Underwater Treasure Search Central: Monetary Possibilities and Problems

Monetary Possibilities and Problems
When you're searching for treasure, things get expensive! And I mean in the thousands-a-day range! And the R.O.V. can cost up to 4 million dollars! So you need a source of money. Shipwrecks are a great place for this. But sometimes, you get a possibility, but you need time to dig up the wreck and get the stuff. So what do you in the meantime?
Go searching for other treasure, of course! There are different kinds of treasure and expensive stuff on the sea floor. Some things are in modern containers... those big, metal boxes that transport things everywhere, on many types of vessels. They fall off ships, float just under the water level for a while, and then sink. Sometimes, these metal containers have valuable cargo. It can be anything... from gold and silver to wine!
Wine can be a highly-valuable cargo. Of course, there are different factors. If the wine bottles pop open, the wine escapes. If seawater somehow gets in, the drink gets nasty... even toxic! Sea pressure can even pop the cork. Since the bottling is a little different, champenge (sp?) has a better chance of surviving, but not always. It's a risky situation, though sometimes worth it.
Before the giant metal boxes came in the '50s, barrels were the thing everything was transported in. It didn't matter what it was, it went along in a barrel. So if you find a shipwreck of barrels, or barrel-shaped objects, there's a good chance it may be valuable.
Then again, it may not. Seawater decays wood, so barrel-shaped objects may simply be tar that has hardened in the barrel's cast-shaped form. That's not worth much in monetary value. Admittedly, there is sometimes something hidden inside tar loads, like coins, gold, or silver, but it's not always worth more dives, since you'll mainly be getting tar.
Then again, it could be the drug opium, which is still pretty valuable today to pharmencudical (sp?) companies. Opium could harden into the cast-form, making it look like a barrel. It's another unsure and risky thing if you're bringing up barrels or barrel-forms. That's when you're usually glad you have a lab on board, so you know whether or not it's worth diving again once you test a sample.

Owl Central: Snowy Owls

Snowy Owls
The name alone is a clue to where Snowy Owls live. It's like you guessed... northern areas, where there is lots of snow. They also live across Eurasia, since owls there are welcome pest-control. But in North America, they mainly live up in the northern regions.
BUT they can live down south! In fact, when there's a food shortage, Snowy Owls will move down south. And they may even lay their eggs and live for a year in their new southern home.
Snowy Owls start their mating season in early May, no matter what. Dada does a flying ritual to attract females... not unusual, right? But he usually does it holding some sort of prey! In fact, landing and mantling that prey is part of the ritual flight.
Then Momma lays her eggs in the same early May, or mid-May. She starts laying eggs. Eggs can be laid 2-5 days apart, which can cause some big age differences in the young.
Then the rest is a matter of days. Chicks are born white, similar to what they will be when they are adults, though their feathers come in fast. They usually leave the nest quickly, and then the parents will take turns feeding them. The chicks usually leave the nest for good around 55 days after birth, which is a pretty fast pace for any animal species!
Snowy Owls can be aggressive! Especially when they are hurt! They get cranky and attack even folks trying to help them. Even folks with protective gloves on can get some nasty cuts from the sharp beak and talons. Admittedly, some cases of injured owls make them too weak and docile to fight back, but you've got to watch it either way, because they can still hurt you by biting the wrong spot, usually thinking it's food.
Snowy Owls could also be called "Fluffy Owls" or "Feathery Owls". Since they live where it's cold, they have a very thick coat of feathers to keep warm. But they have so much feathers, even their legs and feet have feathers! It's often cold enough that the extra protection is needed!

Underwater Treasure Search And Famous Boats Central: Tech Problems & Mistakes, And The U-103

Tech Problems & Mistakes
R.O.V.s can be extremely expensive, up to 4 million dollars! But they are worth every penny. Without them, shipwrecks wouldn't be able to be seen, or even identified!
But trouble can brew heavily when one breaks. This means it is usually a very good idea to have a super-good R.O.V. technician on-board, as well as spare parts for the R.O.V.! However, some problems just can't be fixed on-board the ship. You have to go to on land in order to fix the R.O.V.... and sometimes just to figure out what the heck is wrong, because you can't always tell what is wrong, and your best guess might have been proven wrong. This can cost a ton of money, and cause havoc with your schedule and plans, because you have to sail back to the mainland and get the robot fixed.
Sonar is another highly-important ingredient to the recipe of ship-and-treasure-finding. But you must keep an open mind, and be ready for anything. Why? Well, you could be looking at a sonar, and it definitely looks like a certain kind of ship. You can be positive it's this kind of ship, but when you actually go under, you find out otherwise! Natural causes made a shipwreck of a certain ship look like the one you're were sure the wreck was. That's part of the fun of solving these odd kinds of mysteries!

