What is WASP?
WASP is a joint program between three groups -

• MDD - of course
• ADA - The Archaeological Divers Association
• Seahorse Archaeology - an ADA Affiliate set up for the program

The program is intended to create a dive team with the objective of improving the knowledge of the underwater sites around Weymouth and Portland, and documenting what is found on the seabed.

What is the scope of WASP?
The program is not limited to the well known wrecks, though attention will be paid to them. It is to be expected that a lot of the work will be initial surveys of sites that are not well known. The objective is to identify those sites that are worth more attention, and create sub-projects to look at them.

The area to be covered is many square kilometres in area, so work will be ongoing for some time if the program meets its potential.

What are the objectives of WASP in 2010?
WASP is in the set-up and recruitment phase in 2010 and welcomes people that have a passion for diving and the history of the area centred on Weymouth and Portland.

A targeted program of dives over several weekends this summer will be published. This program of dives is aimed at team building and capability enhancement - as well as having some fun.

How can I track the progress of WASP?
WASP will be publishing the findings from the dive in the online archeaological record and the National Monuments Record. This will provide the data into the public domain.

Interim reports and data gathered will be published on the WASP website - HERE

It all sounds very deep and technical - is this for ordinary divers?
The vast majority of the seabed in the area covered is less than 30M deep, and is suitable for recreational divers. WASP welcome divers from all agencies that meet the minimum standards of competency for safe diving under rigorous conditions. The typical minimum standard requested is a CMAS 2* diver or equivalent - meaning that a PADI rescue diver or a BSAC Sports diver can participate as long as they meet a few other requirements and training needs.

The team recruited will need to work to ADA standards, as this program will be driven to UNESCO standards on the archaeology side and the ADA Approved Code of Practice for diving.

More details of the basics required are covered on the WASP website - HERE

It all sounds very serious - how much commitment do I need to make to participate?
The program is a serious undertaking, and the core team are putting a lot of work into making this possible. However, for the majority of divers that plan to be involved the commitment would be a lot less. The WASP team would like the divers to -

• Meet the minimum diving and training standards
• Meet commitments they make - turn up if they say they are going to etc.
• Be prepared to follow the instructions of the team leaders and supervisors
• Try to keep a sense of humour if there are a few problems

The intention is that the volunteer diver just needs to come and dive - not be involved in heavy project planning. You aren't expected to do the HSE paperwork!

Do I have to Dive to be involved?
No - thought this would be an unusual circumstance. If you cannot dive for any reason, the project team would still welcome volunteers to help with surface tasks.

I am interested how do I sign up?
To join WASP you need to be a member of the ADA. To register for membership (which costs £12) and join the WASP group please follow this link - HERE

Please select WASP/Seahorse Archaeology as the referring member as this will ease the paperwork process.

My question isn't covered. What do I do?
If you have any questions please PM keri.lewis on the MDD forum, Keri is the lead on the program and happy to chat about it when not doing his day job!