Treasure From Old Shipwreck Found: DIVERS SALVAGING A 17TH CENTURY SHIPWRECK DISCOVER GOLD AND A SEA

Jun 15, 04:37 AM

Current Headlines: By Cammy Clark, The Miami Herald

Jun. 15--STOCK ISLAND -- For nearly 400 years, much of the treasure of the Santa Margarita has laid buried under the sea, its whereabouts a mystery.

On Sunday, treasure hunters discovered some of the Spanish galleon's long-lost cargo -- at least $1 million in gold chains, bars and rings and priceless artifacts including scissors, swords and woodworking tools.

But the treasure hunters returned to the dock Thursday with a new mystery: What's in the oval box?

"There is a little crack on the bottom and everybody is holding it up to the sun, trying to peek in," said Greg Bounds, captain of the salvage boat Blue Water Rose. "Two pearls have fallen out. What else is in there, we have no idea. But we're all going crazy, wondering."

The contents of the mystery box salvaged near the gold will be revealed at 2 p.m. today at the conservation lab at Mel Fisher's Treasures in Key West.

The lead box, which was sealed by centuries of encrusted marine life, could not be opened before archaeologists put it through a conservation process.

"We've opened boxes like that before and found a $10 million emerald broach and 100 feet of gold chain all crammed in there," said Sean Fisher, grandson of the late Mel Fisher, who in 1980 discovered a part of the Santa Margarita off the Marquesas Keys, about 40 miles west of Key West.

Even if the contents of the six-inch-long box prove disappointing, the treasure discovered under two feet of sand, 20 feet below the surface, makes it the most valuable find from the Santa Margarita in 27 years, Fisher said.

Crew members say conservative estimates put the collection of eight gold chains (two of which are more than four feet long), 11 ornate gold pieces, seven gold rings, three unique gold pieces, one gold bar and several silver coins at $1 million. That does not include the historic value of the nearly 1,000 artifacts.

"We're opening up a time capsule," said marine archaeologist Duncan Mathewson. "We're learning more about the ship. We're learning more about the people and cargo that sailed on her. So it's an historical and archaeological project just as much as it is a treasure project."

Mathewson said the gold likely came from the ship's stern castle, the living quarters high off the main deck where wealthy passengers usually stayed. Some of the gold appeared to be part of a luxurious belt.

The Santa Margarita was part of the Tierra Firme treasure fleet that was lost in a hurricane while trying to sail home to Spain in 1622. She's the sister ship to the Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which also was lost in the September storm.

Mel Fisher began searching for the Atocha in 1969. It took the adventurer 16 years to find the ship's $400 million "mother lode," which was heralded around the world as one of the greatest shipwreck discoveries of all time.

Mathewson said salvagers in 1626 to 1630 were able to recover some of the Santa Margarita's treasure. Mel Fisher also found some of its buried cargo in the early 1980s. But Mathewson said the main treasure is still lost at sea.

This latest discovery comes in the middle of a five-year joint project by Mel Fisher's Treasures, which owns the rights to the shipwreck, and subcontractor Blue Water Ventures Key West.

The search for pieces of the shipwreck is hard work, with the crew putting in 10- to 12-hour days. Mathewson said the Santa Margarita's remains, and its treasure and artifacts, are scattered over a trail about seven miles long, but only 200 feet wide.

"We have to stick to the trail and see where it leads us," Mathewson said.

"I know it's a big archaeological jigsaw puzzle -- not knowing where all the pieces go and not knowing how many pieces there are."

The crew uses air blowers and air lifts to remove sand that has accumulated on the sea bottom. They also use metal detectors and GPS units to help in the search.

On Sunday, divers Mike Perna and Mike Dodd spotted the first pieces of gold found on the current project.

"They came up with big eyes and big grins," Bounds said.

"Everybody was hooting and hollering."

Unlike silver or other metals, gold remains shiny under water. "It looks like the sunrise," Bounds said.

All the gold, except for one chain, was found in one area about 40 feet in diameter and one mile from the site where Mel Fisher first found the Santa Margarita wreck.

"All this stuff is sitting in the ocean for 400 years, waiting for us to come find it," Sean Fisher said.

"We know there is more, from the manifest. So much was being smuggled. They didn't want to pay the king of Spain his 20 percent.

"We'll keep looking."

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