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00:00:09,510 --> 00:00:14,179
NARRATOR: Sally is perhaps
the most unwelcome guest among
the current Atlantic storm.
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00:00:14,215 --> 00:00:16,982
Hurricane Paulette is
over Bermuda, and Renee,
3
00:00:17,018 --> 00:00:20,686
Teddy and now Vicky, are
spinning over open waters.
4
00:00:23,024 --> 00:00:28,927
Primal, destructive,
growing more and more
dangerous every year.
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00:00:32,466 --> 00:00:36,702
CHUCK: A hurricane
represents a massive
force of mother nature.
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00:00:36,737 --> 00:00:38,737
You sure need to
respect them.
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00:00:39,940 --> 00:00:45,844
NARRATOR: Sally became
a hurricane this morning
packing 90 mile an hour wind.
8
00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:52,117
Off the coast of Florida,
an unexpected pile of
rocks and a ship's bell,
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00:00:52,153 --> 00:00:57,356
what do they reveal
about how monster storms
shape America's past?
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00:00:59,093 --> 00:01:01,160
GREG: It's a
hurricane victim.
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00:01:01,195 --> 00:01:05,164
And hurricanes are some
of the most violent forces
that happen on planet Earth.
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00:01:05,199 --> 00:01:10,636
JOHN: Had this hurricane not
happened, America might have
looked very, very different.
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00:01:11,505 --> 00:01:14,640
NARRATOR: And how does a
sunken mass of subway cars
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00:01:14,675 --> 00:01:19,144
give hope to resisting
future hurricanes?
15
00:01:19,180 --> 00:01:22,314
ART: Epic things had
happened on the seabed.
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00:01:22,349 --> 00:01:27,753
Subway cars were rotated,
shifted, moved or
completely obliterated.
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00:01:44,638 --> 00:01:48,107
DELLA: Dealing with
hurricanes is very
emotionally taxing
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00:01:48,142 --> 00:01:51,343
but it's part of the
price of living on this
area of the Gulf Coast.
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00:01:57,551 --> 00:01:59,918
NARRATOR: Every year
hurricanes batter
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00:01:59,954 --> 00:02:03,021
America's eastern and
southern coastlines.
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00:02:03,691 --> 00:02:06,325
They've been a
menace for centuries.
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00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:12,931
They destroy, disrupt
and some even change
the course of history.
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00:02:19,106 --> 00:02:21,740
DELLA: There's a lot of,
of shipwrecks in our bay
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00:02:21,759 --> 00:02:24,510
but we always hoped to
find the earliest ones.
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00:02:27,515 --> 00:02:32,885
The Pensacola Shipwreck
Survey was the brainchild
of Dr Roger Smith.
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00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:37,656
And Roger was a legendary
archaeologist especially
here in the Florida.
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00:02:37,691 --> 00:02:40,759
He knew that Pensacola Bay
had such high potential
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00:02:40,794 --> 00:02:42,995
because very early in
the 16th century
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00:02:43,030 --> 00:02:47,166
there were Spanish um
explorers uh poking
around uh this area,
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00:02:47,201 --> 00:02:49,535
looking for bays
and harbours.
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00:02:49,570 --> 00:02:52,337
Myself and, and Jim
Spireck and Chuck Hewson,
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00:02:52,373 --> 00:02:55,340
we always hoped that
we would find some of
the evidence
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00:02:55,376 --> 00:02:57,276
of these early
Spanish explorers.
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00:03:00,781 --> 00:03:03,749
Sometimes we would
dive on these sites
that the fishermen
35
00:03:03,784 --> 00:03:07,920
or the shrimpers would
show us and it was junk.
36
00:03:07,955 --> 00:03:13,325
Car bodies or piles of
tyres or one time we
found a pizza oven!
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00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:15,627
But there was always that,
that hope that the next dive
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00:03:15,663 --> 00:03:19,064
was going to turn up
something amazing.
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00:03:19,099 --> 00:03:21,133
So, we kept on at it.
40
00:03:22,570 --> 00:03:25,304
I never dreamed, you
know that we would be
finding something
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00:03:25,339 --> 00:03:28,373
so important historically
and archaeologically.
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00:03:32,613 --> 00:03:35,514
In the fall of 1992, we
had been surveying
43
00:03:35,549 --> 00:03:38,283
at this particular place
and had found some targets
44
00:03:38,319 --> 00:03:44,623
and the first dive um I
believe was a, a piece
of shrimp boat gear.
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00:03:44,658 --> 00:03:48,427
The second dive I think was
a car body, a Volkswagen
Beetle or something.
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00:03:48,462 --> 00:03:51,230
And so, the third dive it
was mine and Chuck's turn
47
00:03:51,265 --> 00:03:53,432
and so we geared up
and jumped in the water
48
00:03:53,450 --> 00:03:57,069
and Jim was on
the boat for safety.
49
00:03:57,104 --> 00:04:02,908
The water's very dark
there, you could not
see even 12 feet.
50
00:04:02,943 --> 00:04:09,414
I was on my knees holding
the anchor at the, at the
bottom of the buoy line.
51
00:04:09,450 --> 00:04:14,453
Chuck swam out and did a
circle, didn't find anything
and out another few feet.
52
00:04:15,589 --> 00:04:18,056
By that time was out
of my range of vision.
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00:04:18,976 --> 00:04:21,260
A few minutes later
he comes swimming
back up the line
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00:04:21,295 --> 00:04:24,062
and he looks at me
and goes like this.
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00:04:24,098 --> 00:04:27,165
So his eyes were real
big, I knew he had found
something interesting,
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00:04:27,201 --> 00:04:32,904
so I followed him back
down the line to this
big pile of rocks.
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00:04:34,808 --> 00:04:39,011
Here in Pensacola
we don't have naturally
occurring rocks like that.
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00:04:43,584 --> 00:04:47,085
The top layer was
oyster, oyster shell.
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00:04:47,121 --> 00:04:50,355
Generations and generations
of oysters had lived
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00:04:50,391 --> 00:04:53,392
and died on this,
this pile of rocks.
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00:04:54,628 --> 00:04:58,163
And he started moving
this top layer of rocks,
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00:04:58,198 --> 00:05:00,198
the rock went deeper and
deeper and deeper
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00:05:00,234 --> 00:05:06,271
of these varying sizes
of these kind of
roundish river cobbles.
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00:05:07,941 --> 00:05:09,274
Now we got excited.
65
00:05:09,310 --> 00:05:11,543
Because these kinds of
rocks were used as ballast
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00:05:11,578 --> 00:05:15,547
in these old vessels to keep
them stable as they were
sailing across the ocean.
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00:05:17,318 --> 00:05:21,987
Once we finally got down
to the very bottom layer
of rock underneath that
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00:05:22,022 --> 00:05:25,057
was this Beautiful
carved wood.
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00:05:25,092 --> 00:05:28,093
And that's when we knew for
sure, we had a shipwreck.
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00:05:30,264 --> 00:05:31,997
I remember getting on
the phone with Roger
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00:05:32,032 --> 00:05:35,934
and saying "Roger you need
to come and see this."
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00:05:35,969 --> 00:05:38,103
We had no idea the age of
it but it looked like it
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00:05:38,122 --> 00:05:41,773
was a historic shipwreck
so we shifted our focus
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00:05:41,792 --> 00:05:45,977
from survey of Pensacola Bay
to focusing on this site
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00:05:46,013 --> 00:05:49,715
that had the potential
to be something very old
and very important.
