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00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:10,680
NARRATOR: Sally is perhaps
the most unwelcome guest among
the current Atlantic storm.
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00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:13,440
Hurricane Paulette is
over Bermuda, and Renee,
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00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,320
Teddy and now Vicky, are
spinning over open waters.
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00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:25,760
Primal, destructive,
growing more and more
dangerous every year.
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00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,480
CHUCK: A hurricane
represents a massive
force of mother nature.
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00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:35,560
You sure need to
respect them.
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00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:42,640
NARRATOR: Sally became
a hurricane this morning
packing 90 mile an hour wind.
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00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:48,760
Off the coast of Florida,
an unexpected pile of
rocks and a ship's bell,
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00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:54,080
what do they reveal
about how monster storms
shape America's past?
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00:00:55,760 --> 00:00:57,800
GREG: It's a
hurricane victim.
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00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,880
And hurricanes are some
of the most violent forces
that happen on planet Earth.
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00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:07,480
JOHN: Had this hurricane not
happened, America might have
looked very, very different.
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00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:11,440
NARRATOR: And how does a
sunken mass of subway cars
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00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,840
give hope to resisting
future hurricanes?
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00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,040
ART: Epic things had
happened on the seabed.
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00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:24,600
Subway cars were rotated,
shifted, moved or
completely obliterated.
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00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,760
DELLA: Dealing with
hurricanes is very
emotionally taxing
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00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,080
but it's part of the
price of living on this
area of the Gulf Coast.
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00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,720
NARRATOR: Every year
hurricanes batter
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00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,680
America's eastern and
southern coastlines.
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00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,080
They've been a
menace for centuries.
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00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:09,640
They destroy, disrupt
and some even change
the course of history.
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00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,560
DELLA: There's a lot of,
of shipwrecks in our bay
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00:02:18,640 --> 00:02:21,320
but we always hoped to
find the earliest ones.
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00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,720
The Pensacola Shipwreck
Survey was the brainchild
of Dr Roger Smith.
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00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:34,440
And Roger was a legendary
archaeologist especially
here in the Florida.
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00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,560
He knew that Pensacola Bay
had such high potential
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00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:39,640
because very early in
the 16th century
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00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,840
there were Spanish um
explorers uh poking
around uh this area,
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00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:46,280
looking for bays
and harbours.
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00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,040
Myself and, and Jim
Spireck and Chuck Hewson,
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00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,040
we always hoped that
we would find some of
the evidence
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00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,000
of these early
Spanish explorers.
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00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,520
Sometimes we would
dive on these sites
that the fishermen
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00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,600
or the shrimpers would
show us and it was junk.
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00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:10,080
Car bodies or piles of
tyres or one time we
found a pizza oven!
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00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,440
But there was always that,
that hope that the next dive
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00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,760
was going to turn up
something amazing.
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00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:17,880
So, we kept on at it.
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00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,040
I never dreamed, you
know that we would be
finding something
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00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,160
so important historically
and archaeologically.
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00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,280
In the fall of 1992, we
had been surveying
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00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,000
at this particular place
and had found some targets
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00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:41,400
and the first dive um I
believe was a, a piece
of shrimp boat gear.
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00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,160
The second dive I think was
a car body, a Volkswagen
Beetle or something.
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00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,920
And so, the third dive it
was mine and Chuck's turn
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00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,160
and so we geared up
and jumped in the water
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00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,720
and Jim was on
the boat for safety.
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00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:59,720
The water's very dark
there, you could not
see even 12 feet.
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00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:06,200
I was on my knees holding
the anchor at the, at the
bottom of the buoy line.
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00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:11,280
Chuck swam out and did a
circle, didn't find anything
and out another few feet.
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00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,800
By that time was out
of my range of vision.
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00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:18,000
A few minutes later
he comes swimming
back up the line
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00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,760
and he looks at me
and goes like this.
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00:04:20,840 --> 00:04:23,880
So his eyes were real
big, I knew he had found
something interesting,
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00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:29,600
so I followed him back
down the line to this
big pile of rocks.
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00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,720
Here in Pensacola
we don't have naturally
occurring rocks like that.
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00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:43,760
The top layer was
oyster, oyster shell.
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00:04:43,840 --> 00:04:47,080
Generations and generations
of oysters had lived
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00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,160
and died on this,
this pile of rocks.
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00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,840
And he started moving
this top layer of rocks,
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00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,880
the rock went deeper and
deeper and deeper
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00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:03,080
of these varying sizes
of these kind of
roundish river cobbles.
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00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:06,040
Now we got excited.
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00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:08,360
Because these kinds of
rocks were used as ballast
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00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,400
in these old vessels to keep
them stable as they were
sailing across the ocean.
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00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:18,680
Once we finally got down
to the very bottom layer
of rock underneath that
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00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,760
was this Beautiful
carved wood.
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00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,840
And that's when we knew for
sure, we had a shipwreck.
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00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:28,680
I remember getting on
the phone with Roger
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00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,600
and saying "Roger you need
to come and see this."
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00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:34,800
We had no idea the age of
it but it looked like it
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00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,600
was a historic shipwreck
so we shifted our focus
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00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,640
from survey of Pensacola Bay
to focusing on this site
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00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,560
that had the potential
to be something very old
and very important.
