The Lost Whaler
Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2022 ROV and Mapping Shakedown. Download (mp4, 66.4 MB)

During Dive 02 of NOAA Ocean Exploration’s 2022 ROV and Mapping Shakedown on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, scientists on ship and shore explored the wreck of what they believed to be an historic 19th century whaler. Scientists from SEARCH Inc. and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management provided coordinates and other information and narrated the dive from shore, live via telepresence. Artifacts documented during the dive include tryworks, a cast-iron stove that was used to render whale blubber into oil; two anchors; and bottles. Only one whaler is known to have been lost in the Gulf of Mexico between the post-American revolutionary period and the end of the 19th century. At the time of the dive, we didn’t know if this and the wreck were one and the same, but the data collected and further research have confirmed that this is very likely the remains of the brig Industry.

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