- [man in brown hat]mark, got an octopus! - [mark] hold on. - [man in brown hat] comeup, come up, come up. - [mark] i'm trying i'm trying. - [man in brown hat]it's going right
snake handling equipment for sale, over this rock, hold on. okay, get on, get on this side. he's right here. can you see histentacles right there?
look at that. he's not moving. oh, oh, oh, no he is. ready? i'm flipping it back. there it is right there. there it is. (dramatic music) (water splashing)
- as the waves crashdown on the west coast, an entire world ofcreatures thrives beneath the water's surface. and as long as youarrive at low tide, you stand a very good chanceof encountering some of them. we're at the peakof low tide and as you can tell, it's stillkind of dark out here. only about six o'clockin the morning, which is the perfect timeto search for creatures
because most ofthem are nocturnal. let's head down hereto the water line and see what we can find. i love exploring the tide pools because you never know who you are going to come across. yep, there's noquestion about it, we are definitely backin tide pool country. (sniffing)
ugh, and that is kelp. and while some speciescan only be found far out at sea,the shore line of san pedro, california is always alive with aquaticencounters waiting to happen. it's just a matter of being in the right placeat the right time. check this out. you know what that is?
look at it moving. that is a sea cucumber. and what's really coolabout sea cucumbers is that they actuallybreathe through their butts. let me see if i canpick him up here. he's probably goingto squirt out water. watch this. ew, he's gummy. he's like a big gummy worm.
oh, look at that, wow. that is cool looking. and he's all bumpy and they can completely change thestructure of their body. see how, oh the spikesare starting to go away. when he's out ofthe water, he just kind of turns intoa glob of goo. he looks like a pickle. sea cucumber, not avegetable, actually an animal.
this ecosystem inincredibly diverse, from various crab species,to giant black sea slugs. and there it is. can i pick it up? - you can, it's totally safe. - and it's not going to ink me? - might be a littleslimy, but that's it. - woah, look at that. - [mark] woah.
- alright, here we go. oh my gosh is it slimy. oh, ho ho, look at that slug. oh my gosh, it is heavy i can feel himgripping onto my arm. i mean i can feelhim actually like wrapping around me. and while it'srather easy to come across slugs andcrabs, there are also
a handful of creatures that you must look more closely to find. wow, look at that. this pool is filledwith little tiny snails. it's like a whole societyof them living in here. i feel like a giantright now picking one up. look how tiny that guy is. that is awesome. the brittle star, navanax,isopod, and sea star
are just a few that look as if they're from ascience fiction novel. the creation of beyond the tide was heavily influenced byone of my favorite books, 20,000 leagues under the sea. as a kid, i oftendreamed of encountering a giant tentacle armed creature. and while i am not likely to see any monsters of the deephere in the tide pools,
there is the chance of comingacross the next best thing. that is, if i can catch one. - [man in brown hat]mark, got an octopus. it's going right over this rock. - [mark] i'm trying,i'm trying, i'm trying. okay, get on thisside, it's right here. can you see it'stentacles right there? oh, oh, oh, no he is, he is. i'm flipping it back, ready?
okay, ah, i'm justgoing to pick it up. i'm going to pick it up before it gets underneath the rock. - [mark] yep. - look at that! yes! there we go. that is a two spotoctopus right there. holy cow does that feel weird.
all those little,all those little suction cups goingover my fingers. wow he is suctioned right to me. look at that blob. alright, hand me thelittle container. we gotta get him back inwater as quick as we can. alright, i'm goingto put my hands down in the waterjust like this, and hold him there in position.
wow is that not look like analien from another planet. okay, i've just got him cradledright in that water there. alright, you got an eye on him? - [mark] yup. - watch him, i'll fillthis up with water. hold on a second. don't let him get away, mark. (slow dramatic music) you see him, you see him?
- [mark] his camouflageis incredible. - that is amazing. okay, let's justget a shot of that while you can see him there. camouflaged and lookat how he can almost morph the shapeof his body to fit all of these little plants. if you didn't know whatyou were looking at there, you'd have no ideathere was an octopus.
hold on, this might be alittle cavern right here. i don't want himto get into that. alright, i'm going toget him back on my hand. hopefully not take a bite. and into the cube. yes dude that is our firstoctopus of beyond the tide. look at that thing. alright, let's get upa little bit of ways from the edge of the water and
get him in front of the cameras. this is so cool. there are no wordsthat can describe how excited i am right nowto have captured an octopus. now this is the two spotand the way that i know that is it has two verydistinct blue rings on the side of it's body. they almost look likea second set of eyes. this is used as a defensivetactic against predators.