U-103
The German U-Boat called the U-103 is a famous wreck, and a little unusual. It was attacking the sister ship of the Titanic, which had been disguised and was being used for transporting soldiers in World War I. The passenger ship spotted the U-103, and quickly got on the offensive. How? She rammed it!!!
"A ship rammed a U-Boat? A submarine?!?" you might be asking. Yep, she did!!! Like one would suspect, the captain of U-103 ordered a dive. But this didn't save the U-103. The passenger ship's propellers cut into the U-Boat, and U-103 sank, making it a extremely rare case of "U-Boat sunk by a passenger ship"! Definitely very cool!

Owl Central: Barred Owls

Barred Owls
Four sub-species of barred owls live in North America. Most live on the eastern side of the USA, though there is some other places where they live. But the most dense population is in the south, and more specifically, Texas.
Barred Owls are named for their brown barred feathers that's over most of them. These feathers are good camoflage (sp?) in their different types of woodland homes. They, like the Boreal Owl, stay near the truck of the tree they're in when perching, so are basically invisible. Plus, their eyes are brown, so they're nearly invisible, though their call can be clearly heard nearby.
Barred Owls can get picky about their neighbors. While they are usually friendly to humans they trust and know are friendly, they can cause a noisy ruckus at strange humans they don't know. Chicks seem to be more trusting than adults, however.
Speaking of chicks, these little guys can keep their parents going. They demand food constantly, until they leave the nest. The only exception is when both parents are gone, and the chicks usually take the chance to preen themselves. Dada will leave his just-nighttime hunting routine and go to a day-and-night hunting routine so he can feed the chicks. And then when the chicks are old enough to be left, Momma will join Dada in getting food from their chicks. And still the chicks demand more, more, more!!! When they're ready to go, all will leave the nest. At first it's a short flight away (and the food-demands continue), but the chicks eventually leave for good, led by the largest chick.
Momma usually lays her eggs somewhere in March. After the first egg, she does all the incubating. She lays a new egg every two days. Usually, there are 5 white Barred Owl eggs in a clutch.
And then the eggs hatch, and the demands begin. The fun part is, the chicks are helpless and their eyes are clutched shut for around 5 days. But they are loud and demanding for food from Momma and Dada ever since the hatching.
Their first adventure out of the nesting tree are usually daytime ones. They come out, and perch on branches near the nest-hole. They sometimes go back into the nest at night, but sometimes they stick around their perch.

Famous Boats & Underwater Search Central: R.M.S. Lusitania & Bacteria Decaying Trouble

R.M.S. Lusitania
The R.M.S. Lusitania is one of the most famous shipwrecks in history. It was built 4-5 years before another famous ship, the Titanic. The Lusitania lasted a lot longer, until World War I. Like the H.M.S. Victory, the Lusitania was the technological wonder of its time.
Today, it's a boat of mysteries. In WWI, a German sub shot a torpedo at the Lusitania. Thing was, the Lusitania was a passenger boat bringing folks from New York to England. The torpedo hit the bow, just under the water level. But the real killer was a mysterious second explosion in the bow. Most of the lifeboats were useless, and the Lusitania sank in under 20 minutes. Most of the people on-board died, and the few passengers were picked up by fishermen and sent to the nearby Irish town of Cobh (sp?). The Lusitania was a big factor into bringing the USA into WWI simply two years later.
What was the second explosion about? There are many rumors and theories about this... one of them is that there were illegal big-time explosives aboard. These supposedly big ammunitions (sp?) would probably have been being sent for the British war effort. These might have exploded. No one knows for sure.
But the legend of the Lusitania doesn't stop there. Some folks believe that a government bombed the area with depth charges somewhere in the 1950s. While there is evidence of British depth-charges, no government takes claim for this supposed bombing, and denies that they ever did this thing.
The shipwreck of the Lusitania is only 11 miles from the shore. Being this close, the Irish government of course took an interest in it. It was discovered that an artist was bringing highly-valuable oil paintings across the sea in lead tubes. Once the Irish government heard this, they had the area turned into a protected zone.
This didn't stop the fishing industry. Since shipwrecks are like coral reefs, a lot of fish gathers there, and the fishermen soon follow. But this has caused problems. Their fishing nets have become a huge, and dangerous, maze around certain parts of the shipwreck. And this fishing activity can be a threat to the ship itself!


