Mysterious Object On Florida Beach Is Likely From A 19th Century Shipwreck, Experts Say

In November, Tropical Storms Ian and Nicole eroded much of Daytona Beach and unearthed a mysterious object. 

Earlier this month, a group of Florida archaeologists uncovered about 20 feet of the structure and said that it most likely came from a shipwreck in the 1800s.

“This is definitely a ship,” stated Chuck Meide, director of the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) from St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum told WKMG-TV. “And that’s just because of the construction of it. You can see these timbers sticking up, those are massive, and the way they’re arranged, that’s how you build a ship.”

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Although he believes the object to be part of a shipwreck, its particular history is difficult to determine, particularly in identifying the specific ship it comes from. 

The discovered ship part may correlate to the size of the ship. Insurance records from the 1800s would require ships of a particular size to have a specific-sized frame. 

Christopher McCarron, a LAMP archaeologist, told USA Today, “It’s like a time capsule, basically. It’s the rush to get it done and the rush of getting it done, piecing together the sort of puzzle, because that’s what is, it’s a puzzle for us to figure out.” 

The archaeological team doesn’t plan to uncover the entire length of the ship. “We will let Mother Nature bury the wreck,” said Meide. “That will help preserve it. As long as that hull is in the dark and wet, it will last a very long time, hundreds of more years.”