Studying the forest
Dr. Kristine DeLong, a paleoclimatologist at Louisiana State University, swims over the Underwater Forest for the first time.
Taking samples
Dr. Kristine DeLong, a paleoclimatologist from Louisiana State University, drills a coring machine into a stump to extract a sample of growth rings inside the tree.
Fresh wood
Fresh grain inside a piece of the Underwater Forest shows how well the wood is preserved. This wood is 60,000 years old.
Studying the forest
Red snapper watch as Dave Carlton, a member of the Underwater Forest dive crew, cuts a small alder stump with a bow saw.
Pristine condition
This piece of wood sports a gallery carved by a beetle 60,000 years ago. Look closely and you can see the bark is still present on this piece of cypress.
Perfectly preserved
The tight grain of this piece of cypress shows that the tree grew in a colder, harsher world than the one we know today.
Huge stump
Divers float a log from the Underwater Forest to the surface for examination by scientists.
Analyzing tree rings
Dr. Grant Harley, a dendrochronologist at the University of Southern Mississippi, seals samples from the Underwater Forest in a fume hood to dry them out slowly. He dried them for a month to ensure the pieces did not crack.
Fresh wood
Cut with a band saw, wood from the Underwater Forest released a fresh resin smell when cut, and remants of sap leaked out, sap that was created 60,000 years ago.
Wood samples
