Check out the first images of Quest shipwreck

This latest mission, with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) as a partner, relied on a Falcon remote-operated vehicle and an ALVIN deep submergence vehicle to explore the wreck site further, launching on July 2. These are just the first images; more will be forthcoming. The team ultimately plans to create a 3D digital twin of the wreck site using underwater photogrammetry technology. Initial sonar images in 2024 gave the team hope about the ship’s overall condition. These new images, however, revealed that Quest is in worse condition than previously thought, with fishing nets, floats, and other bottom-trawling gear snagged on the stern and much of the starboard side. The bridge superstructure is missing entirely, although the aluminum bridge is still attached. Expedition research director Antoine Normandin was disappointed at first, but then realized that “Quest itself is now becoming a science experiment,” he told Canadian Geographic. WHOI biologist Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser told Canadian Geographic that the Quest shipwreck has been transformed into a thriving underwater ecosystem. The surviving structures and materials are now host to various marine life: soft corals clustered around the top of the bow, for example, and threatened species such as the spotted wolffish. “It’s really cool to me that the impact of human history is that we’re creating a habitat,” she said. “We’re increasing biodiversity on the local scale of the wreck, and maybe also on the regional scale because now it’s a stepping stone for some of those things to spread.”