NARRATOR: On this episode of "Destination Truth,"
Josh travels to Thailand
in search of a plant-like monster.
[ Screeches ]
Hacking through deep jungles,
the team discovers a deadly underground
cave where one misstep could lead to disaster.
Josh!
Next, Team Truth voyages to the island of Cyprus,
where an ancient sea monster
has turned into a modern-day menace.
In a high-seas adventure, Josh explores shipwrecks
where the monster might be hiding
and takes a daring leap in search of the truth.
♪
Hold on!
GATES: I'm Josh Gates.
In my travels, I've seen some unexplainable things,
and I've done some things I can't quite explain.
Aah!
Now I've pulled together a team
armed with the latest technology
in the search for answers to the world's strangest mysteries.
I'm not sure what's out there waiting for me,
but I know what I'm looking for --
the truth.
When cataloging a new species,
scientists start with the basics,
like plant or animal.
But in the jungles of Thailand, locals believe
in a creature known as the Naree Pon
that is both plant and animal.
The legend of the Naree Pon started as a Buddhist myth,
and though it sounds outlandish,
the story is gaining international attention thanks
to a Thai temple that claims to have the remains
of two actual creatures on display.
With recent reports of villagers
disappearing into the jungles after pursuing the Naree Pon,
the legend was ripe for investigation.
The Naree Pon appear to be part of the foliage around them.
This camouflage is an effective defense.
Hiding high in trees and deep in isolated caves,
their minuscule size also helps to keep them hidden from view.
When revealed, though, the animals clearly have
humanoid features, a feminine form,
and are said to make a high-pitched noise.
[ Screeches ]
According to eye-witnesses, these age-old
beings move with incredible speed and agility.
With an ancient myth, missing persons, and mysterious remains
to be investigated, I assembled my team,
and we packed up our gear in search of answers.
We boarded a plane in Los Angeles
and headed west across the Pacific
more than 8,300 miles.
We landed late in the evening, but, fortunately,
Thailand's vibrant capital is open for business 24/7.
We wasted no time and raced out into the night.
Okay, let's ride!
[ Tires screech ]
I don't think he should be doing 100 in this thing!
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Pedestrian!
I need a medic!
We're gonna die!
Whoa, that's the wrong side of the road.
Whoa!
♪
GATES: After our harrowing ride into the city,
we stopped to grab a bite to eat.
We've got ants. We've got beetles.
We've got grasshoppers.
Basically the cast of "A Bug's Life."
Sir, are you just frying anything you find
at this point, is that what's happening here?
Ryder, I know what you want.
You want the old flying cockroach.
Boom.
Chris: There it is! There it is!
Reminds me of my old apartment.
Used to wake up with these in my mouth all the time.
GATES: With our bellies full of bugs,
we made our way through
Bangkok's frenetic late-night scene.
You name it, they've got it.
They got it all here. They got cuff links.
They got pens. They have lethal tasers.
Anything you need, really.
One of the great things about shopping in Bangkok
are the stocking stuffers.
Like cool gifts like this.
That's like a stocking stuffer.
Oh, come on.
Oh, Ryder, that's hilarious.
Where's the key to this?
Ryder came up to me and put a handcuff on me,
and now she can't get it off.
Of course. Look at it. Shut up.
Ryder, before you make a handcuff joke,
you make sure you have a key that works.
Those are the rules.
Oh, did you feel that? It loosened a little bit.
Oh, no, it tightened.
Anybody have a hammer or a hacksaw?
[ Beeping ]
This is the most humiliating experience of my life.
Here, why don't you try it like this?
There we go, perfect.
Take your time.
I want you to know that I was not in a weird club
when this happened.
- Oh! - Thank you, folks!
Thank you very much. I'll be here all night!
- I didn't mean it! - I'd like to thank you.
No, it was great of you. I really appreciate it.
I didn't mean it. Good night.
Josh!
Anyone?
Can I get a little help?
GATES: With Ryder on time out, the rest of the team
and I headed in for the night after a long day of travel.
Early the next morning, we picked up a new ride
and hit the road.
