02x07 - Secrets of Russia's Nuclear Sub

[bunniefuu]

[Jeremy] Will the excavation
of a centuries old

shipwreck reveal a secret
smuggling operation?

There happens to be about
twice as much money

on the vessel as
should've been there.

[Jeremy] When an entire
Russian ecosystem is obliterated,

could a strange ocean
toxin be to blame?

Lots of marine wildlife
starts washing up

on the beaches, dead or sick.

[Jeremy] And can satellites
solve the 2021 mystery

of a submarine that plummets
to deadly depths?

What force could tear a modern
submarine into three pieces?

[Jeremy] The underwater realm
is another dimension.

It's a physically hostile place,

where dreams of promise
can sink into darkness.

I'm Jeremy Wade,
and I'm searching the world

to bring you the most
iconic and baffling

underwater mysteries
known to science.

The vast majority
of our ocean is unobserved,

unmapped and unexplored.

[Jeremy] It's a dangerous
frontier that swallows evidence.

You have nowhere to run.

[Jeremy] Where unknown is
normal and understanding is rare.

[eerie music playing]

The submarine is the ultimate
weapon of modern warfare,

and right now, there are thought
to be more than 500 manned subs

in the world's oceans,
ready to launch into battle.

But when a sub with 53
crew disappears

without a trace during
peace time, in 2021,

the international
community is bewildered.

It quickly becomes a race
against time to find

the missing vessel and rescue
the crew before it's too late.

April 21st, 2021.

A breaking story hits the news.

A submarine with 53 crew
members on board is missing.

Attack submarine KRI Nanggala
402 has disappeared

in waters around 51 nautical
miles north of Bali.

Indonesian Navy officials
say they lost contact

with the 200-foot long sub
during a training exercise.

Its crew made contact
to ask permission

to execute a dive,

and then, radio silence.

Where is the Nanggala?

[Rob] There's no w*r
in this part of the world,

so it's unlikely
that the submarine

would have been
a victim of conflict.

What happened to the submarine?

[Jeremy] With
the world watching,

a massive search and rescue
operation gets underway.

A submarine has roughly
three days of air.

If you still have power, you
can possibly stretch it out

a bit longer,
but the rule of thumb is,

"if things go wrong,
lots of things go wrong."

[Jeremy] The Indonesian Navy
deploys five aircraft

and over 20 ships,

and they make
a worrying discovery.

A large oil slick
near the Nanggala's

last known position.

[Michael] Oil on the sea
surface is a very bad thing.

It means oil
in a contained system got out.

If oil is leaking
out of a submarine,

that usually means the
pressure hull has been pierced.

[Jeremy] Does this mysterious
oil slick mean the Nanggala

is in critical condition?

If so, how could
the subs fixed steel hull

who'd been compromised?

It was constructed
in Germany in the late 1970s.

Nanggala was an old submarine.
She was due to be replaced.

Over its long service, the
sub underwent several refits,

one as recently as 2012.

The integrity of the hull
was flagged as a concern.

Submarines lives are
not measured in years,

it's measured in hull years.

How many more dives
it can do, and it can take.

And if a submarine reaches
those number of dives,

you do not send
that submarine out there.

Nanggala hadn't reached that
point yet, but she wasn't far off it.

[Jeremy] The Nanggala is near
the end of its career,

but the sub
was still fit for purpose.

[Alexander] The Indonesians
have a good track record

when it comes to submarines.

If they are unserviceable, they don't
send it back in the water till they are.

[Jeremy] With the Nanggala
missing for 24 hours,

the international community
rallies to Indonesia's aid,

launching a large scale search.

After three days, hopes are
diminishing for the survival of the crew.

Then, on April 24th,
the Indonesian navy finds

an array of debris they think
has come from the Nanggala.

Among the objects
is a possible clue.

A part of the submarine
that is associated

with the torpedo tubes.

[Michael] We know it was out
on a training mission.

We know the training mission
was in part for a torpedo practice.

[Jeremy] Is it possible
that the Nanggala's expl*sive

weaponry is somehow to blame
for its disappearance?

According to the navy,
the Nanggala had requested

permission to dive
to fire a torpedo

shortly before contact was lost.

[Lisa] The last communication
with the Nanggala is at 4:00 a.m.

