Beyond Oak Island (2020–…): Season 3, Episode 1 - The Atocha's Emerald City - full transcript

- Tonight...
- Onward, Captain. - Let's go!

On Beyond Oak Island...

Well, today's the day we're
going to find some treasure.

I'll tell you that
much right now.

We're treasure-hunting

on the Atocha,
one of the richest

Spanish galleons ever.

We grew up with that legend.

Good hunting! Diver's in!

We named
this area "Emerald City."

We're treasure hunting, fellas.



Come on, baby.
Bring me some green.

I think our
hot hand got something.

Oh, yeah. We definitely
have something.

- What do you got?
- And here...

Wow.

All the while we
were growing up,

my brother and I were
fascinated with finding treasure.

Pirate treasure,

cursed treasure.

Civil War gold.

Since then,
our work on Oak Island

has shown us there's
a world of mysteries...

- Whoa.
- Waiting to be explored.

So, we like to reach
out to other treasure hunters.



X marks the spot,
right there. Brilliant.

- We want to hear their stories...
- That's right.

- And share our insights.
- "Ill-gotten gains."

- And who knows...
- I got it.

Maybe we can help
them with their search.

Not only in America.

Wow. That is gold.

- But all over the world.
- Yeah!

Beyond Oak Island.

Well, Marty, you're kind
of home here in Florida.

Yeah, that's right.
You talk about history,

there's a lot of history here.
Every-every rumrunner, pirate,

- scalawag in the universe...
- Uh-huh.

- Called this home at one time.
- Yeah.

Off the
coast of Key West, Florida,

Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Matty Blake,

are heading out some 40 miles

to one of the most storied
locations in the Atlantic Ocean.

There, they will
rendezvous with Melvin Abt...

The grandson of the legendary
treasure hunter Mel Fisher...

Where the Fisher family
and their team continue

a 37-year salvage operation

of the famous shipwreck
known as the Atocha.

The thing for me is, you know,

the treasure aspect is
important, but learning

about the Fisher family

and what they've
accomplished over the years...

I think that's going
to be fascinating.

This is completely legendary,

and it's a gigantic
success story,

but-but the thing that
gives me hope is that I think

they were at it longer
than we have been

on Oak Island before
they found something.

- Yeah. Yeah.
- I'm pretty sure. We'll find it out.

No, it's exciting.

We're going to be
over a 1622 shipwreck,

- not maybe, for sure.
- Definitely. - Yeah.

On September 4, 1622,

the Nuestra Señora de Atocha,
a 550-ton Spanish galleon,

set sail from Havana, Cuba,

transporting one of the
most bountiful treasure cargos

ever recorded back to Spain.

The Atocha was part of

the royal fleet that sailed
between the Americas and Spain.

And it was carrying a
very large, sizable treasure.

Probably at least
24 tons of silver,

more than 3,000 emeralds...
Which were from Muzo, Colombia,

home of the best
emeralds in the world...

Some 700 very
substantial stones,

and then maybe another 2,500
medium or smaller-sized stones.

It also had more than
100,000 silver coins.

However, just two days

into her journey,

disaster struck when
the ship was caught

in a severe hurricane off
the southern coast of Florida.

It quickly sank,
resulting in the deaths

of 260 of her 265 passengers,

and leaving the billions
in precious valuables lost

for more than four centuries.

The Spanish
attempted to salvage the treasure,

but they did not
find the Atocha.

But in 1973,

a former Indiana-born
chicken farmer

turned treasure hunter
named Mel Fisher

made history with his wife
and partner, Deo, and their team

when they discovered silver
bars belonging to the ship.

12 years later,

after continuously searching
across a ten-mile debris field,

they discovered what
came to be known

as "the Atocha's Mother Lode,"

comprised of
$450 million in gold,

silver, emeralds and artifacts.

Although Mel
passed away in 1998,

his family still controls the
salvage rights to the Atocha

and continue searching

for nearly half a billion
dollars more believed

to remain at the
bottom of the ocean.

- Onward captain!
- Let's go!

So, we're on the boat, headed

to where the dive team
is anchored out in the bay,

and it's exciting, right?

If you were to ask somebody,

"I'm going to mention a name,

and I want you to mention
a family name in Key West,"

I think people would either say

"Ernest Hemingway"
or "The Fishers,"

because of the
legend of the Atocha.

Oh, look at that.

"Mel Fisher" is
right on the boat.

Hey!

I think they are
the family here in the area.

This is awesome.

So, the exciting part
is we're on a treasure hunt,

and we know how
successful they've been,

so the hope is we'll find
something with them.

