- I'm Coyote Peterson, he's Mario Aldecoa
and common sense might tell you,
never wander into a nest full of crocodiles.
But tonight, we're looking to do just that.
(adventure themed music)
Tonight we're in Homestead, FL
on the grounds of Turkey Point, which is a
nuclear power plant facility.
This location is home to one very unique conservation effort
that is helping revitalize the population of
American Crocodiles in South Florida.
Working closely with Wildlife Biologist Mario Aldecoa
our mission is to check nesting sites to retrieve
freshly hatched baby crocodiles so they can be tagged
and recorded before being released
back into the environment.
- [Mario] The cooling canals are meant to provide water
for the reactor, however the property which is like
4000 acres of just canal system, turned out to be
excellent nesting habitat.
- [Coyote] Are any of these crocodiles radioactive?
- [Mario] No, no they're not radioactive.
- [Coyote] Okay so we're not going to run into
Godzilla out there tonight?
- [Mario] I'm always hoping to find Godzilla out there.
I don't think it's going to happen, but there are
some monster crocs out there for sure.
- This is where Mario found a nest earlier today.
We just saw a hatchling right along side here,
but it got away, so hopefully as we go up by the nest
we'll find a few that are still unearthing.
- [Mario] This is exactly what I'm looking for,
you see this? - [Coyote] Yeah.
- [Mario] This trail, it's called a crocodile drag
and it's basically the female coming up to inspect the nest.
So let's follow the trail, and see if we come upon the nest.
This is interesting.
Unfortunately, hatchlings have a lot of predators.
Fire ants are a big predator.
- [Coyote] So we're standing in fire ants?
- [Mario] We're standing in fire ants. - Oooh.
- I don't see any dead crocs here, so luckily the female
took them all to the water before they got preyed on.
- [Coyote] Look at that, there's just covered, ow, geez.
Just, ahhhh!
Wow, they really burn when they bite, too!
Ow, okay, no more handling of fire ants.
Geez.
- [Mario] One thing I always do is I always want to
make sure that there's nothing inside the nest.
- [Coyote] Kind of just digging in the fire ants, there.
- Yeah, but I'm also making sure that there's no, like
hatchlings that were left behind. - [Coyote] Okay.
- Sometimes the female, she'll try and grab as many
as she can, but she might forget some.
So I'm just going to check real quick.
Nothing, okay.
We built ponds on some of these islands
and the ponds fill up with fresh water
and the females will transport the babies to those ponds.
- [Coyote] Okay. - That's where we're going to go check.
That's our highest probability of getting some hatchlings.
- Sweet, let's go to the pond and find some hatchlings.
(boat motor whirring)
Mario gave me the signal that he's got some hatchlings
in his pond, but there are so many mosquitos we're
getting eaten alive, so we're going to move quick,
get in there, extract the babies, get back on the air boat
and get away from these mosquitos.
Alright, come on, let's go.
- [Mario] Coyote? - [Coyote] Yeah?
- [Mario0 I got one here for you, come here.
Walk in, I got you, ready?
Got him? - [Coyote] Got him, got him.
Here we go, a little hatchling.
- [Mario] What they do is they usually stay in clumps
for protection. - [Coyote] Okay.
- [Mario] Especially when they're just born like this
that makes it really easy for us to come and just
snatch them. - [Coyote} Gotchya.
(babies chirping)
Baby crocodiles, listen to them chirping!
Hopefully they're not calling Mom.
So what we're going to do now is head back to the lab,
get the data that Mario needs,
and then take them back out to release them.
- Yeah - Sounds good, alright.
And get out of these mosquitos, too.
(orchestral strings)
This is the success of all the work that the
crocodile research team is doing here at Turkey Point.
Okay so we have the adventure in the field
and now it's time to collect the data.
- [Mario] First let's put him on that scale there,
let's get it's weight.
- [Coyote] Okay - [Mario] Perffect.
What have we got?
- [Coyote] Alright, 53.8 grams. - [Mario] 53.8.
Okay so this is, this is an important aspect.
These scutes can be cut off, they won't grow back.
It's going to be like a little pinch.
The key is to do it fast and accurate.
- [Mario] Kind of like the social security number
for the crocodile?
- Yeah, yeah so if we ever capture a juvenile
or an adult out in the system, we can see if it's been
recaptured just by looking at it's tail.
- [Coyote] Okay. - [Mario] Okay?
So 1,752.
Now we've got our tagger chip.
- [Coyote] Oh! - [Mario] Okay.
- This is the little tracking meter that you
put in these guys so when they're out there in the field
and you're scanning them, that's what shows us his number?
- [Mario] Yep, so that's going to at the base of the tail.
Just like that.
(beeping) Done.
So he's good to go.
We can actually release him now.
- So that, is a crocodile ready to be released
back into the wild.
Mario I can't thank you enough for this experience tonight
this is conservation at it's finest right here.
The American Crocodile heading back off into the wilds
of Turkey Point.
You guys ready?
They say "Get me in the water, we're ready to thrive!"
Alright, a hand full of crocodiles.
And off you go.
I'm sure you guys have plenty of questions for Mario and I,
leave your comments below and let us know what else
you need to know about crocodile conservation.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild,
we'll see you on the next adventure.
If you thought that was one wild adventure,
check out these other animal encounters!
And don't forget, subscribe, to follow me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
(animal sounds)