Beyond Oak Island (2020–…): Season 3, Episode 8 - The Booty of Black Sam Bellamy - full transcript

- Tonight...
- Divers in the water.

On Beyond Oak Island...

Samuel Bellamy became

one of the most successful
pirates of the time.

This is the only verified
pirate treasure in the world.

His ship, the
Whydah, was the most powerful

and the wealthiest of all ships
to sail throughout the world.

People have estimated
what you've collected so far,

it might be worth $400 million.

- We haven't found the mother lode yet.
- Wow.

Love it. Sing, baby, sing.



- What is that?
- 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, guys,
welcome to my backyard.

Cape Cod.

Glad to be here.

Glad to be back, buddy.

I think this is a great
opportunity for us

to show the world
the incredible history

that lies just off this shore.

In Cape Cod, Massachusetts,

Rick Lagina and New
England native Matty Blake

join diver Tony Sampson for
a new and exciting adventure.

They are on their way
to meet Tony's friends,

renowned salvage divers
Barry and Brandon Clifford,

to assist in their
ongoing efforts

of recovering
artifacts and valuables

connected to the legendary
18th century pirate wreck

known as the Whydah.

Tony, I want to thank you.

I'm sure Matty does,
too, for setting this up.

Well, thanks, guys.

I mean I'm just so
happy you're down here.

And, you know, in
my selfish little mind,

I-I'm just fizzing
at the opportunity

to-to dive the Whydah as well.

This wreck,
the Whydah, is so iconic,

and this team's already
pulled up a lot of artifacts,

so that's always exciting,
too, when you know

that they've done it before.

There's precedent here,
we're gonna see something.

Definitely, Matty.

I really love this story.

You know, I read Barry
Clifford's book years ago

on the details of
recovering the Whydah,

and the whole story of
the captain of the ship,

"Black Sam" Bellamy.

Yeah, I think we're
gonna learn a lot of things.

During the golden
age of piracy in the Americas,

which took place
from 1650 to 1726,

Black Sam Bellamy, an Englishman

known for his
dark, flowing hair,

was one of the most notorious
buccaneers on the high seas.

Samuel Bellamy became

one of the most successful
pirates of the time.

He would capture over
50 ships in his career.

One of the big trends of piracy

that the pirate
Samuel Bellamy started

was defeating their
victims through intimidation,

rather than actually
killing people.

He and his men
would charge onto ships

completely naked
brandishing their weapons.

And people would
be so shocked by this,

that they would surrender
almost immediately.

In early 1717, Black Sam Bellamy

made his greatest conquest
when he and his crew

commandeered the English slave
ship known as the Whydah Gally.

The Whydah was the
most powerful and the wealthiest

of all slaving ships to sail

throughout the
world at that time.

It was 110 feet long and
weighed about 300 tons.

Along with all the goods
that the Whydah contained,

it also had gold and
silver packed away

in 50-pound bags all
throughout the ship.

The Whydah was also
carrying approximately 50 African slaves,

whom Captain Bellamy
immediately emancipated.

He also offered them
membership on his crew

with equal shares
of compensation

and voting rights
regarding operations.

They all accepted.

Black Sam Bellamy was
known as the Robin Hood of the sea,

and this is because he really
made a huge effort to make sure

that every single
person in his crew

very much got their equal share.

Not just people in the crew,

but even people
that he captured.

He-he wanted to make sure
that they were treated well

and would get their share.

As the captain of the Whydah,

Black Sam Bellamy made his
way north toward Massachusetts

plundering an astounding
54 additional merchant

and pirate ships along the way.

It is estimated that the
Whydah carried five tons of gold,

silver and various jewels,

making Black Sam Bellamy

probably the wealthiest
pirate in history.

But as the
Whydah approached Cape Cod

on April 26, 1717,
tragedy struck

as a violent nor'easter
devastated the ship.

The Whydah ended up
crashing onto the coastline of Cape Cod.

Almost immediately, the
ship completely capsized,

because it broke
into loads of pieces.

When it broke into
all these pieces,

many of the pirates on the ship

were either killed instantly,

or they were severely
injured, and drowned.

