March 29, 2021
What The Curse of Oak Island is teaching us about treasures
Never 鈥 and this bears repeating, never 鈥 did a hesitant PhD student, who would go on to become a geoscience professor at Acadia University, dream he鈥檇 be digging for treasure on a cursed island off the east coast of Nova Scotia. Never.
Or that his professional expertise would net him an enviable role in a reality TV show seen by close to three million viewers every Tuesday night.
- Photo above: Fans who watch The Curse of Oak Island will recognize these familiar faces, from left: Craig Tester, Marty Lagina, Rick Lagina, David Blankenship, Alex Lagina, Steve Guptill and Ian Spooner.
But stranger things have happened on the wee island resembling a question mark that provides the setting for the History Channel鈥檚 long-running reality TV show The Curse of Oak Island. Its cryptic shape is telling, insist fans who have puzzled over Oak Island鈥檚 baffling treasure tale since . . . well, the late 1700s. The story goes that in 1795, Daniel McGinnis and two buddies were larking about on the island when they found a clay-lined shaft and two floors of oak logs. And so they began digging. And digging. And every 10 feet, they struck another log platform until, at a whopping depth of 98 feet (and many years later), the area flooded. That鈥檚 when the three men gave up.
Of course, fans of the TV show, now in its eighth season, know this chapter through the stories that two current-day treasure-seekers, brothers Rick and Marty Lagina, share week after week. And, because this is the History Channel, experts such as 草莓污视频导航 alumnus Dr. Ian Spooner, PhD鈥94, appear to help solve one of the longest-running treasure hunts on the planet. Theories of what may lie hidden in this formidable underground complex range from Inca gold and the booty of infamous pirate Captain Kidd, to even the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail.
鈥淚 suppose I鈥檝e become the swamp expert,鈥 says Spooner with a laugh. The environmental geoscientist at Acadia attributes his satisfying career to a chance encounter he had with 草莓污视频导航 geology professor Dr. Gerald (Jerry) Osborn, PhD. At the time, Spooner was working in the retail shop at Skiing Louise, 鈥渂ut had a feeling there was more academic time left in me . . . and then I really liked the research that Jerry was doing and the project he proposed to me so I left Lake Louise to work under Jerry for four years and got my PhD.鈥
With a busy summer graduate research program, Spooner could not commit to being a researcher on The Curse of Oak Island and had to turn down the first inquiry about being involved. 鈥淏ut in 2019 my schedule was a little more open and that鈥檚 when I realized that Oak Island is a great environment where science and a story have been stirred together,鈥 he says.
In these times, when so many people don't understand or trust science, whether it's climate science or social science . . . well, narrative stories can be critically important. And so I hope that people say, 鈥楬ey, science is helping find that treasure 鈥 this is kind of cool.鈥
For more than 20 years, Spooner has worked with various communities and believes 鈥渢hat, in many ways, the stories and the narrative that inform a site where you鈥檙e working can be as important as the data that you鈥檙e pulling out.鈥
So, what data or 鈥渢reasures鈥 have the Laginas, who were digging on Oak Island long before the producers of the reality TV show discovered them, actually extracted?
Discoveries prompt even more questions
So far, their bounty has included a latch (off a chest, perhaps?), a garnet brooch (could it be one of Marie Antionette鈥檚 lost jewels?), buttons and coins, an old ring-bolt, iron spikes, a stone carved with a coded message, and a chunk of coal that Spooner declares in one episode is 鈥渙ne of the most significant finds yet.鈥 That鈥檚 because, while the other artifacts might have more of a 鈥渂uried treasure鈥 esthetic, the coal is significant because the audience is left to ponder: where did the chunk originate and how did it get there?
And then there鈥檚 the episode in which Spooner himself is deep in the swamp, splattered with muck, when his steel probe clinks against something. The team keeps probing and clinking until they unearth a buried stone structure that is at least six by 18 metres long, which then appears to connect to a stone road.
