All language subtitles for Mysteries.Of.The.Deep.S02E08

[Jeremy] Is a Russian
nuclear sub

on a secret spy mission
when a deadly fire breaks out?

This kind of sabotage
would bring

the Western world to its knees.

[Jeremy] Can cutting-edge
forensic technology

reveal the identity
of human remains

buried in an eerie
Scandinavian lake?

[Dr. Tuttle] There are
so many of them,

it obviously
could not be a single murder.

[Jeremy] And what can explain a bizarre
toxic haze hitting England's beaches?

A day of fun at the beach
turns into a nightmare.

[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.

We think of the internet
as something

that exists "in the cloud"
but, incredibly,

99.5% of it is located
at the bottom of the ocean.

Email, banking data,
and top-secret intel,

all transported by a vast
network of underwater cables.

So, when a mysterious
Russian spy submarine

catches fire
in the Arctic Ocean,

tragically killing
most of her crew,

it brings to light
how vulnerable

these cables might be
to sabotage.

Do subs like this have the capability
to cripple the Western world?

And if so, will we be ready
and able to stop them?

July 1st, 2019.

A Russian
nuclear-powered submarine

emerges discreetly in the Port of
Severomorsk, on the Kola Peninsula.

The vessel
is in a state of emergency.

The submarine is badly damaged
after catching fire in the Barents Sea.

[Jeremy] There are reports
that up to 14 people have died.

This is Russia's deadliest
submarine accident in over a decade.

[Jeremy] This sub is Russia's
most secret naval asset,

and any information
about it is classified.

Russian authorities
are very reluctant

to talk about
their military operations.

[Jeremy] Moscow's silence
raises suspicion all over the world.

The question
everyone wants to know,

what was this nuclear sub up
to when the accident happened?

Details are scarce.

[Dr. Elliott] The Russian
Minister of Defense

doesn't name the submarine and
actually says that it's a state secret.

[Jeremy] The response
prompts accusations of a cover-up

and a lack of transparency that draws
parallels with past nuclear disasters.

[Rob] In the 1980s,
with the Chernobyl incident,

the Russian government
stayed silent for over three days.

[Jeremy] And it echoes another
well-known tragic nuclear sub accident,

the Kursk.

[Rob] Where 118
Russian submariners died,

the Russian government
stayed silent for over two days.

[Jeremy] In 2019, will this tragedy
also be shrouded in mystery?

A day after the incident,
the Minister of Defense

does let slip one piece
of intriguing information.

The Russian Minister said the
submarine was mapping the seafloor.

[Jeremy] Ocean mapping
is a classic cover

for top-secret
underwater missions.

Is that the case here?

The identities of the 14
deceased submariners

are released to the public

and it's a bombshell revelation.

These weren't your usual
Russian submarine personnel.

These were the elite of the
Russian Submarine Service.

So much so,
they have their own name.

They're called
"the Hydronauts."

[Prof. Zysk] They were
very high-ranking.

This indicates that there
was a special mission

that required
their presence on board.

[Dr. Clarke] You can rebuild
a submarine far easier

than you can build
experienced crew.

So, losing the crew, that's a
loss of a tremendous asset.

[Jeremy] The presence
of the Hydronauts

could throw doubt on the claim

that the sub was only mapping
the seafloor.

Was this mission more ominous?

A Russian news channel

identifies the mysterious
submarine as the AS-31, Losharik.

The Losharik
is a top-secret submersible.

It belongs to intelligence, research,
and development organization.

[Jeremy]
Its last known location

was only 60 nautical miles
east of Norway.

What was it doing so suspiciously
close to a foreign coastline?

[Prof. Zysk] At the time
of the accident,

there was actually a NATO exercise
taking place in the Norwegian sea.

[Dr. Briggs] Submarines from
France, Germany, Norway,

the UK, and the United States
are all there on this training mission.

They have one country in mind.

Russia.

Is it merely a coincidence that
this ship enters these waters

during such an important
NATO training exercise?

[Jeremy] Was the Losharik
spying on these maneuvers?

[Dr. Tuttle] Literally
a goldmine of information

being put out there during
these training exercises.

[Jeremy] This isn't
the first time

Russian military presence has
been so close to Norwegian borders.

It seems that these waters are most
important to Russia, but the question is why.

[Jeremy] It's no secret
that Russia

has big ambitions to dominate
this Arctic region.