Hello there.

Having arrived
at the treasure salvaging vessel

known the Magruder,

Rick, Marty and Matty
are greeted by Melvin Abt,

the current leader of the
family's active search team.

All right, well,

today is the day we're
gonna find some treasure.

I'll tell you that
much right now.

- Fantastic.
- Love it. - All right.

- You're pretty sure of that?
- Confident.

I am a third-generation
treasure hunter.

I have been treasure hunting
since I was 11 years old.

The success of the people
who have come before me

make me feel like I
have big shoes to fill.

Our family
business is treasure hunting.

That's first and foremost.
That's what we do.

We have been appointed,
uh, as the owners

and custodians of this history,

so it's our job to preserve it.

But of course, there's
still a lot left out there.

Well, we've been
working this site for a little

over 50 years, and

we expect there's just
about as much left out there

to find as we've already found.

My youngest
son, Melvin, is my baby.

He's involved with the
museum in Sebastian

as the assistant
director, he dives,

he's doing coin research,

and he's really learning every
avenue, uh, of the business.

Has this boat been involved
in the search for a long time?

So, yeah, this boat was actually

on the mother
lode of the Atocha.

- No kidding?
- Wow!

What is your agreement
with the powers that be?

So, what we have is a
federal admiralty claim.

We own the artifacts where
they lay, where we find it.

As long as we can
prove it is 1622 material,

it is under our federal
admiralty claim.

And is it your... 100% yours?

100% ours.

So, where we
are is in the middle

of about a nine-mile
trail of artifacts,

and, uh, they were just
working along the trail

and made an excavation,
and it started raining emeralds.

No kidding. Wow.

So, we named this
area "Emerald City."

Although the Fisher family

has long salvaged
treasure from the Atocha

across a debris
field that stretches

for more than ten miles,

their current
focus is on an area

where they have found an
abundance of some of the finest

and most valuable
emeralds known to exist.

So far, today, Emerald City...

It's produced about
five and a half pounds

of dark green Colombian
emeralds from the Muzo mine.

- What's that worth?
- They range.

Uh, the smallest ones
are about $2,000 a karat,

and the larger ones
are $30,000 a karat,

depending on their quality,
class, factor and size.

- All different kinds.
- How many karats in five pounds?

A bunch, right?

- Quite a lot.
- Yeah.

Uh, the largest one
recovered, though,

is about 79 karats large.

- Unbelievable! Wow.
- Wow.

There is literally
about $500 million,

by estimates, in emeralds alone.

- And we're parked over that?
- Right over that.

Wow. That's incredible.

Hopefully, we find some today.

Yes.

I do have some maps
I'd love to show you guys.

- Okay.
- Yeah, great.

- After you, Matty.
- Thank you, sir.

We've gotten more precise

with the technology
we've been using

and developing over the years.

A lot of our charts

are hand charts
still, to this day,

but that's just for redundancy.

Everything is plotted in a online
GPS-coordinated database.

- Good afternoon, gentlemen.
- There he is.

- Oh, Captain.
- Hey, Captain.

Welcome aboard.

- I'm Rick. - I'm Tim. Tim.
- I'm Marty.

- Marty. Pleasure.
- Tim. - I'm Matty Blake.

- Glad to meet you, man.
- Nice to meet you.

- Welcome aboard.
- Thank you for having us.

- So, what are we looking at here?
- Yeah.

Right now, what
we're looking at is,

down here where this is rolled
up is where the Atocha sank.

She was intact.

Second hurricane hits her.

She spills over to the side.

- Wait. Second hurricane?
- Second hurricane.

So, it was floundering
for a long time, then?

She sank completely
intact after the first storm.

We know that for a fact.

The vessel the Santa Cruz
picked up the five survivors

- from her mizzenmast.
- Mm-hmm.

They attached
barrels and lines to her,

they sent a diver down, he
said he couldn't break into it.

All the hatches were
battened down from both sides.

So, they went back to Havana,

started getting
a salvage crew...

The ship is literally
sitting on the bottom?

- Sitting on the bottom.
- I did not know that.

Two weeks later, a second
hurricane comes through.

- Geez.
- She's on the bottom.

It pushes her other side
on her side, she tilted.

What we dubbed "mother
lode" was that reef of silver bars,

broke through the hull.

Ship then lost all of its
ballast, became buoyant again.

- Wow.
- And then the storm started

breaking her apart
as she pushed.

It started pushing the ship
forward, forward, forward.

Then she snapped in two here.

