Listen! The world is full of sounds. [Laughing] [Airplane noise] [Symphony tuning up] M any sounds are familiar to us [phone rings] and when they're familiar [phone rings] you know what to do when you hear them. [Phone rings] Hello? [Foreign language] Nature is also full of sounds. Though
these sounds may not be familiar to most people, they can be understood by other animals.
When you hear this [Thrush bird call], It's not just in noise; it has meaning that the bird is trying
to communicate.
In this case the Thrush is saying: hello, I'm here. I'm alright. Each bird can communicate several
different messages. For instance, the common Northern
Cardinal can say, This means, I'm hungry; the children are hungry; bring food.
In a Cardinal family, parents and young make this soft chipping sound to coordinate movements in vegetation
without giving their location away to predators. An adult male uses this
call to shoe fledglings away from a nest when a new brood of eggs hatches. And this male is singing to attract a mate. Of course, there are many, many different species of birds.
Each communicating with different sounds. Here for instance is a Swamp Sparrow singing for a mate. [Bird song] This trilled song is extremely
difficult to make. The healthier the male, the wider the
pitch range and the faster the trill.
So female Swamp
Sparrows can tell from the song which bird is in the best physical
condition and thus most desirable. [Bird song] Northern Mockingbirds know hundreds of
different songs. A typical male will sing one song three
to four times, switch to the next song without pause,
and so on for long periods. The more songs he can sing the older and
more established he is likely to be.
[Bird song] The song of the Veery is a haunting two-toned descending
spiral [Bird song] How does it do that? Birds can make such
complicated sounds because of the unique structure of their
instrument. [Music] We humans push air from along through vocal box call
a larynx that vibrates making a single sound. [Singing] We adjust pitch and tone both at the
larynx and by the shape of the mouth. [Singing] Birds have a similar structure, but it's
doubled.
The syrinx of a song bird has two membranes allowing it to make separate sounds at
the same time. [Bird song] Every species has its different physical
variation that helps it make it song. [Bird song] In the cloud forest of Central America, the three waddle Bell Bird makes itself
heard by swelling and contracting the muscles on its neck and back. Heaving its chest, opening its beak
incredibly wide, and releasing a "bonk" that can be heard
for more than half a mile.
[Bird song "Bonk"] [Bird song "Bonk"] [Bird song "Bonk"] The sounds that birds make also relate to their environment. A bird
who lives in open fields can have a fast complicated song like this Bobaolink. [Bird song] A bird that lives in a forest needs a sound that can project through
trees and branches; sometimes loud and piercing; [Owl hooting] sometimes deep and low. [Bird song] But where is the bird? Is it in a tree or on the ground?
Sometimes you can hear birds before you see them.
Sometimes your ears are better tools
in your eyes. Here in the rainforest branches are so thick that you can't
even see birds when they're flying. So we listen to know who's there.
There's this duet between a pair of Grey-breasted Wood
Wrens. [Birds singing] A Black-faced Solitaire whistles this serial song.
[Bird song] If you listen very carefully, you could identify more than fifteen
species here even though you couldn't see a single
one. [Birds singing] [Music] The same is true in your neighborhood. [Dog barking] [Cars, honking] [Birds singing] [Baby crying] Sometimes you have to use your ears to
know who's there. Like this Bluebird.
[Bird song] Some species don't even sound like birds. This is a cat bird. [Bird call sounds like a cat meow] You have to listen
well to hear the different types of bird sounds and just as you have learned
to understand that this, [Phone rings] means you should answer the phone. Or that this, [Sirens] means you should get out of the way, you can learn to understand the sounds
that birds make.
Like this scream of the Red-tailed Hawk which means, this is my territory keep
out! [Red-tailed Hawk call] When you understand these sounds you
know more about the world around you. It all starts with listening. [Various bird calls] [Music].
- Happy Earth Day to you. [Cheers and applause] I'm just curious, how many
of you here are from Earth? [Laughter and applause] A lot of people.
Lot of you. Welcome.
Lot of you. More than yesterday's audience.
[Laughter] I am a big fan of the Earth. The Earth and I
have a lot in common. We're made mostly of water, and every year
we both get hotter. [Laughter and applause] So...Yep.
[Cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] Earth Day happens every spring,
and today I want to talk about something else that happens when
the weather gets warmer.
Birds do it.
Bees do it. You and I do it.
Of course, I'm talking about accidentally running into
a plate glass window. [Laughter] My eye! I'm talking about mating,
of course, and one of the animals that
mates every spring is the panda. And there was a story recently-- About, I don't know,
couple of weeks ago-- Two pandas in China
who set the record for the longest panda
mating session.
Here's a photo of-- [audience laughter] I'm assuming the male.
He's smiling. [Audience laughter] The male panda, Lu Lu
and his partner Xi Mei mated for 18 minutes
and 3 seconds. So to the two pandas,
congratulations. [Audience laughter]
And to whoever is in charge of timing them,
gross.
[Audience laughter] Really? Usually, pandas only mate
for less than a minute, which is nothing
to be ashamed of, male pandas. [Audience laughter]
Don't worry about that. Enough about panda sex, though. Let's talk about some other
animals that are getting it on, and I'll give you kids
a second at home to get a notebook and a pen.
This is the spotted sandpiper
right here, and these birds are different
than most animals, because when they mate,
the female pursues the male. Now the female sandpipers,
they compete with each other, and that can lead to
intense fights between like five and six
females, all trying to win over
the one male. And when it happens in nature,
it's called polyandry, and when it happens on
television, it's called "The Bachelor." [Laughter and applause] Right?
[Cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] Let's move on.
Here's the next one. Oh, that's Channing Tatum.
[Cheers and applause] I don't know why he's in there. [Audience laughter] We all know how he mates:
beautifully. [Audience laughter]
All right. Let's look at the last one.
This is an insect, and it's called
the water boatman.
The male water boatman
has a special talent that he uses when
he wants to mate. Like the sandpiper, he sings,
but not with his mouth, and not with his hands, and not with his feet.
[Audience laughter] We've come this far,
I'm just going to say it. He has a singing penis. [Audience laughter] Here's how it works.
[Audience laughter] I don't know how it works,
but I'm sure we're all trying to imagine it
right now. [Audience laughter] The female water boatman picks
her mate based on whatever male water
boatman sings the best song. It's like they say: it's not
the size of the boatman, it's the song of the penis. [Audience laughter] What have we learned?
I don't know, but let's try to forget it
with this dance..
Would you like
some mustard with that ?
<I>[ Melanie ] No, thank you.</I> Why didn't Annie stay ?
Said something about going home
to take a call from her sister. [ Chirping ]
What's the matter
with them ? What's the matter
with all the birds ?
Where did you want this coffee ? Here on the table,
honey.
Hurry up with yours, Mitch. I'm sure Miss Daniels
wants to be on her way. <I>I think you ought to stay</i>
<i>the night, Melanie.</I> We have an extra room
upstairs and everything.
That road can be
a pretty bad one at night. If I go across to Santa Rosa,
I'll come out on the freeway
much earlier, won't I ? Yes, and the freeway
is much quicker. But she'll be hitting
all the heavy traffic
going back to San Francisco. <I>[ Chirping Grows Louder ]</i>
<i>[ Cathy ]</i>
<i>Just listen to those lovebirds.</I> <i>[ Chirping Stops ]</i>
[ Twittering ] Mitch.
[ Birds Screeching ] Cover your faces !
Cover your eyes !.
NARRATOR: All the commotion has
drawn other unwanted attention. Raptors begin to gather. Falcons and kites
watch on with keen eyes and carnivorous intent. And then it begins-- a spectacular aerial
battle of life and death, the hunter and the hunted.
Black falcons
swoop to the chase, attempting to single
out stragglers within the heaving mass. With dazzling effect, the
flock moves as a single entity, disorientating their
agile pursuers. The parakeets defensive
strategy holds for all but the weak and weary. Amidst the onslaught, the
parakeets must risk a drink.
Now, whistling
kites join the fray. Using a different strategy,
they target distracted parakeets on the water's edge. For the raptors, it's a
feast in the midst of famine. The patience of the
perentie is also rewarded.
He slinks in to capitalize
on fallen casualties. His adaptable diet
greatly increases his chances of survival. Like a passing desert
storm, the parakeets move on to the next watering hole. Peace returns to
the vast open land..
Today Jonathan investigates the amazing world
of suckers! Cephalopods! Welcome to Jonathan Bird's Blue World! An octopus is on the prowl, looking for an
unsuspecting fish to pounce upon. A cuttlefish is hunting with mesmerizing colors
to distract its prey. A school of reef squid hover in the water
column. What do these magnificent animals have in
common? They are all cephalopods.
Cephalopod means head-foot because this
animals head (the part with the eyes) is connected to its feet. The part out in front that looks like a head
is actually the body. And in fact biologists dont call those
things feet, they are called arms. So cephalopod is actually a terrible name,
but its what we have got.
Squid, octopods, cuttlefish and nautiluses
are all members of the class cephalopoda, but the really weird thing is that cephalopods
are mollusks. So they are related to animals like snails
and clams, which seems a little crazy. This is based mostly on their internal construction,
not their outward appearance. Perhaps the most obvious difference between
most cephalopods and other mollusks is the apparent lack of a shell.
The octopuses do not have shells at all. The squid have a small internal shell. Nautiluses are the only cephalopods with an
external shell. Nautiluses are found in the South Pacific
and Indian oceans, typically in deep water.
Cephalopods have well-developed nervous systems,
much more sophisticated than other mollusks. And they can be quite inquisitive. The cephalopod eye is one of the most notable
examples of convergent evolution in all of the animal world, because this eye evolved
from completely different ancestors than the eyes of mammals, yet it turned out to function
in almost the exact same way. Cephalopods, therefore, have extremely good
eyesight.
Of course the most well-known of the cephalopods
are the octopuses, named for their eight arms. They are masters of disguise, able to change
colors and skin patterns instantly. With no shell, or bones the octopus can fit
through tiny holes. They make terrible pets because they can escape
from virtually any aquarium! The octopus has a mouth with a beak used to
bite prey.
