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♪ ♪
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WOMAN (over radio): With up
to a billion bucks of
treasure on the line,
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this is going to be a fight
all the way to the finish.
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MAN (over TV): So,
who does it belong to?
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"We found it, it's ours",
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says Florida salvage
company Odyssey Marine.
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The Spanish government says,
"We don't think so".
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MAN (over TV): Lawyer James
Gould is representing Spain in
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its legal battle
with Odyssey Marine.
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GOOLD (off-screen): Sunken
ships are like time capsules.
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I've specialized in
protecting them from
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treasure hunting companies.
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Spain's history has been taken
and we've gotta get it back.
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GOOLD (off-screen): But
that doesn't mean that a US
judge has to agree with me.
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I've got to prove it.
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NEIL: As far as I'm concerned,
it didn't belong to Spain.
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NEIL (off-screen): We were
conducting salvage operations
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in international waters.
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NARRATOR: At stake,
not just half-a-billion
dollars,
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but a crucial question,
who owns history?
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The answer lies in a
wreck over half a mile
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under the waves.
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MAN (off-screen): What,
for you, is the difference
between treasure
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hunting and marine
archaeology?
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NEIL: Well, there's the thing.
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How long have we got?
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(theme music plays)
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TOM (off-screen): We went
out in the Atlantic Ocean.
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The North Atlantic has a
tendency to be on the bad side,
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storms come across the
ocean on a regular basis.
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It was a difficult
area to work in.
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TOM (off-screen): But,
I have to say, we'd
gotten quite good at that.
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We had made modifications to
the ship over the years to
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help it operate better
under those conditions.
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And, so, we just went out and
started "mowing the lawn",
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is what we call it,
covering it with
sonar looking
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for more wrecks.
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All of these searches are
hours and hours and hours of
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very tedious monitoring.
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TOM (off-screen): But you can't
let your concentration stray.
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And we came across quite
a number of shipwrecks
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in that area.
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TOM (off-screen): You know,
a lot of these shipwrecks
were unidentified.
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And so, we just kept doing that,
mowing the lawn,
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funding more wrecks.
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TOM (off-screen): And
then, all of a sudden,
with the sonar,
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we came across
little hard dots,
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which represents
a debris field.
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NEIL: It didn't look
like a shipwreck.
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Unless you knew what
you were looking for,
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you wouldn't give
it a second glance.
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NEIL (off-screen): So,
they were going to put
an ROV in the water,
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we were going to go down
and have a look at this.
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SEAN: We're talking 1,100
meters to the seabed.
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That's twice the height of
the Empire State Building.
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After 150, 200 meters,
the daylight disappears,
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it's complete darkness.
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TOM: We drove towards the area
with the ROV so that we tried
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to get a big picture
of what it looked like.
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SEAN: Then, suddenly, Zeus
turns on its lights and, boom,
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there are these rocks on the
seabed and the ROV crawls in.
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NEIL: When you looked out
the gloom and you saw down,
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these molehills.
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TOM: The ROV operator, he
screamed, "That's coins".
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And the room just exploded
because everybody else had
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been kind of afraid to say it.
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MAN (over radio):
Look at that lot.
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MAN (over radio): Yes.
MAN (over radio): Wow.
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MAN (over radio): Yay.
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MAN (over radio): Thousands.
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TOM: Yeah, there were
just coins everywhere.
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It was unbelievable.
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Greg and I had known
each other for quite
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a number of years.
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He would come out on the ship
with us quite often whenever
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he could get away from the
office for any period of time.
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TOM (off-screen):
He loves the adventure.
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GREG (off-screen):
Archaeologists actually
run our operations.
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But we're also in a
commercial business.
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We sell the duplicate coins.
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We'll make those
available to the public
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so they can own them.
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SEAN: If you've got 15,000
coins which are all the same,
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put some in a museum,
and sell the rest to pay
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for the science and perhaps
create a bit of a profit.
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TOM: I think we had
investigated six
targets that day.
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And, so, when you suddenly
had success, it's great joy.
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TOM (off-screen): This was the
last shipwreck of the day.
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SEAN (off-screen):
The site's a monster.
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It's 282 meters long,
100 meters wide.
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TOM (off-screen): It represented
the size of a football pitch.
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It was unbelievable.
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And we just kept finding
bundle after bundle after
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bundle of coins.
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NEIL (off-screen): And
at this time we know
we're clicking, wow,
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this is a lot of money here,
this is hundreds of millions.
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But where's the
rest of the wreck?
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Where is it?
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Why have we got all
these mounds of coins
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and not any structure?
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SEAN: The ship wreck is
something that has a keel,
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it has hull, you can make out
different clusters or material
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or pottery or cannon.
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But this was just scattered
as far as the eye could see.
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SEAN (off-screen):
There is no part of the
structure of a ship.
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It's gone.
And it's confusing, right?
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NEIL: So, then, that's when
the underwater detectives bit
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comes in, and reads the
map and sees what it is.
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SEAN: And Zeus started
to fly across the seabed,
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not touch anything,
just take photographs.
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NEIL: Click, click, click,
click, click, click, click,
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click, click, click,
click, taking pictures.
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TOM (off-screen): It would
oftentimes take two days,
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three days 'til we
collected enough images to
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stitch them together.
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NEIL (off-screen): I think
was it 13, 14,000 images
of this photo mosaic.
