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Beautiful!
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They are surrounding
that boat right now.
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In 2015, I was in a kayak
whale-watching trip in California
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with my friend Charlotte.
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That's us, there.
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And then this happened.
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TOURISTS GASP
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A humpback whale
breached on top of us.
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TOURIST: I got him on video!
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My name's Tom Mustill.
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My name's Charlotte.
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I make documentaries.
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I'm an accountant.
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Out of the water came this giant
thing, like a big, black thing
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and it blocked out the sun.
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Really, it was huge.
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It was like a building grew
out of the water next to us.
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And it happened just like....
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Whoosh...
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Phwoar! And that was it.
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TOURIST: Oh, my gosh!
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I felt this huge swoosh and I was
cartwheeled around like a doll.
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Had no idea if either of us
were going to survive.
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I remember having to swim and seeing
the surface and swimming
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towards the surface.
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I remember this absolute elation,
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seeing light when I got
above the water.
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Just being so happy to be alive.
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Our guide came over and said,
"That's never happened before."
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And I started to think, "No-one's
ever going to believe me."
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Two days later, this video pops
up on the internet.
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ASTONISHED GASPS
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TOURIST: I got him.
I got him on video.
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My husband woke me up in the middle
of the night and I think
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what he said was,
"Look, you're famous."
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Charlotte didn't want
to watch the video.
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I think I've only watched
it maybe two or three times.
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I found myself watching it
over and over again.
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It's the most ridiculous thing
that's ever happened to me
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and probably will ever happen to me.
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How can you get that close
to something that big
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and that much power and not die?
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I started to realise
that we weren't alone.
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There were other videos of other
close encounters.
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Oh, my BLEEP.
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Please tell me you got that, Julie!
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EXCITED SHRIEKING
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Charlotte went back to work,
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but I couldn't let it go.
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I just wanted to go back and try
and figure out what happened to me.
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Who was this whale?
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Why was it there?
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What was it doing?
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And did it do that on purpose?
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I became sort of
obsessed with whales.
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And that's where the
detective work starts.
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I've come back to California
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to try to figure out what happened
to me that day.
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This is Moss Landing Harbor
in Monterey Bay.
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Out there is where the humpback
whale landed on the us.
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I'm a wildlife film-maker.
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But this time it's different,
because it's personal.
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To get some answers, I'm going
to need some help from these guys -
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pioneers of whale research.
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PLOPPING
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What's that sound?
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These are the animals
they have dedicated their lives
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to understanding and protecting.
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Whales and humans live
in different worlds.
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Very occasionally, out of
nowhere, our worlds collide.
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I wanted to meet someone like me.
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One of the few people who'd come
as close to a whale as I had.
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As gentle as it thinks it's being,
its most gentlest swipe
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could be damaging to a human.
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Because we're so frail
compared to a whale.
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Meet Shawn.
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Shawn Stamback.
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He has two dogs.
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Hallie and Pete.
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He really likes coffee.
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00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:04,840
Espresso.
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He's a commercial diver
and runs fishing charters.
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I like to make things for my boat.
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I've come to see Shawn because,
although he's a professional diver,
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a whale snuck up on him.
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Holy BLEEP!
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You're just like, wow!
Man, that just really happened!
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Out of all the videos of humans
and whales I've seen, Shawn has come
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the closest to being eaten.
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Did you think about what it would've
been like to be engulfed?
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Yeah, I played the scenario
over in my mind a lot of times.
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If I went in the whale's mouth,
you just have to deal with it.
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I would probably hold my
breath till I passed out.
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Did you feel lucky to have had that
experience? Oh, yeah!
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You know many people on Earth get
to have that experience?
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It's probably... I bet more people
have been struck by lightning.
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I feel like it's like a weird club.
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Yeah, it is a weird club!
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I know that humpbacks normally feed
by taking great gulps of seawater
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and eating the small animals inside.
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00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,560
A humpback whale is 500 times
bigger than a human.
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So, could a whale have eaten Shawn?
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Eat? No.
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Hold him in its mouth?
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I guess it's physically possible.
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This is Professor Joy Reidenberg.
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This is her husband Bruce.
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This is her mouse Spinelli.
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She's adorably cute.
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Joy is an old friend of mine.
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She is one of the great
experts of whale anatomy.
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When a whale dies, Joy dissects it.
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And she's done a lot.
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Maybe I'm getting
close to a thousand.
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These are the tools of her trade.
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You can't hurt somebody
that's already dead.
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But you can learn a lot from it.
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I've come to Joy to get
a Humpback Whale 101.
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A humpback is so much
bigger than a person.
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But its throat's only
a little bit bigger than yours is.
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A humpback hasn't got any teeth.
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According to Joy, it
can't even nibble you...
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..let alone swallow you.
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They have baleen, which is kind
of like a big set of brushes
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in their mouth, and they filter the
food through that.
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So, the water squirts
out and the fish stays.
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They might look very different,
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but they are our relatives.
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In many ways, they're actually
closer to us than many other animals
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that share the world with us.
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Whales are mammals.
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Their ancestors once lived
on the land,
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but then they moved back
to the sea.
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They breathe air like we do.
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They have pregnancies like we do.
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Give birth to live young,
nurse them with milk.
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Maintain a high body temperature.
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All these are mammalian things.
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Their skin, just like ours,
constantly grows and sheds,
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feeding armies of giant lice.
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They're so big, even their lice
are the size of your thumbnail.
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They can host a community of other
animals on their bodies,
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like barnacles.
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Barnacles take root on whales and
live there for their whole lives.
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I actually think they use
these barnacles as weapons,
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like brass knuckles.
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00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:13,200
Inside a humpback's pectoral fins
are the biggest arms on the planet.
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Its big tail fins
are called flukes.
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They can propel this 30-tonne beast
into the air
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in what is known as a breach.
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Sometimes they breach close
to our boats
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and extremely rarely,
they land on people, like us.
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This is the other reason
I've come to see Joy.
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I want her to look at my breach.
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Just have a watch of it.
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OK.
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Whoa!
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It's not funny!
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No, no, actually, it's not funny.
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The thing that really surprised me
when I saw that video was that whale
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didn't do what I would think
is a normal breach.
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This whale tried to accomplish an
aerial spin
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while it was flying through the air.
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It looked like it was going to tilt,
maybe land on the side,
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maybe land on the back of its head,
but instead rotated
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very counterintuitively,
the wrong way.
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You guys would've been dead
if it had landed with the back
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of its head on you.
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It was a weird breach, do you think?
I think it was very unusual.
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Joy's theory is that our whale
turned away from us in mid-air.
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But why was it breaching at all?
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We don't even know
what breaches are about.
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You don't know what
breaches are about?
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No, there's lots of theories
about what breaches are about.
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No-one really knows for sure
because no-one can get
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inside the head and ask a whale,
"Why did you do that thing?"
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All right? That's like asking
someone who decides to dance down
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the street, "Why are you dancing
down the street?
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"Well, maybe you're happy
or maybe you're crazy
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"or maybe you've got
an ant in your shoe."
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I think we have so much we need
to learn about these animals.
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So, it seems that the animal that
almost killed me is an enigma.
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Here's a short list of what we don't
know about humpback whales.
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We don't know how long they live.
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We don't know how many there are.
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WHALE SINGS
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We don't know what their
beautiful songs are for.
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We've named all
the ways they splash...
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..but we don't know why
they do any of them.
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Most of our explanations
for their behaviours
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are still theories.
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Because almost all of their lives
are hidden beneath the waves.
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This is the sea off Moss Landing.
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This is where the whale
landed on me.
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And this is MBARI. It's a marine
research centre and somewhere
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I hope I can get some answers.
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And this is John.
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My name is John Ryan.
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He's a scientist here.
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I'm a guy who listens to whales
in the world they live in.
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He likes roller-coasters...
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00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,120
I have a season pass
to the Boardwalk.
