We returned to Ocracoke North Carolina September 8-11 to continue the search for the sunken civil war submarine Alligator. 

A highlight of the trip this year was the participation by a research team from Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City (NSWC PC).  NSWC PC is the lead Navy lab conducting research for ONR in the use of small, unmanned systems for Navy missions in coastal waters.  The NSWC PC team brought two Remote Environmental Monitoring Units (REMUS) unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV) to assist in the search.  The REMUS systems (originally developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute) produce detailed images of the sea floor using side scan sonar sensors. 

We performed one day of at sea survey operations on September 9.  REMUS collected excellent side scan sonar data in one of two primary search areas and we performed a magnetometer survey from the Afloat Lab in the second area.

Unfortunately due to the winds and seas from hurricane Ophelia we could not continue at sea search operations after the first day.  We were able to perform some post processing and conduct educational programs from the Afloat Lab on September 10 before evacuating Ocracoke.