This is Doctor Neil Burnie.
He lives in Bermuda, a stunning Atlantic Island six hundred and forty miles east of North
Carolina, USA.He’s spent the last thirty years practicing veterinary medicine, but
now he's transferring his veterinary skills to help save, protect, and learn more about
the incredible marine life of Bermuda’s Ocean.
This is a completely wild shark.
Alongside his dedicated Ocean Vet team, are a number of scientists,
Yeah, this and probably.
marine biologists, Just cut a little nick off the back fin.
and specialist master divers, helping to perform a number of unique and dangerous procedures,
in a bid to safeguard critically important marine species.Together, the team will be
fitting satellite tags to huge tiger sharks, saving precious green turtles, dissecting
giant blue marlin, and obtaining unique toxin samples from forty five tonne, migrating,
humpback whales.
Yay!
Woo hoo!My knees are like jell-o.
Yes, man!
This is Bermuda!
Home to Doctor Neil Burnie, the Ocean Vet.
The galapagos shark, once one of the most abundant shark species found in the waters
around Bermuda.
These apex predators play a fundamental role in the health of the marine ecosystem, helping
to control the delicate balance of life in oceans all over the world.
Over the last sixty years, a rapid increase of sharks caught globally has had a devastating
effect on galapagos shark numbers, casting serious doubt over it’s long-term survival.
I’ve got him, i’ve got him, he’s in tonic, Ian, we’re gonna take him.
In this episode of Ocean Vet, Neil, and his team have been called in to help release a
sick galapagos shark from the Bermuda Aquarium’s North Rock tank.
We’re gonna transfer him into the stretcher on three, two, one, go!
To ensure this fish survives, Neil, and his crew face a challenging mission to transport
the animal seven miles offshore for release at a protected marine reserve.
As we release the fish i’m gonna make sure that he can swim strongly.
Neil, and his crew will also have a rare encounter with a blue shark while on a mission to catch
a large galapagos shark to implant a powerful satellite tracking tag.
Now, i’m gonna insert this large PSAT archival tag into the fish.
The team’s goal is to begin a new scientific study, tracking these sharks to see if they
make long-range migrations from the Bermuda platform.
Ok, get the hose out.
The hose.
Together with his Ocean Vet crew, Neil, faces some of his toughest challenges in a bid to
help save and learn more about the majestic galapagos shark.
Morning, Roma.
Morning.
Lisa.
Neil’s veterinary expertise have been called upon by the Bermuda Aquarium, to help with
the release of their captive galapagos shark.
Good.
Is he behaving himself?
Oh yeah, he’s waiting for you.
We’ve just gotta hope his behaviour is good.
We gotta hope this shark behaves himself and comes easily into our capture net.
The Aquarium’s resident galapagos shark, Desmond, has developed lesions on his nose.
These injuries have been sustained by the shark banging against the walls of the tank,
trying to avoid the bullying of the larger, and more aggressive black grouper.
After several weeks under observation, Neil, has seen no improvement in the shark’s condition,
so it’s best chance of survival lies with it being released.
We’re gonna have Neil on the head in terms of, er.
The Aquarium’s chief curator, Doctor Ian Walker; aquarium collector, Steven Davies;
and series marine biologist, Choy Aming, will be capturing the shark with Neil, loading
it onto a stretcher, and rushing it to a tank waiting on the Ocean Vet boat, Bones.
There’s a lot on the line here, we’re very concerned about the health of this particular
shark.
We really are concerned for it’s welfare, we don’t want to lose him during this capture
and release process.
To ensure this shark stands the best chance of making a full recovery from it’s injuries,
North Rock, has been selected by the team as a release location.
This protected marine reserve will enable this shark to make a full and speedy recovery,
and it’s close proximity to the Aquarium will minimise stress to the animal during
transport.
We’re a little frustrated at the moment, because we’ve been waiting quite a few minutes
for the shark.
He’s made a couple passes of the net, but he turns off every time.
So, we’ve added a little bit of bait to the net to try and entice him just a little
bit more, and, er, we’ll see how it goes.
We’re getting some progress, but not what we want.
Eventually, the shark’s interest in the baited net increases.
Neil’s capture team is poised and the boat is standing by for transport.
It looks like the team’s plan might just come off.
Here he is, here he is.