- The bow broke off.
- Mm.

Bow started going this way.

Then the midship and
sterncastle continued up

into this more shallower water.

Are these circles... Are
these mag hits or something?

Those are excavations
that we have worked

by using our prop
wash deflectors.

These are the
artifacts. If it's...

If there's nothing in it,
there's nothing there.

Silver, silver
coin, silver coin.

- Wow.
- EO stands for "encrusted object,"

it means we don't
know what it is until

the lab is able to get some

- of the encrustation off.
- Some of these cool ones.

- Gold, gold, gold, gold.
- Oh, yeah.

- Gold bars.
- Wow, yeah. Bar, bar, bar.

We use similar
maps on Oak Island,

in the Money Pit, for example,
and you see little holes,

and I see a lot of colors,
and that means hits.

So, what you're looking
at, basically, is a map;

it's a treasure trail.
It's a treasure trail.

This is the debris field

and so many good colors.

I'm seeing green,
I'm seeing yellows,

I'm seeing red,
probably for gold.

This is a good map.

Captain Tim, where are we going

to be today? Where
are we looking?

Today, we're just going to be

down here...

- Okay.
- In virgin territory.

- Yeah, that looks new.
- Let's go.

Let's go. Let's get
divers in the water.

- Let's do it.
- Let's go.

When we go out to Emerald City,

we set up a three-point
mooring system

right over the area
of desired excavation.

And then we send down
a team of divers to operate

a 70-foot airlift to
suck up all the sand,

sediment and hopefully
emeralds to bring topside,

where another crew of
several crew members will be

sifting through the sluice,
physically looking for emeralds.

So what's the dive plan? How
many divers do you got with you?

Um, so, it's just me
and one other diver.

We're gonna be, uh,
just lifting up some

sand for you guys so
that we can give you

- some nice, nice light material full of emeralds.
- Love it.

I see the captain
pass me, and he's looking

off the stern of the boat.

That wind is blowing in so far.

It's rough as hell out there.

And I'm going no,
no, no, no, no, no, no, not again.

Not again. Not another time

where something's
going to rise up

and keep treasure out
of our hands.

The wind's too
high. We can't go.

That wind's blowing in so far.

It's rough as hell out there.

Off the
coast of Key West, Florida,

Rick and Marty Lagina,

along with Matty Blake, have
joined Melvin Abt and his team

in a search for millions
of dollars in emeralds

connected to the legendary
shipwreck known as the Atocha.

Ah, we're getting
it on the back deck.

But unfortunately,
their operation has just been

put in jeopardy due to a
drastic change in the weather.

- Captain. - We're calling the day.
- Calling the day?

- The wind has broken at...
- Oh, no.

20 miles an hour.
If it's over 15,

won't set up.

It's over, it's right now
where it's blowing 25.

With the dredge hose
going down to a diver at

the bottom, and us
rocking the way we're doing,

it's too dangerous for
someone down there.

So, we're going to
have to break her down

till, uh, till tomorrow.

The waves are
kicking up and it's just gonna be

rocking our 80-foot
salvage boat too hard.

The air lift is
tied to the boat,

so to have divers in the water
trying to maneuver the air lift,

you know, they're
gonna get yanked around

almost violently,
and it's just not safe.

You can't control Mother Nature.

It wasn't supposed
to be like this today.

Yeah, this happened fast.

We were going to
hold treasure in our hands.

This is the Atocha. We're
literally 50 feet from it.

It's just 50 feet.
It's right down there,

but we can't get there.

J.B. Magruder
calling the bowrider.

We are canceling the dives

today and doing transfers
over at the Marquesas.

We'll be standing
by on zero-nine.

Sometimes bad weather
rolls in and we can't

control Mother Nature.
But, uh, I'd love to

get back to Key West
and show you guys some of

our finds in our
shop on Duval Street.

- That'd be great.
- Melvin has invited us to

the Mel Fisher treasure
store, where we will meet, uh,

his mother and his uncle,

and I think we are all excited
because... for two reasons.

One, they are legends.

The other thing is,
in our little hands...

And I say this again,
referencing the island...

You have to hold
the proof in your hand.

The proof is in that store.

Fair winds and a following sea,
gentlemen. See you tomorrow.

Thank you, Captain.

Later that afternoon,

Melvin, along with the
Laginas and Matty, arrive

at Mel Fisher's Treasures
in Key West, Florida.

- Welcome back.
- Hey! - MARTY: Hello.

- I'm Marty. You must be Taffi.
- I am, I'm Taffi.

