02x04 - Secrets of the MS Estonia

[bunniefuu]

[Jeremy Wade] Can
expl*sive new evidence prove

that one of the worst maritime
disasters in recent years

was no accident?

All they can find are lifeboats

and people terrified
in the water.

[Wade] Does the answer
to one of America's

most iconic aviation mysteries

lie hidden in a mighty river?

What happened to Cooper

and the $200,000 of cold cash?

[Wade] And what are
the bizarre growths

on the deep ocean floor

said to be worth
trillions of dollars?

They have enough rare metals

to supply civilization
for thousands of years.

What are they?
How did they get there?

[Wade] The underwater
realm is another dimension.

It's a physically
hostile place...

where dreams of promise

can sink into darkness.

I'm Jeremy Wade,

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.

[Wade] It's a dangerous frontier

that swallows evidence.

You have nowhere to run.

[Wade] Where unknown is normal,

and understanding is rare.

When disaster strikes at sea,

even the most
exhaustive investigations

sometimes fail to get it right.

With 852 lives lost,

the sinking of the
passenger ferry MS Estonia

is one of the worst
civilian sea disasters

after the loss of the Titanic.

But now, will modern
underwater technology

deployed by a daring
team of investigators

overturn the official
version of events?

September 28th, 1994.

It's the dead of night,

and cruise ferry MS Estonia
is making a routine crossing

of the Baltic Sea.
- [thunder rumbling]

Carrying almost


she's five hours
into her journey

from Tallinn, Estonia,
to Stockholm in Sweden.

Storm winds are creating


But the conditions
aren't out of the ordinary

for the 515-foot long ship.

[Dr. Lisa Briggs] It has
made countless crossings

across the Baltic in
very stormy conditions.

The journey on this particular
day was nothing special.

[Rob Rondeau] The
Estonia is a huge ship.

It's bigger than 12 buses

or two-thirds
the length of Titanic.

[Wade] But shortly
after 1:00 a.m.,

the Estonia is in deep trouble.

[man over radio]

[Wade] The third officer
reports that the ship is leaning

dangerously to one side.

[Third Officer speaking Finnish]

[Wade] Then, in a dramatic
worsening of events,

a total blackout.
- [distant screams]

The ship loses all
its lights, all its power.

But, amazingly, the
third officer is able

to still read the coordinates

on the battery-operated
equipment.

[Third Officer speaking Finnish]

[Wade] Nearby vessels race
towards the Estonia' s coordinates.

But they're too late.

The ferry vanishes below the
waves in a matter of minutes.

It's a shocking
and inexplicable event.

How could this have happened?

Is it possible something
sinister is at play?

All they can find are lifeboats
and people terrified in the water.

[Rondeau]
It's the Baltic,

and it's very, very cold.

And these people are really

in the last minutes
of hypothermia

and are close to drowning.

[Wade] Rescuers
work through the night

to pull survivors
from the water.

But hundreds of
passengers are missing.

[Dr. Elliott] Of the 989
passengers on board,

only 138 are rescued.

[Wade]
No one understands

how or why a ship this
size could sink so quickly.

It's unprecedented in
modern maritime history.

In all, 852 lives are
lost in the tragedy.

[Dr. Briggs] The
sinking of the MS Estonia

was completely unexpected
and out of the ordinary.

Given the previous
reliability of this ferry,

it's shocking that it would
sink in these conditions.

[Wade] What happened
on that fateful night

to cause one of the worst maritime
disasters of the 20th century

is a question that many
are still trying to answer.

And there's strong suspicion
that this was no accident.

Two days after the sinking,

a Finnish survey vessel
finds the wreck using sonar.

[Dr. Elliott]
The Estonia's found

resting on her side in a
depth of about 230 feet.

Plans are quickly made to get
a closer look at the wreckage.

[Wade]
Investigators deploy

two remotely-operated
submersibles.

The grainy black-and-white
footage is difficult to analyze.

But before long,
officials uncover a clue.

The Estonia is missing
its bow visor.

This is a critical piece
of the front of the ship.

