01x05 - Airplane Graveyard, k*ller Clams, The Shark and the Lamprey

[bunniefuu]

In 1943, the U.S. and Japan fought over a tiny atoll in the Pacific called Kwajalein.

At the time it was an important Japanese base. After a short but bloody battle, the United

States took over, turning the island into its own base of operations for the rest of

World w*r II.

Today, Kwajalein atoll is still a restricted US military base. But the remains of the battle

are everywhere, some visible and some hidden.

Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!

Right below the boat is a silent graveyard of ships sunk by the United States during

the battle. More than 20 ships and dozens of airplanes lie on the bottom of Kwajalein

lagoon right where they sank more than 50 years ago.

Today the Blue World crew is headed out in search of an area called the "airplane graveyard."

This area of the lagoon is littered with hundreds of U.S. warplanes that were discarded at the

end of the w*r because they were too damaged to be saved. The graveyard includes one of

the most complete collections of World w*r II military aircraft anywhere in the world.

Before every dive the team members carefully double check each other's gear. The dive

site is more than 120 feet down. We must be extra vigilant with safety. The decompression

lines are lowered into the water, and finally we descend.

I'm the last one in and I'll be filming the exploration.

First we discover the wreck of a Corsair, nose down in the sand. This plane was pushed

off a barge more than fifty years ago. It landed on its nose and stayed upright ever

since. Sections of wing without covering show the areas that had fabric instead of metal

skin. The fabric has long since decomposed.

The F4U Corsair, manufactured by Vought aircraft, was a peppy little fighter plane. The military

rejected it at first because it couldn't land on a carrier deck. But after modifications

the Corsair went on to become one of the most famous and successful airplanes of World w*r

II..

The Corsair had one of the most powerful engines available and a huge propeller, which gave

the plane an odd shape with bent wings. But it was fast by World w*r II standards -- 400

miles an hour.

But few were preserved. Of the almost 13,000 Corsairs built, only a handful are still flying,

like this one, restored to its former glory. Most of them lie, silent and forgotten, in

places like this, Kwajalein Atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Not far away from the Corsair we find a dauntless dive b*mber. There are dozens of these scattered

throughout the airplane graveyard.

The holes on the trailing edge of the wings are the air brakes-used to slow the plane

while diving on a b*mb run. This plane has an extra propeller in its c*ck.

The dauntless was the standard dive b*mber on aircraft carriers through most of the w*r.

It was one of the planes used in the initial air attacks on Kwajalein Atoll.

The dauntless was considered obsolete when World w*r II began. The navy had planned to

retire the plane before Pearl Harbor, but with aircraft in short supply, it continued

to be used throughout the w*r.

Lying silently in the airplane graveyard, the c*ck of this dauntless has holes where

the gauges once were. The gauges were probably salvaged for re-use before the plane was discarded.

But even without the instruments, the c*ck makes a perfect home for a lionfish.

The ribs are exposed on the rudder, where the fabric skin used to be. Yet the aluminum

skin of the airplane looks remarkably good for an airplane which has been underwater

for more than fifty years.

Meanwhile, a shark lurks in the background keeping its eye on us. .

We move on to examine an upside-down Dauntless resting on a sandy bank. Its tail hook, used

to catch the plane when it landed on an aircraft carrier, is sticking straight up.

An anemone fish now calls the airplane home.

Nearby, a B-25 sits perfectly positioned on the sand for take-off.

The twin engine B-25 was a mid-range b*mber, famous for the raid on Tokyo in April of 1942.

One of the few B-25s that is still flying is on display at an air show. Although not

as shiny, this B-25 in the airplane graveyard looks almost likes it's ready to take off.

The B-25's twin tail is bare, missing the fabric that once covered its rudders.

The b*mb-bay doors that once opened to unleash fury on its enemies are now home to a peaceful

growth of pink algae.

The c*ck--a nursery for baby fish.

Only 50 yards away lies a C-46 commando. The C-46 started out as a 36-seat passenger plane.

The military loved the huge interior and immediately ordered a militarized version optimized for

transporting cargo. It played a significant role in carrying out the military's successful

island hopping strategy in the Pacific, which explains how this plane got here.

In the c*ck, the controls are still accessible -- the throttles ready to be pushed up for

takeoff.

The cargo bay is enormous. Emptied of everything of value before the it was discarded, the

plane looks like a vast, empty warehouse, its memories locked away forever behind these

silent walls.

With our bottom time running out, we finally must abandon the airplane graveyard and head

to the surface. While we decompress on the line, we can only imagine what other treasures

hide in this incredible underwater museum.

You know what these are. They are steamed clams--a New England delicacy. Here in Massachusetts

we call them "steamahs" and they are delicious.

Compared to those little New England clams, this ones a monster. It weighs more than a

pound, but imagine clams even bigger than this. I heard about a giant k*ller clam this

big across! So I came here to an island in Micronesia right in the middle of the Pacific

Ocean. And I'm going to look for these k*ller clams.

