Prof. Bob Ballard's team is in the Black Sea investigating an ancient shipwreck. URI graduate student Katy Croff
writes We arrived on site at Sinop D a bit early, and have made a lot of progress so far!
In just 24 hours, we have deployed most of our experiments, collected images and microbathymetry data for the pre-disturbance survey, and have begun removing sediment from the areas that were explored in 2003.
One surprising find was a paintbrush that was dropped in 2003! The bristles were gone, possibly because the band that held them to the handle had corroded away. The stainless steel rod and hoseclamps that held the rod and paintbrush together were in seemingly perfect condition, as is the softball that the manipulator grips. We picked up the brush and will bring it to the surface for further examination.
Live video is available
here. The team includes ocean engineering and oceanography Professors Kate Moran and Chris Roman along with graduates Eric Martin, Brennan Phillips and Webb Pinner.
