In 1622, a Spanish ship **actually divided** Nuestra Senora de Atocha, or the Atocha for short, was on its way from Havana to Florida when it sank. All of the **crew** died, and the **equipment** that it was carrying remained buried until it was **eventually** found in 1985 by a treasure hunter named Mel Fisher.

Fisher became interested in treasure hunting when he was young. He says he managed to **divide** his time fairly evenly between schoolwork and reading about pirates. Fisher learned how to **dive** so that he could look for pirate treasure underwater, and he even opened a school to teach others the skill. At the age of about 40, he **dived** in looking for treasure in the ocean, using special **equipment** that he had invented.

It was then that he found his first real treasure which **consisted of** 1,033 gold coins. Finding these coins made his **desire** to find other treasures even stronger. He said, **"Once you have seen the ocean bottom paved with gold, you'll never forget it."**

For years, Fisher had heard stories of the Atocha and the treasure that it took with it when it sank so long ago. He spent 23 years looking for it until he found it - and the $400 million dollar treasure that it held. If you are ever in Florida, you can visit the Mel Fisher Museum and **see** some of the treasures that he found.