Today I went on a NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) research vessel that is hoping to identify a newly discovered wreck in waters off Marathon. This 78-foot vessel, according to all recently acquired aritifacts and data, is a cargo ship from the 1800s, somewhere -- as dated by pottery pieces found on the wreck -- between 1820 and 1850. The ship was apparently carrying bricks, which are still scattered around the wreck, that were valuable commodities during that timeframe.
Incidentally, a University of Western Florida student by the name of Brian Adams (not the one that cuts like a knife, Cheva from the Marine Sanc says) is doing his master's thesis on it. His father is a masonary in Pensacola. It was an exciting day and fun to be a journalist in the Keys.
The wreck lies in only 14 feet of water and apparently ocean-floor turnover caused by our last two hurricane seasons, which is why it was not discovered earlier. There's no reef nearby, it's not near a main channel, so it's not a hot spot for diving and snorkeling. That may change of this thing makes the Florida Keys Maratime Hertitage Trail list with GPS numbers, because it's a great wreck for a shallow free-dive. What's also unique to the area is that the floor bottom is so silty, it has a clay-like consistency. So the wreck is basically glued in place.
The researchers noted, also unique to a vessel of that era, that the planking is extremely heavy duty, much thicker than ships designed to carry even the heaviest of loads. Today they took wood and brick samples to put more of a place, by match of natural resources there, on the wreck.
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