Mysteries of the Deep (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 9 - The Loch Ness Conspiracy - full transcript
Jeremy Wade chases new leads in pursuit of the Loch Ness Monster's hiding place; using the latest evidence and state-of-the-art science, experts might finally reveal the truth behind this ...
CAN A REVOLUTIONARY
NEW SCIENTIFIC
TECHNIQUE IDENTIFY
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER?
THERE'S A WHOLE RANGE
OF ANIMALS NOW
THAT WE'RE FINDING OUT
ARE NOT EXTINCT.
HOW DID A MAN SURVIVE
FOR OVER TWO DAYS,
TRAPPED IN A SHIPWRECK
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN?
THE LONGER HE SURVIVED,
THE CLOSER HE WAS TO DEATH.
AND WHAT EXPLAINS A SUCCESSION
OF GRUESOME DISCOVERIES
WASHING UP ON THE SHORES
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA?
THESE FEET COULD BE COMING
FROM ALMOST ANYWHERE.
THE UNDERWATER REALM
IS ANOTHER DIMENSION.
IT'S A PHYSICALLY HOSTILE
PLACE WHERE DREAMS OF PROMISE
CAN SINK INTO DARKNESS.
I'M JEREMY WADE.
I'M SEARCHING THE WORLD
TO BRING YOU
THE MOST ICONIC AND BAFFLING
UNDERWATER MYSTERIES
KNOWN TO SCIENCE.
SHIPWRECKS CAN'T JUST
DISAPPEAR... OR CAN THEY?
IT'S A DANGEROUS,
UNEXPLORED FRONTIER THAT
SWALLOWS EVIDENCE.
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FACE
OF MARS THAN WE DO
OUR DEEPEST OCEANS.
WHERE UNKNOWN IS NORMAL
AND UNDERSTANDING IS RARE.
¶¶
¶¶
I'VE INVESTIGATED MONSTER
MYTHS ALL OVER THE WORLD,
BUT ONE, THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
REMAINS THE ULTIMATE UNSOLVED
UNDERWATER MYSTERY.
WHAT CREATURE OF THE DEEP IS
BEHIND THE ENDLESS STREAM OF
RUMORS AND REPORTS,
THE HYSTERIA AND THE HEADLINES.
NOW, NEW SIGHTINGS
AND STATE-OF-THE-ART SCIENCE
PROMISE TO FINALLY UNMASK
THE MOST FAMOUS
MONSTER OF THEM ALL.
APRIL 2019.
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN,
36-YEAR-OLD RORY CAMERON IS
ON HIS WAY HOME
FROM A FRIEND'S HOUSE.
HE'S DRIVING ALONGSIDE
LOCH NESS,
AS HE'S DONE COUNTLESS
TIMES BEFORE,
WHEN HE SEES SOMETHING
EXTRAORDINARY
MOVING IN THE WATER.
HE GRABS HIS PHONE AND FILMS
A HUGE, MYSTERIOUS OBJECT,
TRAVELING AT SPEED ACROSS
THE LAKE'S SURFACE.
EXPERTS ARE BAFFLED.
IT'S THE 18th
UNEXPLAINED SIGHTING
IN JUST 12 MONTHS.
THE LEGEND OF SCOTLAND'S
LOCH NESS MONSTER
HAS GRIPPED THE IMAGINATION OF
PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.
I MEAN, WE'VE ALL SEEN
THE PICTURE OF THE...
THE ARM COMING OUT OF THE WATER
LIKE THAT THAT LOOKS
LIKE THE HEAD OF
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
SINCE THE FIRST REPORT
NEARLY 1,500 YEARS AGO,
THERE HAVE BEEN
MORE THAN 1,000 SIGHTINGS.
EVERY FEW YEARS,
IT WOULD SEEM, SOME NEW PICTURE
WOULD COME TO LIGHT.
IT WOULD BE ALMOST CLEAR
ENOUGH TO MAKE THE MYSTERY
A REALITY.
NOW, A TEAM OF
SCIENTISTS LED BY NEIL GEMMELL
THINK THEY MIGHT FINALLY HAVE
WHAT IT TAKES
TO UNMASK THE BEAST,
A GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGY
KNOWN AS ENVIRONMENTAL DNA.
ENVIRONMENTAL DNA IS
A REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY
THIS IS A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
TO UNDERSTANDING
WHAT'S IN LOCH NESS.
IT'S EXTREMELY POWERFUL.
AS AN ANIMAL
MOVES THROUGH ITS ENVIRONMENT,
IT NATURALLY SHEDS CELLS
AND EXCRETES WASTE,
LEAVING A TRAIL OF ITS OWN DNA.
LOCH NESS IS FILLED WITH CELLS,
DNA... IT'S A GIANT
CAULDRON OF ORGANIC SOUP.
BY SEQUENCING THE DNA,
GEMMELL SHOULD BE ABLE TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT IT BELONGS TO.
THE RESULTS COULD
ASTONISH SCIENTISTS
AND MONSTER HUNTERS ALIKE.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR
SOMETHING UNUSUAL.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT
DON'T FIT WITH THEIR
CURRENT EXPECTATIONS.
THERE ARE COUNTLESS
THEORIES ABOUT WHAT
THE CREATURE MIGHT BE.
THERE'S THIS NOTION
OF THE WATER HORSE,
WHICH IS PART OF CELTIC
ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY.
AND THEN THERE'S
ANOTHER IDEA THAT
PERHAPS NESSIE IS
A TIME-TRAVELING CREATURE.
THERE'S A WORMHOLE IN SPACE
AND TIME SOMEWHERE IN THE LOCH.
THESE STORIES SEEM FAR-FETCHED,
BUT LOCH NESS IS 750 FEET DEEP.
COULD DNA REVEAL THAT
IT'S CONCEALING A CREATURE
NEW TO SCIENCE?
THERE'S A WHOLE RANGE OF
ANIMALS NOW THAT WE THOUGHT
WERE EXTINCT THAT WE'RE
FINDING OUT ACTUALLY ARE
NOT EXTINCT
AND THAT THEY DO EXIST.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT
SOMETHING IS OUT THERE?
YOU KNOW,
I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT
IT'S PROBABLE THAT
SOMETHING IS OUT THERE.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
HITS THE HEADLINES IN 1933
WHEN A COUPLE WITNESS A STRANGE,
LEGLESS CREATURE DRAG ITSELF
ACROSS A ROAD
ADJACENT TO THE LOCH.
AFTER THAT, SIGHTINGS
COME THICK AND FAST,
ADDING TO THE MONSTER MANIA.
I HAVE SEEN THE MONSTER.
THE HEAD ROSE
RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER.
THE CREATURE APPEARED
TO BE 20 FEET LONG.
AN IMAGE OF THE BEAST
IS TAKING SHAPE.
BUT WHAT IS IT?
WITHOUT DNA EVIDENCE,
IT'S HARD TO PIN DOWN.
MOST SIGHTINGS
DESCRIBE A CREATURE WITH
A LARGE BODY AND LONG NECK,
WHICH FITS WITH
WHAT WE KNOW OF DINOSAURS,
AQUATIC DINOSAURS.
MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE
THAT THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS A REPTILE CALLED
A PLESIOSAUR.
PLESIOSAURS OBVIOUSLY WENT
EXTINCT A LONG TIME AGO,
SO WE HAVEN'T GOT
ANY CONTEMPORARY
PLESIOSAUR DNA TO COMPARE IT TO,
BUT WE CAN MAKE A PRETTY GOOD
ASSUMPTION ABOUT WHAT THAT DNA
MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
PLESIOSAURS AND MANY
OF THE OTHER DINOSAURS WERE
CLOSELY RELATED TO THE MODERN
BIRDS AND CROCODILES,
SO IT SITS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
THOSE IN THE TREE OF LIFE.
THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME
EVER THAT ENVIRONMENTAL DNA
HAS BEAN USED IN THE SEARCH
FOR THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY
ATTEMPTS OVER THE YEARS
TO TRACK IT DOWN
USING THE CUTTING EDGE
TECHNOLOGY OF THE DAY.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER...
IT REALLY IS ONE OF
THE BEST INVESTIGATED
MONSTER STORIES OUT THERE.
PEOPLE COME TO LOCH NESS,
THEY HAVE BROUGHT
THE LATEST SCIENCE
AND THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
TO TRY TO INVESTIGATE.
IN THE 1970s,
UNDERWATER CAMERAS ARE
DEPLOYED THROUGHOUT THE LAKE,
BUT IT'S LIKE SEARCHING
FOR A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK.
IT'S A DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENT
TO WORK IN AND TO SURVEY.
THE LOCH CONTAINS
MORE WATER THAN ALL
THE LAKES OF ENGLAND
AND WALES COMBINED.
AND WHAT'S MORE, BELOW 30 FEET,
THERE'S NO LIGHT AT ALL.
THERE'S WHAT THEY CALL COLLOID
PARTICLES IN THE WATER,
AND THESE EFFECTIVELY ACT LIKE
A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES,
LAYERS AND LAYERS OF SUNGLASSES,
IF YOU LIKE, THAT ARE
BLOCKING THE LIGHT.
EVEN IF YOU HAVE REALLY
HIGH-QUALITY CAMERAS,
YOU'RE GOING TO GET BACKSCATTER.
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE ISSUES
WITH ACTUALLY
GETTING A GOOD IMAGE.
BUT IN THE 1980s,
BREAKTHROUGHS IN SONAR
TECHNOLOGY BRING NEW HOPE,
AND THE BIGGEST, MOST AUDACIOUS
SEARCH EVER BEGINS.
IN 1987, PROJECT DEEPSCAN
TOOK 24 BOATS,
AND THEY SPREAD OUT ACROSS
THE SURFACE OF LOCH NESS
AND WENT FROM ONE END
TO THE OTHER.
DEEPSCAN INVESTIGATORS
HOPE THAT SONAR
WILL PRODUCE ANSWERS
WHERE CAMERAS HAVE FAILED.
THEY SEND OUT SOUND,
THE SOUND BOUNCES ON AN OBJECT,
AND THEY CAN MEASURE
THE TIME THAT IT TAKES FOR THAT
SOUND TO BOUNCE BACK
TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THERE.
AS THEY PASS URQUHART CASTLE ON
THE NORTHWESTERN SHORE
OF THE LOCH,
THE SONAR PICKS UP
THREE HUGE SHAPES
NEARLY 600 FEET
BENEATH THE SURFACE.
THEY FOUND THREE SOUNDINGS
THAT THEY DIDN'T QUITE EXPLAIN,
BIGGER THAN A SHARK,
BUT SMALLER THAN A WHALE
WAS ROUGHLY HOW
THEY DESCRIBED IT.
BUT WHEN THE TEAM
RETURNS THE NEXT DAY TO TAKE
A CLOSER LOOK, THEY'RE GONE.
THE IMAGES ARE TANTALIZING,
BUT FRUSTRATINGLY INCONCLUSIVE.
SONAR IN THAT TIME PERIOD
WAS VERY LIMITED,
AND SO THE IMAGERY THAT WAS
PRODUCED IS NOT NEARLY
AS SOPHISTICATED
AS THE EQUIPMENT WE HAVE TODAY.
THE MONSTER REMAINS AT LARGE,
BUT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DNA,
WE CAN GO WHEN NO SCIENCE HAS
EVER GONE BEFORE.
IT DOESN'T NEED SONIC
OR VISUAL EVIDENCE.
AND THE RECENT SPATE OF
SIGHTINGS IS EXACTLY
WHAT LEAD SCIENTIST NEIL
GEMMELL HAS BEEN WAITING FOR,
BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE MUCH TIME.
DNA DEGRADES RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
THERE ARE TWO SIGHTINGS JUST
OFF OF URQUHART CASTLE.
SO WE SAMPLED THERE WITHIN
THE FIRST OF ARRIVAL.
ACROSS
22 SQUARE MILES OF LOCH NESS,
GEMMELL TAKES 250 WATER SAMPLES.
HE SENDS THEM
FOR DOUBLE BLIND TESTING
TO INDEPENDENT LABS
ACROSS EUROPE.
THERE ARE SOMETHING LIKE 3,000
UNIQUE DNA SEQUENCES
THAT WE HAVE FOUND IN LOCH NESS,
ASCRIBED TO KNOWN
BIOLOGICAL LIFEFORMS.
THE RESULTS
ALSO REVEAL SOMETHING
COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED.
WHEN WE'VE LOOKED
AT OUR SAMPLES,
THERE'S THIS LARGE SIGNAL
OF ONE SPECIES.
IT WAS LIKE,
WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?
HAVE WE FOUND DNA
THAT WILL FINALLY IDENTIFY
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER?
OVER 1,500 YEARS
SINCE IT FIRST SURFACED,
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
REMAINS ON ENIGMA OF THE DEEP.
NOW, A NEW SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUE,
THE ANALYSIS OFF ENVIRONMENTAL
DNA, COULD FINALLY
EXPOSE THE REAL IDENTITY
OF THE INFAMOUS MONSTER.
IT'S NOW THE 21ST CENTURY,
AND WE'RE STILL ASKING
THAT SAME QUESTION...
IS THERE A LOCH NESS MONSTER?
ACCORDING TO POPULAR BELIEF,
THE BEAST IS A FANTASTICAL
CREATURE UNLIKE ANYTHING
EVER SEEN BEFORE.
BUT IS IT POSSIBLE THAT
INSTEAD, LOCH NESS
COULD BE HARBORING A REAL
FLESH AND BLOOD GIANT?
IN THE RIGHT CONDITIONS,
SOME FISH HAVE
THE CAPACITY TO GROW
EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE.
THE GIANT CATFISH MIGHT BE
PRESENT IN LOCH NESS.
WE KNOW THAT IN EUROPE
THERE ARE GIANT CATFISH
CALLED WELS CATFISH.
THERE'S SOME SUGGESTION THAT
THEY WERE RELEASED INTO
LOCH NESS BY THE VICTORIANS
IN THE 1800s.
THE BIGGEST
WELS CATFISH I'VE EVER CAUGHT
WAS SEVEN FEET LONG,
BUT THEY WOULDN'T GROW TO THIS
SIZE IN SCOTLAND'S ICY WATERS.
SO WHAT OTHER GIANT CREATURES
COULD BE PATROLLING THE LOCH?
SO LOCH NESS IS
CONNECTED TO THE NORTH SEA
VIA THE MORAY FIRTH,
WHICH CREATES THE POSSIBILITY
THAT SOME OF THE SIGHTINGS
PEOPLE HAVE HAD HAVE ACTUALLY
BEEN OF MARINE CREATURES THAT
HAVE MANAGED TO MAKE THEIR WAY
INTO THE LOCH.
CREATURES LIKE STURGEON.
I'VE BROUGHT IN A STURGEON
NINE FEET LONG,
AND SOME SPECIES
CAN GROW TO TWICE THIS LENGTH.
THEY'RE NOT RESIDENT
IN THE LOCH.
THEY MIGHT BE COMING
IN AND OUT OF IT
AS PART OF THEIR MIGRATION.
BUT I'M NOT CONVINCED THAT
A STURGEON INSPIRED
THE ANCIENT LEGEND.
NO SPECIES NEAR THE BRITISH
ISLES GROWS LARGE ENOUGH.
SO WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE?
CAN ENVIRONMENTAL DNA
PUT AN END TO CENTURIES
OF SPECULATION?
KIND OF BLOWS YOUR MIND,
THINKING THAT YOU CAN JUST
LEAVE A LITTLE BIT OF DNA
SOMEWHERE, AND A SCIENTIST COULD
FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON.
BY EXTRACTING ENVIRONMENTAL
DNA FROM WATER SAMPLES,
RESEARCHERS CAN FIND OUT
EXACTLY WHAT IS HIDING
BENEATH THE SURFACE.
WE HAD FIVE LABS
AROUND THE WORLD
THAT WERE ANALYZING
THE DNA SEQUENCE DATA.
EARLY RESULTS START
ELIMINATING THE USUAL SUSPECTS
ONE BY ONE.
SO AS FOR A PLESIOSAUR
IN LOCH NESS...
NOT THAT WE CAN DETECT.
IS THERE A GIANT CATFISH?
NOT THAT WE CAN DETECT.
BUT AS THE DATA RACKS UP,
THE SHEER QUANTITY OF DNA
FROM JUST ONE CREATURE
SHOCKS RESEARCHERS.
SO WHAT WE FIND IN OUR DATA
IS ACTUALLY QUITE A LARGE
NUMBER OF HITS
AGAINST EEL DNA.
COULD THE LOCH NESS
MONSTER BE A GIANT EEL?
IT'S A SURPRISING RESULT THAT
RESEARCHERS DID NOT EXPECT.
BUT THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT
SOME INTRIGUING LOCH NESS
MONSTER SIGHTINGS
ARE DISTINCTLY EEL-SHAPED.
IN 2008, LAB TECHNICIAN
GORDON HOLMES DETECTS
AN UNEXPLAINED ENTITY MOVING
BENEATH THE HULL OF HIS BOAT.
JUST ONE YEAR EARLIER,
HE CAUSED A SENSATION
WHEN HE RELEASED
THIS FOOTAGE OF A LONG,
THIN CREATURE AROUND
45 FEET IN LENGTH,
GLIDING ACROSS THE WATER.
THERE ARE 800 SPECIES OF EEL
FOUND WORLDWIDE,
AND SOME CAN GROW HUGE,
BUT THE EUROPEAN EEL GROWS
TO LITTLE MORE THAN
FOUR FEET LONG.
SO HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY
ACCOUNT FOR SIGHTINGS OF
A MONSTER?
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT
THE ANSWER MIGHT LIE
IN THEIR BIOLOGY.
THE LIFE CYCLE
OF THE EUROPEAN EEL
HAS BEEN SHROUDED IN MYSTERY
FOR CENTURIES,
BUT WE NOW KNOW THAT ONCE
THEY REACH SEXUAL MATURITY,
THEY LEAVE THEIR FRESHWATER
HOMES AND EMBARK ON A 3,000-MILE
MIGRATION TO THE SARGASSO SEA.
NORMALLY, EELS WOULD MIGRATE
TO THE SEA TO SPAWN,
AND THEN THEY DIE.
BUT IT'S POSSIBLE
THAT IN RARE INSTANCES,
SOME EELS MAY NOT
DEVELOP SEXUALLY.
INSTEAD OF MIGRATING,
THEY STAY PUT,
POTENTIALLY LIVING LONGER
AND GROWING
INTO MONSTERS.
COULD DNA RESULTS HAVE EXPOSED
MUTANT EELS HIDING
IN PLAIN SIGHT?
THERE ARE MUTATIONS THAT RESULT
IN VERY LARGE BODY SIZE.
I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE THERE
MAY BE A VERY LARGE EEL
IN LOCH NESS.
SUPERSIZED EELS ARE WITHIN
THE REALMS OF POSSIBILITY,
BUT FOR ME, 45 FEET LONG
IS TOO MUCH OF A STRETCH.
SO FOR NOW, AT LEAST,
THE SEARCH FOR
THE TRUE IDENTITY OF
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER CONTINUES.
I'VE SPENT A LOT OF
TIME UNDERWATER,
BUT I'M TOTALLY RELIANT ON
MY SCUBA GEAR TO KEEP ME ALIVE.
WITHOUT IT, I WOULDN'T LAST
FOR MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES.
SO HOW DID ONE MAN SURVIVE
ON THE OCEAN FLOOR
FOR THREE DAYS
WITHOUT ANY DIVING
EQUIPMENT WHATSOEVER?
NEW SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF
HIS UNBELIEVABLE UNDERWATER
ORDEAL CHALLENGES EVERYTHING
I THOUGHT I KNEW.
MAY 26, 2013.
20 MILES OFF THE COAST
OF NIGERIA,
A TUGBOAT CALLED THE JASCON 4
IS CAUGHT IN A FIERCE STORM.
A BIG WAVE HIT
THE SIDE OF THE TUG,
WHICH BROKE THE TOW WIRE
AND TURNED THE TUG UPSIDE DOWN.
BY THE TIME THE RESCUE TEAM
ARRIVES AT THE SCENE,
THE VESSEL AND ALL 12 CREWMAN
HAVE DISAPPEARED.
THE TUGBOAT SANK IN
ABOUT 100 FEET OF WATER,
SO THEY NEEDED A SPECIALIST
DIVE CREW TO GO DOWN THERE
AND DO THE RECOVERY.
IT TAKES HOURS
TO ASSEMBLE THE DIVERS
AND TRANSPORT THEM TO THE SITE
OF THE DISASTER,
BY WHICH TIME THEY BELIEVE
THERE'S LITTLE
TO NO HOPE OF FINDING
ANY SURVIVORS.
THEY WERE WORKING AT DEPTH
IN LOW VISIBILITY
IN THIS UPTURNED VESSEL.
THE DIVERS RECOVER
THE BODIES OF FOUR CREWMEN
WHO WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP.
THEY'RE CONTINUING
THE GRIZZLY TASK
OF LOCATING THE OTHER EIGHT
WHEN THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS.
THERE'S SOMEBODY DOWN THERE!
HE'S ALIVE, HE'S ALIVE.
OKAY, KEEP HIM THERE,
KEEP HIM THERE.
IMAGINE A HAND GRABBING YOU
UNDERWATER WHEN YOU EXPECT
THAT NOBODY IS ALIVE
IN THIS SHIPWRECK.
INCREDIBLY, THE SHIP'S COOK,
29-YEAR-OLD HARRISON OKENE,
HAS SURVIVED UNDERWATER
FOR NEARLY THREE DAYS.
ALL RIGHT, JUST KEEP HIM THERE
AND KEEP HIM CALM, OKAY?
IT'S A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME
MIRACLE.
IT'S... IT'S BEYOND BELIEF.
HOW'D THIS GUY SURVIVE FOR
60 HOURS UNDER UNDERWATER?
CAN SCIENCE UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY
OF THIS UNPARALLELED
UNDERWATER SURVIVAL STORY?
60 HOURS AFTER
THE SINKING OF A TUGBOAT
OFF THE COAST OF NIGERIA,
A TEAM OF DIVERS ARE SEARCHING
FOR BODIES INSIDE THE STRICKEN
VESSEL ON THE SEA FLOOR WHEN
THEY COME FACE TO FACE
WITH A LIVING,
BREATHING SURVIVOR
THERE'S SOMEBODY DOWN THERE!
HE'S ALIVE. HE'S ALIVE.
IT'S THE SHIP'S COOK,
29-YEAR-OLD HARRISON OKENE.
HOW OKENE IS STILL ALIVE
IS ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING
AND MIND-BOGGLING OCEAN
MYSTERIES OF MODERN TIMES.
A MAN SURVIVED FOR MULTIPLE DAYS
WHILE TRAPPED IN A SUNKEN SHIP.
HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?
IN AN EFFORT TO GET
TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS
UNBELIEVABLE SURVIVAL STORY,
SCIENTISTS EXAMINE OKENE'S
THREE-DAY ORDEAL
PIECE BY PIECE,
STARTING WITH THE MOMENT WHEN
HIS SHIP SUDDENLY CAPSIZES.
IT'S GOTTA BE THE MOST
TERRIFYING THING IN THE WORLD.
ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOUR WORLD
TURNS UPSIDE DOWN,
AND WATER STARTS RUSHING IN.
YOU MUST THINK THAT YOU'RE DEAD.
SCRABBLING AROUND IN
THE DARK, UPTURNED VESSEL,
OKENE MAKES
AN INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY.
A POCKET OF TRAPPED AIR.
IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPROBABLE.
THAT AN AIR POCKET COULD
FORM ON A WRECK LIKE THIS
IS AGAINST ALL ODDS.
THAT TUGBOAT MUST HAVE GONE
DOWN NEAR ENOUGH STRAIGHT.
IF IT STARTS TO TIP EITHER WAY,
THE AIR CAN SEEP OUT.
BUT AS THE DOOMED SHIP
DESCENDS TO THE SEABED,
THE AIR BUBBLE, OKENE'S
ONLY HOPE OF SURVIVAL,
BEGINS TO SHRINK.
FOR EVERY 33 FEET YOU GO DOWN,
YOUR PRESSURE DOUBLES,
AND AIR IS CONDENSED.
THE PRESSURE OF THE WATER IS
MAKING THAT AIR BUBBLE
SMALLER AND SMALLER.
THE WATER IS RISING, AND YOU'RE
ESSENTIALLY COUNTING
THE MINUTES UNTIL YOU'RE DEAD.
LUCKILY, THE TUG HITS THE BOTTOM
BEFORE THE BUBBLE
COMPRESSES TOO MUCH.
IF THE SHIP HAD GONE ANY DEEPER,
THEN THE WATER PRESSURE WOULD
HAVE CONDENSED THAT AREA MORE.
BUT THE AIR BUBBLE IS NOW
A MERE FOUR FEET HIGH.
OKENE'S CHANCES OF
SURVIVAL ARE SLIM TO NONE.
FOR HIM TO SURVIVE 60 HOURS
ON THE SEA FLOOR IN
PITCH BLACK, BREATHING
JUST A SMALL AIR POCKET...
IT REALLY IS A MYSTERY
HOW HE WAS ABLE TO SURVIVE.
AFTER TRYING TO ESCAPE
VIA A PASSAGEWAY,
HE RESIGNS HIMSELF TO STAYING
IN HIS TINY DARK BUBBLE.
WHY
OKENE CHOSE TO STAY IN
THE BUBBLE THAT HE WAS IN
IS BEYOND ME.
EITHER HE'S ACCEPTING
HE'S GOING TO DIE,
OR HE HAS COMPLETE
AND UTTER FAITH THAT HE'S GOING
TO BE RESCUED.
PERHAPS HE KNOWS
THAT ATTEMPTING TO
GET OUT NOW WILL SPELL
CERTAIN DEATH.
EVEN IF HE HAD MANAGED TO
NAVIGATE THE PITCH BLACK
OF THE WRECK,
FIND AN OPENING, AND ESCAPE UP
TO THE SURFACE,
HE STILL WOULD NOT HAVE
SURVIVED, BECAUSE THE NITROGEN
IN HIS BLOODSTREAM WILL EXPAND,
AND AIR BUBBLES WILL POP.
BUT STAYING IN THE AIR BUBBLE
IS ALSO FRAUGHT WITH DANGER,
AND THE BIGGEST THREAT
TO OKENE RIGHT NOW
IS HIS OWN BREATH.
OVER THE COURSE OF TIME,
HE'S OBVIOUSLY BREATHING IN
OXYGEN AND EXHALING
CARBON DIOXIDE,
AND THE LEVELS OF
CARBON DIOXIDE
IN THAT BUBBLE ARE RISING.
ONCE CARBON DIOXIDE
GETS ABOUT FOUR
OR FIVE PERCENT,
IT STARTS TO BECOME TOXIC.
THE LONGER HE SURVIVED,
THE CLOSER HE WAS TO DEATH.
BY THE TIME
RESCUERS ARRIVE, OKENE
SHOULD HAVE SUCCUMBED TO DEEP
SEA CARBON DIOXIDE TOXICITY.
IT'S A LITTLE WEIRD THAT
HE WASN'T SUFFERING ANY
SYMPTOMS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
TOXICITY AFTER SO MUCH
TIME UNDERWATER.
EXPERTS BELIEVE THE ICY
TEMPERATURES MAY HAVE BEEN
HIS SAVIOR.
LOWER BODY TEMPERATURE WOULD
SLOW YOUR RESPIRATION,
WHICH MAY, YOU KNOW,
INCREASE YOUR LONGEVITY.
AS WELL AS SLOWING
DOWN OKENE'S METABOLISM,
THE FRIGID WATER SURROUNDING
THE AIR BUBBLE MIGHT HAVE
PLAYED A SECOND IMPORTANT
ROLE IN HIS SURVIVAL.
GAS IS MORE SOLUBLE
IN COLD WATER.
IF THE CONCENTRATION OF CO2
IS INCREASING IN THE AIRSPACE,
AND WE HAVE COLD WATER, THAT CO2
CAN GO INTO THE WATER.
PERHAPS THAT MADE
THE AIR BREATHABLE
FOR A LONGER AMOUNT OF TIME.
THERE ARE MANY THEORIES,
BUT SCIENCE STILL
CAN'T FULLY EXPLAIN
HOW OKENE PULLED THROUGH.
HOW DID HE SURVIVE
THE, YOU KNOW, CARBON DIOXIDE,
THE HYPOTHERMIA, THE, YOU KNOW,
THE MENTAL STRESS.
I MEAN, MULTIPLE REASONS
THAT GUY SHOULD BE DEAD,
AND HE'S ALIVE.
BUT OKENE IS NOT
HOME AND DRY YET.
AFTER THREE DAYS UNDERWATER,
HIS BLOOD IS SUPER SATURATED
WITH NITROGEN.
THE SLIGHTEST MISTAKE NOW
WILL KILL HIM.
29-YEAR-OLD HARRISON OKENE
HAS ENDURED
AN UNBELIEVABLE 60 HOURS
ALONE IN A SUNKEN SHIP.
HIS SURVIVAL ON THE SEA FLOOR
SEEMS TO DEFY
THE RULES OF SCIENCE.
BUT AS ALL DIVERS KNOW,
THE GREATEST CHALLENGE CAN BE
THE VERY LAST STAGE...
THE JOURNEY OUT OF THE DARKNESS
AND BACK UP TO THE LIGHT.
YEAH, TIGHTEN THOSE
A BIT MORE. IS THAT OKAY?
ALL RIGHT.
THE NITROGEN THAT'S IN THE AIR
ACTUALLY ALSO SQUEEZES
FROM THE PRESSURE,
AND IT GETS SMALLER,
AND THOSE AIR BUBBLES
CAN ENTER INTO
YOUR BLOOD SYSTEM.
HE HAS TO UNDERGO A COMPLEX
PROCESS OF DEPRESSURIZING HIM.
THE RESCUERS NEED TO GET
OKENE SAFELY
TO THEIR DIVING BELL
BEFORE THEY HIM GRADUALLY
BRING HIM TO THE SURFACE.
HELLO, MY FRIEND.
CAN YOU HEAR ME?
OKAY. LISTEN TO ME, ALL RIGHT?
NOW YOU MUSTN'T PANIC, EH?
WE'RE GONNA BRING YOU
HOME, OKAY?
¶¶
¶¶
OKAY, WE'RE BRINGING YOU HOME.
TAKE YOUR MASK AND STEADY, OKAY?
¶¶
ALL RIGHT, HE'S IN THE BELL.
GOOD JOB, MY FRIEND. WELL DONE.
YOU'RE A SURVIVOR!
THIS CASE RIGHT HERE
SHOWS US THAT THERE'S
A LOT STILL TO LEARN
ABOUT HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
UNDER THE OCEAN.
INCREDIBLY, OKENE'S
STORY HAS A HAPPY ENDING.
BUT WHAT IF HE'S NOT
THE ONLY PERSON
WHO SURVIVED FOR DAYS
UNDERWATER?
WHAT IF IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE,
AND WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT?
LOOKING BACK AT ALL THE SHIPS
WHICH HAVE SUNK OVER THE YEARS,
WE'VE OFTEN THOUGHT THAT THOSE
PEOPLE MUST HAVE DIED
PRETTY MUCH NEAR
INSTANTANEOUSLY.
THIS, OF COURSE, GIVES US
A WHOLE NEW CONCEPT,
AND IT MAKES IT VERY HAUNTING
WHEN YOU START TO THINK,
WELL,
IF THIS ONE PERSON SURVIVED,
HOW MANY OTHERS MIGHT HAVE?
¶¶
¶¶
IN MY TRAVELS AROUND THE GLOBE,
I'VE SEEN ALL SORTS OF
DISCARDED GARMENTS WASHED UP
ON SHORELINES,
FROM JACKETS AND SHIRTS,
TO GLOVES AND SANDALS.
BUT WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO
BE WALKING ALONG A LONELY BEACH
AND TO COME ACROSS AN ITEM OF
CLOTHING WITH THE BODY PARTS
STILL INSIDE?
SEPTEMBER 2018.
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.
A SNEAKER IS FOUND
WASHED UP ON A BEACH.
ITS OWNER'S FOOT
IS STILL IN IT.
I CAN'T IMAGINE WALKING ALONG
THE BEACH LOOKING FOR SEASHELLS
AND OTHER THINGS AND FINDING
A HUMAN FOOT SITTING THERE.
THIS IS NOT
AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.
THE GRUESOME FIND
IS THE 15th FOOT
TO BE DISCOVERED ON BEACHES
IN THIS REGION
IN 12 YEARS.
WHEN YOU HEAR OF HUMAN FEET
LINING A BEACH,
YOU THINK OF A SERIAL KILLER.
THE POLICE AND A LOT
OF PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC
THOUGHT THAT SOMEBODY HAD BEEN
MURDERED, PART OF A MAFIA
SITUATION WHERE THEY HAD
DUMPED THE BODY SOMEWHERE.
INVESTIGATORS
FACE SOME DIFFICULT
AND PERPLEXING
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.
NOBODY KNEW WHO
THESE FEET BELONGED TO
OR WHERE THEY HAD COME FROM.
NOW, NEW ADVANCES IN
THE SPECIALIST FIELD OF
MARINE FORENSICS
ARE ALLOWING US TO SHINE SOME
LIGHT ON THIS DARK MYSTERY.
EXPERTS CAREFULLY EXAMINE EACH
BONE LOOKING FOR TOOL MARKS
AND OTHER SIGNS OF VIOLENCE
THAT WOULD INDICATE FOUL PLAY.
BUT THERE ARE NONE.
IT'S NOT SOME
STRANGE SERIAL KILLER
WHO JUST LIKES TO CUT OFF FEET
AND THROW 'EM IN THE OCEAN
AND CREATE THIS MYSTERY.
INSTEAD, THE FINDINGS
TELL A VERY DIFFERENT TALE.
THEY REVEAL HOW THE DEAD ARE
DISMANTLED BY UNDERWATER FORCES.
WHEN A HUMAN BODY DECOMPOSES,
TWO OF THE PARTS OF THE BODY
THAT RELEASE FIRST
AT THE JOINTS ARE THE HANDS
AND THE FEET.
IT'S KNOWN AS DISARTICULATION.
OVER TIME, THE FOOT SEPARATES
FROM THE LEG
AT THE ANKLE JOINT,
RELEASING THE FOOT TO BECOME
A CASTAWAY IN THE OCEAN.
BUT WHY ARE MOST OF THESE FEET
WEARING SNEAKERS?
MODERN TRAINERS ARE MADE
OF FOAM PLASTICS.
SOME SOLES OF RUNNING SHOES,
FOR EXAMPLE,
EVEN HAVE AN AIR POCKET IN THEM.
THEY'RE FLOATING
AND KEEPING THESE FEET
ON THE SURFACE...
THAT ALLOWS THEM
TO THEN BE MOVED BY CURRENTS
AND WINDS INTO THE BEACH.
DISARTICULATION,
COUPLED WITH BUOYANT FOOTWEAR,
MIGHT EXPLAIN THE PRESENCE OF
FLOATING FEET.
BUT THE BIG QUESTION IS,
WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM?
ARE THERE ANY AREAS OF,
YOU KNOW,
HIGH SUICIDE IN
BRITISH COLUMBIA?
DO THEY USE THAT PLACE...
IS IT SOMEWHERE ALONG
THE CURRENTS THAT WOULD WASH
BODY PARTS TO THE SHORE?
CAN REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC
TECHNIQUES GET US
ANY CLOSER TO UNRAVELING THIS
MACABRE MYSTERY OF THE DEEP?
HUMAN FEET WASHING ASHORE
ALONG THE COAST OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA
HAVE TERRIFIED LOCALS
AND BAFFLED INVESTIGATORS
FOR A DOZEN YEARS.
WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM?
AND WHY ARE THEY ENDING UP HERE?
15 HUMAN FEET HAVE BEAN FOUND
WASHED UP ON
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA SHORE.
IN SEARCH OF CLUES ABOUT
WHO THESE FEET BELONG TO,
FORENSIC EXPERTS
ATTEMPT TO EXTRACT
DNA FROM THE DECOMPOSING TISSUE.
AND THE FOOTWEAR ITSELF
CAN PROVIDE VITAL INFORMATION.
IN SOME CASES,
THEY WERE ACTUALLY
ABLE TO DETERMINE
WHO THE PEOPLE WERE
BASED ON THE TRAINERS.
I BELIEVE THERE WERE A FEW
OF THEM THAT WERE DISTINCT.
OF THE 15 FEET FOUND,
13 HAVE NOW BEEN TRACED BACK
TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE
GONE MISSING FROM BRITISH
COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON STATE.
IT TURNS OUT MOST OF THEM WERE
EITHER ACCIDENTAL DEATHS
OR, IN SOME CASES,
THEY WERE SUSPECTED SUICIDES.
POLICE ARE STILL TRYING
TO MATCH THE FINAL TWO
WITH A BODY.
IT'S A MONUMENTAL TASK.
SOME OF THESE SHOES
HAVE BEEN LOST AT SEA
FOR DECADES.
SO THESE SHOES ARE NOT ALL
NECESSARILY FROM VICTIMS
FROM THE SAME YEAR
BUT SPREAD OVER MANY YEARS.
IN ONE CASE,
THE DNA MATCHES UP WITH A MAN
WHO HAS BEEN MISSING
FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY
IN COLDER WATERS,
THERE'S GREATER PRESERVATION,
BUT TO HAVE GENETIC MATERIAL
LASTING 25 YEARS IN ITSELF
IS PRETTY PHENOMENAL.
BUT ONE PART OF THIS
MYSTERY REMAINS IMPENETRABLE.
WHY DO SO MANY FEET END UP
ON THIS ONE PARTICULAR PART
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA?
YOU WOULD THINK THAT IF IT WERE
A WORLD EPIDEMIC,
YOU'D FIND THEM ALL OVER.
SO WHAT IS IT SPECIFICALLY
ABOUT THIS PART
OF THE WORLD THAT ATTRACTS
FEET IN RUNNING SHOES?
NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE,
BUT EXPERTS AGREE
THAT IT MUST HAVE
SOMETHING TO DO WITH
THE OCEAN CURRENTS.
THE THING THAT'S INTERESTING
ABOUT VANCOUVER ISLAND
IN RELATION TO THE MAINLAND
IS YOU HAVE A SERIES
OF CIRCULATING CURRENTS,
SORT OF ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER.
TRAPPED IN
THESE CHURNING WATERS,
FLOATING FEET COULD CIRCLE
AROUND FOR DAYS ON END
BEFORE BEING SPAT OUT
ON THE COAST.
BUT THIS DOESN'T FULLY EXPLAIN
WHY SOME BEACHES GET
MORE THAN THEIR FAIR SHARE
OF THIS GRISLY FLOTSAM.
ALTHOUGH WE HAVE OCEAN
CURRENTS THAT WE CAN PREDICT,
THERE'S MANY THINGS
WE CAN'T PREDICT IN TERMS OF
OCEAN CIRCULATION.
BUT WHAT IF OCEAN CURRENTS
ARE JUST PART OF THE ANSWER?
BRITISH COLUMBIA IS HOME TO
AROUND FIVE MILLION PEOPLE.
IT'S A GRIM FACT, BUT THE MORE
DENSELY POPULATED A PLACE IS,
THE MORE LIKELY IT IS
THAT BODIES WILL END UP
IN THE WATER.
AND AS THE POPULATION RISES,
I'M LEFT IN NO DOUBT THAT
THE LATEST GRUESOME FIND
WILL NOT BE THE LAST.
I'VE REELED IN SOME
MIGHTY MONSTERS,
SOME OF THEM BIG ENOUGH
AND TOOTHY ENOUGH
TO DEVOUR A PERSON.
DESPITE THIS, I'VE ALWAYS
FOUND THE BIBLICAL STORY OF
JONAH BEING EATEN BY A WHALE
HARD TO SWALLOW.
BUT A RECENT BIZARRE REAL-LIFE
INCIDENT HAS MADE ME WONDER
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
WHETHER AN EXTRAORDINARY TRUTH
COULD LIE BEHIND
THAT FAMOUS TALE.
MARCH 2019.
25 MILES OFF PORT ELIZABETH,
SOUTH AFRICA,
PHOTOGRAPHER RAINER SCHIMPF IS
FILMING A SCHOOL OF SARDINES
BEING ATTACKED BY A FEEDING
FRENZY OF PREDATORS
WHEN OUT OF NOWHERE,
HIS WORLD PLUNGES INTO DARKNESS.
ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THIS WHALE COMES UP BEHIND
AND SORT OF
SCOOPS HIM UP INTO HIS MOUTH.
BASICALLY HALF IN AND HALF
OUTSIDE A WHALE'S MOUTH,
BEING... LOOKS LIKE
HE'S BEING EATEN.
STRANGE STORIES
OF MAN-EATING WHALES
HAVE EXISTED FOR CENTURIES,
INCLUDING THE FAMOUS
BIBLICAL TALE OF JONAH,
WHO IS SAID TO HAVE SPENT THREE
WHOLE DAYS IN A WHALE'S STOMACH
BEFORE IT LET HIM GO.
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN
NO CONFIRMED CASES OF
ANYTHING LIKE THIS ACTUALLY
HAPPENING IN REAL LIFE...
UNTIL NOW.
EXPERTS ARE EAGER TO FIND OUT
WHAT COULD HAVE TRIGGERED
THIS UNPRECEDENTED BEHAVIOR.
HOW CAN THIS POSSIBLY HAPPEN?
A VERY LARGE SEA CREATURE
SEEMS TO BE
TAKING A MAN FROM THE SEA.
THAT'S HUGE... I MEAN,
THAT'S... THAT'S FICTION.
WILL RAINER SCHIMPF SUFFER
THE SAME UNIMAGINABLE FATE
AS JONAH?
IT'S MARCH 2019 OFF THE COAST
OF SOUTH AFRICA.
PHOTOGRAPHER RAINER SCHIMPF
APPEARS TO BE IN DANGER
OF BECOMING A MODERN-DAY JONAH.
A CASE OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION,
OR HAS THE WHALE BITTEN OFF
MORE THAN IT CAN CHEW?
HUMANS TYPICALLY AREN'T
ON THE MENU FOR WHALE,
SO WHY... WHY WOULD THIS WHALE
SCOOP UP A SNORKELER?
WHEN SCIENTISTS
IDENTIFY THE SPECIES,
THE MYSTERY DEEPENS
EVEN FURTHER.
IT'S A BRYDE'S WHALE.
THE BRYDE'S WHALE IS A VERY,
VERY LARGE MARINE MAMMAL
WITH A VERY LARGE MOUTH.
BUT BRYDE'S ARE BALEEN WHALES,
WHICH MEANS THAT
INSTEAD OF TEETH,
THEY USE BRISTLE-LIKE FILTERS
TO TRAP THEIR FOOD.
IT'S EVOLVED TO STRAIN WATER
AND GET
THESE LITTLE FISH OUT,
OR THE KRILL
OR... OR, YOU KNOW,
MACKEREL OR HERRING OR SARDINES.
THEY'RE NOT CONSTRUCTED
TO, YOU KNOW,
EAT LARGE PIECES OF MEAT.
SO PURELY BIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING,
THE WHALE'S NOT ABLE TO
PHYSICALLY SWALLOW THE MAN.
IF THE WHALE ISN'T TRYING
TO EAT SCHIMPF,
WHAT IS ITS MOTIVE?
WAS THIS A ROGUE WHALE
BEHAVING BADLY,
OR WAS THIS A COMPLETE ACCIDENT?
PERHAPS THERE ARE CLUES TO BE
FOUND JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE.
AT THE TIME THAT RAINER
WAS FILMING THESE SARDINES,
THEY WERE ALL
SCHOOLED UP INTO THIS,
UH, TIGHT BALL OF FISH.
FOOTAGE TAKEN BY RAINER SCHIMPF
JUST BEFORE THE INCIDENT
SHOWS THE SARDINES HUDDLING
TOGETHER FOR SAFETY.
YOU PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE ABLE
TO SEE A HUMAN BEING
ON ANOTHER SIDE OF
A BALL OF FISH.
AND THE POSITION
OF THE WHALE'S EYES
WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT,
IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE,
FOR IT TO SPOT
SCHIMPF FLOATING
AMONGST ITS FOOD.
WHALES HAVE THEIR EYES
ON THE SIDE OF THEIR HEADS.
THEY USUALLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT
OF A BLIND SPOT OUT FRONT.
BUT RECENT RESEARCH
SUGGESTS THAT SCHIMPF'S WHALE
MAY NOT HAVE BEEN RELYING
ON ITS EYES AT ALL.
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY MAY
HAVE FOUND EVIDENCE OF BALEEN
WHALES USING ECHO LOCATION
TO HELP THEM FIND FOOD.
THE ECHO SIGNATURE MAY HAVE JUST
LOOKED LIKE ONE BIG
BALL OF FISH.
I THINK IT WOULD BE
DIFFICULT FOR
THE WHALE TO KNOW
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE TWO SEPARATE THINGS.
IT'S FEASIBLE THAT THE WHALE
GRABBED SCHIMPF ACCIDENTALLY,
BUT THERE'S ONE VITAL CLUE
THAT HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED...
THE PRESENCE OF SHARKS.
THIS OPENS UP A WHOLE NEW
POSSIBLE THEORY.
THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS
THAT THIS WHALE,
SEEING THE HUMAN IN THE WATER,
SEEING THE SHARKS AROUND,
WENT UP AND SCOOPED HIM UP,
TO PROTECT HIM.
THIS MIGHT SEEM FAR-FETCHED,
BUT SCIENTISTS HAVE RECENTLY
DOCUMENTED HUNDREDS
OF INSTANCES
OF WALES INTERVENING TO
PROTECT OTHER CREATURES
FROM HARM.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CASES
WHERE PEOPLE SEEM TO SEE
THE EMPATHY OF WHALES,
WHERE THEY'LL BE A SHARK
NEARBY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT,
AND THE WHALE WAS SORT OF PUSH
A SNORKELER TO THE OTHER
SIDE OF THEIR BODY,
IN ALMOST DEFENSE OF ANIMALS
TO KEEP THEM IN A SAFE AREA.
THE SARDINE RUN NOTORIOUSLY
LURES IN ALL SORTS OF SHARKS,
INCLUDING THE WORLD'S
MOST FEARED...
THE GREAT WHITE.
BUT EVEN THEY ARE NO MATCH
FOR A FULLY GROWN,
30-TON BRYDE'S WHALE
IF IT WAS ACTING
AS HIS BODYGUARD,
RAINER SCHIMPF OWES HIS WHALE
A HUGE DEBT OF GRATITUDE.
BUT COULD THERE BE SOMETHING
MORE MENACING AT PLAY HERE?
ANIMALS ARE NOT ROBOTS.
THEIR BEHAVIOR IS NOT
ALWAYS PREDICTABLE.
AND, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE HUMANS,
THEY COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE
A... A BRAIN TUMOR OR SOME OTHER
AFFLICTION THAT WOULD CAUSE
THEM TO ACT IN AN UNUSUAL WAY.
DISEASES SUCH AS
RABIES CAN HIJACK THE BRAIN,
MAKING ANIMALS
ABNORMALLY AGGRESSIVE.
PERHAPS THIS WAS THE ACT
OF A CREATURE
NOT IN ITS RIGHT MIND.
WHATEVER TRIGGERED
THE WHALE TO GRAB SCHIMPF,
ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN.
LOCKED WITHIN
ITS VICE-LIKE GRIP,
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
IS IN GRAVE DANGER.
THEY HAVE INCREDIBLE MASS
AND VERY STRONG JAWS,
SO YOU HAVE TO BE
CONCERNED ABOUT
BROKEN BONES
OR BEING CRUSHED TO DEATH
WHEN IN THE MOUTH OF
ONE OF THESE BEASTS.
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
HE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT.
WHALES HAVE BEEN KNOWN
TO DIVE LITERALLY HUNDREDS,
IF NOT THOUSANDS OF METERS DEEP.
WHAT'S MORE,
BRYDE'S WHALES CAN HOLD
THEIR BREATH
FOR UP TO 20 MINUTES...
THE AVERAGE HUMAN,
LESS THAN ONE MINUTE.
YOU'VE GOT NO RESERVE AIR
EXCEPT FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT
IN YOUR LUNGS, AND HE WOULD
NOT HAVE LASTED THAT LONG.
IF THE WHALE HAD DECIDED
TO DIVE, FOR EXAMPLE,
EVEN TO 30 METERS, THAT IN
ITSELF COULD HAVE KILLED HIM.
BUT BEFORE IT DIVES
INTO THE DEPTHS,
THE WHILE RELEASES
SCHIMPF, UNHARMED.
SCHIMPF HAD
AN INCREDIBLY LUCKY ESCAPE.
WHETHER THE WHALE GRABBED HIM
BY ACCIDENT, TO SAVE HIM
FROM A SHARK, OR IN A FIT OF
PSYCHOTIC RAGE,
WE'LL NEVER KNOW.
LIKE SO MANY MYSTERIES OF
THE DEEP, THE SECRET
IS NOW SUBMERGED
BENEATH THE SURFACE
AND SWIMMING AWAY 1,000 FEET
UNDER THE WAVES.
NEW SCIENTIFIC
TECHNIQUE IDENTIFY
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER?
THERE'S A WHOLE RANGE
OF ANIMALS NOW
THAT WE'RE FINDING OUT
ARE NOT EXTINCT.
HOW DID A MAN SURVIVE
FOR OVER TWO DAYS,
TRAPPED IN A SHIPWRECK
AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN?
THE LONGER HE SURVIVED,
THE CLOSER HE WAS TO DEATH.
AND WHAT EXPLAINS A SUCCESSION
OF GRUESOME DISCOVERIES
WASHING UP ON THE SHORES
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA?
THESE FEET COULD BE COMING
FROM ALMOST ANYWHERE.
THE UNDERWATER REALM
IS ANOTHER DIMENSION.
IT'S A PHYSICALLY HOSTILE
PLACE WHERE DREAMS OF PROMISE
CAN SINK INTO DARKNESS.
I'M JEREMY WADE.
I'M SEARCHING THE WORLD
TO BRING YOU
THE MOST ICONIC AND BAFFLING
UNDERWATER MYSTERIES
KNOWN TO SCIENCE.
SHIPWRECKS CAN'T JUST
DISAPPEAR... OR CAN THEY?
IT'S A DANGEROUS,
UNEXPLORED FRONTIER THAT
SWALLOWS EVIDENCE.
WE KNOW MORE ABOUT THE FACE
OF MARS THAN WE DO
OUR DEEPEST OCEANS.
WHERE UNKNOWN IS NORMAL
AND UNDERSTANDING IS RARE.
¶¶
¶¶
I'VE INVESTIGATED MONSTER
MYTHS ALL OVER THE WORLD,
BUT ONE, THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
REMAINS THE ULTIMATE UNSOLVED
UNDERWATER MYSTERY.
WHAT CREATURE OF THE DEEP IS
BEHIND THE ENDLESS STREAM OF
RUMORS AND REPORTS,
THE HYSTERIA AND THE HEADLINES.
NOW, NEW SIGHTINGS
AND STATE-OF-THE-ART SCIENCE
PROMISE TO FINALLY UNMASK
THE MOST FAMOUS
MONSTER OF THEM ALL.
APRIL 2019.
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN,
36-YEAR-OLD RORY CAMERON IS
ON HIS WAY HOME
FROM A FRIEND'S HOUSE.
HE'S DRIVING ALONGSIDE
LOCH NESS,
AS HE'S DONE COUNTLESS
TIMES BEFORE,
WHEN HE SEES SOMETHING
EXTRAORDINARY
MOVING IN THE WATER.
HE GRABS HIS PHONE AND FILMS
A HUGE, MYSTERIOUS OBJECT,
TRAVELING AT SPEED ACROSS
THE LAKE'S SURFACE.
EXPERTS ARE BAFFLED.
IT'S THE 18th
UNEXPLAINED SIGHTING
IN JUST 12 MONTHS.
THE LEGEND OF SCOTLAND'S
LOCH NESS MONSTER
HAS GRIPPED THE IMAGINATION OF
PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.
I MEAN, WE'VE ALL SEEN
THE PICTURE OF THE...
THE ARM COMING OUT OF THE WATER
LIKE THAT THAT LOOKS
LIKE THE HEAD OF
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
SINCE THE FIRST REPORT
NEARLY 1,500 YEARS AGO,
THERE HAVE BEEN
MORE THAN 1,000 SIGHTINGS.
EVERY FEW YEARS,
IT WOULD SEEM, SOME NEW PICTURE
WOULD COME TO LIGHT.
IT WOULD BE ALMOST CLEAR
ENOUGH TO MAKE THE MYSTERY
A REALITY.
NOW, A TEAM OF
SCIENTISTS LED BY NEIL GEMMELL
THINK THEY MIGHT FINALLY HAVE
WHAT IT TAKES
TO UNMASK THE BEAST,
A GROUNDBREAKING TECHNOLOGY
KNOWN AS ENVIRONMENTAL DNA.
ENVIRONMENTAL DNA IS
A REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY
THIS IS A SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
TO UNDERSTANDING
WHAT'S IN LOCH NESS.
IT'S EXTREMELY POWERFUL.
AS AN ANIMAL
MOVES THROUGH ITS ENVIRONMENT,
IT NATURALLY SHEDS CELLS
AND EXCRETES WASTE,
LEAVING A TRAIL OF ITS OWN DNA.
LOCH NESS IS FILLED WITH CELLS,
DNA... IT'S A GIANT
CAULDRON OF ORGANIC SOUP.
BY SEQUENCING THE DNA,
GEMMELL SHOULD BE ABLE TO
FIGURE OUT WHAT IT BELONGS TO.
THE RESULTS COULD
ASTONISH SCIENTISTS
AND MONSTER HUNTERS ALIKE.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR
SOMETHING UNUSUAL.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR THINGS THAT
DON'T FIT WITH THEIR
CURRENT EXPECTATIONS.
THERE ARE COUNTLESS
THEORIES ABOUT WHAT
THE CREATURE MIGHT BE.
THERE'S THIS NOTION
OF THE WATER HORSE,
WHICH IS PART OF CELTIC
ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY.
AND THEN THERE'S
ANOTHER IDEA THAT
PERHAPS NESSIE IS
A TIME-TRAVELING CREATURE.
THERE'S A WORMHOLE IN SPACE
AND TIME SOMEWHERE IN THE LOCH.
THESE STORIES SEEM FAR-FETCHED,
BUT LOCH NESS IS 750 FEET DEEP.
COULD DNA REVEAL THAT
IT'S CONCEALING A CREATURE
NEW TO SCIENCE?
THERE'S A WHOLE RANGE OF
ANIMALS NOW THAT WE THOUGHT
WERE EXTINCT THAT WE'RE
FINDING OUT ACTUALLY ARE
NOT EXTINCT
AND THAT THEY DO EXIST.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT
SOMETHING IS OUT THERE?
YOU KNOW,
I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT
IT'S PROBABLE THAT
SOMETHING IS OUT THERE.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
HITS THE HEADLINES IN 1933
WHEN A COUPLE WITNESS A STRANGE,
LEGLESS CREATURE DRAG ITSELF
ACROSS A ROAD
ADJACENT TO THE LOCH.
AFTER THAT, SIGHTINGS
COME THICK AND FAST,
ADDING TO THE MONSTER MANIA.
I HAVE SEEN THE MONSTER.
THE HEAD ROSE
RIGHT OUT OF THE WATER.
THE CREATURE APPEARED
TO BE 20 FEET LONG.
AN IMAGE OF THE BEAST
IS TAKING SHAPE.
BUT WHAT IS IT?
WITHOUT DNA EVIDENCE,
IT'S HARD TO PIN DOWN.
MOST SIGHTINGS
DESCRIBE A CREATURE WITH
A LARGE BODY AND LONG NECK,
WHICH FITS WITH
WHAT WE KNOW OF DINOSAURS,
AQUATIC DINOSAURS.
MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE
THAT THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS A REPTILE CALLED
A PLESIOSAUR.
PLESIOSAURS OBVIOUSLY WENT
EXTINCT A LONG TIME AGO,
SO WE HAVEN'T GOT
ANY CONTEMPORARY
PLESIOSAUR DNA TO COMPARE IT TO,
BUT WE CAN MAKE A PRETTY GOOD
ASSUMPTION ABOUT WHAT THAT DNA
MIGHT LOOK LIKE.
PLESIOSAURS AND MANY
OF THE OTHER DINOSAURS WERE
CLOSELY RELATED TO THE MODERN
BIRDS AND CROCODILES,
SO IT SITS SOMEWHERE BETWEEN
THOSE IN THE TREE OF LIFE.
THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME
EVER THAT ENVIRONMENTAL DNA
HAS BEAN USED IN THE SEARCH
FOR THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY
ATTEMPTS OVER THE YEARS
TO TRACK IT DOWN
USING THE CUTTING EDGE
TECHNOLOGY OF THE DAY.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER...
IT REALLY IS ONE OF
THE BEST INVESTIGATED
MONSTER STORIES OUT THERE.
PEOPLE COME TO LOCH NESS,
THEY HAVE BROUGHT
THE LATEST SCIENCE
AND THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY
TO TRY TO INVESTIGATE.
IN THE 1970s,
UNDERWATER CAMERAS ARE
DEPLOYED THROUGHOUT THE LAKE,
BUT IT'S LIKE SEARCHING
FOR A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK.
IT'S A DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENT
TO WORK IN AND TO SURVEY.
THE LOCH CONTAINS
MORE WATER THAN ALL
THE LAKES OF ENGLAND
AND WALES COMBINED.
AND WHAT'S MORE, BELOW 30 FEET,
THERE'S NO LIGHT AT ALL.
THERE'S WHAT THEY CALL COLLOID
PARTICLES IN THE WATER,
AND THESE EFFECTIVELY ACT LIKE
A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES,
LAYERS AND LAYERS OF SUNGLASSES,
IF YOU LIKE, THAT ARE
BLOCKING THE LIGHT.
EVEN IF YOU HAVE REALLY
HIGH-QUALITY CAMERAS,
YOU'RE GOING TO GET BACKSCATTER.
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE ISSUES
WITH ACTUALLY
GETTING A GOOD IMAGE.
BUT IN THE 1980s,
BREAKTHROUGHS IN SONAR
TECHNOLOGY BRING NEW HOPE,
AND THE BIGGEST, MOST AUDACIOUS
SEARCH EVER BEGINS.
IN 1987, PROJECT DEEPSCAN
TOOK 24 BOATS,
AND THEY SPREAD OUT ACROSS
THE SURFACE OF LOCH NESS
AND WENT FROM ONE END
TO THE OTHER.
DEEPSCAN INVESTIGATORS
HOPE THAT SONAR
WILL PRODUCE ANSWERS
WHERE CAMERAS HAVE FAILED.
THEY SEND OUT SOUND,
THE SOUND BOUNCES ON AN OBJECT,
AND THEY CAN MEASURE
THE TIME THAT IT TAKES FOR THAT
SOUND TO BOUNCE BACK
TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THERE.
AS THEY PASS URQUHART CASTLE ON
THE NORTHWESTERN SHORE
OF THE LOCH,
THE SONAR PICKS UP
THREE HUGE SHAPES
NEARLY 600 FEET
BENEATH THE SURFACE.
THEY FOUND THREE SOUNDINGS
THAT THEY DIDN'T QUITE EXPLAIN,
BIGGER THAN A SHARK,
BUT SMALLER THAN A WHALE
WAS ROUGHLY HOW
THEY DESCRIBED IT.
BUT WHEN THE TEAM
RETURNS THE NEXT DAY TO TAKE
A CLOSER LOOK, THEY'RE GONE.
THE IMAGES ARE TANTALIZING,
BUT FRUSTRATINGLY INCONCLUSIVE.
SONAR IN THAT TIME PERIOD
WAS VERY LIMITED,
AND SO THE IMAGERY THAT WAS
PRODUCED IS NOT NEARLY
AS SOPHISTICATED
AS THE EQUIPMENT WE HAVE TODAY.
THE MONSTER REMAINS AT LARGE,
BUT WITH ENVIRONMENTAL DNA,
WE CAN GO WHEN NO SCIENCE HAS
EVER GONE BEFORE.
IT DOESN'T NEED SONIC
OR VISUAL EVIDENCE.
AND THE RECENT SPATE OF
SIGHTINGS IS EXACTLY
WHAT LEAD SCIENTIST NEIL
GEMMELL HAS BEEN WAITING FOR,
BUT HE DOESN'T HAVE MUCH TIME.
DNA DEGRADES RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
THERE ARE TWO SIGHTINGS JUST
OFF OF URQUHART CASTLE.
SO WE SAMPLED THERE WITHIN
THE FIRST OF ARRIVAL.
ACROSS
22 SQUARE MILES OF LOCH NESS,
GEMMELL TAKES 250 WATER SAMPLES.
HE SENDS THEM
FOR DOUBLE BLIND TESTING
TO INDEPENDENT LABS
ACROSS EUROPE.
THERE ARE SOMETHING LIKE 3,000
UNIQUE DNA SEQUENCES
THAT WE HAVE FOUND IN LOCH NESS,
ASCRIBED TO KNOWN
BIOLOGICAL LIFEFORMS.
THE RESULTS
ALSO REVEAL SOMETHING
COMPLETELY UNEXPECTED.
WHEN WE'VE LOOKED
AT OUR SAMPLES,
THERE'S THIS LARGE SIGNAL
OF ONE SPECIES.
IT WAS LIKE,
WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?
HAVE WE FOUND DNA
THAT WILL FINALLY IDENTIFY
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER?
OVER 1,500 YEARS
SINCE IT FIRST SURFACED,
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
REMAINS ON ENIGMA OF THE DEEP.
NOW, A NEW SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUE,
THE ANALYSIS OFF ENVIRONMENTAL
DNA, COULD FINALLY
EXPOSE THE REAL IDENTITY
OF THE INFAMOUS MONSTER.
IT'S NOW THE 21ST CENTURY,
AND WE'RE STILL ASKING
THAT SAME QUESTION...
IS THERE A LOCH NESS MONSTER?
ACCORDING TO POPULAR BELIEF,
THE BEAST IS A FANTASTICAL
CREATURE UNLIKE ANYTHING
EVER SEEN BEFORE.
BUT IS IT POSSIBLE THAT
INSTEAD, LOCH NESS
COULD BE HARBORING A REAL
FLESH AND BLOOD GIANT?
IN THE RIGHT CONDITIONS,
SOME FISH HAVE
THE CAPACITY TO GROW
EXCEPTIONALLY LARGE.
THE GIANT CATFISH MIGHT BE
PRESENT IN LOCH NESS.
WE KNOW THAT IN EUROPE
THERE ARE GIANT CATFISH
CALLED WELS CATFISH.
THERE'S SOME SUGGESTION THAT
THEY WERE RELEASED INTO
LOCH NESS BY THE VICTORIANS
IN THE 1800s.
THE BIGGEST
WELS CATFISH I'VE EVER CAUGHT
WAS SEVEN FEET LONG,
BUT THEY WOULDN'T GROW TO THIS
SIZE IN SCOTLAND'S ICY WATERS.
SO WHAT OTHER GIANT CREATURES
COULD BE PATROLLING THE LOCH?
SO LOCH NESS IS
CONNECTED TO THE NORTH SEA
VIA THE MORAY FIRTH,
WHICH CREATES THE POSSIBILITY
THAT SOME OF THE SIGHTINGS
PEOPLE HAVE HAD HAVE ACTUALLY
BEEN OF MARINE CREATURES THAT
HAVE MANAGED TO MAKE THEIR WAY
INTO THE LOCH.
CREATURES LIKE STURGEON.
I'VE BROUGHT IN A STURGEON
NINE FEET LONG,
AND SOME SPECIES
CAN GROW TO TWICE THIS LENGTH.
THEY'RE NOT RESIDENT
IN THE LOCH.
THEY MIGHT BE COMING
IN AND OUT OF IT
AS PART OF THEIR MIGRATION.
BUT I'M NOT CONVINCED THAT
A STURGEON INSPIRED
THE ANCIENT LEGEND.
NO SPECIES NEAR THE BRITISH
ISLES GROWS LARGE ENOUGH.
SO WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE?
CAN ENVIRONMENTAL DNA
PUT AN END TO CENTURIES
OF SPECULATION?
KIND OF BLOWS YOUR MIND,
THINKING THAT YOU CAN JUST
LEAVE A LITTLE BIT OF DNA
SOMEWHERE, AND A SCIENTIST COULD
FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON.
BY EXTRACTING ENVIRONMENTAL
DNA FROM WATER SAMPLES,
RESEARCHERS CAN FIND OUT
EXACTLY WHAT IS HIDING
BENEATH THE SURFACE.
WE HAD FIVE LABS
AROUND THE WORLD
THAT WERE ANALYZING
THE DNA SEQUENCE DATA.
EARLY RESULTS START
ELIMINATING THE USUAL SUSPECTS
ONE BY ONE.
SO AS FOR A PLESIOSAUR
IN LOCH NESS...
NOT THAT WE CAN DETECT.
IS THERE A GIANT CATFISH?
NOT THAT WE CAN DETECT.
BUT AS THE DATA RACKS UP,
THE SHEER QUANTITY OF DNA
FROM JUST ONE CREATURE
SHOCKS RESEARCHERS.
SO WHAT WE FIND IN OUR DATA
IS ACTUALLY QUITE A LARGE
NUMBER OF HITS
AGAINST EEL DNA.
COULD THE LOCH NESS
MONSTER BE A GIANT EEL?
IT'S A SURPRISING RESULT THAT
RESEARCHERS DID NOT EXPECT.
BUT THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT
SOME INTRIGUING LOCH NESS
MONSTER SIGHTINGS
ARE DISTINCTLY EEL-SHAPED.
IN 2008, LAB TECHNICIAN
GORDON HOLMES DETECTS
AN UNEXPLAINED ENTITY MOVING
BENEATH THE HULL OF HIS BOAT.
JUST ONE YEAR EARLIER,
HE CAUSED A SENSATION
WHEN HE RELEASED
THIS FOOTAGE OF A LONG,
THIN CREATURE AROUND
45 FEET IN LENGTH,
GLIDING ACROSS THE WATER.
THERE ARE 800 SPECIES OF EEL
FOUND WORLDWIDE,
AND SOME CAN GROW HUGE,
BUT THE EUROPEAN EEL GROWS
TO LITTLE MORE THAN
FOUR FEET LONG.
SO HOW COULD THEY POSSIBLY
ACCOUNT FOR SIGHTINGS OF
A MONSTER?
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THAT
THE ANSWER MIGHT LIE
IN THEIR BIOLOGY.
THE LIFE CYCLE
OF THE EUROPEAN EEL
HAS BEEN SHROUDED IN MYSTERY
FOR CENTURIES,
BUT WE NOW KNOW THAT ONCE
THEY REACH SEXUAL MATURITY,
THEY LEAVE THEIR FRESHWATER
HOMES AND EMBARK ON A 3,000-MILE
MIGRATION TO THE SARGASSO SEA.
NORMALLY, EELS WOULD MIGRATE
TO THE SEA TO SPAWN,
AND THEN THEY DIE.
BUT IT'S POSSIBLE
THAT IN RARE INSTANCES,
SOME EELS MAY NOT
DEVELOP SEXUALLY.
INSTEAD OF MIGRATING,
THEY STAY PUT,
POTENTIALLY LIVING LONGER
AND GROWING
INTO MONSTERS.
COULD DNA RESULTS HAVE EXPOSED
MUTANT EELS HIDING
IN PLAIN SIGHT?
THERE ARE MUTATIONS THAT RESULT
IN VERY LARGE BODY SIZE.
I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE THERE
MAY BE A VERY LARGE EEL
IN LOCH NESS.
SUPERSIZED EELS ARE WITHIN
THE REALMS OF POSSIBILITY,
BUT FOR ME, 45 FEET LONG
IS TOO MUCH OF A STRETCH.
SO FOR NOW, AT LEAST,
THE SEARCH FOR
THE TRUE IDENTITY OF
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER CONTINUES.
I'VE SPENT A LOT OF
TIME UNDERWATER,
BUT I'M TOTALLY RELIANT ON
MY SCUBA GEAR TO KEEP ME ALIVE.
WITHOUT IT, I WOULDN'T LAST
FOR MORE THAN A FEW MINUTES.
SO HOW DID ONE MAN SURVIVE
ON THE OCEAN FLOOR
FOR THREE DAYS
WITHOUT ANY DIVING
EQUIPMENT WHATSOEVER?
NEW SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF
HIS UNBELIEVABLE UNDERWATER
ORDEAL CHALLENGES EVERYTHING
I THOUGHT I KNEW.
MAY 26, 2013.
20 MILES OFF THE COAST
OF NIGERIA,
A TUGBOAT CALLED THE JASCON 4
IS CAUGHT IN A FIERCE STORM.
A BIG WAVE HIT
THE SIDE OF THE TUG,
WHICH BROKE THE TOW WIRE
AND TURNED THE TUG UPSIDE DOWN.
BY THE TIME THE RESCUE TEAM
ARRIVES AT THE SCENE,
THE VESSEL AND ALL 12 CREWMAN
HAVE DISAPPEARED.
THE TUGBOAT SANK IN
ABOUT 100 FEET OF WATER,
SO THEY NEEDED A SPECIALIST
DIVE CREW TO GO DOWN THERE
AND DO THE RECOVERY.
IT TAKES HOURS
TO ASSEMBLE THE DIVERS
AND TRANSPORT THEM TO THE SITE
OF THE DISASTER,
BY WHICH TIME THEY BELIEVE
THERE'S LITTLE
TO NO HOPE OF FINDING
ANY SURVIVORS.
THEY WERE WORKING AT DEPTH
IN LOW VISIBILITY
IN THIS UPTURNED VESSEL.
THE DIVERS RECOVER
THE BODIES OF FOUR CREWMEN
WHO WENT DOWN WITH THE SHIP.
THEY'RE CONTINUING
THE GRIZZLY TASK
OF LOCATING THE OTHER EIGHT
WHEN THE IMPOSSIBLE HAPPENS.
THERE'S SOMEBODY DOWN THERE!
HE'S ALIVE, HE'S ALIVE.
OKAY, KEEP HIM THERE,
KEEP HIM THERE.
IMAGINE A HAND GRABBING YOU
UNDERWATER WHEN YOU EXPECT
THAT NOBODY IS ALIVE
IN THIS SHIPWRECK.
INCREDIBLY, THE SHIP'S COOK,
29-YEAR-OLD HARRISON OKENE,
HAS SURVIVED UNDERWATER
FOR NEARLY THREE DAYS.
ALL RIGHT, JUST KEEP HIM THERE
AND KEEP HIM CALM, OKAY?
IT'S A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME
MIRACLE.
IT'S... IT'S BEYOND BELIEF.
HOW'D THIS GUY SURVIVE FOR
60 HOURS UNDER UNDERWATER?
CAN SCIENCE UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY
OF THIS UNPARALLELED
UNDERWATER SURVIVAL STORY?
60 HOURS AFTER
THE SINKING OF A TUGBOAT
OFF THE COAST OF NIGERIA,
A TEAM OF DIVERS ARE SEARCHING
FOR BODIES INSIDE THE STRICKEN
VESSEL ON THE SEA FLOOR WHEN
THEY COME FACE TO FACE
WITH A LIVING,
BREATHING SURVIVOR
THERE'S SOMEBODY DOWN THERE!
HE'S ALIVE. HE'S ALIVE.
IT'S THE SHIP'S COOK,
29-YEAR-OLD HARRISON OKENE.
HOW OKENE IS STILL ALIVE
IS ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING
AND MIND-BOGGLING OCEAN
MYSTERIES OF MODERN TIMES.
A MAN SURVIVED FOR MULTIPLE DAYS
WHILE TRAPPED IN A SUNKEN SHIP.
HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?
IN AN EFFORT TO GET
TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS
UNBELIEVABLE SURVIVAL STORY,
SCIENTISTS EXAMINE OKENE'S
THREE-DAY ORDEAL
PIECE BY PIECE,
STARTING WITH THE MOMENT WHEN
HIS SHIP SUDDENLY CAPSIZES.
IT'S GOTTA BE THE MOST
TERRIFYING THING IN THE WORLD.
ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOUR WORLD
TURNS UPSIDE DOWN,
AND WATER STARTS RUSHING IN.
YOU MUST THINK THAT YOU'RE DEAD.
SCRABBLING AROUND IN
THE DARK, UPTURNED VESSEL,
OKENE MAKES
AN INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY.
A POCKET OF TRAPPED AIR.
IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPROBABLE.
THAT AN AIR POCKET COULD
FORM ON A WRECK LIKE THIS
IS AGAINST ALL ODDS.
THAT TUGBOAT MUST HAVE GONE
DOWN NEAR ENOUGH STRAIGHT.
IF IT STARTS TO TIP EITHER WAY,
THE AIR CAN SEEP OUT.
BUT AS THE DOOMED SHIP
DESCENDS TO THE SEABED,
THE AIR BUBBLE, OKENE'S
ONLY HOPE OF SURVIVAL,
BEGINS TO SHRINK.
FOR EVERY 33 FEET YOU GO DOWN,
YOUR PRESSURE DOUBLES,
AND AIR IS CONDENSED.
THE PRESSURE OF THE WATER IS
MAKING THAT AIR BUBBLE
SMALLER AND SMALLER.
THE WATER IS RISING, AND YOU'RE
ESSENTIALLY COUNTING
THE MINUTES UNTIL YOU'RE DEAD.
LUCKILY, THE TUG HITS THE BOTTOM
BEFORE THE BUBBLE
COMPRESSES TOO MUCH.
IF THE SHIP HAD GONE ANY DEEPER,
THEN THE WATER PRESSURE WOULD
HAVE CONDENSED THAT AREA MORE.
BUT THE AIR BUBBLE IS NOW
A MERE FOUR FEET HIGH.
OKENE'S CHANCES OF
SURVIVAL ARE SLIM TO NONE.
FOR HIM TO SURVIVE 60 HOURS
ON THE SEA FLOOR IN
PITCH BLACK, BREATHING
JUST A SMALL AIR POCKET...
IT REALLY IS A MYSTERY
HOW HE WAS ABLE TO SURVIVE.
AFTER TRYING TO ESCAPE
VIA A PASSAGEWAY,
HE RESIGNS HIMSELF TO STAYING
IN HIS TINY DARK BUBBLE.
WHY
OKENE CHOSE TO STAY IN
THE BUBBLE THAT HE WAS IN
IS BEYOND ME.
EITHER HE'S ACCEPTING
HE'S GOING TO DIE,
OR HE HAS COMPLETE
AND UTTER FAITH THAT HE'S GOING
TO BE RESCUED.
PERHAPS HE KNOWS
THAT ATTEMPTING TO
GET OUT NOW WILL SPELL
CERTAIN DEATH.
EVEN IF HE HAD MANAGED TO
NAVIGATE THE PITCH BLACK
OF THE WRECK,
FIND AN OPENING, AND ESCAPE UP
TO THE SURFACE,
HE STILL WOULD NOT HAVE
SURVIVED, BECAUSE THE NITROGEN
IN HIS BLOODSTREAM WILL EXPAND,
AND AIR BUBBLES WILL POP.
BUT STAYING IN THE AIR BUBBLE
IS ALSO FRAUGHT WITH DANGER,
AND THE BIGGEST THREAT
TO OKENE RIGHT NOW
IS HIS OWN BREATH.
OVER THE COURSE OF TIME,
HE'S OBVIOUSLY BREATHING IN
OXYGEN AND EXHALING
CARBON DIOXIDE,
AND THE LEVELS OF
CARBON DIOXIDE
IN THAT BUBBLE ARE RISING.
ONCE CARBON DIOXIDE
GETS ABOUT FOUR
OR FIVE PERCENT,
IT STARTS TO BECOME TOXIC.
THE LONGER HE SURVIVED,
THE CLOSER HE WAS TO DEATH.
BY THE TIME
RESCUERS ARRIVE, OKENE
SHOULD HAVE SUCCUMBED TO DEEP
SEA CARBON DIOXIDE TOXICITY.
IT'S A LITTLE WEIRD THAT
HE WASN'T SUFFERING ANY
SYMPTOMS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
TOXICITY AFTER SO MUCH
TIME UNDERWATER.
EXPERTS BELIEVE THE ICY
TEMPERATURES MAY HAVE BEEN
HIS SAVIOR.
LOWER BODY TEMPERATURE WOULD
SLOW YOUR RESPIRATION,
WHICH MAY, YOU KNOW,
INCREASE YOUR LONGEVITY.
AS WELL AS SLOWING
DOWN OKENE'S METABOLISM,
THE FRIGID WATER SURROUNDING
THE AIR BUBBLE MIGHT HAVE
PLAYED A SECOND IMPORTANT
ROLE IN HIS SURVIVAL.
GAS IS MORE SOLUBLE
IN COLD WATER.
IF THE CONCENTRATION OF CO2
IS INCREASING IN THE AIRSPACE,
AND WE HAVE COLD WATER, THAT CO2
CAN GO INTO THE WATER.
PERHAPS THAT MADE
THE AIR BREATHABLE
FOR A LONGER AMOUNT OF TIME.
THERE ARE MANY THEORIES,
BUT SCIENCE STILL
CAN'T FULLY EXPLAIN
HOW OKENE PULLED THROUGH.
HOW DID HE SURVIVE
THE, YOU KNOW, CARBON DIOXIDE,
THE HYPOTHERMIA, THE, YOU KNOW,
THE MENTAL STRESS.
I MEAN, MULTIPLE REASONS
THAT GUY SHOULD BE DEAD,
AND HE'S ALIVE.
BUT OKENE IS NOT
HOME AND DRY YET.
AFTER THREE DAYS UNDERWATER,
HIS BLOOD IS SUPER SATURATED
WITH NITROGEN.
THE SLIGHTEST MISTAKE NOW
WILL KILL HIM.
29-YEAR-OLD HARRISON OKENE
HAS ENDURED
AN UNBELIEVABLE 60 HOURS
ALONE IN A SUNKEN SHIP.
HIS SURVIVAL ON THE SEA FLOOR
SEEMS TO DEFY
THE RULES OF SCIENCE.
BUT AS ALL DIVERS KNOW,
THE GREATEST CHALLENGE CAN BE
THE VERY LAST STAGE...
THE JOURNEY OUT OF THE DARKNESS
AND BACK UP TO THE LIGHT.
YEAH, TIGHTEN THOSE
A BIT MORE. IS THAT OKAY?
ALL RIGHT.
THE NITROGEN THAT'S IN THE AIR
ACTUALLY ALSO SQUEEZES
FROM THE PRESSURE,
AND IT GETS SMALLER,
AND THOSE AIR BUBBLES
CAN ENTER INTO
YOUR BLOOD SYSTEM.
HE HAS TO UNDERGO A COMPLEX
PROCESS OF DEPRESSURIZING HIM.
THE RESCUERS NEED TO GET
OKENE SAFELY
TO THEIR DIVING BELL
BEFORE THEY HIM GRADUALLY
BRING HIM TO THE SURFACE.
HELLO, MY FRIEND.
CAN YOU HEAR ME?
OKAY. LISTEN TO ME, ALL RIGHT?
NOW YOU MUSTN'T PANIC, EH?
WE'RE GONNA BRING YOU
HOME, OKAY?
¶¶
¶¶
OKAY, WE'RE BRINGING YOU HOME.
TAKE YOUR MASK AND STEADY, OKAY?
¶¶
ALL RIGHT, HE'S IN THE BELL.
GOOD JOB, MY FRIEND. WELL DONE.
YOU'RE A SURVIVOR!
THIS CASE RIGHT HERE
SHOWS US THAT THERE'S
A LOT STILL TO LEARN
ABOUT HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY
UNDER THE OCEAN.
INCREDIBLY, OKENE'S
STORY HAS A HAPPY ENDING.
BUT WHAT IF HE'S NOT
THE ONLY PERSON
WHO SURVIVED FOR DAYS
UNDERWATER?
WHAT IF IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE,
AND WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT?
LOOKING BACK AT ALL THE SHIPS
WHICH HAVE SUNK OVER THE YEARS,
WE'VE OFTEN THOUGHT THAT THOSE
PEOPLE MUST HAVE DIED
PRETTY MUCH NEAR
INSTANTANEOUSLY.
THIS, OF COURSE, GIVES US
A WHOLE NEW CONCEPT,
AND IT MAKES IT VERY HAUNTING
WHEN YOU START TO THINK,
WELL,
IF THIS ONE PERSON SURVIVED,
HOW MANY OTHERS MIGHT HAVE?
¶¶
¶¶
IN MY TRAVELS AROUND THE GLOBE,
I'VE SEEN ALL SORTS OF
DISCARDED GARMENTS WASHED UP
ON SHORELINES,
FROM JACKETS AND SHIRTS,
TO GLOVES AND SANDALS.
BUT WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO
BE WALKING ALONG A LONELY BEACH
AND TO COME ACROSS AN ITEM OF
CLOTHING WITH THE BODY PARTS
STILL INSIDE?
SEPTEMBER 2018.
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.
A SNEAKER IS FOUND
WASHED UP ON A BEACH.
ITS OWNER'S FOOT
IS STILL IN IT.
I CAN'T IMAGINE WALKING ALONG
THE BEACH LOOKING FOR SEASHELLS
AND OTHER THINGS AND FINDING
A HUMAN FOOT SITTING THERE.
THIS IS NOT
AN ISOLATED INCIDENT.
THE GRUESOME FIND
IS THE 15th FOOT
TO BE DISCOVERED ON BEACHES
IN THIS REGION
IN 12 YEARS.
WHEN YOU HEAR OF HUMAN FEET
LINING A BEACH,
YOU THINK OF A SERIAL KILLER.
THE POLICE AND A LOT
OF PEOPLE IN THE PUBLIC
THOUGHT THAT SOMEBODY HAD BEEN
MURDERED, PART OF A MAFIA
SITUATION WHERE THEY HAD
DUMPED THE BODY SOMEWHERE.
INVESTIGATORS
FACE SOME DIFFICULT
AND PERPLEXING
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS.
NOBODY KNEW WHO
THESE FEET BELONGED TO
OR WHERE THEY HAD COME FROM.
NOW, NEW ADVANCES IN
THE SPECIALIST FIELD OF
MARINE FORENSICS
ARE ALLOWING US TO SHINE SOME
LIGHT ON THIS DARK MYSTERY.
EXPERTS CAREFULLY EXAMINE EACH
BONE LOOKING FOR TOOL MARKS
AND OTHER SIGNS OF VIOLENCE
THAT WOULD INDICATE FOUL PLAY.
BUT THERE ARE NONE.
IT'S NOT SOME
STRANGE SERIAL KILLER
WHO JUST LIKES TO CUT OFF FEET
AND THROW 'EM IN THE OCEAN
AND CREATE THIS MYSTERY.
INSTEAD, THE FINDINGS
TELL A VERY DIFFERENT TALE.
THEY REVEAL HOW THE DEAD ARE
DISMANTLED BY UNDERWATER FORCES.
WHEN A HUMAN BODY DECOMPOSES,
TWO OF THE PARTS OF THE BODY
THAT RELEASE FIRST
AT THE JOINTS ARE THE HANDS
AND THE FEET.
IT'S KNOWN AS DISARTICULATION.
OVER TIME, THE FOOT SEPARATES
FROM THE LEG
AT THE ANKLE JOINT,
RELEASING THE FOOT TO BECOME
A CASTAWAY IN THE OCEAN.
BUT WHY ARE MOST OF THESE FEET
WEARING SNEAKERS?
MODERN TRAINERS ARE MADE
OF FOAM PLASTICS.
SOME SOLES OF RUNNING SHOES,
FOR EXAMPLE,
EVEN HAVE AN AIR POCKET IN THEM.
THEY'RE FLOATING
AND KEEPING THESE FEET
ON THE SURFACE...
THAT ALLOWS THEM
TO THEN BE MOVED BY CURRENTS
AND WINDS INTO THE BEACH.
DISARTICULATION,
COUPLED WITH BUOYANT FOOTWEAR,
MIGHT EXPLAIN THE PRESENCE OF
FLOATING FEET.
BUT THE BIG QUESTION IS,
WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM?
ARE THERE ANY AREAS OF,
YOU KNOW,
HIGH SUICIDE IN
BRITISH COLUMBIA?
DO THEY USE THAT PLACE...
IS IT SOMEWHERE ALONG
THE CURRENTS THAT WOULD WASH
BODY PARTS TO THE SHORE?
CAN REVOLUTIONARY SCIENTIFIC
TECHNIQUES GET US
ANY CLOSER TO UNRAVELING THIS
MACABRE MYSTERY OF THE DEEP?
HUMAN FEET WASHING ASHORE
ALONG THE COAST OF
BRITISH COLUMBIA
HAVE TERRIFIED LOCALS
AND BAFFLED INVESTIGATORS
FOR A DOZEN YEARS.
WHERE ARE THEY COMING FROM?
AND WHY ARE THEY ENDING UP HERE?
15 HUMAN FEET HAVE BEAN FOUND
WASHED UP ON
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA SHORE.
IN SEARCH OF CLUES ABOUT
WHO THESE FEET BELONG TO,
FORENSIC EXPERTS
ATTEMPT TO EXTRACT
DNA FROM THE DECOMPOSING TISSUE.
AND THE FOOTWEAR ITSELF
CAN PROVIDE VITAL INFORMATION.
IN SOME CASES,
THEY WERE ACTUALLY
ABLE TO DETERMINE
WHO THE PEOPLE WERE
BASED ON THE TRAINERS.
I BELIEVE THERE WERE A FEW
OF THEM THAT WERE DISTINCT.
OF THE 15 FEET FOUND,
13 HAVE NOW BEEN TRACED BACK
TO PEOPLE WHO HAVE
GONE MISSING FROM BRITISH
COLUMBIA AND WASHINGTON STATE.
IT TURNS OUT MOST OF THEM WERE
EITHER ACCIDENTAL DEATHS
OR, IN SOME CASES,
THEY WERE SUSPECTED SUICIDES.
POLICE ARE STILL TRYING
TO MATCH THE FINAL TWO
WITH A BODY.
IT'S A MONUMENTAL TASK.
SOME OF THESE SHOES
HAVE BEEN LOST AT SEA
FOR DECADES.
SO THESE SHOES ARE NOT ALL
NECESSARILY FROM VICTIMS
FROM THE SAME YEAR
BUT SPREAD OVER MANY YEARS.
IN ONE CASE,
THE DNA MATCHES UP WITH A MAN
WHO HAS BEEN MISSING
FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY
IN COLDER WATERS,
THERE'S GREATER PRESERVATION,
BUT TO HAVE GENETIC MATERIAL
LASTING 25 YEARS IN ITSELF
IS PRETTY PHENOMENAL.
BUT ONE PART OF THIS
MYSTERY REMAINS IMPENETRABLE.
WHY DO SO MANY FEET END UP
ON THIS ONE PARTICULAR PART
OF BRITISH COLUMBIA?
YOU WOULD THINK THAT IF IT WERE
A WORLD EPIDEMIC,
YOU'D FIND THEM ALL OVER.
SO WHAT IS IT SPECIFICALLY
ABOUT THIS PART
OF THE WORLD THAT ATTRACTS
FEET IN RUNNING SHOES?
NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE,
BUT EXPERTS AGREE
THAT IT MUST HAVE
SOMETHING TO DO WITH
THE OCEAN CURRENTS.
THE THING THAT'S INTERESTING
ABOUT VANCOUVER ISLAND
IN RELATION TO THE MAINLAND
IS YOU HAVE A SERIES
OF CIRCULATING CURRENTS,
SORT OF ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER.
TRAPPED IN
THESE CHURNING WATERS,
FLOATING FEET COULD CIRCLE
AROUND FOR DAYS ON END
BEFORE BEING SPAT OUT
ON THE COAST.
BUT THIS DOESN'T FULLY EXPLAIN
WHY SOME BEACHES GET
MORE THAN THEIR FAIR SHARE
OF THIS GRISLY FLOTSAM.
ALTHOUGH WE HAVE OCEAN
CURRENTS THAT WE CAN PREDICT,
THERE'S MANY THINGS
WE CAN'T PREDICT IN TERMS OF
OCEAN CIRCULATION.
BUT WHAT IF OCEAN CURRENTS
ARE JUST PART OF THE ANSWER?
BRITISH COLUMBIA IS HOME TO
AROUND FIVE MILLION PEOPLE.
IT'S A GRIM FACT, BUT THE MORE
DENSELY POPULATED A PLACE IS,
THE MORE LIKELY IT IS
THAT BODIES WILL END UP
IN THE WATER.
AND AS THE POPULATION RISES,
I'M LEFT IN NO DOUBT THAT
THE LATEST GRUESOME FIND
WILL NOT BE THE LAST.
I'VE REELED IN SOME
MIGHTY MONSTERS,
SOME OF THEM BIG ENOUGH
AND TOOTHY ENOUGH
TO DEVOUR A PERSON.
DESPITE THIS, I'VE ALWAYS
FOUND THE BIBLICAL STORY OF
JONAH BEING EATEN BY A WHALE
HARD TO SWALLOW.
BUT A RECENT BIZARRE REAL-LIFE
INCIDENT HAS MADE ME WONDER
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
WHETHER AN EXTRAORDINARY TRUTH
COULD LIE BEHIND
THAT FAMOUS TALE.
MARCH 2019.
25 MILES OFF PORT ELIZABETH,
SOUTH AFRICA,
PHOTOGRAPHER RAINER SCHIMPF IS
FILMING A SCHOOL OF SARDINES
BEING ATTACKED BY A FEEDING
FRENZY OF PREDATORS
WHEN OUT OF NOWHERE,
HIS WORLD PLUNGES INTO DARKNESS.
ALL OF A SUDDEN,
THIS WHALE COMES UP BEHIND
AND SORT OF
SCOOPS HIM UP INTO HIS MOUTH.
BASICALLY HALF IN AND HALF
OUTSIDE A WHALE'S MOUTH,
BEING... LOOKS LIKE
HE'S BEING EATEN.
STRANGE STORIES
OF MAN-EATING WHALES
HAVE EXISTED FOR CENTURIES,
INCLUDING THE FAMOUS
BIBLICAL TALE OF JONAH,
WHO IS SAID TO HAVE SPENT THREE
WHOLE DAYS IN A WHALE'S STOMACH
BEFORE IT LET HIM GO.
BUT THERE HAVE BEEN
NO CONFIRMED CASES OF
ANYTHING LIKE THIS ACTUALLY
HAPPENING IN REAL LIFE...
UNTIL NOW.
EXPERTS ARE EAGER TO FIND OUT
WHAT COULD HAVE TRIGGERED
THIS UNPRECEDENTED BEHAVIOR.
HOW CAN THIS POSSIBLY HAPPEN?
A VERY LARGE SEA CREATURE
SEEMS TO BE
TAKING A MAN FROM THE SEA.
THAT'S HUGE... I MEAN,
THAT'S... THAT'S FICTION.
WILL RAINER SCHIMPF SUFFER
THE SAME UNIMAGINABLE FATE
AS JONAH?
IT'S MARCH 2019 OFF THE COAST
OF SOUTH AFRICA.
PHOTOGRAPHER RAINER SCHIMPF
APPEARS TO BE IN DANGER
OF BECOMING A MODERN-DAY JONAH.
A CASE OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION,
OR HAS THE WHALE BITTEN OFF
MORE THAN IT CAN CHEW?
HUMANS TYPICALLY AREN'T
ON THE MENU FOR WHALE,
SO WHY... WHY WOULD THIS WHALE
SCOOP UP A SNORKELER?
WHEN SCIENTISTS
IDENTIFY THE SPECIES,
THE MYSTERY DEEPENS
EVEN FURTHER.
IT'S A BRYDE'S WHALE.
THE BRYDE'S WHALE IS A VERY,
VERY LARGE MARINE MAMMAL
WITH A VERY LARGE MOUTH.
BUT BRYDE'S ARE BALEEN WHALES,
WHICH MEANS THAT
INSTEAD OF TEETH,
THEY USE BRISTLE-LIKE FILTERS
TO TRAP THEIR FOOD.
IT'S EVOLVED TO STRAIN WATER
AND GET
THESE LITTLE FISH OUT,
OR THE KRILL
OR... OR, YOU KNOW,
MACKEREL OR HERRING OR SARDINES.
THEY'RE NOT CONSTRUCTED
TO, YOU KNOW,
EAT LARGE PIECES OF MEAT.
SO PURELY BIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING,
THE WHALE'S NOT ABLE TO
PHYSICALLY SWALLOW THE MAN.
IF THE WHALE ISN'T TRYING
TO EAT SCHIMPF,
WHAT IS ITS MOTIVE?
WAS THIS A ROGUE WHALE
BEHAVING BADLY,
OR WAS THIS A COMPLETE ACCIDENT?
PERHAPS THERE ARE CLUES TO BE
FOUND JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE.
AT THE TIME THAT RAINER
WAS FILMING THESE SARDINES,
THEY WERE ALL
SCHOOLED UP INTO THIS,
UH, TIGHT BALL OF FISH.
FOOTAGE TAKEN BY RAINER SCHIMPF
JUST BEFORE THE INCIDENT
SHOWS THE SARDINES HUDDLING
TOGETHER FOR SAFETY.
YOU PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE ABLE
TO SEE A HUMAN BEING
ON ANOTHER SIDE OF
A BALL OF FISH.
AND THE POSITION
OF THE WHALE'S EYES
WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT,
IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE,
FOR IT TO SPOT
SCHIMPF FLOATING
AMONGST ITS FOOD.
WHALES HAVE THEIR EYES
ON THE SIDE OF THEIR HEADS.
THEY USUALLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT
OF A BLIND SPOT OUT FRONT.
BUT RECENT RESEARCH
SUGGESTS THAT SCHIMPF'S WHALE
MAY NOT HAVE BEEN RELYING
ON ITS EYES AT ALL.
SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THEY MAY
HAVE FOUND EVIDENCE OF BALEEN
WHALES USING ECHO LOCATION
TO HELP THEM FIND FOOD.
THE ECHO SIGNATURE MAY HAVE JUST
LOOKED LIKE ONE BIG
BALL OF FISH.
I THINK IT WOULD BE
DIFFICULT FOR
THE WHALE TO KNOW
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THE TWO SEPARATE THINGS.
IT'S FEASIBLE THAT THE WHALE
GRABBED SCHIMPF ACCIDENTALLY,
BUT THERE'S ONE VITAL CLUE
THAT HAS BEEN OVERLOOKED...
THE PRESENCE OF SHARKS.
THIS OPENS UP A WHOLE NEW
POSSIBLE THEORY.
THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS
THAT THIS WHALE,
SEEING THE HUMAN IN THE WATER,
SEEING THE SHARKS AROUND,
WENT UP AND SCOOPED HIM UP,
TO PROTECT HIM.
THIS MIGHT SEEM FAR-FETCHED,
BUT SCIENTISTS HAVE RECENTLY
DOCUMENTED HUNDREDS
OF INSTANCES
OF WALES INTERVENING TO
PROTECT OTHER CREATURES
FROM HARM.
THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CASES
WHERE PEOPLE SEEM TO SEE
THE EMPATHY OF WHALES,
WHERE THEY'LL BE A SHARK
NEARBY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT,
AND THE WHALE WAS SORT OF PUSH
A SNORKELER TO THE OTHER
SIDE OF THEIR BODY,
IN ALMOST DEFENSE OF ANIMALS
TO KEEP THEM IN A SAFE AREA.
THE SARDINE RUN NOTORIOUSLY
LURES IN ALL SORTS OF SHARKS,
INCLUDING THE WORLD'S
MOST FEARED...
THE GREAT WHITE.
BUT EVEN THEY ARE NO MATCH
FOR A FULLY GROWN,
30-TON BRYDE'S WHALE
IF IT WAS ACTING
AS HIS BODYGUARD,
RAINER SCHIMPF OWES HIS WHALE
A HUGE DEBT OF GRATITUDE.
BUT COULD THERE BE SOMETHING
MORE MENACING AT PLAY HERE?
ANIMALS ARE NOT ROBOTS.
THEIR BEHAVIOR IS NOT
ALWAYS PREDICTABLE.
AND, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE HUMANS,
THEY COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE
A... A BRAIN TUMOR OR SOME OTHER
AFFLICTION THAT WOULD CAUSE
THEM TO ACT IN AN UNUSUAL WAY.
DISEASES SUCH AS
RABIES CAN HIJACK THE BRAIN,
MAKING ANIMALS
ABNORMALLY AGGRESSIVE.
PERHAPS THIS WAS THE ACT
OF A CREATURE
NOT IN ITS RIGHT MIND.
WHATEVER TRIGGERED
THE WHALE TO GRAB SCHIMPF,
ONE THING IS FOR CERTAIN.
LOCKED WITHIN
ITS VICE-LIKE GRIP,
THE PHOTOGRAPHER
IS IN GRAVE DANGER.
THEY HAVE INCREDIBLE MASS
AND VERY STRONG JAWS,
SO YOU HAVE TO BE
CONCERNED ABOUT
BROKEN BONES
OR BEING CRUSHED TO DEATH
WHEN IN THE MOUTH OF
ONE OF THESE BEASTS.
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
HE HAS TO WORRY ABOUT.
WHALES HAVE BEEN KNOWN
TO DIVE LITERALLY HUNDREDS,
IF NOT THOUSANDS OF METERS DEEP.
WHAT'S MORE,
BRYDE'S WHALES CAN HOLD
THEIR BREATH
FOR UP TO 20 MINUTES...
THE AVERAGE HUMAN,
LESS THAN ONE MINUTE.
YOU'VE GOT NO RESERVE AIR
EXCEPT FOR WHAT YOU'VE GOT
IN YOUR LUNGS, AND HE WOULD
NOT HAVE LASTED THAT LONG.
IF THE WHALE HAD DECIDED
TO DIVE, FOR EXAMPLE,
EVEN TO 30 METERS, THAT IN
ITSELF COULD HAVE KILLED HIM.
BUT BEFORE IT DIVES
INTO THE DEPTHS,
THE WHILE RELEASES
SCHIMPF, UNHARMED.
SCHIMPF HAD
AN INCREDIBLY LUCKY ESCAPE.
WHETHER THE WHALE GRABBED HIM
BY ACCIDENT, TO SAVE HIM
FROM A SHARK, OR IN A FIT OF
PSYCHOTIC RAGE,
WE'LL NEVER KNOW.
LIKE SO MANY MYSTERIES OF
THE DEEP, THE SECRET
IS NOW SUBMERGED
BENEATH THE SURFACE
AND SWIMMING AWAY 1,000 FEET
UNDER THE WAVES.