From Cleveland Plain Dealer: Buckeye Lake's island bog shrinking into extinction
By Wendy Pramik Special to The Plain Dealer
The youngest of the group was the bravest. Twenty-one-year-old Amber Scimone rolled up a pink shirtsleeve to her elbow and plunged her finely manicured fingernails into the dead vegetation.
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The hole was deep, reaching more than 30 feet below the surface of Cranberry Bog in Buckeye Lake. Botanists drilled it years earlier to measure the depth of Ohio's only floating island. Removing the top layer of lush plants revealed the spongy bog mat made of decaying moss.
"It was really cold and creepy," said Scimone, of West Farmington, in Trumbull County. "It felt like I stuck my hand into something 13,000 years old."
Her estimate isn't far off: Plants in the bog are relics of the last Ice Age, with roots that extend back more than 10,000 years ago.
You, too, can stick your hand into this soggy, historically significant ecosystem. But hurry -- it won't be around forever.
Containing many species of rare ferns, delicate orchids and carnivorous pitcher plants, Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve is a small, squishy island that floats in 3,100-acre Buckeye Lake, 35 miles east of Columbus.
The bog has floated on the lake's surface for about 180 years, formed by a combination of natural and man-made occurrences. One day, in the not-too-distant future, it will vanish as completely as it appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
"It's an anomaly in nature," said Greg Seymour, who has managed the preserve for more than two decades for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "You can't build a wall around it or isolate it. It was going to die eventually, and that's what's happening."
Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve
Getting there:The nature preserve is located within Buckeye Lake State Park in Millersport, about 30 miles east of Columbus. The easiest route from Cleveland is via I-71 south, I-270 east and I-70 east, exiting at Exit 129.
Acquiring a permit: Visitors to the Cranberry Bog State Nature Preserve in Buckeye Lake must first acquire a free permit from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Natural Areas and Preserves. Applications are available on the department’s website. Permits require up to two weeks to process.
Gaining access: The Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society offers boat transportation to the bog and on-site tours from May through October. The tour costs $12 per person; free, children 5 and younger. It’s a suggested donation and pays for a six-minute boat ride to the island and back, as well as a 30-minute narrated tour while on the bog. Information: 740-929-1998.
Museum at the Lake: The Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society operates the Museum at the Lake at 4729 Walnut Road in the village of Buckeye Lake. The museum contains an assortment of items commemorating the rich history of the area, including a car from the Rocket Ship ride that soared over of the old Buckeye Lake amusement park.
The museum offers tours of Buckeye Lake aboard a 40-person pontoon boat at 2 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday from May through October. Cost is a suggested donation of $10; free, children 5 and younger. Information: 740-929-1998. In the meantime, the state helps guide tourists and other inquisitive folk through the preserve. Each year, the department holds an "open house" to showcase the preserve's unique ecosystem. This year's event occurred on June 19, when hundreds of nature enthusiasts and curiosity seekers traversed the bog on a protective boardwalk.
It's a tough ticket. Visitors must gain entry through a lottery. The natural resources department annually receives more requests than the number of people it can accommodate, which is about 400.
The lottery isn't the only way to visit Cranberry Bog, however. From May through October, the Greater Buckeye Lake Historical Society, located in the village of Buckeye Lake, works with the state to offer guided tours. Earlier this month, I joined a group of women from the Cleveland area on the historical society tour.
Why all the fuss?
Most natural bogs exist around the edges of lakes, but not Cranberry Bog -- making it one of the most unique and fascinating natural areas in the United States.
J-me Braig, director of the historical society, led our bog tour. The suggested donation of $12 helps fuel the society's pontoon boat as well as operate the 5,400-square-foot Museum at the Lake, which contains photos of the rare plants and flowers that grow on the island.
The ride took six minutes from the ramp at Buckeye Lake State Park to the dock at the bog, 100 yards off the north shore of the lake. As Braig steered the 47-foot Queen of the Lake 2, she told us about picking cranberries on the bog with her grandmother.
"There's only one of its kind in the world, and this is it," Braig said. "It's very cool that you're going to see it today."
The creation of Cranberry Bog began thousands of years ago when glaciers moved into Ohio, pushing trees and a host of plants from the north. As the glaciers retreated, lakes, ponds and swamps formed in their wake.
American Indians, residing in what are now Licking, Fairfield and Perry counties, called the marshy land the "Big Swamp."
In the 1820s, a canal system was constructed through the mushy land. Engineers flooded the valley to create a reservoir to supply water to the canal. That buried the marshland, and only a 50-acre portion survived. It rose to the surface and formed the spongelike island made of buoyant sphagnum moss.
"If we were to shred it up and sell it in a store, it would be just like peat moss," Seymour said.
In 1894, the entire area became a public park, and the reservoir was renamed Buckeye Lake.
For a long time, the floating island was referred to as Cranberry Marsh because of the red berries that prospered there. While humans no longer pick them, the cranberries still nourish visiting birds.
In 1973, the island was dedicated as a state nature preserve. Today, it's one of Ohio's 134 state nature preserves, where conservation of fragile landscapes trumps recreation.
The bog is deteriorating for a number of reasons due to nature and man. Being in a lake is causing it to erode, as is the yearly freezing and thawing process.
Waves from passing boats cause erosion as well, despite the no-wake zone in effect around the island. Studies have been performed to attempt to reduce this decay, but nothing is feasible, Seymour said.
"In the last 40 years, the island shrank, from around 20 acres to less than 10 acres today," said Seymour. "If this rate were to continue, it will not exist in another 40 years.
"I've been responsible for it for 20 years, and I'll be sad when it's gone," he added.
The Cleveland-area tour group I joined spent half an hour on the island, walking on the zigzagging boardwalk. Engraved in the wood are the names of those who've helped pay for the protective path.
"If you were to step off, it would feel like you're walking on a water bed," Braig said. Once the path reaches a dead end, you turn around and walk back to the dock.
"Don't touch the plants," said Braig, as a reminder to protect the rare species as well as a precaution against touching the blister-inducing poison sumac that's abundant on the island.
We passed magenta orchids and white-flowering cranberries that bloom through August. The popular purple pitcher plant blooms through July. As its name suggests, its leaves form the shape of a pitcher, enabling it to hold water and capture insects, which it digests as nutrients.
Though guests are discouraged from touching plants, Braig asked if any in the group wanted to feel the muck. Scimone was the only volunteer. She carefully knelt on the boardwalk and stuck her arm over the side, into the heart of the protected island.
Upon extricating her arm, Scimone noted it was covered in brown slime up to her elbow. "It smelled fresh," she said.
Brook Park resident Becky Burdorff, who organized the trip for her friends, at first thought Cranberry Bog was a hoax when she read about it.
"Then when I started learning more about it, I thought this place is really cool and my girls are going to love this," she said. "And that's how we ended up here."
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Boater chases mysterious periscope off Hollywood beach
Boater chases mysterious periscope off Hollywood beach
He may have been imagining things, or he's just trying for publicity...but if it were true?
He may have been imagining things, or he's just trying for publicity...but if it were true?
Talk about the big one that got away.
Ryan Danoff was fishing with two friends about four miles off Hollywood beach Sunday when he spied what appeared to be a mast on the horizon.
Funny thing: There was no boat underneath it.
Danoff, a Fort Lauderdale fish farmer who's on the water at least three days a week, aimed his 31-foot center console Fishy Business at the mysterious upright and found himself eye to eye with a periscope.
"It was crazy," he said. "If it was just myself out there I wouldn't believe what I saw."
Danoff moved closer. "It took off," he said. Very fast, about 20 knots. The periscope sank beneath the waves, and whatever was below the surface blew its ballast, sending aloft a mighty hiccup of bubbles. After five minutes the sea lay once again undisturbed.
Danoff, 30, reported the episode to the Coast Guard. They said they'd get back to him, but never did.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Barry Bena said Danoff's information went to the proper authorities. "As of right now, they're still looking into it," he said.
So could it have been a Navy sub taking a peek at the beach? "It's kind of uncommon," Bena said. "But it's a definite possibility."
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Judge sides with state in legal tug of war over shipwreck in Lake Erie
From Buffalo News: Judge sides with state in legal tug of war over shipwreck in Lake Erie
A federal judge has sided with attorneys for the state in a dispute over the ownership of a 19th century sailing ship sunk in Lake Erie near Dunkirk.
In a recent decision, U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio said he agreed with the state’s position that it owns the ship under the U.S. Abandoned Shipwreck Act.
The two-masted wooden sailing ship may have been used by the British during the War of 1812 and later may have had a role in the Underground Railroad, transporting escaped slaves from the United States to Canada, Foschio said in court papers.
Since 2004, officials of Northeast Research, a private company that specializes in searching for shipwrecks, have been seeking ownership of the vessel, which they want to raise from the lake’s depths and put on display on Buffalo’s waterfront.
But historic preservation officials in state government contend that the ship is better off where it is, in a deep pocket of the lake about 20 miles from Dunkirk.
State officials also contend that divers working for Northeast Research damaged the ship and mishandled human remains on the ship during a dive to examine the vessel in 2004.
Efforts to reach the owners and the attorneys for Northeast Research were unsuccessful late Wednesday.
Foschio’s 30-page decision is considered a “report and recommendation” in federal court and is subject to review by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
A federal judge has sided with attorneys for the state in a dispute over the ownership of a 19th century sailing ship sunk in Lake Erie near Dunkirk.
In a recent decision, U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie G. Foschio said he agreed with the state’s position that it owns the ship under the U.S. Abandoned Shipwreck Act.
The two-masted wooden sailing ship may have been used by the British during the War of 1812 and later may have had a role in the Underground Railroad, transporting escaped slaves from the United States to Canada, Foschio said in court papers.
Since 2004, officials of Northeast Research, a private company that specializes in searching for shipwrecks, have been seeking ownership of the vessel, which they want to raise from the lake’s depths and put on display on Buffalo’s waterfront.
But historic preservation officials in state government contend that the ship is better off where it is, in a deep pocket of the lake about 20 miles from Dunkirk.
State officials also contend that divers working for Northeast Research damaged the ship and mishandled human remains on the ship during a dive to examine the vessel in 2004.
Efforts to reach the owners and the attorneys for Northeast Research were unsuccessful late Wednesday.
Foschio’s 30-page decision is considered a “report and recommendation” in federal court and is subject to review by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
France: can 15th-century politics save a 21st-century French town?
From the Guardian: France: can 15th-century politics save a 21st-century French town?
Guardian Weekly editor Natalie Bennett has been in the small Burgundy town of Etang-sur-Arroux, checking out some newly uncovered history, and the hopes that some locals have for it
Etang-sur-Arroux is, most observers would agree, a nice little town, set at the confluence of two rivers, and the junction of several small, locally significant roads, surrounded by attractive, often hedged, fields of the deep graziers'-delight-green this part of Burgundy specialises in. It's an entry point for the Morvan national park, which does a steady trade these days in "nature" tourists – walkers, mountain cyclists and birdlovers, and most drivers on their way to the spectacular Gallo-Roman site of Bibracte will pass through it.
Etang-sur-Arroux even boasts, with multiple signs, of its clog museum, in which sits, in a special hut all of its own, "the world's largest clog".
Local second-home owners, of whom there are many, the Dutch predominant among them, know the town for its extensive Emmaus charity store – which does a roaring trade in the practical, the antique, and the frankly peculiar. (Fifties Teletext machine anyone?)
And now Etang-sur-Arroux has a new claim to fame, a rediscovered – or at least newly uncovered – major chateau dating back to the 12th century, Chateau de la Perriere. Cue much excitement (well a dozen or so local volunteers to help with the excavation), and a major article in the local daily newspaper announcing an evening at which the archaeologists will be presenting their findings about their ancestors' goings-on to the people of modern-day Etang-sur-Arroux.
The turnout is impressive – about 60 people might not quite fill the salle des fetes, but they do a good impression of it. Pretty well all of the life of the town is here.
Outside, the main street is closed, the two bars dark and silent. The only other sign of life is at the single remaining functioning hotel (cheap room rates and special offers available – and a justly famous Sunday lunch with cold buffet ). Two other hotels are out of business, one hopefully sporting a "to lease" sign, the other apparently rotting into the dust.
Like small towns the developed world over, Etang-sur-Arroux has a problem of economics, of existence. Earlier, waiting for the talk, I'd stopped down by the river, in the station car park, and here it was that the male youth (well youngish males) had gathered. Unlike I probably would in Britain, I didn't feel a sense of menace, but the "nothing for the youth to do" problem has clearly reached Etang-sur-Arroux.