Bacteria  Decaying Trouble
Fishing isn't the only trouble a shipwreck can face. Believe-it-or-not, organisms can cause trouble for a shipwreck! And it doesn't matter if it's a big, strong, steel ship or not! And I'm definitely not talking about humans wrecking these sites...
You'll definitely be asking "Then what the heck are you talking about?" by now. Put simply... I'm talking about bacteria. It may be hard to believe such tiny organisms can cause trouble to a huge shipwreck, but they can! Some bacterial colonies pull out the iron out of metal, and make it weaker. This could lead to structures collapsing on a ship. Bacterial colonies can also boost the chances of rusting and decay faster as well.
Now, the conditions have to be right. Cold water can stem the growth and activities of bacterial growth, as well as deep water. A combo of these two is a nice slow-down-bacteria-colonies formula. But if the wreck is too warm, or too high (AKA, closer to sunlight), bacteria could grow very fast. So when you're checking out wreck sites, testing the water for bacterial growth and other conditions is a very good idea, so you know how much time you have to check out this site before it becomes nothing more than an unexplorable (sp?) junkyard! And, if the growth is fast enough, that may be a very short time...

Owl Central: Boreal Owls

Boreal Owls
Boreal Owls can be found in many places. It's been seen in North America, and a lot of Eurasia. This might be surprising, since the Boreal Owl can be hard to see. The brown-gray feathers it has allows for a great disguise in its home of the boreal woodlands. Plus, during the day, it hangs near the trunk of its conifer perch, and stays as still as a statue. Basically, it can go unseen. However, it has to be older... young boreal owls are more black-and-white, and stick out a little more.
But how do Momma and Dada get together to give birth to these young owls? Dada first picks a nesting site, and his own territory. And then he sings with his signature call of "kree". He sings all night for every night until a female comes around and becomes his mate. Then he'll continue to sing for nights in a row... but not as loudly.
Momma and Dada take flights together. And they put on a concert for all in the forest to hear, singing together between mating and flying. And then Momma starts laying eggs, usually one every other day. She incubates these eggs as soon as the first one is laid. She only stops to take short flights and/or to join Dada in a mini-concert. Dada, of course, hunts for food for the mate and her chicks.
Boreal Owls are very intelligent. While a pair can get snappy if you get near their nest (which is usually in a hole in a tree), Boreal Owls can recognize friendly humans. Usually, you have to make a relationship with them when they're young. But they will then recognize either you, usually either by your voice or your whistle. Now that's cool!

Underwater Treasure Search: Money Searching, Teamwork Issues, Mini R.O.V.s, and S.U.R.F.

