01x04 - Kaikoura

[bunniefuu]

[upbeat music]

[light music]

Narrator: Morning on the Kaikoura Peninsula

on the east coast of New Zealand's South Island.

World famous home of the great sea mammals.

Some locals, some just passing through.

[water splashing]

The Kaikoura neighborhood is a breathtaking ecosystem

where some parents go

to unexpected lengths to raise their offspring

and other youngsters discover an extraordinary place

where they can prepare for adult life.

Many species of marine creatures make their homes here.

On the ancient rocky foreshore,

in shallow pools carved by the tides,

and in the big blue underwater world beyond.

Four and a half kilometers out from the peninsula

is the 1200 meter deep Kaikoura Canyon.

Here, ocean currents collide

with this dramatic vertical face

pushing water upwards which is seething with nutrients.

This is the reason Kaikoura supports

such a dazzling array of marine life.

[light music]

It's the morning rush hour in Kaikoura.

And these commuters are dusky dolphins,

one of New Zealand's most common dolphin species.

This is the night shift on their way home to rest.

After a night spent feasting on the canyon's riches,

their bellies are full and they're ready to socialize.

Dusky dolphins use their daily commute in shore

to reunite with family members

and sometimes to attract a mate.

This dusky female demonstrates a tactic

that all dolphins use to get noticed.

And pretty much all the available males respond.

[water splashing]

Speed and agility are the qualities a female

looks for in a male,

but it is possible this female dolphin

is looking to mate just for fun.

With a couple of well-placed nips

she makes her shortlist and then it's on.

Mating is one of the few reliable indicators of gender.

The female is always on top.

Dusky dolphins are known as a promiscuous species

in that they mate for social reasons

not just to produce offspring.

The thrill of the chase is part of the game

but in these seemingly peaceful waters danger lurks.

[light unsettling music]

Dusky dolphins' cousins orca

pass through this neighborhood regularly.

And they occasionally snatch a straggling dusky,

often a juvenile.

But a large pod offers safety in numbers

so the orca continues on its way.

[light music]

Central to the richness of the Kaikoura food chain

are these minute krill.

Krill eat the microscopic plants known as phytoplankton

and pretty much everyone else eats them.

Slightly bigger than krill,

these are squat lobster, also known as whale krill.

In fact, they share more DNA

with hermit crabs than they do with either lobster or krill.

And they grow to about the size of a human index finger.

Squat lobster materialize out of nowhere.

Swimmer rats outstretched

and eyes fixed on where they've been.

They swim backwards.

The abundance of tiny nutritious creatures

like krill and squat lobster is a major attraction

for another Kaikoura local.

[water splashing]
[birds screeching]

The peninsula is home

to the south island's largest breeding colony

of red-billed gulls.

Like many of the 5,000 or so members of this flock,

this female has spent every one of her seven summers here.

Many of her neighbors were born

on the same limestone linches

where they're now building their nests.

With the abundant fishing here, the colony is thriving.

But for this female, there is a drawback to living here.

The red-billed story is something of a chick flick.

Female gulls outlive

and therefore outnumber the males by a good 10%.

A female red-billed is ready to reproduce at two years old

but at seven this gull is still waiting for her first mate.

All the best ones are taken.

Her biological clock is ticking.

Red-billed females come on strong to prospective mates

who can afford to play hard to get.

After a few rejections,

she finds a willing male

who goes straight back to his mate.

Females waiting to lay their eggs stay at the nest site

so they rely on their mate to bring them food.

He's failed in his duty,

but the male in this nearby nest brings krill to his female.

Courtship feeding is a crucial trade

ensuring the nesting female is fed

and the male's genes are continued.

Many red-billed gulls choose the same mate year after year

although the males are known to stray,

which was a bonus for the seven-year-old single female

because she's now carrying a fertilized egg.

But with no mate, the odds for her and her chick's survival

are not good.

[bright music]

The Kaikoura Peninsula splays

into the Pacific like an outstretched pore.