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00:05:52,853 --> 00:05:55,454
One of the local businesses
in Pensacola donated
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00:05:55,489 --> 00:06:00,125
a small wooden barge
to us that we could
anchor up on site
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00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,862
and leave there and use as
our excavation platform.
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00:06:03,897 --> 00:06:07,666
But it was leaky and
occasionally it would sink.
80
00:06:07,701 --> 00:06:11,370
So not a whole lot of work
was going to happen till
we could move the barge.
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00:06:16,543 --> 00:06:18,543
SOT: So Jim, what's
the plan for today?
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00:06:26,820 --> 00:06:28,720
DELLA: We had found
wooden structure
83
00:06:28,756 --> 00:06:33,225
and it wasn't just an
isolated like little piece
or a splinter of wood,
84
00:06:33,260 --> 00:06:37,279
this was major internal
structural framing.
85
00:06:38,232 --> 00:06:41,333
We had no idea
really the true age
of it at that point.
86
00:06:41,368 --> 00:06:44,503
And so that's when
we decided, well let's
move over a little way.
87
00:06:44,538 --> 00:06:47,105
And we happened to
come down right
where that heel
88
00:06:47,141 --> 00:06:51,810
of the mast is attached
very securely into
the hull of the ship.
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00:06:53,947 --> 00:06:57,516
Finding this wooden
structure was huge for us
90
00:06:57,551 --> 00:07:02,220
and that mast step was
just classic 16th century.
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00:07:04,141 --> 00:07:09,961
NARRATOR: The 1500s is when
European exploration in North
America really kicked off
92
00:07:09,980 --> 00:07:14,733
before the Pilgrims or
the English settlements
at Jamestown.
93
00:07:14,752 --> 00:07:20,138
This ship dates to that era.
But where did it come from?
94
00:07:20,174 --> 00:07:22,240
And who was on-board?
95
00:07:22,276 --> 00:07:24,576
DELLA: We started using
the induction dredge
which is like
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00:07:24,611 --> 00:07:26,945
an underwater vacuum cleaner
to go down in layers
97
00:07:26,980 --> 00:07:30,582
and very carefully
recover whatever
artefacts we found.
98
00:07:31,785 --> 00:07:35,153
We began to see
really amazingly
preserved artefacts.
99
00:07:37,825 --> 00:07:43,929
Things like pieces of
rope, hemp line even
leather shoe soles.
100
00:07:48,502 --> 00:07:52,003
JOHN: I had a phone call
where I was invited to
come to Florida
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00:07:52,039 --> 00:07:57,542
to serve as the conservator
for this ship and to take
care of the artefacts.
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00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,013
We were trying to find
as many clues as we could
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00:08:02,049 --> 00:08:04,149
to help identify the
origin of the vessel.
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00:08:06,386 --> 00:08:11,756
Each day, you know, something
different would show
up in remarkable condition.
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00:08:12,559 --> 00:08:15,660
We found some real
plain unglazed pottery,
106
00:08:15,696 --> 00:08:20,465
it was just coarse
earthenware we actually
call them olive jars.
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00:08:21,068 --> 00:08:22,801
Well when we found olive
jars it was one of the
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00:08:22,836 --> 00:08:27,639
first big clues that
we're working with a
Spanish shipwreck
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00:08:27,674 --> 00:08:30,275
because these big
jars we know
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00:08:30,310 --> 00:08:32,377
the Spanish carried
olives in them.
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00:08:36,216 --> 00:08:39,084
NARRATOR: Spain
establishes its first
permanent settlement
112
00:08:39,119 --> 00:08:43,588
in Florida at St.
Augustine in 1565.
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00:08:43,624 --> 00:08:50,262
But the artefacts coming
from the ship are pointing to
an earlier date: the 1550s.
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00:08:50,297 --> 00:08:53,298
Could these be the remains
of one of the earliest
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00:08:53,333 --> 00:08:57,536
European colonizers on
the American mainland?
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00:09:00,741 --> 00:09:03,708
DELLA: On one side
of the ship, as we
were excavating,
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00:09:03,744 --> 00:09:05,377
we ran out of
hull structure.
118
00:09:05,412 --> 00:09:09,281
There was nothing else
there and the framing
119
00:09:09,316 --> 00:09:12,851
and the ship's timbers
were, were shattered.
120
00:09:14,187 --> 00:09:16,605
JOHN: We found hundreds
and hundreds of the small
121
00:09:16,657 --> 00:09:18,990
spikes that were
used to attach
122
00:09:19,026 --> 00:09:24,062
the planking to the hull
frame and so they were
scattered on the wreck site
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00:09:24,097 --> 00:09:27,198
and almost all of
them are bent.
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00:09:27,234 --> 00:09:29,701
Many of them are
even broken.
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00:09:31,305 --> 00:09:33,605
It was obvious that the
ship pounded up and down
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00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:37,342
and eventually it
split open and broke
apart like that.
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00:09:42,015 --> 00:09:44,282
DELLA: Whatever had caused
this ship to wreck
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00:09:44,318 --> 00:09:47,619
was a violent,
catastrophic occurrence.
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00:09:47,654 --> 00:09:49,588
NARRATOR: Like a hurricane!
130
00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,367
that had wrecked
on the Gulf Coast.
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00:10:02,402 --> 00:10:07,172
So all of these clues that
we began to put together
began to make us think,
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00:10:07,207 --> 00:10:09,074
maybe this is Luna.
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00:10:10,611 --> 00:10:14,212
NARRATOR: According
to historical records,
a Spanish explorer,
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00:10:14,247 --> 00:10:18,283
Don Tristan de Luna
Arellano, founds a
settlement somewhere
135
00:10:18,318 --> 00:10:22,387
on the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico in 1559.
136
00:10:22,990 --> 00:10:28,927
It lasted just two
years before vanishing
without a trace.
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00:10:31,798 --> 00:10:36,501
JOHN: The records for the
Spanish colonial effort
in the New World are vast
138
00:10:36,536 --> 00:10:40,238
and voluminous and well
preserved in general.
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00:10:42,476 --> 00:10:46,578
I was always interested
in archaeology and the thrill
of exploration and discovery,
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00:10:46,613 --> 00:10:52,851
but the documents provide
so much more rich detail and
made it much more personal.
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00:10:55,055 --> 00:10:57,722
The Luna expedition was
the most well financed
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00:10:57,758 --> 00:11:00,091
and certainly the most
ambitious attempt
143
00:11:00,127 --> 00:11:03,712
to establish a Spanish
foothold in Florida.
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00:11:05,532 --> 00:11:08,099
DELLA: The search for
the Luna land site
has been ongoing
145
00:11:08,135 --> 00:11:11,136
at Pensacola for
years and years.
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00:11:11,171 --> 00:11:14,539
We always joked that
we might find a plank
147
00:11:14,574 --> 00:11:18,176
that said 'Luna was
here' carved into it.
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00:11:18,211 --> 00:11:24,282
JOHN: Luna, arrived
in 1559 with a fleet and
they unloaded 1500 people,
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00:11:24,317 --> 00:11:28,486
500 soldiers and a thousand
additional colonists.
150
00:11:28,522 --> 00:11:33,558
He had no way to know that
a hurricane was coming.
151
00:11:33,593 --> 00:11:37,829
The wreck showed clear
evidence of being
driven ashore
152
00:11:37,864 --> 00:11:41,199
and that actually
corresponds quite well
153
00:11:41,234 --> 00:11:43,835
with a letter that was
written by Tristan de Luna
154
00:11:43,870 --> 00:11:47,338
to the King of Spain in
which he describes
155
00:11:47,374 --> 00:11:52,510
that a storm hit
about five weeks in.
