(intense music) - [Coyote] Alright guys
we got a good turtle out in front of us,
camera's rollin', this could be it.
- [Man] Dead through, dead through.
- [Coyote] I'm comin', I'm comin'.
(splashing) - Oh, oh.
(dramatic music)
(splashing)
- [Coyote] Australia's home to many reptilian species.
And while several of them are found within the confines
of the continent's interior,
beyond the tide you will find
one of the world's most cherished animals,
the green sea turtle.
In the past I've had the chance to swim alongside
these elegant and timeless beings,
yet strict regulations prohibit anyone
from making physical contact with these reptiles.
However on this adventure, that is all about to change.
(dramatic music)
Today the crew and I are heading off the coast of Bowen,
a small town situated at the top of the Whitsundays
on the Eastern side of Queensland.
Under the invitation of the World Wildlife Fund,
we will be given the chance to work alongside
the traditional owner rangers from Guru and Bindile People.
These rangers take responsibility for the management
and protection of their sea country,
including iconic species like the green sea turtle.
Their work includes (splashing)
safely catching, collecting data,
and tagging these magnificent marine reptiles
so scientists can then determine
what is happening to the turtle population
and ensure that the species is continuing
to thrive in these warm waters.
- And as a very order Gudjuda Elder,
I'd like to welcome you to the country
and hope yous have a good day.
(chattering)
- [Mark] Coyote, what's goin' on?
- I'm doin' a smoke ceremony right now
and the flames are just welcoming us
into this community. - That's what the flames will.
- [Coyote] I consider myself to be an expert
when it comes to catching turtles.
And my method of leaping from kayaks
to catch snapping turtles has often proven
to be incredibly successful.
(dramatic music)
Catching sea turtles however, is a very different challenge.
(splashing)
As compared to snapping turtles,
these ocean dwelling reptiles are incredibly fast.
And instead of leaping feet first from a slow rowing kayak,
I will be jumping from a speeding boat.
The good news is that I will be apprenticing a man
who I now consider to be the greatest turtle catcher
of all time, Aaron Taiters.
He will be showing me the tricks of the trade
that he has spent several years mastering
and which have resulted in the safe capture,
data collection, tagging,
and release for hundreds of sea turtles.
(dramatic music)
So what are you lookin' for Aaron?
You lookin' for shadows in the water?
- Yeah, we're lookin' for sort of a dark brown figure.
- [Coyote] Okay.
- We'll see the turtle shells sit still
or they'll make a move for it.
The moment they move, we tell Eddie,
"Yep, he's off to the right."
And that's how we'll catch him then.
- [Coyote] Gotcha.
Yeah that's kind of the same way
I search for snapping turtles.
I look for a dark shadow beneath the surface,
wait for it to start movin',
I know it's not a rock, and then you make your go.
- [Aaron] Yep.
Sometimes you will get confused
because there's a lot of sting ray around here.
Before you see it as a turtle,
just make sure you see his flippers first
- Got it. - And then you just
start chasing.
(dramatic music)
- [Man Over Radio] Gudjuda One, Gudjuda One,
this is little Got Gunger, any turtles sighted yet?
- [Man] Not yet but we're working on it.
We'll keep you posted.
- [Man Over Radio] Rodger that, over and out.
(beeping)
(dramatic music)
- [Aaron] There he is there to the right.
- [Coyote] Oh got a turtle to our right here.
He's just in front of us. - I think he's goin' left.
- He's swimmin' really quick.
Goin' left.
Upon spotting several smaller turtles
and witnessing their impressive speed,
I quickly realized that catching a sea turtle
was going to be much more difficult
than I had originally anticipated.
There's a big turtle here, big one, big one.
- [Man] Go, go.
(splashing)
(groaning) (splashing)
- Yes. (cheering)
(laughing) Nice catch.
Oh, that was a rough miss.
But the good news is that Aaron was right there
to follow up with an epic dive and successful catch.
Boy does he make it look easy.
(yelling)
And I had his front flipper in my hand.
- [Aaron] Yeah I thought I saw that.
- [Coyote] I had his flipper.
- [Aaron] I said that, I said, "He's got it in your hand."
(yelling) And he's just off cruising.
- Well great catch again Aaron.
(laughing)
That was epic, alright.
I was so close, that was the one.
I had the entire flipper in my hand
and it went whoop, right out.
And I tried to grab the back of the shell,
couldn't do it, but at least we caught the turtle,
let's get it onto the research boat,
get the biometrics, keep at it.
As a team our rate of success was fantastic.
Yet my personal performance was lackluster at best.
I could feel that my confidence for catching sea turtles
was beginning to sink.
Yet Aaron being the incredible mentor that he was,
continued to encourage and critique my style.