The talk was, if you had an interest in archaeology, fascinating – the remaining ruined stones telling, if not a detailed tale, certainly enough to pique the interest. One claim to fame for the site is that it had, in two 15th-century constructions, octagonal defensive towers sat on circular foundations. Quite a challenge for the stonemason, and he's used fine, solid granite for the task, which has kept its shape with steadfast ease.
The experts have concluded that this later extension to a 13th-century original was almost certainly built by Nicholas Rolin – a man to get excited about for a lover of tales, as one of the chief architects of the 40-year reign of Burgundy's standout ruler Philip the Good.
But still, when I go to the open day at the site (pictured below) a few days later, I have to confess that while as an archaeological enthusiast I have a lovely time, a visitor with only an ordinary interest in history would just find a pile of old stones, with nothing romantic to colour their walls and complete their towers in the air: no "Marie Antoinette slept here (preferably with a paramour not the king)", no knights riding out to deadly battle. (Well they may have done; we just don't know about it.)
Yet still, I understood the passionate plea made at the end of the talk in the salle des fetes by Robert Chevrot, president of the Association of the La Tour du Bost, a nearby historic site. He pleaded for a local benefactor to come forward to help complete the excavation – ended before the complete circumference was cleared by a combination of weather and lack of funds – and for the town to embrace and promote the ruined chateau as a tourist attraction.
Could not Nicholas Rolin, who ensured with his hospital that Beaune was firmly on the tourist route, ride to Etang's rescue 600 years after his death?
The chateau can be visited at any time, although it isn't yet signposted. Coming from Le Creusot, just after the entrance to Etang follow the signs for "La Grotte", an uninteresting collection of religious statues that is, however, handily marking the chateau site, on the opposite side of the road. It is on an outcrop overlooking the modern village, and there is an information board setting out the main facts.
Guardian Weekly editor Natalie Bennett has been in the small Burgundy town of Etang-sur-Arroux, checking out some newly uncovered history, and the hopes that some locals have for it
Etang-sur-Arroux is, most observers would agree, a nice little town, set at the confluence of two rivers, and the junction of several small, locally significant roads, surrounded by attractive, often hedged, fields of the deep graziers'-delight-green this part of Burgundy specialises in. It's an entry point for the Morvan national park, which does a steady trade these days in "nature" tourists – walkers, mountain cyclists and birdlovers, and most drivers on their way to the spectacular Gallo-Roman site of Bibracte will pass through it.
Etang-sur-Arroux even boasts, with multiple signs, of its clog museum, in which sits, in a special hut all of its own, "the world's largest clog".
Local second-home owners, of whom there are many, the Dutch predominant among them, know the town for its extensive Emmaus charity store – which does a roaring trade in the practical, the antique, and the frankly peculiar. (Fifties Teletext machine anyone?)
And now Etang-sur-Arroux has a new claim to fame, a rediscovered – or at least newly uncovered – major chateau dating back to the 12th century, Chateau de la Perriere. Cue much excitement (well a dozen or so local volunteers to help with the excavation), and a major article in the local daily newspaper announcing an evening at which the archaeologists will be presenting their findings about their ancestors' goings-on to the people of modern-day Etang-sur-Arroux.
The turnout is impressive – about 60 people might not quite fill the salle des fetes, but they do a good impression of it. Pretty well all of the life of the town is here.
Outside, the main street is closed, the two bars dark and silent. The only other sign of life is at the single remaining functioning hotel (cheap room rates and special offers available – and a justly famous Sunday lunch with cold buffet ). Two other hotels are out of business, one hopefully sporting a "to lease" sign, the other apparently rotting into the dust.
Like small towns the developed world over, Etang-sur-Arroux has a problem of economics, of existence. Earlier, waiting for the talk, I'd stopped down by the river, in the station car park, and here it was that the male youth (well youngish males) had gathered. Unlike I probably would in Britain, I didn't feel a sense of menace, but the "nothing for the youth to do" problem has clearly reached Etang-sur-Arroux.
The talk was, if you had an interest in archaeology, fascinating – the remaining ruined stones telling, if not a detailed tale, certainly enough to pique the interest. One claim to fame for the site is that it had, in two 15th-century constructions, octagonal defensive towers sat on circular foundations. Quite a challenge for the stonemason, and he's used fine, solid granite for the task, which has kept its shape with steadfast ease.
The experts have concluded that this later extension to a 13th-century original was almost certainly built by Nicholas Rolin – a man to get excited about for a lover of tales, as one of the chief architects of the 40-year reign of Burgundy's standout ruler Philip the Good.
But still, when I go to the open day at the site (pictured below) a few days later, I have to confess that while as an archaeological enthusiast I have a lovely time, a visitor with only an ordinary interest in history would just find a pile of old stones, with nothing romantic to colour their walls and complete their towers in the air: no "Marie Antoinette slept here (preferably with a paramour not the king)", no knights riding out to deadly battle. (Well they may have done; we just don't know about it.)
Yet still, I understood the passionate plea made at the end of the talk in the salle des fetes by Robert Chevrot, president of the Association of the La Tour du Bost, a nearby historic site. He pleaded for a local benefactor to come forward to help complete the excavation – ended before the complete circumference was cleared by a combination of weather and lack of funds – and for the town to embrace and promote the ruined chateau as a tourist attraction.
Could not Nicholas Rolin, who ensured with his hospital that Beaune was firmly on the tourist route, ride to Etang's rescue 600 years after his death?
The chateau can be visited at any time, although it isn't yet signposted. Coming from Le Creusot, just after the entrance to Etang follow the signs for "La Grotte", an uninteresting collection of religious statues that is, however, handily marking the chateau site, on the opposite side of the road. It is on an outcrop overlooking the modern village, and there is an information board setting out the main facts.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
NC Underwater team attempts to recover 2002 shipwreck
Underwater team attempts to recover shipwreck
By: Kira Mathis
EDEN, N.C. -- Underneath these waters along the Dan River in Eden sits a historic replica of a batteau.
"It's 40 feet long, eight feet wide, dry weighs probably about a ton and a half and wet probably twice that, at least twice that," Dr. Lindley Butler from the Dan River Basin Association said.
But Butler, along with the N.C. Underwater Archaeology team, plan to pull the three-ton shipwreck out of the muddy waters.
They began the feat Wednesday afternoon.
"It's in the mud and sand partly, so the idea is to dredge the sand off and then use some type of buoyant, " said Butler. "We're talking about lift bags or fire house, to raise it and then get it turned over, it's on its side, get it turned upright. And then if we can get it out, we'll take it down the river and take it out down at the boat landing which is about a mile and a half below here."
The batteau was built in 2002. It was used for historic tours along the river until high waters from a storm brought it down in 2008.
"And they ran it for several years, in fact as far as we know it was the only commercial batteau operating in the nation in that time," Butler said.
He also said the boat is an important reminder of a key part of North Carolina's history. "It gave us a global connection," said Butler. "It sounds very modern but in fact it did give this region a global connection and was an economic of that time so it's very important because it tells that story and it really is the key to the development of this river valley," he said.
The Underwater Archaeology team traveled all the way from Wilmington to help recover the boat and are excited to take part.
"It's history, it's navigation, it's exploration, it's boat building, it's design, it's meeting people in their culture, it's really important," Julep Gillman-Brown with NC Underwater Archaeology said.
They hope to have the batteau out of the water by Friday.
By: Kira Mathis
EDEN, N.C. -- Underneath these waters along the Dan River in Eden sits a historic replica of a batteau.
"It's 40 feet long, eight feet wide, dry weighs probably about a ton and a half and wet probably twice that, at least twice that," Dr. Lindley Butler from the Dan River Basin Association said.
But Butler, along with the N.C. Underwater Archaeology team, plan to pull the three-ton shipwreck out of the muddy waters.
They began the feat Wednesday afternoon.
"It's in the mud and sand partly, so the idea is to dredge the sand off and then use some type of buoyant, " said Butler. "We're talking about lift bags or fire house, to raise it and then get it turned over, it's on its side, get it turned upright. And then if we can get it out, we'll take it down the river and take it out down at the boat landing which is about a mile and a half below here."
The batteau was built in 2002. It was used for historic tours along the river until high waters from a storm brought it down in 2008.
"And they ran it for several years, in fact as far as we know it was the only commercial batteau operating in the nation in that time," Butler said.
He also said the boat is an important reminder of a key part of North Carolina's history. "It gave us a global connection," said Butler. "It sounds very modern but in fact it did give this region a global connection and was an economic of that time so it's very important because it tells that story and it really is the key to the development of this river valley," he said.
The Underwater Archaeology team traveled all the way from Wilmington to help recover the boat and are excited to take part.
"It's history, it's navigation, it's exploration, it's boat building, it's design, it's meeting people in their culture, it's really important," Julep Gillman-Brown with NC Underwater Archaeology said.
They hope to have the batteau out of the water by Friday.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Money, not ambition, prompted Abby Sutherland's journey
I confess it, I hadn't done my research properly on this one. I'd assumed Abby Sutherland wanted to sail around the world because she was an adventurous girl, aided and abetted by wealthy parents.
Not so. Her father - who has homeschooled his 7 kids - is bankrupt and has sold his life and family as a reality series.
Here's a dose of reality.
The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The Post yesterday that he's broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, "Adventures in Sunderland," about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe.
Laurence Sunderland, a sailing instructor who lives in the middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks with his pregnant wife and seven kids, opened their home to film crews four months ago.
"The show might be about family, it might be about Abigail's trip. It's something that was shopped around," he said.
JOHN CHAPPLE
CUT OF HIS JIB: Laurence Sunderland with kids (from l.) Lydia, Katherine, Toby, Zac and Jessie yesterday. Daughter Abby is aboard the ship that retrieved her from her battered sailboat.
Photos: Solo-sail girl Abby Sunderland
see more videos PHOTOS: SOLO-SAIL GIRL ABBY SUNDERLAND
Abby, 16, set sail last January, but got stranded in the Indian Ocean last week after storms smashed the mast of her sailboat, Wild Eyes, knocking out satellite-phone reception. The near-disaster triggered a frantic international rescue effort.
The solo voyage ran into heavy criticism for its high risk and the allegedly poor planning that put Abby in the treacherous Indian Ocean right in the middle of storm season.
Yesterday, she remained aboard the French vessel that rescued her, according to the ship's captain, and was making her slow voyage home.
The boat, Ile de la Reunion, is scheduled to transfer the teen to another ship tonight. It will take her about a week to get to land, the captain said.
Standing in the driveway outside his home, Sunderland explained the theme he envisioned for the show.
"We thought it might be a good idea if it was encouraging to kids to get out there and do things," he said. Sunderland said he didn't initially get many bites.
But Magnetic Entertainment of Studio City, Calif., is already promoting "Adventures in Sunderland" and "Abby's Journey," a documentary, on its Web site.
The studio didn't reply to e-mails and calls for comment yesterday.
Sunderland insists Abby's trip wasn't just a stunt.
The reality show was, he said, "the last thing on my mind.
"The wheels in motion for this trip had actually started when Abigail was 13 years old," he added.
Sunderland also defended his decision to let his daughter take the risky journey.
"I love my daughter dearly," he said. "I love the passion of sailing dearly, and this was about Abigail following her dream. She followed the criteria that I had set out, and met all the requirements to embark on this trip."
Yesterday, Abby blogged that she was undaunted by her misadventure, and was considering writing a book.
She called her wild ride on Wild Eyes "the best thing I have ever done or been through and I don't ever want to forget all the great times . . . or the bad ones for that matter."
The large family has long been a curiosity in the community, neighbors said. All seven children are home-schooled.
"They rarely leave their house, and they rarely talk to neighbors," local resident Brian Gonzales said.
Additional reporting by Ginger Adams Otis
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/sail_kid_parents_set_cour_for_tv_crGRuKCVBcBCM5v3s23ULK#ixzz0qrDJDeU4
Not so. Her father - who has homeschooled his 7 kids - is bankrupt and has sold his life and family as a reality series.
Here's a dose of reality.
The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The Post yesterday that he's broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, "Adventures in Sunderland," about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe.
Laurence Sunderland, a sailing instructor who lives in the middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks with his pregnant wife and seven kids, opened their home to film crews four months ago.
"The show might be about family, it might be about Abigail's trip. It's something that was shopped around," he said.