A hunting octopus often balloons over a rock
to trap a fish. Then it will use venomous saliva to kill the
prey when it bites. But the Blue-Ringed octopus of the South Pacific
has venom so powerful that the bite of this octopus is lethal to a human. The mimic octopus is said to mimic other animals
in order to hunt or evade predators.
This one has a convincing flounder imitation
going on, but its unclear how looking like a flounder is advantageous. It might just be the most efficient way to
swim and stay camouflagedconvergent camouflage if you will. A coconut octopus in Indonesia carries a shell
so that when the need arises, she can hop inside and hide. This clever behavior makes the octopus a tool
user, putting her in a category of animals considered more sophisticated and intelligent,
like monkeys and dolphins.
In the cold water of Puget Sound, a Red Octopus
is carrying a crab home for dinner, walking on the tips of its arms. That takes coordination! Nearby, a Giant Pacific Octopus breathes by drawing
water into its mantle, a cavity in its body and squirting it back out through a siphon. Not only does this move water over the gills,
but it gives the octopus the ability to squirt water. The siphon can be used for jet propulsion,
squirting an octopus away at high speed.
A reef octopus in the Caribbean not only squirts
away from me, but leaves a smoke screen behind in the form of an ink cloud. Squid and cuttlefish are similar to octopuses,
but their small internal shell makes them rigid and torpedo-like. So, while the octopus often crawls along the
bottom, the squid and cuttlefish like to jet. In the North Atlantic Ocean, Longfin Squid
cruise through the New England shallows.
But when they get annoyed by my camerathey
can produce ink too. More than 8 thousand miles away from New England,
the waters of the Philippines are warm and clear. After the sun goes down, a Flamboyant cuttlefish
comes out to hunt. While the octopus has eight arms, the cuttlefish
and squid actually have ten.
Eight of them are of the same length, while
the other two are extra long, and used to grab prey. These two additional arms are called the tentacles. Cuttlefish are often quite curious, and sometimes
come right up to my camera for a look. Their skin patterns change rapidly thanks
to skin cells called chromatophores.
At the New England Aquarium in Boston, theres
an exhibit where you can watch cuttlefish up close. And when you look carefully, you can see the
chromatophores working. At feeding time, the cuttlefish pay close
attention, and they turn on the camouflage. Then the cuttlefish strikes.
Even slowed down to one quarter speed, its
lighting fast. With a high speed camera, a flamboyant cuttlefish
blah blah In another tank, a Giant Pacific Octopus guards
it eggs. All cephalopods lay eggs to reproduce. Octopuses tend to guard their eggs.
Back in Indonesia, the Coconut octopus is
releasing thousands of baby octopus hatchlings from her clutch of eggs. She carried them around for months while they
incubated. Squid and cuttlefish do no such thing. The Atlantic Longfin squid lays its eggs like
most squidcigar shaped bundles of eggs attached to the rocks or kelp and left to
fend for themselves! The Flamboyant Cuttlefish eggs are about the
size of a pea--laid on a rock.
Soon a baby cuttlefish is born. The cephalopods are an amazing group of animals. Its hard to imagine such advanced animals
being closely related to such primitive mollusks as the conch. Cephalopods can change color and texture with
chromatophores, they have extremely sharp eyesight, multiple arms that are capable of
complex tasks, and they are clever enough to use tools! They are definitely one of my favorite inhabitants
of the Blue World..
We think of Birds-of-Paradise
as these visual, visually amazing creatures, but they use sounds. Its a jungle out there. When most people think of Birds-of-Paradise or look at pictures of them
or video, theyre not thinking about them as being interesting
acoustically. But yet, when you
step back and you bother to pay attention to sounds
of Birds-of-Paradise, you realize that the kinds of
sounds that the males make in courtship, or prior to courtship,
are nearly as phenomenal as the way that they look and behave.
This usually is something
that begins as a long-distance way of attracting females to
the display site, so males have a vocalization I always think of it
as their primary vocalization or their main territorial vocalization
or their main advertisement vocalization. And that's the one that we use even
as researchers or scientists or birders to locate them. Its the most conspicuous
thing that they do, and thats by design. Thats how the females
find them as well.
Then in the process
of courtship display, there's a whole range
of other sounds that are also given but they're much less conspicuous,
much less commonly heard by us. Sometime these are
the same sounds but much more commonly they're not,
theyre a totally different set. Just like all thirty-nine species look
distinct, they do all sound distinct. Now some of the ones that are more
closely related that also look more similar, they also sound more similar.
But when you find two species
that look extremely different, like a lot of Birds-of-Paradise
do from one another, they actually sound as extremely different
as they look. Even though there's a huge amount of diversity in the
types of sounds Birds-of-Paradise make, I would say most people still think of them as being these
more crow-like caw caw caw kind of sounds. And no doubt, a lot of
species do make a plain, not-that-interesting, sounding
kind of crow-like, squawk. Parotias do that, a handful
of other things do that.
But, that being said, the ones that do have
interesting sounds, they sound nothing at all like even a bird.
In fact, many of them don't even sound like things made by a living organism.
They sound like a sound that would be from a human machine. Several good examples come
to my mind as being the classic or the best examples of those
extreme sounds of Birds-of-Paradise. The Brown Sicklebill, in particular, makes this very non-bird-like
machine gun sound.
Another one of the greatest
sounds, is the male King-of-Saxony. It gives this very
unnatural sound thats just unlike anything you've heard before,
certainly coming out of the mouth of a bird. Then there are a number of species that
are kind of reminiscent of a bird-like sound. Some of these would be the Curl-crested Manucode, which in my mind often sounds
a little bit like a UFO landing.
And then things like
the Magnificent Riflebird, which has a nice
musical quality to it. Even though it's called the
riflebird, it doesn't sound like a gun. A handful of species have very
conspicuous non-vocal sounds that they make, usually in the context of
close proximity display to a female. The best examples of that are the riflebirds.
All three species,
when they lift up their wings and theyre moving them back and forth,
and the males are usually hiding their head
behind their wing. All three of them have this
sound that sounds like some kind of rustling fabric or paper. Swoosh, swoosh, back and forth, that moves
with the wings and that's actually being produced by the wings themselves,
thats not a vocal sound. The Superb Bird-of-Paradise
is another really great example where during the main display there's this
snapping sound.
He's doing something with his wings
and it looks like with his tail where hes moving
them out quickly, creating like a
whip-like "snap". I think the thing
that I find the most intriguing or
interesting about sounds of Bird-of-Paradise
is that for literally centuries, people have been
so focused on the way that they look, and that's obviously for good reason
theyre pretty awesome, pretty extraordinary. But sound is just another
extreme thing, just like the colors and the behaviors, in that they've evolved as much diversity in
the way that they use sound for courtship and for attracting females, as any other kind of ornament
that Birds-of-Paradise have. And thats what really
makes the sound special in Birds-of-Paradise..
Alright! This is John Kohler with growingyourgreens.Com
coming at you in HD from the backyard garden, and today we've got another exciting episode
for you. This is not a fun one, and this one's having to do with pests. Pests in your garden,
and one particular kind of pest you may be having, and I know I am. Now this stumped
for a couple days and I was like, 'what the heck is going on?' You know, and what happened
was this.
I simply came outside and these are my beautiful purple perennial tree collards
that under extreme conditions like the nice hot heat they do flower and go to bulbs and
seed, but that's alright. You can cut these guys off and they'll continue to grow and
I have let these gone to full term and flower, seed, and then produce the seeds and then
cut them back and then the pant continues to grow and this is simply amazing. So, this
year what happened was they went to seed and this year I came out and all the seed pods
are getting jacked up like, 'okay, John, what's going on? Usually at the end of the season
when the seeds are finally done and dry, the seed pods will bust open and fall and then
I'll have tree collards coming up my wazoo, but in this case the seed pods are looking
all green and they're all messed up and damaged,' and I'm like, 'man, what's going on here?'
And I couldn't figure it out until I was walking outside just the other day. So, actually let
me show you guys actually what I saw when I was walking outside.
So, now I'm about to
go outside and show you guys what those little spur dudes are going in my thing. Alright,
I got the zoom there. See that little sucker? Look at what that little sucker's doing. There's
a little bird, eating my tree collard seeds, little scumbag.
Look at that. He's snacking
out, man. That's a nice fat source for him. Totally eating it.
So, we're going to have
to prevent him from eating my tree collard seeds anymore. So, here's the damage to the
tree collard seeds. The birds basically peck these open like little pods. They eat all
the little beans out.
These're not even developed seeds yet, 'cause they haven't been out long
enough, but they're a high source of fat to the birds, and yes we can actually also eat
them. Wouldn't give us a lot of food. I'd rather save these for the seeds themselves,
and, you know, they're really tearing these guys up. I don't know if I'm even going to
have a good yield of seeds this year 'cause they really picked the majority of these guys
up, and, you know, now because it was highly damaged, I might not have any tree collard
seeds.
So, this is what nature does. So, we're going to have to be proactive and take some
steps that they cannot do this in the future. So, come back at you in a second. So, man,
isn't that incredible? You guys say the little bugger, man.
The little dude was eating my
seeds. I mean, it's all good. I'm glad I could feed nature, but, you know, he needs to be
eating something else, not my rare perennial tree collard seeds that rarely go to seed,
and these seed are quite valuable 'cause I. Want to save the genetic diversity to spread
those to other people so that they can also grow these cool plants.
So, I had to figure
out a solution so that the birds can't get in here to eat but also make in convenient
for me to still harvest my tree collards when I want to eat them. So, you know, I could
go out and buy bird netting, but that would be an expensive having to buy more stuff or
I could get hang some CDs, some compact discs, on string and that would kind of spin around
and that could kind of scare the birds because that would be good or you could take some
like milar film like milar balloon, that material, but it up into little strips and then tie
them onto places and that may blow in the wind and scare the bids and keep them away,
and while those methods may work, it doesn't really protect your junk in the trunk. I like
protecting my junk, especially if I'm playing sporting events, but anyways, we're going
to protect my tree collard seeds because they are important and they haven't even yet developed.
They're still babies and they're getting eaten. It makes me so sad.
So, let me next show you
guys how I'm going to protect my tree collard seeds with a cool item that actually I just
happened to save. So, now I'm going to show you guys how I'm going to protect my tree
collard seeds from getting eaten from the birds. I've got these bags here. So, what
these bags are.
