How Storms Are Helping Treasure Hunters

From the beaches of North Carolina to the reefs of Bermuda, powerful storms are unearthing fragments or artifacts of long-lost shipwrecks. And you don't even need to be a professional diver to discover them.

As hurricane season intensifies across the US East Coast and Atlantic, locals are bracing for flooded streets and devastated coastlines.

But for divers, snorkelers, and even regular beachgoers, storm tides can reveal something extraordinary: the remains of centuries-old shipwrecks and maritime treasures that can transform our understanding of history.

The coasts of North and South Carolina, two states in the southern United States, and Bermuda, the largest of the islands in the Bermuda archipelago, are among those with the highest density of shipwrecks in the world.

Hurricanes are unearthing long-lost ship hulls, artifacts, and cargo.

Marine archaeologists are racing to catalog and protect these discoveries, but increasingly, ordinary travelers are the first to encounter them.

The North Carolina coast, long known as the "Graveyard of the Atlantic," is home to the remains of more than 1,000 known shipwrecks, from blockade-breakers during the Civil War to German submarines.

Meanwhile, Bermuda sits on a coral reef that has sunk more than 300 ships since the 16th century, making the infamous "Bermuda Triangle" one of the most densely populated areas of shipwrecks in the world.

"It's an island of shipwrecks," and always has been, says Philippe Rouja, Bermuda's government-appointed Keeper of Shipwrecks.

Rouja explains that, because the islands lacked an indigenous population and natural resources, each ship that arrived was like a small supermarket, bringing everything that was needed.

For centuries, locals have salvaged these objects laden with priceless materials. Now, Rouja is responsible for protecting more than 40 shipwrecks and submerged vessels open to the public, as well as mapping, cataloging, and studying hundreds more.

During hurricanes and storms, waves and winds can sweep away entire wrecks, revealing the treasures they hold.

"Any shipwreck you think you know, you have to see it again after a hurricane," he says. "It's a mixture of anticipation and a little worry."

Rouja works with local divers to monitor the area and report new discoveries. This means that certified divers visiting the site during hurricane season (approximately June to November) may be the first to spot artifacts not seen in centuries.

Anything from an old shoe to a can of anchovies can help Rouja's team identify a shipwreck.

Recently, she recalls, "We had an accountant who liked to dive for lobsters, and he came across a wreck on an inland reef." It turned out to be the Justice, a ship that had sunk in 1950.

You don't even need to dive

In North Carolina, many recent discoveries have been found buried beneath beach dunes. Ships and boats sank there centuries ago, buried by quicksand or washed ashore by storms.

"People might be walking their dogs on the beach and come across the hull of a ship sticking out of a dune after a storm," says Stephen Atkinson, a shipwreck and archaeology expert at the North Carolina Department of Underwater Archaeology.

This was the case with the Corolla shipwreck, discovered in the northern Outer Banks by a local resident who noticed fragments of the hull exposed after a strong windstorm.

Gold coins found nearby date back to the early 17th century, suggesting this may be the oldest known shipwreck in North Carolina.

Before that, the record was held by the infamous Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by the English pirate Blackbeard himself. The ship was sunk in 1718 and discovered in 1996.

Treasure hunters must document their finds and report them to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Their names are associated with the finds, and they can participate as much as they wish in the research and subsequent historical process.

"We had a man named Scott Smith who reported finding shipwreck items," Atkinson says. "So I typed 'Scott Smith Wreck' into my database."

Atkinson receives reports at least once a week from people who believe they've found something, and he's always eager for more. "I love it when people send me photos," he says, noting that even small reports from the public help track the impact of shipwrecks over time. "They're incredibly beneficial to us."

The expert describes beach treasure hunting after storms as "one of the biggest tourist attractions" in areas like North Carolina's Outer Banks, and it's no coincidence.

The state has a "Citizen Archaeologist" program to report any finds and will soon join the Florida National Archaeological Shipwreck Tagging Program, in which beachgoers can scan a QR code on wood and other pieces of shipwreck items to help track their movements after storms.

In South Carolina, treasure hunters also eagerly await storms. The state loses an average of 6 to 8 feet of coastline annually, and storms accelerate this process, allowing casual collectors to uncover unusual finds.

"Storms can remove sand and reveal long-hidden fossils," says Katie Lyons of Charleston Fossil Adventures, a South Carolina company that organizes fossil-hunting excursions on the beach.

After a recent hurricane, the Charleston Fossil Adventures team found a monk seal arm bone dating back to the Ice Age. The specimen is now in a local museum.

After severe storms, dozens of fossils are often found in a single day. The excitement of the hunt means that, even on the first day of the season, in mid-March, there are countless groups of eager collectors.

"Many collectors are eager to visit the most remote places to see what the storm brought," says Lyons, who recommends searching among piles of shells and rocks on the beach.

"Because the ocean sorts material by size, you will find more objects among the coarser gravel than on flat stretches of sand."

The thrill of the treasure hunt

Bermuda's most famous underwater treasure hunter is the late Teddy Tucker, who discovered the emerald-encrusted "Tucker's Cross" in 1950 in the wreck of a 16th-century Spanish ship. The cross was stolen around 1975, moments before it was to be shown to Queen Elizabeth II, and has been lost ever since.

This discovery "brought treasure hunting to a new generation," says Rouja. As divers learned that provenance increased the value of a find, many became amateur researchers and historians.

"It's more fun for people to be part of the public history of a find than to simply go home and have an object on a shelf," he adds.

Divers can maximize their chances by avoiding the most popular sites. Rouja suggests exploring within a few hundred meters of the shipwrecks, rather than immediately surrounding them.

Most of Bermuda's shipwrecks are found at depths greater than 80 feet, and Rouja estimates there are many more to be discovered on the largely unexplored reefs of the other islands.

As storms intensify due to climate change, experts predict more shipwreck remains will surface, creating more opportunities for amateurs to help rewrite maritime history.

New technologies, such as drones and digital underwater mapping software, are also making access easier.

And high-profile historical finds, such as the five bottles of wine from the 1864 wreck of the Marie Celeste, continue to fuel the public's fascination with underwater treasure hunting.

Rouja's obsession is the 100-pound bronze rooster atop the mast of Bermuda's largest shipwreck, the Christopher Columbus (a 500-foot-long Spanish luxury liner that sank in 1936 after running aground on a coral reef).

The bronze rooster was lost by Tucker on one of his early expeditions. "Stay tuned," says Rouja. "If anyone finds it, that would be fantastic."

Read the original report (in English) on the BBC Travel website .