We immediately embarked on a drive to the temple
with the strange remains,
located three hours to the northeast of Bangkok.
Upon reaching the stunning complex,
we were granted an audience with the senior monk.
I asked him about the mysterious Naree Pon in his possession.
How did the Naree Pon specimen that you have here
come to the temple?
[ Speaking Thai ]
There was a man, gave this Naree Pon to a monk,
and that monk passed that Naree Pon to this temple.
Do you think it would be possible for us
to take a closer look at the specimen that you have?
[ Speaking Thai ]
Yes, of course you can.
GATES: The monk led me to a chamber
where the Naree Pon were housed.
Since we were forbidden to touch or sample
these sacred specimens,
I'd have to rely on my photo evidence
for further examination back in Los Angeles.
[ Camera shutter clicks ]
Before leaving, the monk directed us to a remote village
where several men had gone missing
after searching the jungles for the Naree Pon.
He suggested we bring a unique fruit called noyna,
believed to be a favorite of the creatures.
So we traveled to a massive open-air food market
where unusual fruits weren't the only exotic offering.
It's just like when Ryder needs her lunch.
It's very dangerous.
Fingers intact, the crew and I got back to searching
for the mysterious fruit.
Unfortunately, we'd already forgotten its name.
I'm looking for this weird fruit.
It's kind of dark and bumpy. No?
Similar to this.
It's one of the rarest of all fruits.
This is the mustache fruit.
Yeah. Oh, yours is really coming in nicely.
Mah-shi.
Do you have any fruit that's kind of wrinkly and dried out?
It's like a dark fruit, you have it?
Yeah? That's it!
This stuff here. This is the stuff.
Ma'am, considering these are covered in flies
and nobody's buying them, I expect a hefty discount.
Fruit in hand, we hopped back into our truck and pressed on.
Getting to the isolated jungle village would be a challenge.
From Ban Pong, we travel by rail 200 miles northwest to Wang Yen.
Tickets for eight, please.
Rex and Chris did their best
to blend in with the other passengers,
and we even crossed over the most famous
overpass in Hollywood history --
the bridge over the River Kwai.
We eventually arrived in the town of Wang Yen,
but still had several miles
to go to reach the jungle village.
Rather than hike through the snake-
and spider-infested forest,
we opted for the only means of transportation available.
[ Elephant trumpets ]
♪
All right, everybody.
Saddle up! Here we go!
♪
This elephant is a lot less comfortable than the car seat,
but it does come in full leather.
♪
All right. Here's the village, guys.
Okay, how do you get off this thing?
Luckily, Rex had it all figured out.
Back on our feet, we met with a woman
who claimed to have seen the Naree Pon
just days earlier.
Still rattled from her traumatic encounter,
she agreed to tell us her tale.
Tell me about what you saw.
Last month, I go to the forest,
and then I see something under the tree,
and when I look closely,
nothing is human.
I think some kind of creature.
And do you think this is the Naree Pon?
Yes. Yeah?
I think so.
Have other people from the village seen the creature?
Yeah, some people in the village,
they go to the jungle, and they not come back.
GATES: The woman directed us to a section of the jungle
where she encountered the Naree Pon.
This area had several large caves
where the animals reportedly seek shelter.
It's steep in here, guys. Careful.
With the trail far too narrow for our elephants,
we headed in on foot.
After several hours of hiking, we had nearly reached
the caves said to be the home of the Naree Pon.
We were making excellent time
until we reached a tiny obstacle.
That's steep, guys. We're going to need the ropes.
We're going down the fast way, it looks like.
♪
Okay, Ryder.
I'm clipped in. I'm headed down.
♪
Pretty much a free-fall once you get over the lip.
I'm down.
Ryder, remember that time on the Great Wall
when you flipped upside-down?
Aah! Aah!
Don't do that.
Oh, boy.
GATES: There you go.
You got it, Ryder.
♪
Whoo.
You didn't have a lot of faith in me.
I had a lot of faith in you.
I knew you were going to come down,
I just thought you were going to come down a lot faster,
upside-down, screaming.
Ryder made it down safe.
Rex, I owe you 5 bucks.