All but two of the
Whydah's 146-man crew

perished in the disaster,
including Black Sam himself.

The scattered
remains of the ship

sank in the waters
off of Cape Cod

and would be lost for
more than two centuries

until explorer Barry Clifford
and his team discovered them.

I'm excited, guys.
And I think we're coming up on it.

Yep, this is the research center
here, right on the left, mate.

This one is very
special for me, this adventure,

because I'm about to meet
two legends around here,

Barry and Brandon Clifford.

Growing up around here,

it's hard not to hear
about the Whydah,

but I didn't know the details,

and I'm really looking
forward to meeting them.

Good morning, guys. Good
to see you again, Barry.

Hey. Good morning. How
are you there, young fella?

- Good to see you again, Brandon.
- Hey Tony, nice to see you.

Barry Clifford
and his son Brandon

have committed
literally their lives

to this endeavor
and they're not here

just because there's
treasure on the seafloor.

They're here to
retrieve that story

which has been lost for so long.

That's inspirational.

- Barry.
- Howdy.

That gentleman speaks
highly of both of you.

Wow.

Most impressed to meet you, sir.

- How much did he pay you?
- I told li... I told lies.

I'm Barry
Clifford, I'm an explorer.

I grew up on the Cape,

so, it was always, you know,

exploring, looking
for things, and

as a kid, I used to sit
around the old fish shack,

and listen to the
stories they would tell.

And the Whydah was a story
that sort of resonated in my mind.

I'm Brandon Clifford.

The Whydah was really
a folktale on the Cape

that had become this, like, myth

and, you know, there
were stories of coins

that washed up on the beach.

And my dad was a Cape Codder

and he heard all these stories

and it inspired
him to go search.

In 1982, Barry,

along with his friend and fellow
adventurer John F. Kennedy Jr.,

discovered a survey map
of the original wreck site

created in 1718 by
cartographer Cyprian Southack,

and began a quest to
bring the story of Black Sam

and the Whydah back to life.

In '85, we
discovered this large concretion

with what appeared to be a
bell sticking out of the side of it.

We brought it back
to our laboratory,

the letter "W" pops
up and then "H"

and the Y-D-A-H. 1716.

It said "The
Whydah Gally, 1716."

So, then that was the front
page of The New York Times.

My phone never stopped ringing.

Ever since
that fateful discovery in 1985,

Barry Clifford obtained
the exclusive salvage rights

to the Whydah's wreckage and
has continued recovering artifacts

and valuables in the
waters off Cape Cod.

Although John F. Kennedy
Jr., along with his wife Carolyn,

tragically passed away in
1999, Barry's son Brandon

works tirelessly
beside him in the effort.

To date, they have
found more than

100,000 artifacts, valuables
and even human remains

related to the Whydah.

This is great.

So, uh, is this the lab

and where you
kind of take care of

the items that you bring
up from the Whydah?

- Yes.
- Yep, that's correct.

So, we recover material
from the Whydah

and it's brought back here
where our conservators

- then put it through a process of conservation.
- Wow.

And then we have two museums
and we're building a third museum

and that's the
essence of what we do.

We display the
artifacts that we bring up

for educational purposes.

And we've kept the
entire collection together.

We don't sell anything.

That's incredible.

- So, are we allowed to see some of this stuff?
- Absolutely.

You should come back here
and have a look at some of this.

Let's see it.

Wow, this is fantastic, guys.

I love the array of
cannon right there.

- Oh, no way.
- Beautiful.

So, what was it? 62
cannon you pulled off this?

We found 61.

- 61?
- Yeah, we've brought up 50, I think.

- Wow.
- Wow.

- There's 11 still buried offshore.
- Incredible.

Some of these
cannons were antiques in 1717.

- Wow.
- Wow.

This is the way
you see them now,

but this cannon right
here, for example,

this is what cannons look
like when we first find them.

In this one, you can see it
has a gun door from the ship

still concreted to the cannon

with a variety
of other artifacts

all fused into the cannon.

And that's what a
concretion looks like.

Concretions
are hardened conglomerations

created over time when
iron artifacts corrode

in salt water and
collect nearby objects.