As the team lift the shark, it manages to wriggle free from the net.
The shark is now dangerously out of control and risks further injury to itself, or one
of the capture team.
Tank!
Tank!
Tank!
Specialist collector, Gus, has no option and plunges the shark into the standby tank.
Hold him upside-down, tonic.
We've got the shark upside-down in tonic.
We’re gonna transfer him into the stretcher on three, two, one, go!
With sharks only able to survive out of water for short periods of time, the team have a
strict thirty five minute time frame to get this shark to it’s release location.
He’s small!
I’ve got him kind of cradled.
Ok!
With the shark safely transferred to the truck, Neil, runs to meet the team by the Ocean Vet
boat.
The truck is coming behind me!
I’m just gonna prepare the boat for the shark!
You’re at three minutes twenty five seconds!
Ok, transferring the shark to the stretcher.
He’s in the stretcher.
We’re gonna lift the stretcher out, stretcher’s going to Bones.
With the shark en route to the team’s boat, Neil’s, focus is on stabilising the animal
for the journey to it’s release location.
I’m making sure the shark has water flow across his gills by keeping this hose in his
mouth.
He’s biting onto it, so we know that he’s vigorous.
I’m just gonna check his eye reflex, and he’s great!
Good.
With the transfer taking just under four minutes, Neil, and the team can now focus on the shark’s
welfare as they make the journey out to the North Rock marine reserve.
So, to provide vital life support to this shark while he’s in the tank we have two
things going for him.
First of all, we’ve got highly oxygenated water running through this pipe directly over
his gills.
And secondly, my good friend, Gus, here, is acting as physiotherapist, he is actively
massaging the shark’s muscles, making him swim, to move any lactic acid out of his muscles
and let that oxygen work on him.
So, we had considered releasing this shark with an archival transmitting tag, however
after measuring him, and looking at his weight, we’ve decided that this tag would produce
too much drag on this small shark.
We are, however, going to place this national marine fisheries service tag in the shark,
so that if he’s ever captured we’ll get the data from his retrieval.
Inserting tags into sharks causes them little discomfort as most sharks lack nociceptors,
the nerves that send pain signals to the brain.
The shark’s movement here, is actually associated with it briefly exiting tonic immobility.
There it is.So, here’s the national marine fisheries tow tag placed, anchored well.
The team have arrived at the release location.
The shark has been in Neil’s care for a total of twenty five minutes, well under the
thirty five minute target.
Support RIB pilot, Dylan Ward, is ready to deploy underwater cameraman, Andrew Kirkpatrick;
and Doctor Ian Walker, is taking control of primary care.
I’m gonna get, I’m gonna put on a pair of fins, a mask, and a belt.
And, if, as we release the fish, i’m gonna make sure that he can swim strongly.
Entering the water to help revive this animal is a crucial part of Neil’s role.
Most sharks are obligate ram ventilators, meaning they need to move forward to breathe.Neil
has assisted the revival of large tiger sharks, and even large pelagic species, like the blue
marlin.
Hopefully this galapagos shark will revive itself, but incase it doesn’t, Neil, will
be standing by.
About five feet.
You’re right at the perfect spot!
That’s perfect!
Ready?
Three, two, one, go!
Ok, ready?
The team’s mission has been a huge success.
And releasing this young shark into the ocean will not only improve the health of this marine
ecosystem, but should see this galapagos shark fully recover.
Phenomenal!
Strong swim away, beautiful release.
The fish turned round, he came back over the sand, and headed right down into the reefs.
I think, he’s home.On three, two, one, go!
So far the team have completed the challenging task of transporting a sick galapagos shark
from the Bermuda Aquarium for successful release into a protected marine reserve.The team are
now positioned at Argus Bank, thirty five miles off Bermuda’s shore.
So, you take over there.
Yeah.
Neil and his crew are beginning a new scientific study on galapagos sharks, attaching satellite
tags to reveal their migrations.
So, we’re out on Argus Bank.
So we’ve been chumming, and fishing for a couple of hours, and a group of smaller
sharks have just turned up in our chum line.
They’re not tigers, they’re either galapagos, or silkys.
We don’t often get a chance to get in the water and swim with these smaller sharks,
I’m keen to do that.
It can be aggressive, It could be a little bit dangerous, but very exciting.
I’m keen to learn more about the behaviour of these sharks.