This is when the officer
authorized the firing of the torpedo.

Is it possible that the firing
of the torpedo has somehow

gone wrong, causing some sort
of catastrophic expl*si*n?

[Jeremy] If so, it's not the
first time this has happened.

In 2000, Russian submarine
K141, the Kursk,

is taking part in
a large-scale naval exercise,

loaded with a full complement
of combat weapons.

During preparations to
fire one of their torpedoes,

fueled by hydrogen peroxide,

a failure occurs,
causing an expl*si*n.

[expl*si*n]

The blast blows a large
hole in the hull,

k*lling all but 23
of the 118 people on board.

[Jeremy] While the Nanggala's
training exercise

was also using live torpedoes,

officials don't believe
one went off.

[Lisa] During such a naval
training exercise,

surely ships would have had
hydrophones in the water,

yet no blast was detected
at the time of the incident.

[expl*si*n]

If there was an expl*si*n, it should
have been heard by these hydrophones.

It's not likely that a faulty
weapon's expl*si*n caused the blast,

in which case something
else must have happened.

[Jeremy] Soon after the debris is
found, a search and recovery vessel

surveys a possible
target on the sea floor.

An ROV is
sent down to investigate.

The images instantly confirm
everyone's worst fears.

[Lisa] The Nanggala is found
at a depth of 2,800 feet,

which is far deeper
than its maximum safe depth.

There's no hope
for the 53 crew on board.

[Jeremy] It's a tragic outcome
for the submariners.

The only consolation
for their loved ones now

is to figure out
exactly what went wrong.

And soon, investigators discover
a disturbing twist to the story.

The submarine has been
ripped into three pieces.

What force could tear a modern
submarine into three pieces?

In April 2021, the Indonesian
submarine Nanggala

is found on the seabed.

It's hull ruptured
and broken into three pieces.

Experts now suspect
that the sub sank to depths

it wasn't built to withstand,
causing a violent implosion.

Indonesian officials
are determined to find

the cause of this catastrophe.

Was it a technical failure?
Was it nature?

It's a mystery.

[Jeremy] There are limits to
what the wreckage can reveal,

so investigators must
turn elsewhere for clues.

Satellite data, taken around
the time of the tragedy,

reveals the presence of a
force under the ocean surface,

called "internal waves."

Right around
the time of the tragedy,

NASA's aqua satellite captures
a ripple in the Lombok strait.

Could this ripple be
evidence for an internal

wave occurring
at the exact same time?

[Jeremy] Internal waves occur where layers
of water with different densities meet.

As currents
move around the ocean,

these layers can collide
with geographical features

on the sea floor,
causing huge waves to form.

These invisible underwater
waves can measure

a staggering 500 feet
from peak to trough.

They are much,
much bigger and much,

much slower than surface
waves, but they disturb

the inside of the ocean
as they travel outwards.

[Jeremy] And some say they're
powerful enough to drag

a submarine to perilous depths.

They can travel for miles, and they
can go at speeds of up to five knots.

You can't see very much
evidence of them on the surface.

[Jeremy] But how could an
internal wave destroy a submarine?

The submarine has one job,
which is to stay at the right depth.

It's very easy to go
sideways in the ocean,

but up and down is critical.

[Jeremy] In order to stay
at a consistent depth,

a submarine will adjust
its buoyancy

depending on the density
of the surrounding water.

But if an internal wave
envelops the vessel,

that density
can change in an instant.

If the water becomes more
dense, it can push the submarine up,

but if it's suddenly less dense,
the submarine can plummet.

[Helen] That change of density
could be enough to adjust

the submarine's buoyancy
in a way that wasn't expected.

[Lisa] Without taking some
kind of quick action to mitigate

the actions of the wave,
a submarine could easily

be pushed below
its safe operating depth.

[Jeremy] In June of 2021,
the Indonesian government

abandons plans
to salvage the wreckage.

They claim the risk
and difficulty of raising it

from the sea floor
is currently too high.

So we may need to wait
a little longer to find out

what really happened
to the Nanggala,

and if internal waves were the
invisible cause of its destruction.

Perhaps the truth will be found,
but only at the bottom of the sea.

[camera shutter clicking]

China, Russia and the US
are spending big money

to better understand
internal waves

and their potential impact
on naval operations.

