How Do We Recover El Dorado's Sunken Treasure? | Witness | American Colonial History Documentary HD

Faced with an ever-growing demand for precious metals and dwindling extraction sites, the world’s oceans are being seen as a new Eldorado. Thousands of shipwrecks litter the ocean floor with cargoes of these ’precious metals’. With today’s technology, this treasure is in reach.
Underwater archaeology has revealed that 3 million shipwrecks litter the ocean floor, 3,500 of which sunk with cargoes of gold, silver and porcelain onboard. Billions of dollars worth of this material, just sitting there, at the bottom of the sea. With today’s technology, this gold is in reach.
But how can this sunken treasure be recovered? And who has the right to do so? The nation whose territorial waters host the wreck? The country plundered years ago for its resources? Or indeed humanity, as advertised by UNESCO? Between diplomatic battles and great buccaneers, this international investigation uncovers a new gold rush.
This documentary was produced by Via Decouvertes and directed by Denis Delestrac, Didier Martiny. It was first released in 2019.
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[@jeffschue1163]

Should be finders keepers! If these people didn't go find it,it would just stay there so....

[@KingKong-zq6so]

I agree it’s all because of greed and control. The government would rather it sit and rot? Tells us all we need to know…….

[@andrewwarren9055]

So wait they punish and demonize the people who find the treasures????

[@Chamonix.frequently]

The only thing is they are looking for LOST treasure, meaning they knew it belonged to someone and they know who or where it first came from. So they know it's not really "Found"

[@philipcallicoat3147]

The many organizations that are fighting over the shipwrecks are just like Grandma's little aphorism:" dog in the manger!" Dog doesn't eat hay but, will not permit the cows to get at the hay!!!

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

It's great watching these documentaries. Billions of bucks that l'll never find but it's great watching. I'm in the poor house for life but lm alive.

[@patrickguillory-yy2gu]

If that company has to give the treasure back to Spain… Spain should be responsible for paying for the expedition.❤

[@goldcic]

And Spain has to give it back to Columbia from whom they stole it.

[@andrewwarren9055]

That’s awesome they’ve found that ship and all the expensive stuff aboard it

[@JoeClinton-r6e]

This is wrong, they state heritage yet it would still be at the bottom of the sea right now if Odyssey had not spent millions of their own money finding and retrieving it, at the very minimum the Spanish Government should pay them cost plus a percentage of its worth!

[@dmimz7691]

I love how the Spanish waited until the treasure was surfaced then claimed it. Genius. If they would have started the legal battle prior to it being on the dock the American treasure hunters would have left it at the bottom.

[@MarkP2000]

But, it's a big BUT, the treasure doesn't belong to the Spaniards, THEY STOLE THE TREASURE FROM LATIN AMERICA, SO? who has the right to the treasure???

[@sharonmalone8312]

I’d throw it back in the ocean before giving to the greedy that waited for someone else to find it. They paid lots of money to set up crews and machinery.

[@BenSabersTV]

amazing that they didn't say a single word when the news came out at the very start but waited TEN YEARS until it was all collected then spoke out! just for that they should have been turned down or paid the bill for 10 years work

[@joshmorris5356]

The Spanish are unbelievable lol. They stole it multiple times first from the poor Central American tribes hundreds of years ago and now from the salvage companies. What other situation do you get to say, we stole it back in the day so we still own it now. 😂😂

[@pmizz7959]

This is exactly what i was thinking…. They killed how many people? Slaughtered how many tribes and stole all these treasures from them… Then lost it to the see for hundreds of years…… And now they lay claim to it as their heritage? Insanity

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

Behind the sofa. With a periscope to watch shipwrecks on TV.

[@johannakadar4314]

As an archeologyst there is a huge battle and idk i know all the rules and regulations. But these conditions are not manintaiable anymore. I think Museums should be claiming onlie a part and the most precious part of a founding if it wasnt a museum Dig. And the founder can keep the rest. You know it would motivate museums to improve their digs so others cant get away and it motivates treasure hunters as well since they can keep a portion of their finds

[@coreyhughes7756]

Puts on some glasses I’m an archaeologist tomorrow an ichthyologist 😂

[@sharonmalone8312]

I believe if someone has the money to set up a crew to go to the deep for treasures,the treasure should go to the finder,if the finder wants to contact the Country that lost it. The Country should pay whatever price to the finders that risked there lives to go down and bring it up. Governments should stay out of it by taxes or taking part. Finders Keepers. If the Countries were so worried about it,they should’ve found away to retrieve it.

[@DePalma.]

Treasure hunting seems so fun😊

[@juanmanuellatorre6779]

We spanish-speakers have a saying: "A thief who steals from a thief has a hundred years of forgiveness." So we have Spain claiming stolen bounty from native south americans, found off the coast of Portugal by an American company... yet if they didn't go and look for it nobody would've done it...

[@Kimbledotcom]

We English speakers have a saying. All Españolas are Robars Robars Robars. And the British Navy took ALL there gold. “Yo ho all hands hoist the colours high……”

[@andreszucs6686]

BUT IT IS NOT BELONGING TO SPAIN. IT BELONGS TO THE COLOMBIANS OR PERUVIENS ALL THE GEMS AND GOLD ETC.

[@amc5966]

Exactly. Spain robbed and murdered all the central American tribes, melted their gold down, lost it, an American finds it and they want it back! What a cheek. It should all have been sold or returned to south and central American nations from whence it was plundered.