With Ryder safely on the ground, the rest of the crew
and our gear quickly followed behind.
After a short hike, we reached an open area
and got to work assembling our base camp.
All right, guys. We got a good clearing here.
Doesn't look like it's going to rain.
We got a little bit of cover though, just in case.
Let's get base camp set up and start getting
all the gear strung out.
First, we installed a network of four infrared cameras
around the outer edge of the camp.
Next, we place multiple trap cameras that would fire
automatically should anything pass by their lens.
We also fixed three motion-activated sensors
around the perimeter,
creating a virtual fence around the base camp.
Camera three is up and running.
Copy that.
GATES: Tony would remain there and monitor the equipment
for unusual activity.
All right, guys. So here's the plan.
Look, we're obviously in a very remote location,
and what we're looking for tonight
is something really strange.
There's a very old myth about the story of the Naree Pon.
They say that it is like an animal, like a human almost,
but that's it's associated with trees, with plants,
that it is sort of a hybrid between an animal and a plant.
What makes it interesting, though, is that we have
these people in these villages
who claim that they're seeing something small,
humanoid, and plant-like running around these jungles.
We know some folks have gone missing.
So we have something more than a myth here now.
Let's get out there and see if we can put a face
on what it is that they're seeing.
I'll lead a team with Chris and Kyle and Allie.
We'll head along the cliffs
a little bit deeper into the jungle.
Ryder, you'll lead a team with Gabe and Rex.
Why don't you head down to the river, make your way along there
and see what you come up with in the opposite direction?
All right. Let's get ready. Come on.
♪
This was a trail, but it hasn't been used in a long time.
♪
No shortage of wild animals living in here.
I just really hope that we don't run across a tiger.
Looks like it opens up a bit here.
Canopy is pretty thick.
Not getting any starlight or moonlight at all tonight.
[ Insects buzzing ]
Hear that? Wow.
CHRIS: God, it feels like it's right here.
Does feel like it's right there.
[ Buzzing continues ]
Must be some kind of cicada, but never heard that sound before.
[ Buzzing continues ]
I got it on the thermal.
There it is. Just jumped down right there.
ALLIE: I just saw it. I just saw it.
You see it?
It's a huge species of grasshopper.
I mean, that was the sound that some of our eye-witnesses
attributed to a Naree Pon.
I mean, a very similar description.
It's going to be really difficult to distinguish
all these insects that we're hearing and birds
from what the eye-witnesses were hearing.
I think that the noise of the Naree Pon may not prove
to be the best way of identifying it,
tonight, for us.
♪
- Super dark in this jungle. - Oh, yeah.
RYDER: The canopy just closes out
any sign of moonlight or stars.
It's pitch black.
What do you think of the story of the Naree Pon?
The Buddhists really hold this story in high regard.
I mean, this is something that's been passed along for ages.
Then there must be some kind of truth behind the myth.
♪
Look out! Look out! Look out!
[ Gasping ]
♪
Look out! Look out! Look out!
What? What? What do you see?
Snake. Oh.
Oh, my God.
I don't know if I scared me more or the snake.
No, you scared me more.
Definitely me more.
Yeah, he's poisonous.
Oh, my God. All right.
Let's back out of here.
♪
GATES: Oh, wait. Wait. Wait.
I got something on thermal.
ALLIE: What do you see?
Buddha.
It's amazing. You find these little shrines and statues
all over Thailand everywhere,
out in the middle of nowhere, in tiny villages, jungles.
You got Buddha statues everywhere.
There's one here, one here, and this reclining one over here.
♪
Pretty steep cliff face.
Oh.
Big Buddha. Look at this thing.
It's massive.
They got a shrine here in this grotto.
Looks like it's just a grotto, doesn't go back any further.
Let's keep moving.
It looks like this trail head's along this cliff face.
♪
TONY: What is that?
Base camp for B team.
- B team, go ahead. - Hey, guys.
Are you guys anywhere near IR camera four?
We're pretty close. What's going on?
I saw something move past the frame on the right-hand side.
I don't know, it looked like, to me, it looked like hair
kind of passing through the right side of the frame.
