SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Preliminary high-resolution images of Port Royal have been made by an international marine robotics team at the invitation of Jamaica’s National Heritage Trust. Port Royal, now off the coast of Jamaica, was submerged 300 years ago after an earthquake. “In the seventeenth century, Port Royal was the English mercantile capital of the New World—a bustling sea port that was a haven for privateers and pirates due to its excellent geographic location in the middle of the Caribbean,” Andrew Durrant of the University of Sydney said in a press release. The team will create a detailed map of the site, which has intact buildings and streets, while developing new practices for marine archaeological survey. “The city remains are widely dispersed, often covered in soft sediments and re-deposited coral, conditions which have challenged existing approaches to mapping the sunken area,” Durrant explained. The new survey will be part of Jamaica’s application to have Port Royal included in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. To read more about underwater archaeology, see "History's 10 Greatest Wrecks."
