All language subtitles for Expedition.Unknown.S16E04.en

Many archaeologists could make
an entire career out of finding

one shipwreck, and yet you guys
have found, what, like 50?

58 to be precise.

I've never seen such
a collection of shipwrecks

in one place.

So the million dollar question
is, why is a place that should

be safe consuming ships?

[Josh speaking over radio]

Wind just picked way up.
From five miles an hour to 20.

Just, I think there are other
forces at work here.

So you're talking, what,
gods and monsters here?

Out there,
there is something very real.

So you think there could be
more wrecks out there?

No question.

OK, dye pack is away.

Whoo! Look at that.

Are you ready for the fun part?

Driving through the straits.

[Manos]
Through the Cape of Death.

Cape of Death?

[Josh speaking over radio]

[Josh] We are in a vortex.

The anemometer is literally
spinning in circles.

Everywhere else,
it's a paradise.

-Whoo!
-Here, it's hell!

Hang on!
Whoa!

[eerie, suspenseful
music playing]

This is the Temple of Poseidon,
Greek god of the sea,

and protector of sailors.

And beyond these weathered
columns are the vast waters

of the Mediterranean.

[epic music playing]

[Josh]
For more than 2,500 years,
this sanctuary has stood

south of Athens
at the last point of land

that sailors glimpsed
before departing

on perilous voyages
across the Aegean Sea.

But it seems that no amount
of offerings or sacrifices

made here fully appeased
Poseidon's wrath, as evidenced

by the recent discovery
of a stretch of water

as deadly
as the Bermuda Triangle.

Astonishingly, the remains
of more than 50 shipwrecks

have been found surrounding
the tiny Greek islands
of Fourni.

It may be the largest
concentration of ancient wrecks

found anywhere on the planet,
with vessels that span

thousands of years.

Their crews and cargo
mysteriously dragged

to the bottom
of the Mediterranean.

And now archaeologists want
to know how they ended up there.

The team that uncovered
this nautical graveyard thinks

that the answer to the mystery
could lie in the cargo

of a newly discovered wreck more
than 100 feet below the surface.

Can state of the art technology

provide a logical explanation,

or could the culprit be
right out of Greek mythology?

To find out, I'm embarking
on an epic odyssey

to the treacherous shores

of Greece's
island of shipwrecks.

[Josh]
The past is all around us.

Oh, my god!

It goes on forever!

[Josh]
A world of mystery...

Come on!
Look at that!

...danger...

Hang on!

...and adventure.

It's just straight down!

I gotta get a new job.

[Josh]
I travel to the far corners
of the Earth

to uncover where legends end...

We got it!

Yes!

...and history begins.

Whoo-hoo!
Here we go!

I'm Josh Gates, and this is
"Expedition Unknown."

[upbeat Greek music playing]

Welcome to Athens,
the oldest capital city

in Europe and the beating heart
of ancient Greece

during its golden age.

That's when the Greeks came up
with some pretty important

stuff we still enjoy today.

The Olympics,

theater,

formal geometry,

Big Fat Weddings,

overly thick yogurt,

philosophy,

an alphabet with vowels,

John Stamos,

not to mention a little old
thing called democracy.

So next 4th of July, maybe put
down the hot dog and pick up

a gyro to celebrate the Greek
gift of Western civilization.

Opa!

So what made Athens
so influential and powerful?

Location, location, location.

It's the southernmost major city
on the European continent,

with access to sea routes
that connect to Western Europe,

North Africa, the Middle East,
Asia, and the Balkans.

This is the Port of Piraeus.

You know, in the ancient world,

Greece was
a shipping powerhouse,

and they still are.

Despite being a relatively
small country, with a population

that's roughly the size
of North Carolina,

Greek-owned companies control
a staggering 20%

of the world's merchant fleet.

Today, we stuff everything
into 40-foot steel containers.

But back when the ancient
Greeks ruled the shipping lanes

on the Mediterranean,
their most valuable goods --

wine, oil, exotic spices,
even preserved fish --

were transported in ceramic
vessels called "amphorae."

Along with commercial shipping,
modern Piraeus is also

a travel hub
for cruise ships and ferries

that travel between Greece's
more than 200 inhabited islands.

And this is where
my adventure begins.

You see, a few months ago,
I received this mysterious

invitation to a Greek wedding
from an old girlfriend,

and I gotta say,
I'm thinking I'm --

[producer]
We are not doing "Mamma Mia!"

