05x10 - Shark Electrosensory Systems, Helmet Diving, Oil Rigs

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music]

- [Announcer] This time on "Blue World,"

Jonathan tries out helmet diving.

Then he explores the
life under oil platforms.

But first, investigating
shark electro-sensory systems.

[dramatic 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."

[dramatic music]

- [Jonathan] One thing
that has always been true

about sharks is that they
seem to love my camera.

Sharks get right up close to the lens.

This makes great dramatic footage,

and lots of TV shows, not this one,

try to use this behavior to
make sharks look aggressive.

Well, it's not aggression.

Sharks have a snout full of pores

called Ampullae of Lorenzini

whose sole purpose is to
detect tiny electrical currents

in the water.

All living things make
tiny electrical currents,

and sharks can sense them.

They use this skill to help
them hunt in complete darkness.

My video camera produces
a tiny electrical field

in the water, and it
makes the sharks curious.

They're bumping the camera to investigate.

During the day, this shark
can see me with its eyes,

but in pitch darkness,

could it still detect
my electrical signature?

And from how far away?

To learn more

about how the shark's
electro-sensory system works,

I've come to one of the
shark-iest places in the world:

the Bahamas.

[dramatic music]

And I just happened to
have brought with me

an expert in shark
electro-sensory systems.

Dr. Stephen Kajiura is a shark biologist

at Florida Atlantic
University in Boca Raton.

He's going to show me how
sharks can sense electricity

with a simple experiment.

- Basically what we're trying to do here

is simulate the electric field produced

by a natural prey item,

a little fish or a crab or something.

And so what we're doing is
by creating an electric field

in the environment here, what
we'll be able to demonstrate

is the sharks orienting to
just the electric stimulus.

We'll have two identical targets.

One will be active, one
will be a control treatment,

and you'll see

that they're gonna swim
right over the control,

ignore it completely,

and bite only at the
active electric target.

- [Jonathan] Dr. Kajiura
puts the equipment together.

We will take it under
water to do some tests

with the sharks.

Dr. Kajiura, Julia and
I gear up for a dive

to set up the experiment.

[dramatic music]

Julia has brought down
the plexiglass base.

It will be partially buried in the sand

so it won't draw attention to itself.

Dr. Kajiura connects the
electrodes to a cable

so he can back up far enough

to keep from affecting
the shark's behavior.

Next, he buries the cables in the sand.

Working underwater is slow going.

Once everything is set
up, he turns on the power.

Now a small electric field is
emanating from the experiment.

Think of it like an invisible
campfire on the sandy bottom.

It's only warm if you're close.

[dramatic music]

The sharks swim by,

but they don't detect
it any more than we do.

They're way too high above
it in the water column

to realize that anything is happening.

After lunch, Connor, our shark handler,

shows up with some bait.

[dramatic music]

He will use the bait to
get the sharks closer

to our electrical campfire.

The sharks are hungry, so they
will focus their attention

on Connor, close to the sandy bottom.

The lemon sharks are swimming
close to the bottom now

looking for food.

Dr. Kajiura turns on the power,

and we watch.

The very first lemon shark to pass over

immediately takes an
interest in the plexiglass.

It can clearly feel the
tiny electrical field.

A tiger shark passes half a
meter above the experiment

and doesn't react,

but another lemon shark
cruising just above the sand

homes right in on it.

[dramatic music]

The apparatus is designed

to produce an extremely
small electrical field

similar to the one
generated by a living thing.

We are talking about a super tiny current.

Shark after shark stops to check it out,

even while Connor is feeding the sharks

only a few meters away,
but only the sharks

that are swimming close
enough to the sand to feel it.

[dramatic music]

This demonstrates how the
electro-sensory system of sharks

is only good for close range

because the electrical
field doesn't carry very far

in the water.

They need to use their other
senses like hearing, eyesight

and scent to get close enough to prey

for the electro-sensory system to work.

[dramatic music]

- [Announcer] Don't go away.

Jonathan's about to try helmet
diving for the first time.

[dramatic music]

- [Jonathan] Scuba divers
swim through the water

with perfect neutral buoyancy

able to hover in place like a fish.

SCUBA stands for

self-contained underwater
breathing apparatus.

The self-contained part is important.

Since scuba divers carry
their own air supply

and breathe through a
small portable regulator,

they're free to go wherever they want.

But long before scuba was invented,

people still dove.

Underwater breathing
apparatus has been around

since the 1820s when the
Dean brothers in England

figured out how to pump air

down into an airtight helmet and suit.

Soon the underwater world
became accessible to people.

[dramatic music]

The umbilical to the
surface limited mobility,

but deep sea divers, as
they were often called,

could now perform all
kinds of tasks underwater

from construction to sponge collection.

