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By Monnie Nilsson

The story of the Titanic is a schoolhouse staple and one of the great cautionary tales of hubris.

It has spawned countless books, award-winning documentaries and memorable movies, notably the Oscar-winning blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, with its memorable image of the couple standing with arms outstretched on the ship's bow.

So it's tempting to think you know all there is to know about the doomed liner, which sank on its maiden voyage 97 years ago this month. What possibly could be left to learn? Apparently, quite a bit.

Over the next several days, RMS Titanic Inc., the sole entity that can legally recover objects from the site of the shipwreck, brings its mobile exhibit, "Titanic: Treasures From the Deep," to area history buffs.

To better understand what the exhibit offers, we spoke with Titanic expert and exhibit guide Lowell Lytle, a.k.a. "Captain Smith."

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By G. Irvin Lipp

Wilmington, Delaware, April 16, 2009 The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, in keeping with its educational mission to enrich the lives of students of all ages, today announced its second lecture in a new series designed to engage the intellectual interest of all Delawareans.

For its second lecture, the Foundation will present Dr. Frederick Hocker, the Vasa Museum's Director of Research, which will take place at the Chase Center on the Riverfront on May 13, 2009. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Fred Hocker to the greater Wilmington community,” said Samuel Heed, the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation's Director of Education.

“Dr. Hocker comes to us all the way from Stockholm, Sweden,” Heed noted, “where he is the Director of Research at the world famous Vasa Museum. Dr. Hocker is one of the world's leading authorities on maritime archaeology.

He has been directing the archeological research at the Vasa Museum since 2003, where he is responsible for documenting and publishing all the archaeological finds associated with the extraordinary Vasa.” The Vasa is reputed to be the biggest single object that has ever been preserved, a monumental undertaking, one that continues to delight and surprise all sorts of historians and archaeologists.

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Emmy-winning production company will produce an on-going reality-based TV series of a hardcore shipwreck diver who teams up with a female underwater archaeologist to explore the best wrecks in the world accessible to everyday sport divers.

Across the globe, the ocean floor is littered with the wrecks of seafaring mankind. Viking longships, steamships, submarines, warships and Spanish galleons. Each has a unique and fatal story, many are submerged tombs, and some hold unbelievable treasure.

For an underwater archaeologist, wrecks are priceless and fragile time capsules, glimpses into past lives and cultures. For salvage divers, wrecks offer more tangible rewards -- from gleaming brass ships’ bells to Spanish gold.

In Awesome Wreck Dives, viewers will join our co-hosts as they research, dive and explore the world’s most exhilarating wrecks, unaided by submersibles and hi-tech professional equipment.

Both topside and deep within the wrecks, our cameras will be there to capture the fear, excitement and challenge of sport wreck diving at its very best.

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By Kay Blundell

The shifting sands of Anaura Bay, north of Gisborne, have unearthed a rare piece of maritime history - a bronze nail from a historic shipwreck similar to that of a gold-laden ship which foundered at the Auckland Islands in 1866.

The nail is believed to be up to 200 years old but the identity of the uncovered wreck remains a mystery.

Anaura Bay resident Tony Ensor made the find several years ago but it has only been assessed by maritime officials in Wellington this week.

He said he noticed something scraping the bottom of his fishing boat about a metre from shore and waited for a particularly low tide to investigate.

He discovered a piece of wood protruding from the seabed and unearthed three pieces of battered wood with five bronze nails attached.

"Digging was bloody hard yakka, but once we found one nail we were intrigued and kept digging till the tide stopped us. It was not till we sat on the beach and looked at the hunks of wood [that we] saw wooden plugs had been hammered into them."

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By Mark Washburn

Black beard knew how to make a splash. Foremost among pirates of his time, Black beard would put sparklers in his beard to look more imposing.

He menaced shipping in the Caribbean and along the East Coast during the brief but colorful era of piracy's golden age in the early 1700s.

Wednesday's episode of the PBS series "Secrets of the Dead" examines the exhumation of what is believed to be the flagship of Black beard's fleet, the Queen Anne's Revenge.

It was discovered in 1996 in Beaufort Inlet on the North Carolina coast, a heap of ballast stones and rotting timbers smothered by sand and sea for three centuries.

Since then, researchers have been sifting the ruins and gathering clues to the ship's fate.

The absence of treasure in the pile indicates Black beard and his crew had time to strip the vessel of its valuables.

A specialty anchor found offshore shows they may have tried to wrestle the ship off the shoals, to no avail.

From Novosti

A key to a first class cabin on the legendary Titanic ocean liner, which sank nearly a century ago, was sold for 60,000 British pounds ($88,000) in Britain, the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son said.

Henry Aldridge & Son auctions items associated with the shipwreck twice a year in the Wiltshire County in the south-west of England. The latest auction, held on April 18, included about 130 lots with Titanic memorabilia.

Other items included a collection of belongings of Millvina Dean, the last living survivor from the Titanic disaster.

The 97-year-old woman, who was rescued from the sinking ship as a two-month-old baby, is trying to raise money to pay her fees at a nursing home in Southampton.

The ship, carrying 2,200 people, sank in 1912 in the Atlantic Ocean during its maiden voyage between the British port of Southampton and New York, after it struck an iceberg.

At least 1,496 people were killed in the world's greatest maritime tragedy, and some 306 bodies were recovered.

By Sri Lanka Navy Wreck Divers

During the recent past number of Maritime Archaeology Projects were launched by Archaeology Department and Central Cultural Fund (CCF) of Sri Lanka. Most of these projects were funded by UNESCO.

Even though, Archaeology Department of Sri Lanka has few divers (some are qualified others not) at Maritime Archaeology Unit, Galle, Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) has provided support in terms of divers, boats, diving equipments in big way in all successful underwater archaeology projects.

The last being the Galle Harbour project 1992, which was launched to recover what ever possible artifacts from 25 historical (more than 100 years old) Maritime Archaeological sites within the Galle Harbour, prior to commencement of Galle Harbour Expansion Project dredging work.

A separate Maritime Archaeology Museum was established in Galle Fort in 1993 (later damaged during Tsunami disaster in 2004) and whatever possible artifacts from wrecks in Galle Harbour were recovered.

However delay in commencement of proposed Galle Harbour expansion project has reduced the importance of this Maritime Archaeology in Galle. Excavation of VOC ship ‘Avondster’ (which was sunk in 1659) was the highlights of this Galle Harbour project.

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From ABC News 4

Archaeologists are scouring Charleston harbor's ocean floor for wreckage from the civil war.

The USS Patapsco failed in its attack on Charleston in April 1863 and later sank when it struck a torpedo off Fort Sumter.

She now lies at the bottom of the Charleston harbor. USC underwater archaeologist James Spirek has located the shattered vessel.

"We believe the bow points towards Cummings Point and that the stern is facing out towards Mt. Pleasant," Spirek said.

All week Spirik and his team have gone to the depths of the ocean searching for the union ironclad ship.

"We have actual pieces of the hull, where they should be. We've been able to find some frames of the vessel. We've found the outer hull," according to Spirek.

Using sonar devices, divers detected a piece of modern day dredging pipe resting on the historic remains.

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