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00:00If you slow down and look closely, you might spot some of the world's slowest creatures.
00:18What is this happening? Am I in a dream right now?
00:23Hey, there's one right here.
00:25How did these remarkable animals survive, even thrive?
00:30In a world where speed seems like such an advantage.
00:38In today's modern world, we move through our days at high speed, measuring success by how much we get done.
00:49And in the natural world, we tend to assume survival of the fittest means survival of the strongest and fastest.
00:56But thriving in your environment doesn't always mean being powerful or swift.
01:00So what about the creatures we tend to underestimate?
01:05The ones with so-called disadvantages?
01:08Well, turns out, their slowness is actually their superpower.
01:12One of the most iconic slow animals on Earth is the sloth.
01:25In the rainforests of Costa Rica, they've evolved to live life entirely at their own pace.
01:31They're often thought of as lazy, but spending time with Dr. Rebecca Cliff showed me there's much more to them.
01:39She's spent years studying how sloths survive, and at her field station, she shows me what slowness really looks like.
01:49But the sloths, I mean, could they really be anywhere?
01:56Oh, absolutely. There could be one right in front of you.
01:59Or they could be at the top of the tallest tree.
02:01They're here for sure, but finding them is, like, as soon as I met my first sloth, I was, like, completely enchanted.
02:08They've taken what it is to be a mammal, and they've pushed it to the very extreme, to the point that they're almost reptiles.
02:14There's so much unusual, um, things happening with them in terms of science.
02:19And then also, there's a lot we can learn from them in terms of slowing down, I think, as well, and the benefits of that.
02:24I mean, if they would just move, then we'd know, right?
02:30Sloths move at a speed which is below the threshold that a predator would detect as prey.
02:35You know what? I can show you. Just wait here. I'm gonna go show you.
02:38Okay.
02:42Look away, and I'll tell you when to turn around.
02:45Okay.
02:46It's like jungle hide and seek.
02:51Okay, turn around.
02:53And I'm moving at the speed of a sloth, so let me know if you can see me.
03:02Are you moving?
03:03Yeah.
03:04Okay, I cannot see a thing.
03:07I can see you.
03:10Okay, now I'm gonna move at the speed of a monkey.
03:14There you are.
03:15Yes!
03:16That was amazing, Rebecca.
03:17When you weren't moving, I could not see you.
03:19You were invisible.
03:20So basically, sloths have evolved to move slowly so they're not detected by predators.
03:25That's exactly it.
03:26For example, if you take an eagle and you move something in front of it really fast at monkey speed, the bird will lock onto it and be like,
03:35I'm gonna eat that monkey.
03:36If you move something in front of that same bird at the speed of sloth moves, it doesn't notice it.
03:41It's what the sloths are around us right now doing, and that's why we can't see them.
03:45Yeah, I mean, we've been here for a little while.
03:47We haven't seen any sign of a sloth.
03:50Do you think we will find any?
03:51I can't promise.
03:52It's really difficult in this environment, you know.
03:54There could be one right above our heads and we just won't see it.
03:56Spotting a sloth out here can take all day.
04:00So, Rebecca takes me to Sloth City, a patch of forest by a busy road where sloths gather instead of risking a dangerous crossing.
04:09massive.
04:14Gotcha.
04:15I can already see a sloth.
04:16What?
04:17You can't miss a sloth.
04:18Whoa!
04:19Right there!
04:24Oh, are there two sloths?
04:25Oh my God, you're good!
04:32Two sloths in one tree, is that pretty rare?
04:35Not in Sloth City.
04:36Okay.
04:37We're in New York for sloths, hence the name Sloth City.
04:41What are they actually doing in this moment?
04:43Chilling.
04:44They've got nowhere to be.
04:46They've got no reason to move and go or do something, but they're conserving their energy.
04:51Yeah.
04:52So for those sloths to cling from the treetops, they must be incredibly strong.
04:56How long do you think that you could hold on a tree branch for like that?
04:59Me?
05:00Yeah.
05:01Second, if that.
05:03We should try.
05:04We should do a competition.
05:05We should not try.
05:06You should definitely not try.
05:09Oh my God, this is, this is really humiliating.
05:13I'm shaking.
05:14I can barely hang on and it's been how many seconds?
05:1724.
05:18You're actually doing really well.
05:19I am totally slipping.
05:20My fingers are like sliding off.
05:22You can see them sliding.
05:23They're actually going to give out first.
05:25Okay, so I'm on the ground.
