07x10 - Swimming Pigs and a Mysterious Cave in the Exuma Islands + Reef Sharks in Mexico

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Today on "Blue
World", a cave dive with sharks.

But first, something even
weirder, swimming with pigs.

[upbeat 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".

- [Jonathan] The Bahamian Exuma Islands

are famous for being some of
the most beautiful on earth.

They're known as the yachting
capital of the world,

a haven for swimming pigs, and of course,

an ocean blue hole dive paradise.

Wait a minute, swimming pigs?

This I've got to see.

My adventure begins with a flight

to the remote Exuma
Islands of The Bahamas.

As we fly in, I can see why
people say they're so beautiful.

Look at that water.

The Zachs are excited.

Soon we land on Great
Exuma and load our van.

[cheerful music]

We take a trip up north
to Exuma Point Beach Bar

to rendezvous with local
celebrity, Elvis Rowley.

We load our gear onto a small boat,

and Elvis takes us out.

[cheerful music continues]

We make a short run to a
small island just offshore.

As we pull up to the beach,

we're greeted by a welcoming committee.

[whimsical music]

And they wade right up to the boat.

Some say that the pigs were stranded here

after fleeing a sinking ship

and swimming to the closest island.

Others insist that the pigs
were left long ago by sailors

to fatten up so they could be eaten later.

But this is not a very good
place to fatten up a pig.

There isn't much to
eat and no fresh water.

Elvis throws them some bread,
which is a favorite snack.

Of course, pigs are notoriously
not very picky eaters.

Sometimes he brings vegetables
or whatever he has on hand.

The pigs don't really care.

- You need a, that is...

- More like fish?

- But of course, I like to
swim with the marine life,

so in I go.

We'll find out.

Hey guys.

- [Elvis] Hop in.

- With a piece of bread, I
wanna see if I can get a pig

to demonstrate actual swimming.

Keep going, keep going, keep going.

[whimsical music continues]

And yes, they can actually swim.

They also know who has the snacks.

[Elvis chuckling]

And is there anything cuter
than a swimming piglet?

[water gurgling]

The pigs have this entire
island to themselves,

and while they can forage for
their own food to a degree,

Elvis does need to bring out
fresh water for them to drink.

[water lapping]

We're having fun playing
with the swimming pigs,

but we came to go cave diving.

[water splashing]

So the next, day we grab our gear

and head on over to Dive Exuma.

We load the boat and start putting

our cave diving gear together,

then Captain Jonathan pushes
off and we're on our way.

[cheerful music]

We are heading to Stalking Island,

a favorite destination
for the yachting crowd

because of the extremely
well protected harbor,

and within this harbor,

something easily visible from the air,

the entrance to an ocean cave
that goes under the island.

With the boat moored only a
few fin kicks from the entrance

to the cave, cameraman Zach
and I starts suiting up.

My water entry is as graceful as ever.

[water splashing]

Then we descend.

[water splashing]

[peaceful music]

We've timed our dive just past slack tide.

So the tide is gently pushing
water out of the cave.

This means we swim against
the flow to get into the cave,

making our return trip
back out of the cave

safer and easier.

Fish love to hang out in
the entrance to the cave,

but we pass right by,

heading towards the
darkness that lies beyond.

At the back of the cavern
zone, Zach ties reel to a rock.

[water gurgling]
then leads the way ahead.

The water coming out of
the cave is not that clear.

Recent storms have churned up the ocean,

and this water's coming in
from somewhere under the ocean

on the other side of the island.

The murkiness makes it pretty spooky.

The walls of the cave
are absolutely covered

in colorful sponges and tunicates.

Ged by a constant supply
of ocean nutrients

forced through the cave by the tides,

these simple animals thrive
in complete darkness,

their color never seen unless illuminated

by artificial light.

[peaceful music continues]

[water bubbling]

Eventually we find the
remnants of an old guide line

placed in the cave untold years
ago by previous explorers,

but not suitable for use anymore.

So Zach carries on with his reel.

Unfortunately, we soon hit the
end of the line, literally.

So we tie on a spool and keep going.

Eventually, we reach an
older section of cave line

that looks pretty solid, so we tie on.

There is so much marine life on this line

that it looks like a rope reef.

As we proceed further into the cave

following the rope along the silty bottom,

the walls begin to narrow.

