Jesse Nilsson died from pneumonia related heart failure on April 25, 2003 in North York, Ontario Canada before the final episode was broadcast. A tribute was added to the last few frames of said episode: "In memory of Jesse Nilsson 1977-2003." Nilsson's passing led to the cancellation of the series.
When filming in Canada, the show used the ship Vast Explorer and in Marseille Janus II.
The show has worldwide locations but being a Canadian/United Kingdom/France production, it was filmed firstly in Toronto, Canada; then the cast moved to Bristol, England, and finally to Marseille, France using local film crews and technicians. The worldwide locations were done by using establishing shots with Toronto standing in for many cities; Bristol stood in for London.
Judson Cross was originally Gale Ann Hurd's idea to be based partly on the real-life exploits of her close friend, explorer Barry Clifford, discoverer of the Whydah Gally (the world's only authenticated pirate shipwreck).