05:2740 seconds.
05:2840 seconds.
05:29That was really good.
05:30Yeah, right.
05:31But what was surprising to me was it was my hands that gave out first.
05:34Yeah.
05:35Clearly sloths, I mean, they're made for that position.
05:38What we see as nails, their fingers actually extend into those nails.
05:42Yeah, exactly.
05:43It's the finger bone and then the fingernail is like a sheath over the top.
05:46But they're just dangling from their fingertips.
05:48They're not actually using any muscles.
05:51Everything about a sloth and the way they live their lives is all about conserving energy and doing more with less.
05:57The name sloths, it's got so many negative connotations.
06:03A lot of people think they sleep for like 20 hours a day, but that's not actually true.
06:08They only sleep about eight to 10 hours a day.
06:10The rest of the time, they're just kind of hanging out, keep just watching.
06:14They're feeding a little bit and they're moving slightly.
06:17Ha!
06:18People think they're the sleepiest animals and the laziest animals in the world.
06:21They're just the slowest and we get confused.
06:27This morning, I'm meeting a rescued two-fingered sloth.
06:33The team's about to collar her, release her and see how she adapts to life in the wild.
06:39It's a rare chance to see one up close.
06:42If you feel this arm very gently, you'll feel just how skinny she is.
06:47Oh my God, there's like nothing there.
06:50They've got about 30% less muscle mass than a mammal of their size would typically have.
06:56But they're incredibly strong and it's because the muscles in their arms are anchored in very strange places.
07:01So for example, our bicep goes from the elbow up to the shoulder.
07:04Okay.
07:05Sloths will go all the way across to the middle of the chest and then all the way down to the wrist as well.
07:11So sloths can pull with incredible force, but they can't push.
07:14So we're in the jungle, I am sweltering, dripping sweat, and I noticed that she has a ton of hair.
07:20So is she overheating?
07:21Mammals in general, we spend a lot of our daily energy trying to keep our core body temperature stable.
07:26Sloths regulate their temperature by moving up and down in the canopy.
07:29So if it's a really hot day, the sloths will come down lower where it's shady and they'll sort of seek out a little cool place to hang out.
07:37But when it gets really cold, then they'll go up higher in the canopy and try and sunbathe to warm up.
07:42Rebecca's team has found a collared, three-fingered sloth they've been tracking for over a year.
07:49These sloths are usually smaller than the two-fingered sloths.
07:53Exciting.
07:58So this is a three-fingered sloth.
08:00Yeah, so you can see they actually, when you look up close, they look very different to the two-fingered.
08:05So today we're going to catch her, take off that collar, and let her go.
08:09She's lovely, huh?
08:10She is beautiful, and that smile, oh my goodness.
08:13What's that?
08:16Oh my god, this is a strong grip.
08:19You got her?
08:20Yeah!
08:21Good?
08:22We got her.
08:23So this is the best way to hold a sloth, right under the arms.
08:25Okay.
08:26It's the only place they can't get you.
08:28Her arm span is really big.
08:30She's got some long arms.
08:32Wow, look at this sloth!
08:34This is sandwich, so what we're going to do now is put her belly down.
08:37Covering her eyes settles her.
08:39Yes.
08:40A couple seconds and she'll just honk out.
08:42What is going on?
08:43Is this sloth asleep right now?
08:45It's not even moving.
08:46They don't really have any defense mechanism.
08:48So when they feel threatened, their best option is to just stay still and wait for it to go away.
08:53You know, there's no way she can escape right now or fight us.
08:56So why waste the energy?
08:57Do they ever use their claws for defense?
09:00Generally not.
09:01They'll squeeze with them.
09:03If she were to reach out and grab you, how strong is that grip?
09:07Oh, it could crush your finger.
09:08It could crush your finger.
09:09Yeah.
09:10I've had a juvenile three-fingered sloth grab my finger and I've got permanent nerve damage from it because she wouldn't let go.
09:17Okay, you failed to mention that earlier when you asked me to help you take her out of the tree.
09:22Now, what about the head rotation?
09:24Because I noticed that her head was really looking around.
09:27Oh, yeah.
09:28She had this range.
09:29You see, she's got a very long neck and it allows them to turn the head almost to 360 degrees.
09:33No way.
09:34It's incredible, yeah.
09:35Saving energy and only minimally moving is a great advantage.
09:40I'm going to put it, yeah.
09:42Holy moly.
09:43Back in the tree.