They're poly bag and actually I get coconuts in these. I buy coconuts in
bulk in the husk, and I guess these bags are very similar to the bags you might bet a big
bag of potatoes or a big bag of onions, you know, or a big bag of oranges sometimes, but
this is like the super huge gigantic size. Usually the ones for potatoes or onions are
bit smaller, and I don't know where else you'd get these but I have these laying around because
I really don't like throwing anything out and that could be a thing, you know, if you're
gardening and you're single like I am, but it could be a bad thing if you're married,
so good thing I got a good big garage and maybe I'll even build a shed here to store
some extra junk, but hey, one mans junk is another mans treasure, and this today is a
treasure because it's going to allow me to save my perennial tree collard seeds form
getting eating by the birds, and maybe another solution would be to get a good cat. Anyways,
so, all we're going to do is take this big bag here, and as you can see there's the opening,
and this bag is so huge, it'll fit on me.
Stick 'em up I want all your vegetables. So,
we're going to take this bag and put all these stalks here that have the seeds growing, if
they have the leaves I'm not going to keep them in the bag 'cause I want to be able to
harvest those guys, and luckily most of the guys that have the seeds are to be segregated
out and I think they're right here. So, we're going o take these guys on plant and we're
going to bag it on up and to help inside this little bag here I've got a bamboo stick to
keep this straight. Hopefully that's going to allow me to put this on a little bit easier
so it doesn't collapse on me, and we're just going to go ahead and stick this all the way
in, just like putting a bag over your junk when you're going to use it.
So, the last
thing is we're going to go ahead and grab some string here. We've just got some twine.
Just going to go ahead and roll off a bunch, just break it off, and we're going to go ahead
and tie off the bottom. This is very important so that the wind doesn't blow this off and
the bids won't be able to actually get inside and then get up in there and have free reign.
So, we're just going to go ahead and pull this pretty taut. That's a cool word, taut.
I was taught a lot of stuff in school, but I'm also able to pull this taut and tie it
off.
Bet you didn't know I was an English major. Actually I wasn't an English major,
so don't learn English form me, just learn gardening. Alright, so we've got this taut
here. Just going to go ahead and put our string around and tie this guy off.
Alright, we're
all tied off and check it out, this is now my protected tree collard seeds. A couple
are sticking out here. They might be able to get to 'em, but that's alright. The majority
of them are going to be safe form the bids and I will be able to harvest them for my
uses instead of the birds eating them.
Another thing I was considering for, you know, mother
nature and for the bids, because it's really sad in this day and age that the birds have
to come to my garden to eat my perennial tree collards, I mean they are mineral dense mineral
rich with trace minerals, probably taste better than anything else they could find in this
big city, 'cause there's not a lot of nature that could feed the birds anymore, so I did
consider, you know, maybe getting a bird bath and actually a bird feeder to feed them and
supply them with food but then I don't want necessarily to encourage birds to come into
my place because when that runs out hey might come to my garden and eat and know that this
is a valuable food source for them. So, I. Don't really want to encourage them to come
so I decided to just wrap this up and let them find some place else to go. Another thing
that may happen that has happened to me before is that in the heat of the summer when I have
nice juicy plump red tomatoes, the birds are going to come and peck at the tomatoes.
Now,
they're not necessarily pecking to eat the tomatoes. They're pecking for the water. Tomatoes
are full of water, and that's why they're good for us, besides that they're rich in
other things like lipopine and other nutrients. So, you know, at that point I may just have
a bird bath to see if I could divert them, you know, to go to the bird bath instead of
pucking my tomatoes for the water, or I might just se these bags once again to cover my
tomato plant if they're small so that I can eat my tomatoes and not the birds.
So, you
know, the last thing I want to mention today is that there will always be creatures, pests,
whatever you want to call them, whether they're birds, alligators, lizards, moles, boles,
cats, dogs, rabbits, raccoons, anything, they're going to be coming at you to you're garden
to eat your stuff because you're providing them food, you're providing them gourmet food
that they can't get anywhere else. Some of the best stuff, especially if you're using
some of my growing practices including a lot of organic matter, the compost and some of
the trace minerals. Man, the foods really going light them up like it lights you up
when you're eating it. So, but there's always a way to keep them out.
Just be persistent.
Just use your brain and think of creative ways you can use to, you know, keep them out.
I wouldn't normally have to go buy some, you now, bird cloth or whatever, and that costs
some money, but I had these guys laying around and I always love to find reuses for something's
that I have saved previously. So, hopefully you guys have enjoyed this episode, you're
a little bit more motivated now to, you know, deter pests however you can. Once again, my
name is John Kohler with growingyourgreens.Com. We'll see you next time, and remember, keep
on growing..
Just once, I'd like to get out of LaGuardia on time. Well, you know the only way to get out of LaGuardia on time? Yeah, whats that? Fly out of JFK! Huh, funny... Take off fuel quantity verify. 19,000 Pounds required, we've got 21,048 on board.
19,000 Pounds required, we've got 21,048 on board. Radio: Cactus 1549, runway 4 cleared for takeoff. Cactus 1549 cleared for takeoff. Positive rate.
Gear up please. Gear up. Nice view of the Hudson. I'll never get over how beautiful it is up here.
Life's easier in the air. Yes, it is. Birds!!! Whoa!!! [Birds hitting airplane, engines catching on fire and shutting down] Oh shit!!! Oh, God. [Bing bong] Is this turbulence? I'll check with the captain.
Whats goin on? Its okay. Everyone, might be a good idea just to keep your seatbelts on. You got one rolling back. (Whirring and whizzing noise) You got both of them rolling back!!! Ignition start.
[Engine clicking] I'm starting the APU (auxillary power unit). Just double check your seat belts, please. Seat belts, gonna make sure your seat belts are fastened. Make sure your seat belts are fastened! Seat belts.
What do you think that was? Think it was a bird strike. Then we're going back to LaGuardia! Yeah... Get out the QRH. We've lost thrust on both engines.
Mayday Mayday Mayday this is Cactus 1549, we've hit birds! Maintain 15000, Delta 331. We've lost thrust on both engines. We are turning back towards LaGuardia. Okay, you need to return to LaGuardia? Turn left heading 220 Which engine did you lose? Both.
Both engines. SOOP! I have an emergency. What's the report? Both engines. What? Both engines gone, no thrust.
All right, LaGuardia says go to Runway 13 Tower stop your departure, got emergency returning. 1549 Bird strike. He lost both engines, returning immediately. Which engine? He lost trust in both engines, he said.
Cactus 1549 if we can get a few do you want to try to land Runway 13? We are unable, we may end up in the Hudson. I got an A320 diving for the River! Al, stack all the inbounds to LaGuardia. Put a hold on the tower, please! Come on guys, stay on point. What about over to our right? Anything in New Jersey? Maybe Teterboro? Teterboro Tower? I need a runway, Cactus 1549 needs to go to the airport right now.
Newark tower what have you got? Runway 29 clear and ready. Yeah, you need emergency landing? Yes. Okay, yeah, off your right side is Teterboro Airport. Shit..
Today, Jonathan visits the National Aquarium
in Baltimore to learn about the job of a Dive Safety Officer. Welcome to Jonathan Birds Blue World! Its November, and Cameraman Bill and I
are on a road trip, driving from New England down to Baltimore Maryland. Cameraman Bills driving! Baltimore might not be the first place you
would expect an episode of Blue World, but were here to meet an old friend at the
National Aquarium in the heart of the waterfront district. We pull up bright and early and head over
to the entrance.
The waterfall is an impressive first sight
inside the foyer, with its pool filled with salmon. The glass walls of this impressive facility
afford a gorgeous view of the city and harbor. The National Aquarium has a number of large
marine exhibits, like the Blacktip Reef Exhibit, looking like a coral lagoon underneath the
skeleton of a finback whale. Shark Alley contains several species of sharks
and sawfish! And there is a fantastic touch tank area where
guests can touch skates, horseshow crabs and even jellyfish.
Public relations manager Lauren Hartman is
taking me down to the diving area to find Holly. Holly! So good to see you! Welcome to the National Aquarium! Thank you. You are just in time for our dive briefing. Oh awesome, lets go.
Holly and I have been friends for more than
20 years, and she is the Dive Safety Officer here at the National Aquarium. So a lot of these are just trending ones. Zeke the Zebra shark is still in Q pool, okay. Hes off exhibit for time out.
Lady ray Today, Holly is giving the morning dive briefing
to the volunteer divers who will be cleaning the exhibits and feeding the fish. Her tail is healing actually really nicely,
we got a look at it the other day, okay? The Crooked jaw hogfish As the DSO (Dive Safety Officer) for the aquarium,
Holly has a lot of responsibility. So Holly, tell me about your job. What does a DSO do at an aquarium? Okay, so the general theme is: manage dive
safety operations for all--whether its on-site like aquarium exhibit diving, or off-site
which we consider field diving.
So, its safety, equipment, and training. Its putting on the manager hat. Here we interface with the husbandry team,
as far as how they work with our volunteer divers, because the volunteer divers help
feed and clean the exhibit. Probably our biggest customer is husbandry
but we work with media relations folks.
Well work with philanthropy for VIP dives. We have a guest immersion program that we
share with an outside dive shop, which works really well for us here. So youre a manager, youre a trainer,
youre a dive buddy. But ultimately, DSODive Safety Officerhow
many divers are you managing the safety of here? Over 200.
Over 150 volunteer divers, soon to grow next
year with additional recruits. We have probably one of the larger volunteer
diver groups in the country for aquariums. Great, awesome. Well lets go diving! Lets go! Its always a little bit weird, but really
exciting, to be putting your gear together in a hallway.
Im not out on a boat, Im in a building! Cameraman Bill and I will be joining Holly
on a dive in the Atlantic Coral Reef exhibit, as she does her daily inspection. This exhibit is a ring-shaped tank containing
over 1,000 fish. So where were going to enter today, is
this platform. The exhibit is 13 feet deep.
It always to me seems a lot deeper because
when you walk it, you have several layers. Thus spirals down to the Shark Alley Exhibit
and then it spirals down to underwater viewing for Blacktip Reef. Its a really cool system, its sort of
stacked. We suit up on the dive platform.
