02x02 - Mystery of the Ancient Battle

[bunniefuu]

[Jeremy] Could an invisible
underwater force

have changed
the course of world history?

[Simon] How could this fleet of
enormous warships remain stationary?

This is a huge puzzle.

[Jeremy] How does a modern-day
pirate ship evade capture for ten years?

Just as it seems like it's
going to get caught, it's gone.

[Jeremy] Can a treasure
trove of gold coins

found in the waters
off the Holy Land

shed new light on the mysterious
disappearance of an ancient city?

To say that these coins are
virtually priceless is no exaggeration.

And there's hundreds of them
littering the seafloor.

[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.

The Battle of Actium,

the decisive naval conflict in the
last w*r of the Roman Republic.

The defeat of history's
most famous couple,

Antony and Cleopatra,
shaped the world,

but no one knows exactly

what caused
their unexpected downfall.

Now, scientists might be
one step closer to solving

this 2,000-year-old mystery,

and the answer might be
hiding just beneath the surface.

[Jeremy] September 2nd, 31 BC,

an epic naval battle is about to
take place off the coast of Greece.

The Battle of Actium is one of the
most famous naval engagements

in ancient history.

[Jeremy] On one side,
Mark Antony and Cleopatra,

Queen of Egypt,

with an impressive fleet
of 500 ships.

They're pitted against the
leader of the Roman Republic,

Octavian Augustus.

A 13-year rivalry will end here

in a battle
that will shape the world.

The stakes
of this battle are high.

Whoever wins rules
the Roman world

and the Roman world
is the world.

[Jeremy] Antony and Cleopatra's
ships advance towards the enemy.

Then something bizarre

starts to happen
in the waters of Actium.

[Simon] The fleet behaves
very sluggishly.

The boats are moving
very slowly in the water.

[Rob] So the question is why were
these ships not able to maneuver

like they should have been
able to maneuver?

[Jeremy] What causes
the Egyptian ships

to almost stop dead
in their tracks?

It's one of the most baffling
military mysteries.

Octavian's ships swoop in
and destroy the fleet.

[crashing]

It's a shocking defeat.

[Michael] When you look
at the numbers in the battle,

you say, "My God,

why didn't Mark Antony win?"
He has more boats.

He has bigger boats.

He has the backing of Cleopatra.

[Jeremy] In just one
extraordinary day in history,

the Battle of Actium is over.

Antony and Cleopatra's
cataclysmic defeat

brings an end
to the Roman Republic

and ushers in a new chapter
in world history.

This marks the beginning
of the Roman Empire.

[Jeremy] So what causes
Antony and Cleopatra's ships

to slow down?
The crucial factor

that gives rise
to history's greatest empire?

That question has been puzzling
historians and mariners for centuries.

[Jeremy] In 2020,
a major investigation

into a strange
ship-stopping phenomenon

may finally provide
some answers.

Researchers begin to piece
together clues hidden in ancient texts.

Many ancient writers
have discussed

what happened
at the Battle of Actium,

and one of them,
Pliny the Elder,

says that the ships were
held back by the remora.

[Lisa] Remoras
are flat-headed fish

that sucker onto other boats
and other larger fish in the seafloor.

[Jeremy] They use
high-powered suction discs

to attach to anything
that's moving.

They are the hitchhikers
of the ocean.

[Jeremy] Is it really plausible
that these moderate-sized fish

could have slowed down
the Egyptian fleet?

Scientists today believe
the remora's reputation

for incapacitating ships
is an ancient mariner's myth.

When remoras
hitch a ride on a vessel,

they do create drag, but not
enough to bring a ship to a halt.

[Lisa] It seems highly unlikely
that remoras had anything to do

with the outcome
of the Battle of Actium.

[Jeremy] If remoras
aren't to blame

for stopping the Egyptian
fleet from advancing,

something else
must have been at play.

Recent archeological work
near the naval battleground

is unraveling another clue to Antony
and Cleopatra's mysterious defeat.

Following his triumph at Actium,

Octavian builds
a great victory monument.

[Simon] Octavian
is a warlord effectively,

so monumentalizing his victory
is very important to him.

