Pirate Gold of Adak Island on Netflix has everyone glued. Whether you watch it for your love of adventure shows or as a mindless dramatic watch, there’s no denying, that the show has a certain attention-grabbing factor that is enjoyable nonetheless. So while you decide whether the show was scripted or not, we would like to introduce you to the cast members who made the series what it is.
In case you don’t know the premise of the show then, it shows that – Over the past one hundred years, caches of gold coins from the nineteenth century have been found buried on the remote island of Adak. The entire pirate treasure, most of which has not been found, has an estimated value of $365 Million. Mayor Thom Spitler thus assembles a team of experienced treasure hunters to search it and help the island’s development.
Pirate Gold of Adak Island Expedition Cast Members
Thom Spitler
Thom Spitler is the Mayor of Adak Island and the first person whom we got introduced to in the series. He hopes to permanently change this place by finding the hidden treasure. Being born and brought up here, to develop this place, he chose to run for mayor when the chance arrived more than ten years ago.
According to the show, the bombs were left behind, scattered across the island with no real records of their locations. This was where Thom’s expertise came into the picture. He is a bomb disposal tech with over two decades of experience, disposing of over 4000 rounds of unexploded ordnance.
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Thom used a specialized military-grade metal detector to mark areas that might have a bomb underneath, helping the rest of the team navigate the field safely as a result. Currently, Thom is still the mayor of Adak, in addition to holding a city council seat. However, his term as a Mayor would expire in October 2022. Would that affect the future of the next expedition?
Dr M Jackson
Dr M Jackson is an American geographer, glaciologist, and National Geographic Society Explorer. She is the author of the popular science books The Secret Lives of Glaciers and While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change. She mentioned in the interview on the show, that her father was a welder and frequently visited Adak.
And she had heard numerous tales from him about the locale and had fantasized about travelling there. Dr M Jackson’s knowledge of geology and how the environment changes through time was crucial to the team’s success. Her strategy based on logic and science enabled the crew to focus their hunting for the gold coins in a more focused location.
Brian Weed
Brian Weed was the Technologist or the gadgets guy in the team. He worked together with Dr Jackson in most of the investigations and made a pretty good team. His father worked in the transportation division of Douglas Island and would often bring him to work. That’s when he first became interested in exploration, at the 12-years only.
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Brian had been a prison officer in the past, but in 2020, he was retired. He had a show on the Discovery Channel and Travel Channel before taking part in Pirate Gold of Adak Island, but only one episode was broadcast. Brian was brought in because of his proficiency in using tools to search the subsurface for anything of value. He discussed discovering hidden gems throughout Alaska on the show.
Jay Toomoth and Burke Mitchell
Jay Toomoth and Burke Mitchell are native residents of the island and grew up there only. Not only was the former’s grandfather present when the first can of gold was found in the 1940s, but they also grew up looking at a picture of the same in one of their classrooms, which just fed their drive. Even though digging was banned, they would still go out with their shovels in the dark (secretly).
Their role in the team was of fabricators who can make you any machinery you want from scrap or scratch. They were the action guys of the team who would rather get the work done rather than sit and make strategies. Jay had completely opposite way of working than Dr M Jackson but on Burke’s explanation, he tried to co-operate efficiently.
Currently, they don’t live on the island but they are a seeker, wanderers and history enthusiast who successfully run their own businesses. Apart from these 5 major cast members, there are a few other cast members as well who only appear in a few episodes. The rest of the cast members include Jeff Wilburn as narrator, Jack Peters, Bruce Schindler, Scott, Chris, Emmet, Lisa, Matt and Kelly Turney.
Pirate Gold of Adak Island is streaming on Netflix.
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