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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

Sharks, Shipwrecks, and Sea Turtles: My Boston Sea Rovers Adventure

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boston sea rovers

by Mia DaPonte

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a conference called the Boston Sea Rovers Symposium, where I met many different people. I was astonished by the presentations and how we can help. Today, I’m going to explain more about the Boston Sea Rovers conference.

As I mentioned, I met many different people. I met Dan Dolan, who I’ll talk more about in my next blog. He told me he could take me to the New England Aquarium rehab center—which isn’t open to the public—to see the behind-the-scenes work. I also met Jenn Sellitti, who gave an amazing presentation at the film festival about discovering an old ship named Le Lyonnais. She wrote a cool book about the ship, The Adriatic Affair, which my mom is reading. She even offered to take me on a dive in New Jersey to recover an anchor! Jenn and her team love finding underwater boat parts and anchors.

boston sea rovers

Mia with Jenn Sellitti

I also got a picture with Cristian Dimitrius, who’s known for his photography and cinematography for National Geographic. And I met Greg Skomal, who is a marine biologist—just like I want to be! He’s a white shark expert, and I loved his presentation on Jaws: Fact vs. Fiction.

boston sea rovers

Mia with Cristian Dimitrius

We attended many different presentations at the conference, but I was especially inspired by the underwater terrariums. These H2O terrariums are designed for underwater farms, where plants grow and thrive under a bubble-like protection system. I was also fascinated by the coral restoration project. The presenter explained that millions of corals are getting sick and dying, but we can help by cleaning up the ocean and avoiding toxic waste. She shared that they’ve developed a medicine that sticks to corals, kind of like toothpaste, to help heal them. They’re also trying to save coral by removing young ones, growing them in labs, and reintroducing them to prevent disease. This technique is working, but there’s still a long way to go. We all can pitch in to help save coral reefs and our beautiful ocean.

boston sea rovers

My absolute favorite part of the conference was the film festival. Chris from Dive On It Scuba let my mom and me sit in the front row with all the Sea Rovers and interns. My favorite presentation was Jenn’s—she talked about the deep ocean and discovering all kinds of things. Cristian also presented at the festival, showing a National Geographic video he filmed about baby turtles hatching on the beach. The video followed their journey to the ocean, where they had to dodge not just birds but even crocodiles waiting in the water!

The Boston Sea Rovers was an amazing experience. I can’t wait to go back next year and share my new blog. Thanks for reading—until next time!

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Blogs

Making a Splash: My Path to Becoming a Master Scuba Diver at 12

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mia daponte

Meet Mia Daponte, New England’s youngest female Master Scuba Diver and Scubaverse.com’s latest blogger!

Hi, I’m Mia DaPonte, and this is my first blog! I am New England’s youngest female master scuba diver. I did my training in Jamestown Rhode Island and I’m 12 years old.

I’m also black belt in karate, and I also play soccer, basketball, and love to race my sailboat named “Beluga”. My journey to become a master diver was amazing, not all of it was easy but with the help of my friends and family they supported me so much.

When I turned ten years old, I wanted to scuba dive for my Birthday. After learning diving in the cold murky waters near my home, I wanted to start my training for this Master Diver certification. I met my instructor Seamus on my first day of diving. He was a very good influence on me and always supported me. He taught me everything I know about diving.

I also got to go to new tropical places and dive for fun. We went places like Puerto Rico, Punta Cana, Bermuda, and Bahamas. For the first time I could see far. I saw stingrays, lion fish, coral reefs, tropical fish, and lots of other animals. My favorite animal that I saw was an octopus.

Finally, it was time for my certification trip. The trip came so fast, and I eventually succeeded. In February, I went down to Cozumel Mexico and went diving at Blue Angel Resort. To get my certification, I had to do a deep dive of a max depth of 60ft, and I had to do rescue training. I also had to do an online e-learning test to qualify for this certification.

On the first day I only worked in the pool to practice and perfect rescue techniques for the next day. It was fun putting the online learning to reality. The first part felt harder than the second because I didn’t have as much room in the pool as the open ocean. On the second day, we did it in the ocean. It was hard for me to do the rescue breaths, and bring the adult diver from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. But I was able to do it after hard work.

Cozumel was a lot of fun. We made so many friends down there and hope to see them again. Diving down there was truly magical. I can’t wait to go back someday.

After hard work and dedication, I was able to achieve this accomplishment. It took me 2 years of studying and practicing, but in the end it all paid off. I can’t wait to share my next adventure with you.

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