01x01 - The Bermuda Triangle Conspiracy

[bunniefuu]

Wade: Can a new discovery
from sunny california

Reveal the real event behind

One of the greatest maritime
mysteries of them all...

The parting of the red sea.

This looks like
it's the smoking g*n.

It's a possible root cause
of what happened.

Narrator:
A first world w*r transporter
disappears

Without trace in calm seas.

Are rumors of a heist
by german agents true

Or is something
more mysterious at play?

It was navigating through
the bermuda triangle

When it was lost.

Narrator:
And could there be life
on a ghost ship adrift

On the high seas.

These k*ller monster hungry
cannibal rats.

Mckay: It's going to look like
a house of horrors.

One would have to be
pretty crazy

To want to board that ship.

Wade: The underwater realm
is another dimension.

It's a physically hostile place,

Where dreams of promise
can sink into darkness.

I'm jeremy wade.

I'm searching the world
to bring you the most iconic

And baffling underwater
mysteries known to science.

Shipwrecks can't just disappear.

Or can they?

Wade: It's a dangerous,
unexplored frontier

That swallows evidence...

We know more
about the face of mars

Than we do our deepest oceans.

Wade:
...Where unknown is normal,
and understanding is rare.

♪

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

I've witnessed strange
happenings on the water

And some of them I can't
explain, but nothing compares

With the biblical story
of the parting of the red sea.

Is there a physical process

That could explain
this miraculous event?

Could an entire sea really
have withdrawn

Leaving a corridor of dry land?

Now a breakthrough
from california

Could unlock one of the greatest
marine mysteries of all time.

♪

Wade: Ancient egypt over


After centuries of enslavement,

The israelites have crossed
the desert

And stand on
the threshold of freedom.

Their promised land lies ahead,
but behind them,

A pharaoh's troops intent
on returning them to sl*very.

Blocking their escape
is the red sea.

Then god commands moses to hold
out his staff over the waves.

The winds blew causing
the waters to recede.

Wade:
Flanked by two walls of water,

The israelites crossed
to the other side.

And when pharaoh and his boys
come and chase them down,

The seas collapse upon them
and they're all dead,

And it's a clean break.

A quick getaway.

Wade:
Today, many believers accept
the story of the parting

Of the red sea as symbolic

Rather than a description
of an actual event.

But could it
really have happened?

An eye witness account from the


An incident
with uncanny similarities.

British major general,
sir alexander b. Tulloch

Is charting an area
on the eastern nile delta.

Some scholars believe
that this area

Rather than what we now
call the red sea

Is where the biblical story
may have taken place.

They have to abandon their work
due to strong

And consistent winds,
then they come back the next day

And they find that an area that
was once submerged,

Is now walkable.

Wade:
For tulloch, this is evidence

That the biblical parting
could have taken place.

At the time no rational
explanation can be found

For the event
that tulloch witnessed,

But can modern insights
fill the blanks?

A recent study uses a computer
program

To simulate the impact
of sustained overnight winds

In the coastal area
where tulloch was working.

It suggests that winds of
between 63 and 70 miles per hour

Lasting for 12 hours could part
waters up to 6-feet deep.

Such a parting of the waves

Would require a specific
underwater geography.

There would need to be
a high spot

On the bottom of the red sea

For a land bridge to be created
when the water receded.

Moses would have to be in the
right place

Where that shallow spot
was to then be able to cross it.

Wade: So in the right place
at the right time,

It appears that a land bridge
through the sea

Could have occurred naturally.

As intriguing as this study is,
it doesn't account

For the enormous walls of water
described in the biblical story.

So science must look elsewhere
for answers.

A new discovery by of all things
a tree ring specialist

In far away california,

May have inadvertently unlocked
this age-old sea mystery.

It's a story that begins back
in 1986

When egyptologist
hans goedicke unveils a theory

Which could account
for the walls of water

That accompanied
the biblical sea parting.

His theory pivots on one of the
most cataclysmic

And controversial events
in ancient history...

The eruption of thera...

