🔎🚢 A major discovery beneath the waves of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon during the SEAMAP Project!
📖 On May 22, 2025, during a SEAMAP scientific mission, the team decided to take a small detour, not initially the mission plan, driven by curiosity. They went searching, according to the advises of Karl, their boat captain, a 63-year maritime mystery: the disappearance of the Ravenel in 1962 (see picture n°3).
Equipped with SEABER’s fleet of four AUVs, they scanned 4 km² in just 3 hours using 680kHz side-scan sonar. The analysis of the first 2 km² revealed nothing but sand—something Karl, with his decades of experience, already suspected. So they pushed further east.
🔎 Then, on the second transect of the final AUV, something emerged: a structure. Something that didn’t belong to the sand.
They reported the discovery to Karl. The dimensions matched: 30 to 35 meters long, 7 to 8 meters wide.
Still, Karl remained cautious: “It might not be the one… but it’s definitely something.” (see picture n°4 the very first side scan sonar image)
They immediately reprogrammed our AUVs for a second pass—with enhanced settings—to capture high-resolution imagery of the wreck.
To confirm it’s the Ravenel, more missions are planned. Time (and data) will tell. But for now, we know one thing: thanks to teamwork, experience, and the precision of autonomous technology, the ocean gave us a clue.
Our thoughts are with the families, as this discovery has stirred the entire archipelago.
We at SEABER are proud to contribute to this effort through the SEAMAP project, combining science, history, and innovation beneath the surface. 🥹
👏 Huge thanks to our research partners and to the people of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon: Karl Beaupertuis, the boat captain of Martin-Helene, Quentin Tatibouet and Charles Goudaert from SEABER, Maïwenn Herlédan and Adrien Berne from CNRS-LEMAR and Marieke Schultz from Université de Montpellier – MARBEC (picture number 2). And thanks to BPI France for funding the project.
🇫🇷 For the French speaking person, read the article about the history of the Ravenel: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravenel_(chalutier)
🔜 Soon to come: a publication about our two weeks deployments in Saint-Pierre-et-Micquelon in collaboration with LEMAR (CNRS) and Université de Montpellier – MARBEC for our joint project called SEAMAP, funded by BPI France 2030.