[Jeremy] In niches,
in front of the monument,

he displays 35 great bronze
rams taken as w*r trophies

from some of Antony and
Cleopatra's most important warships.

Archeologists discover
something surprising.

[Peter] These stone niches
are still there today,

and by 3D scanning these niches,

it's possible to calculate
the size of the ships.

[Jeremy] Historical texts
have always described

Cleopatra's Egyptian warships
as large galleys,

but new technology is revealing

that the size of the ships
was truly exceptional.

The ships were huge even
by their day.

They were as long as a
Boeing 767 and twice as wide,

and they would have been
rowed by 600 men.

[Jeremy] Can the extreme and
unconventional dimensions of the warships

explain their mysterious
slow behavior?

[Helen] What we have
is these big armored ships.

But on the opposing side,
you've got a smaller,

lighter kind of galley.
Much quicker.

[Jeremy] Smaller,
more nimble ships

may have given Octavian
the upper hand.

[Michael] Having a
smaller ship, you might think

is a disadvantage, however, it takes
less energy to get them up to speed.

[Helen] The bigger,
heavier ships can't ram them,

because they can maneuver

and then get out
of the way quickly.

[Jeremy] But is there more to this
mystery than just flawed ship design?

A groundbreaking
scientific discovery

is finally unraveling
what really happened that day.

And the answer lies
beneath the surface.

How Antony and Cleopatra
lost the Battle of Actium

has puzzled historians
and scientists for centuries,

but a new study of a powerful
underwater phenomenon

could finally solve
this ancient naval mystery.

[Jeremy] In 2020,
scientists are researching

a strange nautical anomaly
called dead water.

Could this have held back
Antony and Cleopatra's ships

and caused
their devastating defeat?

[Lisa] Dead water
can slow down ships

and, in some instances,
can even stop them.

[Helen] The first person
to really observe it

was a famous Arctic explorer
called Fridtjof Nansen,

and what he saw was that when
he was in the fjords in Norway,

however much he tried to
push his ship through the water,

it just didn't go anywhere.

[Jeremy] When Nansen
encounters dead water in 1893,

he has no idea what's causing
his ship to slow down.

But we now know much more
about this phenomenon.

It occurs where there are different
levels of temperature or salinity,

such as in fjords.

[Helen]
In the fjords, you have cold,

fresh glacial water
that is sitting

on top of ocean water
that's more dense.

[Jeremy]
Antony and Cleopatra's fleet

is positioned in what's known
today as the Ambracian Gulf.

So, do the waters here have the
right features for the dead water effect?

The Ambracian Gulf has fresh
water flowing in from two rivers,

creating two different layers
of water,

similar to the waters
where Nansen was sailing.

And, therefore, a possible
location for dead water to occur.

But could this phenomenon really
have slowed down the Egyptian fleet?

French researchers set out
to solve this puzzle.

[Germain speaking]

[Jeremy] When a ship travels
through water

with two different densities,

it creates an internal wave,
where the two layers meet,

and the water tank reveals
that how a ship is affected

by an internal wave
depends on its speed.

If you can push yourself
fast enough,

you can actually get
yourself out of the regime,

in which it happens.

But if you can't,

then you're basically
stuck in it,

nothing you can do is going to
push your ship along any faster.

[Jeremy]
On that day in Actium,

Antony and Cleopatra's huge
cumbersome ships

would have struggled to escape
the internal waves that they created.

With a scale model
of an Egyptian ship,

Germain Rousseaux
and his team noticed

something else extraordinary
that could help to decode

Pliny the Elder's
ancient record of the battle.

[Germain speaking]

[Jeremy] The scale model ship
creates a very familiar pattern.

[Germain speaking]

[Jeremy]
In an extraordinary twist,

Germain and his team now believe

that Pliny the Elder could
have been right all along.

He was referring to the remora
patterned wake and not the fish itself.

It's likely then that the
combination of huge warships

and dead water created a
perfect and devastating storm

for Antony and Cleopatra.

So, after 2,000 years,

this ancient mystery
might finally be solved.

