06x11 - Hammerhead Sharks in the Bahamas + Playing With Dolphins

[bunniefuu]

- [Narrator] Today on "Blue World,"

Jonathan goes to The Bahamas in search

of the world's friendliest
hammerhead shark.

But first, he needs to
get his bandana back

from a pod of dolphins.

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."

[lively music]

- It's a windy day aboard
the Dolphin Dream Dive Boat

and we are heading towards
prime dolphin territory.

The Blue World and Brave
Wilderness teams have been diving

in The Bahamas for a few days now.

We had some epic shark
diving with lemon sharks,

Patches the hammerhead, and tiger sharks.

We even went shark diving at night.

[bright music]

But today, it's time to try
something completely different.

We're looking for dolphins.

Finch is scanning the
horizon for dorsal fins.

Now it's a little known fact
that in order to get dolphins,

you actually have to
summon them to the boat.

And to do that, you have to
perform the summoning dance.

Sort of a ritualized
dolphin-bringing thing

and we don't really know how to do it.

So Finch is gonna give cameraman Tim

and cameraman Bill a lesson.

- It's like this.

[lively music]

- [Jonathan] And it actually works.

Soon, a small pot of spotted dolphins

have converged upon the bow of our boat.

They love to ride the
pressure wave in the bow wake

like underwater surfers.

[magical music]

- Dolphins on the side.

Dive dive dive dive dive!

- [Jonathan] Dolphins are
too fast for scuba gear.

So we just use a mask, fins, and snorkel.

[bright music]

The dolphins are curious but
they lose interest quickly.

So to keep them engaged, we
have to swim as fast as we can

and splash around to pique their interest.

Even when I'm swimming as hard as I can,

the dolphins are barely moving.

[bright music]

But pretty soon, we get tired

so Houston brings out an electric scooter.

[bright music]

The dolphins love the scooter,
so they swarm around Houston

as he spins and twirls underwater

like a blue-jeaned ballerina.

One really fun way to engage the dolphins

is to offer them a bandana to play with.

[playful music]

They love to pass it back and forth,

but their favorite thing to do
with it is to play keep away

with the pathetic humans.

Even though they don't have hands,

they can carry the bandana
on their pectoral fins,

dorsal fin, and even their flukes.

[playful music]

Mark tries to get close enough to grab it,

but this dolphin says, "No way."

[playful music]

Finally, he drops it
and now it's my chance.

Psyche!

[playful music]

He is taunting me.

"Come and get it, slowpoke human."

The dolphins steal a lot of bandanas.

I wonder if they have a stash

of them someplace under
the reef or something.

So one of the things about
the bandana game is sometimes,

the dolphins don't give the bandana back.

So you go through a lot of bandanas.

So the best thing to do

is to actually cut your bandanas in half

'cause a half a bandana works just fine

and you get twice as many
chances just in case the dolphins

steal it, which they like to do.

[playful music]

So now we have a whole
bunch of these babies.

And these are the perfect
size for the dolphins

to catch on their pectoral fin or.

Good stuff.

Even though these are spotted dolphins,

many of them have no spots.

That's because they're born spotless.

[gentle music]

As they get older, they will start

to get a few spots around age two.

[gentle music]

But fully mature spotted dolphins

are completely covered in spots.

This mature female is swimming
with her two-year-old calf

and pregnant with her next calf.

[gentle music]

Even though the two-year-old
wants to come over

to investigate me, mom keeps
herself between us for a while

until she's sure I'm not a threat.

[gentle music]

Later, they swim by again

and the calf gets a close
look at me and my big camera.

Even though the juveniles
are more curious,

sometimes, even the adults like to play.

[playful music]

Here's something you don't see very often.

Dolphins blowing bubbles.

Who knows why they're doing this?

Maybe it's just fun.

[playful music]

After we start getting really
tired, the dolphins get bored

and go off to play amongst themselves.

The dolphins have lost
interest in us, so it's time

to head back to the boat.

[magical music]

Hey Phil, what'd you think of that, man?

