Although only known to very few, the HMS Beagle was one of the most influential ships of modern times, simply because it was the means Charles Darwin used to get around the world and observe plant and animal species that eventually led to him creating his famous theory of evolution on the survival of the strongest. After returning to port from its third voyage, the vessel was apparently used as part of the naval guard for a while, after which it was dismantled. Now, archaeologist Dr Robert Prescott, a researcher at the University of St Andrews, in the UK, believes that he may have found the buried remains of the ship’s lower side, in the mud around Essex, in southern England.

"When they were at sea, Darwin mostly lay in his hammock, seasick. I haven't been able to find a record of anyone else who, on a voyage of five years, was seasick from the very first day to the very last," "HMS Beagle - The Story of Darwin's Ship" author, professor Keith Thomson, says.

"The notion that there was this interesting ship which also had a very interesting connection with one of the major scientific developments in recent history was just too good to be true. I wanted to find out more," Prescott told the BBC.

According to the archaeologist, the lower part of the ship was left behind, once the two farmers that were hired to break down the vessel found out that the task of dismantling the hull was extremely difficult. Via the use of sonar and other sophisticated devices, Prescott and his team managed to identify a wooden structure in the mud, and started harvesting samples, searching for diatoms.

Diatoms are molecules that are specific to certain parts of the world, so if they find some that match those in the Pacific or around Australia, then the wreak most certainly belongs to the Beagle. Preliminary analysis managed to identify some diatoms, and now the researchers are waiting for the complete results, to know if they should start digging the site.

"I believe that the lower half of this vessel was probably abandoned and has slowly settled deeper and deeper into the mud," Prescott said.

"It's very like a forensic investigation. If we can get one particularly well-recognized diatom species that we know to be tropical, that would be the 'killer's fingerprint,'" University of St Andrews professor of marine ecology David Patterson, the man in charge with analyzing the soil samples collected in Essex with the scanning electron microscope, concluded.