Original subtitles

That one's coming right at us.

Oh, this one's coming right at us, man.

Over here. Right there.

Right there. Right there.

Oh, wow, we got an orca right here.

Oh, there's the breach.

Did you see the breach?

Wow!

COYOTE PETERSON Killer whale.

Blackfish.

Orca.

No matter how you address this animal,

its name commands respect.

My entire life, I have had a fascination

with this majestic creature.

And I would often picture myself one day having the chance

to see them in the wild.

This is my account of that vision

taking shape and coming true.

All right, guys, this is it.

The moment that we've been waiting for.

The gear's loaded up.

It's time to hop on board and head out on the water

to search for orcas.

Hop on.

All right!

Ready to go.

Cool, let's head on out.

Let's do it. We launching?

Oh, wow, that fast, huh. - We're launching, oh yeah.

Here we go.

We've got to find the whales.

He said they're fast and they're far away--

All right.

- so we've got to get to them.

So how far are we going?

We're going a ways.

We're going close to 40 miles.

All right.

Papa Beau says we're heading out about 40

miles to search for the orcas.

Now, you may notice that the entire crew

is wearing red caps.

That's because they love the Wes Anderson movie, "Life Aquatic

with Steve Zissou," which is also one of my favorite movies.

So today, we've got kind of Team Zissou here.

This is Papa Beau, our captain.

- Welcome aboard. - Say hi, Beau.

Yeah, welcome aboard.

We've got Jason back here.

He's going to be rowing my kayak.

Yes, indeed.

And that's my main man, Bobby.

He's going to be kayaking Mark around.

Yeah.

Yeah, let's do it.

Whoo!

Give me a high five too, buddy.

Today, we are heading out

onto the Salish Sea, an intricate network

of coastal waterways that includes

the southwestern portion of British Columbia

and the northwestern portion of the United States.

With the sun casting a beautiful glow across the water,

we motored north into the Strait of Georgia,

as we searched for a calm stretch of sea

to safely launch our kayaks.

Oh, look, forward.

Aah!

There you go.

All right, so we're motoring out of this area.

You can see we're surrounded by all sorts

of really dangerous current.

This could be a good area to look for orcas.

However, we cannot bring the kayaks into water like this.

Captain Beau tells me that this will literally

suck you down about 100 feet into the water

and will kill you instantly.

So we're going to motor out of this and keep searching.

It took some time,

but we finally found a spot where

Captain Beau felt comfortable setting us out onto the ocean.

All right, Beau,

so we need a brief explanation.

This is the first time that we've gone into the water

with the top marine predator that's out there.

Now, we know that a killer whale has never attacked a human,

but safety first is always a protocol.

Plus, we need to respect the distance

that we get from these whales.

So explain to us a little bit exactly what

we should be doing out there.

Sure thing.

Well, we're going to be launching you

here from Blackfish, our mother ship, today.

And sending you guys out with trained

guides, Bobby and Jason.

And they're going to be leading you out into this area,

where we have some really good intel about the presence

of killer whales.

We really want to respect their environment.

We're going into an area where they're known

to feed for large king salmon.

And we're just going to set you guys

loose, see what you can find.

I'm confident that we can, uh, probably

find an encounter here today.

There's a report of 30 to 40 animals in the region.

When we encounter them, we're just

going to really be respectful of what

they're doing, what's going on.

They have a hard job out here finding fish in the big ocean.

So we're going to get out there and see what we see.

And really enjoy whales in the wild.

All right, sounds great.

Well, I am ready. - Let's paddle.

Let's get those kayaks into the water.

You guys ready? Yeah.

Good luck, guys.

All right.

Let's do it.

I could feel my heart rate

increasing as I stepped from the Blackfish

and down into my kayak.

Ready?

COYOTE PETERSON This

was it, no turning back now.

I'm in.

All right, you ready?

Let's do it.

With cameras in hand,

Mark and I were poised to get the best shots we could.

That is, if we were lucky enough to come upon any whales.

All right, guys, we are on the water,

and it's time to begin our search.

Jason, you ready? Yes, I am.

Thumbs up. Mark, you good?

Let's go.

All right, let's do this.

