There's no denying that peak performance buoyancy control separates the dive paddlers from the pros. When all the big talk is over and the water closes over your head, there is nothing that pulls the whole scuba diving thing together like perfect buoyancy control. 

The secret is pinpoint buoyancy control, and it all begins with fine-tuning your weighting — that's how much lead you thread on your belt or put into your pouches. If you are carrying just the right amount of weight, you will have the smallest amount of BC inflation. That means less drag and more efficient finning. Less BC inflation also means less buoyancy shift with depth, so you'll make fewer adjustments. There are many tricks, but pinpoint buoyancy control is the fundamental skill. Precise control of your buoyancy is what enables you to hover completely motionless and fin through the water, at any depth, without using your hands at all.

It sounds easy, so why isn't it?

In fact, pinpoint buoyancy control requires getting more than one thing right. 

The factors that affect your buoyancy besides ballast weight are BC inflation, your trim, exposure suit, depth and breath control. Your ballast weight and your trim are the only two factors that, once you've selected them, stay put. All the others are variables, changing during the dive along with time or depth or both. Some you can control, some you can't. 

Here is our advice for getting perfect neutral buoyancy so you can enjoy your time underwater without fiddling too much with your BC inflator hose.

Take a course. PADI offers a course in buoyancy and weighting called "Peak Performance Buoyancy." The course teaches precise buoyancy control, streamlining, weight and trim adjustment, equipment configuration options and relaxation techniques. 

Pre-dive preparation. Real buoyancy control begins, as does any dive, with pre-dive preparation. As you pack and check your equipment, double-check to make sure nothing has changed that could affect initial weighting. New wetsuit? Major factor. Nice, springy wetsuits need more weight than old rancid flatties. A fresh suit has more inherent buoyancy at first because diving, especially deep diving, simply bursts its bubbles. New BC? Unlikely to have a major effect at this point, but it will in the water. New weight belt? Maybe a nifty new shot belt? Take a moment to make sure the new compares well to the old. Stick 'em on a bathroom scale; often there is variation between claimed and actual weight. New cylinder? Another biggie. Some cylinders are negatively buoyant when full and simply less negative when empty; others sink first and float later.

Do a buoyancy check. Here's how to make a proper buoyancy check: With your lungs half-full, you should float at eye level with no air in your BC. But the fact that your average cylinder loses about 5 pounds as it empties gets you thinking about the buoyancy change in a tank and is a good reminder that it's best to do a buoyancy check with a nearly empty cylinder before you dive. This is obviously a bit of a pain, so add about 5 pounds to your weight if you have done your buoyancy check with a full one. You can always take a moment and recheck buoyancy after a dive, just before you get out of the water. See our Buoyancy Calculator  for more tips on being properly weighted. If you you're overweighted because you struggle with descents, read How To Take Off Weights for tips on getting down without adding weights.

During the dive. Now for the dive itself. Understand why feet-first descents have many advantages: One is that it's easiest to completely empty your BCD in this position. Double-check that the point where the deflator hose attaches to the bladder is really the closest point to the surface as you prepare to descend. It's often helpful to dip your opposite shoulder. Exhale, and if you're properly weighted, you should sink slowly. Keep your hand on the BC inflator and get ready to add controlled bursts of air to adjust your descent rate. You'll add more as the descent continues. If you're making a deep dive for the first time, it can be a bit of a surprise to see just how much air you have to add as you continue. During the dive, enjoy the fruits of your labor. Concentrate on what happens as you breathe. If you see something interesting below you, exhale and drift down for a look. Inhale and you'll level off and start to rise. Don't vary your breathing habits too much, though; breathing slowly deeply and continuously is of primary importance. 

During the ascent. Keep the point about BC positioning in mind while making gradual ascents too. It's easy to trap some air in an unfamiliar BC, which will continue to expand as you ascend. On deeper dives, and given neutral buoyancy, you should only have to start swimming up a little before expanding air takes over. Make sure you're ready to vent this off as needed.

Make the safety stop count. The goal is to be neutral while doing your end-of-dive safety stop, so that's when you can really fine-tune your buoyancy. As you near the surface, stop at 15 feet. After three minutes, kick slowly for the surface. If you have done everything right, there should be no air in your BCD as you break the surface. You should also now be floating at eye level, rising a little as you inhale and sinking slowly as you exhale. If this is not the case, make appropriate adjustments before your next dive.

Log it. After each dive, write down what exposure suit you wore, what equipment you used, how much lead you carried, how much your body weighs and whether you seemed too heavy or light at your safety stop.

SALT WATER VS. FRESH WATER WEIGHTING

If most of your diving is done in freshwater springs or lakes, then ballast calculations should be done in freshwater. If you dive mostly in the ocean, then do the calculations in saltwater. If you switch back and forth, you’ll need to adjust your ballast needs as you go. Be prepared to add anywhere from 4 to 7 pounds going from fresh to saltwater.

A Florida family scavenging for sunken treasure on a shipwreck has found the missing piece of a 300-year-old gold filigree necklace sacred to Spanish priests, officials said on Tuesday.

Eric Schmitt, a professional salvager, was scavenging with his parents when he found the crumpled, square-shaped ornament on a leisure trip to hunt for artifacts in the wreckage of a convoy of 11 ships that sank in 1715 during a hurricane off central Florida's east coast.

