This is Doctor Neil Burnie.
He lives in Bermuda, a stunning Atlantic Island six hundred and forty miles east of North
Carolina, USA.He’s spent the last thirty years practicing veterinary medicine, but
now he's transferring his veterinary skills to help save, protect, and learn more about
the incredible marine life of Bermuda’s Ocean.
This is a completely wild shark.
Alongside his dedicated Ocean Vet team, are a number of scientists,
Yeah, this and probably.
marine biologists, Just cut a little nick off the back fin.
and specialist master divers, helping to perform a number of unique and dangerous procedures,
in a bid to safeguard critically important marine species.Together, the team will be
fitting satellite tags to huge tiger sharks, saving precious green turtles, dissecting
giant blue marlin, and obtaining unique toxin samples from forty five tonne, migrating,
humpback whales.
Yay!
Woo hoo!My knees are like jell-o.
Yes, man!
This is Bermuda!
Home to Doctor Neil Burnie, the Ocean Vet.
The spotted eagle ray is one of the most strikingly beautiful marine animals, covered in a spotted
pattern that is unique to each and every ray.
In Bermuda these rays are heavily protected, but throughout some of the rest of the world
it’s a different story.
Now categorised as near threatened, the future survival of this species is uncertain.
Straight into the anaesthetic in this position is perfect.
Yeah, yeah.
Oxygen on!
In this episode, Neil, and his Ocean Vet crew patrol Bermuda’s beautiful inshore waters
on a scientific mission to protect the spotted eagle ray.
I can handle the probe, if you wish?
Utilising his extensive veterinary skills, Neil, and his Ocean Vet team will perform
a number of unique procedures to collect vitally important data from these beautiful marine
animals.
So we’ll give this to you and you can slide this under him.
By employing tried and tested capture methods alongside some of the very latest technology,
Neil, and his crew’s skill will be tested to the limit as they attempt to corral and
capture these rays in some of Bermuda’s most idyllic surroundings.
You never know what you’re gonna find here in the Bermuda Triangle.
To assist him on this testing mission, Neil, has assembled his Ocean Vet crew at the Bermuda
Aquarium dock.
This weather, this day, epic!
We’re going to get three or four rays today, for sure.
As always, Neil, is assisted by series marine biologist, Choy Aming; underwater cameraman,
Andrew Kirkpatrick; boat pilot, Dylan Ward; and support RIB pilot, Oscar Deuss.
The team are also joined by spotted eagle ray scientist, Doctor Matt Ajemian; ultrasonographer,
Lotti Rheining; aerial drone pilot, Johnny Singleton; and Chris Flook, from Bermuda Conservation
Services.
Their combined experience and expertise is essential to the success of Neil, and his
crew’s mission.
So, about four or five years ago, Doctor Matt Ajemian, carried out his PHD work on Bermuda’s
spotted eagle rays.
He answered a lot of the questions about their feeding behaviour and their local migratory
movements.
However, two key questions remain unanswered.
One, does our population of eagle rays differ from those found in the golf of Mexico?
And secondly, do any of our rays undergo longterm migrations from the Bermuda platform?
This year we’re going to take a lot of DNA samples from some of these fish and also we’re
going to attach archival satellite tags and that way, hopefully, we can answer longterm
migratory movement questions on these fish. …is the exact tag that we’re putting on
a lot of our…
By attaching satellite tags and collecting DNA samples, Neil, and his team can determine
if these rays migrate off Island, and how their genetic identity compares with other
ray populations.
So these rays that we’re seeing here, this is about an average sized female.
Combined with Matt’s previous data, this will prove if this species is totally endemic
to Bermuda.
This would be a scientific breakthrough.
If Bermuda’s spotted eagle rays are proved to be endemic, then the conservation data
on these protected rays can be used as a benchmark for unprotected populations, helping to establish
an effective conservation strategy to protect this species all over the world.
Alright, so the first thing we need to do is get a ray.
So, what we’re gonna do is head out in this boat, using this jack net, put it in the water,
encircle the ray, put it on the boat, and then transport it back here to the Aquarium,
where we’re going to take our samples and attach our satellite tag.
