Fresh news on Woman Key
Deep Blue Marine Inc. Divers Find More Artifacts on Kirby Site
Thursday May 17, 11:38 am ET
KEY WEST, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Deep Blue Marine Inc. (Pink Sheets: DPBM - News) is pleased to announce that divers recovered several pieces of what appears to be oak, spent coal or charcoal, and also the remains of a metal bowl yesterday from the Kirby site. The items are currently being examined and are placed in the preservation tank.
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The dive team included Capt. Billy Rawson, Robyn Frick, Harrell Thach (Taz) and Tammy Batschelet. The items were found in about 20 feet of water in the area where Friday divers had broken through a crust that appears to be what we refer to as the "Toredo Crust" that covers most of the site.
Capt. Rawson said, "We are so close to this wreck I can almost smell it, and that's pretty good considering Taz is with me. But all humor aside, this is a great discovery and we are excited."
Tammy Batschelet was equally as excited. "To hold a bowl in my hands that was last used in the mid 1600s and to find almost all the pieces of it is just incredible." She went on to explain, "The bowl was so fragile that the main body was split in two, and the metal is so far gone that the encrustation is all that holds it together, but it is a bowl and it is really old."
Wilf Blum, President of Deep Blue Marine, had this to say, "These divers work hard, and when they start bringing up metal it is always a great day. This bowl is so thin and oxidized that the metal detectors barely read it, but they saw the shape and recovered both halves. It is so remarkable to me that they are that careful and precise in their work. I could not ask for a better crew. The recovery of these fragile ancient artifacts has to be done so carefully, most people just would not be that careful. I can't praise them enough. Nobody knows that area better than Billy Rawson, and his knowledge is starting to pay off in spades. This is just the beginning of an incredible season."
For more information on Deep Blue Marine Inc. and photos of the recovered artifacts, please go to (DPBM),
www.alldeepblue.com.