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Wow.
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What have we got here?
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I've got this perfect map.
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It was unbelievable
to see these mounds.
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SEAN (off-screen): This is
a massive concentration of
clumps of
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coins with copper ingots,
bars of tin,
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and then some small finds.
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It's a strange mess.
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A random collection
of artifacts,
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as if you've thrown something
out of 100-storey window.
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TOM: You know, initially, we
can't even say it's from one
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ship because it was
scattered so far and wide.
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SEAN (off-screen): And
nobody has seen anything
like this before.
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How does a ship break up in
such a way to form in this
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manner and what happened
to the rest of it?
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GREG (off-screen): Until
we get more artifacts up
and identify it,
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all we know right now is that
we found a shipwreck with a
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bunch of coins on it.
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And that's not a bad thing no
matter where they came from.
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(ringing)
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JAMES (off-screen): I got
this call out of the blue.
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Hello, Jim Delgado.
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It was Greg.
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Oh, hey, Greg. How are you?
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I don't know why Greg called.
It surprised me.
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I met Greg Stemm at a
conference in the UK talking
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about shipwrecks on the
high seas and a new type of
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business model with selling
the goods of the past.
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JAMES (off-screen): But I
didn't know the man and
I'd never worked with him,
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so I didn't have much
of a sense of Greg.
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He said he was at a site and
the most amazing thing was
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that there was no
shipwreck he said.
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It was as if somebody had just
discarded and thrown over
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chests of coins.
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Had I ever seen a
sight like that?
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I said "No, I never had".
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It seemed rather strange.
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Said, "Are, are they pattered
or positioned in a way that
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suggests that maybe a ship
fell over and capsized,
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or is these more
of a wreck buried?".
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JAMES (off-screen): He said,
"No, it's just this money".
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I said, "Well,
that's interesting.
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I've never seen
anything like that".
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JAMES (off-screen):
And when I hung up,
I wondered,
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what was that all about?
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And that's the last I
thought of it for a while.
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NEIL: Right way, we knew
that there's a lot of value
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in these coins.
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NEIL (off-screen): So we decided
on a methodology for an
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excavation in the site.
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TOM: We designed special tools
to be able to protect these
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very fragile clumps of coins
or artifacts that we had
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anticipated recovering.
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GREG: Wow.
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TOM (off-screen): There
are just tons of coins
coming up coated in mud,
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and the archaeologists would
have to spend time sorting
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them out of the mud.
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NEIL: This stuff's really
worse than baby poo
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on a blanket.
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TOM: And then recording all
the details of each coin and
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giving it an artifact
number and logging it.
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TOM (off-screen): You know,
then it would go into a
bucket where we put a
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preserving fluid to try to
protect the coins as much as
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we could 'til we
could 'em ashore.
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TOM (off-screen): And Greg
was out there every time
the vehicle came out and,
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you know, looking at, at
what we had brought up.
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GREG: It's a lot of
coins down there.
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NEIL: What was very
interesting about the coin
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collection is the damage on
these coins is obviously done
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through some traumatic force,
such as a huge explosion.
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So, I was trying to separate
the bent coins so that I could
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take them to an expert on
explosions and work out how
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did this coin get
bent like that.
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TOM (off-screen): We didn't know
at the time, but, ultimately,
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we covered 17 tons
of silver coins.
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And we did it in
roughly three weeks.
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TOM (off-screen):
It's an unbelievable recovery.
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NARRATOR: Odyssey decide to
fly the coins and artifacts to
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the United States and file
a claim on the treasure.
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TOM: We quickly filled up the
cargo spaces of the plane,
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and we still had
buckets and, so,
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they went unto seats and
got individually trapped
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into the seats.
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GREG: This is so surreal.
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♪ ♪
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TOM (off-screen): We had
not seen anything to
identify the wreck.
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And, so, we kept referring
to it as "The Black Swan",
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the code name that
we gave to it.
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SEAN (off-screen): At the
time, Greg was reading
Nassim Taleb's book
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on the black swan.
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A black swan event is
something that is completely
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unexpected and utterly
transforms the world we live in.
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So, everything sort
of clicked into place.
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WOMAN (over TV): But deep-sea
explorers out of Tampa have
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struck gold for real.
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Divers for a company called
Odyssey Marine Explorations
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found a ship that
sank in the Atlantic.
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WOMAN: ...of the latest
treasure rescued
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from the bottom of the sea by
the North American company
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Odyssey.
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WOMAN (over TV): 17 tons of
silver and gold coins.
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Up to $500 million.
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ÁLVARO (off-screen): I
think it was in 2007 that
I read an article in the
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newspaper that mentioned those
words "treasure hunters".
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And that immediately
meant something to me.
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ÀLVARO (off-screen): I mean, I
was very attracted to mysteries.
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I'm a journalist.
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I used to be a
reporter in El País ,
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the biggest
newspaper in Spain.
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I published a story
about the Black Swan.
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I called it "Pieces of Eight"
in honor to the Treasure Island ,
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one of my favorite books.
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And, in fact,
it was true,
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there were almost
500,000 pieces of eight.
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Three hours later,
we received a call
for the Ministry of Culture
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because they
are really angry.
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They told us, "We know that
Odyssey has been looking
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for a treasure in an
area very close to,
to Spanish waters
235
00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,680
and we're just trying to
prove if that treasure
belongs to Spain".
