- 12 minutes ago
Ingrid Vissers is the only scientist in the world who will dive with orcas. Her daily encounters have helped her build a picture of their complex social lives. Dr Ingrid Visser in New Zealand , who has devoted her life to studying the majestic but diminishing population of wild ORCAS . risks her life by swimming, watching and documenting the 200 that live in the waters nearby. She wants to find out why they are beaching themselves in large numbers and finds disturbing news about the health of our oceans and their pollutants.
虎鲸是海洋中最令人畏惧的捕食者之一，大多数人都会认为与它们一同下水简直是疯狂之举。然而，新西兰学者英格丽德·维瑟（Dr. Ingrid Visser）却有不同的看法——她经常与这些自己钟爱的虎鲸一同畅游，甚至能凭外貌认出它们当中的绝大多数。但近来虎鲸死亡事件频发，数量异常，英格丽德决心查明真相。她的发现揭示了关于海洋健康状况的令人不安的新情况。
虎鲸是海洋中最令人畏惧的捕食者之一，大多数人都会认为与它们一同下水简直是疯狂之举。然而，新西兰学者英格丽德·维瑟（Dr. Ingrid Visser）却有不同的看法——她经常与这些自己钟爱的虎鲸一同畅游，甚至能凭外貌认出它们当中的绝大多数。但近来虎鲸死亡事件频发，数量异常，英格丽德决心查明真相。她的发现揭示了关于海洋健康状况的令人不安的新情况。
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TVTranscript
00:12They're eight meters long, weigh six tons, and are one of the ocean's most feared killers.
00:30Ambush hunters. No prey is too big for them.
00:38Most would consider it madness to enter the water with them.
00:44But one extraordinary woman thinks differently.
01:06I get called all sorts of names for getting in the water with the orca. Crazy, reckless, irresponsible.
01:14Ingrid Visser is the only researcher in the world to swim with wild orca, or killer whales as they're also
01:20known.
01:20They spend less than 10% of their lives at the surface, so if you really want to understand what
01:26they're doing, it makes sense to get in the water with them.
01:30Ingrid's maverick approach is revolutionising our understanding of orca behaviour.
01:36She's discovered New Zealand's orca are critically endangered.
01:41And this year, she's witnessed an unusually high number of deaths.
01:55We have absolutely no idea why he died, if it was from natural causes.
02:01Now she's on a one-woman mission to find out what's going on.
02:06If I had to, I would give my life for those animals. I would do anything for them to protect
02:11them. I really would.
02:24ORCA HOTLINE
02:24Orca Hotline Ingrid speaking.
02:26Uh huh.
02:28Oh great. Whereabouts are they?
02:30Ingrid responds to all orca sightings within a 200 mile radius of her remote base.
02:36I've set up a toll-free number for people to call the orca hotline and ideally when
02:42people see the animals they give me a call and that gives me a heads up and
02:45time to be able to get out to them before they move on. With orca capable of
02:51moving up to a hundred miles in a single day she's got to react fast. I guess you
02:57can sort of think of my life as a bit like being a doctor on call 24 hours a
03:03day, seven days a week and I kind of like it that way actually. Ingrid's discovered
03:11less than 200 orca live along New Zealand's 9,000 miles of coastline.
03:25With their nearest neighbours thousands of miles away in Australia and the Antarctic
03:30they're extremely isolated. Following up on every cop and photographing every orca
03:38she sees is key to monitoring the health of this tiny population.
03:54Well they should be here somewhere.
03:58They could be anywhere. After three hours searching Ingrid and her assistant Wendy Turner
04:04find the orca a few hundred metres offshore.
04:06Oh there they are. Excellent.
04:08And incredibly they head straight for them.
04:11Look at this. Here they come. Here they come.
04:13Come and try down.
04:14Look at this.
04:15Oh wow.
04:18The first animal to arrive is a young female called Splash.
04:26Hey guys.
04:28Following close behind is a big male called Rua.
04:31That's nice. Hi Rua.
04:34I've known Rua since I first started the research and he was an adult male then.
04:39So I figured that he's certainly well older than me.
04:42We know that orca can live at least 60, possibly even 80 years.
04:46So I mean we can think of Rua almost like a grandad really.
04:50It's nice to see him.
04:52Ingrid knows most of New Zealand's orca by sight.
04:56But she recognises them by the shape of their fins and the unique patterns on their bodies.
05:01Oh look and there's more over there.
05:03Oh yeah.
05:03Crikey it's like orca soup out here.
05:06Today more than 20 are here.
05:08Did you see who it was yet?
05:10Yep.
05:11Looked like you and Petita.
05:12Oh really?
05:13Yeah.
05:13Okay.
05:14Seeing this many is very unusual.
05:17It's a tenth of New Zealand's entire population.
05:20Let's see if we can get some fin IDs on these guys.
05:22He's been up now.
05:23Been down now.
