Brandon Clifford

For most of my life, the Whydah Gally has been more than a shipwreck; it has been a thread connecting generations of my family, the coastline I grew up beside, and the stories that shaped my imagination. What propels me is the sense that the artifacts we recover are a voice carried across three centuries, waiting to be heard. My work sits at the intersection of maritime archaeology, history, and storytelling. By returning to this scattered wreck site year after year, while also conducting research on other shipwrecks across the world, we are piecing together a narrative that deepens our understanding of piracy, global trade, and the human cost of the Atlantic world.

The impact of this work lies not in treasure but in truth. The Whydah was a pirate ship, but also a slave ship, tied directly to the economies and injustices of its time. Recovering objects such as manillas, once currency in the West African trade, forces us to confront the realities behind the myths. The manillas we found in recent years at the Whydah shipwreck site have enabled other researchers to connect them with the famous Benin Bronzes, possibly the most discussed cultural heritage of recent years. Linking the manillas to the Bronzes has further illuminated their role in the West African slave trade and added a powerful new dimension to ongoing restitution debates. These discoveries create opportunities for education and dialogue, allowing the public to engage with a more complete and honest history. My hope for the future is that this work continues to inspire curiosity, responsibility, and empathy.

The most meaningful aspect of my work today is the way the Whydah and other shipwrecks we investigate around the world connect human stories across time. Each object we recover offers a tangible link to real people whose lives unfolded within global systems of trade, survival, oppression, and opportunity. These artifacts push beyond legend and reveal the lived experiences of people bound together by the Atlantic world, and they also help guide researchers as they pursue new lines of inquiry that may ultimately deepen our ability to understand and engage with the challenges we face today.

Sharing this work with my own children has deepened its significance. Standing with them on the same decks where I once stood as a child reminds me that exploration is both personal and generational. What matters most is not the material value of what we recover, but the understanding it brings, the conversations it sparks, and the awareness it cultivates. In uncovering the Whydah, we are not only exploring a shipwreck, we are exploring who we are, where we come from, and how our shared history continues to shape the present.