When Odyssey conducts deep ocean search and recovery operations, technology takes the place of humans in the harsh environment of the ocean bottom.

In place of eyes, video camera and sonar systems expose every feature of the seabed; robotic systems equipped with super-sensitive hydraulic manipulators and advanced tooling take the place of hands. Instead of the land archaeologist's shovel, brush and sifting screen used by patient students or volunteers with notebooks handy, sensitive sediment removal and excavation tools, storage containers and computer recording systems ensure every layer of a shipwreck excavation is examined, recorded and documented.

During Odyssey Marine Exploration's expeditions in the western Mediterranean Sea, looking for the wreck of the 17th-century British warship HMS Sussex, the principal technical search tool was the side scan sonar system. Although the device looks more like a torpedo or missile, "fish" is the common nickname for the sonar unit. Advanced versions of the "fish" provided Odyssey's explorers with detailed images of rocks, hills and objects on the sea floor, guiding the crews to the most likely targets for further inspection.

The sonar fish used in Odyssey's 2001 search was the EdgeTech DF?1000 side scan system. This equipment, manufactured by EdgeTech Sonar Products Group in Milford, Massachusetts, gave Odyssey's exploration teams a detailed view of the myriad objects scattered around the sea bed beneath one of the busiest and oldest sea lanes in the world.

Like radar, sonar uses reflected sound to identify an object. Sound pulses travel through the water and bounce back to the sonar fish - the time the signal takes to make the round trip gives distance information, while the strength of the returned pulse indicates something about the nature of the object reflecting the sonar ping. Metal sends back a diffferent echo than rock, pottery or other materials, while soft materials such as seaweed sometimes never show at all.

The DF-1000 fish digitizes the sonar information returned and transmits it to a computer system aboard ship. That information, along with comprehensive navigational records including present position of ship and fish, depth, rate and direction of travel and several other factors are all compiled in a continuous, real-time database. As a result, Odyssey's crews benefit from immediate views of the track being surveyed, and can reconstruct the search later for more careful analysis of the targets.

Although research guided Odyssey to a specific sector of the Mediterranean Sea where the ship was reported lost, there was still a fairly large area to be searched. Ultimately Odyssey towed its side scan sonar fish in a careful pattern covering more than 400 square miles of ocean floor over the course of three years' operations. The survey team sailed back and forth in a series of precise parallel tracks within the search area, a feat of precision navigation and ship handling made possible through the use of Global Positioning Satellite signals and advanced integrated navigation systems.

Describing the method the sonar search tracks are laid out, as well as the tedious nature of the operations, underwater surveyors call the search "mowing the lawn." Side scan sonar "looks" to each side of the fish when it sends out the sound pulses that reflect off underwater objects. As a result, the area directly underneath the fish is a "dead spot." For this reason, search patterns are laid out with overlapping zones to make sure that nothing is missed.

Patience and constant attention are required during the ship's passage along each track. The Sussex sonar tracks were conducted with the fish trailing about 2 miles behind the research vessel, connected by a coaxial cable used both to deliver operator's commands to the fish and to retrieve its digitized signals. The fish "flew" about 20 to 40 meters above the seabed, which ranged in depth from about 1,000 feet to more than 3,000 feet. At the end of each track, the ship would make a careful turn and begin a new line. With the fish so far behind and so deep, the turns could take up to three hours. The deeper the water, the longer the tow, and the slower the ship made its turns.

The EdgeTech DF-1000 allows operators to send out the sonar pulses, or "pings," at two different frequencies, 100 and 500 kiloHertz. At the medium frequency rate of 100kHz, the signal travels farther, but returns images with less detail. Typically Odyssey first covered the search tracks with the medium frequency sonar scans, then returned to places with likely or interesting targets to capture much more detailed images using the high-frequency 500 kHz settings.

Using the medium-frequency sonar settings increased Odyssey's range of coverage on every search track. The basic pattern laid each track followed by the research vessel at about 1,000 feet apart. The 100 kHz signals covered a reach of 1,200 feet or more under ideal circumstances. As a result Odyssey collected a comprehensive survey of objects in the area.

When the survey team returned for a closer look using high-frequency sonar signals, the fish descended to about 20 meters above the sea floor and covered a much narrower swath. While the pinging and interrogation is going on, the fish travels forward at a rate of about 3 feet per second. The research vessel during this search typically proceeded at about 2.5 to 3.5 knots.

