putting pieces together

Reflecting on visiting Malta 7 times over the last 8 years, I feel as if I am just now being able to put some of the pieces of the history of this complex country together.  Malta is a cross roads and even as I have parroted those words to students when describing our project, this year more then before I feel I am able to see some of the history of the intersections crossing East and West over this strategically located island with deep large harbors.

When we first started coming to Malta, I will admit to being mostly drawn to trying to understand their role in WW2, as trying to understand this global conflict always resonated with my desire to try to understand current world oscillations.  And Malta's role was so key and dynamic that this recent history always loomed large in my mind when thinking of Malta and its history.  This year, I feel like I have been able to see further back.  In part due to some of the great lectures organized by our local contact, Dr. Timmy Gambin and in part due to the inclusion of the brilliant Dr. Ambereen Dadabhoy, whose academic focus on the Mediterranean in the 1600s yet articulate vision of the present has helped some of the further past come more clearly into view as relevant and worth understanding.

In terms of lectures, for example, the excellent and entertaining presentation about Maltese Corsairs by Liam Gauci brought to life the legal pirating conducted in the 1600s by Maltese against the Ottoman Turks.  The tit for tat robbery and slave taking between the Maltese and Ottoman Turk corsairs all legal and often in the name of religion was somehow shocking to my modern sense of fairness.  And then last night, we heard another great lecture from Dr. Mark Aloisio, Senior Lecturer at the University of Malta, about the Mediterranean and the Crusades. This talk further echoed the long history of complex conflict and resource back and forth between the west and eastern sections of the Mediterranean.  Coupled with a personal visit to Malta National War Museum, I felt like I could finally put some pieces into place in terms of the history of Malta and its central position as a cultural crossroads.

It is thinking about this history that I read the news about the US supreme court's decision to uphold the travel ban/restrictions to the US of immigrants from 7 mostly Muslim countries.  Without being too political on a trip focused on computer engineering, one of our missions in ICEX is to increase global citizenship, thus it is difficult to not hear this news as a tragic continuation of the East/West historical tensions.  Learning about Maltese history has helped me see the blame on both sides of history.  I cannot help but hope that like the Maltese language itself and the beautiful bougainvilea flowers against Maltese stone walls, that more fruitful outcomes can rise in the intersections between east and west then the recent US supreme court ruling.

Coding Day 6/25

The plan at the start of the day was to deploy with both the Gavia and the IVER3 at the Schnellboot, HMS Southwold, and SS Polynesian in order to get multi-beam data for the Southwold and Polynesian while getting camera data from the Schnellboot. Unfortunately, the sea was too rough and the deployment was deemed too risky. The multi-beam data would have served as the basis for a series of camera runs on the "new" wrecks while the existing side scan sonar data collected during our large survey would have been used for the Schnellboot. The Gavia is a new AUV acquired by Professor Gambin which is rated for deeper work and is able to gather both side scan and multi beam sonar data, allowing it to get both high definition scans of wrecks when operating close to the bottom but also capable of conducting wide surveys from a higher altitude.

Teledyne Gavia AUV

Nandeeka and I worked on marking the 2017 data for wrecks that were more compatible with the current neural network. Some of the previous wrecks that were marked were more probable wrecks, and thus didn't serve as good training data. Sam and Russell planned missions for Tuesday that would implement the path finding algorithm developed by the previous years team. Bonita and Mitchell worked on obtaining a camera calibration for the GoPro Hero4 so that it's camera footage could be used with the Hero we brought from Mudd. Finally Cole worked on improving the computer model of the Maori so that he could give recommendations to the path planning teams of what sections of the Maori should be focused on in future missions.

The team hard at work

We went to dinner at a very nice restaurant with some refreshing smoothies and great pasta, all in all a great end to a productive day.

Pasta and smoothies!

- Makoto

Gozo trip 6/23

This morning we began our day with a long bus ride to Ċirkewwa to catch the ferry to Gozo. As a group we hiked up to a tradition Maltese restaurant with an absolutely beautiful view of the islands. When we arrived an extremely kind Maltese man offered to show us how to play boċċi. It is apparently a very popular and traditional game in Malta and Gozo so much so you can almost find a club in every city.

