This week Apple, along with other companies, is sponsoring an electronic dive from the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck.
In June, 1718, a ship called the Queen Anne’s Revenge, ran aground about one mile offshore of the small port town of Beaufort, NC. For over a year, it had sailed the waters of the Caribbean and along the Eastern Seaboard, as the flagship of the pirate, Blackbeard. Attempts to pull the ship free failed; she eventually listed and settled into the shoaling sands. For 278 years, the remains of the QAR lay covered by the sands of the Atlantic.
In 1996, after hurricanes and nor’easters scoured the sands away, divers from Intersal, searching for other shipwrecks around the inlet found the wreck site. Since then, the North Carolina Division of Archives and History, in a coordinated and long-term research project, has conducted underwater archaeological investigations at the site of Blackbeard’s Flagship. QAR DiveLive will have an underwater videocast from the actual wreck site of Blackbeard’s flagship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and from the QAR Project’s conservation laboratory, where the artifacts from the ship are being preserved.
Twice each day, from 10 to 10:45 am. and from 1-1:45 pm, you can watch ongoing investigations and get a live underwater guided tour of the wreck (today through Wednesday). You can also learn about underwater archaeology; get project research updates; see the artifacts; and get a tour of the lab and observe the conservation processes involved with preserving the artifacts recovered from the shipwreck (October 4-5). Although the formal presentations are limited to twice a day, picture and sound (usually live) will be transmitted from about 8:30 AM until 3:00 PM each day.
To register for the event please visit the QAR Project Web site and follow the link to the DiveLive page. The dives are being carried via QuickTime streaming, and viewing access is open to all. You can check the online schedule for the times of the dives.
In case of bad weather transmissions will be broadcast from the North Carolina Maritime Museum or the Conservation Laboratory, where archaeologists will review wreck site activities and interpret artifacts.
The QAR Project is being supported and assisted by Apple, Brogden Primary School Fourth Grade Classes, Carteret Community College, Carteret County Economic Development Council, Comfort Inn of Morehead City, Duke Marine Lab, Marine Grafics, Nautilus Productions, NC Department of Public Instruction, NC Division of Marine Fisheries, NC Maritime Museum, NC Museum of History, NC State CMAST, NC UAB, the towns of Beaufort and Morehead City, University of NC Institute of Marine Sciences, University of NC Wilmington, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Wachovia and Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation.
Last year an estimated 1,600 students from across NC and the country participated in DiveLive for five days. This year, even more are expected to participate. (Thanks to David Kaye of the North Carolina Dept. of Public Instruction for the heads-up on this event.)