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00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:18,960
..skateboarding...
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00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,080
I just have a cruiser that allows me
to get around town quickly.
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..and enormous subwoofers.
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DEEP SOUND PULSATES
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That was a fin whale.
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I've come to ask John
why my whale was here.
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00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:35,720
Monterey Bay is spectacular when
we view it at the surface
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and if we were to look
beneath the water,
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we would see that it is
spectacular along the bottom,
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because the bay is bisected
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by a massive submarine canyon
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on the scale of the Grand Canyon.
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00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,160
And this means that very deep water
is close to shore.
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The scientists at MBARI
have explored this canyon
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and found it stretches
over 250 miles
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00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:04,360
and is as much as 3,500 metres deep.
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Many species of animals
are difficult to study
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00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:10,040
with the visual methods.
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However, they vocalise,
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which means that just by listening
continuously in the ocean,
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we can learn
a lot about their lives.
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WHALESONG
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This is the call of
a male humpback whale.
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SONG CONTINUES
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John's listening to a microphone
that he attached to a monitoring
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00:11:29,560 --> 00:11:33,200
station 1,000 metres
beneath the waves.
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00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:40,080
Down here, MBARI's machines can see
and hear what we cannot.
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This deep water is
rich in nutrients.
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WHALESONG ECHOES
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And when it rises and hits
sunlight, there's a colossal
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explosion of life,
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00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,200
an enormous interconnected feast.
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00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:03,280
Squid, seals, eels,
sea slugs, jellyfish,
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00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,480
sharks, otters, mola mola, kelp,
sea lions, sea birds in their tens
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00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:07,720
of thousands,
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00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:10,160
and, of course, whales.
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00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,640
They are drawn to feast
on krill and fish.
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00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,080
This is why my whale was here.
241
00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:23,440
Monterey Bay is a humpback
feeding ground.
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00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,400
You can see whales out
this window sometimes forging
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00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,440
very close to shore.
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00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:32,400
I love it here.
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00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:37,200
On that day, there was
an unprecedented layer of anchovies
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over a mile long and packed
into the canyon mouth.
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00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,440
And we were right on top of it.
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But we weren't alone.
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The whales had come to feed
and people had come
250
00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:52,440
to see the whales.
251
00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:53,480
TOURIST: Wow!
252
00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,680
This stretch of coast is one
of the whale-watching centres
253
00:12:58,680 --> 00:12:59,720
of the world.
254
00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:00,880
Oh!
255
00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:04,160
You forget about everything
when you're out there.
256
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,760
Quite often when I see whales,
I cry.
257
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,040
It's too much happiness to handle.
258
00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:11,360
It is amazing.
259
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:12,960
I mean, it's just so powerful.
260
00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,200
Spectacular to see
a humpback breach.
261
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,920
Some go out over
100 times a year.
262
00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,880
Do you think you're addicted
to whale watching?
263
00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:23,480
Hell, yeah!
264
00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:24,520
Are you addicted?
265
00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:25,640
I'm addicted.
266
00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:27,560
I think it's a wonderful obsession!
267
00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,600
When I look at a whale, I feel
like a very small piece
268
00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:32,000
of this world.
269
00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:33,840
EXCITED MURMURS
270
00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:37,960
Oh, my God!
271
00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:39,440
It was just amazing,
272
00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,240
something you'd never experienced,
ever before.
273
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,360
That close,
within a just a few feet!
274
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,280
This sight would've been
unbelievable until recently,
275
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,520
because Monterey Bay
was once a whaling base.
276
00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,360
We hunted whales for their oil,
277
00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,680
baleen, flesh and bones.
278
00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:03,880
Last century, we killed
an estimated 3 million of them,
279
00:14:03,880 --> 00:14:07,160
reducing some populations
to almost nothing.
280
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,640
Thankfully, here, the slaughter has
stopped
281
00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,480
and the humpbacks seem
to be recovering -
282
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,720
their numbers roughly tripling in
the last 25 years.
283
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:24,040
Whale watchers are drawn
here in their thousands.
284
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,920
Did somebody photograph my whale
that day?
285
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:30,520
Oh, fluke!
286
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,800
I've heard of a man
who can help me find out.
287
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,080
I guess people would call me
the "Whale-Tail Guy".
288
00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:43,280
Meet Ted.
289
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:45,160
My name is Ted Cheeseman.
290
00:14:45,160 --> 00:14:46,520
Ted is a surfer.
291
00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:48,200
I need to be in the outdoors.
292
00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:49,680
This is his wife Rene.
293
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,040
Hi!
294
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:52,680
And this is their dog Morson.
295
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,280
Morson's favourite
trick is "sitting pretty".
296
00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:02,400
I've come to see Ted because he runs
an unparalleled humpback whale
297
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,640
photo identification service.
298
00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:09,080
I've now looked at way
over 100,000 images of whales.
299
00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:11,600
Has that made you weird?
300
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,920
It could be!
301
00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,240
Ted's database is
called Happywhale.
302
00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:17,840
And it relies on a very helpful
303
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,520
feature of whales' tails.
304
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,280
Humpback whales' tails
are really fantastic.
305
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,600
They will tend to scar
black on white.
306
00:15:26,600 --> 00:15:30,440
A humpback's life story is written
in the unique pattern
307
00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,680
of scars on its tail flukes.
308
00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,320
You can use the bite
marks of killer whales.
309
00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,760
You can use scars from
entanglement in fishing gear.
310
00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,040
Barnacles leave a little round scar.
311
00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:45,080
For decades, scientists
have painstakingly assembled
312
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,400
catalogues of humpbacks' tail flukes
which they gave to Ted.
313
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,800
7,000 images of 3,000 known
individuals
314
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,840
over the past 25, 30 years of whale
science in California.
315
00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,200
Ted's big idea was to combine
these catalogues
316
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:05,760
with the constant stream of
whale-watching photographs.
317
00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,000
So, you see a whale,
you take a photograph.
318
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:12,080
Send it to Happywhale.
319
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:13,920
We'll identify that individual.
320
00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,560
It might be the whale Grumpy,
it might be Frosty,
321
00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:18,000
one of my favourites.
322
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,960
People's holiday snaps
have become a scientific tool.
323
00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,440
We have identified about 1,500
in the last three years,
324
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:28,120
so that's coming close to, say,
325
00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,800
70% of individuals in California.
326
00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,280
Is there a chance we could
track down my whale?
327
00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,520
Is it somewhere in Ted's archive?
328
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:43,640
I want to know if it's possible
to identify any of the whales?
329
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,600
Ummm. I don't know.
330
00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:49,560
2015 we were just starting and so...
331
00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,720
I'd hoped we could get a lead
from the shots of the whale spotted
332
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,560
next to us from right
before the breach.
333
00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,160
It's very odd.
334
00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,280
But, um... Do you want to try it?
335
00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,040
It's running. I just loaded the...
336
00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,680
I took 22 screenshots so,
337
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,320
herein, I'm attempting to match
these against one of our catalogues
338
00:17:08,320 --> 00:17:10,360
which has 18,000 photos in it.
339
00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:12,040
Do you think you can find that one?
340
00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,240
I'm not very hopeful.
I mean, we can look at it.
341
00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,840
I had hoped we might
be able to identify
342
00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:23,960
a few suspects.
343
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:28,120
But Ted got back to me
a few days later.
344
00:17:28,120 --> 00:17:33,160
It turns out that the 12th of
September, 2015, was a freak day.
345
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,280
More whales were identified that day
than almost any other.
346
00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:42,360
He sent me photo after photo of
flukes and their catalogue numbers.
347
00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,600
In Monterey Bay alone,
51 different known whales
348
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,160
were confirmed that day.
349
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,720
How could I ever find out
which one is my whale?
350
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,040
But whoever this whale was,
351
00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,840
I still questioned whether it meant
to jump on us.
352
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:09,680
Was it an aggressive act?
