03x03 - Sully the Pilot Whale and Cleaning Stations

[bunniefuu]

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Coming up next on
"Jonathan Bird's Blue World,"

Jonathan investigates cleaning stations

where fish line up to be
cleaned by other fish.

But first, a stranded
pilot whale is rescued

in the Caribbean.

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

[bright music]

Meet Jonathan Bird.

[water splashing]

One of the world's top underwater
nature cinematographers.

[bright music]

Traveling the world on assignment

for all the major networks.

He is an Emmy Award-winning authority

on the underwater world.

[bright music]

In freshwater or salt,
reefs, wrecks, or caves.

Jonathan documents the
world beneath the waves.

[bright music]

Welcome to the "Blue World."

[bright music]

- The ocean is full of fascinating animals

and stories.

I love to investigate
and film these stories,

and sometimes I get lucky.

On a recent expedition,

I learned about an
amazing story of survival,

and that story involves a

that was stranded here on the
Caribbean island of Curacao.

The pilot whale's name is Sully,

and his story began in July of 2009

when he stranded on a Curacao beach.

But he was incredibly lucky to land there

since its home to the
Curacao Sea Aquarium,

one of the few places
in the entire Caribbean

with the facilities and
expertise to care for him.

George Kieffer,

the president of the Southern
Caribbean Citation Network,

was quick to respond when
he got a telephone call

alerting him to the stranded pilot whale

on a beach only 10
minutes from his office.

- I could tell right away
he was a pilot whale,

but didn't know if it
was a male or female.

But wow, what it was, it was a skeleton.

I mean, it was as emaciated as a whale

or dolphin could possibly
be and still be swimming.

I mean, skin and bones.

He had swam right out of the bay

and then could come back in the bay again.

So, I don't think he was disoriented.

I think it was one of those
situations where, you know,

this animal is physically
incapable of keeping himself

at the surface.

So, I think a lot of times
these animals will strand

because they just don't
want to drown, you know?

And if they can support themselves

in some way in the shallows,

that's what they're looking to do.

- [Jonathan] The Sea Aquarium
staff immediately sprung

into action because Sully
was too weak to stay afloat

on his own.

They used foam pool floats
to help support his weight

and lots of human helpers.

Next, they needed to
get some fluids into him

because he was so dehydrated.

Using a funnel attached to
a plastic tube in his mouth,

they poured fresh water
right into his system.

Although Sully lives in the sea

and he's surrounded by water,

he can't drink any of
it because it's salty.

He gets all his fresh water in the fish

and squid he normally eats.

If he hasn't been eating,

he hasn't been drinking either.

Without lots of water fast,
his kidneys would fail.

[mellow music]

Once Sully was hydrated,

George decided to see if
he would eat anything.

The dolphins at the Sea
Aquarium like herring,

so George brought over a bucket
of herring to try on Sully.

He wasn't sure if the whale
would accept food from him.

[group cheering]

But Sully was hungry

and he gulped down the fish from George.

He got so excited

that they had a hard time
keeping a hold on him.

[mellow music]

Soon they set up a makeshift pen,

mostly to keep Sully safe from
boats and curious swimmers.

Sully had become a celebrity

and the crowd started gathering.

Volunteers took turns,

not just helping to keep him afloat,

but making sure he was safe.

Within only a few days, Sully
gained a lot of strength

and looked like he was
ready to swim by himself.

- [George] She's swimming a little, Amy?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

All right, Amy, drop off.

Sue, drop off.

Yep, go.

- [Jonathan] The flotation
devices were removed

one at a time, and Sully swam on his own.

[mellow music]

- [George] Good kicks to the tail.

- [Jonathan] Up until that point,

the volunteers had been
calling him The Whale.

George decided the pilot
whale needed a name.

- Yeah, I started calling
him Sully as a nickname.

I thought, "Yeah, we should
be calling him something

other than The Whale."

So I thought, "Well, okay.