09:45Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:46Oh, wow.
09:47Is this happening?
09:48Am I in a dream right now?
09:49Are we putting her here?
09:51Yep.
09:52She'll go all by herself as long as she leaves the tree.
09:54Okay.
09:55Hurry, bye.
09:56Oh, wow.
09:57You've got it.
10:03So you see how everything about her is moving slowly.
10:06Watching her disappear into the canopy is a moment I won't forget.
10:11But we still have one more sloth to bring home.
10:14The newly collared little rescue I spent time with earlier.
10:18So this is where you're going to drop the mark?
10:20Yeah.
10:21I think it's a pretty nice place to live, don't you?
10:23No kidding.
10:29Okay, say goodbye.
10:30Goodbye, a beautiful thing.
10:32Here we have met this animal who's ancient and it's able to do what most animals aren't, just existing in a peaceful way.
10:40That's exactly it.
10:41You just summarized the sloth life perfectly.
10:42The sloth life.
10:43And you're taking so much data to learn about them and yet some of the fundamental things that you're gaining from them are more spiritual than anything.
10:54Absolutely.
10:55Actually, I've never thought about it like that.
10:57But yeah, I think it's making me better as a person spending all this time around slots.
11:03It's teaching me to slow down and I want to be able to share that message with the world.
11:07Slow is not just a speed.
11:19It's a way of life.
11:20And no creature embodies that better than the snail.
11:24Dr. Jan Vandetti, or Dr. Slime as she's known, is a malacologist who spent her career studying slugs and snails.
11:33I'm meeting her in North Vancouver to find out more about these often overlooked slow movers.
11:39They're an incredibly diverse group of organisms.
11:44There's about 70,000 species of snails and slugs.
11:47Really?
11:48They go back at least 520 plus million years and they're generally very poorly studied.
11:55They're also sort of unloved and I think some part of that underdog, that aspect of them made me care about them more.
12:01Yeah.
12:02That people should know how interesting they are.
12:07So this looks like classic slug habitat.
12:11Geez, there's one right here.
12:12Right?
12:13Very good.
12:14Oh my gosh.
12:15It looks very moist right now.
12:17How do they retain that moisture?
12:18They're in a very wet environment and only in a very wet environment could a slug like this evolve and survive.
12:24There are organisms that have overcome a whole number of challenges, living on land, living without a shell, that people would describe as evolutionary innovations.
12:34Can you find slugs and snails in other parts of the world?
12:39They are so diverse that they're found nearly every habitat in the deep sea and they're also found on mountain tops.
12:46Can you tell me about the different parts of this slug?
12:49Yes.
12:50So they have two eye tentacles at the top of their head and then they have two smaller ones below that that are more sensory and taste.
12:59They can kind of taste the environment as they move along.
13:02This very obvious hole here is called a pneumostome and it's a breathing hole.
13:08So why did he retract his eye stalks like?
13:12Probably because it saw us and retracted to protect its eyes.
13:15Okay.
13:16But its body is protected by very distasteful slime.
13:20So...
13:21Distasteful slime?
13:22Two predators.
13:23If it ever ate or tried a slug, it would be so distasteful that it would learn, don't eat this.
13:28It's not poisonous.
13:29No.
13:30It's just gross.
13:31Yes.
13:32That's exactly right.
13:35It didn't take long to find a banana slug.
13:38They're everywhere here.
13:40But I want to see what else we can find in this incredible habitat.
13:46There's one over here in Arian.
13:48Oh, nice.
13:49Big Arian.
13:50Oh, yeah.
13:51Nice.
13:52And these are introduced from Europe.
13:53So they're not native to this environment, but clearly they do really well here.
13:57Yeah.
13:58A happy place for a slug.
14:02I did find one.
14:03It's very small.
14:05What's the difference between a snail and a slug?
14:08They're a lineage.
14:09Snails and slugs are closely related, but the slug lineages have lost their shells over time.
14:15For a creature that can't outrun danger, a shell can mean survival.
14:20When this snail retracts up into its shell, is its body going around and around that coil?
14:27Yeah.
14:28So its whole body is contracting for protection.
14:30Its internal organs have twisted their head and their business end.
14:35Are they side by side?
14:36Yes.
14:37Could be very efficient.
14:38I brought a piece of glass if you want to see how the foot moves.
14:48Amazing.
14:49So what you're seeing is called a petal wave.
14:52A wave of muscle is moving along and the slime is allowing it to move.