The surface supplied air
meant an unlimited air supply.

In the 1940s, a training film
for the US Army Diving Program

was produced.

Helmet diving hadn't
changed much in 50 years,

but the four window US
Navy mark five helmet

had emerged as the world's best.

It was used by the military from 1916

all the way up to 1984.

[dramatic music]

Helmet diving with more
advanced modern helmets

is still used today for
construction, oil rigs, salvage,

and other work, which might
require a diver to be underwater

for hours at a time.

[electric static]

I want to try it, so cameraman
Rick and I head to New Jersey

where the Garden State
Underwater Recovery Unit

practices helmet diving,

and sometimes still uses
the mark five helmet

for rescue operations.

I meet up with Vincent Scarponi
and his team at their base,

and we head out to the
Round Valley Reservoir

in Clinton, New Jersey where I will dive.

[dramatic music]

Helmet diving requires a
lot of surface support,

so the team has brought three boats.

We're diving off of a pontoon boat,

specially configured as a
platform for helmet diving.

In just a few minutes,
we reach the dive site,

and now I have to learn
how to don all this gear.

Wayne Gerharts is going to
help walk me through it.

- Sit right here.

Okay, the first thing you're
gonna do is put the suit on.

We just take the bib out.

- Okay.

- And then slide it up a little bit.

Now stop, it doesn't have to be a lot.

[dramatic music]

- I can see it's getting
heavier and heavier.

[Jonathan laughing]

But that's nothing, now the weight belt.

- [Wayne] This one's only 45.

- [Jonathan] Only 45 pounds, he says.

What do you want me to do?

- Just put your hands
over top of it, okay?

Just hold it like that.

- All right, here we go.

I'm almost feeling like
I'm getting used to it.

- [Wayne] Hold your head still.

- [Jonathan] Okay.

Vincent turns on the flow of air,

which makes a lot of noise,
but at least I can breathe.

- [Wayne] Okay?

- [Jonathan] As they seal me in, I realize

that there's no way I can get
out of this gear without help

or even open the front window for air.

My life is in the hands
of the dive tenders.

This is more claustrophobic
than cave diving.

Fortunately, there's an intercom system,

so we can talk to each other.

Can you guys hear me?

- [Wayne] Yeah, we can hear you.

- [Jonathan] Ah, sweet.

- [Wayne] I want you to,
once we give you two taps,

I want you to stand up, walk
to the ladder, turn around,

and go down the ladder backwards.

- [Jonathan] Okay.

As I turn around to climb down the ladder,

I can't see anything.

So I'm doing it by feel,

and I have to trust what
the tenders tell me to do.

Okay.

It's a good thing they're small steps.

As I go one step at a time into the water,

the tremendous weight of the
gear starts to become offset

by buoyancy.

It feels so good to get
down into weightlessness.

All right, where's that descent line?

Right here?

- [Wayne] So grab the descending
line with your right hand,

wrap your legs around it,

and just proceed slowly.

- [Jonathan] Wrap my legs around it.

- [Wayne] Yeah, you wanna lock on it.

- [Jonathan] All right.

This is cool.

The ladder doesn't go to the bottom,

so I basically slide down a rope

like I'm going down a fire pole.

I'm going down the descent
line, clearing the ears.

[dramatic music]

Going down, going down.

I have hit bottom.

- [Wayne] Okay.

- [Jonathan] But the
water here is not bad.

A GoPro inside my helmet
gives a little bit of an idea

what it looks like from inside.

You really can't see much.

Wow.

You don't have much
view out of this thing.

You got the side windows,
the front window, and.

- [Wayne] Well, usually
there's not much to see

when you're doing construction work.

- [Jonathan] So I can see my
left hand out the left window

and my right hand out the right window.

This is pretty cool.

Between the typical lake
visibility and such tiny windows,

I have no idea where I am
or which way I'm going.

Cameraman Peter Venoutsos
is giving me directions.

This way?

That way.

Okay.

Wants me to go this way.

Unlike scuba, which only
delivers air when you inhale,

there's a constant flow
of air through my helmet,

although the bubbles
that come out the back

increase when I exhale.

Man, it's hard work
climbing through the silt

that's up to your knees.

- [Wayne] Yes, it is.

Yeah, try staying in the clear water.

- [Jonathan] I'm trying.

[dramatic music]

Oh, that's cool.

So I now have my little selfie
stick, which is way cool.

And it's recording, which is cool, huh?

I don't know how many deep sea divers

in the 1800s had a selfie stick.

Oh, I gotta make a major muck action here,

and I can get a shot of Peter.

Say, hi, Peter.

All right.

Eventually it's time for
me and my selfie stick

to head back up to the boat.