Pilot Whale, who's a famous pilot?"

Then I thought of the
pilot who landed his plane

in the Hudson and kept
all 155 people alive

after falling out of
the sky with no engines.

I thought, "That's pretty cool."

Sully.

- [Jonathan] Within a few weeks,

Sully was strong enough that
he was getting rambunctious.

George felt he needed
to get some exercise,

so they trained him to follow a boat.

They started by feeding
him fish from the boat

inside his pen.

[mellow music]

Once he was used to following
the boat around for food

inside the pen,

they took him just outside the pen

and continued the training.

[mellow music]

Sully learned very quickly,

and within a few days,

he would follow the boat
way offshore at high speed.

This daily exercise helped
him get his strength back,

so he could return to the wild.

[water splashing]

- [George] He tells us
when it's time to go.

[mellow music]

- [Jonathan] By the time I arrived

on the island three months later,

Sully was back to full strength.

He was being fed lots of
fish several times a day.

[water splashing]

And every day or so, George
would give Sully a rubdown

to get the dead skin off.

Sully really enjoyed that.

[mellow music]

George would lie out on a board
suspended above the water,

and Sully would come right over.

- [George] Now, this is
the only time we touch him

and that's to rub off all that loose skin.

- [Jonathan] But nobody
ever went in the water

with the whale because they
didn't wanna acclimate him

to humans.

If he became too friendly towards people,

they might never get him
to go back to his own kind.

He might just start hanging
around the beach looking

for people to play with.

[mellow music]

But one question

that constantly lingered
in George's mind was,

why did Sully strand in the first place?

What was wrong with Sully?

And was he better now?

[mellow music]

[mellow music continues]

I joined George one morning
as he took Sully out

for his daily exercise swim.

[cheerful music]

He seemed completely rehabilitated.

Sully could keep up with the boat easily.

George decided Sully was strong enough

to go back to the wild.

- So we took him straight out to sea

and, you know, we figured,
well, once we get out there,

we'll just sort of toss a
few fish away from the boat

and we'll leave him.

And we did that.

You know, took us about an hour offshore.

We figured we're at
least 10 miles out there.

Well, okay, it's the deep open water.

This is their habitat.

Hopefully, he'll come
across some pilot whales

and head on back.

So we're coming back at full speed.

And that boat, I'm estimating
you're talking about,

you know, 30 miles an hour, so
maybe 45 kilometers per hour.

We're moving.

And so as we're heading
back towards the island,

a few minutes later, one
of the crew on the boat,

there's two other trainers
with me, Naomi, and Junior.

And Naomi says, "I think
I see him back there."

- [Jonathan] What they discovered is just

how fast Sully can swim.

Even at full throttle,
they couldn't lose him

and he followed the boat
all the way back to his pen.

Why wouldn't he go back to the wild?

Maybe he didn't want to be alone.

So George decided the only
way they would ever get Sully

back to the wild would be to hook him up

with a pot of pilot whales.

For weeks, every fisherman on the island

and even the Coast Guard
were keeping an eye out

for a pod of pilot whales for Sully.

Soon they found a pod.

George and the Sea Aquarium
staff led Sully out to the pod

to make an introduction.

- [Naomi] Go, go, go, go.

- He's looking.
- Go, man.

Go.
- They're looking at him.

Yep, yep.
- Go, man.

- [George] All right, thanks.

- [Naomi] Go, buddy, go.

- [Jonathan] Unfortunately,
Sully had no interest.

He looked at the pod and
swam right back to the boat.

Once again, he followed them
straight back to his pen.

Clearly, Sully had no intention
of going back to the wild,

but nobody knew why.

Unfortunately, Sully
couldn't stay in his pen.

First of all, it was
designed to be temporary

and the volunteers
couldn't watch him forever.

And he was eating 60 to 70
pounds of fish every day.

The Sea Aquarium couldn't
afford to keep feeding him.

