Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Saving underwater relics

From English News: Saving underwater relics

BEIJING, May 25 -- Chinese underwater archaeologists hope to make their ongoing efforts to salvage the sunken ship Nan'ao-1 off the coast of Guangdong province an exemplar for other underwater projects.

A total of 20 archaeologists have been working on the centuries-old shipwreck since early April, making it the biggest in-situ underwater archaeological excavation in China since the establishment of its first underwater archaeological team in 1987.

They hope to recover the ship's full load of over 10,000 pieces of antique porcelain by the end of July before the monsoon season arrives.

Over the past weeks, the excavation team has demonstrated great teamwork, with a clear division of work, according to Cui Yong, executive leader of the recovery team.

Each night, the team meets to discuss plans for the next day's operations, based on reports of weather conditions and tidal movements.

So far the team has recovered more than 2,000 artifacts from the sunken vessel.

The progress has been slower than expected thanks to many days when strong winds have led to waves rising 1.5 meters, says Cui.

"Both water temperature and weather have been less cooperative than expected," Cui says. "But this is exactly what defines underwater archaeological excavation - its vulnerability to weather conditions, to tidal movements and to the dynamic environment of the sea bed."

He is confident of greater progress in the coming month with more agreeable weather.

He believes this excavation effort, like that on the Nanhai-1, will serve as valuable experience for future excavations of more ancient shipwrecks in the South China Sea, whose number is estimated at around 2,000.

Nanhai-1 is believed to be the first ancient vessel discovered on the "Marine Silk Road" of the South China Sea, spurring China to preserve its underwater cultural relics lying along the ancient maritime trade routes.

As one of the oldest and largest medieval vessels sailing on the trade route, Nanhai-1 was found off the coast of Yangjiang in Guangdong in 1987.

The Underwater Archaeology Research Center of China (UARCC) was established and the country's first underwater archeology team soon followed in an attempt to prevent Nanhai-1 from becoming another Chinese ancient shipwreck falling into the hands of foreign treasure hunters.

By 2001, China's underwater archaeological team had 40 members, making it possible to resume full excavation of Nanhai-1.

In December 2007, the UARCC had to lift Nanhai-1 out of water because the sea in which it had sunk was too dark for divers to see and recover the artifacts. The ship today sits in a museum in Guangdong.

It was when UARCC was busy preparing to pull out Nanhai-1 that divers found Nan'ao-1, Cui says.

Unlike Nanhai-1, Nan'ao-1 is located in waters shallow enough to allow archaeologists to lift its wreckage directly from the seabed in the daylight.

The in-situ salvage effort on Nan'ao-1 is turning out to be as challenging as lifting Nanhai-1 out of the water entirely, says Cui.

(Source: China Daily)

Related:

Deep secrets uncovered

BEIJING, May 25 -- The in-situ excavation of the wreck of a 400-year-old merchant ship is causing great excitement among marine archeologists.

Accidentally discovered by local fishermen off the coast near Nan'ao Island of Shantou in Guangdong province three years ago, Nan'ao-1 is the best preserved ancient merchant vessel ever found on the historic maritime trade route linking southern China with Europe as well as Africa and Southeast Asia. Salvage of the ancient shipwreck and its cargo of over 10,000 pieces of blue-and-white porcelain from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), began on April 9

Since then each dive has become a breathtaking experience for the salvage team, yielding more and more answers about the ship and its final voyage.

In response to the public's growing curiosity, experts have developed some postulates, based on the nearly 2,000 artifacts that have been retrieved. They believe that the ship was probably bound for Asian countries and was probably flouting bans on foreign trade at that time.

Most of the artifacts that have been recovered are porcelain pieces, including wine cups, plates, jars and vases, and are mainly from Zhangzhou in Fujian province, whose history as a center of porcelain manufacture dates back to more than 500 years.

Experts believe that some big bowls found in the vessel were probably made for foreign trade because they were not commonly used in daily life in China at that time.

Since many of the relics already recovered bear Chinese characters, experts also conclude the destination of Nan'ao-1 was probably an Asian country which was influenced by Chinese culture.

"The patterns of these relics reflect Confucian culture," says Chen Huasha, researcher of Palace Museum who has been studying the recovered relics. "Therefore, the Nao'ao-1 was most likely heading for places influenced by Confucian Philosophy, such as Japan, the Korean Peninsula and other countries in Southeast Asia."

Experts also found the fact that most of the porcelain on the vessel was made during Ming Dynasty Emperor Wanli's reign (1573-1620), of particular interest as the administration of Wanli had imposed a ban on sea trade.

The Ming Dynasty restricted private sea trade to deter piracy, which had imposed huge hardships on legitimate sea traders, and ensure maritime security along Chinese coastal areas.

This means the Nan'ao-1 was probably flouting bans on foreign trade at the time, says Sun Jian, head of the salvage team.

Sheet copper and coins found during the salvage operation also indicate that the ship might have been smuggling copper too, Sun says.

Many ancient Chinese dynasties, including the Ming Dynasty, banned the export of copper, as the metal was precious and used to manufacture coins, a major currency, in ancient China, according to Sun.

Aside from the blue-and-white porcelain plates, archeologists have discovered an item, which looks like a ring, or an earring, as well as a batch of circular copper ingots.

Some experts believe that the porcelain artifacts might be ballast, as it was common to carry inferior products to balance the ship and make it steadier, in which case more valuable relics may be found as the operation continues.

Experts hope to tell the reasons behind the ship's sinking as the excavation continues, gradually revealing the overall structure of the ship.

Jiang Bo, an expert from the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says the ship might have encountered extreme weather and lost control and rammed into the hidden rocks, abundant in the Nan'ao sea area.

"In ancient times, Chinese merchant vessels relied mainly on seasonal winds to travel," Jiang says.

This reliance on seasonal winds increased their risk of bumping into extreme weather, Jiang explains.

Overloading and strong currents in the Nan'ao sea area are other possible reasons.

Except for its deck most of the ship is in good shape and experts say that the ship is far more important than the goods it carried, as there are few records of the shipbuilding technology 400 years ago in China.

It is hoped that a detailed study on the shipwreck will shed light on shipbuilding during the Ming Dynasty and provide an insight into the design and construction of the renowned fleet of Treasure Boats.

Commanded by Zheng He these ships completed seven cross-Indian Ocean voyages in the early Ming Dynasty. This fleet was built 200 years before Nan'ao-1.

"We seldom see genuine examples of ocean-faring vessels from the Ming Dynasty," says Mao Peiqi, a historian from the Beijing-based Renmin University. "We are very interested in this."

The salvage team is still devising a plan to hoist the vessel from the water.

"It is still too early to tell when and how we are going to lift the ship out of the water," says Cui Yong, executive leader of the ship's underwater recovery mission. "Our pressing task is to recover as much as of cargo before the monsoon season arrives in July."

The excavation was scheduled to begin on September 26, 2009, but was postponed due to the severe weather conditions.