05:24Okay, great.
05:25She's gone down.
05:26Alright.
05:26Taking photo IDs of the orca is the only way Ingrid can monitor their numbers.
05:32Is that up yet?
05:32There he is.
05:3440!
05:35Woohoo!
05:36Another one more at the home.
05:37And that's in there.
05:38But observing these majestic creatures from above the water isn't enough for her.
05:44Okay.
05:45Ingrid's taken her science to a whole new level.
05:57With teeth 10 centimetres long and jaws that could tear her in two, Ingrid is entering the
06:02lair of the ocean's top predator.
06:10A single blow from their tail can kill.
06:21Ingrid's the only scientist in the world to observe orca underwater like this.
06:27But it's not fear she feels.
06:30I've swum with a whole range of marine mammals and they're all magical in their own way.
06:36But there's just something about orca.
06:44There is this real thing when you make eye contact with them underwater and you can't begin to
06:51describe it really.
06:54You can really see that they have a playful side as well, which is quite amazing when you
06:59know how powerful they are.
07:08When they come up right next to you, you almost get the feeling like it's a bus driving right
07:12past you.
07:13Yet, there's still such a grace about them, such a style when they move under the water
07:20that you don't feel like they're aggressive or anything like that.
07:25And there's just this magical feeling as they swim by.
07:38Everything we know about New Zealand's orca comes from this woman's fearless research.
07:51Recently, she's discovered her orca call to each other using a unique dialect.
08:00And while most orcas stay in the same pods for life, Ingrid's orca mix around much more.
08:11The New Zealand orca are completely unique, genetically they're different, acoustically they're different,
08:18but also the big thing for me is that behaviourally they're different.
08:44There's almost like a orca soup down there, there's so many of them and they're just rolling all
08:52over each other and socialising, it's just amazing, you can really tell just how strong
09:00the social bonds are because they're touching each other and it's just amazing.
09:05And then they're swimming right past me and looking up, wow, okay Wendy, that was pretty cool.
09:13I think we're going to head home now because I got some good pictures.
09:17And I think I got a photo of the underbelly of that young one.
09:21Oh, excellent.
09:22So we'll be able to tell there is a boy or a girl.
09:23Oh great.
09:24So that's great.
09:35Ingrid's base is this remote farm where she's lived most of her life.
09:43It was here walking on these cliffs that her love of orca first developed.
09:50I've been obsessed with orca ever since I can remember.
09:53You know, five or six years old I knew I was going to work with them and there's just such
09:56amazing animals.
09:57And I used to come out here on the cliffs and look for them and just try and catch a
10:02glimpse
10:02of them.
10:03And now I've grown up a bit and I get to live my dream which is pretty amazing.
10:10Obviously there's risks working with any wild animal and orca are no different.
10:14But I'm finding out things that nobody else knows about them.
10:17So I consider those risks are worth it.
10:22I've been described as obsessive, crazy and lots of other things about these animals.
10:28And I'm comfortable with that.
10:30I don't mind being obsessed about orca and long may it last.
10:37As night falls, Ingrid downloads the photos from the day's dive.
10:43The average group size for the New Zealand orca population is between 6 to 12.
10:48So today getting out there and seeing 20 plus animals is pretty amazing.
10:53There was likely a couple of individual groups that came together and formed this super group
10:57if you like.
10:58And I don't get to see that very often so it was pretty special.
11:04Ingrid's groundbreaking photo ID work has revealed New Zealand is home to less than 200 orca.
11:10And they live here all year round.
11:15Her findings forced the New Zealand government to change their conservation status from common to critical.
11:24But despite more than eight years of protection, the population shows no signs of growing.
11:30Why is a mystery.
11:33And now, Ingrid fears her orca may be even more fragmented than she first thought.
11:39The orca here look like they're in three separate populations.
11:44So we've got a North Island population and this is the area where we are.
11:47And then we've got a South Island population and then we've got one that sort of goes all over the
11:51place.
11:56Some of the threats that New Zealand orca face include pollution, overfishing of their food,
12:03also destruction of the habitat that they hunt in.
12:07If we had one environmental disaster, one oil spill, we could wipe out the whole population.
12:13So they're right on the brink basically.
12:17Ingrid's work has never been more important.
12:30Orca hotline, Ingrid speaking.
12:33Oh, hi Ingrid, it's Steve Eastby here.
12:35Hello.
12:37Ingrid, I've just been doing a spot of fishing off Matapuli Bay and I think I spotted quite a orca.
12:43Oh, fantastic. Okay. How many do you think there are?
12:46I think there's about five.
12:47Brilliant. Okay. Look, I'm on my way. Thanks for the call.
12:54Turukake Coast Guard Radio. Turukake Coast Guard Radio. This is Zulu Mike Romeo 4506.
12:59Zulu Mike Romeo 4506. Orca Research. Do you copy?
