Press Releases

CONTACT:
Deborah Marx
Matthew Lawrence
(781) 545-8026

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut (NURC-UConn) will offer the public a real-time view of a pair of historic New England shipwrecks as researchers explore them on July 15 with a robot sub.

Video of the wrecks will be broadcast live from a research ship operating off the Massachusetts coast in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. The public can view the ship-to-shore broadcasts through the internet at www.nurc.uconn.edu, or at the Gloucester (Mass.) Maritime Heritage Center.

New technologies are enabling us to explore our ocean world like never before,” said Craig MacDonald, superintendent of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

During the broadcasts, experts from NOAA and NURC-UConn will provide commentary about the history of the ill-fated coal schooners Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary, the marine life on and around the wrecks, and ongoing research and management efforts to understand and protect these and other maritime heritage resources in the sanctuary. The 30-minute broadcasts are planned for 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 15.

The live broadcasts are part of the Fifth Annual Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Celebration, to be held at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center. The event highlights the natural and historical resources of New England’s only national marine sanctuary. A long-running component of the Sanctuary Celebration has been the New England portion of the Great Annual Fish Count, an international program that encourages divers and snorkelers to identify and count fish in local waters. Coordinated by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, this year's fish count will run throughout the month of July in coastal areas around the world.

The Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary collided in Massachusetts Bay in December 1902 and sank in more than 300 feet of water. Today, the Maine-built schooners sit upright on the seafloor of the sanctuary, still joined at the bow. Scientists from NOAA and NURC-UConn confirmed the ships’ location within the sanctuary in 2002 based upon the coordinates supplied by maritime researchers H. Arnold Carr and John P. Fish. Since then, NOAA and NURC-UConn researchers have visited the wrecks annually with a remotely operated vehicle to monitor, study and document their condition. The shipwreck site was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program manages 13 national marine sanctuaries and one coral reef ecosystem reserve that together encompass more than 150,000 square miles of America’s ocean and Great Lakes natural and cultural resources. The sanctuary program seeks to increase public awareness of America’s marine resources and maritime heritage by conducting scientific research, monitoring, exploration and educational programs.

The NOAA National Undersea Research Program funds six research centers around the country at major universities. The National Undersea Research Center for the North Atlantic and Great Lakes is located at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point. This center supports and conducts research in the waters off the northeast coast of the U.S. including the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, Southern New England Bight including Long Island Sound and the Great Lakes.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with our federal partners and 60 countries to develop a global Earth observation network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects

On the Internet:
NOAA - http://www.noaa.gov
National Ocean Service - https://oceanservice.noaa.gov
National Marine Sanctuary Program - http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov
Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary - http://stellwagen.noaa.gov
National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut - www.nurc.uconn.edu
NOAA Preserve America Initiative - preserveamerica.noaa.gov