Just a quick look at what a tropical storm looks like from the lens room of the lighthouse. This was shot on Thursday, one of the calmer days, when visibility was better. It became much worse on Friday.
To everybody who's keeping track of LAMP's research boat, the Island Fever, here is an update which encompasses the project history, current events, and our future plans. Read on!
August 23 has been designated by UNESCO as International Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. The trans-Atlantic slave trade was one of the most massive violations of human rights in modern history. From the 16th through 19th centuries as many as 17 million Africans were stolen away from their homelands, families, dreams, and aspirations, to be transported in a deadly voyage across the ocean where they had few choices but to make a new life in the face of the horrific system of New World slavery and institutionalized racism. The hopes and dreams enslaved Africans kept alive came to fruition first with the legal abolition of the slave trade (by Britain and America in 1807) and finally with the abolition of slavery itself, at various dates by various nations (British colonies in 1833, French colonies in 1848, the United States in 1865, Cuba in 1886, and the last hold-out, Brazil, in 1888).
The ships that played a role in the Atlantic slave trade have increasingly piqued the interest of maritime archaeologists, though few have been located and identified. Two known slave ships have wrecked in St. Augustine waters. To date, neither has been discovered.
Continue reading "International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition" »
This past Friday LAMP deployed a new instrument to recover data from the 1764 shipwreck of the Industry.
It seems like only yesterday that Days of Discovery Summer Camp 2008 began, and yet here we are saying goodbye. Kathleen, Kyle, Trevor, and I, along with everyone here at the Lighthouse & Museum, would like to thank all of our campers for making our summer so enjoyable. We hope every child had as much fun in camp as we did.
We're already looking forward to Lighthouse Summer Camp 2009. Watch our website for details.
The twisted steel wreckage of the sunken steam dredge Florida can be seen in this sonar image. The Florida was lost in 1918 off Crescent Beach, south of St. Augustine.
LAMP uses the research vessel Island Fever for diving operations to explore the maritime history of America's oldest port, and to bring college and high school students to offshore historic shipwrecks for a hands-on history lesson like none other. But for the past six months our favorite boat has been high and dry out of the water because of a broken engine and other significant repairs. You can help save our favorite boat and get our programs back on track!
The first frame of the replica of the Revolutionary War era brig Galveztown has been erected and was celebrated with pomp and circumstance at the ceremony held in May 2008 at the Astilleros Nereo shipyard in Malaga, Spain. In attendance were LAMP archaeologists Dr. Sam Turner and Brendan Burke, along with the St. Augustine Historical Society's Dr. Susan Parker.
Our partnership with the Spanish shipyard and maritime museum Astilleros Nereo in Malaga continues to gain interest in local and international media outlets.
Updated! Letter by Professor George R. Fischer describing the events of the public meeting is included below . . .
We were hoping there would be an overwhelming response to our recent call to action to let the state know that we are against legally sanctioned treasure hunting in Florida waters. The opportunity was a proposed change--the first in 30 years--in the rules currently governing this practice, and a call for public comments and public meeting in Tallahassee.
Well, this early it hard to judge numbers of comments but they are a matter of public record, and so eventually we'll have this data. We do know that our message got out there and spread fast.
Continue reading "UPDATED: State-wide reaction to our treasure hunting Action Alert" »
The June 2008 LAMP maritime archaeology field school, accredited by Plymouth State University, is currently underway in St. Augustine, Florida. Here students Ben Siegel and Ryan Flory are in the background with LAMP intern Renee Post. PSU Professor Dave Switzer is in the foreground.
Continue reading "LAMP/Plymouth State University Maritime Archaeology Field School is Underway!" »
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