- You see that one? - Yeah I see him.
- [Man] Get out now fast first.
(splashing)
- Great TV.
(chattering)
- [Mark] Did you get a brown?
(sighing) - Okay.
- [Mark] It's harder than it looks, folks.
- Man, it was the same thing before.
I was not in front of the turtle.
Time was running out and my widow to land a giant,
was beginning to close.
When the boat slowly motored into a clear stretch of water
that revealed a massive dark shadow beneath the surface.
Alright guys we got a good turtle out in front of us.
Camera's rollin', this could be it.
This was it, the pressure was on,
and I would only have one dive,
one chance to catch this turtle.
- [Aaron] You see him right there now?
- [Coyote] Yep, yep, yep.
There, right there.
Aaron kept his sights locked on the speeding reptile,
waiting for an opportune moment
when it would slow it's forward momentum
and prepare to breach the surface for a breath of air.
This would be my window of opportunity
and in that instance, he shouted the command.
- [Aaron] Dead through, dead through.
(splashing)
- [Mark] Missed it. Oh, oh.
(chattering)
- [Aaron] I got it.
(splashing)
(triumphant music)
- [Coyote] Right there I was able to catch that.
(cheering)
Oh, careful, careful.
(cheering)
Caught a turtle. (laughing)
Now did that feel good.
(cheering)
Yeah, I jumped, grabbed the back of the shell.
(cheering)
Man, that is a good sized turtle right there.
Without question, the biggest turtle I have ever caught.
(laughing)
Man. (cheering)
Oh, I told you guys I'd do it.
(laughing) (cheering)
- Oh nice. - He is a big one.
- That's a male. - Look at the tail.
- Yeah that's a male. (cheering)
Look at that tale.
(laughing) - Oh man.
- My goodness. - That's a dragon's tail.
(cheering)
Yes, yes.
(cheering)
That's my dragon right there. (laughing)
Man. (laughing)
Best turtle catch ever of my life at least.
(cheering)
Alright guys we gotta get the rest of our gear,
get onto the research boat, get the biometrics,
and then release this dragon back into the wild.
Yes. - Yes.
- I hope I caught all that on this camera.
Wow.
(splashing)
(chattering)
Alright guys well there we have it,
there is the green sea turtle that I landed.
And he is an absolute giant.
This is the first male of the trip
that we have caught, an absolute beast.
Can you guys believe this?
- [Mark] I can't believe you caught it.
That was an amazing catch. - What a catch.
Well when I jumped into the water
I kind of went to the side,
I grabbed the side of it's shell,
my hands slid down, I held onto the back of the shell
and actually climbed up the side of it
to get right behind the back of the carapace.
And you can see how healthy this turtle is.
Look at, it is actually spilling out of it's shell.
I know buddy.
Now let's take a look at the carapace of this reptile.
It is massive and I love this teardrop shape, you see that?
This allows these turtles to stay completely streamlined
when they're swimming under the water.
If you take a look here, look at the size
of this turtle's tail.
Just like a snapping turtle,
male green sea turtles have an extremely long tail,
look at that.
As long and as big around as my arm is.
An absolute dragon tail right there.
Now you hear the name green sea turtle
and you may be thinking to yourselves,
"Well, Coyote, it's mostly brown in coloration.
"Why do they call it a green sea turtle?"
That name comes from a thick layer of green fat
that exists just beneath the bone of the carapace
that insulates them between the bone
and all of their main organs.
I know buddy, you just wanna get back
out there into the ocean, don't you?
Now this guy's just fine, don't worry.
Sea turtles can stay out of the water
for an extended period of time.
(sighs) What a beautiful turtle.
Look at those eyes.
Such kind, intelligent eyes.
And you may notice that the turtles eyes are very wet,
almost looks like it's crying.
It's not crying, all turtles are capable
of secreting a mucus from their eye membrane
to help keep their eyes wet when they're out of the water.
This goes for all turtles,
painted turtles, snapping turtles, spiny soft shells,
even sea turtles have the ability to secrete that mucus.
Now you'll notice the beak of this reptile is not hooked.
Because unlike a snapping turtle,
they're not out there actually hunting for prey.
When they get to be this big, they're completely herbivores.
Just kind of sifting along the bottom
eating algae and sea grass.
And the underside, oh let me see if you can...
look at that, you see how the lower part
of the jaw is actually serrated?
They have bolt cutter-like power.
That would easily slip off the edge of your finger.
So when I jumped into the water,
the first thing I was thinkin' was,
"Don't get my fingers near the mouth of the turtle."
- [Mark] Alright Coyote, I think,
hey Mario, why don't you jump in there
and help Coyote put the...
- Yeah I'm gonna need some help.