...A colossal volcano on the
greek island of santorini.

This massive eruption
over 3,000 years ago,

Is one of the greatest
ever recorded.

Thera erupting is like 300
atomic bombs going off.

Wade: Cliffs fall into the sea
as the volcanic crater collapses

And the island implodes.

When you have a whole island
being obliterated,

That release of energy
has to go somewhere.

Well, it goes into the sea.

Wade: A tsunami is unleashed

And where it ends up is central
to goedicke's theory...

The nile delta,

One of the likely locations
for the biblical sea parting.

Could this towering wall
of water be the real phenomenon

At the heart
of the great bible story?

As it reaches the egyptian
coast,

The tsunami draws back water
from the shoreline.

You have this counter
intuitive situation

Where the waters
are pulled back.

And they'll come in
a series of waves

That almost appear like walls.

Wade:
Any witnesses would have seen
the sea withdraw

And walls of water form.

In effect, a parting of the sea.

For thera to be the real event
behind the biblical story,

It would need to have happened
at the same time

As the hebrew exodus from egypt,

Often thought to be around the
early to mid-16th century b.C.

But the date of
the thera eruption

Is difficult to pin down

And there has been
much debate and disagreement.

Then in 2006,

Researchers hit what looks
like the dating jackpot.

One of the most accurate dates
for the eruption of thera

Is said to be from an olive tree

That's actually inside
the ash layer itself.

Wade:
This olive branch is a vital
piece of evidence.

Because it's formed
of organic material,

Researchers are able to test
it using radio carbon dating...

The gold standard method
for dating detectives.

And that's giving a time range
that can bring it down

To about a 25-year window.

Wade:
But the result of the analysis
places the eruption

In the early 17th century b.C.,

Approximately a century before
dates muted for the exodus.

This suggests that any attempts
to connect the two events

Are wishful thinking.

Science is... is great,
marvelous

Because it moves it forward,

But in other ways, science
can, you know, ruin a mystery.

Wade:
The story should end there,

But tree ring specialist

Dr. Charlotte pearson
has a different theory.

There's been a discrepancy,
something that didn't add up.

Wade: Dr. Pearson believes
that although it was found

At the site of the eruption,

The olive branch
is not an accurate indicator.

She thinks that the key to when

Thera erupted lies


In the sunshine state
of california.

If the olive branch
is a red herring,

Could dr. Pearson's hunch
resurrect the theory

That thera is the real event

Behind the parting
of the red sea?

Scientist dr. Charlotte pearson
believes that the key to dating

One of the greatest underwater
explosions of all time

Lies not with an olive branch
found in greece

But halfway around the globe,
in california.

Dr. Pearson's research could be
the breakthrough

That finally identifies
the eruption of thera

With its subsequent tsunami
as the real event

Behind the bible's sea-parting
story.

Trees are one of the most
valuable resources

For dating experts.

Since their rings form yearly,
they are natural calendars.

And the bristle cone pines
that grow here in california

Are extra special.

The oldest discovered so far
is over 5,000 years old.

So one single individual tree
starts life

Before they build
the pyramids in egypt.

Wade:
This longevity makes these pines
ideal for radio carbon dating.

Pearson:
In every single tree ring,

There is a sample of carbon 14
in the year in which it formed.

You can get clues to what
the climatic conditions

Were in that period of time.

Wade:
Most species of tree put on
rings annually, but olive trees

Are an exception,
and dr. Pearson believes

That they don't provide accurate
dates when radio carbon tested.

She believes that bristle
cone pines

Are a much more reliable
indicator, and on analysis,

Her samples reveal
something hugely significant.

They show noticeably narrower
growth rings

Over one specific 4-year period

Indicating a short
but extreme change in climate.

So we know that year of that
tree's growth was interrupted

By reduced sunlight
or a lot of carbon in the air.

Wade: But to be certain
that this anomaly

Could be related to thera,

Dr. Pearson needs to make sure
it wasn't caused

By any localized
weather event in california,

So she goes in search
of the same evidence

Elsewhere in the world.