156
00:11:52,546 --> 00:11:56,581
The hurricane arrived
at night and then for
the next 24 hours
157
00:11:56,616 --> 00:11:58,149
the winds came from
all directions
158
00:12:01,722 --> 00:12:06,291
and he said that the
ships were broken free
from their anchors,
159
00:12:06,326 --> 00:12:10,862
driven ashore and broken
open and destroyed.
160
00:12:13,533 --> 00:12:17,836
But if this was a ship
from the Luna expedition, it
raises a whole new question.
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00:12:19,039 --> 00:12:21,673
We know that Luna lost
seven ships in that storm.
162
00:12:24,044 --> 00:12:25,543
Where were the rest of them?
163
00:12:32,385 --> 00:12:36,054
We got a very large grant
from the State of Florida
164
00:12:36,089 --> 00:12:39,958
to continue the survey to
try to find the other ships
165
00:12:39,993 --> 00:12:43,027
and confirm we'd
located Luna's fleet.
166
00:12:43,864 --> 00:12:49,400
So, we purchased a really
state of the art magnetometer.
167
00:12:49,436 --> 00:12:51,069
GREG: I started here right
after Hurricane Ivan,
168
00:12:51,104 --> 00:12:54,139
that was my first hurricane
at the University of West
Florida.
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00:12:54,174 --> 00:12:56,775
Before that I'd been doing
remote sensing surveys
170
00:12:56,810 --> 00:13:00,278
and that's some of the
expertise that I
brought to the program.
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00:13:01,615 --> 00:13:06,351
Magnetometers can sense
ferrous metals which is
typically iron
172
00:13:06,386 --> 00:13:09,654
in a ship-wreck and that's
how we find these wrecks.
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00:13:11,024 --> 00:13:14,492
JOHN: It seemed logical
if the first ship was
in this area
174
00:13:14,528 --> 00:13:18,830
let's continue to look
around that ship with
this new magnetometer.
175
00:13:20,934 --> 00:13:22,167
GREG: That's where
we got lucky.
176
00:13:23,637 --> 00:13:25,236
With a magnetometer you
can never really know
177
00:13:25,272 --> 00:13:27,639
what you have until you
put divers in the water.
178
00:13:27,674 --> 00:13:29,741
It's actually diving
on these remote
sensing anomalies
179
00:13:29,776 --> 00:13:32,877
that we find to find
out what they are.
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00:13:32,913 --> 00:13:35,613
And when we began finding
the olive jar fragments,
181
00:13:35,649 --> 00:13:37,615
the lead sheathing
on the hulls
182
00:13:37,651 --> 00:13:39,784
that's when the light
bulbs began going off.
183
00:13:42,255 --> 00:13:45,857
JOHN: We found enough
little pieces of olive jar
184
00:13:45,892 --> 00:13:48,693
that we were convinced
on day two that it was
185
00:13:48,728 --> 00:13:52,063
a Luna ship associated
with the first one.
186
00:13:55,735 --> 00:14:00,939
One ship in the bay
might be explained away
as something random,
187
00:14:00,974 --> 00:14:03,274
but two ships
near each other,
188
00:14:03,310 --> 00:14:06,211
that was an astoundingly
important discovery.
189
00:14:07,681 --> 00:14:15,453
It confirmed in my mind that
we absolutely positively did
have the Luna fleet here.
190
00:14:17,557 --> 00:14:22,160
It meant that not only
did we have a number
more wrecks
191
00:14:22,195 --> 00:14:24,629
to find but that we
also had
192
00:14:24,664 --> 00:14:27,365
that settlement site and
it had to be close.
193
00:14:30,503 --> 00:14:33,071
NARRATOR: For nearly ten
years the team searches
194
00:14:33,106 --> 00:14:36,674
for the location of Tristan
de Luna's lost settlement.
195
00:14:36,693 --> 00:14:39,861
And finds nothing!
196
00:14:39,913 --> 00:14:42,714
JOHN: We had no
archaeological
evidence whatsoever
197
00:14:42,749 --> 00:14:45,049
to pin down where
the settlement was.
198
00:14:57,264 --> 00:15:00,798
In the fall of 2015, a
former student reported
199
00:15:00,834 --> 00:15:02,834
that he had found some
Spanish artefacts
200
00:15:02,869 --> 00:15:07,188
in a newly cleared
house lot and wanted
us to take a look,
201
00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,674
thought they might
be 16th century.
202
00:15:12,145 --> 00:15:15,179
My first reaction was
okay great, you know
we have a lot
203
00:15:15,215 --> 00:15:17,081
of people reporting
a lot of things
204
00:15:17,117 --> 00:15:19,083
but something in the
back of my mind I
think you know,
205
00:15:19,119 --> 00:15:21,219
tickled my interest
because of the fact
206
00:15:21,254 --> 00:15:23,955
that it was on a
particular lot in a
particular neighborhood
207
00:15:23,990 --> 00:15:27,225
right where we thought
Luna might be located.
208
00:15:28,194 --> 00:15:30,194
It turns out that it was
identical to the kinds
209
00:15:30,213 --> 00:15:33,564
of olive jar that had
already been found on
the shipwrecks.
210
00:15:45,662 --> 00:15:49,497
shipwrecks hopes
the pottery shards
found on shore
211
00:15:49,532 --> 00:15:53,768
will finally lead them
to the lost settlement
of Tristan de Luna.
212
00:15:55,739 --> 00:15:57,905
JOHN: We called on
current students and
former students,
213
00:15:57,941 --> 00:16:00,942
everybody in the
faculty and the staff,
214
00:16:00,977 --> 00:16:02,944
anybody who we could
get out there.
215
00:16:02,979 --> 00:16:06,714
Then 5 days of intense
fieldwork we found
216
00:16:06,750 --> 00:16:10,051
literally hundreds of
pieces of olive jar.
217
00:16:10,086 --> 00:16:12,837
DELLA: I got
really excited personally,
thinking maybe this is it.
218
00:16:12,889 --> 00:16:18,293
One of the very first major
expeditions to settle what
is now the United States.
219
00:16:20,530 --> 00:16:22,463
JOHN: Once the neighbors
started to realize
220
00:16:22,499 --> 00:16:25,099
the importance of the site
they began to call themselves
221
00:16:25,135 --> 00:16:26,668
'America's First
Neighborhood'.
222
00:16:29,806 --> 00:16:32,740
We did basically a year's
worth of full-fledged
shovel testing
223
00:16:32,776 --> 00:16:38,246
and dug more than 900
shovel tests across
more than 50 acres.
224
00:16:40,083 --> 00:16:43,017
All the evidence indicates
that this settlement was the
largest ever attempted
225
00:16:43,053 --> 00:16:45,186
in 16th Century
Florida.
226
00:16:45,221 --> 00:16:51,225
We are essentially digging
up a very short-lived city.
227
00:16:51,261 --> 00:16:53,361
NARRATOR: The scale of
the settlement confirms
228
00:16:53,396 --> 00:16:56,197
the Spanish crown
equipped the expedition
229
00:16:56,232 --> 00:17:00,568
with everything needed to
survive in the New World.
230
00:17:00,603 --> 00:17:05,907
But a major hurricane
is a force few Europeans
had ever experienced.
231
00:17:06,609 --> 00:17:10,244
When it arrived, the
colony is helpless.