They had to find another facility

to take care of Sully,

someplace with the space and resources

to handle a hungry pilot whale.

Fortunately, SeaWorld in
San Diego offered Sully

a permanent home.

Soon, George and his
staff were preparing Sully

for his first airplane ride.

Using a sling, they
loaded Sully onto a truck,

carrying a custom made tank

that would keep Sully in the
water for his entire journey.

Over 3000 miles.

Soon, the truck departed
from the Curacao Sea Aquarium

for the airport.

[cheerful music]

Sully was loaded onto a FedEx jet

for his $100,000 private
charter directly to San Diego.

George and several volunteers
went along to help out.

During the flight, they took
turns pouring water onto Sully

to keep him cool and
relaxed at 30,000 feet.

[upbeat music]

Six hours later, Sully
arrived in San Diego

where they took him straight to SeaWorld.

[upbeat music]

George was there too

and helped get Sully
acquainted with his new home.

Soon he was swimming around,

none the worst for wear.

[mellow music]

- [George] Boy, Sully.

[mellow music]

- [Jonathan] In an effort to learn

why Sully stranded.

The hub's SeaWorld Marine
Institute got together

with the US Navy Marine Mammal
Program to test his hearing.

Using sophisticated gear,
they found the answer.

Sully can't hear above 10 kilohertz.

A normal pilot whale should be able

to hear up to at least 100 kilohertz.

So basically, Sully is hard of hearing

and without being able

to hear those really high frequencies,

he can't hunt using his echo
location in the deep ocean.

Without being able to
catch anything to eat,

Sully was slowly starving to death.

Since Sully's life depends on being fed,

he can never go back to the wild.

It's a good thing SeaWorld
volunteered to take care of him.

I head out to San Diego
to visit my buddy, Sully,

and as soon as I see the Shamu mobile,

I know I'm in the right place.

SeaWorld is known for
their incredible dolphin

and whale programs that
bring thousands of people

to appreciate life in the oceans.

[audience clapping]

But what many people don't realize is

that SeaWorld also has a
huge rehabilitation program

for stranded animals.

- [Jennifer] Yep.

- [Jonathan] I catch up with
Sully in one of the rehab tanks

far from the crowds out front.

He smiles for my camera.

I wonder if he remembers me.

We've been following his story.

- Okay.
- So this is sort of

the completion of his story.

- Yay.
- To be here.

Soon, I'm introduced to Jennifer Shorney,

one of Sully's trainers.

- Oh, we all love Sully.

Sully has a special place
in everyone's heart.

- Is he a ham?

He's hamming it up for
the camera over here.

- [Jennifer] Yes.

Yes, he absolutely is a bit of a ham.

[both laughing]

- So tell me, what are you feeding him?

- Sully gets a wide variety of fish.

He's actually, a big bulk of
his base right now is squid,

but he is also getting some herring.

He's learning to eat
capelin as well as sardine.

So he's eating.

- Wow.
- All different types of fish.

- Can I try to eat him?
- Absolutely.

- Wow.

So what do I do?

Just a couple of fish?

- [Jennifer] Yeah, just
take a couple fish and-

- Just two or three.
- Toss 'em right on in.

- All right.
- Perfect.

- [Jonathan] Sully, here we go.

- [Jennifer] And he's not
particular about which way.

- Wow.
- Front or back.

And you'll see him sometimes

when he is rearranging the food.

He'll definitely push out all the water,

but you can tell he gobbled
those down real quick.

- So, 65 pounds a day.

- [Jennifer] Yes.

- [Jonathan] You're doing this a lot.

- A lot, this is what we do.

- How many times a day?

- A lot.

- Thanks.

Thanks, buddy.

Thank you.
- He says hello.

We're gonna be stepping down
numerous, numerous times

throughout the day to him.

[playful music]

- [Jonathan] Squid.

Oh, yeah.

Look at him.

He's like, "I want the
squid, I want the squid."