Now rays are very powerful and potentially dangerous, so the first thing we’re gonna
do is put it into this anaesthesia bath, here.
So here’s our pool set up.
We’ve got oxygenated water in here and we’re gonna use clove oil to anaesthetise our fish.
Matt, why are we choosing clove oil for our anaesthetic?
Well, Neil, clove oil is a naturally occurring, er, anaesthetic and it has a variety of uses,
but really is effective on marine fishes and, er, should put these rays under in a comfortable
level, so we can do all of our procedures.
Excellent.
And it’s a naturally occurring material, so we have no problems with disposal, that
you do with some of the synthetic anaesthetic agents.
Let’s go catch an eagle ray!
Let’s do it.
Matt’s research proved that Harrington Sound is an eagle ray hotspot.
This large body of inland water provided over fifty sightings during Matt’s study.These
rays were often observed cruising the perimeter of the Sound, or gliding across the shallow
bays of some of it’s beautiful Islands.
So we’re here at a fantastic location on the backside of Trunk Island, here in Harrington
Sound.
This is a great location to try and find eagle rays because this sand bed here is full of
calico clams, one of their preferred foods.
Hopefully we’ll find two or three in here.
Once cited, encircling these rays with a capture net requires a great deal of skill and experience.
These fish are fast, unpredictable, and highly manoeuvrable.
So we’ve found our first eagle ray.
It’s up here on the shallow sand flats right behind the Island.
What we’re gonna do.
Look, I want you to come, like, up here somewhere, ok?
Very exciting!So, we’re deploying the net.
We’ve come right in against the shoreline.
We’re deploying the net.
We’re gonna try and capture this ray.
Let it go, just don’t even touch it, don’t even touch it.
Alright, cool.
So we can see our ray, he’s about twenty yards off the bow of the boat, and he’s
heading towards the corner where we put the net to start with.
This is going perfectly at the moment.
Lotti’s gonna jump in the water just to, kind of, give the ray a bit of a scare towards
the net, because sometimes they go one way or the other.
So we like to have a swimmer in there, just to have a body there, and it kind of scares
the ray in one direction, and that ensures us being able to net it.
Lotti, also has the crucial task of closing off any gaps at the bottom of the net.
Even the smallest hole can be an escape route for one of these rays.
At the surface, Oscar, and Matt have the challenging task of trying to manoeuvre the heavy net
around this ray without it escaping.
See if you can scare him into the bay, Oscar!
Just do your best!
This is like cat and mouse with an eagle ray highly mobile, and actually highly intelligent,
they have one of the biggest brain sizes per body mass of any fish.
And this guy is trying to outwit us right here, right now!
But not to be outmanoeuvred by this ray, Neil, deploys the rest of his team to close off
any escape routes.
This is a crucial moment, one slip now and his team could lose this ray for good.
So the eagle ray’s right here in front of us, heading towards Chris.
Our job right now is to keep him corralled as we gradually get this net smaller and smaller
so we can capture this ray.
The reason we brought the camera is because, er, the eagle rays actually have a spotted
pattern on the back, and it’s actually a unique spot pattern on every ray.
So if we get a good photo of it, it’s like a fingerprint.
So what Matt’s gonna do is, er, he’s gonna keep them, and basically we can catalogue
all the rays so we can identify each individual ray by it’s pattern.
So we’ll give this to you and you can slide this under him.
Yep.
There you go, you got him.
Neil, and his team must be extremely careful working close to this animal.
These rays are equipped with several venomous barbs located at the base of their tails.
If one of these barbs were to puncture a vital organ, the effects could be fatal.
Ok.
Alright, you guys got that?
Alright, yeah.
Do you need a hand right now Huh?
Yeah, yeah.
We have him.
You got the tape?
I’m good.
Yeah, tape’s right here.
Do you wanna.
So we have our ray safely in the boat. and we’re gonna get the tape, and we’re gonna
tape his barbs.These are the very dangerous, five, to six inch long venomous barbs, and
sadly made most famous by the death of the late, Steve Irwin, who took a six inch long
stingray barb through the heart.