14:57Sticky yet fluid, slime lets them glide over almost anything and slip away from danger.
15:04Material scientists categorize it as a liquid crystal.
15:07It's not a liquid or a solid.
15:12It's sort of a state in between.
15:14Oh.
15:15I can see why you study these guys.
15:17They are so fascinating.
15:19We find another banana slug and that gives me an idea.
15:24So this is weird, but when I was a kid, I would have banana slug races.
15:29So it's a secret fantasy of mine to recreate that and have a slug race.
15:33You think we could try it?
15:34Let's do it.
15:35A slug versus a snail.
15:38This is scintillating stuff right here.
15:41Who's going to win?
15:48A slug versus a snail.
15:51Who's going to win?
15:52They're definitely veering off track.
15:54Hmm.
15:55You guys, so it looks like little teeth coming out.
16:00Yeah.
16:01These are the jaws.
16:02The jaw.
16:03Yes, the jaw.
16:04Can you see that?
16:05Like, this is mind-blowing.
16:06A slug has a tiny little jaw, just the top.
16:10I can hear it!
16:15Did you guys hear that?
16:16Did you hear that?
16:17Yeah, that's the radula.
16:20I did hear it.
16:21Oh, my God.
16:23The radula is a tongue lined with 14,000 tiny teeth.
16:29It scrapes up food while the jaw cuts bigger pieces.
16:32Together, the radula and jaw allow slugs and snails to eat almost anything.
16:38Plants, animals, even decaying matter.
16:41When food is everywhere, there's no need to move fast.
16:44Do you want to try feeding it some carrot?
16:46Yeah, definitely.
16:48So it's looking like the banana slug was a big fan of the lettuce, and the snail can't get enough of the carrot.
16:57There you have it.
16:58There you have it.
16:59Snail versus slug.
17:00There's no real losers here, though.
17:11Are slugs and snails at risk from climate change?
17:14Yeah, I think so, because they evolved to be wet most of the time.
17:18But if it changes too quickly for them to adapt over time, then it's possible that they would become threatened.
17:26When we think about survival of the fittest, we tend to automatically think of the strongest and the fastest.
17:32And we don't automatically think about these slow-moving creatures that are covered in slime.
17:38Yeah.
17:39And yet, they have persevered over tens of millions of years.
17:43That's right.
17:44So clearly very successful animals.
17:46Right.
17:47Survival of the fittest can mean fit for that environment.
17:49And sometimes fit for that environment can mean slow and slimy.
17:53Exactly.
17:54So maybe it's time we change our perception of what is successful.
17:58Yeah, I think so.
17:59I agree.
18:00Maybe it's the snail's world and we're all just living in it.
18:03Learning how slugs and snails have survived for hundreds of millions of years makes me rethink what it means to be slow.
18:13It also brings us to one of the most iconic slow survivors, the tortoise.
18:19Tortoises move at less than one mile per hour, making them one of the slowest animals on earth.
18:28In Senegal, Thomas Diang has spent decades working to protect and return tortoises to the wild, where they play a vital role in the ecosystem.
18:38I am passionate always when I watch these tortoises.
18:44They can just survive through so many difficult conditions where other animals are going to die.
18:51African spread tortoise is the third biggest tortoise on the world.
18:57They truly are genius in terms of adaptability.
19:01They live in the slowest line.
19:03They are not speedy animals who need to eat all the time.
19:07All the time.
19:10When they face a predator, the only things they can do is to hide in their shell and wait for the predator to go away.
19:18The tortoise's shell is its ultimate survival tool.
19:25It's heavy, but it protects them.
19:28It can even sense vibrations from predators.
19:31Under the sun, it absorbs heat and makes vitamin D, a built-in life support system.
19:38As a reptile, they want heat in order to maintain their body temperature.
19:45But too much heat too quickly also is not good.
19:48That's why they dig boroughs.
19:50Here the tortoise is out.
20:09But let's try to see if we can scan the temperature.
20:12The outside temperature is 33.2 degrees Celsius.
20:17Inside the borough, you have 12.
20:19You can see the difference why these tortoise, to regulate their body temperature,
20:24and to survive in arid and drastic environment, need to dig these boroughs.
20:36Because of humankind, the African spider tortoise, for at least 20 years,
20:41was wiped out in this environment by livestock overgrising, putting bush fire.
20:48We are destroying the habitat of these animals.
20:52Habitat is a key for the survival of this species.
