High school students onboard Flathead Maritime Archaeology Project
Bigfork High School students Addie Griffin, Stella Kehoe and Gabrielle Thorsen help out on Fugro’s boat for the Flathead Maritime Archaeology Project. (Courtesy/BACC)
Fugro is partnering with the Bigfork Arts & Cultural Center to identify, locate, and document underwater cultural heritage sites in Flathead Lake, Montana, as part of the Flathead Maritime Archaeology Project. Working under the supervision of marine archaeologist Dr. Calvin Mires, the project is providing cultural heritage mapping and community education.
Northwest Montana’s waters hold a hidden history. Beneath the surface lie shipwrecks, train wrecks, and remnants of early settlements — time capsules of the region’s past which remain largely undocumented. Launched in 2023, FMAP aims to document and preserve this underwater legacy for the benefit of the lakeside community. In the inaugural year of this donor-funded project, local experts conducted diver-based surveys, uncovering numerous artifacts, including wreckage of the Kee-O-Mee pleasure boat.
Fugro joined the team in 2024, leveraging cutting-edge sonar and underwater imaging technologies to identify and document high-priority cultural heritage sites without any disturbance to the lakebed or cultural artifacts.
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