 |
|
Biscayne National Park
|
|
Biscayne National Park is the largest marine park in the National Park System, with 95% of its 173,000 acres covered by water. The submerged lands of Biscayne are rich with archeological remains that document the cultural history of southern Florida and the Florida Keys. Archeological sites include the wrecks of many ships from foreign countries that comprise an international maritime heritage. The earliest identified shipwreck site is from the mid 18th century though some are suspected to date much earlier.
The SRC has been actively conducting underwater archeological work at Biscayne since 1975. Much of the work has focused on an 18th century shipwreck thought to be HMS Fowey, a British warship that sank in the park in 1748. The most complete documentation of the site took place between 1993 and 1995, after Hurricane Andrew had removed sediments from the ships structure. A report on that fieldwork is being completed. |
 |
|
| As a result of Hurricane Andrew, a remote sensing project was initiated in 1994 that combined cultural and natural resource capabilities. Over four field seasons, SRC surveyed more than 45 square miles of park bottomlands using a magnetometer, depth sounder and RoxAnn bottom classification device. Sub-bottom profiler coverage was also completed on much of that area. This survey resulted in a comprehensive GIS database of the parks submerged resources. The cultural layer (archeological site locations) in the database is considered sensitive and not available to the general public except for buoyed wreck sites where the park accommodates visitation by divers. |
|
- December 1996 Remote sensing evaluation of damage from Igloo Moon grounding. Larry E. Murphy, Project Director.
- August 1995 Follow-up investigation of BISC 020, believed to be HMS Fowey. Larry E. Murphy and John Seidel, Co-Principal Investigators.
- May-July 1995 GIS-based, remote sensing survey of Biscayne National Park to produce three-dimensional model of seabed natural and cultural resources as part of Hurricane Andrew mitigation sturdy. GPS, magnetometry, bathymetry, RoxAnn bottom classification. Larry E. Murphy, Principal Investigator.
- May-October 1994 GIS based, remote sensing survey of Biscayne National Park to produce three-dimensional model of seabed natural and cultural resources as part of Hurricane Andrew mitigation sturdy. GPS, magnetometry, bathymetry, RoxAnn bottom classification and sub-bottom profiling. Larry E. Murphy, Principal Investigator
- July, October 1993 Documentation of site BISC 020, believed to be HMS Fowey. Site mapping, site evaluation, and remote sensing. Larry E. Murphy and John Seidel, University of Maryland, Co-Principal Investigators.
- December 1993 Damage assessment of 14 Biscayne NP historic shipwreck sites after Hurricane Andrew.
- July 1987 Shipwreck evaluation. Mapping and documenting of shipwreck sites. Larry E. Murphy, Project Director
- July 1980 Site-specific remote sensing survey (for the HMS Fowey). Magnetometer and electronic positioning systems operation, site delineation and documentation. SRC in association with the Southeast Archeological Center (SEAC). Project principals were George Fischer from SEAC, Daniel Lenihan and Larry Murphy from SRC and Greg Stanton from the FSU Academic Diving Program.
- Summer 1975 Shipwreck survey. George Fischer was project director and Daniel Lenihan, Assistant Project Director.
Reference
Lenihan, Daniel, 2002, Chapter 8 in Submerged: Adventures of Americas Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team. Newmarket Press, NY.
|
|
|
|
Related Links
Biscayne National Park
|
|
|
|
