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WILKES-BARRE — You might see something strange floating down the Susquehanna River in the near future.
The Chesapeake Conservancy has deployed a one-of-a-kind, handmade boat equipped equipped with six cameras to capture images along the entire length of the river.
The goal? To create a comprehensive, digital map of the Susquehanna River.
Every 50 feet, high-resolution, 360-degree images are taken every by those six cameras on the boat, which are mounted about 10 feet about the water’s surface.
Once the vessel’s journey is complete, the images will be fused together to create a digital image map of the entire Susquehanna River, which will then be accessible to anyone on the Internet.
Joel Dunn, president and chief executive officer of the Chesapeake Conservancy, sees the project as a way to connect more people with 444-mile river.
“The more people that are connected with the river, that are familiar with it, that get out on it, the more they’re going to love it,” he said.
The virtual tour will enable viewers to get a firsthand look of the Susquehanna River from the comfort of their home. The completed map will also include information on public access points, history, recreation and other points pertaining to recreation and conservation.
The boat and its rotating crew will spend the summer capturing the images and creating the virtual tour of the river.
Dunn said photography should be finished by the end of August, and the digital map should be published online by the end of the year.
Dunn said the project was funded by a private donor, who wishes to remain anonymous. Dunn explained that the donor has put forth funds to not only map the Susquehanna River, but other rivers that were explored by historic settler John Smith that are major tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay.
Dunn likened the project to a Google street map, only applied instead to the Susquehanna River. He said people could use the map to plan outings, whether that involved where to put in a kayak or a fishing boat or just picking a prime spot to view the river.
“Giving people that information is powerful,” Dunn said.
He also hoped that the project would energize people’s passion about the river, even if they have never paddled down it themselves.
“If we can make them passionate or inspire them to care about the river, I think it will provide tremendous benefits,” Dunn said.