232
00:17:12,215 --> 00:17:14,849
JOHN: I've lived in
Florida uh since 2001
233
00:17:14,884 --> 00:17:18,319
and I've been through
quite a few hurricanes so
I've seen enough to know
234
00:17:18,355 --> 00:17:21,856
that this storm must have
been absolutely devastating.
235
00:17:28,498 --> 00:17:33,167
We do know from the
documents that the
hurricane caught them
236
00:17:33,203 --> 00:17:36,137
in the midst of construction
and as a result
237
00:17:36,172 --> 00:17:41,676
they had not actually
started to use the
warehouse for storing food.
238
00:17:41,711 --> 00:17:46,447
And so, the hurricane wiped
out not just the fleet
239
00:17:46,483 --> 00:17:49,150
but the food that they
had stored on it.
240
00:17:49,953 --> 00:17:54,222
And it took 24 hours
for the storm to pass
completely through.
241
00:17:54,257 --> 00:17:57,925
Luna doubtless saw that
his fleet was devastated
242
00:17:57,961 --> 00:18:01,562
and there was nothing lefty
but hulks of broken ships
243
00:18:01,598 --> 00:18:08,102
and masts and lots and
lots of supplies, barrels
and boxes, crates.
244
00:18:08,138 --> 00:18:13,941
The Luna expedition could
have changed the course of
history in this continent.
245
00:18:13,977 --> 00:18:17,979
But overnight the settlers
were transformed from
246
00:18:18,014 --> 00:18:20,314
part of the most ambitious
and well financed
247
00:18:20,350 --> 00:18:23,885
colonial expeditions
that Spain ever mounted
to North America
248
00:18:23,903 --> 00:18:27,355
into starving refugees.
249
00:18:27,390 --> 00:18:31,292
Some of the settlers
decided to throw in
the towel and go home.
250
00:18:31,327 --> 00:18:35,596
Some, including Luna,
struggled on for
nearly two years.
251
00:18:35,632 --> 00:18:38,232
But ultimately the
site was abandoned.
252
00:18:39,402 --> 00:18:42,937
Had this hurricane not
happened America might
have looked
253
00:18:42,972 --> 00:18:45,072
very, very
different today.
254
00:18:46,376 --> 00:18:49,844
It's entirely possible
even likely that because
255
00:18:49,879 --> 00:18:52,613
the Spanish would have had
a really solid foothold
256
00:18:52,649 --> 00:18:56,284
in southeastern North
America a full generation
257
00:18:56,319 --> 00:18:59,487
before the English settlers
arrived at Jamestown.
258
00:18:59,522 --> 00:19:03,257
North America might
simply have been
Spanish North America.
259
00:19:04,527 --> 00:19:08,963
NARRATOR: Instead, the British
and French come to dominate
most of the continent.
260
00:19:09,899 --> 00:19:13,201
The Spanish settlements
in Florida, like St.
Augustine,
261
00:19:13,236 --> 00:19:16,270
eventually fall under
British control.
262
00:19:19,809 --> 00:19:24,178
St Augustine remains
the oldest continuously
inhabited city
263
00:19:24,214 --> 00:19:30,084
in the United States
and a victim of
countless hurricanes
264
00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:31,652
since its founding.
265
00:19:38,127 --> 00:19:40,261
CHUCK: You've had ships
coming and going
266
00:19:40,296 --> 00:19:44,732
to St Augustine for
over 450 years now.
267
00:19:44,767 --> 00:19:48,402
At the same time,
it's always had a
treacherous inlet.
268
00:19:52,141 --> 00:19:55,009
There's a lot of job
security if you're an
underwater archaeologist
269
00:19:55,044 --> 00:19:59,680
in St Augustine because
there have been so many
shipwrecks over the years.
270
00:19:59,716 --> 00:20:04,819
We know there's a lot
out there but finding
them is what's tricky.
271
00:20:06,689 --> 00:20:10,958
We have an operation that
can actually go out, finding
shipwrecks at least until
272
00:20:10,994 --> 00:20:14,328
hurricane season cuts
our dive season short.
273
00:20:17,967 --> 00:20:20,234
SAM: It was at the end
of the field season
274
00:20:20,270 --> 00:20:25,306
so we were all pretty tired
and we had this book
275
00:20:25,341 --> 00:20:30,811
of the various
targets that we had and we
said "let's go to this one,
276
00:20:30,847 --> 00:20:33,614
it's got a magnetic signature
that looks interesting".
277
00:20:33,650 --> 00:20:39,820
CHUCK: We are blessed with
really poor diving conditions
here in St Augustine,
278
00:20:39,856 --> 00:20:41,989
it's pretty black down there.
279
00:20:42,725 --> 00:20:48,596
We do our best to pinpoint
the exact location
and then we will probe.
280
00:20:48,631 --> 00:20:54,201
I cleared off an area
and then I began to feel
with my fingers.
281
00:20:57,340 --> 00:21:01,275
I could feel lumpy,
bumpy rock-like things.
282
00:21:01,311 --> 00:21:04,078
I immediately knew they
weren't any kind of natural
283
00:21:04,113 --> 00:21:06,647
stone but what we
call concretions.
284
00:21:06,683 --> 00:21:11,085
So iron objects that
were encrusted with rust.
285
00:21:11,821 --> 00:21:14,121
I felt a wooden plank.
286
00:21:14,157 --> 00:21:18,059
At this point my heart
is bump bump bump bump
bump beating.
287
00:21:18,094 --> 00:21:21,395
Down there alone in the
dark I really knew
288
00:21:21,431 --> 00:21:23,998
there's really nothing
else that could be.
289
00:21:24,033 --> 00:21:26,200
It just had to be
a shipwreck!
290
00:21:38,131 --> 00:21:40,131
CHUCK: The game is afoot
now, we have something!
291
00:21:40,166 --> 00:21:43,534
SAM: I'm like 'that's
really good news!'
292
00:21:43,569 --> 00:21:47,305
It was actually the perfect
way to end a field season.
293
00:21:49,242 --> 00:21:52,209
CHUCK: There is an old
joke in archaeology,
it's almost a truism,
294
00:21:52,245 --> 00:21:55,413
that you make your big
discovery on the last day.
295
00:21:55,448 --> 00:21:57,581
SAM: We were done
for the summer.
296
00:21:57,617 --> 00:22:01,852
NARRATOR: September brings
the peak of Florida's
Hurricane Season
297
00:22:01,888 --> 00:22:04,155
making it impossible
to excavate.
298
00:22:05,658 --> 00:22:13,631
But for archaeologists,
unsettled weather can be
both a curse and a blessing.
299
00:22:13,666 --> 00:22:16,701
CHUCK: After a period
of storm activity,
300
00:22:16,736 --> 00:22:19,370
we had an opportunity
to go out and take a
look at the site,
301
00:22:19,405 --> 00:22:22,006
so what we would call
a monitoring dive.
302
00:22:23,876 --> 00:22:29,814
SAM: It was a beautiful
morning, I was on the
first dive team
303
00:22:29,849 --> 00:22:33,751
and it's absolutely
beautiful conditions,
304
00:22:33,786 --> 00:22:35,886
crystal clear
and I look forward
305
00:22:35,922 --> 00:22:41,292
and it's just like this
blue gloom but a really
rich beautiful blue.
306
00:22:41,327 --> 00:22:46,163
And so we're going
along and I'm looking
at this blue gloom
307
00:22:46,199 --> 00:22:51,402
and then I see this
something looming out
of the blue gloom
308
00:22:51,421 --> 00:22:54,505
and I'm like,
that's a cannon.