You don't think it might have been
a spiderweb or something else?
No, it definitely didn't look like a spiderweb.
It's too thick to be a spiderweb.
You guys are near there,
do you think you can go and check it out?
We're going to head down there right now, Tony.
We'll update you as soon as we get there.
♪
There's the camera. Ryder, you check that side.
I'll check over here.
♪
RYDER: Do you see anything?
I got nothing, Ryder.
There's nothing around the camera
that could have made any other movement.
I mean, it's completely free of debris
or any branches or anything.
Rex for base camp.
Tony, we're down here at IR camera number four.
There's nothing near the camera.
There's no grass. There's no spiderwebs.
It's pretty much clear.
It's possible that maybe an animal
or something passed by the camera.
It's a possibility, you know.
We'll have to play back the tape and see what we can see.
Copy that.
What do you think about baiting it
with some of that fruit we got?
Yeah, absolutely. Local eye-witnesses said that,
if anything was going to bring out the Naree Pon,
it would be this fruit.
Tony, we're going to put the noyna fruit
in front of the IR camera.
Copy that, Rex.
♪
That's the best we're going to do for now.
Let's keep searching the area.
All right.
♪
Looks like headed up part of the mountain here.
Looks like a big rock face.
Coming to one of the cliffs like the one that we came down.
Oh, guys, we got a cave.
Pretty big opening, but it gets real narrow down inside,
really narrow.
I don't think these backpack cameras are coming in.
All right. I'll have to sacrifice
the thermal imager, too.
♪
Okay.
Josh for base camp. Come in.
Go for Tony.
Tony, we found the entrance to what looks like
a pretty substantial cave.
We're going to go in as far as we can and try to explore it.
We'll be in touch when we get back to the surface.
Copy that.
GATES: Here we go.
Looks like there's some sort of rough ladder system.
I don't know how strong this stuff is.
Be very careful.
Pretty roomy in this first chamber.
Ceiling doesn't look very promising.
These rocks are pretty loosely piled up.
Oh, we got some huge tarantulas.
ALLIE: What?
Watch your hands on the walls, everybody.
It's very narrow down here.
Be very careful.
♪
Looks like a little shrine here.
Buddha with some naga serpents.
The offerings are all dried up.
Oh, there's another Naree Pon figure.
Yeah, that looks just like the one we saw.
So obviously they believe this cave to be sacred,
and they're associating it with the Naree Pon.
Maybe it's an offering because they think it lives in here.
Well, we're in the right place, for sure.
Okay, another crude ladder going up here.
Follow it up.
I don't think anyone has been down in here for quite a while.
These ladders look pretty old.
They're not very well-maintained.
Air still feels okay.
Let's press in a bit deeper.
Looks like we're coming up into a big chamber.
♪
Huge room.
It opens up into a massive chamber.
Guys, look at this.
Look at the size of this room.
Geez.
I mean, it's the size of a concert hall.
I see a path down to here.
Massive drop, guys, to our right.
Be very, very careful.
That's certain death, right there.
Yep. Nice and slow.
This stuff is very slick.
I don't see any evidence of anything living down here,
other than a few bats and some creepy crawlies.
There's obviously no food supply down here.
I'm not seeing any waste material,
no evidence that something is living down here.
There's no fresh water in here, it looks like.
Let's try to get down to the bottom.
It looks like a big drop-off here.
Maybe we'll find something else down there.
♪
- Josh! - Aah!
Let's try to get down to the bottom.
It looks like a big drop-off here.
Maybe we'll find something else down there.
♪
ALLIE: Josh!
- Josh! - Aah!
I'm okay. I got my foot locked off,
but I got a drop under me.
Okay, hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
- You all right? - Yep.
GATES: I got it. Okay, I'm up.
I'm out. Whew.
Don't do that again. We got no radio contact.
- Okay. - You good?
- Yeah. It's very slippery. - Is your ankle okay?
I just lost my footing right here.
It's like an absolute Slip 'N' Slide.
You didn't twist anything?
No, I'm good. Let's keep moving.
I'm pretty sure we're in the fifth layer
of Dante's Inferno now.
Moving on.