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00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,200
One of the local businesses
in Pensacola donated
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00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:56,800
a small wooden barge
to us that we could
anchor up on site
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00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,680
and leave there and use as
our excavation platform.
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00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,520
But it was leaky and
occasionally it would sink.
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00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,200
So not a whole lot of work
was going to happen till
we could move the barge.
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00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,400
SOT: So Jim, what's
the plan for today?
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00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:25,560
DELLA: We had found
wooden structure
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00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,960
and it wasn't just an
isolated like little piece
or a splinter of wood,
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00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:34,080
this was major internal
structural framing.
85
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,080
We had no idea
really the true age
of it at that point.
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00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,280
And so that's when
we decided, well let's
move over a little way.
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00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,800
And we happened to
come down right
where that heel
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00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:48,680
of the mast is attached
very securely into
the hull of the ship.
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00:06:50,840 --> 00:06:54,280
Finding this wooden
structure was huge for us
90
00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,960
and that mast step was
just classic 16th century.
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00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:06,680
NARRATOR: The 1500s is when
European exploration in North
America really kicked off
92
00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:11,600
before the Pilgrims or
the English settlements
at Jamestown.
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00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,880
This ship dates to that era.
But where did it come from?
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00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:19,000
And who was on-board?
95
00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,400
DELLA: We started using
the induction dredge
which is like
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00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,640
an underwater vacuum cleaner
to go down in layers
97
00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,440
and very carefully
recover whatever
artefacts we found.
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00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:31,920
We began to see
really amazingly
preserved artefacts.
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00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:40,640
Things like pieces of
rope, hemp line even
leather shoe soles.
100
00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:48,680
JOHN: I had a phone call
where I was invited to
come to Florida
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00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:54,360
to serve as the conservator
for this ship and to take
care of the artefacts.
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00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,680
We were trying to find
as many clues as we could
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00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:00,960
to help identify the
origin of the vessel.
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00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:08,680
Each day, you know, something
different would show
up in remarkable condition.
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00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,520
We found some real
plain unglazed pottery,
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00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:17,320
it was just coarse
earthenware we actually
call them olive jars.
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00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,680
Well when we found olive
jars it was one of the
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00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:24,480
first big clues that
we're working with a
Spanish shipwreck
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00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,040
because these big
jars we know
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00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,200
the Spanish carried
olives in them.
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00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,800
NARRATOR: Spain
establishes its first
permanent settlement
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00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:40,400
in Florida at St.
Augustine in 1565.
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00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:47,000
But the artefacts coming
from the ship are pointing to
an earlier date: the 1550s.
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00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,040
Could these be the remains
of one of the earliest
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00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:54,360
European colonizers on
the American mainland?
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00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:00,520
DELLA: On one side
of the ship, as we
were excavating,
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00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:02,200
we ran out of
hull structure.
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00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:06,080
There was nothing else
there and the framing
119
00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:09,600
and the ship's timbers
were, were shattered.
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00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,480
JOHN: We found hundreds
and hundreds of the small
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00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:15,720
spikes that were
used to attach
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00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:20,800
the planking to the hull
frame and so they were
scattered on the wreck site
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00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,960
and almost all of
them are bent.
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00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,600
Many of them are
even broken.
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00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:30,440
It was obvious that the
ship pounded up and down
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00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:34,160
and eventually it
split open and broke
apart like that.
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00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,040
DELLA: Whatever had caused
this ship to wreck
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00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:44,440
was a violent,
catastrophic occurrence.
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00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:46,440
NARRATOR: Like a hurricane!
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00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:54,960
DELLA: There was only one
colonizing expedition from the
1550s that we could think of
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00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:56,960
that had wrecked
on the Gulf Coast.
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00:09:57,040 --> 00:10:01,720
So all of these clues that
we began to put together
began to make us think,
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00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:03,640
maybe this is Luna.
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00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,760
NARRATOR: According
to historical records,
a Spanish explorer,
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00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,840
Don Tristan de Luna
Arellano, founds a
settlement somewhere
136
00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:17,000
on the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico in 1559.
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00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:23,640
It lasted just two
years before vanishing
without a trace.
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00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:31,080
JOHN: The records for the
Spanish colonial effort
in the New World are vast
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00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,800
and voluminous and well
preserved in general.
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00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,160
I was always interested
in archaeology and the thrill
of exploration and discovery,
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00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:47,520
but the documents provide
so much more rich detail and
made it much more personal.
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00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:52,320
The Luna expedition was
the most well financed
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00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:54,760
and certainly the most
ambitious attempt
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00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,360
to establish a Spanish
foothold in Florida.
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00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,640
DELLA: The search for
the Luna land site
has been ongoing
146
00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,680
at Pensacola for
years and years.
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00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:09,160
We always joked that
we might find a plank
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00:11:09,240 --> 00:11:12,720
that said 'Luna was
here' carved into it.
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00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:18,840
JOHN: Luna, arrived
in 1559 with a fleet and
they unloaded 1500 people,
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00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:23,080
500 soldiers and a thousand
additional colonists.
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00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:28,160
He had no way to know that
a hurricane was coming.
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00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,480
The wreck showed clear
evidence of being
driven ashore
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00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:35,720
and that actually
corresponds quite well
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00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,480
with a letter that was
written by Tristan de Luna
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00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,880
to the King of Spain in
which he describes
156
00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:47,080
that a storm hit
about five weeks in.