Right, sorry, no "Mamma Mia!"

Scary shipwreck island.

Can we at least afford
some knockoff ABBA music?

[upbeat Europop-style
music playing]

There it is.

Life is short,
the world is wide,

and I have a boat to catch.

To reach Greece's answer
to the Bermuda Triangle,

I board this massive ferry
capable of carrying 1,800

passengers, over 400 vehicles,
and one intrigued adventurer.

Our voyage to the shipwreck
island of Fourni isn't exactly

a quick commute.

We'll be sailing for nearly
10 hours as we navigate through

some of the nearly 200 islands
that make up the Cyclades

and steam through
legendary waters.

Fourni, with barely 1,000
residents, is a tiny

cluster of islands that sit
near the eastern edge

of the Aegean Sea.

Few tourists make it there,
as most hop off on better known

and more mythic islands.

Our ferry will stop first
at Syros,

the home
of the messenger god Hermes,

then to Mykonos,

where Hercules himself
defeated a race of giants,

and on to Ikaria,

where the doomed flyboy Icarus
flew too close to the sun

and plummeted to earth.

These tales are woven
into the very fabric of Greece,

but in a split second,

the only deity I'm worried about
is Poseidon.

Well, the forecast
called for good weather,

but in the last
10 minutes or so,

these winds have just picked up
out of nowhere,

are probably blowing
40 miles an hour or more.

And as you can see,
the sea is just churning.

So, I don't know if the gods
are angry, but I think

we're gonna have
rough waters ahead.

-As the storm racks our ferry...
-[waves crashing]

...day turns to night,

and night brings a howling gale.

-[wind crackles]
-[waves crashing]

[Josh speaking]

The sea churns.
The wind screams.

And I imagine riding this out
in an ancient wooden vessel,

a fraction of the size
of this ferry.

Just before I decide
to relocate to a lifeboat,

though, the tempest suddenly
and mysteriously stops.

The wind has died down,
the seas are calm,

kind of an eerie
welcome to the island.

In ancient times, ships would
vanish without a trace

off the coast of Fourni.

But tonight, the fates have
calmed the seas,

and allowed us ashore.

OK, welcome to Fourni.

Under cover of darkness,
I find my way to a waiting bed

and a good night's sleep.

In the morning, I awake to,
well, paradise.

This is Fourni.

Sleepy, sun-kissed,
and awash in Greek hospitality.

Not at all
the kind of place that looks

like it violently
consumes ships.

So, to learn how this place has
suddenly leapt to the forefront

of an ancient mystery, I head
to the far side of the island,

where I find a compound
of archaeologists hard at work,

and the man directing
their efforts,

Dr. George Koutsouflakis.

First of all,
many archaeologists could make

an entire career out of finding
one shipwreck, and yet you guys

have found, what, like 50?

Well, 58 to be precise.

-[Josh] 58, sorry.
-And still counting.

And still counting.

So you think there could be
more wrecks out there?

No question.

These are like
Bermuda Triangle numbers.

That's a huge amount of wrecks
in one place.

It's the largest concentration
of shipwrecks

in the Mediterranean.

It's a good 20%
of the shipwrecks

ever recorded in Greece.

-20% of all wrecks
in Greece are here?
-Yeah.

So, did people know
there were wrecks here?

[George] Eh, not really --
this place was completely

archaeologically uncharted.

And historically, this was not
considered an important place?

No, they're hardly ever
mentioned [indistinct]
by ancient writers.

-No major ports here?
-No major ports here.

Nothing really of
an historical importance

is recorded
to have happened here.

[Josh]
George got involved in this
mystery thanks to chance,

or maybe fate.

A few years ago, while sitting
in his office in Athens,

his phone rang.

On the other end of the line,
there is this guy from Fourni

claiming that he dove around
the islands and collected

information from fishermen,
and he made up a map with spots

in several sites that are
indicative of the presence

of shipwrecks.

[Josh]
The local fishermen reported
they were getting their nets

caught on sunken hazards,

and those reports
changed George's life.

And using this guy's map
and his information,

you found how many shipwrecks?

22 shipwrecks in just 11 days.

You found 22 wrecks in 11 days?

Yeah.

So the million dollar question
is, why are they there?

Let's go out, and I'll show you.

