Dove into an old wreck off Key West, found something weird

Last month I got a charter gig helping with a hull inspection near the Dry Tortugas, and on the way back we passed over a wreck that wasn't on any of the local charts. The captain said it was probably a shrimper that went down in the 80s, but we dropped a buoy anyway and I went down about 70 feet to check it out. The visibility was decent, maybe 40 feet, but the structure was peeled open like a tin can, and there were these big steel cables wrapped around the bow that looked way too new for a wreck that old. I got close enough to see a nameplate, but the corrosion ate the letters, so no luck there. It got me thinking, how often do you guys stumble on unmarked sites during normal work, and do you report them to anyone or just let them be? Because I'm still kicking myself for not taking better photos before the current picked up.

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reese55126d ago

You ever hear about a buddy of mine who found a whole plane wreck while fishing? He wasn't even diving, just trolling for grouper off the coast of Pensacola. His line snagged on something solid, so he cut it, marked the spot on his GPS, and went back the next weekend with a tank. Turns out it was a little prop plane, maybe from the 60s, half buried in sand. He pulled a rusty altimeter off the dash as a souvenir, but he never told anyone official. Just sent a pic to our group chat and we all figured it was some drug runner's lost ride. He still goes back every few years to see if the sand shifted enough to reveal more. So nah, you're not weird for leaving it alone. Most of us just keep it quiet and move on.