JOHN CHAPPLE
CUT OF HIS JIB: Laurence Sunderland with kids (from l.) Lydia, Katherine, Toby, Zac and Jessie yesterday. Daughter Abby is aboard the ship that retrieved her from her battered sailboat.
Photos: Solo-sail girl Abby Sunderland
see more videos PHOTOS: SOLO-SAIL GIRL ABBY SUNDERLAND
Abby, 16, set sail last January, but got stranded in the Indian Ocean last week after storms smashed the mast of her sailboat, Wild Eyes, knocking out satellite-phone reception. The near-disaster triggered a frantic international rescue effort.
The solo voyage ran into heavy criticism for its high risk and the allegedly poor planning that put Abby in the treacherous Indian Ocean right in the middle of storm season.
Yesterday, she remained aboard the French vessel that rescued her, according to the ship's captain, and was making her slow voyage home.
The boat, Ile de la Reunion, is scheduled to transfer the teen to another ship tonight. It will take her about a week to get to land, the captain said.
Standing in the driveway outside his home, Sunderland explained the theme he envisioned for the show.
"We thought it might be a good idea if it was encouraging to kids to get out there and do things," he said. Sunderland said he didn't initially get many bites.
But Magnetic Entertainment of Studio City, Calif., is already promoting "Adventures in Sunderland" and "Abby's Journey," a documentary, on its Web site.
The studio didn't reply to e-mails and calls for comment yesterday.
Sunderland insists Abby's trip wasn't just a stunt.
The reality show was, he said, "the last thing on my mind.
"The wheels in motion for this trip had actually started when Abigail was 13 years old," he added.
Sunderland also defended his decision to let his daughter take the risky journey.
"I love my daughter dearly," he said. "I love the passion of sailing dearly, and this was about Abigail following her dream. She followed the criteria that I had set out, and met all the requirements to embark on this trip."
Yesterday, Abby blogged that she was undaunted by her misadventure, and was considering writing a book.
She called her wild ride on Wild Eyes "the best thing I have ever done or been through and I don't ever want to forget all the great times . . . or the bad ones for that matter."
The large family has long been a curiosity in the community, neighbors said. All seven children are home-schooled.
"They rarely leave their house, and they rarely talk to neighbors," local resident Brian Gonzales said.
Additional reporting by Ginger Adams Otis
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/sail_kid_parents_set_cour_for_tv_crGRuKCVBcBCM5v3s23ULK#ixzz0qrDJDeU4
U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan
The story of this find will I'm sure soon make it into the pages of a technothriller.
Afghanistan, that's a place where drug warlords are allowed to flourish by the CIA becase the warlords are helping them fight the Taliban...meantime Afghanistan women are treated as less than dirt....
But now a trillion dollars worth of metals has been found - who will get the mining concessions - the US, who has propped up this country for so long, or the Arab states who doubtless will wish to move in and remove such a windfall for the US/Afghanistan?
U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
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The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.
The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.
While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.
“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”
The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.
“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.
American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan. The American-led offensive in Marja in southern Afghanistan has achieved only limited gains. Meanwhile, charges of corruption and favoritism continue to plague the Karzai government, and Mr. Karzai seems increasingly embittered toward the White House.
So the Obama administration is hungry for some positive news to come out of Afghanistan. Yet the American officials also recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact.
Instead of bringing peace, the newfound mineral wealth could lead the Taliban to battle even more fiercely to regain control of the country.
The corruption that is already rampant in the Karzai government could also be amplified by the new wealth, particularly if a handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to the president, gain control of the resources. Just last year, Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by American officials of accepting a $30 million bribe to award China the rights to develop its copper mine. The minister has since been replaced.
Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the World Bank, but it has never faced a serious challenge.
“No one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces,” observed Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits.
At the same time, American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which could upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said.
Another complication is that because Afghanistan has never had much heavy industry before, it has little or no history of environmental protection either. “The big question is, can this be developed in a responsible way, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible?” Mr. Brinkley said. “No one knows how this will work.”
With virtually no mining industry or infrastructure in place today, it will take decades for Afghanistan to exploit its mineral wealth fully. “This is a country that has no mining culture,” said Jack Medlin, a geologist in the United States Geological Survey’s international affairs program. “They’ve had some small artisanal mines, but now there could be some very, very large mines that will require more than just a gold pan.”
The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban insurgency.
The Pentagon task force has already started trying to help the Afghans set up a system to deal with mineral development. International accounting firms that have expertise in mining contracts have been hired to consult with the Afghan Ministry of Mines, and technical data is being prepared to turn over to multinational mining companies and other potential foreign investors. The Pentagon is helping Afghan officials arrange to start seeking bids on mineral rights by next fall, officials said.
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“The Ministry of Mines is not ready to handle this,” Mr. Brinkley said. “We are trying to help them get ready.”
Like much of the recent history of the country, the story of the discovery of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth is one of missed opportunities and the distractions of war.
In 2004, American geologists, sent to Afghanistan as part of a broader reconstruction effort, stumbled across an intriguing series of old charts and data at the library of the Afghan Geological Survey in Kabul that hinted at major mineral deposits in the country. They soon learned that the data had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, but cast aside when the Soviets withdrew in 1989.
During the chaos of the 1990s, when Afghanistan was mired in civil war and later ruled by the Taliban, a small group of Afghan geologists protected the charts by taking them home, and returned them to the Geological Survey’s library only after the American invasion and the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.
“There were maps, but the development did not take place, because you had 30 to 35 years of war,” said Ahmad Hujabre, an Afghan engineer who worked for the Ministry of Mines in the 1970s.
Armed with the old Russian charts, the United States Geological Survey began a series of aerial surveys of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in 2006, using advanced gravity and magnetic measuring equipment attached to an old Navy Orion P-3 aircraft that flew over about 70 percent of the country.
The data from those flights was so promising that in 2007, the geologists returned for an even more sophisticated study, using an old British bomber equipped with instruments that offered a three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below the earth’s surface. It was the most comprehensive geologic survey of Afghanistan ever conducted.
The handful of American geologists who pored over the new data said the results were astonishing.
But the results gathered dust for two more years, ignored by officials in both the American and Afghan governments. In 2009, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq was transferred to Afghanistan, and came upon the geological data. Until then, no one besides the geologists had bothered to look at the information — and no one had sought to translate the technical data to measure the potential economic value of the mineral deposits.
Soon, the Pentagon business development task force brought in teams of American mining experts to validate the survey’s findings, and then briefed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Mr. Karzai.
So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, and the quantities are large enough to make Afghanistan a major world producer of both, United States officials said. Other finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.
Just this month, American geologists working with the Pentagon team have been conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan where they believe there are large deposits of lithium. Pentagon officials said that their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni Province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large of those of Bolivia, which now has the world’s largest known lithium reserves.
For the geologists who are now scouring some of the most remote stretches of Afghanistan to complete the technical studies necessary before the international bidding process is begun, there is a growing sense that they are in the midst of one of the great discoveries of their careers.
“On the ground, it’s very, very, promising,” Mr. Medlin said. “Actually, it’s pretty amazing.”
Afghanistan, that's a place where drug warlords are allowed to flourish by the CIA becase the warlords are helping them fight the Taliban...meantime Afghanistan women are treated as less than dirt....
But now a trillion dollars worth of metals has been found - who will get the mining concessions - the US, who has propped up this country for so long, or the Arab states who doubtless will wish to move in and remove such a windfall for the US/Afghanistan?
U.S. Identifies Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan
WASHINGTON — The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.
Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era.
Go to the Blog »
Multimedia
Graphic
Minerals in AfghanistanReaders' Comments
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Read All Comments (416) »
The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.
An internal Pentagon memo, for example, states that Afghanistan could become the “Saudi Arabia of lithium,” a key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys.
The vast scale of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth was discovered by a small team of Pentagon officials and American geologists. The Afghan government and President Hamid Karzai were recently briefed, American officials said.
While it could take many years to develop a mining industry, the potential is so great that officials and executives in the industry believe it could attract heavy investment even before mines are profitable, providing the possibility of jobs that could distract from generations of war.
“There is stunning potential here,” Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the United States Central Command, said in an interview on Saturday. “There are a lot of ifs, of course, but I think potentially it is hugely significant.”
The value of the newly discovered mineral deposits dwarfs the size of Afghanistan’s existing war-bedraggled economy, which is based largely on opium production and narcotics trafficking as well as aid from the United States and other industrialized countries. Afghanistan’s gross domestic product is only about $12 billion.
“This will become the backbone of the Afghan economy,” said Jalil Jumriany, an adviser to the Afghan minister of mines.
American and Afghan officials agreed to discuss the mineral discoveries at a difficult moment in the war in Afghanistan. The American-led offensive in Marja in southern Afghanistan has achieved only limited gains. Meanwhile, charges of corruption and favoritism continue to plague the Karzai government, and Mr. Karzai seems increasingly embittered toward the White House.
So the Obama administration is hungry for some positive news to come out of Afghanistan. Yet the American officials also recognize that the mineral discoveries will almost certainly have a double-edged impact.
Instead of bringing peace, the newfound mineral wealth could lead the Taliban to battle even more fiercely to regain control of the country.
The corruption that is already rampant in the Karzai government could also be amplified by the new wealth, particularly if a handful of well-connected oligarchs, some with personal ties to the president, gain control of the resources. Just last year, Afghanistan’s minister of mines was accused by American officials of accepting a $30 million bribe to award China the rights to develop its copper mine. The minister has since been replaced.
Endless fights could erupt between the central government in Kabul and provincial and tribal leaders in mineral-rich districts. Afghanistan has a national mining law, written with the help of advisers from the World Bank, but it has never faced a serious challenge.
“No one has tested that law; no one knows how it will stand up in a fight between the central government and the provinces,” observed Paul A. Brinkley, deputy undersecretary of defense for business and leader of the Pentagon team that discovered the deposits.
At the same time, American officials fear resource-hungry China will try to dominate the development of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, which could upset the United States, given its heavy investment in the region. After winning the bid for its Aynak copper mine in Logar Province, China clearly wants more, American officials said.
Another complication is that because Afghanistan has never had much heavy industry before, it has little or no history of environmental protection either. “The big question is, can this be developed in a responsible way, in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible?” Mr. Brinkley said. “No one knows how this will work.”
With virtually no mining industry or infrastructure in place today, it will take decades for Afghanistan to exploit its mineral wealth fully. “This is a country that has no mining culture,” said Jack Medlin, a geologist in the United States Geological Survey’s international affairs program. “They’ve had some small artisanal mines, but now there could be some very, very large mines that will require more than just a gold pan.”
The mineral deposits are scattered throughout the country, including in the southern and eastern regions along the border with Pakistan that have had some of the most intense combat in the American-led war against the Taliban insurgency.
The Pentagon task force has already started trying to help the Afghans set up a system to deal with mineral development. International accounting firms that have expertise in mining contracts have been hired to consult with the Afghan Ministry of Mines, and technical data is being prepared to turn over to multinational mining companies and other potential foreign investors. The Pentagon is helping Afghan officials arrange to start seeking bids on mineral rights by next fall, officials said.
Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era.
Go to the Blog »
Multimedia
Graphic
Minerals in AfghanistanReaders' Comments
Share your thoughts.
Post a Comment »
Read All Comments (427) »
“The Ministry of Mines is not ready to handle this,” Mr. Brinkley said. “We are trying to help them get ready.”
Like much of the recent history of the country, the story of the discovery of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth is one of missed opportunities and the distractions of war.
In 2004, American geologists, sent to Afghanistan as part of a broader reconstruction effort, stumbled across an intriguing series of old charts and data at the library of the Afghan Geological Survey in Kabul that hinted at major mineral deposits in the country. They soon learned that the data had been collected by Soviet mining experts during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, but cast aside when the Soviets withdrew in 1989.
During the chaos of the 1990s, when Afghanistan was mired in civil war and later ruled by the Taliban, a small group of Afghan geologists protected the charts by taking them home, and returned them to the Geological Survey’s library only after the American invasion and the ouster of the Taliban in 2001.
“There were maps, but the development did not take place, because you had 30 to 35 years of war,” said Ahmad Hujabre, an Afghan engineer who worked for the Ministry of Mines in the 1970s.
Armed with the old Russian charts, the United States Geological Survey began a series of aerial surveys of Afghanistan’s mineral resources in 2006, using advanced gravity and magnetic measuring equipment attached to an old Navy Orion P-3 aircraft that flew over about 70 percent of the country.
