Underwater research began at Torre S. Sabina in 1972 and has continued intermittently over the years. The sea-bed produced and continues to produce ceramic material which varies in both provenance and manufacture, but above all in chronology: from Mycenean pottery to Late Roman C from the late antique period.

The archaic materials, dating to between the end of the 7th century B.C. and the first half of the 5th century B.C., were all imports and seemed to be the result of dumping from ships. This material included Corinthian and Laconian pottery, Ionic cups, Graeco-oriental type wares, Attic Black-figure ware and Corinthian-Corcyran A and B amphorae. A headless statuette of a Rhodian type Kore was also found. Amongst the Hellenistic and Roman material was relief pottery, Gnathian ware, black glaze, coarse, table and cooking wares, Italian sigillata, Arretine, Italic and north Italic wares, ARS and African cooking wares and lamps. With the exception for the few examples of early Greco-Italic amphorae from the end of the 4th-first half of the 3rd century B.C. the amphorae were mainly local, late Republican, productions for oil and wine transport. Amongst the finds there was also a bone medallion, an anthropomorphic vase in the form of Priapus, glass, a hopper grindstone and oscilla.

Reports had been made in the past regarding the presence of at least two wrecks in the northern area of the bay, calculated on the basis of the number of finds, their variety and the presence of burnt pieces of wood in various points on the sea-bed. However, it may be suggested that the presence of such a substantial assemblage of ceramics and amphorae material cannot be attributed to dumping activities in the port and above all, that the finds and wooden structures may have belonged to a single vessel. Furthermore, as a boat may have been wrecked during the course of the 2nd century B.C., a date provided by the Lamboglia 2 amphorae, the Megaran pottery also found could have been part of the same cargo. In fact, it cannot be excluded that this refined pottery, having arrived at Brindisi from the Aegean and mainland Greece, travelled on to another destination. As part of a scenario of commercial redistribution it could have been loaded together with a cargo of basic necessities (oil and wine) from the Salento contained within locally produced amphorae. It cannot be excluded that this mixed cargo was from an Adriatic port, possibly on the opposite coast, where finds of these ceramic types are common. What is certain is that this ship never reached its destination as it was wrecked, perhaps due to a fire on board, as suggested by the traces of burning on the wood and pottery fragments.

Other wrecks are known within the bay: one of these (Torre S. Sabina 1), identified in the 1970s along the south side of the largest inlet, came to light again in 1989 after its traces were lost due to silting over. A second ship (Torre S. Sabina 3) was found orientated towards the north immediately adjacent to the slope of the cliff. The C14 analysis undertaken showed both wrecks dated to within the 4th century A.D. Lastly, it should be noted that in 1998 another wreck emerged: a cylindrical iron object sticking out from the sea-bed was connected to large pieces of wood, thought to belong to the prow of a medieval ship due to the presence of glazed wares and majolica datable to between the 16th-17th century.