The Plan
By Team Leader Michael Arbuthnot
I was first contacted by Ron, a mapmaker living in
northern California. He initiated our communication by emailing me images of
the underwater topography around Cat Island, Bahamas. As an underwater
archaeologist-in-training, I was naturally intrigued by the contour data.
Ron referred to many of the contours as "anomalous. He suggested they
disobey the geological rules one would expect to see in karst environments,
like the Bahamas. Furthermore, he suspected there could be more to the
story--a lot more, and he wanted me to take a look. I had recently returned from diving in the Gulf of Mexico for six weeks on an
underwater archaeological research expedition. We had been searching for
submerged prehistoric sites, and were successful. We found quarry sites,
ancient spear points, and mastodon remains dating back as much as 10,000
years ago. It was an exciting and fascinating experience for me, as well as
educating--I now know how to predict prehistoric underwater sites. Perhaps
the opportunity presented by Ron was the chance to test my training.
We (Chris Schaefer, a fellow underwater archaeologist, and myself) will
arrive on Cat Island Wednesday the 8th. Our cameraman (Chris DeFelice) and
webmaster (Matthew Sapero) will have arrived on Cat Island the day before,
and will have been preparing the dive gear and boats for our arrival. We
will rendezvous at the beachside house Ron and his wife have rented. I will
brief them on the dive plan. My first goal is to cover as much area around
Alligator point, 5 miles south, as possible. Why Alligator Point? After pouring over maps of Cat Island for weeks now, I
think Alligator Point (AP) is the most promising site because it appears to
be a relic river bed--meaning when the sea level was lover during the last
ice age, a river from the center of Cat Island flowed out from AP and drained
into the Atlantic. This river would have eroded the limestone surface of the
karst plain, exposing chert outcrops. Paleoindians used this material to
make projectile points with which they hunted various species of fauna,
including mastodon and mammoth (on an island they have been maritime adapted). Wednesday afternoon, once we have set up our DGPS (Differential Global
Positioning System - allows a 4 meter accuracy), Surfmaster PI underwater
metal detector, handheld fathometer, dive gear, and Auga full-face mask
systems, we'll be on our way. While we make our way to AP we will visually
search the water for rock outcrops and follow up on anything we spotted on
the flight in from Nassau the previous day. Thursday we will follow up on anything discovered Wednesday, returning to our
previous positions with our DGPS units. Afterwards, we will head out 10
miles offshore to investigate the "Long Rocks." These are some of the
peculiar formations that Ron first detected when looking at the topographical
and contour data around Cat Island. We will use the metal detector in the
area, looking for ferrous or nobel metal in hopes of discovering artifacts. Friday will be spent doing much of the same. We will follow up on potential
sites, return to AP if there is time, and continue to look at Ron's anomalous
locations. Diving will cease at 2:00, however, because we need 24 hours to
allow nitrogen to escape our systems before flying back to Nassau on
Saturday. The second half of the day we will free dive on location. Of
course, we will be filming everything mentioned both above and below water.
On Saturday, after we say good-bye to Matthew, Ron and his wife,
we (Chris, Chris and I) will go to Paradise Island (The Atlantis Hotel) on
Nassau to meet with their Discovery representatives. We will let them know
about Team Atlantis expeditions and our developing relationship with
eOutdoors. That night we will enjoy a beachside margarita and film some of Nassau's night life. It should make for some interesting footage. We fly
out on Sunday afternoon, so we will make an effort to film some of downtown
Nassau before departure. That's the plan as it now stands!