All language subtitles for B.W.S05E11.Petting.Porcupinefish.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

So far
in blue wilderness,

we've explored the
world of sharks,

huge sharks, and lots of them.

But there is, of
course, much more

to see in the world's
oceans than just

its top marine predators.

Today, we are going to
investigate the remains

of our very first shipwreck.

This dive site
near Grand Bahama,

known to locals as
the Sugar Wreck,

consists of the
scattered remains

of an ill-fated
molasses steamer,

of which we know very little.

However, wrecks
such as these are

actually quite common throughout
the Bahamas in the Caribbean.

And what makes this site
particularly interesting

isn't it sunken treasure, but
is the abundance of marine life

that now calls the ship home.

These wrecks often form
micro habitats, almost

like an artificial reef, that
can become hotspots for divers

to view an incredible
diversity of species.

And little did I know,
amongst the wreckage,

we would have the most
unexpected wildlife encounter

I had ever experienced.

Ready?

This is always the exciting
part, getting clipped in.

So once you're done
that means you're

ready to get in the water.

All right.

All right, guys.

It's time to dive
the Sugar Wreck.

It's pretty shallow, but we're
gonna get a lot of bottom time.

Diver down.

Upon entering the water,

we saw the wreckage right away.

The long metal panels
and ribs of the hull

scattered the sea floor.

Not much was recognizable.

That is, until we
saw the anchor.

Judging by its size, this
was one massive vessel.

And of course, along with the
ship was an abundance of fish.

The fields of debris
were absolutely cloaked

in a cape of marine creatures.

Schools of snapper
and yellow grunts

made up the majority of the
fish surrounding the site.

But on closer
inspection, we were

able to identify
angel fish, filefish,

pesky invasive lionfish, and
we even found a large conk.

Have you ever seen
their eyes before?

Whoa, how crazy is that?

And of course, no dive is
complete without a good shark

sighting.

One particular reef shark
became very interested in us.

Actually, maybe a
little too interested.

Watch out, buddy.

But like every adventure,
we were on the lookout

for something special.

Any time we have
cameras in our hands,

we're always looking for
something that intrigues us,

something that truly
stands out from the crowd,

and almost makes you point
the lens in its direction.

And you never really know
when that's going to happen.

But when it does, filming
gets really exciting.

Suddenly, from
under the wreck, I

spotted a small porcupinefish.

What a cool creature.

These little guys have
so much personality

I had to try for a closer look.

But as soon as I got
closer to the spiny fish,

it floated out into the open
and began to slowly head

to another part of the site.

But not too quickly,
just a slow gentle

cruise in another direction.

And for some reason, I felt as
if it wanted me to follow it.

Don't ask me why, but
this moment reminded me

of one of my favorite scenes
from the Disney movie,

"The Sword in the
Stone," the one where

young Arthur follows
Merlin around the lake

after they both turn to fish.

Yeah, that one.

So I thought, let's
see where this goes.

And just as I had
hoped, the little fish

was leading me right towards
something much bigger.

As we cruised together
across the wreckage,

I lost sight of Mario and found
myself on a side of the wreck

we had not yet explored.

The debris here was much
larger and more cavernous.

The cracks in the
wreckage were deep.

And its contents were
hidden from sight.

Then suddenly and
without warning,

the fish dove into a crevice.

And in an instant, it was gone.

To be honest, I felt
a little let down,

because I'd hope we'd take a
rest so I could get some better

footage, and so had
Mario, who at this point

had caught up to us and
had actually been following

along the entire time.

We both looked back
toward the hull fragments

where our new friend
had disappeared.

And then out of the
shadows, emerged

a truly giant porcupine fish.

It was huge.

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Never before had I
seen one so enormous.

But to my amazement, there
were actually more of them.

One by one, they
popped out of hiding

to inspect us and say hello.

In fact, before long, I
realized that we were completely

surrounded and absolutely being
swarmed by huge porcupine fish.

