Parents need to know that this educational/reality show about oceangoing explorers/treasuer seekers, while interesting, is more focused on how much money can be made on the finds than on their historical significance. The featured company has been in trouble with the law over what they've recovered, and the line between what makes a recovery appropriate vs. inappropriate is a little on the blurry side. But there's no language, sex, or violence to worry about, and tweens who dream of treasure hunting may find it interesting.
Positive messages:While exploration and the use of science are important elements of the show, the importance of the finds is almost always described in terms of monetary profit ("a billion dollars' worth of gold and silver") rather than their historical/educational signficance. The explorers do stay on the right side of the law, but the narrator mentions upfront that the crew members have been criticized as crass treasure hunters -- a criticism that goes unanswered. There also seems to be little, if any, concern about preserving the sites for archaeological purposes or reference to the fact that these were sites where human beings died.
The review that Common Sense has posted contains an unfounded smear against Odyssey Marine. Odyssey has NOT had "trouble with the law." There are other claimants to the very large treasure Odyssey found most recently, and the matter is being handled properly in the courts in a CIVIL case. Odyssey is doing things the right way. Spain illegally detained Odyssey's vessels and the vessels were released.
I have followed the Odyssey Marine Exploration company for more than fifteen years. This review is complete nonsense. If the reviewer were to pay attention to the show, he or she would have learned that this company painstakingly preserves the sites they explore, has close relationships with the archeological community and is keenly interested in keeping a database of information a lot of which is shared with the scientific community at large. In trouble with the law? Check again and apologize before you get sued. Never in its history. Is the company interested in profit making. Yes. Is that a crime, because if so, let's take a look at the oil companies who are amongst the most profitable businesses on earth and who also make their living off the ocean floor.
I have followed the company for years. It is an extraordinary company that looks for gold while preserving artifacts and history that would otherwise lie at the bottom of the Ocean. Odyssey Marine Exploration Co. has not "been in trouble with the law over what they have found", and this false statement should be retracted.