♪
Another old wooden staircase here.
Okay. Everybody ready?
We go very slow, single file.
Okay. Don't touch any of the wood supports
they've used to block up the ceiling.
A lot more bats.
Some spiders on the stairs.
Just watch your hands on the railings.
Basically, watch your hands on everything.
Wow, look at this.
You good there? - I'm down. I'm down.
GATES: Okay, ready? Here we go, guys.
♪
Watch your head in here.
Right there! Right there!
I just saw, like, a shadow go behind those rocks
like an animal just moved back there.
Chris, see if you see anything over there.
I'll switch to the night-vision goggles,
see if I can pick it up.
I don't hear anything.
Standby.
♪
I don't see anything.
It was either a shadow, or whatever it was,
ducked down into that chamber.
Let's head down there, see if we can follow up on what it is.
♪
I don't see anything moving around.
Yeah, this chamber is a dead-end down there,
and this crack just goes down to nothing.
If I did see something, I don't know where it would've gone.
We followed it all the way down here.
Might just have been a trick of the light
or a small animal, I guess.
But I don't think it's anything the size of our Naree Pon.
Yeah.
Good news is we're headed back towards the surface.
Bad news is we're going back the same way.
CHRIS: I had a feeling you were going to say that.
Okay. Here we go.
With a long hike back out of the cave
and morning rapidly approaching,
we started back to base camp.
Then we'd head back to Los Angeles to examine our findings.
We reviewed every frame of our footage and determined
that the mysterious object seen in Tony's IR
camera was nothing more than an insect.
Our night-vision camera, while able to pierce the darkness,
did not reveal the animal seen scurrying
in the subterranean cave.
Since the centerpiece to the case for the Naree Pon
were the mysterious remains which we photographed,
we headed to the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History
to get the expert opinion of mammalogist Dr. Jim Dines.
GATES: So, Jim, my question is simple.
What is this?
I wish I could tell you.
You know, my first impression looking at these
is it's a mummified fetus.
But if you look... Some of the things
that are troubling are if you look
at what you would think are the arms,
it's kind of a proportional problem.
They're just not quite right proportionally.
How do we reconcile the head?
That's the hard part.
You know, it reminds me of dried pods
that fall off of trees.
And, in fact, that's what believers think it is.
Interesting.
They believe the Naree Pon is, you know, partially a plant.
So the fact that it looks like
that sort of supports their belief.
So can we determine what this is then?
Because we only have photographs
and we're not able to remove these objects
from the temple, it remains a mystery.
It remains a mystery, yeah.
GATES: Tales of the Naree Pon are
forever interwoven with Buddhist mythology.
And my instinct is to dismiss this story
as nothing more than just that, a story.
But there's just one small problem -- the bodies.
Locked away in a Thai temple,
these undeniably physical remains
are worshipped by the faithful
and cannot be identified by skeptics.
With so many hiding places crawling with so many strange
and sometimes terrifying creatures...
I think an animal just moved back there.
until we can definitively debunk these tiny corpses,
the case of the Naree Pon remains
ever so slightly open.
[ Screeches ]
The island nation of Cyprus floats
in the eastern Mediterranean Sea
just below Turkey and off the coast of Syria.
And below the surface of its crystal-clear waters
swims a mystery thousands of years old.
Ancient mythology is rich with tales of sea monsters
that dragged sailors down to a watery grave.
Now a recent spate of sightings has many terrified
that a timeless legend has re-emerged
as a modern-day reality.
Reports of a massive sea creature
dot the island's surrounding waters.
And though a local search party was formed to find the beast,
they came back empty-handed.
The greatest concentration of sightings occurs
near the town of Ayia Napa and Cape Greco.
As a result, the locals have dubbed this unknown
beast the Ayia Napa Monster.
We combed through eye-witness testimony
to create a 3-D animation
of this mysterious predator.
The Ayia Napa Monster is believed to find
haven deep beneath the waves
where it lurks in flooded sea caves.
It has a massive body with a shape similar to a crocodile.
Its back is lined with razer-sharp scales.
