In 1900, a bell buoy was installed in Biscayne Channel at the north end of Biscayne National Park near Key Biscayne, where it marked one of the primary entrances to Biscayne Bay. In clear daytime weather, mariners could see the buoy, and at night or in poor weather, rocking seas caused the bell to ring a warning of shallow water. Sometime between 1930 and 1934, the bell buoy sank at its mooring and remained there for more than 80 years. National Park Service archeologists discovered and documented the bell in 1997, and staff routinely visited the site afterward to monitor for deterioration. During a site visit in May 2015, the bell had shifted to an upright position and was no longer stuck in the sea floor, and suspicion of attempted looting led to preventative action. Recovering the 300-pound bell from 15 feet below the surface required archeologists in SCUBA gear to raise the sunken buoy about 3 feet with air-filled bags before the bell could be lifted by winch to the boat above. The original bronze and iron bell was then cleaned, placed in an electrolysis tank to stabilize it and prevent deterioration, fully documented, photographed, and professionally restored before a replica was cast. The original is kept at the National Park Service's Southeast Archaeological Center in Tallahassee, Florida, protected forever.