Next we drop into the warm 75 water. Talk about convenient diving! As I descend, the early morning vacuuming
team is just finishing up, pulling their hoses out of the water. Holly will lead me and Bill around the exhibit. The entire inner wall of the exhibit is glass.
The fish can see out just as well as the people
can see in. A Bonnethead shark catches my eye. This little guy is like a mini-hammerhead. A bit shy around our lights, but still curious.
On the gravel bottom, a stingray, and flying
overhead, a cow-nosed ray. These animals are fed every day by divers,
so they are not shy at all. A pair of porcupine fish are a type of puffer. They can inflate to the size of a basketball
if threatened, but they rarely need to do that in here.
Some of the fish are so friendly that they
come too close, blocking your view. This Hogfish wants some camera time, until
he is cut off by a Queen Angelfish! As Holly makes her way around the giant ring-shaped
tank, I follow behind, amazed by the size of it. With 335,000 gallons, this exhibit has as
much water as about 25 swimming pools! Holly is looking in every crack and hole,
because she is trying to find one of the moray eels which has been hiding for a few days. The two morays, known as Oscar and Felix are
known to vanish for days at a time.
The reef structure in the exhibit, while its
not living coral, provides the same kind of habitat for the fish that a living reef would. And as well, it has interesting features for
divers including a great swim-through, which makes it feel like an underwater playground. As we near the end of the dive, Felix is nowhere
to be found, but the tarpon wants some camera time. Soon our inspection is over and we have to
leave the best dive in Baltimoreclear and warm with no current.
Getting to dive here great fun. And I learned that you can start out as a
volunteer, and maybe if you stick with it long enough, work your way up to DSO..
From dropping turtles on peoples heads
to ripping their guts out, here are 10 of the most dangerous birds in the world. 10.) Red-Tailed Hawk
Red-Tailed Hawks are enormous birds commonly found across North America. It can often be seen perched on roadside poles
or soaring over open areas looking for prey from way up high. Hawks are some of the top predators in the
world and typically weigh between 2-4 pounds (0.9-1.81Kg) and have a wingspan of nearly
5 feet.
Hawks have exceptional vision and in fact,
a red-tailed hawk can spot a mouse from 100 feet high! Their eyesight is their main hunting tool
and they have over 1 million photoreceptors per square millimeter compared to us humans
who have about 200,000. Hawks can dive 150 mph through the air and
grab their prey either from midair or off the ground. It will grab its prey with its massive talons
that are capable of crushing small bones. They are keen and efficient predators but
arent ashamed at all about stealing food from others.
Of course they are extremely deadly to their
prey which ranges from everything from small mammals to birds, to reptiles. They are fierce protectors of their nests
and see humans as a threat. If you are caught too close to a red-tailed
hawks nest, it will swoop down and try to scratch your eyes out with its talons. A red-tailed hawk built a nest near a school
and several people were severely injured when they were gashed in the head by the hawks
talons.
Some PE classes were moved inside. 9.) Snowy Owl
The snowy owl is the one of the worlds most beautiful birds. They are known as being the one of the worlds
most northerly bird of prey although in these recent extreme winters we have had the past
few years, snowy owls have even been seen in New York City. These impressive birds breed around the Arctic
Circle in the tundra region.
They can easily survive in the lowest temperatures,
as low as minus 50 degrees. The snowy owl attacks its target very strategically. Their predator list is very short and consists
of Arctic foxes, Jaegers and wolves. The Snowy Owl is a very fierce protector of
its territory and it sees humans as a threat (as well as it probably should).
The thing with most birds of prey is that
they are pretty smart so they adapt their attack strategy depending on the threat. If the target is human, it may go after the
head and the eyes with its razor sharp talons, which can cause serious injuries. They will attack anything that is a threat
to their nest and territory without holding back. If this ever happens to you, protect your
face and run away!! The Snowy Owl typically weighs between 3.5
To 6.5 Pounds and has a wingspan of around 5 feet.
They are daytime hunters and usually eat any
small mammal they can find. An adult owl may eat around three to five
lemmings each day (1,600 per year). 8.) Bearded Vulture
The bearded vulture, also known as the lammergeier, is a pretty intense bird. It is a bird of prey and is known for its
unusual habit of dropping bones or freshly killed corpses on top of rocks to shatter
the bones so they can get to the marrow inside.
Its a little bit creepy as it also dyes
its feathers blood red with soil that contains iron oxide, making it one of the most feared
birds in the animal kingdom. There are people who believe that the bearded
vulture has carried away children for food, however this has never been proven. Its more its fearsome reputation that precedes
it. They can be found in Europe, Asia and Africa
and have a wingspan of about 6-9 feet.
Its name, lammergeier means lamb vulture
in German because that is what it was famous for eating. 80% Of the birds diet consists of bones
and bone marrow. After finding a picked-over carcass, the bird
will drop it from a tremendous height in order to bust it open. These birds are very little danger to humans,
except for their dropping technique.
Not only do these birds pick up carcasses
but they also pick up other animals like large tortoises. If you are around the area when the bird is
about to drop its dinner, you it could be seriously injured or even killed. It is said that the Greek playwright Aeschylus
was killed when a tortoise fell from the sky. Maybe the lammergeier dropped it.
7.) Barred Owl
The Barred Owl is another dangerous owl to look out for. These beautiful brown and white birds can
camouflage themselves quite well and you could walk right by one without even noticing. The Barred Owl is a large, round-headed owl
which is also widespread in North America and prefers to live in forests and woodlands. Its main natural predator is the great horned
owl and it will move away to another part of its territory if one is nearby.
The barred owls have a maximum wingspan of
about 4 feet. One of the most interesting things about barred
owl is their way of flying as they can fly noiselessly. However, this can make them especially dangerous
not only to their prey, but also to humans since you cant hear them coming. They swoop and attack the head of the target
with their razor sharp talons.
They will claw, peck and squeeze their prey
(or their perceived threat). They are known to cause serious head injuries
to humans, especially hikers. They are especially aggressive during nesting
season, like almost every other bird on this list. Barred Owls eat many kinds of small animals,
including squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, rabbits, and birds.
They hunt by sitting and waiting on an elevated
perch, while scanning all around for prey. They have excellent hearing and eyesight. Though they do most of their hunting right
after sunset and during the night, they are also known to hunt during the day from time
to time. 6.) Great Northern Loon
The great northern loon is a diving bird which you are probably familiar with.
They are a migratory bird that spends its
summers in North America and Winters in the South along the coast. SO whats the big deal about a bird that
looks like a duck? For one thing they have a dark side. They are known for harassing, attacking and
killing other waterfowl like mallard ducks. They will kill each others babies, and
even each other.
Nature is rough! Kill or be killed! They weigh about 8 to 12 pounds and have razor
sharp and pointed bills to spear apart the fish they eat. They are also known for their signature blood
red eyes and their eerie and haunting call. However, their red eyes are only present in
the summertime, in the winter they are known to have gray eyes. The great northern loons are not social birds
and you are most likely to find them hanging out by themselves.
While these birds are not normally known to
attack humans, it has happened. There are stories where these birds have mistaken
someone for a predator and stabbed them with their bill, once even killing an ornithologist. This was definitely a freak accident, like
the stingray that killed Steve Irwin but if you are not careful, it is possible for these
animals to hurt you. Admire them from a distance! It is important to note that deaths caused
by these birds are extremely rare and that as always, humans are much more damaging to
them than they are to us! 5.) Mute Swan
The mute swan looks like a very peaceful creature, since it is so graceful and beautiful, but
it is actually a very large and territorial bird so be careful! This is especially true during nesting season
when they become even more aggressive.Originally from northern Africa, swans were introduced
to the rest of the world where they have done very well.
If you go near mute swans and they feel threatened,
they will run at you with hissing sounds and strike at you with their strong wings. Considering their size and strength in their
wings, their attack could result in serious injuries, especially to the eyes. They can weigh up to 28 pounds with a wingspan
of almost 8 feet. There have attacked kayakers, swimmers, and
people just walking around lakes.
Michigan is having a big problem with these
birds because they are not afraid of humans and people often get into close contact with
them. As the population grows, so do the conflicts. They are also a danger to native wildlife
and are attacking and killing native birds. A kayaker in Chicago was killed when the swans
knocked him out of his kayak and blocked him from swimming to shore.
The father of two drowned to the shock of
witnesses and police. They are also known to have a great appetite,
eating up to eight pounds of food in a day. Mute Swans mainly eat aquatic vegetation,
along with some animal prey including frogs, tadpoles, fish, snails, mollusks and insects. These birds are also known to be some of the
heaviest flying and most intelligent birds in the world.
Studies have shown that they actually have
facial recognition so if you live in an area with swans be careful because it will know
who its friends and enemies are. 4.) Australian Magpie
Out of all of the dangerous, deadly, venomous creatures that live in Australia, the most
feared animal is the Australian magpie. This medium-sized, black and white bird lives
in grasslands, fields, parks and gardens across most of Australia. In the springtime (Sep and Oct for them) when
nesting period arrives, it is swooping season!! The magpies become extremely aggressive and
locals will start sharing online maps with nest locations so that the next person can
avoid that area!! Magpies will do whatever it takes to protect
their nest and because there are so many of them they are a huge problem.They will claw
at your head and face and try to poke out your eyes.
Cyclists will attach zip ties that stick up
on their helmet so the birds can still swoop, but wont get too close. Each year, Australians suffer from eye injuries
and will fall off their bikes, breaking bones and all kinds of things. Magpies are one of the most intelligent animal
there is and they are able to recognize themselves in a mirror. Because they are able to recognize faces,
they might attack the same person year after year!! Who are the most affected victims you ask? The mail carriers.
Some of them are attacked over 200 times a
day!!!! 3.) European Herring Gull
The European herring gull is a large gull found all over Northern an Western Europe
as well as in the UK and the Baltics. These birds have become such a threat to humans
because they are in such close contact with us and they tend to build their nests in urban
areas. Combined with the fact that they are very
protective of their territory means they have lost their fear of us and have begun attacking
with confidence. Their population has actually been in decline,
probably because of fish population declines but now they have become scavengers.