In the South Pacific,

a marine biologist sees
her life flash before her eyes,

as she's thrown around violently
underwater by a humpback whale.

The mystery
of this encounter deepens

when another danger
is spotted lurking nearby.

Could there be more to this
extraordinary event than meets the eye?

[Jeremy] September 14th, 2017.

In the spectacular waters of
Rarotonga in the Cook Islands,

an extraordinary confrontation
is about to take place.

Marine biologist, Nan Hauser,

is snorkeling
in crystal clear water,

when she spots
a 25-ton humpback whale.

Thrilled by this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,

she starts filming.

But, her initial excitement
turns to fear.

The enormous creature pushes
her with its head and mouth.

Then it pulls her under
its pectoral fin

and throws her out of the water.

This woman must have been
absolutely terrified

to be scooped up by a
multi-ton wild animal in the ocean.

[Jeremy] The seemingly
aggressive ordeal lasts ten minutes.

At first, she thinks that the
humpback whale is trying to attack her.

[Jeremy] But as the marine
biologist recovers,

she notices something
more dangerous in the water.

[Michael] When she gets close
to the boat

and all her colleagues
are telling her...

[man speaking]

It kind of changes the context in what
that battering or that movement meant.

[Jeremy] Has the whale just saved
Nan Hauser from a shark attack?

If so, could this be the
first instance ever recorded

of a humpback whale
protecting a human?

[Jeremy]
This remarkable footage shows

the heart-stopping moment
when a marine biologist

comes face to face
with a humpback whale.

I guess the most outrageous day

I've ever had
and it was quite frightening.

I mean, he's huge and your...

your organs will rupture,
your bones will break,

but they see something.

And I looked and I went...
[gasps]

"That's the most... huge,

incredible tiger shark
I've ever seen."

And just at that moment, the whale
was protecting me from the shark.

You've been studying humpback
whales for three decades.

Have you ever heard stories of
humpbacks protecting humans like this?

I work with a lot of people that
study humpback whales underwater,

and this has never
happened before

or nor has it been
reported to us.

[Jeremy] This humpback's
behavior is baffling scientists.

Is this whale really
trying to protect Nan Hauser?

Can other marine mammal
encounters help

explain this rare event?

Dolphins have been
known to surround swimmers

or surfers who have gone astray
and protect them from sharks.

[Jeremy] And it seems
it's not only dolphins

who have donned
their heroic capes.

This incredible photo shows another whale
species coming to the aid of free diver,

Yang Yun.

[Lisa] Her legs become paralyzed

and she cannot reach
the surface.

Just then,
a beluga whale swims up

and uses her mouth to gently
guide the free diver to the surface.

In essence, saving her life.

[Jeremy] But, an incident
in Australia in 2020

gives a very different
perspective

into the behavior of the humpback
that Nan Hauser encountered.

Two women appear to have
been attacked by a humpback.

Both snorkelers were injured
by a whale's tail.

[newsreader] Fracturing a rib
and causing internal bleeding.

[Dijanna] The humpback whale

is much, much larger than these
small human beings in the water,

and you could potentially
get injured.

[Jeremy] One snorkeler is left
in a serious condition

after being hit
by a humpback's fin.

The aggression is shocking.

But, this case does offer
a critical clue to help

understand
such threatening behavior.

[Dijanna] In terms of trying
to explain why these women

might have been injured
by this whale,

the whale was with a calf.

[Rob] In that case,

it looks very much like
the mother humpback whale

was protecting her young
from the snorkelers.

[Jeremy] This shows
that humpbacks

are at least capable
of protecting their own.

So, is Nan Hauser,

like the snorkelers
in Australia,

a victim of a vicious attack?

Was this the activity
of a mother whale

trying to protect its calf?

There was another whale that was
tail slapping and swishing the shark.

And was this second whale
a calf?

This was not the case.

There was not a calf
anywhere around.

There were two grown adults.

[Dijanna] Turns out that these
particular whales were not female.

That kind of rules out
that idea.

So, what other information
do we have that will help us

better understand what happened?

[Jeremy] Humpbacks are
highly protective of their offspring.

But is it possible their caring

capabilities reach beyond
their calves?

