07x11 - Jonathan Bird's Blue World

[bunniefuu]

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Today on "Blue World,"

Jonathan and the family
head to Grand Cayman

for a family dive vacation.

But first, blacktip shark
research in Florida.

[bright music]

Meet Jonathan Bird,

one of the world's top underwater
nature cinematographers.

Traveling the world on assignment

for all the major networks,

he is an Emmy-Award-winning authority

on the underwater world.

In freshwater or salt,

reefs, wrecks, or caves,

Jonathan documents the
world beneath the waves.

Welcome to the "Blue World."

- [Jonathan] Every winter,

large numbers of sharks
gather just off the beach

on Florida's East Coast,

making headlines around the world

and frightening beach
goers out of the water.

What are the sharks up to?

This guy wants to find out.

Dr. Steven Kura is a shark biologist.

A few years ago,

he joined us underwater in The Bahamas,

demonstrating how shark
electrosensory systems work.

But his research in Florida
doesn't involve scuba gear.

It all starts with an airplane.

Hey, hey, Dr. Kura.

- How are you? Good to see you again.

- Good, good to see you, man.

Dr. Kajiura has rigged
cameras all over his plane,

turning it into a flying
shark-spotting machine.

The Cessna 172 we're flying
can only hold four people,

but that's plenty

for our early morning
shark-spotting expedition.

[cheerful music]

It's a short taxi to the runway.

And we're off.

Then we fly low, around 500 feet,

up the coast just offshore,

looking for little shark-shaped
shadows in the shallows.

Wow, say that five times fast.

Shark-shaped shadows in the shallows.

Shark-shaped shadows in the shallows.

Shark-shaped, hey!

There's some.

- [Dr. Kajiura] Oh, look
at all the sharks here.

Outside the reef line.

It's good to know.

- [Jonathan] We spot a
huge school of sharks,

which is also recorded on the door cam.

[ethereal music]

Dr. Kajiura makes note of
the location of the school

so he can return later with his drone.

Then we hightail it back to the airport.

[wind whooshing]

Later in the day,

Dr. Kajiura goes to the beach
near the shark aggregation

and launches his drone.

He shoots video from a much lower altitude

than he can fly in the plane

that he can use to count the sharks.

The next day,

we follow the team out
on a tagging expedition.

We get our own boat to follow along

and stay out of the way.

[calming music]

We cruise out of the
marina and down the coast

to the general location
of the shark sighting.

Then the research team
deploys a contraption

called a drum line,

consisting of a baited hook attached

to a weight and a buoy.

- [Researcher] Down.

- [Jonathan] They mark the
coordinates of the drum line.

- [Dr. Kajiura] 80.04409.

- [Jonathan] Next, they move the boat

and repeat the process,

eventually deploying
half a dozen drum lines.

Then we wait.

Down below, the sharks are
investigating the yummy bait.

[gentle music]

We don't have to wait long

because soon the team sees
one of the buoys moving.

They move in and check the line.

On the line.

- Big one.

- [Jonathan] A blacktip shark,

and he isn't happy.

[suspenseful music]

But he has no way of knowing

that the team is not going to hurt him.

They wait for the shark to
get tired and stop fighting.

In this way,

it's less likely that the shark

or the researchers will get injured.

First, they take measurements.

- [Researcher] 124.

- [Dr. Kajiura] 124.

- [Jonathan] Then they
prepare a small visual ID tag

only about the size of
a piece of spaghetti,

which will allow the researchers

to learn a lot about this shark

if it ever gets caught again.

[intriguing music]

Then they remove the hook and
send the shark on his way.

After tagging half a dozen sharks,

it's time to call it a day,

pull all the drum lines,

and head for home.

But they leave the sharks
a snack for their trouble.

[gentle music]

So, what are the sharks doing in Florida?

What has all this research revealed?

The tags have shown

that the sharks spend their summers

up around North Carolina,

but they head south for the winter

in search of warmer water.

And the natural underwater topography

of Florida forces them close to shore.

So, basically the sharks go to Florida

for the same reason everyone else does:

to escape winter.

There are a lot of ways
to study marine life.

In the case of the blacktip
shark aggregations,

airplanes are an unconventional

but extremely useful way to gather data.

Coupled with drones and boats,

Dr. Kajiura has learned a lot
about this big shark mystery.

[curious music]

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Coming up,

dive adventures for the
whole family on Grand Cayman.

- In the world of scuba diving,

there is one legendary
place known to all divers:

the Cayman Islands.

Located just south of Cuba,

these three islands,

a British oversea territory,

have become famous

for some of the best underwater
conditions in the world.

Between the great visibility,

warm water, healthy reefs,

and easy accessibility
from the U.S. and Europe,

the Cayman Islands are on
every diver's bucket list.

It's a chilly April morning in Boston

and it's school vacation week,

so that means it's time

for a family dive adventure
to the Cayman Islands.

I'm walking backwards.

- I'm walking backwards.

[lively music]

Hi, welcome to waiting in line.

[plane chimes]

- [Jonathan] It's a few
hours from cold weather

to the tropics,

and soon we land on Grand Cayman.

Jay Ehrhart from the Cayman
Tourism Board meets us

at the airport with the VIP treatment.

As usual, we rent a van
to carry all our gear.

[Jonathan grunts]

And this van has the
steering wheel on the right

because in the Cayman Islands

they drive on the left.

It's a quick drive over to Sunset House

on the southwest corner
of Grand Cayman Island.