Money Searching, Teamwork Issues, Mini R.O.V.s, and S.U.R.F.
Treasure-searching can be expensive! One day's searching can cost up to a couple thousand dollars! So funding is a major prob to treasure-searchers... so they need to find things to sell. Gold and silver are the most obvious ways to solve this problem. But they need to find it.
Sonar and magnetic scans are a major way to find stuff, like potential shipwrecks, under the water. But there are sites which may look like a shipwreck, but are only sites that have a ton of rocks! In fact, there's a lot of these sites. And then, to top it off, some of the sites may have boats, but not the one you're searching for! You might not even be able to identify these other boats or the reason they sank, making them one big mystery! This can be extremely frustrating, but the only way to tell each apart is by eliminating the wrong possiblities (sp?), and you do that by diving at each site. This can stretch a crew's patience and wind them up, even the top people.
Speaking of crew-trouble, sometimes you have to hand over your authority to your "second-in-command". This may be because you have to talk with the government owning a certain ship or area with a very good shipwreck and/or potential dig site so you can dig up the stuff hidden underneath... especially when it's both a military ship and a highly valuable ship to both history and monetary value. This can cause a lot of pressure on your ship (or ships) by itself when it happens. Why? Certain proof may be demanded by this certain government, and the team has to do scouting and preperation (sp?) for the dig as well. Since you're busy, you just have to trust the team, so it's important to have a crew you can trust! And they need to be able to handle the situation, so a good crew can be extremely important.
Speaking of big-dig sites, sometimes you have to scout the area where you want to dig. But you need a vehicle that's not as expensive, and can manuver (sp?) more. Now, they're not as complicated and have as many tools (though their systems are still complicated!), but there are smaller R.O.V.s than the usual high-expenses one. They can get around better, and are good for scanning and checking out sites... especially when you don't want to risk the higher-tech R.O.V.
While the missions depends heavily on the R.O.V.s themselves, a lot can depend on one part of a R.O.V.. These machines have a special system called a S.U.R.F. system. This is basically an underwater vacuum. However, it can gently blow away sand as well as do suction and get rid of sediment, so it's very important when looking at objects underwater. If even this part of the system breaks, and your on-board R.O.V. repairman or technician can't fix it... might as well kiss the mission good-bye!

Underwater Treasure Search: German Subs, AKA U-Boats, & Treasure-Hunting and U-Boats

German Subs, AKA U-Boats
In World War 2, the U-Boats were the German's deadly ninjas of the sea... silent, deadly, and often unseen. The Allies figured out their secrets, however, and start wiping these subs out in 1945. One way they did this was with Mine Alley, an area between Ireland and Britain that was basically littered with mines chained to boxes on the seabed. There was a narrow area where surface boats could pass through safely, but underwater subs were in extreme danger. Another was the tin-opener technique, where a ton of depth-charges were tossed into the water from either boat or plane... or even both! These charges exploded at a certain depth, and could tear subs apart!
Of course, this wasn't the only danger U-Boats had. Even before 1945, U-Boats had one big enemy... sea pressure! An U-Boat was basically one big complex pipe and valve system, along with some other stuff. If one seal blew off, or something in that complex system went off, the pressure attacked, the sub broke, and then it sank. And there wasn't any rescue from a sunken sub!

Treasure-Hunting and U-Boats
Treasure isn't just gold, silver, or low-alpha lead... knowledge is a valuable treasure too! This is why some folks go chasing after the wrecks of U-Boats. There are many mysteries there! And many untold and unknown stories to be found...
However, there can be trouble! Other than the constant fishing nets, currents, tides, and weather, some areas, like Mine Alley, can be littered with Ally mines! These can blow up your R.O.V., and then the shock-waves can zip on up and badly damage your boat! So when hunting in Mine Alley, watch yourself... some mines have stuck around, and are waiting for prey! And, sometimes, there aren't many clues in sight.
There are good things to checking out U-Boats, however. There can be a ton of clues to which U-Boat it is you're checking out. Before 1945, U-Boats had deck-guns. Production of subs with these stopped, and older boats that still had them got them removed, though they had a gun-mold still on deck. So if you find a gun-mold, you can figure it was pre-1945.
Also, U-Boats not only had periscopes (like any submarine you can think of), but also snorkels! These snorkels got oxygen to the engine, so the sub could stay down longer. How they're good today is that the periscopes and snorkels were adjusted and upgraded constantly, so the type of periscope and snorkel an U-Boat has can help narrow down which U-Boat you're looking at! And there were other upgrades and features (like life-raft containers on or near the sub) that help pinpoint which U-Boat the wreck is.

