Deep Sea Explorers haul in treasure worth $500 million

17th May, 2007

TAMPA, Florida: Deep-sea explorers said Friday they had salvaged what could be the richest shipwreck treasure in history, bringing home 17 tons of 400-year-old silver and gold coins worth an estimated $500 million from an undisclosed site in the Atlantic Ocean.

A jet chartered by Odyssey Marine Exploration, based in Tampa, landed in the United States recently with hundreds of plastic containers brimming with coins raised from the ocean floor, said Odyssey's co-chairman Greg Stemm. The more than 500,000 pieces are expected to fetch an average of $1,000 each from collectors and investors.

"For this colonial era, I think it is unprecedented," said Nick Bruyer, a rare-coin expert who examined a batch of coins from the wreck. "I don't know of anything equal or comparable to it."

Citing security concerns, the company declined to release any details about the ship or the wreck site Friday. Stemm said a formal announcement would come later, but court records indicate that the coins might have come from a 400-year-old ship found off England.

Because the shipwreck was found in an area where many colonial-era vessels went down, there is still some uncertainty about its nationality, size and age, Stemm said, although evidence points to a specific-known shipwreck. The site is beyond the territorial waters or legal jurisdiction of any country, he said.

"Rather than a shout of glee, it's more being able to exhale for the first time in a long time," Stemm said of the haul, by far the biggest in Odyssey's 13-year history.

He would not say whether the loot was taken from the same wreck site near the English Channel that Odyssey recently petitioned a federal court for permission to salvage.

In seeking exclusive rights to that site, an Odyssey attorney told a federal judge last fall that the company had probably found the remains of a 17th-century merchant vessel that sank with valuable cargo aboard, about 40 miles, or 65 kilometers, off the southwestern tip of England. A judge signed an order granting those rights last month.

In keeping with the secretive nature of the project, dubbed "Black Swan," Odyssey is also not talking yet about the types, denominations or country of origin of the coins.

Bruyer said he observed a wide range of varieties and dates of likely uncirculated currency in much better condition than artifacts yielded by most shipwrecks of a similar age.

The Black Swan coins - mostly silver pieces - will probably fetch several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars each, with some possibly commanding much more, he said. Value is determined by rarity, condition and the story behind them.

Controlled release of the coins into the market, along with their expected high value to collectors, will probably keep prices at a premium, he said.

The richest-ever haul from a shipwreck was yielded by the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which sank in a hurricane off the Florida Keys in 1622. Mel Fisher, the treasure-hunting pioneer, found it in 1985, retrieving a reported $400 million in coins and other loot.

Regarding its latest find, Odyssey said it would probably return to the same spot in the Atlantic Ocean to retrieve more coins and artifacts from the sunken ship.

"We have treated this site with kid gloves, and the archaeological work done by our team out there is unsurpassed," said Odyssey's chief executive, John Morris. "We are thoroughly documenting and recording the site, which we believe will have immense historical significance."

The news is timely for Odyssey, the only publicly traded company of its kind.

The company salvaged more than 50,000 coins and other artifacts from the wreck of the SS Republic off Savannah, Georgia, in 2003, making millions of dollars. But Odyssey posted losses in 2005 and 2006 while using its expensive, state-of-the-art ships and deep-water robotic equipment to hunt for the next mother lode.

"The outside world now understands that what we do is a real business and is repeatable and not just a lucky one-shot deal," said Stemm, the company co-chairman. "I don't know of anybody else who has hit more than one economically significant shipwreck."

In January, Odyssey won permission from the Spanish government to resume a suspended search for the wreck of the HMS Sussex, which was leading a British fleet into the Mediterranean Sea for a war against France in 1694 when it sank in a storm off Gibraltar.

Historians believe the 157-foot, or 48-meter, warship was carrying 9 tons of gold coins to buy the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a potential ally in southeastern France. Odyssey believes those coins could also fetch more than $500 million.

But under the terms of a historic agreement, Odyssey will have to share any finds with the British government. The company will get 80 percent of the first $45 million and about 50 percent of the proceeds thereafter.

When a BRA saved a women's life

London: God bless those who made the bra – these might be the words American hiker Jessica Brown must be chanting after she was rescued from a mountain fall.

The 24-year-old was given up for dead by mountain rescuers but was later saved when she threw her bra into a cable car.

Jessica Brown had fallen off a ledge in the mountains and was stranded injured for 70 hours in freezing temperatures.

Mountain rescue teams had been looking for her in the wrong place and gave up the search because they believed she'd fallen to her death

But Jessica spotted a cable car on its way up the mountain and quickly flung her bra into a container carrying food as it passed her.

Workers higher up the peak realized the undies must have been thrown in as a message and sent out a search party. "It certainly beats,” The Sun quoted a rescuer, as saying.

