Highlights
- The Higgins boat was used to survey the Colorado river decades ago
- Lake Mead is the largest human-made reservoir in the US
- The lake has thrown up a series of objects in the recent past with its water level receding
A boat that sank during the World War II era has emerged from Lake Mead, a shrinking reservoir on the border of Nevada and Arizona states in the United States of America. With the lake water receding, the Higgins landing craft, which lay 185 feet below the surface for so long, is now almost halfway out of the water, new agency Associated Press reported.
The boat was used to survey the Colorado river decades ago, and it was sold to the marina before it sank, AP quoted dive tours company Las Vegas Scuba as saying.
The boat is not the first object that has emerged of late from the lake located near Las Vegas. Due to its declining levels, Lake Mead has thrown up a series of objects in the recent past. In May, two sets of human remains were found from the water in the span of a week, the report said.
According to a Las Vegas Review-Journal report, Higgins Industries in New Orleans built several thousand landing craft between 1942 and 1945, and nearly 1,500 “Higgins boats” were deployed at Normandy on June 6, 1944, known as D-Day.
The remains of the boat found in the reservoir now lie a few hundred metres from Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor, the AP report said. Lake Mead is the largest human-made reservoir in the US, with its water held back by the Hoover Dam.
Quoting experts, the report said the lake was full around 20 years ago, but the water level has now dropped to its lowest since then due to climate change and drought.