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Man on the hunt for $200M historic treasure that could be in waters near New Port Richey

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Published  February 10, 2025 7:05pm EST
Tampa Bay History
FOX 13 News

Treasure hunter off of New Port Richey

Lloyd Sowers reports.

The Brief

    • A captain believes he's closing in on the treasure of a French privateer, who he believes left behind a $200 million treasure in water off of New Port Richey.
    • He believes studying his find could help shed light on what happened to the 22 enslaved people believed to have perished on his ship.

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - For 30 years, Captain Joe Zsiga took to the water in search of fish, but when he retired, he became a treasure hunter. 

"Do I want to get rich and be the next Mel Fisher? Is that going to happen? Who knows." he said.

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He believes that he's closing in on the treasure of Commodore Louise Aury, a French privateer who pirated and traded and, Zsiga believes, left behind a $200 million treasure in waters near New Port Richey. 

However, there's a twist in Zsiga's treasure tale.

"When people think of treasure, they think of shiny gold pieces like gold and silver and emeralds," he said. "There's more to treasure than that, there's history." 

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That's what Zsiga believes he has found in 21 feet of water in the same area. What appears to be two anchors and a large pile of ballast stones. 

"We know the slave ship, ‘Isabelita,’ came to Anclote Key some 204 years ago," said Zsiga. 

He believes the ship full of more than 100 enslaved people came to this area to take on fresh water. The area has long been famous for its many springs. 

Zsiga said when the ship tried to leave, it became stuck on some rocks, and they had to leave the anchors and ballast to free the vessel. By the time they arrived at a slave auction up north, only 95 of the ship's original 117 enslaved people had survived. 

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"What a terrible time those people must have had," sais Zsiga. "It's unimaginable." 

He believes studying his find could help shed light on where the 22 enslaved people perished – or did some escape? 

"There might be somebody that sees this and says my grandfather got freed and made his way down to Tampa. You don't know," said Zsiga. 

He plans to dive on his find when the weather turns warmer. 

The Source: The information in this story was provided through interviews with Captain Joe Zsiga.

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