Was just re-watching one of Ric's presentations from 2017 and I wanted to see if anyone could follow up on a couple of things.
1. Ric mentioned a small bone (finger) that was found during an earlier expedition and that OSU tried and failed to extract DNA. In the presentation he mentions that TIGHAR was likely to try again as technology had improved in the last few years. Was this ever done? Are there plans to do it in the future? I am aware of some amazing labs (especially in Europe) that have had good success in extracting very old DNA from bones (the Denisovans, an extinct group of human ancestors, are known for a single finger bone that had DNA successfully extracted and that's ~40,000 years old. Yes, it was found in a cave, but still.).
2. Ric also discusses a piece of metal that was located by divers embedded in the reef but a subsequent search failed to find it. Was that item ever the focus of a subsequent expedition? Did Ballard plan to look or cover that same area?
Finally a new question. I was for the first time struck at how much time Amelia had after the landing (perhaps 6 days total, maybe 2-3 of good health and decent stamina before any thirst/hunger/injuries set in and made activity difficult). So why not start up the engines and run the aircraft closer in to the beach or jungle? You'd be bring supplies closer, you're perhaps save the aircraft, and you'd make your travels to the plant to send out radio signals easier. I don't have a good sense of the lay of the land but it seems like leaving it out on the reef would not be a good idea, especially if she's watching the water get higher and higher each day. I guess maybe she was worried about damaging the aircraft (perhaps she honestly thought she could take off again), or perhaps it was already damaged in such a way that she could not move it, or she tried and it was stuck, or she got it stuck (hello Bevington object). It's all speculation I know but it seems like an obvious thing now looking at it (although she may not have thought of it).
Thanks,
Don...