-Out on the sea?
-[George] Yeah.

-Is it safe out there?
-Maybe.

[Josh chuckles]

Perfect.

The answer to this riddle must
lie among the shipwrecks

George has discovered, so that's
where we're going next.

We walk out to a rib boat
that will bring us

to one of his research vessels.

And there, I meet a member
of his team who first put

this place on the map,
literally.

-Hello, Manos.
-Hello, guys -- Welcome.

Let me introduce you
to Manos Mitikas.

He's the local guy.

He's the one on
the other end of the line, 2015.

-He's the guy who called you.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So are you still adding
to this map?

Continuously, we still hear
stories from fishermen.

[Josh] Wow, amazing.

OK, so you've got
a map full of wrecks.

-You wanna take me to one?
-Of course.

-Let's go.
-Let's go.

Come on.

[adventurous music playing]

With Manos at the helm,
we speed around the coast

of Fourni to hover
over one of the wrecks

that's recently been discovered.

To figure out how it ended up
here, we quickly get to work,

suit up,
and splash in.

[water splashes]

[bubbles gurgling]

[George speaking over radio]

[Josh speaking over radio]

[Josh] Our mission is to try
to identify what sank this ship.

But at this depth, we only have
minutes to investigate

before risking dangerous
decompression sickness,

also known as "the bends."

[George and Josh speaking
over radio]

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
Off the coast of the Greek
islands of Fourni, I'm exploring

a shipwreck discovered
by Dr. George Koutsouflakis.

Ancient Greece was filled
with myths of gods and monsters,

luring sailors to their doom.

And now, 58 wrecks
have been discovered

around this tiny island,

and archaeologists
want to know who

or what took them down.

[Josh speaking over radio]

[George over radio]

[Josh]
The complete lack of cargo
is a compelling clue

that this ship was pillaged.

Pirates were once a very real
threat in the Mediterranean.

[George and Josh speaking
over radio]

[adventurous music playing]

[Josh]
We carefully ascend,
and once we're back on board,

I'm eager to explore
the idea that piracy

may account for the nautical
graveyard around Fourni.

And it turns out,
I'm in the company of someone

who has piracy in his blood.

Manos?
Wait a minute,
descended from pirates?

Yes, my great great
grandfather was a famous pirate

of this area.
They executed him in 1863.

You're not taking up
the family business?

-Eh...I hope not.
-[Josh] Yeah, I hope not, too.

I didn't know we had
a dangerous man on board here.

Yeah, they don't do
that stuff anymore.

So, in terms of this wreck,
from the piracy, no cargo.

So is this the answer
to our mystery?

All these shipwrecks are here
because they've been

preyed upon by pirates?

That would be an easy solution
to a complicated problem.

But it's not so simple because
most of the other wreck we've

found so far are full of cargo.
-Full of cargo?

-Do you wanna see?
-I would love to see.

-[George] Yeah, let's go.
-Let's go.

So, if nearly all the other
wrecks here are loaded

with cargo, that means
pirates aren't to blame.

Manos pilots the boat
around Fourni to a strait

in between two islands.

It's in this channel where
the team has located

half of the wrecks
found to date.

So this is Fourni here,
and this is what,

another island?
-[George] Agios Minas, yeah.

Agios Minas.
And so, we're what?

We're in the channel
between them?

We are in the opening
of the channel between them.

We call this area
the White Cape.

The White Cape.
Got it.

[Josh]
This area also
has another nickname

because of the concentration
of wrecks here.

The Cape of Death.

[epic music playing]

Below the towering cliffs,
we arrive at George's other

research vessels with a team
of underwater archaeologists

below carefully
excavating and cataloging

this graveyard of shipwrecks.

We've had a long enough surface
interval after our last dive

for us to safely get back
in the water.

So we gear up once again
and jump in

to get a firsthand look

at one of the mysterious
wrecks below.

[water splashes]

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh] I'm absolutely stunned
by what I see.

Thousands of ceramic containers
everywhere where I look,

a treasure trove
of ancient history

littering the sea floor.

[George speaking over radio]

[Josh]
Amphorae were the Amazon boxes
of the ancient world.

Some form of them was used
by every culture

on the Mediterranean to ship
oil, wine, and precious goods

across the sea.

Their design made them
deceptively strong and easy

to pack into a ship's hold,
where they could be

stacked tightly for transport.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
These wrecks are so close,

they're practically
on top of each other.

