The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down (2016–…): Season 5, Episode 5 - Closer Than Ever - full transcript
Matty Blake visits Oak Island in the dead of winter, only days before the Coronavirus pandemic changes the world; later, he connects with Marty, Rick and Craig to learn about the safety of the team and plans for the future.
It's showtime!
Alright, here we go.
Get ready for an insider's look
at the most historic year
of discoveries ever
in the Oak Island
treasure hunt.
The island
can't keep its secret anymore,
it can't do it.
Oh, my gosh.
From mysterious
antique jewelry...
This is a ring, mate.
...to shocking finds
in the Money Pit...
Whoa, look at this.
We have got gold markings.
How about that?
...and man‐made workings...
Holy crow.
What the heck is it?
...that date back centuries.
Hey, guys, how you doing?
Hey, Matty.
And later I'll be getting
a critical update
from Rick, Marty, and Craig
as they report from their homes
on the safety of their team
and plans for the future
while the world confronts the
devastating COVID‐19 pandemic.
We're in this together.
We're doing what we can do.
We're certainly going
to move forward,
and you can't walk away
at this point.
The Curse of Oak Island - Drilling Down
Season 5 - EP 5 - Closer Than Ever
Subtitles Diego Moraes / Ewerton Henrique
www.oakisland.tk
On February 20,
almost four months
after the team completed
their amazing year
and just days
before the COVID‐19 pandemic
gripped the world,
I visited Oak Island
with Rick Lagina and members
of his incredible team
to conduct their first
new operation of this year
in what is now a 225‐year quet
to solve the world's longest
running treasure mystery.
In the winter like this,
this is an Oak Island
that very few people
actually get to see, right?
'Cause the tours stop
in the winter
and most of the operation stops,
so seeing it icy
like this and white
is just a real pleasure.
One of the perspectives
is just, there's no greenery.
Yeah.
I mean, the evergreens,
of course,
‐but...
‐Sure.
It‐It's kind of a surprise
to us every winter, too,
because you can see
‐all the storms have wrought havoc.
‐Yeah.
As the seasons have gone on,
it's become more and more
of a 365‐day‐a‐year operation
for you.
The old thought that,
"Well, when the snow comes,
they're gone,"
that isn't true anymore, right?
It isn't true anymore,
but we're lucky enough now
to have people like Scott here
because if we need some feedback
from the condition on the
island, we can go to these guys.
‐Right, Scott?
‐Yep.
You've been in here
more than a few times.
The war room in the winter.
What is it doing?
Is it just dormant?
I happen to have the keys.
Winter war room
this should be good.
Well, you'll be
the judge of that.
‐Do the honors.
‐All right.
I've done this a few times.
You have.
Gentlemen!
Oh, wow.
There are no gentlemen
here today.
Looks like we're just
using this for storage.
That's all it is
we have to utilize
every single space on the island
for our storage.
But what it speaks to, to me
and it's just an aside, right,
or a recollection
we've been on this journey now
a long time,
and all of it has increased
dramatically.
You know, when we first came,
you know, we had one drill rig.
It wouldn't stay very long.
We had no outbuildings,
we had no reason to‐to have
a building to for storage,
and now look
what this has become.
‐This is cool.
‐This is cool.
We've got a lot more
to show you.
Unfortunately
it's gonna be a bit colder.
That's all right, I'm ready.
This is what
I signed on for, Rick.
So, I've never seen
this road all in white.
I've never seen
the western side of the island
all blanketed in white
like this. It's...
it's really unique.
I mean, I've been here in the
late fall a bunch of times,
where it's been freezing...
with the wind,
but, uh, not like this.
This is like a whole different
look to Oak Island.
This is the view I'm excited to
see, coming towards the swamp.
I will challenge your
observation skills because,
when you round this corner
to the Money Pit,
you may or may not see
something that you'll
remark on.
There is a changed vista.
All right.
Wait a second,
where's our hill?
The Money Pit mountain
it's gone.
Oh, my God.
Wow, that opens up
this whole Money Pit area.
This is replacing the memory
of the original look
of the island,
especially the Money Pit.
We constantly strive
to respect it
and to renew it
and to reintroduce old
the aesthetics from long ago.
Where did the hill go?
We'll meet Billy, and he'll take
us to the work he's done,
and‐and that work
‐swallowed that entire mountain.
‐Oh.
A little mini mystery for me.
‐I like it.
‐A little mini mystery.
All right.
‐Hey, guys.
‐ Hey, Billy.
Hey, wait a minute,
something's wrong.
The sun's out,
it's fairly warm,
and you've got long pants on.
‐Huh?
‐I‐I‐I didn't...
‐Long time no see.
I didn't want to make
you guys look bad.
‐How you doing, Billy? Good to see you.
‐Good, how are you?
‐Good to see you.
‐Hey, Jack.
Matty, you know, wants to take
a look at, you know,
not only Oak Island
in the winter
but all the work that, that was
done at the end of the year.
Whoa, baby!
Really big, impressive timbers.
We're back in the old stuff.
In season seven,
the team dug deeper and wider
than ever before
in their search
for the treasure shaft
known as the Money Pit,
the place where the entire
mystery began back in 1795.
That's an interesting one
right there.
Look at the marks on that one.
If this is the Money Pit,
I don't think
anyone ever got deeper
in the Money Pit
than 113, 114 feet.
‐We're close, aren't we, Vanessa?
‐We are. Yeah.
As we all know,
constant digging and cave‐ins
from the legendary
booby‐trapped flood tunnels
over the past two centuries
have caused the exact location
of the Money Pit to be lost.
Well, this year the team went
bigger than ever,
sinking three eight‐foot‐wide
steel‐cased shafts
across the Money Pit area:
OC‐1...
I never expected this much wood.
We're going to follow that
Hedden wall the whole way down.
...8‐A...
Here we go.
Wow.
There you go.
Yeah!
‐ Wow.
Whoa.
That is a lot of wood
coming out of the hammer grab.
...and RF‐1.
That looks carved in there,
doesn't it?
‐ Roman numerals.
‐ Absolutely.
This is like nothing
we've seen before.
That's old.
This could be original work.
Each shaft produced
compelling evidence
of the fabled Money Pit,
but their finds also led the
team to a sobering realization.
This is a...
a rather ordinary toonie.
That's the one I put down H8.
And if you think
about center to center,
the center of that plastic pipe
to the center of RF‐1
is probably what?
‐Probably ten feet?
‐Probably ten feet.
So that toonie traveled
ten feet.
So, if there is a treasure,
how far
could this treasure
have possibly moved?
I hate to hear myself say this:
the coin argues a bit
towards the big dig.
Oak Island may have been
able to hold
onto whatever lies
buried there,
which, at this point
let's face it
could be
in several locations...
but it was forced to give up
more secrets during
season seven than ever before.
And that's convinced Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team
that there's no way
they are going to give up now.
So, Billy, what have you been
working on up here
since it got too cold
to actually drill here?
‐Like, what have you been doing?
‐So,
when I first came
to the Money Pit, it was
all holes and hills,
so they were everywhere,
‐as you know, and then...
‐Sure.
I mean, obviously we have
to leave it in a certain form
because we're not done,
but at the same time
we like to put it
where we think it probably was
back in 1700 or before.
That's amazing.
Now, that‐that hill
back there, I've climbed
a million times.
Where'd it go?
That was a lot of earth.
Oak Island is probably unique
to most islands that we have.
There used to be 365 islands
in Mahone Bay,
and now there's far less because
every time there's a hurricane,
the sea washes portions
of some away.
Some of this dirt was used
to put back some
of what disappeared.
Where did most
of that happen, Billy?
Down in Isaac's Point.
Isaac's Point was in danger
of disappearing altogether,
and it's a huge part
of the story of Oak Island
because that's where
the big oak trees grow.
We have old pictures
from the 1800s
of these huge canopy oaks,
and they were on Isaac's Poin,
so I think Isaac's Point
was used as a marker
for people to come back
and find something, so...
Rick, that's a... a perfect
example of what we talk about
when we talk about not only
you guys leaving the island
at least as good as it was
but actually making it better.
You know, you mentioned,
uh, his vision
for Smith's Cove
and‐and that restoration.
I would love to take a look
at that if we could.
Sure, we'd like to show you.
Out of all the areas
on Oak Island,
probably the one that's,
that is the most dramatically
changed every time I come
is Smith's Cove,
with the cofferdamming
and the massive amount of
digging you guys have done here,
so I'm excited to see it now
in the winter.
Without the cofferdam,
seems like something's missing,
doesn't it?
‐It does.
Well, I see right away.
Wow, the walls are gone.
Yeah.
And that huge hole is gone.
That looks really good.
Great job, Billy.
It looks beautiful.
Oh, my God, there's a beach.
There's an actual beach.
‐ Yeah.
‐I've never seen that.
You have restored it
to as close as you could get
‐to what it originally was.
‐ Yeah.
That's incredible.
We're well on the way to,
to properly restoring this.