309
00:22:54,941 --> 00:23:06,951
And then I look again and
right next to the canon is a
bell and I can't believe it.
310
00:23:06,986 --> 00:23:09,487
It's just not computing,
I mean that's a canon
311
00:23:09,522 --> 00:23:14,258
and that's a bell and
I'm like 'brrrrr look
at this!!'
312
00:23:17,663 --> 00:23:24,468
So we swam around
and it was like a whole
different wreck, you know?
313
00:23:24,504 --> 00:23:28,072
CHUCK: They came up
after a relatively
short amount of time
314
00:23:28,107 --> 00:23:30,641
and Sam pulled his
regulator out of his mask
315
00:23:30,676 --> 00:23:33,811
and he said, 'there's
10 feet of visibility'.
316
00:23:33,846 --> 00:23:36,647
Well that instantly
got everyone's
attention on the boat.
317
00:23:36,682 --> 00:23:40,584
We had not yet seen
any of the shipwreck.
318
00:23:40,620 --> 00:23:44,655
We had been there without
able, you know, just doing
archaeology by Braille.
319
00:23:44,690 --> 00:23:49,860
And then the next
sentence he says, 'oh and
there's five cannon
320
00:23:49,896 --> 00:23:54,532
and the ship's bell
just sitting there on
the surface'.
321
00:23:54,567 --> 00:23:58,169
So that, you know,
our first reaction is
like, 'are you joking?'
322
00:23:58,204 --> 00:24:00,805
SAM: And I'm like 'nah,
man I'm just kidding.'
323
00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,574
CHUCK: And I could see in
his eyes, I'm like 'you're
not joking.' He's like
324
00:24:03,609 --> 00:24:07,445
'no I'm not joking
there's cannons and a
bell right down here.'
325
00:24:09,415 --> 00:24:13,017
SAM: Yeah, I think that's
probably the best dive
I've ever done.
326
00:24:15,354 --> 00:24:19,089
CHUCK: A ship's bell,
that's the holy grail for
a diving archaeologist.
327
00:24:19,125 --> 00:24:21,492
That could give the
name of the ship and the
year it was launched.
328
00:24:25,331 --> 00:24:29,733
SAM: So we had this
event, we invited all
sorts of people,
329
00:24:29,769 --> 00:24:32,136
nice nibbles and,
and drinks.
330
00:24:32,171 --> 00:24:37,975
And our conservator
was starting to
clean off the bell
331
00:24:38,010 --> 00:24:41,612
and the idea was we're gonna
have this wonderful event
332
00:24:41,647 --> 00:24:44,882
where we reveal the
name of the wreck.
333
00:24:44,917 --> 00:24:50,554
And she cleaned the bell and
there was no name at all, it
was a completely blank bell.
334
00:24:51,624 --> 00:24:54,458
CHUCK: The ship's secrets
weren't just going
to fall into our laps.
335
00:24:54,494 --> 00:24:57,962
We needed to get
more information.
336
00:24:57,997 --> 00:25:00,965
Archaeology is just like a
crime scene investigation.
337
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,569
We are trying to
reconstruct a scenario,
an event, from the past.
338
00:25:05,605 --> 00:25:09,540
In our case it's a
really cold case, it goes
back hundreds of years.
339
00:25:13,145 --> 00:25:17,648
SAM: One of the things
that was obvious from
the beginning,
340
00:25:17,683 --> 00:25:20,551
the arrangement of
the material and the
guns in particular
341
00:25:20,586 --> 00:25:22,953
on the seabed was not
what I would call normal.
342
00:25:25,291 --> 00:25:27,458
CHUCK: Cannons, if they're
in place as weapons,
343
00:25:27,493 --> 00:25:30,895
you might expect to
find cannons kind
of evenly placed
344
00:25:30,930 --> 00:25:33,297
pointing away from
the shipwreck.
345
00:25:34,867 --> 00:25:38,602
The bell is usually at
the belfry, that's at a
certain part of the ship.
346
00:25:38,638 --> 00:25:41,539
Maybe cookware, things like
that, where the galley
347
00:25:41,574 --> 00:25:43,173
or the kitchen of
the ship would be.
348
00:25:43,209 --> 00:25:46,143
We had definitely a
different scenario.
349
00:25:46,812 --> 00:25:49,813
SAM: It was clear that
something was going on.
350
00:25:49,849 --> 00:25:54,184
One of the objects that I
noticed was this long strange
351
00:25:54,220 --> 00:25:59,723
cylindrical object and it
was all lead, completely
and utterly lead.
352
00:25:59,759 --> 00:26:04,128
CHUCK: I had an attached
length of plumbing or
piping to it.
353
00:26:04,163 --> 00:26:06,063
This was a deck pump.
354
00:26:06,098 --> 00:26:09,533
When you operated the
pump handle you were
pumping up nice,
355
00:26:09,569 --> 00:26:15,573
clean seawater to swab
the decks, to fight a
fire so a deck pump
356
00:26:15,608 --> 00:26:20,177
was a way to get seawater
on board the vessel for a
variety of purposes.
357
00:26:22,682 --> 00:26:29,587
SAM: We brought this up and
we had it in the lab and one
of the team, very keen eyes,
358
00:26:29,622 --> 00:26:35,459
noticed that there were
hack marks on the lead.
359
00:26:35,494 --> 00:26:41,699
CHUCK: We had more than one
segment of plumbing that
had been cut clean through.
360
00:26:41,734 --> 00:26:43,767
And then we realized
what had happened.
361
00:26:45,905 --> 00:26:50,808
SAM: Someone had taken an
axe and hacked it, hacked
it out of the ship.
362
00:26:50,843 --> 00:26:52,743
CHUCK: This is an expensive
piece of equipment.
363
00:26:52,778 --> 00:26:56,447
Why would you
purposely disable it?
364
00:26:57,984 --> 00:27:03,520
The answer that makes
sense to us is that this
was a frenzied attempt,
365
00:27:03,556 --> 00:27:08,926
a desperate attempt to
remove this pump from
the hull of the ship
366
00:27:08,961 --> 00:27:11,028
where it would have
been mounted.
367
00:27:11,047 --> 00:27:16,300
It seems pretty clear to
us that that is an attempt
to lighten the ship.
368
00:27:18,170 --> 00:27:21,271
And that makes sense if
a ship has run aground
369
00:27:21,290 --> 00:27:26,577
and you have to try to save
the ship by jettisoning all
the heavy cargo.
370
00:27:26,612 --> 00:27:31,615
These artefacts are telling
the story of the desperate
attempt by the captain,
371
00:27:31,651 --> 00:27:35,602
the crew and the passengers
to try to save the ship.
372
00:27:35,655 --> 00:27:39,690
If you can just get
the ship to float up
off the sandbar,
373
00:27:39,709 --> 00:27:43,460
then you can get it
ashore and you've
saved the vessel.
374
00:27:44,497 --> 00:27:47,865
We had found that bell, the
cannons, the deck pump,
375
00:27:47,900 --> 00:27:51,068
but we only ever found
that one wooden plank.
376
00:27:51,103 --> 00:27:54,571
There was no hull, no
remains of the ship
structure itself.
377
00:27:54,607 --> 00:27:57,841
Was it possible that the
ship had gotten away?
378
00:28:09,071 --> 00:28:11,572
the investigation
takes a closer look
379
00:28:11,607 --> 00:28:15,876
at the metal artefacts
found off the coast of
St. Augustine.
380
00:28:17,113 --> 00:28:19,613
CHUCK: When you have an iron
object that is immersed
381
00:28:19,648 --> 00:28:25,252
in sea water for centuries
it undergoes a number of
chemical changes.
