"Underwater explorer Barry CIifford struggles for his life in what is turning out to be one of the toughest dives of his long career" "I couId feel the edges of panic sort of starting to surround me a little bit" "We were really caught in the current The danger got scarier and scarier" "Barry CIifford has come to search the treacherous waters around the Caribbean island of Las Aves" "He is looking for evidence of a three hundred year old tragedy when thirteen French war ships and their crews were ship wrecked on the reef" "You can imagine the feeling of these you know sailors hearing the breakers on you know on Las Aves and feeling their anchor scrape along the bottom and then [bangs table] you know smashed to smithereens" "One hundred miles off the coast of venezuela surrounded by an ancient reef" "lies the island of Las Aves" "In 1 678 the reef lay in the path of a Iarge fleet of French warships on their way to strike a mortal blow against the Iast remaining Dutch colony" "Curacao So important was their mission that Vice admiral Jean D'Estrees was entrusted with France's final glory" "In his eagerness to start the battle the admiral ignored local knowledge and at 8 pm on the" "1 1 th May his ships ran aground on the notorious reefs" "Five hundred sailors drowned and over one thousand were marooned who's flag ship literally shattered beneath him" "So serious was the loss that the admiral one of the few who was rescued drew up a map so he could return and salvage the fleet's 250 valuable bronze cannons" "Today a copy of this map is kept in the French naval museum in Paris but the original has vanished and it's authenticity is open to question But Barry is determined to prove the accuracy of the map and wants to discover what evidence is left of the lost fleet" "The map marks the site of large French Warships and also small ships called FiIibustiers the French term for pirates" "Barry has been fascinated by pirates for years and he's famous for discovering and salvaging the Wyddah the only authenticated pirate wreck bringing silver coins and a host of other artefacts to the surface" "In his apartment overlooking Province" "Town Harbour in the United States" "Barry starts to brief the expert diving team he's selected to help him search the reef" "There's carl Tiska a Lieutenant" "Commander in the elite US Navy seals" "Chris McCourt a young trusted diver from past expeditions" "Todd Murphy a highly trained special Forces Reserve Officer and a Scottish underwater archaeologist Catherine Harker" "They'II all travel with him to the island" "The expedition is being organised from Caracas the venezuelan capital by a well known explorer charles Brewer" "He first told Barry about the wrecks after he and some friends found an old French cannon" "We use to go and fish spear fishing and one of the places we went to fish was thatreef on Las Aves Very far about 1 00 miles off the coast" "recently a friend of mine found a royal canon" "Before they can start their expedition charles has to lobby various government departments for permission to explore the reef" "The islands are now in a military Area and the venezuelan government" "Is taking a very keen interest in their plans" "The minister of tourism warns them" "Not to remove anything from the reef" "We want to preserve any wrecks to show them to the" "VenezueIan people and to visitors in the same condition as they were found by people lucky enough to discover them" "Having agreed to these conditions" "Barry charles and the rest of the team fly to the archipelago of" "Las Roches the nearest inhabited island to Las Aves" "We have been eh we have been working then with" "Even at this late stage Barry and charles are debating how they will work together" "From a small landing strip the expedition prepares to board a diving cruiser the Antares which will take them the 40 miles to the island of Las Aves" "normally the Antares stays closer to Shore the island of Las Aves is remote and the reefs and tides have a fearsome reputation" "However once aboard the captain RonaId Hoogenstein seems confident about what he and what his boat can do" "And eh thinks the dive is gonna be close to the breakers and I" "I don't believe we're gonna have any problem with the sharks but if we are diving at the thirty feet which is about the same place where we dive over here that's that's the place where we see the sharks eh" "Bet they get tigers up here as well eh" "Yeah Yeah we do Nasty ones And eh solo eh hammer heads" "No one that's cool There's no problem when you you know were there alone the solo ones then eh you should be concerned about that" "early next morning they start the day long voyage to Las Aves" "The captain privately is apprehensive about what might lie ahead" "This is completely new for us for me for my crew for this boat Kind of challenges also for us to see how well we will behave in an area which we normally don't operate" "Word of the expedition's plans have leaked out and as well as the danger from sharks and