As we set out on the water,

we paddled with purpose, hoping that maybe,

just maybe, off in the distance, we

would catch the glimpse of a black dorsal fin

breaching the water's surface as one

of these magnificent predators came up for a breath of air

and then disappeared back into the unknown.

It's actually pretty smooth rowing.

I thought it'll be a little rougher than this.

I mean, these little chops aren't too bad to deal with,

are they?

No, it's good paddling conditions out here right now.

Coyote, have you seen anything?

Nothing yet.

COYOTE PETERSON We steadily

paddled north toward Canada.

And while it seemed like radioing back to the Blackfish

for pickup was a wise thing to do, we decided to keep going.

It was this very choice that placed us on a watery road

toward fate, and an animal encounter

that we would never forget.

All right, guys, we actually have some killer

whales just off the side of the kayaks

here, probably within about 200 yards.

Wow, I can see the dorsal fins breaching.

Mark, can you see that?

Yeah, I can see it way out there.

Wow!

It's a matter of just staying here,

being calm, seeing if the whales get curious and come closer

to us.

We're just going to kind of drift on the waves

here and see what happens.

When it comes to encountering

orcas in the wild, there are very

strict rules and regulations that boaters must respect.

These guidelines assure not only the safety for those operating

their watercrafts, but even more importantly,

the safety and well-being of the animals.

Jason, do you see anything back there?

It's beautiful conditions.

And I've heard a few blows.

There's some whales up ahead.

And it looks like there might be some behind us.

Oh, wow, we got an orca right here.

Just, um, less than 100 yards right

off the side of the kayak. Did you see that?

Yeah. I'm proud to experience it.

Wow!

Whoo, that was awesome!

I did not expect that.

I was looking much further out.

Oh, there's the breach.

Got it.

Got it.

Wow! Did you get that?

Yeah, I got that.

All right, guys, so we have some killer

whales just off to my right here.

You can see them breaching, blowing water up into the air.

You got the setting sunlight.

It is absolutely epic.

Whoa oh, they're a lot bigger once you get down

into the water, aren't they?

They're huge, like a bus.

COYOTE PETERSON Orcas

are incredibly intelligent.

And pods, which are usually composed of related females,

have a great ability to work together

and an amazing instinct to protect

members of their community.

Their society is intricate, dedicated,

and perfectly adapted to being the ocean's top predator.

We are surrounded, Coyote.

This is amazing.

We are surrounded by orcas right now, guys.

COYOTE PETERSON A toothed whale

and the largest species of dolphin in the world.

There are three different types; resident,

transient, and offshore.

The distinction comes in the shape of their dorsal fin

and the design of their saddle patch,

which is the greyish marking just

behind and below the dorsal fin.

Whoa!

Wow!

That's a huge male. Did you see that?

Yeah.

There's the male.

Wow!

Whoa.

That one's coming right at us.

This one's coming right at us, man.

So what do we do?

We stay-- we just stay put.

Yeah, we just have to stay put.

We don't know where they're going to come up.

Over here. Right there.

Right there. Right there.

Whoo, that is awesome!

For nearly 20 minutes,

the pod graced us with their presence

as they continuously breached the waves, took a breath,

and then dove back beneath the surface.

I kept my focus on the water.

And I distinctly remember holding my breath,

as I hoped for just one more chance to film the magic.

Yet, just as quickly as they had arrived,

they seemed to have disappeared.

All right, guys,

well, the light is getting low, and it's time for us to roll

back toward the main boat.

But we saw some amazing killer whales today.

They got so close.

As we were just drifting along on the waves,

we had a pod buzz right past us, heading in that direction.

Wow, that was absolutely incredible.

Whoo!

Whoo!

That was epic guys.

Yeah!

Man, that was-- that's crazy.

It is unbelievable how big they are.

You just-- they come out of nowhere.

You're like watching one in one direction,

and then all of a sudden, whoosh,

one comes up just behind you.

You can sense--

you can sense their presence.

Like you know they're there.

Yeah, it's pretty epic.

COYOTE PETERSON As we safely

climbed from our kayaks and back on board the Blackfish,

I could feel an overwhelming sense of thankfulness

for the universe as it led us toward this fateful moment

in time.

Such an epic day.

Getting deployed out into the ocean,

kayaking for several hours, and then

having a pod of orcas come right up alongside the kayaks

is a moment that I will never forget.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave!

