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[Ric Gillespie]

http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Niku8/niku8prelim/niku8prelimreport.html

[Bill Lloyd]

What's the altitude of the drone?

[Ric Gillespie]

What's the altitude of the drone?

Dunno.  I'll ask Rob.

[Bill Lloyd]

 "The work of the land team involved a daily commute of 1.5 miles each way from the landing channel, across the main lagoon passage, and up the northwest shoreline past the Norwich City shipwreck in temperatures that routinely exceeded 100°F. TIGHAR photo by Lonnie Schorer."

Having to do that every day is definitely a killer. If you are ever fortunate enough to go big on an expedition, get a ship with a helicopter.  It will pay for itself in time and energy. Of course you already know that.

Good report. Are there more drone photos?

[Ric Gillespie]

Good report. Are there more drone photos?

Tons. Cameraman Mark Smith and I are working on a video report that will include lots of great drone footage.

[Jim M Sivright]

A bouy? to the tie up line to the wreck?

[Ric Gillespie]

A bouy? to the tie up line to the wreck?

Yes.

[Greg Daspit]

Questions regarding the Hail Mary Images and the direction of the “tail” or possible “scar” extending from the sonar anomaly :
Was the direction of the slope determined in the area where the images were taken?
Was an instrument used to measure depth or was the length of line monitored to see if it was deeper to the south than the north in the area searched?
What kind of pattern was used in “walking it along”, as was described in the daily? For example did the linear target (the anomaly and tail) suggest a “walking” pattern that might have a better chance to intersect it or was the search pattern used enough to determine a general slope in the area?

[Ric Gillespie]

Questions regarding the Hail Mary Images and the direction of the “tail” or possible “scar” extending from the sonar anomaly :
Was the direction of the slope determined in the area where the images were taken?

Good question. Don't know yet.  The camera was pointing straight down with no control as to orientation.

Was an instrument used to measure depth or was the length of line monitored to see if it was deeper to the south than the north in the area searched?

Nothing that sophisticated.  I wasn't in the skiff but as I understand it was just a matter of going to the presumed correct coordinates and lowering the camera down until it reached the bottom.  The area photographed does look fairly level so the were apparently in the right general place - on the shelf at the base of the cliff.
 

What kind of pattern was used in “walking it along”, as was described in the daily? For example did the linear target (the anomaly and tail) suggest a “walking” pattern that might have a better chance to intersect it or was the search pattern used enough to determine a general slope in the area?

We'll know more when we get the plot of the GPS readings but I believe Walt said it was a more or less circular pattern.

[Greg Daspit]

RE: The Facebook post
"The initial plot of the path traced by the skiff in the “Hail Mary” attempt to get images of the anomaly location indicates that the camera DID pass over the area where the anomaly appears in the 2012 sonar data"
How were the underwater currents allowed for in determination of where the camera was in relation to GPS data for the skiff location?

[Ric Gillespie]

RE: The Facebook post
“The initial plot of the path traced by the skiff in the “Hail Mary” attempt to get images of the anomaly location indicates that the camera DID pass over the area where the anomaly appears in the 2012 sonar data”
How were the underwater currents allowed for in determination of where the camera was in relation to GPS data for the skiff location?

I don't know.  I'll ask, but my guess is the answer will be "There was no way to allow for the current because the current at that depth at that time was unknown."  We've found that the underwater currents vary greatly in direction and speed from day to day and even hour to hour.  We don't know why.

[Greg Daspit]

Good news that the skiff was on target. The direction the line bends between the camera and weight might be a clue of the current direction, or any excess line attached to the weight. If that is evident.

[Monty Fowler]

We've found that the underwater currents vary greatly in direction and speed from day to day and even hour to hour.  We don't know why.

And that might be a good hook to get some future government or public/private funding involved. If TIGHAR wants to try going down that road again.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 EC

[Ric Gillespie]

Good news that the skiff was on target. The direction the line bends between the camera and weight might be a clue of the current direction, or any excess line attached to the weight. If that is evident.

There is obvious displacement of the line in many of the photos, as in Frame 401 below, but in others the line is slack as in Frame 435.

Ron Bernier, who was handling the line, says, "The camera did not remain perpendicular and at times the angle may have been 20˚ as the boat was positioning.  At one point I pulled it up tens of meters before lowering it back to bottom in an effort to get it closer to being under the skiff.  I was so focused on ‘feeling’ the bottom that I am not clear on how the skiff position matched up."

It's not clear whether the displacement of the line was due to current or the movement of the skiff. I wouldn't expect the current to change dramatically minute to minute so I suspect that the strain we see on the line was caused by the fact that the skiff was moving.

[Greg Daspit]

From the coiled slack in image 435 it does not look like much of a current. There might be an impact plume from the weight hitting the bottom evident in that image though. It will be interesting to see what the mosaic might show in the way of any pattern.