Should we go discuss the
dive plan in the meeting room?

- Yeah.
- Sounds fantastic.

I would love that.

This is incredible, guys.

We're going over
the dive plan now,

uh, we're all anxious to get
out there and see this treasure.

We want to see treasure,
we want to see artifacts,

and that's why we're here.

You know, we can actually
see some of this surface

for the first time ever since
it went down in the 1700s.

These are some of the
coins that we've found

and, um, a stack of
them, eight reales.

They're all in pretty
good condition.

They called it a sock roll.

They'd roll them up
in a sock, like a wallet.

- Wow.
- Perfect, yeah, yeah.

Wow.

You know, when I see
this, I can't help but think of value.

And I just want to be clear,

that's not what
drives us, but I mean,

coins equals treasure in a way.

And so, what you've
collected so far,

your vast collection that
some people have estimated

it might be worth $400 million.

What do you think of that?

I have no idea.

You don't context it like that?

I don't think of
it like that, no.

I mean, I know that
The Wall Street Journal

and some of the other people

estimated it be
worth $400 million.

Um, and that was 40 years ago.

Mm-hmm.

In terms of the-the
so-called mother lode,

we haven't found that yet.

Wow.

So, we'll probably pick up right

where we left off last season.

Go back to the same
location towards the beach.

We've located a new
cannon, a small cannon,

uh, that we believe was kept
on the stern of the Whydah.

- We believe we-we're on the trail of the stern.
- Oh, wow.

The stern section is, you know,

where the captain's quarters

and the officer
quarters would've been.

And if we're able to
find the area where

that section of
the wreck rested,

you would find
significant artifacts.

Things that Bellamy
had, himself, in his cabin.

So, weather provided,

we'll head out the inlet
and head up the Cape Coast

to the Whydah site, inshore from
the main point of the shipwreck.

Then we'll, uh, set up
our grids under water

with the assistance of
Tony, and we'll go to work.

All right, well, as
we've said before,

talk is wonderful,
but let's get going.

- Let's get out there.
- Fantastic.

- It's the only way things get done, right?
- That's right.

I love dive day, Captain.

Now, where are we going exactly?

We are going through
East Orleans here,

up north to the Whydah
site. Marconi Beach.

In Cape Cod, Massachusetts,

Rick Lagina and Matty
Blake are being transported

to the Whydah search area

by Captain Jeff Spiegel,

who has been working with
Barry and Brandon Clifford

to salvage valuables
related to the Whydah

for more than 30 years.

We're excited to get back to it.

- We always are.
- I love it.

We're ready.

We've all got
our fingers crossed.

I'm hoping to find
something unique today.

Something that tells a story.

We're gonna find
treasure, that's the hope.

See, look at this here.

That's kind of interesting, huh?

Meanwhile...

Tony Sampson
and Brandon Clifford

have begun a side scan
sonar survey of the target area

in the hopes of identifying
signs of the Whydah's stern

and the vast cache of
valuables it is believed to contain.

Should we try and
give it a shot east/west

- and just see what we come up with there?
- Sure.

The Humminbird
Helix 10 sonar device

emits high-frequency
sound pulses

that reflect off the ocean floor

to produce an
image of the bottom,

as well as any potential
structures, or objects,

that may not be
natural features.

So, what we're
doing, we call it lawn mowing.

So, you're literally going
up and back in lines,

like lawn mowing.

The side scan, what it does,

is it looks down
and out to the side

and you can actually see
the height of the structure

off the bottom as well, and
any shadows that it puts out.

So, in a perfect world
here you might see, um,

a timber structure or maybe
something like an anchor

protruding from the bottom.

Fortunately, this spot

is uncovered from sand
and we're getting some

pretty, pretty nice
images with our side scan.

While Tony and Brandon
continue their side-scan sonar survey...

Barry!

Good to see you
again, my friend.

Captain Jeff, Rick
and Matty arrive at the search area

where they rejoin
Barry Clifford.

All right, Barry's on board.

My friend.

How are you?

Well, it's good to
see you on the water.

I think this is your
natural habitat.