13:04Research, this is Coast Guard Radio. Go ahead.
13:06We're just heading up the coast towards Oarka. We have two POB. We're not sure what time we'll be back
13:11yet, but we'll give you a call when we return. Over.
13:16Following up on every call is the only way that Ingrid can build up a detailed picture of the orca's
13:21lives. Where they go, what they do.
13:25It's research that could reveal why the population isn't growing.
13:30Are you hanging on? Hold on.
13:33I think she's got us.
13:34I think she's got us.
13:37Her search often takes her more than 20 miles offshore and into the volatile waters of the Southern Ocean.
13:57Oh, there they are. Come on. Oh, yeah. I see you there.
14:00Yep.
14:02Come on up, guys.
14:04Oh, that's Funky Monkey.
14:07Who else is out here, though?
14:08Well, GPS is 174, 31, 439 eastward, just to the south of Matapori Bay. Animals are slow travelling as we
14:20head south.
14:21There is Funky Monkey here and three or four others.
14:27Moving steadily down the coast, they're heading towards one of their favourite feeding grounds.
14:36What are you doing? What are you doing?
14:39Yep, yep, she's coming up.
14:40There you go. There's a foot. Do you want a foot?
14:44What's that foot doing?
14:45Whoa!
14:47You're cutie.
14:48Upside down.
14:49Look at that knife tail.
14:52Excellent. Oh, and we've got more in front.
14:54The pod are part of the 70-strong North Island group and some of her favourite characters.
14:59All right, there's Funky Monkey. Yay!
15:03So, Funky Monkey, he's got this really, really wobbly fin and he's just gone through his whole teenage growth spurt
15:11thing and his dorsal fin is really wobbly.
15:15I've known him since he was a tiny little baby. It's really fun to watch them growing up.
15:22It's only the males that have such big fins and not all this friendly.
15:27Some of them will just, no matter how long I've known them, they just swim right past the boat and
15:32they're on doing their orca thing.
15:34And then there's others who, my boat turns up and they're racing over and they want to play.
15:39OK, I'm going to drop out of here and see what she'll do.
15:42She's tail slapping.
15:44A young female called Pirate approaches the boat.
15:47Just five years old, she's followed closely by her mum, Salty.
15:51Come on, mum's coming in too. You're coming in for play as well, are you? Hello.
15:56Ingrid greets them by slapping the water and blowing bubbles.
16:00Hey! Just there.
16:04Incredibly, the orca often blow bubbles back at her.
16:08I mean, this is the thing that fascinates me about these animals.
16:13They're just so curious. I'm not feeding her but she's just interested in what we're doing.
16:20Blowing bubbles, the orca are mimicking Ingrid.
16:23Oh, what a little cutie. Come on.
16:29Far from being ruthless killers, this remarkable interaction shows just how inquisitive and gentle wild orca can be.
16:38Hello.
16:40Oh, you're a little calmer, aren't you? Not so excited.
16:43Yeah. There we go.
16:48So it's about three o'clock now and we've been following them all the way down this coastline and they're
16:54just slow travelling.
16:55I'm hoping that they're going to go into the little harbour that's just ahead of us.
17:00So I'm going to get geared up now just in case.
17:07Lined up in almost military formation, Salty, Pirate, Funky Monkey and two others enter the shallow bay.
17:17They've come here to hunt.
17:28If Ingrid's lucky, she'll see them take on a very unusual prey.
17:37She's discovered New Zealand's orca hunt rays.
17:43There's no other population of orca in the world that we know of that specialises in rays to the extent
17:49that the New Zealand orca do.
17:50So that really makes them very, very unique.
18:03Sensing the danger, the ray heads for the shallows.
18:07Pursued by Salty and her calf, Pirate.
18:12In this shallow water, the orca must watch out.
18:16They have the highest incidence of stranding in the world.
18:23It's very high risk hunting for these animals.
18:27They can also run the risk of getting stung.
18:30Sinking into the kelp, the ray takes cover.
18:37Others will not be so lucky.
18:43Ingrid's found the orca use a variety of techniques to hunt rays.
18:55Lying vertically, Salty deliberately blows out air to sink to the bottom.
19:04Hovering over the ray is extremely dangerous.
19:08At least one orca that I know of has been killed from ray barbs.
19:15With a surgeon's precision, she holds the ray by the tip of its tail.
19:21Now harmless, it's unable to sting her.
19:33Around the world, orca specialise in hunting different prey.
19:38Skills are passed down from generation to generation.
19:43It will be many years before five-year-old pirate perfects how to hunt rays.
19:56Opting for a different technique, Funky Monkey deliberately flips the ray onto its back.
20:02This basically induces what's called tonic immobility.
20:06So the ray just relaxes.
20:08And this allows the orca to carry the ray over to another orca who can then bite it in the
20:13head and kill it.
20:17As pirate joins him, he allows her to share his catch.
