Researchers find wrecked ship at the bottom of Monterey Bay

While studying the fault lines last Wednesday in the ocean near Moss Landing, researchers stumbled upon a sunken barge.

The Umpqua II, a barge from Reedssport, Oregon has been resting at the bottom of the Monterey Canyon since 1982. It was found one-mile below the surface if the ocean.

“I believe that this is the first time we have found such a substantial wreck, and we’ve done a lot of work in Monterey Bay,” said marine geologist Charles Paull.

Paull has been working with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute for 15 years and said he’s never seen anything like this.

Paull and a team of scientists made the discovery through sonar images.

“In that you can see that there is a structure down at the bottom or a shape down at the bottom that is obviously not geological. It’s clearly a wreck,” said Paull.

What was once a working ship, now the 260-foot vessel is home to the creatures of the deep sea, “it’s just an exciting thing to come in and see it…it’s enough to get everyone on the ship and into the control room. We knew we were going to see it, it was standing room only.”

Divers will now spend the next few weeks researching the wreck and observing how it decomposed in the ocean.