| In Cape May, New Jersey, at Sunset Beach on the | | | | Palmyra, Camden and Philadelphia and finally to the |
| shore of Delaware Bay you can see the sunken | | | | broad reaches of the shallow, muddy Delaware Bay. |
| wreck of the World War One concrete ship, Atlantus. | | | | Here, on the pebble-filled shoreline of Sunset Beach, |
| She lies there, half submerged, a few hundred feet | | | | you can search for Cape May Diamonds. What you |
| offshore. The weather worn wreck is all that remains | | | | will find are clear quartz crystals that, after being |
| of an experimental World War I concrete freighter. | | | | polished, look like diamonds to the untrained eye. It is |
| She was towed there in 1926 to be intentionally sunk | | | | believed that the sunken ship has become a barrier |
| as a breakwater and protection for the entrance to | | | | that diverts the tides and currents carrying the Cape |
| the then new, Cape May Canal. During a sudden storm | | | | May Diamonds from the mountains of Pennsylvania |
| on Delaware Bay, she broke free of the towboats | | | | toward the Atlantic Ocean. In this way, the journey of |
| and was washed into the shallow water a mile or | | | | the quartz pebbles is changed and they are washed |
| more west of her intended resting place near the | | | | ashore here instead of flowing into the nearby ocean. |
| Canal. | | | | Scientists estimate it can take over 1,000 years for a |
| As it happens, this un-natural, man-made barrier is the | | | | pebble to move approximately 200 miles, from the |
| happy accident that makes Cape May Diamonds | | | | mountains of Pennsylvania to its final resting place on |
| available to you. Here is what we believe to be the | | | | Sunset Beach, in Cape May New Jersey. |
| origin of these unique Cape May Diamonds: | | | | The largest Cape May Diamond ever found weighed |
| It has been estimated the journey of a Cape May | | | | almost eight ounces. Nearby gift shops sell polished |
| Diamond begins when some quartz rocks fall from a | | | | Cape May Diamonds, but it's more fun to search the |
| Pennsylvania mountain into the Delaware River. This is | | | | beaches around Cape May for your own "diamonds." |
| thought to happen at or near Delaware Water Gap, in | | | | Buff them to a shine and you'll dupe your friends at |
| the upper reaches of Delaware River. Over time, the | | | | home into thinking you've hit the mother lode. |
| pebbles are washed, ever so slowly, past: Trenton, | | | | |