After the discovery last month, a team of Spanish historians realized the piece fit together with another artifact recovered 25 years ago. It formed an accessory called a pyx, worn on a chain around a high priest's neck to carry the communion host. The dollar value is uncertain.

"It's priceless, unique, one of a kind," said Brent Brisben, operations manager for Queens Jewels, which owns rights to the wreckage, located in 15-foot (4.5-meter) deep Atlantic Ocean waters.

Schmitt, who lives near Orlando, last year discovered about $300,000 worth of gold coins and chains from the same wreckage, Brisben said. Schmitt's parents have hunted for sunken treasure as a hobby for a decade.

By law, the treasure will be placed into the custody of the U.S. District Court in South Florida, Brisben said. The state of Florida may take possession of up to 20 percent of the find. The rest will be split evenly between Brisben's company and the Schmitt family.

Reuters: Robinson et all, Eurekalert.org

A deep-sea octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica) is shown on a ledge near the bottom of Monterey Canyon, California, about 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) below the ocean surface.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If someone were to create an award for "mother of the year" in the animal kingdom, a remarkably dedicated eight-limbed mom from the dark and frigid depths of the Pacific Ocean might be a strong contender.

Four years ago this month, archaeologists monitoring the excavation of the former World Trade Center site uncovered a ghostly surprise: the bones of an ancient sailing ship. Tree-ring scientists at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory were among those asked to analyze its remains for clues about its age and origins. In a study now out in the journal Tree Ring Research, the scientists say that an old growth forest in the Philadelphia area supplied the white oak used in the ship’s frame, and that the trees were probably cut in 1773 or so — a few years before the bloody war that established America’s independence from Britain.

The entire ship was scanned before its removal to create a precise record of where each of its pieces were originally found. (Corinthian Data Capture LLC)

Key to the analysis was wood sampled from Philadelphia’s Independence Hall two decades earlier by Lamont tree-ring scientist Ed Cook. It turns out that growth rings still visible in the building’s timbers matched those from the World Trade Center ship, suggesting that the wood used in both structures came from the same region. As trees grow, they record the climate in which they lived, putting on tighter rings in dry years and wider rings in wet years. In the process, a record of the region’s climate is created, allowing scientists to see how Philadelphia’s climate differed hundreds of years ago from say, New York’s Hudson Valley. The climate fingerprint also serves as a kind of birth certificate, telling scientists where pieces of wood originated.

The ship itself has been tentatively identified as a Hudson River Sloop, designed by the Dutch to carry passengers and cargo over shallow, rocky water. It was likely built in Philadelphia, a center for ship-building in Colonial times. After 20 to 30 years of service, it is thought to have sailed to its final resting place in lower Manhattan, a block west of Greenwich Street. As trade in New York harbor and the young country flourished, Manhattan’s western shoreline inched westward until the ship was eventually buried by trash and other landfill. By 1818, the ship would have vanished from view completely until the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 set in motion the events leading to the World Trade Center’s excavation and rebirth. 

Some of the trash found amid the ship’s remnants included this leather shoe identified by experts at Colonial Williamsburg as made sometime from 1790-1810.

All images courtesy of Lower Manhattan Development Corporation unless otherwise stated. 

But the quest to salvage the S.S. Central America — which went down in 1857 in a hurricane off South Carolina carrying 425 souls, as well as thousands of coins, bars and nuggets of California gold — has produced a quarter-century of broken dreams and legal nightmares.

The bones of the side-wheeler were discovered in 1988, nearly a mile and a half down. The finder hauled up glittering coins and boasted of treasure worth $1 billion.

But paralysis ensued as waves of insurers and angry investors filed rival claims. Recovery of the shipwreck languished as courtrooms echoed with charges of fraud. In 2012, the finder became a fugitive.

Now, with the legal obstacles cleared, a private company working with a court-appointed receiver has become the first to revisit the shipwreck in two decades. It is, the team was delighted to find, still heavy with treasure.

On April 15, the company, Odyssey Marine Exploration, lowered a robot into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean and hauled up five gold bars weighing 66 pounds — worth about $1.2 million as metal and more as artifacts. That step, the company says, opened a new chapter in the saga of the Central America that will include raising the rest of the gold and exploring the deteriorating shipwreck. “We want to show that it can be done right,” Gregory P. Stemm, Odyssey’s chief executive, said in an interview. “It’s a great opportunity.”

When it sank, the Central America was steaming toward New York with a cargo meant to strengthen the city’s banks. The 280-foot vessel was carrying so much gold — commercial and personal riches from the California fields estimated at three tons, as well as a rumored secret federal shipment of 15 tons — that its loss contributed to the Panic of 1857, considered the first global financial crisis.

From the start, the locus of the recovery drama has been Columbus, Ohio — a landlocked city not known for treasure hunters. It is, however, home to the Battelle Memorial Institute, a private contractor specializing in science and technology.

Thirty years ago, Thomas G. Thompson, a plucky Ohio native who was a young engineer at Battelle, began wooing investors with dreams of finding the Central America. Soon, the Columbus America Discovery Group was formed to finance the hunt, including a robot with lights, cameras, arms and claws.

