Original subtitles

On this episode, we're putting our newest show host Christina

up to a classic Costa Rica challenge,

catch some of its fabulous frog species.

Let's head out into the rainforest

and see how she's doing.

The challenge is starting out small with one of the tiniest

frogs here in Costa Rica, the strawberry dart frog, one

of eight species of dart frogs here in Costa Rica

and number one on my list of frogs

that I've wanted to see here.

This is so awesome.

It's so much smaller than I ever thought it was going to be

and way more vibrant in color.

And it even has these little cute blue legs that

kind of look like blue jeans.

I actually have it here in this container,

not because of the toxins, but because it

is so tiny and fragile.

If I put it out in my hand, it would probably jump off,

and I don't want to have a reaction of grabbing it.

So I'm going to keep this little guy in here.

And you can actually hear a couple of frogs all around us.

That's how I found this little guy, but I can only imagine.

Oh, you are really cute.

Don't give me that look.

I'm trying my best here, OK?

All right.

Even Coyote flubs quite a bit now and again.

Ooh.

And action.

OK.

At this point, I can only imagine that the challenges

are going to get much bigger.

So I'm going to go ahead and put you back and carry on.

Stop, stop, stop.

Got eyeshine right there, smoky jungle frog.

OK, crouch down. - Seriously?

Yep, yep, yep.

OK, this is it.

The situation has presented itself.

Now, Christina, there are three things you need to know.

They are big.

They are fast.

And if you grab a hold of it, it's going

to make a crazy cat sound.

It's like

It's going to throw you for a loop.

I need light.

There it is, the famous sound that they make.

Wow!

Now, if you are a predator, you came in here,

and you grabbed a hold of this frog,

and it did that,

that, it would be startling.

And you would likely drop the frog, and it would escape.

I hear you, yes.

That's what it does for its defense?

Yes, and trust me, it will cause you to drop that frog

if you're not expecting it.

If we can even get close enough for it

to let us try to make a catch--

Right.

- we're going to keep the light on its eyes

the entire time because it's kind of like a deer

caught in headlights. It's just going to stay there.

If we alter our lights at all, it

will drop backwards into its burrow, which

is probably right next to it.

That happens, frog's gone.

But if you get the chance to make a grab at it,

you want to grab for the lower hips and the muscle

in the thighs and grab on with all of your strength.

You're not going to hurt the frog.

Your best-case scenario is you're

going to be able to overpower it,

and it's not going to get away.

So close, yet so far.

That was really good.

That was really, really good.

OK, let's back out, so we don't make too much noise

and scare it.

Christina, how are your scum boots doing?

They're still on, but they have a bit

of a mouth to talk with now.

So I don't know if you can see that, but they're falling apart

is what I'm trying to say.

You might be struggling on the walk back.

Just a little bit.

Man, that's smoky jungle frog

is fast, strong, and agile.

We spent over two hours trying to catch

not just one, not just two, but 20

different individual smoky jungle frogs.

You got it? No.

You take the net.

The gaff tape will be frog.

Ah!

And you definitely missed the tape.

The tape is a lot easier to catch than the frog.

Yeah, I'm going

to need a lot more practice.

OK, well, when it comes to facing rainforest challenges,

catching a frog is a lot easier said than done.

Now, we've got something known as the splendid leaf

frog up in the tree here.

We just found it by spotting its eyeshine using a flashlight.

But, Christina, your challenge is going to be to catch

the splendid leaf frog.

Now, whenever we do things with amphibians,

we like to get our hands wet first.

So put your hands out there.

They're very sensitive skin.

Ooh, so exciting.

That is a big frog.

Hello, my beautiful little friend.

Very delicate maneuver.

Ooh.

That's excellent.

It actually jumped onto that branch that's very bendy.

Just grab those leaves.

You might be able to pull that down and bring

the frog right down to you.

You got it.

You got it.

You got it.

Nice.

Oh.

Yeah, yeah, yes.

You are so beautiful.

Look, how pretty this is.

It's got these massive hands.

