字幕表 動画を再生する
-
(dramatic music)
-
- [Narrator] When you look down at the magnificent
-
island of Kauai and all of its towering mountains
-
lined with lush forests, you likely assume
-
it must be crawling with reptiles and amphibians.
-
However, aside from a few invasive anoles,
-
this lost world is completely void
-
of your typical herpetological specimens.
-
Kauai, or the garden island, as it has long been nicknamed,
-
is considered the fourth largest
-
island in the Hawaiian chain.
-
And like all of its counterparts, is completely surrounded
-
by the warm waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean.
-
And the moment you leave the shoreline behind
-
and dive beneath the crashing blue waves,
-
you stand a really good chance of encountering one of
-
the ocean's most iconic reptiles, the green sea turtle.
-
- [Man] How about those turtles?
-
- (sighs) It might not be a bad idea
-
to come back here and do a seat turtle adventure.
-
- Mm, I like that one.
-
- In order to properly admire sea turtles in the wild,
-
you need to either snorkel or you can drop beneath
-
the surface and watch them from a safe distance
-
for a few seconds, or you can scuba dive
-
and spend nearly an hour visiting in their watery realm.
-
Well guys, it has been an epic trip to Hawaii.
-
And so far, our diving experiences have been A plus.
-
We've seen all sorts of incredible marine creatures,
-
but the thing that's really caught my interest
-
has been all of the sea turtles.
-
Now there is no way that I am going home
-
without getting a proper turtle episode.
-
So if you guys are ready, let's take the cameras beneath
-
the surface and get up close with these marine reptiles.
-
Today we will be joined by technical dive specialists
-
Mike Hanna and Brian O'Hara.
-
Considered by most to be Kauai's best dive team,
-
their expertise beneath the surface will help keep us safe.
-
And their knowledge of the area's wildlife
-
will assist in findIng these large ocean reptiles.
-
When people ask me what it's like to pull
-
on my dive mask and sink below the waves,
-
I once said it was a feeling of complete terror.
-
However, with the passing of each accomplished dive,
-
I became more and more comfortable.
-
And when it came to searching for sea turtles,
-
I couldn't get underwater fast enough.
-
Despite being endangered,
-
the green sea turtle is considered one of the most common
-
sea turtle species, with a worldwide range that spans most
-
of the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world.
-
When it comes to population density in the waters of
-
the United States, the Hawaiian Islands are without question
-
the place to see these majestic reptilian creatures.
-
So as we began to explore along the rocky
-
underwater outcrops, it was only a matter
-
of minutes before we came across our first sea dragon.
-
In their adult stage,
-
green sea turtles are mainly herbivores.
-
And they spend a majority of their time foraging
-
along rocky shallows, where they feast
-
upon a variety of sea grasses and algae.
-
Their serrated beaks work like pruning shears
-
as they drift on the undercurrents and feast away.
-
Males grow larger than the females,
-
and one of the most distinct differences between the two
-
is that the males, similar to snapping turtles,
-
have much longer and more robust tails.
-
Wow, that was amazing!
-
Amazing, the giant male, saw the male
-
and the female right next to each other.
-
The male's over here in the rocks feeding right now.
-
What was great is that I was able to get a shot
-
of them right next to each other so you can see
-
the distinct difference in the tail size.
-
Like I said the males have a much larger tail
-
than the females, so that was really cool to see.
-
I'm gonna kinda hang out in this area
-
and see if he moves back out.
-
- [Man] There he is.
-
- Do you see him? - Yep.
-
He's in the same spot, let's go.
-
- [Coyote] Okay cool, I'm going down.
-
With the camera in my hand,
-
I used the power of my dive fins to fight the current.
-
I was determined to get some epic shots.
-
Interacting with sea turtles is far different from any
-
other turtle species I have worked with in the past.
-
You certainly are not allowed to catch or even touch
-
these majestic reptiles, as strict regulations
-
require you to keep a respectful distance.
-
So to make this episode work, we simply had to admire the
-
animals as they naturally interacted with their environment.
-
(relaxed music)
-
Wow this is awesome, so we have the female green
-
sea turtle that's just hiding underneath the rock right now.
-
Actually down there resting.
-
Now they can stay underwater for a considerable amount
-
of time, close to 30 minutes when they aren't moving around.
-
So we're just kinda stay in this area and keep an eye on her
-
and when she gets ready to come up for a breath of air,
-
we're gonna try to get her to come to the surface.
-
As I sink back beneath the rolling waves,
-
my dive fins propel me forward.
-
I maneuvered past a reef, up and over some large rocks,
-
and suddenly before my very eyes,
-
I find myself in the City of Sea Turtles.
