Original subtitles

Cameras rolling.

This could be it.

[inaudible].

Oh, oh!

Australia is home to many reptilian species.

And while several of them are found within the confines

of the continent's interior, beyond the tide,

you will find one of the world's most cherished animals,

the green sea turtle.

In the past, I've had the chance to swim

alongside these elegant and timeless beings,

yet strict regulations prohibit anyone

from making physical contact with these reptiles.

However, on this adventure, that is all about to change.

Today, the crew and I are heading off the coast of Bowen,

a small town situated at the top of the Whitsundays

on the eastern side of Queensland.

Under the invitation of the World Wildlife Fund,

we will be given the chance to work

alongside the traditional owner rangers

from Djaru and people.

These Rangers take responsibility

for the management and protection

of their sea country, including iconic species

like the green sea turtle.

Their work includes safely catching, collecting data,

and tagging these magnificent marine reptiles so scientists

can then determine what is happening to the turtle

population and ensure that the species is continuing

to thrive in these warm waters.

And as a Djaru elder,

welcome you to the country

and hope you have a good day.

Coyote, what's going on?

Doing a smoke ceremony right now.

And the flames are just welcoming us

into this community.

I consider myself to be an expert when

it comes to catching turtles.

And my method of leaping from kayaks

to catch snapping turtles has often proven

to be incredibly successful.

Catching sea turtles, however, is a very different challenge.

As compared to snapping turtles, these ocean-dwelling reptiles

are incredibly fast.

And instead of leaping feet-first

from a slow rowing kayak, I will be

jumping from a speeding boat.

The good news is that I will be apprenticing a man who I now

consider to be the greatest turtle catcher

of all time, Aaron Taiters.

He will be showing me the tricks of the trade

that he has spent several years mastering,

and which have resulted in the safe capture,

data collection, tagging, and release

for hundreds of sea turtles.

So what are you looking for, Aaron?

You looking for shadows in the water?

Yeah, we're looking for a sort of a dark brown figure.

OK.

We'll see the turtles, they'll either sit still

or they'll make a move for it.

The moment they move, we tell Eddie, yep,

head off to the right, and then that's

when we'll be chasing them.

Gotcha.

Yeah, this is kind of the same way

I search for snapping turtles.

I look for a dark shadow beneath the surface,

wait for it to start moving.

I know it's not a rock, and then you make a go.

Yeah.

Sometimes, you will get confused.

There's a lot of stingray around here.

They just-- before you see it, the turtle, just make sure

you see his flippers first. Got it.

And then you start chasing.

[inaudible].

This is [inaudible].

Any turtle sighted yet?

Not yet, but we're working on it.

We'll keep you posted.

Roger that.

Over and out.

There it is. There.

To the right.

Oh, got a turtle to our right here.

It's just in front of us.

[inaudible] left.

Some of them really quick.

Going left.

Upon spotting several smaller turtles

and witnessing their impressive speed,

I quickly realized that catching a sea turtle

was going to be much more difficult than I

had originally anticipated.

There's big turtle here.

Big one, big one.

Go, go.

Yes!

Ah, yeah!

Nice catch!

Oh!

That was a rough miss.

But the good news is that Aaron was

right there to follow up with an epic dive and successful catch.

Boy, does he make it look easy.

Ah!

Ah!

Ah!

Dude, I had his front flipper in my hand!

Yeah, I saw it.

I had his flipper!

I said, he's got it.

Ah!

Well, great catch again, Aaron!

That was epic.

All right!

I was so close.

That was the one.

I had the entire flipper in my hand and it went,

woop, right out.

And I tried to grab the back of the shell.

I couldn't do it.

But at least we caught the turtle.

Let's get it on to the research boat and get the biometrics.

Keep at it.

As a team, our rate of success was fantastic,

yet my personal performance was lackluster at best.

I could feel that my confidence for catching sea turtles

was beginning to sink.

Yet Aaron, being the incredible mentor that he was,

continued to encourage and critique my style.

[inaudible].

Yeah, see him.

Way too deep.

It's harder than it looks, folks.

Man, it was the same thing before.

I was not in front of the turtle.

Time was running out.

And my window to land a giant was beginning to close,

when the boat slowly motored into a clear stretch

of water that revealed a massive dark shadow

beneath the surface.

All right, guys, we've got a good turtle out in front of us.

Camera's rolling.

This could be it.

This was it.

The pressure was on.

And I would only have one dive, one chance

to catch this turtle.

Yep, yep, yep.

there.

