NZ UNDERWATER HERITAGE GROUP INC.

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, November 2nd, 2024 (9:30 am - 4:30 pm) and Sunday, November 3rd, 2024 (9:30 am - 12:00 pm)
  
• Location: Parnell Hotel & Conference Centre, Gladstone Rd, Parnell, Auckland
  
• Special Guests: Professor Bridget Buxton, Prof. Simon Mitchell, Prof. Iain Anderson, Ben King
  

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from the best in the field and network with like-minded individuals. Register now and secure your spot!

Welcome to the NZ Underwater Heritage Group Inc. Annual Conference! Join us for a weekend filled with fascinating talks, workshops, and networking opportunities. This year, we are excited to gather at the Parnell Hotel & Conference Centre for our event. Dive into the world of underwater heritage preservation and conservation with experts in the field. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, there's something for everyone at our conference. This two-day event, brings together leading experts in the field, including keynote speaker Professor Bridget Buxton and other renowned speakers such as Professor Simon Mitchell, Iain Anderson and Ben King.
From the gripping tale of the Thailand Cave Rescue to exploring shipwrecks with cutting-edge Boxfish ROVs, you'll experience a series of captivating presentations covering history, technology, and new discoveries in underwater heritage. Whether you’re passionate about maritime history, advanced underwater technology, or simply curious about the mysteries of the deep, this conference promises to be an engaging and informative event.

Key note speaker- BRIDGET BUXTON

New Zealander Bridget Buxton received her BA and MA (distinction) from Victoria University in Wellington, won an NZ Young Achiever Award, and completed her Ph.D. in Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, as a Fulbright and Regents Humanities Scholar. She taught briefly at Auckland University from 2003-2006 and is currently a Professor of History and Underwater Archaeology at the University of Rhode Island, where she is a certified AAUS scientific diver. Bridget’ s research and underwater discoveries have featured in numerous documentaries and magazine publications as well as scientific journals. In 2021 she carried the flag of the International Society of Women Geographers on the first ever underwater archaeological expedition to the uninhabited islands of the British Indian Ocean Territory; she has participated in a variety of deep-sea expeditions and is the 11th woman to have dived to the wreck of RMS Titanic. Bridget’ s historical research and archaeological expeditions range across civilizations and oceans, including archaeological surveys and excavations in Greece, Turkey, Croatia, Israel, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean; her most recent 2024 fieldwork featured on an episode of Discovery Channel’ s Expedition Unknown, “Chasing Africa ’ s Atlantis ”. She has more than twenty years ’ experience as a public lecturer and is a three-time recipient of the Archaeological Institute of America ’ s prestigious McCann-Taggart endowed lectureship in underwater archaeology. Bridget approaches history as a storyteller and loves to share her unique inside knowledge of the treasures of the underwater world.

02 NOV. The Forbidden Voyage

Techniques and technologies of wreck-hunting, and the search for one of the world's most elusive shipwrecks. This is the story of an ongoing effort to find one of the most elusive holy grails of underwater archaeology.

New Light on King Herod’s Harbour.

King Herod (c. 72-4 BCE) was one of the Bible’s greatest villains, but also one of antiquity's greatest builders, and responsible for the largest underwater construction ofthe Roman Empire, the famous port of Caesarea Maritima in Israel. For almost a century, archaeologists have studied Caesarea’s sunken ruins without reaching consensus on some of the biggest questions about its construction. That all began to change in 2015, when a mysterious hoard of gold coins emerged from the sand.

03 NOV.Why are we Obsessed with Titanic?

Seriously, why? New research into the cultural history of the ill-fated luxury liner has produced some surprising theories about our enduring fascination with “The Ship of Dreams”.

Conference speaker- SIMON MITCHELL

Simon is an anesthesiologist and diving physician and is the Head of the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Auckland. He has been a lifelong passionate diver and was a lead member of teams that were the first to locate, dive and identify 3 deep shipwrecks of high historical significance in Australia and New Zealand. At the time of one of these dives it was the deepest (600’) ever undertaken to a wreck. He is widely published, particularly in the area of diving medicine, with over 130 scientific papers or book chapters which include the chapter on hyperbaric and diving medicine in Harrison ’ s Principles of Internal Medicine. Simon was elected to Fellowship of the Explorers ’ Club of New York in 2006. He received the Albert R Behnke Award (the highest American award for scientific contributions to the field) in 2010, the Eurotek Discovery Award in 2014, and was the DAN / Rolex Diver of the Year in 2015.
In June 2018 twelve boys and their soccer coach became trapped in a flooded cave in Northern Thailand. When found by British cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen they were trapped behind six flooded ' sumps ' totaling about 1.1 km underwater distance. It was determined that the only way to effect a rescue before the monsoon became established was to anaesthetize the boys and dive them out unconscious to avoid panic in the challenging zero visibility conditions; an extraordinarily bold and dangerous plan that had never before been attempted. Central to the operation was Australian cave diver and anaesthetist Dr Richard 'Harry ' Harris, and his regular dive buddy Craig Challen. The unprecedented success of the operation belies the extremely courageous and traumatic process of undertaking this rescue, a perspective that will be shared in this presentation by Professor Simon Mitchell, anaesthetic colleague, friend and occasional dive buddy to Harry and Craig

Conference speaker - Ian Anderson

In 1962 Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997), the underwater explorer, cinematographer, and co-inventor of the underwater demand regulator, predicted a time when we would be completely at home in the sea. He coined the term: Homo aquaticus for this evolved human. For evolution to work at all, we ’d need to spend a lot more time underwater waiting for natural selection to kick in. Instead, we should consider interfacing ourselves with technology; specifically wearable technology that intimately combines with robotic devices. As a first step we can seek to improve human/robot sensing and communication. With these goals in mind we have developed a dive glove that converts human gestures to robot commands. We are also developing wearables that collect ECG, breathing and motion data that can be used for assessing our state of health or fatigue. These developments are taking us closer to Homo aquaroboticus: the combined human diver/robot.

Conference speaker - Ben King

Join us for an exciting presentation from Ben King, co-founder of Boxfish Robotics, as he showcases the incredible capabilities of Boxfish ROVs in exploring shipwrecks across New Zealand and beyond. Ben prides himself on technical creativity which is backed up by a history of ground-breaking research, product development and commercialisation in healthcare, robotics and mechanics.This session will feature stunning footage from their ROV dive to the wreck of the Lermontov and the Africa wreck discovery, demonstrating the technology ’ s versatility and precision. Boxfish Robotics has revolutionised underwater exploration with their state-of-the-art Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). In this 30-40 minute presentation, attendees will learn about the cutting-edge technology behind these ROVs and see how they have been used to explore some of the most fascinating shipwrecks in the region. Discover how Boxfish ROVs are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in underwater archaeology, science, and film production. Ben will also discuss the potential for using ROVs to explore deeper and more challenging environments, as well as the opportunities for underwater exploration in New Zealand. This presentation is perfect for anyone interested in shipwreck exploration, underwater technology, or marine science.

Email searov@xtra.co.nz with any questions

https://www.underwaterheritage.co.nz/

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