382
00:28:25,287 --> 00:28:29,690
That rust turns into
an encrustation, it
turns into a coating.
383
00:28:29,725 --> 00:28:33,394
It's thick and lumpy
and bumpy and shells
get stuck to it
384
00:28:33,429 --> 00:28:35,062
and often you'll have
more than one
385
00:28:35,097 --> 00:28:37,898
artefact near each
other and they all just
rust together
386
00:28:37,933 --> 00:28:41,735
into what may just be
an amorphous blob.
387
00:28:41,771 --> 00:28:44,271
SAM: Once we started
examining the concretions,
388
00:28:44,306 --> 00:28:46,940
X-raying the concretions
and finding
389
00:28:46,976 --> 00:28:49,009
the smaller objects
within the concretions,
390
00:28:49,045 --> 00:28:55,249
that is when the full
story of what actually
happened came out.
391
00:28:55,284 --> 00:29:00,287
What X-rays can do if you
really amp up the power,
392
00:29:00,322 --> 00:29:03,657
it can actually see through
the calcium carbonate.
393
00:29:03,692 --> 00:29:08,395
CHUCK: We found a lot of
small items, a lot of personal
items, a lot of cookware,
394
00:29:08,431 --> 00:29:12,166
a lot of plates, a lot
of spoons, shoe buckles,
395
00:29:12,201 --> 00:29:14,635
coins, so we really
are getting a picture
396
00:29:14,670 --> 00:29:16,837
that a lot of the things
that people were bringing
397
00:29:16,872 --> 00:29:20,607
with them ended up
on the sea floor.
398
00:29:21,210 --> 00:29:23,377
SAM: When we found the
Queen Anne's pistol,
399
00:29:23,412 --> 00:29:27,881
expensive small items
that you absolutely would
not throw overboard
400
00:29:27,917 --> 00:29:30,517
under any circumstance,
that told us the story
401
00:29:30,553 --> 00:29:34,221
that they were so stuck on
the bar they never got off.
402
00:29:34,256 --> 00:29:36,457
CHUCK: It seems pretty
conclusive that this ship
403
00:29:36,492 --> 00:29:40,727
could not be saved and
we have the burial
ground of this vessel
404
00:29:40,763 --> 00:29:43,330
and all of the items
that were on board.
405
00:29:45,201 --> 00:29:51,171
SAM: What archaeologists
really want to do is what
we want to tell the story,
406
00:29:51,207 --> 00:29:55,442
where was it from?
When did it wreck?
Why did it wreck?
407
00:29:55,478 --> 00:30:02,649
So our story evolved
from very small clues.
408
00:30:02,685 --> 00:30:05,352
CHUCK: There was
a lot of stuff.
409
00:30:05,387 --> 00:30:10,557
We found a base of a wine
glass that we knew dated
to some time in the 1700s.
410
00:30:10,593 --> 00:30:12,960
We found a pewter
spoon, the same thing.
411
00:30:12,995 --> 00:30:15,863
Everything we found it
seemed to push the date
412
00:30:15,898 --> 00:30:20,100
to the second half and
even the later 1700s.
413
00:30:20,136 --> 00:30:24,938
So as we narrow that time
range down, there was
one event in particular,
414
00:30:24,974 --> 00:30:28,275
that looked promising.
415
00:30:28,310 --> 00:30:34,381
NARRATOR: In December 1782,
the American Revolution is
entering its final phase.
416
00:30:34,416 --> 00:30:39,086
The 13 colonies are a
dangerous place for those
still loyal to the crown.
417
00:30:40,389 --> 00:30:46,960
So in dozens of ships they
flee to Florida, which remains
loyal to King George III.
418
00:30:46,996 --> 00:30:52,833
They hope to find refuge
in St Augustine but not
all of them reach safety.
419
00:30:54,470 --> 00:30:57,004
CHUCK: This could be
a candidate, one of
these ships.
420
00:30:57,039 --> 00:31:00,474
Everything seemed to
be pointing into this
direction.
421
00:31:00,509 --> 00:31:04,011
We had debates about
what artefacts we
might actually find,
422
00:31:04,046 --> 00:31:07,781
that would really
be definitive. And
then it happened.
423
00:31:07,816 --> 00:31:08,916
We found the artefact.
424
00:31:11,153 --> 00:31:14,354
It was a single button.
425
00:31:14,390 --> 00:31:19,960
A small pewter button, it
had lettering on it that we
could see after cleaning,
426
00:31:19,995 --> 00:31:26,333
the letters RP with a
crown above and that
told us immediately
427
00:31:26,368 --> 00:31:27,885
that we had Loyalists
on board.
428
00:31:27,937 --> 00:31:31,271
Because that RP
button stands for
Royal Provincials,
429
00:31:31,307 --> 00:31:33,040
that's a unit in the
British Army
430
00:31:33,075 --> 00:31:36,376
it's made up of Americans who
were loyal to King George.
431
00:31:38,814 --> 00:31:42,783
It is poignant.
432
00:31:42,818 --> 00:31:45,519
To read some of the
letters, to read
some of the accounts
433
00:31:45,554 --> 00:31:47,487
that were written
back and forth
434
00:31:47,523 --> 00:31:52,559
about this particular event
that's a really important
part of the process.
435
00:31:53,362 --> 00:31:57,564
Elizabeth Lichtenstein
Johnston was a Georgia
Loyalist.
436
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:01,335
She had evacuated and had
ended up in St Augustine
437
00:32:01,370 --> 00:32:05,105
and so she was an eyewitness
to these shipwrecks.
438
00:32:07,610 --> 00:32:13,480
16 vessels, small vessels
she says, have been
lost on or about the bar.
439
00:32:13,515 --> 00:32:16,850
So that means they have
run aground on the sandbar.
440
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,687
These ships were
carrying people but
they're also their hopes
441
00:32:20,723 --> 00:32:23,624
and dreams for making
a new life in this
442
00:32:23,659 --> 00:32:28,895
really difficult time in
their lives and they're
just strewn on the sandbar.
443
00:32:33,235 --> 00:32:35,369
We don't know for sure what
caused these ships to wreck,
444
00:32:35,404 --> 00:32:37,504
but we know there
was a hurricane
445
00:32:37,539 --> 00:32:41,842
just two months before
this fleet came to grief.
446
00:32:41,877 --> 00:32:45,078
We don't know exactly what
its impact was on Florida
447
00:32:45,114 --> 00:32:50,150
but a hurricane
represents a massive
force of mother nature.
448
00:32:52,921 --> 00:32:55,489
SAM: Every time a hurricane
came through the channel
449
00:32:55,524 --> 00:32:59,459
would change, the
sands would shift.
450
00:32:59,495 --> 00:33:01,495
CHUCK: That shifting
sandbar meant these ships
451
00:33:01,530 --> 00:33:05,098
had no idea where the
safe channel was.
452
00:33:05,134 --> 00:33:11,405
SAM: So, it is possible
that hurricanes effectively
caused these wrecks.
453
00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:13,473
CHUCK: In a very real
sense it is because
454
00:33:13,509 --> 00:33:16,376
of hurricanes that this
inlet was so dangerous.
455
00:33:18,847 --> 00:33:23,383
These storms throughout
history have changed history.
456
00:33:23,419 --> 00:33:25,118
And what a hurricane
does below the water
457
00:33:25,154 --> 00:33:28,488
can be as dramatic as
what it does on shore.