The data from those flights was so promising that in 2007, the geologists returned for an even more sophisticated study, using an old British bomber equipped with instruments that offered a three-dimensional profile of mineral deposits below the earth’s surface. It was the most comprehensive geologic survey of Afghanistan ever conducted.
The handful of American geologists who pored over the new data said the results were astonishing.
But the results gathered dust for two more years, ignored by officials in both the American and Afghan governments. In 2009, a Pentagon task force that had created business development programs in Iraq was transferred to Afghanistan, and came upon the geological data. Until then, no one besides the geologists had bothered to look at the information — and no one had sought to translate the technical data to measure the potential economic value of the mineral deposits.
Soon, the Pentagon business development task force brought in teams of American mining experts to validate the survey’s findings, and then briefed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Mr. Karzai.
So far, the biggest mineral deposits discovered are of iron and copper, and the quantities are large enough to make Afghanistan a major world producer of both, United States officials said. Other finds include large deposits of niobium, a soft metal used in producing superconducting steel, rare earth elements and large gold deposits in Pashtun areas of southern Afghanistan.
Just this month, American geologists working with the Pentagon team have been conducting ground surveys on dry salt lakes in western Afghanistan where they believe there are large deposits of lithium. Pentagon officials said that their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni Province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large of those of Bolivia, which now has the world’s largest known lithium reserves.
For the geologists who are now scouring some of the most remote stretches of Afghanistan to complete the technical studies necessary before the international bidding process is begun, there is a growing sense that they are in the midst of one of the great discoveries of their careers.
“On the ground, it’s very, very, promising,” Mr. Medlin said. “Actually, it’s pretty amazing.”
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Terracotta warrior archaeological team wins Prince of Asturias Award
Terracotta warrior archaeological team wins Prince of Asturias Award
MADRID, May 19 (Xinuha) -- The archaeological team working on the Terracotta Army discovered in the mausoleum of an ancient Chinese emperor is the winner of the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences.
In an annoucement made Wednesday in Oviedo, the award jury said the terracotta warriors, also known as the warriors of Xi'an, is one of the most important archeological discoveries of the 20th century.
"The archaeological team has developed a multi-disciplinary study that allows the study of the epoch of China that goes back 2,000 years," said the jury.
"We want to award the work that has shown the importance of the Chinese culture to the world and which reflects such a key moment in the history of civilizations," the jury said.
The Terracotta Army in the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221 BC-207 BC), was discovered in 1974. It is made up of over 7,000 life-sized terracotta warriors and horses drawn up in battle formation.
Continued investigations have led to the discovery of a 30-meter tall building over the emperor's tomb that had been covered by an artificial hill. Experts believe there is still more to be uncovered.
The Terracotta warrior site was made a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1987.
The candidacy of the Terracotta Army was proposed by Carlos Blasco Villa, the Spanish ambassador to China.
The Prince of Asturias Awards were established in 1980 to recognize the "scientific, technical, cultural, social and human effort carried out by persons, institutions, groups or institutions in the international arena."
The award announced Wednesday was one of this year's eight Prince of Asturias Awards. Previously, the arts award went to American sculptor Richard Serra.
MADRID, May 19 (Xinuha) -- The archaeological team working on the Terracotta Army discovered in the mausoleum of an ancient Chinese emperor is the winner of the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences.
In an annoucement made Wednesday in Oviedo, the award jury said the terracotta warriors, also known as the warriors of Xi'an, is one of the most important archeological discoveries of the 20th century.
"The archaeological team has developed a multi-disciplinary study that allows the study of the epoch of China that goes back 2,000 years," said the jury.
"We want to award the work that has shown the importance of the Chinese culture to the world and which reflects such a key moment in the history of civilizations," the jury said.
The Terracotta Army in the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (221 BC-207 BC), was discovered in 1974. It is made up of over 7,000 life-sized terracotta warriors and horses drawn up in battle formation.
Continued investigations have led to the discovery of a 30-meter tall building over the emperor's tomb that had been covered by an artificial hill. Experts believe there is still more to be uncovered.
The Terracotta warrior site was made a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in 1987.
The candidacy of the Terracotta Army was proposed by Carlos Blasco Villa, the Spanish ambassador to China.
The Prince of Asturias Awards were established in 1980 to recognize the "scientific, technical, cultural, social and human effort carried out by persons, institutions, groups or institutions in the international arena."
The award announced Wednesday was one of this year's eight Prince of Asturias Awards. Previously, the arts award went to American sculptor Richard Serra.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Help Is On The Way For American Teen Sailor
Help Is On The Way For American Teen Sailor
Abby Sunderland, 16, missing in the Indian Ocean while attempting a solo voyage around the world has been found safe
An American teenager who went missing in the Indian Ocean while attempting a solo voyage around the world has been found safe.
The family of Abby Sunderland, 16, said a search plane dispatched to her last known location, more than 3,000 kilometers from both Africa and Australia, discovered her boat with a broken mast.
Mick Kinley with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority reported rescuers have made contact with her via radio and she reported that she's in good spirits.
"She has been told that help is on the way which no doubt will make her feel a lot better, but not reported to be injured at all so yes, fingers crossed," Kinley said.
CRAFT DAMAGED BY STORM
Sunderland was last heard from early Thursday when she broke off satellite phone contact with her family and activated two emergency signals. Earlier, she had reported her yacht was being pounded by huge waves in the southern Indian Ocean.
"Obviously something on the boat happened that caused her to believe she needed to activate her emergency locator," said Jeff Casher, one of Abby's support staff back at her home in California.
"The three things that are most likely are either the keel hit something and snapped off and the boat went upside down. Or something like the mast came down and in danger of puncturing the hull if she tries to sail it anywhere. And the third possibility is that it can get a little uncomfortable and violent out there when the boat gets knocked down and you can get thrown across the cabin, she might just have gotten thrown across the cabin and gotten hurt to the point where she is not able to sail the boat," said Casher.
Abby's brother Zac Sunderland completed his own solo voyage around the world last year at age 17 and said his sister is a very accomplished sailor but she is also in an area of the Indian Ocean with dangerous conditions.
YOUTHFUL ADVENTURERS
Not everyone in the sailing community has been supportive of young adults taking on such challenges.
Ian Kiernan, an Australian around-the-world sailor expressed sympathy for her plight, but also skepticism about her ability to take on such an ambitious adventure alone.
"I don't know what she's doing in the Southern (Indian) Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it's foolhardy. And the fact that her e-pirb (distress radio beacons) went off attached to the life raft, I thought perhaps the raft had washed overboard, and that may still be the case. But two e-pirbs going off, it's a bit sinister to me," Kiernan said.
Abby embarked on her trip trying to be the youngest sailor to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation. But that goal ended in April when she was forced to stop in South Africa because her autopilot malfunctioned.
Abby Sunderland, 16, missing in the Indian Ocean while attempting a solo voyage around the world has been found safe
An American teenager who went missing in the Indian Ocean while attempting a solo voyage around the world has been found safe.
The family of Abby Sunderland, 16, said a search plane dispatched to her last known location, more than 3,000 kilometers from both Africa and Australia, discovered her boat with a broken mast.
Mick Kinley with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority reported rescuers have made contact with her via radio and she reported that she's in good spirits.
"She has been told that help is on the way which no doubt will make her feel a lot better, but not reported to be injured at all so yes, fingers crossed," Kinley said.
CRAFT DAMAGED BY STORM
Sunderland was last heard from early Thursday when she broke off satellite phone contact with her family and activated two emergency signals. Earlier, she had reported her yacht was being pounded by huge waves in the southern Indian Ocean.
"Obviously something on the boat happened that caused her to believe she needed to activate her emergency locator," said Jeff Casher, one of Abby's support staff back at her home in California.
"The three things that are most likely are either the keel hit something and snapped off and the boat went upside down. Or something like the mast came down and in danger of puncturing the hull if she tries to sail it anywhere. And the third possibility is that it can get a little uncomfortable and violent out there when the boat gets knocked down and you can get thrown across the cabin, she might just have gotten thrown across the cabin and gotten hurt to the point where she is not able to sail the boat," said Casher.
Abby's brother Zac Sunderland completed his own solo voyage around the world last year at age 17 and said his sister is a very accomplished sailor but she is also in an area of the Indian Ocean with dangerous conditions.
YOUTHFUL ADVENTURERS
Not everyone in the sailing community has been supportive of young adults taking on such challenges.
Ian Kiernan, an Australian around-the-world sailor expressed sympathy for her plight, but also skepticism about her ability to take on such an ambitious adventure alone.
"I don't know what she's doing in the Southern (Indian) Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it's foolhardy. And the fact that her e-pirb (distress radio beacons) went off attached to the life raft, I thought perhaps the raft had washed overboard, and that may still be the case. But two e-pirbs going off, it's a bit sinister to me," Kiernan said.
Abby embarked on her trip trying to be the youngest sailor to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation. But that goal ended in April when she was forced to stop in South Africa because her autopilot malfunctioned.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Desperate search for 16-year-old lone US sailor Abby Sunderland
It's a cliche to say that "at least they died like they would have wanted."
If the news is of the worst kind, that she has been lost, it will be sad, but she was doing what she wanted to do, having an adventure. I hope she will be found, if not, her name will go into the lore of the sea as someone who dared too much.
Desperate search for 16-year-old lone US sailor Abby Sunderland
Abby Sunderland activated her emergency beacons in stormy seas, 2000 miles off Madagascar, today, and her parents have lost satellite phone contact with her boat, Wild Eyes
Rescuers launched a desperate search tonight for a 16-year-old Californian girl attempting to sail round the world single-handed, after she set off distress beacons in stormy conditions in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.
Abby Sunderland's parents lost satellite phone contact with her today after she had told them she was repeatedly knocked down in 60 knot-winds and 50 foot seas, about 2,000 miles east of Madagascar. An hour later the US coast guard notified them that two emergency satellite beacons on her 40ft yacht, Wild Eyes, had been activated.
One of the devices is believed to be attached to a survival suit and is designed to be set off by a person in the water, or on a life raft. Both beacons were manually activated. Rescuers were seeking to contact the nearest ship, 400 miles away.
Sunderland's parents, Laurence and Marianne, posted a message on their daughter's blog (http://soloround.blogspot.com/) saying that when they last spoke to her she was having difficulties, but appeared to be coping.
"We were helping her troubleshoot her engine that she was trying to start to charge her systems. Satellite phone reception was patchy. She was able to get the water out of the engine and start up. We were waiting to hear back from her when American search and rescue authorities called to report having received a signal from her emergency beacon," they said. "We are working closely with American, French and Australian search and rescue authorities to coordinate several ships in the area to divert to her location."
But the nearest ship is believed to be nearly two days away. The Australian authorities have arranged for a Qantas plane to fly over her last known location to try to contact her by radio.
In the latest posting to her blog on Wednesday, Sunderland described enduring "a rough few days". "I've been in some rough weather for a while, with winds steady at 40-45 knots, with higher gusts", she said. She said the weather had improved, but she needed to do some repair work on the sail before it was expected to worsen again.
"I managed to take it down, take care of the tear and get it back up in a couple of hours. It wasn't the most fun job I have done out here. With the seas still huge, Wild Eyes was rolling around like crazy," she wrote.
Sunderland, who set sail in January and passed the half way mark on Monday, had said it was her "dream" to sail around the world single-handed. She had to abandon her original goal of circumnavigating the globe nonstop when she was forced to make a stop in South Africa in April after her autopilot failed.
Before she set off, there were questions among some in the sailing world over whether she was too young to make the journey on her own. The timing was also criticised because she was crossing the Indian Ocean during the stormy southern hemisphere winter.
TJ Simers, a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, called the attempt "child endangerment".
"I just don't understand the idea of risking life. This kid's going to be out there all by herself. Death is a possibility. Bad weather. Are you kidding me? Who's responsible for this? She's a kid," he wrote.
She dismissed the concerns, but said she was aware of the dangers. "I am definitely nervous," she told ABC before her journey. "But I understand [the] ocean and I understand how dangerous what I am doing is, and I understand how careful I need to be out there."
A young Australian, Jessica Watson, completed a solo around the world journey last month, shortly before her 17th birthday. Sunderland's brother, Zac, sailed around the world alone last year, at 17.