And finds it


There are samples of irish oaks
dating back thousands of years,

And the rings
in these tree samples

Show exactly the same
growth restrictions

Occurring in the same period.

That was the big surprise moment
because what it showed us

Was that here we have two trees

In very different growth
locations,

Different latitudes,
different altitudes,

And yet essentially
the measurements of c14

In the annual tree rings
are making the same pattern.

Wade:
This points to a weather event
of global proportions.

And an event of this scale
at this period of time

Could only be one thing...

The eruption of thera.

And when you have
a huge eruption,

The ash in the atmosphere

Blocks out the sunlight
and creates like a mini-ice age

Sort of situation, which causes
the tree to grow really slowly.

Wade: Dr. Pearson's hunch
has paid off.

These new radio carbon
dating results

Placed the thera eruption
in the 16th century b.C.,

Up to 100 years after
the olive branch dates

With massive implications
for biblical scholars.

Clarke: This looks like
it's the smoking g*n.

It's a possible root cause
of what happened.

Wade:
This chance breakthrough brings
the thera tsunami

Back into the same period
as that muted for the exodus.

Allowing us an entrance into
a scientific explanation

For what is one of the biggest
mysteries of all time.

♪

♪

I ventured deep under the ocean
in a small submarine,

And I know how vulnerable
it can make you feel.

I almost feel like an astronaut
landing on the moon.

But what if you never managed
to make it back up?

This is exactly what happened
to the crew of one

Of the very first submarines...
The h.L. Hunley,

Which vanished in action
during the american civil w*r.

Lost for nearly 140 years,
the sub is finally found.

Now armed with new evidence,

Can science work out
what happened to the hunley?

South carolina, the year 2000...

The h.L. Hunley is finally
raised from the ocean floor.

Rondeau:
It launched a successful attack.

It should have returned to base
without any trouble

So the question is,
"why then is it on the bottom?"

Wade: 1864.

At the height of the american
civil w*r,

Confederate submarine
h.L. Hunley

Leaves base on her
maiden mission.

It was built specifically
to deal

With the blockade of the north
against the south.

Wade: Her target is
the u.S.S. Housatonic,

Which is on blockade duty

For union forces outside
charleston harbor

On the south carolina coast.

Made of iron, the hunley travels
just beneath the surface

And features a very
rudimentary propulsion system.

This was human powered.

The crew would sit and they
would hand crank to move the...

The ship around.

Clarke: It's like working
inside a coffin.

We're talking something
which would make a smart car

Look roomy.

Wade: The h.L. Hunley is armed
with a single torpedo.

Torpedoes were not the fire
and forget weapons

We think of today.

It was essentially a keg
of expl*sives

With a prong on the end that was
attached by a long wooden pole.

The submarine had to drive up
beside the warship

And impregnate this cask of
dynamite into the side

And then light the fuse
that would explode the keg.

Wade: The submarine stealthily
approaches the warship

And deploys its weapon.


expl*sive rips through the hull.

The housatonic sinks in less
than five minutes.

It's a spectacular success
for the hunley.

She's the first sub ever to sink
an enemy ship.

But what happens next
is a mystery.

It went out, did its job,
and never came home.

Wade:
All trace of the hunley is lost
for almost 140 years,

But when she is finally found
and raised,

She is in surprisingly
good condition.

The presumption was that
this would be blown to bits,

But in fact when they
brought it up, it was in tact.

There was no visible damage
to the hull, why did it sink?

Wade:
Investigators set out to find
an answer to the mystery.

After years on the seabed,
the hunley is covered

With a thick layer
of sediment called concretion.

Iron under water reacts
with the saltwater.

The salts and the iron
create corrosion product.

Basically creates a dense
impermeable layer

Around the iron.

Wade:
This coating has helped preserve
the submarine.

But unless it's removed
with extreme care,

The hunley could be damaged
and vital evidence lost.

And as researchers scrape away
the layers of solid sediment,

They make a shocking
discovery...

The decomposed bodies
of the hunley's crew.