All right, here it comes.

Yeah.

- [Jennifer] Oh, Sully, you're so good.

[playful music]

Perfect.

- Here we go.
- Sully's favorite time

of the day and things he absolutely loves.

He loves to be rubbed down.

So we called it the line of love.

He loves it.

And what we'll do is we're
gonna line ourselves up

back there and you'll just see him.

It's almost like a car wash.

He'll go back and forth

and back and forth and
just absolutely love it.

- [Jonathan] get the chance
to join in on the line of love

and give Sully a little rub.

- Are you talking?

My baby boy.

- [Jonathan] Just rolling around.

- [Jennifer] I know,
he absolutely loves it.

It's your favorite time.

- [Jonathan] Sully has
put on over 200 pounds

since arriving at SeaWorld.

He's a growing whale,

eating 65 pounds of fish
and squid every day.

Skin coming off.

- I know.

And it it's really amazing.

I mean, and there you go.

- Oh, look at that.

- Hi, baby boy.

- The ultimate.
- Yes.

It's, as you can tell,
he's a pretty happy guy.

- Well, how could he not be?

- [Jennifer] I know, right?

- [Jonathan] He's got three
ladies giving him a rub here.

- I know!

I know.

- It's got some acreage.

[Jennifer laughs]

- [Jonathan] Soon, it's playtime.

To keep Sully intellectually stimulated,

his trainers give him a
rotating selection of toys

to play with.

This one's his favorite.

They call it the sausage links.

[playful music]

He likes to grab it in his mouth

and pull it under water, which
takes quite a bit of force.

That thing's under.

- [Jennifer] I know, right?

- [Jonathan] Buoyancy on that thing.

That must have 50 pounds
of positive buoyancy.

- [Jennifer] It's amazing.

And it looks so easy for him, doesn't it?

- [Jonathan] He also likes his beach hat.

- [Jennifer] There you go.

He loves to collect his toys
and bring them all together.

- [Jonathan] He's like,
"This would be easier

if I had thumbs."
- I know, right?

But he does his best.

He really is quite good
at maneuvering them off.

- Oh, for a thumb.
- I got my hat on.

- [Jennifer] Oh, Sully, what's going on?

- [Trainer] He got his beach hat.

[playful music]

- [Jennifer] Yeah, so he's quite animated.

- [Trainer] I got all my toys.

- There he goes.
- Like the last one.

- Yep.
- There we go.

- [Jennifer] There we
go, now we're moving.

Now we got it.

- [Trainer] Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I gotta swim.

Yay!

- So with his hearing damage,

Sully just can't go back to the wild.

And how lucky is he that
all the way from Curacao,

he made it to SeaWorld in San Diego.

Probably the best place
in the world for him,

and he's gonna be taken care
of for the rest of his life

and get rub downs.

One day, Sully will
probably perform at SeaWorld

and anyone will be able
to go and meet him.

- [Trainer] And a big smile.

- [Jonathan] Sully owes his life

to the people who vowed to save him,

the staff of SeaWorld, San Diego

and the Curacao Sea Aquarium.

To these people, this isn't
just some stranded whale.

He's Sully.

The determined pilot whale
who, like his namesake,

refuse to give up even in the
face of overwhelming odds.

[mellow music]

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

cleaning stations

where fish actually wait in
line to get a spa treatment.

- Fish never need to take a
bath because they live in water,

but they do need to get clean.

Instead of using soap,

they rely on the assistance
of another animal.

It may come as a surprise that
fish even need to be cleaned,

but fish get cuts and scrapes

in the course of everyday life.

The cuts get infected and itchy.

Parasites sometimes
irritate their skin too.

So even a fish needs a little skincare.

[mellow music]

That means a trip to a cleaning station.

This is a place on the reef

where one kind of animal cleans another.

Cleaners are usually small fish or shrimp.

Larger fish come in to get cleaned

and wait for the
attention of the cleaners.

