Portland Gale

[2] Researchers from NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, along with the NOAA-UConn team and filmmakers from [The Science Channel], returned to the wreck of the famed 19th-century steamship from September 13–18, 2003.

Kicking off the expedition to peer into the vessel's past and plan for its future, the team conducted the first surveys of the Portland since its location was confirmed in August 2002 within NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Massachusetts coast.

[2] In addition to documenting the Portland, the expedition team investigated the wrecks of the Louise B. Crary and Frank A. Palmer, a pair of Boston-bound coal schooners that collided and sank in 1902 as a result of a navigational error.

Side-scan sonar images obtained in 2002 during a joint mission between NOAA and NURC-UConn revealed that the two large vessels plunged to the sea floor simultaneously, their bows locked together in a deadly embrace.

The change to the course of the North River also increased the salinity of the large marsh area surrounding the current outlet, resulting in the loss of the valuable salt haying business.