In the second floor exhibition hall at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, it's almost possible to smell salt in the air.

That's where a crew is constructing the life-size partial replica of the Whydah, a 300-year-old former slave ship captured by pirates in 1717, which subsequently sank and was recently discovered off the coast of Massachusetts.

Opening Oct. 8, Real Pirates: The Untold Story of the Whydah from Slave Ship to Pirate Ship will feature not only the interactive replica ship, but also 200 artifacts from the original — the first authenticated pirate ship discovered in American waters — from the identifying ship bell to weapons to items the pirates used in their day-to-day lives.

A treasure chest will feature coins from around the world, and visitors will even be able to touch some of them. The realities of life as a pirate, the slave trade, the crew and shipwreck of the Whydah and its discovery nearly 300 years later will all be examined.

The exhibit is by National Geographic and Arts and Exhibitions International, the same team behind the blockbuster 2008 King Tut exhibition in Dallas — this group knows how to engage those of all ages and really bring history to life.

And we hear that there might even be an appearance by Captain Jack Sparrow.