The features below will help you to understand the goals and objectives of the expedition and provide additional context and information about the places being explored and the science, tools, and technologies being used.
From June 14 to 27, 2021, a multidisciplinary team carried out a remote sensing and diving survey to locate and characterize archaeological sites west of Key West, Florida, in an area within Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) known as the “Quicksands.”
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Archaeologists and ecologists from the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) and the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS), with funding support from NOAA Ocean Exploration, conducted an exploratory marine archaeological remote sensing and diving survey to locate and characterize archaeological sites within an area of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) known as the “Quicksands,” located west of Key West, Florida.
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The westernmost shoals in the Keys became a graveyard for vessels pushed north by hurricane winds and waves as these destructive storms passed through the Caribbean. Captains failing to recognize the shoals extending from the Marquesas Keys towards the Dry Tortugas found themselves wrecked in the area nicknamed the “Quicksands.” Numerous historical shipwreck reports attribute the location of vessel losses to the Quicksands or more broadly the Marquesas Keys, which constitutes an area approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) long by 15 kilometers (9 miles) wide. From 17th century Spanish galleons to 20th century steamships, the number of shipwrecks in the area is impressive.
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The Quicksands Archaeological Survey team will employ two distinct photographic techniques to document the archaeological sites in the project area: multi-image photogrammetry and 360֯-degree panoramic imaging. Each technique results in high-resolution imagery suitable for archaeological analysis, while at the same time capturing the archaeological sites within the context of their surrounding natural environment.
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