PRESS INFORMATION

The total expedition budget is $330,000.

The expedition vessel is Nai’a, the Fiji-based 120-foot ship we’ve used on three previous trips to Nikumaroro.

There are 15 people on the team.

The expedition team departed Los Angeles on July 12, arriving at Nadi International Airport, Fiji on July 14. Transferring to the nearby port of Lautoka, they board Nai’a for the 1,000-mile, 5-day voyage to Nikumaroro. Archaeological operations on Niku will focus on the Seven Site – the “castaways’ campsite” location we began excavating in 2001. The goal there will be to determine whether objects or remains are present which reveal the identity of the castaway(s) who died there. On July 24 we’ll celebrate Amelia’s 110th birthday at the very spot where she may have passed her 40th. Further excavations in the abandoned village will look for more airplane parts in the same area where artifacts were found by the 2003 team which we suspect are “heat shields” from the Electra’s cabin. See the Niku V Plan.

On August 4 the expedition will depart Niku for the 3-day, 600-mile trip to Apia, Samoa where the team will board a commercial flight back to Fiji and from there, home to the U.S., arriving back in Los Angeles on August 9.

Maps.

Photos.

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