This turtle is so unbelievably strong
and it just wants to spin.
We wanna keep it as calm as we possibly can.
There you go buddy, Mario,
you kinda got a lock in place there?
- Yeah I sure do.
- Okay everyone, the first thing I'm gonna do
is get the length of the carapace.
Tra, see if you got that magic tape.
Thank you.
I know buddy, I know.
(shushing)
- [Mario] Trying to cool him down a little.
- Sometimes what I do with snapping turtles
is actually just to place my hand on top of the head.
(shushing) (gentle music)
Okay.
Gonna try to talk a little bit quieter.
Got him calmed down now, okay so what we're gonna do
is go right from the front edge of the carapace there Mario
if you wanna just hold
that in place. - Yeah you're good.
- Right down the center line.
It is right at 94 centimeters.
- [Mark] Can you show me that real quick?
- Check that out. (scraping)
Without question, the largest turtle I have ever caught.
Thank you Traci.
Alright so now the next thing we want to do
is get this turtle's weight.
(scuffling) (grunting)
Getting the turtle inside of this harness
was one of the most difficult aspects
of this whole episode so far.
Do you guys have any guesses
as to how much this turtle weighs?
- [Mark] 240 pounds.
- 240 pounds, Mario? - 250.
- 250? - Cool, okay.
- Ben what do you think? - Hey Ben what do you think?
- I'm gonna go 275. - 275.
- [Mark] Wow alright.
- I'm gonna go 230. - 230.
- I say he weighs 230.
(cranking)
And good, turtle's off the ground.
- [Man] A little bit more, a little bit more, more.
- [Mark] Flying turtle.
- [Aaron] Okay, okay, he's clear.
- 104.1 kilos. - Wow.
- Bring it down. - Careful.
- 230 pounds. - Wow.
- [Mark] Wow you were right on the money.
- I guessed it, 230. (laughing)
Amazing, 230 pounds is what this green sea turtle weighs.
What an absolute giant, amazing, okay.
The next thing we're gonna do, is tag this sea turtle.
This one has never been tagged before
so that's really exciting for today's research.
Where I'm gonna tag it is right up here on it's left fin
between these two scales.
You see that right there?
- [Mark] Now is that a fin or a flipper Coyote?
- Ah, I guess yeah, it's whether you a fin
or whether you call it a flipper or a foot,
sea turtles, and one of the things
that really makes them different from other turtles,
is you can see they do not have typical toes.
And like other turtles, they are not actually able
to tuck inside of their shells.
Even less so than a snapping turtle.
This isn't gonna hurt,
this is gonna be like getting your ear pierced.
I'm gonna do this as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
You got a good shot right there Mark?
- Sure do. - Alright big guy,
this is just gonna - Now their skin
is really tough. - be a little pinch.
- This isn't hurting the turtle.
- No this skin is like leather.
And I'm gonna ratchet down real tight here, ready?
One, two, three. (grunting)
There we go, perfect.
Alright the turtle is officially tagged.
And as you guys know, I name all the turtles that I catch.
And I think we're gonna name this one Eddie,
after the man - There he is
- Who so perfectly captained the ship today
and lined us up to be able to make this catch possible.
I did not expect to catch a turtle this size.
I was just hoping that I could catch a single sea turtle.
And after getting the chance
to stand on the front of that boat and watch Aaron dive in
and catch several turtles.
I said to myself, "You know what?
"I think I can pull this off."
But to catch one this size is truly something
that I never thought was possible.
Biggest turtle I have ever caught.
(dramatic music)
Wow, what an epic end to one amazing day here in Australia.
And I have to give an enormous thank you
to World Wildlife Fund of Australia,
and the Gudjuda Rangers for bringing us out,
showing us the conservation work that they're doing,
and all the efforts they're making
to not only preserve but also protect
these incredible marine reptiles.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild,
we'll see you on the next adventure.
Alright guys, it's time to get Eddie
back off into the ocean.
The green sea turtle represents everything
that is beautiful about our oceans.
And they're considered to be one
of the most revered reptiles on the planet.
Their sentient nature has made them an iconic figure
in the world in conservation.
Yet the future of this creature is unknown.
As their species is either considered threatened
or endangered throughout the world wide range.
Still hope glows brightly on the horizon
as organizations like WWF and Traditional Owner Rangers
are constantly researching
and promoting the environmental preservation
and conservation of this species.
Ultimately ensuring a legacy for generations to come.
If you thought diving in with sea turtles was exciting,
make sure to go back and watch the episode
where I battled the treacherous seas
to swim in the presence of dragons.
And don't forget, subscribe, so you can join me
and the crew on our next low tide adventure.
(bear roars) (coyote howls)