March Lecture to Explore Big Bend Shipwrecks

Shipwrecks of the Big Bend and the Gulf of Mexico will be the focus of the Big Bend Maritime Center’s free public lecture series Thursday, March 27, at Tallahassee Community College’s Wakulla Center in Crawfordville.

Debra G. Shefi, senior archaeologist, Bureau of Archaeological Research, Florida Department of State, will provide an historical overview of the region’s rich maritime history through the unique perspective provided by its submerged archaeological remains.

Ms. Shefi, an award-winning underwater photographer and certified SCUBA instructor, is known for her research of shipwrecks off Florida, Australia, Europe and Asia. She holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters in Marine Archaeology from Flinders University, Victor Harbor, South Australia.

{sidebar id=1}The five-part lecture series, “The Maritime Trail,” began in January. The public presentations are made possible by a grant to the Big Bend Maritime Center (BBMC) from the Florida Humanities Council. The guest speaker series will continue the fourth Thursday of each month through May. The two remaining presentations will cover “Prehistory Underwater in the Big Bend,” and “Lighthouses of the Big Bend.”

The series is also being cosponsored by a Florida Coastal Management Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and by Tallahassee Community College, which is providing the facility.

“Based on attendance and comments from the first two lectures, we believe this entire maritime heritage series will be very popular,” said Bill Lowrie, Maritime Center director. A “mini-museum” is currently located in Panacea and longer-term plans are to locate a permanent museum along the Wakulla County Gulf Coast.

The series is being coordinated by BBMC board member KC Smith. Mrs. Smith is also the Florida Heritage Education Coordinator for the Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee.

This article originally published on March 17, 2008.

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mkwestmark

 

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