Hi, I'm Ranger Julie at Fire Island National Seashore.
Today, we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the shipwreck, Bessie A. White
Join us today as we take a look at this astounding artifact
and learn about the science we're conducting on the shipwreck here
at Fire Island National Seashore.
(Inquisitive electronic music playing )
The lush landscape
of Fire Island attracts visitors from all over to enjoy surf and sun
from the natural history of the Sunken Forest
to the cultural history of the Fire Island Lighthouse.
There's a little bit of something here for everyone,
but did you know that Fire Island is not just a recreation site?
It's also a watery grave for ships and their cargo crew and passengers.
Located just south of Long Island and along important shipping routes
into New York Harbor, Fire Island's sloping beaches, shallow waters
and abundant sandbars made passage difficult and treacherous.
Ships risked running aground on hidden sandbars
if they navigated to close to shore, and storms made matters worse.
Strong winds veered vessel's off course and fog reduced visibility.
At least 155 shipwrecks have been documented
off the shore of Fire Island and many more presumed lost to history.
Even despite the construction of the first Fire Island lighthouse in 1826,
followed by the larger contemporary lighthouse in 1858.
Shipwrecks were still exceptionally common.
On February 6th, 1922, the Bessie A.
White, a four masted Canadian coal schooner, was traveling
from Newport News, Virginia, to Saint John, New Brunswick
as a dense fog rolled in.
The schooner struck a sandbar and the ship began to take on water.
Despite the efforts of the 20 men on board, the Bessie White became stranded
along the shore of Fire Island opposite Smith's Point Coast Guard station.
As the crew launched the lifeboats to escape to safety, Seamen James Reinberg
struck his head on a stanction and fell unconscious into the surf.
Reinberg was rescued by his crewmates, who then carried him eight
miles to the Bell Port Coast Guard station for medical attention.
While there were no other casualties, the ship and its cargo were a total loss.
In 2012, the Bessie White made national headlines
after it was temporarily uncovered by the devastating Superstorm Sandy.
Despite the sudden uproar of media attention, the appearance of the Bessie
White from the carved out
dunes of a Fire Island beach surprised few longtime beachgoers.
This was not the first storm to uncover the wreck.
In fact, the Bessie White was a regular beachgoer, appearing
often every few years following powerful winter storms.
What makes the Bessie White so special is not necessarily
the story behind the wreck, its salvage, or its discovery.
What made it special is its relative accessibility.
Just hike a few miles from Watch Hill, a popular visitor site
within the National Seashore, and you might catch a glimpse of the wreck
yourself.
Be aware, she does like to play, hide and seek.
The Bessie White helps
visitors connect to the island's long and rich maritime history.
When the bones of the ship poke out from underneath the dune,
history becomes real and stories are told through the wood and iron of the hull .
When the wreck of the Bessie White
reappeared on the sandy face of Fire Island in 2021,
it presented the National Seashore with an interesting dilemma
How might we balance preservation, education and scientific exploration?
Is there value in studying the wreck in a place where it sank instead of
in a lab, even when leaving it in place can contribute to its loss?
Immediately, there were fears that the wreck could begin breaking apart.
While the story of the Bessie White is typical of other
wrecks along the shore of Fire Island, it is neither remarkable enough
to preserve in a museum nor mundane enough to remove.
So what opportunities did the Bessie White present?
Fire Island National
Seashore and the National Park Service's Submerged Resources Center
became involved in an exciting new program to mark and track shipwrecks,
which was developed by the Florida Public Archeology Network or F-PAN.
"The Shipwreck
Tagging and Archeological Management Program, or STAMP, is a public engagement
program focused on documenting and monitoring shipwreck sites
and disarticulated shipwreck timbers, using citizen science
to better document and understand these historic features.
With the help of F-PAN and the new STAMP program,
Fire Island National Seashore Rangers worked with curatorial staff
to affix special stamp tags to various parts of the shipwreck.
These stamps include QR codes, which allow visitors to input photographs,
GPS coordinates and other data into the STAMP database,
allowing the National Park Service and F-PAN to monitor the site and see
how it changes over time.
As citizen scientists, visitors can enjoy the Bessie
White and contribute to our understanding of its evolution.
The resulting data will give us a glimpse not only into the shipwrecks
change over time, but the evolution of Fire Island as the natural forces
of winds, waves and storms slowly move the shipwreck over time.
This data may also be used in the future to help track down
other shipwrecks across waters in the United States.
The wreck of the Bessie A.
White, provides us with so many unique opportunities.
Engaging with and enjoying our maritime history
allows us to better understand the natural evolution of shipwrecks
making the best thing unique in its own right.
As the Bessie White returns to its sandy grave, we eagerly await its next appearance.
Here's to 100 years.
(Electronic music continues playing)