25th anniversary of fabled Key West shipwreck find
- On 18/06/2010
- In Museum News
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From Kiks Media
The 25th anniversary of shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher’s discovery of the sunken Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha is to be commemorated Thursday through Sunday, July 15-18, during Mel Fisher Days on the island the late salvor called home.
Fisher and his crew uncovered a $400 million cache of Atocha treasure and artifacts July 20, 1985, after a 16-year search. The galleon sank approximately 35 miles southwest of Key West during a 1622 hurricane.
Fisher’s son Kim Fisher and grandson Sean Fisher lead the continuing search for Atocha artifacts and treasures remaining on the ocean floor. Each year, Fisher family members and friends present the festival.
Mel Fisher Days activities benefit the not-for-profit Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society, operators of a 200 Greene St. museum where objects from the Atocha and other shipwrecks are conserved, studied and displayed.
Museum visitors can view items including gold and silver bars and coins, cannons and smaller weapons, rare navigational instruments, ornate jewelry and even a 77.7-carat emerald.
Festival events are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 15, at the Schooner Wharf Bar, 202 William St. in Key West’s Historic Seaport.
The evening’s highlight is the presentation of the Mel Fisher Lifetime Achievement Award to internationally recognized shipwreck search and salvage expert Captain Carl Fismer.
Fismer worked with Fisher on the recovery of the 1622 Spanish galleon Santa Margarita, which sank with the Atocha in Key West waters.
Other attractions at the Schooner Wharf kickoff include the “Miss Atocha” bikini contest, with contestants encouraged to make and wear their own treasure-themed bikinis.
The competitor who raises the most money for the museum wins an authentic silver coin from the Atocha site, valued at $1,800. Second- and third-place entrants receive rough emeralds.
treasure Mel fisher Nuestra Señora de Atocha Key West treasure hunter
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