Alex Storm, Cape Breton's treasure hunter and historian, dies at age 80

Alex Storm is seen at a drawing board in this March 1965 photo during the reconstruction of the Fortress of Louisbourg. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Parks Canada, Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site Photo Archives)

LOUISBOURG, N.S. - A famous treasure hunter and historian of Cape Breton island, remembered as a restless adventurer and superb storyteller, has died.

Alex Storm made headlines in 1965 when he and a small crew of divers discovered the French treasure ship Le Chameau off Cape Breton that had been lost for more than two centuries.

Storm uncovered Atlantic Canada's history through more than just hunting for shipwrecks.

He also worked to reconstruct the Fortress of Louisbourg, collected artifacts from rural Newfoundland and Nova Scotia's inshore fisheries, and even opened a museum of artifacts in his Louisbourg home.

He also published a number of books on his treasure hunting stories, and those who knew him say Storm surprised them with tales about his adventures, even up until shortly before his death.

Storm was born in Indonesia and survived a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp as a child, but despite living through the hardship of war at an early age, friends and family remember Storm as a charming man who never lost his sense of adventure.

He moved to Canada in the 1950s after the war, and referred to Cape Breton -- where he met his wife and raised his family -- as "paradise."