Dentures could be the most valuable treasure found underwater

From Keys.net:  Dentures could be the most valuable treasure found underwater

“Check this out!”
I swam toward my daughter and looked at the shiny item pinched between her fingers.
“What is it? A rock?”
“No, it’s a shark tooth.”
“IN OUR POOL? How did a shark tooth get in our pool?”
“Calm down mom. It’s a part of a necklace. See the silver clasp?”
“Ahhh.”
I’m not sure why I was surprised. I mean, we live in the Keys. Finding treasures underwater is part of life here.
Treasure hunters dream about living here. In fact, one of the first, Art McKee, found enough treasures underwater to open his own small museum, eventually expanding it and naming it Museum of Sunken Treasure located in Plantation Key. This amazing museum, built like a castle, is now an amazing school — Treasure Village Montessori.
I keep telling my daughter it is quite an honor to be attending this school, which once stored real sunken treasures. Think of the history. Think of the powerful vibes embedded in the very soil the school stands on. It’s almost as valuable as finding the treasures themselves — right? (Wrong. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out discovering a huge ruby underwater is far more interesting than learning 4th grade mathematics in an old museum.)
Still, treasure hunters are almost mythical to me and it is a little exciting to know the king of all underwater treasure hunters, Mel Fisher, found his mother lode right off of the Florida Keys. He has literally put us on the map with his unbelievable finds. And, let me stress, UNBELIEVABLE.
I mean, the ships back in those days really knew how to travel. Those ships carried emeralds, silver and gold bars, heavy chains encrusted with jewels and gold. Chests were crammed full of gems and coins and goblets. The list is endless. Talk about stress for the captains of those ships. No wonder they went down with the ship… their punishment would be worse than death if they survived after their ship sunk filled with those rich goodies.
Fast forward to our large ships today which are mostly cruise ships filled with fat tourists wearing nothing but flip flops and Bermuda shorts. No personal trunks filled with valuables like crowns and jewels. The closest thing to a silver bar would be a bag of Hershey’s Kisses.
And forget about golden goblets. Just plastic glasses, booze and buffet tables on these cruise ships. The only people interested in salvaging the goods off a sunken cruise ship would be my husband looking for bottles of vodka and rum still intact and me, looking for a pork chop.
My husband and I have been diving for years, but we’ve never found anything as exciting as Mel Fisher’s hauls. Our finds have been a lot of beer cans — sadly all empty — and everyday items like cell phones, scarves, rusty anchors, and even a few bikini tops. Oh, and a LOT of hats and glasses. Somehow, people always forget how easy it is to lose these things on boats. Someone should open a shop to resell all of these items and call it “CHEAP HEAP FROM THE DEEP.”
I’m not saying that these random things lost overboard aren’t costly to lose. They may not be emeralds, but my family (meaning, my husband) has easily lost hundreds of dollars worth of prescription glasses and personal items, which seriously hurts the pocketbook when we’ve had to replace them.
Honestly, it’s not just my husband. It’s the name of the boat game. No one is exempt from helplessly watching expensive items fly off boats and into the deep, forever lost.
A few years ago, my friend and her husband decided to come down for a visit. The odd thing is they brought his brother, who happened to be an Elvis impersonator. You can imagine our surprise when we saw him board our boat in full Elvis attire for a day of fishing. Initially, we felt a little underdressed wearing our standard swimming suits and t-shirts. But, we quickly discovered how fun it was to have Elvis on board. He sang. He danced. He entertained us during the entire trip out to the fishing spot while the boat was moving.
Sadly, as soon as the boat stopped, so did Elvis’ singing. Instead, he barfed. Over and over and over. Let me tell you, it is NOT pretty to see a grown man in sequins getting sick over the side of a boat. Unfortunately, his dentures also went over the side of the boat in the process.
We may have lost the dentures, but being able to tell the story is as good as winning the lottery. Another treasure lost and found.
So, here’s my theory… since my daughter has been born and raised in the Florida Keys — home of infamous underwater treasure hunters — and she even goes to school in an old treasure museum… don’t we have a good chance of her being the next great Mel Fisher? I mean, if she can find an actual shark tooth in our above ground, plastic lined pool… can you imagine what she’ll find when she’s finally able to go scuba diving in the ocean?
Fingers crossed it’s a chunk of gold and not “a hunk, a hunk of dennn-tures.”