NOVA Online | Island of the Sharks

Explore the Island

callout: Benito "Bloody Sword" Bonito hid 273 gold-hilted swords, 783 gold ingots, and a gold crown studded with emeralds and diamonds in the deep jungle here.

"A sea full of strange creatures is the one that encircles this mysterious Isle of Cocos," wrote the Spanish pilot Johan Cabeças in 1529, three years after he discovered the island. Little did he know how right he was: only deep dives with scuba equipment have revealed the extraordinary degree to which Cocos' clear, tropical waters teem with sharks, rays, whales, dolphins, and other ocean-going creatures. The island itself has stories to tell as well. To explore Cabeças' "mysterious Isle of Cocos," both on land and beneath the sea, click on the labels on the map below.