Wreck of a 200-year-old whaling ship found at the bottom of the ocean

Listen to this article

NOAA Ocean Exploration researchers have discovered the wreck of a 19th century whaling ship that sank off the coast of Florida.

Scientists from the Natonal Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are systematically exploring and mapping the ocean depths. This time, while testing equipment to explore inaccessible depths, they came across a find from the 19th century. In the Gulf of Mexico near the Straits of Florida, they came across the wreck of a whaling ship from 200 years ago.

The discovery, although completely accidental, looks extremely interesting. Unfortunately, there is not much left of the wreck itself on the ocean floor. However, in the vicinity ROV camera captured a number of artifacts scattered around. Items include a large anchor, bottles and ballast.

Exploring the area with remotely operated robots, NOAA researchers also came across a second anchor. However, unlike the first, it was in worse condition and broken into two pieces.

It is amazing. I’ve never seen such an anchor broken in half – commented a NOAA researcher.

However, the most interesting find, which also made it possible to determine the type of ship, is a special cooker for converting whale oil into whale oil. NOAA specialists suspect that the whaling shipwreck dates from the period 1800-1840.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, whaling was an important industry in the USA. It was also an extremely profitable but also very dangerous activity. Fortunately for everyone, the situation changed with the development of the oil industry.

Photo NOAA

For technical divers from around the world, the Donegal coast has become synonymous with wreck diving. Among others due to the wreck of the SS Empire Heritage, which we wrote about in issue 17. the DIVERS24 quarterly magazine! The digital version of the magazine is available free of charge, while the printed version can be purchased from our online shop.