Divers off the coast of North Carolina recovered the third-largest anchor from what's believed to be the remains of the pirate Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge. It's 11 feet and four inches long (seven feet, seven inches wide), and covered — as you can see — with gross ocean stuff. No word on whether or not it's haunted.

The wreck was discovered in 1996, and has already been excavated to the tune of 250,000 artifacts. (Again, there's no public data on how many of those artifacts are haunted by ghost pirates, but common sense would dictate at least 10 percent.) This AP article about the artifact doesn't note why North Carolina officials chose this particular moment to recover the anchor, but does, helpfully, point out that "the timing of the recovery of the anchor couldn't be better" for "[s]tate officials hop[ing] the anchor and other artifacts will attract tourists" — the 16th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, which features Blackbeard and his legendary ship, was released last week.

[AP]