Monday, May 16, 2011

Just as moviegoers across America are excited about the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, true pirate lovers are excited about America's most notorious pirate, the infamous Blackbeard. His Queen Anne's Revenge flagship wrecked off North Carolina's coast in June 1718 and is about 20 feet underwater near Beaufort, N.C.

A news conference at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18, at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Center for Marine Science (CMS) will preview a rare spring recovery expedition at the wreck of Blackbeard's QAR (www.qaronline.org). N.C. Department of Cultural Resources Secretary Linda A. Carlisle will speak on the historic and economic value of this project, and this partnership with UNC Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College. UNC Wilmington Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo will welcome attendees to the Center for Marine Science facility. Cape Fear Community College President Eric McKeithan will speak on the school's Marine Technology Program and assistance to the QAR research team.

• Archaeologists will discuss how real pirate booty is recovered, while showing artifacts from past expeditions and previewing expectations for recovery of a large artifact, possibly a cannon, at the May 23-27 dive near Beaufort. Also attending will be N.C. Maritime Museums Director Joe Schwarzer, QAR Project Director Mark Wilde-Ramsing, Ph.D, and archaeologists Chris Southerly, Nathan Henry and other staff of the N.C. Underwater Archaeology Branch.

• A behind-the-scenes look at the use of dredges, communication systems, divers and other equipment aboard UNCW's Research Vessel Cape Fear. Divers will conduct a test of equipment moving from the R/V Cape Fear into the water and back to the vessel's platform.

• The R/V Cape Fear, owned and operated by UNC Wilmington, is a 70-foot fiberglass vessel that reaches top speeds of 16 knots and that conducts research, training and educational cruises from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The Cape Fear will be the primary research vessel on this expedition to the Queen Anne's Revenge, providing support for diving, dredging, excavation, logistics and small artifact recovery. It will be staffed by UNCW employees Capt. Jay Styron and Research Operations Manager Ken Johns, who will serve as dive safety officer.

• Marine technicians from Cape Fear Community College's Marine Technology Program will assist QAR researchers in lifting a large artifact from the ocean floor aboard the R/V Dan Moore, the college's 85-foot ocean-going research vessel. With 150 students enrolled, CFCC's Marine Technology program is a unique two-year program that prepares students for careers in a variety of maritime industries.

• A review of the transformation of artifacts from ocean floor to museum exhibit will be presented. The largest exhibit of QAR artifacts ever assembled will be shown starting June 11 in Beaufort at the N.C. Maritime Museum (www.ncmaritimemuseums.com).

Information on the Cape Fear Community College Marine Technology Program that prepares students for maritime careers is available at cfcc.edu/martech/.

UNC Wilmington's Center for Marine Science is nationally recognized for research that contributes to understanding environmental processes and problems. Through research, education and outreach the Center strives to increase knowledge and cultivate public awareness about the marine sciences. More than 100 active research programs run by 140 scientists, staff and students are underway are housed in the 100,000-square foot CMS facility on the Intracoastal Waterway. Visit www.uncw.edu/cms for additional information.

The Queen Anne's Revenge Shipwreck Project, Underwater Archaeology Branch, and N.C. Maritime Museums are within the Office of Archives and History in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state's cultural resources to build North Carolina's social, cultural and economic future. Information is available 24/7 at www.ncculture.com.

Media contacts:
Fay Mitchell, NC Department of Cultural Resources, 919.807.7389

Dana Fischetti, UNC Wilmington media relations, 910.508.3127