Been here a long time.

- Yes, sir.
- Almost 40 years.

I see your son is over here.

What's the... What's the
dive plan today with him?

We're essentially
following artifacts

that we found before

and we believe are
leading to the stern.

- Ooh.
- So, all of the valuables

that they stole from the
54 ships that they captured,

were supposedly in this area.

Wow.

While Tony and
Brandon gather the data needed

to dive on the wreck of
the Whydah from their boat,

Rick, Matty and Barry Clifford
are monitoring the operation

from their own boat
less than 100 yards away.

Look how linear this is.

- Mm-hmm.
- That's kind of weird, huh?

I mean, that is
unbelievably linear.

You know,
maybe a cannon possibly.

Yeah. Like,
that's what I think, yeah.

On the side scan,
when we're looking at it,

we're actually seeing

an artifact that
looks like cannon.

Our heartrates are going up

and we're getting excited

seeing this sort of
stuff on the bottom.

Yeah, this
is a good area to dive.

Boat one to boat two?

Yeah, copy that,
you're loud and clear.

We're gonna set up and
we're gonna head inshore

to this wreckage
that we're looking at

and make a couple dives on it.

We scanned the wreck
and it looks pretty interesting.

There are a few shapes
that look like cannon,

with deep shadows.

Pretty interesting, so,
we're excited to go jump it.

Okay, all right, standing by.

Boat two out.

When you hear things like that,

you want to jump in
the water, yourself.

This could
be a section of the ship.

And what's happening with
this weather we've been getting,

are things that have
been getting uncovered.

But who knows?

- That could be a piece of the Whydah.
- Incredible.

All right, well, we have a
comms system, we can stay

in touch with the
divers as they dive here.

So, I'll get the
transducer in the water

and we can monitor
their progress.

Okay.

Tony and Brandon are just about

to get into the water
there on their dive boat.

Barry, Rick and
myself will stay topside.

Monitoring comms, stay in
communication with them.

I want success for
Barry and Brandon,

not just for them, but
also to kind of represent

what we are here in New England.

You know, we're hard workers,

we love our history,
and we don't stop.

Hopefully, today's the day.

Splash one.

Divers in the water.

Second diver in.

Tony Sampson's in the water.

All right, we have
divers in the water.

Yep.

Comms are here,
we hear you. Over.

We splash and
the currents aren't bad at all.

We start to descend
down, the heart drops a little

because we
realize the visibility

is around at two feet
to three feet maximum.

You know, this is
all part of the game.

Diving on the
Whydah is very technical.

You know, we depend
heavily on safety, you know,

and-and-technique.

We deal with an ever-changing
climate down there.

And when you're
working with other divers,

you're really depending
on each other to be there

and to be able to
support each other.

Ooh.

Repeat. Did you say
on target? Confirm. Over.

We like to hear that, Brandon.

Do you have your metal
detector with you, Tony? Over.

Love it.

Sing, baby, sing.

Love it. Sing, baby, sing. Over.

Just off the coast
of Cape Cod, Massachusetts,

divers Tony Sampson
and Brandon Clifford

have just found
possible evidence

of a portion of the
legendary Wydah Gally,

captained by the notorious
pirate Black Sam Bellamy.

The Whydah broke apart

and sank in a violent
nor'easter back in 1717,

along with a massive
fortune in treasure.

Sounds
good. Any way to tell

what size timers they are,

how big are the timbers? Over.

Copy that.

Wow. Nailed it.

It's very interesting
that it's a very intact section

of a wooden ship.

It needs to be investigated.

You know, it's a big
section of the ship.

It definitely could be
part of the Whydah.

Now you know definitively
it's not just not a...

not just an image
on a side scan.

- Oh, no.
- It's eyes on the target.

Yeah. It's history
no matter what it is.

Absolutely is.

How's the visibility
down there, fellas? Over.

Every time we fan
the sand, we're silted out.

And then all of a sudden,

it's like somebody has tipped
a salad bowl on top of us

and you have this mung weed,

it's like lettuce
floating past your mask.

And you are literally
swimming in a salad.

