North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources (North Carolina Maritime Museum)

The North Carolina Maritime Museum (NCMM) will create storage and provide conservation for the influx of historic artifacts recovered from the wreck site of the pirate Blackbeard's ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. Currently, 40 percent of the shipwreck still remains on the ocean floor, and beach erosion, dredging, and the threat of tropical storms jeopardize the safety of thousands of remaining artifacts. Current excavation plans are in place to retrieve the remaining objects by 2018. In partnership with the Queen Anne's Revenge Conservation Laboratory, a secondary wet storage and wet treatment capacity will be developed at NCMM to process small artifacts as they are recovered from the dives and the dredge spoil. The museum will also hire a full-time conservator for two years to preserve artifacts and engage public audiences in conservation science.