But bizarrely, it's
nowhere to be seen.

The MS Estonia had been built

to transport vehicles
as well as passengers.

The bow would actually lift up

and cars would drive
inside the ship.

[Wade] If this weak spot in
the hull was compromised,

could it explain how the
Estonia went down so quickly?

It takes salvagers two
weeks to find the bow visor.

To their amazement,
it's on the seafloor

over one nautical mile
from the Estonia.

Why is it so far from the wreck?

After raising it to the surface,

investigators are confident

that the damaged steel visor

is the cause of the disaster.

[Rondeau] The
official report found that

because of the storm
the Estonia was in,

The waves had smashed into
the bow, and this had weakened

the locking mechanism,

ultimately ripping it off.

[Wade] While this
explains why the bow visor

was so far from the wreck,

some refused to believe
this version of events.

For a start, there
was a strange noise

just before the Estonia
started sinking.

[ship creaking]

Witnesses reported
hearing a loud bang

just before the lights went out.

[loud bang]

[Wade] And according to
others, the passenger ferry

may have been carrying
a secret military cargo.

[Dr. Elliott]
Eyewitnesses claim

they saw military vehicles

being loaded onto the vessel

in the weeks leading
up to the disaster.

What were they carrying,

and was there an expl*si*n?

[Wade] The answer could point

to a shocking act of sabotage

and an international cover-up.

The only way to know for
sure is to return to the wreck



[speaking foreign language]

The sinking of
the passenger ferry

MS Estonia cost 852 lives.

The official
investigation claims

rough seas weakened
the ship's bow visor,

causing it to come loose.

But reports of covert
military smuggling on board

and rumors of an expl*si*n

have caused people to
question the official narrative.

There are theories there was
an expl*si*n on the vessel,

because people heard
a big sharp bang.

[loud bang]

[Wade] Is it possible that

a secret military
cargo exploded?

Was the ship sabotaged
by ex-Soviet forces?

Or, even more shocking,

was the cause of the
sinking closer to home?

Not long after the disaster,

European officials put forward

controversial plans to bury
the Estonia on the seafloor.

[Rondeau]
Authorities decide that

they actually want
to entomb the wreck

so that nobody can
access the wreck.

And, of course, this
immediately raises suspicion.

The only motivation I can think
of for entombing a shipwreck

would be to cover up something

that had occurred
before the ship sank.

[Wade] Fortunately,
the entombing is stopped

after a backlash
from victims' families.

Instead, authorities
declare the site a grave,

Instead, authorities declare the site a
grave, prohibiting anyone from approaching it.

prohibiting anyone
from approaching it.

If people wanna
go visit this wreck site

to honor their lost loved ones,

why should that be stopped?

[Wade] Some are still
determined to uncover the truth.

And in 2019,

two Swedish filmmakers
hatch a daring plan.

They approach the wreck site

in defiance of the law
and patrolling vessels.

They deploy a high-tech
underwater drone far more advanced

than the equipment available
in 1994, when the ship sank.

These new ROVs have
much higher resolution,

so this allowed researchers

to be able to see the Estonia

like it had never
been seen before.

[Wade] Monitoring the
video feed from the surface,

they explore the outer
perimeter of the Estonia.

And it's not long before they
make a shocking discovery.

[man speaking foreign language]

[Prof. Jorgen Amdahl]
All of a sudden,

they see this
astonishing fact that

there is a big hole in the
ship. A significant hole.

[Wade] Estimates suggest
the massive hole in the hull

is 13 feet tall
and four feet wide,

straddling the waterline
on the starboard's side.

[Prof. Amdahl] This was
a total surprise

because it has never
been reported

that there is a hole
in the ship's side.

[Wade] In a bid to understand

what could have
created this gaping hole,

Jorgen Amdahl was asked
to scrutinize the findings.

I am professor at the University
of Science and Technology

based in Trondheim, Norway.

We were asked to conduct
an analysis of this damage.

And we made a model of the side.

[Wade] The first
observation Jorgen makes

is that the force that
ruptured the hull

could not have come
from inside the ship.