Underwater Treasure Search Central: Different Required Stuff, Unusual Treasure, Required Areas, Different Shipwreck Stuff, & More Mystery Stuff

Different Required Stuff, Unusual Treasure, Required Areas, Shipwreck Stuff, & More Mystery Stuff
When you've got a mission, you need different stuff. For one thing, you may need more boats so that when you're checking out shipwrecks, someone else can look for these wrecks! You also have to hire crews to man these ships, and check out the data gathered by the sonar fish and magnetic-scanning device that's also used with the fish.
You also need money. Hey, you have to get those objects somehow! And something is always due to break eventually, and you need a way to buy those repairs. If not, something could go wrong. For example, when you're doing the sonar fish and magnetic-scanning device, you need to keep the speed constant and the ship going in a straight direction, which can depend heavily on the auto-pilot. If the auto-pilot breaks, well... the whole operation gets messed up, and getting the sonar fish and magnetic-scanning device may become not only a lot more harder, but dangerous for people and the devices. So you need to go on land, and you need money to buy the new auto-pilot system, or other broken stuff!
Sometimes, you find stuff that is valuable. And I'm not just talking silver and gold, though those are big items. Lead can be very valuable! I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! Over long periods of time, lead loses particles which let loose alpha waves. These pieces of lead, called low-alpha lead, are very good in the electronics area, since they're very good objects to make computer chips out of. So low-alpha lead can be very valuable, depending on how low-level the low-alpha lead is.
And sometimes lead can have clues to the shipwreck! Metal ingots, when they're made, are imprinted with the maker's mark. This can help narrow down the date of when the ship went down. Of course, they don't always have dates, but different marks or letters. Since you can't always tell what it means right away, you need to figure out what it means. Here comes in the good ol' Internet, and these treasure-hunters usually have a library aboard their ship that help to figure out different clues.
Despite a good deal of depending on sea-bound wrecks, a good deal of stuff is dependent on land operations. You have to send things to labs to be checked out. Sometimes, you have to send stuff to other continents for the right labs and such!
The shipwreck can cause trouble for expeditions. Take subs and German U-boats! Sometimes the torpedoes are still there, and you just don't know how explosive those things are. Or even the state the explosives are in, so there's no way of telling if they're more liable to explode or not.
And fishing expeditions can accidentally cause trouble too. Their fishing nets are very heavy, and can mess up a shipwreck. If the ship is torn enough, it can have a lot of sharp points which can tear tubes and certain stuff and destroy certain stuff in an R.O.V. Plus, sometimes the nets stick around. These can tangle up the R.O.V., and get the robot stuck. Not good!
And get this... fish themselves can cause problems! Shipwrecks are good hiding places, acting like reefs, despite being artificial. So a lot of fish may come over and live in a shipwreck. However, these schools and groups of fish can get in the way of a R.O.V.'s cameras, especially when there's a lot!
There are some confusing shipwrecks too. Some ships once carried frozen meat or other cargo during war-times (like the World Wars), and were shot down. However, these ships cargoes, despite being weird and not the type of cargo you usually think about when you think "sunken ships", can help solve different mysteries... The animal bones of frozen, sunken steaks, for example, can help people figure out what happens to human bodies and bones while underwater. How? Well, these bones can provide clues to what happen to bones in salt water, especially when tested in labs, whether on-board or on land.
Why would one want to do this? Animals and salt water attack the remains of humans, and don't leave a lot of evidence very quickly. No one really knows what happens, and don't want to touch human remains. Animals bones, though, can be touched & tested a lot without any bad thoughts, and can provide clues on what happens to bones of any type, from both humans and animals.

Underwater Treasure Search Central: Proof, Regulations, Techniques, Problems, and Tool Sources, Plus Extra: H.M.S. Victory