Each significant "target" painted by the sonar scans was marked on the electronic recordings for later analysis. The computerized sonar images of many of those targets were printed so search crew members could discuss and analyze them. Some of the targets would block so much of the sonar sound pulses that they cast a "shadow" in the images; much the same as blocking sunlight casts a shadow. A large shadow indicated an object standing fairly high above the bottom sediments.

Estimates of a target's length and width were made by comparing the size of the image with a set of grid lines imposed on the image files, representing specific distances. A shipwreck like that of the Sussex may be partially covered by sand and silt. Images of targets that are much longer than the original 157 foot length of the Sussex were easily eliminated, although shorter ones had to be studied.

The quality of the images returned, their size and shape, and the nature of the shadows allowed Odyssey's experts to select the most likely targets for a later inspection using the remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

Since a 17th-century wooden ship's wreck would appear as a lower mound of debris, for example, the sonar operators eliminated targets that were obviously more modern metal ships standing tall, long and wide on the sea floor. However, many other sites could not be identified without a visual inspection.

Thus Odyssey discovered not only piles of debris and garbage, a great many rocks and ridges, and scattered pieces of aircraft, but also the remains of shipwrecks of more than 2,000 years of age. Roman shipwrecks, two Phoenician sites estimated to be about 2,300 years old, and one that appears even more ancient were among the targets the ROV illuminated with its halogen lamps, far below the ocean surface.

Only one target, approximately 3,000 feet deep, contained cannon, but further study was needed. Additional visual inspections and high resolution side scan sonar passes were undertaken. Based on the archival research, sonar images, search analyses and visual inspections, Odyssey planned an archaeological preliminary excavation of artifacts on the top level of the wreck to attempt confirmation of the ship's identity.

In the late Spring and Summer of 2001, Odyssey packed the Research Vessel Minibex with computers, search equipment, and a highly-skilled crew of experts to attempt to confirm the identification of the "cannon wreck." Under the supervision of marine archaeologist Neil Cunningham Dobson, the crew piloted an inspection ROV, the Achilles system developed by COMEX, in multiple dives on the wreck.

Each activity on the wreck site was undertaken after Dobson considered the objectives, took care to preserve all archaeological information from the undisturbed site, and planned the tasks for every one of the exploratory missions.

A variety of artifacts were recovered but Odyssey's team was constantly challenged by the working conditions at such depths. Simply dropping the ROV to the bottom took nearly an hour. The robotic system's long "umbilical cord" sometimes looped in strange courses over the wreck site, posing a risk of entanglement or even loss of the machine. Currents ranged from extremely swift to dead still.

And the small ROV, while agile and powerful, sometimes lacked the capabilities that larger truck-size systems known as "work-class ROVS," possess.

Among the challenges Odyssey encountered were collecting artifacts which could not be grasped by the single function manipulator mounted on the end of a short arm on the ROV. After a series of frustrating dives attempting to retrieve a collection of items, the team sent one man back to the COMEX facilities in Marseilles, France, to create new tools specifically for artifact retrieval, while other tools were fabricated on the ship to pick up small artifacts such as rocks and cannonballs from the seabed.

After several days of exploratory dives, the new tools made in Marseilles arrived. A clever spring-loaded grasp of three angled claws soon raised what the Achilles ROV could not move with its small manipulator - the iron concretion that had enveloped the "cascabel" at the end of one of the ship's cannon. Historical research combined with the artifacts recovered provided the project archeologist with sufficient data to deliver an opinion about the identity of the shipwreck site. When Odyssey returns to the site thought to be the Sussex, the expedition will use huge work-class ROVs, and will follow strict archaeological excavation standards in its operations.

The familiar tools of a land excavation will be replaced by robotic devices such as delicate tools and fine-nozzle water jets to clear sediment in measured layers, and sift it through fine screens. This enables the team to carefully excavate even the tiniest and most fragile artifacts, carefully noting the exact location of their origin.

An advanced electronics and data logging system aboard ship and the ROV will record still and video images of every aspect of the excavation. Similarly, from the moment of exposure during excavation through the final steps of conservation in shore laboratories, every artifact will be identified and tracked.

Marine archaeology in the deep ocean is a new discipline. When carried out by ethical, professional teams, every excavation is a demonstration of accountability and constant care. It is a compilation of knowledge to rival any other type of archaeological activity. In the case of a subsea archaeological project, Odyssey's use of advanced technology instead of humans on the site provides benefits unimaginable only decades ago.

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The Company believes the information set forth in this Press Release may include "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and is subject to the safe harbor created by that section. Certain factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are set forth in "Risk Factors," and "Business" in the Company's annual report on Form 10KSB for the year ended February 28, 2001, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

PR02-31/149