[Amdahl] The damage
points inwards,

so I am very convinced that

it has been an external
action that has caused it,

and not, for example,
an internal expl*si*n.

[Wade] So, it's possible that

something struck the Estonia.

The force is equivalent to a
collision with a freight train.

What could have created
such an immense impact?

Scans of the seabed reveal

there are no rocks capable
of gauging a hole this large.

[Prof. Amdahl]
If it is not due to

something that happened
on the seafloor,

if there's something that
hit it on the sea surface,

then there is
a different situation.

[Wade] Some speculate that only
one seafaring vessel could cause

this type of damage
without being detected.

A submarine.

[distant expl*si*n]

[Rondeau] There were
no other ships nearby.

It's possible that a submarine
may have actually ran into it.

[Amdahl] There have been
speculations about submarines.

We don't know. We don't
know which object that could be.

[ship creaking]

[Wade] Why would a
submarine strike the Estonia?

Were Russian forces unhappy
with military smuggling?

Or was it a devastating
maritime mistake

that European powers
are trying to cover up?

The hole found in
the side of the wreck...

at present, there is no
known explanation for it.

There are a lot of theories,

but it still remains a mystery.

[Wade] For now, there's
no further evidence

to confirm or rule out

the theory that
the Estonia was struck

as she crossed the Baltic.

But, for many, this
previously unreported hole

throws suspicion on the findings

of the official investigation.

This hole is
completely unexplained.

One wonders if the authorities
have something to hide.

The hole in the Estonia's hull

raises more questions
than it answers.

With demands growing
for a new investigation,

perhaps, soon, we'll
get to the bottom

of one of the world's most
devastating ocean disasters.

In 2016, the FBI closes the file

on one of the most
infamous heists of all time.

D. B. Cooper's notorious
jump from a hijacked plane

has puzzled official
investigators for half a century.

But now, have amateur sleuths

found evidence that
can finally solve

one of America's most
puzzling cold cases?

[Wade]
November 24th, 1971,

a well-dressed man going
by the name of Dan Cooper

boards a Northwest Airlines
flight in Portland, Oregon

bound for Seattle.

Once in the air, Cooper
hands the stewardess a note.

There's a b*mb in his briefcase.

When they touched down,

he exchanges the passengers

for $200,000 in cash
and four parachutes.

They have no idea
what's going to happen.

[Wade] Cooper instructs
the pilot and crew

to fly south to Mexico
so he can evade capture.

But not long into the flight,

somewhere over the state line
between Washington and Oregon,

Cooper does the incredible.

[plane door opens]

[Wade] He jumps from
the back of the plane

with a parachute
and his ransom money.

This is the biggest
skyjacking in US history.

[Wade] The plane lands safely.

But what becomes of
Cooper after his jump

is a mystery that has perplexed

and fascinated
the world ever since.

Did D. B. Cooper
fall to his death?

Did he escape never to been
seen or heard from again?

[Dr. Figueroa] What
happened to Cooper

and the $200,000 of cold cash?

[Wade] Authorities
launch a full scale manhunt.

[Dr. Tuttle] The FBI do this
huge search for D. B. Cooper.

Hijacking an airplane is
not the best thing to do

if you're a criminal

because you're going
to have the full power

of the federal government
come down on you.

[Wade] Initial calculations
place Cooper's landing zone

in the area of the
southern most outreach

of Mount Saint Helens.

Not only is this a vast
mountainous wilderness,

it's also crisscrossed
by mighty waterways.

I've explored
the Pacific Northwest.

Its rivers are powerful
and treacherous,

and its forests populated
with deadly bears.

Well, I think I'm gonna
make a graceful retreat.

It's hard to imagine
being dropped

into this environment

without any means of survival.

[Dr. Tuttle] They focus
searches through the woods,

boats on the lakes, uh,
up and down the rivers,

looking for any
bits of evidence.

[Wade] Despite
an extensive search,

investigators come up
empty handed.

Cooper disappeared
without a trace.

[Wade] While public interest
in the case never goes away,

eight years pass without
a significant breakthrough.

