Accompanied by a team of scientists and historians from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the students conducted a full-fledged research mission, as they searched the deep waters of northeastern Lake Huron. The team also worked with scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory to investigate the historically significant shipwrecks.

The team located the 138-foot schooner M.F. Merrick. In 1889, the schooner collided with a passing steamer in a dense fog. The Merrick sank immediately, and claimed the lives of five crew members, including a female cook. Today, the intact hull of the schooner rests upright on the bottom of Lake Huron.

The wreck of the steel freighter Etruria was also discovered and identified by the researchers. Launched in February 1902 at West Bay City, Michigan, the 414-foot long Etruria sank in 1905, after colliding with a steamer in thick fog. Today, the massive steamer sits upside down in deep water.

Project Shiphunt will be chronicled in documentary that will be released on August 30. Sony and Intel Corp. are also partnering with the sanctuary on a comprehensive educational curriculum for high school science and history teachers.

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