The confederate submarine
h.L. Hunley

Has been exhumed from
a watery grave after 136 years.

Now can clues hidden in her hull
shed new light

On why this valiant little
vessel never made it home?

The remains of the hunley's crew
are found,

But it's a discovery
that raises yet more questions.

Tuttle:
It appeared that all men died
at their stations.

Maybe these people were
unbelievably heroic,

Went down with the ship,
or maybe they were dead

Before they hit the seabed.

Wade:
If researchers can identify
how these men died,

This may at last reveal
what happened to the hunley.

The original theory about
the hunley sinking

Was it was to do with a sonic
blast of its own expl*sive.

That that took out the crew
somehow.

I would not want to be sitting


Black powder expl*si*n,
especially underwater.

The pressure wave from
the expl*si*n

Is going to be traveling
through the water.

It's going to hit this air tube.

That the expl*si*n
of the torpedo

Caused some kind of
concussive blast

That, you know,
knocked these guys out.

They wouldn't be able to operate
the submarine,

And eventually it would sink.

Wade:
Recent research suggest that
the torpedo expl*si*n

While only 16-feet away
from the sub,

Would not have been sufficient
to k*ll the men.

Whether they were incapacitated
by concussion

Remains an open question.

With the blast theory proving
inconclusive,

Investigators go in search
of new evidence.

And while clearing away
the last of the concretion,

They make a game-changing
discovery.

Rondeau: There appeared to be no
structural damage.

It was really only when they
started to clean out the inside

And they noticed that there was
a particular pipe

That had ruptured.

Wade:
The hole, an inch across, is
small

But potentially catastrophic.

It's in the ballast system,
which pumps sea water in

And out of the vessel
to manage its buoyancy.

Researchers calculate it
would take only 50 to 70 gallons

Of water to flood the submarine,
and just three minutes

To fill it
through this tiny opening.

Tuttle:
If you had three minutes to
realize you were going to die,

Would you scramble
for the exits?

Would you try to use the pump
to pump it out?

Would you try to plug the hole?

Wade: But the crew are still
at their stations,

So the leak is unlikely
to be the only factor.

Perhaps concussion did play
a part

And the men were unconscious
when the sub flooded.

Maybe it's a combination
where they couldn't react,

And it was sinking
at the same time.

The thing about
catastrophic accidents

Is generally
there's never one thing.

It's generally
a series of things.

Wade:
The ruptured pipe may bring us
closer to the truth,

But as research continues,
this iconic underwater vessel

Could still have further secrets
to reveal.

♪

The last time anyone hears from
the first world w*r

Transporter u.S.S. Cyclops,

She's heading towards
the bermuda triangle.

But is the vanished ship just
another victim of this

Notorious tract of ocean or
are there w*r time games afoot?

Now new developments
in the understanding

Of deep water waves
could explain what happened

And solve a raft of other
maritime disappearances.

March 1918...

Under the stewardship
of captain george w. Worley,

The u.S. Navy
transport ship cyclops

Is preparing to set sail.

She's loaded with 11,000 tons
of manganese

For use in wartime ammunitions

And has 309 passengers
and crew onboard

When she leaves brazil
bound for baltimore.

Nine days into the voyage,

The cyclops sends
a routine message

Stating that all is well.

It's the last
that is heard from her.

The cyclops disappears
without a trace.

That is the very last
communication from the cyclops

And the last anyone heard
from those 309 people onboard.

Nothing associated with it
has ever been found.

Not a life ring.

Not a note in a bottle.

There was nothing.

What's mysterious
about the s.S. Cyclops

Is that she shouldn't
have disappeared.

She is this ultra-modern ship
for the time.

She's supposed to be able to
make this journey quite easily.

Of course when she disappears,
she is in the bermuda triangle,

And that's always interesting.

Wade: But for once,
this notorious area of ocean

In the north caribbean
is not the prime suspect.

The finger of suspicion instead
falls on the ship's captain.

It turns out that george w.
Worley was in fact christened

Johan frederick wichmann
and born in germany.

