Welcome to the Sub-aquatic Archaeology: how science costs millions, how a company could generate them. The argument comes up from the media importance got by the business of undersea archaeology during the last months following the Odyssey case: the Government of Spain lodged a lawsuit in the Court of Tampa, Florida, against the American company Odyssey Marine Exploration for the alleged plundering of the sunken treasures of the Spanish frigate, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, on the Andalusia coasts.

The reportage “Conflicto bajo el mar”/”Treasure Hunters” produced by Bocaboca that broadcast the last 3rd of August on channel 2 of TVE in its space “La noche temática”/”Thematic night” has the virtue of approaching the issue of the Odyssey case in a simple way by its protagonists. Filmed during the last year in various cities of Spain, Great Britain and America, it invites treasure hunters to speak. Similarly, due to this documentary, we come to know lawyers Paul Horan, who presented the new strategy of Odyssey, and José María Lancho, who responded with a legal maneuver (ratified by José María Moncasi de Alvear, a descendant of Don Diego de Alvear) dismounting the strategy.

It is a trip that will take us from Madrid to Andalusia and Cartagena, making us cross the seas to America, as our ancestors did in those galleons that today lie on the bottom of the sea. Thus, we will unravel the mystery of a boat, Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes, whose sinking generated a war between Spain and the United Kingdom that disrupted the situation of the international waters, and whose discovery can set a precedent that may definitively change this situation. Our argument line will include the archaeologists and adventurers, historians, professional divers, experts in heritage and museums, but we will also talk to entrepreneurs, managers of the Ministry and police agents.