Another one is only
a short swim away.

[George and Josh speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
The amphorae offer a ghostly
outline of the ships that once

carried them, ships
that disintegrated long ago,

leaving only cargo behind
as a clue to their fate.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh] The wide span of time
these wrecks encompass is proof

that whatever took them down
was not a fluke event.

Something has been a threat
here for millennia.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
Once again, our bottom time
is up, so we carefully ascend,

stopping to make sure we avoid
decompression sickness.

Once we eventually surface,

I try to make sense
of everything I've seen.

First of all, I wanna thank
you for showing me what's here.

I've never seen such
a collection of shipwrecks

in one place.

Yeah, for the first time,
Fourni is now

on the archaeological
and historical map.

Absolutely, in a big way.

This is why I'm so confused
about these shipwrecks,

because look
at the timescale here.

Why are these ships all coming
through here?

I thought Fourni had
no major harbor.

I thought it was not
a major stopping place.

It's never mentioned.

So why are all these ships
from all these different

time periods here?

For what we have learned,
Fourni itself was never

a final destination.
-OK.

It was used as an intermediate
stop, as a stepping stone

along major trade routes.
-Trade routes.

OK, Josh, this is one
of the very few maps

that show Fourni.
-Amazing!

[dramatic music playing]

This is a map of the Ottoman
period, 16th, 17th century.

[Josh] Look at this.
Amazing!

[Josh]
I'm looking at a rare map
that shows the islands of Fourni

as they appeared
more than five centuries ago,

before this became the Bermuda
Triangle of Ancient Greece,

with more than 50 shipwrecks
scattered on the ocean floor.

And this map may be the key
to understanding

how they got there.

Back then, the most direct sea
route between mainland Greece

and Asia Minor,
what is today Turkey,

cuts fairly close to Fourni.

On this map, we see
Islamic ships passing by.

And importantly,
they're doing it

by passing directly through,
literally through

the islands of Fourni.
-Yeah.

This is really something,
because even though Fourni

doesn't get mentioned by name
very much, we do see it

in relation to a major,
major fleet passing through.

[George]
Passing through, yeah.

So an obvious thought would be,
"Is it just storms?"

It would be easy to blame
storms, but Fourni was also

a port of safety.
-Uh-huh.

[Josh]
The ships on this map
aren't just doing a flyby.

Instead, the document reveals
something astonishing.

It shows individual ships
seeking refuge

in Fourni's many small bays.

In fact, the name Fourni means

"the ovens,"
a possible reference

to the many sheltered coves
around the island.

So, Fourni is actually...
is actually a place of safety,

a place of protection.
-[George] Yeah.

Wow.

Right.

[Josh]
The treacherous waters

around the nearby island
of Ikaria,

and by extension, Fourni,

have been infamous
for millennia.

Homer himself references them
as being particularly

tumultuous, making Fourni
an appealing lifeline

to sailors in distress.

So it's not just that Fourni
happens to sit at the middle

of these trade routes.

They may have designed these
trade routes to pass

right through here.
-Yeah.

So why is a place that
should be safe consuming ships?

[Josh] That's the million
dollar question.

To find the answer,

we reposition our boat
beneath the cliffs

and intersect with another
member of George's team,

a fellow Explorer's Club member
as well as an old family friend.

I believe you know
this man here.

Hey!
How are you, buddy?

-Hey, Josh -- great to see you.
-[Josh] John Stella.

-Great to see you, man.
-[John] Great to see you.

-How you been?
-I've been great.

John is a dear old family
friend who's been palling

around with my dad
since the good old days.

-That's correct.
-[Josh] Yeah.

And your dad, Lee, had a lot
of influence on our early

diving career.
-Yep, my dad's a diving legend.

He sure is.

[Josh] My dad, Lee Gates,
spent his career criss-crossing

the globe as a deep-water
commercial diver.

It's where I get
my passion for travel.

John Stella here has been
a dive industry professional

for more than 30 years,
much needed expertise

as we're above one of the
deepest wrecks at the site.

-OK, should we go diving?
-Let's go.

-Let's go.
-Let's do it, come on.

[Josh]
Our plan is to recover
artifacts from this wreck,

an autopsy to look for clues
as to the ship's identity,

and cause of death.