236
00:12:43,680 --> 00:12:47,840
ELISA (off-screen): It is
very difficult to express
what we felt because
237
00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:51,880
we are against treasure hunter
companies because they just
238
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,560
work for private benefit.
239
00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,840
IVÁN (off-screen): I've
been fighting against
all the treasure
240
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,040
hunters companies
every day of my life.
241
00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:06,280
And it's completely forbidden
to sell any object.
242
00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,080
That's what the
Spanish law says.
243
00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:11,240
ELISA (off-screen): There
was no time to be angry.
244
00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:14,640
I mean, we have to work,
to show everyone that the
245
00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,880
treasure belongs to Spain.
246
00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:21,680
And, so, yes, the first
reaction was to go to court.
247
00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,080
ELISA (off-screen): So, we
call our ambassador in
Washington and the Embassy
248
00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:30,520
helped us to
contact James Gould.
249
00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:40,000
♪ ♪
250
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,640
GOOLD: I got a call from the
Spanish Embassy within an hour
251
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,120
of the newspapers
having shown up.
252
00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,320
And, so, the first thing I did
was get out the magnifying
253
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:54,440
glass and look at every copy
of this photo that I could to
254
00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:56,480
see what the coins were.
255
00:13:56,560 --> 00:14:00,920
I noticed that they had been
changed to obscure the image
256
00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,200
of whatever king it was.
257
00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,840
And, so, I couldn't tell
whether they were Spanish,
258
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:07,920
British, French, or whatever.
259
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:14,720
GOOLD (off-screen): But it
turned out that Odyssey had
filed a lawsuit a month before,
260
00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:19,760
an advert at the back
of a newspapers saying that
261
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,640
they had discovered an
unidentified vessel.
262
00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:27,560
That started a clock
running under which,
263
00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:32,240
if no one came into court
and disputed that Odyssey
264
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,080
was entitled to all
of that material,
265
00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,920
then they could go to court
and say, "We're the owners".
266
00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:40,960
So, we couldn't
sit on our hands.
267
00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:42,600
We had to move fast.
268
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,080
SEAN (off-screen): I got a call,
Greg was in town,
269
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,520
"Would you like meet up?"
270
00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,880
And I thought, this is going
to be a painful meeting.
271
00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:01,320
You know, I'd read
the headlines.
272
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:05,320
They were being trashed in
the national newspapers.
273
00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:09,840
SEAN (off-screen):
So I met up with Greg.
274
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:11,760
He was in very high spirits.
275
00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,120
He was delighted with the
publicity and obviously
276
00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,040
thought they had a very strong
position legally that they'd
277
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,520
be able to retain
ownership of this material.
278
00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,680
ÁLVARO: Spanish laws say that
you cannot earn money selling
279
00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,480
the, the cultural heritage.
280
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,800
ÀLVARO (off-screen): But
Greg was someone that
believes everything is
281
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,960
possible is you
fight for that.
282
00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:36,480
MAN (off-screen):
We know it's a ship.
283
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,080
GREG (off-screen): We know it's,
well, maybe.
284
00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:39,800
MAN (off-screen):
But, as opposed to?
285
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:41,720
GREG (off-screen): Well,
we've got a lot of coins
that we found in the
286
00:15:41,800 --> 00:15:43,120
bottom of the ocean.
287
00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:44,640
You know, it's amazing.
288
00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,360
Sometimes people just dump
things off of ships to prevent
289
00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:49,000
the ships from sinking,
it's happened.
290
00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:50,680
MAN (off-screen): They're
lightening it, if you will.
291
00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:52,400
GREG (off-screen): Exactly.
292
00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:57,960
ÁLVARO: And Greg knew
very well that if he
wins this battle,
293
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,320
if he could prove
there was no shipwreck,
294
00:16:00,400 --> 00:16:02,920
that the treasure had
just been discarded,
295
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,240
then Spain would
not have a claim
296
00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,760
and it would all go to Odyssey.
297
00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:14,160
NARRATOR: As the
deadline approaches,
298
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,800
James Goold contests Odyssey's
claim on the treasure in the
299
00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:19,880
Florida courts.
300
00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,480
JAMES: Now, what Spain has
to do is not only intervene,
301
00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:28,320
it has to prove there's a
shipwreck and that that
302
00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,600
shipwreck belongs to them.
303
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,080
JAMES (off-screen): And that
the coins were the king's
money and part of the
304
00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:35,960
sovereign property of Spain.
305
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:40,480
GOOLD: By the end of that day,
I dashed off a letter to
306
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,800
Odyssey's lawyer saying,
"On behalf of Spain,
307
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,520
please inform us
of what it is".
308
00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,240
And next Monday evening I
was on a plane to Madrid.
309
00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,840
♪ ♪
310
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,160
ELISA (off-screen): We knew
we had to be very quick to
311
00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:14,040
identify the shipwreck.
312
00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:19,440
There was no time
to be angry or,
or to cry.
313
00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,840
We have to defend
the heritage.
314
00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:28,880
GOOLD (off-screen): I've
got to prove it was a
Spanish shipwreck.
315
00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,600
So, the first question is,
what had happened in history
316
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,080
at that spot?
317
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,440
GOOLD (off-screen): But
Odyssey wouldn't reveal the
exactly location where
318
00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:39,880
they had been working.
