Expeditions

The sanctuary conducts a variety of research and resource protection projects aimed at better understanding and protecting the unique maritime heritage sites within it. Increasingly, the sanctuary is facilitating research aimed at better understanding the natural aspects of Thunder Bay and northern Lake Huron.

2021

Viewing the Lakebed with Robotic "Eyes"  - Sanctuaries Live: Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary teams up with Ocean Exploration Trust to study natural and cultural resources in the sanctuary, June 2021.

2020

Please Note: expeditions are currently being rescheduled due to repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic

Rescheduled for 2021: Exploration and Outreach in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary - Sanctuaries Live: 2020 Ocean Exploration Trust Expedition

2019

Exploration and Outreach in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary - Sanctuaries Live: 2019 Ocean Exploration Trust Expedition: https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/nautilus19/

Sinkhole Research: Giant sinkholes are adding water to Lake Huron. Scientists ask: How much?

Lakebed Mapping in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Lake Huron

Lakebed Mapping - Ground Truthing: NCCOS, Partners Survey Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary Lakebed

With Indiana University Center for Underwater Science - 3D Imaging for Rapid Assessment of Nearshore Shipwrecks

2018

With NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research: Aviators Down

OE Lake Huron Sinkhole Exploration

2017

With NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research: Pushing the Boundaries: Technology-driven Exploration of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

Getting a Bird’s-eye View of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

History Meets Technology in Shipwreck Alley

Finding history: the discovery of two lost shipwrecks in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

OE Lake Huron Sinkhole Exploration

With Monitor National Marine Sanctuary and East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies. Archaeological survey of the Northwestern, Cornelia B. Windiate, Kyle Spangler, and Defiance.

2015

With NOAA's Collaborative Center for Unmanned Technologies - pilot training for Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Thunder Bay Island near shore shipwreck survey.

2014

With 2G Robotics - 3D underwater laser scan imaging test: shipwreck Monohansett.

With U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: lake bottom substrate survey Six Fathom Bank, Lake Huron

2013

With East Carolina University Program in Maritime Studies summer field school
Archaeological documentation of the Ogarita, William P. Rend, Montana, Barge No. 1, Portland, and Oscar T. Flint

2012

With NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab - ReCON support for tower construction on Thunder Bay Island for Lake Huron monitoring.

With ECONcrete - support test station for product development: product promoting marine growth on seawalls, reducing the ecological footprint of marine infrastructure.

2011

With Sony and Radical Media - Project Shiphunt: Discovery of the M.F. Merrick and Etruria

With National Geographic: Drain the Great Lakes - filming support and discovery of the shipwreck Egyptian

2010

With NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research: Cutting Edge Technology & the Hunt for Lake Huron's Lost Ships

With the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology- exploring the shipwrecks Defiance and Audubon

Bringing History to the Surface: Live Broadcast from the wreck of the Montana. A NOAA Preserve America funded expedition.

Nautical Archeology Society training course at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary with ONMS Maritime Heritage Program and the National Association of Black Scuba Divers.

2009

With Monitor National Marine Sanctuary documentation of the Grecian

Nautical Archeology Society training course at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary with the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps and the Nobel Odyssey Foundation.

2008

With NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research:  Thunder Bay Sinkholes 2008

With University of Michigan and University of Rhode Island - sonar survey and discovery of the shipwreck Messenger.

With Stan Stock, discoverer of the Kyle Spangler shipwreck, and his dive partner Tracy Xelowski, and personnel from the National Undersea Research Center at UNC-Wilmington, NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab and NOAA's Office of Exploration and Research - documentation of the Kyle Spangler

2006

With NOAA's National Geodetic Survey: Remote Sensing Division - LIDAR and high resolution photogrammetry, confirming locations of near-shore shipwrecks

2005

With NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research: Exploring Thunder Bay's Historic Shipwrecks

With Jean-Michel Cousteau's Ocean Futures Society supporting filming for PBS documentary series on the National Marine Sanctuary System.
 
With University of Rhode Island, documentation of North Point's Maritime Cultural Heritage

With East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies summer field school documentation of shipwrecks in the North Point Reef area.

With University of Michigan's Marine Hydrodynamics Laboratory, support for filming of the Cornelia B. Windiate for an episode of "Deep Sea Detectives" (the History Channel).

2004

With East Carolina University's Program in Maritime Studies summer field school - archaeological documentation of the Monohansett

2002

With Dr. Robert Ballard's Institute for Exploration (now the Ocean Exploration Trust): using remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to film shipwrecks identified during remote sensing operations in 2001

2001

With NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research Surveying "Shipwreck Alley" in Thunder Bay, Lake Huron