(dramatic orchestral music)
- 65 million years ago,
dinosaurs vanished from the face of our planet.
25 years ago,
a revolutionary vision from the mind of Steve Spielberg
magically brought them back to life.
Anyone who has ever loved dinosaurs certainly remembers
the first time they watched Jurassic Park.
Eyes wide and filled with childlike wonder,
as this masterpiece of cinema
not only ignited the imaginations of millions,
but also influenced generations of filmmakers
to pursue their seemingly impossible dreams.
Myself and the Brave Wilderness crew are no exception,
so it is with an unprecedented level of excitement
that we proudly present Jurassic World Explorers.
(majestic orchestral music)
The Florida Everglades.
This breathtaking expanse of iconic wilderness
spans over one million acres,
and its watery ecosystem provides the perfect refuge
for one of our planet's top reptilian predators:
the American alligator.
These prehistoric-looking creatures have been on our planet
since the days when dinosaurs ruled the Earth,
yet they managed to survive
beyond the mass extinction of their ancient relatives.
(intense orchestral music)
I have always considered the American alligator
to be king of the Everglades, and in this episode,
our goal is to compare this living fossil
to the ultimate king of the dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex.
To achieve this ambitious comparison,
we will be working at the Everglades Alligator Farm.
In its own right, this location is quite similar
to a real live version of Jurassic World.
Considered an educational wildlife sanctuary,
they're home to many rescued
or rehabilitated animal species,
and every year thousands of visitors attend the park
to marvel at their centerpiece attraction:
the alligator breeding pond.
This body of water is home to over 200 predatory reptiles,
armed with bone-crushing jaws
and an insatiable appetite for the next meal.
I've been asked to construct a team of crocodilian experts
that will help me catch, collect biometric data,
and microchip one of the largest alligators in the pond.
The reason behind this request
is so that the park can gauge the health
of this breeding population,
but before we embark upon our mission,
first let's meet the capture team.
Mike Easter is a master snaresman, and for over a decade
he's been working with various conservation groups
to catch, tag, and promote the preservation
of large crocodilians.
Chris Gillette is a crocodilian behavioral expert
who has an unprecedented level of knowledge
when it comes to recognizing and reading the moods
of these highly intelligent reptiles.
And last, but certainly not least,
is Brave Wilderness's very own Mario Aldecoa,
a seasoned wildlife biologist
who specializes
in crocodilian breeding, health, and wellness.
In their particular fields,
these three are considered to be some of the top minds,
and if there was ever a perfect team
to help me accomplish the task at hand, it was them.
(thunderous orchestral music)
As the sun sank low in the sky,
we carefully prepared the snares
and double-checked our data collection kit.
The team was now ready, and with our plan in place,
it was time to head out into the park.
In ominous Jurassic fashion,
a large tropical storm loomed on the horizon,
and it was neither dissipating or changing course,
which meant that we would need to work quickly
to accomplish our objectives.
Catch team to camera team.
We are coming down the perimeter fence,
moving through sector five, approaching paddock nine.
Are you guys ready?
- [Man On Radio] This is camera team,
we're locked and loaded.
Ready here at paddock nine.
- Copy that.
- Our flashlight beams
illuminated the breeding pond's perimeter,
and I felt a surge of adrenaline rush into my bloodstream.
As my mind danced with nostalgic memories
of the Tyrannosaurus rex
crashing through the electrified fence.
With a rugged crunch of gravel,
we halted to a stop just before a series of gates.
This was the restricted entryway into the alligator paddock.
All right guys, this is it.
We have reached sector five, paddock nine,
and just on the other side of these gates
is the alligator breeding pond.
Now, our goal tonight is to extract one of the largest males
so that we can pull biometric data,
but we wanna be as covert as possible.
So Mark, if you're ready, switch on the infrared.
- [Mark] All right, here we go.
Everybody, lights out.
Going dark.
- Okay, good.
All right, guys.
What we need to do is go through both of these gates,
stay quiet, try not to spook the alligators,
and then we're gonna catch one of the big boys.
Here we go.
(ominous music) (gate clanks)
- Cautiously, we stalked along the pond's rocky edge
until we made our way to the waterline.