[@dixiefallas7799]

Got to agree with you on that one!🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@NormanBraslow-nh2tz]

It does belong to Spain. Like it or not.

[@broderickwallis25]

It belongs to the greedy

[@ramseyr2852]

It belongs to the British by right of capture or destruction in war.

[@sabiqmahmood3859]

Wish the Spaniards and other european monarchs had this same principles... Don't pillage other countrie's valuables.. Leave them where they are... Leave the peopless.... 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@TheLymanDiamond]

When scavenging the ocean floor I play this lil game called…finders keepers. I would have thrown those coins back into the ocean before we would have shipped it back to Spain.

[@andrewwarren9055]

Instead of a box make a large like floating lense that covers more area or lenseS that would quicken the process

[@Patriot1777]

Look, a military ship that stole gold and silver ect. From other people!, They have no rights to it.😊

[@raymonddeleon1977]

nice

[@DePalma.]

Leave it to historians and archaeologists to wait until treasure hunters spend their lives to find some thing and then try to jump on it as if it were theirs lol. There’s a reason nobody likes you guys, you don’t go find your own work… And when you do, the outcome is predetermined by the institution that pays you, what a joke

[@TreasureGeo]

This is why when you find something you tell NO ONE!

[@eddyedwards8887]

bring it all up from the bottom of the sea so it can be seen by all leave nothing behind and money should be allocated for that purpose.

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

I'm staying on the land. Don't fancy getting shipwrecked. Death awaits us on the sea.

[@andrewwarren9055]

Instead of a box make a large like floating lense that covers more area or lenseS that would quicken the process like how oil rigs float with big propellers and just program it like an automatic vaccum machine goes around the floor to pick up crumbs an dirt...lol

[@andrewwarren9055]

I’ve figured out the lauriers map and deciphered the code it’s really easy actually and a lot easier then people realize...at least in my opinion I think it was. I figured it out in two seconds the locations but spent hours deciding if I should or not. Lmao

[@robertcavoli4351]

And by the way, unless that military ship is making golden cannonballs… It’s not a military ship. It’s a ship, filled with thieves, and open to public salvage!

[@NormanBraslow-nh2tz]

Lots of people claim treasure belongs to the indigenous people. Not under international law. The salvors know this before they dive for treasure.

[@kinvo1982able]

Wait a moment…. The boat may belong to Spain’s kingdom but the cargo was stolen from the Americans ( Peru, Ecuador and Colombia) the gold , silver , emeralds .. all that cargo should be back to where it came from . To museums and not to support the Spains banks 🏦

[@RadioamateurKjellSvendsen]

Everything in the very same place is the best? What about fire, war, eartquake, volcano an such? The only very long lasting thing we've got is the huge stone block buildings and deep stone carvings. Anything left under water or underground will be lost. At least to have it spread out over the world will delay the total loss. Maybe we should carve everything we know in stone nowadays, for the future archeologists to have a way of understanding our time of destroying all of the the healthy environment for them..??

[@goldcic]

Its mine. End of story. Mail it. ,🐣

[@alcapon-o3f]

I say it should be whoever finds it keeps it ! But just like in America anything over 100 years old the government can claim it I say that is not a good law , if people do find treasure in the US instead of keeping it in original form that opens the door to it being melted down so that to me is just dumb !

[@MODFrost]

not all golds from el dorado is not pure gold its range on 40-60% gold

[@andrewwarren9055]

I’d help any big investor find a treasure and a shipwreck that would be awesome and life dream come true, name the one I’ll find it LOL.....for an equal portion of it that is!

[@Mrz-sb1hw]

They should have split the treasure.

[@AConcernedCitizen420]

10 years?!

[@robinmorris8015]

No matter what, there will always be an argument. Spain stole a lot of treasures, and maybe they should be held accountable for their theft. All the way back to the Maia times.

[@samesryals6952]

Why the hell should it just be left there that is just stupid

[@BenSabersTV]

sorry but if it was so important then spain should have gone and got it. can't leave it for hundreds of years not do a single thing and when someone else foot's the bill and brings it all up then cry it's mine! you want it go get it! if you don't go get it then tough if someone else does. you lost out tough luck

[@davekeith576]

A poor country just locking this stuff away in a dungeon . Just keeping the people in poverty ,Is also a crime .Those in charge will most likely have a good wage paid for by the poor.

[@veedub2798]

If I find its mine idgaf who claims it. They want it then they can give me what it's worth plus the money I spent finding and collecting it. I'd hide it all

[@canwassefati5813]

How do you preserve something for future generations by leaving it underwater and eventually rot away, crazy let those who can recover them reserve some for museums while making profit, commercial fishing is destroying this treasures anyway

[@Archangel3083]

This is pretty stupid. You’re crapping on the people that did the work to find these things. You don’t put in the work or find anything and you’re criticizing the treasure hunters for finding treasure. If not for them you wouldn’t have anything but history records.

[@davidhakes3884]

Acadamia can Phk OFF, Finders Keepers.

[@alcapon-o3f]

You know what really chaps my butt is the archeologist act like there discovering an ancient world no one knows about .Lets be real you just want the claim and you want the glory to say I found the treasure . What kind of data can you get to help mankind understand from a pile of gold and silver laying on the ocean floor be real people !

[@terryakuna66]

If the gold should go to the original owner ... all that gold should go to the Aztec's which is now Mexico. Especially since we all know that gold was "stolen!"