With the world at w*r,

His allegiances become the
subject of intense speculation.

Some said he was a, you know,
german sympathizer.

So the theory is, is that it was
some sort of wartime heist.

That the captain and potential
german agents

Tried to abscond
with the cyclops.

Wade: If true, this ranks among

The most audacious
wartime missions ever.

If not, an innocent man
has been wrongly accused.

So what really happened?

Fast forward over 75 years
to the seas off norway

Where a seemingly
unrelated incident

Is about to unleash a chain
of scientific discoveries

Which could hold the answer.

Among a barrage of 25-foot
storm waves,

An oil rig fitted
with lasers records

One that measures
a massive 85-feet high.

For years scientists
have speculated

About the existence
of these gigantic rogue waves.

Now finally, there is proof.

Rogue waves are built up
by environmental conditions,

Which involve
various speed of winds.

Wade: Storms create ocean
swells,

Which in specific circumstances,

Can combine to form
these mid-ocean monsters.

Similar to sound waves,

Ocean waves
can travel at different speeds

And pile up in a process known
as constructive interference.

Sitting between the atlantic
and the caribbean

Where storm systems
can converge,

The bermuda triangle
is particularly prone

To these 100-foot giants.

However, at the time of the
cyclops' disappearance,

There were no reports of storms.

A fact confirmed by her final
message.

"weather's fair. All is well."

But new understanding of
underwater wave behavior

Suggests something
truly extraordinary.

Rogue waves can also form
in calm seas.

The unexplained disappearance
of the first world w*r

Transport ship u.S.S. Cyclops
gives rise to rumors

Of a brazen heist
by her german-born captain.

But could new developments in
the understanding of rogue waves

Exonerate him and solve
other maritime mysteries

In the bermuda triangle?

Goodman: Rogue waves are these
unusually large waves

That can occur amongst
a sequence of storm waves

Or even in calmer conditions.

Wade:
Recent research has shown that
these maritime monsters can form

When normal waves
encounter strong currents

Moving in
the opposite direction.

With the warm atlantic gulf
stream flowing right through it,

The bermuda triangle
is particularly prone.

But could a freak wave out g*n
the navy

And take out
a transporter of this size?

In 2018, british oceanographers
set out to answer

This very question.

The team builds a scale model
of the cyclops

And recreates surges
using indoor wave simulators.

Their experiments yield
a counter intuitive result.

The bigger the ship, the greater
the chance of capsize.

To maximize chances of survival,

The captain would have to
literally ride the waves,

Steering directly towards them.

Where a ship of that type is
most vulnerable is on its sides.

Wade: And with no notice of
the approaching k*ller wave,

It could have been too late to
reposition a ship of this size.

It had a huge super structure,
and it's very likely

That it was
essentially knocked over.

Wade:
Does this new understanding
of rogue waves

And their potential effects
on large vessels

Solve the mystery
of the cyclops?

Ortiz-vazquez:
Even though you have the latest
technology to see how a ship

Is behaving within a tank,

You can't be 100%
sure what happened to the ship.

Wade:
Or did german agents pull off
one of the most brazen heists

In maritime history?

Rondeau:
I personally think it's not
in the bermuda triangle.

I think that they may actually
have been

Trying to take it to germany.

Wade: Until the wreck is found,
the mystery lives on.

♪

Since I first set sail
as a teenager,

Technology has dramatically

Improved our ability
to track vessels at sea.

Satellites have revolutionized
the science of surveillance.

But on occasion, even large
boats can drop off the grid.

These ghost ships are
potential hazards

And anything else on the water
have to be found.

♪

Wade: Russian cruise ship,

The lyubov orlova has been
carrying passengers

On arctic cruises
for more than 20 years.

But in 2010, her travels
grind to a halt.

She's impounded in newfoundland,
canada,

And eventually sold for scrap,

But her final journey
is anything but plain sailing.

It's being taken to
the dominican republic

To be scrapped,
and the tug isn't up to the job.

