Oases of Life on the Sandy Seafloor with Anne Smrcina
Anne Smrcina (author) and Ben Haskell pose next to ROV Pixel during a 2019 expedition to the Portland. Anne and Ben were also part of the 2002 mission that confirmed the identity of the wreck. Credit: NOAA
Join the research team from NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Marine Imaging Technologies as we broadcast live shows from two shipwrecks in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary!
By Anne Smrcina, Education and Outreach Coordinator, Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Desert oases provide a source of life-giving water in a sandy, dry habitat. In the ocean’s life-sparse sandy environments, shipwrecks provide handy, life-supporting structure on the seafloor. Next week, scientists and technicians from Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Marine Imaging Technologies will be exploring two shipwrecks in the sanctuary.
Discovering the Wrecks
One shipwreck is the iconic passenger steamship Portland, often labeled the “Titanic of New England.’ This ship went down in the “Portland Gale of 1898” (a storm named after the lost ship) with the loss of all passengers and crew, an estimated 192 souls. The second shipwreck is our mystery coal schooner. It was probably a workhorse vessel—nothing grand or historic—but one of possibly many cargo carriers that supported the New England economy at the turn of the 20th century.
I’m the education and outreach coordinator and have been here at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary for some 26 years. I learned about Portland even before I joined the sanctuary (and before the sanctuary was a sanctuary) when John Fish and Arne Carr revealed to the media that they had discovered the wreck in 1989. Unfortunately, they were not able to bring back definitive visual proof.
As the public information specialist at the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Office, I was tasked with creating the first general information brochure for the sanctuary when it was designated in 1992. I was able to confirm from Arne and John that the wreck was definitely in the sanctuary, although they were not revealing exact coordinates.
It wasn’t until 2001, when deputy superintendent Ben Haskell spoke to the shipwreck discovery team of his interest in mounting a mission to fully document the wreck, that the sanctuary obtained the coordinates. The following year, we went to the location that John and Arne provided. By then, I was working as the sanctuary’s education coordinator (the second employee hired shortly after the sanctuary office opened in 1994). The first few passes over the spot produced some amazing side scan sonar images of a ship of the right size and with its distinctive features of diamond-shaped walking beam and side-by-side smokestacks. The discovery was now confirmed, as no other ship of this design went down in Massachusetts Bay.
Over the past 18 years, the sanctuary has made several trips back to the Portland site, including a trip with the Science Channel to produce a documentary and to inspect the wreck for changes over time. I was lucky to be part of the 2019 telepresence mission that returned to Portland with the goal of broadcasting live video from the wreck site to schools and the public via the internet. Images gathered were also being used to build a virtual 3-D model of the wreck that could serve as baseline data to compare wreck conditions in future years.
This year, Pixel will carry a mini-ROV down to the Portland. The mini vehicle will be used in the attempt to penetrate the shipwreck with the goal of exploring the engine room and boilers. Credit: Marine Imaging Technologies
This year, we will once again visit the Portland wreck. We’ll be using last year’s awesome remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named Pixel (a cinema class vehicle) along with a smaller ROV that may be used to penetrate into the engine room of the ship. Researchers would like to see if they can find clues about why the vessel sank. We have theories based on the timing of the sinking and the fierce nature of the storm, but since there were no survivors, everything is conjecture at this time.
The second wreck we will be visiting appears to be a small coal carrier (100 feet long, two masts) but we have no name for the vessel, although some numbers have been seen on the bow. Maritime archaeologist Dr. Calvin Mires believes artifacts around the ship may provide clues as to its age and its identity. If we can retrieve a sample of the coal that is piled around the hull, we can determine if it was carrying the bituminous or anthracite variety. Anthracite was a cleaner-burning, more expensive type of coal, while bituminous coal was used primarily by the railroads and industry. This sample, if successful, will provide another clue about the cargo that might help to determine what vessel was carrying it.