319
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:41,920
So, on that first
trip to Madrid,
320
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,440
I sat down with the Spanish
navy to ask what they could
321
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,680
find about the movements
of Odyssey's ships
322
00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:50,000
because there are ways.
323
00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:51,800
GOOLD (off-screen): There
are GPS signal tracking
324
00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,960
devices that every ship
is required to have.
325
00:17:55,040 --> 00:17:56,640
And, so, sure enough,
326
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,720
there was a record
for Odyssey's ship.
327
00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:05,240
But once they got 20 or
30 miles from Gibraltar,
328
00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:08,240
their signal went dark.
329
00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:11,840
So, then I thought, well,
something's going on here.
330
00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:17,440
But there were a few blips
that had still shown up,
331
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,800
five or six of them,
and there was a
cluster of them
332
00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,800
south of Portugal.
333
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:29,160
So then I thought,
okay, something had to
happen around here.
334
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:33,320
So, then we started looking
in the history books.
335
00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:37,400
GOOLD (off-screen): And in
a very short time I found
that there had been an
336
00:18:37,480 --> 00:18:41,840
absolutely pivotal event in
Spanish and world history in
337
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:46,360
October 5, 1804, what was
called the Battle of St Mary.
338
00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:52,160
JAMES: At the time,
Spain is still a global,
powerful empire,
339
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:54,880
but its influence is waning.
340
00:18:54,960 --> 00:18:59,680
JAMES (off-screen): Spain
had made a deal that if they
paid Napoleon a vast
341
00:18:59,760 --> 00:19:03,400
amount of money each month
he wouldn't invade Spain.
342
00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:05,840
He'd focus on invading
Great Britain.
343
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,840
So, it was a form of
protection money.
344
00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,480
And that's what sets up this
entire tale because the King
345
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:15,520
of Spain needs more money.
346
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:17,360
JAMES (off-screen):
Where does he get that money?
347
00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:20,480
He gets it from his
Latin American colonies,
348
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:25,240
and specifically orders his
warships to load silver from
349
00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,000
themids down in South America.
350
00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,400
And, so, they
cross the Atlantic.
351
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:35,240
But what they haven't
counted on is that fact
that there are spies.
352
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:39,480
And in the United Kingdom,
the decision is made
353
00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,480
to stop those ships.
354
00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,240
JAMES (off-screen):
A small British
force of ships intercepts
355
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,800
the Spanish vessels.
356
00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:55,600
And what basically amounted
to high seas hijacking.
357
00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,960
A British ship called Amphion
cuts across the line of
358
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:02,960
the Spanish ships,
behind a Spanish vessel
called Mercedes.
359
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:06,320
And the British
navy opens fire.
360
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:12,160
(gunfire)
361
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:19,400
The single shot from Amphion
goes right through the hull of
362
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,480
Mercedes and launches
in the magazine,
363
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,400
where all the
gunpowder is stored.
364
00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:27,560
In that moment,
that powder goes
off in a massive
365
00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,720
explosion that tears
the ship apart,
366
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:36,320
Mercedes cracks open
like an egg and spills
367
00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:38,640
her contents into the sea.
368
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,960
And it rains debris all
over the ocean as well
369
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,840
as well as onto
the nearby ships.
370
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,520
JAMES (off-screen):
Stunning doesn't even
really begin to convey the
371
00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:53,400
horror of that moment.
372
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:57,160
It is a war grave
with 250 dead,
373
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,080
including Spanish sailors,
marines,
374
00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,360
and the wives and the
children of Spanish officers.
375
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,440
That loss of that ship not
only saw 250 lives taken,
376
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:12,960
it saw Britain and
it saw Spain return
377
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:14,600
to a state of war,
378
00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:16,880
leading to a period of
tremendous civil unrest,
379
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,160
the weakening of
the Spanish Empire.
380
00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,600
In just a year, the great
naval battle of Trafalgar is
381
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,280
going to see the French and
Spanish fleet literally
382
00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:28,280
destroyed by nelson.
383
00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:31,320
JAMES (off-screen): All of
this hinges on what happens
on that spot of water
384
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:35,320
back on October 5th, 1804.
385
00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,080
GOOLD (off-screen): Navy
records gave us the positions,
386
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,880
which tells us that's
where the Mercedes sank.
387
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:47,680
Then I turned and compared it
to what we had learned from
388
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:51,880
those blips and, sure
enough, bulls eye,
389
00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:57,720
the exact location where they
had been taking the coins.
390
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,480
GOOLD (off-screen): Well,
it had to be the Mercedes,
391
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,600
but that's not gonna be
enough to prove in court
392
00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,520
what actually was there.
393
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,040
I needed to see what was on
the bottom at the sight,
394
00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,480
what Odyssey's own
records revealed.
395
00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:18,240
JAMES (off-screen): Only
Odyssey's own data, it's
photography and the location
396
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,720
of the site, could confirm for
sure that there's a shipwreck
397
00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:25,040
down there and if
it's a naval vessel.
398
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,960
The trouble was,
they weren't rushing
to hand it over,
399
00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:33,000
and their ships were in a port
that Spain couldn't get to.
400
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,240
ÁLVARO (off-screen):
Gibraltar is a place in dispute.
401
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:41,520
It's a rock that is
in the land of, of Spain,
402
00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:43,840
but it belongs to
the United Kingdom.
