08x03 - Atlantic Wolffish

[bunniefuu]

- [Narrator] Coming up,
Jonathan explores a cave

in Cozumel containing rare marine life

found nowhere else in the world.

But first, Zach of all
Trades meets Jean the Wolfish

in Eastport, Maine.

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.

- It's a beautiful day in Eastport, Maine.

This small scenic city
on the New England coast

is located on Passamaquoddy Bay,

as far north as you can
go on the coast of Maine

before you hit Canada.

Eastport's my favorite
place to be in the summer

with perfect down east weather.

Passamaquoddy Bay is an
inlet off the bay of Fundy,

world renowned for its extreme tides.

With a tidal range of more than 20 feet,

water really moves in

and out of the bay at
speeds exceeding 10 knots,

creating turbulence visible from the air.

We've done segments here before,

but I wanted to introduce
Zach of all Trades

to Jean the world famous wolffish.

Are you excited?

- Oh, I'm so excited.

- Do you think you're
gonna be able to stay warm

in this Arctic water?

- Are you kidding me,
I have my Snyder suit.

I can do anything.

- Let's go, also, I have
this cool new macro lens

to try out,

which allows me to film
really small creatures.

So I'm excited to try filming some

of the miniature marine life in the bay.

The Blue World team and I

are diving from our backyard,
the Blue World Dive Shack.

Because of the strong
tides, we can only dive

during a short period of
time when the tide changes

and the water is slack.

Slack lasts about an hour, so
our timing has to be perfect.

It's agony to put on a dry
suit on a hot summer day.

Then you get all sweaty
walking to the water,

but once you get into the
water, it feels great.

Sinking down, we are disappointed

to discover bad visibility,
like really bad.

The water is never
particularly clear here,

but this is something else altogether.

Even though I've completed more
than 200 dives on this site,

I'm having a hard time
finding my way around.

Passamaquoddy Bay is full of
colorful stuff like anemones,

sea stars and sponges,
and they're pretty small.

Fortunately, we don't
need great visibility

to film small stuff.

I have my super closeup lens
with me, so I start looking

for small stuff.

A purple smooth sun star
with 10 arms can grow

to more than a foot across,

but this one's only a few inches.

I look to my left

and notice that I'm being watched

by a small fish known as a grubby.

It's a type of sculpin,
a bottom dwelling fish

that relies upon its
camouflage for protection.

I'm pretty sure it thinks I can't see it

and doesn't swim away way.

Only an inch long,

a nudibranch is sort of
like a snail with no shell.

The colorful bristles
called cerata on its back

are a combination of gills
and defensive organs.

Each cerattum has a stinging
cell in the tip for defense,

but its body cannot manufacture
these stinging cells.

Instead, the nudibranch eats
various species of hydroids,

basically tiny non swimming jellyfish

and recycles the hydroid's stinging cells.

Nudibranchs are
simultaneous hermaphrodites,

meaning they're both male and female.

So when any two meet up, they can mate

and produce a tiny ribbon of
eggs for the next generation.

Some nudibranchs mimic their
habitat for protection.

The bushy backed nudibranch
lives in algae or kelp

and can be quite hard to spot.

Just below the low tide line,
I come across a green crab.

Although this crab is quite common

throughout New England waters,

it's actually a foreign invader.

Originating in the waters

of the northeast Atlantic around Europe,

this sneaky little crab has
spread around the world,

mostly because it's planktonic
larvae get a free ride

in the ballast water of ships.

They like to eat baby
clams, mussels and scallops,

which means they're not
particularly welcome

in Maine where scallops are big business.

Fortunately, lots of animals
like to eat green crabs.

Meet Jane the Wolffish,

she's particularly fond of green crabs

and does her part to keep
the population under control.

Jane and Bob are two
of our local wolffish.

They live together in
a big den under a rock.

We named them after our neighbors

'cause they're such a cute couple.

We're not sure what Bob likes to eat,

but Jane keeps an eye peeled for crabs.