Powerful pectoral flippers provide unparalleled speed,
and the tail is said to deliver
a bone-crushing blow to its prey.
The carnivorous creature has a massive mouth
lined front to back with sharp teeth,
making it a lethal hunter able to strike with no warning.
With creature sightings on the rise, I assembled our team
and prepared to investigate this Mediterranean monster.
From Los Angeles, we flew nearly a third of the way
across the planet,
traveling 7,400 miles east to Cyprus.
Upon landing in the city of Larnaca,
we hit the baggage claim only to realize
that a good portion of our luggage
had apparently missed our flight.
Okay.
We got half the bags.
Well, big shocker. Mine didn't make it.
Well, we'll get you some skimpy bathing suit to wear.
During the investigation?
This is going to be the highest-rated episode ever.
In addition to Ryder's clothes, 13 of our equipment cases
also failed to arrive.
We're not in that bad of shape.
We have the cameras?
No. Wetsuits?
No. Scuba gear?
No.
Audio equipment? No.
None of that showed up. Tony, what do we have?
We have the medical bag.
Okay, so we have Band-Aids.
And aspirin. Mm-hmm. That's good. That's...
'Cause I do feel a headache coming on now.
Copy that.
GATES: The airline informed us that our gear
would most likely arrive on a later flight.
We were now traveling light and rolled out of the airport
and into Cyprus.
As usual, Ryder called ahead and booked us the finest
automobile our paltry budget could afford.
Speed limit is about 100 kilometers an hour here.
I better slow this thing down a little.
[ Squeaking ]
There we go.
That's perfect.
From the airport, we would sputter three hours
to the western corner of Cyprus
into the ancient city of Paphos.
Cyprus is the mythological birthplace of Aphrodite,
and from the rock-carved tomb
of the kings to stunning temples,
lavish theatres, and impressive harbor fortresses,
the entire island is an archaeological wonderland
befitting a Greek goddess.
We admired a few sculptures...
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Gabe, Gabe, Gabe.
This is a family show. Come on.
and the well-preserved architecture of the past.
Some of the craftsmanship here is incredible.
This is a genuine ancient Roman water fountain.
Mm.
The ruins here contain some of the finest ancient
mosaics in the world,
including, at the House of Dionysos,
a Roman villa that features
a mosaic of a Mediterranean sea monster,
perhaps a distant relative of our suspect.
After a little sightseeing, we crossed through
Paphos' open-air market.
Nautical legend, it seemed, was everywhere.
Gabe did his best to cash in with the tourists.
Excuse me, sir. You interested in a fishing trip?
No fish, you get your money back!
- No shirt? - You don't need to wear a shirt.
GATES: And we discovered that the Ayia Napa Monster
wasn't the only super-sized mutant in town.
Sir, this is the largest
cauliflower I have ever seen in my life.
What are you doing to grow these so big?
Good soil, huh?
This is a cabbage?
Are you... Like, what kind of soil
are you people working with here?
This is a squash.
It's out of control.
This stuff is coming from outer space.
Hey, Josh. Check out the lemons.
- That's a squash. - This thing is massive.
GATES: Finally, we picked up a few items for future use.
This is a cane.
It's got a flashlight and a compass.
It'll be, like, Season 19 and Ryder
and I are just hobbling along.
I think I see something!
Eh?
I said, "I think I see something up ahead!"
Why are we from the South now?
[ Laughs ]
GATES: Across town, we tracked down the woman
behind the most recent sighting
to hear her firsthand account.
So tell me about your experience.
What did you see?
[ Speaking Greek ]
One day, she could hear a loud noise.
She turned back.
There was this massive creature,
like 1 meter in width.
GATES: I believed our best chance of learning more about
the creature would be to drive
to the seaside town of Ayia Napa and interview the fishermen
who had regularly reported sighting the beast.
After a 5-hour drive
that spanned the length of the island,
we finally reached the city of Ayia Napa.
At the Maritime Museum, we marveled at ancient
sailing charts that depicted sea monsters
just off the coast of nearby Cape Greco,
as well as a reminder about real-world dangers
that cruise the local waters.
In the harbor, we met a local fisherman
who was convinced that the creature
was finding shelter in nearby underwater caves.
