Jack and I recently had the opportunity to tour the new exhibit, SHIPWRECK! Pirates & Treasure, at Discovery Times Square. Along with other bloggers and their families we were given an inside peek at this new multi-media exhibit that contains more than 500 artifacts from deep-ocean expeditions around the world.

Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc has spent the past 20 years discovering and exploring hundreds of shipwrecks in the deep ocean using innovative methods and state-of-the-art technology. They’ve discovered everything from 2,000 years old Roman wrecks to WWII U-boats. The exhibit SHIPWRECK! puts some of their finds and the technology used on display.

While the exhibit is billed as best for ages 5 and up, my two and a half year old still had a great time exploring it with me. There’s pirate lore and legend to learn about, a hurricane simulator (winds up to 75 mph!) to experience, and the chance to operate a model of Odyssey’s remotely operated vehicle ZEUS’ robotic arm.

Jack was fascinated by the idea of a robot looking for treasure under the ocean. He talked about this thing for DAYS afterwards.

I loved viewing the old porcelains, bottles, and coins that had been recovered. Jack even had the opportunity to hold a real piece of gold recovered from a ship that sank in 1865! I’m not sure a two year old has the capacity to understand what gold is, but he was impressed by how heavy it was.