- That was awesome.

Love diving with dolphins.

- It's like the most fun you can have

when you're almost drowning.

[all laughing]

How do you think, Timmy?

- It's unbelievable.

- Hey, here's our ride.

- Let's go back and do it again.

- Yeah, let's go back and do it again.

So the trick with dolphins
is keeping them interested.

When they get bored, they swim away

and we have to get back on the boat

and sort of chase them down again

and then jump back in the water.

So it's a process of
jumping in, getting out,

jumping in, getting out,
because they get bored

'cause we're slow, we're boring.

So they have to keep them engaged

so they get them back on the bow.

- [Speaker] Dive, dive, dive.

- All right, let's go.

- Dive, dive, dive.

Let's go!

- [Jonathan] We catch up with
the pod and jump back in.

[playful music]

Finch is on the scooter this time,

trying to keep him engaged.

[playful music]

And they still have my bandana.

[playful music]

Is Mark petting the dolphin?

Not many of the dolphins
like to be touched,

but some of them actively
seek being petted.

[playful music]

Pretty soon, the parents all come back

to collect the kids at the playground

and after a few playful passes,
they head off into the blue.

[playful music]

Please note that they did
not give my bandana back.

[playful music]

- Another four more.

- Yeah, no, there's eight
total, including you.

That was unbelievable.

Most amazing experience in my entire life.

Swimming with those
dolphins was unbelievable.

Absolutely unbelievable.

Locked eyes with dolphins.

Swam on the dope down,
they kinda spun around.

You maintained eye
contact the entire time.

Yeah, life changing.

Unbelievable.

Can't believe it.

Can we go back?

Please?

- [Jonathan] I can't
think of many wild animals

that will actively engage with people.

Nevermind play a game of keep away.

Dolphins are definitely
one of the smartest

and most curious animals
in the blue world.

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Coming up, Jonathan finds

the friendliest hammerhead in the ocean.

- It's a beautiful day in The Bahamas

and it's about to get better

because I'm meeting up
with Coyote Peterson.

Hey man, how are ya?

- Mark Vins and Mario Aldecoa
from "Brave Wilderness"

to help with the creation
of their new show,

"Blue Wilderness."

[excited music]

We start in Grand Bahama

and sail North on a liverboard dive boat

called The Dolphin Dream,
one of my favorite boats.

Our destination, Tiger Beach,

a famous place where Tiger
Sharks interact with divers.

Upon arrival, the crew starts chumming,

then we suit up and hit the water.

- Talk about a tail.

- We have tons of sharks.

Our team and the guys
from "Brave Wilderness"

are having a blast.

We're getting lots of great footage.

Most importantly, the main
attraction has shown up.

We have multiple tiger
sharks swimming around us.

Coyote even gets up close with the tiger.

[excited music]

But then things get even
more magical with the arrival

of a rather special shark.

A great hammerhead named Patches.

Great hammerheads are usually quite shy.

It's extremely unusual
for one to get right up

to the camera like this.

So after the dive, Mark and I
asked Captain Jared about her.

Jared, tell me about patches.

Tell me the history of this shark.

- All right, so Patches
showed up at Tiger Beach

about two seasons ago.

She wasn't too playful
when she first came in.

She'd hang out around the
outside of the dives a lot,

but as she got used to the divers

and watched the tiger
sharks doing their thing

coming in and feeding,

she started to slowly make her way in.

And once she started
getting comfortable with us,

she'd let us feed her some pieces of fish.

We used to catch fresh fish for her

'cause she was a bit of a picky eater.

And then she got more and
more comfortable with us

and let us get a little
bit more hands-on with her

and pet her.

And then once that happened,

she pretty much just stuck around.

And so she's quite special
for us at Tiger Beach

'cause she's the only hammerhead
we know that acts like that

and stays in that area.

- So is it a rare experience
to get to get up close

to a hammerhead like this at Tiger Beach?

- Most hammerheads, they're quick.