[Rob] The Arctic has been
of strategic interest

to Russia since the beginning
of the Cold War,

where it kept
its nuclear weapons arsenal.

[Prof. Zysk] Arctic region
is enormous.

Russia has expanded its military
along the whole Arctic coast.

[Jeremy] Losharik is just one
of a growing number of

nuclear-powered submarines
and icebreakers in the region.

[Prof. Zysk] Russia has bases and operation
area for the strategic submarines,

which are capable of launching
intercontinental ballistic missiles

toward the United States
and Canada.

[Jeremy] But does the accident
on board the doomed Losharik

expose another possible
reason why Russia

needs a strong naval presence
in the Arctic,

an area that's just beginning to
reveal its untapped treasures?

[Rob] In 2017, Putin
suggested that the Arctic

contains over $35 trillion
in untapped natural resources.

[Jeremy]
It's the proverbial goldmine.

And vessels like Losharik can
now access these rich waters

through shipping routes made
possible by the melting ice sheets.

But it means other countries
also have their eyes on the Arctic.

[Prof. Zysk] This makes Russia
very nervous.

So, the Losharik
contributes to this in the way

that it strengthens the
Russian presence in the region.

[Jeremy] But the sub's
secret experimental design

may hint at an even more
threatening agenda,

one that could cripple the West.

[water bubbling]

[water bubbling]

As the ice cap melts
in the Arctic Ocean,

countries all over the world
are racing to get their hands

on the area's untapped
wealth of natural resources.

Could the Losharik be part
of Russia's secret plans

to control these
extremely lucrative waters?

What the Losharik
was doing in the Arctic

at the time of the fire
is still a mystery,

but the sub's
advanced capabilities

and unusual design
may provide vital clues.

[Dr. Elliott]
This particular submarine

is composed of a number
of titanium spheres.

They're also
very enclosed spaces,

so if something goes wrong
in one of them,

then that could become the
tomb of anybody who is in there.

[Jeremy] Three days
after the incident,

it's revealed that the fire started
in the sub's battery compartment.

Although the vessel
was nuclear-powered,

it does have batteries
as secondary source of power.

And batteries under sea,
they can let off gases.

So, the crew would've
been trapped in small areas,

and it would've been
full of fire and smoke,

and it would've contributed
to their death.

[Jeremy] So,
in the wrong circumstances,

the Losharik
could become a death trap.

Why was it designed in a way
that could endanger its crew?

A series of spheres inside
allows it to dive deeper

than a conventional
submarine would.

[Jeremy] The Losharik
was designed to carry out

special operations
at unusually extreme depths,

possibly up to 20,000 feet down.

This is ten times deeper than the
operational depth of a US submarine.

[Jeremy]
The nuclear-powered sub

is equipped
with another strange element.

It has retractable manipulator
arms on the outside of its hull.

Why would the Losharik
need these robotic arms?

The sub's advanced capabilities

give Western intelligence
reason to be suspicious.

Losharik could be hiding
a sinister agenda,

one that would bring
mayhem across the globe.

Maybe the submarine
was trying to do

something very clandestine
and potentially illegal.

[Jeremy] Today, nearly all
of our daily communications

are carried
through underwater cables,

nearly 750,000 miles of them,
running along the seafloor.

[Dr. Elliott]
On a daily basis,

what could be going through
these fiber-optic cables?

Well, it could be
financial transactions,

it could be any kind
of secret communications.

It could be the Allied Nations
communicating

with their military assets
around the world.

[Jeremy] Western intelligence
speculates that with its unique design,

the Losharik's mission was to
tamper with these deep-sea cables

and, possibly,
even sabotage them.

[Prof. Zysk] This is 2015.

Various NATO officials
were reporting

that Russian submarines were
operating quite close to the seabed cables.

And, of course,
the question was why.

Severing them, severing
the flow of information

would strike very hard the
economic and financial system,

and probably would wreak havoc
on the Western societies.

[Jeremy] So far,
there is no hard evidence

that confirms
Losharik's true mission.

But what's telling is that,
even after the tragic fire

that killed
14 elite submariners,

it remains
a crucial asset for Russia.

Losharik will be repaired
and it will return to service

because it's so important
for the research,

for the intelligence gathering,
for the Russian Navy,

and the Russian
Armed Forces in general.

