Militoy said:
I might like to live in a state where there were so many old shipwrecks off the coast that detectorists regularly pick up VERY hi-$ Gold coins on the beaches after just about every bout of rough weather...
Prospecting isn't just about searching for raw gold!
Several things to note.In 2005( I believe) the state of florida authorized a beach reclamation project that pumped literally billions of tons of sand from offshore,back onto the beaches from Cape Canaveral,to Sebastion Inlet almost 50 miles south.It was some of the richest gold and silver bearing beach land in the state.Not only with pre-1800 pirate loot,but also silver coins minted by the U.S. Not to mention florida has the highest number of beachgoers out of the entire united states(second is california).All of those tourists bring with them,lots and lots of jewelry.Jewelry that tends to fall off in hard hitting waves,and water that causes your fingers to shrink ever so slightly.
The reclamation project was created to replenish the heavily eroded beaches from the 04' hurricanes that bombarded our state.The contractor utilized a massize floating dredge that sat about 400-500 feet offshore and pumped unbelievable amounts of sand back onto the beach,using massive pipes about 4 feet in diameter.It took several boats,divers,and front end loaders,just to simply move the exaust pipe down the beach as it inundated our beaches with fill.When they were done,it was horrible.They left several feet worth of overburden,filled with massive ruts in the beach,and the fill was not level.They left unimaginable amounts of trash and debris behind,not only from themselves,but from the debris pushed onto the beach from the dredge.Debris that carried with it,remnants from the storms.Pieces of gutters,shingles,cans,bottles,bags,tar,and unmeasurable amounts of seashells ,and driftwood.While the seashells were pretty,one was unable to walk on them barefoot.Our beaches would never be the same.My wife,along with several other people we had never met before,literally cried while standing on one of the boardwalks.It was one of the most heartbraking things I have ever witnessed.Had there been any off-shore treasure dredged up,it would have either never made the trip all the way up to the dredge,or it would have gotten caught in the exaust pipe on the way to shore,because the pipe was grooved.
This damage was only the visible damage........there was unseen damage that was far greater.There have been tales of the population of seaturtles dramatically being reduced,for a couple of reasons.First the stories were that the dredge company covered a lot of egg sites due to the lact of research prior to the operation.Next was the fact that the beach no longer was the same "shape" it was before,therefore the turtles were nesting on the flats,where a large number of gators and crocs live,that will eat seaturtles of all sizes.The next unseen damage was to the sealife that stays in the water.You can imagine the devastating affects it had,on the population of fish,and crab, that lay there eggs near shore.If the eggs were not sucked up,they were covered up.
When this project was completed,the state announced,it was so happy with the results,that it planned on doing the same thing down most of the east coast of florida.I have been to the beach maybe 2 times since then,and we live less than 10 minutes away.
Metal detecting on the beach now would not be the same.The only material you would find is a few scarce pennies,mixed in with all of the pieces of beer/soda tabs,and roofing nails.I should also mention that forida has a law that states you can not metal detect in the water south of sebastion inlet.And from the inlet north you can only detect,if you are wading.You cannot detect while diving.
I am getting very sad just talking about this.There are still a lot of great places to go to detect.........unfortunately the east coast of florida is not one of them.
