04x04 - Artificial Reefs and Free Diving with Karol Meyer

[bunniefuu]

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

Jonathan learns how to
dive without a scuba tank

by holding his breath a long time.

But first, he investigates shipwrecks

that are turning into coral reefs.

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

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.

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

Jonathan documents the
world beneath the waves.

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Welcome to the "Blue World."

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- In shallow tropical oceans,
coral reefs provide habitat

and protection for thousands of species

of marine animals, especially fish.

In places where the sea floor is too sandy

to give coral a place to grab on and grow,

there is very little fish life

because there's very little
protection from predators.

For years, fishermen have known, however,

that a shipwreck out in the middle

of a flat featureless sea
floor becomes a magnet

for marine life.

Not only is it a place for
fish to hide from predators,

but it's also a place where
coral can take hold and grow.

For this reason, shipwrecks

are often called artificial reefs.

Most shipwrecks are the result
of accidents or warfare.

They've become popular not just with fish,

but with divers who wanna see the fish

or explore the wrecks.

Sometimes, these shipwrecks

are not in the most convenient
place for divers, however.

Far from shore, sometimes in deep water.

So why not intentionally sink
a ship in a convenient spot?

That's exactly what people are
doing all around the world.

Sinking old ships as a way

to create an artificial
reef in a particular spot.

Sometimes to help out the fishermen,

sometimes to give divers a place to go,

and sometimes, to help
out the local marine life.

Yes, it's hard to believe,

but sinking a big piece
of junk on the bottom

of the ocean can be a huge
help to local marine life.

My question is, how long
does it take for a shipwreck

to turn into an artificial reef?

To answer this question,

I'm off to beautiful Key West Florida

where a relatively new shipwreck awaits.

In 2009, a 522-foot long decommissioned

m*ssile tracking warship
called the Vandenberg,

was sunk off Key West.

Before the sinking,

it underwent an extensive
cleanup at a shipyard in Virginia

to remove anything that might be harmful

to the marine environment and
to make it safer for divers.

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Then it was towed all the way to Key West.

- [Announcer] Three, two, one, fire.

- Carefully placed expl*sive charges

flooded the ship and center to the bottom

in under two minutes.

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Immediately after the sinking,

the ship looked like
something from outer space,

a completely white brand new-looking ship

on the bottom of the ocean.

One of the antenna
looked ready to be used.

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Now, four years later,

the Blue World dive team is
heading back down to Key West

to visit the Vandenberg

and find out what four
years on the sea floor

have done to the ship.

We head over to South
Point divers in Key West

where we load the boat

and join a regularly scheduled
dive to the Vandenberg.

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Since this wreck is the
second largest artificial reef

in the world, it's pretty
popular with divers

who come from all over
the world to see it.

It's only a few miles
offshore to reach the site.

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Captain Mike drives our
dive boat in Key West style.

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Soon, it's time to suit up.

Mike gives the dive briefing

and then it's time to go.

Well, it's been four years
since the last time I was here

when they sank the Vandenberg.

I wonder what four years under the ocean

has done to this ship.

Let's go find out.

It's a windy day and the visibility

is not as good as I had hoped,

but soon, the ship comes into view.

No longer is she ghostly white.

The Vandenberg is now
covered in a thin layer

of marine growth.

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In crusting sponges, hydros, tunicates,

as well as small patches of
coral festooning her hull.

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Schools of small fish have
discovered the ship as well,

keeping their distance from me

as I move through the passageways.

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I love to swim up the
stairs of a shipwreck.

It gives me the feeling of
zero gravity to be hovering

above such an iconic symbol

of our daily human
struggle against the forces

of gravity on land.

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Making my way towards one of the mast,

I observe a lot of
encrusting marine growth.

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One of the antenna is
covered in the same growth.

While the reef is growing well,

it still looks like a ship.

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Four years underwater
has allowed the ocean

to partially reclaim the ship.

There's a thin layer of marine growth

and the fish are starting
to call the ship home.

Soon, it's time to up
to the top of the mast

where the mooring line is tied.

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Fighting the current, I
make my way to the line

that will lead me safely back to the boat.

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The next day, we head north
up the keys to Key Largo.

Key Largo has some world famous wrecks.

We stop in at Horizon Divers,

Key Largo wreck diving experts.