[Jeremy] This mysterious sub
will take years to repair,

but its potential to wreak havoc

in the future remains very real.

[water bubbling]

[sonar ping]

Ancient underwater burial sites

have been discovered
all over Northern Europe,

but few are as mysterious as the
one found in a remote lake in Finland,

where the remains of around
100 people are uncovered.

Who these bones belong to
and why they are here

have remained unanswered
for over three centuries.

Now, with incredible advances
in DNA technology,

these cryptic bones might
finally start to reveal their secrets.

[water bubbling]

[sonar ping]

[Jeremy] 2018.

Scientists are examining
human remains

discovered in a very strange,
gruesome-looking lake

in western Finland,
known as Levanluhta.

It's a real mystical
but eerie site.

[Jeremy] In the springtime,
the lake's iron-rich,

blood-like water foams up
through the ground.

Devoid of oxygen, it's
perfect for preserving bones.

This stops
the microorganisms from eating

the bodies of dead people
buried inside of them.

[Jeremy] The mystery
begins in 1884,

when local men
working in Levanluhta

are shocked to discover
eight human skulls.

And it doesn't stop there.

More and more
human bones are recovered.

The remains of approximately
100 people were found at this site.

It's a gruesome discovery.

Something extraordinary
is going on at Levanluhta.

[Jeremy] It takes nearly
150 years for scientists

to piece together clues
from the human remains,

and start to unravel the riddle

of how so many bodies ended
up in this chilling watery grave.

[water bubbling]

[water bubbling]

A mysterious
and grisly lake in Finland

is giving up
numerous human remains.

Archeologists suspect they could
be the victims of a brutal sacrifice.

Will contemporary forensic
analysis reveal the lake's dark secret?

[Dr. Tuttle] When you find
bones of dead people,

you wonder where they came from.

Are they, you know, ancient?
Are they a murder victim?

[Jeremy] When the mass of
human remains is uncovered in 1884,

it's assumed they are war
victims from the 16th century.

People believed
that these bodies might be

from the Cudgel War,
which was a peasant uprising.

[Jeremy] The peasants were
fighting against exploitation

by the nobility
and the military.

The name "cudgel" comes from the
type of weapons that the peasants used.

Blunt objects,
such as the cudgel.

[Jeremy] The war
was known for its weapons,

but no weapons
are found at Levanluhta.

And the investigation throws
yet another perplexing conundrum

that scientists
just can't solve.

Shockingly, they discovered that the
bones are mostly women and children.

[Jeremy] The presence
of women and children

doesn't fit with the characteristics
of a typical war grave.

At the turn of the 20th century,

an anthropologist throws even
more doubt on the Cudgel War theory.

Analysis of the skeletal remains

reveals that the skulls
are strangely narrower

and longer than those
of Finnish people.

Anthropologists propose that the
people are not from Finland at all,

but from mainland Europe,

where there are records of sacrificial
rituals and burying the dead in water.

[Dr. Briggs] There are multiple
examples of watery graves

and water burials
in Northern Europe.

We often see watery burials
as a sacrifice to the gods,

in which case criminals or bandits
could be the ones who were buried there.

They're usually found
strangled, uh, bound.

Uh, there's acts of violence,
throats slit.

[Jeremy] But the bones
found in Levanluhta

are missing a crucial piece of
evidence to support this theory.

These Finnish remains,

there appears to be
no acts of violence.

[Dr. Elliott] The Levanluhta
remains show no signs of trauma,

so this could be evidence
that this wasn't a sacrifice.

[Jeremy] It's not until 1993
that a breakthrough

in forensic science begins
to untangle this mystery.

Through radiocarbon analysis,
scientists can finally date the bones.

Turns out they date
to the Iron Age.

The radiocarbon date
suggests that these people

died somewhere
between 500 and 700 A.D.

[Jeremy] Now,
with specific dates,

archeologists investigate
what was going on

in Levanluhta around this time.

They turn
to ancient Norse mythology,

and it provides a crucial clue

of a terrifying doomsday event.

[Dr. Elliott]
Ancient Norse mythology

mentions three successive
winters without any summer,

which they call
the Fimbulwinter.

In the legend, snow comes in from
all directions and ends all life on Earth.

[Jeremy] A recent study in
2019 links the Fimbulwinter

to a series of real-life
volcanic eruptions

in Central America
in the 6th century.

A huge volcanic eruption,
which brought darkness

and social collapse
across the world.

