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Watch VideoTreasure hunters search for 1715 Spanish galleons
Bea Karnes
A highly specialized treasure-hunting ship is working off Florida's "Treasure Coast."
Captain Doug Pope is navigating his Polly-L treasure hunting ship about two miles south of Florida's St. Lucie nuclear power plant. Pope is president of Amelia Research and Recovery. He's working closely with Taffi Fisher Abt, daughter of famed treasure hunter Mel Fisher, to excavate a site he believes could reveal wreckage of a 1715 Spanish galleon.
"In this business you could go for ten years and find nothing," he said, "Or we could find $100 million today. You've always gotta be looking for the next hole."
Eleven Spanish galleons sunk off the coast of Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties in 1715, giving rise to the name "Treasure Coast."
Pope uses a computerized treasure map that highlights the satellite coordinates of every spot where the Mel Fisher researchers have detected metal with a magnetometer.
His Polly-L ship is designed like an oil rig. Its massive platform is anchored to the ocean floor with towering metal pylons. His crew can live and work on the vessel for more than 90 days at a time. They use a twin propeller to blow holes in the ocean floor, 40 feet wide and 8 feet deep.
Divers equipped with metal detectors then explore the holes. Pope will send the artifacts found on this expedition to the Fisher museum for further study.
He says this expedition could last days or months, depending on what they find. They have more than 75 targets to explore off the coast of Hutchinson Island.