20:56To help bring these tortoises back to the wild, Tomas created the Village des Tortues, a sanctuary in Nauflaillet.
21:13It's home to over 300 tortoises, and Tomas has already released many back into their natural habitats.
21:19Right now, I'm taking standard biometrics measurement for these hatchlings.
21:30Having these animals in captivity and in the wild can be different.
21:34And we need to know that.
21:38Conservation work in Senegal is not easy.
21:41When I get tired and discouraged about politics, about so many things, about every obstacle I have in my way to do good work,
21:52I just take a deep breath and look at the tortoises.
21:56They survive to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
21:59They watch the dinosaurs come and go, and now they are still around.
22:04They are an incredible example of resilience.
22:08In the forests of West Java lives the world's slowest primate, the slow loris.
22:29These nocturnal animals were once a mystery, until Dr. Anna Nakaris spent decades studying how they survive.
22:44Every week we still learn something new about slow lorises, but we've been able to answer a number of really important questions,
22:50especially about their family structure and their life history.
22:53A team of trackers, researchers, go out almost every night to study the lorises using radio tracking and other technology.
23:05We always use red lights to observe slow lorises at night because their vision is very sensitive.
23:10They have huge eyes and they can see an almost total darkness.
23:15Slow lorises, in their name, implies they are really slow.
23:26When they are in the face of predators, especially humans, with big bright lights or in the daytime, they move extra slow.
23:34So they employ a strategy called crypsis.
23:38A crypsis means they are brown, they are camouflaged, they have markings that help them to hide from predators.
23:45They have incredibly strong arms and legs with a special network of blood vessels that allow them to hold on
23:53and allow them to be slower and more still than almost any other primates.
23:58They are slow in several other ways.
24:01They have a very long pregnancy.
24:03They have a long period of giving lactation or milk to their babies.
24:08They also have a very slow digestion of up to 29 hours.
24:13They are the ultimate slow primates.
24:16She's wearing an old radio collar that's almost dead.
24:28And we need to change it to a new one before the battery dabs.
24:33Because she has been caught many times, she's relatively calm.
24:37This is very interesting.
24:39The foot is able to grasp things and they have a claw on their foot that is a grooming claw.
24:45This is one of the very special features of the slow loris, also having this digit shorter than all the other digits.
24:52The slow loris has a shortened finger that forms a strong pincer grip, perfect for clinging to branches as it moves slowly to avoid predators.
25:02It's a small detail, but essential to its survival.
25:06One of the most interesting facts about slow lorises is that they are the only venomous primates.
25:11Slow loris venom comes from a gland in their upper arm and also saliva in their mouth.
25:17When they raise their arms above their head in a defense posture, they can lick the gland on their arm, combine it with the saliva.
25:25And this is a lethal cocktail that can be used to kill other slow lorises.
25:30This is the venom gland of the slow loris.
25:32We don't want to get too close to her mouth.
25:34And if he were to be able to lick that with his mouth, he could give us a very dangerous bite.
25:39We have now found out that slow lorises use their venom mainly in intraspecific competition.
25:46Males fight with males, females fight with females, and they are one of the most territorial of all the primates.
25:53They can move fast, they can race walk, but many times they move very slowly through their environments,
26:02really carefully considering where they go with each step.
26:06They can stretch between branches, and they don't have a tail, so this means they can't jump.
26:12So therefore, they move a bit like a ninja of the night, moving slowly, slowly through the branches.
26:18Their mesmerizing movements remind me of the sloths I met in Costa Rica.
26:24Two very different animals, yet both masters of slow survival.
26:36After a change of scenery, I'm now heading underwater to meet a creature that uses the same slow strategy,
26:44but this time in the ocean, the seahorse.
26:51My friend, marine biologist Dr. Sarah Foster, has spent over 20 years studying seahorses and protecting their habitats.
26:59I'm curious to discover what seahorses might share with the other slow creatures I've met.
27:04Seahorses are masters of camouflage. They're so hard to find in the wild.
27:10You know what I'm thinking? Sloths were way easier to spot.
27:14Every blade of seagrass I'm looking at, there could be a tiny seahorse hanging onto that.
27:21This is hard.
27:26I found one!
27:28You found one?
27:29I found one!
27:30No way!
27:31No way!
27:32I feel like she's already changed colour.
27:34Is that possible?
27:35Yes!
27:36They have chromatophores, which are these kind of, almost like a balloon full of ink,
27:40that they can stretch out in order to bring the colour closer to their skin.
27:45So they can change colour quite quickly.