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00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:51,160
The hurricane arrived
at night and then for
the next 24 hours
158
00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:52,680
the winds came from
all directions
159
00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:00,880
and he said that the
ships were broken free
from their anchors,
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00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:05,600
driven ashore and broken
open and destroyed.
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00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,560
But if this was a ship
from the Luna expedition, it
raises a whole new question.
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00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:16,360
We know that Luna lost
seven ships in that storm.
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00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,200
Where were the rest of them?
164
00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,760
We got a very large grant
from the State of Florida
165
00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,640
to continue the survey to
try to find the other ships
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00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,760
and confirm we'd
located Luna's fleet.
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00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:43,960
So, we purchased a really
state of the art magnetometer.
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00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:45,760
GREG: I started here right
after Hurricane Ivan,
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00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:48,640
that was my first hurricane
at the University of West
Florida.
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00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:51,400
Before that I'd been doing
remote sensing surveys
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00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,840
and that's some of the
expertise that I
brought to the program.
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00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,960
Magnetometers can sense
ferrous metals which is
typically iron
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00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,360
in a ship-wreck and that's
how we find these wrecks.
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00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,120
JOHN: It seemed logical
if the first ship was
in this area
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00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,560
let's continue to look
around that ship with
this new magnetometer.
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00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:16,760
GREG: That's where
we got lucky.
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00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:19,800
With a magnetometer you
can never really know
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00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:22,280
what you have until you
put divers in the water.
179
00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,400
It's actually diving
on these remote
sensing anomalies
180
00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,560
that we find to find
out what they are.
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00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,240
And when we began finding
the olive jar fragments,
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00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,240
the lead sheathing
on the hulls
183
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,480
that's when the light
bulbs began going off.
184
00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:40,520
JOHN: We found enough
little pieces of olive jar
185
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,320
that we were convinced
on day two that it was
186
00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:46,600
a Luna ship associated
with the first one.
187
00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,600
One ship in the bay
might be explained away
as something random,
188
00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:57,800
but two ships
near each other,
189
00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:00,840
that was an astoundingly
important discovery.
190
00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:09,160
It confirmed in my mind that
we absolutely positively did
have the Luna fleet here.
191
00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:16,720
It meant that not only
did we have a number
more wrecks
192
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,280
to find but that we
also had
193
00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:22,000
that settlement site and
it had to be close.
194
00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:27,600
NARRATOR: For nearly ten
years the team searches
195
00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,320
for the location of Tristan
de Luna's lost settlement.
196
00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,560
And finds nothing!
197
00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,360
JOHN: We had no
archaeological
evidence whatsoever
198
00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:39,600
to pin down where
the settlement was.
199
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,440
In the fall of 2015, a
former student reported
200
00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:57,480
that he had found some
Spanish artefacts
201
00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:01,800
in a newly cleared
house lot and wanted
us to take a look,
202
00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,400
thought they might
be 16th century.
203
00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:09,760
My first reaction was
okay great, you know
we have a lot
204
00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:11,640
of people reporting
a lot of things
205
00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:13,640
but something in the
back of my mind I
think you know,
206
00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:15,800
tickled my interest
because of the fact
207
00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,680
that it was on a
particular lot in a
particular neighborhood
208
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:21,840
right where we thought
Luna might be located.
209
00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:24,760
It turns out that it was
identical to the kinds
210
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,240
of olive jar that had
already been found on
the shipwrecks.
211
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:38,160
NARRATOR: The team
investigating the
16th Century Spanish
212
00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:42,000
shipwrecks hopes
the pottery shards
found on shore
213
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,360
will finally lead them
to the lost settlement
of Tristan de Luna.
214
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,480
JOHN: We called on
current students and
former students,
215
00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:53,520
everybody in the
faculty and the staff,
216
00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:55,520
anybody who we could
get out there.
217
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,240
Then 5 days of intense
fieldwork we found
218
00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,720
literally hundreds of
pieces of olive jar.
219
00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,480
DELLA: I got
really excited personally,
thinking maybe this is it.
220
00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:10,840
One of the very first major
expeditions to settle what
is now the United States.
221
00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,000
JOHN: Once the neighbors
started to realize
222
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,760
the importance of the site
they began to call themselves
223
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,280
'America's First
Neighborhood'.
224
00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,320
We did basically a year's
worth of full-fledged
shovel testing
225
00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,760
and dug more than 900
shovel tests across
more than 50 acres.
226
00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,640
All the evidence indicates
that this settlement was the
largest ever attempted
227
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:37,640
in 16th Century
Florida.
228
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:43,680
We are essentially digging
up a very short-lived city.
229
00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,840
NARRATOR: The scale of
the settlement confirms
230
00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,640
the Spanish crown
equipped the expedition
231
00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:53,080
with everything needed to
survive in the New World.
232
00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:58,520
But a major hurricane
is a force few Europeans
had ever experienced.
233
00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:02,800
When it arrived, the
colony is helpless.
234
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:07,480
JOHN: I've lived in
Florida uh since 2001
235
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,840
and I've been through
quite a few hurricanes so
I've seen enough to know
236
00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:14,520
that this storm must have
been absolutely devastating.
237
00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:25,640
We do know from the
documents that the
hurricane caught them
238
00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,600
in the midst of construction
and as a result
239
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:34,240
they had not actually
started to use the
warehouse for storing food.
