National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) archaeologists recently reported the discovery of two 19th-century whaling ships that sank off the Arctic coast of Alaska nearly 150 years ago – and climate change may be largely to thank for the find.
According to CNN and ABC News, the ships were two of 33 sailing vessels that went down in the Chukchi Sea approximately 144 years ago, and remained missing until they were recovered by a team of divers during the fall of 2015.
NOAA officials explained that the ships likely became stuck in the ice during the September of 1871, leaving more than 1,200 crew members stranded. The whalers were saved eventually , but their vessels remained trapped, slowly deteriorating until they ultimately sank. The agency claimed the incident was one of the main reasons the US whaling industry died.
In a statement, NOAA archaeologist and project co-director Brad Barr explained that “no one had found definitive proof of any of the lost fleet beneath the water” – until now, that is.
So what role did global warming play in all of this?
As Barr and his colleagues explained, archaeologists have greater access to potential shipwreck sites than in the past due to the melting of ice in the Arctic, a direct result of climate change. The team likely would not have been able to make it to the site had warming not cleared a path.
Last September, the NOAA team conducted an exhaustive search of coastline near the shore of the Chukchi Sea, near the city of Wainwright, Alaska. Previous searches for the lost ships led to the discovery of gear salvaged from the wrecks by the locals, as well as timbers strewn along the beaches in the area, but the sunken ships themselves remained elusive.
During the latest expedition, Barr’s team used solar and sensing technology to plot the so-called magnetic signatures of the two wrecks, including the outline of their flattened hulls. Furthermore, they found anchors, ballast, fasteners and pots used to turn whale blubber into oil.
“This exploration provides an opportunity to write the last chapter of this important story of American maritime heritage and also bear witness to some of the impacts of a warming climate on the region’s environmental and cultural landscape, including diminishing sea ice and melting permafrost,” the NOAA archaeologist said in a statement.
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Pictured is a closeup of some of the ships’ anchors. Image credit: NOAA
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