08x12 - Jonathan Bird's Blue World

[bunniefuu]

- [Narrator] Coming up, Jonathan explores

the reefs of Belize,

including the world
famous great blue hole.

And meets lots of reef inhabitants,

including a friendly
grouper and a nurse shark.

Meet Jonathan Berg, 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 Central
American nation of Belize

is known for some of the
most spectacular diving

in the Caribbean, with crystal clear water

and healthy coral reefs.

Located between Mexico and Honduras,

this small country is a scuba
diver's dream destination.

Zach and I arrive and board
the Belize Aggressor three,

a live aboard dive boat

that will take us to sites
all around the country.

Live aboards are awesome
because you can get up

to five dives per day when your dive boat

and your hotel are the same thing.

We will eat, sleep,

and dive for the whole
week on this luxury yacht.

The following morning,

we've arrived at Lighthouse Reef Atal.

The boat is surrounded by some

of the clearest water I've ever seen

and I can't wait to go diving.

[bell ringing]

The dive bell tells us it's
time for a quick dive briefing.

Captain Ken gives us
a rundown on the site.

- If you did not know, just

slow it down.

- [Diver] Rock and roll.

- [Diver 2] Rock and roll baby.

- [Jonathan] And then
it's time to suit up.

[upbeat music]

Soon we hit the water and
start looking for critters.

[tranquil music]

I'm hoping to find a local
reef resident named Norman,

a friendly nurse shark that
often investigates divers.

We begin our dive by having a look around.

The reefs seem really
healthy with lots of sea fans

and gorgonians.

There are healthy sections
of staghorn coral,

something you don't see everywhere.

[tranquil music]

An indigo hamlet stares me down.

They're one of my favorite reef fish.

A blue fish in a blue world.

A school of surgeon fish goes to work.

They have an important
job eating the algae

that grows on the reefs

and making sure it
doesn't smother the coral.

All day long they relentlessly
move from coral to coral,

chomping that algae.

[tranquil music]

We come across a Nassau grouper

that seems genuinely curious about us.

He stares into my camera lens

and even into my eyes when I hold Still.

At first, I think maybe he wants

to take a bite outta my face,

but eventually it just seems
like he's fascinated with us.

[curious music]

Eventually we move on in our search for

Norman the nurse shark.

Zach spots a peacock flounder in the sand.

Flounder lie on their sides to hide,

but they're specially adapted to do this

with both eyes on the
same side of their head,

operating independently
like a couple of periscopes.

While Zach is playing with the flounder,

I've found myself an arrow crab.

[curious music]

I think they're cute.

With no nurse shark in sight,

I settle down on the bottom

to film some yellowhead jawfish.

Each one lives in a burrow on the bottom

and pops out to grab bits
of plankton passing by.

They're kind of nervous
fish, so I have to be patient

to let them get used to me.

Then they go back to acting normal.

[tranquil music]

They're called jawfish

because the males incubate
their eggs inside their mouths.

It's a pretty good way
to protect the eggs,

but it does present some problems.

The expectant father can't eat

for more than a week
while the eggs incubate

and every few minutes
he has to aerate them.

While I'm filming the jaw fish,

Zach has found a nurse shark.

But it's a female, definitely not Norman,

and clearly not interested
in hanging out with us.

Nearby, maybe not the most
exciting thing, a sea cucumber.

This relative of the sea
star digs through the sand

for food, but that's not the
weirdest thing about them.

Their gills are in their rear.

Yes, you heard me right.

This sea cucumber is
breathing through its butt.

As we continue on the dive,
I notice there are a lot

of nice sponges.

On the edge of the wall, an
orange elephant ear sponge.

On top of the wall,

some of the biggest barrel
sponges I've ever seen.

[tranquil music]

All around the reef, there
are healthy tube sponges

and when you look closely, you
can find all kinds of animals

that rely on sponges.

In this tube sponge,
a banded coral shrimp.

In the next, a Coney just
hanging out in safety.

[bright music]

Nearby a spiny lobster has found a nice

barrel sponge to call home.

[bright music]

And a little ways down the
reef there are bright red rope

sponges mixed in with yellow tube sponges.

But looking closer, I
spot a seahorse clinging

to the sponges.

Looking like a rope sponge itself,

the seahorse even flops
around like a sponge,

very hard for predators to spot.

[bright music]

Our friend, the grouper comes back

to have a look at what we're up to.

If this fish has decided
that we're friends,

it only seems appropriate
that we know what to call him.

So we call him Rupert,

and once he's satisfied

that he isn't missing anything important,

he goes on his way.

Heading back into shallower water,

I spot a green moray eel
swimming between coral heads.

She dives into the safety of the reef,

then pokes her head out to investigate.

With their sharp teeth on display,

these animals are often
considered dangerous,

but in reality they
very rarely bite people.

They hunt fish at night.

We come across a female
hawksbill sea turtle,

and she has absolutely no
interest in me and swims away.

[calm music]

And a large male loggerhead passes by.

They have huge jaws for
crushing mollusk shells.

But as I look through the reef,

a shark passes by out in the blue.

Could it be Norman?

No, this is a curious
Caribbean reef shark.

They make a few passes to investigate.

