August 23, 2004

UA Professor Explores WWII Shipwrecks that May Hold Key to Biological Mysteries of the Deep

The Gulf represents one of the greatest concentrations of Allied vessels lost to German U-boats anywhere in the world, with 56 ships sunk in 1942 and early 1943.

by Chris Bryant

A team of scientists, including a UA marine biologist, have ventured into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico on a research mission to investigate the long-term effect of manmade structures on the deep sea, and conversely, the effect of the environment on those structures.

The multidisciplinary group, overseen by the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, departed Port Fourchon, La., aboard the NOAA contracted research and exploration vessel HOS Dominator. Dr. William Schroeder, professor of biological sciences in UA's marine science program, who is stationed at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, is involved in this investigation of World War II shipwrecks.

The study has two separate but equally important objectives: an archaeological and historical objective and a biological objective. The archaeological objective is to document the wreck sites being investigated as historic properties significant to American history. The biological objective, Schroeder said, is learning whether the wrecks are serving as artificial reefs.

"We want to look at what's growing on the wrecks, in regard to corals, and compare that with what's growing on natural hard substrate at comparable depth ranges," the UA professor said. "These wrecks could be serving as part of the functioning ecosystem in the deep Gulf of Mexico."

"The Gulf is the ideal laboratory for this study because of the number of steel-hulled ships that were casualties of World War II," explained Rob Church, C & C Technologies' project manager for the study. The Gulf represents one of the greatest concentrations of Allied vessels lost to German U-boats anywhere in the world, with 56 ships sunk in 1942 and early 1943.

The UA scientist said there is much mystery surrounding the dive, in part because of the extreme depths the researchers will be exploring. "We don't really know well what type of hard substrate habitats exist naturally in the deep Gulf of Mexico," said Schroeder. "We know that there are these oases — so to speak — such as the wrecks, scattered all over the world's oceans. We are just beginning to document what's there and what functional roles they play in deep sea biology."

Biologists will look at how the sediments have been modified by microbes in the immediate vicinity of the wreck sites, compared to sediments farther from the sites. The scientists hope to determine how tiny microbes cause the slow disintegration of steel structures at great depths, how the cargoes the ships carried might affect the rate of disintegration and how the biological communities might change as the ships deteriorate. In the end, the scientists hope to learn how manmade structures on the seafloor might act to enhance or detract from their environment.

This study will have a significant outreach and education component, overseen by Dr. Annalies Corbin, executive director of the PAST Foundation and assistant professor of nautical archaeology at East Carolina University. A full curriculum based on each component of the mission will be available to all educational institutions in an easy to download format via the PAST Foundation website — www.pastfoundation.org. This site provides daily updates, including the effects of recent storm Bonnie on the project. Included in the educational outreach will be an interactive project website, spearheaded by Andrew Hall, and a documentary film to be produced by award-winning filmmaker Dr. Dennis Aig, professor of media and theatre arts at Montana State University-Bozeman. Daily text and ROV still photos will be provided and there will be 2-3 minute streaming video pieces every other day.

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