Shipwrecks With more than 3,000 shipwrecks off its shores, the waters off Cape Cod have been referred to as the graveyard of the Atlantic. Dig a Canal to Save Sailors Lives - The idea of constructing the canal was first considered by Miles Standish in 1623, and Pilgrims scouted the low-lying stretch of land between the Manomet and the Scusset rivers for potential routes. In 1697 the General Court of Massachusetts considered the first formal proposal to build the canal, but apparently took no action. More energetic planning with surveys took place repeatedly in 1776 (by George Washington), 1791, 1803, 1818, 1824–1830, and 1860. None of these efforts came to fruition. Construction of the Canal began on June 22, 1909. Pirate and Treasure The only pirate treasure ship ever to be discovered with its treasure still aboard is located close to shore off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The slave ship “Whydah” sank in a storm in April of 1717. More than three hundred years later, in 1984, Cape Cod native Barry Clifford found it buried in the sand off Marconi Beach in Wellfleet. The latest estimate of the value of this treasure is four hundred million dollars! There are stories of Pirate treasure buried and evidence uncovered supporting the tales in every New England state. In 2010 a ship which had been torpedoed by a German submarine was discovered and is reported to have three billion dollars in gold, silver and platinum on board. The treasure was in payment for America"s war assistance. A second ship carrying gold to New York for the same reason was sunk off the Cape but never found. How much more treasure is still out there waiting to be uncovered or washed ashore?