The team hit pay dirt in September 1988: Piles of gold coins and ingots lay scattered across the ship’s rotting timbers, and overnight, the investors became millionaires — in theory, at least.

In all, the team lifted up about two tons of gold. If sold today as pure metal, it would fetch $76 million.

But as news of the sensational find went public, the group’s investors were not the only ones paying attention. Claims to the fortune came from an order of Catholic monks, a Texas oil millionaire, and Columbia University, where an oceanographer had provided Mr. Thompson with sonar imagery of what turned out to be the shipwreck. And scores of insurance companies insisted that the treasure was rightfully theirs because of claims paid more than a century earlier.

Thus began a legal battle that kept the gold locked away. The disputes crippled Mr. Thompson’s ability to raise new funds, and treasure. It was not until about 2000, when insurers were awarded $5 million in gold, that his hands were untied. He sold much of the remaining treasure that his team had recovered, making a reported $52 million.

But his 251 investors got nothing. In 2005, some of them sued. John G. McCoy, a Columbus mogul who had invested $219,000, told Forbes in 2006, “I think he was dishonest from the word go.” Mr. Thompson avoided courtrooms, always speaking through intermediaries.

One dispute centered on 500 coins that had seemingly vanished. In a 2012 filing, Mr. Thompson said they had gone into a trust in Belize, and in August of that year — when he failed to show up for a hearing — a federal judge ordered his arrest.

It turned out that Mr. Thompson and his assistant, Alison Antekeier, for years had lived in Vero Beach, Fla., in a mansion set on four acres. By the time federal marshals went there to arrest Mr. Thompson, they had fled.

The Columbus Dispatch, whose parent company had invested $1 million in the gold hunt, reported that the couple had left behind empty coin boxes, currency wrappers marked $10,000 (used to band $100 bills in stacks of 100), a bank statement listing a balance of more than $1 million, and a book on assuming a new identity.

Federal marshals had billboards put up in Ohio and Florida seeking information about Mr. Thompson and Ms. Antekeier.

       

N.C.

S.C.

pproximate location of wreck

Mr. Thompson’s last known lawyer, Shawn J. Organ, in Columbus, no longer represents the gold hunter. “He’s incommunicado,” said Liberty P. Casey, Mr. Organ’s office manager. “We haven’t seen him or been able to track him down.”

Last May, the marshals auctioned off Mr. Thompson’s 180-foot ship, the Arctic Discoverer. Its safe was empty.

An important part of the legal drama was resolved that month, when Judge Patrick E. Sheeran of the Court of Common Pleas in Franklin County, Ohio, named as receiver Ira O. Kane, a Columbus lawyer and businessman whose task was to recover as much gold as possible for the benefit of creditors and duped investors.

This March, Mr. Kane picked Odyssey — based in Tampa, Fla., and publicly traded — to resume the hunt.

The stakes? Mr. Thompson recovered 532 gold bars and some 7,500 gold coins whose total face value, in 1857 dollars, was $1,126,000. Experts hired by Mr. Kane estimated the likely face value of the remaining gold at $760,000, but put the range at $343,000 to $1,373,000. In other words, more than half the treasure could still be sitting at the bottom of the sea, at least in theory.

Mark D. Gordon, Odyssey’s president, told investors in March that the remaining treasure, thought to be mostly gold coins, would fetch at least $85 million if sold for its value to collectors. On eBay, $20 coins from the original haul sell for up to $26,500.

Not included in the receiver’s estimate was a cargo long rumored to be aboard the wreck: 15 tons of Army bullion. A best-selling book about the discovery, “Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea” by Gary Kinder, published in 1998, called it a secret shipment meant to shore up the faltering Northern industrial economy, and said the Army had recently declassified its existence.

In an interview, Mr. Stemm of Odyssey said the reconnaissance dive and retrieval of the five gold bars on April 15, as well as two gold coins, was important for demonstrating that, contrary to rumors that the site had been looted, the deteriorating shipwreck was still tantalizingly rich with treasures.

“It’s clear they didn’t do a complete recovery,” Mr. Stemm said of the original team. He added that the dive “confirms that the site has remained untouched” since the last retrievals more than two decades ago.

Helping direct the April 15 operation was Bob Evans, the chief scientist and historian of the Recovery Limited Partnership, one of Mr. Thompson’s insolvent companies and the legal owner of the shipwreck. “I’m elated,” Mr. Evans said in an interview. “I’m fulfilling my dream.”

On April 23, the new recovery ship, Odyssey Explorer, sailed from Charleston to renew the hunt. As a prelude to recovering the remaining gold, Odyssey is surveying the wreckage and will perform an archaeological excavation of the remaining artifacts. The company also plans to collaborate with a scientist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to study deep-sea life colonizing the site, and to continue science experiments initiated by Mr. Thompson’s team.

Odyssey will absorb the expedition costs if little treasure is recovered. If the take is substantial, the company will get 80 percent until it recoups its costs. After that, Odyssey’s share will drop to 45 percent.

Judge Sheeran, like the surviving investors, is eager to see what develops.

The new plan, he wrote last year, bodes well for “the rebirth” of the enterprise and a renewed sense of awe as “more treasure, both historical and monetary, makes its way from the depths of the seas.”