353
00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,840
I'd heard a story of a whale
attack from my world
354
00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:16,600
of wildlife film-making.
355
00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:23,480
If the animal had hit me eight
inches higher
356
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,560
it would have hit me in the neck.
357
00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,600
It would have knocked
my head clean off.
358
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:30,640
This is Howard and Michele Hall.
359
00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:31,840
They're a team.
360
00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:33,280
If I'm boss, he's president.
361
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,920
They are pioneer
underwater film-makers.
362
00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,520
Over 3,200 dives,
I have kept track.
363
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:40,600
These are some of their awards.
364
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:45,360
At our age, people start giving us
awards for having had a career.
365
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:48,080
This is Howard's old camera housing.
366
00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:50,320
I think I built this
in the mid-1980s.
367
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,120
And this is one of his new ones.
368
00:18:52,120 --> 00:18:54,560
This captures images in 8K.
369
00:18:57,000 --> 00:18:59,680
This is a grey whale's penis.
370
00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,280
Over 30 years ago, Howard recorded
one of the first-ever shots
371
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:04,600
of one underwater.
372
00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:06,560
But it almost cost him his life.
373
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,640
I never saw it and I was
unconscious when I got that.
374
00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:11,240
Crazy.
375
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,720
We managed to find
the film to show him.
376
00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,440
This is the first time I've seen
it in 20-odd years.
377
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:23,960
Filming the friendlies
turned out to be more risky
378
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:25,680
than our film crew anticipated.
379
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,200
I was working for a producer
that wanted to capture a shot
380
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,120
of whales mating underwater,
381
00:19:30,120 --> 00:19:32,160
which is totally impossible.
382
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:35,400
Visibility down there
is only about two metres,
383
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,080
about six feet.
384
00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:40,720
I took a deep breath,
swam down 30 feet and swam out
385
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:44,360
towards some whales that were mating
and that's when it's got scary.
386
00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:48,240
Within a few seconds, I could see
dark shapes all around me
387
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,240
and that was literally terrifying,
388
00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,480
to know that you're in the midst
389
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,760
of whales that are violently mating,
390
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,040
and suddenly, right in front of me,
391
00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:03,880
there was a whale's face
and I could see its eye.
392
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,720
The whole animal just bolted
and I was totally terrified.
393
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,360
I knew I was going to get hit.
I curled up into a ball,
394
00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:12,400
trying to make as small
a target as possible,
395
00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:13,640
and the next thing
396
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:15,760
there was a whale's tail
next to my left arm.
397
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,720
I didn't see it coming,
it just happened.
398
00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:21,120
It sounded like a shotgun went
off right next to my ear -
399
00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,320
very, very loud explosion -
and then the lights went out.
400
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,920
I was unconscious for 20 seconds
or more
401
00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:30,360
and when I woke up I'm upside down,
402
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:33,320
murky bay.
403
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,560
I just managed to get
to the surface.
404
00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,640
I had a broken arm, two broken ribs,
but the good part of the story
405
00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,320
is that I had the camera running.
406
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,720
Footage of this gigantic,
12-foot-long prehensile penis
407
00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:47,960
moving through the frame,
and I wasn't enormously proud
408
00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:50,400
of the shot because it
really wasn't composed very well,
409
00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,160
but that's excusable
considering I was,
410
00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:54,640
you know, unconscious.
411
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,560
Howard believes the whale
intentionally attacked him
412
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,240
because he got too close
and surprised it.
413
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,840
But following this encounter,
Howard has continued
414
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:13,520
to film whales underwater.
415
00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,320
Like these humpbacks.
416
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,440
Is he not scared,
being so close to these giants?
417
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:26,920
It's not scary being
in the water with whales.
418
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:34,400
Especially when you consider that an
animal that's literally gigantic,
419
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,240
can so easily hurt you,
even unintentionally,
420
00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:39,720
and they tend not to.
421
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,520
You get a sense when you're
with one of these animals
422
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,160
that it recognises you as another
living thing...
423
00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:51,880
..and is looking back
424
00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:54,360
at you when you're looking at it.
425
00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:57,960
And is careful not to hit you
or hurt you
426
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:01,040
or be aggressive to you.
427
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,560
It sort of leaves me
speechless to try to describe
428
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,800
what it's like to see
a mom and calf
429
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,520
that allow you to be
in their proximity
430
00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:17,800
and swim by you, swim around you,
431
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:21,560
move their pectoral
fin where you think,
432
00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:22,960
"Oh, my gosh, it's going to hit me."
433
00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:25,840
But it doesn't.
434
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,600
So, how come my whale hit me?
435
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,040
This is just so mind-boggling.
436
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,520
Oh, my...gosh!
437
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,120
They can make mistakes
just like people do,
438
00:22:43,120 --> 00:22:46,080
and I think that animal just,
you know, kind of blew it,
439
00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,600
was jumping,
wasn't paying attention,
440
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,840
and wouldn't have done
it on purpose,
441
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,240
but, you know, you were just in
the wrong place at the wrong time.
442
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,360
Wrong place, wrong time.
443
00:22:57,360 --> 00:23:00,680
It seems what happened to me
was just an accident.
444
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:07,480
My investigation had been
into my whale and my experience,
445
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:11,200
but, suddenly, I was drawn
into a much bigger story.
446
00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:17,680
We heard that a whale had been found
dead three hours north
447
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:19,440
of where we were staying.
448
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,360
Joy arrives to join a big
team that's gathering.
449
00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:25,600
They bring her up to speed.
450
00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,400
They towed it over
to Angel Island,
451
00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:30,680
and that's one of the only beaches
452
00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:35,120
that they can actually
tow our whale to in the bay.
453
00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:37,960
When dead whales turn
up in San Francisco,
454
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,360
they're towed
to this uninhabited island.
455
00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:44,960
The remains of other dead
whales litter the shores.
456
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,360
First priority is,
why did this animal die?
457
00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:51,160
If we don't know why it died,
we can't do anything about it,
458
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:52,160
we can't stop it.
459
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,600
If we lose those opportunities,
460
00:23:54,600 --> 00:23:56,880
then we may lose the species,
461
00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,520
because we will have missed
the warning signs.
462
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,720
The red flags are all there
but we have to find them,
463
00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,480
so it's a crime scene first.
464
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,720
We've got to understand
why the whale died.
465
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,720
Once that's established,
the next order of business
466
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,480
is scientific collection.
467
00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:14,680
This is the saddest part of all,
468
00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:16,760
because it's a female
469
00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,200
and a fairly young female.
470
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,760
Fin whales are
an endangered species.
471
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:25,760
This young female would
have had many years of life
472
00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:28,320
and many calves ahead of her.
473
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,640
A big team has gathered to do
a thorough necropsy.
474
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:39,400
It will take many hours in the hot
sun to find out what killed her.
475
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:43,800
Joy has a suspicion
that something big hit this whale
476
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,000
and she's looking for proof.
477
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,440
The layer underneath
that muscle should look
478
00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,080
like this, should be kind of whitish
yellow. Oh, yeah.
479
00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,120
This is not normal.
That's a bruise.
480
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:56,320
Right. And bruising would indicate
that it was bleeding
481
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:58,760
and bleeding indicates
it was alive when it was struck.
482
00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,040
And if you look over here,
that's rust from a boat.
483
00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,840
Is it? That is like, probably the
site of the main impact right here.
484
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,880
Joy needs more evidence
to prove it was a ship,
485
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:09,960
so the team dig deeper.
486
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:12,200
You've got to have a strong labour
force of people,
487
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,680
basically, playing tug-of-war
with organs, it's tough.
488
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:20,720
You are dealing with 50, 60 - 70,
sometimes - feet of massive animal,
489
00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:23,360
tonnes of animal.
490
00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:25,360
It's very, very difficult to do.
491
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:34,520
I do get hungry. You get hungry?