403
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:48,200
So, the Guardia Civil
couldn't go into Gibraltar
404
00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,040
to check the Odyssey Explorer.
405
00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:53,800
They had to wait 'til they
get out out of they port.
406
00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,640
TOM: The Spanish made it very
clear that should we leave
407
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,800
that harbor they
would capture us.
408
00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:07,360
MAN (over TV): In
six-foot swells,
409
00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:08,840
a Spanish government gunboat
410
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,160
intercepts the salvage
vessel the Odyssey Explorer.
411
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,440
MAN: I advise you, captain
of the Odyssey Explorer,
412
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,080
we are going
to board your vessel.
413
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,920
MAN: Any interference
with our transit in
international waters
414
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,240
will be a clear violation.
415
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:25,400
MAN: We are going to approach
your vessel and go aboard.
416
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:26,560
Get ready please.
417
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:27,440
Get ready.
418
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,640
ÁLVARO: The Odyssey Explorer
had been in Gibraltar,
419
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,200
I don't know, for months.
420
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:37,720
ÀLVARO (off-screen): And
each day it was costing
them a fortune in running
421
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,240
costs for the ship.
422
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,920
So, they had to eventually
leave port even though they
423
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,960
knew they'd be captured.
424
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,360
TOM: Sure enough, both
ships were seized,
425
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,040
took 'em into Spanish ports,
426
00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:51,240
took a lot of things
off of the ship.
427
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,920
TOM (off-screen): We, of
course, already stripped
the ship of anything
428
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:55,840
from the Black Swan.
429
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,120
We did not have any of the,
the data drives or anything that
430
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,960
had the data in
it on the ship.
431
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,440
But they still took all the
data drives out of every
432
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,320
computer and things like that.
433
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,120
So they were,
they were not
very nice about it.
434
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:10,920
JAMES (off-screen): Without
Odyssey's data and photography,
435
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,640
it would be virtually
impossible for us to prove
436
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,040
that this was
definitely the Mercedes.
437
00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:19,080
So, now, the legal team had
to up the game to discover
438
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,120
exactly where Odyssey
had been located.
439
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,040
The one thing I had learned
from my brief interactions
440
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,600
with Greg was that he
didn't do anything
441
00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:30,280
without a lot of research.
442
00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:34,560
He didn't go unless he knew
what he was looking for and
443
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,880
where he might likely find it.
444
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,800
♪ ♪
445
00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,760
VICTORIA (off-screen):
Not everybody can read
16th century Spanish.
446
00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,280
Not everybody knows where to
look for those documents.
447
00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:58,240
Over a period of
more than 35 years,
448
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,600
I have worked for many
different institutions
449
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,040
as a researcher.
450
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:11,800
In 2005, I was contacted
by someone from Odyssey.
451
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,000
VICTORIA (off-screen): And
they were interested in
knowing where a number of
452
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,440
ships were approaching
off the Bay of Cadiz.
453
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:23,040
And, at one point,
we had altogether
50 different ships
454
00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:26,240
for their data pace
for that one area.
455
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,440
VICTORIA (off-screen): And
then they became interested
in one particular
456
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,960
ship and all the most detailed
information that one could
457
00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,320
possibly find was
of interest to them.
458
00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:39,440
VICTORIA (off-screen):
When this story broke, I
felt absolutely horrified
459
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,280
because my first job
is I'm a historian.
460
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,480
I am not interested
in the treasure.
461
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:49,880
I immediately contacted the
people in Odyssey by email.
462
00:25:49,960 --> 00:25:54,120
And they got bad and said,
oh, just relax, no problem,
463
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,320
we have everything
under control.
464
00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,720
So I said, "Well, it's
not under control here".
465
00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:01,960
VICTORIA (off-screen): And every
time you turn the radio on,
466
00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:04,400
every time you turn
Spanish news on at night,
467
00:26:04,480 --> 00:26:06,200
every time you
buy a newspaper,
468
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,880
it was just on and on and
on and on and on and on.
469
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:10,920
I mean, I was accused
of being a spy.
470
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,440
And then said, "Oh, we
can't tell you anything.
471
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,120
We're not about to say what
the ship is that we found
472
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:18,240
or, or where exactly we far.
473
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,880
But if you want, we'll
give you a hint".
474
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,600
VICTORIA (off-screen): And they
said it's something to do
475
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,440
with the make of a car.
476
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,840
Well, of course, I knew that
they had found the Mercedes.
477
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,960
GOOLD: Victoria Stappels'
statement was very useful
478
00:26:34,040 --> 00:26:38,280
because it confirmed that
Odyssey had set about this
479
00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:43,040
with a deliberate intention
of locating the Mercedes.
480
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:48,120
GOOLD (off-screen): Meanwhile,
Greg Stemm is issuing sworn
statements under oath
481
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:52,640
that they had no evidence
that would confirm what
ship it was.
482
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:57,880
ELISA (off-screen): It
was very hard to believe
that they were all the
483
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,800
time denying it
was Las Mercedes.
484
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,080
It was really strange for us,
485
00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,040
something incredible to believe.
486
00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,960
GOOLD: So, I went back and
asked the court to consider
487
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,440
doing something about this.
488
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,440
GOOLD (off-screen): And,
sure enough, an order
comes from the judge
489
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:28,160
that Odyssey has been
"disingenuous and
utterly without merit".
