03x05 - Jake Learns to Dive and Curaçao Dolphins

[bunniefuu]

[gentle bright music]

- [Announcer] Coming up next

on "Jonathan Bird's Blue World,"

Jonathan heads down to
the island of Curacao

to meet up with a friendly
dolphin named Annie.

[gentle bright music continues]

But first, a surprise visit
to a "Blue World" fan's house

to teach him to dive.

All of this today on
"Jonathan Bird's Blue World."

- About scuba diving with
some guy named Jonathan Bird?

- [Announcer] Meet Jonathan Bird,

[water sloshing]

[gentle bright music continues]

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.

[gentle bright music continues]

In freshwater or salt,

reefs, wrecks, or caves,

Jonathan documents the
world beneath the waves.

[gentle bright music continues]

Welcome to the "Blue World."

[water burbling]

- Recently I got an email
from Chris Whitlock,

the father of one of my
biggest fans, Jake Whitlock.

He thought I might be
interested in this paper

Jake wrote as a homework assignment.

It turns out that Jake's biggest dream

is to go scuba diving with Jonathan Bird.

[laughs] Well, you know,

sometimes dreams really do come true.

And boy, do we have a
surprise for Jake today.

[light percuiluar music]
But first, the production team

has to find Jake's house.

It's very small.

You would think someone
would've brought a GPS.

- It's right here.

- Yeah, I mean, you can
throw a golf ball across it.

How can we be lost?
- I had another paper...

- With me is Kathryn Apse,

a scuba instructor who specializes

in certifying younger divers.

Hopefully he doesn't see us coming.

That would ruin the whole thing.

[Kat laughs]

[knocking on door]
[dog barking]

Hey, hey!
- Hey!

- [Jonathan] Hey, Jake!
- Hi!

- [Jonathan] How you doing, man?

- Good!

Why are you guys here?
[all laugh]

I got this from your dad.

This paper that you
wrote about scuba diving

with some guy named Jonathan Bird?

- Oh my God.

[laughs] He sent that to you.

- Yeah, so here's the thing,

in order for you to go
scuba diving with me,

you actually have to become a scuba diver.

- [Jake] Oh.
- So guess what I have here?

I have a special person
to introduce you to!

This is Kat.

She's going to be
- Hi, Jake.

- Your dive instructor.
- Hi, nice to meet you.

- [laughs] Alright, to get started

with this certification here,

you're gonna have to do
a little bit of reading.

Here's your "Open Water Diver" book.

So you're gonna get started on that.

And once we start doing some dives,

your own dive log book.

- Oh, thank you.

This is so cool. [laughs]

- [Kat] So you better start
reading right away, mister.

- [laughs] Yeah.

- [Jonathan] We meet Jake's parents

and fill them in on
Jake's adventures to come,

but we're keeping a few things secret.

- We're gonna read through that book.

There's gonna be a bunch of questions

you're gonna have to answer.

We're gonna do a classroom portion,

and then we're gonna jump in the pool

and do some work with
you in the pool, alright?

And when you're good and
ready, you'll take an exam.

You'll pass flying
colors, no problem, right?

- Yeah.
[all laugh]

- Okay, [laughs] and then
we're gonna hop in the ocean.

- Okay. [exhales sharply]
[all speaking indistinctly]

- [Jonathan] Jake has been
dying to go scuba diving

since he was four years old,
when he did this drawing.

[all laughing]

- Yeah, he's wanted to be underwater

for a very, very long time.

- [Jonathan] What Jake doesn't know

is that the surprises are not over.

But first things first,
Jake has to learn to dive.

[all speaking indistinctly]

In the classroom, Kat teaches
Jake about diving physics,

the basics of the gear, and
how to untangle a regulator.

And then she takes him to the pool

where he must pass a swimming test.

You can't really be a scuba
diver if you can't swim.

[water sloshing]

- Twirl around with your
hands above your head.

- [Jonathan] She checks to
be sure he can tread water.

- Clap your hands.

- What?
- [Kat] Clap your hands

[Jake claps hands]

- [Jonathan] And executes
a perfect cannon ball.

- Three.

[water sloshing]

- [Jonathan] I'm not
sure if the cannon ball

is part of the class though.

Once Kat knows Jake is
comfortable in the water,

he's ready for his first experience

breathing from a scuba regulator.

