Man fishing with grandson uncovers mystery wreckage in mud flats, archaeologists investigating

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A Florida man recently stumbled across a wrecked vessel while fishing with his grandson - and he believes it could be as much as 150 years old.

Thomas Peterson, a self-described "Florida redneck," told FOX 13 Tampa Bay that he recently found what may be a 19th-century rum-runner.

He discovered the ship remains in Aripeka, a small community roughly 50 miles north of Tampa. The wreckage was found at low tide.

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"I look down and I see this boat has this green stuff going on…it's like shag carpet," Peterson recalled.

"My boys, they say it's a dock," he added. "I say no, it's not a dock, it's a boat. That's pretty cool that I found history."

Pictures show wooden beams and planks faintly visible in Aripeka's mud flats. The shallow water also revealed long, parallel timbers that suggest the presence of a boat or ship.

"I've been fishing out there for 10 years with my grandson," Peterson told the outlet. "He caught his first big redfish there."

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The Hernando County resident believes the wreck could be a rum-runner, or a ship used to smuggle illegal liquor.

He found a purplish piece of glass at the site - possibly a remnant of a liquor bottle.

Peterson also believes it predates the Prohibition era, when rum-running flourished - making the ship's origin a mystery for now.

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Local archaeologists are taking a look at the ship to verify its origin, FOX 13 reported - and then it will be handled by the state of Florida.

Under Florida Statute 267.14, archaeological sites are protected for "public benefit" and can only be excavated by qualified archaeologists, anthropologists and historians.

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Shipwrecks are exciting but relatively common discoveries, especially in coastal cities. 

Earlier this year, archaeologists discovered four 18th-century shipwrecks at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson, in North Carolina's Cape Fear region.

In April, a centuries-old shipwreck was found beneath a former fish market in Spain.