Octopus unearths 900-year-old hidden treasure

It is a story that combines all the great mysteries and exciting discoveries of the sea ? an octopus hauled onto a fishing boat with valuable ancient pottery attached to its suckers.

Conjuring up visions of ancient mariners and sailing ships laden with fabulous wares, Korean fisherman Kim Yong-Chul pulled up more octopus, most of which had shards of pottery attached to their tentacles.

Now the chance discovery is being hailed as one of the great undersea treasure discoveries of modern times.

Officials at the National Maritime Museumin Seoul say the pottery dates back to 12th century, when the Koryo Dynasty ruled the Korean peninsula.

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Some of the 30 bowls from the 12th century discovered by the octopus

Before and after: The bowls are carefully restored to their former glory after nine centuries underwater,

The extraordinary discovery on what was for 58-year-old Mr Kim another 'day at the office' began when he took his small boat out from the town of Taean, 60 miles south west of Seoul. As usual, he was hoping for a good catch of webfoot octopus, which are a delicacy in Korea.

But on this particular day, he decided to try somewhere new, a few miles south of his regular fishing spot.

Casting out a long line, he felt a familiar tug and hauled up his first octopus of the day. He was puzzled by several blue objects attached to its suckers and thought at first they were shells.

But when he examined them, he realised they were pieces of pottery. Not realising he was on the point of making an incredible discovery, he cast out his line again and again, bringing in more octopus with shards of pottery attached.

Then he brought one up with a whole plate caught on its tentacles.

By now, Mr Kim realised that there had to be something important deep below. He had heard that divers had found several shipwrecks filled with relics, including ancient pottery, along the coast.

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An octopus similiar to the one caught in Korea

On his return to shore, he contacted the museum, which sent officials to examine the pieces. 'You can imagine just how excited we were when we studied the bits and pieces as well as the virtually perfect plate,' said Mr Mun Hwan-Seok, a museum official.

'We arranged for an urgent exploration of the sea bed and although we did not find a ship down there, we were able to find 30 12th century bowls.

'It seems that a ship carrying Koryo pottery was wrecked there and what excites us is that these pieces are perfect examples of beautiful Koryo pottery. A large number of kilns were established in the area and the ship must have been transporting the pieces when it went down.

'Although other ships have been found and pottery recovered, this is the first time a family of octopus have found a wreck for us.'

Many of the pieces are decorated with chrysanthemum or vine patterns.

Meanwhile Mr Kim is to be rewarded by the Museum for his discovery, but just what he will receive is being kept a secret for the time being.

'Before I set off in my boat I had a dream the night before of being in the water swimming,' he said. 'Such dreams are supposed to bring luck, so this one turned out to be true.'

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