Mystic Aquarium

Sea Research Foundation’s Institute for Exploration team had a successful return to the Aegean and Black seas in August 2009, discovering five shipwreck sites around the Datca peninsula, south of Knidos, Turkey, from aboard the new E/V Nautilus.

The team made dives on 10 sonar targets, five of which were the ancient shipwrecks. Two Byzantine wrecks, Knidos A and Knidos C, consisted of large amphora piles. Based on the ceramic vessel types, the team dates these wrecks back to the 5th and 7th centuries. A smaller amphora wreck, Knidos B, is from the late Classical Greek period. Knidos D is from the Hellenistic period and consists primarily of a ballast stone pile with a few broken amphora scattered about the site. The last, Knidos E, is an Ottoman wreck which, in addition to assorted bronze and ceramic vessels, contains glass and concrete iron artifacts, including two large anchors. The team also documented a scattering of isolated artifacts - most likely part of an ancient trade route - while following a 200-meter line south of the peninsula.

Based on these findings, the team has concluded that the area is a prime region for locating and documenting ancient shipwreck sites in deep water. In addition, the team made several technological discoveries. First, the new EdgeTech sonar helped fine-tune what ancient shipwrecks look like on sonar, providing them a better understanding of how to interpret sonar images. Second, the new sensory equipment on the remotely-operated vehicle Hercules provided high-quality, high-resolution imagery of the shipwrecks, allowing the team to better interpret the sites and their formation. The team used this new system to image two Roman shipwrecks, Yalivak I and II, located during the 2008 expedition near Yalivak, Turkey, as well as Cavus Adasi II and III, also discovered in 2008.

In June 2010, the team will return to the Black Sea to kick off a six-month expedition that ends in the Indian Ocean in December.

The National Office of Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Ocean Exploration, Institute for Nautical Archaeology, University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, the Center for Ocean Exploration and Archaeological Oceanography at URI and the Ocean Exploration Trust were all sponsors and/or participants in this expedition.