240
00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,960
And so, the hurricane wiped
out not just the fleet
241
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,640
but the food that they
had stored on it.
242
00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,680
And it took 24 hours
for the storm to pass
completely through.
243
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,520
Luna doubtless saw that
his fleet was devastated
244
00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:54,080
and there was nothing lefty
but hulks of broken ships
245
00:17:54,160 --> 00:18:00,720
and masts and lots and
lots of supplies, barrels
and boxes, crates.
246
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:06,600
The Luna expedition could
have changed the course of
history in this continent.
247
00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,640
But overnight the settlers
were transformed from
248
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,840
part of the most ambitious
and well financed
249
00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:16,520
colonial expeditions
that Spain ever mounted
to North America
250
00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,880
into starving refugees.
251
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,800
Some of the settlers
decided to throw in
the towel and go home.
252
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:28,160
Some, including Luna,
struggled on for
nearly two years.
253
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,760
But ultimately the
site was abandoned.
254
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:35,560
Had this hurricane not
happened America might
have looked
255
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,760
very, very
different today.
256
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:42,440
It's entirely possible
even likely that because
257
00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,160
the Spanish would have had
a really solid foothold
258
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,760
in southeastern North
America a full generation
259
00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,000
before the English settlers
arrived at Jamestown.
260
00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,760
North America might
simply have been
Spanish North America.
261
00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:01,680
NARRATOR: Instead, the British
and French come to dominate
most of the continent.
262
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,720
The Spanish settlements
in Florida, like St.
Augustine,
263
00:19:05,800 --> 00:19:08,840
eventually fall under
British control.
264
00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:16,680
St Augustine remains
the oldest continuously
inhabited city
265
00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:22,760
in the United States
and a victim of
countless hurricanes
266
00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:24,280
since its founding.
267
00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:32,760
CHUCK: You've had ships
coming and going
268
00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:37,320
to St Augustine for
over 450 years now.
269
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,960
At the same time,
it's always had a
treacherous inlet.
270
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:47,640
There's a lot of job
security if you're an
underwater archaeologist
271
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:52,240
in St Augustine because
there have been so many
shipwrecks over the years.
272
00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:57,440
We know there's a lot
out there but finding
them is what's tricky.
273
00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,560
We have an operation that
can actually go out, finding
shipwrecks at least until
274
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,840
hurricane season cuts
our dive season short.
275
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:12,680
SAM: It was at the end
of the field season
276
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:17,760
so we were all pretty tired
and we had this book
277
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:23,360
of the various
targets that we had and we
said "let's go to this one,
278
00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,120
it's got a magnetic signature
that looks interesting".
279
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:32,360
CHUCK: We are blessed with
really poor diving conditions
here in St Augustine,
280
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:34,600
it's pretty black down there.
281
00:20:35,280 --> 00:20:41,080
We do our best to pinpoint
the exact location
and then we will probe.
282
00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:46,640
I cleared off an area
and then I began to feel
with my fingers.
283
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,680
I could feel lumpy,
bumpy rock-like things.
284
00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,640
I immediately knew they
weren't any kind of natural
285
00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,120
stone but what we
call concretions.
286
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:03,760
So iron objects that
were encrusted with rust.
287
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,760
I felt a wooden plank.
288
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,680
At this point my heart
is bump bump bump bump
bump beating.
289
00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,880
Down there alone in the
dark I really knew
290
00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,600
there's really nothing
else that could be.
291
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:18,680
It just had to be
a shipwreck!
292
00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:28,600
SAM: We got Chuck back on
the boat and he's like 'we
have ourselves a wreck.'
293
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,640
CHUCK: The game is afoot
now, we have something!
294
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,920
SAM: I'm like 'that's
really good news!'
295
00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,680
It was actually the perfect
way to end a field season.
296
00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,720
CHUCK: There is an old
joke in archaeology,
it's almost a truism,
297
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,760
that you make your big
discovery on the last day.
298
00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:47,960
SAM: We were done
for the summer.
299
00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:52,280
NARRATOR: September brings
the peak of Florida's
Hurricane Season
300
00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:54,680
making it impossible
to excavate.
301
00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:03,080
But for archaeologists,
unsettled weather can be
both a curse and a blessing.
302
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,160
CHUCK: After a period
of storm activity,
303
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:09,760
we had an opportunity
to go out and take a
look at the site,
304
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,560
so what we would call
a monitoring dive.
305
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:20,280
SAM: It was a beautiful
morning, I was on the
first dive team
306
00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:24,200
and it's absolutely
beautiful conditions,
307
00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,360
crystal clear
and I look forward
308
00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,640
and it's just like this
blue gloom but a really
rich beautiful blue.
309
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:36,680
And so we're going
along and I'm looking
at this blue gloom
310
00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:41,760
and then I see this
something looming out
of the blue gloom
311
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,920
and I'm like,
that's a cannon.
312
00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:55,800
And then I look again and
right next to the cannon is a
bell and I can't believe it.
313
00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,840
It's just not computing,
I mean that's a canon
314
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:04,680
and that's a bell and
I'm like 'brrrrr look
at this!!'
315
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:14,880
So we swam around
and it was like a whole
different wreck, you know?
316
00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:18,600
CHUCK: They came up
after a relatively
short amount of time
317
00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,080
and Sam pulled his
regulator out of his mask
318
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,280
and he said, 'there's
10 feet of visibility'.
