03x04 - Aury's Treasure

[bunniefuu]

NARRATOR:
Tonight on Beyond Oak Island...

MARTY:
We're looking for

treasure that was
hidden away by the pirate

Captain Aury.

They supposedly

had buried 11 caches
of different treasures

around this Spanish Well.

- MATTY: Really?
- I think there's something there.

MARTY: Let's find the treasure.

GATUSSO: So I'm just
gonna comb this whole thing.

Ooh, right here.

- MATTY: Ooh, I like that.
- GATUSSO: Let's go dig.

MARTY: Doing great, Matty.

- MATTY: What is that?
- GATUSSO: Gold.

That's gold?

♪ ♪

All the while we
were growing up,

my brother and I were
fascinated with finding treasure.

RICK: Pirate treasure,

cursed treasure.

Civil w*r gold.

-[laughter] -Since then,
our work on Oak Island

has shown us there's
a world of mysteries...

- Whoa.
- Waiting to be explored.

RICK: So, we like to reach
out to other treasure hunters.

X marks the spot,
right there. Brilliant.

- MARTY: We want to hear their stories...
- That's right.

- And share our insights.
- "Ill-gotten gains."

- RICK: And who knows...
- GARY: I got it.

Maybe we can help
them with their search.

MARTY: Not only in America.

Wow. That is gold.

- RICK: But all over the world.
- Yeah!

MARTY: Beyond Oak Island.

♪ ♪

MATTY: Well, Marty, uh,
thank you for inviting me

for another Florida
treasure hunt.

- I am pumped.
- Come on, Matty, you're magic.

-[laughing] -Look at the
day, buddy. Look at the day.

I do have a little bit

of a hot streak going
with finding items.

- All right.
- So hopefully I'll bring

some luck of the
Irish on this one.

NARRATOR: In Tampa, Florida,

Marty Lagina and Matty
Blake are on their way

to the home of Joe Zsiga,

a retired boat captain who
recently made local news

headlines regarding his pursuit
of buried treasure connected

to the early 19th century
French privateer Louis Aury.

Yeah, well, this
one is gonna be cool.

I got, you know, I
always have high hopes,

- I always have high hopes.
- Yeah.

But I've talked to
this Captain Joe,

and he had done
all this research

and classic, you know,
hours and hours and hours.

Passionate, let's
call it obsessed.

- [chuckles]
- Mm-hmm.

MARTY: He's looking for treasure

that was hidden away
by the pirate Captain Aury.

He's just about to dig
and the authorities say,

"No, no, you can't dig
without an archaeologist."

So, you remember Dr. Taylor?

- Of course.
- Yeah.

Great archaeologist,
and so Rick and I said,

- "Well, we can help out."
- Love it.

So Dr. Taylor will be here.

And that supplied

the piece that's gonna
allow us to dig up,

- hopefully, this treasure.
- Wow.

MARTY: Matty, I think
this is it, right here.

- MATTY: Oh, nice.
- This is Captain Joe's house.

All right. Oh.

- I think I see our crew.
- Yeah, there's our crew.

- Gentlemen.
- Hey, good morning.

- Hey, how are you?
- We're good.

- All right, I'm Marty.
- Nice to meet you, Marty.

I'm Joe, Captain Joe.

- Captain Joe, how are you?
- Good.

NARRATOR: Originally from Ohio,

Joe Zsiga worked
for more than 30 years

as a successful air
conditioning contractor

in Tampa, Florida
before retiring in 2021.

For the last several years,

he has enjoyed secondary
careers as a boat captain

and now, a fulltime
treasure hunter.

JOE: I grew up in a small
town near Cleveland, Ohio.

I was always adventurous
when I was growing up as a kid,

and exploring was in
my nature and blood.

Treasure hunting
started as a hobby.

When I discovered Louis Aury
and that he actually was here

in the bay area, that
changed everything.

And that was the moment

that turned me from
part-time treasure hunter

to full-time treasure hunter.

NARRATOR: Also
joining the meeting today

are Joe's friend and
research partner Mike Gattuso,

as well as Nova Scotia based
archaeologist Dr. Aaron Taylor.

Captain, before we
hear the specifics

of what we're doing

and what you have in mind
for this particular search,

like, I'm just curious,
why this hunt?

Like, what about this
particular character

and this hunt was
alluring to you?

Why this one?

JOE: Well, here's the thing:

- I'm a history nut.
- MARTY: Okay.

- Now we're getting to it.
- JOE: And the history part of it

intrigues me to the
point where, you know,

I'll be that guy at 2:00
a.m. in the morning

just searching any documents
that I can come across

from the Library of
Congress or wherever.

- MARTY: Hmm.
- And that's how my journey started.

This led me to
Louis-Michel Aury.

NARRATOR: Born in
Paris, France in 1788,

Louis Aury joined
the French Navy,

serving on privateer ships

beginning when he
was just 14 years old.

A natural sailor and leader,

within eight years,
Aury became the master

of his own fleet of ships.