Proof, Regulations, Techniques, Problems And Tool Sources
You sometimes have to identify a ship. And it has to be positive proof, like no-one-can-doubt-it's-this-ship proof! This is especially important when you want to dig up a ship but need permission from the government that once owned the ship.
Cannons can be a big help. Certain line ships from the 1700s carried certain cannons.  The dates on cannons can help narrow it down, as well as other markings, like a picture of the flag the ship once sailed under. And certain sizes can prove whether or not it was this ship or another, as well as what the ship was made of. If it's copper, you get a special discovery either way, because copper doesn't corrode as well or fast as iron, even in saltwater!!!
Then you have to prep to dig stuff up. This can be done while waiting for government permission when you're absolutely sure its this or that ship, and maybe even have sent proof. Making a special picture mosaic is one thing, and setting up a positioning system that uses the exchanges of sound waves between the R.O.V. and certain transmitters (which can narrow down the location of an artifact down to inches) are some ways of doing this.
HOWEVER, when you're still on the unsure whether or not if you're digging, even if you're getting even more absolute proof, you have to stop when you find human remains! Oh, it can happen... sometimes the ship went down so fast, there was no chance to escape. Then you have to completely pull the plug, and stop disturbing the site until you get permission from the government... and you've got to let the same government know about the discovery of human remains. Now, doing non-disturbing actions (like photo mosaic) can be okay... but you have to be very careful until you get permission.
Different artifacts require different techniques and tools for bringing up... even if they're similar artifacts! Take cannons, for example! You could bring a 12-pounder (named for the weight of the cannonballs it fired) up using one technique, but a 42-pounder, since it's much bigger and heavier, requires a different technique. The tools can be similar, but the technique may differ hugely.
And different things can make problems. These different techniques may be one. If something goes wrong, problems may arise, and the possiblity (sp?) of people getting hurt may rise. And sometimes it's problems with the engine that causes trouble with your mission. Loss of power, or power production, may be one thing, since you might need it for your thruster system, which keeps you in place while the R.O.V. is working. That is a major prob. And fires can happen on ships, so you have to be careful... even just smoke can indicate a problem, even when there's no fire with it. So you have to very careful while on these missions, and it's not just when you're digging or dealing with the underwater shipwreck site!
I've mentioned making your own tools before. However, sometimes you have to go back to the mainland to get your tool. Sometimes you need a more powerful version of a device you already have. One situation that may require this can happen when bringing up very heavy artifacts, like cannons, that are too heavy for your current device (like a winch or crane) to lift. You can't make a tool for this, so you have to go to the mainland or wherever your on-land-base is to get whatever you need.

Extra: H.M.S. Victory
We've been talking about line ships recently, so let's talk about one of the most famous ever for a minute. The H.M.S. Victory was basically the queen of line-ships in the 1700s. She was basically unstoppable by any human force from any nation. It was natural causes that finally stopped her... a storm took her down in 1744, and she disappeared for ages.
She's a big one, in history, actual size, and monetary value... history-value is obvious, but monetary value may confuse you for a moment. Why would she be valuable? Well, she was probably expensive to build, for one thing! She was the biggest ship in the fleet, and was one of the few carrying bronze cannons... especially 42-pounders!
But the biggest monetary-value punch was her final cargo. She left a country in order to bring a big treasure back home. But then came the storm, and she and her very-expensive cargo (even in today's standards!) disappeared for years.

Underwater Treasure Search: Cannons, History, Supplies, Secrets, Location-Related Stuff, and Even Mystery-Solving!!

Cannons, History, Supplies, Secrets, Location-Related Stuff, and Even Mystery-Solving!
It's not just bells that can give major clues. Cannons can be a major artifact for giving clues too! And not just because of the cencretion (sp?) that sometimes grows on them... the cannons themselves can be clues! Sometimes they have symbols on them that narrows the date down. And the size and type themselves can be a clue... there are some ships that have only certain sizes of certain cannon-types.
For example, only first-rate line-ships from the 1700s have huge bronze cannons. These ships were the top military ships, and the key to Britain's naval dominence (sp?). And they were very good ships... only a few (next to zero) of these ships have gone down in the English Channel. These are called "line" ships (or something similar) because of their fighting style. Ships would go into two parallel lines, and move along those line, blasting each other with cannons along the way.
Back to cannons. Bronze cannons were expensive in those days... more so than iron ones... but for good reason. They lasted longer than iron ones. But the expenses made sure only certain ships had them... like major military ships. So finding a huge cannon made of bronze can point to one of these. Especially when it used to 42-pound cannonballs... those were huge! However, the difference in the bore (sp?) hole between a 42-pounder-shooter and the next size down is minimal... only half an inch!
Which leads us to the next problem in treasure-searching underwater. I've mentioned that sometimes you can't see very well underwater, even with high tech. Well then, trying measuring something underwater! Not exactly easy! And it's not the only problem caused by sight-problems... sometimes, you just don't have the right tool for this job or that job. It's times like these when you have to pretend to be MacGyver, and assemble a tool out of the junk and stuff you have.
And supplies and tool problems aren't always related to underwater. If you spend too long at sea, supplies begin to run low. And, while some problems can be figured out by doing minor "MacGyver"s  and clever solutions, major problems can arise, and a cranky crew often follows. Since the crew basically lives on the ship during trips, this can be a major problem. But there can be cranky problems anyways... the crew lives so much together and so close, everyone basically knows everything.
Sometimes, politics and secrets come into play. I've mentioned territory and legal problems. But sometimes, you discover something belonging to a certain government. While it's unconfirmed when you find it, if you figure out it belongs to this government or that one, you have to get permission. When it's a possible big whopper with lots of monetary value, you've got to watch your back until you can confirm it belongs to this or that government. Why? If you spend too long on a site, people may get suspicious and way too curious for their own good, come around, and mess up the site and your mission!
How would they know where you are? There's a system called the AIS. Ships transmit their location, and it's posted on a public website. Useful for avoiding collisions and other problems, but it becomes a problem when you need to keep a shipwreck site safe from other people, including competitors and unofficial treasure-hunters which can mess things up for you and maybe the site. It's then when you need to start being clever, maybe even hopping to different spots to lose their trail or giving off a test or two to see how close you're being watched, and doing what you can to keep the secret.
However, that can give a good excuse for checking other sites. Sometimes you can figure out a mystery! Maybe even discover that a shipwreck is one thing, when everyone else thinks it's another! With the Internet and a little research, maybe you can pinpoint what the ship was! Sometimes you discover that it was what everyone thought, or a certain group of people thought, though it can be viewed as something else if not investigated thoroughly! It's a cool thing!