319
00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:27,080
Well that instantly
got everyone's
attention on the boat.
320
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:31,000
We had not yet seen
any of the shipwreck.
321
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:35,080
We had been there without
able, you know, just doing
archaeology by Braille.
322
00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:40,320
And then the next
sentence he says, 'oh and
there's five cannon
323
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,920
and the ship's bell
just sitting there on
the surface'.
324
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,680
So that, you know,
our first reaction is
like, 'are you joking?'
325
00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,240
SAM: And I'm like 'nah,
man I'm just kidding.'
326
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,960
CHUCK: And I could see in
his eyes, I'm like 'you're
not joking.' He's like
327
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,840
'no I'm not joking
there's cannons and a
bell right down here.'
328
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:03,600
SAM: Yeah, I think that's
probably the best dive
I've ever done.
329
00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,640
CHUCK: A ship's bell,
that's the holy grail for
a diving archaeologist.
330
00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:11,960
That could give the
name of the ship and the
year it was launched.
331
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:20,200
SAM: So we had this
event, we invited all
sorts of people,
332
00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,680
nice nibbles and,
and drinks.
333
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:28,480
And our conservator
was starting to
clean off the bell
334
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:32,040
and the idea was we're gonna
have this wonderful event
335
00:24:32,120 --> 00:24:35,360
where we reveal the
name of the wreck.
336
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:41,000
And she cleaned the bell and
there was no name at all, it
was a completely blank bell.
337
00:24:42,080 --> 00:24:44,840
CHUCK: The ship's secrets
weren't just going
to fall into our laps.
338
00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,440
We needed to get
more information.
339
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,440
Archaeology is just like a
crime scene investigation.
340
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,960
We are trying to
reconstruct a scenario,
an event, from the past.
341
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:59,960
In our case it's a
really cold case, it goes
back hundreds of years.
342
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:08,120
SAM: One of the things
that was obvious from
the beginning,
343
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:11,000
the arrangement of
the material and the
guns in particular
344
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:13,520
on the seabed was not
what I would call normal.
345
00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:17,880
CHUCK: Cannons, if they're
in place as weapons,
346
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,400
you might expect to
find cannons kind
of evenly placed
347
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:23,720
pointing away from
the shipwreck.
348
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:29,040
The bell is usually at
the belfry, that's at a
certain part of the ship.
349
00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,960
Maybe cookware, things like
that, where the galley
350
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:33,720
or the kitchen of
the ship would be.
351
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:36,720
We had definitely a
different scenario.
352
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,280
SAM: It was clear that
something was going on.
353
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:44,720
One of the objects that I
noticed was this long strange
354
00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:50,160
cylindrical object and it
was all lead, completely
and utterly lead.
355
00:25:50,240 --> 00:25:54,640
CHUCK: I had an attached
length of plumbing or
piping to it.
356
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:56,560
This was a deck pump.
357
00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,920
When you operated the
pump handle you were
pumping up nice,
358
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:06,040
clean seawater to swab
the decks, to fight a
fire so a deck pump
359
00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:10,600
was a way to get seawater
on board the vessel for a
variety of purposes.
360
00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:20,040
SAM: We brought this up and
we had it in the lab and one
of the team, very keen eyes,
361
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:25,880
noticed that there were
hack marks on the lead.
362
00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:32,160
CHUCK: We had more than one
segment of plumbing that
had been cut clean through.
363
00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:34,280
And then we realized
what had happened.
364
00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:41,280
SAM: Someone had taken an
axe and hacked it, hacked
it out of the ship.
365
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,200
CHUCK: This is an expensive
piece of equipment.
366
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,880
Why would you
purposely disable it?
367
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:53,920
The answer that makes
sense to us is that this
was a frenzied attempt,
368
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:59,400
a desperate attempt to
remove this pump from
the hull of the ship
369
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:01,600
where it would have
been mounted.
370
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:06,760
It seems pretty clear to
us that that is an attempt
to lighten the ship.
371
00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:11,680
And that makes sense if
a ship has run aground
372
00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:17,040
and you have to try to save
the ship by jettisoning all
the heavy cargo.
373
00:27:17,120 --> 00:27:22,080
These artefacts are telling
the story of the desperate
attempt by the captain,
374
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,080
the crew and the passengers
to try to save the ship.
375
00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:30,160
If you can just get
the ship to float up
off the sandbar,
376
00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:33,920
then you can get it
ashore and you've
saved the vessel.
377
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,360
We had found that bell, the
cannons, the deck pump,
378
00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,600
but we only ever found
that one wooden plank.
379
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,000
There was no hull, no
remains of the ship
structure itself.
380
00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,360
Was it possible that the
ship had gotten away?
381
00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:57,360
NARRATOR: Hoping to
solve the mystery of
the ship's fate,
382
00:27:57,440 --> 00:27:59,800
the investigation
takes a closer look
383
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:04,280
at the metal artefacts
found off the coast of
St. Augustine.
384
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:07,920
CHUCK: When you have an iron
object that is immersed
385
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:13,680
in sea water for centuries
it undergoes a number of
chemical changes.
386
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:18,000
That rust turns into
an encrustation, it
turns into a coating.
387
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,640
It's thick and lumpy
and bumpy and shells
get stuck to it
388
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:23,440
and often you'll have
more than one
389
00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,240
artefact near each
other and they all just
rust together
390
00:28:26,320 --> 00:28:30,040
into what may just be
an amorphous blob.