However, he was also moved

by the plight of the
indigenous people

in Central America

who had been
colonized by the Spanish,

and took part in
numerous revolutions,

even forging an alliance

with Venezuelan
revolutionary Simón Bolívar.

MOSS: In the early


some of the Spanish
republics in the New World,

in the Americas,

start to rebel back
against Spain,

and fight back for their
own independence.

And Aury himself got
swept up in this rebellion.

And would oftentimes,
even though he was French,

and maybe because he was French,

um, he would fight
against the Spanish,

um, in order to liberate
areas like Mexico,

Guatemala, Panama.

It just made him a really
fascinating character.

NARRATOR: By 1815,

Aury returned to privateering,
plundering Spanish ships

from his base on Amelia Island
off the west coast of Florida.

MOSS: He made a
tremendous amount of money.

Estimates have it
being over $500,000

of 1818 money,

which is the equivalent
of five billion dollars today.

Five billion dollars, with a B.

What he did with that
money, we're not quite sure.

NARRATOR: In 1817,

as the United States
led a campaign

to eliminate privateering
off the Florida coast,

Louis Aury is
believed to have buried

much of his plundered treasure

in numerous caches
at different locations.

In 1821, he suffered
an untimely death

after being thrown
from his horse,

leaving the fate of
the immense wealth

he is reported to have
accumulated unknown.

However, Joe Zsiga
and Michael Gattuso

believe they have found

where Aury hid several
of the treasure deposits

with the help of indigenous
allies near Anclote, Florida.

Well, I'm curious,
Captain, like,

what happened that set
you on this particular search.

Did you find something?
And-and where were you?

Well, it started with

Michael finding the
record that we needed.

- Hmm.
- Okay.

A few months ago, I had
done some extensive research

at the University
of South Florida,

so I wanted to see if possibly
this treasure might have been

in one of these archives.

So, as I'm looking,

I find this little snippet,

like an article of historians

that had done research
on different treasures.

And I see that it says,
"Captain Louis Curry,"

but it had question marks.

So anybody that's not really...
who's looking to treasure hunt

and look at that,
wouldn't even realize

that's not even the right
spelling of the name.

- MARTY: Mm-hmm.
- Just from the fact

that he had told me,

the last name
being Aury, it clicked.

It's actually
Captain Louis Aury,

they just misunderstood
the last name.

Okay, makes sense.

Because one thing I've learned

on this journey... when
you talk about symbology...

One of the techniques that

these depositors will leave

is slight misspellings of names.

- Correct.
- MATTY: To throw someone like you

- off the case.
- Correct. -Mm-hmm.

So it's making it very
exciting for me, because...

I think there's something there.

The document that I have
tells a little story about...

Louis-Michel Aury

and six trusted
Native Americans.

Late at night, they
went to this well

- to stash his treasure.
- Yeah.

And supposedly, he had buried


which were ten feet apart.

So that's where,
actually, we're targeting.

And this thing said that?

GATUSSO: Yes.

MARTY: Said 11
treasures ten feet apart?

- GATUSSO: Yes.
- MARTY: Okay.

GATUSSO: You
know, a lot of times

when you do a lot of research

on these pirates
and these stories,

it's a story

when you don't
have a treasure map.

But with a treasure map,
now you do have something.

- Yeah.
- GATUSSO: So we have a very strong possibility

that nobody else
has probably looked

for this treasure.

So here's Honeymoon Island.

This is actually the
east side of the island.

And in this dense forest here

is where Aury lived.

The research leads us
into the story of a spring well.

Well, then, obviously,
looking at all the data,

we see that there are only
two spring wells in this area.

One is Wall Springs and one
is the Spanish Well at Anclote.

Well, Wall Springs,
this water in here,

you can't get a boat in.

As you can plainly
see, the sand here,

it's too shallow and
the well is actually

a quarter of a mile inland.

So there's no way you could get

heavy barrels in
and out of there.

So you kind of
eliminate that one?

JOE: So that's eliminated.

And then we went to the
Spanish Well at Anclote.

GATUSSO: And then,

there's three things
for the pirates normally

you have to keep an eye on,
which is markings on trees...

Which at the time, the hurricane

probably knocked these
trees down so we couldn't find

any markings... high ground,

and the landmark.

So we had the high ground,
we couldn't find the markings,

but there was also a landmark.

That adds up to a possible
location of a treasure.

- So...
- The landmark is the well.

- GATUSSO: Right.
- The Spanish Well.

- Yes.
- And then, of course,

the further research
dictated that there were


plain sight around it.

MATTY: Amazing.

So, then what did you do?

- We GPR'd it.
- [laughter] -What a shock.

Mm-hmm.

- MATTY: And?
- GATUSSO: That's where...

We found 11 of them.

- Really? Right where they should be?
- Wow.

- Yes, sir.
- MATTY: Now that's interesting.

Okay, I have to
ask. I have to ask.

How much money could
this be? What's it worth?

- In today's money?
- Yeah.

Approximately $140 million.

MARTY:-JOE: Ahh! That's
worth a look, huh, Matty?

I heard that.

I'll dig a hole
for that potential.