Life on a Wreck
Along with the maritime heritage investigations, our research team will be studying the invertebrate communities on both wrecks. We’ve observed that the Portland wreck hosts a wealth of life, including several species of anemones, sponges, and tunicates. Dr. Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution works on larval distribution and colonization. She’s interested in how the larvae get to the wreck and which species survive and prosper. Compared to the sandy seafloor surrounding the wrecks, the vessels are true oases of life (and in three-dimensions). Life higher up on the wrecks may find stronger, faster currents with more food than slower currents down near the seafloor.
Hydroids, anemones, and sponges attach to the walking beam of the Portland, which sits on the seafloor of Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Credit: NOAA/WHOI/MITech
Marine life now grows on the remains of one of the Portland's paddle wheels.Credit: NOAA/WHOI/MITech
Cups sit among debris from the Portland, which now serves as home for anemones and fish, including cod and redfish, Credit: NOAA/WHOI/MITech
An interesting observation this past summer at the mystery wreck is that the wood hull is covered in what appears to be copper sheathing. And, I bet you can guess the status of the invertebrate community at this site. Yep—the anti-fouling attributes of copper on ships seems to be continuing to do its job, as the marine life community on this wreck is considerably less abundant than that on the Portland (as well as the Frank A. Palmer and Louise B. Crary, two coal schooners—without copper sheathing—visited in 2019).
We’ll also be looking at fish communities. In 2002, we saw large schools of large-sized cod and pollock on the Portland, but in 2019, Acadian redfish dominated the fish community. There are many possible reasons for this difference—different time of year, ocean warming, ocean acidification, overfishing, marine pollution, or something completely different. The verdict on the cause is still out, but we do know that changes in the fish community observed at the wreck are in line with changes throughout the larger Massachusetts Bay region.
Kirstin has been able to get out to the wrecks this summer to do some initial sampling of species and may be able to confirm an unexpected finding during our broadcasts next week.
As we proceed with the 2020 telepresence mission, we are adding educational components for study before, during and after the mission. We hope to build additional resources from the images taken and findings made during the cruises. During the mission, I’ll be writing a daily blog about our work and any noteworthy discoveries. And you can follow along, too, as we will be offering two real-time, daily broadcasts, live from the shipwrecks!
Exploring in the time of COVID
Of course, we are undertaking field work in the time of COVID-19, so our procedures have had to adjust due to health and safety concerns. Instead of a large research vessel, the pared-down, two-person ROV team will head out on a small vessel and the scientists will view the live feeds from a field operations center on shore (spaced out at separate workstations, but wearing masks if closer than six feet). Additional team members will be situated at the Inner Space Center’s broadcast studio at the University of Rhode Island.
Pixel is a cinema class ROV (remotely operated vehicle) that will be used during the telepresence mission to get high quality video of the wrecks. Credit: NOAA
With the wonders of web, radio and microwave communication, and fiber optics, we’ll be getting the images on shore just as fast as if we were on the surface vessel. The research team will be able to communicate with the ROV operators as they watch the video feed, and be able to ask for closer inspections of interesting sites. Just as classrooms have gone virtual, so has ocean field research (although we still do need the ROV operators out on the water to deploy and retrieve the vehicle—and drive it on its underwater tour). But, one day, even this function may be accomplished remotely.
Check back next week as we undertake our mission to the Portland and our mystery wreck. For more information about the project, visit our expedition website. If your classes are in session, you may be able to participate in the 11:30 “Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants” direct broadcast to schools. For individual viewers, and we encourage you to inform your students, if possible, a home computer or mobile device will let you see the broadcasts offered at 2:30pm and 6:30pm EDT on Tues and Wed (Aug 25 & 26) and our 2:30pm broadcast from the mystery ship on Thurs (Aug 27). Everyone has the opportunity to enter questions, although only a limited number will be answered during the broadcast due to time constraints. However, all questions will be answered and a Q&A reply sent back to all people submitting inquiries.
We’re hoping you can join us next week. Stay tuned!