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Exhibit features lost whaling shipwreck found in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Lost on a Reef: The Nantucket Whaleship <em>Two Brothers</em> exhibit.
Lost on a Reef: The Nantucket Whaleship Two Brothers exhibit at the Nantucket Museum. Credit: Sarah Parks/Nantucket Historical Association

On August 16, Maritime Heritage Coordinator for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Kelly Gleason, will formally introduce the Lost on a Reef exhibit on display at the Nantucket Historical Association's Whaling Museum in in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The exhibit shares the story of the Two Brothers, which wrecked on a stormy night at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands on February 11, 1823. The Two Brothers is notable because it is the first discovery of a wrecked whaling ship from Nantucket. The ship was captained by Captain George Pollard Jr., who previously commanded the ill-fated Essex, the story of which was inspiration for Herman Melville's classic tale Moby Dick.

Lost on a Reef highlights the broad maritime heritage of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument and presents findings and artifacts from years of survey and research by NOAA maritime archaeologists. The exhibit aims to share the seafaring history of Papahānaumokuākea with the island community of Nantucket, whence the Two Brothers hailed. Like Hawaiʻi, Nantucket was profoundly affected by the whaling industry in the early 19th century.

Kelly Gleason examines a large trypot at the <em>Two Brothers</em> shipwreck site in Papahānaumokuākea.
PMNM Maritime Heritage Coordinator Kelly Gleason examines a large trypot at the Two Brothers shipwreck site in Papahānaumokuākea. Credit: Bert Ho/National Park Service

The artifacts on display in the exhibit set sail from Nantucket's harbor over 189 years ago and return to Massachusetts as an exciting opportunity for the community to learn more about the remote islands and atolls in the Hawaiian Island archipelago that make up Papahānaumokuākea, the largest marine protected area in the country and one of the largest in the world, and the nation's first mixed natural/cultural World Heritage site.

In Hawaiʻi, those who are interested in learning more about maritime heritage in the Monument can visit the Lost on a Reef exhibit on permanent display at the Mokupāpapa Discovery Center in Hilo on the Big Island.


For more information about the Two Brothers, visit:
www.papahanaumokuakea.gov/maritime/twobrothers.html
www.nha.org/history/faq/TwoBrothers.html

For more information about the exhibit at the Whaling Museum, visit:
www.nha.org/exhibits/index.html

To view Press Release, click here.

Lost on a Reef: The Nantucket Whaleship <em>Two Brothers</em> exhibit.
Lost on a Reef: The Nantucket Whaleship Two Brothers exhibit at the Nantucket Museum. Credit: Sarah Parks/Nantucket Historical Association
Lost on a Reef: The Nantucket Whaleship <em>Two Brothers</em> exhibit.
Lost on a Reef: The Nantucket Whaleship Two Brothers exhibit at the Nantucket Museum. Credit: Sarah Parks/Nantucket Historical Association
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