20:27Food sharing like this is rare in the animal kingdom.
20:30But amongst orca, it's commonplace.
20:37Ingrid's discovered a staggering 80% of the New Zealand orca's diet comes from eating rays.
20:45And she's got a hunch their unusual taste for them might be a real cause for concern.
20:56Two hours later, the orca enter one of New Zealand's busiest waterways, Fangare Harbour.
21:03Keep an eye out behind us, see if there's any more, Wendy.
21:07Yep.
21:07GPS is 35, 49, 977, 174, 29, 376.
21:14We've just come past the wharves and we're heading down towards the refinery.
21:20They've been feeding on rays. We've seen them take at least 15 rays so far.
21:24With its shallow, silty bottom, conditions here are perfect for the bottom feeding rays.
21:31But feeding in this highly industrialised area may not be good for the rays or the orca.
21:37A lot of people think of New Zealand as being a clean, green country.
21:40But in fact, we actually have quite a few issues with pollutants from industrial areas,
21:45washing out into the harbours, agricultural runoff, and even from cars that are parked in the street.
21:51When it rains, the oil that drips out of the sump goes into the drains and comes down into these
21:56harbours.
21:57And then you've got the filter feeding animals like scallops that are in the harbour.
22:02Then you've got the rays that feed on the scallops, and then you've got the orca that feed on the
22:06rays.
22:07And so, in the end, the orca are ending up with a lot of pollutants in their bodies.
22:11But just how much, that's the trick, we don't really know.
22:15So I'm really keen to try and find out how much is being passed across to the animals.
22:24Ten years ago, a study was done on pollutant levels in New Zealand.
22:30While the waters were relatively clean, it found raised levels of industrial chemicals like PCBs
22:35and the banned pesticide DDT in the harbours.
22:42It's a problem that's mirrored around the world.
22:46The sediments are where many of the contaminants end up.
22:50Once in the food chain, they bind to body fats like blubber.
22:55Virtually impossible to break down, they can cause serious health problems.
23:03The only way Ingrid can check on her orca's health is to test them.
23:22It's early winter, and Ingrid gets some bittersweet news.
23:27A dead orca has been found on a beach several hours north of her base.
23:32The report is that it's a sub-adult male,
23:35and it's almost certainly going to be an individual that I know.
23:38And, you know, obviously I'm going to be cut up about that side of things,
23:42but in terms of the science, this provides a really unique opportunity.
23:46When orca die, they typically sink,
23:48so to find one on the beach like this is really rare.
23:53It's an exceptional opportunity to take some blubber samples to test for pollutants.
24:01The challenge is that all of New Zealand's coastline falls under the protection of different Maori tribes.
24:11And with whales believed to be the spirits of their ancestors,
24:14Ingrid's chances of getting her precious samples are in the balance.
24:33After driving through the day, Ingrid arrives as the Maori chief begins his final prayer for the dead orca.
24:44His song thanks the gods for their gift of the whale,
24:48and the return of their ancestors' spirit.
25:03When I walked up to that male on the beach, I definitely knew who it was.
25:07I could recognise the notch in his fin, and it was very clear who it was immediately.
25:13I had seen him only about a year and a half previously in the Whangarei Harbour, not far from my
25:20home.
25:21Of course you don't want any of them to die.
25:25This young male is the third fatality this year.
25:30Even more are likely to have died at sea, their bodies never found.
25:36In 20 years of research, Ingrid's never had a year like it.
25:40If you consider that there's less than 200 animals in the whole New Zealand population,
25:45you know, that's really pushing things, and it could tip them over the brink.
25:50Is it just coincidence, or is something more alarming going on?
25:56Ingrid's only chance of finding out is to do a necropsy.
26:01The problem is the procedure would desecrate the whale's body.
26:07Sorry.
26:08No, look, I understand.
26:11It's disappointing, but I understand.
26:15I tried to explain it as best as I could.
26:17Yeah, no, I do, I understand.
26:19I understand and I appreciate the support, I really do.
26:22I wanted to hold you.
26:23Please.
26:23Yeah, okay.
26:25She's only allowed to do an external examination and take a small blubber sample.
26:31RL3.
26:33We have absolutely no idea why he died, if it was from natural causes or if somebody did something to
26:40him.
26:41And that was kind of why I really wanted to do the necropsy.
26:44Not only could we ascertain then why he died, but we could also try and work out so many different
26:51things about him.
26:53But despite the setback, the small sample could still reveal why he died.
27:00If pollutants played a role, they will show up in this fatty blubber.
27:05All right.
27:05Well, no, no anywhere near any kind of test.
27:08There we go.
27:11Earlier in the year, Ingrid also took samples from this two-day-old calf.
27:16Its cause of death is also unknown.
27:22It could have easily been abandoned by its mother.
27:25It could have been attacked by a shark.
27:28It could have pollutants.
27:30We just don't know yet.
