With a prioritized list of anomalies, the team headed out into the cove to investigate the sites this week. So far, divers have conducted inspections of several potential targets and opened up a trench to dredge across one of the anomalies in search of buried ferrous material culture. The procedure for examining the anomalies is as follows: 1) a dive team is transported to the target via project vessel Papa Léguas 2) divers enter the water and place a “gizmo” (weighted reel with a buoy) on the target 3) conduct a radial survey of the area with a hand held metal detector 4) examine any material culture discovered on top of the seafloor -or- excavate via hand fanning any buried contacts 5) record finds by measuring, sketching, and photographing with scales and north orientation 6) mark with a GPS any relevant materials for further investigation.
On target T-3, which was characterized by a significant magnetic signature, the team set up a grid around the site and began dredging to determine if any buried materials were present and to investigate the sub bottom. This was undertaken because during the radial search it was found that no man- made objects (iron or otherwise) were observable in the area, which is puzzling given the magnetic signature present. In addition to groundtruthing additional targets, the excavation of this site is the objective of the next few days, and should reveal important clues about the geologic makeup of the sea floor in this area of the bay.