In the rocky bays between its toes,

more locals warm up in the morning sun.

Male fur seals have been coming here for the fishing

for 50 years or more,

but since the turn of this century

females have been choosing to raise their young here too.

Now it's an established breeding colony

with a growing population of juveniles.

The exceptional fishing in Kaikoura waters

means the mothers are well-nourished.

So the seal pups here are nursed longer and grow bigger

than fur seals in other parts of New Zealand.

This five-month-old is still dependent on his mother's milk

but he's ready to exercise some independence.

So when his hungry mother goes to sea to fish,

the pup wanders away exploring a new part of the beach.

Something is drawing him further and further from home.

[bright music]

Just south of the seal colony in the relative safety

of a sheltered bay, the dusky dolphins gather to rest.

This male's lower jaw has been broken and healed like this.

He may have survived an orca attack,

but his sleek condition suggest

it hasn't affected his ability to catch fish.

Others, usually males, have damaged dorsal fins

possibly from fighting, but it doesn't slow them down.

This lazy bumping

and jostling could be friendly social contact

or it could be because these dolphins are half asleep,

that is half of each dolphin is asleep.

They have to keep surfacing to breathe

so one side of the brain sleeps

while the other side keeps an eye on things,

literally, the eye on the sleeping side is half closed

while the other eye is open.

So they probably don't even notice

one of the locals passing through.

[water burbling]

This young female fur seal

is on her way out to hunt at a spectacular offshore reef.

Nearly 13 kilometers off the Kaikoura Coast,

this kelp on the ocean surface is a clue to what lies below.

Kelp this far offshore is unusual

because it's not floating free.

This is the canopy of a vast submarine forest

of giant bladder kelp, which towers up to 30 meters high.

It's attached to a shallow reef called bushett shoals.

[light music]

Wild ocean currents test the strength

of the kelps root systems called holdfasts.

These graceful sea trees provide shelter

and trap nutrients for the many varieties of fish,

crustaceans and sponges

that live on the forest floor and the reef beyond.

They also provide a home

for the largest and the weirdest anemone

in New Zealand waters.

Most anemones live in colonies attached to rocky niches.

The wandering anemone

is an oddball exception in that it wanders.

It clings to the kelp with an adhesive foot

until it has exhausted its food supply in one location.

Then it detaches itself and allows the current to carry it.

[bright music]

As it rides it extends its water filled column,

until its foot makes contact with a new piece of kelp.

Then inside its mouth deadly toxic tentacles sweep plankton

from the seabed or filter it from the water.

The tentacles are controlled by a primitive nervous system

as the wandering anemone has no brain.

However, its close neighbor, another wanderer

has more sophisticated powers of perception.

Each year, these crayfish migrate almost 500 kilometers

over several weeks from deep water

to the relative shallows of bushett shoals.

Here they will molt and mate

because there's more food and shelter than the open ocean.

Crayfish become aggressive as they prepare to mate

But have evolved a bizarre form of communication

to establish their social order.

Dominant status is expressed through chemical signals

in a male's urine

and transmitted through the water.

If a male's antennae pick up signals

of an opponent's higher status,

he may just back down and not bother fighting at all.

The richness of bushett shoals

always guarantees a bounty for hungry hunters.

The first sealers caught herself a red cod.

Seal table manners

actively encourage playing with your food.

Her flippers can't hold her prey,

so while she's chewing she releases it into the current,

then comes back for another bite when she's ready.

It takes quite a while to eat a fish this way,

but she needs to gorge herself

replenishing her all important mother's milk.

Fur seal mothers can spend more time at sea

as back on shore their pups are growing older

and can last longer between feeds.

Longer separations enable pups like this five-month-old

to venture further and further from home.

Maybe he's picked up a scent

but something draws 'em along

to a distant reach of the Kaikoura shore.

Finally, he sees something he's never encountered before:

a fresh water stream.

[bright music]

[water splashing]

In the stream he discovers these pups

returning to the colony

but the five-month-old doesn't follow them back

to the shore.

