Scientists in Connecticut May Solve a 300-Year-Old Mystery at Sea

New Haven Scientists could make breaking news soon in regards to a mystery at sea that is 300 years in the making.

We've all heard of "Talk Like a Pirate Day", and Lord knows legions of us have seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise, or possibly even donned a Captain Hook costume once upon a time, but here's a true story of mystery at sea:

Scientists at University of New Haven’s Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences are key players in an endeavor to solve a 300-year-old mystery found in a shipwreck off the coast of Cape Cod.

In a report from bostonglobe.com, researchers announced this week that they have found clues pulled from an 18th century shipwreck near Wellfleet, Massachusetts, that could reveal the fate of a legendary pirate captain, Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy.

At the Whydah Pirate Museum in West Yarmouth, conservationists in late 2017 found part of the skeletal remains of a crew member of the Whydah Gally, a pirate ship that sank during a fierce nor’easter in 1717. Chris Macort, an archeologist and director of the museum’s ship exhibit had this to say about the remains to the Boston Globe:

He walked among pirates and fought in the Caribbean. It's like walking through a history book

So how exactly are the scientists at UNH involved? Author and producer, Casey Sherman, who is creating a movie about finding the ship wreck, is helping the museum coordinate with forensic experts at the University of New Haven to compare DNA found in the remains with DNA of a known descendant of pirate Captain Bellamy living in England.

I'm excited to see how this mystery from the high seas unfolds.

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