27:30So it's going to be interesting to try and find out.
27:37Back at base, Ingrid calls one of the world's leading marine toxicology experts, Dr Peter Ross, about analysing the samples.
27:47New Zealand's orca have never been tested before.
27:51I'm really concerned about the fact that the New Zealand orca are coming inside the harbours here and that there's
27:58a lot of run-off from the harbours.
27:59Playing heavily on her mind is that around the world, some orca have tested positive to very high levels of
28:06PCBs, DDTs and even some flame retardants.
28:10We do know that these chemicals cause problems.
28:12They cause problems in humans.
28:14Yeah.
28:15They cause problems in laboratory animals.
28:17And we have some evidence from wild marine mammals that these chemicals are associated with effects on reproduction, on the
28:26immune system, on normal growth and development.
28:33Sitting at the top of the food chain, hunters like orca are especially at risk.
28:38These are Norwegian orca and studies have been done to look at the contaminants inside them and they have found
28:44that they have very high levels of PCBs, which are a type of industrial chemical, used primarily in transformers, some
28:51types of industrial oils and in sealants.
28:56It also turns out that they have the highest level of contaminants of any animal in the high Arctic.
29:04These are transient orca that specialise in feeding in marine mammals and live up the west coast of North America.
29:10And their bodies are so full of pollutants that they actually have to be treated as toxic, hazardous waste when
29:16they die.
29:20We know that pollutants are having a major impact on marine mammals around the world.
29:24And I can only hope that the orca down here in New Zealand aren't exposed to so many chemicals.
29:32While most of New Zealand's orca diet appears to come from rays, Ingrid's discovered there's one other animal they hunt
29:39that could also be cause for concern.
29:44These photos are Ingrid's only evidence that her orca are also shark hunters.
29:49The concern about them feeding on sharks is that sharks are high in the food chain as well, so they
29:54themselves probably have high levels of contaminants which is getting passed on to the orca.
30:01The samples will be sent to Canada for testing.
30:06It will be at least six months before the results come in.
30:10They could reveal vital clues why the orca died and why New Zealand's tiny population isn't growing.
30:22Most of Ingrid's call-outs are for orca, but she's also on standby for any whale in trouble.
30:32A call's come in from the Department of Conservation.
30:35A humpback whale is tangled in fishing nets.
30:39If we get lucky, we'll be able to find it and then cut the rope off.
30:43If we're unlucky, or it's unlucky, we won't even be able to find it.
30:47It's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack out here, but we've got to try.
30:51It wasn't our friendly little whale.
31:01With the help of a spotter plane, Ingrid and the team start searching the coast.
31:07And by mid-morning, they find the whale.
31:10Up in front of the air boat. Did you see it?
31:14Yeah.
31:14OK.
31:16It's a female, and the fishing net is badly tangled around her body.
31:21Nets like these are a threat to all marine mammals, including orca.
31:26If they don't get the rope off, she will die.
31:29I think it's still around its mouth. Look, yeah, it's its mouth too.
31:35She's exhausted, but it's too dangerous to attempt to free her.
31:44Attaching several boys to the whale is the only safe way to slow her down and get alongside her.
32:01She is really starting to slow down when she's surfacing. It's multiple breaths now, and she's really starting to chuff.
32:08And just like this, which is good for us. Hard on her, but the quicker we can get this done,
32:13the quicker we can let her go.
32:15Right. She's, yeah, she's slowed right down. Look at that.
32:23This close, there's a real risk 25 tonnes of whale could flip the boat over.
32:30Working as fast as they can, piece by piece, the net is cut free.
32:36Riky. Yeah, it's pretty rotten, huh?
32:39It's been there a while. There's some, well, yeah, barnacles growing on it.
32:44Yeah.
32:47Two hours later, with most of the net now free, the humpback makes a bit for freedom.
33:14I'm getting goosebumps. You can't put that sort of thing into words. It's nothing money can buy and you just...
33:22It's such a relief.
33:24How do you, how do you ever describe something like that?
33:27How do you, how do you ever describe something like that?
33:54Ingrid?
33:54It is, Northland's Classic, it's with Will and Jax and next we have someone who has an unusual job.
34:01With the help of the local radio station and thousands of flyers, Ingrid appeals to the public to call in
34:07with any sightings.
34:08How reliant on the public are you?
34:11Well, basically, they're my eyes and my ears.
34:15I can't find the animals without their help.
34:23Soon, the orca hotline is inundated with calls.
34:30A pod of eight orca have been spotted once again
34:33near the mouth of Whangarei Harbour.
34:36Order port.
34:38It's a chance for Ingrid to observe them hunting at close quarters.
34:42Coming round.
34:43Come off speed.
34:45Coming down.
34:48There's two there.
34:50Funky monkey's coming in and bent, so there'll be four of them there.
34:54Excellent.
34:55Here they come.
34:56Animals are just here.