While this invisible
phenomenon could be

responsible for the tragic
loss of the Nanggala,

more evidence is needed
to definitively say

what forced her to take such
a deep and deadly dive.

[intense music playing]

When it comes to merchants
of the high seas,

no one has been more successful

than the Dutch East
India Company.

In the 1700s,
the company was worth

an estimated $7.9 trillion
in today's money.

A recently discovered
shipwreck may finally reveal

a hidden side to the business,

in which sailors onboard the
ships were smuggling silver

and playing the markets.

In 2005, a salvage team
investigates the remains

of a Dutch merchant ship,


The Rooswijk was lost off
the southern coast of England.

On a treacherous ten miles sand
bar called the Goodwin Sands.

[Alexander] This ship
disappeared.

It was supposed to be sailing
out to the Dutch Hell Islands

in South East Asia,
and it turns out it never got

further
than the English channel.

[Jeremy] As they
investigate the wreck,

salvagers uncover a hoard
of unexpected riches.

It's found that the shipwreck
has a cargo of silver,

which is
obviously highly valuable.

[Jeremy] They find


and around 36,000 silver
dollars neatly stacked in chests.

These coins of the infamous
Pieces of Eight,

so-called because they were
worth eight Spanish reales each.

[Lisa] One coin is worth
about $100 in today's money.

That means there's
over $3 million worth.

The ship was carrying silver
for basic trade purposes.

The Europeans wanted spices,

they wanted the porcelains,
they wanted silks.

Where could you get them?
The Far East.

[Jeremy] The salvaged silver
from the Rooswijk

is handed over
to Dutch authorities.

But in 2017,
a groundbreaking Dutch

and English
archaeological project

revisits the Rooswijk,
in a bid to study

and preserve the wreck.

Using state-of-the-art
equipment to survey the site,

divers make
an unexpected discovery.

A different type of silver
not previously detected,

and it's not neatly
stacked in chests,

but scattered across the site.

[Beverly] What's unusual
is it's actually found

in individual piles all over.

[Jeremy] This strange surplus
silver doesn't belong

with the ship's cargo.

Does analysis of the coins
suggest a secret unofficial

industry involving
the Rooswijk crew?

Who were the men on board? Were
they merchants, or were they smugglers?

[Jeremy] Archaeologists
excavating a Dutch shipwreck

find vast amounts of silver
coins scattered across

the surrounding seabed
in bizarre clusters.

The loose piles of money
indicate they were being

carried by individual sailors
when the ship went down.

And there's something very
strange about the coins themselves.

We find coins everywhere,
and when we started

to prepare these out, we saw
that they were also very different.

[Jeremy] These don't resemble
the silver found

in the chest in 2005.

Bizarrely, many
of them aren't even

from the same
century as the Rooswijk.

These coins turned out
not to be those silver reales.

[Beverly] Some of the coins
that they find

are from the 17th century,

which is a full century
before the ship takes sail.

[Jeremy] Even stranger,
many of the coins

have holes drilled through them.

[Martijn] I'd think those holes
were there to put on a string

and put it around your neck

or maybe sewed into your clothes

so nobody would see that you
did have coins on board of the ship.

We had never seen that before.

We had never seen those coins,
with those little holes.

[Jeremy] Official records show
the Rooswijk should have been

carrying 300,000 Dutch
guilders' worth of silver.

Now it's thought the ship was
actually carrying double that amount.

There happens to be
about twice as much money

on the vessel
as should have been there.

[Jeremy] Why was there so much
concealed silver on board,

and who was carrying it?

In 1740, the Rooswijk's
crew are employees

of the Dutch East India
Company, also known as the VOC.

Its business is global trade.

Compared to the world's
wealthiest companies of today,

the VOC is still the biggest
corporation ever to have existed.

[Helen] They owned these ships
and shipping routes,

and the VOC were really
very, very wealthy

and very, very powerful.

[Jeremy] Individuals on board
are forbidden from bringing

their own silver to trade,
but it would have been

very tempting,
given the high demand

for the precious metal
in the Dutch East Indies.

Silver was worth far
more in the East Indies

than in the Netherlands.

In some places it's more
valuable than others.

In the East Indies, it's 30 to 40%
more valuable than in Europe.

[Jeremy] Anyone making
the trip would be in a position

to play the market,
buying low and selling high.