They are known for stealing food from not
only other animals but humans, which is when they will also attack with their wings and
razor sharp bills. You should keep a safe distance from these
birds because they attack in a team. If one herring gull is alone and being provoked
it will immediately call for help from other adult birds. Alfred Hitchcock vibes anyone? 66-Year-old Sue Atkinson was walking with
her dog when she was attacked.
She was left terrified with blood pouring
from a head wound. It is no joke! The Mirror is calling these gulls Britains
new Public Enemy N1 due to the increase in attacks. The seagulls are getting out of control!! 2.) African Ostrich
This is the largest bird on Earth and the only surviving and remaining ostrich species
in the world after the Arabian Ostrich went extinct. The flightless Ostrich might look comical,
but at 7 feet tall and weighing in at 240 pounds, it can be pretty dangerous.
A scared or angry ostrich can run at a speed
of 43 miles per hour (72.5Km), which also makes them the fastest bird in the world. Their legs are their main weapon. This bird has 2 toes on each foot, which measure
up to four inches in length. They attack humans when they sense any danger
to their young ones or to their territory.
Most injuries are because humans were provoking
the birds. Its strong kick can kill lions and other large
predators so you should avoid scaring an ostrich because if it really wanted to, it could probably
kill you too. A famous ostrich attack story involved Johnny
Cash who kept ostriches on his property. One was extremely aggressive to Cash swung
a large stick at the bird who ducked, and then slashed at his stomach.
He said that if it hadnt been for his belt,
he would have had his stomach ripped open. 1.) Southern Cassowary
This dangerous, flightless bird is native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and
Northeastern Australia. This black bird can weigh more than 130 pounds
and are about 6 feet tall. As you have already guessed, they are highly
protective of their territory.
They have razor sharp spurs and have the strongest
kick force of any animal. In 2007, this bird was declared the most dangerous
bird by the Guinness Book of Records. Each leg has 3 toes equipped with 5-inch-long
razor-sharp claws. So, a single strike from a Southern cassowary
could result in some broken bones, critical injuries, or even death.
The Cassowary will only attack if they feel
provoked and threatened. The way that they attack is one reason that
these birds are so dangerous because they tend to strike in both a forward and downward
direction, which makes it easier to get at your internal organs. Then they can also jump on their victim in
an attack like a velociraptor from Jurassic Park! In the end, humans have killed many more cassowaries
throughout history and we are more of a danger to them, than they are to us. Thanks for watching! Have you ever been attacked by any of these
birds? Let us know in the comments!! Be sure to subscribe and see you next time!!.
Hello kids! Won't it be great if we could just pack our
bags and keep flying from place to place? Hey, but you can't do that because
you don't have wings like me! Oh yes, you're right but there's
one major difference.. ..Between you and my friends out there! And that is? You're a Migratory bird, silly! Oops, why didn't that strike me? Doesn't matter! You go take your flight. And I'll tell my friends all
about birds like you! Aww! I feel so special, Dr. Binocs! Come friends, let's know more
about Migratory birds.
Zoom in! Migratory birds are those birds that
travel from one place to another.. ..At regular intervals over long distances. And they migrate to escape the cold
harsh winter weather.. ..In search of food and a warm cozy shelter.
There are various types of Migratory birds. Resident Birds! Pigeons and Doves are a good examples. These birds just don't migrate. They are able to find food and
warm shelter where they are staying.
We might not travel a lot,
Dr. Binocs but we do spread love.. ..All around, from place to place! Short Distant Migrants. Robins are short distant migrants.
As the name suggests, these
birds move only a short distance.. ..From lower elevations to mountain side. Hey, but don't you mistake
me for a nightingale.. ..I might look like one but I am not.
Okay? Oh, my friends won't! They are very
smart, aren't you guys? Medium Distant Migrants. These birds travel over distances
that cover several states. They don't really travel a lot but not
that they won't travel less.. ..Isn't it Mr.
Blue Jay? You seem to know me quite well, Dr. Binocs. But there's one more secret about me!
You wanna know? Sure, tell us! We are all waiting! I am quite mischevious, Dr. Binocs,
because I hunt more than I can eat! Long Distant Migrants.
These birds travel typically from
United States and Canada.. ..To wintering grounds in Central and
South America. The Artic Tern is an example
of Long Distance migrants. And I am the record holder for covering the
longest distance of 44,000 miles! Oh my! That's huge! Just to let you know, the circumference
of the Earth..
..Is approximately 29,000 miles! So imagine how much these birds travel! Trivia Time! Before migrating, many birds
enter a state of Hyperphagia.. ..Where the hormone levels compel them to
drastically increase their body weight.. ..To store fat to use as
energy while traveling. And some birds also have the ability to
sense the Earth's Magnetic field..
..To help them navigate! So I need to travel now. Wait till I come back next! Tune in next time for more fun facts! This is me Fly... Zooming out!
Bye..
Coming up, Jonathan dives into the spooky
dark waters of a river in search of giant Megalodon shark teeth! Welcome to Jonathan Birds Blue World! The Great White Shark is one of the most fearsome
predators in the sea. Reaching the size of a large car, the Great
White is a formidable shark. But a few million years ago, there was a much
larger, much more powerful shark roaming the worlds oceans: the Megalodon. A present day Great White shark reaches 21
feet in lengththats about 7 meters.
It dwarfs a human. But the Megalodon would dwarf a Great White. Experts think they reached 20 meters! Which would make them the largest sharks of
all time. In the distant past when the Earth was hotter
than it is today and the sea levels were higher, Megalodon roamed the oceans feeding on whales.
Like modern sharks, they had a never-ending
supply of teeth. When they chomped a whale, teeth would break
off and sink down to the mud in the sea floor. Buried in mud under pressure, the teeth slowly
turned into fossils as minerals impregnated them. As the planet cooled down, sea levels fell.
Megalodon went extinct. As the oceans receded, untold millions of
fossilized shark teeth in the sediment washed into rivers. This particular riverthe Cooper River in
South Carolina--is one of the worlds most famous places to find Megalodon teeth. Cameraman Tim, field producer Al Bozza and
I fly to Charleston, where the Cooper River empties into the ocean.
Were here to meet Alan Devier, a world
authority on finding fossilized shark teeth. Just after sunrise, Alan is putting his boat
in the water at the local boat ramp. Were on a double missionto make a segment
about finding fossil Megalodon teeth, but hopefully also to find some of our own! The boat is a little cramped with all our
camera and scuba gear, but well make it work. We have a 30 minute run to the dive site,
so I use the opportunity to ask Alan about shark tooth diving.
The Meg tooth is the top collected fossil
in the world. If you go on eBay, theres literally thousands
of them for sale. Why do people collect these things? Something about a giant shark I think, and
being able to hold that tooth in your hand. You figure ten feet of shark for every inch
of tooth, so a six inch tooth would have been a shark the size of a school bus.
Thats almost hard to wrap your head around. You never know what you are going to find,
from fossils to artifacts. You find bottles from the early 1700s here,
pipe stems, arrow heads, spear points. Its like an Easter egg hunt with lots more
than Easter eggs.
Its an adventure, Ill say that. I love it. Its my passion. As we cruise through the chocolate brown water,
I cant help but wonder how Im going to dive in this river.
So Alan, whats the diving like? What are we going to do today? Were going to anchor and let you guys go
down the anchor line. Hopefully well have great vizwhich is
two feet maybe. Two feet is great viz? Two feet is great. Three feet is marvelous! Well get you to wear as much weight as
you can lift safely.
That will definitely help with the current,
and give you a screwdriver to use as a spike to stab into the ground to help pull yourself
forward. And try to put you on some good gravel beds
that have a lot of teeth in them. As we head upstream and the river gets narrower,
Im noticing not just the color of the water, but the speed of the water. I dont think I have enough hands to hold
my big camera, a screwdriver, a light and look for fossils at the same time! I need a gear reduction plan.
This is what I have been reduced to. Ive been shooting with a $50,000 RED, Ive
shot with 70mm IMAX cameras and on this shoot, Im shooting with a GoProwith a handle
though! It has a handle, so its going to be really
steady I hope . And youve got a viewfinder. Yeah, its got a viewfinder! Its not just totally shooting blind.
Cameraman Tim has decided to go hands-free. This is Cameraman Tim with the dorkiest, the
dorkiest-looking camera setup ever. Turn your head to the side. The mask chin strap, made from a mask strap.
Any port in a storm. Alan throws the anchor and we are ready for
some river diving! With a few last minute pointers, our team
is ready to suit up, and hit the water. I have to admit, Im feeling pretty nervous. This might be the murkiest water I have ever
been diving in.
This one makes me go right straight to the
bottom like a brick. Andits slimming! Whew, a little hot butoh yeah that light
is awesome. Ive got my light for hands-free fossil
hunting. And then Ive got this implementkind
of a rake thing, not only for raking but also for holding on, its my anchor.
Its like pea soup! I literally cant see my feet. I pull myself down the anchor line against
the current. Its really hard work. The water is brownish yellow and it gets darker
with every pull on the rope.
I cant see the surface or the bottom. The rope is my only reference. It doesnt take long to reach the anchor. Down here, its pitch black.
If I turn my light off, I cant see anything. Im waiting here for Cameraman Tim. Tim arrives shortly and we set off up stream
to find the gravel bed where the shark teeth are supposed to be. We can barely see each other! Were using old screwdrivers to anchor ourselves
into the bottom and crawl against the flow of the river.
We finally reach the gravel bed and start
looking for teeth. I see a lot of rocks, and some shells, but
so far no sharks teeth. But Im not really sure what to look for. Tim and I need to stay within an arms reach
distance or we will lose each other in the murk.
The diving is really spooky. When I see my first tooth, I realize that
they are pretty obvious. There it is! Half a tooth sitting right on the bottom! I put it in my bag and continue on. Bolstered by my newfound success, I decide
to try the rake.
But it really doesnt help at all. The nice thing about the current is the fact
that it will take away any mess I make. So I try waving the top layer away with my
hand. It works much better than the rake.
Soon I find another tooth fragment. Its half a tooth, split right down the
middle. After an hour of searching for teeth, Tim
and I surface. Neither of us found anything really spectacular,
but we got a feel for the process and got used to working in the current and limited
visibility.