鈥淪omething went on there that...,鈥 Spooner says, stopping for dramatic effect, 鈥渋n my personal opinion, is probably bigger than treasure. What鈥檚 there is an important part of Nova Scotia鈥檚 and likely Canada鈥檚 history.鈥
Sure, the focus might be on what鈥檚 affectionately been dubbed the Money Pit (where believers maintain that 拢2 million lies buried), but there are other shapes in the shadows that, for Spooner, are just as intriguing. Why was a road built across a swamp in the 1700s? Back then, most of the boats in this area were military vessels and belonged to the British, French and Spanish. If you wanted to get to shore, you had to build something you could drag your boats on . . . was that, indeed, the purpose of the road?
If Spooner and his students (who have been able to aid in the research) have questions, they鈥檙e certainly not alone.
Everyone wants to solve the mystery
鈥淚 get emails every day from people with theories they want the research team to consider,鈥 says Spooner. 鈥淚 think that's one of the most gratifying aspects to this project 鈥 emails that say, 鈥楳y dad and I have been interested in Oak Island for the last six years and here鈥檚 what we think . . . 鈥 It seems that families connect over the mystery . And, before we wore masks, people would stop me in a grocery store or the airport and say, 鈥楬ey, you鈥檙e the guy who鈥檚 investigating the swamp on Oak Island . . .鈥
鈥淧eople seem so invested,鈥 says Spooner enthusiastically. 鈥淭he least I can do is try to answer their emails and thank people for their interest.鈥
Having now appeared in 24 episodes, Spooner is listed on an internet movie database (IMDb) and spent two to three days a week in 2020, from May through November, on Oak Island.
Do not, however, confuse this for glamorous work. Research takes place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. often in the heat and goo of the swamp. 鈥淔or everyone, it鈥檚 a very long day and I鈥檝e been known to get a bit testy,鈥 confesses Spooner. 鈥淏ut when we鈥檙e all at dinner that night, or in the research centre discussing some new find, I see the camaraderie and co-operation it takes to do what we鈥檙e doing.
"It鈥檚 all about how people work together and how they share their ideas. It's not about confrontation, it鈥檚 about co-operation. There is a commitment to respecting each other and the different skills that everyone brings to the search. The hard work, respect and above all, perseverance that I saw around me has really made this experience rewarding.鈥
Spooner has also appreciated the chance to integrate his science into such a layered narrative. 鈥淚 think being a professor and conducting research in small communities has really helped me feel more comfortable in this setting,鈥 he explains.
鈥淲hen you're a teacher or professor in front of a class, and you鈥檝e got 200 people staring at you for an hour and a half, you must keep them engaged. It鈥檚 the same technique. I think that鈥檚 what鈥檚 made interacting with so many different people from so many backgrounds less stressful for me and maybe effective for those interested in what I am investigating.鈥
What's in store for 2021?
Will Spooner be back on Oak Island next year? If the search continues in 2021, the professor hopes to be back, but what Spooner is rooting for, eventually, is closure for the brothers, Rick and Marty. 鈥淲hat really went on there?鈥 ponders Spooner. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be a treasure, but we are all committed to understanding what really happened on Oak Island, 226 years ago. I want the brothers to have answers.鈥
Should the mystery, someday, be finally solved, Spooner may return to relaxing evenings on Mahone Bay listening to Jimmy Buffet on his 28-foot sailboat. 鈥淭he past two summers have been great, but hectic,鈥 he admits. 鈥淏y November, I am absolutely done. And I have responsibilities at school . . . I run a lab, write papers, work with graduate students. But one thing that keeps me going is that my involvement on Oak Island is finite. I honestly believe the research team is getting close to solving the mystery.鈥
When that happens, the grateful professor will still have his career, his family, boat, his band (he plays in a bluegrass band) to occupy his time.
鈥淔or years, I鈥檝e told people that teaching at university is a bit like preaching to the choir,鈥 explains the 59-year-old of his work as a professor. "But I鈥檝e always tried hard to preach to the congregation." He says his work on Oak Island has been an 鈥渋nteresting environment for me to ply my trade. On Oak Island, I鈥檓 communicating with such a diversity of people, with so many different perspectives; it鈥檚 an opportunity I never dreamed I鈥檇 have.鈥