As for Mr. Thompson, it seems likely that he, too — wherever he is — is giving serious attention to what emerges next from his ship of gold 

Newly Released Inventory Provides First Look at Time Capsule of Gold Rush-Era Treasures 

By MarEx

One of the piles of gold coins, lying on the surface, outside the SS Central America shipwreck hull.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, a pioneer in the field of deep-ocean exploration, has now announced operational reports and inventories of items recovered from the SS Central America shipwreck.

These items were initially filed under seal in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division. Chief U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith has allowed the reports to be unsealed and made available to the public.

Odyssey has been working since April 2014 under contract to Ira Owen Kane, the receiver for Recovery Limited Partnership (RLP). RLP is the court-appointed salvor-in-possession of the SS Central America shipwreck.

"This is an iconic American shipwreck, and, as salvor-in-possession, we have a duty to not only recover the remaining valuable cargo and significant items of cultural heritage at the site, but to also share what we learn with the public," said Kane. "We're proud of the recovery and scientific work being accomplished on the site. Making the reports, filed with the court, accessible is the first step in allowing the public access to the shipwreck and the heroic stories of her Captain and those who sailed on her final voyage. We continue to engage in a number of fascinating science initiatives, the results of which will be shared with the public and scientific community when complete."

Above: One of the more interesting pieces of gold jewelry recovered from the deposits in the SS Central America debris field was a gold puzzle ring with a fede motif (clasping hands).

Below: Several gold bars with varying weights discovered at the stern of the SS Central America shipwreck.

The inventories detail the items recovered to date, which include gold ingots, nuggets, dust and a wide variety of gold coins from $20 double eagles down through $10, $5, $2.50 and $1 gold coins, as well as California fractional gold, territorials and a wide variety of foreign gold. Additional significant cultural heritage artifacts have been identified and will be recovered.

RLP's chief scientist Bob Evans served as chief scientist on the 1988-1991 expeditions to the SS Central America and later as curator for the treasure recovered. As one of RLP's representatives on the project, Evans has been aboard the Odyssey Explorer since operations began in April 2014, cataloging the gold as it is recovered.

"The variety and quality of the coins being recovered is just astonishing," commented Evans. "Of course there are spectacular $20 double eagles like we found back in the 80s and 90s. But the wide variety of other denominations makes this year's recoveries very different from the earlier finds. I have seen what I believe are several of the finest known examples so far. The coins date from 1823 to 1857 and represent a wonderful diversity of denominations and mints, a time capsule of virtually all the coins that were used in 1857."

Odyssey President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Gordon added: "The operational reports filed with the court provide an overview of the activities conducted during each offshore period. The first two reports detail the pre-disturbance work and the recovery of items visible on the surface in the debris field, as well as initial archaeological excavation activities in the stern area of the shipwreck itself. The next report, which will be filed before July 25, will cover work conducted from mid-June to mid-July. As planned, during this period we made significant progress removing large amounts of coal and overburden to access certain areas of the shipwreck. We're looking forward to getting back to work at the site in the coming days."

About the SS Central America

The SS Central America was an 85-meter (280-foot) wooden-hulled, copper-sheathed, three-masted side-wheel steamship launched in 1853 as the SS George Law. Operating during the California Gold Rush era, the ship was in continuous service on the Atlantic leg of the Panama Route between New York and San Francisco, making 43 round trips between New York and Panama. The Central America was caught in a hurricane and sank 160 miles off the coast of South Carolina on September 12, 1857. When she was lost, the SS Central America was carrying a large consignment of gold for commercial parties, mainly in the form of ingots and freshly minted U.S. $20 Double Eagle coins. Because of the large quantity of gold lost with the ship, public confidence in the economy was shaken, which contributed to the Panic of 1857.

One of the SS Central America’s paddlewheels.

The location of the SS Central America shipwreck was confirmed in September 1988 at a depth of 2,200 meters (7,200 feet). Recovery operations were conducted over a four-year period (1988-1991) and a large quantity of commercial gold was recovered from approximately 5% of the shipwreck site during more than 1,000 hours of bottom time.

In 2014, Recovery Limited Partnership awarded Odyssey the exclusive contract to conduct an archaeological excavation and recovery of the remaining valuable cargo from the SS Central America shipwreck. Odyssey will receive 80% of recovery proceeds until a fixed fee and a negotiated day rate are paid. Thereafter, Odyssey will receive 45% of the recovery proceeds.

Odyssey was selected for the project by Ira Owen Kane, the court-appointed receiver who represents Recovery Limited Partnership (RLP) and Columbus Exploration LLC (CE). The contract was approved by the Common Pleas Court of Franklin County, Ohio, which has given Mr. Kane responsibility with overseeing the recovery project The United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia has confirmed RLP as the salvor in possession of the SS Central America shipwreck and that Odyssey may conduct operations at the site on behalf of RLP. 

The wreck of the Costa Concordia was refloated on Monday and will soon be towed away and broken up for scrap.  The rusting hulk of the luxury liner had been resting on a temporary platform since being righted a year ago.

