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Book Review – Submerged: Adventures of America’s Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team

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Some of us will have dived in Chuuk Lagoon, Federated States of Micronesia, and marvelled at the remains of massive WWII warships. Others may have ventured into the dark, cold depths of the Great Lakes in America where countless vessels have foundered or explored the labyrinth of submerged caves in Florida.

Few of us, if any, will have made dozens of dives to inspect and map the USS Arizona, sunk in Pearl Harbour, or surveyed the Prinz Eugen, a German cruiser devasted by a nuclear test and sunk at Bikini Atoll. Similarly, few will have braved a dive to the wreck of the Confederate ship, CSS Alabama, resting in 65 metres of water, and in treacherous currents, off the coast of Cherbourg, France. (What was it doing in the English Channel?) However, for Daniel Lenihan, as an American Park Ranger and Head of the Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (SCRU) these tasks have been a job and a passion.

Submerged: Adventures of America’s Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team by Daniel Lenihan is “a collection of adventures, triumphs, failures and close calls” (p.11) within some of the most challenging dive sites in the world. What emerges from the book is that shipwrecks and underwater sites are seldom benign. They are places where simple, cumulative misjudgements can end in tragedy.

The 22 chapters present both an autobiography and a chronology of how Daniel developed as a diver. From a devil-may-care cave diver to representing the USA on the International Committee of the Underwater Cultural Heritage of ICOMOS; a UNESCO affiliated body. However, the book is more than a series of tales about locating and mapping wrecks, preserving and documenting underwater sites. Daniel Lenihan takes you to these places. You can almost feel the teeth chattering cold of Lake Superior, the smell of fuel oil in Pearl Harbour and see the entanglements waiting for you inside the submerged powerhouse at the bottom of the Amistad Dam, Texas.

However, I suspect Daniel regards one of his greatest achievements has been in the protection now given to submerged sites. He states:

“Scientific, legal and ethical standards that apply to archaeological sites on land should also apply to archaeology under water. Archaeology for gain, by selling gold and other materials taken from wrecks for personal or corporate profit, is not acceptable. Nor is any indirect involvement by archaeologists in activities that foster a market in such antiquities” (p. 161.)

If I have a criticism of Submerged it is minor. Often Daniel Lenihan appears to be speaking to the initiated – to those familiar with the people and places, organisations and technical procedures he describes. However, this is dwarfed by the insights and commitment he displays. The book is well worth reading.


  • Submerged: Adventures of America’s Most Elite Underwater Archeology Team (2002)
  • New York: Newmarket Press
  • By Daniel Lenihan
  • ISBN      1557045054                         287 pages

About Daniel Lenihan:

Daniel obtained his MA in Anthropology from Florida State University in 1973. He led the US National Parks Service Submerged Cultural Resources Unit (SCRU) for 25 years from 1980. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his wife Barbara.

Daniel has co-authored three books with the actor Gene Hackman:

Justice for None (2004) St Martin’s Press, Escape from Andersonville (2008) St Martin’s Press,             Wake of the Perdido (2012) William Morrow.


Find out more about Professor Fred Lockwood, who is also a published author, at www.fredlockwood.co.uk.

Dr Fred Lockwood is Emeritus Professor of Learning and Teaching, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is also a PADI Master Scuba Diver and dived in the waters of Central America and Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia, Australasia and the Pacific Islands. Follow Fred at www.fredlockwood.co.uk.

Blogs

The BiG Scuba Podcast Episode 173: DEEP – Making Humans Aquatic

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Gemma and Ian visited DEEP and were hosted by Phil Short, Research Diving, Training Lead, and were given a tour of the facility at Avonmouth and then over to the Campus at Tidenham.

DEEP is evolving how humans access, explore and inhabit underwater environments. Through flexible, modular and mobile subsea habitats that allow humans to live undersea up to 200m for up to 28 days, work-class submarines, and advanced human performance research, DEEP completely transforms what we are capable of underwater and how we conduct undersea science and research.

www.deep.com

You can listen to Episode 173 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.

We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast.  Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.   Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone    +44 7810 005924   or use our social media platforms.   To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:

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The BiG Scuba Website                  www.thebigscuba.com

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Blogs

The BiG Scuba Podcast Episode 172: Dr. Joseph Dituri

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Joseph Dituri

Gemma and Ian chat to Dr. Joseph Dituri. Dr. Jospeh Dituri lived undersea for 100 Days in a mission combining education, ocean conservation research, and the study of the physiological and psychological effects of compression on the human body.  

Dituri enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1985. He served continuously on active service upon various ships and shore stations where he was involved in every aspect of diving and special operations work from saturation diving and deep submergence to submersible design and clearance diving. Now that he is retired from 28 years of active service to the United States, he is the president of the International Board of Undersea Medicine. He also volunteers his time as the CEO of the Association for Marine Exploration. He is an invited speaker on motivational, sea and space related topics.

Fuelled by his passion for exploration, discovery, adventure, and making the greatest possible positive contribution to the world, he is fighting for change in a big way and with great enthusiasm.

You can listen to Episode 172 of the BiG Scuba Podcast here.

www.drdeepsea.com

We hope you have enjoyed this episode of The BiG Scuba Podcast.  Please give us ★★★★★, leave a review, and tell your friends about us as each share and like makes a difference.   Contact Gemma and Ian with your messages, ideas and feedback via The BiG Scuba Bat Phone    +44 7810 005924   or use our social media platforms.   To keep up to date with the latest news, follow us:

We are on Instagram                     @thebigscuba  

We are on Facebook                      @thebigscuba  

We are in LinkedIn                          https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian%F0%9F%A6%88-last-325b101b7/

The BiG Scuba Website                  www.thebigscuba.com

Amazon Store :                                https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/thebigscuba

Visit   https://www.patreon.com/thebigscubapodcast and subscribe – Super quick and easy to do and it makes a massive difference. Thank you.

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