We’re gonna make sure that doesn’t happen to any of us.
We’re gonna tape these barbs up, close to his tail, to get out of the danger.
Our priorities are taping up the barbs and getting water into his gills, so i’m holding
the mouth open.
Matt, has just put water in the gills, so he’s got flow over the gills.
You can see water coming out there, he’s in good shape.
We’re just going to put a towel over his eyes, just so he can’t see what’s going
on, to keep his stress level low.
Ok.
You can actually see this guy’s…
With the ray now secure and stabilised, Neil, is satisfied it can be safely transported
back to the Bermuda Aquarium.
So we’re running full speed, and, Matt, is checking the flow, and the water is flowing
over his gills.
And we’re almost at the Aquarium, we’re almost there.
This guy has become one of the Ocean Vet research crew.
He’s being honoured to be allowed to wear the shirt.
Very nice.
Good job everybody!
What a wicked team!
Coming up, Neil, and his team sample and release the captured spotted eagle ray.
Neil, and Choy respond to a call reporting an injured ray.
And Neil and his crew have a fight on their hands to capture their second ray, and complete
their mission to help protect this amazing species.Back in the action, Neil, and his
team have successfully transported their captured ray back to the Bermuda Aquarium for sampling.
Straight into the anaesthetic in this position is perfect.
Yeah, yeah.
Oxygen on!
Yeah.
Ok.
We’ll turn it on now!
So our ray is in his anaesthetic solution, he’s in the clove oil, he’s gradually
gonna get a little sedated we hope.
And then we’re gonna go ahead, we’re gonna get a blood sample, we’re gonna get a DNA
clip, and we’re gonna attach our archival satellite tag.
To minimise unnecessary stress to this animal, Neil, is keen to complete the procedures as
quickly as possible.
Alright.
Thanks, Matt.
There you go.
So, this is our archival pop off tag and we’re gonna implant this.
It’s gonna release after six months.
It’s gonna come to the surface and deploy and upload all the information about this
ray’s movements during those six months.
That’s right.
We’re gonna put this right through the muscular tissue, either side of the vertebrae, of this
fish’s tail.
That’s right, and so we go right through just like so, and as it gets pushed through,
er, this tube is gonna go with it.
And as you can see, this ray is not bothered by this procedure, the clove oil’s working
brilliantly.So now i’m gonna plant the tube on this side, correct?
Right here.
This is very similar to some of the procedures we use when we’re doing our small animal
practice, particularly when i’m doing fracture repairs in small cats or dogs, we thread a
wire under the jaw in exactly the same way.
Beautiful.
So we have a smooth connection from our swivel.
From our tag, to our swivel, to our fish.
To our ray I should say, and we’re good to go.
This is gonna trail behind him and offer minimal drag as he swims through the water column.
With the health of this ray also a key focus, Neil, Choy, and Matt take some vital blood
samples.
So, Matt, why are we gonna draw this blood sample from this ray?
This blood’s actually gonna give us a little insight into the physiology of these animals;
how healthy they are, what types of toxins are actually in them, as well.
And we can also use some of this tissue that we’re gonna draw from our clip to get DNA
analysis, right, Correctamundo.
and compare this with other populations?
Yes, Sir.
This DNA sample will be sent to scientists in California and compared with other ray
populations to determine if Bermuda’s rays are, indeed, genetically unique.
No, we’re good.
Ok, we’re good!
Alright.
Let’s get him back into the bath.
So, let’s move this ray.
With the welfare of this ray, Neil’s, top priority, he’s keen to begin reviving the
animal as soon as possible.
He's started to come out a little bit, which is good.
Alright, so we’ve got the ray moved into our recovery bath.
We’ve got our oxygenation stone in.
Choy, is actually running fresh water directly over his gills.
We’re gonna get rid of all that clove oil anaesthetic from this fish, wake him up, get
him weighed, and get him back into the ocean.
Oh yeah, there he goes.
Yeah.
I can feel it, it’s almost like a little tongue sticking out, licking my hand.
With all of their procedures taking just over ten minutes, Neil, has ensured the stress
to this ray has been kept to a minimum.