Stay wild!

We'll see you on the next adventure.

The killer whale.

The blackfish.

The orca.

No matter how you choose to address this beautiful animal,

it is undoubtedly the top predator of the world's oceans.

Their elegance and timeless beauty

are unmatched in the animal kingdom.

When you see a family pod in the wild,

their presence touches your heart in a way that

cannot be described in words.

I know that for as long as I live,

I will never forget the first moment

I spotted that black dorsal fin cutting through the waves,

and the thrill of how it felt to be in the presence of orcas.

When you look down at the magnificent island of Kauai

and all of its towering mountains

lined with lush forests, you likely

assume it must be crawling with reptiles and amphibians.

However, aside from a few invasive anoles,

this lost world is completely void of your typical

herpetological specimens.

Kauai, or the Garden Island as it has long been nicknamed,

is considered the fourth largest island in the Hawaiian chain.

And like all of its counterparts,

it's completely surrounded by the warm waters

of the Northern Pacific Ocean.

And the moment you leave the shoreline behind and dive

beneath the crashing blue waves, you stand a really good chance

of encountering one of the ocean's most iconic

reptiles, the green sea turtle.

How about those turtles?

Whew, it might not

be a bad idea to come back here and do a sea turtle adventure.

Mm, I like that one.

COYOTE PETERSON In order

to properly admire sea turtles in the wild,

you need to either snorkel.

Or you can drop beneath the surface

and watch them from a safe distance for a few seconds.

Or you can scuba dive and spend nearly an hour

visiting in their watery realm.

Well, guys, it has been an epic trip to Hawaii.

And so far, our diving experiences have been A-plus.

We've seen all sorts of incredible marine creatures.

But the thing that's really caught my interest

has been all of the sea turtles.

Now, there's no way that I'm going home without getting

a proper turtle episode.

So if you guys are ready, let's take the cameras

beneath the surface and get up close

with these marine reptiles.

COYOTE PETERSON Today, we

will be joined by technical dive specialists,

Mike Hanna and Brian O'Hara.

Considered by most to be Kauai's best dive team,

their expertise beneath the surface will help keep us safe.

And their knowledge of the area's wildlife

will assist in finding these large ocean reptiles.

When people ask me what it's like to pull on my dive mask

and sink below the waves, I once said it was

a feeling of complete terror.

However, with the passing of each accomplished dive,

I became more and more comfortable.

And when it came to searching for sea turtles,

I couldn't get underwater fast enough.

Despite being in danger, the green sea turtle

is considered one of the most common sea turtle species,

with a worldwide range that spans

most of the tropical and subtropical oceans

of the world.

When it comes to population density

in the waters of the United States,

the Hawaiian Islands are without question

the place to see these majestic reptilian creatures.

So as we began to explore along the rocky underwater outcrops,

it was only a matter of minutes before we came

across our first sea dragon.

In their adult stage, green sea turtles are mainly herbivores.

And they spend the majority of their time

foraging along rocky shelves, where they feast upon a variety

of seagrasses and algae.

Their serrated beaks work like pruning shears

as they drift on the undercurrents and feast away.

The males grow larger than the females.

And one of the most distinct differences between the two

is that the males, similar to snapping turtles,

have much longer and more robust tails.

Whoa!

Wow, I got some amazing behavior.

The giant male-- I saw the male and the female

right next to each other.

And the male's over here in the rocks feeding right now.

What's great is that I was able to get a shot of them

right next to each other, so you can see the distinct difference

in the tail size.

Like I said, the males have a much

larger tail than the females.

So that was really cool to see.

I'm going to kind of hang out in this area

and see if he moves back out. Oh, there he is.

Do you see him?

Yep.

He's in the same spot. Same spot.

Let's go.

OK, cool, I'm going down.

With the camera in my hand,

I used the power of my dive fins to fight the current.

I was determined to get some epic shots.

Interacting with sea turtles is far

different than any other turtle species

I have worked with in the past.

You certainly are not allowed to catch or even touch

these majestic reptiles, as strict regulations require you

to keep a respectful distance.

So to make this episode work, we simply

had to admire the animals as they naturally interacted

with their environment.

Wow, this is awesome.