What luck.

Not only would we be able
to get some amazing footage,

but we were also about to
witness some unique behaviors.

Porcupinefish, also
known as blowfish,

and have a tropical waters
and reefs all over the world.

Not to be confused with
their cousins the pufferfish,

porcupinefish can easily be
distinguished by the visible

spines covering their bodies.

They do tend to
be primarily found

amongst reefs, and in
this case, shipwrecks,

and feed on a variety of
hard-shelled vertebrates,

like urchins, crabs,
mollusks, and shrimp.

Their beak-like mouths
are specifically designed

for these kinds of prey.

And of course, their
most famous trait

when agitated, is the ability
to inflate their bodies

and erect their
spines outward to fend

off any would-be predators.

But the spines themselves
are not venomous.

And while impressive,
we hopefully

wouldn't be seeing
any of these displays

today, because our
goal was to remain

in the presence of
the fish and disturb

them as little as possible.

However, I must say, these
spot-finned porcupinefish

were by far the largest
ones we had ever seen.

And one of them was particularly
huge and also very dominant.

It was almost the
size of a watermelon,

if you could believe it.

My guess is we had stumbled
upon a colony of porcupinefish

and we're observing some
courtship behaviors.

But the fish themselves
did genuinely seem curious

about us and our presence.

Almost like you'd expect
a dolphin to behave,

the fish were
surprisingly playful.

They would swim up and
almost invite contact.

The experience was
absolutely surreal.

In general, I would never
advise anyone to make

contact with the reef fish.

But this circumstance
was clearly special.

And since I was wearing
gloves to protect both myself

and the fish, I gently
reached out my hand,

and they got even closer.

In fact, they got so close,
they would almost make--

One actually made
contact with me.

I couldn't believe it.

Like a puppy, it seemed to
enjoy brushing its belly

and head against my glove.

This was by far, the most
unexpected interaction

we could have ever predicted.

And it wasn't just one either.

They all began to join in.

I was literally palling around
with a school of porcupinefish.

After about 10 minutes of
enjoying each other's company,

our air was
beginning to run low.

So I gave Mario the signal.

We both said our goodbyes and
headed back toward the boat.

All right, well,
we're back on the boat.

The Sugar Wreck was amazing.

We saw sharks.

We saw all kinds of fish.

I certainly didn't expect to
get surrounded by porcupinefish.

But on today's adventure,
that's exactly what happened.

I'm Mark Vins.

Be brave, stay wild, and we'll
see you on the next dive.

The state of Florida

has long been a
wellspring of adventure

for the brave wilderness crew.

Even ranging back to
our earliest days,

we've been exploring
this state's

natural wonders, well before
we even had a YouTube channel.

And from the crocodiles
of Turkey Point

to the creatures
of the Everglades,

one thing is for sure--

Florida's habitats are robust
and full of unusual species.

And it just so happens
today's adventure

takes us back to one
of its beautiful,

but hidden natural springs.

In the past, you've seen
us target these locations

to film one of Florida's largest
marine species, the manatee.

But what if I told you
there's something else living

amongst the crystal
clear waters,

something you can't see,
but exists by the millions,

and something that might also
not even be from this world?

Today, we aim to show you an
unexplainable creature from one

of Earth's smallest dimensions.

Hey, everybody.
I'm Mark Vins.

And we are back in
the state of Florida

for another adventure in one
of their natural springs.

Today, I'm joined by my
good friend, Hunter Hines--

or excuse me, Dr. Hunter Hines.

Hunter, why don't
you tell everybody

what you're a doctor of?

All right, so my PhD
is in microbiology.

Microbiology-- so I think

that pretty much gives
it away that we're not

looking for big animals today.

We are looking for
the smallest creature

that we've ever featured
on "Brave Wilderness."

But in order to find
these creatures,

we can't do it on land.

We've got to get out there
and get in the water.

And you have some
sample tubes here.