If you didn't get caught,
and made it back

from the East Indies
with your goods intact,

you could make
a staggering fortune.

[Jeremy] The sheer amount
of illegitimate coins

among the wreckage proves
there were smugglers on board

who hoped to cash in big.

In 2018, archaeologists
excavate artifacts

that unveil key details
about the people on board.

Can any of these objects
tell us who had secret plans

to play the silver market?

[Martijn] We have oil lamps
on board,

we even found complete wine
bottles, with the corks still on it.

There's personal items.

There is a nice writing set.

There are candles on board.

It's such a rare find
to see one of these ships.

We hear about them in history,

but to actually
see the tangible evidence.

[Jeremy] Although many are
well preserved, some of the nearly

300-year-old items
are harder to examine.

The team
finds giant concretions,

lumps of artifacts
fused together

over the centuries
by sediment and iron rust.

Researchers believe they contain

more smuggled silver.

Can x-rays
help the team look inside,

and uncover the truth about
the Rooswijk's smugglers?

Using these technologies
it could be possible to better

understand the distribution
of the coins on the ship,

and by doing that,
we can get a better sense

of who these people were
and what their story was.

[Jeremy] The Rooswijk crew
range from high ranking

officers to deck hands,
and even soldiers.

Determining who was
carrying the coins

and who wasn't seems
like an impossible task.

Can new scientific
techniques identify

these secret smugglers?

In 1740, Dutch trade
ship, the Rooswijk,

sinks just one day
into its journey.

The team now excavating the ship

finds human remains
among the artifacts.

Evidence
of the 237 who perished.

But it's the strange
silver coins in the wreckage

that really get their attention,

and suggest
a secret smuggling plot.

Who, among the crew,
was on the take?

Some of the smuggled
coins are bound up

in large concretions
with other artifacts.

Breaking them apart
could destroy them,

so the team uses special
techniques to look inside.

[Peter] The archaeologists
keep the artifacts

in special tanks of water.

They're also using x-ray techniques
to take a look at the artifacts

without taking them
apart or damaging them.

[Martijn] We can't start to chisel
a concretion if we don't know

what's in there, so we really
have to look into the object,

and only then we can see
that this is a coin,

the coin is of silver,

so we have to be very
careful to chisel it out.

[Jeremy] They discover that
many smuggled silver coins

are mixed in with personal
accessories like buckles

and beads and are found
across a wide area.

[Michael] If the shipwreck
is spread out over 600 feet

on the seabed, you know,
how did they bring it altogether,

to help it make sense?

[Jeremy] The excavations give
the team a wealth of information,

but it's not enough
to identify the smugglers.

Who exactly were they,

and how much were they carrying?

Researchers must
turn to the archives.

By scouring historical records,

sometimes you can
find a paper trail.

[Martijn] All these things
have a little traces

to somebody, and that's
exactly what we did.

With the help of a lot
of people searching

for those archives.

[Jeremy] Cross-referencing
the date of the ship's departure

against bank records,
they uncover evidence

of large and highly
suspicious loans.

Daniel Ronzieres,
the Rooswijk captain,

borrows 17,000 Dutch guilders
just before the ship sailed,

the equivalent
of $200,000 in today's money.

And he wasn't alone.

Some normal sailors had quite
a lot of money with them.

That's how we found out that
there was not just a little bit

of smuggling money on board,

there is loads
of smuggling money on board.

[Jeremy] Working for the VOC
was one of the toughest

and most
dangerous seafaring jobs.

Did the rewards outweigh
the risks for the 237 men

who went down with the Rooswijk?

[Lisa] If you were caught
with this silver,

having it confiscated
would be punishment enough.

You would return home,
heavily in debt

and face debtor's
prison or worse.

[Jeremy] And the wreck
of the Rooswijk

may still have more to tell us.

[Rob] Archaeologists have
only found the stern of the ship,

and so a large section
is still unaccounted for.

Has it been ravaged by the sea?

Or is it waiting somewhere
out there in the sea floor,

yet to be discovered?

Over the centuries,


have sunk
to the bottom of the sea.

If silver smuggling
was as rife on these ships

as researchers now believe,
there could be millions

of dollars' worth of illicit
treasure hiding in the deep.

The world's coastlines
are teeming with life,

with the majority
of ocean creatures

swimming near our shores.