the unfamiliar sea's" "there is also the threat of unscrupulous treasure hunters getting there first" "Sure enough as they near" "Las Aves another dive boat appears on the horizon" "Do you know who that is" "We just heard by radio though that that boat was navy" "I think that eh it's also poss' it's coming here for dive I don't know who they are but they" "Have you s' have you seen that boat before" "Do you want to take a look" "I want to take a look Not that I can recognise from here" "This is a treasure boat a treasure diving boat I believe" "That's the other guys that have the concession but we have a permit right" "Em is it It might" "Barry is anxious their presence is a threat to the operation" "They're treasure hunters" "As Barry and the Antares arrive the treasure hunters beat a hasty retreat" "probably better keep it for eh" "beautiful" "The Antares passes the seaward side of the island into the lagoon" "Past a coast guard outpost and anchors inside the reef" "To the west is a modern ship wreck abandoned in the shallows and to the south is the island where the sailors from the lost fleet spent their last days" "For the hundreds of unfortunate French sailors that were left behind on Las Aves there was no fresh water only countless barrels of wine and salted meats pulled off the wrecks" "It wasn't long before their merriment gave way to despair and eventually death" "planning the first days diving the team" "look at some aerial photographs taken by charles on a survey a few months ago" "They reveal a narrow channel that will allow the divers to cross over the reef to where they think the wrecks are located" "But it will take some skilled navigating" "Next morning it is clear that Barry and charles haven'tagreed about the aims of the expedition" "Barry wants to prove the validity of D'Estree's map" "But charles wants to make a detailed study of just one wreck site" "I propose to make another research in order to see we can have a choice" "Two three choices" "And then of those three possible sites choose one for making the study because we will not have a time to make study in each of them but at" "least to get a lay out That's that will be my idea" "Let's take D'Estrees map em as an accurate document until it is proven otherwise and to test D'Estree's map and that should tell us really where each one of these wrecks is" "I think that the old map is not accurate at all" "Barry is sceptical of anything coming of charles' plan" "But they decide to start by searching for the cannon that was found on the earlier fishing trip" "They head out on a small dive boat it is" "light and can easily avoid the reef's" "finally the expedition is underway" "The old pilot sits in the prow giving directions to negotiate this shallow passage over the reef" "It's difficult but greatly shortens the journey to where the wrecks should be" "It is obvious to everyone on board the terrible effect the reef would have had on the French fleet" "According to one intelligence report at the time the French were lured onto the reefs by 3 Dutch ships" "As admiral D'Estree's ship hit the rocks he ordered the cannons fired in warning to those behind" "Thinking their admiral was under" "Attack the others rallied to his aid and quickly realised their mistake as their hulls were ripped out from beneath them" "Today the sea is unusually calm with no surf breaking on the reef Once on the seaward side" "charles hopes that he has found the" "Spot where the cannon was discovered" "Anybody's guess" "After over 300 years what is left of the ships will be hard to see" "The divers search the reef" "But nothing is seen of the wrecks" "Their first dive is unsuccessful" "Back the Antares after the disappointment of the first dive charles goes back to re-examine the maps" "while Barry returns to his own thoughts" "It's clear that Barry will have to follow his instincts and trust the admiral's old map" "Next day another more pressing problem presents itself in the form of the venezuelan coast guard" "Whatever charles did in Caracas about permits it didn't satisfy the ministry of the interior" "The coastguards say there is a problem with them and exploration must stop" "But the team have come so far and they're unwilling to stop now" "ronald captain of the Antares thinks they can continue as long as they stay well clear of the coastguard" "Barry is determined to prove the validity of admiral D'Estrees map and discreetly examines a 1 940's aerial photograph of the reef comparing it to the old map" "two objects anomoIies that are in the shape of ships" "And that's precisely whatCount" "D'Estrees positions these two ships One larger than the other" "Taking the small dinghy Barry and the captain heads to where they think" "D'Estree's map indicates a buccaneer wreck should be" "The very first ship of the fleet north of the tip of the island" "See that point there That over there" "That's pretty much the area we shouIdstart looking at" "Judging that they are the right distance from the point of land