Over five decades,

scientists in the US have
recorded more than 100 cases

of humpbacks disrupting attacks

carried out by their
number one enemy, orcas.

[Rob] Orcas are known
as k*ller whales,

and there's a reason for that.

They are the top
of their food chain,

which includes humpback calves.

[Jeremy] It's natural for humpbacks
to go into protection mode

when an orca gets close
to their young.

But, scientists recording orca hunting
behavior make a bombshell discovery.

This extraordinary
photograph shows humpbacks

coming to the rescue
of a sea lion

about to be attacked by orcas.

It defies popular
and scientific belief.

[Dijanna] I'm kind
of surprised about it,

'cause you would think,
naturally,

the whale must be protecting
its own interest.

But in this case,

the whale is may be protecting
individuals outside of their own species.

[Jeremy] To witness
one animal saving another

from a different species
is incredibly rare.

And this could be
the crucial evidence

that supports Nan Hauser's claim

that she was saved
by a humpback.

It shows that humpback whales
could be compassionate,

altruistic creatures.

[Rob] Altruism is when somebody

does something selfless
for somebody else,

not expecting anything
in return.

[Lisa] So, now we see
humpback whales

putting themselves at risk to protect
creatures that are more vulnerable,

just as a human might do.

[Jeremy] Nan Hauser's
unprecedented humpback incident

has left scientists stumped,

but, she will never forget that
remarkable day in Rarotonga.

What was so amazing
about the encounter is that

if someone had told me
this story,

I never would have believed it.

I'm serious.

I had to sort of doubt myself,

but this was something
that you could never expect,

ever, ever expect.

So, today, I still think about
it and I just start to get...

tears in my eyes.

Billions of dollars
worth of treasure

from Biblical times to only
yesterday is buried deep in the ocean,

but the vastness
of the seafloor means

the chances of finding
any are slim to none.

So a group of divers in
Israel can't believe their luck

when they stumble across gold
that the sea

has been hiding for centuries.

Not only is it ancient
and priceless,

it's also one of the biggest
treasure troves ever discovered

in the Mediterranean Sea.

How did it survive for so long?

[Jeremy] 2015,
diver Zvika Fayer,

and his friends are swimming
among the sunken remains

of an ancient harbor off the
coast of Caesarea in Israel,

when they see something
glinting on the seabed.

At first, they think
it's some sort of fake coin.

You can imagine the first
thought is that it can't be real,

it must be some sort of toy.

[Jeremy] But they couldn't be
more wrong.

As the divers
sweep the sand away

and pick up the tiny pieces
of glinting metal,

they are astonished to discover

that this is no fake coin.

This is real gold.

What they discovered
was absolutely incredible.

[Jeremy] The divers don't just
find a single coin,

there are more of them.

They have a treasure trove
in the palm of their hands.

They have literally struck gold.

And they immediately alert
the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The divers do absolutely
the right thing.

It doesn't belong to them.

They can't keep it.

[Jeremy]
Armed with metal detectors,

the divers lead
the archeologists to the site,

a thousand feet from the shore.

What they discover next
is mind-blowing.

Around 2,650 gold coins
were discovered here.

[Rob] There was no silver.
There was no bronze.

It's more than


[Lisa] Making it the largest
sum of gold coins

ever discovered
in Israeli coastal waters

and perhaps
the greatest treasure

ever discovered
in the Mediterranean.

[Rob] The mystery is,

how did such
a large amount of gold coins

end up in one spot
on the seafloor?

Where are they from?

What their purpose was?

How much they're worth?

[Jeremy] Archeologists
pull out all the stops

in their attempt to solve the
mystery of this massive treasure,

and new clues are
about to bring to light

a shocking revelation
about Caesarea's past.

[Jeremy] Forensic investigators
face a mammoth task

identifying over 2,600 gold
coins found off the coast of Israel.

Fortunately, the ocean has
immaculately preserved them,

and they are as pristine as the
day they landed on the seafloor.

But can details imprinted on the
coins give up the treasure's secrets?

Clues to a coin's origin
can often be found in images,

but there are no illustrations
on this currency.

