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

这项探索性研究小额赠款（SGER）旨在支持使用新技术在北极寻找水下沉船的初步研究。1871年8月，31艘北方佬捕鲸船在阿拉斯加的贝尔彻角附近被冰压碎沉没或烧毁。这一事件对原住民和捕鲸社区产生了巨大的影响。关于这些重要残骸的位置和状况，人们实际上知之甚少。在1990年代，一次寻找沉船的尝试遇到了技术上的困难，但在水下摄像机的测试过程中，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大型和昂贵的支持船，但贝尔彻角的位置是一个很好的候选人，可以用不同的，成本较低的方法进行勘探。由于沉船预计非常接近海岸，因此可以合理地预期，使用充气船的小型陆基团队可以完成准确的现场调查。调查人员已经开发并成功地使用这些技术在上级湖多年，现在是合理的，试图证明他们的价值在这种类型的北极项目。这个项目将是一个研究的贡献，通过定位和记录沉船从1871年扬基捕鲸船灾难，同时提供了一个基于海岸的水下勘探技术在北极的概念证明。研究结果将使正在研究文化历史、北极沃茨材料寿命和人工鱼礁海洋殖民的调查人员能够在未来获得重要的数据源（沉船）。在项目期间，任何时候都不会发生任何现场干扰或人工制品检索。该项目将通过与土著机构（UIC科学中心和Inupiat遗产中心）和社区组织（北坡自治市学区，巴罗北极科学联盟）的直接合作以及通过面向公众的社区演示产生更广泛的社会影响。该小组将初步评估沉船的状况，并确定是否有必要进行进一步的评估和记录。

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.