Maritime archaeologists have been left stunned after finding what's believed to be a 300-year-old pirate shipwreck off the American east coast.
Researchers have located four historic shipwrecks in North Carolina's Cape Fear River, including a vessel potentially linked to a 1748 Spanish privateering incident.
A team from East Carolina University's (ECU's) Program in Maritime Studies made the significant discovery whilst conducting underwater surveys near Fort Anderson.
A graduate student, Cory van Hees, was surveying the riverbed when he spotted fragments of wood lodged in the clay.
ECU PROGRAM IN MARITIME STUDIES
|A team from East Carolina University's (ECU's) Program in Maritime Studies made the significant discovery whilst conducting underwater surveys
Project director Dr Jason Raupp later confirmed it was a shipwreck.
Van Hees said: "While lost, in the search for the Northern extent of the wharf, I came across several wooden frames barely sticking out of the clay mud with evidence of planking just barely visible on the surface.
"I didn't understand what I was looking at in that moment, but I knew I should relay the wooden structure to faculty.
"Later that day, Dr Jason Raupp was able to confirm this was a wreck, which may be La Fortuna. It was kind of overwhelming and a little emotional feeling once it set in."
Their findings include what they suspect may be La Fortuna, a Spanish privateer ship which met a dramatic end nearly three centuries ago.
ECU PROGRAM IN MARITIME STUDIES
|ECU researchers believe the wreck was made of Monterey or Mexican cypress
La Fortuna exploded while mounting an attack in 1748 near the end of King George's War between Great Britain and France.
However, the exact circumstances of its fiery end remain under investigation.
The team also took wood samples from the wreck, which they now believe was made of Monterey or Mexican cypress - a tree native to Central America and the Pacific coast.
Researchers said the wood suggests the ship was built in Spain’s Caribbean colonies - which matches with La Fortuna's construction in Cuba.
But it's not just that vessel - archaeologists say they have shed light on North Carolina's colonial period, with their findings representing some of the state's oldest known wrecks.
ECU PROGRAM IN MARITIME STUDIES
|Experts have warned that time is running out to study the submerged vessels before they disappear forever
ECU also found a repurposed ship likely used to build up the shoreline, a colonial-era flatboat used to ferry cargo, and an unidentified wreck only just visible above the riverbed.
The team also mapped timber wharves, a marsh causeway, and artefacts reflecting trade, daily life, and armed conflict in the 18th century.
But experts have warned that time is running out to study the submerged vessels before they disappear forever.
Coastal erosion is damaging the shoreline where the wrecks were found.
As a result, researchers scrambled to recover more than 40 wooden timbers, some still bearing visible tool marks from colonial shipbuilders, from the site before they could be swept away.