07x04 - Jonathan Bird's Blue World

[bunniefuu]

[gentle music]

- [Narrator] Today on "Blue World."

Cameraman Bill goes under
the ice in New Hampshire.

But first, Jonathan is hunting

for a pajama squid in Australia.

[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."

[bright music]

[excited music]

- Australia is an awesome
place to scuba dive,

but when most people
imagine diving in Australia,

they think of the Great
Barrier Reef in Queensland.

Sure, it's one of the most
famous reef systems in the world,

stretching more than a thousand
miles and the water's warm,

[gentle music]

but there's also great diving down

in the colder water of South Australia.

Near Whyalla, there are giant cuttlefish

and south of Adelaide, leafy sea dragons.

[bright music]

And in the tiny town
of Edithburgh, a jetty.

But this plain-looking jetty

is one of the best dives in Australia.

We pile into the van for a
four-hour drive to Edithburgh.

Edithburgh and its jetty
originally were established

to export grain and salt from the region.

[excited music]

Now this quaint coastal town
on the windy Yorke Peninsula

is also known for its 55-turbine wind farm

and fantastic scuba diving.

The dive at the jetty is good anytime,

but at night, the really
cool stuff comes out

so I'm waiting for sunset.

- The dumpling or bobtail split.

- [Jonathan] After dark,

local expert dive master Daniel Kinasz

walks me through the
dive plan and we suit up.

The water's chilly

but shallow so we can stay a long time

looking for cool critters if we bundle up

under our dry suits.

You made it sound very easy.

And with a few final touches,

I'm ready to go look for the pajama squid.

At the bottom of the steps,

Daniel and I flock

into the 52-degree Fahrenheit
water and submerge.

As I sink down into only
three meters of water,

I immediately start finding stuff.

The bottom is crawling with sea stars,

the six-armed cushion star,

a curled up 11-arm sea star,

a biscuit star,

[magical music]

and a brittle star on the
run from my bright lights.

[magical music]

There's a sea urchin with a
crown of purple tunicates.

[magical music]

And a couple of nudibranchs,

basically snails without a shell.

[gentle music]

A smooth angler fish is
waiting patiently for a meal.

The angler fish is the
Australian term for what is known

as a frog fish in many places.

Daniel points out the rarely
seen southern velvet fish.

This highly camouflaged fish
is related to scorpion fish,

so it has venomous spines in
its dorsal fin for defense.

It's a camouflaged ambush
predator waiting patiently

for prey to come close.

[suspenseful music]

Nearby in the seaweed,

a well camouflaged short-headed seahorse.

It's a male with a belly full of eggs.

With seahorses, the male
carries the eggs in a pouch

until they hatch.

This species of seahorse
is perfectly adapted

to live camouflaged within this seaweed.

[calm music]

A short distance away, another animal

with amazing camouflage.

On a finger sponge,

a spider crab using algae
and seaweed as a disguise.

[playful music]

On the columns of the
jetty, a rich collection

of colorful sponges, and among
them, another spider crab.

[magical music]

But instead of algae,

this crab has covered itself
in sponges to blend in.

[magical music]

And at the base of one of
the columns in the sand,

I come across this little
guy, smaller than a golf ball.

Known as a southern bobtail squid,

it's part of the family of cephalopods

known as bobtail squid, which are in fact,

not squids at all.

They're small cuttlefish.

It's a minor distinction,

but that means they have a
cuttle bone inside buoyancy.

Like squid, they can jet
around with squirts of water.

They can swim with the two fins
on the front of their body,

and of course, they can
crawl around on their arms.

[magical music]

Bobtails have a unique way
of hiding from predators.

They burrow into the sand

so that only their eyes
are left sticking out.

[calm music]

As I get deeper working
my way out towards the end

of the jetty, I come across
this amazing and rare octopus.

[magical music]

The southern sand octopus
is only found in the waters

of Southern Australia and Tasmania.

[magical music]

It's unique in being
one of the few octopods

that lacks chromatophores,
color-changing skin cells.

So it has no ability to camouflage itself

by adapting its color to its surroundings.

As a result, it only comes
out to hunt in the dark.

During the day, it would
be easy prey for a fish.

[magical music]

This octopus is crawling
through the rubble and algae,

looking for a crab or a shrimp to eat.

[magical music]

[magical music continues]

But when it comes time to
hunker down for the day,

this octopus does something surprising.

Using its siphon, it blows
water down into the sand,

creating a soupy mixture of
sand in suspension with water,

sort of like quicksand.

Then it drops into the quicksand

and keeps blowing water, making
the hole deeper and deeper.

While many octopods are
known to cover themselves

with a thin layer of sand for camouflage,

this is the only species
known to actually burrow.

This octopus may dig down
as deep as 20 centimeters

using its long thin arms

to keep a breathing hole
open to the surface.

[magical music]

I guess this guy has decided
I'm not much of a threat.

This is as far as he digs for me tonight.

I must have hit octopus
central out here by the end

of the jetty, the southern
keeled octopus can change colors

and tends to be found out
on the sand hunting shrimp.

This one is a bit smaller than my hand

and doesn't seem to be afraid,

but rather just hoping I will go away.

[magical music]

As I turn to make my
way back towards shore,

I finally find a pajama squid.

[mysterious music]

These tiny cephalopods, only the size

of a golf ball get their name

from their classic pajama stripes.

Like the bobtail squid,
it's actually a cuttlefish.

[gentle music]

It hunts shrimp at night,
sometimes eating shrimp

almost as large as itself.

