Divers Flock to NYC's East River in Search of 'Buried Treasure,' Spurred from Joe Rogan Podcast
With a comment from a Joe Rogan podcast as their inspiration, divers are hoping to find woolly mammoth bones and other treasures at the bottom of the East River in New York City.
On Dec. 30, fossil enthusiast John Reeves referenced — on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast — a report that claimed a massive number of bones was dumped into the East River throughout the 1940s by the American Museum of Natural History, according to the New York Post.
“I’m going to start a bone rush,” Reeves said, telling listeners the area of interest would be around FDR Drive and East 65th Street.
“We’ll see if anybody out there’s got a sense of adventure,” Reeves said before concluding: “Let me tell you something about mammoth bones, mammoth tusks — they’re extremely valuable.”
The museum has rejected the story, according to the Associated Press.
“We do not have any record of the disposal of these fossils in the East River, nor have we been able to find any record of this report in the museum’s archives or other scientific sources,” the museum said in a statement.
But commercial diver Don Gann has spent the past two weeks checking out the story.
“I think the chances are just as good as the lottery. And people buy those tickets every day,” Gann said.
Gann has looked beyond the initial site and plans to keep going for a little longer.
“I’ve hunted for weird artifacts my entire life, so this one, it just kind of fits into my repertoire,” he said.
“If I find nothing, then I find nothing. I gave it an honest shot.”
Are there thousands of Woolly Mammoth tusks at the bottom of the East River by Manhattan? Adventurers and scuba divers are racing to find out. https://t.co/WDCXLU7Jqm
— Steve Kuzj (@SteveKuzj) January 7, 2023
Geologist Connor Rogers and his crew have also been prowling for treasure, according to WPIX. Their vessel is packed with $1 million worth of high-tech hydrographic equipment.
He recalled telling his father, Danny Rogers, about what he termed a “bone rush.”
“[I said, at] 7 a.m., I’m going out there with the guys, and we’re gonna go start searching,” he recalled.
“He didn’t argue. He was just like, ‘OK, go find us some bones.’”
According to WPIX, one woolly mammoth tusk can fetch up to $20,000.
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