[Dr. Beverly] This would've
impacted agriculture.

It would've led to crop loss and famine
all across the northern hemisphere.

[Jeremy] Did crop failures cause the
Levanluhta people to die of starvation?

In 2019, with new technology,

scientists finally analyze
the bones to determine

if this freak climate disaster
could be the cause of death.

[Dr. Beverly] Isotopic analysis is
used to reconstruct ancient diets.

And the way that it's done is by looking
at the carbon and the nitrogen values,

and by doing that, comparing
it to different food sources.

[Jeremy] Isotopic analysis
reveals something unexpected.

These people exploited food
from three sources,

sea, earth, and fresh water.

[Dr. Briggs] They had
an incredibly varied diet,

and were actually
really healthy when they died.

[Peter] Their versatile diets
would make them well equipped

to deal with any sort of crop
failure due to a catastrophic event.

[Jeremy] So, modern science
rules out the possibility

that this extreme, long
winter killed the lake victims.

After a nearly
150-year investigation,

are we any closer to knowing why so
many bodies ended up in Levanluhta Lake?

Answers could be concealed in the ancient
traditions of these mysterious people.

[water bubbling]

[water bubbling]

[Jeremy] The ancient
Levanluhta Lake bones

are so well preserved
that they still hold vital clues

about who these people might be.

[Dr. Briggs] DNA technology may
finally reveal the identity of the people

who were buried
in this watery grave.

[Jeremy] In 2019, after samples
of the bones are DNA tested,

the scientists
make a major breakthrough

in this nearly
150-year-old investigation.

DNA testing indicates
that these are Sami people.

[Jeremy] The Sami
are indigenous to Finland,

but they inhabit areas much further
north, nowhere close to the lake.

What were these Sami people
doing so far south?

And how did they all end up
in an underwater grave?

With the latest
genetic revelations,

the puzzle pieces
are coming together.

Finnish scientists
now have a new theory

as to why these people
were buried in a lake.

And the answer could be
found deep in Sami mythology.

[water bubbling]

The Sami word "saiva"
is used to refer

to a holy lake and the spirits
living within it.

Saiva lakes take on magical
and mystical properties,

and they represent the
underworld for the Sami people.

[Jeremy] Were these ancient
Sami people buried in the lake,

which they believed to be
a gateway to the afterlife?

This exciting new evidence
in an investigation

that has lasted
nearly a century and a half

is beginning
to rewrite the story

of one of Europe's most
extraordinary burial sites.

[water bubbling]

The mystery of why
these Sami people were buried

in Levanluhta Lake
is not yet solved.

However, as modern technology
continues to transform archeology,

it may one day bring us closer to
fully understanding our ancestors

and their connection
to the underwater world.

[water bubbling]

A summer day
at the beach turns ugly

when a strange haze
hits England's southern coast

and hundreds of people
end up in the hospital.

No one's sure what's causing it,

and it's followed
by similar incidents.

Can authorities
solve this toxic beach mystery

before even more people
fall ill?

[water bubbling]

[sonar ping]

[Jeremy] August 2017.

Birling Gap Beach on the
southern coast of England.

Crowds are enjoying one of
the hottest days of the year.

Then, like a scene
from a horror movie,

the air turns
into a yellowy haze

and begins to smell
unbearably foul.

[man] Is everybody all right?

Some say it's like the smell
of burnt plastic, and corpses.

[Jeremy] A nice day
out in the sunshine

turns into a nightmare
for these beachgoers.

[Dr. Briggs] Passersby are
heaving and retching

after coming in contact
with this toxic mist.

[Jeremy] One person captures
the bizarre moment on video.

Kyle, when did you
first start to notice

things weren't quite right
on the beach?

I noticed...

well, like I said, there was
a yellowy-colored cloud

getting closer
and closer to the coastline.

I noticed more and more
people around us,

they were coughing and
spluttering, eyes watering.

This is
such an unusual incident.

It must be really scary not
knowing what was happening.

Everyone was rushing
to their cars,

there was traffic everywhere.

Coast guards and fire service,
police, ambulance.

So strange to just...

Like, probably
thousands of people

just emptying out
on the road, and just...

There was definitely mass
panic going on at the same time.

[Jeremy] A major incident
is declared.

The local hospital
ends up carrying out

one of the biggest massive
decontaminations in England's history.