Ready to go.

And what exactly
are we looking to find

and put into these samples?

Yeah, we're looking
for tardigrades today.

Tardigrades-- also
known as a water bear.

And we're going to find
out a little bit later

why they get that nickname.

And we're also going
to answer the question,

are these animals immortal?

And are they from outer space?

I know that sounds silly.

But believe it or not,
there are actually rumors

out there for good
reason that these might

be aliens living amongst us.

So without further ado,
let's get our snorkel gear

together, get out in the water,
and find us some tardigrades.

So what are we looking to put
in these collection tubes today?

Not just water.

We want to look for algae--

No, we're going to dive
down and collect algae,

cyanobacteria.

These are microbial mats on
the very bottom of this spring.

Right.

And I'm guessing by the
number of collection

tubes we have here
in this bag, we

have to take all these samples.

Because you really
never know what

you get until you're in the
lab under the microscope.

Yeah.

This is the
shallow portion of the spring.

There's actually a deeper
portion in the back

where we're gonna have
to do some free diving.

We'll do it, yeah.

OK, and that's the boil.

That's the boil where all
the water comes from, yeah.

There'll be a current
down there too.

- Oh, fun.
- Yeah.

OK, cool.

We're gonna knock out
the easy work first.

And then, we're gonna
head to the boil

and challenge
ourselves a little bit.

So let's get in the water.

Though
it may sound refreshing,

the 72 degree water
of this spring

is actually quite frigid.

But it's home to numerous
types of life for millions

of microorganisms, to
fish like gar, tilapia,

and the bizarre pleco fish.

And if you come here
during the winter months,

these hidden pools are
also home to a population

of Florida manatees.

As you may have guessed, we
can't exactly bring microscopes

from the labs into the
spring to pinpoint where

the tardigrades are living.

So we will aim to canvas the
entire body of water, where

Hunter conducts his
permitted research,

taking small samples from
a variety of locations.

They're hard to see
from the surface.

But as soon as you
enter the water,

you'll notice the
bottom is covered

in moss-like
blankets and material

growing in every direction.

There's an interesting
one right there.

These are called microbial
mats, a multi-layered sheet

of microorganisms
that are the feeding

ground of the water bears.

So hopefully, we were
at the right place,

because from our view,
the mats were everywhere.

However, collecting these
samples at the bottom

is definitely easier
said than done.

This spring is a
unique ecosystem

and solely exists due to a boil
at the center of the spring,

which pumps 146 million
gallons of water each day

from an underwater cavern.

The constant flow
of new water creates

a strong circular
current, which makes

swimming and collecting our
samples all the more difficult.

It's not that easy.

It's actually a
lot more difficult

than I thought it would be.

And I'm glad I'm
getting the practice

now, because we're about to do
some free diving up to 40 feet.

And that's going to take
a little more skill.

So I'll give that
to you, Hunter.

I'll take the GoPro.

All right, we're almost to the
deepest part of the spring.

And from what I hear,
some of the best

places to find the tardigrades.

All right, let's go.

As
we filled our last samples,

our final test came into sight.

We had reached the
entrance to the boil.

We finally made it.

I've got one last large
collection tube here.

And this one's going to
take a little effort.

It's pretty deep.

It's like a catacomb
of fallen trees.

So this is where
the good stuff is.

We're gonna go for the gold
on the final large collection

tube of the day.

All right, here we go.

I'm gonna give you
the GoPro, Hunter.

I'm gonna put the mask on.

All right, wish me luck.

Here we go.

There it stood,

a craggy log snagged
crater, 10 feet wide,

and really, who knows how deep.

The depth of its entrance
was nearly 20 feet

below the surface.

And due to the low oxygen
levels in the water,

it made this particular
location a natural breeding

ground for water bears.

And from what Hunter tells
us, huge water bears.

The tricky part was
going to be free diving

against the strong
current from the boil,

while maintaining a steady
hand to collect good samples.

