Science
$17 Billion Find Hidden Beneath Caribbean Sea Shocks Scientists
Centuries-old coins found at the Caribbean Sea’s bottom are thought to be from the Spanish treasure ship San José, whose hidden wealth may be worth at least $17 billion.
In a recent study, scientists described how they discovered a wealth of golden coins, or “cobs,” scattered 600 meters below the surface of the sea.
On June 8, 1708, during the War of Spanish Succession, the Royal Navy assaulted and sank the San José, which was transporting some 200 tonnes of gold, silver, and diamonds from Spain’s possessions in South America.
The “holy grail of shipwrecks” was created when the galleon’s gunpowder supply was hit at some time during the conflict, causing the ship to explode and throw enormous quantities of riches to the bottom of the sea.
The Colombian government kept the shipwreck’s precise location a secret in 2015 to prevent the public from trying to visit and steal it.
Who really owns the treasure that has been submerged for the last three centuries is a topic of much debate.
Although a US court decided that the San José belonged to Colombia, the US salvage consortium Sea Search Armada claimed to have discovered the wreck back in the 1980s and informed the Colombian government so they could divide the loot.
The indigenous Bolivian nation Qhara Qhara asserted that the shipwreck should belong to them as their forefathers mined a large portion of the San José’s cargo, while Spain maintained that it belonged to “the state.”
Many of the coins that the researchers saw had a ‘L’ printed on them, suggesting that they were struck in Lima. Additional indications indicated that the coins were manufactured in 1707.
They add that given the stamps on the coins indicating where and when they were made the San José is “the only ship that matches these characteristics.”
Since the pressure at a depth of 600 meters would be lethal to humans, there is no rush to dive down and collect all the riches. This would take a lot of equipment.
Rather, additional research will be conducted to better examine the shipwreck of one of the greatest lost treasures in history.
In order to analyse what’s happening beneath the Caribbean Sea, the researchers have been using their results to produce digital copies of the shipwreck.
It has become necessary to employ remote-operated vehicles to pop down and have a look because of the extreme pressure down there.
Though the obvious question is who would eventually own the treasure if it could be successfully recovered, it’s another significant step in this amazing discovery.
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