The fantasy of finding sunken wrecks, a Spanish galleon or historical monuments and artifacts may no longer be just a dream for enthusiastic archaeologists and historians.
Lost wrecks and historic sites once thought to be lost forever to Davy Jones' Locker can be found with help from a StarFish Seabed Imaging System.
Traditional side scan sonars, have been very expensive to purchase, but remain the number one remote sensing tool for wreck location and marine archaeological survey, Commercial side scan systems are not affordable to most recreational divers, and as a result, many have been forced to try and manufacture homemade side scan sonars of their own with the project taking months or years to complete.
StarFish systems are a range of shallow water, high specification, portable side scan sonar systems; making high-tech digital seabed imaging available to everyone.
There are significant advantages when using a StarFish system for locating wrecks. StarFish systems can cover exponentially more area than a standard echo-sounder or fishfinder, where the user would have to run directly over the wreck in order to locate it.
StarFish systems can capture wide sections of the seafloor on each run allowing large areas to be surveyed for evidence of wrecks in a relatively short time. The near-photographic quality digital images produced by StarFish systems can highlight debris that is often visible around wreck sites even if the wreck is buried or beyond range.
Any visible trace left by a wreck or archaeological site on the seafloor landscape can be found using a StarFish system.
Analysis of StarFish images can help identify and possibly eliminate specific features of a wreck without the need to dive. Divers can also gain important information about a dive site, such as wreck orientation and potential hazards before entering the water.
StarFish systems are compact, lightweight and very portable (it can even fit in a small rucksack!). They can be operated from the smallest of vessels making it possible to carry out wreck or archaeological surveys in difficult or remote locations.
Applications
Some typical examples of StarFish Seabed Imaging Systems' applications for wreck location and archaeological survey include...
- Wreck and cargo discovery
- Dive site navigation
- Discover tell-tail wreck debris
- Identify and eliminate specific features of a wreck
- Identify wreck orientation
- Identify potential hazards before entering the water
- Identify possible man-made structures for investigation
- Marine archaeology