View from the restaurant 

The group watching Kole about to play his turn in boċċi 

Coming into the dock from the ferry

Hike up to the restaurant

After our meal we ventured to the Citadel. Which was the center of Gozo's  administrative work as well as its military and religious life. The fortress featured a beautiful Cathedral, courts, the Bishop’s Palace, a prison, multiple museums and an amazing view of the island and ocean.

Th groupl planning their next adventures in Gozo

View from the top of the Citadel

Playing cards waiting for the bus

Trying to see how many ICEX members can fit in an ancient prison cell

Maltese Food Interview

A few days ago, we traveled to Gozo for our cultural outing, and during at lunch at the Maltese restaurant, Xerri Il-Bukkett, I was lucky enough to have the chance to interview one of the restaurant workers on their beliefs and opinions on Maltese cuisine.  Unfortunately, I forgot to write down his name, but overall, he had a lot of interesting opinions about food on the islands.

He explained to me how Malta's food had been influenced by several other cultures over the years: French, Italian, and especially English, due to Malta's long period of colonization.  However despite such strong influences of other cultures, he said that he felt the Maltese people still very much considered their food to be rather unique and their own. I asked him about what first came to mind when he thought of Maltese food in general, and he said Pastizzi and rabbit were the ones that stuck out in his head. In addition to these foods, he emphasized the prominence of pasta in Maltese cooking, with Maltese pasta (penne with Maltese sausage, cream, and Gozo cheese) being his favorite. 

Finally, we talked about the differences between food on Malta and Gozo, and overall, he felt they were very similar, except for the fact that Gozo has a much stronger emphasis on cheese.  He explained that this is because Gozo has many more farms that the larger island, so naturally, they have more animals and produce more cheese and dairy products here.  He stated that Ġbejniet, fresh Gozo cheese, was definitely an important part of Maltese cuisine but especially so on Gozo.

Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the subtle differences between food on Gozo and Malta, and I am glad I got to learn about Maltese food from a local perspective.

More Maori

Today the team revisited the HMS Maori once again. As always our goal was to try and get more footage and better footage of the wreck. What made today different were some new approaches to mission planning. First we re-ran prior missions created using Sam and Russel's planning software, but using a new rough bathymetry map which allowed us to plan for the AUV to reach greater depths. This allowed us to get a closer look at the Maori and capture previously unseen angles. Afterwards we tried Mitchell's new prototype planner which attempts to best enable photogrammetry by working out AUV paths by approximating the shape of regions of interest. Additionally we tried mounting one camera right facing in the hopes of capturing better data of the sides of the ship, which have previously been difficult to make out due to poor visibility and the higher depth AUV paths.

Russel and Dr. Wood deploying the IVER

Sam and Russel's plans worked excellently, and the added depth allowed us to see portions of the ship in wonderful detail. Likewise, Mitchell's alternative planner also performed very well, and it resulted in several clips that show the Moari from previously un-captured perspectives. It's too early to tell exactly how this will change the final reconstruction, but the results are very encouraging. Unfortunately it seems that none of today's missions went deep enough for the right facing camera to get good footage, however I think with a little tweaking we can capture some great data, and fill in a lot of blanks on the reconstruction.

June 22

The Fluid Mediterranean

About a month before I traveled to Malta, I received proofs of an article on an Early Modern English play called The Knight of Malta. The timing was quite fortuitous, reminding me not only of my research interests in the construction of racial difference via ideologies of religious difference, but also of my interest in Mediterranean piracy, which like the sea offered fluid opportunities for enterprising individuals to raise their social status and sometimes border-cross between religious communities.

While in Malta, I’ve been able to go to the National Library of Malta to do some research on the privateering or corsairing, as it was commonly referred to from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Most of the work I had done previously on corsairs was from either the English or the Ottoman perspective, so it was quite eye-opening to get a perspective on this activity from Malta because the island and its inhabitants have long been positioned by English writers as being the bulwark of protection against the Ottoman onslaught in the western Mediterranean. The island and the Order of St. John gained particular fame after successfully repulsing the Ottoman attack of 1565, known throughout Europe as “The Great Siege of Malta.”

