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.
