| P-MAN XIV Update #05 - Flip finds art in the bag 21 March 2012 It was a great day today. I'll save the big news for last. Today we had a 10 a.m. appointment to interview an elder who lived through World War Two. Dorothy Yano was 12 years old when the war broke out in Palau. She lived in Airai State (southeastern corner of the island of Babelthaup) and said that for the most part, the Japanese left her family alone. They lived in a cave up in the hills. Her Grandfather got strafed by a U.S. airplane as he was in his canoe, but wearing a Japanese hat. He was wounded, survived but died a short bit of time later. She heard stories about Americans captured and executed, but did not see anything first hand.
After our interview concluded we headed to Ngaremlengui to continue the search for a Marine Corsair in the mangroves. We still needed permission from the State so we stopped by their offices en route. Two phone calls later, the Governor gave his permission to continue our searches. Just like in previous years, no paperwork required here. We hiked into the mangrove site, dumped our packs and just carried GPS, radio and camera equipment. It started to rain and it rained for well over two hours. The good news is it was much cooler with the rain than with the sun beating down on us. Even when the rain stopped, it was cloudy enough to keep us cool. The bad news was that it was raining enough so that the outgoing tide was filled back in with rain water. We wouldn't see anything that was lying flat on the bottom, but if it had any vertical development, we would still see it. We all found more piece parts. I found a piece with what looks like a kick-out step in it. Dan found the largest piece we've seen of this particular aircraft and Pat continued to find pieces lifted up by the growing mangrove trees and roots.
When we got to our pre-determined exit time, we started out. And of course we found a few more pieces and took time to capture data on those. Dan navigated us back to the superhighway through the mangroves and out we went. The superhighway, for those new to our storyline (or you've just forgotten), is a path we cut into the mangroves five years ago to help JPAC get a closer look at the debris field. Back then, we had only found a few pieces, but some significant ones. Over the past couple of years we've expanded the area of the debris field and have come to the conclusion that the rest of the airplane is probably below the surface of the swano in a crater it created when it crashed. Over the years, the crater has likely filled in, since this is a tidal area. While we went maybe 200 feet into the mangroves, then west 200 feet, then back out, Joe probably traveled miles through the swamp. And in his travels, he did not see any parts. So we do have a defined geographic area and this will probably be our last efforts at this particular site. Now for some art:
Well, not really art. Just a foggy lens. Seems that in a continuous downpour, my waterproof camera bag isn't. Even when wrapped with my yellow slicker, it still got damp in there. And when my screen started flickering, I shut 'er down. After a bit of time to dry back at the hotel, the camera is fine. But I didn't get any more photos for the day. The big news is that 70 years after World War Two, Palauan fishermen are still finding new things in their waters. As we were driving back off the big island, Neco Marine called and said the owners wanted us to meet them at their Cafe, The Drop Off. When we got there, Mandy and Shallum Etpison said they had a big surprise for us. Mandy pulled out her iPad and there was a beautifully intact Corsair sitting on the bottom of the ocean. This was most likely an operational loss and the pilot survived: canopy open, flaps down, airplane pretty well completely intact and near the outer reef. Pilots were told to ditch near the reef and then make for open ocean. Depending on the time of the day, they could even walk across the reef. Once on the ocean side, a submarine or ship would come pick them up. We are going to dive it tomorrow (the 22nd) to check it out and get some photos. But for now, only the fishermen, Mandy and Shallum, the BentProp team, and now you know about this wonderful find. When it's open to the public, it's going to be a great dive site. - Flip Colmer |
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