Instead, he continues exploring alone,

heading upstream to where they came from.

In the red-billed colony

thousands of expectant parents wait.

The seven year old female has laid an egg

and has 25 days of incubating ahead of her.

It's hot work and with no sweat glands,

panting is the only way for her to cool down.

To keep eggs at just the right temperature,

they have to be rolled often

to ensure the heat inside is evenly distributed.

No matter how hot it is,

she will not leave the eggs unprotected.

[birds screeching]

[upbeat music]

Her neighbors are constantly bickering over territory.

[birds screeching]

Her nest is forever under repair and she's hungry.

So her new nest mate coming home to give her a break

is likely a welcome sight.

The single female is single no more,

and her mate is a female.

With the Kaikoura male shortage,

many red-billed gull nests have two mothers.

Just like a male female pair,

the two females will share parenting duties equally

which is just as well.

As there's about to be a brand new beak to feed,

the other mother is going to have to fish even harder.

A giant petrel passing through from Antarctica drops in

probably after some Kaikoura krill.

This dusky female seems intrigued

until she finds some of her pod

playing a game of past the seaweed

a favorite among these sophisticated sea mammals.

Everyone has their trademark moves.

One piece of seaweed

can provoke all kinds of death maneuvers.

Suddenly two players have an urgent matter to attend to.

Dolphins don't eat bird

but the petrel is taking no chances

with these playful predators.

Past the seaweed doesn't just pass the time.

Play in dusky dolphin society strengthens bonds

and increases young dolphins understanding

of the world they live in.

The world the red-billed gulls live in

allows no time whatsoever for play.

One of the two mothers has been busy fishing at sea

and is heading home with a crop full of krill.

She's about to meet the first chick born

in her blended family.

And not a moment too soon the nesting gull needs a break

and the chick is desperate for its first meal.

This first time mother instinctively knows

to regurgitate the nutritious krill.

[bright music]

The hatchling still has its egg tooth.

That white calcification

on the top of its beak used to break out of the egg.

The tooth usually drops off after two days.

Until then, both mothers must keep up

their egg-rolling duties.

The seven-year-old seems to have found domestic bliss.

But there's no certainty

the other eggs will even make it to hatching.

The rowdy black-backed gull g*ng

from the next colony over are forever raiding the nursery

for unprotected eggs or even chicks.

Both mothers must remain constantly vigilant.

It's a hot summer's day on the Kaikoura Peninsula.

Like any kiwi beach,

summertime brings the tourists flocking in.

Like these spotted shags, spending summer here

before heading off to join larger flocks

when the weather cools.

These white fronted turns will fly to Australia

in the autumn.

The pied shags though tend to stick around.

The heron's breeding season is over already

and the adults are free

to enjoy the riches of the intertidal zone.

[light music]

The rock pools are an ever-changing treasure trove

of mysterious organisms.

[light music]

Here lives a secretive cunning creature

lurking in the shadows.

It appears there's nothing here but algae on rocks,

although rocks don't usually have eyes.

This algae is a disguise worn by a camouflage crab.

Octopus, fish, seals and birds

are all quite fond of crab meat.

And the camouflage crab is so slow moving,

it has no chance of outrunning a predator.

So it's evolved to become a master of disguise.

Its specialty is its impression of a rock

with seaweed growing on it.

It takes a lot of effort to look this good.

The crab has to collect the most appropriate accessories

[playful music]

and then get dressed.

The crab attaches each piece of sea litters to his shell

by hooking them onto Velcro like bristles

which grow there especially for this purpose.

Sometimes a little spit is needed

to glue its disguise into place.

Maintenance to the cloak of invisibility is ongoing.

The shell or carapace doesn't grow with the crab,

so every few weeks it molts

and all that work has to be done again.

A hunting heron is drawn to movement

but the camouflage crab senses the predator's approach

and makes like a rock.

Crab one heron nil.

For now.

Back at the nest site,

two chicks belonging to the female pair have hatched.

And there's not a moment for the mums to relax.

