Cape Town - Excitement is brewing at Neptune Divers and Cruises in Hermanus after they were granted a permit for intensified survey activities at the site of a possible shipwreck in Walker Bay.
This follows the discovery of the remains of a possible historic wreck by Marx Mohr, owner of Neptune Divers a few years ago, and the first public announcement of the finds in 2020.
The remains measure some 200m² and 20 metres deep, on a predominantly sandy reef in Walker Bay.
Mohr provisionally named the site Neptune X until other details may be discovered.
“This year-long permit from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment is a real breakthrough in our efforts to professionally survey and explore the site for the mysteries surrounding Neptune X,” Mohr said.
“Our initial attempts to do so were hampered by Covid and the annual seasonal restrictions for boating in Walker Bay during the whale season between June and the end of November.
“We can now, albeit within strict operational and environmental conditions of the permit, anchor our yacht from which we do our diving excursions, Ocean Quest, in the prescribed Walker Bay Marine Protected areas throughout the year for our surveys,” he said.
Depending on what the remains of Neptune X will bring, it is intended to promote it exclusively as a heritage diving site.
Mohr initially found an anchor while testing a new metal detector on a shore dive a few years ago.
Involving his wife Makayla and father Dolf in follow-up “secret” dives, and later also the Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage (Much) Unit of the South African Heritage Resources Agency (Sahra), their dives revealed more anchors, chains and other as yet unidentified possible maritime cultural heritage items.
“The world-wide mysteries surrounding shipwrecks are legion and what still lies hidden at Neptune X is no exception.
“According to the records of Sahra, there are about 200 shipwrecks identified along the Overberg coastline, dating from the middle to late 1600s.
“Makayla has been researching some of their finds and says that while it is still too early to positively identify these heritage items to a shipwreck, indications are that the anchors may date from the early to late 1800s,” Mohr said.
Cape Times