- Okay, so where are your hands gonna be?

There you go.

Get your feet in the
water, get in the water.

There you go.

Makes things a lot easier.

- [Jonathan] But as he discovers,

just getting into the
water with all that gear

is a bit of a challenge.

[water sloshing]

And then the big moment,

Jake breathes underwater
for the first time.

[both breathing deeply]

Next, Kat teaches him
to control his buoyancy

using a small ring

through which Jake must swim
without touching the edge.

[light uptempo music]

It takes him a couple tries,

but when he finally gets it,

time for a little underwater fun.

- So, how'd you like it?

- It was amazing.

- [Kat] Yeah?

- A dream come true.

- [Jonathan] To prove he
actually learned something,

Jake takes a written
final exam and aces it.

With the classroom and
pool work behind him,

now Jake must prove his
skills in open water.

He and Kat will do two ocean dives

in the murky Atlantic off
the coast of Massachusetts.

The water's chilly, so
Jake needs a wetsuit.

He struggles a bit putting on
a wetsuit for the first time.

Kat and I are suiting up too.

[light uptempo music continues]

- I can't even get this on. [laughs]

- [Jonathan] With his dad
watching in amusement,

Jake finally squirms into the wetsuit

and he's ready to tackle
the North Atlantic.

[light uptempo music continues]

I've made my way out to the water

ready to film Jake's
first open-ocean dive.

Jake and Kat take a dive flag

to let boaters know where they are.

There's a last-minute
adjustment under water,

and then Kat tests Jake

with a series of exercises and drills.

She wants to make sure

Jake knows what to do in an emergency.

[water burbling]

[all breathing deeply]

There's even a moment to
explore some wildlife,

a rock crab desperately
trying to get away.

And then his first of five
checkout dives is over.

[water sloshing]

- The sharks were amazing.

- [Jonathan] There were no sharks.

- So that was your first real dive.

Tell me what you thought.

I mean, what was it like?

- It was amazing.

So much fun being down
there, swimming around,

being able to breathe.

Seeing the rock formations underwater

with all the seaweed on
them was really cool,

'cause you can't really
see them from up here,

but seeing them down
there was really cool.

- Jake's almost ready now

for his adventure diving with me,

but we're not gonna do
it in the North Atlantic.

No, we're about to surprise Jake again.

We hop a plane to a tropical island

with crystal clear water.

Grand Cayman.

[smooth uptempo music]

Grand Cayman is a world
famous divers paradise

in the heart of the Caribbean.

[light music]

We stay at Sunset House,

world renowned as one of the
ultimate hotels for diving.

And later that day, yet
another surprise for Jake.

Jake, just the guy we're
waiting for, buddy.

- Hey, how's it going?

- We have a huge surprise for you.

I want you to see something humongous.

Check this out.

- Oh my God.

This is a gift for you.

This is from SubGear and
Divers Supply and Sunset House.

- Oh my God.

- And I'm gonna introduce you to Adam,

who's gonna tell you

about what you've just won.
- Hi, nice to meet you, Jake.

- Nice to meet you as well.
[both laugh]

- We've got a mask snorkel,
fins with the booties for you.

We've got suits so you're
not cold on your dives,

and a BCD and a regulator,
and a bag to carry it all in.

- Oh, thank you so much.

[both laugh]
- [Andy] You're very welcome.

- That is cool.

You know what?

This is unfair.

I'm the host, and I didn't get anything.

[both laugh]
- Yeah, I'm the lucky one.

- You are the lucky one, man.

- I'm the star.
- This is cool.

[all laugh]
- This my show now.

- Wow, I'm outta here.

[all laughing]

[all speaking indistinctly]

Jake, it turns out, is
also a runway model.

[all laughing]

- Introducing Whitlock, I guess.

- [Kat] Wow.

- [Jonathan] Equipped with his new gear,

Jake goes with Kat for
his final checkout dives

right off the dock at Sunset House.

[gentle bright music]

In the crystal clear water,

Jake practices his skills

until Kat believes he's
ready to go exploring.

[gentle bright music continues]

Then Kat takes him on his first tour

of the amazing underwater
world of Grand Cayman Island.

[gentle bright music continues]

- Congratulations, Jake.

You are officially open-water certified.

- Thank you so much.

- Now let's go diving.

- Yeah!

- [Jonathan] The next day
we head out to the reef

for a real dive.