let's say somethingcomes in and says, "mmm, that looks likesomething i would eat." this octopus willpuff up it's body and those blue ringslook like big spooky eyes that will potentially scare off something that's goingto turn him into a meal. no one really coolfeature about the octopus is it's ability to camouflagewith it's environment. when you see it here insidethis clear container,
and it's pretty easy to see, but when they're out therein the tide pools, they can actuallychange the color of their skin to match thesubstrate that's around them. they're also able tocompletely morph the shape of their body to fit inbetween rocks and crevices. makes these creaturesincredibly difficult to capture. so when i flippedover that rock and i saw it, we had to move quick
because it willsqueeze right down into crevices and disappear. now the octopus breaksdown into two basic parts. the big pear shape on top,that's called the mantle. and of course up front,you have these tentacles, and they're covered in theselittle tiny suction cups. they use those suctioncups as tactile tools. it helps them sensetheir environment and also helps themtaste and smell
what it is thatthey're looking for when they're out there hunting. now there are twomethods that octopus use to capture their prey. they will either lie in ambush waiting for somethingto come to them, or they will aggressively pursue something they want to eat. and what they do is they wrap
their tentacles aroundsomething really quickly, encompass it, anduse their beak to drill a whole into like,let's say the shell of a mollusk, injecta toxin, that causes paralysis, and thenthey're able to scoop out the body and eat it. now one thing thatoctopus are famous for is the fact that they can ink. and you may besaying to yourself,
"coyote, how did you catch this creature and not haveit ink all over you?" well, i'm not tryingto eat the animal, and i was handling itas gently as possible. now when they actuallyexude that ink from their body, theydon't shoot it out. they slowly leak it out and then the siphon on theside of their body projects a jetstream of water that
(poofing) creates a cloudallowing them to escape. that's one cool defensive tactic to be able to escapeyour potential predators. - [mark] so coyote, why do we keep the octopus in acontainer like that? - well because thisis an aquatic animal, it's real importantfor it to stay in the water as much as possible.
it is breathing oxygenthrough the water, but i can take it out of there, and i'm sure you guys arethinking to yourselves, "what does that octopusfeel like, coyote?" let me try to coax it out here. just want to be asgentle as possible. got it. ahh, look at that. and it feels like i'vejust sneezed into my hand
and a giant booger isslinking across my hands. you don't believe me? mark, stick your hand out there for everybody and tell them, tell them exactly whatthat octopus feels like. - [mark] oh wow, it reallydoes feel like a cold booger? - doesn't it? - [mark] oh yeah,i can definitely feel the suction cups too.
- one big suctiony,wiggly booger. gross. it doesn't reallysmell like anything. just like salt water. put it back intothe container there. come here you. that is one interestinglooking creature. and i'm in complete aweof this animal right now. now this is consideredto be one of the
friendliest species ofoctopuses in the world. i don't know howyou really gauge an octopus being friendly, but this is one species that is very commonly found in the pet trade. primarily because oftheir docile nature and the fact thatthey stay small. now, here's somethingthat's pretty cool. you may be thinking to yourself,
"is that a male or a female?" honestly, i do not know. but female octopuses areincredibly amazing mothers. they can lay up to70,000 eggs at a time and when they do lay their eggs, they sit there and protect them for as long as it takesfor the babies to hatch. now sadly a lot oftimes, the mothers end up passing awaybecause they exhaust
themselves throughstarvation, but the positive isthat nearly 70,000 baby octopusescan then head back off into the ocean tocontinue the life cycle. - [mark] i do have a question. so i keep hearingyou say octopuses. isn't it octopi? - no, that is onecommon misconception. now it is acceptableto say octopi,
but the technical term forplural octopus is octopuses. little interesting factthat maybe you didn't know. well at this point, i can see the tide coming backin over my shoulder, which means it's timeto get this octopus back out into the ocean. i'm coyote petersonand be brave. stay wild. we'll see you onthe next adventure.
in my opinion,the octopus is one of the most iconicocean creatures, and they can be found intide pools across the world. if you are outexploring, there's a good chance youwill encounter one. however, be aware thatall octopus species are venomous and some can beincredibly toxic to humans; therefor, if you seean octopus in the wild, it's always best toadmire the animal
in it's natural setting. as long as you don'ttry to handle it, you are guaranteed tohave a safe encounter. if you enjoyed thisepisode of beyond the tide, make sure to go back and watch as i got slimed by theworld's largest slug species, the black sea hareand don't forget, subscribe to the bravewilderness channel so you can join me and thecrew on our next big adventure.
i mean i can feel himactually wrapping around me. he can't bite, right? - [mark] no, theseguys are vegetarians. they mostly eat algae and kelp.