[water gurgling]

[George and Josh speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
This is at the outer edge
of safe scuba depth,

so we hurry to descend
to the wreck

or at least to its cargo,
which is all that remains,

so we can quickly get to work
exploring its artifacts.

[George speaking over radio]

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh] The team here is using
powerful suction hoses

called "airlift dredgers."

An engine on the surface
gently draws the sand

away from the artifacts,

sends it through a screen
to catch small objects,

and relocates the sediment
away from the wreck.

Then they use mesh bags
to cradle heavy relics before

inflatable lift bags help raise
them safely to the surface.

And at this site,
there are plenty of relics.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh] These ceramic vessels,
are like fingerprints

and could identify
where this ship sailed from.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
To begin excavating,
George offers me the use

of one of the airlifters.

[Josh speaking over radio]

[Josh] Once it's clear,
the team needs

to measure and photograph it
before it can be raised.

Nearby, another artifact
is ready

to head topside for analysis.

[George and Josh speaking
over radio]

[Josh] Once we have
the amphora safely cradled,

one of George's conservators
attaches an inflatable bag,

and then it's away and headed
for the topside team,

as I turn the airlifter
back to the debris pile.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh] These are likely
thousands of years old

and therefore
extremely delicate.

[Josh and George speaking
over radio]

[Josh]
With no bottom time left,
we carefully return

to the surface, hoping
these bowls and the amphora

can unlock the ship's identity.

Oh, wow.

I cannot believe the amount
of artifacts down there.

There are amphorae everywhere.

Every time I go down,
I'm in awe that I'm visiting

an underwater museum.

[Josh]
That's exactly what it is.

It's a time capsule.

And now, can we talk
about what's in my hand?

[John] Yeah, go on.

-So these are...?
-This is red slipware.

[Josh] Red slipware.

[George] Very common
in the 5th century AD.

[Josh]
Red slipware is a distinctive
kind of ceramic,

manufactured during
the Roman era, where red slip,

or liquid clay,
is used to surface

the pottery
before firing.

The finish on these bowls
has endured for 1,500 years

and left me astonished.

Holding plates
from the 5th century.

-Sure, why not?
Valuable items.
-Yeah.

[Josh] But it's the amphora
that proved truly eye-opening.

The style of these ceramics
comes not

from the Mediterranean,
but from the Black Sea,

more than 400 miles away.

So now we have
a positive ID here, right?

A ship that sank a long way
from home, carrying cargo

from the Black Sea.
-Yeah.

Awesome.
OK, let's get aboard.

[Josh]
The finds here confirm Fourni's
position along a far-reaching

trade route, which explains
not only why so many ships

were passing by, but that many
of them were likely

unfamiliar with these waters.

But their cargo isn't fully
solving the mystery

of why these ships sank.

To figure out what's going on
below the waves,

I decide to get a different
perspective from above.

Way above.

Atop the so-called
"Cape of Death,"

I link up
with our local expert, Manos.

After all, he's the one
who first alerted George

to the wrecks here,

and he knows these waters
better than anyone.

Let's talk about this mystery.

So, we've seen
that there are wrecks

all around these cliffs, right?

We've seen them
from all different time periods,

and we know they're not all
there because of piracy.

We know they're not all there
because of storms.

These bays were considered safe
harbor for ships, historically.

So, you're the local.

What do you think
is happening here?

Just, I think there are
other forces at work here.

Other forces?
What kind of other forces?

So you're talking, what,
gods and monsters here?

-[Manos] In a way, maybe.
-OK, how so?

Navigating through Fourni
is not like navigating

in other places.
-Why?

There are strange
weather phenomenon here.

Not just storms?

This is something
you've experienced?

I have experienced
this many times.

Like, where?

Like the channels
between the islands.

So, between the islands,
there's phenomenon?

There are strange
weather phenomenon

that we don't see
anywhere else.

Josh, do you know
Scylla and Charybdis?

Scylla and Charybdis
from "The Odyssey"?

Exactly.

[Josh]
Ah, yes, Scylla and Charybdis.

Back to high school
mythology class.

Scylla is a six-headed,
man-eating beast

that lives in a cave on one
shore of a narrow strait...

while Charybdis is a huge,

ship-swallowing whirlpool
near the other.

In "The Odyssey," Odysseus
makes a very difficult call,

avoiding the loss of his entire
ship to Charybdis by steering

towards Scylla and sacrificing
six of his men as a result.