People thrive here too
with 40% of the Earth's

human population living
close to a coast.

So what happens when
this crowded zone

becomes a toxic wasteland?

The Kamchatka peninsula,

a pristine and remote wilderness

with towering volcanic peaks

and dark sweeping beaches.

Kamchatka's shores
are where eastern Russia

meets the vast
North Pacific Ocean.

In September 2020,

several surfers
are enjoying the waves

when suddenly they're hit
by a strange sickness.

Surfers in the water
describe a variety

of adverse reactions,
including nausea,

headaches,
and burning and itching eyes.

[Jeremy] Some report what feel
like chemical burns.

More than 15 surfers
are hospitalized.

They report the incident
to local authorities,

but within 24 hours Kamchatka's
waters go from bad to worse.

Video captured by beach
goers reveals a scene

of mass death.

[Helen] Lots of marine
wildlife starts washing up

on the beaches, dead or sick.

It didn't matter what
level of animal life

in the sea
you were talking about.

Everything was dying.

[Jeremy] Underwater footage
shows the sea floor

is now a marine graveyard.

Even stranger, some
creatures look like

they've been boiled alive.

Scientists estimate
some 95% of sea life

has been wiped out.

There's something deadly
in the water here,

but we don't know what.

Could this be
a manmade disaster,

or an act of Mother Nature?

[Jeremy] As the bizarre
incident gains global attention,

international observers
suggest there is one culprit

capable of causing
such widespread death

and destruction.

Kamchatka's mighty volcanoes.

One hypothesis is
that volcanic activity

could be to blame.

[Jeremy] Kamchatka
has over 300 volcanoes

densely packed
across the peninsula.

Well, over 20 of these
volcanoes are known

to be active.

They can erupt
with expl*sive force,

but it's the toxic gases they
spew that can be just as deadly.

Around 20 miles
from Kamchatka beaches,

Karymsky Lake lies
next to a volcano

that was once
thought to be extinct.

But on January 2nd,


A sulfurous plume rains down,

transforming the nearby
lake into a toxic soup.

[Lisa] An ecological
catastrophe ensues.

The water in the lake
becomes extremely acidic.

All but the most simple
versions of algae

and bacteria cannot survive
in this environment.

Everything else dies.

[Jeremy] But around the time of
Kamchatka's mass sea life deaths,

there are no reports
of the seismic shockwaves

that usually
accompany an eruption,

so volcanic activity
is ruled out as the cause.

Instead,
Russian officials suggest

a different natural phenomenon
could be to blame

for this
bizarre watery disaster.

Satellite
images reveal a strange

yellow discoloration
along the coast.

It prompts Russian
researchers to link

the catastrophe to a known
ocean k*ller, algae blooms.

[Alexander] It's like
a cancer of the ocean.

It sucks up all the oxygen,
all the nutrients.

It will take over an entire
ocean if it is not controlled.

[Jeremy] In the US, red tides
ravage coastlines each year.

Blood colored
microorganisms produce toxins

that accumulate in shellfish,

making any creatures that eat
them sick or even worse.

It speeds on through
the chain of marine

ecosystem all the way up.

[Jeremy] Other species
of blue green algae,

called cyanobacteria,

can also release harmful toxins.

Humans who come into contact
can suffer skin irritation,

fevers and breathing
difficulties,

the same symptoms experienced
by the Kamchatka's surfers.

Did they encounter toxic
algae as it washed ashore?

Some people think that Russian
officials are quite keen

to push this idea
that algae blooms

are to blame in order
to move the attention away

from possible
other reasons for it.

It seems that this might
not be the full story.

[Jeremy] Environmental
scientists conducting

their own separate investigation
find something shocking.

Evidence of industrial
chemicals in the water.

A secret source leads
the scientists to a site

near Kamchatka's coast known to
harbor decades old industrial waste.

Could it be that some
of the chemicals that were

dumped here 'cause
they were deemed too toxic

for industry are
related to this problem?

[Jeremy] Are thousands of dead
sea creatures in fact

the victims of a sinister
manmade disaster?

On the coast where Russia
meets the North Pacific,

a deadly poisonous soup has
wiped out 95% of ocean life.

Can water analysis
reveal the identity

of the mysterious k*ller?