Dead baby was alive

The baby in an incubator at Sion Hospital.

Miracle baby declared dead and kept in mortuary for four hours, gasps for breath just as her dad lowers her into grave

“I opened the gauze, covering my dead daughter’s face to see her one last time before I buried her and as I looked at her, I heard a distinct gasp. I peered at her and realised my darling was alive.”
Bhagwan Gaikwad, the baby’s father

The miracle baby, Sion Hospital doctors declared “dead due to a cardiac arrest”, had in fact, survived four hours in a mortuary in 0°C, next to dead bodies. She was also three months premature and extremely fragile at just 1.4 kg. For her parents, hence, it’s nothing short of a rebirth.

This was Aruna Gaikwad’s first baby after nine years of marriage.

For the Karjat couple, Bhagwan (30) and Aruna (26), the baby had always been that much more special, because it was their first after nine years of marriage. On June 16, Aruna was in her sixth month and went for a check-up to Sion Hospital.

Why she survived

>>Usually cotton wool is stuffed in the mouth, nostrils and ears of a dead body so that body fluid doesn’t ooze out. Here, the hospital staff wrapped the baby in white linen gauze, which allowed her to breathe.

>>The baby would have been subjected to an autopsy, but luckily, the death certificate stated that the baby had a cardiac arrest and was not operated on.

Sion gynaecologist suspended pending enquiry

The doctors asked Bhagwan to organise medicines as an emergency Cesarean had to be performed. “At 7 pm, the staff said my wife had delivered a girl and it was normal delivery. Aruna was still unconscious and the staff showed me my daughter for a bit, before taking her away,” recalls Bhagwan.

“A few minutes later, the staff told me my daughter was dead. I was shocked and speechless,” he added.

The infant was wrapped in a white linen gauze and kept in the ward until midnight. Later, the ‘corpse’ was moved to the hospital mortuary, near unclaimed bodies, where temperatures range between zero and two degrees.


At 2 am, seven hours later, Bhagwan collected his daughter only to realise she was alive at the cremation ground. The baby was then taken back to the hospital around 3.30 am and put in an incubator, where she is recovering. She weighs around 1.4 kg.

On Wednesday Additional Chief Commissioner (health) Kishore Gajbia suspended gynecologist Dr Ashma, who had declared the infant dead.

Shubadha Gudakar, chairman health committee, said, “It’s a serious matter and prima facie, it shows the gynecologist was negligent.” Added BMC Commissioner Jairaj Phatak, “We will take action against the doctor who wrongfully declared the infant dead, after getting the inquiry report.”

Dr Ashma refused to comment saying, “I have nothing to say.”

Sailing Alone ~ Zac Sunderland will become the youngest ever person to do so, if he succeeds

A teenager is looking to snatch the record of the youngest person to sail solo around the world set by an Australian 12 years ago.

On Saturday, when most people his age were settling into summer break, 16-year-old Zac Sunderland of Thousand Oaks, California, embarked in the afternoon in his 36-foot sailboat Intrepid in his attempt to circumnavigate the world.


A crowd of about 200 and a Coast Guard helicopter saw him off yesterday.

“There was a stiff breeze. But after Zac got settled, he was cruising comfortably,” Sunderland’s mother, Marianne Sunderland, wrote in a post on his website, www.zacsunderland.com. “He has a lot to do in the next days; stowing, organising and finding everything that was stowed and organised for him!”

If Sunderland completes the trip, he would become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo.

According to Guinness World Records, the youngest to pull off the feat is Australian David Dicks, who circled the globe at 18 in 1996.

Sunderland’s plan, which will inevitably go through many changes, is to complete his voyage in 11 months and return to California in April, when he will be 17.

World’s most ancient date seed — 2,000 years old — was discovered 40 years ago and planted in 2005

(The plant grown from the 200 year old date seed.)

An ancient date seed that is 2,000 years old has been successfully germinated, marking it the most ancient ever to have been grown into a plant.

The seeds had been recovered from Masada, the foreboding, cliff-side fortress where Jewish Zealots killed themselves to avoid capture by Roman invaders.

One was planted in January three years ago — the traditional Jewish New Year of Trees — and an analysis confirms that the resulting plant, nicknamed Methuselah, had indeed grown from the oldest seed ever germinated.

Today, in the journal Science, a dating study shows that the seed surpasses the prior record of 1,300 years for a lotus seed by seven centuries.

The date seed was discovered 40 years ago by Prof Yigal Yadin during the archaeological excavations of Masada, the palace built by King Herod on the shores of the Dead Sea.

The fortress was stormed by the Romans in 73 AD, after the inhabitants had committed suicide.
The seed was planted by Israeli scientists in January 19, 2005, and more than two years later, the resurrected Judean date palm tree had reached a height of nearly four feet.

