Saving the shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Shipwrecks captivate our imagination, and are the subject of many books, academic papers, and movies—from the world-famous Titanic, to sunken World War II warships, to ancient fishing canoes. Some describe them as time capsules of our maritime history, waiting to be discovered and opened. But there’s a group of people who are drawn to shipwrecks for very different reasons, and it sometimes leads to the demise of the wrecks themselves: fishermen. In this episode, why archaeologists and fishermen have sometimes been at odds over shipwrecks, and the federal government program that’s bringing them together under one common cause. Featuring Ben Roberts, Mike Bailey, Tom Hill, Calvin Meyers, and Ben Haskell. Produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKS Learn more about the many known shipwrecks of Stellwagen Bank, including the Portland, known as “New England’s Titanic.” Check out some of the other research projects at Stellwagen Bank on topics as varied as whales, sand lances, and seabirds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, this is Outside In, a show where curiosity and the natural world collide.
0:05.0	I'm Nate Hedgy.
0:06.8	Earlier this summer, a couple of researchers gathered on a commercial dock in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
0:12.6	Their names are Mike Bailey and Ben Roberts.
0:16.0	Producer Felix Poon was there, too.
0:18.2	So what you got in the back of your truck here?
0:21.4	All the gear.
0:22.4	We've got the heat compensator, winches, depressor, towfish, cables, monitors,
0:30.2	laptops, you know, all that, all the good stuff.
0:33.8	All of this fancy science gear got the attention of a fisherman walking by on the dock with his kid. Corpito. Yeah, the corpito. It's an underwater camera. These guys are pirates. Basically. We're going out with Tom? Yeah, we are. So we're going to be going out looking for some shipwrecks. Oh, nice. Yeah. What was any in particular or We're not sure. The ones we're going after are not
0:57.7	marked or known. Okay. So they're all a total mystery, which is kind of amazing. Cool. Blue? No idea.
1:06.1	Possibly. Hopefully. Yeah, man. Something cool. Yeah. Mike and Ben are looking for shipwrecks.
1:13.3	But they're not pirates in search of gold and treasures.
1:16.9	They're working for Noah, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
1:22.1	There are an estimated 200 shipwrecks just sitting there at the bottom of the seafloor
1:27.4	in an area stretching off the coast of Gloucester down to Provincetown in Cape Cod. All right, well, good luck out there. Thank you, sir. Ready, sir? To find them, they'll need the help of a fisherman, Captain Tom Hill. All right, sir. How are you? I'm you. Hey, nice to meet you, Tom.
1:45.0	Nice to meet you, Tom.
1:46.0	Good to meet you, Felix.
1:47.0	Do you guys eat lunch yet?
1:48.0	Belly growling?
1:49.0	I ate something, yeah.
1:51.0	Today, the plan is to set up their equipment on Tom's boat.
	...

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