Aaron kept his sights locked on the speeding reptile,

waiting for an opportune moment when it would

slow its forward momentum and prepare to breach the surface

for a breath of air.

This would be my window of opportunity.

And in that instance, he shouted the command.

Go for it, go for it.

That's it.

Oh, oh!

!

Woo!

Woo!

Careful, careful!

Woo!

Caught a turtle!

not feel good!

I jumped on the back of the shell!

Woo!

Man!

That is a good sized turtle right there!

Without question the biggest turtle I have ever caught!

Man!

Woo!

I told you guys I'd do it!

Woo!

Oh, nice. - That is a big [inaudible].

That's a male. - ...

Yeah, it's a male!

Woo!

Look at that tail! Oh, man!

My goodness!

That's a dragon tail.

Yes, yes!

Woo!

That's my dragon right there!

Man!

Best turtle catch ever, in my life at least!

Woo!

All right, guys, we got to get the rest of our gear,

get on to the research boat, get the biometrics,

and then release this dragon back into the wild.

Yes!

Yes!

I hope I caught all of that on this camera.

All right, guys, well, there we have it.

There is the green sea turtle that I landed.

And he is an absolute giant.

This is the first male of the trip that we have caught.

An absolute beast.

Can you guys believe this?

I can't believe you caught it.

That was an amazing catch. - What a catch.

Well, when I jumped into the water,

I kind of went to the side.

I grabbed the side of its shell, and my hand slid down.

I held on to the back of the shell

and actually climbed up the side of it

to get right behind the back of the carapace.

And you could see how healthy this turtle is.

Look at it.

It is actually spilling out of its shell.

I know, buddy.

Now, let's take a look at the carapace of this reptile.

It is massive.

And I love this teardrop shape.

You see that?

This allows these turtles to stay

completely streamlined when they're

swimming under the water.

If we take a look here, look at the size of this turtle's tail.

Just like a snapping turtle, male green sea turtles

have an extremely long tail.

Look at that.

As long and as big around as my arm is.

An absolute dragon tail right there.

Now, you hear the name "green sea turtle"

and you may be thinking to yourselves, well, Coyote,

it's mostly brown in coloration.

Why do they call it a green sea turtle?

That name comes from a thick layer of green fat

that exists just beneath the bone of the carapace that

insulates them between the bone and all of their main organs.

I know, buddy, you just want to get back out there

into the ocean, don't you?

This guy's just fine. Don't worry.

Sea turtles can stay out of the water

for an extended period of time.

What a beautiful turtle.

Look at those eyes.

Such kind, intelligent eyes.

And you may notice that the turtles eyes are very wet.

It almost looks like it's crying.

It's not crying.

All turtles are capable of secreting a mucus

from their eye membrane to help keep their eyes wet

when they're out of the water.

This goes for all turtles.

Painted turtles, snapping turtles, spiny soft shells,

even sea turtles have the ability to secrete that mucus.

Now, you'll notice the beak of this reptile

is not hooked because, unlike a snapping turtle,

they're not out there actually hunting for prey.

When they get to be this big, they're completely herbivores.

Just kind of sifting along the bottom, eating algae

and seagrass.

And the underside-- oh, let me see.

Look at that.

You see how the lower part of the jaw is actually serrated?

They have bolt cutter-like power that would easily snip

off the edge of your fingers.

So when I jumped into the water, the first thing

I was thinking was don't get my fingers

near the mouth of the turtle.

All right, Coyote.

I think-- hey, Mario, why don't you jump in there

and help Coyote?

Yeah, I'm going to need some help.

This turtle is so unbelievably strong.

And it wants to spin.

We want to keep it as calm as we possibly can.

There you go, buddy.

Mario, you kind of got it locked in place there?

Yeah, sure do.

OK, first thing I'm going to do

is get the length of the carapace.

Tracy, have you got that measuring tape.

Thank you.

I know, buddy.

I know.

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

I'm trying to calm him down.

Sometimes what I do with snapping

turtles is actually just to place

my hand on top of the head.

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

OK.

I'm going to try to talk a little bit quieter.

We got him calmed down now.

OK, so what we're going to do is go right from the front edge

of the carapace there.

Mario, if you want to just hold that in place.

Yeah, you're good. - Right down the center line.

It is right at 94 centimeters.

Show me that real quick.

Check that out.

Without question, the largest turtle I have ever caught.

Thank you, Tracy.

All right, now, the next thing we want to do

is get this turtle's weight.

Getting the turtle inside of this harness

was one of the most difficult aspects of this whole episode

so far.