Contrary to popular belief,
sharks are pretty smart fish

and they do get curious.

[curious music]

Out in the blue on the edge of the reef,

an eagle ray makes a pass by us as well.

They don't usually hang around.

[bright music]

- [Narrator] Don't go away.

Jonathan continues his search for Norman

and explores the great blue hole.

- [Jonathan] Back on the top of the reef,

dive Master Roque calls us over.

He points to a swim through
that he knows we will enjoy.

I drop down into a hole in the reef.

It's not cave diving,
but it looks fun to me.

Inside thousands of little
fish known as silversides.

They find safety here in this dark realm.

Mostly.

There are a couple of jacks
in here trying to catch them.

I pause to film for a minute

and Rupert comes in to see what I'm up to.

[curious music]

[curious music continues]

Also lurking in here, a pair of lion fish.

These invasive species from
the Pacific Ocean somehow

invaded the Caribbean.

They like to hide in the reef

and hunt small fish like silversides.

I spy one of the rarest
fish in the Caribbean,

a white spotted toad fish,
which is endemic to Belize

and has never been found anywhere else.

Soon we head out of the coral cavern

and swim up into the shallows.

[tranquil music]

I come across a mass migration of conch.

[calm music]

It's fascinating to observe.

Okay, well, it's not
particularly fast paced.

A conch is a big snail
with eyes on long st*lks,

so it can see us coming,

and when the coast is
clear, it pulls itself along

with a single foot.

[curious music]

Captain Ken has joined
us and has something

he wants us to see.

Hiding in the sea grass

and no larger than a
paperclip, is a pipe horse.

A tiny fish about halfway
between being a pipe fish

and a seahorse.

It curls its tail around
the grass to hang on.

[tranquil music]

There are other animals
here in the sea grass,

a pipe fish with no prehensile
tail like the pipe horse,

and a shrimp perfectly adapted

to its grassy habitat.

Nearby a scorpion fish
is doing an excellent job

looking like an algae covered rock.

While I'm intently focused
on filming the scorpion fish,

a nurse shark swims right by
me and I don't even see it.

We finally found Norman, or
should I say, he found us.

[upbeat music]

Norman moves from diver to
diver, sticking his face right up

to the lens and defying our
attempts to get good shots.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music continues]

Norman is clearly not afraid of divers,

and once he's checked us all
out, he goes to have a nap.

[upbeat music continues]

With our mission completed,
we head back to the Aggressor

for a little rest before
we do it all again.

Belize might be a small country,

but the diving is big.

With incredible visibility, healthy reefs,

and lots of marine life,

it really is a wonderful
place in the blue world.

Zach and I have come on an expedition

to explore the underwater world of Belize.

We're working from the
Aggressor three live aboard,

which means we stay on this luxury yacht

for a whole week, diving
four to five times a day.

Today we're going to
visit the great blue hole,

located 40 miles off the
coast near Lighthouse Reef.

The great blue hole is the largest

and most famous ocean
blue hole in the world.

It's a thousand feet
across, 400 feet deep,

and was proclaimed one of the
best dive sites in the world

by none other than Jacques Cousteau.

The great blue hole formed
as a cave from erosion

during several ice ages
in the distant past

when sea levels were lower.

Eventually, the ceiling
of the cave fell in,

forming a blue hole,

but then as the ice ages came
to an end, ocean levels rose,

filling it with water

and turning a blue hole
into an ocean blue hole.

Captain Ken gives us a dive
briefing on what to expect.

- The ceiling became nice and porous,

that eventually caved in.

- [Jonathan] Next it's time to suit up.

[upbeat music]

[diver cheering]

Zach and I follow Dive
Master Roque over the edge,

down the vertical wall of the blue hole.

It's 1,000 feet across so
we can't see the other side,

and at 400 feet deep we won't
be seeing the bottom either.

[tranquil music]

At about a hundred feet,
we reach an overhang

filled with stalactites.

These icicle looking formations
were formed over thousands

of years by dripping water

when the ocean levels were lower.

Back then they would've
looked like the stalactites

in dry caves do now,

but since they're submerged in the ocean,

they have marine life,
such as coral, sponges,

and algae growing on them.

These formations date back
as far as 150,000 years

and the largest ones are
more than 40 feet long.`

[tranquil music]

[tranquil music continues]

Down here beyond a hundred
feet, we don't have much time

to explore before we have
to turn and head back.

Heading back up, I have a
look at the life on the wall.

There aren't many nooks
and crannies for fish.

It's mostly some coral and a lot of algae.

[tranquil music]

The shallower we get
the more life there is.

At the top, we have a few
minutes to make a safety stop,

and I have a look at the
dense coral reef growing here.

[tranquil music]

As the sea levels rose above
the top of the blue hole,

coral grew along with it,
following the ocean surface.

That's why we can see coral all the way

around the blue hole from the air.

This healthy reef is home to
fish like the French angel fish

and queen angel fish, among others.

[tranquil music]

Once we finish our safety stop,

we swim across lush sea
grass beds to the Aggressor.

[tranquil music]

[music stops]

The great blue hole is a

world famous geological
formation, which may be too large

to truly appreciate from underwater.

In my dive, I was only
able to see a small part

of this immense blue hole in a blue world.

[adventurous music]