492
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,200
I do get hungry when
I'm working on a whale,
493
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,240
especially when it's really fresh,
because it looks kind of like roast
494
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:41,640
beef, you know, it's meat.
495
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,880
I know it's gross -
I don't want to eat the whale,
496
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,080
I just instinctively get hungry.
497
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,560
Finally, the team expose the spine,
498
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,720
but it's not all where it should be.
499
00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:00,400
This one's been pushed
out of position, so much so
500
00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:02,200
that it's up against the rib.
501
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,400
It should be in the middle
of the whale, it shouldn't be
502
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:05,840
against the rib. This is crazy.
503
00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,640
That's a massive amount of pressure
and it also means that whale
504
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:10,320
was really snapped in half.
505
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,920
We just don't think of whales
as things that snap.
506
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:14,560
They shouldn't. Yeah.
507
00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:16,320
What would normally
hit a whale that hard?
508
00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,440
There's nothing bigger
than a whale in nature,
509
00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,160
and then comes along a ship and it
doesn't know how to handle that.
510
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,240
I don't think this was done on
purpose. Yeah.
511
00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:24,880
It's more that I'm sad,
512
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:26,800
I'm sad that it happens,
513
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,640
I'm angry that we haven't been able
to do something about it to stop it,
514
00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:33,640
and a tragedy - more than anything
else, it's a tragedy.
515
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,120
The necropsy complete,
the remains of the whale
516
00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:42,800
are left for scavengers.
517
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,680
And Joy and the team head home.
518
00:26:56,120 --> 00:27:00,240
Sadly, this wasn't the only dead
whale I saw that week.
519
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,560
First, a grey whale calf was spotted
with its mother
520
00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,200
with what looked like propeller
wounds on its tail.
521
00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:12,240
It washed up on our local
beach a few days later.
522
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:17,560
Then two different humpbacks
were seen with fishing gear wrapped
523
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,360
around them, like this one
with its pec fins
524
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,000
bound to its sides.
525
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,960
And then another dead whale washed
up a few miles south.
526
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,160
What was going on?
527
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:35,200
We see a lot of scarring of whales
running into human stuff.
528
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:40,560
More than half the whales probably
bear some kind of scarring
529
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,920
from a ship strike
or from an entanglement.
530
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,560
I learned that whales
had been turning up entangled,
531
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,640
injured or dead, in record numbers.
532
00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:54,880
The last five years
had seen a 300% increase
533
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:57,320
in humpback entanglements alone.
534
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:01,000
On the East Coast, so many humpbacks
were dying
535
00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:03,440
that a UME had been declared.
536
00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:05,240
What's a UME?
537
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,520
UME is the abbreviation
for Unusual Mortality Event,
538
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,400
which simply means that we're
getting too many dead animals
539
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,240
and we don't know why
that's happening.
540
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,600
It's really like declaring a state
of emergency for whales.
541
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:20,520
We have to take stock of what's
happening and really understand
542
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,960
this, so that we can stop it.
543
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,880
I started out wondering if my whale
had tried to kill me,
544
00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,880
but now all I can think
of is, have we somehow killed IT?
545
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,320
Do you think people would be upset?
546
00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:37,080
Oh, not upset -
people would be up in arms.
547
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,400
You're driving down the road,
you see a deer caught in a fence,
548
00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,240
right? You wouldn't just drive by.
549
00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,040
At very least, you'd call 911.
550
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:48,040
But these whales are
out of sight, out of mind.
551
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:53,840
We don't know, we can't see it,
552
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,120
so once you do start seeing it,
553
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:59,080
it's not something you can ignore.
554
00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,600
But all hope is not lost.
555
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,200
There are highly trained volunteers
standing by along the whole
556
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:09,240
West Coast, waiting for word
that a whale is in trouble.
557
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:14,480
We, as human beings, owe
it to these innocent animals
558
00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,280
to reduce their suffering
and save their lives.
559
00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:19,040
This is Pieter.
560
00:29:19,040 --> 00:29:21,240
My name is Pieter Folkens.
561
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,840
Pieter is a world renowned
wildlife illustrator.
562
00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,120
He also helped design the models
for Flipper and Free Willy.
563
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:29,760
Pieter has a lot of jobs.
564
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:33,240
Scientific illustrator,
naturalist, conservationist,
565
00:29:33,240 --> 00:29:36,480
writer, publisher,
search and rescue.
566
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,080
But Pieter has another job.
567
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,480
I'm one of a small
group of individuals
568
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:45,840
that disentangles whales.
569
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,040
Just a handful of people
in the state are authorised
570
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:50,920
to cut trapped whales free.
571
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:55,680
We heard fishermen had found
a whale in trouble.
572
00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,560
We joined a team of three
small boats and a Coast Guard escort
573
00:30:00,560 --> 00:30:02,680
heading out into the open sea.
574
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,720
No crew has ever filmed
a disentanglement here before.
575
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,920
It took us hours to reach the whale.
576
00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:15,720
The whale is trapped by a rope
attached to fishing gear
577
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:16,880
on the sea bed.
578
00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,920
The team thinks it could
have been like this for weeks.
579
00:30:22,920 --> 00:30:24,720
They're approaching
the whale now, Tim.
580
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,880
I'm trying to get the line
where the float is,
581
00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:30,960
if we can.
582
00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:37,640
There are few things
that I've ever done
583
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:39,240
that are as dangerous
584
00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:41,480
as disentangling whales.
585
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,360
You don't know what this animal
is thinking and feeling
586
00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:46,560
and it may lash out at you.
587
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,640
You know the animal is scared,
it's frightened, it might think
588
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,120
of you as a threat,
and it's going to defend itself
589
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:54,400
against the threat.
590
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:57,240
People have been killed
disentangling whales.
591
00:30:57,240 --> 00:31:01,320
I know of three just
in the last few decades.
592
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:05,400
And so, we absolutely insist
that nobody even attempt it
593
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:07,560
if they don't have a thorough
understanding of what
594
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:09,640
they're doing.
595
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:11,760
I think we're deep enough,
going to pull in.
596
00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:14,040
Yeah, we might get
a reaction out of the animal.
597
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:15,880
The rope has cut
deep into the whale.
598
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:19,360
OK. That was a stress blow.
599
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,720
We're are out there being very
sensitive to the state
600
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,320
of the animal, listening
to its blows, are they stressful,
601
00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:25,520
or are they relaxed?
602
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:26,600
WHALE BLOWS
603
00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:28,360
Stress blow. Stress blow.
604
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:29,600
Even more so.
605
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,440
He knows that we're here.
606
00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,240
Be mindful of the flukes.
607
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,360
Hey, Pieter, it's underneath in a
jumble in the body of the whale.
608
00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,400
OK, then what you can do
is you can drop it.
609
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,400
Drop it. Drop it.
I want to make sure...
610
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:43,240
Drop it on the right side.
611
00:31:43,240 --> 00:31:45,240
Drop it on the right
side of the whale.
612
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:47,440
It's a very anxious period of time
613
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,360
and, erm... It's not comfortable.
614
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,960
Dropping the line on the side.
Step back again.
615
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,040
WHALE BLOWS
616
00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:57,600
The flukes are underneath the bow.
617
00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:58,920
Pull them up.
618
00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:02,160
OK, we're above
the flukes right now. OK.
619
00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:05,760
With the weather turning,
the team is running out of time.
620
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:07,600
But Pieter judges that the whale
621
00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,240
is relaxed enough to move
in for the cut.
622
00:32:10,240 --> 00:32:12,000
Do you have your safety knife?
623
00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:15,520
At this point, Pieter is attached
by a rope to an animal larger
624
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,120
than T Rex, just feet
from its biggest weapon,
625
00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:20,600
its tail.
626
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:22,120
Pieter makes the cut.
627
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,320
Good dive. The flotation
may pull it through.
628
00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,000
As the whale swims away,
the rope pulls out of its tail.