- Nice to meet ya, Marty.
- Hey, Marty. Kim.

- Nice to meet you.
- Pleasure. - Gary.

Established in 1992,

it is one of two museums
and retail shops in Florida

owned by the Fisher family,

where millions of dollars' worth
of authentic discoveries from

the Atocha are housed, and
some of which can be purchased.

Treasure hunting
involves, you know,

a lot of different aspects.

It's not just gold
and silver coins.

A lot of the other
artifacts we sell

to finance the
ongoing expedition.

So, let me show you
some of the emeralds.

Oh, fantastic.

- Look at these guys.
- Look at that.

Wow. That's amazing.

- That's beautiful.
- You know, when you're up there,

you'll see all this white sand

come sliding across the trays.

And when these
emeralds come through,

they just jump right out at ya.

When we first found
Emerald City in 1986,

I shut off the
air lift real quick

and here was all these
emeralds raining down on me,

and they were getting in
my hair and down my wetsuit,

and I was, like, grabbing them.

And I spent the rest of my dive

just swimming around,
just picking up emeralds.

I had such a big smile on
my face that my mask kept

filling up with water.

The darker the green, the more

- valuable the emerald.
- Oh, really?

Yeah, so you want
these dark-colored ones.

The real dark ones
are the most valuable.

Wow.

Okay, well, I
never would want anybody

to accuse me of being all
about money, that's not me, okay,

but what the hell is that one?

It's very valuable,
yeah. 500, 600 thousand.

- Whoa! Move these away from me.
- Wow. Wow, wow.

I don't wanna hurt 'em.

But we're
expecting some out there

- to be 2,500 karats.
- Really?

- From 1620 until 1622...
- Seriously?

Was a record production
for the Muzo mine.

And that's the shipment
that was on board

the Atocha going back to Spain.

These are not just emeralds.

These are the
world's best emeralds

from a mine that actually became

the standard for emeralds.

These things are extraordinary.

Taffi, you said
that the jewelry,

most of the jewelry
was not on the manifest.

Yeah, none of the
jewelry was on the manifest

because jewelry was
not a taxable item.

So, they had a lot of jewelry,
you know, gold chains.

We found one gold
chain 67 feet long.

They actually used
them for money.

They called them money chains.

- Gold is incredible, isn't it?
- Look at that.

There's some
bling for you, buddy.

- Feel that weight.
- I've-I've seen

so many of these, you know...

- In pictures.
- Studying pictures.

And hours of videos
of your grandfather.

It's more, it's
more fun when you

dribble it into their hand.

Hold your hand out like this.

My dad loved to
hang his gold chain

- around peoples' necks.
- Wow.

A lot of people will say,

"Oh, your father
hung his gold chain

on my neck once."

So, a lot of people
remember him for that.

What was really impactful
was, these are not static items.

They tell a story, each
and every one of them.

Not only a story of
how they were acquired

but how they were transported,
the events that led up to

the opportunity
for Mel Fisher, Sr.

To go looking for them, and
now they're telling that story.

There's gotta be a value
multiplier of some sort

because it's from the Atocha.

Yeah, it's like the
Atocha factor is

- about four times.
- Yeah, I figured something like that.

It's been a battle since my
dad first started, you know.

The government's always
trying to take it away from you.

- Yes.
- I mean, our dad fought in court

for years and years because
the government wanted to

take the treasure away, and he
beat them, and they appealed it.

And we did, like, 140
hearings or something.

- 111.
- 111.

Before we got
to the Supreme Court,

and, uh, they said,
"finders keepers."

- Hundred percent ownership.
- So, we got it all.

If you find a coin,
you get to keep it.

- Really?
- All right. Amazing.

If you find a gold
bar, it's mine.

All right.

And just to give you an
idea of what that would look like,

- if you are looking for a gold bar...
- Oh, my gosh. What?

Whoa.

- What?
- Other bars we've found, you know,

they drag their
finger in the sand

and pour it right in there
and shove it in their boot

- and smuggle it home.
- My goodness.

This one has markings on it, so
we know it was registered cargo.

Tomorrow we are going
to find some of these.

We are going to give them to
you, but we're gonna find 'em.

Anyway. Seriously, thank you.

Thanks for inviting
us, thanks for letting us

get on board your boat.

All I can say is
thank you for sharing

- 'cause it's quite remarkable.
- You're very welcome.

Good luck tomorrow!

- All right, good luck tomorrow.
- Tomorrow's the day!

- Buh-bye.
- See ya next time.

There's the HMS Magruder.

Great day for finding
some emeralds.