As the water flows through
this thin slot in the rocks,

the velocity of the water increases.

So swimming against the
current is more difficult.

[tranquil music]

Our air consumption rises.

[water bubbling]

[water bubbling]

[tranquil music continues]

Protocol in cave diving
means that you can only use

one third of your air on
the way into the cave.

You leave another third for the swim out,

and the last third is for
reserve in case of an emergency,

and even though I really want to see

what's around the next
corner, we have to turn back.

Fortunately for us, the
swim out is super easy

because now we're going with the tide,

gliding along with very little effort.

We follow the reef rope
back to Zach's spool.

[peaceful music]
[water bubbling]

Hand winding the spool
fast enough to keep up

with the water movement is a challenge.

Winding the primary spool is a lot easier,

and within only a fraction
of the time it took

to swim into the cave, we
reached the cavern zone again.

Of course, knowing that we
would get a fast free ride

out of the cave, we could
have gone past our thirds

and explored a little further,

but that's breaking the rules,

and cave diving is one place

where you don't break the rules.

Of course, that extra air
means we have plenty of time

for an extended safety stop

watching the fish in the cavern zone.

[peaceful music continues]

[peaceful music continues]

And finally, it's time to head back

to the warm sun above us.

- [Jonathan] Yeah, no one's into that.

- Captain Jonathan helps
us remove gear in the water

to make the ladder easier.

Woo hoo, that was sweet!

- That was an awesome, dog.
- Nice!

- [Diver] The Exuma Islands of The Bahamas

are a beautiful place.

The blue water and protected moorings

make it special for sailing,

but the ocean caves make it
exciting for cave divers,

one of the few places in the
world with so many such dives.

I don't know when we'll
be back to the Exumas,

but I sure wouldn't mind another dive trip

to explore more of these
unique underwater formations

in the "Blue World".

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Don't go away.

Jonathan finds reef
sharks sleeping in caves.

- [Diver] Contrary to popular belief,

many different kinds of
sharks rest on the bottom.

But reef sharks are not a
species normally associated

with this behavior.

However, we learned of
a place near Cozumel

where reef sharks seem to be
sleeping in coral caverns.

So Zach of all trades and I

hop on a plane to Cozumel to investigate.

Cozumel is an island
famous for scuba diving

right off the coast of Mexico near Cancun.

It's known for very clear
water and lots of fish,

but also for exciting drift diving

because of the moderate current.

In recent years,

it has also become popular
in the cruise ship crowd.

So most of the dive shops cater

to larger groups of divers
from the cruise ships.

However, I'm heading
to Scuba Life Cozumel,

a shop that caters to smaller groups

of more experienced divers
who want to do more.

At the shop, we'll fill out some paperwork

in preparation for
tomorrow's big adventure.

[cheerful music]

JP has been fascinated by the
caves of the sleeping sharks

for many years as one of
the only people who knows

where they sleep and how to find them.

With Captain Alex at the helm,

we leave the marina and set up our gear.

My hopes are high that
we can fulfill my dream

to find and film a
sleeping shark in a cave.

As the sun rises, we're going
past all the other dive boats

out to a special spot
that only JP knows about.

- Well, this is the part
I hate, getting suited up.

[zippers zipping]
It takes so long.

Woo, that took forever!

Time to go find some sharks.

[water splashing]

We sink down to the reef and
the current is not that strong,

which isn't a good sign because the sharks

like to sleep when the
current is stronger.

But we still have a look.

We find a large fearless spiny lobster

posing bravely for my camera.

[curious music]

But I can't spend time here
when we have caves to search.

The caves here are not really caves,

but in fact, coral caverns.

You can always see light from the opening,

but I must admit I'm a little apprehensive

about coming around a corner

and frightening a sleeping shark.

The walls of the caverns
are covered in marine life,

such as coral and sponges,
making them very colorful.

[peaceful music]

Zach of all trades and
I are having a blast

swimming through this
labyrinth of tunnels,

and it's sort of like an
intro to cave diving for Zach.

Above my head on the ceiling,

I notice there are a
lot of lionfish hiding.

Lionfish are invasive
species in the Caribbean,

eating all the baby fish of other species.

So the dive masters in Cozumel,

as in many other places in the Caribbean,

are trying to control the population.