27:47I found my needle in the haystack!
27:49Found your needle!
27:50You have made my year!
27:51Now that we've found a seahorse, I'm excited to learn more about these amazing creatures.
27:59We actually here have both species that they have out here in Tampa Bay.
28:03We have the smaller dwarf seahorses.
28:05Right.
28:06And then Aubrey's team earlier today sampled a line seahorse, which is the bigger seahorse here.
28:12Yes!
28:13What would be the benefit of having skin like that?
28:17Well, because they're so bony and they don't have a whole lot of flesh on top of that bone,
28:21they're not very appetizing for predators.
28:23So we don't actually find that seahorses are an important part of any predator's diet.
28:28Really?
28:29Yes.
28:30The one thing that seahorses, I would say, have to look out for more would be crabs.
28:33And we know that because we find them in the wild with their tails cut off.
28:37Oh, that's interesting.
28:38So the crab is just snipping off a tail and getting a little snack?
28:41Exactly.
28:42Yeah.
28:43Poor seahorse.
28:44Right.
28:45Now I can't stop looking at their eyes.
28:48Their bodies might not be moving very much, but their eyes are constantly moving in different directions.
28:54They have eyes just like a chameleon.
28:57The way seahorses feed is we call them sit and wait predators.
29:00So they kind of hang out and they wait for the prey to come near them.
29:03By having these eyes that move in all directions, they have kind of 360 degree vision.
29:08So they can really maximize their search area.
29:11The way they feed actually is quite remarkable because they kind of strike at their prey and
29:17they suck the prey into their tube.
29:19And the speed at which they do that is quicker than it takes you to blink.
29:23Really?
29:24Mm-hmm.
29:25So if they see a tiny shrimp floating by, they're going to suck that shrimp in.
29:30Shrimp won't even notice.
29:31Shrimp won't even know what's coming.
29:34Another amazing thing about seahorses is they have no stomach.
29:37What?
29:38Yeah.
29:39They have no stomach, which means that they have to eat a lot.
29:41They're not having to kind of search it out and then eat it.
29:45And they might not find their prey again for a few days.
29:47Right.
29:48Seahorse food in the nature is quite prevalent around them at all times.
29:53Their tails are so important to their survival.
29:56So they're not great swimmers, seahorses.
29:58In fact, they're quite slow and they prefer to stay put.
30:02And then they do that by using this incredible tail to hold on to something so that they don't drift away.
30:08So here you can see the dorsal fin and this is what helps them propel forward.
30:13On a normal formed fish, if you will, the dorsal fin would be on the back and they'd be propelled forward by a tail fin.
30:19But in a seahorse, the tail fin has been replaced by an actual tail.
30:23And instead they use this to propel themselves forward.
30:29Seahorse tails are fascinating because they're actually square shaped.
30:33It's much more resistant to being crushed.
30:35So it's a lot stronger because it increases the surface area contact with whatever they're holding on to.
30:41Thereby making their grip stronger.
30:43I guess if you're such a slow animal and you're mostly sedentary,
30:48it's going to be the biggest benefit for you to have something to hold on and stay put versus move really fast.
30:54Exactly.
30:57Oh my gosh.
30:59Why are they so adorable?
31:01What is it about a seahorse?
31:04So this lady, oh my goodness.
31:09Oh my goodness.
31:10Only about half a centimeter in torso length, but full body about a centimeter and a half.
31:16So seahorses don't really move farther than sometimes a three square feet their entire lives because they're not great swimmers.
31:24That's the way they can actually disperse their genes so that they're not getting stuck in the same areas.
31:29Their babies can float along and then once they settle into their own grass bed, that's where they'll find their mate and continue that gene pool.
31:37If you were to compare this seahorse with other fish, where is it on the speed spectrum?
31:43It would probably be one of the slowest on the very slow end of the spectrum.
31:48It has great adaptations to help itself survive, but if I put a snail, a sea snail and a seahorse next to each other, the sea snail might win.
31:57It's not very often you hear a snail might win.
32:01Exactly.
32:02So what are the benefits of being so slow?
32:05If you're able to move slowly and move with your environment, the predator can't feel them while they're moving.
32:11So that's a great adaptation of being slow for seahorses in general, especially underwater.
32:17Yeah, so I'm very conscious of the fact that this poor fish is probably overheating.
32:21Should we release her back out into the sea?
32:23Yeah, but we also want to release it back to the same spot when we go out there because they are monogamous for life.