Now, what I'd like to see is,
plant a bunch of oak trees
down here,
maybe even some flowering
crab trees,
and make this a beautiful spot.
This is the best shape I've ever
seen Smith's Cove in, ever.
We left part of the cofferdam
because we also don't want
to forget history.
We put the slipway back.
The U‐shaped structure
other than the pieces
that were sent for testing
is, is in the ground there,
so it's,
it's all still there.
‐Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
‐What?
Ever since Rick Lagina
and Gary Drayton
found the mysterious lead cross
during season five...
‐ That's a cross.
‐ That's a cross.
...Smith's Cove
has been one of the team's
main points of investigation
and discovery.
And in season seven,
it didn't disappoint.
After installing
a 6,000‐square‐foot "bump out"
of the steel cofferdam,
the team uncovered
a massive structure
while looking for the end of
the ship's wharf or slipway
they found last year
and dated to 1769.
This is far and away much larger
than anything
associated with the slipway.
Yeah.
What's got my toes tingling
is all the coins and artifacts
that could be in this area.
Using tree‐ring dating
or "dendrochronology"
this wharf was dated to 1741,
more than half a century befoe
the discovery of the Money Pi.
Gary Drayton's intuition
paid off, too,
as he made multiple finds
including 17th‐century
cribbing spikes
and a lead artifact that,
like the medieval cross,
was traced
to a region of Europe
that also once served
as a stronghold
for the Knights Templar.
You know, we talked about
significant finds
right over there.
My mind goes
to those two spikes
that Jack and Gary found, and‐
and the phosphorous found,
and that... that cold,
brittle phenomenon.
Why is that so important, Rick?
Well, there's always
been thought, right?
That some of the tunnels
or some of the shafts
might have been scavenged
from a ship.
You're not gonna fabricate
cold, brittle steel
here in a northern
temperate climate.
You're just not gonna do it.
‐ It makes no sense.
‐Makes no sense.
So what are they doing here?
Huh?
‐That's the question.
‐Well, Matty, you tell me.
Well...
What's gonna happen
in the future here?
So, I think if we apply
technology out here,
there may come a time when...
when we re‐dig that.
That's incredible.
The work you did here in Smith's
Cove alone changed history.
Speaking of work
and I hate to cut
the visitation short
but right now we do have
some work scheduled.
Coring and some probing
of the underground in the swamp.
So, we need to get
to that right now.
I love it.
Winter work on Oak Island.
‐ Winter work on Oak Island.
‐Let's do it!
I'll be back and swimming
right off that beach, Rick.
The finds made in the Money Pt
and at Smith's Cove
were certainly incredible.
But what really
moved the dial this year
for Rick, Marty and the team
is what they discovered
in the triangle‐shaped swamp.
It all began with
a 200‐foot‐long anomaly
identified by seismic scanning
that eerily matched
the shape and dimensions
of a Spanish galleon ship...
right in the middle
of the brackish bog.
Come on! Get us a core.
‐Let's go!
‐Yeah.
We're right in the heart
of the anomaly.
Drilling and digging
for a single, massive object
or vessel
proved inconclusive,
at least so far.
But over the course
of the season,
in addition to an ornate ring,
which was believed to be
of Spanish origin
and dated
to the 18th century,
the team also found numerous
pieces of wood and metal
that all rounded back
to the same analysis.
What would it have been
used for, exactly?
To hold timber to timber?
Wow. Wow.
‐Yeah.
These finds support the theory
that treasure hunters like the
late Fred Nolan long believed:
Oak Island was once two islans
and the swamp
was artificially made
to hide something
of major importance
maybe a Spanish galleon ship.
And that's when things
really got interesting.
At the northernmost point
of the triangle‐shaped swamp,
the team began investigating
a circular formation
where vegetation never grows
an area they dubbed
"the Eye of the Swamp."
When they drained
and began to excavate the area,
they were rocked
by what they found.
I never would've suspected...
this type of boulders.
All clumped together,
just like this, in one area.
‐Look at all the little stuff
in there. ‐Yeah.
‐Almost looks like it's all
stacked in there, doesn't it? ‐Yeah.
And when Dr. Spooner revealed
the test results
from core samples
that he took from the Eye,
the team was
nothing short of amazed.
The sample dated out
at 1600 to 1700.
‐So what you're saying is
in 16‐something... ‐ Mm‐hmm.
...somebody dug a hole there.
‐Right.
‐Okay.
Additional core samples
led to the ultimate revelatio.
If you take the sediment
and you roll it
between your fingers,
you can see
there's a lot of clay,
which we'd expect
in a marine environment.
If you're saying that's marine,
you're saying that
whatever time that interface is,
it was sea bottom.
Yeah.
Frankly,
I think this was all water.
Wow.
It is Dr. Spooner's
expert opinion
that the swamp was once,
in fact, open ocean.
But that was only the beginning
of the secrets that the team
would fish out of there
this year.
While excavating
the fully drained swamp,
Rick, Marty, Craig Tester
and the team uncovered
a gigantic man‐made feature
a stone‐paved formation
stretching all the way
from the Eye of the Swamp
to the eastern edge.
Was it a ship's wharf?
Or a platform of some kind?
That...
is yet to be determined.
But what the team does know
thanks to carbon‐dating tests
Dr. Spooner ran
on organic materials
he found there
is the approximate date
that somebody built it.
And so we just got them back
yesterday.
And the dates are
rather extraordinary.
Uh, there's the dates
we're getting.
‐Wow.
‐Yeah.
Around 1200 AD.
Medieval.
‐Medieval, baby!
Come on! Where is it?!
It's almost unbelievable.
Man‐made workings on Oak Islad
dating back as far as 1200 AD‐
and proven with hard science.
Although I'm hearing
that the guys are planning an
even bigger dig later this year,
today they're conducting
phase one of that operation.
Here to "break the ice"
on all of this for us:
Rick Lagina, Dr. Ian Spooner,
Jack Begley, Scott Barlow
and Doug Crowell.
Rick, generally
when fans ask me,
"When do they stop drilling
on Oak Island?"
I say, "Well, when the ground
gets frozen, it stops."
But we're standing on ice
and I see drills.
What's going on?
We asked Dr. Spooner
to come and‐and drill some cores
here in the deep end
of the swamp.
Based on the work
that we did last year,
there's certainly some answers
that remain hidden here
and in order to create
a search agenda
or a discovery agenda,
we need this information.
That's why Dr. Spooner is here
and that's why
the guys are here.
We're gonna drill some cores.
Okay, Dr. Spooner,
why now, though? Why ice?
You'd think it'd be easier
to drill when it's soft.
No, uh, the ice is a platform.
‐ Okay.
‐A stable platform.
And you've got
about a meter of water
and so everything's saturated.
It's really easy for
this is a Vibracore
for the Vibracore to make its
way down through that sediment.
And we can hop around
and we can find the right spot.
And, Doctor, what are you hoping
to see in these cores?
What story
are these going to tell you?
Well, we did some cores
up by the Eye.
Got a really good story there.
Here, this is the deepest part.
This is where
sediment's been accumulating.
We've got some dates already.
We think we've got dates going
back to about 1200 AD here,
and since there's
a lot of sediment,
it's like having a book
with a lot of pages.
So I can drill down right into,
you know, very discrete data.
Find out what's happening,
really,
decade to decade in a core here.
Dr. Spooner,
walk me through the steps
of how this happens
and what happens.
Well, what we're gonna do,
we've got a Vibracore here.
All it is is a really,
a piece of irrigation tubing.
Three‐inch irrigation tubing.
Hooked it up to this vibrator.
Big vibrator.
What it does, uh...
I don't know if you remember,
perhaps people do
when you have a cast on?
To cut off that cast,
they use, actually,
a saw that vibrates.
‐Yes.
‐It doesn't go around.
This does the same thing.
It vibrates
at a very high frequency
and that works the core barrel
down into the sediment
and sometimes even cuts through
things like wood.
So we can get a really,
really nice record.
Well, I don't just investigate.
I'm here to help.
‐Let's get to work!
‐Let's go.
All right!
It's Oak Island
in the dead of winter,
and I'm braving
subzero temperatures
out on the frozen swamp
with Rick Lagina,
members of the team
and Dr. Ian Spooner.
What we're gonna do is
put this upright... like that.
Lower it down just to
the sediment, you'll feel it.
We're drilling down
for more answers
of just when this man‐made bog
was created.
Right there.
And then we just hold it
like that.
That can just sit on the ground.
Now we start up the genset.
There it goes.
Now it's really going.
See, it just works its way down.
Yeah. It went fast
once it started going.
‐And then, it hit wood.
‐Okay.
‐And that's why it was hung up.
‐Okay.
It'll be interesting to see
what kind of recovery we get.
‐Yeah.
‐Because wood can clog up the core catcher.
And then it just like a nail,
it just pushes aside.
Good.
We'll pull it up.
You have to keep
the vibrator on,
or the whole thing just sets
and you'll never get it out.
Oh, it just... You have
to kind of vibrate it out again?
