June 29) - Texas archaeologists believe they may have located the remains of Noah's Ark in Iran's Elburz mountain range

"I can't imagine what it could be if it is not the Ark," said Arch Bonnema of the Bible Archaeology Search and Exploration (B.A.S.E) Institute, a Christian archeology organization dedicated to looking for biblical artifacts.

Bonnema and the other B.A.S.E. Institute members hiked for seven hours in the mountains northwest of Tehran, climbing 13,000 feet before making the apparent discovery.

"We got up to this object, nestled in the side of a hill," said Robert Cornuke, a member of the B.A.S.E. Institute. "We found something that has my heart skipping a beat."

At first, they didn't dare to hope it was the biblical boat.

"It wasn't impressive at first," Cornuke said. "Certainly didn't think it to be Noah's Ark. But when we got close, we were amazed. It looked similar to wood."

In addition, some B.A.SE. members say, their discovery didn't look very distinctive.

"It looked like the deck of any boat today," Bonnema said.

Long Search for the Ark

The Bible places the Ark in the mountains of Ararat, a mountain range theologians believe spans hundreds of miles, which the team says is consistent with their find in Iran.

The Bible also describes the Ark's dimensions as being 300 cubits by 50 cubits -- about the size of a small aircraft carrier. The B.A.S.E. Institute's discovery is similar in size and scale.

"It is provocative to think that this could be the lost ark of Noah," Cornuke said.

Throughout history, people have been searching for the Ark to help prove God's existence.

"There's this idea, if we can prove that the Ark existed then we can prove that the story existed, and more importantly, we can prove that God existed," said Bruce Feiler, author of "Where God Was Born."

Previous scholars have searched for the Ark on Mount Ararat in Turkey.

"Czar Nicholas, actually, in 1916 sent two expeditions to photograph it on top of Mount Ararat," said Feiler.

One former U.S. president, Feiler said, looked for it in the mountains of Iran.

"There is a story that Jimmy Carter, on his way to visit the Shah of Iran in 1977, purposefully flew over it," he said.

As recently as March, researcher claimed to have satellite photos that proved the presence of Ark remains. The B.A.S.E institute hopes the physical evidence they've brought back from Iran will hold the answer to this enduring mystery.

"People will always be looking for it, always be skeptical, always be excited of the search," Cornuke said. "But I think we found something here that's very notable."

The B.A.S.E. Institute's samples are being examined at labs in Texas and Florida. B.A.S.E officials concede that there would be no way to conclusively prove that their finding is actually Noah's Ark.

So the hunt goes on. The biggest hurdle in identifying Noah's Ark comes down to "gopher wood." The Bible says the Ark was made of gopher wood but no one knows what it is.

ABC News' Chris Cuomo reported this story for "Good Morning America."

06-29-06 17:31 EDT

Copyright 2006 ABCNEWS.com

Scientists suspect the animals were disturbed and stressed by some unknown factor or were poisoned before they died, said Narriman Jiddawi, a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine Science of the University of Dar es Salaam.

A preliminary examination of their stomach contents failed to show the presence of squid beaks and otoliths - the ear stones that are found directly behind the brain of bony fishes that are eaten by dolphins, Jiddawi said.

This indicates that the dolphins had either not eaten for a long time or had vomited very severely, she said.

Their general condition, however, appears to show that they had eaten recently since their ribs were not clearly visible under the skin.

Experts were preparing to further examine the dolphins' stomachs for traces of residue poison, including from the toxic "red tides" of algae.

Experts also planned to examine the dolphins' heads to assess whether they had been affected by military sonar.

In the United States, experts were investigating the possibility that sonar from U.S. submarines could have been responsible for a similar incident in Marathon, Florida, where 68 deep-water dolphins stranded themselves in March 2005.

A U.S. Navy task force patrols the coast of East Africa as part of counterterrorism operations. A Navy official was not immediately available for comment, but the service rarely comments on the location of submarines at sea.

Zazinbar's resorts attract many visitors who come to watch and swim with wild dolphins.

The Indo-Pacific bottlenose, humpback and spinner porpoises, commonly known as dolphins, are the most common species in Zanzibar's coastal waters, with bottlenose and humpback dolphins often found in mixed-species groups.

The most conclusive link between the use of military sonar and injury to marine mammals was observed from the stranding of beached whales in 2000 in the Bahamas. The U.S. Navy later acknowledged that sonar likely contributed to the stranding of the extremely shy species.

"These animals must have been disoriented and ended up in shallow waters, where they died," fisherman Abdallah Haji, 43, said as he helped bury the dolphins near the bloodied beach.

Residents had cut open their bellies to take the animals' livers, which they use to make waterproofing material for boats.

"We have never seen this type of dolphins in our area," said the man, who has fished in Zanzibar waters for more than two decades.

04/29/06 06:37 EDT