490
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:33,040
And Odyssey, after fighting it
and fighting it and fighting it,
491
00:27:33,120 --> 00:27:38,720
had to turn over the photo
mosaic and give me access to
492
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:43,160
their DVDs of the seabed
and their photographs.
493
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,000
GOOLD (off-screen): And
so there was a very nice
moment when finally
494
00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:49,360
we could see the site.
495
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:58,160
So, now, we needed to show
that right there on the seabed
496
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:04,120
was the shipwreck,
something Odyssey had
denied all along.
497
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:14,040
♪ ♪
498
00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,200
JAMES (off-screen): We were
in Houston at a meeting.
499
00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:19,440
And when the meeting was done,
Jim, in his quiet way said,
500
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,320
"Got a second?
I wanna ask you a question".
501
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,480
GOOLD: I had these
images, some of which I
couldn't understand,
502
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,320
and he could look at.
503
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:34,360
GOOLD (off-screen): And,
instantly, starts pointing
out everything that
504
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,480
I had been puzzled by.
505
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,320
JAMES (off-screen): This was a
very competently done job,
506
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:46,400
which appeared to me to be
nothing more than a map for
507
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,840
recovering the coins,
and I'm not seeing a
wooden hull,
508
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,480
but I wouldn't after
a few hundred years.
509
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:55,840
You could see this was a
chunk of a section of hull,
510
00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:59,640
in one case with a cannon
tangled in it meaning that was
511
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:01,640
where a gun port had been.
512
00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:07,720
JAMES (off-screen): A section
of hardware from the rudder
that steered the ship.
513
00:29:10,080 --> 00:29:13,080
A chest of belongings
including candlesticks,
514
00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:16,280
silver platters,
things of that sort.
515
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:22,440
GOOLD (off-screen): So,
then, we start taking little
Post-it markers and
516
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,960
pasting them all over
the photo mosaic to
517
00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:27,720
keep track of them.
518
00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,000
JAMES: And, so, as I
looked at it, I said,
519
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:37,400
"This is a shipwreck site.
520
00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,680
It's clearly a shipwreck site.
Look, look at this.
521
00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:44,760
There's a donut of debris
thinner in the middle and very
522
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:46,560
compact around the sides".
523
00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,880
I said, "That's when
something explodes".
524
00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:55,560
GOOLD (off-screen): We could see
that that was a shipwreck.
525
00:29:55,640 --> 00:29:57,760
But was it the Mercedes?
526
00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:03,280
JAMES: It was in the right
place, from approximately
that time period,
527
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,000
based on the type of ship,
528
00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,120
the type of fittings
and the guns.
529
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:09,200
JAMES (off-screen):
It felt good.
530
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:11,520
It felt like the right answer.
531
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:13,160
But, then again,
shipwreck stories almost
532
00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:15,080
always surprise you.
533
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:20,920
GOOLD: I got used to
going through hundreds
of hours of these
534
00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:26,360
DVDs of the running footage of
their ROV as it went back and
535
00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,600
forth over the seabed.
536
00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:31,960
GOOLD (off-screen): Hundreds
of hours of waiting for
something to come into
537
00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:35,040
sight and then
doing a screen grab.
538
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,440
And, all of sudden, there
comes into view a long,
539
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:45,320
elegant fluted cannon and it's
got very ornate handles that
540
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,640
look like dolphins or some
kind of fancy dragon.
541
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,920
And I go, oh, what?
542
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:57,760
Those are medieval cannons
two centuries out of sync
543
00:30:57,840 --> 00:30:59,840
with everything
else we're seeing.
544
00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:01,520
What's going on here?
545
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,440
JAMES (off-screen): Were we
wrong about it being Mercedes?
546
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:07,760
It felt like we were
back to square one.
547
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,520
It was incredibly frustrating.
548
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,520
GOOLD (off-screen):
Obviously, it was problematic.
549
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:14,160
What was I gonna do?
550
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:19,080
So I got back to Madrid to
start going through the
551
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,480
Spanish museums of medieval
cannon with Elisa looking for
552
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:25,920
matches of this.
553
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:30,600
We're coming close,
but not quite.
554
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:37,960
And then, wait a minute,
on the Mercedes manifest
555
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:43,080
there's specific record that
the ship was carrying two
556
00:31:43,160 --> 00:31:46,320
"canones bronce inútiles",
557
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:49,680
useless, obsolete bronze
cannons.
558
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:54,560
GOOLD (off-screen):
It's a smoking gun that
this is the Mercedes.
559
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,080
How could it be
anything than that?
560
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,600
ELISA (off-screen): We
organized a press conference
at the Ministry of Culture.
561
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:05,040
We were all very excited,
I must admit.
562
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:06,760
We were all very excited.
563
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:10,280
We had very great
news to give.
564
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,000
GOOLD: It was the kind of
thing I'd never been through
565
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,440
before where you've got press
photographers rolling around
566
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:20,920
on the floor in front
of you and so on.
567
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,680
GOOLD (over PA):
Well, the mystery is over.
568
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:27,600
The coins and other artifacts
that Odyssey took from the
569
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:32,640
site are documented to
have been on the Mercedes.
570
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:36,240
We went public and the
world headlines were
571
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,480
"The mystery is over".
572
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:42,960
We came flat out and
said it's the Mercedes.