Yeah. But this is such
gooey organic stuff.
Ah!
See if we can get that
over the top.
Yep.
Okay.
Oh, this looks good.
‐Oh, wow.
‐ This looks great. Okay.
‐Keep going.
Okay.
Tilt, tilt, tilt.
Keep going. Here it comes.
Wow, it's a...
Oh, wow!
Whew!
‐That...
‐ It's so hard.
It's pretty
That's an amazing core.
If that's a great core,
then how many other cores
are we gonna take?
Well, it's kinda like
bowling 300.
I don't know that
I want to play another game.
‐This is...
‐Fair enough.
‐This is about as good...
‐Fair enough.
This is really good.
So we can just lay this down.
It's all good.
I can show you, Matty...
Yeah, I want to take
a look at this.
What's really important here
is you can start seeing
the sediment get
it gets very different
down near the bottom.
Yeah.
That's clay. If you...
Do you hear that?
‐Oh, it crunched in your mouth.
‐Yeah. Yeah.
‐Wow!
‐That's...
that's the
that's sediment from the bottom.
So we got right down
to the bottom of the record.
‐ Wow!
‐So...
And there's a piece of wood
right there.
‐ I see it.
‐ Yeah.
We don't want to touch it
or contaminate it.
That'll date us.
But when we get up
into this sediment here,
you can see
it gets very fibrous.
‐Yeah.
‐And that's the natural
swamp sediment.
So, I'll be sampling this
at a centimeter by centimeter.
So we'll have 250 samples
come out of this.
All right, so, Doctor,
there's nothing you're gonna do
with this right now, correct?
No. I'm going to let it freeze.
‐Okay.
‐We're going to wrap it up.
We're going to take it
back to the lab
‐where we can really deal with it carefully.
‐All right.
All right. Well, speaking of
freezing, we're all freezing.
And I want to drill down
on this some more,
so let's all go
to the Mug and Anchor,
get a little warm,
and we'll talk more about this.
‐All right?
‐Yep.
‐Okay.
‐Let's do it.
Hello?
I actually have
two famous people here
and‐and three other
relatively famous people.
I've...
I'll make the introduction.
I have Matty "One Take" Blake.
And I have a regaled scientist,
Dr. Ian Spooner.
And they would both
like to speak with you.
‐How you doin', Marty?
‐Hi, Marty.
Dr. Spooner got
a wonderful core sample
and I'll let him tell you
a little bit about that
and‐and what it might
end up telling you guys.
Yeah, Marty,
it went really well.
Um, we... Actually,
it was the first core we took.
I was kinda chagrined by that
'cause we worked so hard
in the summer
and had a lot of struggles,
but we got about a two and
a half meter long core,
which is a lot longer
than the ones before
and all that means,
from my perspective,
is that we can look at it
in much greater detail.
Well, the good thing is
we got wood
right at the interface,
so that's some datable material,
but the other thing that's
important to me is at the base
it's, um, it's not the moss
or the heavily terrestrial
kind of signature
that you can get higher up,
which speaks to me
more of a basin of water.
A standing body of water
at that time.
It was quite deep.
Uh, not a swamp.
It'll be interesting to see
what the chemistry tells us.
Uh, all right, Marty, so
the good doctor's gonna
send that out for testing
and then in a couple weeks
or so, um, hopefully
I'll follow those results and
meet with you and your brother
at your offices in Michigan
and we'll see what it says.
Wine's on you!
Greetings to all the faithful
and welcome back.
As you can see, things look...
a little different.
And right now I was hoping to be
with Rick, Marty, Craig
and the rest of the team
in person to drill down
like we do,
but given the seriousness
and the caution
we all must take
given the COVID‐19 pandemic,
I'm here at home.
And the team
is doing the same thing.
That doesn't mean
we can't move forward
the best way we can,
and come to you from our homes.
With that in mind, joining me
are Rick Lagina, Marty Lagina
and Craig Tester.
Guys, welcome.
I'm good.
This is a little strange, uh,
it's a virtual war room,
we've never done this before,
but let's move forward,
as I said, the best way we can.
Uh, before we even get into
anything to do with the island
or the show,
I just want to do a quick status
check on you guys health‐wise.
We'll start with you, Rick;
we'll go to Marty and Craig.
How are you doing physically,
are you safe,
and‐and how are you feeling
emotionally?
I'm doing well, I mean, uh...
But all you have to do
is turn on the TV
and see how difficult life has
become for the nation in general
and for health care providers
and first responders.
We thank them, of course.
Um...
But me personally, the difficult
part is, of course,
I... am kind of, you know, I'm
reluctant to go see my sister,
who lives
about a mile or two away.
I don't get to see my
my nieces and nephews.
Being away from these people,
not being able to interact
for me is the most
hardest part, I think.
‐Marty?
I'm well.
I mean, I'm here in the house.
I've got as you can see
a lot of books to read.
Um... but I'll tell ya, I am...
I am frightened.
Not for me, but I'm very
frightened for my daughter,
because she is
one of those first responders
at Ann Arbor Michigan and I get
pretty emotional about that.
But anyway,
we're in this together,
we're doing what we can do.
I know what your daughter does
and she's certainly in my
family's thoughts and prayers
as she does the incredible work
that she does
and all the first responders.
And‐and Craig,
how are you guys doing?
I'm doing well.
I was down in Florida,
so I'm staying down in Florida,
not taking the chance of flying
back at this point in time.
Um, but we're doing well.
You know, I've been very busy
dealing, uh, with the...
with the virus,
the effects it has
on our companies.
Got everybody
working from home that can,
um, so it's been
a busy time for that
but, you know, I'm nervous
for everybody, you know?
Who knows what's going to be
happening here?
Craig, that's a great segue,
actually.
You mentioned employees and
how it's affected your business.
I'm wondering about
the rest of the Oak Island team,
the rest of the Fellowship.
Rick, is everybody okay
in terms of the Fellowship?
What do we know
about their status?
Absolutely, everyone's fine.
They're heeding the advice
of the medical professionals
and, uh, staying safe.
Doug, he stays within
close proximity to the island,
but he sequesters himself,
I guess, in the research center
because he is availing himself
of going through Dan's files
and he's made some‐some
interesting discoveries.
So there is work going on
on the island
in terms of research.
Doug is actually doing something
but that's probably
about it, correct?
That is all that's going on
and he is by himself.
It was just
a couple months ago, Rick,
you and I were on the island,
the frozen island
on the frozen swamp
and Dr. Spooner was taking,
you know, these core samples.
Do we have any results
from those core samples?
We do.
His report is forthcoming
and there are some very
interesting things in it.
But I'll give you two of the
I won't say
they're the most interesting,
but they're certainly
significant.
He is saying,
quite definitively,
that there was a significant
saltwater intrusion
around 1300 or 1400.
And, now,
he has yet to determine
whether that was a natural
enterprise or artificial,
i.e. was it breached by a storm?
Or was it artificially
opened to the sea?
1300 or 1400 which, again,
is interesting
given the previous date
he's used radiocarbon testing
to develop.
And the other thing is
again, which corroborates
some of the earlier finds
he has found high lead content
at the bottom of the core
and it is inconsistent
with rocks in the area.
He does not know
what to make of it.
But if you recall,
there was high lead values
in the Eye of the Swamp.
So, when data starts confirming
previous data?
We have a lot of work to do
to try to understand
what that means,
but those are certainly
significant developments.
Where we go with that,
I don't know.
Here's the downside of that.
He would like to continue
to look into those things,
but the labs are closed,
so that work is put on hold.
But he is certainly
very interested and excited
to‐to further that cause
and come to
a greater understanding
of what those two things,
in particular, mean.
When you guys hear those dates,
I know you're very careful
not to jump to conclusions
and I know it's a joke
to say, "Templars, baby!"
but man,
you can't help but think
that those theories aren't
so far‐fetched any more. Marty?
They haven't been
double‐tested yet, you know.
I mean, we haven't eliminated
the natural phenomena,
but is it exciting? Yes.
But I'm not ready
to land there yet.
Let me ask you this
and we'll go one, two, three;
Marty, Rick, Craig.
With all these discoveries,
in terms of the mystery,
has the swamp
equaled the Money Pit?
Grudgingly, yes.
I'd have to say yes.
There's certainly as many
questions about the swamp
as there is about the Money Pit.
I have to agree
with both of those guys.
Three yeses.
This is fantastic.
what's the one thing that comes
to each of your minds?
We'll start with Rick;
we'll go Marty and Craig.
I‐I have to pick two because
and you'll be surprised
that the second one,
the first one, to me,
was we focused a lot of
our efforts in the Money Pit.
So that collapsed feature
that we found,
we now have a very defined area
that we're going to investigate.
The other thing that I think
was a discovery moment was
we're getting a lot of interest
from the academic and
professional communities,
i.e. the sciences,
and we're continuing
to push that envelope,
obviously with their help.
So the understanding there,
the discovery that
what we've always believed,
that it's a real mystery,
we're trying to apply
real science with real
professionals and academics...