In what has become one of the largest salvage operations in history, air was pumped into 30 sponsons attached around the hull of the ship. The air forced out the water in the sponsons, lifting the vessel off the underwater platform.

Prior to the commencement of the refloating, Costa Crociere CEO Michael Thamm said: â€œIt is a complex operation never attempted before, but we know we can count on the best technicians in the world. I wish them all the best for the success of this great challenge.” 

The refloating operation began at 6 a.m. on Monday, July 14. During the first stage, the Concordia was refloated about 2 meters up off the platforms and moved 30 meters towards the east with the assistance of tugs. The ship will then be securely moored and technicians will be able to complete the attachment and tensioning of the last cables and chains, and to lower the starboard sponsons to their final position. The actual refloating will then begin, raising the ship one deck at a time, from deck 6 to deck 3. The whole operation is expected to take about 6 or 7 days to complete. The departure of the Concordia from Giglio is currently scheduled for July 21.

Franco Porcellachia, the engineer in charge of the salvage, confirmed at a news conference around seven hours after the operation began that the hulk had been raised two meters out of the water. "I would say we are halfway through our plan to move the ship," Porcellachia said.

Work will start again on Tuesday to prepare it for towing within days to Genoa in northern Italy, to be scrapped.

Porcellachia said the sixth deck of the ship had started to emerge on Monday, and once that was fully above the water the other decks would become visible in quick succession. "When deck 3 re-emerges, we are in the final stage and ready for departure," Porcellachia said.

"We are undertaking an operation that will close a dramatic chapter for our country," Italian Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti commented at the news conference. Giglio residents made comments like: "I am happy they are taking it away because to see a ship like that always there, with the deaths that happened, it gives us the shivers."; and "It's a liberation. Finally. It's a liberation because it's about time that it goes away. We know very well what the Island has gone through over these last two and a half years - for better or worse - now it's got to go away, and we've got to re-start our lives. Because our lives have exclusively revolved around that ship and everyone who is working around her." 

Once the Concordia has left Giglio, the search will continue for the body of the last person who was aboard the Concordia the night it sank and has not been accounted for. The 33-year-old Indian waiter is the only victim of the 2012 shipwreck whose remains haven't been found. Russel Rebello was last seen near the stern of the Costa Concordia, helping passengers into rescue boats.

It has been more than two years since the Concordia capsized off the Italian coast, killing 32 people. The 290-meter ship ran aground on rocks near the Tuscan holiday island of Giglio in January 2012. 

The wreck of the Costa Concordia was refloated on Monday and will soon be towed away and broken up for scrap.  The rusting hulk of the luxury liner had been resting on a temporary platform since being righted a year ago.

In what has become one of the largest salvage operations in history, air was pumped into 30 sponsons attached around the hull of the ship. The air forced out the water in the sponsons, lifting the vessel off the underwater platform.

Prior to the commencement of the refloating, Costa Crociere CEO Michael Thamm said: â€œIt is a complex operation never attempted before, but we know we can count on the best technicians in the world. I wish them all the best for the success of this great challenge.” 

The refloating operation began at 6 a.m. on Monday, July 14. During the first stage, the Concordia was refloated about 2 meters up off the platforms and moved 30 meters towards the east with the assistance of tugs. The ship will then be securely moored and technicians will be able to complete the attachment and tensioning of the last cables and chains, and to lower the starboard sponsons to their final position. The actual refloating will then begin, raising the ship one deck at a time, from deck 6 to deck 3. The whole operation is expected to take about 6 or 7 days to complete. The departure of the Concordia from Giglio is currently scheduled for July 21.

Franco Porcellachia, the engineer in charge of the salvage, confirmed at a news conference around seven hours after the operation began that the hulk had been raised two meters out of the water. "I would say we are halfway through our plan to move the ship," Porcellachia said.

Work will start again on Tuesday to prepare it for towing within days to Genoa in northern Italy, to be scrapped.

Porcellachia said the sixth deck of the ship had started to emerge on Monday, and once that was fully above the water the other decks would become visible in quick succession. "When deck 3 re-emerges, we are in the final stage and ready for departure," Porcellachia said.

"We are undertaking an operation that will close a dramatic chapter for our country," Italian Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti commented at the news conference. Giglio residents made comments like: "I am happy they are taking it away because to see a ship like that always there, with the deaths that happened, it gives us the shivers."; and "It's a liberation. Finally. It's a liberation because it's about time that it goes away. We know very well what the Island has gone through over these last two and a half years - for better or worse - now it's got to go away, and we've got to re-start our lives. Because our lives have exclusively revolved around that ship and everyone who is working around her." 

Once the Concordia has left Giglio, the search will continue for the body of the last person who was aboard the Concordia the night it sank and has not been accounted for. The 33-year-old Indian waiter is the only victim of the 2012 shipwreck whose remains haven't been found. Russel Rebello was last seen near the stern of the Costa Concordia, helping passengers into rescue boats.

It has been more than two years since the Concordia capsized off the Italian coast, killing 32 people. The 290-meter ship ran aground on rocks near the Tuscan holiday island of Giglio in January 2012. 

