Niku VIII Funding

[Ric Gillespie]

Ric, If funding cannot be raised for this year, and these submersibles are no longer available, are there other simular submersibles capable of doing what you need them to do out there?

At this time we are not aware of other submersibles that have the nimbleness and track record of the Pisces subs.  There is a Plan B in the works whereby KOK and the Pisces subs would do a three month scientific survey in 2015 of all of the atolls and seamounts within the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). TIGHAR would have the boat for part of that trip.  We'd swap crews in Pago Pago when KOK was there for re-provisioning.  Staging out of Pago instead of Oahu would mean only three days each way transit time instead of nine. We'd still want ten days on site so we'd have a sixteen day charter instead of twenty-eight.  Huge savings.

[Tim Mellon]

Ric, If funding cannot be raised for this year, and these submersibles are no longer available, are there other simular submersibles capable of doing what you need them to do out there?

At this time we are not aware of other submersibles that have the nimbleness and track record of the Pisces subs.  There is a Plan B in the works whereby KOK and the Pisces subs would do a three month scientific survey in 2015 of all of the atolls and seamounts within the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). TIGHAR would have the boat for part of that trip.  We'd swap crews in Pago Pago when KOK was there for re-provisioning.  Staging out of Pago instead of Oahu would mean only three days each way transit time instead of nine. We'd still want ten days on site so we'd have a sixteen day charter instead of twenty-eight.  Huge savings.

If this were the case, wouldn't it be more prudent to plan this expedition as Plan A?

[Ric Gillespie]

If this were the case, wouldn't it be more prudent to plan this expedition as Plan A?

If it was a done deal - yes - but it's still pie-in-the-sky with many obstacles to clear, and besides, I only learned about it yesterday.
The expedition staffed and scheduled for this year is the proverbial bird in the hand. If there's any way we can grab it, we should.

[matt john barth]

I don't think we should try to resolve the climate change debate in this forum, from what I seen in other forums the two very entrenched, antagonistic viewpoints quickly lead to lack of civility and  nothing gets resolved.  Civility, at least compared to most sites on the internet, is one of things I like about this forum.

I agree with that statement.

[Tim Mellon]

I don't think we should try to resolve the climate change debate in this forum, from what I seen in other forums the two very entrenched, antagonistic viewpoints quickly lead to lack of civility and  nothing gets resolved.  Civility, at least compared to most sites on the internet, is one of things I like about this forum.

Personally, I see no reason to avoid discussion of controversial topics. After all, the matter has been moved to another thread:

Extraneous exchanges

Personal remarks, commentary, humor, asides, miscellany. A great place to make test posts and to practice using the forum system. A catch-all for what doesn't fit in the other boards.

Civility need not be a victim. When I was a child, we were not allowed to talk about politics, sex, or religion at the dinner table. I am no longer a child.

[Andrew M McKenna]

From the newsletter of the Nai'a, the ship TIGHAR has used for many expeditions to Nikumaroro.

Nice of them to make the fund raising pitch.

amck


<<<<<<<<
Finding Amelia
NAI'A's relationship with TIGHAR and the Phoenix Islands goes all the way back to 1997 when we made the five-day passage to Nikumaroro for the first time, supporting TIGHAR on their "once and for all" expedition to find Amelia Earhart.

But they didn't find her. They found some tantalizing clues, but no smoking gun. Two years later they chartered NAI'A to go back to Nikumaroro. Then again in September, 2001, where the team heard about the world-changing events in America via satphone from about the most remote vantage there is. NAI'A took TIGHAR back to Nikumaroro again in 2007 and finally in 2010 before their search outgrew us.

An accidental side effect of these expeditions is that we discovered an underwater ocean oasis like no-one had ever seen. So between TIGHAR expeditions, NAI'A returned to the Phoenix Islands to document the robust marine ecosystem there. Research expeditions in 2000 and 2002 led directly to Kiribati's decision to create the Phoenix Islands Protected Area and in 2010 the Phoenix Islands became the world's largest marine World Heritage Site. For more details, see our website: Phoenix Islands.

We swallowed the TIGHAR cool-aid a long time ago. Their evidence for where and why Amelia crashed makes complete sense to us and, having been to Nikumaroro nine times, we completely understand why finding her isn't as easy as strolling down the beach to where the airplane wreckage lies. All of the evidence points to Amelia's airplane having been high and dry for several days before disappearing from the radio waves and from the sight of Navy aviators who flew over Nikumaroro a week after she disappeared. Her plane must have been washed off the reef edge, probably by waves like those we encountered at Nikumaroro on our first expedition in 1997.

We've dived deeper than you really ought to all along the slope where Amelia's plane most likely crash landed. And we put small ROVs in the water to look even deeper. But the reef slope is so steep and deep that a proper search takes serious technology beyond what NAI'A can support. TIGHAR went back to Nikumaroro two years ago on a University of Hawaii research ship and their AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) identified a series of sonar hits that are the right size and shape for Amelia's Electra, sitting on a shelf at 380 meters. Technological snafus resulted in the information being hidden until the post-voyage analysis, so no-one has put eyes on it yet.

TIGHAR has an expedition all teed up to go back to Nikumaroro this year on the same University of Hawaii ship to take two three-person subs down to check out the sonar signature. But big ships and submarines are expensive (although I'm amazed how good a deal UH is offering) and TIGHAR needs to raise more than a million dollars in the next 11 days to pay for the expedition. This expedition has nothing at all to do with NAI'A, but we would love for TIGHAR to find Amelia's plane, for once and for all!

TIGHAR has organized a crowdfunding project with Indiegogo and if you are interested in helping support this expedition, please go to https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/we-can-find-amelia-earhart.

Best fishes from Rob Barrel and the NAI'A Family
>>>>>>>>>>>

[Ric Gillespie]

I can't say enough about Rob Barrel. One of the finest men I know.

[JNev]

TIGHAR cannot get a warmer or more enthusiastic endorsement than that.  It is a reflection of deeply rooted good will and having clearly left a very positive impression of the efforts made on those voyages.  Excellent.

[Monty Fowler]

I'm hoping that those positive impressions will spill over into a more all-embracing response from the public to TIGHAR's first crowd-funding effort.

LTM, who does what he can, when he can,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[Oskar Erich Heinrich Haberlandt]

Ric,
as it seems, time ran out. There will be no NIKU VIII this year. Many will be disappointed, me too! But you did your best!
Oskar #4421A

[Krystal McGinty-Carter]

Its a terrible disappointment. I was watching it right up until it ended.  Well, whats one more year?  There will be plenty of other fundraising opportunities. Gotta keep looking ahead.

[John B. Shattuck]

Like World Cup Football (soccer) matches, more time can sometimes be added....and dramatic things can happen.  I for one, am waiting for referee Ric to blow the whistle and call it...

JB

[Tim Collins]

Has the official word been given?

[Oskar Erich Heinrich Haberlandt]

Like World Cup Football (soccer) matches, more time can sometimes be added....and dramatic things can happen.  I for one, am waiting for referee Ric to blow the whistle and call it...

JB

Maybe the referee has lost his whistle?  :o

[Ric Gillespie]

The official word is given. No Niku VIII this year.  We'll reschedule for next year.  The board is currently considering options. We'll make a decision very soon.