That is being brought
to fruition.
Yeah. Marty, how about you?
What stands out for you?
I have a top‐pocket find.
‐Ooh.
‐And Matty, I would say
it's this.
This, you will recall,
is my toonie.
Okay, so why is this so amazing?
Because this toonie was dropped
down a hole by me.
I don't know what season;
four years ago?
Yeah.
Dropped down
in one of the holes.
Dropped down 210 feet
and came back up
in an entirely different hole.
I don't remember the distance,
but quite some distance away.
Now what does that tell you
about what could have happened
to this treasure?
So I found that very,
very interesting.
That's really interesting,
actually.
That's a great point about the
movement underneath. That's...
It was a test toonie,
if you will.
It was.
And it moved a long ways
underground.
While we know
the Money Pit collapsed,
we've never been able to
you know, with any
precision or accuracy
define these old chambers that
the other explorers encountered.
Well, you know, all of a sudden,
maybe we have
maybe we have an explanation.
It all moved.
So it makes the hunt
a lot more difficult.
Means we're gonna have
to drill some more wells
and we're probably gonna
have to go deeper.
That's awesome.
How about you, Craig?
I have to go with two things.
One, the swamp. The paved area.
I mean,
when we first dug into it,
I thought it was nothing.
And, you know,
when we first dug down there
and the mud was still on top
it was obvious
that there was rocks
of different sizes,
boulders that you would
have to climb over
that it wouldn't be
easy travelling.
But then as we went further
and found out, in fact,
it was a very large area
with laid‐down rocks.
Every expert saying,
"Man did this."
I just found that amazing,
how big it was
and in the swamp.
I mean, we‐we don't have a clue
why it's there.
Well, Craig, I want to stay
with you for a second,
because I know that
even after the season wrapped,
there was still testing
left on the table.
Um, can you talk
about what you've learned?
We brought up a post
and it came out of
the big can OC‐1,
which was way on the east side
of the Hedden Shaft.
And, uh, we were able
to send the post off
for dendrochronology
to come up with a date.
And the date was 1706.
‐Mm!
‐ So way, way, before
the Money Pit
was ever discovered.
Even before what we've found
in Smith's Cove.
So we keep on pushing the date
back further.
What it means?
We're not sure, but it's
something we need to pursue.
That date, 1706.
So... so much before 1795,
so much before the discovery
of the Money Pit.
Rick, when you hear 1706,
what does that make you think?
I don't know what to think
of the date 1706.
I mean, it's certainly
three generations
prior to the discovery.
Some of the research
has indicated that
there was activity in the area
in 17... early 1700s.
And could a large‐scale
work effort have gone unnoticed?
I'm not so sure.
So, does it compel us
to look further? Absolutely.
But I‐I would like to run
a duplicate test
on the... on the wood
that is that significant.
Well, it makes me think
of another discovery
made by the Restalls
in the 1960s that 1704 ston.
So we have 1706, 1704...
Indeed, Rick, like you said,
something might have been
going on during that time.
In terms of the 1704 stone
I think the one thing I want to
do, which we have not done yet,
is to tell Lee Lamb.
Because that's a part of their
family right now, that stone.
And, you know, we now have
a date, brought from science,
that is pretty close
to the 1704.
Who knows? It may yet be very,
very significant.
Marty, what do you make of that?
There are a lot of dates now,
quite a bit before 1795.
It's really getting kinda hard
to‐to discard them all
and so you have to say something
substantial happened there
well before the Money Pit.
Here's how you can make
order out of chaos,
to some extent,
on the island right now
with what we found last year.
A series of very old dates.
And then a series of "old"
in the sense of pre‐dating
the Money Pit,
but not as old
as the very old dates.
It could have been
a recovery effort
for a very ancient treasure.
You've got some
pretty good dates
that seem to say that
somebody was looking around
way underground.
Makes a lot of sense.
This has happened now
for seven years running.
Right at the end of the year,
about the time maybe
you're a little discouraged,
here comes
a whole bunch of stuff
that just gets
your juices going again
and last year was the same.
Whatever happened on Oak Island
keeps getting pushed back
farther and farther in history
and that is incredibly
intriguing.
Let's say perfect world
we get back on the island
in short order.
What can you guys tell me about
any plans you have
for searching this year?
Well, right away,
we want to get drilling
with Choice Sonic Drilling again
in the Money Pit.
You know, we're definitely
looking for the deeper area,
so if the bottom fell out
in the Money Pit,
where did the treasure go?
And, uh, we've got a shallower
target around the vault area
that we need to do some more
work around there.
And then
the metal detecting part
that's a couple
of the big areas
we've got a lot of
smaller ideas to follow,
plus the swamp.
‐Marty, the swamp!
Yeah, the swamp.
You know, the creature that
just won't die.
In fact,
you know, I have to concur.
You know, I had written it off,
I don't know,
probably a dozen
different times,
but you can't write it off now.
I mean, we have expert
after expert...
I don't know, how many experts
do we have, four or five, now?
That have said this is a very
interesting man‐made structure.
And we're getting dates like the
13th century, the 14th century.
These are scientists!
I'd love to be done
with the swamp,
but I don't want to be done
because there's things
to be found there
and we need to do it.
A methodical archeological dig
might take an awful long time,
you know, so there'd be that
at one end of the spectrum
and then at the other end
would be just to say
"Look, let's go in there,
do a more massive excavation."
No doubt. Rick?
I think some
small‐scale activities
based upon some of the research
that is currently ongoing,
uh, might be very fruitful.
And we all have interest down by
Smith's Cove in the uplands.
You know,
would we entertain possibly
draining and digging
the Cave‐In Pit?
Those are things that
still have to be developed
and thought about.
If you can't look at
the past year or years
and think to yourself,
"I can't wait
to move this thing forward"
then... maybe you need
to reconsider.
I love it.
I love all your thoughts.
We are back! I'm with Rick Lagina,
And when we come back,
Marty Lagina and Craig Tester
and we've been talking
about this incredible season.
But I gotta tell you,
you guys really,
once again, moved the needle.
Um But it's funny, we use
the phrase "move the needle"
kind of indicating forward,
but in a large sense, you guys
have moved the needle back
and what I mean by that is
the time line has gone back.
But on Oak Island, ironically,
moving the needle back
is actually moving it forward.
Moving the needle forward
involves finding out
that the needle was pointing
farther back, yeah.
Something like
you do it however you want
but, yes, the dates moving back
were certainly, uh, are adding
to our knowledge of what may
have happened on Oak Island.
Where do you guys stand
in terms of your sense
of the team's determination
to solve this mystery,
to get that big breakthrough?
Because in my estimation,
you guys are closer
than ever right now.
We've all stayed positive.
And I have always been about
the information hunt
and I think that's...
that will prove very,
very useful this year.
And so we're not gonna
waste time.
So, guys, it's obviously been
another incredible season
on The Curse of Oak Island, but
you guys have an announcement
about something
that's coming up this fall.
Marty, tell us about it.
Rick and I have
become quite aware
that there are great treasure
mysteries out there.
And are people working on them?
And what are they doing?
And are there recent finds
that maybe people
don't know about yet?
Are there new theories
about old treasure hunts?
So we're working on this new
series with the History Channel.
It will come out in the fall
and, you know,
aptly enough,
it's called Beyond Oak Island.
And Matty, we're asking you
to help us with this,
help with us presenting it
as we uncover these things
and as we get to the bottom of
some other great mysteries.
We're gonna be looking into some
stuff in the U. S. Wild West.
We're gonna to be looking into
some great vanished treasures
from Mesoamerica,
we're gonna look at
some stuff that's probably
on the bottom of the ocean.
And Matty, we're looking forward
to presenting this
along with you.
I'm excited to be
a small part of it
and I know you're ready
to look beyond Oak Island,
but talk about maybe how
looking beyond Oak Island
could actually point
back to Oak Island
in terms of some of the things
we've been learning.
As we investigate them
and learn about them,
there might be
some testing methodology
or the application of science
which we are currently
unaware of
which we may be able to borrow.
And we may be able
to assist them.
Uh... but really, to me,
treasure is about learning.
I can't wait.
It's gonna be a blast.
Well, guys,
this was incredible
different, but incredible.
I wish it were in person
as you know, I'm a hugger
but we have to keep
our social distance for now,
so I just wish you guys all
the health and, uh, happiness
there at your homes
and, as you say, Rick,
until we meet again on the
island, "sempre avanti," right?
Sempre avanti, si.
Mom would be proud.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you, Matty, stay well.
Stay safe, Matty. Thank you.
Thanks, Matty, see you soon.
Well, there you have it.
You know, I think
it's gonna take a while
for all of us to navigate
these really tough times
that we're in
these unprecedented times.
But just know that Rick, Marty,
Craig and the team
are gonna be back trying
to solve this treasure mystery,
doing what they do best.
And it'll happen
before you know it.
Until then,
from our home to yours,
stay safe, Acorns.