they scan the sea floor to see if they can find any obvious signs of a wreck" "If they find nothing now Barry's theories about the accuracy of D'Estrees map will have to be abandoned" "Looks like we're getting eh this is about where the area is" "This is about wouldn't you say Ron" "Yeah we are we are very close to the area now It shall be a little more than half mile from the land if they're here" "Try over in this area right over here" "What do you thinkput the anchor over here" "Barry takes his metal detector and with an underwater communications system fitted to his mask he scours the sea bed searching for any indicationthat he is right about the old map" "These are really beautiful pieces of coral over here Just look down in this little cavity down below here and see what we've got" "Over centuries the corals will have covered any visible remains" "So Barry is looking for concreations" "Iumps of what look like coral but is in fact where metals have corroded and distorted almost beyond recognition" "I'm starting to get a reading here" "At first it isn't clear just what Barry has found" "These are barrels Look at this" "There are three old coral encrusted barrels in one group and a short distance away two more all containing some type of metal" "Look at this The way they are lined up" "They are fairly large as well They are perfectly in tact" "I'd better go look around the area here and see what else I see" "The search is hotting up A short distance away he finds an old anchor heavily encrusted with coral" "You know I'd estimate this anchor to be approximately eight to nine feet long about approximately six feet for the anchor fits in with the date of D'Estrees wrecks" "His air exhausted he dives again using a snorkel and finds a second anchor just under the surface very close to the surf line" "The two small anchors and the barrels are an indication to Barry that he's found the site of a small ship" "One of the wrecks marked is a pirate ship on the map" "JubiIant Barry returns to the Antares and tells charles that he was right about the map" "We went to this spot on D'Estrees map" "We actually took a modern map and we measured the distance" "We used this 1 940's black and white photograph we went to the spot and we found two anchors and five barrels like this" "We used D'Estreesmap and it's accurate" "Catherine the teams archaeologist now has to make an accurate record of the finds Nothing is going to be taken from the wreck site The only evidence of any discoveries will be the drawings that Catherine will produce" "She sets up a global positioning system GPS that uses signals from satellites to give an accurate location on the earth's surface" "It's accura' actually accurate to about forty centimetres which is excellent That's about as good as you can get working in in this type of environment" "First we get eh a em establish a datum point which is our our centralised point where we measure everything from so that we know exactly how far the objects are from each other on the sea bottom" "On the boat heading for the wreck site" "Chris and Todd discuss how they're going to begin mapping the site" "You know five barrels and a chest and and eh and a couple of anchors and this is" "That wont take long shouIdn't really take shouIdn't take that long to do" "Sure and then eh we want to do a survey with the metal detectors" "Yeah yea" "absolutely" "The shapes of the anchors especially and and eh those are gonna have to all be measured to everything" "Once over the reef it's noticeable that the sea is getting rougher" "But it won't stop Todd and Chris who are used to working together in extreme conditions" "One of the most important parts of of our job under water is is being able to communicate with each other accurately and quickly" "Em so we always set up a plan before we go in the water" "You know who's gonna hold what end of the tape and where we're gonna go first and things like that so that we're not juggling things around down there and em we're all pretty pretty well experienced in what we're doing" "Eh Catherine it looks like probably just using a ring on this" "large anchor would be eh it's certainly prominent and would eh it's definitely the same place we could get back to Eh what do you think about this for our datum over" "Yes that's sounds like a plan" "Eh can you give us a eh hoIIer" "Catherine when you're ready to tape measure and stuff over" "Yeah will do" "Do you have the tape measure Catherine" "Yes I have the tape measure" "Roger that Come and get the tape measure we've got it ready for you" "Surface to divers one and two The two there are two other barrels directly to the south of the three barrels that are fairly prominent" "They're within thirty feet of the three barrels that you've located" "The datum is setis on the rings of this large anchor over" "Yeah copy that There are rings on the large anchor" "The objects are measured thoroughly" "The anchors made of iron are over three hundred years old" "unable to get a grip