Many animals in the ocean

that have bright coloration
like this are advertising

that they're poisonous.

It's called aposematic coloration.

It turns out that the pajama
squid secretes a slime

that many animals find
objectionable, a type of mild poison

that helps make this
cuttlefish unappetizing.

Sometimes, the pajama squid
wants to hide either to wait

for prey or to escape annoying
underwater photographers.

In this case, it can bury itself
up to the eyeballs quickly.

[gentle music]

As I finally get back to the
steps where I started the dive,

I can't believe what I
find in such shallow water.

A pair of bobtail squid
mating right under the steps.

Since I've never seen this before,

I have no idea how long it will go on,

but the male holds onto the
female for the whole process.

Since they're so still,

I can get the camera up really close,

and I can see the
chromatophores in their skin

slightly changing size

to create different patterns and colors.

[gentle music]

Cephalopods are cool,

and this has been a great cephalopod dive.

[gentle music]

Finally, after more than 90
minutes filming marine life,

it's time to head up.

Even in the 52-degree water,

I'm not cold, but I am almost out of air.

Man, that was awesome.

It really was more like a muck dive

than it was a dive under a jetty.

Because everything that was
really cool was in the muck

or in the sand, but lots of cephalopods,

nudibranchs, sea stars,
all kinds of great stuff.

I love critters, and any dive with lots

of critters is always exciting for me.

The jetty in Edithburgh is by far

one of the best critter dives
I've ever done in my life.

It's hard to believe that
so many incredible animals

live so close to shore under a jetty.

Dives like this always remind
me why I'm so fascinated

with the blue world.

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Don't go away.

Cameraman Bill is about to get frozen.

- [Jonathan] It's a frigid,
windy winter morning

on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.

Bill meets his dive class

at Central New Hampshire
Divers in Laconia.

The first order of business
is filling out the paperwork.

[excited music]

Then a quick pre-dive briefing
in the last heated space

they're going to see all day.

[excited music]

Finally, it's time to head out to the ice.

Lake Winnipesaukee is located
not far from Mount Washington

in the middle of New
Hampshire's Lake region.

Here in Center Harbor,

there's an ice fishing
competition going on,

so the place looks like
a carnival is in town.

[gentle music]

With over a foot of ice,

people can drive their
cars right out on the lake.

Getting the gear to the
site requires a trailer.

But everyone else has to walk.

This spot was chosen

because of a unique underwater attraction

for the divers to see.

Before the diving can
begin, there's a lot to do.

Dive instructor Alexie Averin begins

by assigning tasks there.

The process begins with an ice
screw which marks the center

of the work area.

[people chattering]

Next, it's time to drill some holes.

[playful music]

They don't need to drill all
the way down to the water,

just to the clear ice to
allow light to pass through.

[playful music]

[playful music continues]

Next, they scribe the outline of the hole.

With the hole ready to cut,
now it's time to suit up

because things are about to get wet.

A trailer provides some
shelter from the wind,

but it doesn't have heat.

Everyone is wearing
dry suits to stay warm.

Step one is to drill
the corners of the hole,

this time all the way down to the water,

then the cutting begins.

[chainsaw whirring]

This cannot be good for your chainsaw.

[chainsaw whirring]

Because the giant slab of
ice is way too heavy to lift,

the team pushes it down

and under where it will be held in place

by its own buoyancy.

The wooden poles will keep it
from freezing to the underside

of the ice so it can be put back later.

Next, Alexie briefs the
divers on the proper way

to enter and exit the water.

- I'm on the same side, okay?

- [Jonathan] Then Bill and
his dive buddy, John Hansel,

get ready to go.

In each two-person dive team,
one serves as the primary

and the other as secondary.

Alexie as the instructor will
be in the water supervising.

- Can I get my-

- [Jonathan] On the first dive,

Bill's buddy John will
be the primary diver,

so he's connected to the dive
tender above with a rope.

Bill as the secondary,

is connected to John with another rope.

Now it's time to submerge
into the icy water.

[calm music]

As the team descends,

the tender up above has
to pay out the line,

but keep it taut enough that he can feel

for a tug of distress.

Meanwhile, Bill and John are heading

towards the underwater attraction,

which turns out to be an old wooden boat.

Too small to be a shipwreck,
it's a boat wreck.

The attraction was definitely oversold.

Man, I'm glad I'm in The Bahamas.

[calm music]

It takes them 30 seconds to see the wreck

and then it's back to the surface.

[calm music]

At the surface, they change roles.

Bill becomes the primary diver

and John becomes the secondary.

Then it's back down for another lap

around the S. S. Minnow.

[mysterious music]

With the training complete

and the cold setting in, it's
time to get out of the water.

The hole is triangular in shape

because it helps getting
yourself out of the water.

But in this case, it's a
full service operation.

- Woohoo.

- One, two, three.

[indistinct conversation]

- This feels so good.

[excited music]

- [Jonathan] But Bill doesn't
have much time in the hot tub

because now, it's his turn to be a tender.

[excited music]

In an emergency, the tender
can physically pull a diver

all the way to the surface.

[indistinct conversation]

No ice dive is complete without a cookout.

Before they leave, the
ice block is put back.

It will freeze in place,

preventing someone from
accidentally falling through.

Ice diving takes a lot of effort

and it's bad for your chainsaw.

Furthermore, it's cold.

Basically, I'm glad I'm in The Bahamas.

Thanks, Bill, for going under the ice

and showing us what it's like
in the frozen blue world.

[excited music]

[gentle music]