In Photos: Searching for Amelia Earhart

Searching for Amelia

Diving for wreckage, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: TIGHAR)

The disappearance of aviators Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan has been an unsolved mystery for nearly 80 years. "The Earhart Project," organized by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, or "TIGHAR," is exploring Nikumaroro, an uninhabited island in the Republic of Kiribati, in the western Pacific Ocean, where Earhart is thought to have made an emergency landing. The project's team members, including scuba divers, remotely operated vehicle operators and land explorers, have been recording their daily activities and thoughts online, with accompanying photographs. [Read full story about the new search expedition]

Map

Nicumaroro satellite image, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: TIGHAR)

Satellite photo of Nicumaroro taken July 2012.

Exploring

team, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: TIGHAR photo by Lonnie Schorer)

Team member Ric sitting in the coral rubble during the second week of the expedition.

Teamwork

Members of the ROV team working on the vehicle.

Itinerary

Plotted course from Figi to Nikumaroro in the North Pacific Ocean.

Scuba

The dive team looking for plane wreckage among corals and fish.

Off to investigate

Dive team, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: TIGHAR)

The dive team before they attempt three dives 140 feet deep in the ocean.

Headed to the island

land team, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: TIGHAR photo by Laurie Rubin)

The land team getting in a ferry that will take them to land.

A local

Sooty tern, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: US Fish and Wildlife Services)

A Sooty Tern on Howland Island.

A different view

team, drone, amelia earhart project — (Image credit: TIGHAR photo by Laurie Rubin)

Team member Mark controls a drone on the beach.

Elizabeth is a staff writer for Live Science. She enjoys learning and writing about natural and health sciences, and is thrilled when she finds an evocative metaphor for an obscure scientific idea. She researched ancient iron formations in China for her Masters of Science degree in Geosciences at the University of California, Riverside, and went on to Columbia Journalism School for a master's degree in journalism, focusing on environmental and science writing.