New Method for Exploring for Wrecks of the 1871 Western Arctic Whaling Ship Disaster

探索 1871 年西北极捕鲸船灾难残骸的新方法

• 批准号: 0518725
• 负责人: Randolph Beebe
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: Barrow Arctic Science Consortium (BASC)
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-08-01 至 2006-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0518725&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: New; Method; Exploring; Wrecks; 1871

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) is to support preliminary research using novel techniques for finding underwater wrecks in the Arctic. In August of 1871, 31 Yankee whaling ships were crushed by the ice and sunk, or burned near Point Belcher, Alaska. This event had enormous impact on the Native population and on the whaling community. Little is actually known about the location and condition of these significant wrecks. An attempt to locate wrecks in the 1990s had technical difficulties, but during testing of an underwater camera, a single wreck was located, demonstrating that some wrecks do remain on the ocean bottom. The customary approach to Arctic underwater exploration relies on a large and expensive support vessel, but the Point Belcher location is a good candidate for exploring with different, less costly methods. Due to the wrecks' expected close proximity to shore it is reasonable to expect that an accurate site survey can be accomplished with a small, land-based team using an inflatable vessel. The investigators have developed and successfully used these techniques for many years on Lake Superior and it is now reasonable to attempt to demonstrate their value on this type of arctic project.This project will be a research contribution by locating and documenting shipwrecks from the 1871 Yankee whaling ship disaster, while supplying a proof of concept for shore-based underwater exploration techniques in the Arctic. Results will allow for future access to important data sources (the wrecks) by investigators who are researching cultural history, materials longevity in Arctic waters, and marine colonization of artificial reefs. At no time during the project will any site disturbance or artifact retrieval take place. The project will have broader societal impacts through its direct collaborations with Native institutions (UIC Science Center and Inupiat Heritage Center), and with community organizations (North Slope Borough School District, Barrow Arctic Science Consortium), and through community presentations for the general public. The team will preliminarily assess the conditions of the wrecks and determine if further evaluation and documentation is warranted.

这笔小额的探索性研究补助金(SGER)将支持使用新技术在北极发现水下沉船的初步研究。1871年8月，31艘扬基捕鲸船在阿拉斯加贝尔彻尔角附近被冰压碎、沉没或烧毁。这一事件对土著人口和捕鲸界产生了巨大的影响。关于这些重大残骸的位置和状况，人们实际上知之甚少。20世纪90年代，寻找沉船的尝试遇到了技术上的困难，但在测试水下相机的过程中，找到了一艘沉船，这表明一些沉船确实留在海底。北极水下勘探的传统方法依赖于一艘巨大而昂贵的支持船，但贝尔彻角位置是用不同的、成本较低的方法进行探索的好选择。由于沉船预计将非常接近海岸，因此有理由期待一个使用充气船的小型陆基团队可以完成准确的现场勘测。多年来，研究人员已经在苏必利尔湖开发并成功使用了这些技术，现在有理由试图证明它们在这类北极项目中的价值。该项目将通过定位和记录1871年扬基捕鲸船灾难的沉船，为北极岸基水下勘探技术提供概念证明，从而为研究做出贡献。研究结果将使正在研究北极水域的文化历史、材料寿命和人工珊瑚礁海洋殖民的调查人员未来能够访问重要的数据源(沉船)。在项目期间，任何时候都不会发生任何现场干扰或文物找回。该项目将通过与土著机构(UIC科学中心和因努皮亚特遗产中心)、社区组织(北坡行政区学区、巴罗北极科学联合会)的直接合作，以及通过面向普通公众的社区介绍，产生更广泛的社会影响。该小组将初步评估残骸的状况，并确定是否需要进一步的评估和文件记录。