One of the best documented wrecking events on Bonaire’s east coast is that of the William & Ezra, a North American brig that sailed from New York to Bonaire. She ran aground on a January night in 1825 in an area called Mamparia Gutu. For days, countless items washed up ashore. Governor Debrot noted a chest of cheese, 92 barrels of gunpowder, 50 barrels of butter, three large mirrors, flour, tobacco, meat, lumber, and even a piano.

The sea floor in this area slopes very gently for several hundred meters. At the wreck site, between 1.5 and 3 meters, lie archaeological remains that most likely belong to the William & Ezra. Spread out over some 50 meters, these include four anchors, five cannons, and a broken cannon. At the easternmost cannons, divers have reported to have found fragments of copper, glass, and ceramic artifacts.