NARRATOR: In Tampa,
Florida, Marty Lagina

and Matty Blake are
preparing to join treasure hunter

Joe Zsiga in his quest
to find a buried treasure

believed to be connected

to the early 19th-century
French privateer, Louis Aury.

What does this
Spanish Well look like?

What... Is it, is
it a deep well?

Is it a big well? Do you
bail the water out of it?

It's... In 1948, a young child

- fell in that well.
- Oh, okay.

So they cemented it up

and they, you know,
rebarred it and whatever,

so no further children

could have any
dangers of falling in it.

So now it's covered over
and just got lost in time.

- MARTY: It's in sand, no?
- It's in sand.

This is a county park, correct?

JOE: Yes, it's a county park.

MARTY: Because you
got stymied initially from...

Initially, yes.

I've applied permit after permit

and the same person
that works there

- turns me down.
- MARTY: Right.

- But they wanted an archaeologist.
- JOE: Yes.

Well, enter Doctor
Taylor here and, uh,

are you up to speed?

I'm becoming more
and more up to speed.

Um, you know, I'm
generally a skeptical person.

MARTY: Mm-hmm.
- And I get contacted

fairly frequently about
possible treasure.

- Of course.
- And, um,

usually it doesn't get past
the rumor stage, you know?

Someone has an old story
that's been passed down,

and, um, you know, I
thank you for contacting me,

but I'll pass.

When Marty contacted
me with this story,

and I got a chance to
speak with Captain Joe here,

it was more than a rumor.

He had done archival research,
they had brought in GPR

that showed anomalies.

And having the state involved,

the State of Florida
involved and a permit in place,

I was, you know,

more-more than compelled
and happy to join the team.

With him coming on board,

- you've got your permits.
- Yes, we do. Yes, we do.

Yeah.

I spoke to the
Florida State officials,

um, and we've discussed
what needs to be done.

With treasure hunting, any
time you go into the ground,

you destroy the
site, essentially.

And Captain Joe
and Mike's research

showed that First
Nations were helping

Captain Aury at that time,

so a really important point is,

if you hit a First
Nations artifact,

- you really have to stop.
- Mm-hmm.

And contact government
officials in Florida

to see how they want to proceed.

All right.

Awesome.

MARTY: Okay, so we want to dig,

but first we're
going to reverify

- these positions, correct?
- Yes.

You know, the enthusiasm
is pretty palpable here.

Are we all set with
equipment and such?

- We brought everything we need.
- MARTY: Okay.

- Good.
- JOE: I have people there right now

prepping for us.

So they'll be all ready to
accept us when we get there.

Well, we're burning daylight.
Let's go find the old well.

- AARON: Let's go.
- I agree.

MATTY: Let's find some gold.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Later
that afternoon...

- MARTY: All right guys, this looks like it.
- MATTY: All right.

NARRATOR: Marty
and Matty, along with Joe

and the rest of their team,

have traveled some 30
miles northwest of Tampa

to Anclote River Park
in Holiday, Florida.

- Hey, guys.
- MARTY: Howdy.

Let me introduce
you to everybody.

- I'm Marty.
- I'm Erin.

NARRATOR: There they are joined

by metal detection experts

Chris Liebert and Erin Melcher.

- You guys know how to dig?
- Eh.

- We've done it once or twice.
- MARTY: [laughs] Good.

- Good.
- JOE: Well, if you're ready to dig,

- we're going that way.
- ERIN: Let's go. Let's go.

NARRATOR: In order
to confirm the locations

of the 11 possible treasure
caches that Mike and Joe

previously detected

in this area, they will
first need to identify

the site of the
buried Spanish Well.

Once that is accomplished,

Mike will then scan

for the most shallow
and reachable targets

using the Nokta Makro
ground penetrating radar device.

By emitting magnetic
pulses into the ground,

the unit is able to identify

possible buried
structures or objects.

However, the Nokta
Makro has capabilities

that make it ideal
for treasure hunting.

GATUSSO: The GPR
actually gives me depth,

it gives me the type of metal

and how valuable it
is, whether it's gold

or any different types
of metals as well.

I think what we want to do
first is we want to start out

right in the center.

Let's see if... that
we can locate

the actual position of the well.

And then, we can
go on a circumference

- of what the clues were in a circle.
- MARTY: Yes.

- MATTY: Great.
- So I think we start right in this area

- right here, guys.
- MARTY: Yeah, let's find the well.

MATTY: The first thing
that this team wants to do

is identify the well,

because according
to Joe's research,

the treasure caches
were laid out around

wherever this well
was, historically.

So if we can find
the well right now,

we can start measuring
out and try to find these hits.

Like, right here,

I'm actually getting
a signal right here.

MATTY: All
right, let's spike it.

Nope, still soft.

There we go.

Yeah, it dropped.

So if it's any deeper
than that, it's not there.

GATUSSO: Here, Matty,
it was over here more.

- MATTY: Okay.
- GATUSSO: Try over here.

MATTY: Copy that. Oh!

- JOE: Ahh!
- ERIN: There it is.

- Do we have a well?
- JOE: I think we have a well, gentlemen.