Do you guys have any guesses as to how much this turtle weighs?

Uh, 240 pounds.

240 pounds. Mario?

Uh, 250. 250?

Oh, OK.

Ben, what do you think?

Hey, Ben, what do you think?

I'm going to go 275.

275.

Wow, all right.

Uh, I'm going to go 230.

230.

I say he weighs 230.

And good.

Turtle's off the ground.

A little bit more, a little bit more.

Careful.

[inaudible] turtle.

Watch it, now.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

OK, he's clear.

104.1 kilos.

Bring it down.

230 pounds.

Wow. Wow.

You were right on the money. - I guessed it!

230!

Amazing.

230 pounds is what this green sea turtle weighs.

What an absolute giant.

Amazing.

OK, the next thing we're going to do is tag this sea turtle.

This one has never been tagged before,

so that's really exciting for today's research.

Where I'm going to tag it is right up here on its left fin

between these two scales.

You see that right there?

Now, is that a fin or a flipper, Coyote?

Well, I guess, yeah, whether you call it fin,

or you call it a flipper, or a foot.

Sea turtles, and one of the things

that really makes them different than other turtles,

as you can see, they do not have typical toes.

And like other turtles, they are not actually

able to tuck inside of their shells, even less so

than a snapping turtle.

This isn't going to hurt.

This is going to be like getting your ears pierced.

I'm going to do this as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

You got a good shot right there, Mark?

I sure do. - All right, big guy.

This is just going to be a little pinch.

Their skin is really tough.

This isn't hurting the turtle.

No, this skin is like leather.

And I'm going to ratchet down real tight here.

Ready?

One, two, three.

There we go.

Perfect.

All right, the turtle is officially tagged.

And as you guys know, I name all the turtles that I catch.

And I think we're going to name this one Eddie,

after the man who so--

There he is!

- perfectly captained the ship today

and lined us up to be able to make this catch possible.

I did not expect to catch a turtle this size.

I was just hoping that I could catch a single sea turtle.

And after getting the chance to stand on the front of that boat

and watch Aaron dive in and catch several turtles,

I said to myself, you know what, I think I can pull this off.

But to catch one of this size is truly something that I

never thought was possible.

Biggest turtle I have ever caught.

Wow.

What an epic end to one amazing day here in Australia.

And I have to give an enormous thank you to the World Wildlife

Fund of Australia and the Gudjuda Rangers for bringing us

out, showing us the conservation work that they're doing

and all the efforts they're making

to not only preserve but also protect

these incredible marine reptiles.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see on the next adventure.

All right, guys.

It's time to get Eddie back off into the ocean.

The green sea turtle represents everything that

is beautiful about our oceans.

And they are considered to be one of the most

revered reptiles on our planet.

Their sentient nature has made them an iconic figure

in the world of conservation.

Yet, the future of this creature is unknown,

as their species is either considered

threatened or endangered throughout the world

wide range.

Still, hope glows brightly on the horizon,

as organizations like WWF and traditional owner rangers

are constantly researching and promoting

the environmental preservation and conservation

of the species, ultimately ensuring a legacy

for generations to come.

There's something big down there.

He's out, he's out!

He's right there.

Right, there, it's moving, it's moving!

Right there.

He's going through here, he's going through here.

You got him. - Got it!

Yes! - Yes!

Woo!

Massive rock formations

towered like prehistoric giants, as intense waves crashed

upon the jagged outcrops.

At high tide, the southern coastline of Africa

is an unforgiving landscape that has been

carved over millions of years.

Yet when the tide rolls back, with it recedes the violence

of the turbulent water, leaving behind an intricate catacomb

of inter-tidal pools that are teeming with aquatic life.

Today, we are exploring a stretch of pristine shoreline

known as Kenton on Sea, a magical place where

the South Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean.

And to say the least, it's breathtakingly beautiful.

The sand was flawless.

The waves of water were warm.

And with any luck, we would happen upon

and get up close with a variety of bizarre tide-pool creatures.

The tide is going out at this point.

It looks like it's still coming in,

but it's actually the best time to search for animals.

When all the rocks are still saturated,

that means that the animals are still

comfortable, which gives us the best chance

of actually catching them.

The water trapped within the individual pools

was crystal clear.

So as I scouted from pocket to pocket,

I carefully scanned the overhanging ledges

and shadowy nooks.

If there was ever a place for a sea beast to hide,

I was determined to be the seeker.

Oh, I got a blenny, two of them!

OK, game on!

All right, well, I-- - Lost a crab.

Got a blenny.

Oh, there's the crab.