[Lisa] Such a mass die-off
of marine creatures

is unusual and strange,
and needs to be investigated.

[Jeremy] Samples from the
ocean reveal concentrations

of several
unexpected toxic agents.

2,4-dichlorophenol is a
compound used in pesticides.

Highly corrosive, it causes severe
skin and eye damage in humans.

Another, tetrachloromethane,
banned because of its toxicity,

can cause
liver and kidney failure.

What we're seeing here is
some kind of pollution event.

[Jeremy] But where
did it come from?

Just five miles inland is an
isolated industrial compound

called the Kozelsky
chemical landfill.

For decades the site
has been used to store barrels

of poisonous and hazardous
chemicals in the ground.

[Jeremy] The site
is in a derelict condition.

The chemicals are actually
seeping into the ground water.

[Lisa] If any of these toxic
substances get into the ground water,

it makes sense that they
would flow into the ocean,

right where
this massive die-off occurs.

[Jeremy] Despite evidence
linking the Kozelsky

chemical landfill
to the mass marine deaths,

Russian officials
publicly deny it.

Then, in 2021,
in a strange turn of events,

authorities announce
plans of a cleanup operation.

It seems odd that they would
make plans to clear out

and liquidate this facility
just months after these claims.

[Jeremy] With Russian
officials refusing to admit guilt,

environmentalists are
now closely monitoring

the beaches of Kamchatka,

amidst fears that the toxic
waters could return.

This is a real problem,

because this area is so rich
in the ecological system.

It has some fantastic wildlife.

It's very important that we
need to protect these waters.

[Jeremy] Whether it was
an act of nature

or industrial neglect,
the sea life m*ssacre

along the Kamchatka coast
should serve as a warning.

The world's coastlines
are a turbulent

and blurred boundary
between land and water.

In a place where humans and
ocean creatures must coexist,

where and when will the next
toxic disaster strike?

[intense music playing]

Across the vast blue
expanses of our planet,

there's a bizarre
invasion underway.

Multiplying armies
of jellyfish are taking over

large areas
of the world's oceans

where they've never seen before.

Why are these freakish
gelatinous lifeforms

suddenly dominating our seas
and what could it mean for us?

[Lisa] Jellyfish have been
around for 500 million years.

They not
only populate our coastlines,

but they've also been
found up to 2.5 miles deep

underneath the ocean.

[Alexander] Jellyfish
are freaky.

We have no real
understanding of them.

They have no brain
as far as we can tell.

[Jeremy] They may
be very simple lifeforms,

but venomous tentacles
make jellyfish

some of the most fearsome
underwater inhabitants.

I handled one of the world's
deadliest creatures,

the box jellyfish.

No one should approach
these translucent terrors

without extreme caution.

This one has enough
venom to k*ll 50 people.

I still can't compute
the deadliness

of the venom of this thing.

This would k*ll people
in a very, very a short time.

These toxins are found
in a cell that we call

the nomadasis, which are
like little daggers.

As the tentacle
rubs up against you,

it's like a harpoon,

and that injects
a toxin into the victim.

You're in a bad situation there.

[Jeremy] Not all species
have lethal stinging power,

but in huge numbers they
present a different kind of danger.

Studies now show that some


of jellyfish are turning up at
unexpected times of the year

in greater volumes than
have ever been seen before.

One of the most bizarre phenomena in
today's natural world are jellyfish swarms.

Increasing jellyfish
numbers around the world

has puzzled
scientists for decades.

[Jeremy] Researchers aren't
sure why this is happening,

but one leading
theory is overfishing...

which has depleted
our oceans worldwide.

[Alexander] With the fish gone, the
jellyfish have access to all the food,

so therefore their numbers
grow exponentially.

[Jeremy] And in a frightening
twist, this jellyfish plague

is wreaking havoc
on some of the most

dangerous
structures on the planet.

[Michael] For
a non-thinking animal,

to take down
a nuclear power plant...

It's pretty phenomenal.

[Jeremy] Across the world,
multiplying armies

of jellyfish are
overwhelming our oceans.

And now they threaten
our coastal infrastructure.

July, 2020, in Israel, workers
mount a massive cleanup

after thousands swarm
a coastal power station.

[Lisa] Video footage from
the power plant reveals

images of hundreds
of blue jellyfish

being swept down
the chute and into a bin.

