About, ten years ago before we began production of Jonathan's Birds Blue World I was up
in the Bay of Fundy, Canada, photographing Basking Sharks, which are the second largest
fish on earth.
I noticed that all the sharks had these long slimy, skinny fish stuck to their skin. I
didn't know what they where, so I plucked one off the skin of the shark; took it back
to the boat and took some pictures of its face.
I figured out it was a parasitic Lamprey. I didn't really think much of it and so
I threw it back in the water, and went home with my pictures
A few months later I got a phone call from Dr. Steve Turnbull, a Marine Biologist at
the University of New Brunswick, and he wanted to talk to me about this. He heard about it
from the fishermen.
Turns out that I had made a new discovery. Shark biologists did not think that lampreys
could live on sharks.
So the following summer we took the research boat from the University of New Brunswick
back to the Bay of Fundy on an expedition to investigate.
Hi, I'm Jonathan Bird and welcome to my world!
It's a beautiful summer morning in Atlantic Canada. As the sun rises at 5 AM, the fog
blows off the water and I head down to the dock to meet my ride.
We begin loading the "Mary O", a research boat from the University of New Brunswick.
Shark biologist Steve Turnbull is aboard, hoping to gather firsthand proof that Basking
sharks in the Bay of Fundy have lampreys on them.
Also aboard is lamprey biologist Dr. Mike Wilke, who has brought all kinds of scientific
equipment to test the lampreys..., assuming we find any.
We're heading out into the middle of the Bay of Fundy--a long stretch of water between
mainland Canada and Nova Scotia. It has the highest tides in the world and a huge amount
of plankton.
Plankton is food for many animals in the ocean. The word plankton means drifter, so anything
drifting is planktonic. These tiny copepods are planktonic crustaceans, smaller than a
grain of rice. More than a quarter of million of them could fit into a coffee cup. They
might not seem like much...
But they are the main food source for the Basking shark, which swims through the water
with its mouth wide open to filter them out of the water by the millions.
Basking sharks are the second largest fish on Earth, reaching 45 feet long. That makes
them longer than a school bus! That is one big shark! But since they feed only on plankton,
they are no threat to people at all. In fact, a Basking shark's throat is only the size
of a grapefruit. It can't swallow anything bigger than that!
With the boat finally loaded with all our gear, we push off the dock and head out towards
the sharks.
Passing the beautiful shoreline of Atlantic Canada reminds me that this is one of the
most serene and peaceful places on Earth, even if the water is a bit cold. Our travels
take us past the lighthouse on Grand Manan Island, and finally out into the open water
of the Bay of Fundy.
We are soon joined by a pod of Atlantic white-sided dolphins, riding in our bow wave. Dolphins
are always fun and add to the enjoyment of being at sea.
Further out, we find whales. These are not just any whales, but Northern Right whales,
the most endangered whales on Earth. There are only 300 of them left in existence. Finding
them is a good sign because they eat the same copepods that Basking sharks eat. If the whales
are here, the sharks probably are too.
We all grab binoculars and start scanning the horizon. Basking sharks get their name
because they often come to the surface to feed when it's really calm. Sailors used
to think they were basking in the sun and that's how they got their name.
We see something on the horizon and start heading that way. Soon we get closer and the
shark dives out of site.
Back to the binoculars. Basking sharks are big fish and they don't need to come to the
surface to breathe like whales. So you have to get really lucky to find one close enough
to the surface that its dorsal fin sticks out of the water. Without that, we have no
hope of finding any.
At last we find another shark and manage to sneak the boat up nearby. The shark is just
cruising slowly, feeding on the plankton.
We jump in the inflatable and head out with cameras to see if it has a lamprey on its
back.
We approach as close as we can, and roll off the boat.
An enormous shark passes below us in the green soupy water. The thick plankton makes the
visibility bad, but that's why the sharks are here. It's pretty spooky.
I see a lamprey on the shark as it goes by, but I am not deep enough to grab it.
We have a theory which is that it seems like you guys are getting closer than we are with
the boat. And I think because we have an outboard and it's really loud under water and you
guys have an exhaust up out of water. I think this boat is actually quieter to the shark.
We decide to bring the Mary O up alongside a shark. They seem to react a lot better to
this than the inflatable.
On the next attempt I jump into the water and get some good video of the lampreys on
a shark. I'm incredibly excited that I finally have proof for the biologists that these sharks
have lampreys on them. Now the hard part: our team takes turns trying to grab a lamprey
and get it to the surface.
I manage to get one with one hand while holding my video camera in the other.
JONATHAN: Put the net in the water!
MIKE: Got em!
JONATHAN: Alright!
CREW: He got one! ( crew cheers )
Meanwhile, Mike begins getting his apparatus together.
MIKE: That's a Parasitic Lampreys taken right off of a Basking Shark. That's impressive.
I'm not sure this has ever been done before.
He wants to find out how the lampreys can handle the toxic blood of the shark.
Sharks have a lot of urea in their blood which is why biologists used to think that sharks
could not have lampreys on them.
Lampreys have a terrible looking oral disk instead of a jaw, used to drill a hole in
a fish and drink their blood, like vampires.
If they are drinking the shark's blood, they are getting what biologists consider a deadly
dose of toxic urea. So Mike wants to find out if they are really drinking the shark's
blood, or just getting a free ride.
If they are drinking the shark's blood, how do they deal with the urea?
The lamprey doesn't seem very happy about being confined to a tiny little tray full
of water.
We discuss the capture of the first lamprey, and how we may go about getting another one.
JONATHAN: ...behind the dorsal fin. Probably closer to the caudal fin on top of it's
body right before it's tail. There where two of them right next to each other.
MIKE: If he was actually feeding on the Basking Shark, my guess is that his metabolic rate
is through the roof right now. He'd be producing waste like crazy.
Later in the day after many more attempts, I was able to grab another lamprey off a shark.
We observe the two very active lampreys in the cooler. One of them really wants to attach
to something.
With two lampreys aboard, we call it a day and head for the dock. Mike's research showed
that the lampreys are in fact drinking the shark's blood and it turns out they have powerful
kidneys that can filter out the toxic urea.
This only goes to show that one simple photograph of something unexpected can lead to an amazing
new discovery about life in the ocean. Who knows how many more discoveries await us in
the sea?
I'm keeping my eyes peeled as I continue to explore the Blue World.