Its so nice to see the sun when we surface! So this is kind of an unusual style of diving. First of all, the current is ripping. Were in a river and so the water is really
moving. So right now I have to hold this rope just
to stay by the side of the boat.
If I let go, Ill go sailing away. Then the next thing is that the water is kind
of like chocolate milk. You cantheres my fin. Heres my fin.
And as you put it underwater, you will notice
that it very quickly goes out of sight. And the fact is that I cant even see my
foot underwater. So, I would say the viz is aboutlet me
put my hand outI can just see my hand that far away. Its really murky! So when you are looking for fossils, this
light is really important because its right focused on the bottom and you have to look
at the bottom from, like, less than a foot away.
You just have your face jammed right up on
the bottom looking for the fossils. Its challenging! But its rewarding! Soon we are off to another spot in a different
part of the river. Everywhere we look, its beautiful. Next we suit up for another dive.
Ready? OK, here we go! Yeah! Its time to descend back down into the
darkness and get serious about finding some shark teeth! Uh oh, I need my lights! Its hard to believe that the visibility
could be any worse than it was at the last spot, but its much worse here! The visibility is measured in inches. Tim and I try to communicate by talking because
we cant see each others hand signals! Talking isnt working either! The good news is that Alan put us right on
an excellent gravel bed and this spot looks very promising for fossils. I immediately find a small but complete tooth. And then another.
They are not buried but sitting right on top. As the current moves silt downstream, new
fossils are always being uncovered. Im using Alans lucky pink catch bag
with the Velcro closure so I wont lose my precious stash! I find another half tooth. It has perfect serrations.
I have to wonder. Did this tooth break like this when the shark
lost it? Or did it break later, and the fossil formed
like this? Or did the fossil form and then break in half? We will never know. In the bag it goes. As I wave some silt away, I find a perfect
specimen! Its not huge and it has marine growth that
I can clean off, but this is great tooth! In the bag! Fossil hunting requires patience.
But its actually really peaceful and relaxing
to just work my way slowly and methodically over the gravel bed. The best technique is to work a grid pattern
so you cover every bit of the bed. And my patience pays off with a really big
tooth in perfect condition! This one is at least four, maybe even five
inches. Nowhere near the size of the biggest one Alan
has ever found, which was 6-3/4 inches! When I put this tooth in the bag, I double
check to make sure that Velcro is closed! I would cry if I lost this tooth! Alan, this was a great spot! I finally got something! Awesome! It has weight to it! Yeah! Oh wow! Oh nice! Huh? Whos the man? Thats awesome! I legitimately found those! We didnt even fake it! Thats great! Theyre not in the greatest shape.
Oh this one is. Which one? This one. Oh thats nice, Its got some barnacle
action. Its got some serrations too.
Thats a really cool position too. In the gravel? You must have been in a different gravel patch
than me. No, I was just there first! Wow! So I think someone likes this spot. The rake is just like 95% for holding on to
the bottom.
I didnt really rake that much. We find more than just Megalodon teeth. In fact there are shark teeth even older than
that. So Alan, what did you say this species of
shark was? Angustidens.
And thats pre-Megalodon? Two generations. And theres Chubb, which is one generation,
like the father to the Meg. And Angustidens which is like the grandfather
to the Meg. And you can tell that because of these little? Because of the cusps.
These cusps on the side. Wow, so that puts this at how old are we talking
on this tooth? Probably 20 million plus. Twenty million years old! Twenty MILLION years old! Look at that! And the serrations are still sharp! Wow, thats awesome. Nice find Al.
Thats nice. Thank you. And the three of these were clumped together
on the bottom. So were these three.
You know, I found the first one and I said
Oh, maybe there are some more around here! And so I just looked.. Its shows you this area hadnt been picked
over for you to find them in clusters like that. This ones still got a little bit of serration
on it. Underwater, I focused on digging, but back
on the boat I can really take some time to check out all the teeth I found, and its
really exciting, like finding them again.
So this ones over four inches. See the measurements on the bag? Yuh, oh so thats how you measure them. Well, that gives you a ballpark. Its not perfect because its a stretchy
bag.
Its over four, ha ha! Got one over four. This ones almost four. Well maybe if you measure the other side,
its over four. There we go! Ha! Always measure the longest side! Wait! This ones over four.
Ive got three of them over 4. On one dive! Thats pretty cool! In two days of diving with Alan on the Cooper
River, I find dozens of teeth, including three that are larger than four inches and one that
is larger than five. Not too bad for my first time fossil hunting. The Cooper River has been an awesome experience.
The diving is challenging. The visibility is bad. The current is a constant concern. But when you get on a prime gravel bed and
you start finding teeth, none of that matters.
The hunt for the next tooth is addictive. Sometimes the blue world isnt very blue
at all. But I cant wait to come back and do it
again!.
This time on Jonathan Birds Blue World,
Jonathan visits a submerged Mayan burial ground! Hi, Im Jonathan Bird and welcome to my
world! 66 Million years ago, an enormous asteroid
tumbled through space. Travelling ten times the speed of a rifle bullet, this celestial
missile was on a direct collision course with Earth. It smashed into Earth with such force that
it triggered powerful earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The impact threw a cloud of dust
into the atmosphere, cooling the planet and killing the dinosaurs.
The impact crater is located just north of
the Yucatan peninsula, in what is now Mexico. Around the outer ring of the crater, cracks
formed in the limestone, allowing groundwater to flow through, eroding into caves. When
a cave ceiling gets too thin and falls in, you get what is known as a cenote. The word
cenote was derived from the Mayan word tsonot meaning sacred well--A source of water,
and an entrance to the caves.
Fast forward to 2,000 years ago, the Maya
civilization dominated central America. They built their cities near the cenotes so they
had access to fresh water from what are essentially super clean underground rivers. Thanks to that asteroid, there are more cenotes
in this area than anyplace else in the world--thousands of them running along the rim of the ancient
crater. Its an incredible place for some underwater exploration! To begin our adventure, Cameraman Todd and
I fly down to Merida, Mexicoa city surrounded by thousands of mostly unexplored cenotes.
Our first stop, Freedom Divers, where I meet
owner Jeff Shaw, my host for underwater exploration. Jeff?
Jonathan! Hey, nice to meet you man! Nice to meet you!
Welcome to Merida! Thanks, ready to do some diving?
Lets go hit some cenotes! All right, lets go! We pile all our gear into Jeffs pickup
truck and drive south. We stop along the way, to pick up his friend Aaron Diaz, a local
cave diving expert, and a few of his local guidesElmer, Felipe and Carlos. We drive out into the bush and the road slowly
turns into barely more than a path.
Eventually the guides get out and use machetes
to clear the brush for the truck. At last we reach cenote Sha-An and the guides
start setting up. Looking inside the cenote, I can tell you this, I would not want to fall
in there by accident. The surface of the water is 50 feet down and the only way out would
be climbing a tree root! But its absolutely breathtaking.
This is going to be an adventure! Elmer, Felipe and Carlos are rigging some
ropes so that we can rappel down to the water. Meanwhile, the dive team is getting ready.
This is a full cave dive, with all the gear that requires, plus something extra. This is one of the unique pieces of gear we
are using todaysomething you dont normally see scuba divinga climbing harness. Ready
to go! With the ropes all set up, its time for
our team to rappel down into the cenote.
Jeff goes first to demonstrate. Next its my turn. While I have never started
a dive with a rappel, I did learn to rappel in high school. So I cant resist the urge
to show off a little.
The trees that we are rappelling down are
actually roots. They dont go down into the bottom. Once they reach the water, they
stop, with gap underneath that makes them look like anti-gravity trees! It takes a while to get everyone and their
gear down into the water. The divers can rappel, but all the tanks and cameras have to be lowered
carefully to us.
Elmer, Felipe and Carlos are working hard! At last with all of our gear, we can follow
the beams of sunlight down into the cenote. In the middle of the cenote is a debris pile,
principally made of the rock that fell when the ceiling collapsed, opening this cave to
sunlight. But towards the edges of the cenote, it gets deeper. Aaron leads the way to a permanent
guideline into the cave.
Soon we have passed into the cave, out of
sight of sunlight. We swim into a massive chamber, larger than
a basketball court. The water is crystal clear. At the back of the chamber, a passageway leads
into the wall.
As I approach, Aaron suggests I go first to get some great shots without
anyone kicking up the silt. I slowly head inside, not sure what to expect.
This is what I love about cave divingso much adventure exploring the unknown. And
there is something cool about swimming through a crack in the rock. I lead the way into a gorgeous passageway
that almost looks like a miniature riverbed, with pebbles paving the floor.
The white limestone
walls reflect my video lights, making beautiful illumination. In a few minutes, we reach an intersection and
Im not sure which way to go, so I stop and wait for Jeff and Aaron. Jeff gives us the turn around signthis
is as far as we go today. Heading back out I hang back a ways to get
some shots of Jeff and Todd ahead of me.
Working our way back towards the cavern, Aaron
removes a section of line he laid on the way in. Then we make our way back up into the
sunlit waters of the cavern. Jeff has found a cow bone in the debris pile.
Its not hard to image an animal wandering through the woods and accidentally falling
into this deep pit. Near the bone, the skull, complete with a few remaining teeth.
Finally we surface, and now the hard work
is about to begin. Woo hoo! To get us back out of the cenote, the guides
lower a rope ladder. Were not sure this is going to work, but
hopefully it will because were not very good at climbing trees! It looks like it will be easy to climb, but
I assure you, its not. First Jeff heads up while Aaron tries to keep it tensioned
so it wont flip around sideways.
Next its my turn. By halfway up my arms are burning
from the effort. Then its Cameraman Todds turn. Having fun yet? Fifty feet from the surface of the water to
the top of this cenote seemed like an eternity when I was climbing up and my arms were burning,
but it was so worth it! That was the most amazing dive! Not all cenotes are small holes with water
way down inside.
We take a walk through the woods to a cenote so large that it looks more
like a lake. And in a small town outside Merida we check
out the town wellwhich is just a cenote with a tiny opening. I would love to dive
in there, but they probably dont want a scuba diver in their water supply. Even today,
the cenotes allow access to clean, fresh water.
