After a great deal of hard work, and more than our fair share of “dumb jar” moments, all teams finished recording their sections of the Brick Site. After surfacing, we were treated with a quick boat trip to Cahuita Point to mark the end of site recording. Here we ate coconuts and checked out some … Read more
Today, a small group of us went back to El Lanchon in Puerto Viejo to take measurements of the structure. I finished up photography for the photogrammetry of the top of the barge structure while Wale and Scott ran a baseline along the structure and took measurements of significant features. These included spots of erosion, … Read more
Another beautiful morning for diving in Cahuita! The goals of the field school are progressing well, and at this rate we should complete all our tasks by the time we head back to Greenville, North Carolina! We were back working on the brick site today. The entire crew really worked well and came together as … Read more
Today, our team (Lauren and Scott) continued to map our unit at the Brick Site. After refining our technique over the past few days, we found that we were becoming quite efficient at the task. We were also able to increase our bottom time through slow deliberate breathing in order to conserve air; some of … Read more
On our day off, the team decided to visit the Bri Bri, an indigenous group in the Talamanca Mountains. Before I explain about Bri Bri, perhaps I should start at the beginning. Our day started at 8:30 in the morning when we found ourselves loading into a mini bus with our cheery driver Carlos. Jorge … Read more
Sunday marked the end of the first week of our field school here in Costa Rica. For most of us, getting on the plane a week ago feels like the distant past. A lot has happened since we arrived in this beautiful coastal town. On any given day, we are up at 7am for breakfast. After … Read more
Today we only had two boats available to take us to the wreck sites. The snorkel group, which included Dr. Harris, Dr. Richards, Kelsey, Wale, and I, elected to hike through Cahuita National Park to get to the brick scatter near the Cannon site. This brick scatter was only recently discovered when Dr. Harris and … Read more
Today we continued mapping the Brick Site in Cahuita’s National Park. The weather was perfect, the visibility was great, and the water temperature was better than anyone could have asked for. The baseline is 54 meters in length, so we split up the site into 5 meter units. In total there are 22 units and … Read more
If a picture is worth a thousand words than a map is worth a million. The finished product will be invaluable to presenting the site to the public, stakeholders, and other professionals. Mapping a site is one of the most rewarding aspects of a project. Now that recording is complete at the cannon site, the … Read more
Richard Wilson is a local fisherman and tour guide residing in Cahuita, Costa Rica. Originally born in Nicaragua, he moved to Costa Rica to be with family members and to embrace the local culture. He uses his boat, Jamaica Town, to support himself financially through fishing and snorkeling tours. Eighteen years ago, he found the … Read more