Roger that. We hear
you. Surface is waiting.

Come on up when
you're ready. Over.

You really can't see anything.

So, we really have to back off

and wait until we can
work in clearer water

so we can get all...

collect all the data
that we could use.

They're coming
up. Right over there.

- Oh, yep.
- Got them all.

All the divers are up.

I believe what we
were seeing on the side scan

was these large
wooden structures.

You know, now it looks like

we're following the
yellow brick road.

You sounded happy down
there, like you had a great target.

Tell me about it.

Well, we saw, uh, a lot of
big pieces of old timbers.

The first piece,

we swam upon was
what we think was a spar,

a part of the
rigging on the ship.

A round, beautiful
piece of long wood.

It's definitely within the
vicinity of the Whydah.

And that wood
could've been buried for,

you know, hundreds of years

and preserved under sand, so...

We're running
out of daylight here,

so let's do it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I think we should

actually move off of this spot.

- Okay.
- Just because the visibility is not very good.

And we-we'll head
offshore a little ways

-where we hope to find
better visibility -MATTY: Right.

And pick up on that debris
field that we've been working on.

In the meantime, you
guys should come check out

the Whydah Pirate Museum.
I think you'll really enjoy it.

Let's do it.

Okay, everybody,
thanks. Great dive.

Good work.

Later that afternoon...

- So, this is it, huh?
- This is it.

It's awesome.

- Come on in.
- All right.

Barry and Brandon Clifford

welcome Matty, Rick and Tony

to the Whydah Pirate Museum

located in West
Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

This is cool already.

Wow.

Here you see
the-the Whydah's anchor.

Oh, wow.

One of the anchors.

My goodness.

Your-your team found this?

We did. We've
recovered three anchors so far.

I mean, it's so pristine,
it's like in perfect shape.

And it speaks to the
size of the ship, too.

That's incredible.

It tells me a couple things.

Number one is the size
of the ship is massive.

The other thing that it tells
me is how violent the storm was.

That is a huge anchor

and this ship got
tossed like a rag doll,

turned upside-down,
churned and sunk.

We're gonna take you in and show
you some of our concretions now

that our archeologists
are working on.

Let's go.

Established in 2016,

this facility is one of two
museums related to the Whydah

that have been
founded by Barry Clifford.

It houses thousands of artifacts
recovered from the wreck,

including one concretion that
contains the entire skeleton

of an unidentified crew member.

Oh, man.

It's the
tomb of the lost pirate.

No kidding.

This is a human
skeleton encapsulated

within that concretion.

Oh, my God.

X-ray machine. Let
me show you. Um...

This is his pelvis.

- Oh, my God.
- There he is.

And right over his pocket,

where his pocket would be,

it appears to be a
pocket filled with treasure.

Oh, those look like
coins. Yeah, you're right. Wow.

And you can see one
of his bones sticking up out...

Oh, my God.

We brought this up
many, many, many years ago.

And we've kept it together
like this because it...

I think it captures
what things look like

after they've been under
the water for so long.

These concretions
we've recovered, they're essentially

time capsules, right?

We-we don't know
what's inside them.

And-and the only way you
can find out what's inside them,

the first step is to X-ray it.

After having a good
X-ray of the concretion,

our conservators are able to

then approach the artifacts
within the concretion

using, like, the proper methods.

I want to introduce
you to our archeologist,

Andrew, who's in charge
of, uh, de-concreting.

Hey, Andrew. Tony.
Nice to meet you.

- Hey, Tony.
- Hey, Matty Blake.

- How are you? Good to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.

All right, if you want
to step this way...

- Oh, yeah.
- Got a little surprise for you guys here.

You're gonna like this.

This is a very
special concretion.

We don't find these every day.

- Oh, look at the coins.
- Oh, look what I see.

- Oh! Wow.
- You see all the coins?

So, the coins here, here, here.

And if you look, they go all

the way through the
center to under here.

So, this is a stack of coins

that goes through
the entire concretion

and then boom, right
there in the middle,

you can see that
piece of a gold bar.

- What? That's gold all right.
- Yeah.

- Wow. That's gold, baby.
- Yeah.