About 200 people
went to the hospital.

[Jeremy] This frightening toxic
haze is coming in from the sea.

But what's causing it is a
mystery that no one can figure out.

The scene in Birling Gap
reminds people

of a similar freakish
incident four years earlier.

In 2013, citizens living
in South England

complain of nausea and headaches,
and a foul, rotten egg stench.

This time, authorities can
pinpoint where it's coming from.

A gas leak from a power
station in Normandy

that has traveled 200 miles
to the UK shore.

[Dr. Elliott] If the wind
is blowing the wrong way,

then all that pollution
gets blown across to the UK.

[Jeremy] Is another gas leak
from France to be blamed

for causing a stink on Britain's
shore again, four years later?

[Dr. Farr] Scientists have
tried reverse-modeling the winds

at those particular times to pinpoint
the location of the source of these toxins.

[Jeremy] The models show
that on August 27th, 2017,

the surface air had come
from an easterly direction

and, before that, had been parallel
to the coast and coming from the west.

So, a gas leak in France is
quickly ruled out as the cause.

There's no doubt, however,
that the strange haze

is coming from somewhere
out at sea.

Could the answer be found in
a lethal marine phenomenon?

[Dr. Beverly]
In different water bodies,

you will have what's called
an algal bloom,

and this can happen
as the seasons are warming up.

Algal blooms are known
sometimes to produce

toxic chemicals
that are not good for people.

[Jeremy] Two days
after the incident,

water samples are taken and
tested for signs of an algal bloom.

[Dr. Czerski] The measurements
that were done in this case

suggested there just wasn't
enough algae in the water

to be producing anything that would
harm human health on the beach.

So, what did cause
this toxic mist?

[Jeremy] If it's not coming
from the water,

are there any other clues
hiding in the air we breathe?

Authorities turn to local
air monitoring stations,

and they reveal
something disturbing.

[water bubbling]

[water bubbling]

[Jeremy] When a toxic haze
hits the southern coast of Britain,

what's causing it
leaves scientists puzzled.

Could the answer lie in the foul
smell coming from the toxic fog?

[Dr. Dijanna] If people are
reporting smelling rotten eggs,

my first idea is going to be
there's sulfur dioxide out there.

[Jeremy]
One air monitoring station

reports an unusual increase
in sulfur dioxide.

Meteorological evidence already
suggests the source is off-shore.

So, the sulfur dioxide seems to be
coming from the English Channel.

The sulfur dioxide could have come
from ships in the English Channel.

[Jeremy] The English Channel
separates the UK and France,

and it's one of the world's
busiest shipping lanes.

But how could this have
produced toxic sulfur dioxide?

[Dr. Briggs] Many cargo ships contain
hazardous and deadly chemicals.

So, sometimes, shipping
containers might fall off a ship,

which cause hazardous chemicals

to enter the water
and end up on nearby beaches.

[Jeremy] Authorities
investigate the ships

that were in the area at
the time of the toxic haze.

There are no reports of
sulfur dioxide-related accidents.

Baffled authorities draw a blank

and are no closer
to solving the mystery

of the toxic haze
in Birling Gap.

The case goes cold...

until two years later.

In 2019, only 25 miles away,

a scarily familiar state of
emergency is declared on the coast.

Witnesses described people
heaving and retching.

The beaches are evacuated.

[Jeremy] Adding to the fear,
the nightmare continues

along the same coastline in
yet another frightening scene.

Only two weeks later, another
150 people fall ill on the coastline.

[Jeremy] Could the toxic
chemical have returned?

[Dr. Elliott] And authorities
are very worried

the whole thing
could happen again.

[Jeremy] With three near-identical
cases within the space of two years,

scientists desperately
need to crack

the unknown source
of the toxic haze.

Satellite data
could hold the answer

that everybody
desperately seeks.

In 2017,
a satellite image captures

a strange plume coming
from the English Channel.

[Dr. Farr] One theory is that
these toxic gases might come

from some release of toxic
substances from shipwrecks.

They do often change,
move, adjust,

and you do get leakage of
potentially polluting substances.

[Jeremy] The English Channel
is littered with shipwrecks

sunk during the First
and Second World Wars.

[Dr. Briggs] These underwater
ticking-time bombs

could be an explanation for the hazardous
chemicals that arrive on the beach.