Sunken treasure - divers recover the stunning artefacts of Cleopatra's palace

From Mail Online: Sunken treasure - divers recover the stunning artefacts of Cleopatra's palace

Divers in the waters off Alexandria today recovered stunning artefacts from the submerged ruins of a palace and temple complex belonging to Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
The international team is painstakingly excavating one of the richest underwater archaeological sites in the world, and retrieving amazing riches from the last dynasty to rule over ancient Egypt before the Roman Empire annexed it in 30BC.

Using advanced technology, the team is surveying ancient Alexandria's Royal Quarters, encased deep below the harbour sediment, and confirming the accuracy of descriptions of the city left by Greek geographers and historians more than 2,000 years ago.
Since the early Nineties the topographical surveys have allowed the team, led by French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio, to conquer the harbour's extremely poor visibility and excavate below the seabed.

They are discovering everything from coins and everyday objects to colossal granite statues of Egypt's rulers and sunken temples dedicated to their gods.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Any more piracy in the Baltic Sea?

In a plot right out of Cussler, or any number of other techno-thriller writers, this is an article about a hijacking that happened last year.

Sweden warns of Baltic pirate danger in wake of Arctic Sea hijack

Shipping companies have been told to exercise the same vigilance in the Baltic Sea as they would off the coast of Somalia after the freighter Arctic Sea was hijacked off Sweden last month. [Meantime, the Somalia pilots, in 2010, continue to act with impunity since deadly force is not allowed to be used against them. I wonder if the ships sailing near that coast have thought to arm themselves with guns firing pigs blood and pig fat - since Muslims can't touch pork?]

The Swedish Shipowners Association told its members that while the hijacking, on July 24, was probably an isolated incident, such events could create an epidemic effect by inspiring copycat attacks.

Tryggve Ahlman, head of security at the Gothenburg-based association, said: "We've talked with the companies that are active in these waters.

"They’ve come to us with questions and its only natural that they increase their readiness. The procedures they have in the Gulf of Aden should be observed everywhere."

Pirates have seized 28 ships in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia so far this year [2009], and 136 piracy events have occurred, according to the US Navy.

After the release of the Italian-owned Buccaneer earlier this month, pirates were holding eight ships and at least 163 seamen, according to Ecoterra, an environmental group that monitors Somali piracy.

Sweden has provided warships and soldiers to the European Unions antipiracy operation, Atalanta, in the Gulf of Aden.

The Russian navy located the Arctic Sea, operated by Helsinki-based Oy Solchart Management AB, on August 17 near the Cape Verde Islands off west Africa, detaining eight suspected hijackers.

The armed group had boarded the freighter off Sweden on July 24, then forced the crew to change course toward Africa and turn off the navigational equipment, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said.

The ship, with a crew of 15 Russian sailors, had been en route from Finland to Algeria.

The hijackers demanded a ransom of $1.5 million from the ships insurer, Renaissance Insurance, Vladimir Dushin, the company’s vice president for security, said yesterday. Renaissance received a call on August 3 from a person speaking English and claiming to be an intermediary for the hijackers, Dushin said.

Russias Defense Ministry today confirmed that a ransom demand had been made, and that the hijackers threatened to blow up the boat if it wasn't paid, Interfax reported.

The Arctic Seas 25-day odyssey sparked a wave of international speculation about its fate, including a reported sighting at the Spanish port of San Sebastian and a possible second attack off Portugal.

Swedes were shocked by the attack in their waters, since hijackings had been unknown off the country's coast since the 17th and 18th centuries, Ahlman said.

Some Swedish shippers said that while they were monitoring the security situation, their fleets were safe.

Were following developments with interest, but we see no threats against any of our ships, Haakan Thorell, chief executive officer of Karlstad-based Ahlmark Lines AB, said.

Ahlmark ships wood and petroleum products, steel, salt and coal between Sweden and the U.K, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the Russian governments newspaper of record, reported that the 98-meter (322-foot) Arctic Sea was steered to the Cape Verde area because the waters there are difficult for submarines to navigate.

Russia initially planned to involve its submarine fleet, the newspaper said. Radio contact was lost when the freighter was off the coast of Portugal.

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Mystery of Plum Island

Okay, it's not really a "treasure hunter" type story, but it is a Clive Cussler type story.... or at least the germ of a plot for a technothriller writer...

Lab's move begins to lift mystery around NY island

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Hannibal Lecter, the fictional villain in "Silence of the Lambs," said it sounded "charming." Author Nelson DeMille made it the centerpiece of his 1997 thriller about deadly viruses and hidden treasure.

Since the infancy of the Cold War, Plum Island has been the site of an animal disease laboratory; access is limited to scientists, support personnel and, on rare occasions, invited guests. Because of its remote location a mile and half off the eastern tip of Long Island's north fork, it frequently has been the target of rife speculation about what really goes on there.

The general public could someday get access to the 840-acre pork chop-shaped oasis now that the federal government is moving its animal disease research functions to a new lab in Manhattan, Kan. With a "For Sale" sign about to go up at Plum Island, the General Services Administration is seeking community input on what should be done with the property. A hearing was held Wednesday in Connecticut and another is scheduled for Thursday on Long Island.

Besides the laboratory, the island is home to a defunct U.S. Army base and a charming little lighthouse that looks out onto Long Island Sound. And, as Agent Clarice Starling told Lecter: "There's a very, very nice beach. Terns nest there."

DeMille, whose 1997 book "Plum Island," about a fictional detective investigating the murders of two biologists who worked at the lab, said in an interview with The Associated Press this week that he'd like the government to retain ownership.

"The most obvious thing to do would be to make it into a federal park and nature preserve," he said. "You could turn the lab into a visitors center."

DeMille is hardly nostalgic about the lab moving to Kansas, calling Plum Island "a terrorist target waiting to happen."

His concerns were shared by federal officials. The U.S. Government Accountability Office told Congress in a 2007 security report that Plum Island's vulnerability was apparent after the 9/11 terror attacks. The GAO said new laws and rules were enacted, tightening access to the facility to help protect animal health and reduce the possibility of bioterrorism. Plum Island was transferred from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Department of Homeland Security and plans were begun to replace it with a "higher-level biosecurity facility."

The GAO said Plum Island scientists research such pathogens as foot-and-mouth disease, which is highly contagious to livestock and could cause "catastrophic economic losses" and imperil the nation's food supply.

"Other pathogens known to have been maintained at Plum Island could also cause illness and death in humans," the GAO said.

Amy Kudwa, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which operates the island, declined to provide specific details of security, but said it includes security patrols, checkpoints, cameras, radar, locks and fences.

"The closer you get to the items you want to protect, the more intense the security becomes," she said.

Before any discussions about development at Plum Island can proceed, officials must first determine the extent of any damage to the soil and water, environmentalist Adrienne Esposito said.

"Any time a government facility is cloaked in secrecy, you have to wonder about what went on," said Esposito, executive director of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "The more you look, the more you find. This would be the first time a comprehensive examination of the island would be pursued."