We had arrived, and as we peered out across the dark water,
our lights reflected off the eerie glowing eyes
of countless alligators,
an intimidating congregation of hungry reptiles,
all watching and waiting for their chance
to savor a fresh meal.
That is a lot of eyeballs.
The team was in place,
and there was no turning back now.
It was time to catch a modern-day Tyrannosaurus rex.
All right, Chris,
let's start introducing meat into the equation
and see if we can get some of the animals to come in.
(meat splashes)
All right, camera team, you can move up.
Wow, that was a big gator just went--
- [Man] That's a big boy, whoo!
- [Man] Bring them in, here they come.
- [Man] Watch out. (alligator splashing)
- [Man] That's the one, I think.
- [Man] Maybe, but we got plenty coming in.
- [Man] I say go for it, guys.
- [Man] Chris, bring him up.
- [Man] Animal's on, animal's on.
- [Man] Hit the light.
- [Man] Light!
- [Man] Hold, hold, hold, hold, hold.
Give him a little slack, little slack.
- With the snare secured around the giant reptile
a battle of prehistoric proportions
broke out between behemoth and man.
(suspenseful orchestral music)
The ultimate tug-of-war game was under way,
and the stakes could not have been any higher.
For us, a win meant safely getting the animal on land
to collect our data.
A loss meant getting pulled into a watery fate
filled with hungry alligators.
So, we have one of the largest animals
on the end of the rope,
but the problem is there are alligators everywhere.
We need to try to back off some of the other animals
before we bring this one up.
Look at that.
We're starting to evoke feeding spots,
and the last thing we want
is for any of us to fall down there into the pit.
The alligator fought us
with an unmatched level of reptilian power,
and when possible we wrestled it back toward the shore
with all of our might.
The process repeated itself for nearly 45 minutes,
and it was exhausting.
What the goal is here
is to let the animal actually tire itself out.
Once it gets up on land, it is going to explode in power.
The less of an explosion we face,
the better chance we have of not being bitten,
and we certainly don't wanna cause any injury to the animal,
so it's best to just let it tire out
while it's in the water.
In exhaustion, I gasped for air
as streams of sweat poured down my face.
My muscles were screaming for relief,
but it was time to pull the giant from the water.
- [Man] Here we go, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull, pull.
- [Coyote] The safest plan of action
was for Mike and I to stay focused on the rope,
keeping it taught
so the alligator couldn't run out more slack.
Chris would carefully move behind the animal,
steering clear of the jaws,
and to hoist its tail up and out of the water
and onto the embankment.
Finally, with an incredible burst
of adrenaline-fueled might,
we hauled the prehistoric-looking reptile
from the watery confines of the pond.
- [Man] Mike, you got him?
- [Mike] I got him.
Yeah, watch the jaws, Mario.
There we go.
Pull him back, pull him back, hold, hold, hold, hold.
- [Coyote] The alligator was massive.
With its mouth gaped open,
the animal swung its head straight into fight mode.
Just a single bite
from the Tyrannosaurus-like jaws of this reptile
can pack enough power to crush and kill a human.
- [Man] Mark, I'm switching to regular.
- All right, guys, what we need to do now
is actually secure the alligator's jaws,
and that is arguably the most dangerous thing
that we're gonna do in this episode.
Now, to do that,
I'm gonna actually get on the back of the alligator,
hold it in place, Mike's gonna follow behind me,
and then Mario and I are gonna work together
to make sure that we can snare them shut
so that we can start collecting biometric data.
Whoo, all right, guys, this is perfect.
You guys set?
- [Man] Yep, we're ready.
- Bring the tail straight?
- Yup. - Okay.
All right, this guy doesn't like this.
Hold on.
- [Man] We're not securing the jaws before we go?
- No, I'm moving back like this.
- [Man] Watch the tail, Mario.
- [Man] Watch yourself, watch yourself.
- [Man] There we go, there we go.
There we go, ready.
Ready? - Yep.
- Guys got a good shot? - Yep.
- One, two, three.
(alligator hissing)
- There we go, whoa!
Whoo, listen to that holler.
Okay, I've got my weight right behind his legs here
and on his neck.
Now, the most important thing we need to do
is secure those jaws,
but before we do, go ahead and zoom in on those teeth,
and that is impressive right there.
Look at that skull structure.