573
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,840
NEIL (off-screen): Whilst we
were on the ship, for me,
574
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:55,600
all the clues started to
point towards this is
575
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:57,400
pretty much the Mercedes.
576
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,240
MAN (off-screen):
Right from the start?
577
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:00,840
NEIL (off-screen): Yeah, from me
anyways and the archaeologists
578
00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:02,280
looking at it, yeah.
579
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:04,360
It was fairly obvious that
they were Spanish cannon.
580
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,400
Obviously, there's
coins saying "1804".
581
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:10,080
NEIL (off-screen): And the coins
were bent cause it blew up.
582
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,440
That's pointing towards
it's the Mercedes.
583
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:15,040
What else could it be?
584
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:22,680
NARRATOR: Eventually, even
Odyssey begin to acknowledge
585
00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:24,920
that it might be the Mercedes.
586
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,240
But their lawyers
are not finished yet.
587
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,840
ÁLVARO: Once day,
they said to me that
they were looking for
588
00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:35,040
the descendent of the
merchants that put all
589
00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,000
the gold in the cargo
of Las Mercedes.
590
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:46,120
SEAN: There are 811,000 coins
on the Mercedes, of which,
591
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:51,120
around 74%, three-quarters
belong to private individuals.
592
00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:55,200
SEAN (off-screen): If you
find a merchant vessel,
593
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,520
whatever is on it
and you claim it,
594
00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:58,760
if you can't
find the owner,
595
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:00,200
everything belongs to you.
596
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,000
WOMAN (over TV):
After all this,
597
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,520
it might just come down
to finders keepers,
losers weepers.
598
00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:17,040
♪ ♪
599
00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,480
JAMES (off-screen): At
times, what it felt like
is you'd win some ground
600
00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:27,680
but every step of the
way a constant push back.
601
00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,080
GOOLD (off-screen): Takes a lot
of work to come in and prove it.
602
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:34,960
Years of litigation.
603
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:40,040
How could a US court say no,
no, no, finders keepers,
604
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,080
never mind Spanish history?
605
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:46,640
GOOLD (off-screen): But
that doesn't mean that a US
judge has to agree with me.
606
00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,200
♪ ♪
607
00:34:58,360 --> 00:35:03,560
ÁLVARO (off-screen):
Greg knew very well that
if he win this battle
608
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:07,120
he would change the story of
archaeological treasures
609
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:09,400
in the deep ocean.
610
00:35:09,480 --> 00:35:12,040
GOOLD(off-screen): What would
happen on the final day?
611
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:23,800
And then the decision of
the senior judge in Tampa
612
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:26,280
came in by email.
613
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:31,120
"The ineffable truth of this
case is that the Mercedes is a
614
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:35,120
natural and legal
patrimony of Spain".
615
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:37,880
We won.
We won.
616
00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:40,120
Well, then, I called
Elisa immediately.
617
00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:45,600
And then there were,
there were some
yells and shouts.
618
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:48,000
Mm-hmm, yeah.
619
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:50,320
ELISA: It was a victory, yes.
620
00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,720
It was a great victory,
yes, yes.
621
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,680
IVÁN: My strongest feeling was
good lord, that's fantastic.
622
00:35:56,760 --> 00:36:03,040
One man is not the owner
of our cannon heritage.
623
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:08,960
Every one of us are the owners
of the historical heritage.
624
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:12,560
ÁLVARO: The judge said that
the treasure should go back
625
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,360
to, to Spain.
626
00:36:19,720 --> 00:36:23,280
GOOLD: As the judge said
at the of this process,
627
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:28,760
"There had been a continuous
core campaign of bad faith,
628
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:32,520
deception,
and deflection".
629
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,400
The one good thing that one
can say here is it had a
630
00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:43,040
positive outcome and the
lesson is there to stand.
631
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:58,280
TOM: Just to have the court
turn against us and to lose a
632
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,120
battle that we thought
we would surely win,
633
00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:03,400
it was a devastating
impact to the company.
634
00:37:05,280 --> 00:37:08,280
NEIL (off-screen): I thought
it was unfair and unjust,
635
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:11,920
and I genuinely feel
sorry for Odyssey
636
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,760
and the way they were treated.
637
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,120
ÁLVARO: This decision was
crucial for their business.
638
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,760
ÀLVARO (off-screen): So,
Odyssey couldn't just give up.
639
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,920
They had to appeal the court's
decision and they were going
640
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:29,960
to do as much as they
could to keep the, the treasure.
641
00:37:30,040 --> 00:37:32,080
WOMAN (over TV): The
deep sea treasure
hunting company Odyssey
642
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:35,400
says it will appeal a ruling
this week by a Florida judge.
643
00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:38,520
The judge ordered it to hand
over to Spain a half-million
644
00:37:38,600 --> 00:37:41,240
dollars' worth of
gold and silver coins.
645
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:51,120
GOOLD: But a day came when
they had to turn over the
646
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:54,240
coins and other objects
that they had in the US.
647
00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:57,760
The Spanish Air Force
had agreed to send two
648
00:37:57,840 --> 00:38:00,720
Hercules military cargo planes.
649
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,720
GOOLD (off-screen): The coins
were put on the aircraft.
650
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,960
So, as we packed up at
MacDill Air Force Base
and the ramp of
651
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:11,920
the plane comes up,
I've still got this
worry about, well,
652
00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:15,240
what happens if the
Supreme Court decides
there should be
653
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,640
a stay of execution?