These are Arabic coins.
They have just Arabic writing.

So, the representation
of human beings and rulers,

you just don't have those,

'cause that's part
of that religion.

[Jeremy] They do, however,

feature names of Islamic
rulers and words from the Quran.

[Lisa] Fortunately, we
can study the Arabic writing,

and that can give us an
indication of the date of the coins.

[Jeremy] The text reveals
the coins are gold dinars,

an Islamic currency used
in medieval times.

And the dates on the coins span
a very specific period of 220 years.

Scientists were able
to pinpoint these coins

from the 9th
to the 11th century AD.

[Jeremy] Can events
in Caesarea in this period

provide a clue to the origin
of these coins?

One theory as to why these
coins maybe there is that in 1033,

there was an earthquake
and a subsequent tsunami.

[Jeremy] The gold coins could have
been washed out to sea by a massive wave.

A great tsunami
with such strength

that it pulls the massive
stone blocks into the seafloor.

If you dive on Caesarea today,

you can still see the remains
strewn out all over the seafloor.

And that tells us that actually
things could be moved around.

So, potentially,

this is what has happened
to the gold coins.

[Jeremy] But analysis of all the
coins casts doubt on this theory.

[Rob] Studying the dates
imprinted on the coins shows

that at least 12 of them
were dated a year

after the tsunami hit the coast.

This disproves
the tsunami theory.

[Jeremy] So, the coins were not
swept into the sea by a tsunami.

However, the dates give the
investigation team another vital clue.

The coins all date to a period when the
area was ruled by the Fatimid dynasty,

whose empire dominated
North Africa and the Middle East.

This was an extremely wealthy
and opulent dynasty,

hinting that these coins
could be incredibly valuable.

Following this new lead,

investigators set out to
examine the purity of the gold.

[Lisa] One technique
of analyzing metal artifacts,

we call X-ray fluorescence.

The machine itself
basically looks like a g*n,

and it shoots back spectra
that tell you

the elemental composition
of the metal artifact.

[Jeremy] X-ray fluorescence analysis
confirms that these gold coins are 24 karat.

The purest gold possible.

[Lisa] These coins
are basically priceless.

We're not talking
about day-to-day money

that someone would have
had in their pocket.

[Jeremy] As the investigators
pieced together the evidence,

another unexpected mystery emerges
surrounding the historical port city,

where the coins are found.

[Lisa] Caesarea
was a very important port

since its founding in the 1st
century BC by King Herod the Great.

[Jeremy]
But, in the 7th century,

Roman Caesarea falls
to Muslim invaders.

Its importance declines,

and it eventually disappears
from the history books.

[Peter] It's believed
that Caesarea fades

from glory and becomes a
fishing village until the 19th century.

[Jeremy] But, the treasure
is so incredibly valuable,

the history books must be
missing something.

The 2,668 pure gold coins

suggest that far from being
a remote rural backwater,

Caesarea continues to be a major
busy port under the new Islamic rule.

And now, investigators believe the
hoard was probably lost in an accident

on one of the many ships
sailing in or out of the port.

The Arabic text on the coins
reveals another exciting clue.

[Rob] The coins showed that they
weren't minted locally in Caesarea.

So, chances are very likely that these
coins were being imported for some purpose.

The question is,

why were these coins
being brought there?

[Jeremy] It's likely the coins
were transported

into Caesarea from the Fatimid
Empire's capital in Cairo, Egypt.

As for the reason,

the coins could have played
a part

in one of the bloodiest
conflicts of medieval times.

[Jeremy]
A devastating religious w*r

that shakes Caesarea to
its foundations could tell us

how a hoard
of priceless gold coins

ended up on
the Mediterranean seafloor.

[Peter] The First Crusade
was launched by Pope Urban II

as a military campaign
to recapture the Holy Land

for Christendom
from Muslim forces.

It was an incredibly bloody
and violent conflict.

A strong military garrison was
based in Caesarea to protect it

and the area around it.

Another theory is that this treasure of
coins was meant to pay their salaries.

[Jeremy] But does the timing
of this violent uprising fit

the dates written
on the treasure?