391
00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:32,680
SAM: Once we started
examining the concretions,
392
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,280
X-raying the concretions
and finding
393
00:28:35,360 --> 00:28:37,360
the smaller objects
within the concretions,
394
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:43,640
that is when the full
story of what actually
happened came out.
395
00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:48,680
What X-rays can do if you
really amp up the power,
396
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,920
it can actually see through
the calcium carbonate.
397
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:56,600
CHUCK: We found a lot of
small items, a lot of personal
items, a lot of cookware,
398
00:28:56,680 --> 00:29:00,520
a lot of plates, a lot
of spoons, shoe buckles,
399
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,960
coins, so we really
are getting a picture
400
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,200
that a lot of the things
that people were bringing
401
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,960
with them ended up
on the sea floor.
402
00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:11,640
SAM: When we found the
Queen Anne's pistol,
403
00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:16,240
expensive small items
that you absolutely would
not throw overboard
404
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,800
under any circumstance,
that told us the story
405
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:22,640
that they were so stuck on
the bar they never got off.
406
00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:24,720
CHUCK: It seems pretty
conclusive that this ship
407
00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:29,040
could not be saved and
we have the burial
ground of this vessel
408
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,600
and all of the items
that were on board.
409
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:39,560
SAM: What archaeologists
really want to do is what
we want to tell the story,
410
00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,680
where was it from?
When did it wreck?
Why did it wreck?
411
00:29:43,760 --> 00:29:48,800
So our story evolved
from very small clues.
412
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,760
CHUCK: There was
a lot of stuff.
413
00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:58,800
We found a base of a wine
glass that we knew dated
to some time in the 1700s.
414
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,280
We found a pewter
spoon, the same thing.
415
00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,160
Everything we found it
seemed to push the date
416
00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:08,440
to the second half and
even the later 1700s.
417
00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:13,240
So as we narrow that time
range down, there was
one event in particular,
418
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,640
that looked promising.
419
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:22,760
NARRATOR: In December 1782,
the American Revolution is
entering its final phase.
420
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:27,440
The 13 colonies are a
dangerous place for those
still loyal to the crown.
421
00:30:28,800 --> 00:30:35,240
So in dozens of ships they
flee to Florida, which remains
loyal to King George III.
422
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:41,120
They hope to find refuge
in St Augustine but not
all of them reach safety.
423
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:45,280
CHUCK: This could be
a candidate, one of
these ships.
424
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,640
Everything seemed to
be pointing into this
direction.
425
00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,280
We had debates about
what artefacts we
might actually find,
426
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,000
that would really
be definitive. And
then it happened.
427
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:57,200
We found the artefact.
428
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,760
It was a single button.
429
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:08,280
A small pewter button, it
had lettering on it that we
could see after cleaning,
430
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:14,720
the letters RP with a
crown above and that
told us immediately
431
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,200
that we had Loyalists
on board.
432
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:19,640
Because that RP
button stands for
Royal Provincials,
433
00:31:19,720 --> 00:31:21,360
that's a unit in the
British Army
434
00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,600
it's made up of Americans who
were loyal to King George.
435
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:31,040
It is poignant.
436
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:33,720
To read some of the
letters, to read
some of the accounts
437
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:35,680
that were written
back and forth
438
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:40,800
about this particular event
that's a really important
part of the process.
439
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,760
Elizabeth Lichtenstein
Johnston was a Georgia
Loyalist.
440
00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,680
She had evacuated and had
ended up in St Augustine
441
00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,440
and so she was an eyewitness
to these shipwrecks.
442
00:31:55,840 --> 00:32:01,720
16 vessels, small vessels
she says, have been
lost on or about the bar.
443
00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:05,200
So that means they have
run aground on the sandbar.
444
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,960
These ships were
carrying people but
they're also their hopes
445
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,880
and dreams for making
a new life in this
446
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:17,240
really difficult time in
their lives and they're
just strewn on the sandbar.
447
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,760
We don't know for sure what
caused these ships to wreck,
448
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:25,720
but we know there
was a hurricane
449
00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:30,120
just two months before
this fleet came to grief.
450
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,400
We don't know exactly what
its impact was on Florida
451
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:38,520
but a hurricane
represents a massive
force of mother nature.
452
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,680
SAM: Every time a hurricane
came through the channel
453
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:47,640
would change, the
sands would shift.
454
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:49,680
CHUCK: That shifting
sandbar meant these ships
455
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,400
had no idea where the
safe channel was.
456
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:59,760
SAM: So, it is possible
that hurricanes effectively
caused these wrecks.
457
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:01,720
CHUCK: In a very real
sense it is because
458
00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,640
of hurricanes that this
inlet was so dangerous.
459
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,600
These storms throughout
history have changed history.
460
00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:13,480
And what a hurricane
does below the water
461
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,760
can be as dramatic as
what it does on shore.
462
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:25,480
NARRATOR: Millions of
people on or near the
American coast
463
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:28,240
live under the threat
of hurricanes.
464
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,720
But of all the dangers
these monster storms bring,
465
00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:35,000
the greatest comes
from Storm Surges.
466
00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,600
The huge volume of
ocean water pushed
ashore by storm.
467
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:44,720
The surges can cause
devastating even
deadly flooding.
