Is it legal to collect at Ile Sainte-Marie, Madagascar: Ambodifototra harbour, pirate wreck bay?

Restricted. Madagascar: cultural heritage law (Ordinance 82-029 and later decrees) vests archaeological objects in the state and requires Ministry of Culture permits; the wreck sites are a licensed research concession

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Ile Sainte-Marie, Madagascar

Q: What can you find at Ile Sainte-Marie, Madagascar: Ambodifototra harbour, pirate wreck bay?

porcelain sherds, bottle glass, cowries, ballast, modern harbour rubbish

Ambodifototra harbour, pirate wreck bay

Tidal foreshore Inferred from historyRestricted

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What you could find

Reported finds from this shoreline.

Sea pottery

Old bottles

Wreck timber

Also reported: cowries, modern harbour rubbish.

Photos via Wikimedia Commons: NPS (Public domain), Sheila Sund (CC BY 2.0), NPS photo (Public domain).

Why this spot

Pirate haven c.1690 to 1720s, several wrecks including the Nossa Senhora do Cabo in the harbour by the Ile aux Forbans.

Discover Pirates (Center for Historic Shipwreck Preservation): 3,300 objects catalogued from the Nossa Senhora do Cabo site, Chinese export porcelain, gold and Islamic coins, cowries, hull re-covered with ballast; no beach collecting documentedView source →