Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Gallery

Monitor National Marine Sanctuary brought its popular "gun boring" hands-on activity to the Office of State Archaeology's Conservation Lab Open House at ECU West Research Campus, part of the North Carolina Science Festival. Visitors became "conservators for a day," exploring the conservation of Queen Anne's Revenge while connecting it to the story of the USS Monitor through hands-on learning.

A woman demonstrating an activity to three children at a blue table covered in educational supplies like straws and wooden sticks.

A young boy reaches into a model of a shipwreck cannon filled with sand during a 'Can You Retrieve the Artifacts?' activity.

A staff member speaks with a woman at an exhibit table featuring activities and posters.

A man and a woman stand at an exhibit table talking to a staff member.

A top-down close-up showing children digging through sand inside and around two dark-colored model cannons.

In partnership with the Mariners' Museum NOAA supports Shipwrecks of the Atlantic program where 6th Grade students participate in engineering and piloting ROVs.

A close-up of a control station showing a handheld monitor displaying a live underwater video feed of a toy shark, with a blue portable pool and submerged ROV frames in the background.

A group of students standing around a table outdoors, assembling an underwater ROV frame made of white PVC pipes and pink foam floats.

In partnership with The Mariners' Museum and Park, NOAA supported the Shipwreck of the Atlantic program, bringing 6th grade students face-to-face with real underwater archaeology. At this station, students became divers exploring the wreck of the USS Monitor. Their mission: identify artifacts (and not confuse them with marine life!), then measure and document their locations using transect lines and tape measures—just like real researchers.

Students sitting on a large canvas floor mat printed with outline of a grid, using clipboards and diagrams to document findings during a simulated shipwreck exercise.

high-angle view of a large canvas floor map depicting the uss monitor shipwreck site; the map is covered in small artifacts, markers, and a long measuring tape as students work at the top.

three students lying on a canvas shipwreck map, pointing at artifacts and recording data on clipboards as part of an archaeology program.

View spectacular images of the maritime heritage work we do to document our nation's and North Carolina's cultural resources and to tell their stories.

Shipwreck propeller being lowered down — Ericsson's innovative propeller recovered from the wreck. Photo: NOAA

Shipwreck poster — A diagram depicting the sequence of events as the sank to the seafloor. Photo: NOAA

A toad fish — One of the residents of the USS *Monitor*, a toadfish guards his favorite corner of the ship from curious divers.. Photo: NOAA

Two divers holding big flashlights — Divers excavate the turret for retrieval. Photo: NOAA

Old shipwreck under water — The famous Ericsson turret resting on the seafloor. Photo: NOAA

Two divers near a Shipwreck — Two divers explore the remains of the USS *Monitor*. Photo: NOAA

Diver under water — A pair of divers investigate the bow of the USS *Monitor*. Photo: NOAA

small crab in a person's hand — A closer look at the sargassum swimming crab. These crabs have two back legs that are flattened into little swimming paddles that allow the animal to swim in open water! Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

crab hiding under kelp — The sargassum swimming crab, Portunus sayi, hiding in a bundle of sargassum seaweed. This algae serves as a very unique habitat for many animals in the ocean. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

team lowering a towfish off the deck — NOAA Volunteers and the crew of the R/V *Shearwater* work as a team to lower the towfish into the water. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

dolphin swimming — Atlantic Spotted Dolphin, *Stenella frontalis*, frolicking in the waves in the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

two dolphins swimming together — A pair of Atlantic spotted dolphins play in the wake of the RV *Shearwater* during a survey near the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: Mark Losavio/ NOAA

A school of amberjacks swim over the USS Monitor. These shipwrecks are so ecologically productive that sometimes divers had a hard time conducting their research! Credit: NOAA

diver examines a wreck — Diver Inspects the stern section of the City of Atlanta. Currently resting at a depth of 90 ft., the City of Atlanta is one of the more easily accessible wrecks near the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: Tane/Casserley./NOAA

A school of sharks circle above a wreck — A school of sharks circle above the wreck of *EM Clark*, a good sign of a healthy ecosystem. Photo: Joe Hoyt/NOAA

jellyfish swimming by a diver — Diver investigates a small school of jellyfish gathering above the HMT Bedfordshire, resting at about 105ft near the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: Tane Casserley/NOAA

diver swimming — Photo of the National Marine Sanctuaries logo on a diver. Divers for the ONMS explore the sanctuaries to keep tabs on the ecosystem health and site well being. For some sanctuaries this job can be challenging! Photo: Joe Hoyt/NOAA

A small group of sharks swim near a wreck — A small group of sharks take refuge over the Manuela, a freighter sunk in 1942. At 394ft this vessel can provide a lot of refuge for sea creatures. Photo: Tane Casserley/NOAA

ionfish resting near a wreck — An invasive lionfish exploring the wreck of the Manuela while a diver looks on. Photo: Tane Casserley/NOAA

school of fish swimming over a wreck with a diver near by — A diver seemingly having a conversation with a group of grunts atop the wreck of the USS *Tarpon*. Divers often do surveys on these wrecks to learn what kind of fish communities they can support. Photo: Tane Casserley/NOAA

two diver examine a wreak with a school of fish swim over — A pair of divers greeted by some amberjack and grunt on the site of USS Tarpon. Photo: Tane Casserley/NOAA

The bow of the USS Monitor, currently home to scores of marine life. This wreck lies 240 ft below the surface. Credit: NOAA

Volunteers monitor the side scan sonar — Volunteers begin the night portion of the 24 hour side scan operations aboard the RV *Shearwater*. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

The submersible used to film the wreck of the USS Monitor. Credit: NOAA

two volunteers examine a towfish on deck — NOAA Volunteers learn about the device that captures the sonar data from the seafloor called a "towfish". Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

three volunteers at work stations — Volunteers prepare the work station for night operations aboard the R/V *Shearwater*. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

volunteers being trained at work stations — Volunteers learn from NOAA scientists how to record the data being captured by the towfish during an expedition off the North Carolina coast. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

three volunteers monitoring a live feed of sonar data — Volunteers aboard the R/V *Shearwater* review the live feed of sonar data being collected over the seafloor. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA

volunteer examines a towfish — An ECU student volunteer examines the side scan tool known as the towfish. This device is towed behind the vessel and records sonar data of the seafloor below it. Photo: Mark Losavio/NOAA