And oh yeah, no scuba here.

I was going to need to
hold my breath a lot.

But after a few successful
plunges into the deep,

I collected a good
amount of samples

from mats lining the walls.

That's a sample from the boil.

That's the one.

That's going to be the big
water bears on that one.

All right, time to
head to the lab.

I got a little swimming to do
before we get there, though.

Hopefully
it was worth the effort,

because both Hunter
and I were exhausted.

But that wasn't going
to stop us today.

We were determined to
find these tardigrades.

Oh, man.

What a swim.

That was awesome.

Well, we did it.

We filled all the
collection tubes.

Hunter, you feel good about it?
Really good.

All right, so now, we
just got to get back to the lab

and see what we found.

All right.

All
right, let's do it.

Here they are, the samples, may
be immortal creatures, maybe

aliens.

Let's find out.

After
packing up from our expedition,

it was time to head
back to Hunter's lab

At the Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute

in Fort Pierce, Florida.

There, we would prepare our
samples for various slides

to be viewed under the
microscopes, some pretty

high-tech microscopes too.

And then, we would
truly learn what was

living in our collection tubes.

And I find this to be one
of the most exciting aspects

of microbiology, because every
expedition has the chance

of making a new discovery.

Let's
start with step one.

What's the first step?
- All right, have a seat.

OK, cool.

Got to sit down.

Can you tell I'm excited?

The scientist has asked
me to take a seat.

All right, you can
open that up for me.

Now, we're going to actually
get down to the sediment bag.

Oh, I see what you're doing.

I knew going into this

that there was a slim chance of
actually finding water bears.

It's like finding a needle in a
haystack, a microbial haystack.

Fortunately, with
Hunter's experience

and our determination to
dive deep into the boil,

we collected some of the
best samples possible.

And lo and behold,
managed to find a surprise

in the very first preparation.

That's like a lot
of pressure off.

Like, you know, like
we did all this work.

And I'm like, if we didn't
find at least one water bear--

Maybe only found one.

Don't let that one
out of your sight.

All right.

I'm going to put this
over the water bear.

All right, so see?

That sucked right up.

Put it on our next slide.

So now, we're going to
put a cover slip over it

very carefully.

Now, in your hands
is three tardigrades.

Oh, wow, three?

I thought we were
just getting one.

All right, now
we're gonna put the slide

on the big microscope.

Now, we're gonna try to
find our tardigrade again.

Let me know when you see it.

Oh, see something.

Wow!

Oh, my goodness.

Look, you can definitely
see the pulse.

Yeah, you were
swimming with these today.

I mean, they're all over.

You know, I swallowed a
little water down there.

Well,
then you definitely

have more than one tardigrade
inside you right now.

Oh, are they going
to be there forever?

You should name them.

Name them?

They're like my-- my
new friends for life?

I hope not.

I'm sure you'll be fine.

OK.

You know, I think we can
go ahead and establish

why they're called water bears.

It looks like little bear.

It looks like a little
bear with claws.

And they happen
to live in water.

Scientists are very clever.

Yeah, water bear.

Looks like a bear, lives
in the water, water, bear.

That's why they get their name.

A lot of times when
you're looking at things

under a microscope
like this, you're

looking at very primitive life.

This is a micro animal animal.

So this is the brain.

The brain-- you can
actually see it really well.

Is it now-- does it have
a nervous system as well?

Yea,
central nervous system.

Central
nervous system, great.

So it's all coming--
all the motor

function's coming from here?

Yeah.

And you can see the eyes--

one eye, two eye--

and is this really
the primary function

of the claws for grabbing food?

Or is it just for
everything and holding--

So the claws
are really just to grab on

to the food they're feeding on.

They have these
sucking mouth parts,

and they kind of shoot out.

And that's what grabs they--

Like a proboscis?

Yeah, very similar.

Like kind of--
a little bit like

a blood worm that has a mouth
part that's [inaudible]...