Like other shark species, these animals have an aggressive reputation.
But in Neil’s experience, this is not always a reality.
So i’m down in around forty feet of water.
There’s a few of these sharks around, but this one is particularly bold and playful.This
is a completely wild shark, and yet it’s happy to approach me on scuba gear, and take
food straight from my hand.
Certainly, something that i’ve never experienced before.
What an incredible experience!
Recent studies on sharks have revealed they are far more intelligent than once thought.
Their behaviour here is far more curious and inquisitive, than dangerous and aggressive.
Galapagos sharks tend to form large groups which may help them navigate better over long
distances.
Some scientists have identified some sharks migratory pathways more complex than those
of birds, something our tags should reveal.
Shark behaviour can change very quickly.
As they become more confident, their instinct is to further investigate.
This incredible blue shark is particularly interested in Andrew Kirkpatrick, the team’s
underwater videographer.
It’s likely attracted to the electromagnetic fields surrounding the camera.
No one’s in any immediate danger, but it goes to show how quickly the unexpected turns
up in deep blue water.
Well this is the first time i’ve swam with a blue shark and what an experience it is!
They are a stunningly beautiful shark.
You can see how their hydrodynamic body enables them to travel over vast distances.
A true ocean wanderer.
Absolutely incredible!
I think I just fed one of those sharks, not, ten inches from my face.
We’re gonna put a bait down now, try and capture one.
If it’s a galapagos shark, we’re going to put a tag in it, track it around the ocean.
Really excited!
We also had a blue shark come up, played with me just like a puppy dog, got to feed him
by hand.
What a day out here on, Argus.
Phenomenal!
Woo!
That’s what i’m talking about!
That was incredible down there, literally, it’s like you’re one of them, just sort
of swimming amongst them.
They don’t pay you any piece of mind, they’re just going after the bait that we’re chucking
over, and it’s just, it’s just sort of surreal just being down there just sort of
gliding with them.
Incredible, incredible.
So good.
so good!
Aye!
Well done, Neil.
Hey, that was some good stuff, man.
Ok, your crutch is in my face!
Bonding.
After the success of the dive the team’s attention quickly turns to catching one of
these sharks for the first tag implant procedure.But catching and tagging a galapagos shark is
no easy task.
While, Dylan Ward, the team’s fisherman, preps Neil’s shark rods, Choy, prepares
the important satellite tag.
Each of these satellite tags cost about five thousand dollars, so there’s considerable
investment financially and scientifically in each tag.
To date, we’ve put out over a hundred thousand dollars worth of these satellite tags, mainly
on tiger sharks, and they’ve revealed some fantastic information.
We’ve basically seen, er, the migration routes they take in and out of the Caribbean,
and out and around the Atlantic.
This is the first one that we’re gonna put out on a wild galapagos shark, so the results
should be really exciting as well.
The team's work with tiger sharks has enabled policy makers to develop shark protection
policies.
The goal is to now extend this work to galapagos sharks, so that they can benefit from similar
protection.
Back on the boat Neil doesn’t have to wait long for some interest in his bait.
So, it’s not.
Oh!
I was gonna say it’s not pulling as quite as hard as the, as the, er, tiger sharks pull,
so hopefully we’ve got a galapagos shark here.
With a potential shark on the line, Kirkpatrick, is deployed into the water.
This isn't only to film the animal, but also to provide information on the shark’s status,
ensuring the animal is unharmed during the capture process.
So this shark is considerably larger than the shark that we released from the North
Rock tank, probably four or five times the size, and considerably more powerful.
People underrate the fighting ability of, er, galapagos sharks, but I personally do
not.
These guys put up a hell of a struggle on this gear.
Pound for pound, the galapagos shark is one of the most powerful fish in the ocean.
Securing the tail is key to disabling the animal’s power.
Good job, Dylan!
Good job!
Grab the leader!
Grab the leader, Choy!
And the swivel!
Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep!
With the tail disabled, Dylan, carefully holds the shark at the back of the boat, ready for
the lift.
Ok!
Three, two, one, go!
Neil’s primary objective is to secure a saltwater hose that will provide vital oxygen
to this shark during the tagging procedure.
Alright.
So, the hose is in, ensuring that he has water supply over his gills.
