Andrew, Tom, Joe...and the rest of the Niku IX expedition team....I just wanted to take this time and wish you guys the best of luck...also that many of us back in the states will be praying for excellent weather, safety for the rest of the team and the dogs, friendships to be established, and many new clues and artifacts to be found. Anyway, its neat to see National Geographic participation in the expedition with the dogs. I think the dogs will give us new insights into possible finds and possibly a final chapter into this saga. With that said..question for you Andrew and Tom....Like most case scenarios when trying to find a body..you have some sort of clothing owned by the person missing that will give a scent to the dogs. As you said these are canine forensic dogs...and how does that work in this situation when they can pickup a scent 9 feet down. I guess what I'm interested in is how these dogs are trained to know that. Also, with this environment on the island and "coral" is this something new to the challenge of the dogs. I noticed in one of the pictures that one of the dogs is wearing custom fit "doggie boots". I take it this is due to the extreme heat to the paws of the dogs. Also, very interested to know what kind of dogs these are and how much training each dog has had, and a picture profile would sure be neat.
Andrew...several days ago I chatted with Leon White about a picture on the Northern tip near the Norwich City site that was shared via Google Earth. This picture was taken at different time intervals during different expeditions. As I looked at the photos...I noticed something that caught my eye, that wasnt seen prior to that particular photo. In the picture taken two years later you see a rectangular shape just right on the reefs edge. It almost appears too that there is a different section just below this. I also did a comparison with Rics fly over video on YouTube Channel that was taken two years later from the Google Earth photo and noticed it wasnt there. That was really baffling. Anyway, lets just say that Amelia did crash land on the island and the plane sit there for a number of days in the water or land....will the plane leave some form of imprint in the reef. Why I say that is several years ago during the Conference in D.C. on of our Tighar couples made a case scenario of what landing the Electra on Niku was like..I guess I'm curious to know that possible "Scarring" may be noticeable after 80 years to rock and coral along the reefs edge? Anyway, excited for you guys...and can't wait till your next post. Good Luck!!
Also..Pat...Is it possible to get "DOGS, DIVES, and DNA" printed on the expedition shirt on the back...and in blue? Think that would be so cool!!!!