And as always,
thanks for watching.
Subtitled by Diego Moraes /Ewerton Henrique
www.oakisland.tk
Alright, here we go.
Get ready for an insider's look
at the most historic year
of discoveries ever
in the Oak Island
treasure hunt.
The island
can't keep its secret anymore,
it can't do it.
Oh, my gosh.
From mysterious
antique jewelry...
This is a ring, mate.
...to shocking finds
in the Money Pit...
Whoa, look at this.
We have got gold markings.
How about that?
...and man‐made workings...
Holy crow.
What the heck is it?
...that date back centuries.
Hey, guys, how you doing?
Hey, Matty.
And later I'll be getting
a critical update
from Rick, Marty, and Craig
as they report from their homes
on the safety of their team
and plans for the future
while the world confronts the
devastating COVID‐19 pandemic.
We're in this together.
We're doing what we can do.
We're certainly going
to move forward,
and you can't walk away
at this point.
The Curse of Oak Island - Drilling Down
Season 5 - EP 5 - Closer Than Ever
Subtitles Diego Moraes / Ewerton Henrique
www.oakisland.tk
On February 20,
almost four months
after the team completed
their amazing year
and just days
before the COVID‐19 pandemic
gripped the world,
I visited Oak Island
with Rick Lagina and members
of his incredible team
to conduct their first
new operation of this year
in what is now a 225‐year quet
to solve the world's longest
running treasure mystery.
In the winter like this,
this is an Oak Island
that very few people
actually get to see, right?
'Cause the tours stop
in the winter
and most of the operation stops,
so seeing it icy
like this and white
is just a real pleasure.
One of the perspectives
is just, there's no greenery.
Yeah.
I mean, the evergreens,
of course,
‐but...
‐Sure.
It‐It's kind of a surprise
to us every winter, too,
because you can see
‐all the storms have wrought havoc.
‐Yeah.
As the seasons have gone on,
it's become more and more
of a 365‐day‐a‐year operation
for you.
The old thought that,
"Well, when the snow comes,
they're gone,"
that isn't true anymore, right?
It isn't true anymore,
but we're lucky enough now
to have people like Scott here
because if we need some feedback
from the condition on the
island, we can go to these guys.
‐Right, Scott?
‐Yep.
You've been in here
more than a few times.
The war room in the winter.
What is it doing?
Is it just dormant?
I happen to have the keys.
Winter war room
this should be good.
Well, you'll be
the judge of that.
‐Do the honors.
‐All right.
I've done this a few times.
You have.
Gentlemen!
Oh, wow.
There are no gentlemen
here today.
Looks like we're just
using this for storage.
That's all it is
we have to utilize
every single space on the island
for our storage.
But what it speaks to, to me
and it's just an aside, right,
or a recollection
we've been on this journey now
a long time,
and all of it has increased
dramatically.
You know, when we first came,
you know, we had one drill rig.
It wouldn't stay very long.
We had no outbuildings,
we had no reason to‐to have
a building to for storage,
and now look
what this has become.
‐This is cool.
‐This is cool.
We've got a lot more
to show you.
Unfortunately
it's gonna be a bit colder.
That's all right, I'm ready.
This is what
I signed on for, Rick.
So, I've never seen
this road all in white.
I've never seen
the western side of the island
all blanketed in white
like this. It's...
it's really unique.
I mean, I've been here in the
late fall a bunch of times,
where it's been freezing...
with the wind,
but, uh, not like this.
This is like a whole different
look to Oak Island.
This is the view I'm excited to
see, coming towards the swamp.
I will challenge your
observation skills because,
when you round this corner
to the Money Pit,
you may or may not see
something that you'll
remark on.
There is a changed vista.
All right.
Wait a second,
where's our hill?
The Money Pit mountain
it's gone.
Oh, my God.
Wow, that opens up
this whole Money Pit area.
This is replacing the memory
of the original look
of the island,
especially the Money Pit.
We constantly strive
to respect it
and to renew it
and to reintroduce old
the aesthetics from long ago.
Where did the hill go?
We'll meet Billy, and he'll take
us to the work he's done,
and‐and that work
‐swallowed that entire mountain.
‐Oh.
A little mini mystery for me.
‐I like it.
‐A little mini mystery.
All right.
‐Hey, guys.
‐ Hey, Billy.
Hey, wait a minute,
something's wrong.
The sun's out,
it's fairly warm,
and you've got long pants on.
‐Huh?
‐I‐I‐I didn't...
‐Long time no see.
I didn't want to make
you guys look bad.
‐How you doing, Billy? Good to see you.
‐Good, how are you?
‐Good to see you.
‐Hey, Jack.
Matty, you know, wants to take
a look at, you know,
not only Oak Island
in the winter
but all the work that, that was
done at the end of the year.
Whoa, baby!
Really big, impressive timbers.
We're back in the old stuff.
In season seven,
the team dug deeper and wider
than ever before
in their search
for the treasure shaft
known as the Money Pit,
the place where the entire
mystery began back in 1795.
That's an interesting one
right there.
Look at the marks on that one.
If this is the Money Pit,
I don't think
anyone ever got deeper
in the Money Pit
than 113, 114 feet.
‐We're close, aren't we, Vanessa?
‐We are. Yeah.
As we all know,
constant digging and cave‐ins
from the legendary
booby‐trapped flood tunnels
over the past two centuries
have caused the exact location
of the Money Pit to be lost.
Well, this year the team went
bigger than ever,
sinking three eight‐foot‐wide
steel‐cased shafts
across the Money Pit area:
OC‐1...
I never expected this much wood.
We're going to follow that
Hedden wall the whole way down.
...8‐A...
Here we go.
Wow.
There you go.
Yeah!
‐ Wow.
Whoa.
That is a lot of wood
coming out of the hammer grab.
...and RF‐1.
That looks carved in there,
doesn't it?
‐ Roman numerals.
‐ Absolutely.
This is like nothing
we've seen before.
That's old.
This could be original work.
Each shaft produced
compelling evidence
of the fabled Money Pit,
but their finds also led the
team to a sobering realization.
This is a...
a rather ordinary toonie.
That's the one I put down H8.
And if you think
about center to center,
the center of that plastic pipe
to the center of RF‐1
is probably what?
‐Probably ten feet?
‐Probably ten feet.
So that toonie traveled
ten feet.
So, if there is a treasure,
how far
could this treasure
have possibly moved?
I hate to hear myself say this:
the coin argues a bit
towards the big dig.
Oak Island may have been
able to hold
onto whatever lies
buried there,
which, at this point
let's face it
could be
in several locations...
but it was forced to give up
more secrets during
season seven than ever before.
And that's convinced Rick,
Marty, Craig and the team
that there's no way
they are going to give up now.
So, Billy, what have you been
working on up here
since it got too cold
to actually drill here?
‐Like, what have you been doing?
‐So,
when I first came
to the Money Pit, it was
all holes and hills,
so they were everywhere,
‐as you know, and then...
‐Sure.
I mean, obviously we have
to leave it in a certain form
because we're not done,
but at the same time
we like to put it
where we think it probably was
back in 1700 or before.
That's amazing.
Now, that‐that hill
back there, I've climbed
a million times.
Where'd it go?
That was a lot of earth.
Oak Island is probably unique
to most islands that we have.
There used to be 365 islands
in Mahone Bay,
and now there's far less because
every time there's a hurricane,
the sea washes portions
of some away.
Some of this dirt was used
to put back some
of what disappeared.
Where did most
of that happen, Billy?
Down in Isaac's Point.
Isaac's Point was in danger
of disappearing altogether,
and it's a huge part
of the story of Oak Island
because that's where
the big oak trees grow.
We have old pictures
from the 1800s
of these huge canopy oaks,
and they were on Isaac's Poin,
so I think Isaac's Point
was used as a marker
for people to come back
and find something, so...
Rick, that's a... a perfect
example of what we talk about
when we talk about not only
you guys leaving the island
at least as good as it was
but actually making it better.
You know, you mentioned,
uh, his vision
for Smith's Cove
and‐and that restoration.
I would love to take a look
at that if we could.
Sure, we'd like to show you.
Out of all the areas
on Oak Island,
probably the one that's,
that is the most dramatically
changed every time I come
is Smith's Cove,
with the cofferdamming
and the massive amount of
digging you guys have done here,
so I'm excited to see it now
in the winter.
Without the cofferdam,
seems like something's missing,
doesn't it?
‐It does.
Well, I see right away.
Wow, the walls are gone.
Yeah.
And that huge hole is gone.
That looks really good.
Great job, Billy.
It looks beautiful.
Oh, my God, there's a beach.
There's an actual beach.
‐ Yeah.
‐I've never seen that.
You have restored it
to as close as you could get
‐to what it originally was.
‐ Yeah.
That's incredible.
We're well on the way to,
to properly restoring this.
Now, what I'd like to see is,
plant a bunch of oak trees
down here,
maybe even some flowering
crab trees,
and make this a beautiful spot.