Underwater Treasure Search CentraL: Bells, Problems, & Tools

Bells, Problems, & Tools
When you're searching for treasure, you need to find possible locations. How do modern treasure-hunters do this? They first need to take a sonar image of the area. They use a device called a sonar fish, which is dragged behind the ship. The sonar fish bounces sound waves off of the bottom of the sea, and make an image from the echoes. Then the images are looked over, and dark spots that could be potential shipwrecks are investigated.
And, even then, you sometimes need a "map" of the area so you can search. Why? The current can pick up stuff, and blow it into your camera, so you can't see! So sometimes you need a little help.
Picture mosaics are a big help here, and very important! Tons of pictures of the surface are made. Then, like a puzzle, these high-resolution pictures are stuck together to make one big image. These are very helpful.
Even then, you don't know which ship it is. It may be your target... it may not. That's when you start gathering clues... and bells are very important in this respect. Bells usually have the date of their manufacture. And the name of the ship they were on! The name alone can solve the mystery of the wreck... or at least start doing so. Sometimes, symbols are on the bell as well, so when you can't read the inscription, it can give valuable clues.
"Why wouldn't you be able to read the inscription?", you may ask. There are different reasons. If the bell is made of copper, copper disease may be a reason. When something copper sinks into water, it starts deteriorating. This can make it unreadable... and fragile! When the copper hits air, however, the air speeds up the process. So when something's copper's on board, you want to start getting clues fast!
Cencretion (sp?) is another problem when figuring out artifacts. Iron starts rusting and deteriorating in water. Cencretion  (sp?) is a cement-like layer that forms during this, and it's a layer that grows. Sometimes it swallows up nearby objects (like coins). That can actually make cencretions (sp?) useful at times, though it's a pain as well, because you can find more objects when bringing up one. These extra objects can prove whether or not the ship was carrying valuables... sometimes.
The handy robot that carries these objects is the good ol' R.O.V.! However, this fiber-optic-data-cable controlled device sometimes needs help carrying these objects up. Boxes and baskets have to be sent down along with the R.O.V.. Sometimes, these boxes have to be specially made so the object can survive the upward trip. And sometimes the R.O.V. has to be changed or adjusted for a different job than usual... like when it has to be used for making a picture mosaic.
The pilots have to be clever at times. When there's a malfunction, break, or some sort of technical problem underwater, they are the ones who have to fix it... and it's not always easy. Highly difficult tasks may be needed in order to fix it. A lot depends on the pilots of the R.O.V. in general, since the robot is the big piece to exploring.
Teamwork is heavily needed in this business. And I'm not just talking about the three rooms controlling the R.O.V., though they are important. Sometimes more than one ship is needed to get the job done! And not everything can be done at sea... labs that are at the shore are highly important too. Sometimes they're needed to make tests that cannot be done on the ship.
Many tools are needed to do the testing, finding clues, and figuring out those clues (and getting them, of course)! Some are high-tech, like cameras and computers to make one big, continuous picture of the artifact (helps spots clues). Though, surprising, sometimes the most simplest method and the simplest tools are what's needed to figure out the mystery... for example, making a rubbing using crayons on a mold imprinted from the artifact (or on a mold imprinted from a mold that was imprinted on an artifact) to figure out the figures on an artifact that was difficult to read otherwise!!! And, sometimes, tools from other expertise fields are needed.... like dental putty to make molds of hard-to-read inscriptions, or scapels (sp?) to remove corrosion around hard-to-read letters! And history can be a major tool in figuring out stuff too, since the history of the ship may be written down somewhere.