That is fantastic.

Once we discovered
what we had and the thousands

and thousands of artifacts
that we've brought up,

it became an obligation to
me to preserve everything.

And we've never sold one
bit of artifacts or treasure.

We've kept it all intact.

You know, we have a
big, big job ahead of us.

These stories have
to be told with integrity.

When's the last time you
saw a bag of pirate treasure?

- Nobody's seen it.
- They don't.

- This is the world's only documented pirate treasure.
- Wow.

Tomorrow, when we go
diving, we're going to go back

to the same spot where
we recovered this concretion

and we hope to find
more of the same.

- Oh, man.
- Fantastic.

Look at that grin.

- That's exciting.
- No, that's awesome.

Fingers
crossed for a great dive.

Artifacts, treasure.

Today's the day.

As a new
day begins off the coast

of Cape Cod, Massachusetts,

on board his research
vessel, the Vast Explorer...

Okay, we're there.

Barry Clifford continues to scan

the ocean floor for artifacts
related to the Whydah,

a pirate ship that sank in 1717,

along with its cargo of
treasure worth hundreds

of millions of dollars.

It seems to be a
hot spot there, doesn't it?

I think we're on the spot.
Let's give it a go, mate.

All right, Tony,
let's do it. Suit it up.

Don't know unless we look, eh?

Yeah. Don't
know until you go.

Approximately
200 feet to the south,

Brandon Clifford and Tony
Samson have stationed

themselves on a
separate dive boat

where they are
using side-scan sonar

to help identify a
promising target

that they hope is part of
the Whydah's stern section,

which would have been
carrying a significant portion

of the ship's valuables.

As Brandon and Tony
confirmed their target area

in preparation for a dive,

Matty Blake and Rick
Lagina monitor their progress

from a third boat nearby.

Tony Samson or anyone
on the dive boat. Copy?

Hey, Tony, just
checking your status.

I-I can kind of see
from a distance.

Do you think you have
a good spot? Over.

Copy that, Matty. Um...

All right, we
will come up to you,

and we'll start this dive.

Let's have a good dive,
gentlemen. Over and out.

To be able to come
back here and dive the Whydah,

you know, this is just
a dream come true.

It's unbelievable.

- Okay, one for one, one for all.
- Yeah.

I'm hoping we get in
there, it's nice and flat and sure,

we have good visibility

and we actually get the chance
to go down and find something.

All right, you're
looking good, Brando.

Diver one in the water.

- Yay. Splash one.
- Boom.

Right now I'm gonna dive first.

It's efficient for us
to send one diver in,

assess the conditions.

Tony's going to stay on
deck, and the reason is,

is it's just more efficient.

If you send two or three divers

in the water and the
visibility is no good,

then you have to get two or
three divers out of the water.

And you also used air.

I hear you, buddy. Over.

Roger that.

This is Matty
over to the dive boat.

Tony, we're going
to hold you for now.

We're going to hold you
for now on the surface.

Brandon says no
bueno on visibility. Over.

I'm sitting there on
the boat. I'm still in my gear.

I'm just itching, you
know, I want to get down,

I want to get down,
I want to get down.

But sometimes you
have to sit this out.

It's just the way it is.
From a safety point of view,

if we send more divers
down with zero visibility,

chances are we may
actually ensnare ourselves

in the reel line that
Brandon's running.

So, this is a much safer plan.

Roger that. We hear
you loud and clear.

Do what you can do. Be safe.

We'll talk soon. Over.

I'm doing a radial
search. I'm using a search line.

I'm going to clip
into the anchor,

which marks our GPS point,

and then I'm going
to do a ten-foot circle,

and then I'm going to go
out 15 feet on my search line

and then 20.

And as I do that, I'm
using a metal detector

to search for any objects
that may be scattered about.

Do you have a detector on
you, a metal detector? Over.

Copy that.

That's great. He's getting hits.

He's worked his way up

right off our bow here.

Just checking in. How
you doing, buddy? Over.

- Ooh.
- Ah, we got an artifact.

We got some in the bag, baby.

- All right.
- There you go.

