National Marine Sanctuaries: Hunt for the Alligator

2004 Hunt for the Alligator Expedition Log for Monday, August 23, 2004

By Michael Overfield
Chief Scientist/Archaeologist
NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program

Today was the first day of the 10-day search for the Alligator. Crew members assembled at the National Park Service dock in Ocracoke, North Carolina to board the Office of Naval Research's YP-679 Afloat Lab. Once aboard, the scientific staff stowed away gear and began final preparations for this year's exciting search. The crew possessed a diverse background of experience and immediately began coming together as a team.

The plan for the 24-hour survey was to deploy both the side-scan sonar towfish and magnetometer and begin running survey lines in a "mowing the lawn" pattern within this year's primary search area.

The survey lines were five nautical miles long with lane spacing between lines set at 100 feet apart, for a total of 45 linear nautical miles. This allows the scientists to cover 100 percent of the target area. The crew spent over 17 hours carefully surveying the search area and recorded two large magnetic anomalies. These targets will be examined further on Wednesday and Thursday through a close-in side scan and remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, survey. What an exciting way to start off the hunt! Stay tuned for more of what we discover.


Mike Overfield, Chief Scientist/archeologist, NOAA, right, and Frank Cantelas, center, project manager, East Carolina University, watch as Dwight Coleman, Director of Research, Institute of Exploration, sets up the hydrographic search grid that will be used for the Hunt for the Alligator 2004 expedition. (U.S. Navy Photograph by Chief Journalist John F. Williams) (Click on the image for a large version)		Project manager, Frank Cantelas, left, East Carolina University (ECU), and Tim Runyan, Director of the Program in Maritime Studies at ECU, prepare the Geometrics Magnetometer for deployment aboard the Office of Naval Research's (ONR) YP-679. (U.S. Navy Photograph by Chief Journalist John F. Williams) (Click on the image for a large version)