Like so many tight-knit neighborhoods

there are troublemakers.

This loud mouth is getting way too close.

So the female does what she has to

and sends him on his way, but it's not over yet.

The loud mouth distracts her away

from her chicks and a rogue male attacks.

Young adults who have not yet had chicks

are known to cannibalize hatchlings in their own colony.

Somehow the chick evades the attacker to reach safety.

That was a very close call.

So both mothers resumed their vigilant watch.

[light music]

As the afternoon sun moves

over the Seaward Kaikoura Ranges,

the dusky dolphins play takes on a more purposeful mood.

[water splashing]

Tail slapping looks like fun,

but this is practice for a special team fishing technique

where pod members work together

to round up a whole school of fish into a ball.

Once the fish are trapped, the dolphins take turns charging

into the bait ball to devour the fish.

But dusky dolphins adapt their hunting strategy

depending on where they are.

When they travel north of Kaikoura,

they use their baitball technique during daylight.

In Kaikoura duskys fish deep in the canyon at night.

But any time of day they can be found working

on the acrobatics

that are a vital part of their hunting technique.

One good flip from an individual

and suddenly you've got a flash mob.

Duskys are considered the most acrobatic

species of dolphins,

and they learn new tricks from watching each other.

It's thought that even this joyful leaping

is a practice for synchronizing individuals

to work together as a team.

It also reinforces their social connections

making them a tightly bonded pod.

With his mother still away at sea,

the five-month-old pup leaves behind the familiarity

of the shoreline where he was born

following a scent of a stream.

The further inland he goes,

the more challenging the terrain

but the intrepid explorer scenes undeterred.

Then his journey brings him to an extraordinary site,

one of Kaikoura's natural wonders.

[bright music]

At the Nest site where two females

are sharing care of their checks,

one mother is now always on duty

while the other feeds at sea see.

The best possible strategy to ensure the future

of their offspring.

When food is plentiful, the chicks may be fed

as many as five times a day.

While still covered in the fluffy down they hatched in

there won't be any test flights.

Nearby fledglings over 30 days old have lost their down

and their flying feathers are starting to come through.

When they reach their second year,

their feet and bills turn red

and the sleek white and gray

of a fully fledged flyer takes over.

As the chicks mature

they learn to forage alongside their parents

and the bug rich kelp on the shoreline.

But these chicks will still take whatever they can get

from their parents for as long as possible.

Fueled by the rich pickings from this spectacular coastline,

juvenile gulls demonstrate

what all the chicks will be attempting

in just a few more months.

The Kaikoura coastline is heading into a long summer's dusk

when the journey upstream finally ends

for the intrepid seal pup.

This is the Kaikoura nursery pool.

Every breeding season when the females go to sea,

more and more pups make the journey upstream to find it.

Sometimes there are 200 pups here.

It's the perfect setting

for them to learn social skills, coordination,

and the fluid acrobatics of the ocean hunt.

Even a harmless play fight is a rehearsal for adult life.

If it's at all intimidating to this first time visitor,

the cue backing up behind him helps him overcome his fear.

In no time at all

he seems to be having the time of his life.

[upbeat music]

As dusk sets in,

some of the pups head downstream to the coast.

Hunger and instinct tell them their mothers

will be back from hunting soon.

But many remain with newfound confidence

the first time visitor decides to stay.

It's first night away from home.

The night shift begins

for the hunters of the Kaikoura Peninsula.

The dusky dolphins leave the sheltered bays

and head for the Kaikoura Canyon.

They're refreshed as they travel

the four and a half kilometers

to this bountiful feeding site.

[bright music]

There's always time for an extra game along the way.

The dolphins set off as a vast commuting throng

but as they near their destination, they spread out.

Diving deep into the banquet hall

which is the Kaikoura Canyon.

A humpback whale has brought her calf

to this special place to begin its foraging career.

[water splashing]

Gently guided by its mother, it makes its first dive

as night descends over this big blue backyard.

[upbeat music]

[water splashes]