The wreck of a U.S. Air Force C-45 aircraft abandoned during flight by its crew in 1952 has been located in deep water off Oswego, New York.  Crippled by the failure of one of its two engines the plane continued on a 65 mile pilotless flight until it crashed into Lake Ontario.  Shipwreck explorers Jim Kennard, Roger Pawlowski and Roland Stevens located the aircraft while surveying a section of Lake Ontario for historic ships.

On September 11, 1952, the C-45 was on a routine flight from Bedford, Massachusetts to Griffis Air Force Base near Rome, New York.  The left engine began failing about 40 miles southeast of Utica.  The aircraft started to lose altitude about 8 miles from Rome, NY.  Believing the plane would crash after one engine was disabled, the pilot, Lt. Col. Callahan, ordered his crew and passengers to parachute.  Jumping at an altitude of 2500 feet the three Air Force Officers and two civilians landed safely.   It was the first time any of them parachuted from an airplane. At 11 p.m. the aircraft was reported flying very low over Oswego.   Town residents saw a plane circling out over the lake just before it plunged into the water, reporting â€œa powerful light, like that of a searchlight, appeared for several seconds after the crash.” 

The search for the missing plane began immediately by three Coast Guard cutters. In addition, C-45 trainers, C-47 transports, and B-25 bombers combed the crash area for two days. When there was no wreckage to be found the search was called off. 

The current shipwreck team was quite surprised when the image of an aircraft appeared on their sonar display as it was well beyond the mile offshore as reported by a few eye witnesses. Detailed sonar images of the wreck of the C-45 were obtained by utilizing high resolution DeepVision side scan sonar.  These images provide an almost aerial photographic image of the wreck and allow the team to understand how the wreckage lies on the bottom of the lake. 

The sonar search was followed up by deployingg a VideoRay Pro IV remote operated vehicle to collect video of the wreck site.  The C-45 is almost totally intact.  The fiberglass nose cone is missing as are the vertical stabilizers. One of the blades of the left propeller broke off and lies nearby on the bottom.  Part of the windshield was broken and the left side of the body behind the wing has been torn away.  Otherwise it is all there.   This probably explains why no debris could be found floating on the surface of the lake during the searches conducted by the US Coast Guard and US Air Force.   

U.S. Air Force C-45 specifications

Wingspan:  47 ft.  8 in. 
Length:  34 ft. 3 in. 
Height:  9 ft. 8 in. 
Manufacturer:  Beach Aircraft Corporation 
Engines:  Pratt & Whitney R986 AN 1 Wasp Junior 9-cylinder radial air cooled – 450 HP 
Speed (maximum):  215 mph 
Ceiling Height (maximum):  20,000 ft. 
Loaded weight: 8727 lbs. 
Range:  700 miles 
Manned by two men and carried 6 to 8 passengers with no armament. 

from: NOAA Fisheries Fact Sheet

Scientific name:	Carcharhinus limbatus
Distribution:	Off the east coast of the United States blacktip sharks range from New England to Mexico but are most commonly found between North Carolina and Texas, especially in spring and summer.
Habitat:	This shark inhabits shallow coastal waters and estuaries and offshore surface waters. Blacktip sharks use shallow inshore waters from South Carolina to Texas as nursery areas for their pups in spring and summer. They can be found in groups as young or adults feeding in shallow water.
Life history:	This species is a relatively fast growing shark, reaching maturity at about 4-5 years of age and living longer than 10 years. Number of pups per litter is usually 4 to 6. Maximum size of blacktips off the U.S. eastern seaboard is about 6 feet in length
Management:	In the Atlantic, blacktip sharks are part of the large coastal shark management group, which is overfished; commercial and recreational fishing regulations are in place for this species. In the Pacific, blacktip sharks are not landed in commercial and recreational fisheries and no management measures are in place for this species. Finning is prohibited.

•  
• Grow slowly
• Take many years to mature (12 to 18 years in some species)
• Often reproduce only every other year
• Have few young per brood (only 2 pups in some species)
• Have specific requirements for nursery areas (bays and estuaries)
• Are caught in many types of fishing gear (hook and line, gillnet, trawl)

•  
• Teeth that are replaced throughout their life
• Sensitive smell receptors
• Eyes that adapt quickly to low light levels
• Lateral line receptors that sense movement in the water
• Electroreceptors that detect electrical fields due to the presence of prey

What is morbillivirus?

Only on the wrecks of North Carolina can you get shots this close to fearsome looking sand tiger sharks.

Long known for world-class wreck diving, North Carolina's "Graveyard of the Atlantic" is rapidly gaining recognition as North America's premier shark diving destination. Like sleek, gray ghosts, big sand tiger sharks prowl these wrecks year-round, offering divers a rare chance for up-close encounters without the need for feeding or baiting.

Man Meets Shark

While it's not unusual to spot an occasional sand bar, thresher or nurse shark mixed in with sand tiger schools (hammerhead, bull and dusky sharks even make occasional, fleeting appearances), sand tiger sharks are the most common and approachable species.

The first time you see the business end of an 11-foot sand tiger shark--that slightly deranged face and the mouth best described as an exploding riot of teeth--it's easy to forget that, when treated with respect, these wild ocean predators are generally docile. Think Barney Fife in Arnold Schwarzenegger's body and you get the idea. Of course, Barney always carried at least one bullet, so don't get cocky. Aggressive displays are rare but possible when a shark is provoked or harassed. Touching or grabbing a sand tiger could result in a close encounter of the unpleasant kind.

