Specialized Sampling and Surveying in Challenging Environments Aqua Survey has just acquired its first landing craft-style jet-boat. This shallow-draft vessel will be able to work at sea and also be able to land personnel and heavy equipment, such as all-terrain vehicles and vibracoring equipment, right on a beach. We have named the 30-foot research vessel The R/V Tesla to honor the inventor Nicola Tesla who gave the world electric motors, electromagnetic coils, fluorescent lighting and radio-controlled electric boats. Tesla was

If you were to ask the nearly 200,000 people that go over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge each day about what their biggest concern was about their commute, probably very few of them would mention anything about a lost barge-load of military munitions tucked neatly under the world’s eighth largest suspension bridge. It wouldn’t have been on my list of concerns either, until last Saturday night when I received a call from commercial diver Gene Ritter who had made an alarming discovery

Saturday, October 16th, Philadelphia, PA – over a hundred people jammed into the Franklin Institute’s auditorium to hear Aqua Survey captain and marine archeologist Eric Wartenweiler Smith present on his work with world-renowned archeologist Franck Goddio.  Smith, who divides his time between Aqua Survey and Goddio, has been a member of Goddio’s dive team for over a decade, most notably diving on Cleopatra’s sunken palace off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. The event’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect as

By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida Stars and Stripes YOMITAN, Okinawa – A large plume of white smoke spotted about 875 yards off the beach at Torii Station turned out to be a rare spontaneous detonation of a World War II-era explosive, a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force spokesman said Friday. “The bomb just happened to wash up onto the reef by the forces of nature, exposing the content to air, which led to ignition,” 1st Lt. Masakazu Karimata, spokesman for

The challenge of oil speculation in the gulf has changed tack recently. The focus now is not only where oil is surfacing, but predicting where the huge submerged plume will end up. Some of the impacted sites like Mobile Bay, Pascagoula, Plaquemines Parish, Pensacola might not be tomorrow’s hot spots. The options are vast and are weather and current driven. Where next and what can be done? In cooperation with DEC Environmental, Aqua Survey, Inc. is offering to provide modular

Need a rapid turnaround on an oil dispersant test?  When you have important laboratory testing you need done on the hurry up, you can count on Aqua Survey’s experienced lab staff to get the job done right and on time. Contact Lab Director Jon Doi, PhD to discuss your laboratory project today.

”The World’s Most Fascinating Woman” As a little kid I grew up watching National Geographic specials and the series Bold Journey.  On a daily basis I went on expeditions into the swamps near my childhood home in New Jersey.  Back in the 1950’s and 60’s I never imagined someday I would be a scientist working with an international marine archeology expedition in Egypt.  That would all change when I received a phone call from the Smithsonian’s Nile River Delta expert

Ancient Korea’s Struggle For Survival by Garrett Hayes, Aqua Survey Staff Writer The year is 1592 and the Joeson Dynasty of Korea is about to be confronted by one of the world’s fiercest professional armies, the Japanese samurai.  After more than one hundred years of civil war, Toyotomi Hideyoshi of Japan has recently unified his country.  Suddenly faced with a large force of battle-hardened, aggressive Japanese soldiers with little to do, Hideyoshi decides to invade China and use its small

Don Nazario from Aqua Survey, Inc. recently presented a talk titled “Introduction to Geophysical Surveys” at the 2009 Annual Spring Meeting of the Hudson-Delaware Chapter of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (HDC SETAC).  The meeting was held April 23-24, 2009 at the Overlook Lodge in Bear Mountain, NY.  The SETAC attendees consisted of university students, EPA, NOAA and NY State regulatory officials and individuals from private industry.  Included in the presentation was a 10 minute video that showed

Abora IV Trans-Atlantic Sailing Expedition Recently Jon Doi and I had the pleasure of visiting an old friend.  We attended a presentation on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 at the German Consulate in New York City.  The speaker was the botanist and experimental archeologist Dominique Goerlitz.  Those of you who have subscribed to our company email flashes will remember Aqua Survey’s coverage of the historic Abora III expedition during the summer of 2007 (see video below).  Dominique was back in New

When was the last time you changed your own car oil? When was the last time you changed your own car oil?  If you’re like many of us, the small price to have a professional do the job is worth it to save yourself the headache and the mess.  Add to this the simple fact that time is money and it becomes clear that a lot of us are better off spending time using our other skill sets. At Aqua

Although this Spanish piece of eight may look as if it’s been ravaged by the 386 years it spent on the bottom of the ocean, the fact is it looks much today as did when it was minted in ~1617 at Potosi, Bolivia. At first, Spain’s new world mints took great pride in producing high quality coins. This special attention to detail required a costly and time consuming manufacturing process. In short, it was a great way to make good

It’s been an exciting time here at Aqua Survey.  Each week many of us wait to see what the team down in Key West will uncover next as we continue our work with Mel Fisher’s Treasures.  View the latest Atocha Video episode below which details the new developments in Aqua Survey’s search for the riches of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. Play Video

Aqua Survey, Inc. was hired by Mel Fisher’s Treasures to survey a large area of the ocean bottom near Key West, FL in hopes of finding more treasure from the Nuestra Sénora de Atocha. It was weeks later after our data had been generated into maps that we began to see the fruits of our labor. The Mel Fisher divers brought up more than just treasure. We soon found out that the bottom of the ocean in this area is