The question is why do they call them k*ller clams? Do they eat people? Do they grab you

by the foot? I don't know so we're going to try and find out.

I have come to the middle of the Pacific Ocean to find a giant clam, more specifically known

as the Tridacna Clam.

In the Marshall Islands, people have been eating Tridacna Clams for thousands of years.

A mature Tridacna can feed quite a few people. Except for being a bit heavy, hunting these

clams isn't very hard...it's not like they can get away. So they have been over-harvested

in most of the Pacific, and finding them these days is not an easy task.

I set out to a secret place in the Marshall Islands where there are supposed some giant

clams.

Well, this is the spot so I guess now it's time to go look for some k*ller clams!

When I hit the water, I start to search for the clam. The reef is beautiful, with healthy

coral everywhere. This is a perfect place for a Tridacna. All I have to do is look around.

At least I see a Tridacna clam! It's grown into the reef—so it's a little hard to

see.

It responds to my hand movements. That's because it is sensitive to light and when my hand

casts a shadow on it, the clam retracts to protect itself.

This is why people thought they were dangerous. Could a clam this large actually grab my hand?

Well, let's find out. I put my hand into the clam and it closes—but the clam can't

actually close all the way. See all my fingers are still there. So much for the k*ller clam.

Tridacna clams live in shallow, sunlit waters. This is no coincidence, because they are solar-powered.

The clams have symbiotic algae in their tissue. The algae absorbs the energy from the sun

and turns it into energy that it shares with the clam. Without the sun, and the algae to

turn it into energy, the clam would die.

Clams also feed on plankton in the water. They have two openings, called siphons. The

clam slurps up water through the incurrent siphon, and filters the water through a sieve,

extracting the plankton. Then the water comes back out through the excurrent siphon. The

giant clam can filter hundreds gallons of water every day with this method.

Unfortunately, there isn't much plankton in clear tropical water. That's why the

clams need the algae.

These reefs would be teeming with giant clams except for the fact that they taste good—so

they have been over fished.

Here on the island of Kosrae, over-fishing of giant clams in the past has left the reefs

depleted of these incredible animals, so the solution is a clam farm!

Kosrae is known for having one of the world's few Tridacna clam farms. Here they raise hundreds

of the clams both for food, and to release into the wild.

A dozen large tanks have clams of different sizes soaking up the tropical sun. Seawater

is pumped in from the ocean. These clams make their own food from sunlight, just like plants.

All they need is a circulating water supply and time to grow.

As you might expect, they don't grow very fast.

These little clams in this tank are babies by clam standards. There're only two inches

long and eleven months old, but just to get an idea how long it takes one of these clams

to grow, If you look at the next tank, this tank has maybe five pounders. And these guys

.....Oh NO! He's got me! Just kidding! These guys are seven years old. It's pretty big.

But when you think about it-- it takes seven years for a clam to get this big. You can

see why if you over-fish these, it takes a long time for them to come back.

I'll put him down here.

So if a five pound clam takes seven years to grow, we can only imagine how old this

clam is. This hundred pound Tridacna might easily be more than fifty years old. Its three

feet across! Experts say that they may live for a hundred or more years.

So there are old clams, and they are big clams, but they're certainly not k*ller clams. They

sit on the bottom and collect sunlight. They're about as dangerous as sponges, but that's

a story for another day.

About, ten years ago before we began production of Jonathan's Birds Blue World I was up

in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, photographing Basking Sharks, which are the second largest

fish on earth.

I noticed that all the sharks had these long slimy, skinny fish stuck to their skin. I

didn't know what they where, so I plucked one off the skin of the shark; took it back

to the boat and took some pictures of its face.

I figured out it was a parasitic Lamprey. I didn't really think much of it and so

I threw it back in the water, and went home with my pictures

A few months later I got a phone call from Dr. Steve Turnbull, a Marine Biologist at

the University of New Brunswick, and he wanted to talk to me about this. He heard about it

from the fishermen.

Turns out that I had made a new discovery. Shark biologists did not think that lampreys

could live on sharks.

So the following summer we took the research boat from the University of New Brunswick

back to the Bay of Fundy on an expedition to investigate.

Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!

It's a beautiful summer morning in Atlantic Canada. As the sun rises at 5 AM, the fog

blows off the water and I head down to the dock to meet my ride.

We begin loading the "Mary O", a research boat from the University of New Brunswick.

Shark biologist Steve Turnbull is aboard, hoping to gather firsthand proof that Basking

sharks in the Bay of Fundy have lampreys on them.

Also aboard is lamprey biologist Dr. Mike Wilke, who has brought all kinds of scientific

equipment to test the lampreys..., assuming we find any.

