While experts led the trip in underwater archaeology, you easily could have been the one who discovered Wisconsin’s newest shipwreck. Principal Investigator Brendon Baillod and a group of 20 citizen scientists and community historians discovered the schooner F.J. King on June 28th near Cana Island. Despite nearly five decades of unsuccessful searches, Baillod credited high-tech equipment and a trove of original documents that were digitized to help with their discovery. Baillod showcased their discovery on Wednesday at the Door County Maritime Museum before spotlighting the 20 citizen scientists and community historians who joined him and his partner Bob Jaecks. Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands’ Captain Stiles Meredith and Captain Scott Nelson were at the controls of their organization’s boat, The Shoreline, when the discovery was made. The pair have always wanted to be a part of an expedition to discover a shipwreck, and they are still amazed that their goal has been realized.

Thanks to thousands of pictures taken during the discovery, you can explore the F.J. King via 3D virtual reality tours using an Oculus VR headset. Baillod and Jaecks showcased the technology following the presentation, with several of the citizen scientists getting another look at their discovery. Jaecks says that not only can you get an up-close look at the grounded vessel, but scientists can see how time and factors like the lake’s zebra mussel population degrades it over time.

This is the fifth shipwreck Baillod has assisted in finding in the last three years, but he does not plan on stopping there. He mentioned he is already looking into a similar trip with a new batch of citizen scientists and community historians next year.