32:29So we need to make sure that we're releasing in the same spot so that these seahorses can get back to each other.
32:34So you think that the mate will still be here?
32:36More than likely in this area somewhere.
32:39Do you want to release her?
32:41Should I do the honors?
32:42Yes!
32:43Is that all right?
32:44Of course.
32:45Okay, little seahorse.
32:48Wonderful to meet you.
32:49Bye.
32:50I hope you find your mate.
32:53Almost pretty slowly, but she's moving.
32:55Down she is.
32:58Watching her drift off, I'm struck by how a seahorse can live its whole life within just a few square feet.
33:06Small, yet mighty, moving slowly in a tiny patch of ocean.
33:14Just up the coast lives another slow creature, the manatee.
33:19Surprisingly slow for their size, they graze on low-energy seagrass and algae, perfectly suited to their slow metabolism.
33:27But when temperatures drop, their survival depends on finding warmer waters.
33:32Every winter, hundreds gather in the constant temperature springs of Crystal River, where Jen Galbraith spends her days looking out for them.
33:41I'm from the Pacific Northeast.
33:47Okay.
33:48We've got humpback whales, killer whales, dolphins.
33:51Manatees are different.
33:52They are.
33:53Can you tell me about those differences?
33:54Yeah.
33:55Manatees have really good memories based on our observational data.
33:59They have to remember how to get back to a specific warm water site after months of traveling, sometimes as far north as we've seen them in Rhode Island and Delaware.
34:09The elephant is their land cousin.
34:11And when you see a manatee close up, you can really start to see those similarities.
34:15Clearly they have the same sort of skin texture and color.
34:18They have the similar lifespan.
34:20Manatees are actually smart in what they remember.
34:23We all know elephants have a great memory.
34:26So yeah, there's a lot of similarities.
34:27You can really see it.
34:32Their remarkable memory is extremely important for their survival in the winter months.
34:41Crystal River is just filled with warm water springs.
34:44It's sort of that perfect winter spot to stay warm and you don't have to go too far to find food.
34:49So a large number of animals can meet up there and survive the winter.
34:54Manatees are herbivores, so they don't get those layers of blubber and fab.
34:58They don't have that insulation to keep them warm.
35:01If they don't find that warmer water, what will happen is what we call cold stress syndrome.
35:05It's a very slow, long, painful demise if they don't get to warm water or get rescued.
35:10I work with manatees that have been rescued as orphan calves that have been rehabilitated in our critical care facilities.
35:20And then we want to make sure that when we release them that they adapt properly, they find food, they find warm water, and ultimately are successful in the wild.
35:29On those very cold days, and you can have hundreds of them just packed together in these springs,
35:34that is the ideal time to release a naive animal into the wild because they are there with those adults and other manatees.
35:41They will follow them out to find food, to the warm water, and we find that they learn from them.
35:47So we're out here listening for a ping, which would indicate that there is a tag surfacing on a manatee.
36:08There it is.
36:09Oh, that little ping?
36:10Mm-hmm.
36:11I heard that.
36:12Okay.
36:13Hang on.
36:14Hang on.
36:17So we are going to take some environmental data that you're going to help me with because there's no free rides on my boat.
36:21Great.
36:23So one of the first things we want to do is get a temperature of the water.
36:27Twenty-one.
36:28That's warm.
36:31This area right now is a mixture of poor boats coming to see the manatees.
36:37And as she was coming out, there was also some boats coming, so she evaded them, which is a great thing to see.
36:42She's in her warm water spot on a cold day.
36:45So check.
36:46Boat savvy?
36:47Check.
36:48Ah, okay.
36:49So you're not just monitoring temperature and salinity, you're also monitoring her behavior.
36:53Correct.
36:54And interactions with other boats.
36:55Yes.
36:56Yes.
36:57I'd say this is very successful in seeing her exhibit some skills that are going to help her survive.
37:02Is there something about a manatee that's just different from all the others?
37:11They have no social structure.
37:12They have no hierarchy.
37:13There is not one manatee better than another manatee or more important than another manatee.
37:18They just get along almost always entirely.
37:22And it's a great survival strategy for them because they are very large animals that in the wintertime have to spend a lot of time close together in these warm water springs to stay warm.
37:32So if you don't get along, you're going to get cold.
37:39Every winter, as the ocean cools, hundreds of manatees make their way to these warm springs.
37:45And so do the tourists.
37:47Crystal River is one of the few places you can swim with manatees in the wild.