458
00:33:33,362 --> 00:33:37,130
NARRATOR: Millions of
people on or near the
American coast
459
00:33:37,166 --> 00:33:39,933
live under the threat
of hurricanes.
460
00:33:39,968 --> 00:33:43,337
But of all the dangers
these monster storms bring,
461
00:33:43,372 --> 00:33:46,740
the greatest comes
from Storm Surges.
462
00:33:46,775 --> 00:33:51,211
The huge volume of
ocean water pushed
ashore by storm.
463
00:33:51,947 --> 00:33:56,516
The surges can cause
devastating even
deadly flooding.
464
00:33:56,552 --> 00:33:59,119
OBAMA: Obviously all
of us across the
country are concerned
465
00:33:59,154 --> 00:34:02,823
about the potential impact
of Hurricane Sandy.
466
00:34:02,858 --> 00:34:05,959
COMMUNICATOR: We are
expecting a very large storm
467
00:34:05,994 --> 00:34:09,596
with impacts over a
very large area.
468
00:34:09,631 --> 00:34:12,999
ART: When we saw that
Sandy was coming our way,
we dropped everything.
469
00:34:13,035 --> 00:34:15,535
I remember calling up the
director of marine operations
470
00:34:15,571 --> 00:34:18,238
and saying "I need to
get on that boat".
471
00:34:19,908 --> 00:34:25,178
I'm a coastal geologist
and my primary mission
is to try and anticipate
472
00:34:25,214 --> 00:34:28,415
how and where Storm Surge
will hit populated areas.
473
00:34:29,918 --> 00:34:32,419
People think the sky is
where to look for clues
474
00:34:32,454 --> 00:34:34,955
to the damage a hurricane
is going to do,
475
00:34:34,990 --> 00:34:37,524
but for me, the
answers are underwater.
476
00:34:38,894 --> 00:34:42,929
ART: We really need to
understand what's going on in
the water and at the seabed,
477
00:34:42,965 --> 00:34:46,767
if we're going to
try to understand how
storm surge plays out.
478
00:34:46,802 --> 00:34:48,402
MAN: Yeah looks good.
479
00:34:48,437 --> 00:34:51,738
ART: When they tell
you to evacuate, you
need to evacuate.
480
00:34:51,774 --> 00:34:57,444
While everyone else was
preparing to leave, we were
heading 16 miles offshore
481
00:34:57,479 --> 00:34:59,679
towards the approaching storm.
482
00:34:59,715 --> 00:35:02,582
We needed to seize that
moment, to try to capture
483
00:35:02,618 --> 00:35:06,119
a picture of the seabed
right before the storm
484
00:35:06,155 --> 00:35:09,456
and see how that storm
would evolve and change.
485
00:35:09,491 --> 00:35:13,460
That would give us an
incredible picture of
how the seafloor,
486
00:35:13,495 --> 00:35:15,695
the ocean and the
sky interact,
487
00:35:15,731 --> 00:35:18,965
something that has very
rarely, if ever, been done.
488
00:35:19,001 --> 00:35:21,802
And the best place to
do it was Redbird Reef.
489
00:35:24,006 --> 00:35:27,808
NARRATOR: This is no ordinary
patch on the sea floor.
490
00:35:27,843 --> 00:35:31,244
It's the strangest
of artificial reefs.
491
00:35:34,550 --> 00:35:38,084
ART: There are hundreds
upon hundreds of New
York City subway cars
492
00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:40,120
on the sea floor.
493
00:35:40,155 --> 00:35:43,223
Two and a half meters,
we're closing in on it.
494
00:35:43,258 --> 00:35:45,759
For me the Redbird
Reef site has become
495
00:35:45,794 --> 00:35:49,196
a great natural laboratory
for us to better understand
496
00:35:49,231 --> 00:35:52,165
hurricanes and their
impacts on the coastline.
497
00:35:53,769 --> 00:35:57,337
CARTER: I need a little bit
more, I'm getting tugged.
498
00:35:57,372 --> 00:36:00,307
ART: That's it right
there, yep, coming
right up on the corner.
499
00:36:03,479 --> 00:36:06,313
It really makes for
an amazing seascape.
500
00:36:06,348 --> 00:36:12,452
Rows upon rows of subway cars
in different orientations
and arrangements.
501
00:36:12,488 --> 00:36:15,288
I often chuckle to
my archaeologist
friends and say,
502
00:36:15,324 --> 00:36:18,758
'how would you
interpret this hundreds
of years from now?
503
00:36:18,794 --> 00:36:22,929
What kind of bizarre sort
of battle took place here?'
504
00:36:35,177 --> 00:36:39,279
CARTER: We've been
studying Redbird Reef
for over a decade now.
505
00:36:39,314 --> 00:36:42,883
ART: The missing element
was we need a storm.
506
00:36:42,918 --> 00:36:45,318
What Sandy meant for
us is it gave us
507
00:36:45,354 --> 00:36:50,290
for the first time an
opportunity to see how
a single storm event
508
00:36:50,325 --> 00:36:52,359
could change the seabed.
509
00:36:52,394 --> 00:36:55,295
Let's see how she's
looking here good!
510
00:36:55,330 --> 00:36:57,497
I wanted four days
out at that site.
511
00:36:57,533 --> 00:37:00,634
We could squeeze one day
to get everything done.
512
00:37:00,669 --> 00:37:03,803
That meant we needed
to map the site, we needed
to deploy our instruments,
513
00:37:03,839 --> 00:37:07,841
and then we needed to
get the heck out of there
before Sandy came through.
514
00:37:10,212 --> 00:37:11,912
COMMUNICATOR: We're
looking at tropical
storm force winds
515
00:37:11,947 --> 00:37:14,247
along the coast,
beginning tonight.
516
00:37:18,053 --> 00:37:20,086
ART: One of the last
things we did was deploy
517
00:37:20,122 --> 00:37:22,556
an instrument frame
to the sea floor,
518
00:37:22,591 --> 00:37:25,559
that was going to sit
out there during the storm
519
00:37:25,594 --> 00:37:28,128
and measure the
waves and currents.
520
00:37:28,730 --> 00:37:31,398
As we were leaving, I
had this thought,
521
00:37:31,433 --> 00:37:33,733
'will we ever see that
instrument package again?'
522
00:37:44,913 --> 00:37:49,082
covered over an area of
1.4 million square miles
523
00:37:49,117 --> 00:37:53,053
so this was a massive storm
for the Atlantic basin.
524
00:37:54,623 --> 00:37:58,458
It's just incomprehensible
to think about the billions
and billions of dollars
525
00:37:58,493 --> 00:38:01,094
of damage that was
wrought by this storm.
526
00:38:11,473 --> 00:38:15,609
Once Sandy had passed we
went back out to the site to
recover our instrumentation.
527
00:38:16,912 --> 00:38:21,014
We just didn't know what to
expect when we got there and
whether or not we'd have any
528
00:38:21,049 --> 00:38:22,916
equipment left to recover.
529
00:38:26,588 --> 00:38:30,523
ART: We start hauling up
the lines and as part of
the rope was coming up,
530
00:38:30,559 --> 00:38:35,629
I saw this tangle
of metal wrapped in the
line and my heart sank.
531
00:38:38,333 --> 00:38:40,300
CARTER: I turned
and looked at Art
532
00:38:40,335 --> 00:38:44,437
and he just this exasperated
sigh of 'oh my goodness
there's nothing left.'
533
00:38:49,211 --> 00:38:52,312
It turns out that that
was a piece of one of
the subway cars
534
00:38:52,347 --> 00:38:55,749
possibly a door frame
or a window frame.