U.S. Rep. Timothy Bishop, whose district includes Plum Island, is not convinced the move to Kansas is a good idea. He said in a letter to a House homeland security subcommittee this week that the sale of Plum Island could fetch $50 million to $80 million — not counting cleanup costs. Bishop said that would hardly cover the costs of building a new $650 million lab in Kansas.

"Before we cross a point of no return, I want everyone to open their eyes and look at what we're doing here," Bishop said. "Rather than pour hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars down a sinkhole in Kansas and open the Pandora's Box of decommissioning Plum Island, we should ... make use of existing facilities that continue to serve this nation well."

Last year, Congress appropriated $32 million for a new 520,000-square-foot National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Kansas, most of it for planning and design, though it did order a safety study. The new lab will allow research on diseases that can be passed from animals to humans, something currently not done at Plum Island.

The safety study was prompted by some who questioned the wisdom of opening an animal disease lab in the so-called Beef Belt because hoof and mouth and other contagious diseases are researched by Agriculture Department scientists.

But for now, the move to Kansas appears on track, which leaves the future of Plum Island an open question.

The town supervisor in Southold, where the lab is located, said he would like to replace the 300 or so scientists working on animal research with some type of renewable energy center.

"I'd like to keep a research component," Scott Russell said. "Another high-end subdivision development there seems unrealistic."

Longtime north fork real estate broker John Nickles agrees with DeMille that the best use of the island would be as a nature preserve.

"It's always had a type of stigmatization, especially if you listen to the idiots who speculate about what goes on there," Nickles said. "I have always thought it was a great addition to our community. Some people are happy to see it go, I'm not."

Gary DePersia, a top real estate broker in the Hamptons on Long Island's south fork, said once issues concerning environmental cleanup are settled, the possibilities for the island are nearly unlimited.

"It could make an awesome resort, with condos and room for a golf course," DePersia said. "We don't really have a major destination resort on eastern Long Island."

Esposito, the environmentalist, said the island's current management may not be aware of possible transgressions from previous decades.

"There could have been mishaps or illegal dumping or the unreported disposal of materials around the island," she said. "It's going to be fascinating to look and see what's there."

On whether she thinks germ warfare research ever happened, Esposito said: "Rumors are rampant, but the evidence is scarce."

The facility began as Fort Terry, established in 1897 as an artillery post during the Spanish-American War. It was used on and off until the end of World War II and was operated by the U.S. Army Chemical Corps from 1951 to 1954, when it was officially deactivated.

In the book, "Deadly Cultures: Biological Weapons Since 1945," Piers Millett wrote in a chapter on anti-animal biological weapons that Fort Terry's mission was "to establish and pursue a program of research and development of certain anti-animal (BW) agents."

John van Courtland Moon, an author and history professor emeritus at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts, said his research has found that animal testing for germ warfare was conducted at Plum Island in the 1950s.

"The problem is the stuff that went on is not available in the public record," he said. "Exactly what took place? I would imagine sheep, I would imagine goats and rats and rabbits" had been tested.

A spokesman for the U.S. Army at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, where the U.S. Army Chemical Corps is based, said they were looking into the historical record but had no immediate comment.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said the agency could not speak to the U.S. Army's time on the island. The current lab is focused on foreign animal diseases and emphasizes research of foot-and-mouth disease, she said.

Ret. Col. David Huxsoll, a veterinarian who served as the lab's director from 2000 to 2003, said anthrax was among the diseases studied at Plum Island. "It was done in containment," he said, adding there were concerns anthrax could be used as a weapon to target the livestock industry.

"If it ever broke out in the cattle industry in this country, it would be disastrous," he said.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Touch WWI with your left hand, WWII with your right

Guam.

The Cormoran is a WWI ship, the Tokai Maru is a WWII ship, which coincidentally were sunk practically touching stern to stern.

You can dive on both these ships, and their sterns are so close togethr that you can touch them simultaneously. Guam is the only place in the world where a WWI wreck and a WWII wreck are in such close proximity.

From wikipedia:
SMS Cormoran
The 290' Cormoran lays in 120 feet of water on her right (starboard) side directly beside the Tokai Maru (which went down in 1943). The easiest way to reach the Cormoran (and dive on two ship from two different wars at the same time) is to follow the midsection hull of the Tokai over the side until you see the Cormoran at 80 feet. The hull of the Cormoran is intact. The engine room is easily accessible through the skylights, and most of the superstructure is relatively intact. Visibility averages 35-40', but can vary due to the tide and large ship traffic in the harbor. A good average diving depth to see all of the port side would be 80-100 feet. Visibility averages 35-40', but can vary due weather and tidal flow in the harbor.

Tokai Maru
The Tokai Maru is a large ship, over 440 feet long. She rests in 120 feet with an 85 degree list to port (left). The shallowest part of the ship is the upper forward bridge area at a depth of 40 feet. A torpedo has blown a hole in the port #3 cargo hold, and this is undoubtedly the torpedo that sunk her. There is damage on the starboard bow, but this is believed to have been inflicted on the first attack in January, 1943. The cargo holds contains remains of truck frames, beds, scrap steel, and misc objects. The engine room is huge, and both of her engines, catwalks, and panels are intact. The after deck house in the stern of the vessel contains at least 4 depth charges, which are plainly visible from the top of the structure. DO NOT attempt to touch or move these depth charges. Visibility averages 35-40', but can vary due to the tide and large ship traffic in the harbor. A good average diving depth to see all of the Tokai would be 60-80 feet.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Forum Boards Shouldn't Be Responsible for What People Say...

From TechDirt: Scuba Diving Organizer Sues Web Forum After Debate Over Scuba Death Liability

When will companies learn? Blaine points us to a story that's now a few months old, but still worth talking about. Apparently, two years ago, there was a scuba diving accident where someone died and some others were injured. On a particular scuba diving forum, ScubaBoard.com, there was a discussion about the incident. Apparently there had already been some other somewhat negative postings about the travel agency, Maldives Scuba Diving, that organized (and potentially ran) the trip, and from there the conversation spiraled. The person who owns the travel agency decided to sue just about everyone, including ScubaBoard.com. For ScubaBoard, it seems like this should be a quick Section 230 dismissal based on safe harbors, but the site's owner is apparently still scrounging up the money to deal with this. Also, the complaint apparently tries to get around this by claiming that commenters on the message boards are "all agents or employees of Intermedia [ScubaBoard's owner], or made the postings at issue at Intermedia's direction." That's an argument that is likely to get laughed out of court.

There may be some cases against individual posters, but the comments sound like your ordinary comment board opinion and hyperbole. At least in the quoted comments, it's difficult to see anything that's actually defamatory. Upsetting? Perhaps, but not defamatory. It sounds like something bad happened, and whether or not the operator of this company was responsible, there were plenty of better ways to respond. However, busting out the lawsuit, suing the message board itself, as well as 100 posters, just seems to reinforce the problems and bring even more attention to the accident and the concerns people have with this woman's company.