629
00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,160
It's pulling through now.
630
00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:33,640
Almost there, almost there.
631
00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:35,920
And after weeks
joined to the seafloor,
632
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:37,240
it's free.
633
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,080
The whale is now free. Free.
634
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:46,600
It's like a huge emotional rush
that we accomplished the task.
635
00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:51,080
Everybody's safe and I don't
have to worry about it any more.
636
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:55,160
Although the animal's tail
was deeply compromised,
637
00:32:55,160 --> 00:33:00,000
there's at least a chance
in there that it will now survive.
638
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:01,400
It was kind of a release,
639
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:03,680
the adrenaline was flowing away,
640
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:08,760
realising that we had done something
that was, without question, good.
641
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:16,120
I can't stop thinking
about MY whale.
642
00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:18,640
What happened to it in this ocean
643
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,920
that I now know is so dangerous
for its kind?
644
00:33:26,440 --> 00:33:30,240
I need to narrow down this wall
of tails to one whale.
645
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,760
I figured out that there were three
boats on the water near us
646
00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:37,280
that fateful morning.
647
00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:43,880
In the first one, the captain, Mike,
managed to get photos of the whale
648
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:46,600
while it landed on our kayak.
649
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,800
But, crucially, its tail
is underwater.
650
00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:52,400
His camera metadata
shows the whale landed
651
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:55,000
on us at 9.24am.
652
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,680
Next was Captain Kate Spencer.
653
00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,760
When we were in the water,
her boat raced over.
654
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,640
Her GPS track shows
exactly where we were.
655
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:09,160
On the third boat
was Captain Kate Cummings.
656
00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:11,760
She missed our breach,
but photographed other breaching
657
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:13,560
whales that day.
658
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:17,680
Could one of these be our
whale breaching again?
659
00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:21,440
And a final witness
was watching from afar.
660
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:25,520
Filming from the beach that day
was a woman called Debi Thompkins.
661
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:27,680
Debi is obsessed with whales.
662
00:34:27,680 --> 00:34:29,720
That was after I saw
my first blue whale.
663
00:34:29,720 --> 00:34:31,600
Whey! I love whales.
664
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:34,040
She wears them on her skin and ears.
665
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,000
In an astonishing fluke,
666
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:38,560
Debi had unknowingly captured
a second angle
667
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,640
of the most extraordinary moment
of my life.
668
00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:42,800
I got them splashing!
669
00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:44,560
Have you talked to them at all...
670
00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:47,040
Well... ..the people that
it happened to? It was me.
671
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:48,280
You're BLEEP me!
672
00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:52,120
I didn't know that! I thought you'd
figured it out. No!
673
00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:56,040
I can't imagine what that was like.
674
00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:01,040
Not one of these witnesses had got
a shot of our whale's tail,
675
00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,360
but now I had a precise time
and place, two videos
676
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,800
and scores of photos.
677
00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,240
Was my whale's identity
somewhere in all of this?
678
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,560
I'd been sent some videos
from my new friends,
679
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:20,160
the whale watchers.
680
00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,760
Ones without an easy explanation...
681
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:24,240
Wow!
682
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:27,520
I love you!
683
00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:32,360
..where the whales almost seem to be
watching the whale watchers.
684
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:34,600
WATCHERS CHATTER
685
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,720
Here we have the leviathan,
686
00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:39,680
the giants of the deep.
687
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,960
Which turn out to be
friendly animals.
688
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:46,960
Wow!
689
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,640
They're curious about us.
690
00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:54,600
They turn out to not be out to kill
us, even though we spent centuries
691
00:35:54,720 --> 00:35:56,760
very successfully killing them.
692
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:58,360
Wow!
693
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,800
Could humpbacks be interested
in other species?
694
00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:06,080
I'd seen another video viewed
over 10 million times,
695
00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:08,520
stranger than all the rest.
696
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:11,440
Seriously, I would never believe
any of this as a biologist
697
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,000
and a researcher. I would...
698
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,840
Unless it happened to me, because I
just can't believe
699
00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:18,360
it happened to me,
but if someone told me this story,
700
00:36:18,360 --> 00:36:19,880
I never would believe it.
701
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:21,480
This is Nan.
702
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:22,760
Nan Hauser.
703
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:25,200
And this is her dog Brody.
704
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:29,640
He likes to sing along with Nan's
humpback whale recordings.
705
00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:34,040
Nan's a marine biologist,
so her fridge is a bit unusual.
706
00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:38,760
Samples of whales,
manatees and seals.
707
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:40,400
Great! Is that normal?
708
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,680
Do you always have parts of animals
in your fridge? Absolutely.
709
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:47,120
Nan has spent much of her life
studying whales in the Cook Islands.
710
00:36:47,120 --> 00:36:49,600
I was famous for getting
the first sperm whale fart. And...
711
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,800
The first fart?
712
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,080
Yes, the first sperm whale fart!
713
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,800
Here's the fart in one
of Joy's scientific papers.
714
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,120
For decades, Nan has studied
the underwater behaviour
715
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:03,320
of humpbacks in the Cook Islands.
716
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:09,040
This passed largely without incident
until this happened.
717
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:15,240
I just knew it was
a dangerous situation.
718
00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,200
Humpbacks normally
avoid touching people,
719
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:20,400
and Nan would never
normally touch a whale,
720
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:22,320
but here she felt she had no choice.
721
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:27,400
I couldn't push 50,000 lbs
away from me, but I knew
722
00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:31,200
that I could push ME
away from 50,000 lbs.
723
00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,440
He tried to tuck me under his fin
and literally
724
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:38,960
would swim until I would be under
his fin,
725
00:37:38,960 --> 00:37:40,360
and I'd hold on to it
726
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:42,560
so he couldn't hold me
there because I would drown.
727
00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:44,200
And his eye was right next to mine.
728
00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:48,160
He had this eye widening
where you see the whites of his eye.
729
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:53,320
It was painful,
and it was very, very scary.
730
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,400
This went on for ten
and a half minutes...
731
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:02,560
Until I saw the shark.
732
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,480
The whale came right up behind me
and pushed me to the boat.
733
00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,440
There is a big, big
tiger shark up there!
734
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,000
Well, come in the boat!
735
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:12,760
A big tiger shark!
736
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:15,840
And climbing up on the back
of the boat and the whale
737
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:17,680
was still there.
738
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:18,880
Nan, the whale...
739
00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:20,520
Literally there.
740
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:21,960
WHALE BLOWS
741
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:25,000
I love you, too!
742
00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:27,840
I love you, too!
743
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:29,360
This is not a normal thing.
744
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:30,640
I love you!
745
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:34,560
I just know that it's incredible
altruistic behaviour.
746
00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,600
What's altruistic behaviour?
747
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,400
Altruism is when you commit an act
748
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:44,480
to help or protect another life
749
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:49,840
What did this whale gain
from any of this
750
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,840
other than pushing me to the boat
and protecting me?
751
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:57,080
It turns out that Nan isn't
the only one to have been saved
752
00:38:57,080 --> 00:38:58,760
by a humpback.
753
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,760
There have been over 100 recorded
incidents of humpbacks interfering
754
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:05,440
when other species are being hunted.
755
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,680
The global centre of
these is Monterey Bay,
756
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:11,440
and this woman has been
seeing it for years.
757
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:14,800
Humpbacks are saving other animals.
758
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,560
Why are they doing this?
759
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,160
Meet Nancy.
760
00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:20,200
My name is Nancy Black.
761
00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,920
Nancy is an animal lover
and takes her dogs to sea.
762
00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:29,720
But the animal Nancy loves the most
is the killer whale.
763
00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:32,760
I just like, saw them,
and I am like, "I just want to study
764
00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:34,040
"wild killer whales."
765
00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:35,880
Nancy spent her life following them
766
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:37,560
and named her boats after them.
767
00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:39,240
The Sea Wolf...