But to the Mayans, cenotes were not just sources
of water. Cenotes were also believed to be entrances
to the underworld--and therefore pathways to the Gods. In pre-Columbian times, the Maya people ruled
Central America. They built staggering cities, which included massive step-pyramids as temples
to the Maya gods.
They performed rituals that they believed would keep the gods happy--to
insure their good fortune. The Mayans would often throw offerings into
the cenotes to please Chaac, the rain God. Sometimes those offerings included human sacrifices. Would it be possible to dive in a cenote used
by the Mayans for human sacrifices? Thats where we are going.
Dont go away! Jonathans about to explore
a spooky underwater burial ground. Our team is piling into the truck and driving
back out into the bush to visit a very special cenote used by the Mayans for human sacrifices. We arrive at Cenote San Antonio. The opening
was enlarged and reinforced at some point to be rectangular.
But this tiny opening was
once an important place to the Mayans. So important that we had to get a special permit
to dive here. Once again our guides set up some pulleys
and rope to get us and our gear in and out of the cenote. It might be hard to believe, but this dive
is even more difficult than the last one.
There is no room for error, we will only get
one shot at this. Our team suits up with only a vague idea of
what we are going to see on the other side of that tiny hole in the ground. We start with a meeting to discuss our plan. Because of the way this cenote was formed,
it is safer to be lowered into it rather than rappel.
Aaron goes first. Once he gets down
there, I can see just how far down that is. I really dont want to climb a rope ladder
out of this. As they lower me into the opening and through
to the other side, I am swinging in free space as I descend, spinning with the rope! Im rock climbing! From down on the water, Aaron turns on a light
so I can see.
The room in here is massive! The ceiling is like a dome. You could never
climb out. This cenote is a deadly trap for anything that falls, or is thrown inside. Once Im in the water, I can see bats and
stalactites.
Soon, the guides lower the rest of the team,
tanks, and cameras--one at a time. Its a very slow process. By the time we
start our dive, I have been floating in the water more than half an hour. Im curious
though, exactly how they are going to get me out of here! But for the time being, I am ready with a
camera, lots of lights and my natural curiosity.
Aaron and Jeff lead us below. The sides of the cenote are covered in ancient
dripstone formationsformed probably during the last ice age when sea levels were lower
and this cenote was at least partially dry. The walls are made of sedimentary rock formed
from an ancient seabed. All kinds of shells are stuck in it, including this perfectly-formed
sea urchin skeleton.
As we drop further, I focus my camera on a
jawbone. Its the jaw of a horse, which probably fell in here by accident and drowned.
Nothing can escape this watery trap. Near the jaw, I find my first trace of a human
presencea broken piece of pottery. I have to get my head around the fact that this is
a pre-Columbian artifact more than a thousand years old.
Moving away from the walls and out into the
middle of the cenote, I find a bone. This is no horse boneits a human tibia, the
lower leg bone. And near it, the femur. Humans are buried here.
Not far away, a ghostly sighta human skull
resting peacefully next to a perfectly intact earthen bowl. At this depth in fact there are human remains
almost everywhere I turn. Aaron directs me to a field of human remains
laying out on the sand on the sand in plain view. This skull has its jaw sitting nearby.
Of course we dont touch or disturb anything.
Not only is this a gravesite, its part of an ongoing archaeological study. We can
look but we definitely cannot touch. There are easily dozens of bodies at the bottom
of this cenote, and I have to wonder what was happening here. Were these people sacrificed
to the Gods? Or were they simply people who died and were buried here? What amazes me about this place is the preservation
of the bones, which are at least 1,000 years old.
If only these bones could talk, what
would they tell us about life in the pre-Columbian Maya culture? Jeff and Aaron direct me to a shelf on the
wall at 90 feet. There, resting peacefully, the remains of two people. Did they know each
other? Is their proximity a coincidence? How did they get on this shelf? All questions
that will likely never be answered. Nearby, a jaw with molars that have cavities.
What can be learned of the ancient Mayans from clues like this? But not everything down here is about death.
This cenote has some of the most prolific cave fauna I have ever seen, including many
blind cavefish and a species of cave isopod I have never seen before.
With the dive coming to an end, we slowly
ascend and finally surface into the pitch darkness of the cenote. That was the spookiest
dive of my life and Im definitely ready to get back to the sunlit world above. Elmer, Felipe and Carlos have to lift each
of us, and all of our gear, out with a block and tackle. Its hard work and these guys
are stronger than they look! Hi guys! Thanks for hoisting me up! Merida Mexico is not particularly close to
the ocean, but the vast network of unexplored cenotes nearby and the rich Mayan history
of the area makes it one of the most fascinating dive destinations I have ever visited.
Without
question, Ill be back to explore more cenotes. Who knows what secrets they hold in their
deep blue depths..
(Lively symphonic music) - [Eddie] (speaking in a foreign language) - [Commentator] Okay,
before we go any further, this is a swiftlet. It's a small brown and black bird who's nests are a highly
sought after delicacy. Here in the Philippines, people
eat them in a soup called, well, Bird's Nest Soup. Typically, these nests are
found high, high up on cliffs.
Super hard to get to. - [Eddie] (speaking in a foreign language) - [Commentator] So when
these birds moved in, Eddie didn't kick them out, instead he gave them half his home. - [Eddie] (speaking in a foreign language) - [Commentator] So they
boil it, add some veggies, a bit of meat and voila: bird's nest soup. - [Eddie] (speaking in a foreign language) (lively piano music) - [Commentator] Understandably so.
Some people, they just
can't appreciate the smell of 80,000 birds worth of droppings. But Eddie and the swiftlets
have an arrangement. - [Eddie] (speaking in a foreign language) (harmonic dinging).
- I hate California. I want
to go to the east coast. I want to go where
culture is like New York. - How in the world did
I raise such a snob? - Or at least Connecticut or New Hampshire or where writers live in the woods.
- You can't even get in
those schools anyway. - Mom! - You should just go to city college. You know? With your work
ethic, just go to city college and then to jail, and
then back to city college and maybe you'd learn to pull yourself up and not expect everybody
to do everything-- - Lady Bird... Is that your given name? - Yeah.
- Why is it in quotes? - I gave it to myself,
it's given to me by me. - Lady Bird always says
that she lives in the wrong side of the tracks, but
I always thought that that was like a metaphor. But there are actual train tracks. - What you do is very baller.
It's very anarchist. - Put the magazine back. - She has a big heart, your mom. - She's warm but she's also kind of scary.
- You can't be scary and warm. - I think you can. Your mom is. - So you're not interested
in any catholic colleges? - No way.
I want schools like Yale,
but not Yale because I probably couldn't get in. - You definitely couldn't get in. - Does mom hate me? - If you're tired we can sit down. - I'm not tired.
- You were dragging your feet. - You are so infuriating. - Please stop yelling. - I'm not yelling.
Oh it's perfect! - Do you love it? - You both have such strong personalities. - When is a normal time to have sex? - You're having sex? - I'm ready. I just wanted it to be special. - Why? - You're gonna have so much
unspecial sex in your life.
- We're afraid that we
will never escape our past. - Whatever we give you, it's never enough. It's never enough. - It is enough.
- (Preacher) We're afraid of
what the future will bring... (Sirens) (preacher) We're afraid
we won't be loved... - You can't do anything unless you're the center of attention! - (Preacher) You won't be liked... - Yeah well you know your moms
tits, they're totally fake! - She made one bad decision at 19.
- Two bad decisions! - (Preacher) And we won't succeed. - I want you to be the very
best version of yourself that you can be. - What if this is the best version? - What I'd really like is
to be on math olympiad. - But math isn't something
you're terribly strong in.
Where we at bud? We're at Zealandia. What's Zealandia? I actually don't know, I think it's a Zoo. Haha, ready for a nature hike, bud. I am.
Good to go. Wow, this is gorgeous. Carrie I want you specifically to find the Kereku... Ke...
Kereru. The exotic cat. Hahaha. -Ah, yes, and...
-What the hell is that thing? -That's actually fictional Lord of the Rings, an Ururat. -Haha, I hate you. Yeah, baby. Yeah [HAHAHA] Get it.
What's the penetration situation like down there. -Ya there's a lot going on. Are they going to going to cuddle afterwards. Wow nature's beautiful O God.
Please watch your fucking... Haha, I'm trying to be a vlogger. How does Burnie do this shit? Oughrough Is that your call? Ohh, he's coming to shit on me. He does not like it.
He's like what did you call my mother? Oh look at you, do you know what the name of a bird looker is? No, what? I don't know, but if it's you it's an idiot! Hehehe... If there's a live bird crammed inside this box. I'm actually Gonna be more upset than impressed. Well, thank God for that Looks like they were getting it on and we interrupted them Takahe, it has a very sharp beak keep your distance Don't no don't don't.
No Kerry, I'm not goofing. Kerry, I'm not goofing with you right now. Well, nope nope. Go left Let's just keep our distance Wow, it's really pretty Have a good day.
Farewell... What's it like being the bravest man in the world? Pretty cool.... Oh shit watch it!!! Just kidding! Im just kidding...Hahaha This was worth it. Oh wow! Kerry home.
Hey Hey! Today on Jonathan Bird's Blue World A surprise visit to a Blue World fan's house! I got this! Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and
welcome to my world! ( Music ) Recently, I got an e-mail from
Chris Whitlock the father one
of my biggest fans: Jake
Whitlock. He thought I might be
interested in this paper Jake
wrote as a homework assignment.
It turns out Jake's biggest dream is go
scuba diving with Jonathan
Bird. Well, you know sometimes dreams really do come true. Boy
do we have a surprise for Jake
today! But first the production team
has to find Jake's house.
You
would think someone would have brought a GPS! Kat: "It's right here " Jonathan: "You can throw a golf
ball across it." Jonathan: How can we be lost? With me is Kathryn Apse, a
scuba instructor who
specializes in certifying
younger divers. Jonathan: Hopefully he doesn't
see us coming. That would ruin
the whole thing. (Knock on door) ( knocking on door ) Jonathan:
"Hey hey" "Hey" "Hey Jake" "hi" Jonathan: "How are you doing
man?" Jake: "Good! What are you doing
here? Jonathan: "I got this from your
dad.
