The Curse of Oak Island team has uncovered what could be some of its strongest evidence yet of the legendary flood tunnel system believed to protect the Money Pit.

Rick and Marty Lagina’s team made the discovery while excavating in the uplands near Smith’s Cove, an area already identified as potentially significant through seismic imaging.

The investigation quickly became dramatic when water began rushing into the excavation from below.

Marty Lagina joined Craig Tester, Jack Begley, Gary Drayton and Billy Gerhardt at the site after the crew noticed water apparently surging upward from the bottom of the hole.

At one point, members of the team described the flow as resembling a small geyser.

The discovery immediately raised the possibility that they had intersected part of the flood tunnel system that treasure hunters have tried to locate for more than two centuries.

Marty, however, remained cautious.

He noted that while there was clearly a large amount of water entering the excavation, the team could not yet confirm that they had actually found the main flood tunnel.

The situation soon became dangerous.

As the excavation continued, sections of the surrounding ground began to collapse.

Cracks appeared along the edge of the hole, while material sloughed away from the walls.

The crew eventually decided it was too risky to continue digging.

With the excavation becoming increasingly unstable, the team backed away and began considering how to stabilize the site before a larger collapse occurred.

Rather than sending anyone into the hole, the team mounted a camera on the arm of an excavator and lowered it into the excavation.

The footage revealed a large amount of buried timber.

Members of the team could see what appeared to be wooden walls or bracing extending through the ground.

Marty said the feature looked more like a tunnel than a vertical shaft.

Rick also noticed what appeared to be double-layered wooden construction in parts of the structure.

The possibility immediately raised another question: was the team looking at original work connected to the Oak Island mystery, or the remains of a later searcher shaft?

That distinction could depend on scientific dating.

The crew discussed sending recovered timbers for dendrochronology testing.

If the wood proved to predate the traditional discovery of the Money Pit in 1795, the team believed it would significantly strengthen the argument that the structure was part of the original underground works.

However, the investigation faced an immediate setback.

Work in the Smith’s Cove area had to be suspended because heavy equipment was scheduled to arrive to remove the massive steel cofferdam.

That operation meant the team would be unable to continue excavating the site for the remainder of the season.

Despite the interruption, the discoveries did not end there.

While investigating another timber-filled area near Smith’s Cove, the crew encountered a strange hair-like material mixed among the buried wood.

The team quickly suspected it could be coconut fiber.

That possibility was significant because coconut fiber has played a major role in the Oak Island story for generations.

Historical accounts describe coconut fiber being discovered deep in the original Money Pit in the early 1800s.

Large quantities were also reportedly found at Smith’s Cove in the 19th century, where the material was believed to have been used as a filtering layer above the famous stone box drains.

Those drains were said to converge into a larger flood tunnel designed to carry seawater toward the Money Pit.

Because coconut trees do not naturally grow anywhere near Nova Scotia, the presence of the material has long been one of the more unusual elements of the Oak Island mystery.

The newly recovered sample was carefully collected and sent for scientific analysis.

The team later gathered in the War Room to hear the results from geoscientist Dr. Ian Spooner.

The test confirmed that the material was indeed coconut fiber.

For Rick and Marty, the result was particularly important.

The discovery did not prove that the team had found the main flood tunnel, but it supported historical reports that coconut fiber had once been deliberately placed in the Smith’s Cove area.

Marty noted that while the team had previously uncovered numerous structures around Smith’s Cove, the presence of coconut fiber made this location different.

Rick described the material as one of the more distinctive clues associated with the Oak Island search.

The team believes the combination of buried timbers, heavy water flow and confirmed coconut fiber could point toward original underground construction.

If the structure can eventually be linked to the box drains or the flood tunnel system, it could help explain how seawater was directed toward the Money Pit and why generations of treasure hunters struggled with flooding.

For now, however, the evidence remains incomplete.

The buried timber still needs to be dated, while the unstable ground and scheduled cofferdam removal prevented further excavation during the season.

But the findings have given the Laginas a clear reason to return.

After years of searching Smith’s Cove for physical evidence supporting the old flood tunnel stories, the team now has confirmed coconut fiber, a substantial wooden structure and a powerful flow of water from underground.

Whether those clues finally lead them to the legendary flood tunnel remains uncertain.

But as Rick suggested, the team may now be closer than ever to understanding what was built beneath Smith’s Cove — and how it may connect to the Money Pit.