768
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:41,960
the other boat is
caught the Blackfin.
769
00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,680
She's one of the great pioneers of
whale watching in Monterey Bay.
770
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:48,920
When I first started way
back in the late '80s,
771
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,280
no-one believed me that there was
whales here to watch.
772
00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:56,440
This is Jason, and this is Mike.
773
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:59,840
They're Nancy's drone guys,
giving her a new perspective
774
00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,280
on whale behaviour.
775
00:40:02,520 --> 00:40:05,640
You can see things from the air
that you wouldn't see
776
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:07,840
at all from the boat.
777
00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,040
This season, Nancy watched
from above as killer
778
00:40:11,040 --> 00:40:14,440
whales hunted and killed
this grey whale calf.
779
00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:19,560
And then from nowhere,
780
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:21,600
humpbacks arrived.
781
00:40:21,600 --> 00:40:23,440
What were they doing?
782
00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,560
I was on the surface
and could only catch glimpses
783
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,680
of what was happening.
784
00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:36,640
It's just, sort of, humpbacks
everywhere and then killer whales
785
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,280
everywhere and trying to figure
out, with all the boats,
786
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:42,560
what's happening.
That's really difficult.
787
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:46,400
From above, Nancy could
see the whole scene.
788
00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,360
With the drone, you can see
where the humpbacks are in relation
789
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:50,760
to the killer whales.
790
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:51,960
What were they doing?
791
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,840
They were protecting the carcass
from the killer whales
792
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:57,040
from coming at it. It was almost
like they were acting
793
00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,200
like it was their own calf.
794
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,640
The carcass has been pushed
deeper underwater,
795
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:05,240
and the humpbacks seem to be chasing
the killer whales away
796
00:41:05,240 --> 00:41:08,360
and throwing their tails.
797
00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:13,120
A blow from a humpback
could kill a killer whale.
798
00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:15,600
Do you just think
they hate killer whales?
799
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:17,280
Probably, yeah.
800
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:20,960
Whatever it is, their instinct
is to shoo them away.
801
00:41:20,960 --> 00:41:23,760
Humpbacks have been seen coming
to the rescue of seals,
802
00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:28,040
sea lions, dolphins,
and even giant ocean sunfish.
803
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:39,480
Do they really care
about saving other animals?
804
00:41:39,480 --> 00:41:42,880
I don't want to think it initially,
as a scientist,
805
00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,960
because I feel like I am
anthropomorphising the whale.
806
00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:49,800
But when you see more and more and
more evidence
807
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,080
of these animals
saving other animals,
808
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:56,080
then you have to start
thinking, is their social awareness
809
00:41:56,080 --> 00:42:00,160
of other species so high that they
feel empathy to other animals,
810
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:02,480
that they want to save those
animals?
811
00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:08,640
Other baleen whales like blue
whales and fin whales
812
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:11,080
are very scared of killer whales.
813
00:42:12,120 --> 00:42:15,360
Where the biggest animal
on the planet, the blue whale,
814
00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,400
flees, humpbacks can fight.
815
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,440
No other whale has such giant
and lumpy pectoral fins.
816
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:28,160
Scientists think that these
five-metre-long deadly weapons
817
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:32,000
give humpbacks the power to take
on the wolves of the sea.
818
00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:43,600
It was our humpback's pectoral
fin that hit our kayak,
819
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:47,440
and, crucially, from the beach,
Debi had filmed a clear shot
820
00:42:47,440 --> 00:42:49,280
of that fin.
821
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:51,000
So, I took it to show Ted.
822
00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:53,360
Dmph!
823
00:42:53,360 --> 00:42:54,960
There! That is pretty good.
824
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:56,160
Oh, that is pretty good.
825
00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:57,520
OK, so....
826
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,480
Ted found a breaching
whale from that day
827
00:42:59,480 --> 00:43:01,640
with a similar pec fin.
828
00:43:01,640 --> 00:43:04,320
These are Kate Spencer's photos.
829
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,800
This is your day,
but this is an hour
830
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:09,400
and 20 minutes later.
831
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:11,040
Let's zoom in a little bit.
832
00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:13,680
Take a little screenshot
of it so we have a reference there.
833
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:15,880
Then, let's go to this video.
834
00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:17,920
It has got dark lump there. Yeah.
835
00:43:17,920 --> 00:43:19,360
It's got a shape there.
836
00:43:19,360 --> 00:43:21,480
It's got a white gap
running through there,
837
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,400
then it's got a dark lump there.
838
00:43:23,400 --> 00:43:26,280
That makes this an
interesting suspect.
839
00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,080
Could you look at all
of the photos of our candidate?
840
00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:30,520
Yeah.
841
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:32,520
All the sea lions.
842
00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:33,960
They're just having a ball.
843
00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:35,600
Wait! That's us! There you go!
844
00:43:35,600 --> 00:43:36,800
That's next to us!
845
00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,000
One of these boats is our boat.
846
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:41,880
She is in our kayak group.
847
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:45,120
That's her there! I think that makes
her the prime suspect.
848
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:47,960
It's got the same
left under arm pec. Yeah.
849
00:43:47,960 --> 00:43:49,440
Well, not the same, but very...
850
00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:51,680
Who knows, it doesn't
look dissimilar.
851
00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:55,880
Yeah. Exactly. It's next to us
just before we get breached on,
852
00:43:55,880 --> 00:43:58,840
and it's breaching
after we get breached on.
853
00:43:58,840 --> 00:44:00,360
It is a strong case.
854
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:02,560
Yes!
855
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:04,880
In your honour, Tom...
You're going to...
856
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:08,480
..we are going to name
this whale "Prime Suspect".
857
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:14,160
I like it.
858
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,280
I didn't think that would work!
859
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:21,080
What's that line there?
860
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:23,480
We can ask Pieter.
861
00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:27,640
Pieter looked to the scars on the
whale we'd named "Prime Suspect".
862
00:44:27,640 --> 00:44:30,360
Do you see that little
indentation right there?
863
00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:33,920
That's very typical
of an entanglement.
864
00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:38,760
Prime Suspect, like
over half the whales
865
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:40,880
in these waters, bears scars
866
00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:42,400
from contact with us.
867
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:48,960
And Pieter also picked
up on something else,
868
00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:51,520
something I'd missed even though
I'd watched the video
869
00:44:51,520 --> 00:44:53,160
hundreds of times.
870
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:56,240
There is a lot of awareness
going on here, because usually
871
00:44:56,240 --> 00:44:59,240
those eyes are much closer in on the
body to kind of protect them,
872
00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:01,080
and they're looking to the sides,
873
00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:02,960
but this animal
has pooched them out.
874
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:06,440
Look at the eyes here!
The eyes are now distended out.
875
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:09,240
It's looking down at the kayak.
876
00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:13,680
Eyes in, starts to go out, goes out
more, goes out more.
877
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:17,600
So, now I know that as I looked
up at Prime Suspect,
878
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:21,240
it stuck out its eyes
and looked back down on us.
879
00:45:22,240 --> 00:45:27,160
And, finally, Pieter wanted to check
that we'd got the right whale.
880
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,720
Humpback whales have
knobs on their faces.
881
00:45:30,720 --> 00:45:32,720
These have whiskers inside them,
882
00:45:32,720 --> 00:45:35,960
and they're patterns
are unique to each whale.
883
00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:52,200
Here it is.
OK, that's what I'm looking for.
884
00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:55,720
So, you got your blowhole here.
You got your blowhole there.
885
00:45:55,720 --> 00:45:58,560
Just on the opposite
side of the blowhole,
886
00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:03,480
you see these paired rostral knobs,
smaller, bigger, smaller, bigger,
887
00:46:03,800 --> 00:46:07,520
so based on this photograph
and that frame from the video,
888
00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:09,280
these are the same animals.
889
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:11,200
That's my story,
and I'm sticking to it.
