ARCG 305L - Becoming Underwater Archeologists

By: Camila Grases ‘21

On Saturday, September 28, I had the privilege of joining students from the ARCG 305L class on a trip to Catalina. The purpose of the trip was to train students to create 3D models of sunken ships in Lake Tahoe— a trip they will be taking during the fall break. The class combines students and teachers from varying backgrounds with the goal of teaching the students how to create photogrammetry models underwater.

On the hour-or-so trip to the island aboard Wrigley’s Miss Christi, I had the opportunity to speak to many of the students on board. Because the class is open to everyone, a variety of students were able to join. I met engineers, environmental scientists, and even a dentist-bound student all with different reasons for being a part of the class. Some of the students were there to scuba and collect data while others remained on land and compiled the data into models that can be used to accurately map the underwater sites.

So how did the class attract so many different students? The promise of the experience along with no out-of-pocket costs were very important to Lynn Dodd, the professor in charge and the director of the archeology program here at USC. Although this may change in the future, it is vital to her that students of all backgrounds are able to participate in the class without a significant financial obstacle. 

Not only are students gaining experience in recording underwater archeological sites and photogrammetry, they are participating in real-time history. Lake Tahoe is a time capsule for the period before World War II when wealthy and middle-class families spent their vacations in Emerald Bay. When World War II came around, many of these families found themselves caught up in the war effort and the site was nearly abandoned. When the resort closed, people purposefully sunk their own ships to avoid the cost or time of transporting them out of the mountains. The result is a nearly untouched graveyard of ships that our very own USC students will be documenting.

When we arrived on Catalina island, the students were divided into three groups: one tech group and two diving groups. The divers underwent specific safety training such as how to rescue an unconscious diver. Those who were free divers, not scuba divers, were taught proper techniques in diving like how to relieve pressure in your ears and how to conserve energy for efficient dives; scuba students took mounted Go-Pros down to the bottom of the cove and collected data on a makeshift shipwreck built by the teachers, affectionately termed the “S.S. Trojan.”

Their data was compiled in a relatively simple way: the Go-Pros were set on time lapse and the scuba students had to swim around the “ship” very slowly in the shape of a conic circle, spiraling upwards towards the surface and eventually capturing an overhead view. One of the student’s final product looked something like this:

After one of the students in charge of 3D modeling uploaded the images onto the computer, the information was then transferred to a program that could compile all these images into one completed model, or photogrammetry. The computer is able to analyze overlaps between the images and create a model from that.

Here is one student’s completed model:

I was able to participate in many of these activities with the students. This meant many new experiences for me, but there was one thing that was relatively common in every exercise I tried: they made it look so easy. The teachers are professional and great at what they do. Their commitment to teaching was admirable and I appreciated the time they were able to give me as well. In the video below, you will see some of them in action, diving like proper dolphins. These people dedicate their lives to diving and spending time underwater, teaching others how to do it properly and safely, and paving the way for new underwater scientists.

The students themselves were great people to be around. They were respectful and cautiously experienced, taking the teachers’ advice seriously. Their commitment was admirable, meeting at 6:30am to be on the boat on time and prepared. It was also nice to see how they worked closely together. One teacher was adamant about the fact that they are one team where everyone’s role is invaluable, regardless of what their “position” on the team is.

All in all, I am very grateful to have had even a small part of the experience of this class. They will do a great job in Lake Tahoe so long as they continue to give this project all the love they already have given it. Watch out for future updates on how their trip goes and what their completed Tahoe models look like!

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