Treasure! - The Search for the Atocha

Stunning footage and a fascinating interview with Mel Fisher who found the ancient ship tell the story of the richest sunken treasure ever found!

Hey! Don't let riches go to waste!

I'm a person of color, so of course, I'm not cool with how 17th century Spaniards stole riches from Native Americans and used African slaves to do it. But still, if there's a bunch of silver, jewels, and riches lost at the bottom of the ocean, I say go find it and let's make use of it. So a guy named Mel Fisher, who has a deep chin dimple and a nice furry chest, brought together maritime experts and put years into finding the riches of a Spanish sunken ship.
This documentary is a nice mix of history, science, and maritime matters. This work said as soon as Mel Fisher began finding gold, Florida and the federal government wanted to claim it for themselves. Notice how they never argue that Spain or Cuba deserved the riches. The work never makes the connection, but this reminds me of the Californian Gold Rush. Once again, when one person finds riches, others come out of the woodwork and want to be down.
Sadly, actual lives were lost in this pursuit. The work shows that Mr. Fisher now has a museum in his name and this documentary does make me want to visit it. I wasn't pressed about seeing this film. It sat in a certain queue of mine for many months. Now that I have seen, however, I can say I enjoyed it and appreciated learning of this relatively modern expedition. In fact, I think viewers who loved 1997's "Titanic" and Clooney's "A Perfect Storm" will really like this. December 28, 2007

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