I assume that's good for climbing.

It's so cute.

Oh, look at those big eyes.

Oh.

Oh, my gosh.

Check that out.

He definitely wants to be the star.

I'll tell you what.

Why don't you just turn off your lights for a second?

We'll get a couple of tight shots of the frog

on the front of the lens.

And we'll back it up here slowly.

And then, Christina, you can crouch down,

and we'll get the frog under control.

Yeah.

All right, challenge met.

I just caught the splendid leaf frog, and splendid it is indeed.

Look at the size of this frog.

It is almost the size of my hand.

And what that's telling us right now is

that this is probably a female.

So the females are much larger than the males.

And wow, can you see those stripes at all?

This frog is also known as the tiger of the rainforest.

And it's a very flat green.

So usually, they're hanging out during the day

sleeping on leaves, and they're blending right in.

She's also got these very big pads on her hands,

so she can glide seamlessly from leaf to leaf.

And this is a real treat because these frogs are so rare to find.

They are only found in very particular places here

in Costa Rica.

So this is pretty darn special.

The goal was to catch a frog, and I did it.

Can't wait to find out what my next challenge is.

But before I do that, it's time to put

this icon of the rainforest back in its home.

These rocks are hard to navigate because it is misty.

And these things are a slippery as black ice.

But for Christina, this is certainly

a cool environment to explore.

It feels like we are in Jurassic Park.

Look at the size of this leaf here behind me, ginormous.

All right, Christina, how are you enjoying

exploring this environment?

Oh, you know this is a lot of fun for me.

Like you said, it reminds me

of the movie "Jurassic Park," so everything's massive.

And even this creek here is just absolutely beautiful with all

these big stones.

And all we have to do is just find us a few critters,

and they'll make this night for me, honestly.

All right, I just spotted a red-eyed leaf frog.

I got Mario in position.

Now, I'm going to try and make my way up these stones,

catch it for the camera.

Got it?

Yeah.

Nice.

This is the first time ever

holding a red-eyed leaf frog.

This is exciting.

Oh, here we go, here we go.

Hi.

It's opening it a little bit.

Wow.

So good at climbing.

It feels like little sticky pads on my thumb right now.

Look at this brilliant red eyes.

I can see where it gets its name.

I got to say this is the perfect end to my frog scavenger hunt.

I'm Christina Wilson, and I'll see

you on my next wild adventure.

All right, guys, we just got the call.

We are on a sea turtle rescue mission.

And right now, there's a turtle on a beach about 15 miles north

from here and needs our help.

These sea turtles, when they end up beach,

it's because they are distressed,

and they can no longer swim.

And without programs like the one we're participating in,

they would all certainly die.

So needless to say this sea turtle right now-- its life

depends on us.

Just this past year

alone, more than 850 sea turtles were rescued off

the shores of Massachusetts, a number

that has been sadly increasing.

Endangered sea turtles like the Kemp's ridley,

green, and loggerhead are washing up on beaches

due to cold-stunning.

And the changing climate is only making matters worse.

I think I see it.

Yep, here's our turtle.

A volunteer was combing this beach,

and they discovered this Kemp's ridley sea turtle.

And this is exactly what they're supposed to do.

They're supposed to take the turtles off of the beach, away

from the wind.

And then you can see it was covered

here with this bit of straw to protect it from exposure.

And it does look like we are in time for this sea turtle

to have a chance because you can see it still

has a little bit of strength in its neck,

just enough to pick up its head.

And that is a very good sign because most

of the turtles that you find that are cold-stunned

cannot move whatsoever.

So let's bundle this little turtle up and take it

to the Wellfleet sanctuary where it will start

its process of rehabilitation and hopeful

rerelease back into the wild.

Rapidly fluctuating sea temperatures

due to climate change are narrowing

the window for these turtles to safely migrate south each year.

Rising sea temperatures are holding

the turtles in northern waters for too long.

And any sudden drop in water temperature below 50 degrees

results in a mass cold-stunning event for these marine reptiles.