That is a massive animal, and the American alligator
has one of the most powerful bite forces in the world,
and when it comes to reptiles,
nothing tops this as king in the United States.
Now try to imagine
what the bite of a T. rex would be like.
- [Man] No, no! (T. rex roaring)
(bones crunching) (man screaming)
- [Coyote] With more than 50 serrated teeth,
and extra-powerful muscles in their necks,
they were capable of biting with over 7,000 pounds of force,
allowing them to rip and throw a hundred-pound chunk of meat
in the air,
using a terrifying behavior called inertial feeding.
- [Coyote] All right, bring the snare in.
There we go.
Careful, careful.
Watch your fingers.
Mike, you got a good hold?
- [Mike] I got it.
- [Coyote] Okay.
- [Mike] Works good.
- [Coyote] He's got power, guys, he's got power.
- [Mike] Coyote, give a little downward push on the top jaw,
downward push, downward push, good.
- [Man] You good, Chris?
- [Chris] Yeah, his head's so big
I can barely get my hands around it.
- [Man] All right, going in the danger zone.
- [Man] There's no such thing as too much here.
- [Man] Yep.
- Less power opening the mouth than closing it,
but still, that head becomes a battering ram
if this alligator decides to shift.
Be careful Mario.
I'm actually gonna close the animal's eyes down
a little bit.
Keep it calm.
Now, one really cool thing that I wanna show you guys,
a feature that exists in crocodilians and some birds,
is the fact that they have a nictitating membrane.
That's a little protective lens over the eyeball
that defends that eye.
So, watch this, go ahead and zoom in tight on its eyeball.
- Ran out of tape.
- Watch, watch, watch, watch.
- [Man] Okay.
- [Coyote] All right, here we go, guys, ready?
I'm gonna gently close down the eye.
Ready?
One, two, three, open.
(gasps) Did you see that?
- [Man] Oh yeah.
- Now, that clear goggle helps protect the eye.
You may also recognize that
in Jurassic World: Falling Kingdom from the indoraptor.
That hybrid dinosaur
was created with a nictitating membrane,
and when these alligators completely get out of the water
and walk on all four limbs,
they really do look like a prehistoric creature.
Now, as we know, crocodilians have been on the planet
for 240 million years.
These animals were around during the time of the dinosaur,
they competed with dinosaurs, they even ate dinosaurs,
and as we know, because we're filming this episode today,
they have survived beyond the dinosaurs.
Tyrannosaurus rex roamed the Cretaceous period,
between 68 and 66 million years ago.
(T. rex roaring)
A significant amount of time after the first crocodilians,
yet what's fascinating is that at one point
they both shared a common ancestor
with a lineage of ruling reptiles known as archosaurs.
(T. rex roaring)
All right, guys, he's building up power.
Hold, hold, hold.
Just let him
let him do what he's gonna do.
- [Man] Oh man.
- Look at that.
Even with the two of us on top of this reptile,
it is capable of standing up and moving us,
and I think it's probably warranted
that now we collect the biometric data.
- [Man] Let's put this blindfold on him.
- Yep. - Ready.
- That will just keep the reptile calm while we do this.
I'm gonna gently push the snout down.
Using a flexible tape measure,
we accurately collected the length of the animal's skull.
- [Man] 50.8.
- [Coyote] And its full body from snout to tail tip.
- [Man] 348.5.
- (gasps) That's a big animal.
What is that in feet?
- [Man] 11 1/2 feet.
- Wow, that is a massive reptile right there.
11 1/2 feet,
and I would guess somewhere between 600 and 700 pounds.
Next, Mario needed to gently extract a blood sample
from the alligator's tail.
- Honestly, I don't know
if this needle's gonna be big enough.
- Okay.
- The skin
and the thickness of the scales on this animal is huge.
We're gonna try,
and the goal is just to get a little bit of blood
so we can send it off to analysis.
- Okay, great.
Now, this blood sample,
what it will do is help us determine
the health of this alligator population as a whole,
and you know what this reminds me of,
that scene in Jurassic World: Falling Kingdom,
when Owen and Claire have to do the blood transfusion
between the Tyrannosaurus rex and Blue.
How we doing back there, Mario?
- [Mario] Oh, there we go.
I got a flash.
Got some blood.
- Yes, to an alligator, that's just like a little pinprick.
