The Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society is making it easier to explore sunken ships – without getting wet. They have created 250 maps– and counting. This year, they hired an archeologist to update a map of the Hesper, a schooner which sunk in Silver Bay in the 1800s.
Transcript
This is Minnesota's Legacy, a look at the organizations and the people who have benefited from Minnesota's Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment.
Phil Kerber: There's something about shipwrecks that capture our imagination. Sunken boats often remain intact underwater, leaving an eerie, mysterious structure, a narrative that can be pieced back together a lot of times. You can tell by how it was broke apart. You can tell about what happened.
Julie Censullo: That's Phil Kerber. He's the president of the Great Lake Shipwreck Preservation Society.
Phil Kerber: Did it split in the middle? Did it break in half? Those are some of the things you find out when you do all of the research.
Julie Censullo: The Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society is committed to researching shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. Using 3d photogrammetry, they create digital maps of shipwrecks.
Phil Kerber: You put them up in your screen, and you can move them around, twist them. See what's underneath, see what's on top.
Julie Censullo: This year, they've hired an archeologist, using a grant from Minnesota's Legacy Fund, to update a 3d map of the Hesper, a schooner which sank in Silver Bay in the 1800s. A map of the Hesper, along with many other ghostly shipwreck models, is available for you to explore yourself at 3dshipwrecks.org.
Minnesota's Legacy is produced by AMPERS with support from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Online at AMPERS dot ORG.