Joint Ecological and Archeological Shipwreck Surveys Using Submersible Video and Laser‐Line Scanning

Abstract

Archeological and ecological studies of shipwrecks are often conducted separately. We provide a proof of concept for a cross-disciplinary approach. Here, we extract ecological metrics from archeological surveys on two World War II shipwrecks that rest at ~200 m depth off North Carolina, USA. We used two advanced technologies (video and laser-line scanning), both from human-occupied submersibles to assess fish communities from imagery and models intended for archeological investigations. Combining video and laser technologies allowed us to identify fish and pinpoint their locations. The resulting fish data revealed that both shipwrecks hosted high densities of groupers, primarily concentrated around tall shipwreck features. These photographs illustrate the article “Extracting ecological metrics from archaeological surveys of shipwrecks using submersible video and laser-line scanning” by Katrina H. Johnson, Avery B. Paxton, J. Christopher Taylor, Joseph Hoyt, John McCord, and William Hoffman Ecosphere. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3210.