Dive for America's Pirate Loot

Josh Gates returns to his hometown of Boston to chase one of history's most tantalizing maritime mysteries: the lost treasure of Captain "Black Sam" Bellamy and the Whydah Gally, the only confirmed pirate shipwreck ever discovered. In 1717, Bellamy commanded a fleet that captured more than 50 ships, amassing a fortune worth hundreds of millions in today's currency—over £20,000 in gold and silver, jewels, and ornate artifacts. But a savage nor'easter off Cape Cod destroyed the Whydah, killing Bellamy and 180 crew members and scattering the loot across underwater sandbars. Gates joins underwater explorer Barry Clifford's high-tech recovery team to dive the frigid, shark-patrolled waters and follow a newly discovered debris trail that may lead to the ship's stern castle, where the richest treasures would have been stored.

Mainstream archaeology confirms Bellamy's reputation as the "Prince of Pirates"—an English sailor who terrified enemies into surrender through threat rather than violence, offered equal shares to his crew, and even welcomed freed slaves aboard. His story remained local legend until the early 1980s, when Clifford used an 18th-century map drawn by cartographer Cyprian Southack to locate the wreck site. Nearly four decades of excavation have recovered only a fraction of the treasure, making this ongoing mission both scientifically significant and thrilling. The episode delivers genuine stakes as Gates encounters gold bars and coins embedded in artifacts, all while contending with dangerous conditions and what the team calls "Black Bellamy's Curse"—the closer they get, the further the prize seems.