Good condition

Coaxed to germination by plant specialist Elaine Solowey, Methuselah remains healthy, says the initiator and director of the project Dr Sarah Sallon, with only a few white spots on early leaves.

“It is the oldest seed ever to be grown,” she says, adding that it was the extremely dry and hot local conditions which probably kept the seed in good condition.

World War II tanker unearthed

The tank was dug out from its muddy grave in France in near-perfect condition.

An American tank that formed part of the 1944 D-Day invasion force was discovered buried under a street in northern France.

French bomb disposal experts were brought in to ensure the military vehicle posed no danger before it was dug out from its muddy grave in near-perfect condition.

It is thought the tank from the 31st Tank Battalion formed part of the invasion force that liberated France from the Nazis more than six decades ago.

Older residents recalled the tank entering the city where it had been carrying out reconnaissance when it either ran out of fuel or broke down. When France was liberated it was pushed down a hole and buried, one resident said.

India discovers 67 animal species, 29 plant species

Indian scientists have discovered 67 new animal species, including fishes, spiders and crop eating insects, and 29 plant species, including grass and flower varieties, last year.

“All these discoveries were made in 2007 and they are vital additions to the plant and animal science of India and the world,” Ramakrishna, director of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), said yesterday.

“Whenever we come across any new species, we bring them to the laboratories and match them with the present ones and if they are unique then we record them,” he said.

He said a majority of the new species have come from western and eastern ghats, Andaman Nicober Islands and northeastern states.

He said ZSI has found 28 species from the eastern Himalayan region and two of them are new fish species.

Amazon's Uncontactable Tribe

There are some tribes in Amazon which have still not made any contact with the current generation of humans. See these amazing pictures.


Members of an unknown Amazon Basin tribe and their dwellings are seen during a flight over the Brazilian state of Acre along the border with Peru in this May 2008 photo distributed by Survival International. Survival International estimates that there are over 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, and says that uncontacted tribes in the region are under increasing threat from illegal logging over the border in Peru.


Taken from a small airplane, the photos show men outside thatched communal huts, necks craned upward, pointing bows toward the air in a remote corner of the Amazonian rainforest. Its director, Stephen Cory, said the new photographs highlight the need to protect uncontacted people from intrusion by the outside world.


"These pictures are further evidence that uncontacted tribes really do exist," Cory said in a statement. "The world needs to wake up to this, and ensure that their territory is protected in accordance with international law. Otherwise, they will soon be made extinct.

Tiger trouble at Bannerghatta zoo, Bangalore

Happy mother: Tanu with one of her cubs in her enclosure

Bannerghatta zoo officials are happy with their new members, three tigers cubs, but have to face the music for crossbreeding against regulations.

The successful crossbreeding of two tigers which led to birth of three cubs at the Bannerghatta National Park, four months ago, has got the zoo’s officials in trouble.

According to the central zoo authority regulations, crossing breeds is against preservation of rare species and is a violation. The officials now face disciplinary action. The officials had earlier crossed Tanu, a white tiger, with a Brandis, a Royal Bengal tiger, which resulted in the birth of two white tiger cubs and one Royal Bengal cub.

Justification

The park officials however are justifying their actions.

“Though it is prohibited, we went ahead since we needed to increase the number of tigers. White tigers are less in number”, said one of the officials. “It helps when we need to exchange animals in the future.

White tigers are always in demand,” he said.

The incident has left animal experts fuming too.

“Crossing rare species is wrong. It may result in the loss of natural breeds. The Royal Bengal tiger is a rare specimen. Parks are meant for preservation,” Sanjay Gubb, a wildlife expert said.

Another wildlife expert, Praveen Bharghav, added, “Cross breeding paves the way for extinction of natural species, and it needs a check. However, crossbreeding in the wild is important, but not in captivity.”

Happened before

This is the second time tigers of different breeds were crossed. The first time Sumanth, a white tiger brought from Kolkota, was crossed with another Royal Bengal tiger, in 2001 which resulted in the birth of Tanu.

Kirit Ajmera - He has survived the 1993 Mumbai Blast, 2001 Gujarat Earthquake and the 2006 Mumbai Train Blasts

He survived the 1993 serial blasts that rocked Mumbai. He also survived the Gujarat earthquake in 2001. Marketing consultant Kirti Ajmera managed to flirt with death on 7/11/2006 as well. The fifty-year-old would have been one of the casualties (or dead) if he had boarded one of the bombed trains on the fateful 7/11 in Mumbai. Though extremely bitter that the government did not compensate him with even a penny for his sufferings, his advice to 7/11 Mumbai blast victims and their families is to remain positive. In an exclusive interview to Timesofindia.Com, Ajmera talks about how he coped with the trauma. He also seeks medical opinion on what can be done to cure a skin disease called Keloid, which he is currently suffering.

