Mexico: Lost Fleet

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Expedition Titanic

Search for Amelia Earhart

On July 2, 1937, Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan vanished without a trace during her attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world at the equator.

In early 2009, the Waitt Institute conducted an extensive deep-sea search for Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Electra aircraft in the area of the South Pacific where many researchers believe she crashed. The expedition, known as CATALYST 2, involved assembling a diverse group of experts from multiple backgrounds and institutions to identify areas to search for Earhart’s plane. The CATALYST team then utilized the Waitt Institute’s REMUS 6000 Autonomous Underwater Vehicles to survey over 2,000 square miles of ocean floor at an average depth of 5,200 meters.

The Electra was not found during the expedition, but the data from the sea floor created a 2,000 square-mile exclusion zone where we now know the plane is not located. For the benefit of future researchers, the Waitt Institute is sharing all of these results, as well as a provocative, first-hand account of life aboard ship, at a specially designed new website known as Search for Amelia. One of the most comprehensive digital records on the life and legacy of Amelia Earhart available today, Search for Amelia is a collaborative site where comments and ideas about Earhart and her final flight are invited and encouraged.

Explore the expedition’s website

View videos from the CATALYST 2 Expedition Log

NGS/Waitt Grants

The National Geographic Society/Waitt Grants Program helps qualified and experienced individuals launch the most difficult stage of a project for which to secure funding—the search. Grants are made for exploratory fieldwork that holds promise for new breakthroughs in the natural and social sciences. NGS/Waitt Grants applications are processed throughout the year and grants are awarded expeditiously to help researchers take advantage of immediate opportunities. The NGS/Waitt grants are an initiative of the National Geographic Society and the Waitt Institute.

Funded through a five-year grant from the Waitt Foundation, the NGS/Waitt Grants Program is administered by National Geographic Mission Programs and makes approximately one hundred grants annually of $5,000 to $15,000. Proposals are considered as they are received and awards are made within weeks of application.

The Waitt Grants Program upholds rigorous standards of review and scientific merit, but does not shy away from risky or unproven ideas. In that spirit, NGS/Waitt Grants support projects at the cutting edge of technology and research. The Program encourages applicants to think big—but travel light—as they look toward new frontiers around the globe. Grants are made to explorers and scientists in research fields such as biology, anthropology, and the geosciences who are working across disciplines and reacting quickly to field opportunities.

The NGS/Waitt Grants Program targets nascent initiatives and untested concepts that may have trouble finding funding through traditional sources. Where time is short and the stakes are high, NGS/Waitt Grants can ensure that opportunities for discovery are undertaken. The NGS/Waitt Grants Program is a collaboration of the National Geographic Society and the Waitt Institute, and is made possible by a grant from the Waitt Foundation.

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Search for the Nuestra Señora del Juncal

Survey Location: Campeche Bank and Chinchorro Reef, Mexico

Dates: March 3-22, 2008

Principal Investigator
Pilar Luna Erreguerena
Director of Underwater Archaeology, National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)

In Collaboration With
National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)

Historical Background
The reefs and islands of the Campeche Bank were a notorious navigation hazard for Spanish ships traveling between Havana and the Mexican port of Veracruz, the latter of which was established by Cortés in preparation for his assault on the Aztec capital. It was in these waters that some of the 13 ships of the New Spain Fleet, under the command of Admiral Manuel Serrano, sank during a storm in 1631. Due to the threat posed by the reefs and islands of the Campeche Bank, the amount of shipwrecks found here makes this area one of the richest regarding underwater cultural heritage.

Over the past several years, Archaeologist Pilar Luna Erreguerena and her team from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) have recorded more than 150 sites along the Campeche Bank. INAH’s underwater archaeology team has carried out an intense archival research in Mexico, Spain, and Cuba regarding the New Spain Fleet. The flagship Nuestra Señora del Juncal remains elusive.

Expedition Summary
The Waitt Institute partnered with Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) for this exploratory survey of Campeche and Chinchorro Banks. Leading the expedition as Principal Investigator was Archaeologist Pilar Luna, head of the Underwater Archaeology Area at INAH in Mexico City.

The first focus of the 18-day expedition was survey efforts on the search for the lost New Spain Fleet of 1630-1631 and its flagship, the Nuestra Señora del Juncal. The secondary phase of the expedition was to investigate shipwrecks and suspected shipwreck sites along the reefs of Chinchorro Bank. These locations are remote and many of the reef areas are unspoiled.

Expedition Team Members

Pilar Luna Erreguerena/Principal Investigator
Director of Underwater Archaeology, National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)

Dominique Rissolo, PhD/Expedition Coordinator
Executive Director, Waitt Institute

Joe Lepore/Dive Safety Officer, Surveyor
Dive Safety Officer, Waitt Institute

Michael Dessner/Logistics Coordinator
Director of Operations, Waitt Institute

Jeff Morris/Director of Survey Operations
Director, Azulmar Research, LLC

Steve Bilicki/Surveyor
Maritime Archaeologist, Azulmar Research, LLC

Helena Barba Meinecke/Surveyor
Underwater Archaeologist, National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)

Roberto Junco Sánchez/Surveyor
Underwater Archaeologist, National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)
Edgar Merino Gallegos/Surveyor
Underwater Archaeologist, National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)

Admiral Alberto Mariano Vázquez De la Cerda/Physical Oceanographer
Professor, University of Veracruz

Michael Jablonowski/Surveyor
Sonoma State University

Lance Milbrand/Videographer
Director, Milbrand Cinema

From the Expedition Leader – Pilar Luna Erreguerena

The fact that Mr. Ted Waitt created the Waitt Institute for Discovery is extraordinary due to the potential of service this can signify to many scientific projects around the world. So was the invitation he made me to be part of the Executive Board. It was a privilege that the Waitt Institute decided to support us in the 1630-1631 New Spain Fleet Research Project and Inventory and Diagnosis of Submerged Cultural Resources in the Gulf of Mexico, especially in the search for Nuestra Señora del Juncal, one of the two flagships of the fleet. The proposal was to survey one potential area in the Gulf of Mexico in which we think there are more possibilities to find Nuestra Señora del Juncal.

This area is one of several selected through archival research made during many years in Mexico, Spain and Cuba, and comparative studies of 17^th century charts and modern maps. Manuscripts referring to this shipwreck do not mention exactly the site of the tragedy. A deep analysis of diverse aspects of life in Spain—social, political, economical, artistic, etc.—has been made since 1995, in order to comprehend the context in which the fleet was built and sent to America, as well as the facts that surrounded the trip back to Spain, which was interrupted when the convoy was hit by a storm in 1631 and lost some of their ships in the Gulf of Mexico.

In February 2008 a group of researchers from the Underwater Archaeology Vice-Directorate (SAS) of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) set sail with the technical assistance of Jeffrey Morris and Stephen Bilicki, as well as the support of Mike Dessner and the rest of the Waitt team. The assistance of all of them, and the support of Dr. Dominique Rissolo at the Waitt Institute’s La Jolla headquarters, was crucial during the expedition, since there were many meteorological obstacles to overcome. In spite of this, the result of the field season was absolutely positive.