890
00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:16,360
So, Debi's video of our breacher
891
00:46:16,360 --> 00:46:18,600
gave us a glimpse of
his left pec fin,
892
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:22,560
which looked like the left pec fin
of a whale Kate Spencer saw
893
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:25,040
breaching an hour later.
894
00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:28,280
That same whale was photographed
by Kate Cummings
895
00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:31,480
next to some kayakers
just before the breach,
896
00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:33,360
the same people who came
897
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,200
to our rescue minutes later.
898
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,440
From Pieter, came the final
piece of evidence.
899
00:46:39,440 --> 00:46:44,120
The knobs on my whale's head
are a perfect match.
900
00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:47,680
Against the odds, we've solved
this whale whodunnit.
901
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,800
But this success is bittersweet.
902
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:57,880
Prime Suspect has become
an individual to me
903
00:46:57,880 --> 00:47:00,400
and somehow more real.
904
00:47:00,400 --> 00:47:02,960
And I want this whale to be OK,
905
00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:06,240
but I still don't know where it is.
906
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,720
I want to meet someone
who can you tell me what the future
907
00:47:09,720 --> 00:47:13,600
holds for Prime Suspect
and its fellow whales.
908
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:16,440
I think there's a real chance
that there's a couple of species
909
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,480
or populations of whales that could
go extinct in my lifetime
910
00:47:19,480 --> 00:47:23,000
if we don't do things differently,
and I take that personally.
911
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:26,520
I take responsibility
for that at some level, because I am
912
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,080
a human, and I don't like it.
913
00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:30,640
This is Ari.
914
00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:31,960
My name's Ari Friedlaender.
915
00:47:31,960 --> 00:47:33,920
This is his dog, Buckwheat.
916
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:35,760
Buck, do you want
to go to the beach?
917
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:38,400
Ari loves Antarctica.
918
00:47:38,400 --> 00:47:41,600
You feel small and
insignificant very quickly.
919
00:47:41,600 --> 00:47:43,440
And this is Ari's job.
920
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:47,680
I'm the guy that puts tags on whales
and learns about what they do.
921
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:52,440
Ari is one of the pioneers
of whale tagging.
922
00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:56,040
The tags don't hurt the whales,
923
00:47:56,040 --> 00:47:58,240
and they can stay in place
for hours.
924
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:02,320
They can record the direction
the whale moves, how fast
925
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:05,800
and how deep, and,
most vividly of all,
926
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:09,440
videos pointing in different
directions from the whale.
927
00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:12,480
They are powerful new
conservation weapon.
928
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:15,640
Every tag we get back
and watch is new.
929
00:48:15,640 --> 00:48:17,920
And we learn things every
minute of every tag
930
00:48:17,920 --> 00:48:19,320
that we've ever put out.
931
00:48:19,320 --> 00:48:22,000
What's the feeling that you get
when you just watch hour
932
00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,000
after hour of being a whale?
933
00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:25,920
Ohh...
934
00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:30,040
Man, we don't know anything.
You know?
935
00:48:30,040 --> 00:48:32,680
You're constantly seeing things
that you had no idea
936
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,800
they did, or that you didn't
expect to see.
937
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:37,640
You're humbled, for sure.
938
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:46,560
This is how
our distant cousins live.
939
00:48:48,080 --> 00:48:50,440
In a world where we cannot go...
940
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:52,680
..and haven't seen before.
941
00:48:57,480 --> 00:49:01,840
It's ballet underwater,
it's calming, it's so quiet.
942
00:49:03,000 --> 00:49:04,280
Just unbelievable.
943
00:49:07,320 --> 00:49:10,680
We can see a humpback
use its mighty tail
944
00:49:10,680 --> 00:49:14,000
to propel itself into a breach.
945
00:49:21,760 --> 00:49:25,760
We can watch them swoop
through schools of fish...
946
00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:31,360
..and see them swimming among the
other animals.
947
00:49:32,760 --> 00:49:35,360
We see that humpbacks,
despite their size,
948
00:49:35,360 --> 00:49:39,400
are far more agile than we
suspected and manoeuvre gracefully
949
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:41,520
around one another.
950
00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:44,400
But sometimes, like this,
951
00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:46,080
they bump into each other.
952
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:57,880
These are tiny and profound glimpses
953
00:49:57,880 --> 00:50:00,720
into what it's like to be a whale.
954
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:05,160
And they are vital.
955
00:50:09,280 --> 00:50:13,720
I often have these guilty feelings
like, "Am I doing enough?
956
00:50:13,720 --> 00:50:15,360
"Are we getting enough out of this?
957
00:50:15,360 --> 00:50:20,280
"Are we doing enough for these
animals, just with our science?"
958
00:50:22,800 --> 00:50:26,520
This year, Ari and his team
are combining tagging
959
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:30,760
with a massive interdisciplinary
whale-science blitz.
960
00:50:30,760 --> 00:50:34,080
For two weeks, along with scores
of scientists from different
961
00:50:34,080 --> 00:50:37,520
universities and research centres,
they're throwing everything
962
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:40,720
they've got in understanding
the whales here.
963
00:50:40,720 --> 00:50:43,400
Ari's friend Jeremy is in charge.
964
00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:46,000
I'm an assistant professor at
Stanford University's
965
00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:47,480
Hopkins Marine Station.
966
00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:50,680
We've got about four
or five different boats out here
967
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:53,160
and about 30 people
coordinating together
968
00:50:53,160 --> 00:50:54,560
to try to get tags on whales.
969
00:50:54,560 --> 00:50:57,200
We're looking to pick up a tag
that fell off a blue whale
970
00:50:57,200 --> 00:50:58,560
a couple of hours ago.
971
00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:00,680
This tag has been on overnight
though, so we got some
972
00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:02,880
good information as
to what the whale's been doing,
973
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:04,080
but we got to pick it up first.
974
00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:05,480
Wooo!
975
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:07,160
We spotted it!
976
00:51:08,560 --> 00:51:09,920
There it is!
977
00:51:13,840 --> 00:51:15,720
Multiple drones take to the air
978
00:51:15,720 --> 00:51:18,440
to track and measure the whales.
979
00:51:21,360 --> 00:51:25,040
Biopsy darts take DNA samples.
Good sample.
980
00:51:25,040 --> 00:51:27,880
From the big boats,
they take noise recordings,
981
00:51:27,880 --> 00:51:32,120
plastic trawls, fish scans,
and catch samples of whale faeces.
982
00:51:32,120 --> 00:51:33,800
Oh, the things we do for science!
983
00:51:33,800 --> 00:51:36,560
We can tell all kind of cool stuff
from this, like how stressed out
984
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:37,840
they are, I can look at hormones.
985
00:51:37,840 --> 00:51:40,480
You'll never see the entire
animal underwater like this.
986
00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:42,880
Right, I have never
seen this before.
987
00:51:42,880 --> 00:51:44,080
This is amazing.
988
00:51:44,080 --> 00:51:46,360
Isn't it an amazing shot?
989
00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:50,040
The hope is that by building
the most complete picture yet
990
00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:54,480
of the whales in their environment,
we can find a way to share the sea.
991
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:59,080
It's not up to a whale to not get
entangled or to get struck
992
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:01,600
by a ship. It is up to us to slow
that ship down,
993
00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:03,800
to put it in a different place,
994
00:52:03,800 --> 00:52:07,280
or to use lines or types of fishing
gear that aren't going
995
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:09,320
to lethally take down that animal.
996
00:52:11,280 --> 00:52:14,120
But people won't change
unless they care.
997
00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:25,960
I'd love for people
to be able to feel what I do
998
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:29,760
and to have that kind
of connection to these animals.
999
00:52:37,360 --> 00:52:40,040
So, you don't want to just find
things? You want to affect people?
1000
00:52:40,040 --> 00:52:43,240
I absolutely do. I want to find out
how these animals live,
1001
00:52:43,240 --> 00:52:46,720
and I want to use that information
to make people care more.
