Odyssey Marine Exploration, a shipwreck treasure-hunting company based in Florida, has announced their first quarter 2008 earnings to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

By accounts, their legal battle with Spain over the 17-tons of silver coins found in a shipwreck of May of 2007 isn’t helping them. Not only must the legal bills be substantial, but the financial rewards of the treasure are in limbo until the situation is settled.

According to the financial numbers for Q1, Odyssey reported revenue of $.3 million compared to $2.2 million in the first quarter 2007.

The value of the discovered shipwreck treasure, code-named "Black Swan", dwarfs these numbers significantly.

In a news wire, Greg Stem who is the Chairman and CEO of Odyssey commented in part:

"…Our 2008 marine operations activities are underway with work in the Atlas search area and we are looking forward to an exciting season. With the Black Swan, Firefly, Atlas and several other confidential projects on our radar, I am excited about our future and the continued execution of our long-term strategy."

You have to absolutely love those code names!

The entire release annoucement of Odyssey’s quarterly results may be read here: