Last of the Giants (2022-…): Season 1, Episode 6 - Tension on the Line - full transcript

♪ ♪

CYRIL: Whoa, whoa.

Guys, grizzly.

Stop moving, stop moving, guys.

GEOFF: Yeah.
CYRIL: That's a big boy.

(whispers) Guys, don't move.

I hope it's just curious.

NARRATOR: Cyril Chauquet spends
his life traveling the world...

CYRIL: Easy, big guy.

NARRATOR: ...in search of massive fish...

CYRIL: Look at the size of that thing!



NARRATOR: No matter the danger...

Look at the amount of venom on that barb.

Careful!

NARRATOR: ...he'll do whatever
it takes to see these giants up close.

CYRIL: He could almost swallow me whole.

NARRATOR: But many of these
animals are also in danger...

They're facing a lot of challenges,
those fish.

NARRATOR: ...from habitat
destruction, pollution,

and commercial overfishing.

Now, Cyril and his team
of adventure filmmakers

are on a grueling mission
across the globe...

CYRIL: Look out!
GEOFF: Unbelievable.

CYRIL: Whoa, oh, yeah!

NARRATOR: ...to help scientists study



these fantastic creatures
and protect them.

We have the choice,

whether we preserve those
fish or we let them go extinct.

NARRATOR: Together, they'll fight
to save the Last of the Giants.

We made it.

NARRATOR: Previously...

Cyril and his team
traveled to British Columbia,

an untamed and dangerous place.

(Cyril grunts)

CYRIL: Whoa, guys, watch out.

CHRIS: What is it?
CYRIL: It's a black bear.

NARRATOR: Their mission...

To help protect
North America's last true giant,

the white sturgeon.

CYRIL: Hey, Colin.
COLIN: Hey, how's it going?

NARRATOR: They met up with Colin,

a scientist who is trying
to locate sturgeon

spawning grounds in order to protect them.

COLIN: If nothing is done,

these fish are definitely
headed in the wrong direction.

NARRATOR: He needs
Cyril to catch a fish over

seven feet long so he can tag it.

Wow, that's a back-breaking fish.

NARRATOR: They caught
a couple of big sturgeon...

CYRIL: Yes!

NARRATOR: But none huge enough to tag...

Can you believe that
this fish is way too small?

Ease off.

NARRATOR: Until finally
the team managed to get

a real giant on the line.

CYRIL: Oh, my God, yeah.

CYRIL: Thanks, man.

NARRATOR: The sound-man,
Manu, helped Cyril...

GEOFF: Colin, yeah, we've got a big one.

NARRATOR: While Jeff, the director,
calls Colin to come tag the fish.

Okay, see you soon. Bye.

NARRATOR: The biologist's boat
is close by.

He's on his way.

NARRATOR: And he should
be here in a few minutes.

CYRIL: Whoa, oh! Oh!
Watch out, watch out, watch out!

Watch out! Watch out!
Stop him, stop him, guys.

GEOFF: Get it.
Grab his tail, grab his tail!

Get it, Cyril!

CYRIL: Got it, got it.
GEOFF: Don't let go!

CYRIL: I can't hold it, though.
I can't hold it!

(sighs)

Damn, damn it!

Damn it!

(sighs)

GEOFF: Man!
CHRIS: He was right here.

GEOFF: Yeah, he, like,
he went right by my feet.

If I didn't have my camera
in my hand, I would have...

CYRIL: I grabbed it,

but there was no way
I could hold on to this fish.

He was too big.

That was exactly the monster we're after.

That was the giant we're looking for.

I was trying to keep this fish
in, in a place

where there was enough water
for him to breathe and, and swim.

You know, I didn't
want to drag it into

the shallows here because
it's full of sand and the water here.

It's not good for him.

I wanted this fish to be as little
stressed as possible for the operation.

In the end, it was more stressful for us.

CYRIL: Did you see this thing?

It almost knocked you over, right?

Dude, it was like, yeah,
seriously, I thought

it was like a massive anaconda coming
through the water towards me.

And, and this fish was landed.

You know, it was kind
of sitting quiet there.

I removed the hook, no problem.

And then you got a burst
of energy at the last minute.

And whoom...

Watch out, watch out, watch out!

Terry, did you get a shot of it?

Yeah, it was massive, man.

It was huge when it skated through there.

It would have taken most
of you to hold onto it anyway.

GEOFF: Yeah.

NARRATOR: It's time to call Colin back
and give him the bad news.

GEOFF: Colin? Yeah, uh,
listen, uh, cancel that, uh...

The fish got off and got away.

CYRIL: All right, let's pack it up.

I'm getting bites
but they're not taking it.

They're not taking the bait.

NARRATOR: Once again,

the team goes home without
tagging the fish they're after.

CYRIL: It's okay, man. We'll get one.

GEOFF: We'll get it.

CYRIL: Yeah, oh, man,
you see the size of that fish?

GEOFF: It was huge!

(laughter)

NARRATOR: The next day,
the team is headed back to the Fraser,

determined to catch and tag
a giant sturgeon for Colin's research.

And this time, they're going
to try something different.

CYRIL: Hey, Braden.
BRADEN: Morning, Cyril.

CYRIL: How are you doing, man?
BRADEN: Good man, you?

CYRIL: Good to meet you, man.

NARRATOR: Braden is a local fisherman
who will take them out on his boat.

BRADEN: Pleasure working with you.

GEOFF: Sounds good.
CYRIL: Let's go catch one.

NARRATOR: And Colin
will follow in his boat.

So if Cyril catches a sturgeon,
he'll already be there to tag it,

hopefully avoiding yesterday's bad luck.

-So more than two meters, right?
-Yes.

CYRIL: More than two meters, guys.

You got that?

NARRATOR: White sturgeon
can grow to over 12 feet long,

so they're bringing help.

Braden's friend, Matt,
an expert fisherman.

CYRIL: Let's do it.

NARRATOR: And Colin's
technical assistant Garrett.

CYRIL: Is this the area that
we call the, uh, the heart of the Fraser?

-BRADEN: Yes, sir.
-It's here?

-Sturgeon capital of the world.
-Is it?

-Fishing BC.
-All right.

NARRATOR: Even in boats,

British Columbia's
largest river is far from safe.

CYRIL: Dangerous river, right?

-Dangerous river.
-Dangerous river.

Can't see what lies under there.
It's a big river,

big river, lots of water.

-Lots of debris, too, right?
-Lots of debris.

NARRATOR: Braden knows the river
and how to avoid the logs out here.

CYRIL: Don't want to hit that.

NARRATOR: But not all debris are logs.

BRADEN: That's a dead seal.

CYRIL: It's a dead seal, yeah.

NARRATOR: Colin stays close by,

so he'll be ready immediately
if Cyril catches a giant fish.

Meanwhile, Braden gets
ready to prep his bait,

and he's definitely a little particular.

BRADEN: Um, you're going to
see me wearing gloves all day.

So sturgeons have
an incredible sense of smell.

So any time I'm touching weights,
baits, leaders, everything that,

I'm always very cautious, um...

They smell better than us, right?

Absolutely, yeah, they're virtually blind.

So how they catch their food
is by movement and smell.

So if it doesn't smell right to them...

CYRIL: They're smart.
COLIN: They are very smart.

NARRATOR: To catch a sturgeon
huge enough to tag,

Braden uses big salmon pieces.

CYRIL: Nice cast, man.

Thank you. I've done it a couple times.

CYRIL: Yeah.

NARRATOR: And they put four lines
in the water to increase their odds.

CYRIL: Yeah, it feels weird not fishing
with my rods, but, you know,

-I'll get adjusted to yours.
-Exactly.

A rod is a rod, right? A reel is a reel.

NARRATOR: It's time to wait.

Somewhere beneath them could be a sturgeon

ready to suck up their bait
with its vacuum-like mouth.

To keep up with these fish,
the cameraman, Chris,

needs to be extremely quick on his feet.

-So when...
-So Chris?

-CHRIS: Yeah?
-If, uh, rod two goes, which one it is?

CHRIS: Two, it's here.

He's pretty fast, that guy.

Yeah. Ah. Three, three, three. Fish.

CHRIS: I got it.
CYRIL: One, one, one.

BRADEN: One, oh!

(laughter)

GEOFF: Hey, yo!

-I got it all figured out.
-GEOFF: Just keep doing it over.

NARRATOR: While they wait
for a sturgeon to eat their bait,

the team eats lunch.

Everyone except
the relentless cameraman, Chris.

You don't eat, do you?

CHRIS: Not a lot.

Yeah, no, I don't think
he's in his contract to eat.

And at the end of the day, he's got cramps
because he doesn't drink enough water.

CYRIL: Yeah because
he forgets to drink, too?

Yeah.

Forgets to, uh, eat, drink, sleep...

Rod three, rod three, rod three.

CYRIL: Yeah, here we go. Fish on, guys.

Yeah, he's coming. Oh, oh!

BRADEN: Oh, yeah. Nice fish.

CYRIL: It is, it is.
BRADEN: Beautiful fish.

-It's a giant.
-Nice job, Cyril.

CYRIL: Thank you, man.
Coming up again.

NARRATOR: This fish seems to be
the right length for Colin to tag.

Cyril can't afford to lose another giant.

This fish is so big,
it's running downstream.

-We can't stop it.
-BRADEN: Taking a lot of line.

(grunts)

CYRIL: Yep, are you,
are we getting up the anchor?

BRADEN: Yeah, I'm getting up the anchor.

CYRIL: If he keeps going that way,
we could lose this fish.

I'm going to run out of line.

That's why he's pulling up the anchor,
so we can chase this fish down.

NARRATOR: Raising the anchor
allows the boat to drift

with the fish and gives Cyril
a chance to get some line back.

We're drifting downstream.
The current is going this way.

So now we're,
we're drifting with the fish.

BRADEN: One thing we have
to be careful about in this area,

there's a lot of snags.

CYRIL: There's a lot of snags, huh?
BRADEN: A lot of snags.

NARRATOR: The river seems
to be filled with obstacles.

CYRIL: You see the sand that
you see on the barge there?

In some rivers,

in some environments can be
a problem for the fish, you know,

dredging basically they
extract the sand from the bottom

of the river and it destroys
fish habitats.

-Whoa.
-BRADEN: Big head shakes.

CYRIL: Big head shakes,
monstrous head shakes.

NARRATOR: To complicate things further,
the wind suddenly whips up hard,

making fishing even tougher.

CYRIL: That's a big fish, huh?
BRADEN: It is.

NARRATOR: And the eventual
surgery to implant a tag

possibly dangerous for the fish.

All right, you want to bump the boat
forward a little bit.

Keep this fish up
in the water column right now.

BRADEN: Yes, sir.

CYRIL: Okay, he's back in the back.

NARRATOR: If the fish manages
to swim under the boat,

it could break the line on the hull.

CYRIL: Come on, Fish. Stay with me.

(grunting)

(grunting)

GEOFF: Come on.

BRADEN: Nice job, Cyril.

CYRIL: Colin, I think
this is the one for you!

COLIN: Yeah!
CYRIL: Okay, here he is. Whoo!

Look at the size of this fish,
awesome fish.

NARRATOR: It's a nice sized fish,

but smaller than the one
that got away yesterday.

Hopefully, it's big enough
for Colin's research.

BRADEN: I'm going
to set the cradle up here.

NARRATOR: Braden sets up
a cradle to safely transport

the fish to shore and perform the surgery.

CYRIL: Incredible how
gigantic this fish is.

NARRATOR: Now comes the moment
of truth, to tag this fish...

CYRIL: Okay, measuring tape.

NARRATOR: Colin needs it
to be at least seven feet long.

Bigger fish have a greater
chance of being sexually active

during the life span of the tag.

CYRIL: Okay, I'm at the point
of the nose there.

-What do you got?
-NARRATOR: So if it's too short...

BRADEN: 86, seven foot one.

NARRATOR: ...they can't tag it.

CYRIL: Colin, seven foot one.
Do you want to tag it?

-COLIN: Yeah.
-We're going to go?

Okay, good. We're going, guys.

NARRATOR: Colin agrees to tag the fish.

Lots of water in the cradle, Cyril?

CYRIL: Yeah.
BRADEN: Perfect.

NARRATOR: But these are far
from ideal conditions for a surgery.

BRADEN: The wind,
I don't know if I'm gonna

be able to make it to the beach.
Fighting the wind.

CYRIL: We're getting a lot of
wind right now, a lot of waves,

and I'm holding on to the fish now
so we don't lose him.

But at least the fish
is breathing, you know,

I'm putting some water in
through here so he can breathe.

He's upside down, so he's resting.

It's a good resting position for the fish.

NARRATOR: Colin has a very
short time to perform the surgery.

The fish is already tired,

and they want to stress it
as little as possible.

CYRIL: I'm going to put a mask
to keep the procedure

as sterile as possible.

NARRATOR: Once Colin makes his incision,

he'll have less than a minute
to check the fish's sex,

insert the tag, and sew it back up.

Any longer could be life
threatening for the animal.

CYRIL: Okay, here we go.

COLIN: I'm gonna make
a small incision here.

CYRIL: Well done, man.

Here.

NARRATOR: Colin checks
the fish's sex by looking

at its internal reproductive organs.

COLIN: Female.
CYRIL: Female?

NARRATOR: Now it's time
to delicately insert the tag

without harming the fish.

COLIN: Tag is in place, sutures.

NARRATOR: Now, Colin needs
to quickly sew up the incision.

CYRIL: Hard in those conditions.

COLIN: Very tricky.
CYRIL: Very.

COLIN: About one inch off.
Cut right there, cut.

Perfect.

NARRATOR: Colin completed
the surgery perfectly.

CYRIL: Good job.
COLIN: Good job, guys.

Good job to you, man.

COLIN: Cyril, you want to measure?

CYRIL: Yeah, yeah.

NARRATOR: Now he wants to double
check the sturgeon's length.

The bigger the fish,
the better the chance that it's mature,

which means a better chance
for the tag to collect data

on the fish's spawning events.

CYRIL: 91 inches, 231 centimeters.

COLIN: Okay, now we can revive it.

NARRATOR: It's actually
five inches longer than

they originally thought,

but incredibly still at the bottom end
of what Colin needs for his research.

CYRIL: So you want an even
bigger fish possibly, right?

COLIN: For me, bigger the better.

These tags, you have
about a ten year battery life.

But on a fish that lives about 150 years?

Yeah. It's a pretty short timeframe.

And that's why I try
to tag fish over two meters,

and they have a much higher
chance of being sexually mature.

CYRIL: Right.

COLIN: So I could have the potential
of recording a spawning event.

Plan on catching
another fish either today,

-tomorrow or the next day.
-CYRIL: Right, right, yeah.

NARRATOR: They've succeeded
in tagging a big fish,

but it looks like the quest for a truly
giant white sturgeon isn't over yet.

My hands are starting to go numb here.

CYRIL: And so are mine.
And you get the easy part there.

You got the tail. You wanna switch?

-Burning the biceps.
-CYRIL: Kidding!

Such a magnificent creature.

The scutes are, are really sharp.

I don't know if you can see here,

but this is like a blade,
like it's so sharp, it's...

COLIN: Yeah, I can see here, the scute...

CYRIL: The scute.
COLIN: Sliced both my gloves.

CYRIL: He's ready.

Let's get him in the right direction.

He's leaving.

COLIN: There he goes.
CYRIL: All right.

COLIN: Right on.

Good job, good job,

-mission accomplished.
-GARRETT: Yes.

So what I'm going to do is fish
probably hasn't moved too far.

I'm going to go back and we're going
to get our mobile receiver set up

and we'll be able to ping that tag, uh,

-make sure we're picking it up.
-Sounds great.

NARRATOR: With the fish now tagged,

the team wants to make sure
the technology is working properly.

COLIN: This is the acoustic receiver here.

It's just got some weights on it
so we can keep it down in the water.

CYRIL: Okay.

NARRATOR: The tag emits an acoustic pulse

that should be picked up by
Colin's mobile receiver.

But after a few minutes,

they haven't even
picked up a faint signal.

It isn't a good sign.

CYRIL: How close do you
need to be to the fish for,

for you to be able to pick up a signal?

Couple hundred meters.

NARRATOR: It's not likely that
the sturgeon is already out of range.

The worsening weather
might be causing interference,

or it's a faulty tag.

Gonna be very hard to pick up any kind
of signal in the wind, right?

Wow, it's crazy right now, look,
the bough is almost under.

COLIN: Yeah, yeah, I've never
seen the wind this bad here.

This is completely unfishable.

CYRIL: Howling.
Look at the trees over there.

GARRETT: Do you wanna go back to the guys?

COLIN: Yeah.

NARRATOR: Colin calls off the search
and decides to head back

to shore to wait for the storm to pass.

The wind's coming from this direction,
you can see here.

Soon as we get around that corner,

our boats are going
to be slamming into that dock.

Slamming into that boat ramp.

We might be waiting
this out for a little bit.

There's just too much
background noise today

for us to be able to pick it up.

CYRIL: Yeah, I don't think we can pick
up anything in this weather.

You know, I mean
the wave action and the wind.

COLIN: These are ocean waves right here.

CYRIL: Yeah, it's ocean swell.

NARRATOR: Their boat is too small
for these rough water conditions.

Oh, the only time I see waves this big
are when the big tugs come by.

Doesn't happen every
day in this weather.

NARRATOR: And with still no signal,

Garrett keeps pushing
through the big waves

and finally gets their boat to shore.

COLIN: Oh, that's too rough!

We're taking four-foot waves
over the bough.

NARRATOR: The crew regroups.

Colin is eager to tag
an even bigger fish for his study,

but the wind gets worse.

(gusting winds)

BRADEN: Measuring now,

it's consistently blowing 83, gusting 125.

CYRIL: Miles an hour?
BRADEN: That's crazy.

CYRIL: Yeah.
No more fishing right?

Not for today.

CYRIL: Not for the next few days,
looks like?

Yeah.

NARRATOR: The team isn't
sure they can even make it

back to the dock today...

We're stuck on the river here.

We have too big a wave...

NARRATOR: But someone is willing
to take a calculated risk...

We're going to head
back and try for here, Garrett.

GARRETT: All right.

NARRATOR: And everyone joins in.

GARRETT: You hopping in with us?

-Good luck, guys.
-CYRIL: You, too. Good luck.

NARRATOR: It's a huge gamble...

Never seen anything like this.

-CYRIL: No?
-No, not here.

Wow.

NARRATOR: This once
in a lifetime windstorm is creating

gigantic waves that could
sink their small fishing boats.

BRADEN: I've never
seen it like this, buddy.

I know, it's crazy. Okay, buddy.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: After 45 minutes
in these raging waters...

CYRIL: Good job, man.

NARRATOR: They finally
make it to the docks.

I guess the fishing plans
will have to change.

NARRATOR: The intense winds
blowing in the Fraser Valley

forced the team to rethink
their strategy and their itinerary.

So Geoff maps out potential fishing spots.

Yeah, we can be there.

NARRATOR: While Cyril makes some calls.

All right, so we'll see you soon. Bye.

All right, boys, pack it up.

There's no need to, uh,
look for a sturgeon spot.

-GEOFF: No?
-It's a no.

No one is going to take
us fishing on the river.

It's too dangerous.

They think it's too wavy, it's too windy.

They say it'll keep blowing
like that for at least a week.

So we have a week,
let's make the best use of it.

GEOFF: So what's that mean?

CYRIL: That means that
we're prematurely going

on the next, uh, next mission,
which is the salmon.

NARRATOR: The team has to postpone
tagging a truly giant sturgeon.

But the second critical part
of the mission is waiting for them.

The Pacific salmon genus

includes 100-pound giants
and all its species

are the sturgeon's food source.

But some salmon stocks
have dropped drastically

and the predators that feed on them,
including eagles, bears, orcas,

and the white sturgeon,

could face catastrophic
consequences if nothing is done.

So that was, uh, Tanya on the phone.

NARRATOR: Dr. Tanya Brown
has recruited the team to collect

salmon samples deep in the northern wilds

where the terrain will be
seriously challenging.

CYRIL: We're going to go
for some real adventure now.

So grizzly bears, cold, wolves,
and really cold water.

Sounds good, no?

GEOFF: I wasn't ready for it,
but, uh, okay.

If we're going to do it now, let's do it.

CYRIL: We'll come
back here when we're done.

The sturgeon have been around
for what, 150 million years, right?

So they'll be here when we get back?

CYRIL: I guess so, right?

NARRATOR: They'll be
headed to a remote river system

over 600 miles north
of the Fraser River,

which winds through
towering mountain ranges

in a vast no man's land.

CYRIL: Let's do it.

NARRATOR: They'll be back
to catch a giant sturgeon.

GEOFF: Yeah, catch it, Cyril.
CYRIL: Ah! Got it.

NARRATOR: But for now, they forge ahead,

ready for the next mission.

CYRIL: All right,
giant white sturgeons, we'll be back.

NARRATOR: The next stage
of the team's mission begins

at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans,

where they meet one of the world's leading

salmon researchers
who's trying to save wild salmon.

CYRIL: Hey, Tanya.
DR. BROWN: Hey, hey.

-CYRIL: How are you?
-Nice to meet you.

-CYRIL: Nice to finally see you.
-Yeah.

-CYRIL: Yeah, that's great.
-This is Kat, my technician.

-Hi, nice to meet you.
-Kat, nice to meet you, I'm Cyril.

-KAT: Kat.
-Nice to meet you.

We've got a lot to cover today,
so let's, uh, let's get started.

-Let's uh, get started. All right!
-Yeah. Perfect.

NARRATOR: Dr. Tanya Brown
has been studying toxicity levels

in Pacific salmon,
how that affects their health,

and the predators that feed on them.

CYRIL: And Tanya,
what kind of contaminants

do you find in salmon?

We're, uh, detecting a number
of different compounds, um,

legacy contaminants such as PCBs, mercury,

newer contaminants, or substances.

For example,
cocaine has been detected in...

-Cocaine?
-Cocaine.

-In fish, there, there is...
-Yeah.

They find that, really?

Yeah, a long list of different contaminant
classes that we're looking at.

NARRATOR: The waterways
around major urban areas contain

many types of contaminants,

such as heavy metals,

recreational drugs, and pharmaceuticals

that come from industry waste
and human pollution.

Salmon are born in rivers

and migrate to the ocean to mature
before returning to spawn.

Along the way, they bioaccumulate
these contaminants,

which then transfer
to the animals that feed on salmon

and cause health issues.

We really, really
appreciate that you're helping us

get the samples
and it's going to help our research.

And it's...

Overall it's going to help
the environment, right? So...

-CYRIL: That's the idea.
-Yeah.

Yeah. All right. Show me how it's done.

-Okay.
-NARRATOR: For her research,

Dr. Brown urgently needs samples
from wild salmon in the north

so the team will travel
to one of the world's

most remote river systems
to catch, catalog,

and sample three
different related species:

coho salmon, pink salmon, and chum salmon.

Today, Cyril's practicing
with a Chinook salmon.

He has to learn
multiple sampling protocols,

collect caudal fin clippings to determine
the stock of the species,

scales to determine the fish's age,
and muscle tissue to determine

the fish's diet
and levels of contaminants.

CYRIL: Here we go.

NARRATOR: Before finally
cutting through the brain

to retrieve the otoliths,

two small bones used to determine
if the fish is wild or from a fish farm.

DR. BROWN: Okay, perfect,

so you're going to have
to get good at this.

Yeah, yeah, so...

Yeah, 'cause it'll be, uh, windy.

-Yeah.
-Most probably rainy.

You guys are paying attention because
it's a lot of information right now.

You're going to have
to help me out in the field here.

GEOFF: There's so much stuff.

Yeah, there is so much stuff, it's unreal.

KAT: There is a lot.

NARRATOR: All the samples will need
to be placed in a dry shipper,

a special container lined with foam that
has been saturated with liquid nitrogen,

a dangerously cold substance.

Oh, yeah, there's quite
a bit of space here...

NARRATOR: Keeping the samples
frozen at minus 190 degrees Celsius

or minus 310 Fahrenheit,

the dry shipper adds an extra
level of pressure on the team

because after only 14 days,
the liquid nitrogen will run out,

ruining all the samples inside.

So they have to get back
before that happens.

-Thank you so much.
-Thank you.

-DR. BROWN: Yeah.
-Thank you very much

for having me be part of this.

We look forward to your return...

Yeah, if, uh, if I ever return.

(laughter)

With our samples.

-CYRIL: Yeah, with the samples, yeah.
-With the samples.

As long as you get your kit back,
you don't really care, right?

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The next day,

the team takes a flight
deep into the interior of BC

to get to the remote river systems

that are the spawning grounds
of the Pacific salmon.

Bordering on Alaska,

this extremely remote wilderness is home

to black bears, grizzlies, wolves,
and other predators.

The terrain is steep
and jagged and crisscrossed

-by water so fast and cold...
-CYRIL: Ahh!

NARRATOR: That it can kill
you in a matter of minutes.

Out here, an accident
or a mistake could be deadly.

GEOFF: All right.
CHRIS: Let's go.

NARRATOR: The team hikes
towards a remote set of rivers

where salmon make
their yearly migration.

But the terrain is tough,
severely slowing their progress.

And with just over 12 days
before the dry shipper expires,

every second counts.

Ow. Easy with the branches, man.

GEOFF: Sorry, man.

TERRY: You're too close to Geoff.

Give him a couple paces 'cause
he'll smack you in the face...

(overlapping chatter)

NARRATOR: They've strayed off
their GPS coordinates a little.

Though it looks like the team
has at least found some water.

GEOFF: It's not a river, it's a swamp.

It's a swamp, yeah.

Beautiful.

(cawing)

GEOFF: What's that?
CYRIL: Looks like a dead animal.

Oh, it's a moose, it's a moose carcass.

The bear must have killed it.

Be careful, guys,
he might still be around.

NARRATOR: Cyril loads his Bear Banger,

a loud but harmless device
used to scare bears away.

CYRIL: It's pretty fresh.

I don't know what killed it,
it was probably a grizzly bear.

Do you have your Bear Bangers?

MANU: Quiet please.
TERRY: What?

Please, guys.
Please, guys. I heard something.

GEOFF: What is it?
MANU: Shh, quiet.

I hear something in the forest.
I think it's getting closer.

I heard something.
I'm not sure what it was.

CHRIS: I didn't pick that up.

I did. It's right there.

CYRIL: Let's keep going, guys.
He may come back to its kill.

NARRATOR: Though they're massive,

a charging grizzly bear
could easily catch the team.

CYRIL: Yeah, so let's keep moving, guys.

GEOFF: We're out of here?

CYRIL: Because the forest
might be far but this thing

can come charging
out of the forest in no time, so...

(Geoff speaking)

(Cyril speaking)

CYRIL: I mean...

Hey, guys, come here.
I found the river.

The GPS was right.

We finally made it to
the river after hiking, like,

six miles of this stuff.

Let's go, looks good down there.

CYRIL: I use a fly rod here.

It's perfect, it's shallow enough
and salmon, they love flies.

NARRATOR: The team has finally
found one of the tributary rivers

where salmon should come
in from the ocean to spawn.

There's fewer fish around this year,

but if Cyril manages to catch one,

they'll collect the samples critical
for Dr. Brown's study.

I have a good feeling
about this spot in here.

Oh, yeah, fish. Fish, fish, fish, fish.

(grunts)

Ah, he's coming up,
coming up, coming up.

It's right there, right there.

Oh yeah, it's a coho.

NARRATOR: It's one of the salmon
species they're after

and could provide
the samples they need.

It's a nice coho, look at that.

NARRATOR: But there's a problem.

CYRIL: Bright red.

That means we won't be able to sample it.

GEOFF: Aw.

CYRIL: Hey, look at this fish. Beautiful.

At least we know they're here.

Oh, wow! Yes, ah!
Look how beautiful this fish is.

(sighs)

It's got its spawning colors,
you know, the...

The pink hue on the...
On the belly, that means

this fish is spawning right now.

So I'm going to set it free right away.

Beautiful fish.

NARRATOR: It's one of the target species,
but the fish hasn't spawned yet.

And since there are
so few around this year,

Cyril lets it go to reproduce.

CYRIL: Bye, bud.
CHRIS: All right.

NARRATOR: It's frustrating not
to have been able to sample it,

but at least they caught
the right species of fish.

BOTH: Yeah.

NARRATOR: The clock is ticking.

In 12 days, the dry shipper
will lose its super cooling ability.

So they need to get some samples soon.

But after an hour of trying,

the team decides to hike further upriver.

(laughter)

CYRIL: Have we've been
catching a lot of samples.

This thing is so heavy
with samples right now.

It's just awkward.

NARRATOR: The guys leave the river

and cut through the forest
to head upstream,

but a rainstorm makes
sure they won't be drying out.

And when they reemerge,

they find the river
has completely changed.

CYRIL: All right, that's incredible.

All this water and look,

it's turning the water
very murky, super-fast.

It was, uh, the water was crystal clear,
like an hour and a half ago.

And the water level is rising,
draining so much water.

There's so many mountains around here,
little creeks everywhere,

just drains all into this river here.

Wow, it's just going to
make the fishing harder now.

NARRATOR: Because the river is now deeper,

Cyril uses his spinning rod.

This will help cover more
water faster and hopefully

get the lure down to the salmon
as quickly as possible.

Beautiful weather.

Oh, man.

What you've got to do
for science sometimes.

Oy. Fish!

Here we go, guys. Guys, fish. Fish on.

What is this? What is this fish?

Oh, it's a Chinook. It's a big Chinook.

Oh, man. Aw!

I think it's a dying Chinook though,
it's not one of the species we're after.

Wow, this is a giant salmon.

Oh, look at this fish.

Oh, my God, look how monstrous it is.

It looks like a warrior zombie.

Look at the teeth, the teeth
that it's got in the hook jaw.

This fish is a real fighter.

I'm going to put it back because...
So that he can do what it's got to do now,

which is slowly die in peace.

I'm sorry I caught you, buddy.
I didn't want to do that.

NARRATOR: While Chinook
are Pacific salmon,

they are not one of the three
species Tanya needs.

She needs samples from
coho, pink, and chum salmon.

CYRIL: Man, it's incredible.

Can you believe that this fish
a few weeks ago was totally

silver swimming in
the ocean, coming out,

coming up the rivers
here to spawn and die here?

And now it looks like a... Like a zombie.

Look at the mold on its tail.

Look at the mold on the adipose fin
here on the back here, slowly decaying.

It's in the process of dying right now.

What they have to go
through to spawn is incredible.

They're true king of the rivers
around here.

(sighs)

There's got to be some coho around here.

All right, let's try
to find a clearer river.

NARRATOR: The water is more clear
and shallow in this small tributary,

so Cyril goes back to his fly rod.

CYRIL: It's so cold.

Fishing has been so much harder than, um,

we thought and there should
be tons of fish migrating here,

but there's been barely any.

I think we might have to
hike even further up river.

CYRIL: Oh, look, look, look,
over there on the beach.

Bear, right there.

NARRATOR: The black bear
is a safe distance from the team.

CYRIL: Oh, look. Another black bear.
Look at that.

NARRATOR: But it's not alone.

CYRIL: Man, we're surrounded by
black bears, they're everywhere.

We've got to watch our backs here.

Yeah, I mean, he's on
the other side of the river.

But, uh, that means they're here.

CYRIL: Yeah, they're definitely here.

And, and you won't,
you won't see them coming.

NARRATOR: Bears feed on
the migrating salmon

and could become aggressive
if they view the team as competition.

TERRY: Ah, he's on the move.

NARRATOR: They're rare,
but black bear attacks do happen...

(man screaming)

NARRATOR: And they're not
the only bears out here.

CYRIL: Never know,
and there might be a big 500,

600-pound grizzly coming out
of the bushes from behind us.

GEOFF: Yeah.
CYRIL: Yeah, yeah.

GEOFF: Maybe it's time to move spots, huh?

CYRIL: Not a bad idea,
especially with fewer salmon,

might be more aggressive.

This is wild country here.

NARRATOR: So the team heads further
upriver to try and find a safer spot

to catch some salmon.

CYRIL: Hey guys, look at that.
More bears around here.

GEOFF: Hmm.
CYRIL: Everywhere.

GEOFF: Yep, he's a big boy, too.
CYRIL: Yeah.

NARRATOR: They push on in hopes
of catching either a coho, pink,

or chum salmon so they can
finally get their first samples

for Dr. Brown's research.

CYRIL: Uh-oh.

(groans)

Wait, don't, don't come here.

TERRY: I'll come and help you.

CYRIL: That's okay, I got it.

NARRATOR: Looks like the team has
found itself a nice patch of quicksand.

CYRIL: Are you okay, Geoff?
GEOFF: I'm over here.

CYRIL: You're fine over there?
GEOFF: Whoa!

CYRIL: You're not fine anymore, I guess.

NARRATOR: Quicksand is created
when water saturates loose sand,

creating a liquefied soil that
can no longer support weight.

(Cyril groans and laughs)

NARRATOR: Contrary to popular belief,

quicksand will not swallow you whole.

Moving slowly and spreading
your weight over a larger

surface area will make
freeing yourself much easier.

CHRIS: Hey, guys.
TERRY: Whoa!

CHRIS: I'll stay here, okay?

CYRIL: Hey, what's happening with Manu?

How come, how come Manu...
Are you God or what?

MANU: Jesus, I'm Jesus, man.

TERRY: What?

(laughter)

TERRY: That's it, you're going in.

CYRIL: Geez, Manu.
TERRY: Aw, geez.

♪ ♪

CYRIL: The other side of the river there,

it looks really deep.

Looks like we have a deep pool.

I can see, actually I can see it dropping
off about ten feet away from me.

It drops off into that deep pool.

And deep water in a river
like this is good because

fish tend to be at the bottom.

You know, the deep pool,
that's where the...

There's the least amount of current.

So they go there to rest
on their migration upriver.

So, what we're going to see, explore,
is anybody home?

Uh, sorry, guys, this sucks.

GEOFF: Catch us a fish.

CYRIL: What do you think I'm trying to do?

This is as good as fishing gets.

Pfft.

Beautiful weather, really hot.

Lots of samples.

The crew's super motivated.

(Geoff cackles)

TERRY: Are you in the same place I am?

I thought we were in a different planet
maybe there for a second.

Yeah, we're in the same place.
Man, we're on the same boat.

TERRY: A sinking boat.

CYRIL: Oh, man.

NARRATOR: There are supposed
to be thousands of salmon

migrating up these rivers from the ocean.

But so far, the only
ones the team has found

weren't right for sampling.

With the clock running
down on the dry shipper

and all the dangers up ahead,

the team might not make it on time.

GEOFF: That looks a little nasty.

CYRIL: What do you think, Terry?

TERRY: That's Devil's Club there, but...

Yeah, it's Devil's Club infested.

NARRATOR: Cyril hopes to save
time and avoid bears feeding

on salmon by cutting through the woods.

But its thick brush
filled with Devil's Club,

a large shrub covered in thorns.

TERRY: Let's just follow the river.

CYRIL: We can, but I think
it's going to be much shorter

if we cut across
because it bends around.

Remember the map.

GEOFF: All right, well, show of hands.

Okay, who wants to take the river?

Yeah, I don't mind taking the river.

GEOFF: Okay.

Well, it's full of bears there...

There's a lot of salmon
running right now, but...

So you want what?

-Forest.
-Forest, yeah.

Well, that's two, no...

GEOFF: It's a tie.

What do you say?
You're a tie-breaker there.

CHRIS: Forest too, let's go.

All right.
-Forest?

CHRIS: Yup. Yup.
GEOFF: Forest it is.

TERRY: You're gonna need a bigger knife.

-Nah, we're fine.
-GEOFF: Okay.

CYRIL: Let's get in this mess.

GEOFF: How much
shorter again is this route?

CYRIL: Uh...
TERRY: About two hours longer.

(laughter)

CYRIL: By the looks of it,
you might have been right about the river.

GEOFF: Oh, yeah. Thorns.

CYRIL: It's really not
that bad in here, actually.

(grunting)

TERRY: (bleep)
MANU: What is it?

TERRY: Just grabbed onto
a piece of (bleep) Devil's Club.

NARRATOR: Terry just
got a fistful of thorns.

I'm not going up there.

-MANU: You're not coming?
-Nope, going that way.

CYRIL: Terry, you all right?
TERRY: I'll meet you there.

CYRIL: Yeah,
so you're going through the river?

No, no way, man.

I'm going that way.

NARRATOR: In this bear-filled wilderness,

the team needs
to stick together to survive.

CYRIL: No man, we're not going
to let you go down this river alone.

The more we are, the safer it is.

MANU: Hey, Terry, think it might help
if we all pee on your hand?

CYRIL: Disinfect.

NARRATOR: Terry makes quick
work of removing the thorns.

Devil's Club hurts,
but Terry's wounds aren't serious.

CYRIL: We like you, man.
We're not going to leave you behind.

TERRY: This is safer.

CYRIL: We'll never leave you behind.

Hey, guys, come on.
Seriously, let's move,

because we got to,
still got to set up camp.

Okay, walking right into a bear habitat.

Thanks, Terry.

That's what I live for.

NARRATOR: As if on cue,

the team soon encounters
the worst case scenario.

CYRIL: Whoa, whoa, grizzly.

GEOFF: Stop moving, stop moving, guys.

CYRIL: That's a big boy. Terry, back up.

I hope it's just curious.

(whispers) Guys, don't move.

NARRATOR: The bear sniffs
the air as if trying to decide

if the team is friend, foe, or food.

(exhales)

CYRIL: All right, he's gone, guys.

Whoa, man.

NARRATOR: They finally find what seems
like an ideal spot for salmon fishing,

a calm pool next to the main current.

With another day almost over,

the pressure is on to catch a salmon
and collect their first samples.

Ooh.

Yeah, I really love to
fly fish, but, you know,

with a spinning rod,
or conventional in general,

you cover a lot more water a lot faster.

And when time is running out,

I guess that's the way to go.

♪ ♪

CYRIL: Ooh, ooh!

It's a good, guys,
get the sampling kit ready.

I think it's a coho.

GEOFF: All right.
CYRIL: It's a coho.

That's what we want,
that's the fish we want.

Whoo!

All right, yes, a coho.

That's one of the fish
that we need for research.

Man, I really don't
like to keep fish, you know,

samples from this one
will help save the species.

Hopefully.

Sorry buddy, science needs you.

NARRATOR: Dr. Tanya Brown,
a leading salmon toxicologist,

needs the team's help to study
the contaminants

found in remote salmon stocks.

You guys are paying attention?

'Cause that's a lot
of information right now.

GEOFF: It's so much stuff.

Yeah, there is so much stuff, it's unreal.

KAT: There is a lot.

NARRATOR: In order to successfully
collect the samples,

the team has to improvise a sterile
research lab out here in the wild.

If they're not careful, dirt,

debris and other contaminants
could ruin the samples.

CYRIL: Either way, guys,
we got a fish, huh?

So stay alert.

The bushes right here,

there could be a bear
coming in at any point in time.

NARRATOR: The team must collect a variety

of important data
including GPS location...

126.175.

GEOFF: 126.175. Okay, got it.

NARRATOR: The fish's length...
CYRIL: 68 centimeters.

NARRATOR: Scale samples
to determine the fish's age...

CYRIL: Scale about 10-0-9-0-4-1.

NARRATOR: Caudal fin
clippings to determine

the stock of the species,

as well as a surgical procedure
to remove the otoliths,

two tiny bones
located underneath the brain.

I don't really enjoy doing this, man.

NARRATOR: That will help
Dr. Brown determine

if the fish is truly wild
or came from a farm.

There you go.

GEOFF: Yeah, I felt that one go in there.

All right, muscle tissue now.

NARRATOR: And finally, tissue
samples to determine the levels

of contaminants
and information about their diet.

CYRIL: All right, so we got all three.

NARRATOR: The final step is to store
the samples in the dry shipper.

CYRIL: All right, in they go.

NARRATOR: Which will keep them
frozen at minus 190 degrees Celsius

or minus 310 degrees Fahrenheit.

GEOFF: All right, get that thing closed.

-All right, guys.
-GEOFF: Whoo, all right!

All right, good job, good job, man.

GEOFF: Yeah, good job.
I'm impressed, you did great.

(sighs)

-All right.
-GEOFF: We got a coho.

CYRIL: Yeah, man,
science is progressing.

Plus, we have a really
delicious fish to eat.

GEOFF: For tonight, yeah,
it's gonna be delicious.

Yeah. Not going to go to waste, man.

Awesome.

(exhales) One down.

CYRIL: We're going
to get all the samples, guys.

It's crucial for helping
save the salmon, the sturgeon,

and all the other
animals that depend on them.

NARRATOR: After miles of trekking
deep in the rugged wilderness,

the team finally managed
to sample a coho salmon.

But with less than 12 days
before the dry shipper expires,

they have their work
cut out for them to collect

the remaining samples and get them back

to the lab before time runs out.