Then on February 10th, 1980,

a chance discovery
changes everything.

A young boy is
building a campfire

on the banks of
the Columbia River.

As he digs into the sand,

he discovers
three bundles of cash

totaling almost $6,000.

His parents took
that cash to the FBI.

A nd it turns out that
the serial numbers

match the cash that was
involved in the ransom.

[Wade] The discovery of
the money could be the ticket

to solving this enduring puzzle.

Now more than 50 years on,

can new cutting edge
scientific analysis of the cash

finally tell us what
became of D. B. Cooper?

The mystery of
D. B. Cooper

and his $200,000 ransom
takes a strange turn

when some of the money is found
on the banks of the Columbia River.

But despite this
incredible breakthrough,

the cash creates
a new conundrum.

[Rondeau] In terms of
where the money was found,

it was actually 18 miles away

from the proposed drop zone.

[Wade] Investigators
are puzzled.

How did the cash
travel from the drop zone

to the beach where it was found?

The leading theory is that it
went on an epic river journey.

Initially, they think the cash
flowed into the Columbia River.

But there's a problem with this.

[Wade] The cash could not
have fallen into the Lewis River

within the drop zone

because it joins the Columbia

downstream of where
the money was found.

Some argue the cash
could've entered

the Washougal River
Valley to the east,

washing into the Columbia
and down to the beach.

But there's a problem
with this, too.

Experts don't believe that

the cash could've
remained so well preserved

after such a journey.

The bills still have
rubber bands around them

and bundles of cash seem to
be buried on top of each other.

How would they all have
washed down river over months

and stayed intact?

[Wade] Still no closer
to answering

what happened to D.
B. Cooper and his cash,

in 2016 the FBI shuts
down the investigation.

In their place, a determined
group of amateur sleuths

keeps the search alive.

In 2020, armed with
an electron microscope,

researcher Tom Kaye
examines the bills

in closer detail
than ever before.

What he finds astounds him.

So, what new science have you
been able to bring to this case?

Under the microscope,

we found that this form
of algae called diatoms,

they're not the slimy
algae you're used to seeing.

The diatoms form a glass shell,

like a shoebox,

around each individual cell.

Most rivers have dozens
of species of diatoms.

They die and fall to
the bottom of the river,

but the glass shell remains.

So many years later, we
can pick them up and identify

what species of diatoms
are there in the river.

[Wade]
Throughout the year,

the types of diatoms
in a river change

depending on the season.

Crucially, Tom detects
a specific species

that doesn't match the time
of year that Cooper jumped.

The particular type of diatom

that we found on Cooper's cash

was Asterionella
formosa, a Latin name.

But that particular diatom
is only found in the spring,

not in November
when Cooper jumped.

[Wade] The lack of winter
diatoms indicates that

the money couldn't have
become submerged in November

when the hijack happened,

suggesting a significant time
delay between Cooper's jump

and his cash getting
exposed to river water.

It tells us that the money
spent at least six months

somewhere other
than getting buried.

Where?
We don't know yet,

but that's what adds to
the mystery of the case.

[Dr. Figueroa] The
money can't have been

floating in the water
after Cooper landed.

[Wade] The finding
definitively rules out

the theory that these bills

came splashing down into
a waterway with Cooper.

But that's not all.

It removes any suspicion

that Cooper landed on the ground

and quickly buried
some of the cash himself.

Tom runs tests on $20 bills.

[Rondeau] Research
shows that the diatoms

couldn't have entered the bills
once the bills were in the ground.

The cash is submerged in the
water months after Cooper jumped.

Somehow, it winds up
buried in the ground.

[Wade] This research creates a
new riddle in the Cooper mystery.

Why was there this
strange time delay?

How did the cash get buried?

It's like Cooper is
still messing with us

more than 50 years
after this event.

While new evidence often helps
to rule out long-held theories,

this time, it widens
the mystery.

People will never stop trying

to solve the Cooper case,

but now experts realize the
answer may lie beneath the surface.

The AE1, Australia's
first ever submarine,

disappears at the start
of World w*r I.