Extracts from Abby Sunderland's blog (soloround.blogspot.com), which she kept to document her solo trip around the world
26 January "I wish I could have written sooner, but as most of you know, the first few days out are pretty hard."
18 April "This ocean seems to be taking a while to cross. When you're out here and waiting for something day after day after day, and it takes a lot longer than planned, it's hard. But I'll be out of here eventually and be on to the next ocean!"
27 May "I like going up the mast and I like heavy wind, but going up the mast when it is pitch black, when it's gusting well over 30 knots and wave after wave is breaking over the whole boat, well, that's just a bit much."
7 June Abby writes: "I am ticking off the miles slowly but surely. The weather looks like it could pick up a lot in the next few days. I could have winds up to 60 knots, so I'm getting things all tied down and ready for some big winds."
10 June Abby's parents wrote: "Abby has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis like this. She has a dry suit, survival suit, life raft, and ditch bag with emergency supplies. If she can keep warm and hang on, help will be there as soon as possible."
If the news is of the worst kind, that she has been lost, it will be sad, but she was doing what she wanted to do, having an adventure. I hope she will be found, if not, her name will go into the lore of the sea as someone who dared too much.
Desperate search for 16-year-old lone US sailor Abby Sunderland
Abby Sunderland activated her emergency beacons in stormy seas, 2000 miles off Madagascar, today, and her parents have lost satellite phone contact with her boat, Wild Eyes
Rescuers launched a desperate search tonight for a 16-year-old Californian girl attempting to sail round the world single-handed, after she set off distress beacons in stormy conditions in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.
Abby Sunderland's parents lost satellite phone contact with her today after she had told them she was repeatedly knocked down in 60 knot-winds and 50 foot seas, about 2,000 miles east of Madagascar. An hour later the US coast guard notified them that two emergency satellite beacons on her 40ft yacht, Wild Eyes, had been activated.
One of the devices is believed to be attached to a survival suit and is designed to be set off by a person in the water, or on a life raft. Both beacons were manually activated. Rescuers were seeking to contact the nearest ship, 400 miles away.
Sunderland's parents, Laurence and Marianne, posted a message on their daughter's blog (http://soloround.blogspot.com/) saying that when they last spoke to her she was having difficulties, but appeared to be coping.
"We were helping her troubleshoot her engine that she was trying to start to charge her systems. Satellite phone reception was patchy. She was able to get the water out of the engine and start up. We were waiting to hear back from her when American search and rescue authorities called to report having received a signal from her emergency beacon," they said. "We are working closely with American, French and Australian search and rescue authorities to coordinate several ships in the area to divert to her location."
But the nearest ship is believed to be nearly two days away. The Australian authorities have arranged for a Qantas plane to fly over her last known location to try to contact her by radio.
In the latest posting to her blog on Wednesday, Sunderland described enduring "a rough few days". "I've been in some rough weather for a while, with winds steady at 40-45 knots, with higher gusts", she said. She said the weather had improved, but she needed to do some repair work on the sail before it was expected to worsen again.
"I managed to take it down, take care of the tear and get it back up in a couple of hours. It wasn't the most fun job I have done out here. With the seas still huge, Wild Eyes was rolling around like crazy," she wrote.
Sunderland, who set sail in January and passed the half way mark on Monday, had said it was her "dream" to sail around the world single-handed. She had to abandon her original goal of circumnavigating the globe nonstop when she was forced to make a stop in South Africa in April after her autopilot failed.
Before she set off, there were questions among some in the sailing world over whether she was too young to make the journey on her own. The timing was also criticised because she was crossing the Indian Ocean during the stormy southern hemisphere winter.
TJ Simers, a sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times, called the attempt "child endangerment".
"I just don't understand the idea of risking life. This kid's going to be out there all by herself. Death is a possibility. Bad weather. Are you kidding me? Who's responsible for this? She's a kid," he wrote.
She dismissed the concerns, but said she was aware of the dangers. "I am definitely nervous," she told ABC before her journey. "But I understand [the] ocean and I understand how dangerous what I am doing is, and I understand how careful I need to be out there."
A young Australian, Jessica Watson, completed a solo around the world journey last month, shortly before her 17th birthday. Sunderland's brother, Zac, sailed around the world alone last year, at 17.
Extracts from Abby Sunderland's blog (soloround.blogspot.com), which she kept to document her solo trip around the world
26 January "I wish I could have written sooner, but as most of you know, the first few days out are pretty hard."
18 April "This ocean seems to be taking a while to cross. When you're out here and waiting for something day after day after day, and it takes a lot longer than planned, it's hard. But I'll be out of here eventually and be on to the next ocean!"
27 May "I like going up the mast and I like heavy wind, but going up the mast when it is pitch black, when it's gusting well over 30 knots and wave after wave is breaking over the whole boat, well, that's just a bit much."
7 June Abby writes: "I am ticking off the miles slowly but surely. The weather looks like it could pick up a lot in the next few days. I could have winds up to 60 knots, so I'm getting things all tied down and ready for some big winds."
10 June Abby's parents wrote: "Abby has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis like this. She has a dry suit, survival suit, life raft, and ditch bag with emergency supplies. If she can keep warm and hang on, help will be there as soon as possible."
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Florida hulk predates St. Augustine voyage
Daily Mail: Florida hulk predates St. Augustine voyage
MELISSA NELSON
When Matthew Kuehne dives to the sandy bottom of Pensacola Bay, he reaches back 450 years to Spaniard Don Tristan de Luna's hurricane-doomed effort to form the first colony in the present-day United States.
Archeologists say the buried hull of a ship from de Luna's fleet of 11 ships holds crucial clues to the 1559 expedition that sailed from Mexico to Florida's Panhandle. That was six years before another Spanish explorer, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, founded St. Augustine, Fla., the oldest city in the United States.
The ship's discovery was announced in October after lead sheeting and pottery from the wreck site were matched to the de Luna expedition. Another ship in the fleet was found nearby in 1992.
Mr. Kuehne, a University of West Florida archeology student, has been diving from a barge anchored in the Gulf of Mexico to retrieve artifacts from the submerged ship.
He can only imagine what de Luna and his men would think of his modern-day exploration.
“I don't know if they would be honoured that we are out here digging up their stuff or if they would be embarrassed that their technology, their efforts at colonization, failed,” he said.
The two shipwrecks off Pensacola are the second-oldest discovered in U.S. waters. The oldest are a fleet of 1554 merchant ships that sank off Padre Island, Tex.
The West Florida archeology team has brought more than 800 artifacts from the new de Luna site to the surface, including pieces of olive jars used to transport food and wine, chunks of the ship's wood frame, cow bones, Spanish bricks and even tiny balls of mercury, used to extract gold from ore.
Of the 11 ships that departed from Veracruz, Mexico, on de Luna's expedition, seven ran aground in the water, one was blown ashore and three survived the storm, said John Bratten, a West Florida professor of maritime archeology.
Although the Spaniards kept detailed records of the ships and their contents, historians are uncertain which of the 11 ships the archeologists have discovered.
“We aren't sure how this ship fits into the picture of those seven ships that were lost in a hurricane. We do know this one is smaller than the 1992 ship,” he said.
What Mr. Bratten and others on the West Florida team also know is the significance of their work.
“A ship like this is what you hope to find in your career,” he said.
In the 15 years since the discovery of the first de Luna ship, researchers have scoured Pensacola Bay in hopes of finding the rest of the fleet.
Mr. Bratten and a team of students found the second ship during the last day of an archeological field school last fall, after students began bringing up ballast stones from the site. They continued to explore the site for months before its origins were confirmed.
At their laboratory on the university campus, Mr. Bratten and Judith Bense, director of the university's archeology program, display the side of a large olive jar, its inside coated with a bright green glaze to protect the honey or wine it likely carried.
Other artifacts from the dive site are carefully laid out in various states of preservation before they are placed into plastic bags, labelled and stored in bins under a careful cataloguing system.
Divers have explored only about 5 per cent of the shipwreck site, Dr.. Bense said.
But the long-term plan is for underwater archeologists to excavate less than 40 per cent of the site and leave the rest of the ship buried.
Because the artifacts have been buried and underwater for so long, it is best not to disturb them, she said.
Graduate student Cameron Fletcher dons his wet suit, picks up his scuba gear and waits his turn to dive to the wreck site.
Mr. Fletcher, who has made dives to the site for the last year, said he is amazed by the history of the de Luna expedition whenever he visits the piles of ballast stones and chunks of wood on the ocean floor.
He has found shiny obsidian stones at the wreck site that the Spaniards would have taken with them from Mexico.
“When I think that I was the first person to touch something in 500 years, it's kind of crazy to wrap your brain around that,” he said.
MELISSA NELSON
When Matthew Kuehne dives to the sandy bottom of Pensacola Bay, he reaches back 450 years to Spaniard Don Tristan de Luna's hurricane-doomed effort to form the first colony in the present-day United States.
Archeologists say the buried hull of a ship from de Luna's fleet of 11 ships holds crucial clues to the 1559 expedition that sailed from Mexico to Florida's Panhandle. That was six years before another Spanish explorer, Pedro Menendez de Aviles, founded St. Augustine, Fla., the oldest city in the United States.
The ship's discovery was announced in October after lead sheeting and pottery from the wreck site were matched to the de Luna expedition. Another ship in the fleet was found nearby in 1992.
Mr. Kuehne, a University of West Florida archeology student, has been diving from a barge anchored in the Gulf of Mexico to retrieve artifacts from the submerged ship.
He can only imagine what de Luna and his men would think of his modern-day exploration.
“I don't know if they would be honoured that we are out here digging up their stuff or if they would be embarrassed that their technology, their efforts at colonization, failed,” he said.
The two shipwrecks off Pensacola are the second-oldest discovered in U.S. waters. The oldest are a fleet of 1554 merchant ships that sank off Padre Island, Tex.
The West Florida archeology team has brought more than 800 artifacts from the new de Luna site to the surface, including pieces of olive jars used to transport food and wine, chunks of the ship's wood frame, cow bones, Spanish bricks and even tiny balls of mercury, used to extract gold from ore.
Of the 11 ships that departed from Veracruz, Mexico, on de Luna's expedition, seven ran aground in the water, one was blown ashore and three survived the storm, said John Bratten, a West Florida professor of maritime archeology.
Although the Spaniards kept detailed records of the ships and their contents, historians are uncertain which of the 11 ships the archeologists have discovered.
“We aren't sure how this ship fits into the picture of those seven ships that were lost in a hurricane. We do know this one is smaller than the 1992 ship,” he said.
What Mr. Bratten and others on the West Florida team also know is the significance of their work.
“A ship like this is what you hope to find in your career,” he said.
In the 15 years since the discovery of the first de Luna ship, researchers have scoured Pensacola Bay in hopes of finding the rest of the fleet.
Mr. Bratten and a team of students found the second ship during the last day of an archeological field school last fall, after students began bringing up ballast stones from the site. They continued to explore the site for months before its origins were confirmed.
At their laboratory on the university campus, Mr. Bratten and Judith Bense, director of the university's archeology program, display the side of a large olive jar, its inside coated with a bright green glaze to protect the honey or wine it likely carried.
Other artifacts from the dive site are carefully laid out in various states of preservation before they are placed into plastic bags, labelled and stored in bins under a careful cataloguing system.
Divers have explored only about 5 per cent of the shipwreck site, Dr.. Bense said.
But the long-term plan is for underwater archeologists to excavate less than 40 per cent of the site and leave the rest of the ship buried.
Because the artifacts have been buried and underwater for so long, it is best not to disturb them, she said.
Graduate student Cameron Fletcher dons his wet suit, picks up his scuba gear and waits his turn to dive to the wreck site.
Mr. Fletcher, who has made dives to the site for the last year, said he is amazed by the history of the de Luna expedition whenever he visits the piles of ballast stones and chunks of wood on the ocean floor.
He has found shiny obsidian stones at the wreck site that the Spaniards would have taken with them from Mexico.
“When I think that I was the first person to touch something in 500 years, it's kind of crazy to wrap your brain around that,” he said.
Cleopatra’s Underwater Kingdom
(from June 4) Cleopatra’s Underwater Kingdom
PHILADELPHIA — It may be best to dispel any illusions immediately. The only certain images we seem to have of the last queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, have no discernible resemblance to the painted faces of Elizabeth Taylor or Claudette Colbert or Sarah Bernhardt. Those visages can be contemplated with far more sensuous contentment than the Egyptian queen’s bulbous, knotty and eroded features stamped on gold coins from the first century B.C.