Sunset House is one of
the most popular hotels

for divers in the world.

The entire property is
built around scuba diving,

with a fantastic shore
dive right off the dock.

There's a restaurant
overlooking the ocean,

a pool for relaxing,

and, of course, dive training.

But most importantly, the dive shop,

called Sunset Divers.

And yes, you can dive at sunset.

We head over to fill out our paperwork

while the crew prepares a boat
for our first day of diving.

[lively music]

Our first dive will be
a perfect introduction

to the classic Cayman diving experience.

Along the way,

we have some time to set up our gear.

Jasmine Fox grabs the mooring line,

while Philip Liu sets up a
scale model of the dive site

using a towel and some paper cups.

The dive briefing is easy to
understand with a 3D model.

Finally time to get wet!

[Liam yips]

[Elise yips]

With all the diving we've
been doing recently,

the kids are really
comfortable in the water.

They take the lead as we follow Phil

towards some of the cool formations.

This site is known for
cavern-like swim-throughs

in the reef,

giving divers a little taste
of the cave diving experience

but in a totally safe way.

[ethereal music]

And the reefs are covered in
colorful sponges and coral.

We pop up through a chimney
and head towards the drop-off.

Here the water plunges
down thousands of feet.

[peaceful music]

Diving on the edge of the abyss like this

is known as wall diving,

and this is the kids' first
wall diving experience.

Of course, we stay at the
top where most life is found

and soon discover a sea turtle
searching for breakfast.

[gentle music]

Hawksbill sea turtles are
one of the only animals

that can digest sponges,

and this orange sponge
will make a great snack.

Once she heads up for a breath of air,

we realize our air is getting low too,

so it's time to start back to the boat.

On our safety stop,

Phil demonstrates his technique

for blowing air bubble rings.

[bright music]

The kids need more practice.

After two awesome dives,

we head back to the resort.

It's only a short walk with
our gear to the dive lockers

where we get re-suited for a shore dive.

Get suited up on a curb.

We can't get enough of this great diving.

We head down to the dock
and hop into the water.

It's not long before we're being greeted

by a school of small
barracuda known as sennet.

[ethereal music]

They zoom around us a
few times without fear.

They must be used to divers.

As we venture further from shore,

we reach a sandy section
containing a large colony

of garden eels.

These pencil-sized eels
live in burrows in the sand

and retract into their
burrows as we approach.

But hunting them and other
sand-dwellers is an eagle ray,

uniquely adapted to shovel
through the sand for prey.

[bright music]

As we continue across the sand,

we find the tracks of something.

Following them,

we come across a pair of conchs engaged

in a high-speed chase.

[curious music]

A male is trying to
catch up with a female.

Conchs are just big snails

peeking out from under the shell,

with eyes on st*lks.

She gives him the cold shell treatment.

You can't blame a guy for trying.

Soon we pass over the sand

and reach a large section of reef

filled with colorful coral and fish.

[gentle music]

There are stands of tube sponges.

And, we find the mermaid statue.

Then we turn and start
swimming back to shore.

Just in front of the ladders

we meet a school of reef squid hanging out

only a stones throw from the shore.

[peaceful music]

And we're out of the water just in time

for a famous Cayman sunset.

[intense music]

The next day, we load
the van for a road trip

to the other side of the island.

[lively music]

This boat is kept at another marina,

closer to the dive sites on
the north side of the island.

Soon we're on our way to
meet the famous stingrays

of Stingray City.

Captain Melissa Hart
does the dive briefing

with some stuffed animals,

explaining the proper way to
interact with the stingrays

and how we will feed them
small pieces of fish.

Then it's time to suit
up and hit the water.

Whoo!

- [Elise] Woo-hoo!

- P-p-p-p-please!

[peaceful music]

- [Jonathan] It's low tide,

so the visibility in North
Sound is a little murky,

but the stingrays are here.

Stingrays are flattened fish,

closely related to sharks,

with a mouth underneath
used to feed on the bottom.

They get their name

from the stinger sticking up off the tail,

which is a powerful defensive weapon.

But these stingrays are like puppies,

they're completely
comfortable around divers.

When the food comes out,

they all come over to be fed.

[playful music]

But you need to be
careful handling the food

because the fish are aggressive.

Elise gives this small
male stingray a treat

and feels how much suction they create

when they inhale the food.

Even Zach gets in on the action.

It's only his second dive

and already he's feeding the stingrays.

[playful music]

Christine is being swarmed

because she refuses to hand
over the food too easily.

She's making them work for it.

Now Elise is getting the hang of it,

doing a ballet with a stingray.

[gentle music]

But then it's my turn to
show 'em how it's done.

By keeping the food just in
front of the stingray's mouth,

I can lead her around
like she's on a leash.

[peaceful music]

After a few twirls,

I give her the food.

Now everyone is getting the hang of it.

Zach has a stingray hat.

[bright music]

And the fish are fast.

They steal a lot of food.

Once we run out of food,

the stingrays settle down
and begin to wander off.

We head back to the boat.

[Melissa laughs]

- I love it.

- [Jonathan] And finally it's time

to head back to the dock.

[peaceful music]

Grand Cayman is a stunning
place to visit and to dive.

There is no question

why it has become one of
the top dive destinations

in the world.

The water is warm and calm,

the visibility is consistently excellent,

and the marine environment
is extremely healthy.

Every dive has something cool to see.

[bright music]

The Cayman Islands truly are
a wonder of the blue world.

[lively music]

[bright music]