It's the only naval vessel
in the nation's history

whose whereabouts
remain unknown.

Can a dedicated team uncover

how the AE1 vanished
without leaving a trace?

September 14th, 1914.

What's now Papua New Guinea

is divided into British and
German held territories.

Australia's flagship
submarine, AE1,

is on patrol scouting
for German warships.

World w*r I has just begun.

The Australians are
part of the British Empire

and Australian resources

are brought into the w*r effort.

[Wade] With 35 crew
on board, the AE1 patrols

alongside the torpedo
boat HMAS Parramatta.

The two vessels plan to
rendezvous at 6:00 p.m.

once their watch is over.

But at 3:20,
the Parramatta's crew

loses sight of the submarine.

The Parramatta immediately
tried to make contact with AE1

by radio using Morse Code,

but was unable to
make contact with it.

[Wade] By 8:00 p.m.
there's still no sign of AE1.

Was she spotted and
engaged by the enemy?

[expl*si*n]

Or did she get into trouble

navigating around the
area's many islands?

[Dr. Tuttle] In 1914,
there was no radar.

They didn't have
technology like sonar.

They didn't have any
beacons like we do today.

So, basically, you're looking
for a needle in a haystack.

[Dr. Briggs]
The Australians

searched for the
vessel for three days.

If any of the sailors remained
alive on the submarine,

by that time, the oxygen
would've been used up

just through breathing.

[Wade] With no bodies
and no debris found,

AE1 is declared lost at sea.

For Australia, losing
this iconic symbol

of their emerging naval
strength is a tragic blow.

But it's also
a perplexing mystery.

AE1's commander was known
for having a spotless record at sea.

And of all the vessels
lost in the Navy's history,

AE1 is the only one
still unaccounted for.

This is a mystery
that has haunted

the Australian Navy for decades.

[Wade] Over the
course of a century,

the search for AE1
never truly stops.

Twelve separate
missions try and fail

to find the sub and
determine what happened.

Then in 2017, a pioneering team

armed with an autonomous
underwater vehicle

finally catches a break.

[splashes]

[Wade] Seabed scans
show a distinctive shape

on the seafloor at a
depth close to 1,000 feet.

It's the AE1.

This is the first sighting
of the submarine

since she disappeared
over 100 years ago.

Not only is she sitting upright,

the sub is in one piece.

It turns out that the
hull of the submarine

was more or less intact.

There was no sign of a debris
field around it whatsoever.

No bodies or wreckage was
found outside of the submarine.

It was completely in one piece.

[Wade] To some, this is a clear
indication that AE1 wasn't attacked.

But despite finally finding her,

we still don't know
what happened.

[Dr. Tuttle] There
was no enemy action.

How does this submarine go down?

After 12 failed missions,

in 2017, the Australian
submarine AE1 is finally found.

But why she sank with all


Sonar images reveal that

she's sitting upright at a
depth of around 1,000 feet.

Bizarrely, there are no
clear signs she was attacked.

[Dr. Tuttle] If we can
examine it, look at it,

we may be able to
discover what went wrong.

[Wade] During
the 2017 expedition,

the only underwater camera the
team have is tethered to a winch.

It limits them to a top-down
view of the wreckage.

But it's enough to
reveal a vital clue.

Special fins called hydroplanes

that control
the submarine's pitch

are set in what's called
the hard-to-rise position.

That indicates there was a
desperate attempt by the captain

to get the submarine
to the surface.

[Wade]
More importantly,

it reveals that AE1
had ex*cuted a dive.

It's a strange maneuver

for a submarine that's
only on a scouting mission.

Theoretically, there's
no real need for them

to dive dee below the surface.

[Dr. Briggs] Could it be
that the submariners on AE1

spotted an enemy vessel?

And is that why they
dived to greater depths?

[Dr. Alexander Clarke] Was
the dive a training exercise?

We know the crew
was trying to train up

and were hoping to be deployed

to a more active
theater of conflict soon.

They could well have
been putting themselves

through some very,
very hard training

to get themselves ready.

[Wade] In order to truly
lay this mystery to rest,

the team must figure
out what went wrong.