Tips for Getting Close

While sand tigers don't seem to mind the presence of divers, they can get skittish when approached directly or aggressively. You're more likely to get close by kneeling on the bottom than finning after them. Sand tigers have been known to swim between the legs of divers standing on the bottom and will frequently approach stationary divers within an arm's length.

Keep in mind that the largest concentration of sand tigers isn't always directly on the shipwreck. Schools are often found off to the side, out in the sand. If sharks aren't visible on the wreck, try swimming out to the edge of the visibility range (keeping the wreck in sight to ensure a safe return, of course) and you're likely to find dozens of sharks lined up in rows.

Thanks to their ferocious looks and large size, sand tigers make excellent subjects for underwater photography and videography. The best results are usually obtained by using a 20mm or 28mm wide-angle lens. This allows the photographer to fill the frame without having to approach too closely. Should a sand tiger approach within a few feet, wide-angle lenses allow photographers to get impressive close-ups of the shark's head.

Top Shark Sites

While you can find sand tiger schools on or near most Carolina wrecks, four sites off Cape Lookout produce the most consistent encounters.

Atlas
Depth: 125 feet. Skill Level: Intermediate.
A new hotspot for shark encounters, this partially intact shipwreck sits upright in about 125 feet of water, though portions of the large wreck reach within 90 feet of the surface. The 430-foot tanker, torpedoed in 1942 by a German submarine, is typical of the sites favored by sand tiger schools, mature wrecks with numerous openings and abundant fish life. Since Atlas rests close to Cape Lookout Shoals, visibility at this site is typically restricted to around 60 feet, but watching sharks materialize from the haze adds extra excitement to the encounters.

Caribsea
Depth: 90 feet. Skill Level: Novice.
One of the areas most popular sites for shark encounters, Caribsea has been home to a large congregation of sand tigers for several years. With a maximum depth of just 90 feet, and much of the wreck 10 to 20 feet shallower, this site provides divers with longer bottom times than many of the other popular shark sites. Torpedoed in 1942 by the U-158, the prominent feature of the 250-foot freighter is the bow section. Though the bow is still largely intact, it is starting to collapse and divers should avoid penetration. Vis is variable and can sometimes be less than 40 feet.

Aeolus
Depth: 110 feet. Skill Level: Intermediate.
Part of North Carolinas artificial reef program, the Aeolus has only recently been providing a home for a few sand tigers. This 409-foot-long transatlantic cable layer originally rested intact on its starboard side. The hurricanes of 1996 ravaged the site, breaking the monstrous ship into three distinct sections and turning part of the wreckage upright. Today, the site has the appearance of a natural shipwreck and provides plenty of opportunities for penetration. Because of its large size, divers are advised to limit their explorations to the section of the wreck their boat is tied to. While sand tigers aren't seen in the numbers or frequency they are on some other sites, this is a popular location for a second dive and does provide an occasional shark encounter.

Papoose
Depth: 120 feet. Skill Level: Intermediate to advanced.
For several years, the wreck of the Papoose was the areas best known and most popular site for shark diving. Since the end of the 1999 hurricane season, however, sand tiger shark encounters at this site have been infrequent. Sunk by the U-124 during World War II, this large oil tanker provides a world-class wreck dive, with or without the presence of sharks. Because of its proximity to the Gulf Stream, visibility of 100 feet or more is not unusual at this site during the summer months.

Where Else?

Shark diving isn't restricted to the sites visited by Cape Lookout dive operators. To the north, charters running out of Hatteras and Ocracoke can provide divers with sand tiger encounters, as can southern operators in Wilmington and Southport.

Rules of Engagement

With its unique snaggle-toothed grin, graceful movement and classic streamlined body, the sand tiger shark is a joy to view and photograph. Because of their docile temperament and the lack of any feeding stimuli, these encounters are virtually risk-free if you follow some commonsense rules.

Don't touch. Resist the urge to touch or chase the sharks. Sand tigers are curious about-but also slightly wary of-divers. They will approach you if you remain stationary and non-threatening.

Always leave an exit. Leave an open exit path when encountering sharks inside a shipwreck. Cornering a shark may provoke an aggressive reaction.

Leave the speargun topside. Like all sharks, sand tigers are excited by the blood and thrashing of freshly speared fish and have been known to confiscate the catches of spearfishermen.

Shark Biology 101: The Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharius Taurus)

Size > Sand tigers normally obtain a maximum length of about 11 feet in the Atlantic. On occasion, larger specimens are spotted.

dentification > Sand tigers are grey-brown on their upper bodies and light grey or white on their undersides. This counter- shading makes them difficult to see from above or below. They have two dorsal fins of approximately the same length and a pointed nose. The upper portion of their tail fin is substantially longer than the lower lobe.

Behavior > They frequently swim with their mouths slightly open, giving a clear view of multiple rows of fang-like teeth. These teeth are shed and replaced about every two weeks, providing a popular souvenir for divers.

Unlike many other species of shark, they are frequently seen hovering motionless along the bottom. Lacking a swim bladder, sand tigers have large, oily livers. The oil is much lighter than seawater and helps provide buoyancy. Sand tigers are also known to swim to the surface, taking large gulps of air to aid with buoyancy.