The city of Caesarea was
destroyed in 1101 by the Crusaders,

and this dates
quite interestingly

towards the end of the time when
that gold collection was put together.

[Jeremy] With matching dates,

experts can now link the coins
to this brutal m*ssacre

that kills most
of Caesarea's citizens.

[Peter] You could imagine that as the
Christians swept through the country,

the people in the city
would have been terrified.

[Jeremy]
Amidst utter panic and chaos,

could someone have thrown
the hoard into the sea to protect it

from the Christian Crusaders?

The gold coins
could be a silent witness

to one of Caesarea's most
dramatic and grisly events.

We will never know for sure.

The mystery of where this
priceless hoard came from

and how it ended up on the
seabed may never be solved.

But its discovery
is a dramatic reminder

to archeologists of the
enduring promise of the sea

as a hiding place
for clues to our past.

Modern-day pirates steal
millions of tons of fish a year

in a sophisticated
and lucrative enterprise

worth an estimated $23 billion.

One ill*gal fishing vessel
with ties to organized crime

is believed to have been secretly
plundering our oceans for ten years,

making it one of the most
wanted pirate ships in the world.

It's a relentless game
of cat and mouse

between ocean authorities
around the globe

and this elusive outlaw
of the high seas.

[Jeremy] 2018,
off the coast of Madagascar,

a dramatic high speed chase
is taking place.

A custom-built high-tech
pirate-hunter

named the Ocean Warrior is
chasing a notorious ill*gal fishing boat,

the STS-50.

[Peter] This chase has been
going on for days.

It's like something you see
in a movie.

[Jeremy] But, after a near 1,000-mile
chase across the Indian Ocean,

the Ocean Warrior
is running low on fuel.

Captain makes an agonizing
decision to turn back

and lets the modern-day
pirate ship go.

This is not the first time
this dangerous,

threatening fugitive has
escaped the clutches of the law.

The STS-50 is one of the
world's most wanted ships.

The STS-50 has slipped through
authority's fingers several times.

Twelve nations and Interpol
are trying to catch this vessel.

[Jeremy] How has this elusive
ship managed to operate secretly

for a decade
and repeatedly escape capture?

Two years earlier, 2016,

at this point, the ship that
later became the STS-50

is sailing
under a different name,

The Andrey Dolgov.

The vessel docks
in a port in Africa.

[Michael] The Andrey Dolgov
has its hull filled with fish.

It attempts
to offload in Namibia.

[Peter] It's carrying 125 tons
of Antarctic toothfish,

worth $3.6 million.

[Jeremy] The toothfish is the
fish of choice for many pirates.

[Rob] They're big here
in North America.

You go into any grocery store
and you can buy Chilean seabass,

which is toothfish.

And it's often referred to as
white gold

because it's so valuable.

[Jeremy] But, how do
the Andrey Dolgov

and other pirate vessels
manage to loot

such a staggering volume
of toothfish?

They use a variety of modern
technologies to locate fish,

such as sonar,

and they have industrial
size machinery

to operate ill*gal fishing nets.

[Jeremy] The Andrey Dolgov
is carrying 600 ill*gal nets,

stretching out
a staggering 18 miles.

These huge nets are known as
"Curtains of death."

[Beverly] They destroy all the
life on the bottom of the sea,

and they catch anything
that's in its way.

[Jeremy] In Namibia,

with a jaw-dropping
amount of toothfish,

The Andrey Dolgov is
attracting unwanted attention,

and the ship is reported
to international authorities.

But, it moves on and
continues to pillage the oceans.

Then two months later,

it's caught offloading
toothfish in China.

Chinese authorities investigate
the vessel's documents.

They discover that the Andrey
Dolgov's registration is forged.

[Rob] But before anyone
can take further action,

the ship is gone.

Evading capture once again.

[Jeremy] Several countries are now
trying to hunt down the Andrey Dolgov,

desperate to crack its
mysterious ways of operating.

[Lisa]
New methods are constantly

being developed to try to
tackle the issue of ill*gal fishing.

Satellite technology grows
every day.