[staff member speaking indistinctly]

And now that Jake is a certified diver,

we can dive together.

First a briefing about the dive site.

- And then you'll be able to
see the top of the reef there.

Lots and lots of fantastic corals.

- You ready?

Let's do it!

Let's go!

[water sloshing]

We're alive.

- We're alive.

- The Cayman Islands are built from coral,

which grows on top of an
underwater mountain range.

I show Jake the drop off
where it gets really deep,

[light music]
[water sloshing]

then we head into shallow water

to explore some fun
passageways through the reef.

[light music continues]

[light music continues]

As we get ready to return to the surface,

a little celebration.

What started as a dream in
a school paper came true.

Jake is having a blast.

[light music continues]

The next day I have
another surprise for Jake,

which I give him on our way
out to dive a shipwreck.

[crowd speaking indistinctly]

Jake, you've been through
a lot this weekend,

so we only have one more
thing to foist upon you.

[laughs] This is gonna be fun.

[zipper rasps]

You get, as your final gift,

- Oh.

- An authentic pair of Force Fin Pros.

That's the exact same model that I wear.

And these are our gift of
Bob Evans and Force Fin,

he's the guy who makes these things,

and you'll notice that he's
even signed it for you.

- Oh my God.

- Yeah, those are authentic Force Fins.

- Oh, thank you so much.

- Yeah, you're welcome.

- You'll have to thank Bob for me.

- I will.

And you can try 'em on this
dive if you're feeling,

you know, living dangerously.
- Yeah, I mean,

after all, I heard how
much better these are

than the normal fins.
- They are.

- I think I will definitely
have to try these.

- They are much better.
[Kat laughs]

Alright.
- Okay.

- Let's go diving.
- Lets do this!

- [Kat] Yay, whoo! [hands clap]

- [Jonathan] Our next
dive is on a shipwreck.

First, Jake and I listened
to the dive briefing.

- It was actually sunk
this year in January.

It took from 10:00 in the morning

to 2:00 in the afternoon for it to sink,

and here it lies.

- Hey, let's go find this wreck.

You ready, Jake?

- [Jake] Yep, let's do it.

[both breathing deeply]

[water sloshing]

- [Jonathan] Jake and I hit the water,

and can't believe how well
we can see the entire wreck.

The water is extremely clear.

[light music]

The Kittiwake was sunk

as an artificial reef in January of 2010.

It hasn't been down very long.

The ship was thoroughly cleaned,

all toxic materials were removed,

and dangerous pieces detached
before the ship was sunk.

It's still like new though.

It hasn't been underwater long enough

to build up much in crusting sea life.

There is one homesteader who
moved in immediately though.

This goliath grouper just hangs out here

on the sand by the propeller.

He must be used to divers,

because he isn't bothered by us at all.

The Kittiwake rescued sailors
from damaged submarines,

and much of its history
is still classified.

It lies in only 67 feet of water,

an ideal depth for recreational divers.

It's so shallow at the top

that even snorkelers can enjoy this wreck.

Jake and I swim above the
decks exploring the ship,

imagining her secret past,
the sailors who served here,

and the adventures she had in
the service of the U.S. Navy.

[light music continues]

Shipwrecks are fun to explore.

[light music continues]

In the Kittiwakes wheelhouse,

Jake takes control of the ship.

He may have a lot more trouble

with getting a driver's license

than he did with a scuba certification.

[light uptempo music]

And these jacks aren't
taking any chances either.

They're getting out of the way.

Jake, newly certified and
diving in the Cayman Islands,

truly is king of the world.

[light triumphant music]

We have one last treat for Jake

we can't pass up while here,

diving with the stingrays.

- Now, there's two stingray
cities on the island.

We've got the dive site,
which we're on at the moment,

and then the sandbar

where they take all the
cruise shippers, okay?

So the sandbar is about three feet deep,

and you just paddle a bell
and they brush up against you,

and all that sort of stuff.

You don't get a chance to feed
them like you do here, okay?

We get a chance to
interact with them properly

and feed them.

[water sloshing]

- [Jonathat] Most stingrays
don't readily approach humans,

but here on Grand Cayman,

years of fishing waste thrown
overboard has attracted them.

Stingrays are related to sharks,

but as you can see, they're quite docile.

They defend themselves

with a sharp venomous bar
about the base of their tail,

but they're very rarely aggressive.