- Yes, it is!
- Let's go to the Emerald City, shall we?

As a new
day begins off the coast

of Key West, Florida,

Rick and Marty Lagina,
along with Matty Blake,

join Melvin Abt and his team

once again to search
for millions of dollars

in emeralds connected
to the legendary

Spanish galleon wreck
known as the Atocha.

- Mel, you out there?
- Roger that.

Hear you loud and clear.

All right!

All right. Let's get
divers in the water.

Let's get some
emeralds, finally!

Today's the day.

The weather gods
are shining on us,

and I hope they don't
give us half a day.

I hope they give
us the whole day.

Ahoy!

But everyone
is suggesting strongly

that today's the day.

Literally. I hope that
today's the day for us,

that we can
actually do the work,

that we may actually
find something.

- Is this your BCD?
- Yep! It's all set up.

- All ready to rock?
- Ready to go.

Right now,
divers are just about to

get wet, about to
get in that water.

And every one of these,
there comes a moment

where it's, like, go time.

Now we're treasure
hunting, and it gets real quiet

and the excitement
level ratchets up.

So there's, like, a
nervous, excited,

palpable energy on
the boat right now.

We are on the Magruder.
We are on the Mel Fisher boat.

We are about to treasure
hunt. Weather's looking good.

It's finally here.

The three of us
really, firmly believe

that we're going to
be holding emeralds.

- We are excited.
- You got your fins, right?

- Yep.
- Tanks strapped, air's on.

- Your gauge looks good.
- Good to go.

- All right.
- Got about 3,000 pounds.

The Lagina sand sifters

are ready to go, so
bring us some sand.

- We get the easy part, I know.
- You got it.

I'll bring up some sand
and bring up some emeralds.

Bring up some
sand. Green is the thing.

- Green is what we are looking for.
- Yep. Dark green.

- Those are the valuable ones.
- We're ready when you are, bud.

- Ready to do it.
- Let's go.

Everyone good?

- Ready.
- Captain, good?

- All divers ready.
- Good to go!

- Good hunting!
- Diver one's in!

Diver's in!

Good hunting, Mel.

Diver two's in!

Attention, divers.
Attention, divers.

We're standing by. Good hunting.

We have a one-way
transducer on the J.B. Magruder so that

the captain can use a hailing
radio to speak to the divers.

It's kind of like an
omnipresent voice

when you're underwater
'cause you're right under the boat

or 100 feet away and you
can hear them loud and clear.

- Best way to do this is take two paddles.
- Yes. Yep.

So, material comes
up. Say this is your pile.

All you have to do is spread it
once or maybe twice that way.

Scoop what you just
lifted back up. Mm-hmm.

You can just dump
it in the wheelbarrow.

If you are here, you can

- dump it in this bucket.
- Okay.

- I'm telling you, they are going to pop out at ya.
- Okay.

And as it's coming
up, you can see that

the grates in the screen
here are much larger.

- Yeah.
- So, it's where it catches

all this broken shell,
seashells, sharks' teeth.

For an emerald to get hung
up here, it would have to be...

- A good one.
- At least ten karats.

But silver coins
can get popped up.

We have recovered a
silver coin in the near area

and then as it flows down,
becomes a tighter screen.

It flows down a tighter screen.

So, the colors that
we are looking for

is of course the dark green,

the dark Muzo mine emeralds.

They pop out real easy

- against this you know, dull-colored sand.
- Sure.

But the other colors that
you want to look out for

is silver coins kinda look
like half an Oreo cookie.

They have uh, the
silver oxide on them.

Gold, of course, gold
lusters just as brilliantly

- as it did when it went down.
- Yep.

So, the colors are
green, black and gold.

Sounds like a sporting team.

We work a pretty
methodical search pattern

when we're using the air lift.

We try to clear squares in
five foot by five foot areas.

That way we can mark
them off on our charts

and positively say that
we have searched this area.

How deep will they go?

Uh, they'll go until they
hit the hard-packed mud bottom.

There's a lot of overburden
over top of the wreck.

Sand, shell, mud.

It's a lot to move.

Yes, I wanna see these
beautiful, priceless emeralds.

Those belong to
the Fisher family.

I was told by Kim Fisher,
that if we find a coin,

if I find a coin,
I get to keep it.

Now, not that that
would be so valuable,

but I would've found
it and I get to keep it.

And so, I am actually
almost more excited,

as bad as that sounds,

I'm almost more excited to find

a coin of my own
than I am emeralds,

but we are going to
go after everything.

And anything could
come across that table.