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Christoph Gerigk/Franck Goddio -- Hilti Foundation
“Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt”: A statue of a Ptolemaic king in this exhibition at the Franklin Institute. More Photos »
But by the time we see the cinematic, romanticized faces of Cleopatra from films and paintings in the final gallery of the new exhibition “Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt,” opening Saturday at the Franklin Institute here, we are prepared to acknowledge the virtue of at least some idealization. The wonder we feel is not at Cleopatra’s beauty (which Plutarch reports was “in itself not altogether incomparable”) but at the extraordinary cultural universe that preceded her and surrounded her before Egypt submitted to the Romans in 30 B.C. and Cleopatra — Egypt’s last pharaoh and the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty — committed suicide.
The exhibition is powerful. But that is not really because of Cleopatra; it is because a lost world is resurrected here. There are some 150 artifacts on display, and the vast majority were found buried in the silt and clay of the Bay of Aboukir, off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. Since 1992 those waters have been explored by Franck Goddio and his European Institute of Underwater Archaeology. Using a nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometer, Mr. Goddio mapped the geographic fault lines beneath the clouded waters and has brought to the surface a small fraction of what lies below.
He has identified the relics and ruins as remnants of the ancient cities of Canopus and Heracleion, submerged by tidal waves, earthquakes and wars; he has also discovered palaces and temples of the nearby eastern port of Alexandria, the city that the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great made his capital, and that Cleopatra imagined could rival Rome. The first half of the exhibition shimmers in atmospheric blue light, the artifacts accompanied by videos of their excavation by red-suited divers maneuvering through opaque waters.
The sense of a lost and mythical world brought into the half-light would be irrelevant, though, if the resurrected objects didn’t live up to the promise — and they do. We are led through a sequence of discoveries, coming to learn along the way how the Ptolemaic heirs to Alexander’s conquest created a hybrid religion and culture, Greek styles overlaying Egyptian allusions, transformed gods worshiped in new temples, ancient ideas given fresh, sensuous form.
Here, for example, from Canopus, is a great life-size head of the god Serapis that was mounted in his most famous temple; the Egyptian god Osiris with his healing powers is transmuted into a Grecian deity, his eroded face framed by flowing locks. The glories of Heracleion can be glimpsed in two towering 16-foot figures of pink granite: images of Ptolemaic royalty. And, even if we are not prepared to testify to Cleopatra’s beauty, here is a third century B.C. statue of a queen, whose draped garment is sculptured to seem translucent, clinging to the textured stone flesh, posing an unmatchable challenge to even the most idealized image of Cleopatra.
Mr. Goddio has also put these objects into a geographic and cultural context, assisted by the University of Pennsylvania Egyptologist and guest curator David Silverman (who is also curator of the Egyptology section of the Penn Museum, which is offering a ticket tie-in with the Franklin show). Mr. Goddio has found stone pieces that nearly complete earlier finds (one of which was acquired by the Louvre in 1817). When fit together, as is shown here, they form a naos — a stone shrine or ark that once held the temple god. Their carvings contain what may also be the world’s first astrological chart, along with a creation myth not found elsewhere.
Mr. Goddio has also mapped the submerged harbors of these once thriving cities and found that a canal linking Canopus and Heracleion that, he suggests, would have been used in a ritual watery journey paying homage to Osiris’s powers, connecting the newer religious celebrations with older beliefs in the centrality of the Nile. This was the realm within which Cleopatra (along with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony) moved.
But because this exhibition, like the King Tut show now in New York, is a production of Arts and Exhibitions International, which has specialized in large-scale cultural attractions, it is meant to attract big audiences both here and in other cities in the United States it is expected to visit after it leaves the Franklin Institute on Jan. 2; the National Geographic Society is also involved. So there is a certain amount of slick packaging that comes along with the substance. My biggest misgiving is a sense that Cleopatra herself is a lot less important to these discoveries than it seems here.
There are some traces attributed to her, of course, aside from gold coins with her less-than-sensuous profile. We see fragments of a papyrus, on loan from the Neues Museum in Berlin, that we are told shows Cleopatra’s own signature to a royal decree; she has written the Greek word “ginesthoi”: “make it happen.”
Enlarge This Image
Jerome Delafosse/Franck Goddio — Hilti Foundation
A diver encounters a sphinx during excavations in the Bay of Aboukir, off the coast of Alexandria. More Photos »
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Queen of the Nile
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Every visitor also gets an audio tour in which an actress speaking as Cleopatra recounts the oft-retold tale of her life and death while trying to explain the artifacts before us. Here too the temptation is to silence the story, which can end up distracting from the sights. It seems imposed on the actual objects rather than growing directly from their importance.
Cleopatra’s role also seems to be a bit overbearingly insisted upon in the last part of the exhibition, which is devoted to the excavations overseen by Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, whose patronage is required for any exploration of Egyptian antiquities.
Convinced by the arguments of the archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, Mr. Hawass says he believes that the tomb holding the remains of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra may lie not in Alexandria but in a temple near the city at Taposiris Magna. In a video he is far more definitive about the excavations there than the evidence we are shown fully justifies; more explanation is needed. But by that time there has already been enough justifiable excitement in the show, so suspicions of its inflation here do not really interfere. (Mr. Hawass may also be proven correct.)
Besides, though Cleopatra is the selling point, the catalog for the exhibition, along with Mr. Goddio’s discoveries, make it clear that notions of her beauty and power, and even Shakespeare’s imagining of her clasping the slithering poisonous adder to her breast, lulling her to sleep like a nurse sucking an infant, are representations not just of an individual but of something larger.
Cleopatra saw herself as the incarnation of a god, in this case of Isis, the sister of the murdered Osiris. She finds his body parts, which have been dispersed through Egypt’s waterways, pieces them together, brings him back to life, and ultimately gives birth to his child. It is an act combining creation, resurrection and procreation, and something of that creative spirit seems evident throughout the artifacts here. They are relics of an energetic hybrid culture that still inspires idealization.
In this show Mr. Goddio and his team have done something similar. Like Isis they have pieced together the scattered remnants of a long-lost world, resurrecting them from watery depths. In the process they have very nearly brought them back to life.
PHILADELPHIA — It may be best to dispel any illusions immediately. The only certain images we seem to have of the last queen of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, have no discernible resemblance to the painted faces of Elizabeth Taylor or Claudette Colbert or Sarah Bernhardt. Those visages can be contemplated with far more sensuous contentment than the Egyptian queen’s bulbous, knotty and eroded features stamped on gold coins from the first century B.C.
Multimedia
Slide Show
Queen of the Nile
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
Enlarge This Image
Christoph Gerigk/Franck Goddio -- Hilti Foundation
“Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt”: A statue of a Ptolemaic king in this exhibition at the Franklin Institute. More Photos »
But by the time we see the cinematic, romanticized faces of Cleopatra from films and paintings in the final gallery of the new exhibition “Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt,” opening Saturday at the Franklin Institute here, we are prepared to acknowledge the virtue of at least some idealization. The wonder we feel is not at Cleopatra’s beauty (which Plutarch reports was “in itself not altogether incomparable”) but at the extraordinary cultural universe that preceded her and surrounded her before Egypt submitted to the Romans in 30 B.C. and Cleopatra — Egypt’s last pharaoh and the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty — committed suicide.
The exhibition is powerful. But that is not really because of Cleopatra; it is because a lost world is resurrected here. There are some 150 artifacts on display, and the vast majority were found buried in the silt and clay of the Bay of Aboukir, off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. Since 1992 those waters have been explored by Franck Goddio and his European Institute of Underwater Archaeology. Using a nuclear magnetic resonance magnetometer, Mr. Goddio mapped the geographic fault lines beneath the clouded waters and has brought to the surface a small fraction of what lies below.
He has identified the relics and ruins as remnants of the ancient cities of Canopus and Heracleion, submerged by tidal waves, earthquakes and wars; he has also discovered palaces and temples of the nearby eastern port of Alexandria, the city that the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great made his capital, and that Cleopatra imagined could rival Rome. The first half of the exhibition shimmers in atmospheric blue light, the artifacts accompanied by videos of their excavation by red-suited divers maneuvering through opaque waters.
The sense of a lost and mythical world brought into the half-light would be irrelevant, though, if the resurrected objects didn’t live up to the promise — and they do. We are led through a sequence of discoveries, coming to learn along the way how the Ptolemaic heirs to Alexander’s conquest created a hybrid religion and culture, Greek styles overlaying Egyptian allusions, transformed gods worshiped in new temples, ancient ideas given fresh, sensuous form.
Here, for example, from Canopus, is a great life-size head of the god Serapis that was mounted in his most famous temple; the Egyptian god Osiris with his healing powers is transmuted into a Grecian deity, his eroded face framed by flowing locks. The glories of Heracleion can be glimpsed in two towering 16-foot figures of pink granite: images of Ptolemaic royalty. And, even if we are not prepared to testify to Cleopatra’s beauty, here is a third century B.C. statue of a queen, whose draped garment is sculptured to seem translucent, clinging to the textured stone flesh, posing an unmatchable challenge to even the most idealized image of Cleopatra.
Mr. Goddio has also put these objects into a geographic and cultural context, assisted by the University of Pennsylvania Egyptologist and guest curator David Silverman (who is also curator of the Egyptology section of the Penn Museum, which is offering a ticket tie-in with the Franklin show). Mr. Goddio has found stone pieces that nearly complete earlier finds (one of which was acquired by the Louvre in 1817). When fit together, as is shown here, they form a naos — a stone shrine or ark that once held the temple god. Their carvings contain what may also be the world’s first astrological chart, along with a creation myth not found elsewhere.
Mr. Goddio has also mapped the submerged harbors of these once thriving cities and found that a canal linking Canopus and Heracleion that, he suggests, would have been used in a ritual watery journey paying homage to Osiris’s powers, connecting the newer religious celebrations with older beliefs in the centrality of the Nile. This was the realm within which Cleopatra (along with Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony) moved.
But because this exhibition, like the King Tut show now in New York, is a production of Arts and Exhibitions International, which has specialized in large-scale cultural attractions, it is meant to attract big audiences both here and in other cities in the United States it is expected to visit after it leaves the Franklin Institute on Jan. 2; the National Geographic Society is also involved. So there is a certain amount of slick packaging that comes along with the substance. My biggest misgiving is a sense that Cleopatra herself is a lot less important to these discoveries than it seems here.
There are some traces attributed to her, of course, aside from gold coins with her less-than-sensuous profile. We see fragments of a papyrus, on loan from the Neues Museum in Berlin, that we are told shows Cleopatra’s own signature to a royal decree; she has written the Greek word “ginesthoi”: “make it happen.”
Enlarge This Image
Jerome Delafosse/Franck Goddio — Hilti Foundation
A diver encounters a sphinx during excavations in the Bay of Aboukir, off the coast of Alexandria. More Photos »
Multimedia
Slide Show
Queen of the Nile
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
Every visitor also gets an audio tour in which an actress speaking as Cleopatra recounts the oft-retold tale of her life and death while trying to explain the artifacts before us. Here too the temptation is to silence the story, which can end up distracting from the sights. It seems imposed on the actual objects rather than growing directly from their importance.
Cleopatra’s role also seems to be a bit overbearingly insisted upon in the last part of the exhibition, which is devoted to the excavations overseen by Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, whose patronage is required for any exploration of Egyptian antiquities.
Convinced by the arguments of the archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, Mr. Hawass says he believes that the tomb holding the remains of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra may lie not in Alexandria but in a temple near the city at Taposiris Magna. In a video he is far more definitive about the excavations there than the evidence we are shown fully justifies; more explanation is needed. But by that time there has already been enough justifiable excitement in the show, so suspicions of its inflation here do not really interfere. (Mr. Hawass may also be proven correct.)
Besides, though Cleopatra is the selling point, the catalog for the exhibition, along with Mr. Goddio’s discoveries, make it clear that notions of her beauty and power, and even Shakespeare’s imagining of her clasping the slithering poisonous adder to her breast, lulling her to sleep like a nurse sucking an infant, are representations not just of an individual but of something larger.
Cleopatra saw herself as the incarnation of a god, in this case of Isis, the sister of the murdered Osiris. She finds his body parts, which have been dispersed through Egypt’s waterways, pieces them together, brings him back to life, and ultimately gives birth to his child. It is an act combining creation, resurrection and procreation, and something of that creative spirit seems evident throughout the artifacts here. They are relics of an energetic hybrid culture that still inspires idealization.
