December 5th, 2016 — A mystery is unfolding at the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center.
It all started last month when the fishing vessel Jean Marie out of Newport, North Carolina raised its nets and found pieces of wood, a five-part block with wooden shives, a single block with a hook on it, a knee brace and other pieces of wreckage. The fishing vessel was fishing in 55 fathoms of water (between 250 and 300 feet), just east of the Great South Channel shipping lanes.
It is not uncommon for fishermen to find strange objects in their nets, but what is unusual is that the crew of the Jean Marie recorded the location of their find about 50 miles east-southeast of Nantucket, said Victor T. Mastone, director and chief archaeologist with the state Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources.
The nautical position is North 41 08.52 x West 69 07.39.
On Friday, a few weeks after the discovery, a state official, a university professor, a fishing captain and Heritage Center officials met for a little over an hour to view the materials and to try and figure out exactly what they have on their hands.