Underwater Treasure Search Central: A Ton of Stuff Goes Into It!

Underwater Treasure Search: A Ton Of Stuff Goes Into It!
This subject takes us under the sea... people are searching for ancient treasure sites and sunken ships' treasure. Sometimes they even have a specific target. But how do they find this target and its treasure?
A lot of things go into finding it. History, believe it or not, takes a lot of it. They need to know the history of the target (usually a boat), and knowledge of the timeline it comes from and when it sunk. This helps when they're searching the shipwreck, and analyzing different artifacts for clues. If an artifact comes from a different timeline than the target's, it could either have come in at a different time than the target, or it could mean that that shipwreck is not the target. But a working knowledge of history is needed in order to decipher the clues on artifacts.
Artifacts give off clues to the mystery of the shipwreck... and/or are the clues! But a lot is needed to get those clues... since they don't always have an exact date on them. History is a major player in figuring out this stuff, but science plays a part too. Things can grow on artifacts, even underwater, and sometimes you have to figure out how long something's been growing on your artifact. Different devices allow us to use science to figure out a date. Some devices are taken on-board, but sometimes the artifacts have to be sent to labs so the clues can be found and figured out.
Artifacts give off clues, like said above. But you also need to be able to get those clues! Since the wreck and its artifacts can be very deep underwater, you can't exactly take a diving suit and go under. So what does the searching and digging? Robots!
Or R.O.V.s (Remotely Operated Vehicles... looks basically like a chunky, box-like robot)! They can glide around in the water, have claws that can pick up heavy junk or very delicate artifacts, have cameras and super-strong lights for very dark areas, and even sonar for when the conditions make it impossible to see (like when a current kicks up so much stuff you can't see)! And these handy devices also have suction-cup like things to pick up smaller objects (like coins), and blowers to blow sand and stuff out of the way.
How do you control this complicated machine? You can't exactly sit in one and drive like a car! Well, the R.O.V. has a special cable connected to the ship. Signals go to and from the ship via this cable, controlling the R.O.V. and getting data from it. Three different rooms on the ship are needed to control the R.O.V..
But these things are huge! Getting them on and off ship can be a complicated process... in fair weather! Things can get a whole deal more difficult in foul weather. A lot depends on these R.O.V.s, since you can't always just dive into the deep to get this stuff. And it is usually worth all the fuss... R.O.V.s, despite the complications, can be very useful.
Other factors can come into play too. A ship has to be parked in a spot, and can't move while the R.O.V. is doing its thing. Special computer-controlled thrusters in the ship (controlled by a DP system) keep the ship in one place. This can be a problem when you're in a highly-traveled area... you have to keep in constant radio contact, and keep yourself from being rammed by other ships!!!

And then there's politics. You have to get permission to be in certain areas, and make sure that you don't even accidentally go into a different area, especially one controlled by a foreign country (or foreign to the country which gave you permission to search that area). And sometimes you just have to deal with different legal troubles... not always related to territory issues, but are still legal issues.

Different laws can sometimes come into play in artifact-grabbing. Certain artifacts are made up stuff which is illegal to transport. You can bring it up to research and try to figure out clues on it, but you have to put them back. Some stuff can be sent to labs so clues can be discovered (and sometimes they have to be), but they're usually smaller stuff.