I think we have a well.

MATTY: That's
shallow, you can just...

JOE: All right, well,
it would make sense,

because they cemented
it up and rebarred it up.

Just finding that well

in itself is huge, because

it does show us that
our previous locations

were pretty much
right on the spot.

- MATTY: Excellent.
- GATUSSO: That's a great find.

- JOE: That's a great find.
- MATTY: Good job, fellas.

Just find the edge
of it and then...

AARON: Yeah,
that's what I'm just...

just-just find the edge.

So this gives you kind of,
like, the center of the wheel

to look for your targets,

- as like spokes off...
- Where our targets are

in appropriation to the well.

GATUSSO: Well, we
have a starting point.

- JOE: Yes, we do.
- MATTY: Excellent.

MARTY: The first thing we do

is find the cement
cap over the old well.

That helps refine the search.

That helps to add
further credence

to the treasure deposits.

GATUSSO: What I'd
really like to do is, um,

probably draw, like, a
line 15 feet around that.

- Give me a better idea of a radius.
- Yeah, okay, we can do that.


it to, if you want.

GATUSSO: That's even
better, we can do that.

MARTY: So my thought
is, "Hey, if we know

"exactly where this
well is now, let's reverify

these positions."

Because if they are in a circle,

they will be at
the same distance.

So I just kind of did
some mental arithmetic

and figured the radius
would be about 18 feet

to allow 10-foot spacing along
the circumference of a circle.

MATTY: It's a huge circle.

GATUSSO: So, I'm just gonna

comb this whole thing.

Seems to be
pulling a lot of iron.

- MATTY: It's reading iron?
- GATUSSO: Yeah.

- [GPR beeping]
- Oh, right here.

MATTY: Oh... Oh.

- Oh, I like that.
- MARTY: Yeah, that sounds good.

- MATTY: That's the best sound we've heard.
- JOE: Wow, look at that.

- GATUSSO: The biggest one I've seen.
- JOE: Get a look at that.

- What's it saying?
- JOE: Get a look at this.

MATTY: Oh, my goodness.

MATTY: Is that the
biggest spike you've seen?

- JOE: Yeah, right now, yeah.
- MATTY: All right.

- Then that's a prime candidate.
- GATUSSO: Yeah, let me scan it

- one more time just to make sure.
- Yeah, sure.

-[GPR beeping] -MATTY: About
the size of a chest, maybe, Marty?

MARTY: One can hope.

GATUSSO: I don't know if
you can see it in red right there.

MATTY: What is that red?

- GATUSSO: Gold.
- MATTY: That's gold?

It says gold with an
exclamation point.

Well, I mean now we have to dig.

MARTY: So Mike's got some sort
of combination GPR/metal detector.

The metal detection portion
of his instrument is saying

that there's a certain

likelihood percentage that
what he's detecting is gold.

GATUSSO: The depth is
approximately five to seven feet.

- Okay.
- JOE: That's pretty deep.

GATUSSO: I
mean, that's what it...

I mean, it's five to
seven feet right here,

right where I have this thing.

And we can dig how much?

AARON: The regulations are,

for every meter down,

you have to go...
Uh, one down...

So if you go down two,
you got to go out two.

Okay, fair enough.

Shall we begin?

- MARTY: Yes.
- Let's break ground.

Here we go, guys. Captain?

- JOE: Yes?
- It's official now, my friend.

So, we know there's
about a foot of backfill.

We'll do a two-meter
by two-meter

and see what that anomaly is.

MATTY: This is a different
type of treasure hunt.

There's a huge archaeological
component to this,

and that's why
Dr. Aaron Taylor is here

and that's why
we're able to do this.

So we have to do
this very judiciously.

I'm just gonna work this edge.

Follow exactly what
Dr. Taylor tells us to do

and how to do it.

We're not just digging
a hole in the ground,

frantically searching
for treasure here,

or we'll get stopped.

So we can see a
definite color change.

- MATTY: Yeah.
- That we're getting rid of

that white, gray backfill,

and the orange is
probably the natural soil.

MATTY: Yeah, I see that color.

So once we get all
the gray stuff out,

then we'll start sifting
the orange stuff.

MATTY: Got it. Okay.

Oh, can I get a root help?

- ERIN: Yeah.
- MATTY: See that one?

MARTY: We knew we
were gonna run into roots,

but we ran into a lot of roots.

And the digging is
easy in the sense

that it's sand,
but really difficult

in the sense that
there are a lot of roots.

AARON: Let's
give it a little scan.

[GPR beeps intermittently]

- [steady beeping]
- GATUSSO: It's still there.

AARON: All right,

so let's start
filling the buckets.

So in archaeology,
everything has to be screened

and that way, we get all
the artifacts, large or small.

GATUSSO: Guys, you're gonna
have to lower that. This thing's heavy.

AARON: All right, ready?

You shake all the dirt out

and you're left with
usually a lot of roots,

but in amongst the
roots you find the artifacts.

Every artifact,

no matter how big or
small, has a potential of

telling a big historical story.

