News
Mark Milburn’s Cornish Wreck Ramblings, Part 8: The digital age
As an early adopter of the internet, I have watched it grow over time and the last twenty years has seen it expand exponentially. Yet, only over the last few years or so, has this helped the wreck researcher. You still can’t beat going to the local county records office, or The National Archive but not everyone has the time for that. As more and more information becomes digitised, wreck information becomes more widely available on-line. Photos, newspapers archives and all sorts of information, new and old, just appears before your eyes, as you search.
Today, I received a notification from You-Tube that someone had commented on a video of mine. It was a few clips I put together from a dive on the wreck of the Caroni River, near Falmouth. It stated “RIP Captain Thomas Anthony Watson, age 99, on 15/01/17, 3rd officer on Caroni River when she was mined.” A previous comment on the same video by Sven, asked “If anybody finds an alarm clock in the central deck house, my uncle would like it back as he lost it when the Caroni River was mined in 1940 and he had to abandon ship.”
A remaning piece of the Caroni River
The Bay of Panama is a local shallow wreck but the hydrographic office’s co-ordinates were not right. Comparing the Google aerial view against the Bing view, you can see a shadow of the right size and shape on one of the views. The images were taken at different times, with different sand levels, the wreck was exposed with the low sand level. Another feature of Google Earth are the images. Every now and then there is an image of a shallow or exposed wreck. Most of the time these are recent images; the odd one is contemporary to the date of the wrecking.
Historic England (prev. English Heritage) have a website called PastScape. PastScape has thousands of historic records for sites on land and underwater. The underwater sites include anything which may be submerged including old quays etc., as well as wrecks. The wreck information isn’t 100% due to some of the sources and there are also duplicates, but there can be some great information that would normally be hard to find.
Whilst researching the Dispatch (1809), a new piece of information appeared. The Dispatch was originally reported as running aground near Lowland Point, near the Manacles. Within no time at all, the Dispatch was listed as being on Black Head. Survivors climbed up the rock face at Black Head; victims and horses washed ashore around Black Head. Years later, a cannon of the right age and type was found just below Black Head. The new piece of information that appeared on the PastScape website was from Lloyds of London. After running aground on Black Head, the Dispatch floated across Coverack Bay nearly full of water. That would have been in the direction of Lowland Point, where the original report stated that the Dispatch ran aground.
This photo was sent into me via email, it is the UB112.
In Cornwall we have many photo resources, which are being updated on a regular basis. One such site is www.cornishmemory.com. At the time of writing it has 31554 items and growing, not all the items are photos, there are also recorded interviews. Using the search keyword of “wreck” brings up 456 items, on the day of writing.
On the local BBC News today, there was an item about the sale of a silver cup, presented to a well known smuggler and a publican. Henry Cuttace ran the Ship Inn at Gunwalloe, now called the Halzephron Inn, a famous haunt of smugglers and ‘salvors’. The Halzephron has several posters with stories of wrecks and the ‘salvage’ of the cargoes. One night there was a shipwreck and the customers drank up and went salvaging. They returned later and paid their bar bills with some of their ‘salvaged’ coins. The silver cup on the news was presented to Henry Cuttace for his bravery in saving three crew from the wreck of the Norwegian brig, ‘Elizabeth’. PastScape has a record on the ‘Elizabeth’ but it is not listed anywhere else.
PastScape has thousands of wrecks, the trouble is, knowing what you are looking for in the first place!
Find out more about Mark and Atlantic Scuba at www.atlanticscuba.co.uk
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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