South Carolina couple finds cannonballs on the beach after Hurricane Dorian

By CNN Newsource

Folly Beach, S.C. — A couple on Folly Beach in South Carolina went out on the hunt for cool shells left behind by Hurricane Dorian — but they ended up finding a relic from the past.

Aaron Lattin and his girlfriend, Alba Ospina, were curious to see what the hurricane could have brought to the beach.

“I wanted to get a metal detector, especially after the hurricane, to see if there’s anything, any history or artifacts that kind of washed up on the shore,” said Lattin.

But the couple was left puzzled by what they found.

“At first we just thought it was a rock,” Lattin said. “The more we got to looking we realized it was more than a rock.”

Authorities say it was a civil-war era cannonball unearthed by the hurricane. The couple found it laying in the sand in front of the Morris Island lighthouse on the very edge of Folly Beach.

“We actually just got lucky with no equipment, just spending a day at the beach,” Lattin said.

They reported it, and afterward, police, fire and local Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams responded, making sure the cannonballs weren’t still live and dangerous.

Experts say this isn’t the first time that cannonballs have been found in the area. Following Hurricane Matthew in 2016, 16 civil war cannonballs were found in the same location.

The couple said they are new to the area and are happy that they stumbled upon a piece of history.

“It’s a historical treasure — it’s the history of here in Charleston,” Ospina said. “Of course after we found it we wanted to tell the world.”