In July of 2006 I joined an
Earthwatch expedition in
cooperation with Bill Jeffrey - Maritime Archaeologist of James Cook University
- Maria Beger - Marine Biologist of University of Queensland - and Nic
Bigourdan to explore,
document and study the World War II wrecks of what was formerly known as Truk
Lagoon now the state of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia,
approximately 2300 miles southeast of Tokyo and 3386 miles southwest of
Honolulu.
Over 50 wrecks litter the floor of the lagoon
since 1944 when US forces dropped over 6800 bombs on the ships and planes and
bases of the lagoon. We spent our time focusing on a few of these to get a
better understanding on the effects of 60yrs on the bottom, marine life growth
and corrosion.
On the following page I've put together a
photo gallery of the trip. Enjoy!
Chuuk
Trip Photos
Underwater Research Photos - these didn't
come out as well as I would have hoped given the water clarity at times.
Hopefully some data will be able to be gained via them for the project.