Tough break, guys.

Do you think there's a couple
of monsters out here?

[Manos speaking]

Is this something you think
we can observe?

Does this happen all the time?

We can sail
through this channel

and you can see for yourself.

All right,
let's go meet a monster.

[Josh]
Are there weird currents here?

Yes, and they are very
strong and unpredictable.

Do you think that could be
associated with these wrecks?

That's what we will find out.

Right, OK, let's do it.

We're on the hunt for a monster.

The culprit behind 58 known
shipwrecks off the coast

of the islands of Fourni.

Local sailor, Manos Mitikas,
believes the waters here

exhibit some sort of mysterious
phenomena, so we're attempting

to mirror the experience
ancient sailors faced

while scientifically measuring
the wind and currents as we go.

We'll use a marine anemometer

to measure wind
speed and direction,

but testing the current
is a lot more complicated.

For that, we have Norwegian
scientist Patrick Johansen

from the Nortek Group.

So, tell me what it is
that you're gonna do here.

-Tell me about Nortek.
-We make AD2CPs.

-[Josh] AD2CPs?
-Yeah.

That's a robot
from "Star Wars," right?

-[Patrick chuckles]
-What's an AD2CP?

Acoustic Doppler
Current Profiler.

-Now I see why you shortened it.
-[Patrick] Yeah.

So, OK, what does
this device do?

-We have two of them here.
-OK, these are them.

Oh, they are "Star Wars" droids.
Look at these things.

So, what do these do?

it sends out short underwater
sound pulses that travel

through the water column,
generating echoes.

Detected back at the instrument
to calculate the speed

and directions of the particles
in the water.

In other words, through a very
high tech mechanism,

calculating the current or the
speed of the water around it.

Yeah.

Where do you think we should
take those measurements?

Definitely between
the two islands.

-In the channel, there?
-In the channel.

OK, so let's get these
to the divers

and rock and roll, yeah?
-[Patrick] Rock and roll.

[Josh] Let's do it.

To see how the current moves,
the buoys need to be manually

deployed a few hundred feet
apart near the seabed.

almost 200 feet down.

So, Manos has technical divers
from George's team

set them in place.

Once the buoys are positioned,
they begin to measure

the current underwater.

However, because of the depth,
the buoys are unable to track

the currents at the surface.

To cover that,
we're going old school.

OK, so we have this very
powerful, very visible

marine dye that we're gonna be
putting in the water

on a buoy towed
behind the sailboat.

This is environmentally
friendly, but very,

very bright.

And we should be able to see
what the surface currents

are doing as we travel along.

[dramatic music playing]

OK, dye pack is away.

Whoo! Look at that.

[Josh]
We raise sail and make
for the straits

between the islands
of Fourni and Agios Minas.

Dozens of ships
have met their fate

in this narrow channel.

Are you ready for the fun part?

-Driving through the straits?
-Through the Cape of Death.

[chuckles nervously]

Let's go.

As we approach,
even on this clear day,

I can feel
the barometer falling.

In centuries past,
countless doomed sailors

before me must have felt
the same thing.

Now we hope
to finally learn why,

preferably without joining them.

So we're approaching
the channel here,

and already something
just changed in an instant.

This chop just emerged,
and the wind

just totally shifted.

[dramatic music playing]

Whoo!

Wind just picked way up.

The anemometer jumped
from five miles an hour to 20

in a heartbeat,
and gusting.

25 knots!

[bleep]

That got real.

We're up to almost 30 knots here

on what is a sunny, calm day
if you're not in this channel.

Everywhere else,
it's a paradise.

-Here, it's hell.
-It's hell.

Imagine trying to come
through this channel

in really bad weather.
It would be madness.

Absolutely.

We are in a vortex.

The anemometer is literally
spinning in circles.

You can see
the dye pack trail

is just swirling
in the water now.

Really erratic currents in here.

The wind and water
are churning wildly around us.

Minutes ago, we lived
in a predictable world.

Now, we're at the mercy
of the gods.

Everybody hold on!

[ominous music playing]

Whoa!

Hang on!

Whoa!

[Josh] Back in ancient times,
ceramic amphorae

were all the rage.

In modern day Athens,
the tradition of great pottery
lives on.

So, I thought I'd get behind
the wheel for a quick lesson.

