- What's going on, guys?
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Right now, we're in Arizona filming episodes
of Breaking Trail, and we're here in the Sonoran Desert.
Now this is one of my favorite locations
because it has so many bizarre animals,
like one of my personal favorites, the regal horned lizard,
which I just happen to have right here in my pocket.
Hey little guy!
How are you doing today?
Now, I love horned lizards because they look as if
they're covered in spikes, but in fact,
it's nothing more than modified scales.
How cool is that?
So right now, we're having a little competition
with our friends over at BBC Earth Unplugged,
and the challenge is to see who can find
the most bizarre looking creature.
And while I find that the desert is full of strange animals,
nothing takes bizarre to the extreme like tide pools.
What 'til you guys see what we came across in California.
Alright, little toad.
You ready to head back off into the desert?
Let's do this!
(engine revving)
(suspenseful orchestral music)
When it comes to the world of bizarre,
I think it's fair to say that I've encountered
many animals that fit the definition of this word.
Oh, something moved there.
Oh, geez, look at that!
Wow!
Okay, don't need a black light for this one.
There are strange creatures that I have found on dry land,
like the giant desert centipede and the vinegaroon.
And if he was agitated, those glands would start to activate
and then I would know he's probably getting close
to shooting me with his acid mixture.
Then, there's the stranger ones,
which I have found in the ocean.
There are no words that can describe
how excited I am right now to have captured an octopus.
While filming on the coast of California,
we recently came across
what is arguably the most bizarre animal we've ever seen,
the giant black sea slug.
Here we go.
Oh my gosh is it slimy!
Geez, this thing must be about almost 10 pounds,
I would guess.
This creature might as well be an alien from another planet.
And while its size certainly makes it impressive,
its smaller cousin, dare I say it, is even more bizarre.
Oh, whoa, Mark!
Check this out!
Ho!
If you thought the banana slug was big, look at that!
- [Mark] Whoa, what is that?
- That is a sea hare, also known as a sea slug,
and boy is this thing slimy.
Oh, here's another one!
Look at that!
Two right next to each other!
- [Mark] Whoa.
- Handful of sea slugs.
Here, give me the container.
- [Mark] Yeah here, hold on a second.
- Aw man, they're slippery.
Look at that, look at him goopin' down.
Let me get some clear water.
This'll be much easier for us to see him like this.
Get in there.
Oh!
It's like a big organ!
Look at that, wow!
This is the California brown sea hare.
And the reason that they're called sea hares,
is can you see these tentacles up front there?
Kind of looks like the ears of a rabbit.
And just below there, you'll see they have
these little teeny tiny eyes.
Wow!
I never knew that slugs had eyes before,
but I'm lookin' at it, and he does!
He has a little tiny blue eye.
So how do these slugs move around in the environment?
Well, they actually have a foot,
just like a slug that's on land.
And they use that to slowly mosey along rocks
and on the bottom of the tide pools.
And it is pretty grippy.
You know, let me get one out of here,
and I'll actually be able to show you its foot.
Are you ready?
I'll do this very gently.
Come here, little guy.
Look at this.
Can you see the underside there?
- [Mark] Oh yeah.
- You see that?
That is the slug's foot.
I love that, look how it just turns into a ball of goop
in my hand, but you see that right there?
And it is rather rough.
That's actually called a radula,
and that is also the slug's tongue.
That is how they eat, and that is how they move.
Now here's something that you may not know.
Slugs have gills, and as these creatures
are moving through the tide pool,
the water's filtering through there,
and it's allowing them to breathe.
Let's see if I can get it to stretch out on my hand here.
Look at that.
What an obscure looking creature.
Whoa, there you go.
Now it's got its front tentacles going.
Oh, and I can feel it grippin' onto my finger.
You may be wondering, do slugs bite?
They don't bite, but that radula up front is rough,
and I can feel it scraping over my hand right now.
Wow, that feels crazy, like a big leech on my hand!
I've held those banana slugs,
I thought those guys were sticky.
This thing is on a whole 'nother level.
Let me put it back down into the container here.
Now, you'll notice at the moment
that the slugs aren't moving.
This is a great opportunity for us
to look at how perfectly camouflaged they can be
in the environment.
Look at this thing.
It just looks like a rock or a lump of algae.
And here's what we're hanging out in.
The plants that are growing right here in the tide pools,
and if that slug wasn't moving,
it would be perfectly hidden.
These slugs don't really have many predators at all.
One defense that they do have, though,
just in case something does try to eat it,
is the ability to ink, just like an octopus.
If it gets agitated, it will excrete
this nasty-looking purple substance,
allowing them to then slink down into the rocks
and disappear.
And I wanna show that to you guys real quick
before we let them go.
Now, to do this, I'm gonna need to gently take one of them
out of the container,
and just apply a little bit of pressure
to the side of the slug, and it should ink for us.
Now, this isn't going to injure the animal
in any way whatsoever.
Now, the ink is actually a byproduct
of the kelp that they are eating.
That's what gives it this purple pigmentation.
Look at that!
Oh, I'm getting totally stained right now!
Okay, I'm gonna put the slug back into the container,
and let's see what that looks like.
Look at that!
There you go!
Now that is what they'll do to create confusion
for any potential predator that's trying to eat it.
As you can see, the slug is just fine,
still have ink coming out of the back of its parapodium.
Look at that, oh, there it goes again!
You see that?
You see it comin' out of the parapodium?
There, look at that.
Wow, that's crazy!
Look at little bubbles floatin' up.
Look at all this slime.
That's not water, that is slime.
Look at that running down my hand, can you see that?
Ugh, it is all slimy, that is crazy.
Wow!
We've definitely got this slug agitated
to the point where, if you're a potential predator,
and you got all that in your mouth,
it's slightly toxic, so, doesn't smell like anything,
but I do not want to get it in my mouth.
Look at that.
Looks like I have webbed fingers.
Well how gross and cool is this?
Getting slimed and inked by a giant sea slug.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave, stay wild, we'll see you on the next adventure!
To get slimed and inked by the brown sea hare
is most certainly an animal encounter
I will never forget.
And while this animal is completely non-toxic to humans,
I will definitely be washing my hands before lunch.
If you thought these sea slugs were bizarre,
make sure to check out what our friends
over at BBC Earth Unplugged found
while they were out exploring under the darkness of night.
Then write to us in the comment section,
so we know which animal encounter
you thought was the most bizarre.
And don't forget, subscribe to their channel,
BBC Earth unplugged, so that you can follow along
with our future collaborations.
(wings flapping)
(birds chirping)