'Ghostly' pictures of Great Wall of China taken from underwater


From Telegraph.co.uk: 'Ghostly' pictures of Great Wall of China taken from underwater
The Great Wall of China has been photographed from underwater by a photographer, Mathieu Meur, who carried hundreds of kilograms of equipment to take the ghostly images.

The section of wall lies under the surface of Panjiakou reservoir about three hours drive northeast of Beijing.

A team of professional divers braved the murky conditions to get some ghostly shots of the wall which ran from 13 metres below the surface to the bottom at 35 metres.

Though urban legend has it being the only man-made object visible from space this one part is lying up to 100 feet below a valley flooded when a dam was built.

Mr Meur, the expedition photographer, said just getting the 500kg of equipment down hundreds of steps to the water's edge was a challenge in itself.

"The lake itself is rather barren, with only a couple of species of freshwater fish and shrimps," he said.

"The real stars here really are the ruins. The wall is in amazingly good condition considering that it is several hundred years old, and is underwater.

"The top of it was at around 13m depth, and we located a guard tower, with openings on all sides, which created underwater tunnels."

He added: "Throughout the dives, the weight of history was very present on our minds. It was incredible to navigate the wall and guard posts, thinking that centuries ago soldiers were walking the same location, keeping China safe from intruders."

"We did two dives on the Wall and wanted to do more but were plagued by technical problems.

"The diving was challenging as it was 25 centigrade on the surface but dropped to just six degrees when you got 35 metres down on the bottom.

"Visibility was limited to about 1-5 metres maximum, as the bottom is very silty. If you stir the bottom, you end up diving in soup."

The parts of the wall that are best known date from the mid 16th century, although the first great wall was ordered to be built in 214 BC.

The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 miles).

This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 miles) of sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 miles) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 miles) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

Panjiakou reservoir was created in 1977 during the grip of the cultural revolution when the valley near Tangshan was flooded, submerging a village and wall to create a dam.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Indonesia Tries to Sell Its Treasure Again

From the Jakarta Globe:
Indonesia to Ease Auction Rules to Lure Treasure Bidders

The government is revising its bidding procedures for a cache of salvaged historical artifacts, following last week’s aborted auction that had aimed to raise $80 million but failed to get a single bid, an official at the maritime affairs ministry said on Sunday.

The auction flop has polarized the debate on whether such items are too valuable, historically, to be sold off.

Aji Sularso, director general of supervision at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, said officials would meet on Monday to discuss alternative procedures for the auction of 271,000 pieces of ceramics and jewelry recovered from a shipwreck off Cirebon, West Java.

“Having learned from the first auction, we’re evaluating the procedures for the next one,” he said.

Wednesday’s auction of 10th-century treasures was called off after five minutes because there were no bidders. The ministry had required a deposit of $16 million for the right to bid, about 20 percent of the minimum amount it sought to raise.

“We’ll probably be more flexible on the deposit,” Aji said.

He added that another problem was that the auction had been announced at short notice, giving potential bidders only a week to register and submit their deposits.

Aji said an overhaul of the bidding procedure would be crucial to enabling the ministry to auction off more such items within the country, rather than through auction houses elsewhere.

Indonesian waters, historically busy shipping lanes, are believed to house numerous wrecks carrying valuable cargo. Aji put the number at more than 480.

The Cirebon haul was recovered by Belgian salvager Luc Heymans’ Cosmix Underwater Research and its local partner, PT Paradigma Putra Sejahtera.

Paradigma CEO Adi Agung Tirtamarta welcomed further discussions with the ministry on loosening up the bidding procedure.

“It’ll be good for Indonesia to get its hands on treasures found in its own waters,” he said, adding that in the past such finds were looted and taken overseas.

The issue of looting grabbed public attention recently, following unproven allegations that salvager Michael Hatcher had plundered wrecks in Indonesian waters and sold them abroad. Hatcher had been wanted for allegedly attempting to smuggle salvaged artifacts out of the country. Police later said there are no charges against Hatcher, who is reportedly working on a wreck off Subang, West Java with local operator PT Comexindo.

“We believe the items in Subang could be worth more than the Cirebon haul,” Aji said, adding it could take months to bring the lot to the surface.

The issue has raised the question of whether the items should be sold at all.

National Museum spokesman Ferlian Putra warned of the items “falling into the wrong hands,” and said they should be preserved at the museum.

Aji, however, said there were too many items for local museums to house, and it made “no sense” to keep them in Indonesia. “The museums can exhibit small samples of these treasures,” he said.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Hunting for Treasure... the modern version

From KIMT
Hunting for Treasure

When times are tight, everyone's looking for that extra cash. But your quest to find it may extend no further than your computer key pad.
“The state of Iowa collects over $15 million a year from Iowans that don't know they're losing track of money,” said State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald.

But you can trace that money trail by navigating over to the ‘Great Iowa Treasure Hunt’ website---and just typing in your name. “We're holding over $200 million for over 800,000 Iowans and there's almost a 1 in 3 chance you have money coming from the Great Iowa Treasure Hunt and I want to give it back to you,” he said.

So where's the cash that fills those coffers coming from? Everything from forgotten savings accounts, stocks, utility security deposits and safe deposit boxes. “People are just shocked to find out how much money they have,” said Fitzgerald. “All kinds of folks have as much as $10-20,000. We've returned as much as a million dollars to one family.”

Fitzgerald says today's fast moving society makes it easy to get off course when it comes to charting your assets. That's why some are saying it's worth your time to see if your name's on the list. “I know I've looked at that list and there are lots of people on there,” said Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City

We did some simple scanning--and found there are some in our area with large sums awaiting them. For example, the Clear Lake Public Library has nearly $800. The library's director declined to speak on camera with us, but said she wasn't aware of the money.

Fitzgerald says Iowa's small town feel means if you don't find your name on the list---you'll likely find someone else you do know. “If you don't see your own name you might see one of your family members or the business or the church you go to, one of your friends and you tell them,” he said.

Fitzgerald says they've returned more than $100 million over the history of the hunt.

He says the average amount is higher than $300.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Friday - May 7: Atocha Tour at Lover's Key State Park

• Treasures of the Atocha: Florida’s sunken treasure ship — 10 a.m., Friday, May 7. Join a park ranger for an exciting overview of the discovery of the sunken Spanish galleon, Nuestra Senora de Atocha. Learn about the ship’s history and sinking and see some actual treasure recovered from the wreck. Reservations are required. Call 463-4588.

What is Lover's Key State Park?
http://www.floridastateparks.org/LoversKey/

For years, Lovers Key was accessible only by boat and it was said that only lovers traveled to the island to enjoy its remote and solitary beach. Today, it is one of four barrier islands that make up this state park. A haven for wildlife, the islands and their waters are home to West Indian manatees, bottlenose dolphins, roseate spoonbills, marsh rabbits, and bald eagles. The two mile long beach is accessible by boardwalk or tram and is popular for shelling, swimming, picnicking, and sunbathing. Black Island has over five miles of multiuse trails for hiking and bicycling. Anglers and boaters can launch their vessels from the park's boat ramp. The park's concession offers boat and fishing tours, as well as bicycle, canoe and kayak rentals. For tour reservations and rentals of bicycles, canoes and kayaks, call (239)765-7788. Located on County Road 865 between Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach in Lee County.