[Jeremy] The satellite image
seems to show the plume

coming from almost exactly
the same location

as a shipwreck sunk
by a German mine in 1917.

It's known that there was a shipwreck
from World War I, the SS Mira,

that lays in that particular
part of the seabed.

[Jeremy] Investigators
work out that if chemicals

from the wreck were
transported in the water,

it's possible they
could've reached Birling Gap

at the exact same time
the incident was reported.

If the toxic plume
was in the air, however,

because of the easterly
wind direction,

the wreck is unlikely
to have been the source.

Authorities now believe
a shipwreck

leaking a toxic chemical
is plausible,

but it hasn't yet been categorically
confirmed as the toxic culprit.

A massive effort
has been made to track down

the source of this bizarre
and terrifying haze,

but there's still
no definitive answer.

And whether
this poisonous seaside air

will become more frequent and
more dangerous remains a mystery.

[water bubbling]

[sonar ping]

When divers explore
a 300-year-old wreck

in the icy depths
of the Baltic Sea,

they uncover
a vast amount of cargo,

including an unexpected find.

Fragments of a Bible.

Researchers are perplexed
by how these paper pages

could've survived underwater
for three centuries.

In their quest for answers,
they revealed a ship

with a saintly name
but a sinful past.

2002.

A team of Russian divers
is exploring a shipwreck

hiding in the cold, dark
waters of the Baltic Sea.

They believe
it could be the wreck

of an 18th-century vessel that was
entangled in a corruption scandal

at the time of Peter the Great.

It's reputed to be hiding
secret and illegal cargo.

Piecing together information
from historical records

and exploration of the wreck,

the divers hope to find
clues that will confirm

that this is the infamous
ship they've been looking for.

They focus their attention
first on some pieces of wood.

They find bits of timber, which
they can then radiocarbon date.

[Dr. Tuttle]
Radiocarbon dating

came within dates
about 1650 to 1680,

so it had to be made after that.

[Jeremy] More intriguing
is a broken ceramic dish.

It features an image of the
biblical Archangel Raphael,

engraved with the date 1696.

These two pieces
of dating evidence

indicate this is the wreck
of the Archangel Raphael.

The archeologists realize they've
found a very special shipwreck.

[Jeremy] The divers
have conclusive proof

they found a notorious shipwreck

with a 300-year-old
unsolved mystery.

Historical sources
suggest the Archangel Raphael

could've been laden with
smuggled cargo when it sank.

After three centuries
under water,

is there a trove of contraband
still hiding inside the wreck?

Researchers begin
their investigation

in Russian State Navy archives,

hoping to reconstruct
the ship's final voyage.

October 1724,

the merchant ship
departs St. Petersburg.

Its intended destination, the
German port city of Lubeck.

[Dr. Clarke]
It's normal for the trade

between the German
and Russian ports,

from St. Petersburg
to Lubeck,

there is a row of trading towns,

really, entrepots
along the coast.

It was a vibrant
trading economy,

and the Archangel Raphael
was a key part of this.

[electronic beeps]

[Jeremy] The location
of the wreck, however,

is mysteriously far away
from its intended route.

[Rob] Well, the ship was
originally headed to Lubeck,

which is nowhere close
to where it was found.

So, what the heck
was it doing there?

[Jeremy] Luckily
for the investigators,

details of the ship's sinking
are well documented,

and they are yielding
some critical clues.

[Dr. Farr] The historical
archives suggest that this ship

was lost by getting stuck
in ice and, as the ice moves,

the ship is basically
crushed and dragged.

The crew all survive
and are able

to successfully get away
from the ship before it sinks.

[Jeremy] The records describe
how local inhabitants

try to salvage cargo
through an ice-hole

a few months
after the ship goes down.

They recover over 350
bales of leather,

and say there's more cargo
out of reach inside the wreck.

[Jeremy]
In their quest to discover

if these could be
smuggled goods,

the investigators turn to
original customs documents.

And they expose
something highly suspicious.

[Dr. Briggs]
When the Archangel Raphael

departs St. Petersburg
in October of 1724,

according to customs records,
it's nearly empty.

[Jeremy] This contradicts
what the local divers saw.

There might have been
some smuggling going on.

The ship was clearly
up to no good.

[Jeremy] Not only
does this strongly suggest

the ship was carrying
illegal goods when it sank,

it also helps researchers
understand why the wreck

is far from its
intended destination.