This is the best shape I've ever
seen Smith's Cove in, ever.
We left part of the cofferdam
because we also don't want
to forget history.
We put the slipway back.
The U‐shaped structure
other than the pieces
that were sent for testing
is, is in the ground there,
so it's,
it's all still there.
‐Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
‐What?
Ever since Rick Lagina
and Gary Drayton
found the mysterious lead cross
during season five...
‐ That's a cross.
‐ That's a cross.
...Smith's Cove
has been one of the team's
main points of investigation
and discovery.
And in season seven,
it didn't disappoint.
After installing
a 6,000‐square‐foot "bump out"
of the steel cofferdam,
the team uncovered
a massive structure
while looking for the end of
the ship's wharf or slipway
they found last year
and dated to 1769.
This is far and away much larger
than anything
associated with the slipway.
Yeah.
What's got my toes tingling
is all the coins and artifacts
that could be in this area.
Using tree‐ring dating
or "dendrochronology"
this wharf was dated to 1741,
more than half a century befoe
the discovery of the Money Pi.
Gary Drayton's intuition
paid off, too,
as he made multiple finds
including 17th‐century
cribbing spikes
and a lead artifact that,
like the medieval cross,
was traced
to a region of Europe
that also once served
as a stronghold
for the Knights Templar.
You know, we talked about
significant finds
right over there.
My mind goes
to those two spikes
that Jack and Gary found, and‐
and the phosphorous found,
and that... that cold,
brittle phenomenon.
Why is that so important, Rick?
Well, there's always
been thought, right?
That some of the tunnels
or some of the shafts
might have been scavenged
from a ship.
You're not gonna fabricate
cold, brittle steel
here in a northern
temperate climate.
You're just not gonna do it.
‐ It makes no sense.
‐Makes no sense.
So what are they doing here?
Huh?
‐That's the question.
‐Well, Matty, you tell me.
Well...
What's gonna happen
in the future here?
So, I think if we apply
technology out here,
there may come a time when...
when we re‐dig that.
That's incredible.
The work you did here in Smith's
Cove alone changed history.
Speaking of work
and I hate to cut
the visitation short
but right now we do have
some work scheduled.
Coring and some probing
of the underground in the swamp.
So, we need to get
to that right now.
I love it.
Winter work on Oak Island.
‐ Winter work on Oak Island.
‐Let's do it!
I'll be back and swimming
right off that beach, Rick.
The finds made in the Money Pt
and at Smith's Cove
were certainly incredible.
But what really
moved the dial this year
for Rick, Marty and the team
is what they discovered
in the triangle‐shaped swamp.
It all began with
a 200‐foot‐long anomaly
identified by seismic scanning
that eerily matched
the shape and dimensions
of a Spanish galleon ship...
right in the middle
of the brackish bog.
Come on! Get us a core.
‐Let's go!
‐Yeah.
We're right in the heart
of the anomaly.
Drilling and digging
for a single, massive object
or vessel
proved inconclusive,
at least so far.
But over the course
of the season,
in addition to an ornate ring,
which was believed to be
of Spanish origin
and dated
to the 18th century,
the team also found numerous
pieces of wood and metal
that all rounded back
to the same analysis.
What would it have been
used for, exactly?
To hold timber to timber?
Wow. Wow.
‐Yeah.
These finds support the theory
that treasure hunters like the
late Fred Nolan long believed:
Oak Island was once two islans
and the swamp
was artificially made
to hide something
of major importance
maybe a Spanish galleon ship.
And that's when things
really got interesting.
At the northernmost point
of the triangle‐shaped swamp,
the team began investigating
a circular formation
where vegetation never grows
an area they dubbed
"the Eye of the Swamp."
When they drained
and began to excavate the area,
they were rocked
by what they found.
I never would've suspected...
this type of boulders.
All clumped together,
just like this, in one area.
‐Look at all the little stuff
in there. ‐Yeah.
‐Almost looks like it's all
stacked in there, doesn't it? ‐Yeah.
And when Dr. Spooner revealed
the test results
from core samples
that he took from the Eye,
the team was
nothing short of amazed.
The sample dated out
at 1600 to 1700.
‐So what you're saying is
in 16‐something... ‐ Mm‐hmm.
...somebody dug a hole there.
‐Right.
‐Okay.
Additional core samples
led to the ultimate revelatio.
If you take the sediment
and you roll it
between your fingers,
you can see
there's a lot of clay,
which we'd expect
in a marine environment.
If you're saying that's marine,
you're saying that
whatever time that interface is,
it was sea bottom.
Yeah.
Frankly,
I think this was all water.
Wow.
It is Dr. Spooner's
expert opinion
that the swamp was once,
in fact, open ocean.
But that was only the beginning
of the secrets that the team
would fish out of there
this year.
While excavating
the fully drained swamp,
Rick, Marty, Craig Tester
and the team uncovered
a gigantic man‐made feature
a stone‐paved formation
stretching all the way
from the Eye of the Swamp
to the eastern edge.
Was it a ship's wharf?
Or a platform of some kind?
That...
is yet to be determined.
But what the team does know
thanks to carbon‐dating tests
Dr. Spooner ran
on organic materials
he found there
is the approximate date
that somebody built it.
And so we just got them back
yesterday.
And the dates are
rather extraordinary.
Uh, there's the dates
we're getting.
‐Wow.
‐Yeah.
Around 1200 AD.
Medieval.
‐Medieval, baby!
Come on! Where is it?!
It's almost unbelievable.
Man‐made workings on Oak Islad
dating back as far as 1200 AD‐
and proven with hard science.
Although I'm hearing
that the guys are planning an
even bigger dig later this year,
today they're conducting
phase one of that operation.
Here to "break the ice"
on all of this for us:
Rick Lagina, Dr. Ian Spooner,
Jack Begley, Scott Barlow
and Doug Crowell.
Rick, generally
when fans ask me,
"When do they stop drilling
on Oak Island?"
I say, "Well, when the ground
gets frozen, it stops."
But we're standing on ice
and I see drills.
What's going on?
We asked Dr. Spooner
to come and‐and drill some cores
here in the deep end
of the swamp.
Based on the work
that we did last year,
there's certainly some answers
that remain hidden here
and in order to create
a search agenda
or a discovery agenda,
we need this information.
That's why Dr. Spooner is here
and that's why
the guys are here.
We're gonna drill some cores.
Okay, Dr. Spooner,
why now, though? Why ice?
You'd think it'd be easier
to drill when it's soft.
No, uh, the ice is a platform.
‐ Okay.
‐A stable platform.
And you've got
about a meter of water
and so everything's saturated.
It's really easy for
this is a Vibracore
for the Vibracore to make its
way down through that sediment.
And we can hop around
and we can find the right spot.
And, Doctor, what are you hoping
to see in these cores?
What story
are these going to tell you?
Well, we did some cores
up by the Eye.
Got a really good story there.
Here, this is the deepest part.
This is where
sediment's been accumulating.
We've got some dates already.
We think we've got dates going
back to about 1200 AD here,
and since there's
a lot of sediment,
it's like having a book
with a lot of pages.
So I can drill down right into,
you know, very discrete data.
Find out what's happening,
really,
decade to decade in a core here.
Dr. Spooner,
walk me through the steps
of how this happens
and what happens.
Well, what we're gonna do,
we've got a Vibracore here.
All it is is a really,
a piece of irrigation tubing.
Three‐inch irrigation tubing.
Hooked it up to this vibrator.
Big vibrator.
What it does, uh...
I don't know if you remember,
perhaps people do
when you have a cast on?
To cut off that cast,
they use, actually,
a saw that vibrates.
‐Yes.
‐It doesn't go around.
This does the same thing.
It vibrates
at a very high frequency
and that works the core barrel
down into the sediment
and sometimes even cuts through
things like wood.
So we can get a really,
really nice record.
Well, I don't just investigate.
I'm here to help.
‐Let's get to work!
‐Let's go.
All right!
It's Oak Island
in the dead of winter,
and I'm braving
subzero temperatures
out on the frozen swamp
with Rick Lagina,
members of the team
and Dr. Ian Spooner.
What we're gonna do is
put this upright... like that.
Lower it down just to
the sediment, you'll feel it.
We're drilling down
for more answers
of just when this man‐made bog
was created.
Right there.
And then we just hold it
like that.
That can just sit on the ground.
Now we start up the genset.
There it goes.
Now it's really going.
See, it just works its way down.
Yeah. It went fast
once it started going.
‐And then, it hit wood.
‐Okay.
‐And that's why it was hung up.
‐Okay.
It'll be interesting to see
what kind of recovery we get.
‐Yeah.
‐Because wood can clog up the core catcher.
And then it just like a nail,
it just pushes aside.
Good.
We'll pull it up.
You have to keep
the vibrator on,
or the whole thing just sets
and you'll never get it out.
Oh, it just... You have
to kind of vibrate it out again?
Yeah. But this is such
gooey organic stuff.
Ah!
See if we can get that
over the top.
Yep.
