In recent years, cash-strapped governments have started looking to lost cargoes as a way to raise money. They do so because the latest generation of robots, lights, cameras and claws can withstand the deep sea’s crushing pressures and have opened up a new world of shipwreck recovery. The most recent discovery? A shipwreck off Ireland with an $18 million dollar cargo of silver.

Mark D. Gordon is president and COO of Odyssey Marine Exploration. He was aboard the company's flagship vessel, the Odyssey Explorer, when the first live video came up from the shipwreck site.