Shipwrecked since the 17th century, Captain Kidd’s abandoned pirate ship has been found by divers off the coast of the Dominican Republic.

Now when I say off the coast, I literally mean 70 feet off the Catalina Island in less than 10 feet of seawater. The wreckage has been heavily sought by treasure hunters for years, it is a wonder that it has not been discovered before.

Indiana University has an underwater archaeology team working on the preservation of the remains of Quedagh Merchant. Charles Beeker of Indiana University and his licensed team have been studying the wreckage and attempting to “convert the site into an underwater preserve for the public.”

“I’ve been on literally thousands of shipwrecks in my career,” Beeker said. “This is one of the first sites I’ve been on where I haven’t seen any looting. We’ve got a shipwreck in crystal clear, pristine water that’s amazingly untouched. We want to keep it that way, so we made the announcement now to ensure the site’s protection from looters.”

The find is valuable because of what it could reveal about William Kidd and piracy in the Caribbean, said John Foster, California’s state underwater archaeologist, who is participating in the research.

Historians differ on whether Kidd was actually a pirate or a privateer — a ship or captain paid by a government to battle the enemy. After his conviction of piracy and murder charges in a sensational London trial, he was left to hang over the River Thames for two years.

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