This is what divers feed them,

little pieces of squid.

Appetizing, huh?

Sometimes you can lead
them around with your hand,

kind of teasing them until
you give them the food.

Jake discovers the trick
for feeding the stingrays.

You have to put the food in your palm

and let them do the work.

It takes some practice.

[light music]

Eventually, Jake and I have a stingray

mini feeding frenzy on our hands.

[light music continues]

One of them develops a
crush on cameraman, Tim,

and won't leave him alone.

[light ethereal music]

I think Tim likes her.

[light ethereal music continues]

And so after the dive at Stingray City,

we prepare to leave the Cayman Islands.

And would you believe it?

Jake's school paper, in
which he dreams about diving

with some guy named Jonathan
Bird, magically came true.

[light music]

[gentle bright music]

- [Announcer] Next on
"Jonathan Bird's Blue World,"

a friendly dolphin that plays with divers,

and the man who trained her.

[gentle music]

- Some say that dolphins

are the most intelligent
animals in the ocean.

Many divers consider
swimming with wild dolphins

to be the ultimate underwater experience.

But finding wild dolphins
that will cooperate

is no easy task.

This is the alternative,

the dolphin encounter at
the Curacao Sea Aquarium,

where trained dolphins love to interact

with swimmers and divers.

[frame whooshing]
[light music]

Curacao is an island in
the Southern Caribbean,

not too far from the coast of Venezuela.

[frame whooshing]

Divers love Curacao because
of the warm, clear water

and healthy coral.

The Curacao Sea Aquarium
was built in 1984,

and one of its biggest attractions
is the dolphin program.

Not only can divers

and snorkelers interact
with dolphins here,

but they can even take a half-day course

to learn how dolphins are trained.

[dolphins warbling]

Today I am going behind the
scenes to learn from the master,

George Kieffer, the head
of the Dolphin program

here at the Sea Aquarium.

The day starts before sunrise
as George sorts the fish

for the dolphins to eat.

Each dolphin eats 25 to 30
pounds of herring a day,

hand-fed by the trainers.

George carefully checks
the quality of each

and every fish that the dolphins will eat,

and selects only the best ones.

The others go to the shark exhibit.

- Basically, we have the
rule is, in the fish kitchen,

is if in doubt, throw it out.

- Later, I head out to the lagoon

to get an introduction

to interacting with the
bottlenose dolphins.

[crowd speaking indistinctly]

Rubbery.

[smooth uptempo music]

It's like a wet inner tube.

[crowd speaking indistinctly]

- And put your hands under his chin.

- It's a little silly,

but I get to kiss a dolphin.

Mm.
- [Instructor] [laughs] Yeah,

that's what I always say.

- Yeah, don't bite. [laughs]

Oh, hi there.

- [Trainer] Okay.
- Oh yeah.

Hi buddy.

Really?

Yeah, are you heavy?

- Yeah, he's happy.

You're happy, huh?
[Jonathan laughs]

- [Jonathan] Nearby,
another group are learning

to interact more closely
with the dolphins.

- Okay, spin around and
swim all the way back.

[trainer speaking indistinctly]

[dolphins warbling]
[all laughing]

- [Jonathan] But my next
stop is George's office

where I learn about bottlenoses dolphins

by taking his hour-long dolphin course.

After I become more knowledgeable
about dolphin behavior,

I'll be ready for my big adventure,

a dolphin dive on the reef.

- To hlp raise her baby.

[light music]

- [Jonathan] Later I head to the dive boat

where I meet several other divers

who are joining me on the dive.

George gives us a few last words of advice

for the interaction.

Underwater there's no feeding

so the dolphins can choose

whether or not they want to
interact with the divers.

How we act around them
will have a huge impact

on their willingness to play.

- It's okay to touch her fins.

The pectoral fins on both sides,
the dorsal fin on her back.

It's okay to touch
those, but don't hold on.

Don't grab her.

She's holding her breath down there,

so imagine somebody
grabbing you under water.

By late in the dive,

she's gonna be very
comfortable with everybody.

She might even swim right
up to you, face-to-face.

And if she comes right to
you, cup your hands like this.

She might just drop her chin
right there in your hand

and let you rub under her chin.

She does like that.

Just don't comb your hand over her face.

- [Jonathan] Finally, we leave the dock

and head to the open sea.