Ronbeau:
Very soon after leaving harbor,

The lyubov snaps its tow
and comes loose and floats off

On its own with no power,

No crew, and essentially
becomes a ghost ship.

Wade:
The orlova is adrift in some of
the world's busiest

Shipping lanes.

She joins
a global phantom fleet.

They are floating
metallic icebergs,

Which can cause
tremendous trouble

By wandering into sea lanes.

Wade:
The race is on to find her.

Seven days later on
the other side of the atlantic,

The irish coast guard
is put on alert.

The orlova may be heading
their way.

The coast guard is part of a new
international project

Called sea sigma.

Their mission... to harness
the power of emerging technology

In the fight
against maritime crime.

First, satellites identify
anything that looks like a ship.

This is cross referenced
with data

From the worldwide automatic
identification system

Or a.I.S., which tracks the
position of all active vessels.

As the orlova is no longer
emitting an a.I.S. Signal,

When a so-called dark vessel
is identified

Matching her footprint,
it looks like they've found her.

But when the coast guard
gets to the search area,

The orlova is no where
to be seen.

Even with the best technology,

Accurately predicting
the position of a drifting craft

In open ocean
can be next to impossible.

But the irish coast guard
aren't the only people

Looking for the orlova.

It might be a ghost ship,

But this is a gold mine
for salvagers.

Wade: Under maritime law,
it's finders keepers.

Anyone salvaging an abandoned
vessel is entitled to a reward

Based on the value of the ship
and its contents.

But salvagers in pursuit of the
orlova can't find her either.

It's becoming an international
game of cat and mouse,

And before long, another type
of rodent hits the headlines.

One of the stories going around
about the ship is that

Should anyone find it
and go on it,

It's going to be full of rats.

Wade:
Speculation mounts as to how
an army of rats

Might sustain
themselves adrift at sea.

Tuttle: They'll chew insulation
on wires, but sooner or later,

There will be no food supply.

And then once that runs out,

Perhaps
they're eating one another.

Wade: The rat rumors run wild.

These k*ller, monster, hungry,
cannibal rats.

Mckay: It's going to look like
a house of horrors.

One would have to be
pretty crazy

To want to board that ship.

Wade: But is there any truth
to these rat tales?

It's possible that this is
a story that's going around

To try to prevent people
from trying to find the ship.

Wade: A fog of mystery surrounds
the ghost ship, orlova.

But suddenly,
the game's back on.

Coast guards are alerted
to a distress signal


off the west coast of ireland.

The signal is traced to an
electronic device

Called an e.P.I.R.B.

Assigned to one of the orlova's
six lifeboats

But e.P.I.R.B.S only activate

Once lifeboats have been
launched.

Is there life on the ghost ship
after all?

The ghost ship, orlova,
is at large on the high seas,

But now the coast guard has been
alerted by a distress signal.

Could someone or something
still be onboard?

The coast guard can't take
any chances,

So they scramble a plane
for an aerial search.

But once again, there's no sign
of the missing ship.

Getting this signal from
the lifeboats themselves

Could be a couple of things.

Either somehow they fell off
the ship itself

And the ship is still floating,

Or it could have
actually been the ship sinking

And that these lifeboats at that
point ended up in the water.

Rondeau: Experts have speculated
that it has in fact sank.

Others have speculated that
it's somewhere up off greenland.

So ultimately,
we may never know.

Wade:
For now, only the orlova and her
rumored cargo of ravenous rats

Know the truth,

And this ghost ship continues
to haunt the high seas.

♪

For medieval sailors,
the portolan charts

Revolutionized navigation
on the high seas.

In an age when the world
is still considered to be flat,

These astonishingly
detailed maritime maps

Are light years
ahead of their time.

But how they were made

And used has defied
explanation for centuries.

Can a new discovery

Finally crack
this ancient maritime code?

♪

Wade: Before the early
medieval period,

Using a chart to sail to a place
you had never been,

Was a dangerous endeavor.

Early charts were very imprecise
from a navigational standpoint.

Mckay:
You really only were able to
navigate headland to headland,

And you would touch the coast
along the way

To get anywhere you had to go.

