Huge discovery on Cooper's Treasure as deep dives put team in peril

Darrel Miklos using his arms to estimate the size of the grappling hook he found — Darrel Miklos estimates the size of one of the grappling hooks he finds on Cooper’s Treasure

Tonight’s Cooper’s Treasure on Discovery sees treasure-hunter Darrell Miklos and his team uncover a huge find which changes the whole direction of their hunt for underwater riches.

However, the search for wrecks — using maps drawn by astronaut Gordon Cooper from space — also lands them in extreme danger when they have to dive past the limits of their gear into very deep waters.

Watch our exclusive clip below as Darrell and recovery expert Eric Schmitt find two well-preserved iron grappling hooks on the seabed — which they date to the Columbus era.

They are overjoyed at their find, as they know anyone using grappling hooks would have been looking to try and recover something valuable from the sea floor — pointing at one of Columbus’s ships being in the near vicinity.

Two divers, one is Darrell Miklos, looking at something on the seabed — Darrell uncovers one of the grappling hooks hidden under the sand on the seabed

A picture of the grappling hook Darrell Miklos finds — The best example that they find, giving them high hopes a wreck is nearby

Miklos says: “They’ve been using grappling hooks as long as ships have been sailing. All the way back to the Pinzón brothers, all the way back to the 1500s — and the grappling hooks that we’ve found out here are of that period.

“The reason we’re so excited to find these grappling hooks is we know the people who are utilizing grappling hooks are trying to retrieve very valuable cargo.

“And we have tons of artifacts in this area which we believe are going to be directly related to the Columbus fleet.

“We’ve got one more big hit to dive on, and if she pays off we’re on the way to finding treasure.”

The episode sees Darrell and his team dive at several different locations they’ve identified around the Turks and Caicos islands.

They are looking for a large debris trail which they hope will lead them to a shipwreck buried in the sand.

We told earlier this month how the team uncovered an anchor which they believe could have belonged to one of Columbus’s ships.

But not all the dives are easy, with some seeing the potential wreckage perched on the edge of near sheer ledges on the sea floor — which drop off rapidly into the depths.

When dives get deeper the dangers rapidly increase. But can Darrell and his team stay out of danger?

Cooper’s Treasure airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Discovery.