This is a "hangry" water bear.

And it looks a
little rambunctious.

So we want to find one
that's maybe had a full meal

and is down to take a nap.

Yeah, is hanging out.

Yeah, so let's go and do that.

I feel a lot of pressure
for some reason.

I don't know why.

I don't feel like I should
have this much pressure.

It's like--
- You're sweating.

I say, It's like,
am I back in school?

Yeah.

Oh, all right.

Oh, wow, yep.

I seen one.

Oh, my goodness.

Yeah, very good.

Very good.

Didn't you-- I--

we were researching
the other day,

and we heard the eggs are
actually really hard to find.

Really?

So it's
a very good sign, yes.

Yes!

OK, so shall I extract this one?

This is not as easy
as it looks, folks.

Are we OK?

Let's take a look.

Maybe.

Maybe.

Hey, it's my first time.

You want to sit in
the captain's chair?

OK, captain's seat.

It's going right
for the advanced.

Oh, nailed it.

That's there.

Wow!

Here we
have a mamma tardigrade.

That's my bear.

That is amazing.

How do you feel?

I feel really accomplished.

It is not an easy
process at all.

You're gonna push the
prism in right here.

Oh, oh, oh, oh.

Just push it til it clicks.

OK.

Until you get a click here.

It's clicked.

Obviously the click.

And when do we time travel?

This
is where the--

When does the
DeLorean take off?

OK.

Now, we're gonna
move this to six.

Right there?

Yeah.

I'm beginning to feel like
I don't know what I'm doing.

Look at that.
Beautiful.

Apparently, I'm doing
something correct.

Check this out.

OK, the world's smallest
bear right there--

right there on screen.

That is so cool.

It just goes to show you,
life exists everywhere.

You know, sometimes
on brave waters

we're looking for big stuff.

But now, we might need
to rethink things,

because there's a lot
of small stuff too.

Take a look.

So tardigrades actually
shed their exoskeleton.

So the old tardigrade mamma's
skin is where these eggs stay.

It kind of protects them.

OK, so tell me
about crypto biosis.

Yeah,
so crypto biosis--

this animal can basically shut
down its entire metabolism.

So it goes to an almost
death-like state.

Nothing is functioning.

Nothing is happening.

It's not moving.

And it can stay in the
state for a very long time.

Importantly though, it
can turn this off and come

back to life, if you will.

And how many
years can it do this?

At least 20.

20 years?

So it can be dead,
almost, but not die.

That's-- that's what
I'm hearing, folks.

Is that what you're saying?

Yes, but it's not immortal.

We could kill this
tardigrade right now.

We're not gonna do it.

But tardigrades can die.

But they're very
good at surviving.

Let's
pivot to question

number two, is this an alien?

I know that there
is a lot of research

being done with this
specific creature in space.

And it can live
in space, correct?

Yeah, it can
survive the ionizing

radiation in space, yeah, and
the vacuum of space as well.

OK, so
can it possibly travel

through space to get here?

I mean, is that a stretch?

I don't know.

So I think it's
better to flip it.

So if you want to
send a creature off

of Earth into space,
I think tardigrade

is your number one choice.

OK, that's a
more sound way to put it.

I don't think we're gonna
get a definitive answer

today, certainly not from the
doctor here, because I mean,

he has a reputation.

But given its special
traits, this creature

has a lot to offer, not
only science, but humans.

Like, cause you know, we're
interested in space travel.

This creature clearly
is suited for it.

What can we learn from this?

How do we
protect our DNA in space?

I mean, radiation
really damages us.

It doesn't affect
the tardigrade.

It also has DNA.

So what is it doing?

And how can we apply
that to human health?

And that's a question
we can hopefully answer

by looking at these creatures.

Man, that is so cool.

Well, Hunter, Doctor, thank
you for having us down today.

That was amazing.

I'm Mark Vins.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on
the next adventure.

Let's take another
look at those claws.