Hurricane beach erosion in Florida unearths a surprise: a wooden ship from the 1800s

Members of a team of archaeologists study a wooden structure in the sand in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla., where severe beach erosion caused by two late-season hurricanes helped partially uncover what appears to be part of an 80-foot-long ship. (John Raoux / AP)

DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. — Severe beach erosion from two late-season hurricanes has helped unearth what appears to be a wooden ship dating from the 1800s.

The ship had been buried under the sand on Florida’s east coast, impervious to cars that drove daily on the beach and the sand castles built by generations of tourists.