Even though I'm wearing
over 100 pounds of gear,

I'm buoyant enough in the water

that I can pull myself right
up the rope with one hand.

[dramatic music]

Climbing up the ladder is another story.

[dramatic music]

With every step, more of
my gear goes above water.

Each step is harder than the next.

Oh, getting heavy getting outta the water.

Getting the helmet and
weight off is a relief.

Baby!

Well, I've done my first dive
with the Mark five helmet,

and I'm here to tell you
that as fun as it was,

it's a lot more work than scuba diving.

So I might just stick to scuba diving.

But wow!

Underwater in 500 pounds of gear.

Somebody gimme a torch,

I feel like I should build something.

So while helmet diving is not the best way

to explore the underwater world,

it is an important part

of the history of underwater exploration

and remains to this day, one
of the most effective ways

to work for extended periods
of time in the blue world.

And thanks to the incredible effort

of these generous members

of the Garden State
Underwater Recovery Unit,

I got to experience diving
in a real Mark five helmet

and experience for myself
the rich history of diving.

[dramatic music]

- [Announcer] Coming up,
Jonathan investigates

the life under oil platforms.

[dramatic music]

- [Jonathan] For more than 100 years,

petroleum products have powered our world.

[dramatic music]

While more environmentally
friendly technologies

like wind and solar are making gains,

oil is going to continue to
provide most of our energy

until newer technology makes it obsolete.

One of the many environmental
challenges with oil

is getting it in the first place.

Vast deposits of petroleum
are inconveniently located

beneath the sea floor.

Accidents happen,

and sometimes environmental
disasters are the result.

But drilling for oil at sea

does have one environmental benefit.

I'm heading to the Gulf of Mexico,

but this time I'm not
going to be diving reefs

or looking for whale sharks.

I'm boarding a dive
boat in Freeport, Texas

on a mission to dive an oil rig.

[dramatic music]

After a six hour run
about 100 miles off shore,

we reach a decommissioned
rig known as High Island 389.

Although this platform
once produced natural gas,

now it's dormant and unused.

As a result, we can
tie the boat to the rig

and dive underneath.

[dramatic music]

Christine and I make our way down the line

tied to the structure.

Underwater the steel tubes that make up

the structure of the platform
don't look like metal at all.

They've become entirely
encrusted with marine growth.

The entire structure is like
a huge underwater jungle gym

with a soft, fuzzy coating.

I fire up my camera and
move in for a closer look.

Every available square
inch of surface area

is festooned with life.

Sponges, coral, hydroids, bivalves,

and dozens of other encrusting species

have made the platform home.

It has become in fact,

a geometrically symmetrical
artificial reef.

Like a more conventional coral reef,

it has attracted fish as well.

Small fish hide in the nooks and crannies

while larger fish come
in looking for food.

[dramatic music]

The more I explore the marine
life of High Island 389,

the more I find.

[dramatic music]

A grouper is chilling out.

[dramatic music]

A frantic group of angel
fish gorge themselves

on abundant sponges.

[dramatic music]

They don't seem to mind me at all.

[dramatic music]

The water here is more
than 100 meters deep,

so I can only see about the
upper third of the structure.

Still, the part I can see

harbors an unfathomable amount of life.

Every square meter contains
countless creatures

going about their lives

in their underwater
high-rise apartment building.

After an hour of wandering
around the structure,

it's time to head back to the boat.

I do a safety stop on the
line for a couple of minutes,

and then I can head up.

After the dive, the crew fills tanks,

and the captain moves the boat.

We're heading a few miles
to another platform.

[dramatic music]

Tying up to the platform
without crashing into it

is a delicate operation.

We have received special permission

to see how the marine life
coexists with an active platform.

[Jonathan screaming] [water splashing]

I hit the water, and I'm
met by a school of fish

as I head over towards the structure.

If anything, this platform

actually seems to have more fish around it

than the last one.

[dramatic music]

The pilings seem to
have just as much growth

as the decommissioned platform.

Because these large platforms

are the only shallow
water structures out here

in the open ocean.

They are incredible marine life magnets.

Not only do fish love them,
but so do divers, fishermen,

and conservationists.

When a platform is decommissioned,

by law it must be removed by
its owner within five years.

But a lot of people say that
decommissioned platforms

are better off left in
place as artificial reefs.

High Island 389 should have
been taken down in 2013,

but efforts to save the
structure as an artificial reef

have given the platform a reprieve.

The oil and gas industry
isn't exactly known

as being particularly
friendly to the environment,

but it's not all bad.

Oil platforms provide a structure

to support magnificent
offshore artificial reefs,

creating habitat where
once there was none.

It just goes to show

that things are not always
what they appear at first,

especially in the Blue World.

[dramatic music]