In this video, we’re going to take a look at the developments that took place in Season
7, Episode 16 of ‘The Curse of Oak Island’. But before we do, I’d like to ask that,
if you haven’t done so already, you please consider subscribing to this channel, which
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Season 7, Episode 16 of ‘The Curse of Oak Island’ begins in the Uplands area between
Smith’s Cove and the Money Pit, where Billy Gerhardt is busy uncovering what is believed
to be the remains of Shaft 5. While the heavy equipment operator goes about his job, Gary
Drayton scans the fresh spoils with a metal detector. Gary quickly comes across two large
iron spikes, both of which he dates to the 1700s. The narrator remarks that, if the artifacts
indeed date to the 18th Century, they were probably left by the builders of the Smith’s
Cove flood tunnel rather than members of the Truro Company, who constructed Shaft 5 in
1850. In the middle of the episode, Devin Matchett
of Delway Enterprises delivers an enormous excavator with a 60-foot-long boom to the
island. The treasure hunters immediately employ this machine in the excavation of the pit
in the Uplands area. During the dig, the hole begins to cave in, prompting the treasure
hunters to backfill the pit for safety purposes and agree to abandon the excavation for the
time being. Near the end of the episode, Craig Tester,
Alex Lagina, and Charles Barkhouse take the iron spikes found in the Uplands pit to St.
Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they show them to chemistry professor
Dr. Christa Brosseau. With the help of research instrument technician Dr. Xiang Yang, Dr.
Brosseau examines the nails under an electron microscope and finds that they both contain
phosphorus, which she says is an indication that they were forged sometime prior to the
1840s. She also states that old iron objects rich in phosphorous are commonly found in
Britain and Northern Europe. Alex Lagina then observes that, if the artifacts were indeed
manufactured prior to 1840, they may have been left behind by the builders of the Smith’s
Cove flood tunnel. When the rest of the treasure hunters learn of this development, they agree
that they ought to resume the excavation of the backfilled Uplands pit.
Near the beginning of the episode, the crew has a meeting in the War Room. There, Craig
Tester announces the results of the seismic survey of the eastern half of Oak Island carried
out by Eagle Canada back in Season 7, Episode 6. The seismic data indicates the presence
of an underground anomaly near the southeastern end of the Cave-In Pit at a depth of about
60 feet. The anomaly is linear and appears to run towards the Money Pit, evoking the
Smith’s Cove flood tunnel. Recall that, back in Season 7, Episode 2, GPR experts Steve
Watson and Don Johnston discovered some underground anomalies near the Cave-In Pit during their
ground penetrating radar scan of the area, one of them lying at a depth of 82 feet and
the other lying at a depth of 91 feet. A subsequent exploratory drilling operation (conducted
in Season 7, Episode 5) revealed the presence of four feet of sand somewhere between 99-109
feet below the surface- deeper, it must be mentioned, than either of the two GPR anomalies.
The narrator then reminds us that, back in Season 7, Episode 4, the team discovered fragments
of wood at a depth of around 52 feet in Borehole OITC-6, located on Smith’s Cove’s upper
beach. These fragments were later dated from 1735-1784. The narrator suggests that these
pieces of wood and the 60-foot-deep seismic anomaly located southeast of the Cave-in Pit
may both be part of the Smith’s Cove flood tunnel.
Throughout the second half of the episode, the Fellowship of the Dig drains and excavates
the Eye of the Swamp, determined to examine the stones that encircle its perimeter, around
each of which Gary Drayton discovered the presence of some mysterious iron objects in
Season 7, Episode 3. After finding what appears to be blue clay, the treasure hunters unearth
three large tree stumps, inside one of which an iron rod appears to be embedded. This find
evokes another discovery made in Season 4, Episode 3, when Tony Sampson discovered a
metal object encased in a large stump rooted to the floor of the Mercy Point area in the
Oak Island swamp. Sampson pried the object loose, revealing it to be a survey marker
placed decades ago by treasure hunter Fred Nolan. At the very end of the episode, while
digging at the centre of the Eye of the Swamp, the crew uncovers a stack of enormous boulders
comparable in size to those which comprise Nolan’s Cross. The treasure hunters agree
that they ought to have the formation analyzed by geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner.
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