What drew my interest to Maltese corsairs was the reputation they had in some English contexts as being indiscriminate in their attacks on Christian and Muslim ships in the Mediterranean, and that they would engage in enslaving both Muslims and Christians. I emphasize religion here because that’s what often got emphasized in early modern texts, that the conflict in the Mediterranean was rooted in religious antipathy and an extension of the crusades. This framing unfortunately obscures the very many ways in which peoples from different religions, such as Christians, Muslims, and Jews lived, worked, and cooperated with each other in the Mediterranean in the early modern period and beyond. In addition, by focusing on religious conflict as the reason why these activities took place, we also ignore how a career on the high seas could allow men from lower stations in life to rise in rank. Finally, we also deny the region the kind of cosmopolitanism it had vis-a-vis religious toleration and cooperation that it had for many centuries. To be sure there were wars, but most often they were about territory, money, and imperial ambition, with the veneer of religion applied on later for good measure.

During my time in Malta, I’ve remembered what animated my research in this time period and particularly in this geography. The Mediterranean has a long and rich history and it is connected to the history of the world. Columbus sailed west because the route to the Mediterranean were already controlled by the Ottomans and Venetians and because the Portuguese had managed to secure a route around Africa, the Cape of Good Hope. That voyage,introduced Europeans to new land and peoples, and policies that were de rigueur in the Mediterranean, like slavery, took on new forms when they crossed the Atlantic. What I hope will come from my research in Malta this summer is a better understanding of the connections between the Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds in this time period.

Images courtesy of Liam Gauci

June 21th

Today the ICEX team had a break from all the hard work and got the opportunity to explore Malta on our own. Makoto went out in hopes of finding someone to interview for the cultural project Professor Dadabhoy is helping us with. He went to explore some of the war museum in Valetta and ended up interviewing one of the reenactment employees at the Upper Barrakka Gardens.  Kole went out to explore the shoreline and went snorkeling around the point. He also got the chance to look at some tidepools and view some of Maltas marine life.

Marine life off the coast of Malta

Sam and Nandeeka left early in the morning in search of something active to do such as rock climbing or hiking.

Bonita, Russell, and Mitchell went to tour the streets of Valletta and explore some of the cuisine that Malta has to offer. They were also able to witness the firing of the canon at the Upper Barrakka Gardens.

Later in the evening, everyone returned to the apartment for a very interesting lecture. As a Historian, Liam Gauci has been studying history from the 1800's. He believes that history is best told through human stories. He presented a lecture on the Corsairs from Malta and the culture and history of it all. Overall, it was a very insightful and entertaining lecture on some of Malta's past.

June 20th

Today after doing 10 legs of sonar scanning we completed our final day of surveying. MVP goes out to  Makoto and Russell for making it on every boat deployment and helping to get great sonar data for the team.

Getting Ready for Deployement

Anchor Drag Found in the Sonar

Mitchell and Russell Bringing in the IVER

This afternoon we ventured to the grocery store together to get supplies to make a nice homemade dinner.

Pictured (Left to Rigtht):  Makoto, Nandeeka, Sam, Bonita, Mitchell

Tony Burgess came later in the day to give a fantastic talk on underwater aviation archaeology.

June 19th Deployments

The ICEX team went out on the boat this morning for some early morning deployments. The team was able to complete 9 more legs of the survey today. The winds were much more forgiving today which allowed for a smooth deployment.

Kole and Bonita carrying the AUV 

Kole getting the AUV safety into the ocean

Bonita, Kole, and Russell watching the AUV surface

Dr. Gambin also met with the ICEX team today in order to discuss potential targets from the last two deployments. The team was better able to identify potential targets thanks to Dr. Gambin.

The ICEX team spent the rest of the day coding and working before going out to dinner and enjoying some gelato afterwards. 

June 18th

This morning members of the ICEX team: Professor Wood, Kole, Makoto, and Russell, started their day with a deployment. They were able to complete 9 legs of survey before coming in due to high winds and increased swells.

John, Kole, and Makoto getting ready to deploy

Professor Wood enjoying her first survey of Summer 2018

While they were deploying Mitchell worked on a program using maps, made by Sam, that show high interest areas from the sonar data. The program creates bounding boxes of those areas and can be used to make an AUV path to gather more film for the 3D reconstruction.

