$1M in Gold and Silver Coins Found off Florida Coast More than 1,000 silver coins known as Reales, five gold coins called Escudos, and other rare gold artifacts were recovered near Vero Beach, Florida, during the 2025 summer salvage season by M/V Just Right of Queens Jewels, LLC — a historic shipwreck salvage operation. The treasure was preserved beneath centuries of sand and sea after a fleet carrying New World riches back to Spain was wrecked on July 31, 1715, according to Queens Jewels. “This discovery is not only about the treasure itself, but the stories it tells,” said Sal Guttuso, director of operations, in an online statement. “Each coin is a piece of history, a tangible link to the people who lived, worked, and sailed during the Golden Age of the Spanish Empire. Finding 1,000 of them in a single recovery is both rare and extraordinary.” The coins will now undergo careful conservation before being displayed to the public, including exhibitions at local museums. “Every find helps piece together the human story of the 1715 fleet,” Guttuso said. “We are committed to preserving and studying these artifacts so future generations can appreciate their historical significance.” Southeast Alaska Fisheries Overrun by Sea Otters Dungeness crabs, geoducks, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, clams, and other bottom-dwelling creatures have been decimated in Southeast Alaskan fisheries. The cause? Sea otters, according to Alaska’s News Source. Members of the Petersburg Borough Assembly and the local community have had to adapt the local economy due to the limited harvest, with around two-thirds of the area no longer viable for fishing. Alaska’s News Source reports that otters were not present in the area until nuclear testing began in the Aleutian Islands, prompting Fish and Wildlife to relocate the population to Southeastern Alaska to protect them. The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 prohibited hunting most of the species, which led to a population boom and is now causing fishery problems. While the community waits for an amendment to the Act to help control the population, they say the local economy will continue to suffer. Mystery Case of Dead Croc in U.K. Canal Solved A crocodile was found in a South Derbyshire canal in October, prompting the Derbyshire Rural Crime Team to try to determine how the reptile came to be in the U.K. Following a Facebook post and some local conversations, a member of the public came forward to solve the case: the crocodile was a stuffed taxidermy specimen they found while fishing.