According to their website, the mission of DWP is:

There is a really great diving program in South Florida that caught my attention while watching a deeply poignant television program, Enslaved. Diving With A Purpose.

Diving with a Purpose (DWP) is a 501c3 organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of submerged heritage resources by providing education, training, certification and field experience to adults and youth in the fields of maritime archaeology and ocean conservation. Our special focus is the protection, documentation and interpretation of African slave trade shipwrecks and the maritime history and culture of African-Americans who formed a core of labor and expertise for America’s maritime enterprises.

The diving teams of DWP appear to be doing just that and more, as demonstrated on the aforementioned cable tv program, Enslaved.

Here’s a YouTube video on Diving With a Purpose, as presented by National Geographic:

These Divers Search For Slave Shipwrecks and Discover Their Ancestors | National Geographic

I am deeply impressed and inspired by their work and search. No doubt, only a fraction of their endeavors are presented on tv. It will be exciting to see what other amazing discoveries and connections they’ll make.

Without giving away too much about the results of DWP’s searches on Enslaved, here are some of the locations searched for possible shipwrecks connected to the African slave trade: the English Channel, off the coast of Costa Rica, and Suriname.

The results are always compelling, but often provoke more questions-as any good research does. It’s enough to stay tuned…

The Genealogy Situation Room