Are There Shipwrecks Off the Coast of Little Diamond Island in Maine, or is It an Illusion?

Maine's lengthy history is filled with twisted tales of abandoned vessels and sunken ships all throughout the state's rocky coastline. There have been several books and articles published over decades that detail some of the most fantastic stories that read like fantasy, filled with hidden treasure, plundering, and more.

While there may be plenty of details on the well-known shipwrecks in Maine's history, there's still the curious case of the satellite image off the coast of Portland, Maine. Just miles off the shore of one of Casco Bay's most popular islands, Little Diamond Island, appears to be a set of sunken vessels.

Time to toe the line between what you think you see and what might be an optical illusion. If you're digging in on the satellite view of Google Maps for Little Diamond Island, you won't see much that jumps out at you. But upon closer review, there's a peculiar sight right off the coast: what appears to be four boats, all jumbled next to each other, seemingly sunken and unseen by the naked eye below the ocean's surface.

So what's the story? A quick Google search of "shipwreck Little Diamond Island" nets no serious results. If you dig further with any combination of words that may include sunken ships and boat accidents around Little Diamond Island, nothing juicy comes up. So is this satellite image just nonsense, or is there some ghost story here that has yet to be told?

Commenters in a Reddit forum suggested this could be a tugboat graveyard or simply some sort of underwater feature that just happens to look like shipwrecks on satellite imagery. Those are plausible.

Casco Bay has plenty of history with shipwrecks. In fact, the remains of the Edward J. Lawrence 6-masted schooner still lies at the bottom of Casco Bay between Little Diamond Island and Fort Gorges. You'd need diving equipment and some good conditions to find it, but it's there, and packed with history. Perhaps there is a sunken ship or two coating the bottom of the ocean near Little Diamond Island, or perhaps Google satellite imagery is just playing a trick on our eyes.