Research teams from Indiana University and the Dominican Republic Ministries of Culture and Tourism attended the formal opening of La Romana’s Living Museum of the Sea on Monday, 23 May. The site showcases items from the 1699 Captain Kidd shipwreck found 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the waters off La Romana. The opening of the underwater site with items from the shipwreck Quedagh Merchant abandoned off the shore of Catalina Island marks the 310th anniversary of the scandalous 17th century pirate Captain William Kidd’s hanging in London for his ‘crimes of piracy.’ Kidd had captured the Armenian ship off the west coast of India.
Underwater plaques help guide divers around the Kidd site as well as relics and rare corals at two other shipwreck sites.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded IU US$200,000 to turn the Captain Kidd shipwreck site and two nearby existing underwater preserves into no-take, no-anchor “Living Museums of the Sea,” where cultural discoveries will protect precious corals and other threatened biodiversity in the surrounding reef systems, under the supervision and support of the Dominican Republic’s National Underwater Cultural Heritage Office (ONPCS). USAID has since extended its support by a year, increasing the funding award to $300,000.
The Underwater Science team from the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER), led by researcher and archeologist Charles Beeker, has been working to preserve, analyze and document the Kidd shipwreck since its surprising discovery, which made headlines around the world. This unique museum, resting in less than 10 feet of water just 70 feet from the shore, gives divers the opportunity to see the 17th century ship remains, including several anchors, along with dozens of cannons, which rest on the ocean’s floor and serve as home to coral and sea creatures. Above water, several more traditional museums will benefit from artifacts that are on loan to IU by the Dominican Republic government for the purpose of study and research.
Historians differ on whether Kidd was actually a pirate or a privateer – someone who captured pirates. After his conviction for piracy and murder charges in a sensational London trial, he was left to hang over the River Thames for two years as a warning to other pirates.
According to historians, Kidd captured the Quedagh Merchant, loaded with valuable satins and silks, gold, silver and other East Indian merchandise, but left the ship in the Caribbean as he sailed to New York on a less conspicuous sloop to clear his name of the criminal charges.