At Cape Greco? Yes.
And she's...
Yeah.
Paulos suggested that we explore the sea caves at Cape Greco.
Created through countless years of erosion,
this could be the perfect hideaway
for the Ayia Napa Monster.
But before we could search the caves,
we had to figure out how to reach them.
Boy, that is a little bit steeper than I was picturing.
RYDER: That is a long way down.
I guess we just take the express route.
Josh, I'd like to formally put in a request for a raise.
Request denied. Here we go.
♪
This is crazy!
Aaaaah!
KYLE: So, Josh, what's your plan here?
GATES: Well, we got to check out these sea caves down here.
I guess we just take the express route.
This is crazy!
Aaaaah!
♪
Once we took the plunge, we got to work scouring the caves
for any evidence of the creature,
searching below the water
as well as in partially flooded caverns above.
The water is definitely a lot colder.
It smell really bad back here, you guys,
but it's probably just rotting fish.
Not a lot back here.
Cave definitely goes back a ways but shallows out.
There's no way anything substantial can swim in here.
If our creature is alive, it isn't in here.
With our search of the sea caves complete,
we climbed back up the cliffs and headed to the main harbor.
I tracked down another fisherman who said his nets were destroyed
in a run-in with an unknown monster.
[ Speaking Greek ]
When something large comes in
and rips up the nets, what do the nets look like?
Can you describe it for me?
[ Speaking Greek ]
GATES: The fisherman's unexplained encounter occurred
just a few miles offshore, so we chartered a boat,
loaded up our equipment and headed out to sea.
So, guys, the plan is this.
We're going to head down the coast,
do a couple of daytime dives at these locations
where there have been recent eye-witness sightings.
Then we're going to make our way to Cape Greco, anchor.
We'll get ready for a night dive here,
We know there's a cave system that underlies Cape Greco.
We'll anchor the boat here and get ready to explore
these underwater caves.
Ryder, you'll man the R.O.V. from the surface.
Tony, you'll get base camp operational up here.
That sound good? - Sounds great.
We reached the area where the fisherman's nets were destroyed.
I quickly strapped on my tanks and hit the water,
searching for any signs of the Ayia Napa Monster.
Ryder and Tony would remain topside to operate the R.O.V.,
an advanced remote control submersible
that provided us with an extra set of eyes.
Josh, can you describe this site a little bit?
GATES: According to the GPS,
we had located a ship called the Zenobia.
The massive ferry sank mysteriously years earlier
and could be a perfect hiding place for a large animal.
I headed in for a closer look.
We have a really good visual on you right now.
How's it going down there?
Dwarfed by the 584-foot vessel,
we passed by her enormous propellers
and explored the eerie remains of the cargo hold,
which were filled with entire big-rig trucks
and massive containers.
After thoroughly searching the wreck,
I was running low on air and returned to the boat.
With the sun beginning to set on the horizon,
we fired up our engines
and headed straight to Cape Greco.
This stretch of the Cyprian coastline
is the epicenter of eye-witness sightings.
And with a massive network of undersea caves,
many locals believe the Cape is the home
of the Ayia Napa Monster.
Chris and Gabe would join me in the dangerous nighttime
dive in the labyrinth of caves.
Back at our floating base camp,
Allie would monitor the hydrophone
for unusual activity
while Ryder and Tony would continue to pilot the R.O.V.
♪
All right. I'm dropping the R.O.V.
RYDER: Okay.
Copy that, Josh.
We have you in position,
and we will maneuver the R.O.V. To the cave.
♪
Yeah, those fisherman today did say
that something was attacking their nets,
and they didn't know exactly what it was.
But if there's some other torn nets down there,
you guys might be in the right spot.
♪
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
I do not have control of the R.O.V. Right now.
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
I do not have control of the R.O.V. Right now.
Josh, right now I do not have control of the R.O.V.
Something is pulling and tugging at the R.O.V. Down there.
Do you have control yet?
I do, but whatever it was might still be around.
Yeah, sounds good, guys.
Why don't you make your way up?
Don't be sea cowboys down there.
