A Martin PBM-5 Mariner rests in 24 m (79 ft) at the south end of Lake Washington in Seattle, WA. This WWII-era aircraft presents as typical for the situation of most aviation heritage objects in freshwater lakes and reservoirs in the U.S., as an unregulated dive site. It exemplifies universal challenges for public awareness and interaction with archaeological sites, and local and federal management strategies for underwater cultural resources.In 2018, a collaborative survey took place to collect baseline-status data for the wreck, to experiment with efficient 3D modeling of a low-visibility site, and to help foster stewardship for Seattle’s submerged cultural heritage. In this case, Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) represents a movement that is becoming more common in the U.S.; an organized, non-profit group of highly-trained individual local divers who are increasingly well-suited, and in some cases better equipped, to collaborate with federal and academic partners in monitoring submerged heritage. |