This paper that you wrote
about scuba diving with some guy name Jonathan Bird." Jake: "Oh my God" Jonathan: "Yeah. So here's the
thing..." Jake: "He sent that to you?" Jonathan: "Yeah. Here's the
thing. In order for you to go
scuba diving with me you
actually have to become a scuba diver.
"OH" Jonathan: "So guess what I have
here. I have a special person
to introduce you to." ( Jake gasps ) "This is Kat. She's going to be
your dive instructor." Kat: "Hi Jake" "Hi nice to meet you" Kat: "Alright to get started
with the certification here" "Umm" Kat: You're going to have a
little bit of reading. -"OK" Kat: "Here is your own dive
book.
We're going to get
started on that and once we
start doing dives. Your own dive log book." "Oh thank you. So cool." Kat: "You better start reading
right away mister." "Yeah" "We going to do classroom
portion and then jump into pool
and do some work with you in the pool." "OK" Kat: "Alright. When you're good
and ready you take an exam,
you'll pass flying colors no problem.
Then we'll hop into
the ocean" "OK" We meet Jake's parents, and
fill them in on Jake's
adventures to come. But we're
keeping a few things secret! Kat: "We're going to read
through that book. There's
going to be a bunch of questions your going have to answer." "OK" Jake has been dying to go scuba
diving since he was four years
old, when he did this drawing! Jake's mom: "Yeah he's wanted
to be under water for a very
very long time." What Jake doesn't know is that
the surprises are not over. But
first things first.
Jake has to learn to dive. In the classroom, Kat teaches
Jake about diving physics, the
basics of the gear and how to untangle a regulator. ...And then she takes him to
the pool where he must pass a
swimming test. You can't really be a scuba diver if you can't
swim.
Kat-'Twirl around" She checks to be sure he can
tread water... Kat: "Clap your hands" Jake: "What?" Kat: "Clap your hands" ...And he executes a perfect
cannonball. I'm not sure if a
perfect cannonball is part of
the class though. Once Kat knows Jake is
comfortable in the water, he's
ready for his first experience breathing from a scuba
regulator.
Kat: "So where's your hand
going to be? There you go, get
your feet in the water. Makes it a lot easier." But as he discovers, just
getting into the water with all
that gear is a bit of a
challenge! And then the big moment. Jake
breathes underwater for the
first time. Next Kat teaches him to control
his buoyancy using a small ring
through which Jake must swim without touching the edge.
It takes him a couple of tries,
but when he finally gets
it...Time for a little
underwater fun! Kat: "So how did you like it?" Jake: "It was amazing!" Kat: "Yeah?" Jake: "A dream come true" To prove he actually learned
something, Jake takes the
written final exam and aces it. With the classroom and pool
work behind him, now Jake must
prove his skills in open water. He and Kat will do two ocean
dives in the murky Atlantic,
off the coast of Massachusetts. The water is chilly, so Jake
needs a wetsuit.
He struggles a
bit with putting on a wetsuit for the first time. Kat and I are suiting up too. Jake: "I can't even get this
thing on!" With his dad watching in
amusement, Jake finally squirms
into the wetsuit and he is
ready to tackle the North Atlantic. I have made my way to the
water, ready to film Jake's
first open ocean dive.
Jake and Kat take a dive flag
to let boaters know where they
are. There's a last minute adjustment underwater, and then
Kat tests Jake with a series of
exercises and drills. She wants to make sure Jake
knows what to do in an
emergency. There's even a moment to
explore some wildlife--a rock
crab desperately trying to get
away.
And then his first of five
checkout dives is over. Kat: "The sharks were amazing!" There were no sharks. Jonathan: "So that was your
first real dive. What was it
like?" Jake: "It was amazing.
So much
fun being down there, swimming
around being able to breathe, seeing the rock formations.
Underwater with all the sea
weed on the was really cool
cause you can't real see them from up
here, but seeing them down
there was really cool." Jake's almost ready now, for
his adventure diving with me.
But we're not going to do it in the North Atlantic. No,
we are about to surprise Jake
again. We hop a plane to a tropical
island with crystal clear
waterGrand Cayman! Grand Cayman is a world-famous
diver's paradise in the heart
of the Caribbean. We stay at Sunset House,
world-renown as one of the
ultimate hotels for diving.
And later that day, yet another
surprise for Jake. Jonathan: "Jake! Just the guy
we're waiting for! Buddy! We
have a huge surprise for you. I. Want you to see something
humungous.
Check this out! Jake: "Oh my GOD!" Jonathan: "This is a gift for
you. This is from Subgear, and
Diver Supply and Sunset House. Jake: "Oh my GOD!" Jonathan: "I'm going to
introduce you to Adam who's
going to tell you about what
you have just won." Adam: "Mask, snorkel, fins,
with booties for you. We've got
suit so you're not cold for your dives.
A BCD and regulator
and a bag to carry it all in." Jake: "Thank you so much!" Adam: "You're very welcome!" Jonathan: "That is cool. You
know what. This is unfair. I'm
the host and I didn't get
anything." Jake: "I'm the lucky one." Jonathan: "You ARE the lucky
one." Jake: "I'm the star." Jonathan: "This is cool." Jake: "My show now." Jonathan: "WOW! I'm out of here
( laughs in the background ) Jake it turns out is also a
runway model.
Equipped with his new gear,
Jake goes with Kat for his
final checkout dives right off the dock at Sunset House. In the crystal clear water,
Jake practices his skills until
Kat believes he is ready to go exploring. Then Kat takes him on his first
tour of the amazing underwater
world of Grand Cayman Island. Kat: "Congratulations Jake you
are officially open water
certified!" Jake: "Thank you so much" Kat: "Now let's go diving!" Jake: "Yeah!" The next day, we head out to
the reef for a real dive, and
now that Jake is a certified diver, we can dive together.
First, a briefing about the
dive site, then you be able to
see top of reef there lots and lots
of fantastic coral.
Jonathan: "Are you ready?" "A huh" Jonathan: "Let's do it. GO!" Jonathan: "We're alive" Jake: "Yeah!" The Cayman Islands are built
from coral, which grows on top
of an underwater mountain range. I show Jake the drop off where
it gets really deep. Then we head into shallow water
to explore some fun passageways
through the reef.
As we get ready to return to
the surface, a little
celebration. What started as a
dream in a school paper came true.
Jake is having a blast! The next day, I have another
surprise for Jake, which I give
him on our way out to dive a shipwreck. Jonathan: "Jake you've been
through a lot this weekend so
we only have one more thing to
foist upon you. (Laughs) This is going to
be fun.
You get as your final
gift..." Jake: "OHHH" Jonathan: "...An authentic pair
of Force Fin Pros. That's the
exact same model I wear. These are a gift of Bob Evans and
Force Fin. He's the guy who
makes these things.
You'll
notice he even signed it for you." Jake: "OOOHH" Jonathan: "Yeah! Those are
authentic Force Fins" Jake: "OOOH. Thank you so much." Jonathan: "You're welcome." Jake: "You have to thank Bob
for me." Jonathan: "I will and you can
try on this dive if you feel
like it" Jake: "Yeah!" Jonathan: "Living dangerously!" Jake: "After all I heard how
much better these are." Jonathan: "They are!" Jake: "I think I have to
definitely have to try them." Jonathan: "Much better." Jonathan: "All right! Let's go
diving." Our next dive is on a
shipwreck. First Jake and I
listen to the dive briefing. Divemaster: "The Kittiwake was
a submarine rescue vessel it
was actually sunk this year.
In January it took form 10: 00
in the morning to 2:00 in the
afternoon for it to sink and here it lies." Jonathan: "All right, let's go
find this wreck. You ready
Jake?" "Yes" Jonathan: "Let's do it!" Jake and I hit the water and
can't believe how well we can
see the entire wreck! The water is extremely clear! The Kittiwake was sunk as an
artificial reef in January of
2010. It hasn't been down very long. The ship was thoroughly
cleaned, all toxic materials
were removed, and dangerous pieces detached before the ship
was sunk.
It's still like new
though. It hasn't been underwater long enough to build
up much encrusting sea life. There is one homesteader who
moved in immediately though.
This Goliath Grouper just hangs
out here on the sand by the
propeller. He must be used to
divers because he isn't bothered by us at all.
The Kittiwake rescued sailors
from damaged submarines, and
much of its history is still classified. It's in only 67 feet of water,
an ideal depth for recreational
divers. It's so shallow at the top that even snorkelers
can enjoy this wreck! Jake and I swim above the
decks, exploring the ship,
imagining her secret past, the
sailors who served here, and the
adventures she had in the
service of the U.S. Navy.
Shipwrecks are fun to explore! In the Kittiwake's wheel house
Jake takes control of the ship.
He may have a lot more trouble with getting a drivers'
license than he did with a
scuba certification! And these jacks aren't taking
any chances either.
They're
getting out of the way. Jake, newly certified and
diving in the Cayman Islands,
truly is king of the world. We have one last treat for Jake
we can't pass up while
here--diving with the stingrays. Now there's two stingray cities
on the island.
We've got the
dive site, which we're on at the moment and the sandbar
where they take all the cruise
shippers. OK. So the sandbar is about 3ft deep and you just
paddle about and they just
brush up against you and all that sort of stuff. You don't
get a chance to feed them like
you do here.
OK. We got some squid and feed them. Most Stingrays don't readily
approach humans. But here on
Grand Cayman, years of fishing waste thrown overboard has
attracted them.
Stingrays are related to
sharks, but as you can see
they're quite docile. The defend themselves with a
sharp venomous barb at the end
of their tail, but they are rarely aggressive. This is what divers feed them.
Little pieces of squid.
Appetizing, huh? Sometimes you can lead them
around with your hand, kind of
teasing them until you give them the food. Jake discovers the trick for
feeding the stingrays.
You have
to put the food in your palm and let them do the work. It does
take some practice. Eventually Jake and I have a
stingray mini-feeding frenzy on
our hands. One of them develops a crush on
Cameraman Tim and won't leave
him alone.
I think Tim likes her! And so after the dive at
Stingray City, we prepare to
leave the Cayman Islands. And
would you believe it? Jake's school
paper, in which he dreams about
diving with some guy named Jonathan Bird, magically came
true. ( Music ).
