Snooping Around Months Before Their 2014 Survey
The NOAA only discovered four shipwrecks through their research, but you can imagine how much more history we can learn about if people find all the other shipwrecks under the Golden Gate Bridge. Before the NOAA started their 2014 survey, they were already conducting some research in the area.
Something about the place sparked their interest, and snooping around led to them making an unexpected discovery. They thought this initial discovery was already lost forever, but it turns out the universe wanted them to learn all about its origin and demise.