You have to be super quiet because these turtles are

already really stressed, and loud noises have been proven

to stress them even further.

Poor little-- poor little turtle.

We did notice that it had a bit of a response when

we picked it up off the beach.

Like it had some ability to raise its head.

That's pretty rare.

Honestly, a lot of the time these turtles

are barely moving at all.

Sometimes we'll think a turtle is dead,

and we'll leave it overnight to assess in the morning to make

sure that it's still alive.

Cool.

Is this our turtle?

This is our turtle.

All right.

How do we know that this turtle isn't dead?

So when we first bring it on to this processing table,

we will check to see if its flippers are in rigor.

Rigor is short for rigor mortis.

When an animal dies, it starts to seize up,

and all of its joints and body parts become stiff.

So there was slight movement right there.

We saw that.

Yep.

We'll kind of gently tug on their back flippers.

And then we'll touch their eye for a small eye response

as well.

And then what we'll do is we will actually use this pit tag

scanner here because sometimes these turtles wash in,

and they have been tagged.

And no tag was detected here.

Then the next thing we'll do is we will take

measurements of its carapace.

We will look to see if there are any injuries on the turtle

anywhere, sometimes from pecking from seagulls

if they've been sitting on the beach for a while.

And then they'll sometimes have some wounds on their carapace.

And that's why it's so

important to get these turtles off the beach

as quickly as possible.

Each animal

receives a number upon entry to the Wellfleet

Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

And of the four sea turtles we assisted in rescuing,

number 569 was the first to be sent for urgent care.

On your way bud.

So we quickly

mobilized and followed it to the New England

Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital.

Look at all these turtles.

OK, we'll see you in a little bit.

Let's go, guys.

All right, here we are at the Sea Turtle Hospital.

Let's go inside to see our Kemp's ridley start

its rehabilitation process.

Come on this way.

All right, how's it going, Adam? Thanks for having us.

Thank you for coming.

So are these are turtles?

Is that--

These are our turtles, and you got 569.

And the Kemp's are very similar looking.

And as you'll see, there's a lots of turtles everywhere.

And then once they get into the water,

they look even more bit similar.

So we'll bring them up.

We'll put a number on their shelf.

And we put a band around their flipper

so that way when we're looking for certain turtles,

especially when they're in the water,

they'll be easier to find. Awesome.

Now, we're going to try to listen to see what

the heart rate sounds like.

Cool.

And their metabolism at this rate is very slow.

Extremely slow.

And that's why you need these special instruments

to be able to read that.

We're listening for the turtle's heartbeat.

So far, I just hear static.

Oh, I think I just heard a whoosh.

So this turtle's significantly lower heart rate than it's

going to be when it leaves. - Exactly.

OK.

So with that, we will

give it a dose of epinephrine.

That will help get that heart rate a little bit

up there and a little bit more prepped for a swim.

So this is, like, the jump

start for the rehabilitation process here at the hospital.

Once a sea turtle receives epinephrine,

it is then placed in a small pool of water for observation.

Also called a swim test, this is where

the clinical team will look for signs of other damage

and possible infections.

Let's see how 569 does.

So that's a great sign, obviously,

that nice little breath there.

And turtle's going into the water.

And so yeah, I mean, he's ready to go.

For these turtles, freshwater is important because

of the dehydration piece.

It helps rehydrate them.

One or two days in that freshwater won't be detrimental.

And then they're into the full salt water tanks.

These turtles have been out there

breathing in cold air, water, so we see a lot of pneumonia.

So you can kind of see he's slowing down a little bit there.

OK.

We also see how high in the water he is.

So he's definitely got some gas in his system

there that's keeping him very floaty as you can see.

And he has some odd coloration in those front flippers,

so he may have some skin issues that over

the next few days, as he warms up,

might become a little bit more prevalent.

So I'm not trying to put you on the spot, Adam,

but in your professional experience, how would

you say our turtle here, number 569,

is looking in terms of its potential for rehabilitation?

Yeah, no, the prognosis for this turtle at this point

would be good.

I saw some bubbles coming out of the ears, the nose.

