The mermaids that symbolize Norfolk will get some competition from pirates later this year. Directors from Nauticus pitched a plan Thursday evening that would decorate downtown with skull-and-crossbones flags to promote a pirate ship exhibit arriving at the museum Nov. 21. The touring exhibit is called "Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship." Right now, it is at The Field Museum in Chicago.

Barry Clifford, one of the explorers who discovered the ship off Cape Cod in 1984, made a presentation Thursday at Town Point Club to generate interest in the story. He and his team have brought up thousands of gold coins and pieces of jewelry from the ship.

“It’s the only pirate treasure that’s ever been discovered,” Clifford says. “And you can touch it.”

Nauticus is committing nearly $250,000 in marketing to promote the exhibit. Museum officials want hotels, restaurants and others downtown to help promote it.

For more on the exhibit, go to www.fieldmuseum.org/pirates/