So we have a female green sea turtle that's just hiding

underneath the rock right now.

She's actually down there resting.

Now, they can stay under water for a considerable amount

of time, close to 30 minutes when they aren't moving around.

So we're just going to kind of stay in this area

and keep an eye on her.

And when she gets ready to come up for a breath of air,

we're going to try to get her to come to the surface.

COYOTE PETERSON As I

sank back beneath the rolling waves,

my dive fins propelled me forward.

I maneuvered past a reef, up and over some large rocks,

and suddenly, before my very eyes,

I found myself in the City of Sea Turtles.

Trust me when I say that seeing a single sea turtle

can steal your heart, so being in the presence

of many sea turtles at once is absolutely breathtaking.

They were peaceful, sentient beings.

And their calm demeanor reminded me of the time I swam

with manatees.

Here I was again, a bipedal stranger

once more in a foreign watery land,

and I was being accepted into their world

with completely open arms.

Or in this case, flippers.

I was literally surrounded by these giant ocean dragons

as they seemed to effortlessly glide

on the underwater currents.

As a human, it took every ounce of my strength

to keep balanced in the turbulent water

as my body was constantly being tossed

and turned, pummeled and dragged over the jagged rocks.

Yet, I was determined to get the shots.

"Keep the turtles in the frame" is all I kept telling myself

as they danced around me, looking back with curious eyes,

and a kindness that I had never before seen in a reptile.

For nearly 30 minutes, I rode the currents,

witness to a complete turtle feeding frenzy.

Being no more than a few feet from the surface,

I was in no danger of drowning.

However, my dive tank was running low

on its precious life-providing air,

so I decided to call it a day.

I knew that despite the washing machine-like setting,

I had some amazing footage and an animal encounter

that could never be replaced.

As we kicked towards shore and our designated exit point,

we left behind a world unlike anything I'd

ever been witness to.

A society of reptiles that was thriving in a watery paradise.

Whoo, talk about swimming in Turtle City.

Unbelievable.

Absolutely one of the coolest things

I've ever done.

It takes me back to the days when

we filmed with the manatees.

At one point, we were surrounded by green sea turtles.

And they like accepted us.

Yeah.

They were swimming right alongside us.

Like if you tried to swim away, and then

they would stick with you.

The waves were just throwing us around.

And what was so cool is watching the way

that the turtles reacted to all the swells that were coming in.

Right.

It just took a couple of seconds as a guide.

You don't fight the current.

Just let your body go with it.

Your leg is definitely bleeding.

I got a little, uh--

little nick from the coral reef there.

Yeah.

My-- my legs are definitely a little cut up.

Sometimes, that happens guys.

No pain, no gain, right?

To get the shots, sometimes you got to shed a little blood,

you know.

Tell me what it's like.

I know diving has been something that you've been excited about,

but didn't really know what to expect.

It's a whole different world out there

beneath the ocean waves.

And at first, when we started, I was nervous.

But today, after getting up close with the sea turtles

and really getting accustomed to being beneath the surface,

I felt so much more comfortable.

And I feel like there are many dive episodes to come.

What was really interesting is that, right now, it's

about 4:30 in the afternoon.

And the same thing that I noticed with snapping

turtles, all of a sudden, they emerge from nowhere

and begin to feed.

Now, with snapping turtles, they're hunting.

The sea turtles are simply grazing on all the algae

that is growing on the rocks.

So as we slowly approached, we kept our distance.

But after a while, the turtles just

accepted us into the group.

They were moving around us.

It was just like we were there at the dinner table

with the sea turtles.

It was so incredible, riding the drifts of the waves

as they came in and out.

And it was dangerous, and we did get cut up,

but we got the shots.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave!

Stay wild!

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Coyote, you got any band-aids?

I got you one.

COYOTE PETERSON My first trip

to the island of Kauai will always hold

a special place in my heart.

If you ever get the chance to visit,

there are several things I can most certainly promise.

The first is that you will never forget

the beautiful landscapes.

The second is the brilliant elegance

of the blue Pacific Ocean waves and the way

they crash upon the shore.

And the third is that if you ever leave that shore behind,

and you find yourself beneath the surface in the presence

of its reptilian inhabitants, there

will be no words that will ever truly describe what it feels

like to dance with dragons.