468
00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,440
OBAMA: Obviously all
of us across the
country are concerned
469
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,080
about the potential impact
of Hurricane Sandy.
470
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:54,240
COMMUNICATOR: We are
expecting a very large storm
471
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,800
with impacts over a
very large area.
472
00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,360
ART: When we saw that
Sandy was coming our way,
we dropped everything.
473
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,800
I remember calling up the
director of marine operations
474
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:06,680
and saying "I need to
get on that boat".
475
00:34:08,280 --> 00:34:13,560
I'm a coastal geologist
and my primary mission
is to try and anticipate
476
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,680
how and where Storm Surge
will hit populated areas.
477
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,640
People think the sky is
where to look for clues
478
00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:23,280
to the damage a hurricane
is going to do,
479
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,800
but for me, the
answers are underwater.
480
00:34:27,240 --> 00:34:31,240
ART: We really need to
understand what's going on in
the water and at the seabed,
481
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:35,040
if we're going to
try to understand how
storm surge plays out.
482
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:36,600
MAN: Yeah looks good.
483
00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,000
ART: When they tell
you to evacuate, you
need to evacuate.
484
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:45,640
While everyone else was
preparing to leave, we were
heading 16 miles offshore
485
00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:47,920
towards the approaching storm.
486
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,800
We needed to seize that
moment, to try to capture
487
00:34:50,880 --> 00:34:54,440
a picture of the seabed
right before the storm
488
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:57,640
and see how that storm
would evolve and change.
489
00:34:57,720 --> 00:35:01,720
That would give us an
incredible picture of
how the seafloor,
490
00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:04,000
the ocean and the
sky interact,
491
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:07,320
something that has very
rarely, if ever, been done.
492
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,160
And the best place to
do it was Redbird Reef.
493
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:16,120
NARRATOR: This is no ordinary
patch on the sea floor.
494
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,680
It's the strangest
of artificial reefs.
495
00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:26,440
ART: There are hundreds
upon hundreds of New
York City subway cars
496
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:28,480
on the sea floor.
497
00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,600
Two and a half meters,
we're closing in on it.
498
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:34,040
For me the Redbird
Reef site has become
499
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:37,560
a great natural laboratory
for us to better understand
500
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,560
hurricanes and their
impacts on the coastline.
501
00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,720
CARTER: I need a little bit
more, I'm getting tugged.
502
00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:48,720
ART: That's it right
there, yep, coming
right up on the corner.
503
00:35:51,720 --> 00:35:54,680
It really makes for
an amazing seascape.
504
00:35:54,760 --> 00:36:00,720
Rows upon rows of subway cars
in different orientations
and arrangements.
505
00:36:00,800 --> 00:36:03,720
I often chuckle to
my archaeologist
friends and say,
506
00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:07,080
'how would you
interpret this hundreds
of years from now?
507
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:11,320
What kind of bizarre sort
of battle took place here?'
508
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:27,680
CARTER: We've been
studying Redbird Reef
for over a decade now.
509
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:31,200
ART: The missing element
was we need a storm.
510
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:33,720
What Sandy meant for
us is it gave us
511
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:38,680
for the first time an
opportunity to see how
a single storm event
512
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,760
could change the seabed.
513
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,680
Let's see how she's
looking here good!
514
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:45,720
I wanted four days
out at that site.
515
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,880
We could squeeze one day
to get everything done.
516
00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:52,080
That meant we needed
to map the site, we needed
to deploy our instruments,
517
00:36:52,160 --> 00:36:56,160
and then we needed to
get the heck out of there
before Sandy came through.
518
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:00,200
COMMUNICATOR: We're
looking at tropical
storm force winds
519
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,720
along the coast,
beginning tonight.
520
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,480
ART: One of the last
things we did was deploy
521
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:10,840
an instrument frame
to the sea floor,
522
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,840
that was going to sit
out there during the storm
523
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:16,560
and measure the
waves and currents.
524
00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,640
As we were leaving, I
had this thought,
525
00:37:19,720 --> 00:37:22,080
'will we ever see that
instrument package again?'
526
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,080
CARTER: The waves that were
created from this storm
527
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:35,320
covered over an area of
1.4 million square miles
528
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:39,320
so this was a massive storm
for the Atlantic basin.
529
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:44,760
It's just incomprehensible
to think about the billions
and billions of dollars
530
00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:47,360
of damage that was
wrought by this storm.
531
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,840
Once Sandy had passed we
went back out to the site to
recover our instrumentation.
532
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,280
We just didn't know what to
expect when we got there and
whether or not we'd have any
533
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,200
equipment left to recover.
534
00:38:12,800 --> 00:38:16,680
ART: We start hauling up
the lines and as part of
the rope was coming up,
535
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:21,840
I saw this tangle
of metal wrapped in the
line and my heart sank.
536
00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:26,600
CARTER: I turned
and looked at Art
537
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:30,600
and he just this exasperated
sigh of 'oh my goodness
there's nothing left.'
538
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:38,600
It turns out that that
was a piece of one of
the subway cars
539
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,920
possibly a door frame
or a window frame.
540
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:47,440
ART: The storm had torn it
free and tangled it up
amongst our line as the waves
541
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,680
and the currents were
sloshing back and forth.
