JW Fishers Helps to Uncover History

In November of 2018, two  archaeological maritime discoveries were made near the Upper Florida Keys by individuals who federal scientists lauded for reporting, rather than disturbing, their finds. 

Jennifer Kerr, owner of Sailfish Scuba, mile marker 103.1, was exploring the Hannah M. Bell shipwreck near Key Largo when she noticed a cannon on Elbow Reef that is now believed to be nearly 200 years old. The find comes the same month that Homestead commercial trap fisherman Jose Antonio Lopez Ruiz was looking overboard from his vessel and spotted what turned out to be the wooden wreckage from an unidentified ship from the 19th century near Alligator Reef off Islamorada. The wreck lies in about 25-30 feet of water.

The Pulse 8X from JW Fishers was purchased by Sail Fish Scuba in attempt to verify the cannon and to search the surrounding area for any other debris. Since the purchase, Jen states; “our staff, using the Pulse 8X, have found now the carriage the cannon came off of, and many more parts of the old Spanish Galleon Ship.” A second cannon was also found covered in silt using the Pulse 8X. Jen shared that, since they received the Pulse 8X, there have been two occasions where engagement rings have been lost and found using their detector.