34:57Funky monkey with his distinctive twisted fin is back.
35:02Seeing him visit this busy harbour for the second time in just six weeks,
35:06is a real concern.
35:08We can't have a starboard.
35:09He's coming right around on them.
35:11I want to see if we can get right in there.
35:12Because this current is surprisingly strong.
35:15Okay.
35:19Swimming ahead of him are Salty and her calf pirate.
35:25While most New Zealand orca mix around, Ingrid's notice this trio seem to like each other's
35:31company and are frequently together.
35:33She suspects they are probably all related.
35:46Orca only calf every five years.
35:50Their slow birth rate makes them very vulnerable.
36:01Joining him today is 30-year-old Ben.
36:04His fin was ripped in two by a boat propeller.
36:19With the orca in hunting mode, Ingrid must be extra careful.
36:27One blow from six tons of orca could easily kill her.
36:36It's got a ray in its mouth.
36:39She's got a ray.
36:52It's rich pickings as Funky Monkey, Salty and Pirate catch ray after ray.
37:26It's rich pickings as Funky Monkey, Salty and Pirate catch ray.
37:27Abandoning a part-eaten ray.
37:30It's a great break.
37:43I've got a ray.
37:45So can you just grab the camera?
37:48Yep, sure.
37:50Just drop it in the box for me.
37:52Excellent.
37:56So just got the remains of an eagle ray and you can see here where the orca have punctured
38:05it with their teeth and where they killed it.
38:09Now the really amazing thing is that they've ripped off half of it and it's still alive.
38:15And the other half is still here and part of the liver is missing.
38:21And what I want to be able to do is take this and get it analysed to see if there's
38:27any poisons
38:28or toxins in the ray that's being transferred through to the orca.
38:32So this is a really amazing find to get.
38:40Like the orca, New Zealand's rays have never been tested.
38:45Woohoo!
38:46Yeah!
38:46Excellent!
38:48This sample will now join the whale blubber for analysis.
38:53OK, in gear, we can get it.
39:02Back at base, Ingrid's noticing a pattern with her orca's movements.
39:09So these red dots represent sightings for the orca over the past research season.
39:15And you can see that they're clustered around the harbours.
39:19In the last year, 60% of Ingrid's sightings have been in harbours like Whangaree.
39:27Until the test results come back, she has no idea if the orca's love of hunting in harbours
39:33is a worry.
39:44With winter storms lashing the coast, Ingrid is housebound.
39:52It can be really, really frustrating how long it takes to process these samples.
39:58It can take months, literally.
39:59And you just have to be patient.
40:01And the hard thing is not knowing whether it's going to be a good result or a bad result.
40:06You know something's coming, but you don't know what it is.
40:13Orca hotline, Ingrid speaking.
40:15Then, the orca hotline delivers some terrible news, which pulls Ingrid away from her research.
40:24I've just had a report that there's about 60 pilot whales stranded on the beach about three hours north of
40:30here.
40:32As the tide comes up, the animals, if they're in the surf, they'll actually end up drowning.
40:37So we need to get there and we need to get people to help the animals as quick as possible.
40:42And every time I get a call, I always try and go.
40:53Awaiting Ingrid is a scene of devastation.
41:05Fifty-eight pilot whales have stranded.
41:08Most are already dead.
41:10It's just a tragedy.
41:32This is the North Island's second mass stranding this year, and the rescuers are overwhelmed.
41:39There's one still alive there.
41:41Where?
41:41There.
41:42Which one?
41:42There one.
41:43Okay.
41:43She's still alive.
41:44All right.
41:44Let's go there.
41:48This one, Wendy.
41:52Getting the whales out of the surf is critical.
41:55On their sides, their blowholes are submerged and they can't breathe.
41:59Don't roll over.
42:02Don't roll over.
42:08She'll drown if she lies on her side like this.
42:17There's no reason she can't be held up right.
42:19Come on, girl.
42:20There you go.
42:21Come on.
42:22Just hold her there, Wendy.
42:22Hold her there.
42:33Hang in there.
42:34Don't give up.
42:38We're just going to try and move another one with a mat.
42:41See if we can get a team and lift it out of the surf.
42:43And then we're going to come back for this one.
42:50Come on.
42:51Come on.
42:51All right, she can breathe.
42:53Now.
42:55That's a good girl.
42:57One more alone, sweetie, and you'll see me.
42:59Go.
43:01Right.
43:02Now, let's try and position her.
43:03Click.
43:04Yeah.
43:05That's better, huh?
43:07Nice.
43:08Stop that.
43:09Now, we're just going to roll you over.
43:11Put the mat under you.
43:17As the afternoon draws on, the death toll rises.
43:25What triggered the stranding is a mystery, but pilot whales are one of the most social creatures in the ocean.
43:33Pod members are thought to stay together for life.
43:38These incredibly tight family bonds may explain why pilot whales' strandings are so bad.