We definitely want you to come up alive.
♪
Okay. Okay. Whew.
Ryder, did you see anything on the R.O.V.?
No, Josh. We didn't see anything from the surface.
Well, caves are empty,
and there's some big fish swimming around down there.
But so far, no sign of a sea monster.
Definitely some damaged nets down there.
Caves are empty.
We'll just continue the search topside.
After returning to the boat, we separated into two teams
and continued our search.
Rex and Chris hopped into kayaks to explore the exposed
cave openings along the shoreline
while Ryder, Allie, Gabe, and I headed
for deeper water in the Zodiac.
Pull up the anchor.
Tony would remain on the ship and monitor our activity.
No shortage of myths and legends
about creatures in the Mediterranean.
Certainly a lot of sea life in the Mediterranean.
You know, people could be seeing dolphins.
They could be seeing sharks, seals, large tuna.
I mean, all sorts of stuff
could be breaking the surface around here.
They got large eels.
But, at the same time, people have been talking
about strange animals in these waters
for thousands of years.
♪
Looks like there's a little opening here
to another cave system.
It's too small for our boats to get through.
We're going to have to get out of the kayaks
and do a little searching on foot.
What do you think?
Yeah, I mean, if something wanted to hide back here,
it could definitely remain back here
and not be spotted.
♪
[ Growling ] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
It sounded like whatever it was
came from this direction.
It goes back here.
- Again, it looks like a ways. - Yeah.
There's no way we're getting there.
No, you're right.
♪
Oh, stop the boat! Stop the boat!
GATES: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you got?
What do you got?
Shh, right over there. Right over there.
Whoa, coming around. Coming around. Here we go.
Hold on one second.
I saw a really big black shape, really long.
But that's it.
We cruised right by it.
♪
Whatever I saw was about half as big as this boat right now.
Ryder, I got nothing over here.
It was just a long, dark shape.
Could've been a shark or a dolphin,
but it was really big in size.
Thermal is clear.
♪
Definitely see some disturbances
at the surface, but it's just water.
I'm going to push forward slowly.
We should do a couple of wide arcs around this area,
see if whatever it is spins back around.
♪
Ho! Something on thermal! Something on thermal!
Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop, stop.
- What do you see? - Something just came up.
Something long and serpentine
just came to the surface and went back down.
Big, really big.
- What did it look like? - Thin and long.
It just came to the surface.
Well, I want to get that aqua cam
in the water now more than ever.
For sure. Let's get that camera in the water,
see if we can image down below.
♪
Okay. I'm just going to feed the line out,
see if I can get a picture.
I'm at about 50 feet.
Oh.
And that is the bottom.
A lot of sand, very little plant life.
No aquatic life.
Nothing swimming around at all?
No, nothing.
Let's get eyes and ears down there.
Allie, let's get that hydrophone in the water,
maybe we can hear something swimming around.
♪
Allie, what do you hear?
ALLIE: I'm not hearing anything.
With the waves and the chop, I'm just having a hard time
making anything out down there.
GATES: We scoured the area where Ryder and I saw
the unknown creature
but didn't turn up any further evidence.
With the night coming to an end, we headed back to port
and began the journey to Los Angeles,
where we analyze our findings.
We began by examining our underwater footage,
which revealed a stunning shipwreck and eerie underwater
caves but little evidence of a sea monster.
During our night dive, however, we did see something.
Our thermal imager appears to have glimpsed it
at the surface, as well.
Based on recent events in Cyprus and after reviewing
eye-witness testimony,
it is our belief that this leviathan
may well have been a basking shark.
These imposing but generally harmless giants lurk
in the open waters off of Cyprus
and can cause spectacular damage to fishing nets
when they approach the coast.
Then again, perhaps it is something else.
Marine monsters have been a fixture of every civilization
that ever sailed the high seas.
To the ancient Greeks who used the Mediterranean
as a vast highway, these creatures were a proxy
for all the mysteries lurking beneath the waves.
Thousands of years later, we have the same desire
to define the unknown.
But the ocean hides its inhabitants well.
And, in the blackest depths, there may still be discoveries
to be made.