on the hard coral" "I think it the anchor is eleven feet three three inches over" "The dimensions and co-ordinates are radioed back to Catherine on the dive boat" "while Chris produces draft illustrations from direct observation under water" "Anchors shake eh length eleven feet three inches over" "Todd and karl's measurements are meticulous" "The width of the fluke at the widest point is 1 8 inches over" "Catherine The width of the fluke on the second anchor is 1 9 inches" "The circumference of the shaft is 1 7 inches over" "So they've they've measured out they've got three barrels and two anchors so far" "They've measured out the northern most barrel and the two anchors the distance between barrel one and barrel two is three feet eight inches" "Three feet eight inches barrel one and barrel two" "After several hours work" "Catherine produces detailed scaled drawings" "charles has at last found a wreck Site and persuades them to move north" "As the days progress more and more wreck sites are discovered and measured" "Changing two hundred and seventy degrees east" "The wooden hulls of the lost fleet rotted away centuries ago" "Canons anchors and other metal objects remain Preserved by a layer of protective coral" "The largest ship that went aground the flag ship terrible carried sixty-six cannons some of the these would have been bronze D'Estrees returned to salvage the bronze canons but the iron one's were left behind this This is ballast spot right here" "ballast stones used to stabilise the ships are all that is left of the wooden hulls" "By the end of the week Catherine'srecords show the location of five ON MAP identifiable sites" "Despite the odds Barry and Catherine are pleased with the way the search is going" "We've done pretty well Em looking at the the map that we had that was drawn at the time by Des' D'Estrees eh he was actually pretty accurate in what he drew" "What's most interesting to me is that I think we may I'm almost positive that we've found the pirate ship" "And it was the furthest ship to the south We used em" "Count D'Estrees map measured in you know where he'd put you know where he'd placed the wreck on the map went to that spot bingo there it was" "So some of the doubts about the map appear to have been resolved" "But the question remains just how accurate is it" "Can all of the thirteen wrecks that have been marked on the old map be identified by the dive team" "It seems that there should be a major concentration of wrecks due east of where the Antares is anchored" "Keeping a look out as always for the coast guard they head out to explore the area" "However a modern wreck a freighter which had suffered the same fate as the lost fleet fifteen years ago occupies the site" "The team hope to find evidence of another pirate wreck beneath it" "Pirates or buccaneers were the 1 7th century equivalent of mercenaries Hiring themselves to any country that could promise great riches" "admiral D'Estrees target the island of Curacao would have been a tempting prize to most of them" "Many were deserters fleeing the poor pay and brutal discipline of naval life" "Piracy offered freedom and wealth but few lived to spend their ill gotten gains" "They would die in battle be taken by disease or drown like their comrades from the lost fleet" "Here there are pockets of lead shot left just the canvas sacksthat would have contained them rotted away over the way over the years" "Lead cannon balls lie forgotten in the sand" "In slightly deeper water is an" "Enormous anchor clearly from a major vessel Perhaps Le terrible" "It's just a wreck site it's amazing" "It's just totally it's completely covered with material" "There's em some incredible amounts of musket balls all in little pockets" "Yeah the way you're talking it sounds great" "Sounds outstanding" "It's really totally just material everywhere" "A metal anchor chain snakes away leading the divers towards the wave battered hull of the freighter they realise that this twentieth century ship wreck has probably obscured much of what remains from some several ship wrecks of admiral" "Modern steel girders lie in ruins on top of seventeenth century cannons" "As the sea eats away at the ruptured hull of the freighter it's a graphic reminder to the divers that they're exploring the remains of an awful disaster" "and the bitter fate of a thousand French sailors" "You can see some of the anchors are bent and broken and their fluke's are facing off shore but there was nothing for the nothing for the anchors to dig into they just dragged across the coral they couldn't get" "a bite you know It must have been very terrifying for them to through their anchor out and feel it dragging along in the coral" "It's two and a half to in weight the anchor" "About two automobiles would weight is one of those anchors Just in weight Imagine" "Then further up the coast is a really extraordinary and dramatic find" "An enormous pile of old iron cannons and anchors" "The total number of cannon in the pile at the first count