- JOE: Let me go down in there.
- MATTY: Yes, sir.

JOE: Faint hit right there.

- MATTY: All right, that's good.
- JOE: It's ringing.

MATTY: We're getting
deeper right now.

The work is hard. It's hot.

But we're still getting a hit.

'Cause every time we
check it, we get another hit.

So why would we stop now?

I don't-I don't care
how deep this thing is.

I'll dig all night.

Want to switch, Mart?

- JOE: Hey, Matty?
- MATTY: Yes, sir?

Just for the hell
of it, try this auger.

Try that.

See if it works better
than the shovel.

If not, we'll go
back to the shovel.

You just keep twisting it.

Good for that.

Now, wait a minute.

MATTY: Ah...

- ERIN: Yeah, we're in water.
- MARTY: Yep.

- JOE: We definitely hit water.
- MATTY: Damn it.

So we're digging,
trying to get that two feet,

we know we're close

and I hear this noise...
[imitates squelch]

and the hole is just
filling up with water.

JOE: Well, we
definitely hit water.

[quietly]: It's
under there, Marty.

AARON: In archaeology,

when you hit water,
you really have to stop.

You can't excavate
through water.

With every scoopful going down,

I could see the sand
getting wetter and wetter.

GATUSSO: Would
you like me to rescan it

- just to see where we're at?
- JOE: Yeah.

And we're gonna put Michael
back in there for a scan.

Okay.

[beeping]

- MATTY: You getting that red circle again?
- GATUSSO: Yeah.

MATTY: That's good.

We were still
getting the reading

and then it becomes,
what do we do now?

JOE: I'm thinking,
this hole, in my opinion,

it's that way.

It's under that tree.

We can go next to it,
but we can't go under.

- [chuckles]
- ERIN: Yeah.

JOE: I would put even money

that it's under the
bulb of that tree.

Probably...

another foot or so
better, better that way.

Because you were,
Mike, you were getting

a reading of another four feet?

- Right.
- AARON: I don't know

if we can get four
feet under this tree.

- ERIN: No, not without hurting it.
- No, we can't.

I'll you tell you that.

Not without that tree
being damaged or...

falling down.

You don't think
it's deeper here?

No, I think it's that way.

MARTY: Okay, well,

today something
new happened, right?

You knew approximately
where the well was.

- Now you know exactly where it is.
- GATUSSO: Yeah, absolutely.

MARTY: We got one more day,
and I guess I want to ask you,

what do you think?

Are we still in the right place?

I-I feel that we are

absolutely in the right place.

Something probably
is down there,

but it's just where
we can't get to it.

And, obviously, this is
the first, the first hole.

MARTY: Yeah, and there's
supposed to be ten more of these

- if it's here, right?
- Correct.

We'll hit the best one tomorrow.

MARTY: You can't be
in this business without

constantly having hope rise up

and wanting for
today to be the day.

Today is always the day
when you're treasure hunting.

So, am I hopeful again? Yeah.

Nothing has been totally
disproven about the legend.

There are at least
ten other places to look

if the research and
the legend is true.

So find me the next best
spot and we'll dig tomorrow.

I can tell everyone's tired

and a little hurt and
a little frustrated,

but you haven't been wrong.

Everything you have
here says there's gold,

but it's just under
that dang tree.

Let's just pick a favorite
tomorrow and let's do it again.

JOE: Being a foot away from

a possible hundred-plus
million dollar find

is just indescribable.

You're so close, yet you might
as well be a hundred miles away.

I could smell it,
I could taste it,

but I can't touch it.

Tomorrow is a new
day. Tomorrow is the day.

Absolutely. Tomorrow's the day.

- MARTY: To your jobs, everybody.
- MATTY: Thanks, guys.

MARTY: We're still
in the hunt, guys.

- We're still in the hunt.
- ERIN: Absolutely. It's not over.

MARTY: So, Matty Blake,

what's the one word

that drives success
in just about anything?

Uh, one that comes to mind
right away is persistence.

God, mine was perseverance.

- Yeah.
- [laughs] All right.

MARTY: You know what?

- That is awfully close.
- MATTY: Yes.

We dug hard yesterday,

and we hit a target
and couldn't get to it.

- Mm-hmm.
- MATTY: So we still have ten chances,

and that excites me, you know?

MARTY: Absolutely.

That's why there's
shovels in the back.

[Matty chuckles]

NARRATOR: As a new day begins

in Holiday, Florida,

Matty Blake and Marty
Lagina arrive back at the site

of the old Spanish Well
at Anclote River Park

to join Joe Zsiga and his team.

- JOE: Good morning, guys.
- MATTY: Good morning, Captain.

They are searching for
approximately $140 million

in gold that the French
privateer Louis Aury

and his Indigenous allies

are believed to have
divided up and buried

in 11 different treasure
caches two centuries ago.

- GATUSSO: We got some information for you.
- [chuckling]: Good.

So let me show you
what we came up with.

NARRATOR: Earlier this morning,
researcher Michael Gattuso

conducted another
GPR survey of the area

in order to identify
the most shallow

and potentially
reachable targets.

