There is an article in todays Keys paper about this operation. Their interviews seem sincere but I would put them in the category of inexperienced exuberance and uninformed or not researched speculation. This wreckage has been known about for years. The island next to Woman key is known as Ballast key..... It ain't called Ballast key for nothing. Many artifacts have been found in the shallows there, including several cooking pots, clay pipes, barrel hoops, fasteners and pottery. The amount of ballast in the area in minimal so the rest of the site is possibly out in deeper water. From the artifacts I have seen and found there appear to me to be parts of two wrecks about 75 years apart. The picture of the anchor in the paper is not very good but appears to be early 19th century English. But like I said the Pix isn't the best.
The single coin they found is Spanish, late 17th century. Coins have been found on the beach at Boca Chica, Woman key, Boca Grande and the Marquesas. The coins range over several centuries. There are bits and pieces of wreckage in the shallows all along the south side of the keys. With the prevailing wind and currents anything that breaks up out on the reef ends up in the shallows. It can't go any farther.
There are thousands of anomaly's in the area. It was a bombing range for years. Craters are still visible from the air. One of the artifacts they found and had on their website was part of a WWII detonator. We found two Avengers in 35 feet of water south of Boca grande. Roughly 2 miles SW of Woman key. We recovered one airplane. The other is still there.
The fact is there is a wreck roughly every 500 yards from the Tortugas to Maine. Most of course are not valuable but all are interesting.
Incidentally, If you can find a map of the keys earlier than 1900 you will find that Woman Key and Man key's names were reversed from todays names. Who knows why? But the original place names were appropriate....look at the shapes with the dirty part of your mind and you will see why they were named Woman and Man key in the first place.
Splash,
Donovan
