What happens when you put a shark and a coyote together?
Find out today on Jonathan Bird’s Blue World with Coyote Peterson!
Hey Everybody!
I’m in the Bahamas today, going out to have an epic adventure with Tiger sharks.
Now, I know we have done that before.
You’ve seen Tiger sharks before.
But today is something special.
You have been asking for an incredible collaboration and today it’s going to happen.
Everybody, I want you to meet Coyote Peterson is coming with us on this trip.
Hey Man, how are ya?
I’m doing good, so this is the boat?
This is the boat and we’re going to have an epic Tiger shark trip.
Now, I’m not going to get eaten, am I?
Well, we’re going to try to keep you from getting eaten.
You know everybody’s been asking “Coyote, are you going to get eaten by a shark?”
but I’m going to do everything I can today to NOT get bitten by a shark.
Yeah, this is one of those animals that you don’t want to encourage to bite.
Right Yeah, so we’ll do it.
Permission to come aboard?
Come on man!
Sweet Alright let’s do it
Tiger sharks, here we come!
Today I’m helping the Brave Wilderness team film the first episodes of their new series
Blue Wilderness.
It will be hosted by Mark Vins, who has been producing Brave Wilderness with Coyote since
the beginning.
Their whole team has recently learned to dive and this is their first big dive trip.
Since they are new to diving and underwater filming, they came to me for some advice,
and we decided to get together for a week-long dive adventure on my favorite dive boat, the
Dolphin Dream.
We have a lot planned for the week.
Our first stop: Tiger sharks.
Our adventure begins in West End, Grand Bahama.
We sail north across the Little Bahama Bank, a shallow area of mixed sand and reefs.
It will take several hours to reach our destination, a large shallow area called White Sand Ridge.
Along we way, we have some time to relax, but it’s not long before we stop for a warm-up
dive.
Mario, the Brave Wilderness cameraman, just got certified, and this will be his first
dive since finishing his scuba class!
Mark and Coyote have done a few dives, but they haven’t been in the water in a while.
See I have changed out my head attire from cowboy hat to youth-sized beanie maybe?
I don’t know, that’s what it feels like.
You look like a seal!
Arf, arf, arf!
I usually find this one of the more difficult aspects, getting the snorkel and the mask
tuned perfectly to getting in the water.
I’ll be sure that’s adjusted properly.
Okay, that will do it.
I’ll tell you what, if you thought you were steamy before putting on the mask, just put
on the mask, and it intensifies.
Alright, time to get on my BCD.
I hop in the water first, to get some shots of Mark and Coyote jumping in.
Coyote is going first, and I can tell he is a little nervous.
Scuba is still new for him.
But he does a perfect giant stride entry like a pro.
Now it’s Mark’s turn.
Mario has to film everything in his wetsuit, then join us in the water.
After Mark is in, Mario joins us, ready for action!
We drop down to the bottom and there isn’t really very much to see, just some sand and
a few soft corals.
But that’s not the point.
Coyote, Mark and Mario need to get confortable in their scuba gear before we add sharks to
the mix!
Mark also has a brand new Gates housing to figure out!
And Coyote has camera envy.
Soon everyone is ready and we head back to the boat.
So how was it?
Tough for me.
Every time.
I’m like a fish out of water in the water.
But it was good to take just a warm-up dive, get acclimated to the environment.
And now it’s time to move the ship and get in with the sharks.
We pull anchor and head to Tiger Beach, which isn’t actually a beach at all.
It’s the unofficial nickname for a shallow, sandy place far from land where they chum
for Tiger sharks.
As soon as we arrive, the crew starts chumming to begin the process of attracting sharks.
Then Captain Gerard gives the group a dive briefing.
If you guys don’t follow our suggestions for protocols and safe practice of diving,
there is a very good probability that you will get bit, and from that there is a very
good probability that you will die.
We’re about six hours from land and about eight hours from actual medical care.
And after that cheerful speech, I have to reassure the Mark and Coyote that they’re
going to be fine.
This is going to be so much fun, you are going to love this.
Okay, I’m hearing fun.
Is it safe?
Well yeah, it’s pretty safe.
Pretty safe?
Mostly safe.
Okay, mostly safe.
So how do we stay safe?
So, we’re going to wear gloves, which keep your hands from looking like fish.
And we’re going to wear hoods so we have this sort of ninja look.
It keeps the sharks from thinking of us as having any food.
Does that make the shark intimidated that we’re like ninjas or is that for color?
That is just to keep us from looking like anything edible.
And when we hit the water, we’re going to go straight down so we don’t hang around
the surface where prey would be, you know, and we’re going to get down to the bottom.
And once we’re down there, they think of us as just something that lives in the ocean.
Something competing with them for some food.
So they’re going to ignore you.
You’re going to love it.
OK It’s going to be fun.
Well, I’m excited.
Coyote, how do you feel?
Are you ready?
Got my giant camera rig ready, and I am 100% certain we’re going to get in the water
and get some epic shots!
After an hour of chumming, the boat is surrounded by sharks.
So when we pulled up, we immediately had sharks, which is always a really good sign, but there’s
a Great Hammerhead down there and I’m really hoping that it sticks around, because it is
so rare to see a Great Hammerhead here.
I’ll meet you on the bottom!
See you down there buddy!
Down on the bottom, there is a lot of action!
Already we have three species of sharks: Caribbean Reef sharks, Lemon sharks and at least one
Nurse shark hanging around the chum box!