37:52I'm meeting my friend, Jennifer, who's been doing this for nearly 20 years.
37:59I knew that if I was going to be in Florida, we had to do this together.
38:03I'm going to go and swim with manatees.
38:05And you said, it's going to change your life.
38:07Why did you say that?
38:08My experience of swimming with manatees is nothing short of spiritual.
38:12And I don't use that word lightly.
38:15Not only do they not have predators and they not have prey, but they're also so nice to one another.
38:21And that seems exceptional.
38:24I think they're the Zen Buddhists of the ocean.
38:26I think you're going to love them.
38:32When we are going to get in the water today, we'll be following our passive observation techniques.
38:37We'll be floating on the surface, nice and calm, nice and easy.
38:41That way the manatees can still have full range of their environment below us.
38:49Let's do this.
38:50It's going to be a good day.
39:01The manatees, believe it or not, are going to feel everything that you do in the water.
39:05They have little extra sensory hairs on their back about every inch apart.
39:09They can feel sound pressures, they say a thousand times thinner than that hair itself.
39:13As you're in the water, if you're floating on the surface and a manatee sneaks on below you, it will actually be able to feel your heartbeat below you in the water.
39:24Mom has evolved to keep track of calf in that manner.
39:26So as long as baby's within a few feet of her, she can feel that heartbeat and then she knows how baby is doing.
39:31I didn't know that the animals would come so close to us.
39:38I had a hard time feeling like they were wildlife.
39:41Is that bizarre?
39:42Especially when you're among so many people, it starts feeling like too much of a spectator sport.
39:49Something's lost.
39:50Yeah.
39:51Dr. Buddy Powell is one of the world's leading manatee experts.
40:08He grew up here back when it was all wild forest and crystal clear springs.
40:14I want to hear his perspective on how human activity is impacting manatees.
40:21This area in my lifetime, let's say 60 years, has gone from a beautiful crystal clear spring fed river to essentially an estuary.
40:30Because of development in Florida, there's more and more water being drawn from that underground river, so there's less spring flow.
40:39All of the manatees that I have seen so far have had some evidence of boat strikes.
40:45How do they survive being hit by a propeller?
40:48Manatees are incredibly resilient.
40:51They have a remarkable ability to close wounds, just these massive lacerations.
40:58If it doesn't get into an internal organs, they'll make it back.
41:01There's been this network that has developed called the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership.
41:07So if they are injured, there's a whole network of facilities where it can be going to critical care and nurse back to health.
41:18I was able to come here with one of my closest friends who has been swimming here with manatees for over 20 years.
41:25My experience wasn't as transformative as she promised that it would be.
41:31And I think the reason is I couldn't reconcile every time I took my head up and looked around.
41:38It was a little bit like a zoo.
41:40I mean, the number of people and boats and traffic and houses and music blaring.
41:46I just wasn't prepared for that.
41:49I'm really curious in your over 60 years of being with manatees, how you feel about this change.
41:56I can understand completely what you're saying.
42:00And I struggle with it, too, because it is a very special experience and it has changed people's lives.
42:08It's that emotional connection.
42:10It's that heart connection that really does begin to shift change.
42:16And the opportunity to be stewards of our environment.
42:20Bad on us if we cannot take the steps to protect these animals and continue to protect their habitat over time.
42:29We have the ability to do it.
42:32We just have to have the will.
42:45It's extraordinary how evolution has carved out space for the slow.
42:53In nature, slowness isn't a flaw.
42:57It's a finely tuned strategy for conserving energy, evading predators and enduring harsh environments.
43:06There's no single formula for survival.
43:09Success wears many faces and sometimes it moves slowly.
43:18In a world that feels like it's constantly speeding up, slowing down can be hard.
43:24But that might be the smartest thing we can do.
43:28Guys, and we are living the patience to protect them.
43:31We are now working on these small things as we do.
43:32Maybe there are moments that we are living in the life of peace for our lives for over time.
43:35We call it a strong enough.
43:36And then maybe we have to have a credible understanding of the nature of the world.
43:37That we are working on.
43:38Let's have people who are living in this country.
43:39We know that, as we are living in life, right?
43:40We are not living in this country, right?
43:41It's important that we have to live in this country, and we are living in this country.
43:44We have to make First Nations, right?
43:45To make a voice, we are living in this country.
43:48We are living in this country.
43:50But there's a very small thing.
43:52We will be able to live in this country.
43:54It's very small, right?
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