Somewhere out there, a
dolphin is following the boat.

Although the dolphins
live at the Sea Aquarium,

they allow one or two out
onto the reef every day

to play with the divers
and get some exercise.

Today it's a female named Annie.

[all laugh]

[smooth light music]

Finally, it's time to suit up,

and with a little luck,
play with a dolphin.

- [George] Okay, next!

[mask squeaking]

- I'm ready.

[smooth light music continues]

Are we good?

- [George] Yes, you look good.

- You ready, Tim?
- [Tim] Ready to go.

[water sloshing]
- I hit the water

and immediately start looking all around.

I hope Annie is in a playful mood,

because if she's not, she might
not come and play with us.

When the dolphins are out on the reef,

they're free to do as they please.

But I don't have to wait long.

As soon as she hears scuba bubbles,

Annie comes over to check us out.

It turns out the dolphins
love to play with divers.

This is one of those times
when it's great to be the guy

with the huge video camera.

Annie is a real ham.

She races around me putting
on a show in front of my lens,

swooping in, twisting and turning,

then zipping around behind me

and back to the front
faster than I can even

turn to keep up with her.

The faster I turn to keep up,

the faster she swims around me.

I'm starting to get dizzy.

[bright playful music]

She seems to be having a great
time, but then she leaves.

George has jumped in to join the fun,

and Annie goes right over to him.

George is her pal.

This is good news for all
the divers in our group

because George comes
over and stays with us,

so Annie will too.

At first, Annie only wants
attention from George.

He shows us how he's trained
her to stick her tongue out.

She stays down with us for so long,

sometimes I forget that
dolphins are mammals

and breathe air.

Every few minutes she
needs to run to the surface

for a breath.

But after she gets back
with a fresh breath of air,

George encourages her to say hello

to some of the other divers.

[bright playful music]

Soon he brings her to me,

and she stays still so I
can touch her soft skin.

It feels rubbery and slick,
like a wet inner tube,

but I can feel her strong
muscles underneath that skin.

She's a powerful animal,

capable of swimming 30 miles per hour,

which is really fast underwater.

As George introduces
her to the next diver,

I film the fun

and marvel at the incredible relationship

Annie has with George.

You can just tell they're great friends.

Sometimes when I'm in the
middle of a sh**t like this,

I get so involved in being a cameraman

that I forget to appreciate the excitement

of what I'm actually doing.

Not today, because right now
I'm doing one of the things

that almost all divers dream
about, diving with a dolphin,

and it's awesome.

All too soon, however, the fun has to end.

We can't hold our breaths
for minutes at a time,

so when our scuba tanks get low,

it's time to head back to the boat.

- Got it, sir?
- Got it.

- Woo.

Now, that was fun.

You know, you could tell the dolphins

are kind of used to that shtick.

You know, it was like, "Ugh, it's Monday.

It's my day to go play
with the humans. [laughs]

Oh man.

I can't believe it, can
you take my Monday?"

- [Producer] [indistinct]
dolphin down there?

- It does make one point, right?

They're c*ptive, but they
must not mind it too much

because if you can bring
'em out on the reef,

if they didn't like it,

they could swim em away, but they don't.

So they must find something
about it not so bad.

The fact is that the
dolphins at the Sea Aquarium

were born and raised in captivity,

and the hard part isn't keeping
them from swimming away,

but in fact convincing
them to leave the safety

of their home and go out on
the reef, as George explains.

- The easy part of the
program is coming back.

Going out has always been traditionally

the more difficult part of the training.

And I think the reason why is

coastal bottlenosed
dolphins are territorial.

You know, they don't roam the oceans.

They're not like these
pelagic species that will,

you know, move about through
huge swaths of the open sea.

Now these guys adopt a
coastline and they stick to it.

So what we're doing is, you know,

once they've become accustomed
to their facility itself,

what you're doing is you're
sort of exposing them

to more area around the facility,

and they're co-opting that as
their range, their territory.

- George also explained
that not all of the dolphins

like to go outside to Sea Aquarium.

Some prefer to interact with
people in their private lagoon.

I'm so glad to discover that
these dolphins are happy

and healthy at the Curacao Sea Aquarium,

and especially grateful to one
special dolphin named Annie

who came out to play with me,

even if it was just for an hour.

[light music]

[gentle bright music]