43:44What changes a stranding into a mass stranding is this really, really intense social bonding that these animals have.
43:52So if one goes up on the beach, then the whole group goes up, no matter what the peril is
43:57to them.
43:59At the moment, we've got 14 still alive.
44:01You know, you've got to think that this is almost like a mass car accident for these animals.
44:06They know something tragic has happened.
44:09They know individual members of their family have died.
44:12And they grieve just like we do.
44:14So it's very, very stressful for them.
44:16And that's why we stay with them and we talk to them and we keep them really calm and just,
44:21you know, try and reassure them in any way that we possibly can.
44:24I'm ever hopeful.
44:26I think we can pull this off.
44:30But just minutes later, one of the 14 survivors goes into a stress spasm.
44:36It's okay.
44:38Hang in, man.
44:39Yeah, we're finished.
44:40Hang in, man.
44:45Yeah.
44:47Come on, the girl.
44:49Hang in, man.
44:52Come on, I think that's it, Fluffy.
44:54I think that's it.
45:13I'm so sorry, Wendy.
45:16I'm so sorry.
45:22He tried.
45:23God, he was a fighter.
45:41Eventually, extra help arrives to lower the survivors back into the water.
46:07Slapping the water, the rescuers try to encourage the whales to leave the shallows.
46:16One hundred metres offshore, Ingrid stands by to help herd them out.
46:22What a sight.
46:24Don't know whether to laugh or cry, huh?
46:27Out of the original pod of 58, 13 exhausted survivors, including the little baby, slowly make their way out to
46:36sea.
46:56As winter draws to a close, Ingrid's back on the water with her orca, following their movement up
47:02and down the coast.
47:12There he is.
47:12Oh, you little mongrel.
47:16Come on, big guy.
47:17Come and have your picture taken.
47:20Today, she's found three, and they're in playful mood.
47:23Oh, there's the juvie.
47:25There's the juvie.
47:26Nice one.
47:27Oh, you must have been just sitting on the tail again.
47:32Circling the boat and swimming upside down, they give Ingrid a spectacular welcome.
47:41It's pretty hard to tell who's here at the moment because the animals are swimming away from us
47:46and they're in the chop, and it's a little bit hard to see their fins, so hopefully they'll come a
47:51little bit closer
47:52and I'll be able to work out who it is.
47:55It's just good to see them, no matter which ones it is.
47:59Here she comes.
48:01Come here, you.
48:03Come on.
48:04Come on.
48:06Show us your tummies so we can see if you're a boy or a girl.
48:10Now they're heading into the coast.
48:12They are all over the place.
48:1414.50.
48:16Very erratic movement.
48:17Heading in, heading out, heading north, heading south.
48:20I suspect that these guys are just milling around, waiting for the other walker to turn up.
48:26First report was of eight individuals, and we've only got three here at the moment.
48:30But there's a surprise for Ingrid.
48:33See, that one's got that new notch on it, Wendy.
48:36Yep.
48:37It's interesting.
48:38You know, I don't recognise these individuals immediately.
48:43Come on.
48:44Give me your fin, please.
48:47There she is.
48:49Yep.
48:49That's the one with the notch.
48:50Look at that.
48:52Nice.
48:53Ingrid soon identifies two of the orca, Venus and Miracle.
48:58They're both from the 70-strong North Island population.
49:02But the third remains a mystery.
49:05I managed to get a fin ID of that new animal.
49:09And as much as I want to stay, the nasty weather's coming this way.
49:12And I'm going to have to head into it to get back to port.
49:15So I'm going to have to leave now, unfortunately.
49:19If she's a new addition to the population, it's exciting news.
49:25Ingrid's orca may not be as isolated as she feared.
49:47Despite the rough weather today, it was actually a good day for the research because I managed to get a
49:52couple of really good photos of the female that I thought had a notch at the base of her fin.
49:57And sure enough, she does.
50:01And it's quite a distinctive notch.
50:03And I've been right through the catalogue and I can't match her.
50:07So that potentially means that she's new to the New Zealand population.
50:10I don't know where she's come from.
50:12But that's pretty amazing after the recent death.
50:15It's good to see some new faces.
50:26And you can see here on her back she's got a healed scar and it's sort of an oval scar.
50:31And that is actually a bite from a cookie cutter shark.
50:36And we don't typically get cookie cutter sharks here in New Zealand.
50:40And it's very infrequently that we see bites on the individual orca here.
50:45So it indicates that she's come from somewhere else and is a new animal for the New Zealand population.
50:53So I don't know if she's going to stay but I hope so.
50:58With the population showing no signs of growth, storm's arrival is an exciting development.
51:08Then comes bad news.
51:10So the results are finally in after months of waiting and unfortunately it's not looking good.
51:18The samples of both the rays and the orca have tested positive for hundreds of chemicals.
