When underwater archaeologists discovered the wreck they thought might be the "Queen Anne's Revenge," they knew the recovery process would be long and methodical. The team also knew it would be important to document the work, a task done with photographs on most digs. But the fact that the wreck lay on the ocean floor in 30 feet of water made photographing the site problematic. Visibility at the site was usually between two and four feet, so getting an overall picture would have been difficult. Underwater photography using 35 mm film would be time consuming and only shows a small section of the wreck at a time. The solution was underwater video.

The archaeology team approached UNC-TV with the idea of making a program about the expedition to excavate the wreck. Their idea was to use the video as the archaeological record and as the core material for the documentary. I was excited by their proposal, so I teamed up again with veteran diver and photographer Bill Lovin, to serve as host, and underwater photographer Rick Allen to shoot the video.

Over five weeks, Rick shot more than 10 hours of material. He actually became a member of the scientific team, living for days at a time in Morehead City and going out each day with the divers.

The underwater video Rick shot has turned out to be very useful to the scientists. His video gave the team a picture of artifact locations in relation to each other, their relative size, the way in which the work was done and the condition of the site at any particular time. Underwater video also has the ability to cut through some of the haze and silt in the water, making visibility appear to be better than it really is. And a moving picture, where the camera is slowly changing angles during the shot, is often easier to interpret than the single shot a still camera would provide.

The scientific work on "Queen Anne's Revenge" is still ongoing. It will be several years before all of the wreck is explored and the major artifacts are recovered. One big problem is the lack of a surface storage facility to hold all of the material. Until one is built, the "treasure" is safer on the ocean floor. In the meantime, the "Queen Anne’s Revenge" team plans to conduct yearly expeditions to continue the work, so the story is always evolving, always providing new excitement and discoveries.