1002
00:52:50,560 --> 00:52:54,000
A member of this giant team
is someone I've been wanting to see
1003
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:55,640
for a while.
1004
00:52:55,640 --> 00:52:57,920
A legend in this community.
1005
00:52:57,920 --> 00:53:01,880
John Calambokidis probably
knows more about the large whales
1006
00:53:01,880 --> 00:53:04,360
on the West Coast than anybody else
in the world.
1007
00:53:04,360 --> 00:53:06,920
John is the ultimate
field biologist.
1008
00:53:06,920 --> 00:53:11,840
The guy that goes 70 miles out
in a small inflatable by himself
1009
00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:15,880
to identify humpback
and blue whales.
1010
00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:18,600
When he started over 30 years ago,
1011
00:53:18,600 --> 00:53:21,360
few had studied the whales here.
1012
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:27,480
He now has the largest whale
database on the entire West Coast.
1013
00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:31,200
I wanted to ask him about my whale.
1014
00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:34,240
Prime Suspect is one of the whales
that we regularly have seen
1015
00:53:34,240 --> 00:53:36,680
on the California coast
going back to 2008,
1016
00:53:36,680 --> 00:53:39,720
an animal that was actually first
identified as a calf
1017
00:53:39,720 --> 00:53:42,120
and we actually
knew who its mother was.
1018
00:53:42,120 --> 00:53:44,880
This is Prime Suspect's mum,
1019
00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:47,240
and this is Prime Suspect
as a calf,
1020
00:53:47,240 --> 00:53:49,960
when its tail flukes
were still white.
1021
00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:52,880
So, you know when it was born
and who its mum is?
1022
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:54,520
Yes. We try to track that.
1023
00:53:54,520 --> 00:53:56,160
I mean, it's part of our database.
1024
00:53:56,160 --> 00:54:00,240
We take this for granted
among these 36,000 records we have.
1025
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:04,280
We know from where it's been
seen that it has a high chance,
1026
00:54:04,280 --> 00:54:05,720
both it and its mother,
1027
00:54:05,720 --> 00:54:08,840
of being an animal that either came
from mainly Mexico
1028
00:54:08,840 --> 00:54:10,160
or Central America.
1029
00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:11,360
When was it born?
1030
00:54:11,360 --> 00:54:12,600
How old is it?
1031
00:54:12,600 --> 00:54:15,000
Seven years old in 2015.
1032
00:54:15,000 --> 00:54:16,080
I mean, that's amazing!
1033
00:54:16,080 --> 00:54:19,680
Yes, I know, it is kind of neat
that we know that about it.
1034
00:54:22,200 --> 00:54:25,640
Now I know what happened that day.
1035
00:54:25,640 --> 00:54:30,680
That morning, we paddled out
over a giant underwater canyon
1036
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:33,920
and into one of the greatest
concentrations of the humpbacks
1037
00:54:33,920 --> 00:54:35,760
in this coast's history.
1038
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:38,640
The humpbacks were just
doing what humpbacks do.
1039
00:54:38,640 --> 00:54:40,920
I don't think it was
trying to hit us.
1040
00:54:40,920 --> 00:54:42,720
I know it was seven years old,
1041
00:54:42,720 --> 00:54:45,920
but it first came with its mother
from Central America,
1042
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:50,000
but it has returned each year
since then until now.
1043
00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:53,400
I know it has survived
being entangled.
1044
00:54:53,400 --> 00:54:54,960
But for all I've learnt,
1045
00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:57,880
I do not know where Prime Suspect
is today.
1046
00:54:59,720 --> 00:55:02,760
As my time drew to an end,
Charlotte joined to me,
1047
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:05,040
and I told her everything.
1048
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:08,080
I do feel strangely
now that we have a connection
1049
00:55:08,080 --> 00:55:09,480
with Prime Suspect.
1050
00:55:09,480 --> 00:55:11,600
It's amazing if we can
find this whale again,
1051
00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:14,360
then maybe we can see what it's
doing and we can follow it
1052
00:55:14,360 --> 00:55:17,640
and we could maybe even be following
it for as long as we live.
1053
00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:19,640
We went out every day.
1054
00:55:19,640 --> 00:55:22,280
Our eyes always peeled
for a particular whale.
1055
00:55:23,720 --> 00:55:26,960
I would love Prime Suspect
to have a long and happy life.
1056
00:55:26,960 --> 00:55:31,000
Hopefully, we'll see it before I go
home. That would be amazing.
1057
00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:33,080
It was our last day out.
1058
00:55:34,280 --> 00:55:38,720
But when we left Moss Landing,
there wasn't a whale to be seen.
1059
00:55:38,720 --> 00:55:42,200
All the other boats had driven
far away in search of whales,
1060
00:55:42,200 --> 00:55:44,800
and then, this happened.
1061
00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:52,560
Breach!
1062
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:54,600
It's right in front of us!
1063
00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:03,440
Whoo!
1064
00:56:15,720 --> 00:56:18,320
Again and again,
the lone whale kept going,
1065
00:56:18,320 --> 00:56:20,000
breaching,
1066
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,200
chin slapping, pec slapping,
tail throwing.
1067
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:26,480
It doesn't get better than this.
1068
00:56:47,360 --> 00:56:48,720
That was amazing.
1069
00:56:48,720 --> 00:56:51,680
We just had an incredible, chronic
breaching humpback whale.
1070
00:56:51,680 --> 00:56:54,520
You called them chronic breaches?
Chronic, they keep going.
1071
00:56:54,520 --> 00:56:57,080
They don't stop,
at least over 30 times.
1072
00:56:57,080 --> 00:56:59,280
Do you know why?
1073
00:56:59,280 --> 00:57:01,600
Because of her!
It was her last day!
1074
00:57:01,600 --> 00:57:03,320
It was my last day!
I know, I can't believe it!
1075
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:06,320
We've been here for six weeks, and
we haven't seen anything like that.
1076
00:57:06,320 --> 00:57:09,920
And you have like a last
afternoon... I guess I'm just lucky.
1077
00:57:09,920 --> 00:57:11,000
Yeah!
1078
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:12,320
So good!
1079
00:57:14,440 --> 00:57:17,640
Now, we can add our video
to the ever-expanding
1080
00:57:17,640 --> 00:57:20,240
library of whale awesomeness.
1081
00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:27,800
This is the closest I can bring you
to the moment frozen in my mind.
1082
00:57:30,040 --> 00:57:32,160
A whale suspended in the air.
1083
00:57:34,360 --> 00:57:37,920
The most spectacular thing,
I think, in the world.
1084
00:57:42,640 --> 00:57:45,240
But this whale was not
Prime Suspect.
1085
00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:49,920
Its name is 0501280.
1086
00:57:51,120 --> 00:57:53,200
It was time for me to go home.
1087
00:57:55,440 --> 00:57:58,320
This detective story
started as a whodunnit,
1088
00:57:58,320 --> 00:58:01,760
which I never expected to solve.
1089
00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:05,400
It's led me into
a much bigger story
1090
00:58:05,400 --> 00:58:09,840
of a unique community driven
by their passion to understand,
1091
00:58:09,840 --> 00:58:12,880
protect, and take wonder in whales.
1092
00:58:14,200 --> 00:58:17,800
They've taught me how much
and yet, how little we know,
1093
00:58:17,800 --> 00:58:20,440
about these colossal animals.
1094
00:58:20,440 --> 00:58:24,520
Without them, the whales
here would be in trouble.
1095
00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:29,440
And with their help, the search for
Prime Suspect can continue.
1096
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:31,480
And will you keep an eye out for me?
1097
00:58:31,480 --> 00:58:35,480
Yes, but I have about 3,500 other
whale humpbacks
1098
00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:39,120
I'm keeping an eye out for,
so I might get it confused!
87480
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