In this show Mr. Goddio and his team have done something similar. Like Isis they have pieced together the scattered remnants of a long-lost world, resurrecting them from watery depths. In the process they have very nearly brought them back to life.
Philadelphia exhibit attempts to unravel the mystery of Cleopatra
From USA Today: Philadelphia exhibit attempts to unravel the mystery of Cleopatra
By Maria Puente, USA TODAY
It's one of those ironies of history that Cleopatra, the last pharaoh queen of Egypt, is still the most famous 2,000 years later, even though she wasn't actually Egyptian nor even a legitimate ruler.
Depicted in history as cunning, seductive, ruthless, powerful and power-hungry, Cleopatra remains a compelling yet mysterious figure to this day.
So it won't be a surprise if the new exhibit, Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, opening at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia June 5, packs them in, despite ticket prices as high as $30.
The exhibit presenters, who also organized the two recent King Tut exhibits now winding down a U.S. tour, promise an "experiential" show featuring the latest in high-tech, high-def, high-drama exhibit presentation. For instance, in one of the galleries, a glass floor will allow visitors to seemingly walk over the ocean floor where archaeologists are at work.
"We know little about Cleopatra — she was beautiful and powerful, but what else?" says Mark Lach, an exhibit designer and a vice president of Arts and Exhibitions International, one of the organizers along with National Geographic and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology.
And yet, "Cleopatra was always a star," says Sharon Simpson, a writer and historian for the exhibit.
The Romans were fascinated with her, Simpson says, even as they tried to destroy all evidence of her existence. Over the centuries she has been alternately worshipped or condemned throughout the West and the Middle East, a permanent cultural icon and the subject of innumerable paintings, books, plays, movies.
"Of course, part of her staying power is that she was associated with two of the most powerful men of her day, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony," Simpson says. "Something (about her) attracted these guys."
But what? We don't even know if she was actually beautiful (few authentic likenesses survive, mostly on coins, and they aren't too impressive). The exhibit will attempt to shed more light on this enigmatic queen.
The show will feature more than 250 artifacts, from gold pieces and coins to colossal statues more than 15 feet tall, uncovered in recent years from the ongoing search for Cleopatra, whose grave or tomb has never been found. One set of archaeologists is looking for her last resting place at a desert site west of Alexandria, Egypt. Another group of underwater archaeologists is searching the waters off the Mediterranean coast near Alexandria; since 1996, they've found her royal palace along with two ancient cities that had been lost beneath the sea for centuries after a series of earthquakes and tidal waves.
"It's an opportunity to bring two archaeological pursuits together, a first of its kind," says Lach.
Cleopatra (c. 69 B.C.-30 B.C.) is so famous she is rarely referred to by her official title Cleopatra VII (she was the seventh queen of that name). But she wasn't Egyptian, she was Macedonian Greek, a descendant of one of Alexander the Great's generals, Ptolemy, who took power as pharaoh 300 years earlier.
The Greek pharaohs adopted Egypt's religion and customs, including the peculiar royal custom in which a pharaoh married his sister in order to rule. Cleopatra initially was co-ruler with her younger brother, but she eventually got rid of him and took power on her own, becoming one of the few female pharaohs in Egypt's long, long history.
Then, in an attempt to preserve Egypt's waning power in the ancient world, she took on Rome, first by seducing Caesar and producing children by him, and later by seducing Antony (producing twins) and enlisting him in her campaign to beat Rome. But it all came to tears: Defeated by Octavian, the future Roman Emperor Augustus, Cleopatra and Antony both committed suicide on Aug. 12, 30 B.C. (though not in the same place). She was briefly outlived by her son with Caesar, Caesarian, but Octavian had him killed, the 3,000-plus-year pharaonic system fell, and Egypt became a province under Roman rule.
The exhibit will continue at the Franklin Institute through Jan. 11, 2011. Ticket prices will range from $11 for children up to $29.50 for adults on weekends. These prices are higher than the typical museum entrance fee, but the cost to insure antiquities is high, plus Egypt will get the lion's share of the ticket sales to use for museum building.
The show is also expected to travel to other U.S. cities, as the King Tut exhibits did.
Information on tickets is available at 877-834-8497 or fi.edu
By Maria Puente, USA TODAY
It's one of those ironies of history that Cleopatra, the last pharaoh queen of Egypt, is still the most famous 2,000 years later, even though she wasn't actually Egyptian nor even a legitimate ruler.
Depicted in history as cunning, seductive, ruthless, powerful and power-hungry, Cleopatra remains a compelling yet mysterious figure to this day.
So it won't be a surprise if the new exhibit, Cleopatra: The Search for the Last Queen of Egypt, opening at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia June 5, packs them in, despite ticket prices as high as $30.
The exhibit presenters, who also organized the two recent King Tut exhibits now winding down a U.S. tour, promise an "experiential" show featuring the latest in high-tech, high-def, high-drama exhibit presentation. For instance, in one of the galleries, a glass floor will allow visitors to seemingly walk over the ocean floor where archaeologists are at work.
"We know little about Cleopatra — she was beautiful and powerful, but what else?" says Mark Lach, an exhibit designer and a vice president of Arts and Exhibitions International, one of the organizers along with National Geographic and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology.
And yet, "Cleopatra was always a star," says Sharon Simpson, a writer and historian for the exhibit.
The Romans were fascinated with her, Simpson says, even as they tried to destroy all evidence of her existence. Over the centuries she has been alternately worshipped or condemned throughout the West and the Middle East, a permanent cultural icon and the subject of innumerable paintings, books, plays, movies.
"Of course, part of her staying power is that she was associated with two of the most powerful men of her day, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony," Simpson says. "Something (about her) attracted these guys."
But what? We don't even know if she was actually beautiful (few authentic likenesses survive, mostly on coins, and they aren't too impressive). The exhibit will attempt to shed more light on this enigmatic queen.
The show will feature more than 250 artifacts, from gold pieces and coins to colossal statues more than 15 feet tall, uncovered in recent years from the ongoing search for Cleopatra, whose grave or tomb has never been found. One set of archaeologists is looking for her last resting place at a desert site west of Alexandria, Egypt. Another group of underwater archaeologists is searching the waters off the Mediterranean coast near Alexandria; since 1996, they've found her royal palace along with two ancient cities that had been lost beneath the sea for centuries after a series of earthquakes and tidal waves.
"It's an opportunity to bring two archaeological pursuits together, a first of its kind," says Lach.
Cleopatra (c. 69 B.C.-30 B.C.) is so famous she is rarely referred to by her official title Cleopatra VII (she was the seventh queen of that name). But she wasn't Egyptian, she was Macedonian Greek, a descendant of one of Alexander the Great's generals, Ptolemy, who took power as pharaoh 300 years earlier.
The Greek pharaohs adopted Egypt's religion and customs, including the peculiar royal custom in which a pharaoh married his sister in order to rule. Cleopatra initially was co-ruler with her younger brother, but she eventually got rid of him and took power on her own, becoming one of the few female pharaohs in Egypt's long, long history.
Then, in an attempt to preserve Egypt's waning power in the ancient world, she took on Rome, first by seducing Caesar and producing children by him, and later by seducing Antony (producing twins) and enlisting him in her campaign to beat Rome. But it all came to tears: Defeated by Octavian, the future Roman Emperor Augustus, Cleopatra and Antony both committed suicide on Aug. 12, 30 B.C. (though not in the same place). She was briefly outlived by her son with Caesar, Caesarian, but Octavian had him killed, the 3,000-plus-year pharaonic system fell, and Egypt became a province under Roman rule.
The exhibit will continue at the Franklin Institute through Jan. 11, 2011. Ticket prices will range from $11 for children up to $29.50 for adults on weekends. These prices are higher than the typical museum entrance fee, but the cost to insure antiquities is high, plus Egypt will get the lion's share of the ticket sales to use for museum building.
The show is also expected to travel to other U.S. cities, as the King Tut exhibits did.
Information on tickets is available at 877-834-8497 or fi.edu
Monday, June 7, 2010
Geocaching: High Tech Treasure Hunting In Central Ohio
Below is a video on Geocaching. Kindle users won't be able to see it.
I'll make it up to ya tomorrow!
I'll make it up to ya tomorrow!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Attempt to hunt treasure using machinery thwarted in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan newspaper, Columbo Page: Attempt to hunt treasure using machinery thwarted in Sri Lanka
Jun 06, Colombo: Sri Lanka police arrested ten persons on suspicion of treasure hunting in the Girihadu Seya Chaithya premise in the Trincomalee district of the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka.
Kuchchveli police said the suspects were arrested on a tip off as they were preparing to excavate the shrine vicinity using a backhoe machine.
The suspects were to be produced before the Kuchchaveli magistrate today.
Girihadu Seya situated in Thiriyaya, 45 kilometeres northwest of Trincomalee, is considered Sri Lanka's first pagoda. According to Mahawansa Chronicle, two merchants called Thapassu and Balluka built this pagoda enshrining a lock of Buddha's hair while he was alive.
Tamil Tiger terrorists during their occupation of the area destroyed most of the temple structures after they chased away the resident Buddhist monks from the premises.
In a separate incident Muthur police of the Eastern Province arrested three suspects who were treasure hunting in a rock in Pachchanur area.
Jun 06, Colombo: Sri Lanka police arrested ten persons on suspicion of treasure hunting in the Girihadu Seya Chaithya premise in the Trincomalee district of the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka.
Kuchchveli police said the suspects were arrested on a tip off as they were preparing to excavate the shrine vicinity using a backhoe machine.
The suspects were to be produced before the Kuchchaveli magistrate today.
Girihadu Seya situated in Thiriyaya, 45 kilometeres northwest of Trincomalee, is considered Sri Lanka's first pagoda. According to Mahawansa Chronicle, two merchants called Thapassu and Balluka built this pagoda enshrining a lock of Buddha's hair while he was alive.
Tamil Tiger terrorists during their occupation of the area destroyed most of the temple structures after they chased away the resident Buddhist monks from the premises.
In a separate incident Muthur police of the Eastern Province arrested three suspects who were treasure hunting in a rock in Pachchanur area.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
TCM Celebrates Jacques Cousteau's 100th anniversary throughout June
Lots of great underwater movie adventures (tonight was the silent The Mysterious Island, James Mason's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and Robert Ryan's Captain Nemo and the Underwater City.)
Every Friday, they'll be showing nautical fare.
June 11 - the whole day will be given over to Jacques Cousteau's documentaries:
Other deep-sea adventures include Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), filmed in CinemaScope off the coast of Florida by Edward Cronjager, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his beautiful and innovative underwater photography, and two more Verne adventures, Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and MGM’s Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969). Also included is the original Flipper (1963), which brought wide public interest to the dolphin, a marine mammal that Cousteau championed in his writings and photography.
June 11 - scheduled
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: The Nile - Part One
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: The Nile - Part Two
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for Atlantis - Part One
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for Atlantis - Part Two
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Time Bomb at Fifty Thousand Fathoms
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Mediterranean - Cradle or Coffin?
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for the Britannic
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Diving for Roman Plunder
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Blind Prophets of Easter Island
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Clipperton - the Island that Time Forgot
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Lost Relics of the Sea
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: The Warm Blooded Sea - Mammals of the Deep
Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Sharks ('68)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Whales ('68)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Sunken Treasure ('69)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Water Planet ('70)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Sound of Dolphins ('72)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Flight of the Penguins ('74)
Every Friday, they'll be showing nautical fare.
June 11 - the whole day will be given over to Jacques Cousteau's documentaries:
The Cousteau birthday itself, June 11, includes a twenty-hour marathon of documentaries in which he participated. All are TCM premieres, including six episodes of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau dating from 1968 to 1974, and twelve episodes of The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey, an Emmy-nominated 1977 television series featuring the research adventures of the man called “the public conscience of mankind’s stewardship of our oceans.”as scuba divers who find buried treasure off the Bermuda coast, has gorgeous underwater cinematography by Christopher Challis — worthy of Cousteau himself — that features a variety of exotic aquatic life including moray eels, puffer fish and tiger sharks.
Also premiering is an award-winning documentary about Cousteau. Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years (1986), directed by John Soh and narrated by Jose Ferrer, documents the explorer's life from birth and childhood to his 75th birthday.
