Over the ages, humans have long been fascinated by the sea, the creatures that inhabit the dark waters, and what has become of the many ships that now lie beneath the waves. A multi-disciplinary team has ventured into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico to find out.

The 18-day research mission investigated the long-term effect of manmade structures on the deep sea and, conversely, the effect of the environment on those structures. The group, overseen by the MMS, departed Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on July 29 aboard Sonsub's HOS Dominator.

The MMS, in partnership with NOAA's office of Ocean Exploration (OE), under the auspices of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), contracted C&C Technologies to conduct the research. MMS is provided $350,000 toward research costs and NOAA OE funded the ship time, a deepwater ROV, and personnel for both, all provided by Houston-based offshore contractor Sonsub.

Balancing Biology and Archaeology
The study had two separate but equally important objectives: an archaeological objective and a biological objective. The archaeological objective was to document the wreck sites being investigated as historic properties significant to American history. The biological component of this study approached the question, "Do manmade structures, such as shipwrecks, function as artificial reefs in deepwater?"

In the Gulf of Mexico, converting offshore oil and gas structures into artificial reefs on the continental shelf has been accepted as a benefit to fisheries. However, regarding the deeper waters beyond the shelf, additional information is needed about the significance of a deep-sea artificial reef effect.

"The Gulf is the ideal laboratory for this study because of the number of steel-hulled ships that were casualties of World War II," explained Rob Church, C&C Technologies' project manager for the study. The Gulf represents one of the greatest concentrations of Allied vessels lost to German U-boats anywhere in the world, with 56 ships sunk in 1942 and early 1943.

According to MMS Marine Archaeologist Dr. Jack Irion, "Seven of these vessels, located during oil and gas surveys that are required by MMS, were selected for this study because they represent a range of depths - from 280 to 6,500 feet (85 to 1,970m) - and carried a variety of cargoes. Because the range of water depths represent different ecological niches and most of the vessels were sunk within a few months of one another, the wrecks offer a unique opportunity to study the artificial reef effect in differing depths after a period of 60 years."

In addition to the biological studies, the vessels were documented and studied as historic sites for potential nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.Biologists on the mission studied the environment at each site in an attempt to determine what effect each shipwreck had on the seafloor biology - the artificial reef effect. They looked at how the sediments have been modified by microbes in the immediate vicinity of the wreck sites, compared to sediments farther from the sites.

With this information, the scientists hope to determine how tiny microbes cause the slow disintegration of steel structures at great depths, how the cargoes the ships carried might affect the rate of disintegration and how the biological communities might change as the ships deteriorate. In the end, the scientists hope to learn how manmade structures on the seafloor might act to enhance or detract from their environment.

An All-Star Team
The prime contractor for this study, C&C Technologies, of Lafayette, Louisiana, is a leader in the field of marine geophysical surveys and responsible for the discovery of many of the wrecks included in this study. The C&C Technologies crew was not only joined by a capable bunch from Sonsub, but a team of world-renowned scientists in the fields of microbiology and marine invertebrate and vertebrate zoologists.

This impressive roster included Dr. Roy Cullimore of Droycon Bioconcepts (Canada), whose previous research includes microbial analyses of the RMS Titanic and, the DKM Bismarck, and the HMHS Britannic. Dr. William Schroeder is a senior marine scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and a University of Alabama professor. Dr. Thomas Shirley is a professor of invertebrate biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Dr. William Patterson is an assistant professor of marine vertebrate zoology at the University of West Florida.

Study Results
The results of this study will have a significant outreach and education component, overseen by Dr. Annalies Corbin, executive director of the PAST Foundation and assistant professor of nautical archaeology at East Carolina University. A full curriculum based on each component of the mission will be available to all educational institutions in a downloadable format via the PAST Foundation website. Included will be an interactive site, www.pastfoundation.org/DeepWrecks, spearheaded by Andrew Hall. The mission will also spawn a documentary film to be produced by award-winning filmmaker Dr. Dennis Aig, professor of media and theatre arts at Montana State University - Bozeman.

"This field study was an exciting opportunity for all participants," says John McDonough, project coordinator at NOAA OE. "We believe this joint effort will expand our knowledge in areas such as the management and preservation of historic shipwrecks and other submerged cultural resources. At the same time, this expedition used ocean exploration and interdisciplinary oceanographic research to capture the public's imagination with the message that we have a great deal to learn about Earth's oceans and their effect on our lives."