51:24There were two samples that we sent off and one was the male on the beach.
51:30He's tested really, really high for PCBs, DDTs and also for flame retardants.
51:39PCBs were banned here in New Zealand many years ago, decades ago now.
51:43But we're still seeing them showing up in the New Zealand orca.
51:45And that's really quite scary.
51:48With the half-life of PCBs estimated to be up to 100 years,
51:53they could continue to affect the health of Ingrid's orca for generations to come.
52:01So the flame retardants, there's not so many of them in the animals at the moment, which is a good
52:06thing.
52:06But the problem is that there's absolutely no restrictions on the use of them.
52:10And they mimic the problems that you get with PCBs.
52:14Flame retardants are used in everything from clothes and computers to carpets and paint.
52:22Leaching out from these products, they enter our oceans and have been shown to reduce fertility in humans and animals.
52:30In some parts of the world, their levels are doubling every three to four years.
52:37Although New Zealand's levels are low right now, their presence is a real concern, as they are likely to rise.
52:45So the young calf, she was only probably a couple of days old, yet she's got relatively high concentrations of
52:52pollutants in her body too.
52:54And she would have got them from the mother, passed through the placenta.
52:57So that means that her mother was really, really contaminated as well.
53:01And she's offloaded some of those onto the baby.
53:06And it's given me the cold sweats, basically, looking at this stuff.
53:10It's pretty scary.
53:13So the big questions now really are, how serious are these pollution levels?
53:17What sort of impacts is that going to have on the animals here in New Zealand?
53:22And did they actually contribute to the deaths of these two animals?
53:29Ingrid discusses the results with toxicology expert Peter Ross.
53:34These chemicals are highly unlikely to poison any of these animals.
53:38But these concentrations could weaken the animals or alter the growth and development.
53:44There might even be a risk of adverse effects on the reproductive health of both males and females.
53:52We see relatively high concentrations.
53:55And I would certainly put these animals among the most contaminated marine mammals in the southern hemisphere.
54:04So we can't say that these contaminants actually contributed to the death of the animals, or they may have done.
54:13We don't really know.
54:15Well, we don't know.
54:16In a nutshell, they're not acute poisons.
54:19But they can make the animals more vulnerable to some of the things that either Mother Nature or humankind throws
54:26at them.
54:36Obviously, I wasn't expecting the results to be quite as dramatic as that.
54:42There's some good news and some bad news.
54:44But taking the big picture, it's pretty overwhelming.
54:48And it's hard to know really where to go from here, especially just as a single individual.
54:53You know, what can I do to try and protect these animals?
55:00While the toxin levels are lower than those found in some of the North American pods,
55:05their presence could well be one of the reasons the population shows no signs of growth.
55:29Starting at a local level, Ingrid begins her campaign to raise awareness about the toxins in her orca.
55:36PCBs and DDTs have been banned in New Zealand for a number of years now,
55:40so hopefully, eventually, those aren't going to be such a problem for the orca.
55:44But the flame retardants, they're a different story.
55:47Unfortunately, they're not regulated in any way.
55:50So I'm hoping from a governmental level we'll be able to do something.
55:54Ingrid's first step is to meet Sue Reid,
55:57Area Manager for Whangaree Harbour at New Zealand's Department of Conservation.
56:01Now that we've got this information, what happens next?
56:05Well, short term, I'd like to look at getting more samples, obviously.
56:08You know, this is only two samples.
56:10But the thing is, it's indicative of what's likely to be going on for the whole population.
56:15Long term, I'd like to look at trying to put some restrictions on the flame retardants.
56:20You know, obviously, PCBs and DDTs are being controlled now.
56:23The meeting with Department of Conservation went really well.
56:26They were very interested in what I had to show them and tell them about the orca.
56:30And it feels very positive where we're going to go from here.
56:36So this last year has been an absolute roller coaster of emotional highs and lows.
56:41But I think it's definitely ended on a positive
56:43because I'm now in a situation that I know more about them
56:46and I can protect them better.
56:50It's going to be a long haul trying to get some sort of regulations in place
56:53for the flame retardants, but I think it's worth it.
56:58And of course, you know, in terms of the global situation as well,
57:01if New Zealand can lead the way, that would be really great.
57:07Ingrid continues to study and swim with her beloved orca.
57:15She is now also campaigning to ban the use of some flame retardants.
57:22Her findings are a wake-up call to us all
57:25to better protect our oceans
57:27and pay heed to the widespread use of chemicals in our modern-day lives.
57:38Orca have been around for thousands if not millions of years
57:41and I want them to be around long after I've gone
57:43and I'm not going to rest until they're better protected.
57:54The future for New Zealand's orca remains fragile.
58:14Coming up on BBC4, nothing is quite as it seems
58:17as Horizon meets scientists searching for the smallest things imaginable next.
58:22And a Sky at Night special waves goodbye to Rosetta here at 10 o'clock.