is unbelievable" "how many" "We've eh located what we think is a pile of forty cannons or more" "Eh mixed in with that pile em we've heard maybe there's a bell It's an isolated site which is gonna tell us a Iot about em the location on these maps you know If this is completely isolated we can take" "measurements and head north and we think there is you know two or three more wrecks to the north of this site" "So this is em um we're actually much further ahead than I expected charles We've been we've" "Yes got more wrecks than we know what to do with now" "Much more and eh we might be finding more" "When the word got out about the tragedy of the Lost fleet buccaneers from all over tried to salvage what they could from the wrecks" "Perhaps this pile is all that is left from a failed attempt" "Every evening in the saloon of the" "Antares notes are written up and measurements are discussed" "They have been diving for 1 0 days now but there is a Iong stretch of reef still to explore" "If the map is correct other wrecks should be located to the north" "Barry gives explicit instructions to the crew on the chase boat in mind that there's one wreck one is' that one isolated wreck is directly east of Whitehouse Is'IsIand" "If we can pinpoint that it wouId be great because that's the northern most wreck" "ronald takes Todd Chris and karl outside the reef to do a high speed survey of the whole of the rest of the reef right up to the northern most point" "As they get out into deep water the wind has picked up and the seas are getting stronger" "The plan is to tow a diver behind the boat using a hydroplane so that a visual search can be made of the sea bed to spot any obvious remains of an old wreck" "It is the quickest most economical way of searching a reef that is over four miles long" "meanwhile Barry back on the Antares decides that he will once more explore in the south where D'Estrees map indicates another pirates wreck should be" "Barry takes the dinghy and heads out to a point just north of where the first pirate wreck was found" "Barry's experience of previously finding the only authentic pirate wreck has taught him to trust his instincts" "After a brief look around he finds evidence of another wreck" "These canons are pirate cannons on the second wreck we've located" "It's the second wreck that Count D'Estrees showed on his map" "These are not the big huge cannons that we saw on you know to the north" "They are much more what you would expect to find on a smaller ship like a pirate ship Then again and that's exactly where Count D'Estree said it was on his map Of course they'II have to be a Iot" "more documentation done to to prove this but eh but how far feel like confident that these wrecks are pirate" "Barry's discovery is unknown to the rest of the team who are still hydropIaning north along the reef" "They've been doing it for hours" "Each of the divers taking turns at the exhausting task of being pulled through the sea" "The dive team returns from the Iong journey around the reef they found nothing RonaId the Captain of the Antares is disappointed with their search" "Nothing" "really" "Nothing" "Not a single thing Nothing" "I've found a pirate wreck" "But Barry's overjoyed about his latest find" "Got another pirate wreck Cannons and a big ballast pile just north of the other one" "We just came acrosswe just went to the exact spot on D'Estrees map where em it was north of the first pirate wreck and bingo right on the spot cannons and ballast pile" "How did you guys make out" "Two grouper" "We didn't find anything to the north" "hardly compensation but at" "least the two grouper will be used for dinner tonight" "The following morning the weather has got worse with rough seas and high winds" "Despite the danger there are other wreck sites to be found and mapped" "Our main problem is that wind has picked up a Iot" "Main channel where we were using to go through the other side with a boat as you know is a very narrow space we're to go through With the wind eh it makes almost impossible to go there with a boat" "The captain would Iike to move the" "Antares closer to the western end of the island making the journey to the wreck sites easier but that means being in full view of the coast guard who are still watching the expedition for breaches of the diving ban" "If we anchor Antares here you know in the pointwhere the coast guard is they will be watching us closely" "I mean it's gonna be easier for them to spot what we are doing" "It's a dilemma if it isn't possible to use the channel today they will attempt the difficult swim over the reef" "ronald and karl have gone ahead in the dinghy to see if the channel is useable" "Looks like they couldn't get through he news is not good" "Can we get in this We get out in this" "It will not be possible" "Too rough for both boats or just for this one" "What's it look like karl" "well this boat would have a hell of a Time making it through the channel" "It's rough" "Yeah you've got waves spiking right there