A crab shell is no match for these teeth.

Any crab that wanders
into this neighborhood

is in big trouble.

Jane would probably eat
a decorator crab too,

but she never sees any.

The decorator crab has camouflage
made from marine growth

and moves slowly.

If this crab doesn't move,
it's almost invisible

even to Jane the Wolffish.

The rock crab is the most common crab

in this most crabby place with a face

only a mother could love.

And it's mating season.

The male carries the female
around for days until she molts

because they can only meet
when her new shell is soft.

Her soft shell will make
her vulnerable to predators,

but the male will protect her

and when the mating is
done, the crabs are hungry.

It's a crab eat crab world

and rock crabs will happily
devour any green crab

they can catch.

This crab has nothing to fear though.

Hermit crabs live in
recycled snail shells,

making them very tough.

It's like living in a portable bunker.

They feed with busy mouth parts

on tiny invertebrates and detritus.

At the other end of the scale,

this crustacean also has little to fear.

The American lobster is the
king of the local crustaceans.

This one's eating a muscle
that it cracked open

with a powerful crusher claw.

It's time to introduce Zach of all Trades

to Jean the famous wolffish.

So we make our way over to his den.

Jean has lived here for more than 20 years

and he's so big that he barely
fits through his front door

to the huge den within.

Christine shows Zach how it's done,

coaxing Jean out of his den

with a delicious snack.

The entrance to the dent is so small,

sometimes Jean has a hard
time squeezing back through.

Next it's Zach's turn.

He's a little apprehensive

about getting his fingers chomped,

but Jean is actually quite gentle with us.

He's a good fishy.

After an hour, the tide
has started to turn

and the current is starting to run.

So we make our way up to shallower water

for a short safety stop.

In the shallows, we're greeted
by a lion's mane jelly,

one of the more potent
jellyfish in the world

so we're careful to steer clear
of the stinging tentacles,

but even the mighty
lion's mane can be prey.

If the current pushes a
lion's mane down too close

to the bottom, it can get snagged

and become the victim of an army

of sea urchins slowly advancing

and oblivious to its tentacles.

The cold waters of
Passamaquoddy Bay are a far cry

from diving in the clear waters
of a tropical coral reef.

But the marine life hidden
in the cold green water here

is every bit as fascinating

and engaging as marine
life anywhere in the world.

And by diving here so often,

I've been able to get to know

some of the residents quite well.

Every time I step into
the water in Eastport,

I feel like I'm visiting old friends.

A reunion in the Blue World.

- [Narrator] Don't go away.

Next, a dive into a cave filled

with mysterious marine life.

- The island of Cozumel,

just off the coast of Mexico near Cancun,

is known for its crystal clear water.

Divers flock to this scuba diving paradise

to see healthy reefs
and lots of marine life.

The splendid toad fish, one of
the local marine rock stars,

is found around only two
islands in the world.

Further offshore, reef sharks
sometimes sleep in caves,

a behavior that has not
been witnessed anywhere else

and Cozumel has something
else unique in the world.

This special cenote
containing species found

nowhere else on earth.

Cameraman Todd and I
head on down to Cozumel

for a cave diving adventure.

We team up

with our favorite local cave
diving guide, Christine Lowe.

Then we head on over to Aerolito Cenote.

It's bigger than most
of the cenotes we dive.

It almost looks like a pond

and it's only a couple of

which is one of the things
making Aerolito special.

Even though the surface water is fresh,

down deeper, it turns to salt water

because it's connected
directly to the ocean.

And because of that, it
has some marine life unique

to this environment.

So one of the great things
about Aerolito is an added

element of excitement.

Apparently, there are crocodiles.

We go over our plan.

Christine has been here before,

but we haven't, so we'll be following her.

Then it's time to get our
gear together and suit up.

Time to get wet.

As we put our gear on

and kick up the bottom of
the algae filled water,

I try not to think about crocodiles.

Once we get underwater and swim
away from silt we kicked up,

we can see much better

and follow Christine into
a small cave opening.