535
00:38:55,784 --> 00:39:01,187
ART: The storm had torn it
free and tangled it up
amongst our line as the waves
536
00:39:01,223 --> 00:39:04,391
and the currents were
sloshing back and forth.
537
00:39:04,426 --> 00:39:07,160
So, we kept hauling
up, pulling up and
then suddenly,
538
00:39:07,195 --> 00:39:10,630
through the water I see
the frame of our
instrument package
539
00:39:10,666 --> 00:39:17,270
and when it burst through
the surface, it was just
a real moment of elation
540
00:39:17,305 --> 00:39:20,607
and my final thought
was, I hope we hit record!
541
00:39:24,312 --> 00:39:26,579
As we start looking back
through the records,
542
00:39:26,615 --> 00:39:30,817
we're our eyes are
just going bug-eyed.
543
00:39:30,852 --> 00:39:33,319
Right there at the Redbird
Reef site we measured
544
00:39:33,355 --> 00:39:37,157
two and a half story-high
waves with a period
of 16 seconds.
545
00:39:37,192 --> 00:39:40,427
Every 16 seconds another
one of these monster,
546
00:39:40,462 --> 00:39:44,998
mammoth waves is coming
through generating
three knot currents
547
00:39:45,033 --> 00:39:48,535
at the sea floor, in
100 feet of water.
548
00:39:48,570 --> 00:39:54,074
CARTER: The currents that
were being generated by that
storm was staggering to us.
549
00:39:54,109 --> 00:39:58,044
ART: We knew in that moment
that our gambit had paid off.
550
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:00,513
But to truly gauge the
power of those currents,
551
00:40:00,549 --> 00:40:05,185
we needed to measure
the storm's impact
right at the seabed.
552
00:40:05,220 --> 00:40:08,822
That meant we needed to
map the site to see how
much damage was done.
553
00:40:15,864 --> 00:40:22,302
One of the most valuable
assets that we have in
our research arsenal
554
00:40:22,337 --> 00:40:26,840
is our small un-personned
submarine, and it's fully
autonomous meaning
555
00:40:26,875 --> 00:40:29,509
we have to plan its
missions and we hit
556
00:40:29,544 --> 00:40:33,179
go and she dives below
the surface off on its own
557
00:40:33,215 --> 00:40:36,950
to navigate through this
mysterious subsea world.
558
00:40:36,985 --> 00:40:38,818
We're painting a
three-dimensional picture
559
00:40:38,854 --> 00:40:41,020
very high resolution
and precision,
560
00:40:41,056 --> 00:40:46,559
so we can get every
little bump and divot
of the seabed.
561
00:40:49,831 --> 00:40:53,366
ART: We started going
through, piece by piece
in every portion
562
00:40:53,401 --> 00:40:58,204
of the Redbird Reef site
and looking at the changes
before and after Sandy.
563
00:40:58,240 --> 00:41:00,373
Yeah look at the scour
around some of these
subway cars.
564
00:41:00,408 --> 00:41:05,578
We could see whole areas
where the surface sand was
pulled and eroded away.
565
00:41:07,516 --> 00:41:12,719
It became very obvious
to us that epic things had
happened on this, the seabed,
566
00:41:12,754 --> 00:41:16,222
because there were suddenly
areas where subway cars
567
00:41:16,258 --> 00:41:21,594
were missing or they had
been flipped on their
sides or broken apart.
568
00:41:21,630 --> 00:41:24,364
There were subway cars
that were just rotated,
569
00:41:24,399 --> 00:41:29,869
shifted, moved or
completely obliterated.
570
00:41:29,905 --> 00:41:33,940
CARTER: We're talking about
subway cars that weigh on
the order of 75,000 pounds,
571
00:41:33,975 --> 00:41:37,510
just eviscerated by the
currents that were
occurring down there
572
00:41:37,546 --> 00:41:39,345
which really shows
you the power
573
00:41:39,381 --> 00:41:43,049
and the amount of energy
that's being imparted on
the sea floor.
574
00:41:49,758 --> 00:41:54,427
ART: The largest and
perhaps most impressive
structure in the artificial
575
00:41:54,462 --> 00:42:00,166
reef system is the former
ex-USS Arthur Radford.
576
00:42:00,202 --> 00:42:03,736
It was a Navy destroyer
and it's the largest
artificial reef object
577
00:42:03,772 --> 00:42:09,242
north of Florida anywhere
on the east coast, more
than 500 feet long.
578
00:42:09,277 --> 00:42:14,480
But when we went out and then
surveyed over the Radford
that's when it just clearly
579
00:42:14,516 --> 00:42:18,585
showed that this storm
took things to a whole
'nother level.
580
00:42:20,622 --> 00:42:26,392
It's in deeper water
depths and it's a much
larger structure.
581
00:42:26,428 --> 00:42:32,465
We knew from before the
storm that the Radford
was in three parts.
582
00:42:32,500 --> 00:42:35,268
When we got out there and
mapped it after Sandy
583
00:42:35,303 --> 00:42:39,606
it was just jaw-dropping
to realize that the
entire center section
584
00:42:39,641 --> 00:42:42,742
was picked up and rotated
more than 30 degrees.
585
00:42:43,612 --> 00:42:46,346
We're talking about an
enormous Navy
destroyer that's moved
586
00:42:46,381 --> 00:42:50,884
more than 200 feet in
120 feet of water.
587
00:42:50,919 --> 00:42:53,620
It really shocked me, it
really surprised me to see
588
00:42:53,655 --> 00:42:57,790
how much change there
was to the seabed.
589
00:42:57,826 --> 00:43:01,928
I'd never seen it over that
sort of scale and magnitude.
590
00:43:03,398 --> 00:43:07,634
We now know how much
of an effect a storm
has on the sea floor.
591
00:43:07,669 --> 00:43:11,070
But that interaction
goes both ways.
592
00:43:11,106 --> 00:43:14,140
Water movement is
affected by the shape
of the sea floor
593
00:43:14,175 --> 00:43:16,309
as the storm
moves towards land
594
00:43:16,344 --> 00:43:20,046
and those initial conditions
are what determine how
storm surge behaves,
595
00:43:20,081 --> 00:43:24,350
and ultimately, where and
how it hits. That's
crucial information.
596
00:43:28,690 --> 00:43:32,325
You know in hindsight, we
could have lost everything.
597
00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:35,094
Hundreds of thousands of
dollars' worth of equipment.
598
00:43:35,130 --> 00:43:38,464
But if we didn't risk that
loss, we wouldn't have the
gold mine of information
599
00:43:38,500 --> 00:43:41,668
about how the sea floor
changes during a storm.
600
00:43:41,703 --> 00:43:46,105
We have the technology now
to monitor these changes
as each storm passes.
601
00:43:48,476 --> 00:43:52,078
We can feed that into
our storm surge models,
602
00:43:52,113 --> 00:43:56,382
and predict where and
how the next storm surge
is going to occur.
603
00:43:57,152 --> 00:44:00,286
There are gonna be more
storms, and there are going
to be more intense storms.
604
00:44:00,322 --> 00:44:06,659
And we need every bit of
information we can to help
combat storm surge losses.
605
00:44:06,695 --> 00:44:09,295
Here for the first time in
the history of hurricanes,
606
00:44:09,331 --> 00:44:11,064
we might finally have
a weapon that helps
607
00:44:11,099 --> 00:44:14,334
us fight the worst of
what those hurricanes are
throwing at us.
608
00:44:23,545 --> 00:44:24,310
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