in the channel" "The divers will have to swim off the reef" "Both boats head towards it to make" "The Divers journey as short as possible" "As well as negotiating the razor sharp coral it will be much more difficult for a diver to return to a boat if they start running out of air" "It's getting dangerous" "Be packing again" "They search the seas on the other side of the reef" "They're looking for the buoy that marks the site of the Iast wreck that they need to survey but it's nowhere to be seen" "We are very far from what they say" "They say they were there Why we what are we doing here" "It's too far out Too far out" "Is eh three hundred metres yeah in their direction" "In three hundred metres we'II be there" "I'II get everything out" "Oh yeah another hundred metres in that direction" "finally KarI plunges in to search and discovers to his alarm the seas have become so rough that the buoy has broken loose by it's weight and has been washed away over the reef" "He's just waved so he's on it" "Okay" "Let's go" "Not healthy at all you know Barry" "The w' waves there is not healthy" "Taking a bearing they head for where the wreck should be" "Okay I've got it right there alright I've got we'II go" "As they climb into the water they realise how shallow the seas on the reef are" "It's not very deep" "No not very deep at all" "But the joke wears thin as they get into deeper water" "days have problems that" "Barry and the other team members face are becoming severe" "The are against them It's a reminder of the fate that befell the wretched sailors of" "CLEARING D'Estrees fleet Few of the sailors in the 1 7th Century could swim at all So they would of drowned in the surf and be torn to shreds on the sharp cora" "Negotiating the banks of the stinging fire coral in the breaking waves pulling themselves hand over hand along the reef makes for painfully slow progress and leaves them dangerously short of air" "They are close to the Iast wreck site" "Can they succeed in measuring it Fixing an accurate" "location completing the task that the expedition set out to do" "finally they make it to the wreck site and despite being tossed around by the surf they struggle to complete the measurements and drawings" "If the team is to verify their findings accurate measurement is vital" "But despite the conditions they do succeed and finish the job" "At one point we eh measured one long distance in We we were only about sixty feet away but there was probably about two hundred feet of tape measure out all tied up wrapped round every piece of coral that could be founddown there so em but we worked around it" "I'm going to head back to the boat I've got about a thousand pounds of air left I do not want to get caught in here" "Barry's very low on air and knows that he has to get back to the dive boat" "He is caught by the current and struggles desperately to reach safety" "I couId feel the edges of panic starting to surround me a little bit" "We were really caught in the current It it started started to get a little" "Scary We shouldn't spend a Iot more time working in this spot" "You know I think it's let's call it a day" "When the team returns to the dive boat Barry decides to call a halt to anymore diving" "Very rough felt like we were stuck in the spin cycle at the laundry matt" "Yeah Just like swish very very rough" "It's too too rough to work in there safely I think" "With the expedition prematurely over only seven of the thirteen wrecks marked on" "admiral D'Estrees map have been accurately positioned and measured" "But Barry feels they have gone along way to proving his theory" "One of the things that I really wanted to prove here because it wouId help us with the whole you know to understand all of the ship wrecks on Las Aves was to prove the accuracy of D'Estrees map" "But I wanted to take D'Estrees map and use it to see if I couId find a ship wreck" "Even charles has changed his mind and agrees that the map drawn by D'Estrees over three hundred years ago is remarkably accurate" "actually what it is outstanding is" "That we've finally found out that the shape that it was drawn was extraordinarily similar to the shape of the island where we are now because before it was thought of many other islands possible of the site of the wreck" "Now we know that this is the the place" "It's been a highly highly successful trip for us and em and I think I've I think it's changed me as well" "I think at the end of the trip realised that you know I couId never" "I couId never salvage these ship wrecks" "Didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that It's like it's been I've been brought up in the salvage business" "But eh I think this is a very very fragile place and these wrecks have provided a habitat for this incredible reef life" "For centuries the exact location of" "admiral D'Estrees lost fleet has remained a mystery but perhaps now Barry CIifford and his team have finally unlocked the secret of an old map and brought a forgotten piece of history back to life"