654
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:22,600
(radio chatter)
655
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:26,080
There came a point just as we
were leaving US air space
656
00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:28,400
that I could get through
and I start yelling,
657
00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,400
"Are we okay? Are we okay?
Are we okay?"
658
00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:39,320
(radio chatter)
659
00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:42,240
GOOLD (off-screen): By the
time we got to Newfoundland,
660
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,880
I'm yelling over this terrific
din of the propellers and the
661
00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:47,440
vibration in this plane,
662
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,040
"Are we clear?
Is the coast clear?"
663
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:54,720
And I hear, "You're okay.
You're okay".
664
00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:56,400
And that was that.
665
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:04,840
GOOLD (off-screen): And
then two planes, which had
taken separate routes,
666
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:09,440
arranged to land,
meet and land
wingtip to wingtip.
667
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,320
GOOLD (off-screen): And then
the immediately the Guardia
Civil took security
668
00:39:13,400 --> 00:39:16,600
control of everything.
669
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,680
IVÁN (off-screen): The day
that the coins came back to
the airport of Madrid,
670
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:25,880
that was a fantastic day.
671
00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:31,040
The Guardia Civil accompanied
all the coins in serial tracks
672
00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:32,960
with some helicopters.
673
00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:34,760
And it was very spectacular.
674
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:41,800
VICTORIA: That was big news.
675
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,240
So, for me, once again
the whole story sort
of comes up again.
676
00:39:49,960 --> 00:39:51,320
ELISA (off-screen): It
was a very special moment
677
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,480
and it's something so unusual.
678
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:57,680
I mean, we were
waiting for five years.
679
00:39:59,440 --> 00:40:03,720
GOOLD: I was part of
the motorcade to take
it down to downtown
680
00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:05,800
Madrid to a secure facility.
681
00:40:05,880 --> 00:40:07,800
Let's remember that,
at the end this case,
682
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,160
our objective was to
get all of those
683
00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:12,080
buckets back to Spain.
684
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:16,040
It took all of this time and
all of this money and all of
685
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:17,360
this effort.
686
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:18,760
It was a great relief.
687
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,480
GOOLD (off-screen):
By then, I was in a daze.
688
00:40:27,960 --> 00:40:29,720
NARRATOR: Two years later,
689
00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,200
Odyssey is fined a
million dollars for,
690
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:33,840
in the words of the judge,
691
00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,640
"bad faith and
abusive litigation".
692
00:40:36,720 --> 00:40:40,280
As one chapter in the story
of the Mercedes closes,
693
00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:42,840
another is starting.
694
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:44,800
IVÁN: We have won
the legal battle.
695
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:49,040
Now we are obliged to win
the scientific battle.
696
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:01,600
IVÁN (off-screen): At 8:00 in
the morning, the first day,
697
00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:06,720
we put the ROV in the water.
698
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:16,920
And it began to descend,
descend until one kilometers,
1,140 meters.
699
00:41:19,520 --> 00:41:22,920
Until it was going down, down,
down at the very middle
700
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:24,200
of the wreck.
701
00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:26,200
It was fantastic.
702
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:30,720
IVÁN (off-screen): We
discovered several iron
cannons and bronze cannons,
703
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:32,440
two culverins.
704
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:37,600
The concentration
of silver objects.
705
00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,040
And we had discovered part of
a fork with the initials of
706
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,400
the captain of the ship.
707
00:41:47,480 --> 00:41:54,120
The captain was Don Jose,
J, De Goicoa.
708
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:05,200
IVÁN (off-screen): When you
think that that fork was in the
hands of Don Jose De Goicoa,
709
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,840
we said, good lord,
good lord, this is the very,
710
00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:12,440
very proof that we
are in the same ship
711
00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:14,840
of the Archive of Seville,
712
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:18,720
no doubt this is the Mercedes.
713
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:22,480
ELISA (off-screen): Las Mercedes
was a tragedy.
714
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:28,000
That's why it was decided to
install a commemorative plaque
715
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:34,440
to the people that
died at that explosion.
716
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:43,680
JAMES: And the wreck site
itself had meaning for
717
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:47,520
descendants of those who
had died on that ship.
718
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:51,040
JAMES (off-screen): It doesn't
matter how far back it goes,
719
00:42:51,120 --> 00:42:56,120
families remember these events
because suddenly a ship is
720
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:59,200
sunk and nobody comes home.
721
00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:05,480
It's the story of officers
standing on a deck on a nearby
722
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:09,360
ship watching in
horror as their wives
723
00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:11,760
and their children
disintegrated.
724
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:15,080
JAMES (off-screen): The
British sailors standing
there in shock as a simple
725
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:20,520
shot from Amphion sets off the
magazine and Mercedes explodes
726
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:22,120
with such violence.
727
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:25,400
And of everything that played
out after that that profoundly
728
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:29,880
changed the course of history
for Spain and potentially
729
00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:31,320
for all of Europe.
730
00:43:32,640 --> 00:43:36,160
JAMES (off-screen): And that
is the story of Nuestra Señora
De Las Mercedes.
731
00:43:36,240 --> 00:43:40,080
That's what it's all about.
Not coins.
732
00:43:50,920 --> 00:43:57,160
(music playing through credits)
733
00:44:07,240 --> 00:44:08,480
Captioned by
Cotter Media Group.