We rescanned these,
and if you can see,

when we went around
the 18-foot circle,

we actually had
strong possibilities.

One there, one here, one
there, so within ten feet.

But the only problem
is they're ten feet deep.

All of them?

Well, not all of them.

We hit one that's
five to six feet.

- MARTY: Here?
- Right here.

MATTY: Yeah, it fits
right in that perimeter

we kind of created based
on your math, Marty.

It's right on the line.

Is it a coincidence
that these things

were ten feet apart,
right on the 18-foot line?

- You know what I mean?
- That's the thing.

- JOE: All right, let's do it.
- Another day of digging.

All right, guys.

Let's hit it. Let's do this.

♪ ♪

- You guys can start hammering away.
- MATTY: All right.

JOE: Today is a big day.

We feel confident that we have

the next right spot that's
the most viable place

to search and dig.

JOE: Okay, come on, Erin.

Find me something good here.

I'm trying, I'm trying.

JOE: This is the target we want.

The excitement
level is over the top.

♪ ♪

ERIN: Oh, what is that?

JOE: Wow, what do you got there?

I mean, it's badly rusted,

but it is a nail.

It's a clinched nail.

So it means they would
have pounded it through

- and then bent it.
- ERIN: And then bent it over.

So that it wouldn't
come back out.

- Oh, to seal something, to hold it in.
- Yeah.

I would guess it's
a handwrought nail.

JOE: What would you
estimate the age of that?

Late 1700s. 1790s.

Yes!

I need 1817 era, so...

Now, the problem
is it's in the backfill,

so we've lost the context.

We don't know where
the fill came from.

MATTY: That's the thing.

ERIN: It could have been
out there and then dredged...

- Yeah.
- And dumped here.

- ERIN: Exactly.
- Yeah.

So that predates 1790.

AARON: We need to
take it back to the lab,

clean it up the best we can.

- But it's in the backfill.
- MATTY: It's in the backfill, understood.

But yet, if there were pirates

skulking around
here doing things,

this would put it in
the time period, so...

Yeah, and where did
this backfill come from?

- Where did the backfill come from?
- JOE: Yeah.

MATTY: If Aury was here,

which we believe he was

from the history
that tells us he was,

this fits that timeline.

That's good.

- GATUSSO: Heck, want me to scan real quick?
- MATTY: Yeah.

[steady beeping]

- MATTY: Yeah, you keep hitting that spot.
- JOE: There's your hit, man.

It's right there.

GATUSSO: Non-ferrous
is showing up.

We're still getting
those gold signature hits,

so no one wants to stop.

We're tired. Our
hands are blistered.

Our backs hurt.

None of us are spring chickens...

I'll speak for myself...
But we ain't stopping.

As long as those hits keep
coming, we ain't stopping.

The non-ferrous is right here.

- AARON: So we'll just hammer away.
- MARTY: Okay.

Get rid of this

and then the exciting
stuff happens in the orange.

MATTY: All right.

That put some pep in our dig.

♪ ♪

Oh, look at that, Doc.

ERIN: There's orange.

MATTY: We got change in color.

MARTY: We get through this

sort of white-looking stuff,
which is the surface here.

Beach sand.

We get into a very
different-colored strata,

it's orangish colored.

- MATTY: Is that orange enough?
- AARON: Yep.

MARTY: This is
the area where now

Dr. Taylor says we have to sift

the sand to look for artifacts.

JOE: Coming at you.

ERIN: What we got?

Whoa. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

- CHRIS: Wow.
- ERIN: I don't know what that is.

Hey, you guys got something?

ERIN: That doesn't
look naturally made.

It's like the bottom
of a pot or something?

MATTY: Got something?

AARON: It's a chert.

It's something First
Nations would have used.

Because you can
make it razor-sharp.

- May I see that?
- Yeah.

MARTY: Chert would be the go-to

rock for arrowheads

and scraping tools.

And Dr. Taylor is pretty sure

this is Native American stuff.

NARRATOR: Discovering a piece
of chert more than two feet deep

has both potentially positive

and negative implications
on the operation.

Because Louis Aury is
believed to have been helped

by Indigenous people
when he buried his treasure,

it offers evidence

that they were indeed
digging in the right place.

However, the find could
also qualify the area

as a historically protected site

and put their entire
search in legal jeopardy.

Hello.

JOE: Upon
discovering these items,

we had to have Dr. Aaron Taylor
call the Tampa History Center

and get instructions
as how to proceed,

because our dig has now changed.

How much did it
change on the pendulum?

We don't know. It now
goes in their hands.

AARON: So we're down at the site

and now we've just found chert,

which the First Nations
liked to use to make tools.

I'm just looking for
some direction on how

you'd like me to proceed.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: After discovering
an Indigenous artifact on the beach

where treasure hunter
Joe Zsiga believes

the 19th-century French
privateer Louis Aury

buried more than
$100 million in treasure,

archaeologist Dr. Aaron
Taylor is speaking with

local authorities to seek
permission for the team

to continue their excavation.

[indistinct voice on phone]

Mm-hmm.

