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Author Topic: Betchart on Niku in 2017 - another opportunity to look  (Read 6468 times)

Monty Fowler

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Betchart on Niku in 2017 - another opportunity to look
« on: April 03, 2016, 02:57:31 PM »

Betchart Expeditions plans to reprise their 2015 expedition to Nikumaroro with a 2017 effort to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Amelia and Fred's World Flight attempt. TIGHAR is going to play a role in that expedition-experienced TIGHAR's will be accompanying the effort, and TIGHAR Senior Archaeologist Dr. Tom King has put together an ambitious research plan to take advantage of all the boots available to cover the ground. 

This will serve as a real complement and follow-on to Niku IX, which as currently planned has no land exploration component, and Tom King has listed five areas on Niku that merit further exploration for a variety of good reasons. The expedition website is here, www.niku2017.com and it includes a section where you can "adopt" a TIGHAR expert to help assist that particular research effort. Since I'll never be able to go to Niku myself (long story), this is one way I can participate in moving the search forward.

Anyone who wants to go to Niku in 2017 should check out the website or expedition brochure, http://betchartexpeditions.com/pdf_files/1460.Amelia%20EarharCx.pdf, for more information on that.

Either way you choose to participate, it should be a heck of a ride.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 EC
Ex-TIGHAR member No. 2189 E C R SP, 1998-2016
 
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: Betchart on Niku in 2017 - another opportunity to look
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2016, 03:04:16 PM »

This is the article about the proposed Betchart Expedition that was published in the recent edition of TIGHAR Tracks

As last year’s Niku VIII expedition was wrapping up operations and preparing to begin the voyage back to Fiji, Betchart Expeditions arrived with the first ever commercial tourist cruise to Nikumaroro.  Aboard as guides and lecturers were TIGHAR Senior Archaeologist Tom King and a small staff of experienced TIGHAR expedition veterans.  During Betchart’s four-day stay the island favored the sixty-person tour group with moderate weather and calm seas.  The participants thoroughly enjoyed the experience. They were able to explore the island’s sites of interest and, under the supervision of the TIGHAR staff, uncovered what Tom King describes as some “provocative possibilities.”

The cruise was such a success that Betchart Expeditions is hoping to reprise the trip in 2017 with a larger vessel and about twice as much time (7-8 days) at the island.  Once more, Tom King plans to be aboard, this time with a team of fifteen experienced TIGHARs and selected specialists to carry out an ambitious research agenda including the use of several small ROVs.  He’ll put on a "field school" for passengers aboard ship en route to the island, emphasizing ethical treatment of the island and its resources.  Those who want to take part in work on the island will have to take the field school.

The overall cost to each passenger for the whole trip, including discounted air fare to and from Fiji from Los Angeles, is about $11,000. If you are interested in participating please contact Betchart Expeditions at http://betchartexpeditions.com/.

To learn more about Tom King’s research plan see http://ameliaearhartarchaeology.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-voyage-to-nikumaroro-in-2017.html

As with all expeditions, the trip is contingent upon sufficient funding.  Betchart Expeditions must sell enough tickets to justify the charter and, because TIGHAR’s fundraising efforts must remain focused on the Niku IX search for the Earhart Electra, Tom King has accepted the responsibility for raising the estimated $200,000 needed to put his team aboard the Betchart cruise. We’re hopeful that both expeditions to Nikumaroro will be successful in raising the needed funds and achieving their respective goals.
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