The landmass that constitutes Oak Island off of the coast of Nova Scotia has several locations of interest on its 140 square acres. The island has long been a speculative repository of long lost treasure and artifacts, and it is the primary driving force of the popular reality television show “The Curse of Oak Island.” The group of explorers, archaeologists, and diggers are led by Marty and Rick Lagina, who have been relentless in their pursuit.
Locations on the island have designations like Smith’s Cove, the Hatch, Nolan’s Cross, the Swamp, and the infamous Money Pit. The Money Pit itself is subject to a great deal of speculation, as the crew believes that the lion’s share of supposed treasure is located either in or around the Money Pit. Even now, in Season 9, members of “Oak Island” have brought in serious equipment in order to plunge the depths of the Money Pit and the surrounding area.
However, what is the biggest issue with investigating the aforementioned site?
The Money Pit has been searched so many times that the ground is unstable
During an interview with Mike Morin on Frank FM, Rick and Marty were asked the about the shifting ground around the Money Pit, which made their Season 7 dig confusing and risky. Rick responded, “That is certainly part of it. The Money Pit has been riddled with holes, shafts, and tunnels. But more to the point is, we are, we have and we continue to realize that we don’t understand the Money Pit in its totality. In other words, a lot of the history of the previous, or activities of the previous searcher groups have gone unrecorded. And so we continue to be mystified trying to puzzle that out… That’s really what we struggle with in the Money Pit.”
The Money Pit has been the location of digs since 1795, and is a 100-ft shaft located on the eastern side of Oak Island (via History). Considering how many searches have occurred in the area, the ground itself was flooded and obscured in the 1960s, which makes the exact location of the original Money Pit hard to pin down. The Laginas and their crew have a general idea where to search, but due to the haphazard nature of the crews that came before them, the area is highly unstable and littered with left over materials (via History). This presents a challenge for “The Curse of Oak Island,” but one they are not willing to shy away from.