And if you've got a spare $2,500:
http://www.fla-keys.com/news/news.cfm?sid=7382

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Going Once, Twice … Anyone? Indonesia’s Treasure Auction Flops

From the Jakarta Globe:
Going Once, Twice … Anyone? Indonesia’s Treasure Auction Flops
The scheduled auction of a 10th-century treasure trove worth at least $80 million opened on Wednesday for a mere five minutes before it was closed because of an absence of any bidders.

After the event, Fadel Muhammad, minister of maritime affairs and fisheries and head of the auction organizing committee, said he would report back to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono before deciding when to hold the next auction and if any changes needed to be made.

Belgian treasure hunter Luc Heymans, whose company recovered the underwater haul from a shipwreck north of Cirebon, West Java, had previously said that the government’s decision to sell all 271,000 pieces as a single lot would be a big hindrance.

Adi Agung Tirtamarta, chief executive of PT Paradigma Putra Sejathera, the local partner of Heymans’ Cosmix Underwater Research, said he hoped the auction’s failure would encourage the government to revise its restrictive requirements.

“Potential bidders were required to pay a hefty deposit of $16 million, or 20 percent of the minimum bid, and the auction was announced with such short notice,” he said, adding that nowhere else in the world would such huge sums be demanded as a deposit.

However, Adi was optimistic that Wednesday’s debacle would not threaten future treasure-hunting expeditions.

“That we finally have a legal procedure for auctions like this is already a major step,” he said, adding that his company already had another three salvage operations in the pipeline, near West Java and Bangka Belitung.

Securing backing from investors was also not a problem, Adi said, with the company’s next two expeditions already funded by a German company, and the third by a local company.

Nicholas Sahnditzehr, from a German salvage company, applauded the government’s initiatives to recover the country’s maritime heritage, but said he believed investors still faced significant financial risks associated with such exploration.

“If the operators don’t get a fair share to cover the tremendous risk they are taking, your country will be further in danger of losing its important cultural heritage,” he said, adding that in his three and a half years in the business, his company had investigated 30 shipwrecks, all of which had already been plundered.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has raised concerns that the auction breaches an international convention on the protection of maritime cultural heritage, arguing that Indonesia should not commercialize its finds.

Fadel said he had been corresponding with the heritage body about the matter. “We have considered the 2001 Unesco convention, but the problem is the artifacts are worthless when they are underwater.”

Officials from the ministries of maritime affairs and culture and tourism are scheduled to meet with Unesco representatives in Bali next week. Members of the National Committee for Salvage and Utilization of Valuable Objects from Sunken Ships, which oversees the management of underwater finds, will also attend the meeting.

“Maybe if Unesco has the funds, they can collaborate with the government to salvage more underwater treasures found in our waters,” Fadel said.

Tourism Minister Jero Wacik suggested the possibility of building a national maritime museum for valuable finds, estimating it would cost about Rp 400 billion ($44 million) to set up.

A lone protester also caused a stir after the auction had been closed. Edwin Erlangga, a 28-year-old student, demanded the sale of the treasures be scrapped altogether. Waving a small placard that said the sale of the country’s national heritage should be rejected, he was ushered out of the room by police.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Odyssey Marine: Firebrand (press release)

Odyssey Marine Exploration Completes Agreements for “Firebrand” Shipwreck Project with Clients of Robert Fraser & Partners LLP

Tampa, FL – May 4, 2010 - Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX), pioneers in the field of deep-ocean shipwreck exploration and its associated company, OVH, Inc., have executed agreements to provide project research and shipwreck search and survey services for a project code-named "Firebrand" to client companies of Robert Fraser & Partners LLP.

As part of the agreement, Odyssey furnished research related to the "Firebrand" and its sinking and will provide a research vessel, equipment and crew to search a specified area and inspect targets in that area. The contracts provide initial cash payments totaling approximately U.S. $3.2 Million to Odyssey and OVH, Inc. plus additional payments upon the sale of coins or artifacts from the "Firebrand" project. After repayment of salvage costs and fees, Odyssey and OVH, Inc. will receive 75% of net revenue in aggregate until an additional £10.5 Million (approximately U.S. $15.7 Million) has been received and then 50% in aggregate of all further net revenue.

Upon location of the "Firebrand" shipwreck Odyssey will enter into additional agreements for the archaeological excavation of "Firebrand" and for the conservation and documentation of the cargo and artifacts recovered. Odyssey will also have exclusive rights to market the recovered cargo.

Odyssey expects to execute agreements for an additional shipwreck project, "Shantaram" with clients of Robert Fraser & Partners in the coming weeks. Operations for both "Firebrand" and "Shantaram" will be conducted from Odyssey’s ships or a chartered vessel, depending on availability.

"Odyssey’s team, technology and capabilities have lived up to all of our expectations on our operations to date and we look forward to working together on all the additional scheduled deep-ocean projects with them for 2010," said Colin Emson, Chairman of Robert Fraser & Partners. "We are confident in Odyssey’s proven track record and anticipate maintaining a long business relationship with them."

About Robert Fraser & Partners LLP

Robert Fraser & Partners LLP is part of the London-based Robert Fraser Asset Management Group, which has operated since its formation in 1934 in the fields of merchant banking and corporate, marine & property finance and structuring. The group’s core areas of expertise include venture capital, project syndication, corporate finance, mergers and acquisition structure, project development, new venture and global business structuring. Robert Fraser Marine Ltd. is a part of the group which specializes in assembling projects directed at shipwreck exploration and the development of deep ocean resources.

About Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (NasdaqCM: OMEX) is engaged in the exploration of deep-ocean shipwrecks and uses innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology to conduct extensive search and archaeological recovery operations around the world. Odyssey discovered the Civil War era shipwreck of the SS Republic® in 2003 and recovered over 50,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the site nearly 1,700 feet deep. In May 2007, Odyssey announced the historic deep-ocean treasure recovery of over 500,000 silver and gold coins, weighing 17 tons, from a Colonial era site code-named "Black Swan." In February 2009, Odyssey announced the discovery of Balchin's HMS Victory. Odyssey also has other shipwreck projects in various stages of development around the world.

Odyssey offers various ways to share in the excitement of deep-ocean exploration by making shipwreck treasures and artifacts available to collectors, the general public and students through its webstore, exhibits, books, television, merchandise, and educational programs.

Odyssey's operations are the subject of a Discovery Channel television series titled "Treasure Quest," produced by JWM Productions. The 12-episode first season aired worldwide in 2009.

