After a successful day of diving and rectifying the spatial distances between each cannon yesterday, my team was confident that finishing the last of these measurements would go smoothly. While we were working on the first measurement, an un-numbered cannon was discovered. It seemed as if the cannon had been previously found on the free diving day, but was overlooked when the cannons were being numbered, because it had some flagging tape attached to it. After finishing our measurements between Cannon 07 and Cannon 08, we used flagging tape to create datum points on both ends of the unknown cannon. With our measuring work done, we were tasked with running a U-search to try to locate any cannon that may have been missed. We were unable to find any new cannon, but I did find my team member’s weight pocket lost earlier in the week. This proves that search patterns can be useful and successful tools, so we must have been looking in the wrong area for the missing cannon. We did find what appeared to be a small section of I-beam, too. While this is interesting, it is too modern to be associated with our site.
After hauling our gear back to the hotel, and a quick break for lunch, we tackled processing the data collected so far. This included taking the measurements from the last two days and attempting to record them on a site map. This method has its own unique set of challenges, which we quickly found when working through our data. About a half of a block eraser later, we decided that there were some measurements that we would have to redo the following day in order to accurately portray the site. While this was frustrating realization, it is not discouraging. We now have a better conceptualization of how the site is laid out and exactly what needs to be redone in order to complete the task. While part of field school is being able to take part in a wealth of different experiences, I hope that our team will be allowed to finish what needs to be done on for this specific assignment.
On another note, even though it was stormy this morning (thankfully that cleared up later in the day with no rain), the visibility was clear and the surge was calm. Here’s to hoping it stays that way for the rest of the week!
– Mitch