I’m keeping his eyes covered and i’ve got his electrical receptors, which are these
little pits that you see here, also under the towel.
And we think that this contributes to keeping this animal quiet.
It’s one of the ways to put an animal in tonic, is to stimulate these electrical receptors,
the organs of Lorenzini.There he is.
The flow of water over the shark’s gills is crucial while in the team’s care.
This simple, but effective, life support system ensures the shark’s blood stream is fully
oxygenated.
The hose is making sure the water is flowing over his gills.
It’s running out through his gill slots, here.
We can see it running out here.
it’s running out over here, particularly flowing well over on this side.
Perfect, we’ve got him well oxygenated.
We’re gonna cut this hook and then take it out, like that.
And we’re gonna remove the hook.
Hook, is free.
Basically, er, we’re gloving up.
Er, even though we’re in the wild, we’re trying to keep the environment as sterile
as possible, particularly as we are gonna break the animal’s skin slightly in order
to insert the tag.
So, if I was in my animal hospital I’d prepare the sibo iodine.
I’m gonna prepare the site with povidone-iodine, make a small stab incision, like so.
Now i’m gonna insert this large PSAT archival tag into the fish, as so.
I’m gonna pull it back, make sure it snugs in nicely into the skin, which it does, this
is how it’s gonna lie.
There is a small wound here where we’ve placed it, but this will close over very rapidly.
We’re now gonna take, er, a DNA clip.
This small wound will cause the shark little discomfort and it is a small price for it
to pay in order to benefit it’s entire species.
Ok, so we’ve got our DNA clip here.
We’ve just cut a little nick off the back fin.
This is going to, er, this DNA sample is going to go to the Guy Harvey Research Institute
in Florida.
We’ve been working with them for several years and they’ve been collecting DNA on
sharks all over the world.
And what we’re gonna do is send it off, and they’re gonna genetically map the galapagos
population of Bermuda, and see how related it is to other galapagos populations throughout
the world.
So, lots of science going on, multiple parties.
We’re getting as much wild data off this animal as possible while we have him for our
brief few minutes on the boat.
Also, besides doing measurement, we like to see the sex of the shark.
It’s nice to know the ratio of males to females in Bermuda, even though we’ve just
started doing this research.
And you can clearly see here, he has two hemipenes.
And you can tell this guy’s not mature, because the hemipenes are soft.
These guys grow to about ten foot in length and four hundred pounds as a maximum, that’s
pretty much the size.
They usually live about twenty years, but it takes them at least ten of those years
before they sexually mature.
I’d say, in this shape, he’s definitely gonna make it to adulthood and reproduce,
and hopefully give us some fantastic satellite data on his movements.
I’m gonna get in the water and supervise the release of this fish.
If he doesn’t swim strongly, i’m gonna be able to push him through the water and
force water over his gills, as we’ve had water going here.
If he swims aways strongly, i’m just gonna watch him go on his way.
Yep, yep.
One on each side.
Yep, you got, you got the other one?
Ok, yeah, yeah.
Cool?
Alright.
Come up.
There we go.
Right on.
Ok.
I think so.
Alright.
Here he comes!
Good luck, my friend!
See you later, buddy.
The release of this tagged galapagos shark represents the first important step of Neil,
and his team’s, study.
With additional migration data from other galapagos sharks, conservationists can understand
where these animals migrate to, and whether these areas require greater protections to
preserve the populations of these animals.
Absolutely phenomenal!
The shark was kicking hard, he turned himself around, almost got caught under the engine,
and then I was just guiding him down, and he just took off, straight down, into the
deep.
Beautiful release!Oh, ecstatic.
I am ecstatic.
Woo.
Since the filming of this project, the track on this shark revealed a migration of over
four hundred miles east of Bermuda.
…One, go!
For, Neil, and his team this information is the first part of the puzzle to understanding
where these sharks go and what dangers they face.
This shark is the first of many the team will tag over the coming months.
Their work will help to ensure this remarkable species is part of Bermuda’s magical marine
ecosystem for years to come.
Next time on Ocean Vet, Neil, and his crew are on a mission to save the spotted eagle
ray.
Straight into the anaesthetic, in this position is perfect!
Yep, yep!
Oxygen on!
Teaming up with International scientists and local experts, the team will be studying and
protecting these stunning rays in Bermuda’s crystal clear waters.