Due to our proximity to the ocean,

the halocline is quite shallow.

We pass through this swirly
barrier between the fresh water

and the salt water at a
depth of only 20 feet.

Todd and I follow

as Christine runs a reel
from the entrance back

to the permanent cave line.

The permanent line starts
pretty far from the entrance

to discourage open water
divers from following it.

It takes a while, but eventually
we find the permanent line

and Christine ties in.

Even this far in,

the greenish tint of the algae
filled pond water persists.

Then we find something spectacular,

a cave brittle star.

This species of brittle star
is found nowhere else on earth

except this one cave.

Like many cave adapted
organisms, it has lost

much of its pigment

and it can detect the presence of light.

This survival skill
causes the brittle star

to run from my flashlight.

As I look around, I realize
that there are quite a few

of these brittle stars all
running from our lights.

But here's the most amazing thing.

Aerolito is the only
cave in the world known

to have cave adapted sea stars.

But it's not just this one
species of brittle star.

There are actually three
species of sea stars in here,

and I'm hoping to find all of them.

Our search takes us deeper and shallower,

at times getting shallow enough

to enter the halocline again.

But we know that sea stars all live

below this depth in the salt water.

So we travel further into the cave,

taking a passage that goes
in the opposite direction

as the ocean traveling further inland,

seeking deeper passages.

But the cave never gets very deep

and we stay close to the halocline,

not the most likely place to
find our elusive sea stars.

Finally, a crack that drops
deeper into the salty layer

below the influence of the
tides, which cause the halocline

to rise and fall.

Christine scours the walls of the cave

with her light, casting an
experienced eye for cave life.

And then we swim down
another crack even deeper.

Now we're really getting into
the realm of the unknown.

We end up in a dark tube with
odd, dark colored limestone

and a gravel bottom.

There are almost no speliophem formations.

It's a spooky place.

Soon, we start seeing signs of ocean life.

Little orange sponges dot the walls.

We press on, watching
our limited air supply

and pushing deeper into the cave.

I watch the floor of the
cave carefully as we go.

At last, a white splotch that
looks like another sponge,

but the pentagonal shape gives it away.

This is one of the rarest sea
stars in the entire world.

A cave adapted type of asteroid,

similar to one seen on
reefs around the Caribbean.

But here in Aerolito, it
has lost all pigmentation

and lives entirely in the dark.

What it eats is not known own.

And we struck gold because right nearby,

the monster of this cave,
copidaster cavernicola.

This large sea star
reaching about a foot across

is also a cave adapted relative

of a deep water species seen in the ocean.

But unlike the others,

this sea star hasn't lost
all its pigmentation.

That may mean that it
hasn't been long enough

to fully adapt.

Give it another 200
generations over 1,000 years

and we'll check back.

Having found our three
species of sea stars, we turn

and make our long swim
back towards the entrance.

Plastic line arrows
always point the way out

so we know we're going the right way.

We pass fields

of brittle stars on a
sandy section of the cave.

There must be something
they like to eat in

or on the sand.

And we find another
magnificent cavernicola

snuggled up to a sponge.

Sponges, in fact, are everywhere.

As we get closer to the entrance,
we're also getting closer

to the ocean, and the water
contains more organic materials

for the sponges to eat,

and the sponges are
crawling with brittle stars.

Finally, we make it back to our reel

and Christine unties
it from the main line.

We are back to the cavern zone

where we can see sunlight streaming in.

After a few minutes doing a safety stop,

we can head back up into the sunlight,

keeping an eye peeled for crocs of course.

- How you doing?

- I am back from the cave.

- Aerolito is a fascinating cenote.

It doesn't really have
any beautiful formations,

but its location and conditions
are just right for it

to have unique marine life
found nowhere else in the world.

And at the moment, at least,

it's the only cave in the world

known to contain cave adapted sea stars.

You never know what you might find

just exploring the depths of
a small algae filled pond.

It's another incredible
wonder of the Blue World.

[bright music]