TERRA 1004: Sunken Stories

A shipwreck is mystery, power, romance and danger. There’s a magic to watching one never seen by human eyes materialize from the darkness of the deep ocean. Sunken Stories follows the initial survey of a newly discovered shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico by the NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer and its ROV submersible Deep Discoverer. It is a copper-plated wooden hulled sailing ship and it contained an amazing variety of artifacts including muskets, canon, ceramic dishes, glass bottles, and medicines.  The greatest piece of the mystery, however, is that two ships of the same era and containing very similar artifacts were discovered less than five miles distant. The similarities and location of the three wrecks make archaeologists believe they sunk at the same time. What were they then? A ocean caravan? A Pirate ship taking its conquests to market?  In Sunken Stories, hear the scientists and pilots discuss the artifacts and the dive as it unfolded in 2012. The Okeanos Explorer is the only ship of NOAA’s fleet dedicated only to ocean exploration. This is the most historically significant shipwreck discovery it has made.