Okay.
Oh, this looks good.
‐Oh, wow.
‐ This looks great. Okay.
‐Keep going.
Okay.
Tilt, tilt, tilt.
Keep going. Here it comes.
Wow, it's a...
Oh, wow!
Whew!
‐That...
‐ It's so hard.
It's pretty
That's an amazing core.
If that's a great core,
then how many other cores
are we gonna take?
Well, it's kinda like
bowling 300.
I don't know that
I want to play another game.
‐This is...
‐Fair enough.
‐This is about as good...
‐Fair enough.
This is really good.
So we can just lay this down.
It's all good.
I can show you, Matty...
Yeah, I want to take
a look at this.
What's really important here
is you can start seeing
the sediment get
it gets very different
down near the bottom.
Yeah.
That's clay. If you...
Do you hear that?
‐Oh, it crunched in your mouth.
‐Yeah. Yeah.
‐Wow!
‐That's...
that's the
that's sediment from the bottom.
So we got right down
to the bottom of the record.
‐ Wow!
‐So...
And there's a piece of wood
right there.
‐ I see it.
‐ Yeah.
We don't want to touch it
or contaminate it.
That'll date us.
But when we get up
into this sediment here,
you can see
it gets very fibrous.
‐Yeah.
‐And that's the natural
swamp sediment.
So, I'll be sampling this
at a centimeter by centimeter.
So we'll have 250 samples
come out of this.
All right, so, Doctor,
there's nothing you're gonna do
with this right now, correct?
No. I'm going to let it freeze.
‐Okay.
‐We're going to wrap it up.
We're going to take it
back to the lab
‐where we can really deal with it carefully.
‐All right.
All right. Well, speaking of
freezing, we're all freezing.
And I want to drill down
on this some more,
so let's all go
to the Mug and Anchor,
get a little warm,
and we'll talk more about this.
‐All right?
‐Yep.
‐Okay.
‐Let's do it.
Hello?
I actually have
two famous people here
and‐and three other
relatively famous people.
I've...
I'll make the introduction.
I have Matty "One Take" Blake.
And I have a regaled scientist,
Dr. Ian Spooner.
And they would both
like to speak with you.
‐How you doin', Marty?
‐Hi, Marty.
Dr. Spooner got
a wonderful core sample
and I'll let him tell you
a little bit about that
and‐and what it might
end up telling you guys.
Yeah, Marty,
it went really well.
Um, we... Actually,
it was the first core we took.
I was kinda chagrined by that
'cause we worked so hard
in the summer
and had a lot of struggles,
but we got about a two and
a half meter long core,
which is a lot longer
than the ones before
and all that means,
from my perspective,
is that we can look at it
in much greater detail.
Well, the good thing is
we got wood
right at the interface,
so that's some datable material,
but the other thing that's
important to me is at the base
it's, um, it's not the moss
or the heavily terrestrial
kind of signature
that you can get higher up,
which speaks to me
more of a basin of water.
A standing body of water
at that time.
It was quite deep.
Uh, not a swamp.
It'll be interesting to see
what the chemistry tells us.
Uh, all right, Marty, so
the good doctor's gonna
send that out for testing
and then in a couple weeks
or so, um, hopefully
I'll follow those results and
meet with you and your brother
at your offices in Michigan
and we'll see what it says.
Wine's on you!
Greetings to all the faithful
and welcome back.
As you can see, things look...
a little different.
And right now I was hoping to be
with Rick, Marty, Craig
and the rest of the team
in person to drill down
like we do,
but given the seriousness
and the caution
we all must take
given the COVID‐19 pandemic,
I'm here at home.
And the team
is doing the same thing.
That doesn't mean
we can't move forward
the best way we can,
and come to you from our homes.
With that in mind, joining me
are Rick Lagina, Marty Lagina
and Craig Tester.
Guys, welcome.
I'm good.
This is a little strange, uh,
it's a virtual war room,
we've never done this before,
but let's move forward,
as I said, the best way we can.
Uh, before we even get into
anything to do with the island
or the show,
I just want to do a quick status
check on you guys health‐wise.
We'll start with you, Rick;
we'll go to Marty and Craig.
How are you doing physically,
are you safe,
and‐and how are you feeling
emotionally?
I'm doing well, I mean, uh...
But all you have to do
is turn on the TV
and see how difficult life has
become for the nation in general
and for health care providers
and first responders.
We thank them, of course.
Um...
But me personally, the difficult
part is, of course,
I... am kind of, you know, I'm
reluctant to go see my sister,
who lives
about a mile or two away.
I don't get to see my
my nieces and nephews.
Being away from these people,
not being able to interact
for me is the most
hardest part, I think.
‐Marty?
I'm well.
I mean, I'm here in the house.
I've got as you can see
a lot of books to read.
Um... but I'll tell ya, I am...
I am frightened.
Not for me, but I'm very
frightened for my daughter,
because she is
one of those first responders
at Ann Arbor Michigan and I get
pretty emotional about that.
But anyway,
we're in this together,
we're doing what we can do.
I know what your daughter does
and she's certainly in my
family's thoughts and prayers
as she does the incredible work
that she does
and all the first responders.
And‐and Craig,
how are you guys doing?
I'm doing well.
I was down in Florida,
so I'm staying down in Florida,
not taking the chance of flying
back at this point in time.
Um, but we're doing well.
You know, I've been very busy
dealing, uh, with the...
with the virus,
the effects it has
on our companies.
Got everybody
working from home that can,
um, so it's been
a busy time for that
but, you know, I'm nervous
for everybody, you know?
Who knows what's going to be
happening here?
Craig, that's a great segue,
actually.
You mentioned employees and
how it's affected your business.
I'm wondering about
the rest of the Oak Island team,
the rest of the Fellowship.
Rick, is everybody okay
in terms of the Fellowship?
What do we know
about their status?
Absolutely, everyone's fine.
They're heeding the advice
of the medical professionals
and, uh, staying safe.
Doug, he stays within
close proximity to the island,
but he sequesters himself,
I guess, in the research center
because he is availing himself
of going through Dan's files
and he's made some‐some
interesting discoveries.
So there is work going on
on the island
in terms of research.
Doug is actually doing something
but that's probably
about it, correct?
That is all that's going on
and he is by himself.
It was just
a couple months ago, Rick,
you and I were on the island,
the frozen island
on the frozen swamp
and Dr. Spooner was taking,
you know, these core samples.
Do we have any results
from those core samples?
We do.
His report is forthcoming
and there are some very
interesting things in it.
But I'll give you two of the
I won't say
they're the most interesting,
but they're certainly
significant.
He is saying,
quite definitively,
that there was a significant
saltwater intrusion
around 1300 or 1400.
And, now,
he has yet to determine
whether that was a natural
enterprise or artificial,
i.e. was it breached by a storm?
Or was it artificially
opened to the sea?
1300 or 1400 which, again,
is interesting
given the previous date
he's used radiocarbon testing
to develop.
And the other thing is
again, which corroborates
some of the earlier finds
he has found high lead content
at the bottom of the core
and it is inconsistent
with rocks in the area.
He does not know
what to make of it.
But if you recall,
there was high lead values
in the Eye of the Swamp.
So, when data starts confirming
previous data?
We have a lot of work to do
to try to understand
what that means,
but those are certainly
significant developments.
Where we go with that,
I don't know.
Here's the downside of that.
He would like to continue
to look into those things,
but the labs are closed,
so that work is put on hold.
But he is certainly
very interested and excited
to‐to further that cause
and come to
a greater understanding
of what those two things,
in particular, mean.
When you guys hear those dates,
I know you're very careful
not to jump to conclusions
and I know it's a joke
to say, "Templars, baby!"
but man,
you can't help but think
that those theories aren't
so far‐fetched any more. Marty?
They haven't been
double‐tested yet, you know.
I mean, we haven't eliminated
the natural phenomena,
but is it exciting? Yes.
But I'm not ready
to land there yet.
Let me ask you this
and we'll go one, two, three;
Marty, Rick, Craig.
With all these discoveries,
in terms of the mystery,
has the swamp
equaled the Money Pit?
Grudgingly, yes.
I'd have to say yes.
There's certainly as many
questions about the swamp
as there is about the Money Pit.
I have to agree
with both of those guys.
Three yeses.
This is fantastic.
what's the one thing that comes
to each of your minds?
We'll start with Rick;
we'll go Marty and Craig.
I‐I have to pick two because
and you'll be surprised
that the second one,
the first one, to me,
was we focused a lot of
our efforts in the Money Pit.
So that collapsed feature
that we found,
we now have a very defined area
that we're going to investigate.
The other thing that I think
was a discovery moment was
we're getting a lot of interest
from the academic and
professional communities,
i.e. the sciences,
and we're continuing
to push that envelope,
obviously with their help.
So the understanding there,
the discovery that
what we've always believed,
that it's a real mystery,
we're trying to apply
real science with real
professionals and academics...
That is being brought
to fruition.
Yeah. Marty, how about you?