JOE: In the back
of my mind I know,

"Boys, this could be the
end of a short day here.

We-we might all be going home."

Yeah.

Okay.

Bye-bye.

Onward h*!

Let's go Good job, Doc.

ERIN: That is awesome.

AARON: The government official,

he said that we
should just continue.

They were happy
with the methodology

that we were using.

So, you know, it was a
big relief from everyone.

- Hey, Erin, will you check the hole?
- ERIN: All right.

JOE: Because if we get
something out of that, even faint,

we know that we're
on the right track.

NARRATOR: The Whites Beach
Hunter ID metal detection device

that Erin Melcher
is using can identify

not only different
types of precious metals

as much as two
feet below ground,

but is also equipped
to distinguish between

specific kinds of objects.

-[GPR beeps] -ERIN:
I'm picking it up.

- So it's probably two feet down.
- MATTY: Ah.

ERIN: If I had to take a guess.

AARON: Erin's instrument
will only go down to two feet,

so when Erin went down into
the pit and he got a detection,

we knew that we
were within two feet

of whatever it is
that is down there.

JOE: Do you think there's
something valuable there?

I think there is
something valuable there.

AARON: If you
think about two feet,

it is so close you
can almost smell it.

Does it give you any sort of
indication of what it could be?

- Yeah, it tells me on here it's coins.
- [GPR beeping]

Come on.

- Yeah, let's dig.
- [chuckling]: Let's dig.

All right.

All right, back in the hole.

Back in the hole, Luke.

Whatever this signal is,

whatever this
anomaly is, it repeats.

Every time he
goes into the hole,

he gets it again.

That is significant,

so we keep going.

♪ ♪

Oh.

- AARON: Ooh, we got a nail.
- MATTY: Another one.

Another one, what?

- MATTY: Old nail.
- JOE: Yeah? -AARON: Yeah.

- JOE: Intact? -AARON: She's old.
- MATTY: She's old.

She's old.

This is interesting just
because of the depth

we've located this at.

- Oh, yeah.
- AARON: So...

handwrought nail,
clinched at the end.

We're looking pre-1790s.

JOE: So, guess what?
There were people here.

- There were people here.
- Right on this spot.

- That didn't fall in.
- AARON: No.

No, that didn't.

AARON: So let's keep digging.

- MATTY: All right.
- Let's keep digging.

♪ ♪

Is that getting more wet?

MARTY: We continue on,

but then I dig down in this area

where we keep getting these hits

and get that hateful
squishy sound.

We get into the water.

Why don't we use
the detector again?

What I'm going to do. I'm
gonna hit it on that bucket.

- ERIN: All right.
- JOE: All right.

- You hearing anything again?
- Faint. Real faint.

- It's there.
- Okay.

- Let's, let's just keep digging.
- All right.

GATUSSO: So, we're about

five to six feet down

and we're starting to
see a little bit of water,

but we're still running
our metal detectors

and the GPR and
we're still getting signal,

so I know there's definitely
still something down there.

We just haven't reached it yet.

Hey, guys,

we got a signal, we
still got hope here.

Don't be giving up yet.

JOE: It was going off

right over that hole, Marty.

Literally, nowhere else
but on-on right there

is where it was going off.

MATTY: Wow.

- Okay, we're in soup now, yeah.
- JOE: Okay.

MATTY: All right, it's starting
to kind of fill in on itself, so...

Is it a couple more feet
down in the darn water?

ERIN: Well, that...
Logistically... is a problem.

Yes, it is.

AARON: So...

in archaeology,

we have to stop
when we hit water.

[groans]

AARON: I just, I
don't see another...

Anything else that
we can really do.

MATTY: Well, you
know what, I mean, look,

you did all the research,
you took your shot

and we found some really
interesting items here.

We did find some really
interesting artifacts.

First Nations material
culture, stones, possibly tools.

We found handmade
wrought iron nails,

which are early.

So, obviously, there was
contact between the Europeans,

the Spanish and
the First Nations

who were living here.

Today we found, you
know, that contact period.

- That's exciting.
- That is. -Yeah.

MARTY: This was something
that was worth doing

and it was worth doing
right, and we did do it right.

What we found were
historical artifacts

that are probably going
to advance the ball,

the knowledge of
the history of Florida.

I think it was, in that
sense, a success.

You still believe
the treasure is here?

- Yes, I do.
- You do?

JOE: Yes, I do.

There's just too much
out there that points to it.

- Yeah.
- MARTY: Well, we know

-how hard it is to retrieve.
[laughs] -MATTY: Yeah.

If we were allowed to have
a small backhoe in there,

we would've got to that cache.

I don't think this is the
end of Captain Joe Zsiga.

This is only the beginning.

It will continue on.

The treasure
hunting is not done.

- It's only just begun.
- JOE: Beginning.

MARTY: All right.

Amen. Amen. Let's fill the hole.

GATUSSO: You guys
did a great job, man.

♪ ♪

MATTY: I don't know
about you, Marty,

but I'm still a little sore

from the Captain Aury dig.

Uh, my hands are
still blistered, it was...

