Exploring Attu's Underwater Battlefield and Offshore Environment
Grant
Overview
abstract
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With the largest coastline in the United States, Alaska has rightfully become the focus of numerous marine surveys, including the NOAA-backed Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy. Currently, 72% of Alaska waters are unmapped, with the Aleutian Islands being the region most neglected. Only 3% of Aleutian waters have been imaged using multibeam sonar, making it one of the poorest understood areas in the entire U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The island chain was recently identified as a geographical priority by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL) Pacific workshop. The Western Aleutians, specifically the Near Islands, have never been explored using sonar imaging technology. This remains unfortunate given the island's history and potential as an ecological refuge due to its remoteness. The island of Attu stands out are a particularly good candidate for survey due to its role in World War II. While it is the island's WWII period that will be the focus of the project, the 4000 years of human occupation that preceded the war cannot be ignored. Likewise, Attu's marine environment, specifically foundational species such as deepsea corals and sponges, will be of interest to the project. The neglect of the waters around Attu provides an unparalleled opportunity for genuine ocean exploration. This project intends to accomplish this through the application of innovative remote sensing technology and use of the latest in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). Specifically, the proposed surveys will utilize Miniature Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Sonar (MinSAS) and a recently developed Large-Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV).
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