We're in the debris
field of the Atocha.

Hey, we're treasure
hunting, fellas.

By God we are.

Right now, the
apparatus is running,

the water's coming down the
belt and, you know, we're all

intently focused on what
we're supposed to do.

Bring it on!

Come on, baby!
Bring me some green!

The problem that I'm finding
is the shells are colorful,

they're brilliant, they're
all different shapes

and sizes. So
I'm constantly focused on,

okay, stay in the moment,
you're looking for emeralds.

But I have a task
in front of me.

We all do. And that is to find
the color green on that mesh.

And I am dedicated
to that task, and I will

let nothing get in the way.

How are you doing
down there, Matty?

We're doing fantastic,

but I am ready for some green.

Okay, materials
coming up nicely.

Will this air lift
bring up gold?

'Cause gold is really dense.

It would depend
on the size of it.

A gold coin, absolutely.

Gold jewelry, absolutely.

What's that?

Is that just a rock?

No, that is not.
That's beautiful!

What's that?

Is that just a rock?

No, that is not.

That's actually
iron from the wreck.

- Is it really?
- It is.

Nearly 40 miles

off the coast of
Key West, Florida,

Marty Lagina has just made
a discovery believed to be

connected to the Atocha,

the legendary Spanish
treasure galleon

that sank more than
four centuries ago.

You see how it's
slightly oxidizing there?

I thought it might be
silver, but is it iron?

- It's iron.
- Would that be from the wreck?

Good chance of it.

All right, I found something.
I found a piece of the Atocha.

- Maybe.
- Yeah.

Shows we're in the
right place, if it is.

- That's a good sign, right?
- Any start is a good start.

It's just a rock.

I have spent countless hours

on the wash plant conveyor

on Oak Island, and
I know it's tedious.

I know it's somewhat boring.

This is a little bit
different because we know

exactly what to focus on.

We're looking for green,
we're looking for emeralds,

and we're hopeful.

As Mel told us,
generally they find things.

So, it should be exciting.

When I'm swimming
around the hole, I'm looking

for anything that
doesn't look natural.

I'm looking for man-made
objects, encrusted artifacts.

Most people will swim
right over an artifact.

They're just not really trained
to look for an encrusted object.

You know, they're expecting

everything they
find to be shiny gold.

You know it reminds
me a little bit, again,

of when I was on the other
side of Florida doing the 1715

Spanish Treasure Fleet and
we pulled up parts of the ship.

You know, like, that is
incredible history. It's...

it's not gold, but it's... You're
holding something in your hands

that's been under there for
300 or, in this case, 400 years.

400 years. And to
know it definitively.

- Yes!
- Well, you heard the captain say

this is from the Atocha.

So, it's at least 400.

- Could be older.
- That's crazy.

Every artifact we recover
tells a little bit more of the story.

It's like another
piece of the puzzle

of the Atocha shipwreck.

What we're looking
at is a scatter pattern

of artifacts over
nine miles long,

so every time we find another
piece of the puzzle, we mark it.

What it is, where we found it,

how deep in the
mud it was, et cetera.

After two minutes of water,
rev twice for dredge shutoff.

After two minutes of water,

rev twice for shutoff.

We're standing by.

All right, first pump done.

After operating
the air lift for more than an hour,

Melvin Abt and Jacob
Bell must now surface

in order to rest
before their next dive.

I've got your tank.

- Whew.
- Well said.

They also
have their own discoveries

to share with the team.

I saw something
in your hand, man!

Something in my hand.
Something in my pocket.

- Oh!
- What do you got, Mel?

- I got a little piece of a ballast stone.
- Oh, wow.

Ballast stones
were stones of various sizes

used to weigh down
and offer stability

for galleon ships as
they traversed the seas.

According to the official
manifest of the Atocha,

because it was transporting
so much treasure,

some of the
valuables were actually

intermingled with
layers of the ballast.

That's definitely
a piece of ballast.

- Why do you say that?
- Yeah, how are you sure? - Ballast stone?

Well, out here in the
ocean, the bottom is

pretty much going
to be coral limestone.

This is quarried
stone from Cuba.

You can tell by looking at it.

It's got a high... You'll
see quartz veins in it.

And then there's
also Cuban river rock.

- Look at that piece.
- What do you got there?

So, this one is a
barrel hoop fragment,

- I believe.
- That is a barrel hoop fragment.

Once again, from the iron
in it, we got the rust stain.

Looking good.

A piece of an iron barrel hoop,

potentially from the Atocha?