Virtual Treasure Hunts

If you'd like to sharpen your treasure hunting skills, check out this website:

http://www.circlescapes.com/virtualtreasurehunts/

Increase Your Company's Web Traffic & Foot Traffic

Circlescapes, the virtual tour design company, brings you a new concept in marketing promotions. These virtual treasure hunts are designed be a fun, interactive way for you to showcase your business and attract new customers at the same time.

Here's how it works!

You hide a "treasure" somewhere in your place of business.

Circlescapes photographers come to your business and showcase various locations using high-resolution 360-degree panoramic photography.

Circlescapes creates a custom-branded treasure hunt webpage, and hides virtual clues in each panoramic spin. When found in the correct order, the clues will reveal the location of the treasure hidden in your business.

Circlescapes uploads the virtual treasure hunt to your webservers.

You spread the word however you wish — tv, radio, newspaper, direct mail, public relations, big megaphone, etc.

Your target customers come to your website, see really awesome 360-degree views of your business, and search for clues to find the treasure.

Your target customers then come to your business, find the hidden treasure, win a prize . . . and spend money!

Monday, May 3, 2010

Twelve emeralds are buried in 12 holes around the country

A real-life treasure hunt takes off
Twelve emeralds are buried in 12 holes around the country. Can you find them?




This story appears courtesy of McSweeney's.
That’s right; throughout this fine land, twelve handcrafted, one-of-a-kind, gem-encrusted numbers lie buried in the soil. If you can find them, they’re yours to keep. But where are they? The only path lies in solving the riddles in McSweeney’s newest title, "The Clock Without a Face." Get a head start on the hunt. Pick up an advance copy of "Clock" here or at your local bookstore starting May 14.

Last Wednesday, Aaron Holmes woke up early and packed a lunchbox with candy, bananas, and PB&J sandwiches, "because they make excellent adventure food." He grabbed an emergency kit containing a bit of string, a hammer, and a flashlight, a five-dollar Wal-Mart shovel, and a copy of "The Clock Without A Face" -- his field guide for the journey ahead of him.

The book, an illustrated mystery caper, contains hints about the whereabouts of twelve real-life treasures buried around the country. Using the clues they decrypted from the house-shaped board book, Holmes and his wife Elissa set out from their Amherst, Mass. apartment in their Honda Accord for a digsite several hours out of state. Holmes, 24, took off work for his day hunt. He guesses he’s spent $70 of his own money looking for the precious jewels -- all in pursuit of being the first to crack the mystery. "I know it’s within my reach," Holmes says.

* * *

Clock is an "armchair treasure hunt" -- a book that combines old-style riddle solving with real-life treasure hunting. McSweeney’s contracted Anna Sheffield, a well-known New York–based jewelry designer, to craft twelve bejeweled numerals that now lay underground -- in the real-life ground -- in twelve holes around the country. Through a series of acrostics and illustrated ciphers, the book reveals the locations of the numbers as it spins a whodunit tale, the story of a mysterious clock robbery.

The gist: The Emerald Khroniker -- jewel-emblazoned timepiece/famously cursed clock -- has been stolen from Bevel Ternky’s penthouse apartment in Ternky Tower. Detective Roy Dodge is on the case. With the help of his sidekick ("confidential assistant") Gus Twintig, our charmingly bumbling narrator, Dodge visits each of the thirteen apartments in Ternky Tower, starting at the penthouse and making his way down. Dodge vows to solve the crime by the time he reaches the lobby. Each of the thirteen apartments has been burglarized, and each eccentric, Dickensianly named resident has an encoded story to tell. On the facing page, we are provided with Gus’s illustrations of each crime scene from bird’s-eye-view perspective, with even more clues to sift through.

Paul "P.K." Quello (Paulo Coehlo?) is an alchemist living on the twelfth floor. In his flat we see a chalkboard with chemical equations (do the numbers mean something?) and a machine that transforms tears into clouds. Eighth-floor residents Amber and Jamie Kaulken (Macaulay?), their parents on vacation for weeks, are living in squalor, with bags of trash in the living room and the TV on full blast. On the fifth floor, Vera Mazel and Josie Grey, a couple of old spinsters, are -- curiously -- working on a pentagonally shaped puzzle book. There are pink donuts everywhere.

* * *

By the final page of the book, the whodunit is over, but the wheredtheyputit has just begun. That’s where adventurous readers like Holmes come in. Like most armchair treasure hunters discussing the treasure’s possible whereabouts in online forums, Holmes has been studying the book for clues since receiving it from preorder. "I’ve got another pretty good suspicion as to where one of them is," Holmes says. He may travel as far as Idaho for a dig.

"We definitely like the idea of people getting out of the house and getting their hands dirty," says "Clock" co-author Eli Horowitz. "Though I’m a little nervous that misguided expeditioners will accidentally exhume old grandmothers."

Not every hunter is making the journey to find treasure. Some seem content to strenuously debate the book’s riddles on the Internet, never leaving the comfort of their armchairs. Kevin Hemenway, a.k.a. Morbus Iff, set up an extensive wiki dedicated to a chapter-by-chapter analysis of possible clues. Iff declined a phone interview -- "I’m not a big fan of the human voice ;)" -- but wrote in an email that he has no plans to go on a dig personally. "I don’t travel much," he said. "I’m in it just to puzzle solve, and tell other people where they might dig." Some message board posters have offered to crew for others’ digs. “If you’re not the diggin type," Domino writes at tweleve.org, "just keep me in mind. … Hunt Happily!"

While Horowitz won’t confirm or refute any current theories, he insists the treasure is very much within reach. He guesses the first number will be found within weeks, and all of them within months. "This is not an endurance test," he says. "I have no hope for a 'Masquerade' situation."

Horowitz is referring to perhaps the most famous exemplar of the armchair treasure hunt genre, Kit Williams’s "Masquerade" (1979), which he openly cites as inspiration for "Clock." "Masquerade" left clues in sixteen paintings to the whereabouts of a golden hare, buried somewhere in Britain. The book became a worldwide sensation, selling hundreds of thousands of copies and prompting a years-long hunt. When the hare was found by somebody with personal ties to Williams, the book was mired in a public scandal. In the wake of "Masquerade’s" success, publishers brought out a slew of armchair treasure hunts in the early 1980s.

"Clock" is hoping to reinvigorate the genre. The book’s authors run a website with animated details of the illustrations and links to ongoing online discussions. Gus Twintig has a Twitter feed. The authors have said they’ll post clues at these locations—as well as on a countrywide book tour that includes onstage "digging competitions"—but say you don’t need a DSL connection to solve the case.

"We wanted to make a book that can be enjoyed in all sorts of different ways for each different reader," Horowitz says. "You can read it just as whodunit, or you can display it as an art object, or you can study the drawings, crack the puzzles, and locate the emeralds. All the answers are right there in the drawings."

For many armchair treasure hunters like Holmes, born in the 1980s, "Clock" represents their first chance to journey into the treasure-hunting world. "All those books were written before I was born," Holmes says. "I was really excited when this was coming out because you can get in on the ground floor."