[Jeremy] The plant needs a constant
supply of cold sea water to run,

and its complex filter systems

are no match
for the mysterious onslaught

of jellyfish seemingly
intent on shutting it down.

These washed in from
the Mediterranean,

blocking
the critical cooling system.

[Dijanna] If the cooldown
system goes down,

that means trouble
for the power plant.

[Jeremy] It would be a costly
setback for a coal plant,

but for a nuclear power
station, a jellyfish invasion

has the potential
for catastrophe.

In the last decade, four
countries have been forced

to shut down nuclear plants
because of jellyfish swarms.

Without cold water
to cool their reactors,

meltdown is a real possibility.

Jellyfish can literally take
out a nuclear power plant.

That's crazy.

[Jeremy] Why do these
gelatinous zombie hoards

seem to hone in
on our nuclear reactors?

Is there something in the
water that's attracting them?

What is now known is
that these strange creatures

absorb radioactive
compounds from the ocean.

In 2015, scientists
discovered radiation

in three sets of jellyfish.

Could there be a connection
between radioactivity

and these bizarre
jellyfish invasions?

[Jeremy] Scientists think these ocean
drifters somehow accumulate radionuclides,

radioactive atoms
found in the sea.

When radioactive compounds
accumulate in sea jellies,

we can have
a really big problem.

It's called bioaccumulation.

This contamination can travel
through the entire food chain.

[Alexander] Jellyfish are
the world's filtration system.

They go through
the oceans and they pick up

everything that's
flowing through it.

So if the world's oceans
have radiation in them,

they're gonna pick it up.

[Jeremy] Could this
radioactivity be affecting

jellyfish evolution?

Scientists are now
finding that jellyfish

all over the world
are getting bigger.

Over the last four years,
the shores of Japan

have been invaded by
the giant nomura jellyfish.

Growing to more
than six feet in diameter

and reaching over


they are truly gargantuan.

[Alexander] In 2009,
a Japanese fishing trawler

was sunk by giant
nomura jellyfish.

They were the size of cars,

and they were hundreds,
if not thousands of them,

all around the trawler,
overwhelming it.

[Jeremy] To limit
the destruction

caused by
these enormous creatures,

scientists are desperately trying
to predict where swarms will occur.

[Alexander] The problem
really, with jellyfish,

is that they appear
out of the blue,

and we can't really predict

when they're gonna come, or
where they're going to come.

[Jeremy] Scientists know
that overfished areas

of the ocean allow jellyfish

to thrive and multiply,
but they might be even

stranger forces driving them
towards our coastlines.

Jellyfish swarms could
be controlled by the moon.

In 2016, a research
scientist makes inroads

into why and where
jellyfish blooms may occur.

He finds that they maybe
connected to the lunar cycle.

[Jeremy] Data shows
that big swarms occur

in the days before
and during a full moon,

but we have no idea why.

We do know many other animals,
including to an extent humans,

are impacted by the lunar
gravitational fields.

[Jeremy] There's no obvious
way to fight back

against this sinister
wave of slime.

In fact, it's thought
that as the world's human

population increases,
so will the environmental

conditions that favor jellyfish.

But we don't have enough
historical data

to determine if this
is a natural fluctuation

or if the jellyfish
army is here to stay.

New species of jellyfish
are discovered every year.

They are on our coastlines,
they're 2.5 miles down

in our oceans,
they're everywhere.

They seem to be evolving,

and more seem
to be coming about.

What's the next chapter
in the evolution

of this resilient and
long-living type of species?

[Jeremy] In a final
terrifying twist,

it's now thought
that our gelatinous adversary

has the ultimate weapon
in its arsenal... immortality.

Humans have
very clear age-limits,

because our cells begin
to regenerate slower,

and we lose our ability
to grow new tissue

in the way
we would when we're babies.

Jellyfish, on the other hand,

don't have those mechanisms,
so some people theorize

they might be
able to live forever.

[Alexander] We really
don't understand them.

They could be the key
to unlocking eternal life.

We don't know.

The rise of the jellyfish shows
no signs of slowing down.

Experts now think
that within 40 years,

they'll be the dominant species
in many marine ecosystems.

Unless we find a way to stop it,

this spineless invader
is in line to become

the new King of the Ocean.