SEPTEMBER 2003 – Maintenance works at the original pirate show ‘Battle of Buccaneer Bay’ in front of the Treasure Island hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
As soon as we had checked-in at our hotel in Las Vegas – the Treasure Island – we went on a discovery walk. First we went for the huge installation of the original pirate show right in front of the hotel. The Battle of Buccaneer Bay had been a key attraction since 1993, and we were eager to see it in the evening.
However, when we walked out we were disappointed to see maintenance works taking place. The water had been removed from the basin, and the ship was dry in the dock. It was clear that it would be impossible to re-fill the basin until the evening. There would be no pirate show that night.
I still took the image because I thought that it would be a rather rare sight to see the rails of the ship dry on the ground of the basin. The Wynn Hotel in the back (on the right) was half-.completed in September 2003.
By the way, the Battle of Buccaneer Bay show was actually discontinued in 2003 and replaced by The Sirens of TI which was shown until 2013. Then the pirate shows were discontinued completely when parts of the artificial lagoon and stage were needed for retail space. Today, there are no current performances, and plans for a comeback have been dismissed by the hotel management as false. The ship and a piece of Sirens’ Cove are still visible but there is currently no live pirate show like there used to be.
Disclaimer: ChatGPT has contributed to this story.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 20-SEP-2003 |
| Location | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Camera | Canon AE-1 Program |
| Image Source | Fuji Slide Film |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 4127 x 6466 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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