Generally composed of iron
or heavy steel, barrel hoops

are the metal rings that hold
wooden cargo containers intact.

The question is, just what
was stored in the barrel

that this artifact came from?

So, we've got ballast,
which we know that are in

the lowest portion of the ship.

Barrel hoops are
going to be stored in

the lowest portion of the ship.

And there's nothing to say

that the container of emeralds
was not kept in a barrel.

Wow. That's amazing.

The more you find, the
more questions there are.

And the more questions,
the more you look for.

And the more you look
for, the more you find.

There has been a suggestion,

a strong suggestion,
based upon these museums

and archives that you
put treasure in barrels.

So, it's very possible that
this very hoop we are looking at

might've held emerald
contents of a barrel.

- All right, want to do another one?
- I'm ready.

We got daylight a-wasting, let's
get the next diver in the water.

- Let's do it.
- Let's go!

- You ready to head back in?
- Ready to head back in.

So, you had enough
time on the surface, right?

Yep. Just enough.

- Hey, Zach.
- Sir.

- You ready to go?
- Oh, yeah. Absolutely!

Let's go bring up some treasure.

Yeah, let's keep
the ball rolling, huh.

- Let's go! Today's the day!
- In the water.

After discovering evidence
of the acclaimed Atocha shipwreck

off the coast of
Key West, Florida,

treasure hunter Melvin Abt
is now joined by fellow diver

Zach Moore to make a
descent some 50 feet below

in search of millions of
dollars in emeralds known

to have been on the
ship when it sank in 1622.

Good to go?

- Good hunting!
- There they go.

- Divers down!
- Divers down.

- I got a good feeling about this, Matty Blake.
- Yeah, me, too.

Although emeralds
can only be detected by sight,

for this dive,

Melvin is using a
handheld metal detector

to also look for the vast
amount of silver and gold

that is yet to be recovered
from the debris field of the wreck.

- All right, this is exciting!
- Yeah, it is.

Anything can come up,
and we're sending down very

qualified people
with a metal detector.

We're, we're up on
top with bated breath.

- Now we wait.
- Now we wait.

Sometimes, we will
have a diver search the area

with a metal detector.

We like to be very
thorough in our search,

and sometimes we find
objects that aren't even metallic...

Uh, pottery shards,
pottery necks,

all different kinds
of other artifacts.

Attention, divers.
Attention, divers.

Try to wrap everything up

and return to topside

in about ten minutes.

Try to wrap everything
up and return to topside

in about ten
minutes. Standing by.

After searching
for nearly a half hour,

every second now counts
for the team to make

an important or
valuable discovery.

It's extremely
exciting to find an intact

artifact for the first
time in 400 years.

It's just unlike anything else
to bring up a piece of history.

All right, guys,
go ahead and wrap your dive up.

Finish your safety stops
and come up to the surface.

Wrap your dive up,
finish your safety stop,

come to the
surface. Standing by.

Whenever the divers
come out of the water,

it's almost like that
hammer grab coming out

of the hole on Oak
Island, you know?

It's like, what is in it?
What's in their pockets?

There's a lot of
excitement in the air.

Got bubbles.

After pausing
underwater for several minutes

to decompress
before their ascent,

Melvin and Zach now
return to the surface

to share what they have
found with the rest of the team.

Divers are up.

Well, Matty, what's your
bet, what'd they find?

- I think our hot hand got something.
- He got something?

Oh, yeah! We definitely
have something.

What do you got?

Oh, that's cool.

The second I see
this olive jar neck,

I am thrilled because

I'm telling you,

right that second, I
knew this thing was old.

Oh, check it out, you can
actually see some pitch

still on it; see right here?

Oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah. That's pitch.

- Yeah.
- That's pitch from the original...

From the
original contents of it.

Holy moly.

Generally made
of quartz, and originally designed

to store olive oil,

so-called "olive
jars" were utilized on

16th- and 17th-century
Spanish treasure galleons

for the transport of different
types of wet and dry goods.

Although they are not
made of precious metals,

because of their
delicate nature,

even fragments are rare,

and quite valuable discoveries

for treasure hunters
and archaeologists alike.

The pottery itself
tells a very interesting story.

This was a 150-foot,
40-ton Spanish galleon

and to find an intact
neck of pottery after

it survived that and 400 years
of tumbling around the ocean,

to find an intact piece of
pottery is pretty amazing.

Did you see it first with
your twin-optical scanner,

as Gary Drayton likes
to say, or did you feel it?

- That's a nice find.
- It was mostly buried.

There was what? About
a what, a little corner of it...

