Aurora Trust Foundation Searches for Ancient Undersea Sites in the Coastal Waters of Croatia

Online, September 8, 2011 (Newswire.com) - VALLETTA, MALTA: Ocean explorers Craig Mullen and Ian Koblick, co-founders of the Aurora Trust for ocean exploration and education www.auroratrust.com and recently best known for their discovery of numerous ancient shipwreck sites in the Mediterranean Sea, announced today that their exploration team will set out for the waters off the coast of Hvar, Croatia to continue the seafloor survey they began last fall.

Explorers in the classic tradition, Koblick and Mullen have between them almost a century of exploration experience. Koblick literally wrote the book on undersea living, and Mullen has located hundreds of lost shipwrecks and space debris in the deep sea with uncanny accuracy. Both have managed numerous ocean-based enterprises around the world. Koblick and Mullen are the ocean's answer to Lewis and Clark.

On this expedition, working with its local partners -- the Universities of Zagreb and Zadar and the Croatian mission coordinator, Dr. Irena Radic Rossi -- the Aurora team intends to continue the search for the remains of ancient civilizations that once plied the trade routes of the Adriatic Sea a millennia ago. In this new excursion, Mullen and Koblick will continue a very successful voyage they commenced in June 2011 investigating the coastal waters off Messina, Sicily; the Aeolian Islands; Capri and the Island of Ponza, in the Pontine Islands of Italy.

Their research vessel, the M/V ISIS II, is equipped with the latest in sonar; magnetometers; navigational instruments and a deep-sea robotic vehicle (ROV) equipped with sonar, TV and a manipulator arm. "Our strategy is somewhat different from other similar operations." Mullen explains. "We focus on the shallow, coastal waters and approaches to ancient harbors. These are areas where sudden changes in weather could have dramatic effects on the sea and greatly impact the relatively small cargo vessels of the time."

The two explorers have indicated their intent is to systematically expand the area surveyed last season when the team discovered three shipwreck sites not previously known. From an archaeological perspective, the results of the first season around Hvar were quite encouraging. At least three important discoveries have been identified, and Mullen and Koblick presume there are more.

These finds include an intact dolia - a massive (hundreds of gallons) custom-built pottery vessel used to transport olive oil or wine in ancient times. Specialized ships were constructed to carry multiple dolium - a sort of "super tanker" of its time. The Aurora team also located a second Roman shipwreck, this one with Lamboglia II amphorae aboard, (typically dated between the 2nd to 1st century BC). This is not surprising as the Romans arrived in the late Third Century BC, and the island evolved into a center for recreation, wine production and fishing. The third site they identified were the wooden remains of a vessel datable to approximately the 17th Century. Not much remains of this ship except the massive structural beams that must have been covered by silt until recently to protect them from the dreaded teredo worm.

Before the Romans arrived in the region, the Ionian Greeks founded the town of Pharos at the head of a deep bay on the north side of the island in the fourth century BC and we expect to find traces of their maritime heritage on the seafloor Koblick indicated.

The expedition crew lives aboard the 85' expedition yacht M/Y Fortaleza (http://www.auroratrust.com/equipment.html) that serves as a home base. Staffed with experienced mariners; undersea survey technicians and the co-Director of the expedition, Aurora's Director of Archeology, Dr. Timmy Gambin, the operation is completely self-sufficient wherever it goes.

One very important component of the Aurora program is education and they typically invite local partners* to participate in the at sea expedition. Additionally, Aurora has established a marine education foundation in Malta called the Aurora Institute of Marine Studies (AIMS) Foundation. Its objective is to educate the public on the important role the oceans have played in man's history. Koblick takes particular pride in this accomplishment as it is modeled after the award-winning educational foundation, Marine Resource Development Foundation (MRDF) he founded over 30 years ago on Key Largo and on whose Board of Directors Mullen serves.

The two explorers expect to set off in late August from their base of operations on Malta's Manoel Island. This base is adjacent to an ancient fortress constructed by the Knights of St John to defend Malta in the early 1500's from Muslim invaders that were threatening to overrun Europe. The explorers will also be carrying an Expedition Flag assigned by the internationally recognized Explorers Club in which Mullen and Koblic are both members. The Explorers Club is an international professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research through exploration.

*Local Partners: for all our expeditions we establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a government ministry; university and/or a nationally recognized local organization. These become the "local partners" to that expedition. We have standing relationships with the Ministry of Culture of Italy; Superintendents of Cultural Heritage of Malta and others. Additionally, other organizations may join in and be co-sponsors. Our local partners also assist in supporting the expedition by providing dockage, survey permits, etc.