JP spears a large one on
every dive to do his part,

but it won't go to waste.

As we leave the caverns and
work our way back up the reef,

I can see how healthy these reefs are,

with tons of coral and sponges.

JP leads the way into another
cavern on our shark hunt.

[water bubbling]

[peaceful music continues]

We look everywhere, but we
just can't find a shark.

[water bubbling]

[peaceful music continues]

Eventually, we're low on air,

and it's time to head back to the boat.

JP launches an SMB, a surface marker buoy,

so Captain Alex can find us

as we drift with the current
away from the dive site.

Well, we got to the cave, but no sharks.

As the day progresses, the
ocean is getting rougher,

but conditions are
getting better for sharks

because the current is picking up, too.

So we moved the boat to another cave site

[water splashing]
and hit the water again.

[water bubbling]

JP has located a number of shark caves,

but there's no way to know
when a shark is in there

without going down to look.

[water bubbling]

And this one looks empty,

but JP brought the lionfish just in case

there are any sharks nearby
that might want a snack.

We have a look inside just to be sure.

There's a Caribbean reef
shark hanging around,

but she's definitely not sleeping.

Maybe she's hungry.

The tangs certainly are.

[peaceful music continues]

She definitely can smell
lunch and seems interested,

but as a small juvenile shark,

she's scared of us and keeps her distance.

[peaceful music continues]

So JP places the lionfish on the bottom,

and we back up to see what she does.

[peaceful music continues]

[whimsical music]

Because of the toxic spines
on even a dead lionfish,

sharks need to pick them up carefully.

And eventually, she
makes off with her prize.

[water bubbling]

We take one last look around the cave

to see if any sharks came to
rest, but it's still empty.

[water bubbling]

[water lapping]

We move to another location,

but this one's going to be a challenge.

[water splashing]
As I hit the water,

I'm pulled away from the boat

before I can even reach up for my camera.

The current is ripping.

We sink down and fly over
the bottom, no cave in sight.

We missed it completely.

So Alex moves the boat

a little further upstream from the cave,

and we try again.
[water splashing]

This time we make it to the
cave, but again, no sharks.

I'm beginning to wonder

if these sleeping sharks really exist.

- [Alex] No sharks?

- No sharks that time.

- After 10 hours on the boat,

we're well into late afternoon.

This is our last chance,

and the last cave that JP knows about.

Somehow we hit it perfectly.

The entrance is guarded
by a school of snapper.

Snappers?

What is the plural of snapper?

Fish?

As we approach the mouth of
the cave, JP sees a shark.

I have no idea where he
seems to be pointing.

I don't see squat.

Honestly, I think he's pulling my leg,

but I go in there anyway
and I can't believe my eyes.

A big sleeping Caribbean
reef shark way in the back.

I am afraid I will spook her
if I approach too quickly,

so I start by filming from 10 feet away,

and slowly work my way closer.

[peaceful music]
[water bubbling]

But she doesn't seem to care.

She lets me get right up close.

She really does seem to be sleeping.

There are a couple theories
about what the sharks are doing.

One study found that fresh water

was seeping up from the
sea floor into these caves,

making the salinity lower,

which might help remove
parasites from the sharks.

But since the sharks
only seem to come here

when the current is strong,

another theory suggests
that they can rest easier

when the current helps push
water through their gills.

Whatever the reason, this is
the only place in the world

where sharks seem to
go into caves to sleep,

and they really are snoozing.

Eventually, I end up only three
feet from this large shark

and she hasn't moved a muscle.

[peaceful music continues]

Unfortunately, this cave is 110 feet deep,

which means even with nitrox,
I don't have much time.

All too soon, we need to
head back to the surface.

But first, we celebrate.

JP delivered!

We have a long decompression
stop before we can surface,

but I sure don't mind,
because we nailed it.

Woo!

What a day.

As we head back to the
dock at the end of the day,

I'm so excited to have visited a place

I read about in a
magazine when I was a kid,

and to have seen a natural
behavior of sharks,

which is incredibly rare,

known only here in the
waters around Cozumel.

The sharks are the icing on the cake

to some of the most
beautiful coral caverns

I've ever seen in crystal
clear, warm, tropical water.

Cozumel really is a diver's paradise,

and I'm already planning
my next trip with JP

at Scuba Life Cozumel.

[upbeat music]