-
Trust me when I say that seeing
-
a single sea turtle can steal your heart.
-
So being in the presence of many sea turtles
-
at once is absolutely breathtaking.
-
They were peaceful sentient beings.
-
And their calm demeanor reminded me
-
of the time I swam with manatees.
-
Here I was again, a bipedal stranger
-
once more in a foreign watery land.
-
I was being accepted into their world
-
with completely open arms, or in this case, flippers.
-
I was literally surrounded by these giant ocean dragons
-
as they seemed to effortlessly glide
-
on the underwater currents.
-
As a human it took every ounce of my strength
-
to keep balance to the turbulent water,
-
as my body was constantly being tossed and turned,
-
pummeled and dragged over the jagged rocks.
-
Yet I was determined to get the shots.
-
Keep the turtles in the frame
-
is all I kept telling myself as they danced around me,
-
looking back with curious eyes
-
and a kindness that I had never before seen in a reptile.
-
For nearly 30 minutes I rode the currents,
-
witness to a complete turtle feeding frenzy.
-
Being no more than a few feet from the surface,
-
I was in no danger of drowning.
-
However, my dive team was running low on its precious
-
life-providing air, so I decided to call it a day.
-
I knew that despite the washing machine-like setting,
-
I had some amazing footage
-
and an animal encounter that could never be replaced.
-
As we kicked toward shore, and our designated exit point,
-
we left behind a world unlike
-
anything I'd ever been witness to.
-
A society of reptiles that was
-
thriving in a watery paradise.
-
Woo, talk about swimming in Turtle City.
-
- [Man] Unbelievable.
-
- [Coyote] Absolutely one of
-
the coolest things I've ever done.
-
Takes me back to the days that we filmed with the manatees.
-
At one point we were surrounded by green sea turtles.
-
- And they like accepted us. - Yeah.
-
- [Man] They were swimming right alongside us.
-
Like you would try to swim away
-
and then they would stick with you.
-
- [Coyote] The waves were just throwing us around,
-
what was so cool is watching the way that the turtles
-
reacted to all the swells that were coming in.
-
Just took a couple seconds as a guide.
-
You don't fight the current,
-
you just let your body go with it.
-
Your leg is definitely bleeding.
-
- [Man] I got a little nick from the coral reef there.
-
- [Coyote] Yeah, my legs are definitely
-
a little cut up. - Sometimes that happens guys.
-
No pain no gain, right?
-
- [Coyote] To get the shot,
-
sometimes you gotta shed a little blood, you know?
-
- [Man] Tell me what it's like,
-
I know diving has been something that you've been
-
excited about but didn't really know to expect.
-
- It's a whole different world out there beneath
-
the ocean waves, and at first when we started I was nervous.
-
But today after getting up close with the sea turtles
-
and really getting accustomed to being beneath the surface,
-
I felt so much more comfortable,
-
and I feel like there are many dive episodes to come.
-
What was really interesting is that
-
right now it's about 4:30 in the afternoon,
-
and the same thing that I noticed with snapping turtles,
-
all of a sudden they emerge from nowhere and begin to feed.
-
Now with snapping turtles, they're hunting.
-
The sea turtles are simply grazing on all
-
the algae that is growing on the rocks.
-
So as we slowly approach, we kept our distance.
-
But after a while the turtles
-
just accepted us into the group.
-
They were moving around us,
-
it was just like we were there at the dinner table
-
with the sea turtles, it was so incredible.
-
Riding the drifts of the waves as they came in and out.
-
And it was dangerous, and we did get caught up,
-
but we got the shots.
-
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
-
We'll see you on the next adventure.
-
- [Man] Coyote, you got any Band-Aids?
-
- [Coyote] I got you one.
-
My first trip to the island of Kauai
-
will always hold a special place in my heart.
-
If you ever get the chance to visit,
-
there are several things I can most certainly promise.
-
The first is that you will never
-
forget the beautiful landscapes.
-
The second is the brilliant elegance of the blue
-
Pacific Ocean waves and the way they crash upon the shore.
-
And the third is that if you ever leave that shore behind
-
and you find yourself beneath the surface
-
in the presence of its reptilian inhabitants,
-
there will be no words that will ever truly describe
-
what it feels like to dance with dragons.
-
If you thought getting up close with sea turtles
-
was an incredible animal encounter, make sure to go back
-
and watch the episode where we kayaked along
-
the ocean's top predator, the killer whale.
-
And don't forget, subscribe,
-
so you can join me and the crew on our next big adventure.
-
- Whoa. - Wow.
-
- That's a huge male,
-
did you see that? - Yeah.