Message #137066

[Greg Little]

OK, I understand. They (the big-time research folks) did a lot of side-scan and sub-bottom but to my knowledge there was no written report like Bill has made that was sent in. They verbally reported one area under sand that they felt needed to be have a core sample done, but that has not been done. I have not seen any image from their side-scan on it, and actually that was also scanned with sub-bottom profiling. They were also the ones who made all of the rov film in a vast area ranging in depth from 55 feet or so to 350 feet. I made several dvd duplicate sets of the 7 dvds they made and I thought one was going to Bill.

The "rectangle" frequently mentioned is mainly one of those found in Bill's side-scan project. That description has caused a lot of confusion as there are some rectangular forms in deep water where Joan Hanley did her research some years ago. The rov video they did --I am certain captured a bit of footage of the rectangles Bill found but also others in deeper water. Doug, Joan, and John have used the term rectangles to describe both areas, which are far apart, but visually similar. As you know Lora and I went to that spot (Bill's) several times and managed to have one and only one photo taken of a single rectangle, and it was in the midst of many other rectangular forms, but it was impossible for the divers to move from one to another rectangle because of the strong current. The best photo of it remains the one we had taken. We tried to go back 2x but windy conditions prevented dives. We will go back in April or May probably with National Geo. I have hoped we could find that exact same rectangle, but last time we couldn't tell which one is was even while we looked at the site with side-scan from the surface. GPS on water when anchored only gets close, and when there are 20 or more similar forms on the bottom, and the wind pushes you around, it's nearly impossible to sit right on top of one specific one. It was really discouaging last time while there...at least on that day. I have concluded that what will have to happen is that when the weather is perfect, and using underwater propulsion systems, a lot of them will have to be looked at. I'd hoped that extensively examining that one would suffice, but I don't know if we can actually hit that one. I have to add that I am far more interested in exploring on the Bank and the Berry Islands. So the Bimini rectangles are not our real focus. The depth, water murkiness, and strong current at the rectangles will probably keep us away from it. Last, my take on all of the underwater rov footage is this: looking isn't enough and cannot prove much of anything unless something is obvious. I saw nothing obvious and definitive in it, just a bit of interesting stuff--formations. The one photo, converted to black and white, contrast enhanced, was the best single thing I have ever seen there. Oddly, both Krista and Brown, who did the dive and took the photo, said they really couldn't see anything when diving. They recognized the photo they took and said that they simply pointed the camera at a murky formation and shot as I had asked. Both of them were stunned when they saw the black and white converted photo. Neither could make out any of the details visible in it while diving only a few feet away. At that depth by the Gulf Stream it's really murky. To some extent, that explains why we have focused on the Bank.