In 2018, they go in
for a closer look.

Could this be
their chance to solve

the 100-year-old mystery?

Before long, the wreck of AE1

comes into sharp focus.

[man speaking]

[Wade] The footage
reveals, for the first time,

the devastating forces that would
have k*lled AE1's 35 crew members.

Researchers could see from
the video that the forward section

of the submarine had
actually been crushed,

much like if you
squeezed a soda can.

[Rondeau] The submarine
actually imploded.

[expl*si*n]

[Wade] Before long,

video from the ROV
reveals a small,

but highly significant clue.

An open vent above
the sub's engine room.

Archaeologist,
Dr. James Hunter,

is watching the feed
from the surface.

As we're looking, we realize,

"Wait a second.
Um, hold up.

It looks like one of those
might not be completely closed.

It might be, you know,
partially opened."

This is something we
weren't expecting at all.

And we realized this is a really
significant piece of the puzzle.

[Wade] The vent
may not look like much,

but if left open when
the submarine dived,

it would have caused a
catastrophic ingress of water.

It, no doubt, short-circuited
the electric engines,

shutting them off.

And as that water
enters the submarine,

it starts to create more
weight in the stern.

And that causes the submarine

to start to sink by the stern.

We suspect around 300 feet.

The hull could no longer withstand
the external water pressure

and the front end of
the submarine imploded.

[Wade] We now know
how sub AE1 met its end,

but why the valve was
left open is still unsolved.

It could have been one of the
crewmen forgetting to close it,

and then realizing too late.

Or it could have been
something like a piece of debris.

[Wade] Whether it was
human error or sheer bad luck

may one day be answered.

For many though, the most
important mystery is solved.

The AE1 and her


are found and not forgotten.

In a world of dwindling
natural resources,

could the answer to our
future renewable energy needs

be hiding in the depths
of our planet's oceans?

Potato-sized metallic nodules

which contain the materials
to power electric cars

cover vast areas
of the ocean floor,

and they're worth
trillions of dollars.

When people think of what's
valuable on the seafloor,

they most often
think of shipwrecks

and valuable treasures,
like gold and silver.

But what most people
don't realize is

there's something more valuable.

[Wade] Mining finite
resources from the earth

can make or break
a nation's fortunes,

and even start wars.

These nodules contain
rare earth elements,

and some of the most precious
metals known to humankind.

[Wade] But what
exactly are they?

And is it possible to turn
them to our advantage?

[Wade]
The world is changing.

As we transition to
sustainable power

and a technology driven society,

the demand for precious metals

mined from the earth
is at an all-time high.

But there is an alternative.

Deep beneath the ocean,
in the dark realm

that's almost totally
unexplored by humans,

there is a mysterious
crop of black,

potato-sized objects
named polymetallic nodules.

Scientists think
these so-called nodules

are millions of years old,

and there could be over


on the sea floor.

What's more,

they're loaded with
highly valuable resources.

Individual nodules were
first discovered

by early ocean
explorers in the 1870s.

[Dr. Helen Czerski] They
didn't know what they were.

They didn't have
any feel for whether

this was something
created by an organism,

or whether it was just a rock.

[Wade] Examining them reveals
strange tree-like rings inside

that suggest these small, mysterious
objects are somehow growing...

and that they
contain concentrations

of the precious
metal, manganese.

But without the scientific
tools to investigate further,

these unexplainable
curiosities are filed away

and forgotten for 100 years.

It's not until 1974,

that they are thrust
back into the limelight

in a very unexpected way.

When US Intelligence
reacts to intel

of a Soviet submarine wrecked
at the bottom of the Pacific,



In a bid to recover the sub
and the Soviet secrets inside,

the CIA launches
a top secret mission

involving iconic
entrepreneur, Howard Hughes.

They wrangled in this
eccentric billionaire,

and they claimed together
that what they were looking for,

instead of the sub, was
polymetallic nodules.

[Wade] The secret mission
is a failure for the CIA,

who are unable to raise all
of the sub from the sea floor.

The ocean mining cover story,
however, is a remarkable success.

