Page 65: of Marine News Magazine (November 2021)

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Left image: NOAA/MITech; right image: USCG

Port bow of the “unidenti? ed wreck” imaged in 2021 on the left showing similar sheathing patterns to the historic image of

USRC Bear while in dry dock in 1925. locate the Bear’s ? nal resting place. The on site, the team was able to collect sonable degree of certainty,” Barr said.

mission, it turns out, was quite chal- enough video and still images to pro- Now attention can turn toward ef- lenging and complex. vide the documentation needed for forts that will help preserve the ship-

A major breakthrough came during maritime archaeologists and histori- wreck.

a side scan survey in Canadian waters ans to identify the historic wreck. Barr noted that the Canadian De- in 2019, when a team from NOAA Key indicators highlighted as com- partment of Fisheries and Oceans is

Ocean Exploration and NOAA Na- pelling evidence of the identity of the considering establishing a marine tional Marine Sanctuaries’ Maritime ship included the bow staple and steel protected area that would include the

Heritage Program, working off the sheathing con? gurations, multiple lay- Bear wreck site. While not explicitly

USCG’s medium-endurance cutter ers of bow planking and the stern tube recognizing the historic importance

Bear (named for USRC Bear), found bolt patterns, as well as its location close of the shipwreck, the designation two targets for further exploration to the reported last known position and could help to alleviate any continu- while mapping 62 square miles of lack of other wrecks in the vicinity. ing damage to the wreck from mobile seabed in the area near various last “While no feature identi? ed in the ? shing gear, he added.

known positions reported during the 2021 ROV survey, by itself, would “Some joint U.S./Canadian rec-

Bear’s sinking in 1963. have likely been considered absolutely ognition of this signi? cant historic “One target in particular was very de? nitive, taken together, the body of site might also be possible, but time promising as it was in the proxim- evidence was considered, by the eval- will tell whether such a collaborative ity of the last known position where uation team, more than suf? cient to agreement has the potential to be de-

Bear was lost at sea in 1973, and it identify the wreck as Bear with a rea- veloped and implemented,” Barr said.

appeared to roughly match the di- mensions of the ship,” said Brad Barr,

Expedition Coordinator, NOAA Of- ? ce of National Marine Sanctuaries

Maritime Heritage Program.

Coast Guard and NOAA research- ers returned to sea earlier this year on the USCG oceangoing buoy tender

Sycamore, this time with operators from Marine Imaging Technolo- gies and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with high-resolu- tion underwater video cameras. De- spite dif? cult operational conditions 65 www.marinelink.com MN |