- [Coyote Peterson] We are approaching Raccoon Key.
This is our destination for the day.
About a mile in length.
Completely uninhabited,
which makes this very exciting for myself and the team.
Anything's possible.
You never know what you're going to find
on an uninhabited island.
(water splashing)
(soft orchestral music)
(muffled wind)
This is it.
- [Crew] She said there's definitely rattlesnakes around.
(record scratch)
- I tell you guys,
if we found a rattlesnake today on this island,
it just shows you that there are
other biological landmines
that can exist in environments like this
that you do not expect.
We are so far away from the mainland right now.
It's amazing that a rattlesnake could possibly be out here.
Wow,
this is so cool.
(electrical blip pulsing)
Raccoon Key.
Walking around on this island
truly feels like we are on another planet.
All of these trees are
completely bleached white.
They look like alien fingers
and all of the plant life down here
is really, really dense.
All right Carrie,
you said there's a pocket of water this way?
- [Carrie] Yep!
Right ahead of you.
- Okay.
Just keep pressing through here.
- [Carrie] Yep.
(digital typing)
(soft marimba music)
- Whoa!
Is that all mud out there?
Is this on,
this is on actual rock.
- [Carrie] The outside is rock,
but it gets really muddy towards the middle
so I wouldn't venture too far out.
- Now is this the kind of spot where you might see
a crocodile or an aligator?
- [Carrie] Sure, yeah.
Especially on the Keys.
- Okay.
I don't see anything at the moment.
I'm gonna venture out just a little bit further.
(water splashing)
(marimba music resumes)
Whoa it is sinky!
This is cool.
The water's actually really crystal clear.
Lots of interesting fish.
Oh!
I found something neat!
I think it's a dead iguana.
Here, you hold the camera.
This is gonna be,
it might just be,
it might just be hiding.
It might be still alive.
Hold on.
You got this?
So just kinda keep me in frame the whole time.
- [Carrie] Sure.
It's either dead of it's hiding.
Tough to tell.
(marimba music continues)
It is very much alive.
Wow! Look at that!
- [Carrie] That's insane.
- We have just found Godzilla.
Hiding amongst the water.
Here, on Raccoon Key.
Unbelievable!
And these are the types of creatures
that you can find out here in the wild like this.
A beautiful male iguana.
Not full grown,
but absolutely gorgeous.
Look at all the striping down the length of the body.
Now, what I do need to watch out for
is that bull-whip type tail.
Oh my gosh!
This is so cool!
I stepped out here into the water,
you can see the water is very reddish in coloration,
and it's got a rather high salinity
so iguanas do just fine if they are in salt water.
He must've heard us approaching,
dove off the the mangroves
and stayed hidden.
And there's nothing cooler
than seeing an animal hiding beneath the water.
And at first I was like, oh it might be dead.
But, no, it's not.
It's alive.
How beautiful is that reptile?
My goodness.
And it's amazing because iguanas are excellent swimmers,
so for a reptile like this to go from the mainland
all the way out to this island.
And as you can see,
that coloration when you look at his back,
is absolutely epic.
Got little horns up on the nose.
That, makes the adventure so totally worth it.
Searching for mosquitoes,
yet we find a beautiful iguana.
How cool is that.
All right buddy, there you go.
(water splash)
(laughing)
That was awesome!
(tropical music)
- I have found another pocket of water.
Let's give that a little test real quick.
Oh wow, weird.
Oh that is some gloppy muck.
It smells atrocious.
High sulfur content.
And that is probably due to
all the rotting plant material
that falls down from these trees.
(muffled wind)
Oh!
We've got an iguana.
This might be the iguana that I caught earlier
or it might be a totally different one.
For the sake of this moment.
We are going to catch it.
Nope, it's definitely a different one.
You can see it.
It's right down there.
I'm gonna make the catch.
(suspenseful woosh)
Got it!
Look at that.
(vocal grunt)
Another iguana!
That is cool.
Not the same one that we caught earlier.
Iguana number two.
And what these iguanas will do
is hide out in all of the mangrove areas,
and when they hear something come close,
they will jump into the water,
bury down and hide.
And I think you're a different iguana.
You look smaller than the one we caught previously,
but how cool is that.
All right, I'm placing him down in the water.
Watch how he swims off.
Check this out.
(water splashing)
(dramatic music)
Like I said, you never know what your gonna find.
Whoa!
Slippery.
Check this out.
Oh!
What could've been a crocodilian skull
is just a massive piece of driftwood.
I got excited for a second.
And, I'll come back further into here.
I've got a little pocket in the mangroves.
Pretty cool.
Tucked back.
Nothing much to report.
All right, lets continue moving out in this direction.
Give you guys just a idea of where it is that I am.
(dramatic music)
I'm going all the way around that perimeter.
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!
Hold on a second.
Got something else right here.
Another iguana.
A bigger iguana.
Let me see if I can make this catch.
Wow, yeah, this is definitely a different one.
Very light coloration.
Let me see if I can get it.
That one actually looks a lot bigger.
Yep!
Definitely a bigger lizard.
Whoa!
That is a good size Godzilla right there.
Look at him.
Beautiful coloration.
Holy mackerel!
Look at the dark colors on the head.
Epic lizard.
Look at you!
Let me turn this direction.
Wow!
That is a true Godzilla.
Look at the dark head.
Sleepy eyes.
Hi buddy, how are you?
Black stripes running down the length of the body.
And look at that tail, I mean,
all in all, that is about a,
I'd say,
full length,
four foot lizard.
Holy cow!
Beautiful iguana.
I'm gonna turn him like this,
give you guys a little bit of scale.
That is awesome!
Our third iguana that we have come across on Raccoon Key.
Incredibly docile,
notice how it's basically just hanging out in my hand.
Now, you do have to worry about teeth
but the thing that's most dangerous is, of course,
gonna be that tail.
With all those spikes and that long slender end.
If he gets angry,
whips that around and catches me in the eye,
it is going to be a bad situation.
All right, well.
We are gonna call you the dark headed dragon of Raccoon Key.
I'm gonna release you back out into the wild.
See if we can get a shot of you swimming off.
Here we go.
Ready, one, two three, and off you go.
(splashing)
So there you have it.
Exploring here on Raccoon Key.
It is arguable to say
that I am the first person to ever explore
the watery interior of this body of water.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
(dramatic music)
(digital typing)
(soft chiming music)
(digital typing)
(soft harp music)
(wilderness sounds)