We're heading out into the middle of the Bay of Fundy--a long stretch of water between

mainland Canada and Nova Scotia. It has the highest tides in the world and a huge amount

of plankton.

Plankton is food for many animals in the ocean. The word plankton means dr*fter, so anything

drifting is planktonic. These tiny copepods are planktonic crustaceans, smaller than a

grain of rice. More than a quarter of million of them could fit into a coffee cup. They

might not seem like much...

But they are the main food source for the Basking shark, which swims through the water

with its mouth wide open to filter them out of the water by the millions.

Basking sharks are the second largest fish on Earth, reaching 45 feet long. That makes

them longer than a school bus! That is one big shark! But since they feed only on plankton,

they are no threat to people at all. In fact, a Basking shark's throat is only the size

of a grapefruit. It can't swallow anything bigger than that!

With the boat finally loaded with all our gear, we push off the dock and head out towards

the sharks.

Passing the beautiful shoreline of Atlantic Canada reminds me that this is one of the

most serene and peaceful places on Earth, even if the water is a bit cold. Our travels

take us past the lighthouse on Grand Manan Island, and finally out into the open water

of the Bay of Fundy.

We are soon joined by a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, riding in our bow wave. Dolphins

are always fun and add to the enjoyment of being at sea.

Further out, we find whales. These are not just any whales, but Northern Right whales,

the most endangered whales on Earth. There are only 300 of them left in existence. Finding

them is a good sign because they eat the same copepods that Basking sharks eat. If the whales

are here, the sharks probably are too.

We all grab binoculars and start scanning the horizon. Basking sharks get their name

because they often come to the surface to feed when it's really calm. Sailors used

to think they were basking in the sun and that's how they got their name.

We see something on the horizon and start heading that way. Soon we get closer and the

shark dives out of site.

Back to the binoculars. Basking sharks are big fish and they don't need to come to the

surface to breathe like whales. So you have to get really lucky to find one close enough

to the surface that its dorsal fin sticks out of the water. Without that, we have no

hope of finding any.

At last we find another shark and manage to sneak the boat up nearby. The shark is just

cruising slowly, feeding on the plankton.

We jump in the inflatable and head out with cameras to see if it has a lamprey on its

back.

We approach as close as we can, and roll off the boat.

An enormous shark passes below us in the green soupy water. The thick plankton makes the

visibility bad, but that's why the sharks are here. It's pretty spooky.

I see a lamprey on the shark as it goes by, but I am not deep enough to grab it.

We have a theory which is that it seems like you guys are getting closer than we are with

the boat. And I think because we have an outboard and it's really loud under water and you

guys have an exhaust up out of water. I think this boat is actually quieter to the shark.

We decide to bring the Mary O up alongside a shark. They seem to react a lot better to

this than the inflatable.

On the next attempt I jump into the water and get some good video of the lampreys on

a shark. I'm incredibly excited that I finally have proof for the biologists that these sharks

have lampreys on them. Now the hard part: our team takes turns trying to grab a lamprey

and get it to the surface.

I manage to get one with one hand while holding my video camera in the other.

JONATHAN: Put the net in the water!

MIKE: Got em!

JONATHAN: Alright!

CREW: He got one! ( crew cheers )

Meanwhile, Mike begins getting his apparatus together.

MIKE: That's a Parasitic Lampreys taken right off of a Basking Shark. That's impressive.

I'm not sure this has ever been done before.

He wants to find out how the lampreys can handle the toxic blood of the shark.

Sharks have a lot of urea in their blood which is why biologists used to think that sharks

could not have lampreys on them.

Lampreys have a terrible looking oral disk instead of a jaw, used to drill a hole in

a fish and drink their blood, like vampires.

If they are drinking the shark's blood, they are getting what biologists consider a deadly

dose of toxic urea. So Mike wants to find out if they are really drinking the shark's

blood, or just getting a free ride.

If they are drinking the shark's blood, how do they deal with the urea?

The lamprey doesn't seem very happy about being confined to a tiny little tray full

of water.

We discuss the capture of the first lamprey, and how we may go about getting another one.

JONATHAN: ...behind the dorsal fin. Probably closer to the caudal fin on top of it's

body right before it's tail. There where two of them right next to each other.

MIKE: If he was actually feeding on the Basking Shark, my guess is that his metabolic rate

is through the roof right now. He'd be producing waste like crazy.

Later in the day after many more attempts, I was able to grab another lamprey off a shark.

We observe the two very active lampreys in the cooler. One of them really wants to attach

to something.

With two lampreys aboard, we call it a day and head for the dock. Mike's research showed

that the lampreys are in fact drinking the shark's blood and it turns out they have powerful

kidneys that can filter out the toxic urea.

This only goes to show that one simple photograph of something unexpected can lead to an amazing

new discovery about life in the ocean. Who knows how many more discoveries await us in

the sea?

I'm keeping my eyes peeled as I continue to explore the Blue World.