Tim and I load our gear onto the boat.

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Soon, we're on our way
navigating through the canals

to the open ocean on a beautiful keys day.

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We arrive at the wreck
of the Spiegel Grove.

A slightly older wreck, the
Spiegel Grove was sun in 2002.

As the crew ties the boat up
to one of the mooring lines,

I'm getting suited up for my dive.

So this is the wreck of the Spiegel Grove.

It's 11 years old, a little
bit older than the Vandenberg.

Let's go see what it looks like.

As I follow the mooring line
down through the blue water,

the first thing I see
is the top of a mast.

Looking closer, I can
see quite a bit of sponge

and coral growth here, as well as fish.

Deeper on the wreck,

a school of jacks regard
me with indifference

as I make my way towards the main deck.

This 11-year-old wreck definitely shows

much more marine growth than
the four-year-old Vandenberg,

and there seemed to be more fish.

The presence of smaller fish

has attracted predators like barracuda.

Some sections of the wreck
are so overgrown with sponges

and coral that they're
completely unidentifiable.

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And while I definitely know
I'm diving a shipwreck,

it's undeniable that nature

is taking this manmade object back.

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There's also no denying that
exploring a shipwreck as fun.

Since the Spiegel Grove was
prepared in advance for divers

just like the Vandenberg,
it's safe for exploration.

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Inside a hole in the
deck, I find, wait for it,

a bathroom.

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Of course, I explore
another set of stairs.

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I'm rising up to the top

of the wreck on my way
back to the surface.

These ships are so big that they have

to be sunk in fairly deep
water so they don't stick up

and pose a threat to boats on the surface.

As a result, the dives tend
to be around 100 feet deep,

which limits bottom time.

I spend a few minutes doing
a safety decompression stop

on the mooring line just under the surface

while I contemplate the wreck.

You know, for being only 11 years old,

that wreck has a lot of marine growth.

It's really pretty.

But not a lot of schools of fish.

This of course, makes me wonder,

what would an even older wreck look like?

Our captain drives us a few miles

to another even older wreck, the Duane

is the wreck of the Duane,

which is 25 years old.

I'm really curious to see

what a 25-year-old shipwreck looks like.

Down on the wreck, I make
a beeline for the bridge,

known to be one of the most
beautiful parts of the Duane.

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Inside, I discover a refuge
for fish, completely decorated

with sponges and coral.

The walls look nothing like the
plain metal of 25 years ago.

Now they're splashed
in yellow, red, orange,

and pink pastels.

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Leaving the bridge, I investigate
yet another staircase.

Still recognizable as such,
but so overgrown with sponges

and coral that now it looks
more like an abstract sculpture.

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Everywhere I look, the wreck
has grown thick colonies

of cup corals.

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And under every overhang,

a school of fish hiding from predators.

The fish don't know
this was once a warship.

For them, it's just a great place to live

like any other reef.

It seems that 25 years
old is a good vintage

for an artificial reef.

All too soon, the dive must come to an end

and I head back towards the
mooring line to the boat.

My adventures on shipwrecks
have been illuminating.

What I've learned is that the
Vandenberg has a bright future

as an artificial reef as the years go by.

I'll be checking in now and then

to see how she does as
she progresses from a ship

to a mature artificial reef.

[magical music]

- [Narrator] Don't go away.

Jonathan is about to learn

to hold his breath for three minutes

and dive without a scuba tank.

- Divers love warm, clear water.

And one of the most well-known locations

for relaxed tropical scuba
diving is the Island of Bonaire.

Bonaire is located in
the southern Caribbean,

not far from the coast of Venezuela.

[excited music]

It's a beautiful sunny island
which enjoys sea breezes,

powerful enough to generate electricity,

and has a long history of
making salt from the ocean.

The last time I visited Bonaire,

I was on a mission to film spawning Coral.

But this time, I'll be doing some diving

without a scuba tank.

Diving without scuba gear
is called free diving,

and frankly, I'm not that good at it.

I've been invited to a free diving class

at Buddy Dive Resort.

It's being taught by Karol Meyer,

a world champion free diver from Brazil.

She can hold her breath
for over 18 minutes.

I head down to the pool

where Karol is practicing static apnea,

which means holding your breath
while you lie very still.

We can start the class

as soon as she comes up from this breath.

