Researchers believe that one of the Whydah skeletons might belong to the legendary pirate Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy.
Whydah Pirate MuseumAn X - ray of the compaction that bear the plagiarizer bones .
The skeletal corpse of six pirates have been observe at the site of a historical wreck off the seacoast of Cape Cod — and might lead to the discovery of legendary pirate Samuel “ Black Sam ” Bellamy .
The find was announce by the Whydah Pirate Museum in West Yarmouth , Massachusetts . The museum , which takes its name from the doomed ship , now has the pirate bones on display .
Whydah Pirate MuseumAn X-ray of the concretion that contains the pirate bones.
Bellamy and his crew infamously lost their life when their steal ship , theWhydah Galley , sank off Wellfleet during a unreliable violent storm in April 1717 . Of the 146 pirates aboard , only two survived . The bodies of 101 washed up onshore , and the 43 who were unaccounted for — which include Bellamy — likely went down with the ship .
Wikimedia CommonsThe pirate captain Samuel “ Black Sam ” Bellamy likely went down with his ship in 1717 .
The skeletons were obtain in what is sleep together as a “ concretion , ” which is a mass of stone and backbone that has melded together over centuries submerged . One of these skeletons might belong to Bellamy , whose body has never been found , as well as reveal the personal histories of his pirate gang .
Wikimedia CommonsThe pirate captain Samuel “Black Sam” Bellamy likely went down with his ship in 1717.
“ We hope that modern , cutting - edge technology will facilitate us distinguish these pirate and reunite them with any descendants who could be out there , ” underwater explorer Barry Clifford , who originally light upon the wreck in 1984 , say .
In that respect , Clifford and his team already have one possible key : DNA .
Casey Sherman , a lead research worker for the Whydah team , tracked down a descendent of Bellamy ’s in Devonshire , England in 2018 . The descendant thirstily extend over his own DNA to use in equivalence . “ These new found emaciated stiff may finally lead us to Bellamy , ” Sherman confirmed . These skeletons now tender a sampling to be tested against the DNA of Bellamy ’s descendent .
Whydah Pirate MuseumItems recovered from the site of the shipwreck.
Investigators are promising that thelack ofoxygen underwater help oneself preserve any desoxyribonucleic acid samples that remain in the 300 - year - erstwhile castanets . Clifford ’s team is especially affirmative that one of the skeletons could belong to Bellamy because a side arm was get nearby that likely belonged to Bellamy himself .
Whydah Pirate MuseumItems go back from the site of the shipwreck .
BeforeWhydahwas stolen by Bellamy and his bunch , however , it functioned as a slave ship . The pirates captured the vessel during its maiden voyage .
Wikimedia CommonsA model ofWhydah Galley.
“ [ Whydah ] had dropped off a consignment of slaves in Jamaica and was channelize back to England with the money from the sale of those slaves,”explainedClifford .
By the time the ship sank , it not onlycontainedgold from the slave trade but also valuables from the 50 or so ships that had been raid by Bellamy and his men . More than 15,000 coin have been recovered so far . To date , theWhydahremains the only attested pirate shipwreck in the worldly concern .
Meanwhile , investigators go on to painstakingly psychoanalyze concretions , while further artifact are still nestled deeply in the Atlantic Ocean .
Wikimedia CommonsA fashion model ofWhydah Galley .
The Whydah Pirate Museum also notes that shackles used to bind slave were recover from the wreck , and they tell an important chronicle about the slave patronage itself . find like this , the museum say , “ are very important as ‘ keep link ’ or ‘ criterion ’ to an inordinately tragic episode in human history . ”
Clifford concord . “ This wreck is very sacred ground , ” he say . “ We know a third of the crew was of African ancestry and the fact they had robbed the ‘ Whydah , ’ which was a slave ship , deliver them in a whole young light . ”
To Clifford ’s point , some historian believe that despite their penchant for crime , pirate do egalitarianism and racial democracy among their gang . In fact , “ Black Sam ” Bellamy had a reputationfor treatinghis crew equally , regardless of their origin , and letting the human beings vote on important determination .
Bellamy ’s means of doing thing had fiddling time to catch on , however . His career as a plagiariser lasted only a year before he died in the wreck .
As for now , Clifford and other police detective hope that the wreck of theWhydahwill continue to offer up treasures about the history of lifespan on the gamy ocean .
After reading about the find of pirate bones , memorise about the“Pirate Queen ” Grace O’Malley . Then , retard out theancient treasure discovered at a Roman shipwrecknear Greece . ”