Wade: Then, as if from nowhere
a new kind of chart

Appears with new levels
of accuracy

That reduce reliance
on visual landmarks

And help to open up new routes.

It was as if the map maker

Could look down upon the area
from space.

Wade:
In a world with untold wealth
waiting to be discovered,

Navigation is power.

Rondeau:
These were highly secretive.

They were talked about
in hushed tones.

Captains traded for them.

People probably gave up
their lives to deliver them

And to protect them.

Wade: On the surface,
the portolan charts look like

A tangled mess
of geometric lines

Spreading out from seemingly
random points in all directions.

These rhumb lines are 16 lines
emanating from a central point,

And these lines are all over
the portolans.

Wade:
But how these lines were created
and how the charts were used

Seven centuries ago
is shrouded in secrecy...

A closely guarded medieval
puzzle waiting to be solved.

Now a blue sky breakthrough
in of all things

The geometry of spot patterns
on butterfly wings

Could provide the key

To unlock the mystery
of these ancient charts.

The portolan charts marked
a giant leap forward

In medieval navigation,

But how they were created
remains a mystery.

Rondeau:
We don't have written records
in terms of how to use one,

What the lines represent
in relation to one another.

I think we've lost a lot
of the information.

Wade: But in 2018,
there's a breakthrough.

Renowned mathematician
and butterfly enthusiast,

John hessler makes
a radical connection

Between the portolan charts

And a seemingly unrelated
natural phenomenon.

Hessler has tracked the...
The differences in the spots

On butterfly wings
across the alps

In a method
called morphometrics.

Wade:
Hessler, a chemical engineer
by trade

Is also a passionate
amateur lepidopterist,

And he's studying
the evolutionary relationships

Among the many butterfly species
found in the french alps.

Using mapping software,

He tracks butterflies
from different areas

And deploys a technique
called morphometrics,

A scientific method of analyzing
form to assess the relationships

Between the placement of the
spots on the butterfly's wings.

Now hessler wonders whether
a similar method

Might help decode the secrets
of the portolan charts.

But instead of different points
on butterfly wings,

This time he's looking
at different points

On geographical maps
such as headlands and ports.

So using that, he's trying
to reverse engineer

How the mathematicians
and the navigators and the...

The surveyors were able
to kind of create these maps.

Wade:
Hessler is looking for patterns
in the differences

Between the portolan charts
and other maps.

He took about 100 points
from the portolan maps

And made comparisons
to our modern maps.

He uses algorithms within
computerized mapping software

To make these comparisons,

So we have a very good
mathematical way

Of distinguishing accuracy
from inaccuracy.

Wade: Patterns could reveal the
portolan's geometric structure

And finally tell us
how they were made

And what he finds
is fascinating.

After analyzing


All of which appear vastly
different to the naked eye,

He works out that they bear
one remarkable similarity...

They are all offset by almost
exactly the same amount,



The really significant thing is
the difference of 8.5 degrees.

It's the difference between
true north and magnetic north.

So they were all orientated
unto magnetic north.

Wade: And this makes sense

Because at the time
the charts were compiled,

Compasses are the new medieval
must have.

Clarke: It's only
when the magnetic compasses

Start to come into wider use,

You have the information
coming through

That you can use
to make these maps.

Wade:
Hessler has cracked the code
figuring out

Not only how
the charts came to be,

But also why
they're so accurate.

The portolan map makers
were more,

More advanced than we thought
they were

In terms of
putting that map together.

The best map makers actually
are able to compile data

From all kinds of places.

The map makers are using
the log books

And the records of many,
many different sailors

And what they're putting down
as their compass positions

To try and draw these maps.

These maps were the product of
large data analysis themselves.

Wade:
It turns out that these medieval
map makers were harvesting

Big data 800 years
before silicon valley.

There's no secret
like a trade secret.

So the mystery of exactly who
these map makers were remains.

But for now, our butterfly
enthusiast helps us chart

A course that takes us
a little closer to the truth.