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Wow, that took a lot longer
than I was expecting.

Now we can head on over to the classroom.

Karol discusses techniques for
breathing, rescue techniques,

and of course, safety.

- If you feel comfortable,
if you equalize.

If you breathe through the belly,

you send more oxygen fast to the body.

You close here, you close here.

You put pressure, the air goes through.

- [Jonathan] Next, Karol gives
me some tips on breathing

with my belly in order to
get more air into my lungs.

All my life, I've been breathing

and I thought I was doing it pretty well,

but it turns out I'm doing
it all wrong for free diving.

- It's not easy to do it outside water.

- Since free divers have
been known to black out

if they try to hold their
breath a little too long,

the class practices rescue techniques.

How to hold someone with
their head above the water

and open the airway to
make sure they breathe.

First, Karol demonstrates.

Then the students try.

Oh, you're definitely
gonna drown, I'm sorry.

After a few attempts,
I get the hang of it.

- Yes.
- Mostly.

I'm kind of hoping I don't
have to rescue anyone.

- I'm back.
- All right.

Finally, we practice static apnea.

We relax, take big breaths

and float quietly face down in the pool.

Nobody in our group is
going to set a record,

but we're trying to see

how long we can comfortably
hold our breaths.

I'm not wearing a mask

because water on the face
triggers what's called

the mammalian diving response,
a lowering of heart rate

and conservation of oxygen.

- [Karol] Yes, please.

- The water on my face literally helps me

hold my breath longer.

After a few attempts, I
managed to go just shy

of three full minutes without a breath.

I've never held my breath that long.

That's all fine and good,

but static apnea is a lot different

from swimming in the ocean.

Karol takes the class out onto the reef

to practice free diving.

We gather around a float

with a line going down into the blue.

- [Karol] Yeah, we are going down.

- One at a time, Karol
takes each of us down.

We go only to a predetermined depth

so nobody gets in trouble

or has a problem getting
back to the surface.

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Soon, it's my turn.

The line helps me swim straight down

so I don't waste energy going diagonally.

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At 50 feet, we turn and
come back up gently,

conserving energy to make
that one breath last.

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Less than one minute later,
I'm back at the surface.

There's no way I could hold my breath

for three minutes while swimming.

What a day!

Today, I did some stuff
I never thought I'd do.

With Karol's instruction,

I held my breath for almost three minutes

and I dove to 52 feet
without a scuba tank.

[bright music]

The next day, I head on
over to the dive shop again

because Karol is taking
the class out on the wreath

for a few hours of free diving practice.

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We will each partner up with
a buddy and hone our skills.

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Karol is wearing a big
monofin attached to both feet.

It takes strong leg muscles
to swim with this kind of fin,

but it provides a lot of thrust.

With it, she swims like a dolphin

and like a dolphin,
Karol can go a long time

without breathing down there.

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Now you might ask, why free
dive if you can scuba dive?

Why hold your breath if
you can strap on a tank

and breathe all you like?

Well, it's peaceful.

It's less intrusive in
the marine environment,

the fish seem much less bothered

by free divers than scuba divers,

and it's just a fun skill to develop.

But it requires practice,
lots of practice.

So my buddy and I are practicing

and getting better all the time.

The goal isn't to go deeper,

but to stay longer on the reef,

to have more time to look around.

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Karol shows me I have a long way to go.

But as I get more and more comfortable,

I'm able to spend more than
a minute down on the reef

and my deeper dives are
passing the 60-foot mark.

This is with only a few days
of training in practice.

Later in the day, Karol and I
spend an hour diving together.

[uplifting music]

Well, sort of.

To be honest, I can't really keep up.

Karol has set over a dozen world records,

not just for static apnea.

She's been down to depths over 500 feet

on just one lungful of air.

Today, swimming around
a reef with her class

is just goofing around.

Easy stuff for Karol.

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[dramatic music]

So at the end of my week of
training, Karol certifies

that I'm a real free diver and
I have the pin to prove it.

Ooh.

- Congratulations.
- Thanks.

- So I'm an actual?

- To achieve the real spirit of apnea.

- [Jonathan] And now it's
up to me to keep practicing

to become one with the sea.

Maybe someday, I won't
need a scuba tank anymore

and I'll become part-dolphin like Karol.

But somehow, I doubt it.

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