Jul 13 2015
The peaceful Pacific waters that surround the Republic of Palau conceal the remnants of a violent history — it’s estimated that at least two dozen American aircraft shot down during World War II rest along the ocean floor, waiting to be found.
UD's Mark Moline continues the summer Ocean Currents Lecture Series on July 23, discussing the search for lost World War II planes.
On Thursday, July 23, at 7 p.m., Mark Moline of the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, will continue this summer’s Ocean Currents Lecture Series by discussing his work with the BentProp Project and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography searching for these planes.
The lecture will be held in Room 104 of the Cannon Lab at the University’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus on Pilottown Road in Lewes. The lecture series is free and open to the public, and seating is available on a first come, first served basis.
Moline, director of the School of Marine Science and Policy at UD, and Scripps colleague Eric Terrill use autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) called gliders to help BentProp on its mission to find fallen heroes.
These unmanned, torpedo-shaped robots use sonar to map the ocean floor, registering disturbances like coral reefs and, hopefully, aircraft.
In March 2014, the technology helped the team locate two aircraft within days of each other: a TBM Avenger and an F6F Hellcat. The work was profiled on the CBS news program 60 Minutes and featured in a YouTube video by the mounted camera company GoPro.
In spring 2015, the team successfully located a third plane. Moline will share pictures from the project and discuss the latest finds and updates in his lecture.
He also has a personal connection to the work — his grandfather was a Navy chaplain on the USS Princeton, one of the aircraft carriers that saw combat in Palau in March 1944.
BentProp estimates that the remains of at least 70 World War II service members listed as missing in action are recoverable in the waters of Palau.
Ocean Currents Lecture Series
The School of Marine Science and Policy’s summer Ocean Currents Lecture Series is designed to connect the public with the cutting edge research CEOE faculty and students conduct throughout the year.
The final lecture in the 2015 series, “Zooplankton: A Kid-Friendly Activity” by Chris Petrone, followed by an adult presentation by Adam Wickline, is scheduled for Aug. 20.