-What do you want to do?
-Make a beautiful ceramic vase.

-It's your first time?
-It's my first time.

-Be gentle.
-[Stravroula] OK.

-[Josh] OK.
-[Stravroula] Watch me.

-Try to up and down the piece.
-What?

-Like this.
-Oh, boy.

Oh, god.
It's...no, it didn't happen.

-Something went wrong.
-But it's good.

-Thank you.
-[Stravroula] Bravo.

Thank you.
Bravo.

Eh?
Ah!

[Josh] Ah-ha-ha!

-Bravo, bravo.
-OK, now it's condescending.

After a shaky start,
I finally get the hang of it.

OK, and done.

I gotta say, turned out
better than I expected.

It's not bad, right?
First try.

There's even
a price tag in it.

[Stravroula laughs]

Sorry, I'll put this back.

[adventurous music playing]

So, we're in it.
It's gusting to forty!

[Josh] In the narrow straits off
the Greek islands of Fourni,

I'm helping Manos Mitikas
measure the wind and water

currents to determine if
a unique anomaly is responsible

for the dozens of shipwrecks
found nearby.

Gusts at about 30 to 40 knots.

[Josh]
Then, as quickly
as the conditions

kicked up,
they subside.

Whew!

Oh, my word.
And now, no wind.

No wind.
These gusts are deadly.

Yeah, you can see it.

I mean, just under half sail
and we're halfway over.

Nobody expects this,

when it's out of the channel.
-That's right.

The weather's totally different
out there.

-You sail in, it's like a trap.
-[Manos] Exactly.

-Josh, you see the many rocks?
-[Josh] The many rocks? Yes.

This is Scylla.

That's Scylla?
The many-headed monster?

That's Scylla.

All the shoals, all the rocks
there that ships could hit.

And behind us,
the dye trail is swirling.

-[Manos] This is Charybdis.
-It is Charybdis.

It is a whirlpool of current
over there.

-So, maybe this is the monster.
-Exactly.

Mythical monsters in real life.

Manos, I think we got a good
idea of what's going on here.

We've got the dye pack trail
to look at.

We've got your data to look at.

So, should we head
for a safe harbor?

-Let's go for a beer.
-Oh, God bless this man.

[Manos chuckles]

All right, guys,
we're headed home.

[victorious music playing]

[Josh]
Soon after our return to port,
Nortek was able

to retrieve the data
from their buoys,

which showed
something remarkable.

The currents in the channel
actually move

against the prevailing winds.

In other words, a one-two punch
during stormy weather,

potentially dragging ships
into the rocks

or capsizing them
in a fierce wind.

We discovered earlier that some
of the shipwrecks here came

from faraway places like
the Black Sea, which might also

mean that the sailors guiding
them were unfamiliar

with these waters
and their deadly temperament.

I've been privileged to travel
through this land

of ancient gods and monsters,

where the islands, the temples,
and even the waters

remain immortal.

They serve as everlasting
monuments to the forces

that the ancient Greeks
believed were in control

of their destinies.

The poet Homer knew the waters
near Fourni well enough

to warn of their danger.

His hero, Odysseus,
made it home,

but thousands of flesh
and blood sailors did not.

They prayed to Poseidon
and perished in his silence.

Today, though, archaeologists
like George Koutsouflakis

and his team are turning
the myths of old

into scientific knowledge.

His excavations have recovered

eight different types
of amphorae

hailing from across the Aegean,
from Greece to Turkey,

but also as far
as Syria, North Africa,

Italy, and Spain,

remarkable artifacts

that help tell the stories
of ancient mariners

in ways we never
imagined before.

It's hard work
that progresses

day by day,
season after season,

as even more shipwrecks
are discovered here,

including the latest,
which George spotted

with an ROV
shortly before we left Fourni.

That's an amphora!
Hey!

Unbelievable!

This could be
the tip of the iceberg.

Who knows
how many wrecks are there.

Right, there could be untold
wrecks in these deeper waters.

-[George] Mm-hmm.
-Amazing.

This wreck,
the 59th on Georgia's map,

is in the deepest water
yet explored around Fourni.

It's a find that radically
expands the territory

where these ships
are being found.

So this maritime graveyard
could be even larger

than we ever imagined.

A hidden bounty of knowledge
deep beneath

Greece's now legendary
island of shipwrecks.