[Jeremy] Commercial vessels
over 65 feet long

are legally required to carry
AIS tracking transponders,

which beam location data
to satellites.

[Michael] Basically,
that sends out a signal,

gives your vessel's name,
so you can be tracked.

Even with all the technology,

it's still incredibly hard to find single
ships in the middle of the ocean.

[Jeremy]
Tracking the Andrey Dolgov

becomes even
more difficult when,

in 2018, it changes its name
to STS-50.

One of its first stops
as STS-50 is Mozambique.

A vigilant port inspector
immediately recognizes it

as one of the world's
most wanted ships.

Is the net finally closing in
on this notorious pirate vessel?

ill*gal pirate ship STS-50 has
been operating secretly for years,

but will a massive
international effort

bring its reign of terror
to an end?

The STS-50 is detained
by authorities in Mozambique.

Will its secrets
at last be revealed?

[Alexander] They seize
the crew's passports

and took the first mate
ashore for questioning.

He claims that the ship
has an oil leak

and so, they are allowed
to anchor further out.

The requirements
are they have to radio in

every two hours and they have to
keep their tracking systems active.

[Jeremy]
But the calls stop coming.

The ship turns off
its transponder

and leaves Mozambique
without a trace.

And can you believe it,

this vessel has managed
to escape again.

[Jeremy] It's a shocking move.

Navigating without GPS,

it becomes what's known as
a dark vessel,

a common pirate ship MO.

Authorities
now need to up their game

if they're going to catch
the STS-50.

After it escapes
from Mozambique,

a passing satellite spots
this elusive outlaw.

Interpol summons specialist
patrol vessels to finally take it down.

[Peter]
One is the Ocean Warrior.

It manages to capture
drone footage.

[Jeremy]
The Ocean Warrior circulates

the footage
to nearby authorities,

and the STS-50
is back on their radar.

Its days are numbered.

Indonesian authorities finally catch
up with it and capture the vessel.

[Jeremy] The ship is seized along with


and its secrets
are about to be exposed.

A specialized forensics team

pours over a wealth of
intelligence found on the ship,

and the evidence they unravel
is dark and disturbing.

[Alexander] They found links
to organized crime in Europe.

They found corrupt officials.

We're not talking
about local fishermen here,

we're talking about a very
powerful mafia-like criminal network.

[Lisa]
The vast majority of the crew

were undocumented
Indonesian fishermen,

who had been forced to work
without pay for years.

[Jeremy]
During a decade of piracy,

the STS-50 looted an estimated
$50 million worth of fish.

How has it managed to get away

with such heinous crimes
for so long?

Well, the STS-50
is a master of disguise.

[Jeremy] Investigators
discover this pirate ship

has changed its name
a total of six times

and flown
the flag of eight nations.

ill*gal fishing vessels all over the
world operate in complete secrecy,

generating billions of dollars.

For the authorities,

it's nearly impossible
to keep track of them,

but an iconic seabird could help
to bring an end to this dark industry.

[Dijanna] The albatross,

these oceanic birds spend
over 90% of their lives at sea.

[Jeremy] Albatrosses tend to
gather around fishing vessels.

And in 2019,
a team of scientists

sets out to research
their flocking patterns.

They tag 170 birds with a specially
designed GPS that logs their coordinates.

Officials then cross-check

this with a boat's
radar position,

but the data reveals
something unexpected.

Twenty-eight percent
of the vessels

the albatrosses flock around
have their AIS switched off

and are likely engaged
in ill*gal activity.

The albatross researchers
get an idea.

[Dijanna] Scientists
have identified albatross

as potentially being useful in
tracking down ill*gal fishing.

[Lisa] These giant
seabirds implanted

with radar tracking technology,

when they dive
into the shallow seas

to get the fish that are being hauled
behind these ill*gal pirate ships.

The radars can show us
where they are

and when it happened.

This new technology
allows us to use albatrosses

as a flying spy in our attempts
to stop ill*gal fishermen.

For years,
these majestic seabirds

have been the victims
of pirate fishing nets,

but now it's payback time,

as they take us one step
closer to bringing this secretive

and destructive industry
to an end.