The Curse of Oak Island: Good Info at the Mega Bin Area (Season 6) | History

NARRATOR: It is the start of a new and challenging year on Oak Island.
Craig Tester and Charles Barkhouse arrived at the so-called Mega Bin area, located some 600 feet northeast of the Money Pit site.
Now we don’t want that pipe to slide back to the…
NARRATOR: It was the same area where recently conducted seismic testing had identified a large and mysterious anomaly, and where veteran treasure hunter Dan Blankenship believed he had located a centuries-old latrine.

MARTY LAGINA: Dan’s latrine hole, to me, is way more exciting than anything that could be potentially imagined in the Money Pit. Because this is in an undisisturbed area from a searcher standpoint. If you’re going to dig a toilet facility in an underground chamber because men are working…

RICK LAGINA: Dan Blankenship came to an understanding, or belief, that there were tunnels and rooms associated with that area. So we believe it’s worth looking into, investigating.

NARRATOR: In an effort to explore a possible underground chamber, the team is using a process known as sonic drilling, which employs powerful vibrations to create a high-frequency sound capable of grinding its way through layers of rock and earth.
A coring barrel is then used to take samples at intervals of every 10 feet.
These core samples will then be transferred into plastic sleeves—

Just like making sausages.
Yeah.

NARRATOR: –so that they are scanned with a metal detector before being carefully searched by hand.

Hey, from seismic, we know about 50 feet is our target.
So we’re at 40, basically.
So we started looking really close from here on down.
Because seismic’s not that perfect.
Yeah.
So let’s take a good look.
Hopefully, we find something here very soon.
So we’re at 48, 53, 53…
Put the patient on the table, please.
I think I’m going to have to operate, Craig.
Go for it.
And look, that’s— that’s different.
It’s very dry.
Yeah.
It’s just sandy till…
So you get these— even within a major glacial phase, you’ll get slight periods where there’s been some, and you’ll get a sandy stream running down through, where all the material is down the strat.

To me, from a seismic standpoint, this may be the anomaly they were seeing.
It’s possible.

NARRATOR: Although it’s not uncommon to encounter a sudden change in soil from dense layers of clay to loosely packed sand, the fact that it occurs at nearly the same depth the seismic scanning detected a large anomaly is a troubling sign.
Seismic technology relies on the measurement of sounds to identify abrupt material changes below ground.
What may appear to be a potential chamber or void may actually be little more than a different type of soil.

Went from a very, very dense clay into a soft, unconsolidated sand.
And I think that’s what the seismic was seeing.
It was reflecting off when it went from a hard clay to a softer sand.

NARRATOR: Having found no sign of the massive chamber indicated in their seismic survey or any evidence of the underground structures reported by Dan Blankenship, they must now decide where to conduct further drilling in the area or move on to promising targets at the Money Pit.

Gentlemen…
Morning, guys.
Didn’t find anything that wasn’t geological.
Between 90 and 120, not?
Just different clays, sometimes some boulders.
But in general, clay— it’s almost the entire thing.
I think what they saw on the seismic is this sand interval right.

RICK LAGINA: That’s the problem with seismic.
It’s interpretative.
You know, it’s not a photo.
The data showed dense layers.
This less-dense layer that was interpreted as a possible tunnel and/or cavern or void.
Unfortunately, it’s not.
Disappointing, but, you know, now we know.
Every piece of information, good or bad, ultimately is good info.
So move on, unfortunately.