Work in progress of Mitchell's program

Later than afternoon, as a team, we went over the sonar data in hopes of finding a wreck. While looking we came across some interesting looking features, maybe to explore later.
Shortly after a few members of the team took a short break down at the Point.

Professor Wood and Makoto looking over sonar data

Russell enjoying the view at The Point

We ended the day getting dinner together at a traditional Maltese restaurant.

Kole trying to get that Instagram worthy picture of his calamari

June 17th Deployments

The ICEX team went out to St. Elmos Bay for some early morning deployments. One of the goals for the deployments today was to get good video footage for the photometry reconstruction. Several of these missions yielded good results of the wreck.

Here is video of a fly by of the AUV as it goes over the wreck of the Moari. You can see the top of the Moari as well as a car located on the ocean floor.

Professor Clark was also able to dive down and collect video footage manually of certain parts of the wreck.

He was also able to capture footage of the AUV as it zoomed by him during his dive.

The ICEX team carefully getting the AUV in the water.

Today was also Professor Clark's last day in Malta for the duration of the trip as he will be heading back home tomorrow. We all went out for gelato and said our goodbyes. You will be missed Professor Clark.

Early Morning Deployment 6/13

The morning of the 13th since the marine forecast predicted a dangerously large swell greater than 2 meters in the afternoon, we deployed at 05:00. We were able to complete three runs of 3 legs each, for a total of 9 legs. This covered an area of 1400 x 320 meters. The team was tired but pretty soon the sunrise distracted us from our lack of sleep and we were able to witness a glorious sunrise over the Mediterranean.

Russell looks back on the team as the sun rises behind him

The sun just clears the horizon

 These pictures were possible due to a thick haze that obscured the horizon and made the sun a dim disc that was easy to look at for about 10 minutes. It allowed for some beautiful shots, especially due to the rich orange and red color that it produced and the way it reflected off the waves on the ocean

The Iver surfaces at the end of one of its runs with some ships in the distance

A wave breaks slightly as it passes the boat

Spray kicked up by the boat as it travels back to port

At the end of our second run the swell started to pick up, eventually reaching 1.5 to 2 meters at the worst. This made extracting the Iver much harder, but it was completed without too much difficulty. 

Catacombs and Castles in Mdina

Today the team was finally completed as Professor Wood flew in to Malta and joined us. Professor Clark will be flying back to California in a few days and from then Professor Wood will oversee most of our deployments and data analysis.

Today the team explored Mdina, an important cultural site in Malta. The site of ruins from Phoenician times to Medieval times, it is one of the greatest examples of the depth of Malta's history and how many different great civilizations have rubbed shoulders on this small island in the middle of the Mediterranean. The city was founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century B.C. and has since been occupied by the Romans, Arabs and the Order of St. John, a medieval order of knights, serving as the fortified capital of the island until the capital was eventually moved by the order in 1530. It has since declined in usage, but has remained as an impressive fortification visible from much of the island, due to its elevated location.

The team arriving in Mdina

The first location visited by the team were the catacombs. These seem to have been used from Roman times until Medieval times, with both Christian, Roman, and Jewish people being entombed in their depths. These catacombs have served many purposes differing from their original purpose across the years, from oratories and chapels for Christians to air raid shelters during WWII.

                   The catacomb's narrow confines         small plant life growing in             A hallway in the catacombs                                                                                                              the catacombs   

                        A stone with an engraving marking      Another engraved stone            Sam struggles with the confines  
                        occupation of the entombed                                                                           of the catacomb

After the exploring the catacombs, the team stopped for a quick lunch and then explored the walls of the castle along with the moat. Since the castle is elevated and has high walls, the views are absolutely spectacular

The weather was particularly beautiful as well, with a fairly strong wind that allowed for far greater visibility than usual. Malta is often quite humid, and that creates a strong haze that brings the visibility down to a several kilometers. The team had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the sites

A good personality pic for the team 

A quick panorama of the view from the castle

A beautiful group photo courtesy of Professor Wood's phone