Then you saw him lift his head and took a nice breath.

So that's all great things.

Love it.

That is so great to hear.

And it's so nice to see the turtle lively again.

I feel like most people who would encounter one

of these cold-stunned turtles on the beach

might even think they were already dead.

But sure enough, here at the hospital,

after a little shot of epinephrine

and a chance to swim, we've got a lot of movement.

All right, so now that our turtle

has swam for the first time at the hospital,

part of the rehabilitation process of warming them back up

to the appropriate temperature, which is about 72 degrees,

takes a few days.

After treating nearly 5,000 turtles,

this facility has learned quite a bit about how to bring

the temperature back up.

And the appropriate way and the best way they found to do it

is a stage process over days using multiple tanks.

Over the next two days, they will actually

be placed in the saltwater bath that will raise them up

to about 65 degrees and then eventually up to the 72 degrees

that you'll see here in the holding tanks.

These turtles here-- they're already

being raised up to temperature.

Pretty cool and definitely something

that really helps these turtles stand

a chance of being rereleased.

Along with being critically

endangered, the Kemp's ridley is also the rarest

sea turtle on the planet.

Once abundant, their population suffered a massive crash

in the 1980s, where as few as 250 nesting females

were estimated to remain.

Luckily for the world's smallest and rarest sea turtle,

large-scale conservation efforts help restore their population

to stability by the mid-2000.

However, with current climate trends being as they are,

the pressure is now back on to save

this species from extinction.

I've heard reports that the Kemp's ridley are

somewhere in the population of 30 to 40,000 individuals

in the world.

Is that-- is that what you heard also?

They are critically

endangered population.

So I mean, the fact that you're seeing thousands

of turtles come through the facility,

this is a significant mass of this species.

You're getting these guys through and back

into the ocean is critical.

Well, this is not the end of the road.

We actually have one more step that we

want to show you as part of this turtle rehabilitation program.

This one though is going to take us on a short trip

to the airport.

So as you can see, we are no longer

in the Sea Turtle Hospital.

We are in an air hangar because there's an amazing volunteer

program called Turtles Fly Too that takes these sea turtles

down to warmer waters in the Southern United States

where they will finish their rehabilitation

and rereleased back into the wild

much sooner than mother nature would allow here in New England.

And we just got word that the turtles have arrived,

so it's time to get to work and load up these sea turtles.

All right, so we have a van load and a truck load full of sea

turtles that are being loaded up by volunteers and aquarium staff

onto this aircraft right now.

They're trying to set a record today by loading 100

sea turtles onto this airplane.

That's a lot of reptiles.

So right now, the pilot and the co-pilot

are up there playing a little bit of turtle Tetris

to try to get all of these animals

loaded up onto this aircraft.

It takes a lot of resources to fly these turtles,

so they want to make sure every flight is efficient

and as productive as they can.

Trying to get one more up there?

Yeah, I think they have a little shorter banana box.

OK.

We'll box it in.

Nice.

Oh, there's more turtles.

There's always more turtles.

Last one for you.

Last one.

OK. - Here.

Thank you.

No, thank you.

All right, I got the final turtle

box to load into the aircraft.

Last one.

Something I never thought I would

say turtles on an airplane.

But here in New England, it happens

about a dozen times a year.

That's cool.

The turtles

that make the flight to Florida are the ones ready to be

released back into the wild, but others needing

more long-term rehabilitation like our friend 569

will continue to receive care at the Sea Turtle Hospital

until they are ready to be released when

spring returns to New England.

Researchers have predicted that by 2031, just eight

years from this video's release, thousands of cold-stunned sea

turtles will wash up on New England

shores every single year.

It takes an amazing collaboration

to combat these events and return

healthy sea turtles into the ocean

to rejoin their populations.

From emergency veterinarians to airplane pilots to hundreds

of beachcombing volunteers, I was

so proud to play a small part in saving these rare and endangered

animals.

But the work continues every single day

from the cold shores of Cape Cod to the warm waters

of South Florida.