https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/daffbbaa-ee5c-44d2-a7d7-41e3ae570cad Help us preserve, scan and post more rare and endangered films on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCddem5RlB3bQe99wyY49g0g/join Website: https://PeriscopeFilm.com This episode of "Danger is My Business", "Treasure Diver" dates to 1961. Here, host Col. John D. Craig joins diver Art McKee as he searches for a Spanish galleon wreck near the Florida Keys. Despite dangerous conditions and a near-fatal entrapment while using heavy diving gear, the lure of lost treasure keeps him determined. The story highlights both the risks and the enduring appeal of underwater exploration. Note: Arthur McKee Jr., known as Art "Silver Bar" McKee, was a noted Florida treasure diver and is often referred to as "the father of modern treasure diving" or the "The Treasure Hunter's Treasure Hunter." McKee pioneered salvage work on historic shipwrecks in the days before scuba diving became popular. He had a tourist museum called "McKee's Sunken Treasure" in Islamorada, Florida, that showed off treasure and relics recovered from the wreck sites of sunken Spanish Galleons. Col. John D. Craig was an adventurer, oil man, writer, soldier, diver, Hollywood stunt man, film producer, and television host. He worked in the commercial surface-supplied diving industry from the 1930s on, and filmed aerial combat over Europe during WWII. 00:00 Main titles. Explorers have searched the West Indies for sunken Spanish treasure galleons since the days of pirates. 0:52 Divers risk their lives for the chance to recover ancient chests of gold, doubloons, and pieces of eight. 1:40 Col. John D. Craig introduces Art McKee, a seasoned "treasure finder" who operates off the Florida Keys. 2:18 McKee begins a search at a Spanish treasure site in 40 feet of murky water. 3:10 A large encrusted cannon is discovered, a primary indicator that a significant ship's hull is nearby. 3:43 A pile of granite rocks used as ballast weights marks the likely location of the buried wreck. 4:01 McKee finds coral-encrusted cannonballs, suggesting the site has not been previously plundered. 4:18 Using a 200-pound commercial diving rig, McKee becomes trapped and nearly loses his air supply in a clumsy fall. 5:45 After a narrow escape, McKee realizes the heavy gear is too hazardous for this specific wreck exploration. 6:57 The site is believed to be the San Pedro, an early 18th-century galleon carrying silver coinage from Peru. 7:24 The McKee's "Sunken Treasure" Museum displays recovered relics from pirate strongholds and various wreck sites. 7:56 Spare time is spent breaking apart coral chunks to find hidden pewter mugs, plates, and coins. 8:07 Craig explains how silver coins turn into black "silver sulfide" unless electrolysis from nearby iron preserves them. 8:54 Gold coins remain bright and unaffected by salt water or coral encrustation over centuries. 9:19 McKee demonstrates that a 200-year-old wreck looks like a pile of stones and rotten ribs, not an intact ship. 9:51 The team switches to modern, lightweight scuba gear for better mobility and safety on the San Pedro site. 11:06 To avoid "modern pirates" watching from the surface, the team dives from a small skiff rather than their main boat. 12:04 The undersea environment is described as a fairyland of sea fans, colored fish, and coral formations. 12:27 Dangerous inhabitants like vicious moray eels and snapping barracudas are encountered during the dive. 14:24 The risk of losing track of one's air hose while musing over history is highlighted as a fatal distraction. 16:40 McKee uses a magnetometer, an electronic metal detector, to find gold or silver buried beneath sand and rocks. 18:18 A sudden dial movement on the magnetometer signals a "hot spot," and McKee begins wafting away sand. 18:54 The team finds a small pocket of coins and pewter bowls. 21:34 A strong signal leads to the discovery of a 75-pound bar of solid silver cast in the Potosí mines of Peru. 22:23 It is estimated that two-thirds of all New World precious metals were lost at sea, worth hundreds of millions. 23:38 While few find gold, the adventure itself is a lifelong reward. 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