Treasure Hunting Technology by Kevin Holliday

Treasure Hunting Technology- by Kevin Holliday

Most people know of the Mel fisher “story.” How for sixteen years Mel and his Treasure Salvors crew hunted for the Senora de Atocha and her sister ship the Santa Margarita. During those lean years leading up to the “main pile” discovery, Mel and his crew did what ever it took to keep the search going, often coming up with ingenious new search techniques and tweaking old navy technology (del norte) to create accurate survey charts. A lot of people would be surprised to learn that the recovery of the Atocha and Margarita is still going on today. We still go out every day and hunt for more of the elusive Spanish treasure, but unlike the “early day’s” we are now able to utilize the latest in survey technology. We recently were able to acquire a side scan sonar from Marine Sonic technology, LTD and a Pulse -12 boat towed metal detector from the J.W. Fisher company.

The new side scan sonar has replaced the old style paper graph display with a new computer integrated system. As the side scan sonar is towed behind the survey boat it creates a digital “picture” of the ocean floor. It creates an image by sending an electronic pulse from the sonar “fish” out towards the bottom. When the pulse reaches an object that is more dense than sea water it reflects back to the “fish,” the more solid an object is the better the reading. This pulse is sent out thousands of times a second creating a clear image of the bottom and any object resting there. With this new sonar we have been able to locate three galleon anchors from the Margarita and many other promising “hits” that need to be searched.

Our newest piece of search equipment is a pulse -12 boat towed metal detector from the J.W. fisher company. This large loop detector is towed behind the survey boat a few feet off the bottom. The pulse -12 is able to detect an area up to twenty feet wide and is sensitive enough to pick a single silver coin a foot under the sand or mud. In the past we have only been able to use hand held metal detectors in our search, which as you can imagine is very time consuming. This new detector will speed up survey work dramatically and increases the amount of treasure we are able to recover.

The Pulse-12 Loop Detector

Capt. Gary Randolph explains the operation of our side-scan sonar to a NOAA official during a recent meeting at Mel Fisher's headquarters in Key West

Treasure hunting is a time consuming but rewarding pursuit. Mel has been recovering treasure from the Atocha and Margarita for over twenty five years and we are still looking every day. There is over 110 million dollars in manifested silver alone still out there waiting to be found. The new side scan sonar and the boat towed metal detectors are the most promising means of survey the company has ever owned. If it's out there we will find it.

MapName