Students explore Whydah Pirate Museum in the SummerTide Program

Latham Centers’ summer learning program, SummerTide, is filled with opportunities for our students to explore Cape Cod and all it has to offer. August is National Pirate Month – the perfect time to share some facts our students learned about the Whydah pirate ship during their adventure to the Whydah Pirate Museum 20 minutes down the road in West Yarmouth (Whydah Pirate Museum | Cape Cod Pirate Museum (discoverpirates.com)). What a spectacular treat!

• • The Whydah was shipwrecked in a nor’easter in 1717 off the coast of Wellfleet, Cape Cod (about 20 minutes from our Brewster Campus!)

  • The shipwreck was discovered in 1984 by Barry Clifford and his team, who dedicated years of their lives to recovering the artifacts of the Whydah.

  • They found everything from cannons and pistols to buttons and buckles, “and of course, pirate treasure: gold, silver, and pieces of eight (large silver coins of the king of Spain)”.

  • The name of the pirate who captured the slave ship, the Whydah, was named Sam Bellamy.

  • Sam Bellamy had a multi-national pirate crew, consisting of nearly 200 men. They had already captured dozens of British, French, Spanish, and Dutch merchant ships throughout the Caribbean.

  • The museum is home to thousands of items from the Whydah and houses the largest collection of pirate artifacts from a single shipwreck anywhere in the world.

  • The museum is a state-of-the-art facility with LED theater lighting, flatscreen displays, and surround sound speakers.

Latham Centers thanks the museum for hosting us and encourages you to learn more about the world of pirates at www.discoverpirates.com. Arrrgh, Mateys!