The remainder of the TCM tribute is composed of sea-themed movies from other directors, ranging from Lucien Hubbard’s The Mysterious Island (1929), adapted from a Jules Verne story, to the TCM premiere of Peter Yates’ The Deep (1977), adapted by Peter Benchley from his novel. The latter film, starring Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset
Other deep-sea adventures include Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), filmed in CinemaScope off the coast of Florida by Edward Cronjager, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his beautiful and innovative underwater photography, and two more Verne adventures, Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and MGM’s Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969). Also included is the original Flipper (1963), which brought wide public interest to the dolphin, a marine mammal that Cousteau championed in his writings and photography.
June 11 - scheduled
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: The Nile - Part One
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: The Nile - Part Two
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for Atlantis - Part One
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for Atlantis - Part Two
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Time Bomb at Fifty Thousand Fathoms
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Mediterranean - Cradle or Coffin?
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Calypso's Search for the Britannic
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Diving for Roman Plunder
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Blind Prophets of Easter Island
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Clipperton - the Island that Time Forgot
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: Lost Relics of the Sea
The Jacques Cousteau Odyssey: The Warm Blooded Sea - Mammals of the Deep
Jacques Cousteau: The First 75 Years
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Sharks ('68)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Whales ('68)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: Sunken Treasure ('69)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Water Planet ('70)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Sound of Dolphins ('72)
The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau: The Flight of the Penguins ('74)
Thursday, June 3, 2010
N.C. shipwreck deemed older than originally estimated
From Pilot Online: N.C. shipwreck deemed older than originally estimated
By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
COROLLA, N.C.
A shipwreck exposed in December by winter storms could date back to shipping between England and Jamestown in the early 1600s.
Possibly the oldest known wreck on the North Carolina coast, the timbers and construction of the ship are very similar to the Sea Venture, the 1609 flagship of a set of vessels carrying people and supplies to Jamestown, said Bradley A. Rodgers, a professor of archaeology and conservation in the maritime studies program at East Carolina University.
Remains of the Sea Venture rest off the Bermuda coast.
North Carolina underwater archaeologists and maritime history experts and students from ECU have documented, sampled and measured the 12-ton remains since they were towed from the surf to rest on a lot near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.
Plans are to transport them 90 miles down N.C. 12 to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras for long term display.
“It has a very unusual design,” Rodgers said. “We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw that thing.”
Now, an ECU graduate will take on the historical research as part of his thesis, Rodgers said. Records of the time are sparse. More than likely details will be found in the Public Record Office in London, Rodgers said.
“It’s going to be a detective story now,” Rodgers said. “He’s going to have to follow every lead he can.”
By Jeff Hampton
The Virginian-Pilot
COROLLA, N.C.
A shipwreck exposed in December by winter storms could date back to shipping between England and Jamestown in the early 1600s.
Possibly the oldest known wreck on the North Carolina coast, the timbers and construction of the ship are very similar to the Sea Venture, the 1609 flagship of a set of vessels carrying people and supplies to Jamestown, said Bradley A. Rodgers, a professor of archaeology and conservation in the maritime studies program at East Carolina University.
Remains of the Sea Venture rest off the Bermuda coast.
North Carolina underwater archaeologists and maritime history experts and students from ECU have documented, sampled and measured the 12-ton remains since they were towed from the surf to rest on a lot near the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.
Plans are to transport them 90 miles down N.C. 12 to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras for long term display.
“It has a very unusual design,” Rodgers said. “We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw that thing.”
Now, an ECU graduate will take on the historical research as part of his thesis, Rodgers said. Records of the time are sparse. More than likely details will be found in the Public Record Office in London, Rodgers said.
“It’s going to be a detective story now,” Rodgers said. “He’s going to have to follow every lead he can.”
Odyssey Marine's Odyssey - Continued (Press Release)
Additional "Black Swan" Briefs Support Odyssey Marine Exploration's Legal Position in Appeal
June 3, 2010- Several additional appellate briefs and amicus briefs have been filed with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Odyssey Marine Exploration’s (NasdaqCM:OMEX) “Black Swan” case. The filings support Odyssey’s argument that the trial court erred in dismissing the case because the recovered coins did not belong to Spain and therefore do not qualify for sovereign immunity, Spain did not have possession of the coins, and sovereign immunity only applies to vessels exclusively on a non-commercial mission.
Among the briefs were two separate filings by groups of descendants whose ancestors owned the cargo shipped aboard the Mercedes. The trial court actually missed the basis of their claims calling them “descendants of those aboard the Mercedes.” The trial court, the descendants argue, also missed the fact that no vessel was found at the site and that in any event, property rights to cargo are distinct from the rights to the vessel.
An amicus brief (a filing by a “friend of the court” not a party to the case) was also filed by a congressional delegation led by Congressman Gus Bilirakis. That filing clarifies relevant legislation in the case and asserts that if the Mercedes was on a commercial mission at the time of its demise, as all evidence proves, that vessel should indeed be subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts.
“We are very pleased that Congressman Bilirakis and the other members of Congress who submitted this brief understand the dangerous implications of the district court’s decision here,” said Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey’s Vice President and General Counsel. “If any foreign vessel is allowed to escape the jurisdiction of our courts regardless of its mission or the cargo it carries, there could be grave environmental consequences and national security ramifications. It is very clear that only warships on strictly non-commercial missions are meant to enjoy sovereign immunity, and we feel confident that the Eleventh Circuit will confirm that.”
Additional signatories to the brief include: Congressman Bill Young, ranking Republican Member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Congressman Connie Mack, Congressman Vern Buchannan, Congressman Thomas J. Rooney, and Congressman Thaddeus McCotter.
The Historical Shipwreck Salvage Political Action Committee, joined by the Institute of Marine Archaeological Conservation and Fathom Exploration, Inc., also submitted an amicus brief arguing that if the trial court’s decision stands it could mean the end of archaeologically sound shipwreck recovery and conservation because salvors would have no incentive to properly document their finds or give notice to parties with potential interest. They echo the praise of Odyssey submitted by some of the descendant claimants as, “dedicated professionals who set the highest standards for maritime salvage and archaeology of deep water wrecks…Without the continuing courageous efforts of Odyssey there would be no benefit to the claimants and perhaps of greater importance no benefit to the public.”
Peru has also filed an appeal of the trial court’s ruling, as has a Florida doctor claiming to have historical contractual rights to any property in Florida owned by Spain. All appellants argue that because the court did not conduct a hearing on any of the issues, there was a violation of due process.
In addition, an independent analysis of the district court’s decision was published in The American Society of International Law’s Cultural Heritage & Arts Review providing a good summary of the status of the case and pointing out the many flaws of the court’s factual findings and legal analysis. The article is available for download here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1619330
The appellate and amicus briefs are available on Odyssey’s website at http://www.shipwreck.net/blackswanlegal.php
About the “Black Swan”
In May 2007, Odyssey announced the discovery of the "Black Swan," a Colonial-period site located in the Atlantic Ocean which yielded over 500,000 silver coins weighing more than 17 tons, hundreds of gold coins, worked gold, and other artifacts. Odyssey completed an extensive pre-disturbance survey of the "Black Swan" site, which included recording over 14,000 digital still images which were used to create a photomosaic of the site, which is larger than 6 football fields.
The coins and artifacts were brought into the United States with a valid export license, and imported legally pursuant to US Law. Odyssey brought the artifacts under the jurisdiction of the US Federal Court by filing an Admiralty arrest action. This procedure allows any legitimate claimants with an interest in the property to make a claim. For more information on the "Black Swan", visit www.shipwreck.net/blackswan.php.
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.
For details on the Odyssey's activities and its commitment to the preservation of maritime heritage please visit www.shipwreck.net.
Odyssey Marine Exploration believes the information set forth in this Press Release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
June 3, 2010- Several additional appellate briefs and amicus briefs have been filed with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Odyssey Marine Exploration’s (NasdaqCM:OMEX) “Black Swan” case. The filings support Odyssey’s argument that the trial court erred in dismissing the case because the recovered coins did not belong to Spain and therefore do not qualify for sovereign immunity, Spain did not have possession of the coins, and sovereign immunity only applies to vessels exclusively on a non-commercial mission.
Among the briefs were two separate filings by groups of descendants whose ancestors owned the cargo shipped aboard the Mercedes. The trial court actually missed the basis of their claims calling them “descendants of those aboard the Mercedes.” The trial court, the descendants argue, also missed the fact that no vessel was found at the site and that in any event, property rights to cargo are distinct from the rights to the vessel.
An amicus brief (a filing by a “friend of the court” not a party to the case) was also filed by a congressional delegation led by Congressman Gus Bilirakis. That filing clarifies relevant legislation in the case and asserts that if the Mercedes was on a commercial mission at the time of its demise, as all evidence proves, that vessel should indeed be subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts.
“We are very pleased that Congressman Bilirakis and the other members of Congress who submitted this brief understand the dangerous implications of the district court’s decision here,” said Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey’s Vice President and General Counsel. “If any foreign vessel is allowed to escape the jurisdiction of our courts regardless of its mission or the cargo it carries, there could be grave environmental consequences and national security ramifications. It is very clear that only warships on strictly non-commercial missions are meant to enjoy sovereign immunity, and we feel confident that the Eleventh Circuit will confirm that.”
Additional signatories to the brief include: Congressman Bill Young, ranking Republican Member on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, Congressman Connie Mack, Congressman Vern Buchannan, Congressman Thomas J. Rooney, and Congressman Thaddeus McCotter.
The Historical Shipwreck Salvage Political Action Committee, joined by the Institute of Marine Archaeological Conservation and Fathom Exploration, Inc., also submitted an amicus brief arguing that if the trial court’s decision stands it could mean the end of archaeologically sound shipwreck recovery and conservation because salvors would have no incentive to properly document their finds or give notice to parties with potential interest. They echo the praise of Odyssey submitted by some of the descendant claimants as, “dedicated professionals who set the highest standards for maritime salvage and archaeology of deep water wrecks…Without the continuing courageous efforts of Odyssey there would be no benefit to the claimants and perhaps of greater importance no benefit to the public.”
Peru has also filed an appeal of the trial court’s ruling, as has a Florida doctor claiming to have historical contractual rights to any property in Florida owned by Spain. All appellants argue that because the court did not conduct a hearing on any of the issues, there was a violation of due process.
In addition, an independent analysis of the district court’s decision was published in The American Society of International Law’s Cultural Heritage & Arts Review providing a good summary of the status of the case and pointing out the many flaws of the court’s factual findings and legal analysis. The article is available for download here: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1619330
The appellate and amicus briefs are available on Odyssey’s website at http://www.shipwreck.net/blackswanlegal.php
About the “Black Swan”
In May 2007, Odyssey announced the discovery of the "Black Swan," a Colonial-period site located in the Atlantic Ocean which yielded over 500,000 silver coins weighing more than 17 tons, hundreds of gold coins, worked gold, and other artifacts. Odyssey completed an extensive pre-disturbance survey of the "Black Swan" site, which included recording over 14,000 digital still images which were used to create a photomosaic of the site, which is larger than 6 football fields.
The coins and artifacts were brought into the United States with a valid export license, and imported legally pursuant to US Law. Odyssey brought the artifacts under the jurisdiction of the US Federal Court by filing an Admiralty arrest action. This procedure allows any legitimate claimants with an interest in the property to make a claim. For more information on the "Black Swan", visit www.shipwreck.net/blackswan.php.
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.
For details on the Odyssey's activities and its commitment to the preservation of maritime heritage please visit www.shipwreck.net.
Odyssey Marine Exploration believes the information set forth in this Press Release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934. Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Hunter's Club helps scouts find treasure
From Quad-City Times: Hunter's Club helps scouts find treasure
The deck was stacked — so to speak — but that didn’t stop Girl Scout Troop 6521 from “discovering” treasures such as coins Saturday at Camp Oakwood, Buffalo, Iowa. Illinois and Iowa Treasure Hunter’s Club hid “treasures” and taught the girls the basics of finding them with metal detectors. The girls also got a chance to hear the history of metal detectors and a brief overview of how they work. Members of the Treasure Hunter’s Club told stories of their lucky finds, such as a multi-karat diamond ring with sapphires that was appraised at $9,000.
The deck was stacked — so to speak — but that didn’t stop Girl Scout Troop 6521 from “discovering” treasures such as coins Saturday at Camp Oakwood, Buffalo, Iowa. Illinois and Iowa Treasure Hunter’s Club hid “treasures” and taught the girls the basics of finding them with metal detectors. The girls also got a chance to hear the history of metal detectors and a brief overview of how they work. Members of the Treasure Hunter’s Club told stories of their lucky finds, such as a multi-karat diamond ring with sapphires that was appraised at $9,000.
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