On last Wednesday’s hunt, Holmes visited an abandoned construction site and "a scummy pond" along a highway. Based on the donut illustrations, he went to more than one Dunkin Donuts, where his queries about cursed, buried treasure were met with laughter. He did a little digging—in a conspicuous mound of gravel in the middle of a public flowerbed—but came up empty-handed.

"I really did expect to find something," he says. Still, he remains undeterred. "I wouldn’t say I was particularly sad at the end of the day. It’s enjoyable to wake up and say, 'Oh we’re getting a shovel and digging for treasure today.'

First Woman on the Ice (Story of the 1947 Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition)

I know my Kindle subscribers won't be able to see the videos below, for you I suggest going to this URL at YouTube, (or going there whenever you have time and doing a search for "First woman on the ice."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgC5DlPv10M

September 25, 2007 — A feature length documentary, shot on digital video, describing the Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition. In January 1947, this small, impoverished scientific expedition sailed from Texas. Aboard their 183-foot tug christened Port of Beaumont were 40 dogs, 3 prop planes and 22 crew. Their mission was an ambitious one: map a quarter-million square miles of territory from the air, determine if the Antarctic was one contiguous continent and conduct an array of field work in meteorology, geology and astrophysics. More remarkable than the difficulties they would overcome or the knowledge they would bring home were the two women numbered among their crewñthe first such expedition ever to include women.
Edith Maslin "Jackie" Ronne was a 28 year-old Baltimore native on leave from her job at the State Department. Two years earlier, she had married Finn Ronne, a Navy captain 20 years her senior. By 1947, Finn had successfully organized the third and last privately funded expedition to Antarctica. Jackie accompanied him to Texas to bid farewell. Jennie Darlington, 22, had married Harry Darlington, the chief aviator, a few months earlier. Their time together in Texas was their ìhoneymoon.î Finn prevailed upon Jackie to sail with him as far as Panama to assist with administrative work. Jackie asked Jennie to join her so she wouldnít be the only woman aboard. Jackieís administrative tasks multiplied and in Valparaiso Chile, Jackie agreed to accompany the expedition the whole way. Over the unanimous objections of the crew, Jackie and Jennie became the first women to winter in the Antarctic. Jackie served as expedition secretary, filed stories under her husbandís byline for the North American Newspaper Alliance, and helped scientists gather data. Jennie's accomplishments were more personal. She returned bearing the first child conceived in the Antarctic.
Conquest of Antarctica was a risky enterprise fueled by personal pride and nationalist fervor. The men attracted to Polar exploration frequently had greater courage and curiosity than commercial or government support. They were, by necessity, dogged and egotistical. Finn Ronne was no exception. A Norwegian from a family of seagoing men, his father had sailed with Amundsen on his conquest of the South Pole and with Admiral Byrd. Finn sailed with Byrdís Second Antarctic expedition (1933-35) and the U.S. Antarctic Service Expedition (1939-41). For fourteen years, he nurtured the ambition to lead his own expedition.




Sunday, May 2, 2010

Scuba diving volunteers discover underwater archeology

Scuba diving volunteers discover underwater archeology

A dedicated group of volunteer scuba divers employ their expertise surveying underwater archeology in the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary.

Coastal Maritime Archeology Resources members spend about a week living aboard research vessels twice a year, to measure and map shipwrecks, sunken airplanes and archeological sites scattered on the ocean floor.

CMAR Director of Operations Patrick Smith says there’s nothing quite like seeing a shipwreck for the first time. “It’s indescribable. There’s excitement, maybe a little bit of trepidation,” says Smith. “There’s that wonderful feeling of breaching the unknown. There’s the anticipation of seeing something that nobody has seen for scores of years, or maybe hundreds of years.”

Smith says diving on shipwrecks evokes thoughts about the people who sailed on the historic vessels and sometimes perished aboard them. “Each shipwreck is unique. They are a snapshot of that period of time, and they become a time capsule of that period of time,” says Smith. “A shipwreck goes down, and it freezes that moment. It freezes all aspects of the human environment. What the people were eating and wearing. You can tell what their technology was.

It’s just a wonderful snapshot of history and humanity.”

Channel Islands National Park Archeologist Kelly Minas says there’s a treasure-trove of sunken history off the local coastline. Chumash Indians started navigating the channel around 13,000 years ago, and there are many artifacts from more recent maritime tradition, starting with Spanish exploration. “There’s been a variety of activities from commercial fishing to military activities, recreational activities; and what has resulted from that in terms of the archeological remains of shipwrecks is the entire evolution of marine technology,” says Minas.

One of the best-known shipwrecks is the gold rush era steamer Winfield Scott off Anacapa Island, which ran aground on its way from San Francisco to Panama during 1853. “There was a lot of human drama involved with it,” says Minas. “People were stranded out on the island. There’s been a lot of interest in the shipwreck, both for salvage purposes in the past and the fact that it carried a large amount of gold bullion from the gold fields of California.”

Minas says they found a new shipwreck last year, believed to be a prohibition era rum runner, and they also monitor two World War II era torpedo bomber airplanes. Many more artifacts may eventually emerge from the shifting sand on the ocean floor.

CMAR members also search for submerged quarry sites used by Chumash Indians when sea levels were much lower. “We know that the sea levels rose dramatically over the last 10,000 years. A lot of the older prehistoric sites are likely inundated, and we’re starting to look for them,” says Minas.

Members of CMAR are highly experienced divers and come from as far away as Florida, Michigan and Washington State. Minas says they could never get so much accomplished without their hard work and dedication. “The park benefits because they’re able to put more people in the water, particularly now with budgets so tight,” says Minas.

During the voyages, they dive about five times a day and spend the rest of their time working on research, eating and sleeping. “It’s very rigorous,” says Minas. “This is not recreational diving by any stretch of the imagination.”

Many other rewarding volunteer opportunities are available at Channel Islands National Park. Last year more than 1,400 volunteers donated about 80,500 hours leading hikes, restoring habitat and helping out at the visitor’s center.

People who want to get involved can fill out an online application at www.nps.gov.

'Geocachers' mark the electronic treasure hunt's 10th anniversary

'Geocachers' mark the electronic treasure hunt's 10th anniversary
from Bangor Daily News


Though the days of Blackbeard and Calico Jack sailing the high seas are long gone, those who still feel the pull of treasure hunting are in luck.
Geocaching is the modern-day version of hiding and searching for treasure, but today’s “pirate” has to share where “X” marks the spot by posting online the latitude and longitude of the hiding place. Instead of relying on nautical charts, treasure hunters use their GPS devices.

Click to read more about the basics of Geocaching

Geocaching (“geo” for Earth or geography and “cache” for hiding place) started May 3, 2000, and the worldwide Internet-based game that merges modern technology with the outdoors has grown and evolved ever since. Geocaching.com, a popular site for enthusiasts, announced its one millionth active geocache in early March and now has more than 1,040,000 posted.

