NOAA-sponsored explorers are searching a wild, largely unexplored and forgotten coastline for evidence and artifacts of one of the greatest seafaring traditions of the ancient New World, where Maya traders once paddled massive dugout canoes filled with trade goods from across Mexico and Central America. One exploration goal is to discover the remains of a Maya trading canoe, described in A.D. 1502 by Christopher Columbus’ son Ferdinand, as holding 25 paddlers plus cargo and passengers. Dominique Rissolo walking the andador (walkway) between Vista Alegre and Templo Perdido. The andador runs from the southern part of Vista Alegre across tidal flats for over a kilometer until it terminates at Templo Perdido (Lost Temple), a small collapsed temple built atop a natural rise [Credit: Proyecto Costa Escondida Maritime Maya 2011 Expedition, NOAA-OER] Through the end of May, the team is exploring the remote jungle, mangrove forests and lagoons at the ancient port site of Vista Alegre (“happy vi...