The Shipwreck Hunter is an excellent account of the personal adventures written by David L. Mearns describing the manner David located a number of high profile shipwrecks around the world.
Previously, I had just finished reading Eugene Cernan’s The Last Man on the Moon and whilst I thought it was a cracking read, I understood why a Saturn V rocket was required to launch three huge ego into space. Not so with David, for a guy why was at the top of his career for an extended period, I was amazed at how humble this guy is.
The book started out with his education in marine biology at Fairleigh Dickinson University and how he almost failed the first year only to get his act together through hard work and application at the in-house laboratory on the Caribbean island of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands. David attributes his improved grades in his second year to engaging in group study and was shown how to learn.
He then explains his failures applying to various universities until he managed to get a scholarship at the University of South Florida as a MSc student with the potential to pursue a PhD a year later. Although David began marine biology, he decided on studying marine geology instead as he thought this offered more seatime and employment opportunities.
This change in study area links to David’s opportunity to learn to use geophysical instruments and how he got his start using high-frequency towed side-scan sonar to map the ocean floor. David describes the university side-scan sonar he learnt on as one of the earliest commercially available units that was decrepit and requiring constant repair.
As an engineering tradesman, I believe in initially learning the trade on the old equipment to master the concepts before moving onto more modern and sophisticated equipment. For me, this is the foundation of any technical background because generally speaking, most modern equipment is based on a constant evolution of existing equipment and techniques.
The book then went on to describe a number of shipwrecks from the MV Derbyshire, the HMS Hood and KMS Bismarck, TSS Athenia, HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran, AHS Centaur and finally the Esmeralda. The wrecks he located describes the human side of the maritime tragedy and the effects on survivors and family members.
What I learned is that David undertook painstaking research to determine and narrow the search box well before the side-scan sonar was dropped in the water. He doesn't just sail around the world's oceans towing a sonar behind a vessel hoping to get lucky, David emphasises the research required to be successful in what I would expect to be a notoriously difficult field.
He then explains his failures applying to various universities until he managed to get a scholarship at the University of South Florida as a MSc student with the potential to pursue a PhD a year later. Although David began marine biology, he decided on studying marine geology instead as he thought this offered more seatime and employment opportunities.
This change in study area links to David’s opportunity to learn to use geophysical instruments and how he got his start using high-frequency towed side-scan sonar to map the ocean floor. David describes the university side-scan sonar he learnt on as one of the earliest commercially available units that was decrepit and requiring constant repair.
As an engineering tradesman, I believe in initially learning the trade on the old equipment to master the concepts before moving onto more modern and sophisticated equipment. For me, this is the foundation of any technical background because generally speaking, most modern equipment is based on a constant evolution of existing equipment and techniques.
The book then went on to describe a number of shipwrecks from the MV Derbyshire, the HMS Hood and KMS Bismarck, TSS Athenia, HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran, AHS Centaur and finally the Esmeralda. The wrecks he located describes the human side of the maritime tragedy and the effects on survivors and family members.
What I learned is that David undertook painstaking research to determine and narrow the search box well before the side-scan sonar was dropped in the water. He doesn't just sail around the world's oceans towing a sonar behind a vessel hoping to get lucky, David emphasises the research required to be successful in what I would expect to be a notoriously difficult field.
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