Sometimes fish even open
their sensitive gills

to the cleaners.

[mellow music]

Like a beauty parlor downtown,

the cleaning station is a popular place.

It keeps the cleaners
busy from dawn to dusk

with a steady supply of customers.

[mellow music]

When the cleaning station gets busy,

customers have to line up and wait.

Sometimes service can be downright slow.

[mellow music]

But patience pays off.

This grouper's finally
getting its skills cleaned.

[mellow music]

Cleaners are so important

that even top predators like
Barracudas won't eat them,

but line up and wait for service.

[mellow music]

This is mutualistic symbiosis at its best.

Not only do the larger fish get cleaned,

but the cleaners get a meal.

They eat the parasites

and dead skin from the fish they clean.

[mellow music]

And it's an unspoken rule.

Nobody eats the cleaner fish.

[mellow music]

[playful music]

On the Great Barrier Reef of Australia,

there lives a rather large
fish called a potato grouper.

You can probably see the resemblance.

And they're big.

[playful music]

This one is off to the cleaning station.

[playful music]

Where a cleaner wrasse picks its nose.

Talk about service.

[playful music]

But the grouper doesn't
really want me to watch.

[playful music]

A Moray eel doesn't like to
leave her den during the day,

so a pair of cleaner fish come to her.

[mellow music]

But sometimes the plucking
of parasites hurts a little.

[mellow music]

Anemonefish don't dare leave

the protection of their anemone

to get cleaned by cleaner fish.

And since the cleaner fish would be stung

and k*lled by the anemone,

they can't go to the anemonefish.

What to do?

[mellow music]

In this case,

a cleaner shrimp lives in
the anemone with the fish,

ready to spring into action
whenever a fish needs cleaning.

[mellow music]

It's not a life without
difficulty, however.

[mellow music]

But fish are not the only
animals to get cleaned.

Sea turtles, manta rays,

and even sharks line up for
the services of cleaners.

[mellow music]

On a reef in the Philippines,

a thresher shark, with a
tail as long as its body,

comes in from the open ocean

to circle around its
favorite cleaning station.

[mellow music]

Every morning, the sharks come here

early for their cleaning.

[mellow music]

Tiny cleaner wrasses swarm
around them for a few minutes.

When the sharks are
finished being cleaned,

they leave the reef and
swim back to the open sea.

Nobody knows where the threshers go,

but they'll be back to
this very cleaning station

tomorrow morning to be cleaned again.

[mellow music]

A few hundred miles away
on a reef in Malaysia,

a sea turtle is receiving the
attention of a surgeon fish,

which eats algae from her shell.

Surgeon fish only eat plants

and the algae on this turtle's
shell makes a delicious meal.

[mellow music]

And since all that algae
can slow a turtle down,

the fish is doing the turtle
a favor by removing it.

Everyone gets something out of this deal.

[mellow music]

When the tide is running at
just the right speed in yap,

manta rays glide up to a coral head

and hover in the current
like a runner on a treadmill.

[mellow music]

This allows them to maintain a spot right

over the cleaning
station so they can enjoy

the benefits of cleaners as well.

[mellow music]

The cleaners go right in
and out of their gills,

cleaning off parasites like copepods.

[mellow music]

But, of course, the real question is,

can I go to a cleaning station?

I don't look like a fish,
but it's worth a try.

I find a nice anemone
on the island of Bonaire

with a cleaner shrimp looking
bored with no customers.

Maybe my hand will look
like a really pathetic fish.

[cheerful music]

It doesn't take long
for this cleaner shrimp

to get right down to business
picking over my hand.

It's looking for dead skin and parasites.

I hope there are no parasites.

It doesn't hurt, but it does tickle.

As it turns out, humans can get a cleaning

at the cleaning station,

but only if there are no
fish around wanting cleaning.

So if I ever decide to live
in the ocean permanently,

I'll never need soap again.

[cheerful music]

[lively music]

[bright music]