542
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,400
So, we kept hauling
up, pulling up and
then suddenly,
543
00:38:53,480 --> 00:38:56,760
through the water I see
the frame of our
instrument package
544
00:38:56,840 --> 00:39:03,600
and when it burst through
the surface, it was just
a real moment of elation
545
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,840
and my final thought
was, I hope we hit record!
546
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:12,760
As we start looking back
through the records,
547
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:17,040
we're our eyes are
just going bug-eyed.
548
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:19,640
Right there at the Redbird
Reef site we measured
549
00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:23,440
two and a half story-high
waves with a period
of 16 seconds.
550
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,760
Every 16 seconds another
one of these monster,
551
00:39:26,840 --> 00:39:31,240
mammoth waves is coming
through generating
three knot currents
552
00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:34,680
at the sea floor, in
100 feet of water.
553
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:40,320
CARTER: The currents that
were being generated by that
storm was staggering to us.
554
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:44,280
ART: We knew in that moment
that our gambit had paid off.
555
00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:46,640
But to truly gauge the
power of those currents,
556
00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:51,440
we needed to measure
the storm's impact
right at the seabed.
557
00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:55,040
That meant we needed to
map the site to see how
much damage was done.
558
00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:08,560
One of the most valuable
assets that we have in
our research arsenal
559
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:13,000
is our small un-personned
submarine, and it's fully
autonomous meaning
560
00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:15,600
we have to plan its
missions and we hit
561
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:19,400
go and she dives below
the surface off on its own
562
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:23,120
to navigate through this
mysterious subsea world.
563
00:40:23,200 --> 00:40:24,960
We're painting a
three-dimensional picture
564
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:27,200
very high resolution
and precision,
565
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:32,680
so we can get every
little bump and divot
of the seabed.
566
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,600
ART: We started going
through, piece by piece
in every portion
567
00:40:39,680 --> 00:40:44,400
of the Redbird Reef site
and looking at the changes
before and after Sandy.
568
00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:46,600
Yeah look at the scour
around some of these
subway cars.
569
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:51,680
We could see whole areas
where the surface sand was
pulled and eroded away.
570
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:58,800
It became very obvious
to us that epic things had
happened on this, the seabed,
571
00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,480
because there were suddenly
areas where subway cars
572
00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:07,720
were missing or they had
been flipped on their
sides or broken apart.
573
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,640
There were subway cars
that were just rotated,
574
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:16,040
shifted, moved or
completely obliterated.
575
00:41:16,120 --> 00:41:20,120
CARTER: We're talking about
subway cars that weigh on
the order of 75,000 pounds,
576
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:23,600
just eviscerated by the
currents that were
occurring down there
577
00:41:23,680 --> 00:41:25,600
which really shows
you the power
578
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,280
and the amount of energy
that's being imparted on
the sea floor.
579
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:40,680
ART: The largest and
perhaps most impressive
structure in the artificial
580
00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:46,360
reef system is the former
ex-USS Arthur Radford.
581
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,840
It was a Navy destroyer
and it's the largest
artificial reef object
582
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:55,440
north of Florida anywhere
on the east coast, more
than 500 feet long.
583
00:41:55,520 --> 00:42:00,720
But when we went out and then
surveyed over the Radford
that's when it just clearly
584
00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:04,760
showed that this storm
took things to a whole
'nother level.
585
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:12,680
It's in deeper water
depths and it's a much
larger structure.
586
00:42:12,760 --> 00:42:18,760
We knew from before the
storm that the Radford
was in three parts.
587
00:42:18,840 --> 00:42:21,520
When we got out there and
mapped it after Sandy
588
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:25,720
it was just jaw-dropping
to realize that the
entire center section
589
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:28,920
was picked up and rotated
more than 30 degrees.
590
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:32,600
We're talking about an
enormous Navy
destroyer that's moved
591
00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:37,040
more than 200 feet in
120 feet of water.
592
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:39,720
It really shocked me, it
really surprised me to see
593
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:43,920
how much change there
was to the seabed.
594
00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:48,120
I'd never seen it over that
sort of scale and magnitude.
595
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:53,720
We now know how much
of an effect a storm
has on the sea floor.
596
00:42:53,800 --> 00:42:57,240
But that interaction
goes both ways.
597
00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:00,320
Water movement is
affected by the shape
of the sea floor
598
00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:02,600
as the storm
moves towards land
599
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:06,280
and those initial conditions
are what determine how
storm surge behaves,
600
00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:10,680
and ultimately, where and
how it hits. That's
crucial information.
601
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:18,600
You know in hindsight, we
could have lost everything.
602
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,320
Hundreds of thousands of
dollars' worth of equipment.
603
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,760
But if we didn't risk that
loss, we wouldn't have the
gold mine of information
604
00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:27,800
about how the sea floor
changes during a storm.
605
00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:32,360
We have the technology now
to monitor these changes
as each storm passes.
606
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:38,280
We can feed that into
our storm surge models,
607
00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:42,680
and predict where and
how the next storm surge
is going to occur.
608
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,520
There are gonna be more
storms, and there are going
to be more intense storms.
609
00:43:46,600 --> 00:43:52,760
And we need every bit of
information we can to help
combat storm surge losses.
610
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:55,520
Here for the first time in
the history of hurricanes,
611
00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:57,240
we might finally have
a weapon that helps
612
00:43:57,320 --> 00:44:00,600
us fight the worst of
what those hurricanes are
throwing at us.
613
00:44:07,720 --> 00:44:08,720
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