Wrecks and reefs

National Park Service News Release

For Immediate Release:: March 7, 2011
Contact: Cyndy Holda, Public Affairs Specialist, 252- 473-2111, ext. 148

Know Your Park: Wrecks and Reefs of the Battle of the Atlantic
Presentations to be held at the Fessenden Center in Buxton and the Ocracoke
Community Center.

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science
program series continues with presentations from nautical archeologist Dr.
Nathan Richards on Monday, March 14th at the Fessenden Center in Buxton at
7:30 p.m.; and education specialist/researcher John McCord on Tuesday,
March 15th at the Ocracoke Community Center at 7:30 p.m. These programs
are free and will last approximately 1 hour.

The presentations will focus on recent the recent research and filming of
German U-boats and Allied and merchant vessels sunk during WWII off of the
Outer Banks. In addition to locating and documenting these shipwrecks, the
Battle of the Atlantic research team has been collecting data on the fish
and other marine life that live on the reefs now growing on the sunken
vessels. Using a super high-resolution video camera, the research team
shot digital video of a variety of these shipwreck sites ton dives ranging
from 80 to 250 feet. The video was recorded in 4096x2048-pixel
resolution—about four times better than the best high definition television
picture—giving the researchers an incredibly clear view of the details of
the shipwrecks and the abundant marine inhabitants.

Dr. Nathan Richards, an assistant professor of Maritime Studies at East
Carolina, is also head of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Coastal
Studies Institute's Maritime Heritage Program. Dr. Richards specializes in
maritime history and nautical archaeology. He has an interest in
non-traditional subjects in maritime archaeology focusing on non-shipwreck
sites such as ship graveyards, the archaeology of harbor infrastructure,
and maritime terrestrial sites.

John McCord is the Education Programs Coordinator for the UNC Coastal
Studies Institute. As part of Battle of the Atlantic expedition team,
McCord filmed much of the high-resolution video.

For the last three years Richards, McCord, and other researchers from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, East Carolina University,
and the UNC Coastal Studies Institute have worked with the Minerals
Management Service, the National Park Service, and the state of North
Carolina to document the Battle of the Atlantic. The multi-year project
will result in detailed site plans of the shipwreck sites, documentation of
the diverse marine life that live on and near the wrecks, and documentation
of the degradation of the vessels caused by humans and the environment.

In 1942, the Germans aimed to sink U.S. merchant ships that were carrying
supplies to England. U.S. and Royal Navy ships patrolled the coast to
protect them and, when necessary, take on the Germans. One of the most
overlooked engagements of World War II, this battle claimed 80 ships and
hundreds of lives.

The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further
connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural
world and cultural heritage of their neighboring national park sites; Cape
Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial, and Fort
Raleigh National Historic Site. “These presentations offer park visitors
as well as local residents an opportunity to learn more about, and better
enjoy, the coastal environment and their National Parks” stated Mike
Murray, Superintendent, Outer Banks Group.