We put in some
actually hard work.

It was all hand digging.

- Hand digging.
- MARTY: Yeah.

- And you know...
- How come I didn't go? [laughs]

Yeah, that's a damn
good question, I'd say.

We'll take you next time.

So, have you been in
touch with Captain Joe?

Absolutely, Captain Joe

has been working
around these issues

and he emailed me and
said he had an update.

- So he's standing by if you want to talk to him.
- MARTY: I'd love to hear.

- I'd love to hear what happened.
- I'd love an introduction.

- Yes.
- Great.

- There he is.
- Hey, Captain Joe.

- Captain!
- Hello, sir.

How is everybody?

We're great, how are you?

Oh, we're good. I
really can't complain.

Good.

Hey, we got big
brother here this time.

- Rick, say hello to Captain Joe.
- Hello, Captain Joe.

I've heard nothing but
good things about you.

Oh, they lie, but that's good.

[all laughing]

MARTY: I-I mean,
I'm keen to know,

I'm just gonna guess,

Captain Joe, that
you didn't give up

and throw in the towel
after we left, correct?

JOE: No.

I've got a really good update

and I think it's just what I
need to solve this mystery.

♪ ♪

MATTY: So, Captain
Joe, what is your update?

Since Marty and I have left,

what've you been doing?

Well, I'm working
with Dr. Aaron Taylor

to get the proper permitting,

what we need to get
heavy equipment in there

so that we can get, you know,
as deep as what we'd like to.

Yeah, that would've made
an enormous difference

when we were there.

That's great.

Are they working with you?

Yeah, they are.

Thanks to the good doctor.

- That's great.
- Awesome.

You know, I'm glad we could help

- by the introduction.
- MATTY: Yeah.

Captain, I have a question
for you, following up,

but I don't know if you
know the answer to this yet.

Speaking of
Dr. Aaron Taylor, too,

he used the phrase
"potential first contact site,"

um, with... given some of
the Native American artifacts

we may have found.

Has there been any
follow-up to that, and did that

increase the interest...

Hopefully not scrutiny
but interest... with you

and the State in terms of
being able to explore the space?

Yes, I found a couple
more first contact items.

Uh,

I also found part of a weapon,

uh, I found a gold earring.

Wow.

Geez.

Yeah, there was a number
of items that we found

- right near that dig site.
- MATTY: I love it.

You know, at the very least

this could be one of
those situations, too,

where you're
looking for treasure...

As you guys have done...

And find another piece
of history like this well site

can become something that
Florida did not know before.

This is a definite,
proven first contact site,

and that's really exciting.

Well, keep in mind that
Pasco County, as well,

did not know where that
well was until we found it

- that day.
- Bingo.

They thought it was in
the middle of that river.

That's just opened
up a whole new thing

for the county now that,
you know, it gives me

more of an edge to continue
to do what I want to do

and have them back me.

- That's great.
- MARTY: Did you repeat

any scans with
different equipment,

you know, to go
around the circle?

You know, 'cause of
the 11 different spots?

Not as yet.

I am presently working with
a company out of Tampa.

With all due respect,

the team you've put together
is excellent and they are great,

but in my opinion,

here on Oak Island you
have the greatest detector

in the world, Gary Drayton,
and he happens to live

- in Florida.
- That's true.

I would love you to get
Gary Drayton on that site

and rescan those 11 spots.

Um, I just... that's
just my opinion.

- That would be good.
- I think he could really

identify things for
you in that way.

You get me his number,

you guys have my
emails and my info,

and I promise you this
day, that will happen.

- [laughing]
- Awesome, Captain.

You still got the fire
in the belly, don't you?

For this whole thing?

Well, we won't give
up. I mean, it's here.

I was close.

I was as close as
you could possibly get.

My problem is, the
water got the best of me.

- I love it.
- Another Oak Island similarity.

- Yep.
- MATTY: Yes.

I want to thank you
for the information,

but I heard one key phrase

here today and
you reiterated it,

"I'm not giving up."

Absolutely not.

You can take that to the bank.

- [laughing]
- There you go.

No, we hope you
take it to the bank.

MATTY: Literally
and figuratively.

All right, Captain
Joe, thank you.

- We'll talk soon.
- Okay, bye-bye. Thanks, guys. -Bye-bye.

MATTY: Phew.

Well, that is a
determined captain.

Well, I-I-I, look,
it's very interesting,

you know, a fellow like that

who is accomplished
in several areas,

now turns himself
to try to understand

not only the historical
narrative of the area

but fascinated with a story

that culminates with
perhaps a retrievable treasure.

Perfect melding of concepts,
ideas and passions, right?

There you go.

- I love it.
- Well.

Why don't we meld
your passions together

and go find your
treasure, how about that?

- It would be time, wouldn't it?
- Off we go.

- And I need a masseuse from all that digging.
- [chuckling]

- We have one on the island?
- Yeah, another shovel.

-[Matty laughing] -MARTY:
Yeah, hair of the dog, Matty.

- MATTY: Yeah, right, more digging?
- MARTY: Yes.