Today, the Fortaleza was a hive of activity. Plans for the coming days are in full swing and Annalisa Zarattini, from Lazio’s Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, met up with the AURORA team to discuss forthcoming activities. Everything is set for the filming of the shipwrecks with our ROV and two deep sea divers.
During the morning, part of the AURORA team went out on the ISIS to complete the remaining survey lines which concluded the side scan sonar survey around the island. Most of the afternoon was spent finishing off the installation of the new lights on the ROV followed by sea trials so as to determine its buoyancy and compensation requirements. We deployed the ROV off the side of the Fortaleza and whilst Paul and Craig put it through its motions Eric observed from a distance and adjusted the trim as was deemed fit. ROV operations start on Friday meaning that we have one more day to implement further improvements to our machine.
Meanwhile, the Windfall crew filmed two of the AURORA team preparing the ancient Roman fish paste known as Garum. Five kilos of fish were mixed with sea salt and have been left to ferment in the sun. Within a few days some more ingredients will be added and mixed in.
In the afternoon, a film crew from Lazio’s regional news came on board to interview Ian and Craig on AURORA, its various projects and also on its past and current work in Ventotene.