Got him!

Now I've got the crab and some blennies!

Wow! Hold on.

That's how it got away the first time.

Look at that!

How's about that for cleaning up your mess.

All right, well, this is really panning out well for us.

Look at these guys.

Come here, buddy.

I got two of them in one scoop.

All right, let me keep the crab underneath the net.

He'll be fine.

They can breathe out of water.

Look at that.

Those are blennies.

Those are super cool.

They almost look like mud skippers

or like an eel type fish.

Notice the elongated shape of the body.

Kind of looks like a prickleback.

And they do have those long dorsal ridge fins that run

down the length of their backs.

They actually can breathe for a short amount of time out

of the water, so we don't have to worry about them

just resting up on my hand.

And they can actually skip from pocket of water

to pocket of water.

What they'll oftentimes do is exactly--

oh, my gosh.

There's an octopus.

Nobody move.

That's a huge octopus. OK.

Are you sure?

I'm 100% positive.

Um, I'm going to let the crab go.

All right, I'm going for the octopus, guys.

We're abandoning the crab. I see him.

Nobody move.

I can see its tentacle.

Mario, if you crouch down here, you

might be able to get a shot.

Actually, I wonder if I can use my GoPro.

He's wedged right into that little cavity.

Can you see?

Yeah.

OK, here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to actually place my net up in this area,

try to reach my arm around, and scare him up into the net.

Now, the good thing is that none of the octopus species here

in South Africa are lethal to humans.

Keep in mind, if we were in Australia

and that was a blue ring octopus,

I would not be performing this maneuver.

Now, all octopus are capable of biting.

All are venomous.

But hopefully this one doesn't decide to give me a nip.

There he is, there he is!

He's out, he's out. He's right there.

Yeah, he's out. He's right there.

I see him, I see him, I see him.

Oh, oh, oh.

Oh!

Dude, you see him?

Do you see him? Where?

Right there, right there,

right there, right there!

He's moving, he's moving.

Right there.

He's going through here, he's going through here.

There he is, there he is! You got him.

Got it! Yes!

Yes! Woo!

Woo!

How about that!

Well, the tactic worked.

Gently coaxed him out of one pocket and into the next.

And there you have it, we have got ourselves an octopus.

Wow!

I'm going to actually let him out of the net

and on to my arm.

Hopefully, I do not take a bite.

There you go, buddy.

Now, they do have a little beak on their underside

that, of course, he could give me a bite with,

but the venom of this species is non-lethal.

This is the common octopus.

They can get bigger than this, but to be honest with you guys,

this is the largest octopus I have ever caught.

And it is on the move.

Wow.

Look at it just showing us its valves.

Right now, I'm trying to keep it as calm as I can.

I don't want it to ink.

And look how it's turning dark in coloration.

But if I do this, check this out.

Set it down and sort of try to corral it into this pool.

What it wants to feels is like it's protected.

Look at that color change.

Within a matter of seconds, it completely morphs the shape

of its body and its coloration.

You got an OK shot there? Yeah.

This is actually great.

You can see it pumping water through the valves

on the side of its head.

If I keep it like this, it will feel more comfortable.

They want to feel concealed.

Wow, look at that.

And they want to feel like they are hidden.

And just like if I were to handle a snake,

I want to go one hand to the next.

Octopus have eight tentacles.

And one of the coolest things about these creatures

is that if they lose a tentacle, they can rejuvenate it.

Wow!

That is so cool!

Like a big slimy booger!

All right, I'm going to place it back

down into this pocket of water.

Here we go.

Keep it in position.

And I'm getting totally slimed right now.

All right, now if I just keep my hand positioned,

watch the way that it will actually slink.

I guess he's going to go over my arm.

I thought he was going to go under my arm.

And as the tide goes out, if these animals are stuck

in a shallow pool, they can do this, slink from pocket

of water to pocket of water.

That is so cool.

Now, one of the key defense tactics of all octopus,

octopuses for plural, is that they can actually eject ink.

And that allows them the ability to disappear

into a rock crevice or back into the ocean waters.

Now, if the octopus needs to, it can

actually stay out of the water for a significant amount

of time.

And the only reason you'd ever find an octopus out of water

is if it's moving from tide pool to tide pool.

As that tide recedes, the octopus,

if it's not in a deep enough pocket,

will oftentimes try to find itself back

out into the ocean currents.

Look at that.

Well, how cool was this?

Exploring the tide pools of South Africa,

and we managed to come across one slippery, slimy octopus.

Whoa!

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see on the next adventure.