James Delgado

Dr. James P. Delgado is the Director of Maritime Heritage in the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Dr. Delgado oversees heritage programs and active research in the United State’s waters, as well as outreach and education on America’s underwater and marine heritage. He has led or participated in shipwreck expeditions around the world. His undersea explorations around the world include a deep sea submersible dive two and half miles down to RMS Titanic, the recent (2010) scientific mapping of the Titanicwreck site, the discoveries of Carpathia, the ship that rescued Titanic’s survivors, and the notorious “ghost ship”Mary Celeste, as well as surveys of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, the sunken fleet of atomic-bombed warships at Bikini Atoll, the lost fleet of Mongol emperor Kublai Khan in Japan, the polar exploration ship Maud, wrecked in the Arctic, and the 1846 wreck of the United States naval brig Somers, whose tragic story inspired Herman Melville’s Billy Budd. His archaeological work has also included the excavation of ships and collapsed buildings along the now-buried waterfront of Gold Rush San Francisco. He is the author of 33 books, including three books for children. Prior to his work with NOAA, he was the director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum in British Columbia for 15 years, and President and CEO of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology.