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Underwater mapping uses a Blueprint Subsea sonar system being deployed by Casper Potter (left) and John Potter.

ANCIENT NAVIGATORS ONCE RELIED ON THE SEASONAL MONSOON WINDS TO MAKE LONG-DISTANCE VOYAGES ACROSS THE NORTHERN INDIAN OCEAN, LINKING ARABIA AND EGYPT TO INDIA AND CHINA. THERE WAS ALSO A LESSER-KNOWN SOUTHERN MONSOON TRADE ROUTE LINKING ASIA DIRECTLY TO SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA, BUT NO ONE IS SURE EXACTLY WHEN OR FROM WHERE IT STARTED. University of Rhode Island (URI) Professor of History Bridget Buxton spent five weeks in the isolated Chagos Archipelago of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) capturing rats to find out. When deciphered, the DNA of the non-indigenous black rats represents a genetic chronicle of their ancestors’ travels across the globe. Buxton theorized that the Chagos rats had arrived on the islands long before their discovery by Europeans in the 16th century, riding on ships of the

The team also got creative with their underwater survey equipment. Buxton wanted to see if it was possible to use plastic kayaks and 12-volt car batteries, rechargeable from Jocara’s solar panels, to deploy oceanographic survey tools such as drop cameras, hydrophones, magnetometers, and side scan sonar.

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