- The tide pools of Australia are full of bizarre,
mysterious creatures, but we need to be careful.
I just got drilled!
Some of the creatures that call this environment home
can also be deadly.
An eel!
Wow, do you see that?
It's trying to bite its reflection.
(intense music)
(waves crashing)
What's going on, Brave Crew?
We're back in Queensland, Australia,
about to head off for another epic tide pool adventure,
and we absolutely love these tide pools
because they're jam-packed with super unique creatures,
including some of the most deadly on earth.
So if you're ready, it looks like the tide's headed out,
which means it's time for us to get our feet wet
and try to find something we've never seen before.
Okay, let's go.
So you'll notice that all of the surface of the rocks
right now is wet and slippery.
We wanna move extremely slow,
and the last thing we want is for someone
to take a nasty spill because we're moving too fast.
Looks like there might be some more pockets ahead.
Let's head up a little bit further this way,
and make moves toward the point.
Hey guys, I think I got a crab here.
(intense music)
Got him, ha ha!
This is a swift-footed shore crab,
and they are very difficult to catch
because, like their name, they are very swift.
Now these crabs are very, very common in these tide pools.
In fact, we were here last year, and I caught one.
I took a photograph and put it on Instagram,
and it was one of my most liked Instagram posts
of our entire production last year.
But unfortunately, we could not catch one again
to get it on camera,
so I'm really happy that I was able to find one today
to show you guys.
This one does feel like it did just molt,
which is perhaps why it was a little easier to catch,
and maybe a little bit slower.
I can tell that, because the shell is slightly soft.
But what's really cool about crabs
is they're sort of like the custodians of the tide pools.
They're like the cleanup crew.
They're opportunistic omnivores,
so they're out here eating a lot of the dead things,
and all the carrion,
and they also eat some of the plant life,
including some of the algae
and some of the plankton scum that washes up.
So they do a very good job at managing these tide pools
and keeping them pristine for all the other creatures.
So thank you for doing that, and we're gonna let you go now,
so you can go about your day.
See ya buddy, thanks for hanging out!
There he goes.
Oh, look at this.
This tide pool's brimming with life.
It's a lot of fish.
A lot of fish around here.
Wait a second.
That is a cone snail,
and cone snails are very venomous,
so what I wanna do real quick is I'm going to place
the cone snail on this glove.
This is actually sting-proof and bite-proof,
to use when you handle venomous creatures.
All right, there you have it.
You could see that patterning on the shell,
and that's how I was able to identify it as a cone snail.
Some might say this is actually an aposematic coloration,
because of how venomous this creature is.
You can actually see its foot
reaching out to right itself right now.
That's pretty cool.
All right, so let's talk about what makes a cone snail
such a lethal predator.
They're actually armed with a very specialized
radular tooth, up by their mouth,
that can actually shoot a venomous barb out
like a harpoon to dispatch their prey.
Now this barb is laced with a neurotoxic venom,
so it immediately paralyzes the prey,
so then the snail can catch up and consume it.
Because some of them actually eat fish,
and those cone snails are actually very dangerous
to human beings,
so if you're ever gonna come out shelling
or pick up a snail in this region of the world,
you definitely wanna be aware of what a cone snail
looks like before you do so.
All right, let's put it back and see what else we can find
out here in the tide pools.
Well, I have good news and bad news.
The good news is you've already found
some pretty cool animals.
The bad news is the weather that's been pushing through
the last few days is really not letting this tide drop
quite as low as I thought it would,
so I have a GoPro wearable
that I'm gonna throw on my shoulder,
and I'm gonna head out there with this net,
getting those rocks and hope to get lucky.
(waves crashing)
Whoa, I'm glad I moved that mic back!
Nothing around here.
I'm gonna move through this way.
Getting a little precarious, oh boy!
(waves crashing)
Woo!
I'm really glad the mic back's on this side
and not that side, 'cause I just got drilled!
This storm surge is for real.
Okay, let's make our way around here.
Gettin' soaked!
Nothing.
Seeing a bunch of fish darting in and out.
Hold on, what's that?
There's something right there.
An eel!
Oh my goodness, check this out!
Wow, look at that.
Okay, I can't keep it out of water for too long.
We gotta go find a spot to do the presentation.
Let's go over here to this pocket.
Wow!
I think what I wanna do to present this eel,
because I can't really handle it out of the water,
I'm gonna put it in one of our cubes.
Here, can somebody hold that eel in the water there?
Just like that?
Okay cool, gonna get my pack off.
Let's fill this up with water.
Okay, this is a delicate little maneuver now.
Got this real quick.
Okay, got it.
Perfect!
Yes!
First things first.
Let's talk about the type of eel that we found here.
This is a snowflake eel.
It's called a snowflake eel because as you can see,
on its side through the center line,
it has all these beautiful patterns
in the shape of snowflakes.
Now an eel is actually a fish, not a snake.
A lot of people confuse these animals with snakes,
with sea snakes, and they are not venomous
like a sea snake at all,
although they do have razor-sharp teeth.
In fact, they have two rows of teeth on the top,
one row of teeth on the bottom.
And then get this, inside their throat,
they actually have another set of jaws
called the pharyngeal jaws,
which is an inner jaw structure that it uses
to actually munch on its meals and draw in food
as it has the rest has the rest of the prey item
clasped in those front teeth,
which is pretty creepy if you think about it,
but a highly adapted mechanism
that has allowed these eels to thrive
in ecosystems like these tide pools in Australia.
Wow, do you see that?
It's trying to bite its reflection.
Now eels, in particular,
are actually fairly aggressive animals.
They're actually one of the animals that we have to worry
the most about when we're out there diving.
They don't really back down.
They're very courageous creatures,
and they're not really afraid of human beings,
and they have been known to attack divers at times
when you get too close,
so whenever we see eels underwater,
we always wanna keep our safe distance from them.
But in a unique situation like this,
I'm able to take an eel and put it in a container
and get it right up close to the camera.
That is so amazing.
Now eels have extremely poor eyesight.
Even though it has very beautiful eyes,
those bright yellow eyes on each side of its head,
they really can't see very well,
so they rely heavily on their sense of smell.
Their sense of smell is incredible.
In fact, if we get a tight enough shot,
you can see it has these little yellow appendages
coming out of its nostrils,
and it can use those to direct its sense of smell,
so it's a pretty cool little adaptation that it has,
and these animals, like more morays,
can filter water by opening and closing their mouths,
and then dragging the water
across their gills for respiration.
Well I say that caps off an excellent adventure today.
We came back out to Australia's tide pools
to find something we've never found before,
and lo and behold, we find our very first eel.
Man, this is awesome.
Well I hope you guys enjoyed this adventure.
Don't forget to subscribe and hit that notification bell
if you haven't done so yet.
I'm Mark Vins.
Be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
All right, let's let this one go and head home.
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(animal howling) (birds chirping)