For the first time, scientists
are able to examine

the strange nodules in detail.

They find high concentrations
of nickel, copper and cobalt,

and trace amounts of
silicon, aluminum and titanium.

Now, we know that these
nodules are highly valuable

because of the metals and
the minerals that they contain.

And these are essential in
today's modern technology,

whether it's the car you drive

or the cellphone that you use.

[Wade] The nodules
are so plentiful,

it's said that if we
mine only 10 percent,

they'd keep the world supplied

with key metals for
thousands of years.

In one part of
the Pacific Ocean alone,

estimates of their worth run from
eight to more than 16 trillion dollars.

As worldwide
economies transition

from using fossil fuels

to more modern technologies,

these metals are going to
become increasingly important.

[Wade] This untapped,
underwater goldmine

has the potential to
transform the global economy.

But scientists still don't
understand what these nodules are,

or how they've seemingly
grown on the seabed

since before humans
walked the earth.

The mystery is how these
nodules actually form.

Are they biological?
Are they an animal?

Are they geological?
Are they a rock?

[Wade] Could unlocking the
secret of these mysterious nodules

be the key to
our technological future?

In a remote part
of the Pacific Ocean,

a vast and mysterious
crop of black nodules

is said to be worth
trillions of dollars.

But what are they,

and why do they seem to
grow at impossible depths?

In addition to these
nodules being very valuable,

they're also very precious

because on average,

they grow one centimeter
per million years.

[Wade] During X-ray
examination in the 1970s,

scientists discovered
that the growth rings

in the center of these
mysterious nodules

often formed around a
piece of organic matter,

like a shark's tooth.

The deep ocean is a
highly pressurized broth

of dissolved
metals and minerals.

One theory is that some
unknown microbial process

draws them towards the tooth.

The theory is that shark
teeth act as a catalyst

to cause these minerals
to precipitate out.

[Wade] It's an
astonishing thought.

The metal nodules
that could change

the fortunes of humanity

are the remains of a
shark tooth graveyard.

Now, one might ask,
how many shark teeth

can there possibly be
on the seafloor?

But the reality is,
some species of shark

shed over 35,000 teeth
over the course of their life.

So, if one shark can
shed 35,000 teeth,

imagine how many
shark teeth there must be

at the bottom of the ocean.

[Wade] In another bizarre twist,

scientists can't explain

why or how the nodules
stay visible on the sea floor.

Over millions of years,

ocean's sediments should
bury them out of sight.

[Dr. Farr] You would still
expect sediment to be drifting

through the water column

and gently covering
these nodules.

But that doesn't seem
to be the case.

[Wade] Somehow, this
ancient, deep ocean crop

remains exposed
on the sea floor.

It's a mystery that
continues to stump scientists.

Some researchers have
theorized that starfish

or other invertebrates

who live on the seafloor

might be constantly
clearing the seafloor sediment

off of the polymetallic nodules,

thus leaving them
exposed on the seafloor

for thousands, if
not millions of years.

[Wade] Although the nodules
are still shrouded in mystery,

the technology to harvest them

from the seafloor now exists.

Today, deep sea mining companies
are in a race to perfect the machines

that will raise the nodules
from the ocean floor

on an industrial scale.

At the moment, no one
on the planet has the right

to extract minerals
from the sea floor.

However, licenses
have been given

to explore whether
it might be feasible.

[Wade] International authorities
are scrambling to figure out

how the spoils of this
modern day gold rush

should be divided fairly.

But many fear this
race to the bottom

could have devastating
consequences.

Because for now, it's impossible

to harvest the nodules
from the seafloor

without laying waste
to the life around them.

There are an incredible amount
of sea creatures down there

that remain undiscovered.

And the ones that are
discovered, are poorly understood.

We have to be careful that
we don't cause other lifeforms

to become extinct
in the process.

[Wade] We're still
trying to find out

how these mysterious
natural treasures grow

and how they stay
visible on the seafloor.

Meanwhile, as humans reach
into the deep to fill their pockets,

what will this mean
for the future

of our oceans and our world?