I mean, when he started
this dive, I was thinking,

this is going to
get called early.

- And he probably doesn't know what it is either.
- Right, right.

But just the fact he's got
something, that's exciting.

Yeah, very exciting stuff.

Ah. Brandon's got something.

This is what I've
been waiting for.

He's got an artifact,
and I just can't wait

to get him to the
surface to see what it is.

Oh. Diver leaving the bottom.

Diver one on surface.

He's got something.

- How'd you make out?
- Good.

Oh.

It's not pretty down there.

- No?
- No. We're in the black sand.

- Is that right?
- Yeah.

- No fricking way.
- Ah!

I see some smiles.

Matty's gonna lose his mind.

No fricking way. Ah!

- Look at that beauty.
- No way, buddy.

I see some smiles. What is that?

- That looks like a coin to me.
- Spanish eight real, buddy.

- Come on.
- Is it really?

Are you kidding me? Come on.

It's beautiful.

Off the coast
of Cape Cod, Massachusetts,

diver Brandon Clifford has
just made a valuable discovery

while searching for artifacts
from the Whydah Gally,

a famous pirate
shipwreck that sank in 1717

with hundreds of
millions of dollars' worth

of treasure onboard.

This is a Spanish coin
from the wreck of the Whydah.

It is unbelievable.

Holding that coin is
my childhood again.

You know, it's like
the heart rate picks up

and it's like I'm reliving
my little boy's dream

of finding pirate treasure.

It's in perfect
shape. Look at that.

Isn't it gorgeous?

- It's still ridged.
- Wow.

Oh, my gosh.

This is a beautiful,

just incredibly
preserved silver real.

It's a top pocket find.

I mean, there's no
question about it.

That little coin
speaks to history,

and that was an
incredible moment.

We also have a spoon.

Look at that. Spoon.

What was the
last meal that touched?

- Who was the last person to touch it?
- You see that?

This is spectacular,
buddy. Well done, mate.

Could this come from the Whydah?

- Oh, yeah.
- That's awesome.

I would imagine you are gonna

continue on this
spot in particular,

if you found both these
items in bad vis that quickly.

- This is a good area.
- Yeah.

So, we'll just continue
to-to work in this vicinity.

Well, congratulations
to the whole team.

- And, uh, man, we got to show this to your dad.
- Yeah.

- We got to show this to your dad. Whoo.
- He'll be happy.

I mean, this
is an incredible find.

That eight real plopped
in my hand. It's heavy.

There's some pirate that
had that coin in his bag

and was using that
in the 18th century.

Barry, you got to come
on and see what we found.

And this kid from
here is holding it next.

I can just say it
fills me with awe.

Ready?

Finding
this coin is another clue,

uh, to where the wreckage
of the Whydah may lie.

All right. Ready?

And they represent
something like very powerful,

you know, a
transaction of human life.

Oh, my God. Look at that.

Isn't that stunning?

Eight real.

It's in perfect condition.
It's absolutely perfect.

Wow. This is great, you guys.

Fantastic.
It's beautiful stuff.

- It really is.
- So great.

I'm so happy for you guys.

I mean, this father and son
team comes out in this vastness

and can pull things that
small out of the ocean,

but that valuable, that
small, that valuable.

That meaningful.
That tells a story.

I mean, I'm just really
happy for you guys.

These things don't
happen overnight, right?

It's been a long road for you.

I am most impressed that
the body of work you've done,

the experiences you've created,
the memories you've created,

father to son,
passing on the legacy.

I-I think it's all...

This day couldn't be
more picture-perfect.

And I, again, I thank you
both for the opportunity

to-to share a very
unique experience.

- And all I can say is thank you.
- Thank you.

You know, we've been out
here 40 years on this project.

It-it's been a wild,
wild ride for me,

but I'm still in the saddle,

and, you know, hopefully,
we can continue to do this.

We feel fortunate
to get to do this work out here.

It's a beautiful place to be

and great people
to work with, and, uh,

we always have
to think of our team

because, you know, we're
really nothing without them.

I think it's really important
to continue this work.

You know, my-my
father blazed the trail,

and-and we have, you
know, a heavy load to carry.

