Emily Hadash, 15, of White Lake suits up in preparation for a dive Tuesday, August 5. Jake Mantay, 14, (center) and Chad Richman, 17, help her secure the more than 40-pound oxygen tank needed for the dive. An experienced diver, Miss Hadash is assisting new cadets as they undertake dive certification requirements. Underwater filming began Monday, August 4, off Graham Shoal as part of an underwater exploration of the area. Divers from the 80-foot training and research vessel Pride of Michigan searched for evidence of early human inhabitants for three days. Early findings revealed a significant sheer wall of clay leading down to an ancient riverbed, although signs of early settlements have yet to be seen.

Exploratory dives and the filming of a documentary on the underwater world around St. Ignace will continue into the fall, from a smaller vessel.

"I have no question that people were living here," said Captain Luke Clyburn, who is leading the expedition. "We'll keep looking."

Researchers hope to find evidence of inhabitants here 10,000 years ago.

Just returning to their berth at the St. Ignace marina, the U.S. Naval Sea Cadets and instructors onboard the training and research vessel Pride of Michigan gather for a photograph Wednesday evening, August 6. Afterward, the group quickly dispersed to perform duties, while some suited up to get in a couple more dives before the sun set. The cadets range in age from 14 to 17 years old and are from Virginia, New York, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Michigan. Instructors and cadets pictured (not in order) are Jake Mantay, Brandon Thibault, Jill Johnson, Taylor MacDonald, Joshua Clow, Jonathan Medved, Emily Hadash, Jessica Hadash, Matt Blundell, Jonathan Allen, Ryan Walter, Joshua White, Steven Hensley, Connor Baca, Chad Richmond, Marek Pilarski, Richard Cover, Ben Kitzer, Brandon Thibault, and instructors Jeff Walter, Lieutenant Kathy Trax, and Captain Luke Clyburn. Diving about 80 feet beneath the surface, Captain Clyburn could see where an old river bed, which sits 110 feet below the surface of Lake Huron, had cut through the area. At that time, he said, Mackinac Island would have been like a small mountain.

Including film footage of the dramatic wall will be an important feature in the documentary that is being made on the exploration. Telling people about the river, he said, and about the depths where it once flowed, is not as effective as providing a visual image. Capturing the wall on film will give people a clear concept and a perspective of what is beneath the water around St. Ignace. As part of the documentary and to give an overview of the area, he also filmed the St. Ignace shoreline from the air.

The Pride of Michigan was crewed by volunteers and U.S. Naval Sea Cadets, who made about 200 dives over the three days they were here in early August, docking each night at the city marina. The teenage cadets onboard the training vessel learn about the long hours required to gather data, and the physical research that may not always be instantly rewarding.

"We had the boat running back and forth" taking soundings, he said, "and a lot of it is pure boredom. A lot of the dives that we have done over the years, you drop down and see nothing but a sandy bottom with no features on it whatsoever. It's like dropping in a desert. You do a lot of that before you see the really 'wow' factors, but you don't give up; you keep doing it."

Diving and filming conditions, said Captain Clyburn, were nearly perfect in St. Ignace. Storms and high winds this summer have made filming nearly impossible on other Lake Huron trips, he said.

One area the team is focusing on is between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island, and closely follows the ferry boat route. The team is also refining soundings, or depth measurements, taken near Mackinac Island last summer, where they discovered an ancient, submerged waterfall.

Jerry Knisley, of Hypack at Middleton, Connecticut, a company that has donated the latest technology in sounding computer software to the research project, also is onboard the Pride of Michigan.

He monitors the equipment and is recording contours to identify features that should be studied further. With the data, he is creating a three-dimensional model of the lake bottom. The model can be rotated, which assists in identifying places to plan dives to see what may be causing different geographical features across the lake bed.

In three days, they have completed more than 64 survey miles of data that has never before been collected, and they have taken more than 300,000 soundings off the shore of St. Ignace.

As a training exercise for the cadets, Captain Clyburn set up a dive at the site of the shipwreck Sandusky, which sank in 1856. The cadets had the experience of diving to a shipwreck, while he filmed footage of the 120-foot sailing vessel.

"I've never seen visibility as clear," he said, which made the filming process easier and served as a good learning experience for the young divers. The cadets, he said, are learning and getting involved in underwater exploration, something he loves.

"If I can develop that interest in them," he said, "that will keep that chain of interest going long after I am gone."

Last summer, Nathan Dembeck served as a senior cadet on the Pride of Michigan. Today, Mr. Dembeck is sailing and working for undersea explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau.

Captain Clyburn was able to talk with Mr. Dembeck in July, when he was with the Cousteau team studying and filming Orca whales.

"In our program, we taught him to dive and to breathe underwater," said Captain Clyburn of Mr. Dembeck, "so that's pretty neat."

Another former cadet is studying science at the University of Michigan.

Emily Hadash, 15, of White Lake, is taking part in the St. Ignace research project, along with her older sister, Jessica, who got her involved in the program. Since joining the Sea Cadets, she has become a certified rescue diver and an underwater photographer.

The program is offering her a glimpse of military life through drills. The group also participates in training with the U.S. Coast Guard.

She has been a cadet for more than a year and now would like to attend college to become a marine biologist, and then join the Coast Guard or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Miss Hadash was one of the divers exploring near Graham Shoal.

"It was very nice," she said. "There was a clay bottom, tons of little fish, and different types of algae than we normally see, and you could see rocks with zebra mussels that just roll around on the bottom. It was gorgeous."

The entire research trip is 10 days, and she has enjoyed watching the crew grow as a team.

Chad Richman, 17, of Cincinnati, Ohio, who is interested in joining the Navy to become a diver, entered the Sea Cadets to gain skills in preparation for his future career.

"This is one of the most amazing experiences of my life," he said. "If you were to ask me two months ago, I would have never thought I'd be here right now doing the things that I've done so far."

"I just love it," he added, "and I know where to set my goals now."

On the boat, he is an engineer, a demanding job that does not offer a lot of time to sleep. While in the Straits, he also was able to dive to a shipwreck.

Jake Mantay, 14, of Walled Lake, was onboard the Pride of Michigan last year when the crew explored off the shores of Mackinac Island.

During his three years as a cadet, he has worked his way up from quarter master to helmsman, and now plans a career as a pilot, or work related to diving.

He has finished his training as a Great Lakes research diver and on this cruise he has been onboard the smaller board as sounding surveys were taken of the underwater terrain.

"It's really interesting to find out what's under the water," he said. "It's amazing."

The U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps is sponsored by the Navy League and the U.S. Navy, and serves as an introduction to naval life for the cadets, although they are not required to enter the military. The program teaches cadets teamwork, responsibility, leadership, and discipline.

The training and research program also is supported with donations to the nonprofit Noble Odyssey Foundation of White Lake, which overseas the training and research projects.

The Pride of Michigan, whose homeport is on the Clinton River in Mount Clemens, is one of three U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps boats on the Great Lakes, and the only one that is used for scientific research.