In Autumn 2010, a team of the Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities together with archaeologists and technicians from the american Woods Hole Oceanograpic Institution, fulfilled underwater archaeological research in the area of the Marine Park of Allonisos and North Sporades aiming at the detection and documentation of ancient wrecks. The research focused on specified areas of the islands Allonisos, Kyra Panagia and Peristera and was achieved by means of conventional dives using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) equiped with side scan sonar ( SSS) and camera of high resolution. The vehicle produced bathymetric surveys and documented visually and with sonar an extended area of around eight squared kilometers, at depths that range from 40 m to 85m in the seaway between Allonisos and Kyra Panagia. In the area that was explored, three already known ancient wrecks were redetected and surveyed in the broader bathymetric map.
During the visual prospection of the broader area, a wreck of the Middle Byzantine era was detected. It's about an accumulation of primarily fragmented amphorae, which lie on the sloping, rocky seabed in depth from 17m to 42m. This wreck was documented via digital photos of high resolution for the creation of photomosaic, and with equivalent stereoscopic digital photography.
The team visited other known wrecks in the area as well, for the evaluation of their state.
For the diving, a new type of underwater thrusters (Pegasus Thrusters) was used, which attached to the cylinders provide with the possibility of more than double distances, increasing significally the under exploration area.

Funding: Ministry of Culture and Sports, Woods Hole Oceanograpic Institution