I feel that we are stewards
of the shipwreck, you know,

and that we need to do
our best to protect it and, uh,

look at the key points of
history that it represents

and help share that
experience with others.

It was a fantastic day,
and thank you, guys,

for coming up
here. Or down here.

Thanks so much, Brandon.

Unbelievable finds.

Well, what a trip.

It was great to watch
this guy get to be part of it

and this guy to see my hometown,

like you guys have
brought me to Michigan.

But you left me, you
know, standing at the altar.

Thanks a lot, guys.

I know how I feel. I
wish you were all there.

Going on an
actual treasure ship, right?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- Incredible.
- All right, okay.

But these guys got in the water

and found some of
that pirate treasure.

- Very cool.
- And that is just so exciting.

What have I got here?
What am I looking at?

What you're looking at
there is a spoon from the wreck

and also a coin from
the wreck site as well.

That came up
looking just like that.

- It's so beautiful.
- Really?

- Yeah.
- Why is that? 'Cause it's likely silver.

Well, you see, when
metals are touching metals,

obviously, that's
when they degrade.

So, the same as the...

So this was by itself?

- Exactly.
- I see.

So, if it's in a
conglomeration or concretion

touching, as you said,

- you know, like an anode, it will sacrifice itself.
- Mm-hmm.

But if it's in that
anaerobic environment,

be it silt or sand,

then it comes out
looking like that.

Barry and Brandon are standing
by with an update on that coin

and-and some more information,
so I'd love to bring them up.

- Sure.
- Please do. Yeah, I'd like to meet them.

Hello, fellas.

- Good morning.
- Morning.

Good morning.

Welcome to the war room.

Thank you.

So, the incredible coin that
you brought up, Brandon,

have you identified it for sure?

Have you done any
further analysis of it?

So, we've done some analysis
of the silver coin we found,

and we have some pretty
interesting news about it.

Ooh. All right.

- Can't wait to hear.
- Can't wait.

So, the coin that
we've recovered is super interesting.

Our archaeologist Andrew
has been examining it.

Andrew put it
through electrolysis.

It was from 1710.

A Spanish silver eight
real minted in Lima.

Is that the legendary
piece of eight?

Is that what that is?

It is.

It's a Spanish piece
of eight. Exactly.

Correct me if I'm wrong,

but that's pirate
treasure, correct?

Correct.

I mean, a great find.

Super exciting,
showing that you guys

were looking in the right area.

Um, and also the spoon,
that incredible artifact.

Uh, have we learned
anything about that since?

Nothing new.

Uh, you know, it was a
personal possession of a pirate.

They probably, you know,
held onto something like that

closely and it was, you
know, very useful on a ship.

So, we'd like to think
maybe the last person

that ate from that
spoon was a pirate.

Probably.

- Incredible.
- Wow.

Yeah, it's a story
waiting to be told.

- You know, former slaves experimenting in democracy...
- Yeah.

On board a former slave ship.

Well, it's a
great story, and it shows

same common
denominators with other things.

Perseverance.
These things take time.

They're certainly
not easy, are they?

It's impressive.
From-from soup to nuts,

what you guys have
done is just incredible.

I mean, I told you that
while we were there,

and it was an honor
to watch you guys work.

It was a lifetimes
experience really,

- It was.
- To participate in this, and we thank you both for that.

It was incredible.

You know, you guys are awesome.

I'd love to get back
down there sometime.

That sounds great.

I'll stay in touch
with you guys.

You know, I'll do another
trip to Boston anytime.

- Till next time. Thank you.
- Thank you.

Thank you so much.
You guys are great.

- Talk soon.
- Take care.

I say it all the time,
right? Forget the treasure.

This-this story was spectacular.

- Yeah.
- Well, a lot of people say,

you know, it-it's more
than treasure and all that,

but they've proved it.

- Oh, my goodness, yes.
- They've proved it.

But I will say this.

We may have a story
like that here on this island,

and there's only one
way to figure that out.

We've got to get out
back and do something.

All right, let's go.

Let's go find
it. What do you think?

- Okay, fine.
- All right.