Plus about a zillion fish.
Within a couple of minutes, Coyote and Mark are hitting the water, and things down below
are in full swing!
Then the first Tiger shark shows up!
And I’m pretty sure she just sneezed.
And soon, the Great Hammerhead appears!
This isn’t just any Great Hammerhead.
This is a friendly one that has been showing up at Tiger Beach a lot for the past two years.
And they call her “Patches” for her patchy ventral coloration.
Normally, Hammerheads do not show up at Tiger Beach.
Either they are afraid of the Tiger sharks, or they are just too skittish around all the
divers.
But Patches is different.
Patches is in fact so awesome, we’re going to do an entire segment about her.
The appearance of Patches and the Tiger sharks, means that we now have 5 species of sharks
present on a single dive, and I’m pretty sure that Mario is super excited!
I’m getting a kick out of watching Mark get comfortable with his new underwater camera
and I can tell he is in the zone where he is focusing on shots and his fear is gone.
It’s fun to be a part of it and to see these guys falling in love with sharks right in
front of my eyes.
After an hour, we get a few last shots and then reluctantly head back to the boat.
Nobody wants to get out of the water but we are low on air.
I can hardly wait to hear what they thought of the dive!
But when I pop up, Mario has the camera ready and he wants to know what I thought of the
dive!
Five species in one dive!
I don’t know if that has ever happened!
To me…I mean, that’s amazing!
So Coyote, that was the luckiest first shark dive in the history of diving!
Why because I survived and wasn’t eaten by the sharks?
Five species of sharks, including a Great Hammerhead on your first shark dive!
I mean, I don’t know what is good shark diving because I’ve never dove with sharks
before!
So for me, I mean, being on the surface and my immediate thought was “oh cool the sharks
are right at the surface, let’s get the shots here!”
And we get into the water, and there’s definitely this moment when you walk to the edge of the
boat—I’m always concerned with my mask coming off, my regulator coming out of my
mouth—and you kind of lose that moment when you say “Okay, now I’m jumping into a
pile of sharks.”
And I remember hitting the water and being like, as soon as I opened my eyes inside of
my dive mask—everywhere.
They were just all around youand I looked straight down and I saw a huge Tiger shark.
Now the Tiger sharks weren’t up on the surface when we went into the water, so immediately
I was thinking to myself, man this is going to be epic!
And once I got down there, found myself on the bottom, found all of you guys, oriented
myself, got comfortable with the environment and said Okay, take a deep breath and start
getting the shots.
And man, I’m not sure I have ever filmed anything more epic underwater than I have
Tiger sharks and of course that Great Hammerhead.
What a treat that shark was.
Super cooperative, multiple passes right over the camera.
Dude, that is beginners luck for shark diving if ever there was.
I mean, I’ll take it!
I certainly didn’t expect to see a Great Hammerhead.
The Tiger sharks are impressive, the Lemon shark are impressive, the other shark species
that we saw, but that Great Hammerhead is so big and it’s got that gnarled front jaw
and you can just see the teeth sticking out.
And every time it would turn its head with one of those big eyes staring at you, all
I could think was okay, keep swimming, don’t come towards me!
I’m a friend not a foe, not food, just keep going—and then you get the shot!
It was epic, thank you for coming.
Jonathan thank you so much for featuring me on the channel today.
I’m thrilled to be here and I’m glad that my presence supposedly brought all these cool
sharks in front of the cameras.
It was certainly a day to remember.
Well, we’re bringing you on all our shark dives now.
Sounds great!
Next up, Great White Sharks?
Yeah, sure thing?
Out of the cage?
Yeah!
Alright, I’m ready!
As the sun sets, we are already looking forward to tomorrow, because things are about to get
even more wild.
Don’t go away!
You don’t want to miss Coyote making friends with a Tiger shark!!
The next morning, the boat is swarming with sharks.
But we’re doing a shark feed, so we have to jump in to this mass of sharks and swim
down quickly to the bottom.
We hit the water and head over to the sandy area where the feed will take place.
Coyote and I are first on the scene.
Soon Houston arrives with the bait box.
The sharks know the deal.
They immediately come over and start circling, waiting for the free breakfast to start.
Mark arrives, with his camera ready.
As Houston starts feeding, Mario, Mark and Coyote are all keeping a safe distance, with
Cameraman Tim filming from behind them.
I’m keeping my camera trained on Coyote, just in case something interesting happens!
Interesting things always seem to happen to Coyote!
Meanwhile, Finch has taken over the feeding with his traditional silly shark feeding outfit.
As the feed goes on, more and more sharks come to the party.
Coyote and Mark get more comfortable, moving closer and closer to the action.
Then the sharks come around to investigate.
Mark has a close encounter of the sharky kind.
But he handles it calmly.
No problem!
Coyote is getting right up close with his camera.
And then Coyote has his own close encounter.
And he recovers like a pro!!
This was not an act of aggression from the shark.
It was just investigating Coyote to see if he had any food.
You don’t need to read sign language to understand what he’s saying: that is one
big Tiger shark!
At the end of the dive, we all head back to the boat to celebrate.
We took the Brave Wilderness team shark diving, and Coyote didn’t get bitten by anything!
Mario and Mark got some valuable experience filming underwater for their new series Blue
Wilderness, and guess what?
We are planning a bunch of upcoming collaborations between Blue World, Blue Wilderness and Brave
Wilderness.
So stay tuned for more awesome underwater action in the Blue World!!
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