- Florida is under attack by illegal immigrants.
And unlike Mexicans, none of these are good people.
In fact, they're fish.
- So this is a lionfish, and it's an invasive species,
and it's decimating Florida's reefs.
- [Ronny] The lionfish invasion started
when some idiots flushed this exotic aquarium fish
into the ocean and now they're multiplying out of control.
They may look beautiful, but they're deadly.
- All these top dorsal fans will sting you.
This down here will sting you.
It really looks like a dragon from, what's that show on HBO?
- Uh, "Insecure"?
Conservationist Courtland Hunt is on a mission
to save Florida's reefs.
- What people don't realize is that the economic impact
of our reefs is in the billions of dollars a year.
- [Ronny] People in the fishing and diving industries know
that lionfish could devastate Florida's fisheries
because they prey on 80% of fish on the reef,
destroying the food chain.
It's like if halfway through "Finding Nemo," everybody died.
But Courtland has a solution.
- We've developed a device to kill the lionfish.
- And what is this device?
- We modified a Glock handgun to shoot fish underwater.
(Ronny laughs)
You think this is a joke, but this is real.
- Wait, what?
- Can't catch 'em any other way,
you gotta go down and shoot 'em.
- [Ronny] Of course, what could be more Florida
than standing your ground for Mother Nature?
- Hey you wanna hold it?
- No, I don't want my fingerprints on that.
But Courtland stands by his science.
- So on this, when you fire it,
the pressure comes out all at one time.
So these are muzzle brakes that go onto the end of the gun.
- Okay, so you're making it bigger?
- Bigger is usually better, we found, in general.
- Not always. Depends on how you use it, really.
- Bigger is almost always better.
- Almost always, but not in every situation.
Then he took me to an Olympic-sized shooting range
to demonstrate some of what he does.
And guess what? It's stupid. (banging)
What do you say to critics who might say that you are,
I don't know, an idiot, a redneck, a dumb ass,
who's just shooting up the oceans, and you're a psychopath,
you know, criticisms like that?
- There's a war going on on our reefs in Florida.
- What are you talking about?
It sounds like something you do in a first-person shooter
if you're just (bleep) around.
This redneck John Wick thinks he's gonna
save the environment with a gun?
What's next, we nuke illiteracy?
Someone must have a more intelligent solution.
- My name is Yuan Wang,
and we're building a robot that hunts invasive lionfish.
- [Ronny] That's what I'm talking about.
There's just something about this guy.
I don't know what it is, but I like him.
Yuan Wang has founded a startup,
dedicated to building a lionfish terminator, kind of.
This is your killer robot?
- Work in progress, yeah.
- It looks like a trash can with arms.
Still, better than shooting a fish with a gun.
- It identifies the lionfish, then it shocks it,
and it will suck it into a containment unit.
- [Ronny] But there was something weird about it.
- If you just start sucking with the rim-driven propeller,
then they'll just try to swim away.
Whereas if you you put them to sleep,
you just kinda get two probes
on either side of 'em and stun them.
- Dude, I think you invented a fish sex robot.
- Uh, no, I don't, I don't think we did.
- Yeah, I think you did, man.
And trust me, I know sex robots.
Oh, I thought this is just
like one of my anatomically correct R2D2s.
Nope, it's a ruthless killing machine.
But it's 2018, you can't just go exterminating
an invasive species without first checking
with the animal woke police, PETA.
- I mean, if a lethal solution is going to be used,
the priority should be that the animal doesn't suffer.
- What is PETA's stance on, let's say,
an underwater robot that electrocutes fish
and then sucks it into its body via a suction vacuum fin,
and brings up to the surface where it suffocates to death?
I mean, just hypothetically speaking.
- Yeah, that sounds very inhumane.
- Wait, why?
- Electrocuting any animal is extremely cruel.
- What about electric eels?
They can give it, but they can't take it.
- We are quite opposed to that.
- So I forced this sex robot hater
to look at the alternative,
Courtland Hunt's dumb YouTube video.
Look, I know the music sucks, but just watch, please.
(banging)
- The gun looks like it might be the least cruel method,
but like I said, I couldn't absolutely speak to that
without more information.
- So you would need a lot more fish brutally murdered
before you could tell whether or not this was cruel?
- I would just say that it looks the fastest.
- What, so the stupidest solution
is actually the smartest solution?
Okay, so sorry I called you
the stupidest person I've ever met.
This is a Florida-themed gift basket to make up for it.
- I actually already have most of this stuff, but thank you.
- Time to get down to the arduous task
of conserving our fragile ecosystem.
Whoa! Let's kill some fish!
(Ronny imitating gun banging)
Wow, "The Daily Show" finally found a problem
that could be solved by a good guy with a gun.
(tense, escalating music)
(subdued bang)
And I was right there with him.
I mean, not in the water with the poisoned fish,
I'm not an idiot.
Oh, ho, ho, you came to the wrong reef, mother (bleep).
Where you going? You taking dirt naps.
Yeah, I'll be body bagging your whole team for the Earth.
(high energy music)
("The Daily Show Theme" by Bob Mould)