or weeks after a storm to survey newly uncovered sites before they disappear again. Meticulous monitoring of conditions is key.

Technology also aids the chase by revealing leads rapidly. Scanning sonars can map thousands of square miles of seafloor in days instead of months. Online databases make shipwreck records universally accessible, connecting farflung clues. And machine learning algorithms can help analyze massive datasets to flag high-probability targets.