We wanna put as little stress on the animal as we can.
With a viable blood sample secure,
it was time for the last, crucial step:
implanting an Avid microchip.
This Avid chip is a unique identifier for the animal.
You guys have actually seen us do this before
with other crocodilians
and, of course, the lions in South Africa.
Now, this is not a tracking mechanism,
like we saw with the Indominus rex,
but it will help us uniquely identify this animal
if it's captured again in the future.
- All right, guys.
We're gonna start it right here
on the right side of the tail, in between this scale fold.
Ready?
Going in.
Check it out, Chris.
(chip reader beeps)
- [Chris] There it is.
- Excellent.
So from now on,
this animal is gonna be identified with that number.
If we catch it back in the future, we'll scan it,
and if it's this animal, we can compare data,
see if it's grown, and assess its health again.
- All right, guys, this was incredibly successful.
We have garnered all of the biometric data that we need.
Chris, if you wanna remove the towel, I've got the neck.
- All right, ready? - Yeah.
(gasps) Reveal the beast.
All right, guys, well, we are pretty much winding down,
and it is time to get the alligator
back into the breeding pond.
Now, what we're gonna do is take the tape off of its snout,
we're gonna remove the neck snare,
I'm gonna give you guys an outro, and then it's a wrap.
All right, Chris, you ready?
- [Chris] Yes.
- Okay, I'm gonna gently close the alligator's eyes down
to keep it calm.
There you go, big guy.
Good, good, good, good.
All right, snout coming up.
Mike, hold position.
- [Mike] Good.
- Okay, jaws are hot.
I'm removing my hand from the eyes.
There we go.
Okay, guys, I'm gonna loosen up the neck snare.
Here we go, ready?
- [Chris] You could pass me that slack
right here. - Yep, there you go.
All right, I got a hold on the neck.
Feed it through a little bit more.
Good, good.
Ooh, that's a delicate little balance right there.
Nicely done, Chris.
Perfect, whoo!
There we have it.
- [Man] Ooh, Coyote.
You feel that cold breeze?
- That wind is coming in, guys.
- That storm's about to hit. - We're gonna have to
wrap this scene up.
- [Man] All right, good stuff.
Under tarp, under tarp.
- All right, guys, we have a massive storm
that is about to push through,
but this has been incredibly successful,
safely capturing the king of the Everglades,
the American alligator.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next Jurassic World Adventure.
All right, Mike, you hop off first.
Here we go, guys, I'm rolling off the gator.
Here we go.
In admiration, we watched
as the massive alligator rose up on all four legs
and slowly sauntered back into the sanctuary
of its watery realm.
(menacing orchestral music)
From its bone-crushing jaws to its long, muscular tail,
when you witness
a prehistoric-looking creature like this in action,
it's not hard to recognize the similarities it shares
with something like Tyrannosaurus rex,
and while the tyrant king may be long gone,
the king of the Everglades still proudly rules
in the age of modern-day dinosaurs.
Whoo!
All right, guys,
well, that is a wrap on the Tyrannosaurus rex episode
for Jurassic World Explorers,
and it couldn't have ended in a more epic fashion.
A Jurassic-sized storm just pushed through,
and pushed us into cover.
Man, that was incredible getting the king of the Everglades,
a modern-day dinosaur, the American alligator,
up close for the cameras.
As the storm rumbled through,
it carried within its walls of wind and water
an unbelievable similarity
to the tropical storm in Jurassic Park.
(T. rex thudding) (T. rex roaring)
Maybe it was just a coincidence,
but for myself and the Jurassic World Explorers,
the ending of this episode strangely felt like a scene
from one of the greatest movies of all time.
(T. rex roaring)
(dramatic orchestral music)
If you love the Jurassic franchise as much as we do,
then make sure to go back and watch the films
from Universal Home Entertainment
that sparked an adventure 65 million years in the making.
This collection is now available
on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download.
Hey, Coyote Pack,
if you're excited for Jurassic World Explorers,
make sure to tune in next week
to the Jurassic World YouTube channel,
as we enter an enclosure with a modern-day velociraptor,
and don't forget, subscribe to their channel,
then click the notification bell
so you can join me and the crew
on our next Jurassic World adventure.
(logo thudding) (animal roaring)
(distant bird calling)