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The Institute of Maritime History (IMH) is a non-profit 501(c) 3 corporation dedicated to research, preservation, and education in nautical archaeology and maritime history.

 

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April 19, 2006

A new bacterium found in RMS Titanic

An interesting news article was published today in The Chronicle Herald. Researchers at Dalhousie University discovered a novel bacterium, BH1, isolated from rusticle specimens taken from the RMS Titanic, and have deposited the culture with the ATCC in Manassas, Virginia.

While it is not available for distribution to the community yet, an analysis of its known gene sequence data indicates that it belongs to a category of bacteria called Halomonas. Because Halomonas species are typically halophiles, they are usually found in water sources with high salinity levels, such as the Dead Sea and even within the frigid waters of Antarctica. Halomonas can also inhabit deep-sea sediment, deep-sea waters affected by hydrothermal plumes, and hydrothermal vent fluids.

BH1’s exact ”biocorrosive ability” is not clear yet. However, discovery of BH1 provides a tool for comparison and aids in identifying the potential microbes within the communities that contribute to the overall biocorrosion process(es).

The full article can be found at http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/497160.html

Posted by David Howe at 04:00 AM | | Comments (0)

March 11, 2006

Stalking the Wild FeOB

March 11, 2006. It was a dark and stormy night. No, that's a lie. It was a sunny morning, calm, and unusually warm for mid-March.

Six of us met at Tall Timbers Marina, loaded dive gear into the IMH research boat Roper, and set forth upon the mighty and beautiful Potomac River to hunt the elusive iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) on a steel shipwreck near the Piney Point oil terminal.

The FeOB is a nasty little beast. It eats shipwrecks — but we were ready for it, armed with sample tubes and collectors.

Our fearless team included Dr. Susan Langley, the Maryland state underwater archaeologist; Project Chief Scientist Todd Plaia, a microbiologist from American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), a non-profit biological research institution in Manassas, Virginia; Brian McMillan and Ted White, volunteer divers from Adventure Scuba in Chantilly, Virginia; and Dr. Richard V. Ducey and David Howe, IMH volunteers.

The wreck may be part of the tank barge STC 410 which exploded at the terminal on December 20, 1986, while discharging a cargo of JP-4 jet fuel for Naval Air Station Patuxent River. Nicknamed "the Puzzle Pile," the wreck stands 19 feet tall in 60 feet of water. It was found in 2002 by the NOAA survey vessel Bay Hydrographer, and consists of a confused jumble of heavy steel plates and pipes.

Continue reading "Stalking the Wild FeOB" »

Posted by David Howe at 05:52 PM | | Comments (0)

March 09, 2006

IMH Announces FeOB Research Project

IMH is working with American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) of Manassas,
Virginia, George Mason University, the Maryland Historical Trust, and the
Naval Historical Center, to study iron-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) on
Chesapeake shipwrecks. A copy of the research design will be posted on this site in the near future.

Posted by David Johnson at 07:24 PM | | Comments (0)