By Anthea McGibbonTo some he is a fisherman, but to Jamaica he’s more. He is revered as an elder of wisdom by Port Royal residents, but he is one of Jamaica’s unsung heroes of the 21st century.
The sea feared by many has been second home to ‘Mani’ Blake. Like other Port Royal residents his staunch commitment to the area, despite deathly threats of storms and hurricanes, is not suprising, as they claim they rise from the sea. And even more for ‘Mani’ Blake a life of adventure emerged, as from the sea, the main source of his livelihood, he earned a spot in noted history.
The fisherman for over 50 years, often diving into the bowels of the sea, has for four years of his diving experience, made significant contributions to world history, at least where Port Royal, Jamaica is concerned.
Uncovering hidden secrets of Port Royal for the pages of history books, and walls of museums, ‘Mani’ Blake was among divers who years ago joined an expedition led by Robert ‘Bob’ Marx, an undersea archaeologist. Their shared purpose during the 1960s to 1970s was in retrieving anything that told tales of the history of Port Royal from their muddy burial, under the sea.
Despite the shifting caused by nature, especially the further burial of the city by the 1907 earthquake, the team retrieved enough artefacts for display across the world.
The challenges they faced were not many, but critical, and included lack of proper equipment, which was often the cause of ‘Mani’ Blake’s ear drums bursting from the pressure under sea. Often times he suffered bleeding eardrums, but he along with Wayne and Popeye, were one with the sea, enjoying their visits to the city that existed down under. He eventually were furnished with a scuba tank and frog mask from Marx, which enabled him to increase his diving time from 5 minutes to hours. He continued for only $1,300 fortnightly.
‘Mani’ Blake’s retreived artefacts from the sunken city include chalk pipes, onion bottles, gold and silver coins, utensils, silver plates, swords and clay pipes.
Posted on 
20 November, 2009 in 
In Yer City | 
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