“No one believed me.”
“I told the students on my bus,” added Aaron Bencaz, “but no one believed me.”
It may have been unbelievable to the other sixth graders in Aaron’s school. But — believe it or not — the 11-year-old really discovered a shipwreck. And because Aaron found the wreck, he also got to name it. He called it “Aaron’s Shipwreck.”
Aaron found the wreck near his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was playing with his dog, Cash, and a family friend along the Mississippi River on October 16. “It was just a regular day,” Aaron remembered. “It’s pretty common for us to go to the river — Cash likes to chase the waves.” On this day, however, Aaron noticed something strange by the river’s bank. There were planks of wood sticking out of the sand.
“We saw what we thought was a fence,” Aaron said. But “the wood looked a little bit older. And the metal looked older too — not really what we would use nowadays.” Aaron’s mom sent a picture to the Louisiana State Archaeologist. The expert, Charles McGimsey, went to the site with Aaron to learn more about it.
“It ended up being a shipwreck,” Aaron told News-O-Matic. “I didn’t expect it.”
McGimsey called it “very unusual” to discover a shipwreck. “Shipwrecks are on the bottom of a lake, ocean, or river,” he explained. “They only become when the water level drops.” A recent caused the Mississippi River to drop to a record low. That allowed Aaron to see the wreck.
“We don’t know a whole lot about it,” McGimsey said about Aaron’s Shipwreck. “I’m not sure it’s actually a ship,” he added. “I suspect it’s actually part of a barge.” The expert also said it’s hard to know when the wreck was from. But he said it was “probably after the 1880s.”
Ships and barges are now common in the Mississippi River. Aaron often sees them transporting goods like oil. And he plans to keep exploring the river to find more treasures. “It’s pretty muddy and sandy,” said Aaron, “but I still think it’s beautiful.” And he added: “There’s not many alligators.”
Aaron had advice for other kids to make their own discoveries. “Be creative,” he suggested. “Just explore everything.” McGimsey agreed. “It’s a matter of keeping your eyes open,” he added.
Now everyone knows that Aaron was telling the truth about his discovery. How did the students at his school react? Said Aaron: “Some of them were like, ‘Oh, I should have believed you!’”
Updated December 8, 2022, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Russell Kahn (Russ)