It's thought Archangel Raphael
stops on the way to Lubeck

in a place called
Krasnaya Gorka,

where it could possibly
have taken on the contraband.

This place is well known
for its smuggling activities,

and, suspiciously,
the Archangel Raphael

stays there
for a biblical 40 days.

[Jeremy] The long stopover results
in the ship getting trapped in the ice

and abandoned by its crew,
after which it sinks.

Everything on board
the Archangel Raphael,

from personal items to cargo,
is left just as it is.

[Jeremy] And the ship
lies forgotten

in the Baltic waters
for three centuries.

Until 2014.

Have these
precious artifacts survived?

And what dark secrets can they
reveal about the Archangel Raphael?

[water bubbling]

[water bubbling]

Russian underwater archeologists

hope to discover what
treasures are hiding inside

the 18th-century shipwreck,
Archangel Raphael,

and whether they've survived
300 years under water.

After investigating
historical records,

maritime archeologists
now need to go underwater

to find out more about this
infamous merchant ship.

The investigators
plan to excavate the ship.

[Jeremy] 2014,
excavations begin.

Divers look for any clues that
might help uncover the truth

about what the ship
is carrying when it sinks.

Is it possible the cargo could
have survived for three centuries?

The beauty of the Baltic Sea

when it comes to preserving a
shipwreck, is the water is brackish.

All the little critters
that would normally eat

and degrade organic materials
just aren't present.

[Jeremy] As divers explore inside the
shipwreck, they find something unusual.

They're shocked to find
artifacts covered completely in tar.

Tar was often transported inside
of wooden barrels in this period.

[Dr. Elliott] Now, remember
that the ship is locked in ice

and is being gradually,
slowly, over a period of time,

crushed and crushed,
and, eventually,

the tar starts to leak out and it
goes all over the various artifacts.

[Jeremy] It's a setback
for the archeologists

who were hoping to find
the artifacts still intact.

Then, the mystery
of the ship's cargo

takes a new twist with the
discovery of a book of psalms.

The book, strangely, is
unlike the other artifacts.

[Dr. Clarke] They find one of
the most precious items of cargo

is not covered in tar.

And why is this?

[Jeremy] Scientists restoring
these pages in their labs

are surprised to find them
perfectly intact and legible.

It's very rare to find paper
preserved on these sorts of sites.

[Jeremy] Instead of tar, this
book has been hiding away in silt.

Silt, or mud, is very good
at preserving artifacts

because it creates
sort of anoxic environment

and reduces
the amount of oxygen,

which is what organisms
need in order to decompose.

[Jeremy] Why it's only
this holy book

that avoided being covered
in tar is a mystery.

[Dr. Tuttle] Being named
Archangel Raphael,

is there some kind of magical
or spiritual activity going on?

[Jeremy] Unable to see the complete
load of cargo still hiding inside,

the dive team employs
photogrammetry to fully survey the wreck.

[Dr. Beverly] Photogrammetry is a
series of photographs or images that,

when we merge them together,
we can create

a three-dimensional image
of the object.

[Jeremy] The incredibly
accurate 3D model of the ship

and seven years
of painstaking excavation

begin to yield
stunning discoveries,

including items of clothing that just
shouldn't have survived for so long.

[Dr. Briggs] What makes
the Archangel Raphael

so special is the preservation of
organic material on this incredible site.

[Jeremy] And after years of
researching the state archives,

they finally find
physical evidence

of smuggled goods
on board the ship.

Animal horns and barrels of
grain, fish, and even bacon.

And the amount of cargo
is way in excess

of what's recorded
on the 1724 customs list.

What's shocking about the
number of artifacts found inside

is that there are far more
than they should be

based on its last port of call,
which was in St. Petersburg.

The ship was in illegal
possession of goods.

[Jeremy] The 18th century was
known as the golden age of smuggling,

and the staggering amount
of artifacts retrieved

three centuries later
reveals the true scale

of the ship's lucrative
cloak-and-dagger operation.

[Dr. Clarke] After years
of investigating the wreck,

four hundred items
are recovered in total,

including things which are
impossible to imagine in their worth

and things we had never believed

would be recovered
from such a wreck.

Researchers
believe there could be

even more secrets hiding
in the Archangel Raphael.

Wrecks and historical treasure
like these lead us to wonder

what other time capsules
the sea has preserved,

still waiting to be discovered.