- Wait a second there's something big down there.
Seriously, he's out, right there, he's movin'.
He's goin' through here.
Got him, yes, woo hoo!
(dramatic music)
Massive rock formations towered like prehistoric giants
as intense waves crashed upon the jagged outcrops.
At high tide, the southern coastline of Africa
is an unforgiving landscape
that has been carved over millions of years.
Yet when the tide rolls back with it recedes the violence
of the turbulent water, leaving behind
an intricate catacomb of inter tidal pools
that are teeming with aquatic life.
Today we're exploring a stretch of pristine shoreline
known as Kenton on Sea,
the magical place where the South Atlantic
meets the Indian Ocean.
And to say the least, it's breathtakingly beautiful.
The sand was flawless, the waves of water were warm,
and with any luck we would happen upon and get up close
with a variety of bizarre tide pool creatures
Now the tide is going out at this point.
Looks like it's still coming in
but it's actually the best time to search for animals.
When all the rocks are still saturated
that means that the animals are still comfortable
which gives us the best chance of actually
catching 'em.
The water trapped within the individual pools
was crystal clear so as I scouted from pocket to pocket,
I carefully scanned the overhanging ledges
and shadowy nooks.
If there was ever a place for a sea beast too high
I was determined to be the seeker.
We've got a decent sized crab down here
in this little rock pool.
There's actually a little blenny next to it as well,
which is a small little fish
that'll oftentimes sit on the edges of these little cliffs.
It's tempting to not go for them both at the same time.
We'll see what happens.
I'm really after the crab though.
I'm gonna use this net because it's a deep pocket of water.
(light music)
Oh got it, yes!
Wow what a scoop!
I almost got the blenny at the same time.
All right that's a pretty decent sized little crab
right there!
Look at you!
Look at those distinct striped markings on the legs.
I'm gonna actually have to look
this one up in a field guide.
I'm not sure exactly what species it is.
Let me keep it in the net like that just for a second.
Uh oh!
[Mario] He's gone.
- Okay, and I lost him!
Hold on.
Oh, I got a blenny!
Two of 'em.
Okay game on!
All right well I.
- [Mario] Lost a crab, got a blenny.
- Oh there's the crab, got him!
Now I've got the crab and some blennies.
Wow!
Hold on that's how he got away the first time.
Look at that, how's about that for cleaning up your mess!
Alright well, this is really panin' out well for us.
Look at these guys.
Come here buddy.
I got two of 'em in one scoop!
Alright let me keep the crab underneath the net,
he'll be fine.
They can breathe out of water.
Look at that!
Those are blennies!
Those are super cool, They almost look like mudskippers
or like an eel type fish.
Notice the elongated shape of the body kind
of looks like a prickleback,
and they do have those long dorsal ridge fins
that run down the length of their backs.
They actually can breathe for a short amount of time
out of the water, so we don't have
to worry about them just resting up on my hand.
And, they can actually skip from pocket of water
to pocket of water.
What they'll often times do is exactly.
Oh my gosh there's an octopus.
Nobody move.
That's a huge octopus, okay.
- [Mario] Are you sure?
- I'm a hundred percent positive.
I'm gonna let the crab go.
All right I'm going for the octopus guys.
We're abandoning the crab.
- [Mario] I see it.
- Nobody move.
I can see its tentacle, Mario if you crouch down here
you might be able to get a shot.
Actually I wonder if I can use my GoPro.
(dramatic music)
He's wedged right into that little cavity.
- [Mario] I see it.
- Yeah.
Okay here's what I'm gonna do,
I'm gonna actually place my net up in this area,
try to reach my arm around and scare him up into the net.
Now the good thing is that none of the octopus species
here in South Africa are lethal to humans.
Keep in mind if we were in Australia
and that was a blue ring octopus,
I would not be performing this maneuver.
Now, all octopus are capable of biting, all are venomous,
but hopefully this one doesn't decide to give me a nic.
(dramatic music)
- [Mario] Here he is, he's out, he's right there.
- I see him, I see him.
Oh!
Do you see him?
- [Mario] He's right there, right there, he's moving.
He's going through. You got him.
- Got him, yes!
Whoo, how bout that!
Well the tactic worked, gently coax him out of one pocket
and into the next and there you have it.
We have got ourselves an octopus.
Wow, I'm gonna actually let him out of the net
and onto my arm.
Hopefully I do not take a bite.
There we go buddy.
Now they do have a little beak on their underside
that of course he could give me a bite with,
but the venom of this species is non-lethal.
This is the common octopus.
They can get bigger than this but to be honest with you guys
this is the largest octopus I have ever caught
and it is on the move.
Wow look at it just showing us its valves.
Right, I'm trying to keep it as calm as I can.
I don't want it to ink.
Look how its turning dark in coloration
but if I do this, check this out.
Set it down and sort of try to corral
it into this pool, what it wants
to feel is like it's protected.
Look at that color change.
Within a matter of seconds it completely morphs the shape
of its body and its coloration.
Got an okay shot there?
This is actually great you can see it pumping water
through the valves on the side of its head.
If I keep it like this it will feel more comfortable.
They want to feel concealed,
Wow look at that.
And they want to feel like they are hidden.
And just like if I were to handle a snake I want
to go one hand to the next.
Octopus have eight tentacles and one of the coolest
things about these creatures is that if they lose a tentacle
they can rejuvenate it.
Wow that is so cool like a big slimy bugger!
All right I'm gonna place it back down
into this pocket of water.
There we go keep him positioned and I'm getting
totally slimed right now.
All right now if I just keep my hand positioned,
watch the way that it will actually slink.
I guess he is gonna go over my arm,
I thought he was gonna go under my arm.
And as the tide goes out, if these animals are stuck
in a shallow pool they can do this,
slink from pocket of water to pocket of water.
That is so cool.
Now one of the key defense tactics
of all octopus, octopuses for plural,
is that they can actually eject ink
and that allows them the ability to disappear
into a rock crevice or back into the ocean waters.
Now if the octopus needs to
it can actually stay out of the water
for a significant amount of time.
The only reason you'd ever find an octopus out of water
is if it's moving from tide pool to tide pool.
As that tide recedes the octopus,
if it's not in a deep enough pocket will oftentimes try
to find itself back out into the ocean currents.
Look at that.
Well how cool was this,
exploring the tide pools of South Africa
and we managed to come across one slippery slimy octopus.
Whoa!
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see ya on the next adventure.
All right buddy time to get
you back into your pocket.
Alright buddy back into your tide pool.
As I release the octopus back into its watery realm
we witnessed an incredible sight,
the most classic octopi defense maneuver, ink inject.
Wow, just got inked.
And as it disappeared back into the cavernous rocks
I came to the realization that never before,
had a single pool of ocean water,
provided us with so many species.
This isolated miniature biome was an absolute goldmine
of bizarre aquatic creatures.
And, I felt incredibly fortunate
to have successfully gotten so many
of them up close for the cameras.
Yet little did we know the adventure wasn't quite over.
As we meandered our way back to the production vehicles,
we stumbled upon the one creature
I had always dreamed of finding in a tide pool.
Oh my gosh, a shark!
- [Mario] Oh my gosh, a shark.
- Okay Mario.
If you thought finding and catching a slimy octopus was cool
make sure to watch the epic conclusion
to our South African tide pool adventure,
where I caught a shark with my bare hands.
And don't forget subscribe,
so you can join me and the crew
on our next low tide adventure.
(howling)