What stands out for you?
I have a top‐pocket find.
‐Ooh.
‐And Matty, I would say
it's this.
This, you will recall,
is my toonie.
Okay, so why is this so amazing?
Because this toonie was dropped
down a hole by me.
I don't know what season;
four years ago?
Yeah.
Dropped down
in one of the holes.
Dropped down 210 feet
and came back up
in an entirely different hole.
I don't remember the distance,
but quite some distance away.
Now what does that tell you
about what could have happened
to this treasure?
So I found that very,
very interesting.
That's really interesting,
actually.
That's a great point about the
movement underneath. That's...
It was a test toonie,
if you will.
It was.
And it moved a long ways
underground.
While we know
the Money Pit collapsed,
we've never been able to
you know, with any
precision or accuracy
define these old chambers that
the other explorers encountered.
Well, you know, all of a sudden,
maybe we have
maybe we have an explanation.
It all moved.
So it makes the hunt
a lot more difficult.
Means we're gonna have
to drill some more wells
and we're probably gonna
have to go deeper.
That's awesome.
How about you, Craig?
I have to go with two things.
One, the swamp. The paved area.
I mean,
when we first dug into it,
I thought it was nothing.
And, you know,
when we first dug down there
and the mud was still on top
it was obvious
that there was rocks
of different sizes,
boulders that you would
have to climb over
that it wouldn't be
easy travelling.
But then as we went further
and found out, in fact,
it was a very large area
with laid‐down rocks.
Every expert saying,
"Man did this."
I just found that amazing,
how big it was
and in the swamp.
I mean, we‐we don't have a clue
why it's there.
Well, Craig, I want to stay
with you for a second,
because I know that
even after the season wrapped,
there was still testing
left on the table.
Um, can you talk
about what you've learned?
We brought up a post
and it came out of
the big can OC‐1,
which was way on the east side
of the Hedden Shaft.
And, uh, we were able
to send the post off
for dendrochronology
to come up with a date.
And the date was 1706.
‐Mm!
‐ So way, way, before
the Money Pit
was ever discovered.
Even before what we've found
in Smith's Cove.
So we keep on pushing the date
back further.
What it means?
We're not sure, but it's
something we need to pursue.
That date, 1706.
So... so much before 1795,
so much before the discovery
of the Money Pit.
Rick, when you hear 1706,
what does that make you think?
I don't know what to think
of the date 1706.
I mean, it's certainly
three generations
prior to the discovery.
Some of the research
has indicated that
there was activity in the area
in 17... early 1700s.
And could a large‐scale
work effort have gone unnoticed?
I'm not so sure.
So, does it compel us
to look further? Absolutely.
But I‐I would like to run
a duplicate test
on the... on the wood
that is that significant.
Well, it makes me think
of another discovery
made by the Restalls
in the 1960s that 1704 ston.
So we have 1706, 1704...
Indeed, Rick, like you said,
something might have been
going on during that time.
In terms of the 1704 stone
I think the one thing I want to
do, which we have not done yet,
is to tell Lee Lamb.
Because that's a part of their
family right now, that stone.
And, you know, we now have
a date, brought from science,
that is pretty close
to the 1704.
Who knows? It may yet be very,
very significant.
Marty, what do you make of that?
There are a lot of dates now,
quite a bit before 1795.
It's really getting kinda hard
to‐to discard them all
and so you have to say something
substantial happened there
well before the Money Pit.
Here's how you can make
order out of chaos,
to some extent,
on the island right now
with what we found last year.
A series of very old dates.
And then a series of "old"
in the sense of pre‐dating
the Money Pit,
but not as old
as the very old dates.
It could have been
a recovery effort
for a very ancient treasure.
You've got some
pretty good dates
that seem to say that
somebody was looking around
way underground.
Makes a lot of sense.
This has happened now
for seven years running.
Right at the end of the year,
about the time maybe
you're a little discouraged,
here comes
a whole bunch of stuff
that just gets
your juices going again
and last year was the same.
Whatever happened on Oak Island
keeps getting pushed back
farther and farther in history
and that is incredibly
intriguing.
Let's say perfect world
we get back on the island
in short order.
What can you guys tell me about
any plans you have
for searching this year?
Well, right away,
we want to get drilling
with Choice Sonic Drilling again
in the Money Pit.
You know, we're definitely
looking for the deeper area,
so if the bottom fell out
in the Money Pit,
where did the treasure go?
And, uh, we've got a shallower
target around the vault area
that we need to do some more
work around there.
And then
the metal detecting part
that's a couple
of the big areas
we've got a lot of
smaller ideas to follow,
plus the swamp.
‐Marty, the swamp!
Yeah, the swamp.
You know, the creature that
just won't die.
In fact,
you know, I have to concur.
You know, I had written it off,
I don't know,
probably a dozen
different times,
but you can't write it off now.
I mean, we have expert
after expert...
I don't know, how many experts
do we have, four or five, now?
That have said this is a very
interesting man‐made structure.
And we're getting dates like the
13th century, the 14th century.
These are scientists!
I'd love to be done
with the swamp,
but I don't want to be done
because there's things
to be found there
and we need to do it.
A methodical archeological dig
might take an awful long time,
you know, so there'd be that
at one end of the spectrum
and then at the other end
would be just to say
"Look, let's go in there,
do a more massive excavation."
No doubt. Rick?
I think some
small‐scale activities
based upon some of the research
that is currently ongoing,
uh, might be very fruitful.
And we all have interest down by
Smith's Cove in the uplands.
You know,
would we entertain possibly
draining and digging
the Cave‐In Pit?
Those are things that
still have to be developed
and thought about.
If you can't look at
the past year or years
and think to yourself,
"I can't wait
to move this thing forward"
then... maybe you need
to reconsider.
I love it.
I love all your thoughts.
We are back! I'm with Rick Lagina,
And when we come back,
Marty Lagina and Craig Tester
and we've been talking
about this incredible season.
But I gotta tell you,
you guys really,
once again, moved the needle.
Um But it's funny, we use
the phrase "move the needle"
kind of indicating forward,
but in a large sense, you guys
have moved the needle back
and what I mean by that is
the time line has gone back.
But on Oak Island, ironically,
moving the needle back
is actually moving it forward.
Moving the needle forward
involves finding out
that the needle was pointing
farther back, yeah.
Something like
you do it however you want
but, yes, the dates moving back
were certainly, uh, are adding
to our knowledge of what may
have happened on Oak Island.
Where do you guys stand
in terms of your sense
of the team's determination
to solve this mystery,
to get that big breakthrough?
Because in my estimation,
you guys are closer
than ever right now.
We've all stayed positive.
And I have always been about
the information hunt
and I think that's...
that will prove very,
very useful this year.
And so we're not gonna
waste time.
So, guys, it's obviously been
another incredible season
on The Curse of Oak Island, but
you guys have an announcement
about something
that's coming up this fall.
Marty, tell us about it.
Rick and I have
become quite aware
that there are great treasure
mysteries out there.
And are people working on them?
And what are they doing?
And are there recent finds
that maybe people
don't know about yet?
Are there new theories
about old treasure hunts?
So we're working on this new
series with the History Channel.
It will come out in the fall
and, you know,
aptly enough,
it's called Beyond Oak Island.
And Matty, we're asking you
to help us with this,
help with us presenting it
as we uncover these things
and as we get to the bottom of
some other great mysteries.
We're gonna be looking into some
stuff in the U. S. Wild West.
We're gonna to be looking into
some great vanished treasures
from Mesoamerica,
we're gonna look at
some stuff that's probably
on the bottom of the ocean.
And Matty, we're looking forward
to presenting this
along with you.
I'm excited to be
a small part of it
and I know you're ready
to look beyond Oak Island,
but talk about maybe how
looking beyond Oak Island
could actually point
back to Oak Island
in terms of some of the things
we've been learning.
As we investigate them
and learn about them,
there might be
some testing methodology
or the application of science
which we are currently
unaware of
which we may be able to borrow.
And we may be able
to assist them.
Uh... but really, to me,
treasure is about learning.
I can't wait.
It's gonna be a blast.
Well, guys,
this was incredible
different, but incredible.
I wish it were in person
as you know, I'm a hugger
but we have to keep
our social distance for now,
so I just wish you guys all
the health and, uh, happiness
there at your homes
and, as you say, Rick,
until we meet again on the
island, "sempre avanti," right?
Sempre avanti, si.
Mom would be proud.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you, Matty, stay well.
Stay safe, Matty. Thank you.
Thanks, Matty, see you soon.
Well, there you have it.
You know, I think
it's gonna take a while
for all of us to navigate
these really tough times
that we're in
these unprecedented times.
But just know that Rick, Marty,
Craig and the team
are gonna be back trying
to solve this treasure mystery,
doing what they do best.
And it'll happen
before you know it.
Until then,
from our home to yours,
stay safe, Acorns.
And as always,
thanks for watching.
Subtitled by Diego Moraes /Ewerton Henrique
www.oakisland.tk