MYSTERIOUS ORIGINS OF LA JOLLA’S SUNKEN CITY© A Mystery Lies Submerged off San Diego’s Beaches In early October, archaeologist/filmmaker Michael Arbuthnot of Team Atlantis Productions made an expedition to San Diego to explore the mystery of La Jolla's sunken city. Mysterious underwater artifacts were first found off La Jolla in the early 1900s when children would return to shore with small stone bowls. When Scuba diving became popular in the 1950s, even more objects were recovered from underwater ledges and crevices. Now, more than 2000 artifacts have been recovered and at least 34 submerged sites have been recorded from locations as deep as 30 meters, and as far as 800 meters west of the present shoreline. These objects include manos, metates, pestles, net weights, scrapers and projectile points that date as early as 5000 years before present. Some scientists have even speculated that La Jolla has an underwater village! Despite the long history of discovery, surprisingly very little is known about how the objects originally were deposited. Recent advances in remote sensing have produced computerized depictions of the ocean floor off La Jolla. These topographical images make it possible to reconstruct ancient river channels and other submerged features that can be used to predict the location of underwater sites that were formerly on land. Using the Rapid Diver System and various remote sensing data and maps, Arbuthnot and his team dived off La Jolla’s sandy beaches in areas of high probability for containing submerged artifacts. The team discovered a total of six artifacts in 20 feet of water. Arbuthnot speculates that the artifacts, which include a beautiful stone bowl, dated between 4,000 and 7,000 years ago. Each dive was shot on High Definition Video, capturing the exciting moments of discovery, as well as the spectacular seascape, including the area’s kelp forests, sea lions, coral reefs, and abundant fish and mollusks species. Diving was conducted from a beautiful catamaran and the show included expert insight from marine biologists. The Mysterious Origins of La Jolla’s Sunken City show is expected to air sometime in the first half of 2006. Thanks to Rapid Diver for their help!!!