- Yeah, sticking out of the sand.
- Yeah, a quarter of

it sticking out of the sand.

- Sand or mud?
- It was right in the mud.

Mixture of sand and mud, right

- at the crease of the hole.
- It's found in the mud.

So the fact that it was

in the mud means
it's been living there

for almost 400 years.

There is 100% chance that
came from the Atocha, correct?

Hundred percent.

There is a 100% chance

that came from
the Atocha, correct?

- Hundred percent.
- That's what I thought.

A hundred percent.
There's no doubt.

- That's pretty amazing.
- That's amazing.

While searching
in some 50 feet of water

near Key West, Florida,

divers Melvin Abt and Zach Moore

have just discovered a rare

and valuable piece
of olive jar pottery

connected to the
legendary Atocha shipwreck.

How rare is this?

Well, the rarity
of this artifact

is significant because
the Atocha was known...

It was carrying silver coins,

so there are thousands
of silver coins on it.

There were kegs of musket balls,

there were thousands of that.

But there were
only a few hundred

- amphoras that were on it.
- Right.

Captain Tim is very excited

about this olive jar pottery top

because there weren't very
many. That makes it a rare find.

It is considered to
be right up there with

silver, gold and jewels.

Now where will this
go? This will obviously...

- Bag it and tag it.
- Short-term,

- go in there, in the water.
- Bag and tag it.

This is certainly
from the Atocha,

and therefore it has to
be at least 400 years old.

If that doesn't get your
attention as a treasure hunter,

then you should
leave the business.

- Any more diving today?
- Diving is done for the day.

All of my guys are really
high up on their nitrogen count.

Well, you're done for
here, this is too deep, right,

- to do any more diving? Yeah.
- Right.

- Copy that.
- So we'll disconnect.

Oh, it was, it was really cool.

Very informative, to see

how you actually do
stuff was really neat.

And we did
get some artifacts today.

We got some
great artifacts today.

This trip with Rick and
Marty was amazing.

Even though we didn't find
emeralds, I think, you know,

we accomplished what
we were out there to do;

recover some artifacts and,
you know, continue the hunt.

I mean, we found barrel hoops
from the wreck that haven't been

seen by a human in 400
years, and that olive jar neck

is a beautiful, beautiful
piece of history.

We might not have recovered
emeralds, what we were actually

hoping to recover,
but that's okay.

I think it's just like
with Oak Island, it wasn't what

we started looking for, but
it's treasure of a different kind.

It's still treasure.
It still tells a story.

It still might be impactful.

And I think that something might
give them some real clues about

where that debris field
goes, in terms of the search.

That's the area of search now,

so I think they're gonna
make some tremendous finds.

We've got a lot of pieces
to the puzzle filled in.

We know that
we're in a good area,

we just gotta keep working
it and doing what we do,

not leaving any stone unturned.

- You're in the right place.
- Absolutely.

Every day is the day, right?
No matter what you find.

Every day is the day, and
you guys exemplify that.

- So, my hat's off to you.
- Well, thank you very much.

The dedication
you see exemplified here

is something to be

- respected and admired.
- Thank you.

Well, I think it's
time to head home.

We'll get the chase
boat pulled up

and, uh, get you guys on board.

- Mel, that sounds great.
- It's always about the people.

You know, you can
find enormous treasure,

but at the end of the day, it
always comes down to the people

that you meet, and we have
met some incredible people,

and the Fishers are
some of those people.

Growing up and
witnessing my dad's

eternal optimism, it just,
it had to rub off on me.

It was his
perseverance, you know,

his "stick-to-it-iveness."

He encouraged
people to take on tasks

that they didn't think
they were capable of.

He gave people
faith in themselves

that they didn't know they had.

We didn't find any
emeralds, but they're going to.

- I'm convinced of it.
- Yeah.

If you want something
bad enough, you don't give up.

I just find them
inspirational as a family unit.

They have done well,
they'll continue to do well,

- and it was fun being a part of it.
- It sure was.

It's not if we
find it, it's when we find it.

You have to be that optimistic.

You have to have
the optimism that

every hole will have
millions of treasure in it.

The hunt goes on. I'm
going to continue searching,

just helping any way I can to
make sure this legacy continues.

I say we pull on in
and on to the next one.

There are more
adventures out there.

- On to the next, Captain!
- Fire them up, Captain.

- Let's go!
- Today's the day.

Tomorrow's the day, and the
next day's the day, and we're going

to finish the job and find the
rest of the Atocha treasure,

which is what my grandfather
would have wanted.