Diet > Sand tigers feed on small, slow bony fishes, bottom dwellers and crabs. Unlike the "super sharks," such as the great white, their small teeth are not suitable for tearing flesh from larger prey.

Reproduction > The waters off the coast of North Carolina are thought to be this sharks breeding grounds. Fresh breeding wounds seen on females lend credence to this theory. Typically each mother will produce two pups.

The Dive Briefing

The Boat Ride > Most popular North Carolina shark and wreck dives are located 20 to 45 miles offshore and visited on two-tank day trips. Boats vary from small six packs to 30-passenger vessels, though most do not provide drinks or snacks, so bring your own. Conditions may turn rough unexpectedly, so motion sickness medication is always a good idea just in case.

Certification. > For full-day charters, North Carolina operators typically require an open- water certification with at least one ocean dive to a depth of 80 feet in the last six months. Advanced certification is highly recommended.

The Rules > North Carolina operators don't dictate profiles or behavior to their customers. It's up to you to dive within the limits of your equipment, experience and training. Pay close attention to pre-dive briefings. Operators know these wrecks well and will provide a wealth of information on everything from the wrecks history to dive techniques and where to find the most sharks.

Water Conditions > Influenced by both the warm Gulf Stream and cold Labrador Current, diving off the coast of North Carolina can be the easiest diving ever or it can be a challenging experience, depending on season, location and the unpredictable whims of the Atlantic. Conditions are at their best during the May to October dive season, though sand tigers can be found year-round.

Visibility > Count on an average of 50 to 70 feet on most offshore sites, but on calm days it can peak at 100 feet or more.

Temperature > Gear up for mid-70s to low 80s during the summer. A full 3mm suit is recommended over shorties for added protection from cuts and scrapes. In the winter, plan on heavy neoprene, hood and gloves or a dry suit for temps in the low 60s.

Currents > Currents vary according to conditions, seasons and sites. Dive operators will brief you on-site. Use caution when swimming near wreck openings, which can amplify current flow.

safety

Three days after Lao Airlines Flight QV301 crashed into the Mekong River in Laos, killing all 49 people aboard, I found myself sandwiched between high-ranking government officials, recording the salvage from a makeshift barge in the middle of the river. My partner, Gabriele Stoia, and I had hitched a ride on a communist military police boat that brought us to the scene of the accident.

Gabry and I are not salvage experts; rather, we are ethnographers. We had come to record the endeavors of the 11 divers who risked their lives for an event that had been forgotten as quickly as it had occurred. 

The crew worked arduously for 14 consecutive days to salvage the wreckage and recover the victims. There was a 5-knot current running, viz was zero, and the divers had to dodge huge amounts of floating debris. Every day we witnessed unimaginable and often ­dangerous conditions for the divers. 

A local Laotian diver, Bounmixay Khanthayonngthong, led a salvage crew of 10 to recover the wreckage and retrieve the victims.

“We’ve never before dived in these circumstances,” Khanthayonngthong said. “We’re mechanics and welders at the hydroelectrical dam. We have zero salvage experience, and we are without proper equipment. Every day we risk our lives.”

The team searched a radius of more than 600 feet, using sonar and acoustical locating equipment in 25 to 40 feet of water, feeling with their hands and feet to find victims and parts of the wreckage.

The salvage operation was painfully slow. “We used rocks for anchors and buckets for buoys, and we measured parts of the wreckage with ropes,” Khanthayonngthong said. “We had to share our equipment and take turns ­diving in pairs.”

The divers successfully recovered a 32-foot section of the fuselage, a starboard wing, two engines, a horizontal stabilizer, the tail assembly and two flight recorders. The crew also r­ecovered 47 of the victims. 

• Fish have been on the earth for more than 450 million years, whereas mammals have only been

• There are over 27,000 identified species of fish on the earth and an estimated 15,000 fish species

• There are more species of fish than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals

• Sailfish, Swordfish, and Marlin are the fastest fish in the ocean, reaching speeds of up to 70 mph,

• Many Rockfish can live hundreds of years. Rougheye Rockfish are the longest known living fish

• Out of more than 360 species of Sharks, only a handful of species pose a potential threat to

• A female Sunfish may lay 300,000,000 eggs at a single spawning season.

• A male Bangaii Cardinalfish will hold both eggs and babies in his mouth until the young are

• Catfish have over 27,000 taste buds, whereas humans have only 9,000.

• African Lungfish are capable of living out of water for up to two years. They hibernate

• Goldfish can live for decades. The oldest known Goldfish, "Goldie," died in 2005 at 45 years of

• The largest fish in the world is the Whale Shark. The largest recorded Whale Shark was 12.6 m

• Whale Sharks also lay the largest eggs of any animal. A Whale Shark egg measuring 35.6 cm (14

• The largest predatory Shark is the great White Shark. The largest one ever caught was 11.3 m (37

• It takes approximately seven years for the average American Lobster to reach one pound.

• The largest Octopus in the world is the Pacific Giant Octopus. Although it is only about the size

• The Giant Squid is the largest creature without a backbone. It grows up to 16.8 m (55 ft) across