Where were you on 7/11 when the serial train blasts took place in Mumbai?

If I had not decided to stay back at Churchgate (the starting point for all the bombed trains) for a while, I would have been in one the bombed first-class coaches of the ill-fated trains! I was about to board the Borivili-bound train that later suffered in the blast when a friend called me on my cell and I lingered on the platform to talk to him. After I finished I saw that the train had already become crowded so (I) decided to take the next train. God wants me to survive and so every time I escape death. I even escaped the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. There must be some reason why the Almighty is saving me every time.


Did you receive any compensation from the government after being seriously hurt in the 1993 bomb blast?

I did not get anything from the state; not even a penny. They did not even approach to inquire whether I was dead or alive. And they cannot pretend that they do not know about me because, in the last 13 years, almost all TV channels and the print media have carried my interview. I have been operated upon more than 40 times in the last 13 years and incurred an expenditure of around Rs 18-20 lakhs on my treatment. When my relatives approached them for compensation, they were curtly told to return the Rs 2 lakh compensation from the government after I died. Such was the insensitiveness of the authorities.


How did you come in the line of the blast that rocked Mumbai on March 12, 1993?

I had to meet somebody at the National Stock Exchange at Dalal Street (South Mumbai). I was about ten feet away from the entrance door when a deafening blast went off on my right side, and it went searing through the right side of my body. It came from a truck-laden RDX that was supposedly parked in the basement.
Several glasses pierced my body and I saw that my right hand was hanging from the joint. I held it with my left hand and ran out. I was bleeding profusely and faced certain death. I knew I was very critical and would collapse any moment. But I kept going.
There was not a soul alive on the street. There must have been at least 500 dead bodies strewn on the road (though the official figures said much less). Luckily, amidst the chaos and confusion, I managed to hail the only cab rushing past me. Thereafter, I went to two hospitals and was denied admission because they were brimming with injured (many of whom were not seriously injured).

Parag Sawant - Speaks After a Silence of 1 Year 10 Months and 25 Days

Three days ago, a miracle took place in Room No. 528 in Hinduja Hospital at Mumbai. After 695 days, Parag Sawant, a 7/11 Mumbai Train blast victim, who has never spoken since (the result of a devastating brain injury), looked up at his mother and, very clearly, called out to her "Aai" (Mother). It was just one small, simple, word — aai — but it left his family weeping with happiness. The Sawant Family had waited for this day for exactly one year, 10 months and 25 days. Parag fell into a state of subconsciousness and barely responded to stimuli since July 7, 2006. He was a victim of the terrible train blasts that saw 187 dead and nearly 900 injured. “He was almost like a vegetable,” said Dr Amit Kohli, Parag’s physiotherapist.

Parag Sawant with his physiotherapist Dr Amit Kohli. Parag can now say small words like Hi, Papa, but his speech is impaired because of the food pipe in his throat.

His mother and Parag’s daughter, Prachiti, who was born three months after the tragedy.

He was in the first class compartment of the Churchgate-Virar train when the bomb went off inside the compartment between Mira Road and Bhayender at 6.29 pm.

“This is my son’s second balpana (childhood),” said his father Jaiprakash emotionally. Recounting the moment, he said, “My wife and I go to the hospital every day and spend the whole day there. On Saturday, we were in Parag’s room and Dr Amit Kohli, his physiotherapist, came in for a routine check. He always asks Parag questions, hoping to get a response and so he said, ‘Parag, how are you?’ And pointing to my wife, asked, ‘who is she?’, without expecting a reply.”

The next magical moment, changed life for the Sawants forever.

Parag looked up at his mother and said, “Aai”. “My wife and I broke down. It was so overwhelming. We now hope and pray that he learns to walk again and leads an independent life,” said Jaiprakash.

Parag had opened his eyes earlier, but they were unfocussed. “That day, he actually looked at my wife,” said the father. Parag was a marketing manager in a private company.

Parag was admitted to Hinduja Hospital on July 7 with severe brain injury, a piece of his skull missing and he had superficial wounds.

Dr Kohli, said, “Parag is fed through a food pipe, which hampers his speech. Once that’s removed, he will be able to communicate better.”

The doctor added that though Parag was making progress, it was too early to say to what extent he would be able to regain complete movement. The skull was affixed in March this year, said the doctor.

Added Parag’s father, “My daughter-in-law was six months pregnant, when tragedy struck. He is now father to a lovely daughter, Prachiti, but has never held her.

The Sawants live in Mira Road — Jaiprakash works at the docks, while the mother, Madhuri, is a homemaker.

They said their son’s progress was solely due to the efforts of the doctors and nurses at Hinduja. I also have to thank Western Railway for footing all the medical expenses, which would have beyond my financial capacity.”