Even if you’re not familiar with geocaching, you’ve most likely stumbled by or across a cache somewhere in Maine. Have you ever walked through the Bangor City Forest or visited Hunters Beach on Mount Desert Island? Caches are hidden there. You may have sat on a bench in Portland that had a nanocache hidden beneath it or have spotted a camouflaged ammo box hanging in a tree in Orono.

The state’s first cache was placed Jan. 2, 2001 in southern Maine, and today more than 5,500 active caches are spread across every county, according to geocachingmaine.org. They come in a variety of sizes — depending on the cache container — and can fit just about anywhere. Nanocaches, for example, are about the size of the end of your pinkie and are placed in guardrails or behind street signs. Old ammo boxes can be placed in trees, under a pile of logs or beneath a bridge. It’s all up to the ingenuity of the person who hides the cache, and for most seasoned geocachers, the more challenging a hide is, the better.

For Mike Marino of Bangor “it’s the sense of the adventure, the treasure” that draws him to caching. “The attraction is a little bit like ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘[National] Treasure’ and ‘Indiana Jones,’” said Marino who has been geocaching for about a year and a half. “I seem to encounter all kinds of adventure when I’m on the trail,” he said, including a “too friendly bear” and injured people in the woods. He’s not alone. The thrill is there for many, but there are other reasons people search for treasure.

In the beginning, geocaching was more popular among technology buffs. When the U.S. government turned off the GPS Selective Availability, allowing civilian GPS devices to become more accurate, those who already owned one were the first to test their capabilities.

Then outdoor enthusiasts looking for another reason to explore new areas were drawn to the sport as were people who saw it as a family activity or a way to exercise. As the game evolved, a social aspect developed and with that came competition such as being the first to find a cache or logging the most finds.

When Dave Hodgins of Bangor, one of four advisory board members for geocachingmaine.org, got involved in June 2002, there were 145 caches in the state and a few dozen cachers at best. In June 2004, Rick Towle of Litchfield, who is hiking the Appalachian Trail, created the website as a place for geocaching Mainers to connect. Today the website has more than 2,000 members and is a place for “newbies” to find out what the state has to offer and for everyone to discuss a great cache, emerging technology or changes to the game.

In the past 10 years, geocaching has changed lives. People who never considered the outdoors to be fun have discovered that it can be, and others who were technophobic have taken the time to figure out a GPS.

For Hodgins, who also compiles the Maine statistics for geocachingmaine.org, the game has had an even greater effect. He met his wife, Lee, on Aug. 23, 2003, at a geocaching event in Augusta. It was the state’s second caching event and the first for both. Then in 2008, they eloped while on — you guessed it — a geocaching trip through Vermont.

For the Hodginses, geocaching is about the challenge and the reward of finding a cache — not for the competition — and that’s why Maine is such a special place for caching they say.

“We have such a varied terrain and it’s such a gorgeous state,” Lee said. “We’ve been to so many places in this state that we never would have known about if it were not for geocaching.

“It’s just the diversity. And whatever hobbies you have, whether it’s mountain climbing or swimming or kayaking ..., there are caches that will feed into that hobby.”

The couple said they appreciate caches that take them to a beautiful view or teach them something new, and several people in Maine have taken the time to create ones that do just that.

“It’s neat to find an area that doesn’t look like it has much history and then find out that it does,” Dave said. “[To discover that] famous people have slept there or people have traveled over there.”

Dave is one of those people who takes the time to create a unique challenge. He created a multicache in Bangor — a multicache is when one cache leads to another — that is based on the game Battleship.

He said he took a couple of months to ponder how to devise the challenge and almost didn’t go through with it, because he thought it might be too extreme. Since then, people from all over the world have asked his permission to “clone” the idea.

Marino also created a unique caching experience by setting up a cache run, or a power trail. His trail involves 125 caches placed three-quarters of a mile apart. Running about 75 miles along the Stud Mill Road above Orono, the cache run became a nationwide sensation he never expected: It was a different way to play the game.

Marino, who also is one of geocachingmaine.org’s four advisory board members, said he got the idea when a woman wanted to do 100 caches in a day, but she wanted to do them on a bike. With little traffic, the dirt road is an easy place to find caches in the company of wildlife. It has attracted people from all over the U.S. and Canada, he said.

Clearly geocaching is near and dear to the Hodginses’ hearts. They each have a 2-gallon jug filled with items they have found in caches throughout the years, many of which are signature items that identify a geocacher and many of which have had a lot of time and thought put into them.

There is a handmade wooden ladder, a miniature toy boat, geocaching coins, a painted acorn and even a cowardly lion. A hand-carved tree trunk pin came from a cacher out West; a wooden box with “3 piece chicken dinner” written on it opens up to show three kernels of corn; and a small plastic container filled with sand holds a pet rock with googly eyes.



Geocachers’ lingo
TFTH — Thanks for the hide
FTF — First to find (a new cache)
DNF — Did not find
TNLN — Took nothing, left nothing
BYOP — Bring your own pencil (for filling out log books)
Muggle — From the Harry Potter series, it refers to nongeocachers
Geocachers’ code
Geocachers have rules to keep the game safe and respectful:
1. Avoid endangering yourself or others
2. Be aware of your effect on the environment
3. Be mindful of all laws, property or other
4. Avoid alarming muggles
5. Be considerate of other people and the game



The Hodginses also each have their own items that they leave behind in place of whatever they take, a rule that geocaching enthusiasts follow to keep the game fair and fun.

The respect that geocachers have for the game and for each other keep the game going. Geocachers look out for each other, the Hodginses said, by keeping track of whether a cache is still intact or by posting online if there is barbed wire or other possible dangers in the area around a hide.

Muggles — a term taken from the Harry Potter series to describe nongeocachers — are also something to look out for. Muggles may be alarmed to see someone lurking around a bridge or to find an ammo box in a residential area. For these reasons, geocachers are conscientious about where they place a cache and how they may look to others while searching for one in a high-muggle-traffic area.

Educating people about geocaching is another way to keep everyone safe, and the more people know about it, the fewer chances there are for a muggle to stumble across a hide and move it or take things from it. Also, if more people get into it, there will be more caches to search for and the competition will intensify.

The Hodginses just wish to share the experience of something they’re passionate about.

“We like it so much that we like to see other people enjoy it as much,” Lee Hodgins said. “And especially for the younger generation coming up: I think it’s so important to get them out in the fresh air and in the world [to] learn skills,” such as how to use a GPS.

There are plenty of chances this weekend for individuals or families new to geocaching to meet enthusiasts and discover what it’s all about. “We have coordinated quite a statewide event so everyone has a chance to ... be a part of the [10th] anniversary,” said Marino.

Maine has five events planned: Today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Brewer, from 5 to 10 p.m. in Waterville and from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. in Portland; Sunday, May 2, from 8 to 10 a.m. in Waterville and from 2 to 6 p.m. in Augusta.

“[Geocaching is] very interesting and very fun and very diverse,” said Marino. “If you can’t have fun doing this, then you really can’t have fun doing anything.”