They come in, they spend 10 or 15 minutes.

They don't really go
that close to everyone.

They kind of like move through,
get their food, and get out.

But with Patches, you'll
see that she'll come in,

play with the diver at the bake crate

and go and spin through all
the divers at the dive site

and come back in.

So it's quite special the way
she interacts with people.

- With this magnificent shark

hanging around the boat,

Mark and I know that
there's no time to waste.

We quickly suit up for another dive

to film Patches while she's here.

Right, Mark.

Let's go see if we can find Patches.

- Hammerhead sharks, let's do it.

- Yeah!

- [Jonathan] The minute we hit the water,

Patches comes right over to
investigate us near the surface.

She exhibits the classic

hammerhead tilted swimming behavior,

which has only recently
been scientifically studied.

It allows the great hammerhead shark

to use its tall dorsal fin as a wing

to increase lift,
reducing swimming effort.

[uplifting music]

Patches passes extremely close to me,

but her proximity is in no way aggressive.

She's clearly just curious.

She's the kind of shark

that underwater photographers dream about.

Cooperative and friendly,

coming super close to the camera,

but in no way threatening.

[dramatic music]

Patches just seems to go back and forth

between me, Cameraman Bill, and Mark.

[excited music]

And sometimes, she likes to demonstrate

how hammerheads use the
mass of their hammer

and their incredibly flexible body

to turn on a dime like no
tiger shark ever could.

[excited music]

Patches is my new favorite
shark of all time.

Eventually, we sink down
to the sandy sea floor

next to the reef, and patches follows us

like an excited puppy.

[uplifting music]

Soon, our dive master
Houston has joined the party

with a crate full of fishy snacks.

We all gather around cameras at the ready

to begin filming the shark feed.

[dramatic music]

And Patches is about to
be left out of the action.

She's the only hammerhead I've ever seen

that will swim into a feed
with a bunch of tiger sharks.

She's just as long as the tigers,

but nowhere near as girthy and powerful.

[dramatic music]

Yet she sticks up for
herself, even pushing

one of the tigers away by
whacking it in the gills.

[dramatic music]

Nearby, a lemon shark is
resting on the bottom,

knowing well enough to stay away

from a bunch of feeding tiger sharks.

Lemons can gulp water to
breathe and rest on the bottom.

But not Patches.

Great hammerheads are called
obligate ram ventilators.

They're one of the few
species of sharks that need

to keep swimming to ram
water down their throats

and into their gills.

So they keep moving and
usually have their jaw open.

It looks aggressive, but
it's just respiration.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music continues]

She may have to keep moving,

but her super shark power is turning.

Great hammerheads can turn much tighter

and faster than tigers

and even reef sharks,
which are far smaller,

turning so tightly.

Patches can make twice as
many runs at the chum box

so she gets more chances to be fed.

[excited music]

And her persistence pays off.

Houston doles out some nice yummy fish.

[dramatic music]

We have three tiger sharks on the dive,

and normally, even one tiger
shark would be amazing,

but Patches still steals the show.

She's the star and I think she knows it.

She just keeps making
passes in front of everyone

and we aren't going anywhere

as long as we have air to breathe.

[dramatic music]

[dramatic music continues]

But alas, no scuba tank
lasts forever and soon,

we have to make for the boat.

Patches follows us up to the swim step,

but we definitely are not
afraid, only thrilled.

[gentle music]

- Woo!

- Dude, most cooperative
hammerhead shark ever.

- Is this real life?

Did that just happen?

- Huh.

- Guys, that hammerhead was enormous.

- And unbelievably friendly.

Wow.
- Yeah.

- What a segment, Jon.

Thank you.
- Yeah, good work, man.

- Dude, yes.

That was awesome.

- [Jonathan] At the end
of a long day, diving

with the world's most awesome hammerhead,

I can only wonder if I
will ever meet her again.

With any luck, Patches
will return next season

so other divers can get to know her

and develop an appreciation for one

of the most spectacular shark
species in the blue world.

[dramatic music]