Ok, we’re gonna lift him onto the frame.
And with the clove oil solution now purged from this ray, Neil, is confident the animal
is strong enough to be released.
So, you wanna grab the back end?
Ok, let’s get him off.
So i’m just bringing him off and as we can see I can assess his spiracle movement.
And we’re gonna wait until we have some movement of his fins, and once we do, we’re
gonna see.
He’s already starting to move, so we’re now in a position to release the vet wrap
from his tail.
Leave his barbs free.
And just for the audience above here who are looking down, this is what we do not want
to get caught by.
So, this one, these venomous barbs are what we were trying to avoid earlier, but now as
we release this fish, we can leave him with his protection incase he comes into contact
with something that he needs to protect himself from in the future.
In Bermuda, this animal faces threats from large marine predators, such as tiger sharks,
and even hammerheads.
But in other oceans these animals are also hunted by bull sharks and black tips.
Oh.
I think he’s.
Yeah.
He’s getting ready to go.So, are you ready, Choy?
Yeah.
Whenever you guys release, i’ll just follow him just to ensure that he looks good and
swims away healthy.
There he goes, and he’s gliding down as we watch him.
Perfect!
So that’s our first eagle ray tagged and released.
We’ve got a few more to go, but it’s looking very good so far.
Neil, and his team will have to wait and see if the DNA samples and satellite tag data
corroborate Matt’s theory that Bermuda’s eagle rays are endemic to the Island.
But it’s not just strategies like this that help ensure this animal’s survival.
At the Bermuda Aquarium, their team of scientists also respond to reports of injured marine
animals.
When a call comes in about an injured spotted eagle ray, Neil, and his Ocean Vet crew are
the first to respond.
So we’ve received a call from a resident at the Harrington Sound, just up here.
He’s seen an injured eagle ray in front of his property, looks like he’s got a laceration
to the wing and some abrasions.
And it’s circling in the same place all the time, so it doesn’t look well.
We’re gonna see if we can assess it in the water and if we think it needs to be captured
to help treat it, that’s what we’re gonna do.
Oh, hang on, hang on.
He’s right in front of us.
Neil, you got a spot on it?
He's right in front of us.
He’s right here.
Yep.
Flooky, he’s twenty yards off the stern of the boat.
Right there, right?
And he’s heading out right now.So we can see the laceration on the left side of the
wing, and it’s about a third of the way in from the tip.
But the ray is adapting to it and is swimming pretty strongly right now.
It’s incredible considering, it’s almost, the wing is actually cut, and basically it’s
kind of flapped like a chunk, like tilting, like that.
But she still manages to swim fine, so it just shows the resilience of these animals.
I won’t say it’s cosmetic, but I don’t think it’s life-threatening.
Yeah.
And so I think the stress of us bringing her in, in a, already a stressed animal, and further
stressing, I think would not be the best call.
So that’s the call for now, we’re not gonna net this ray and we’re gonna leave
her be, but we’re gonna monitor her, that’s exactly what we shall do.
Back at the dock, Neil, and his team are keen to go in search of a second ray, but there’s
a problem.
So unfortunately we’ve developed an oil leak on one of our engines, which has basically
stopped us from using this boat.
So we’ve transferred the net out, and we’re gonna go with the Aquarium boat called, ’The
Chevron’.
Flooky, what do you think?
Things happen, we just go with the punches.
Gotta roll with with it.
Roll with it.
Gotta roll with it, keep smiling.
We’re gonna go hunt for an eagle ray, just using a different boat.
With time slipping away, this could be their final chance.
So we’ve just seen a ray coming along the edge of this shoreline over here to behind
me.
We’re gonna park the net on this promontory here, and we’re gonna reverse back, and
try and encircle this ray in the bay.
We’ve got the helicopter up over the net, we’re gonna see if he can spot it.
Neil, and his team face a much sterner challenge this time, the overall visibility is poor
and the lead lining at the bottom of the net is entangled on the seabed.
So i’m gonna go and try and be another hand on the lead line, try and get it freed up,
so we can get around this ray.
Neil’s drone has zero’d in on the ray’s location, and the team now face the challenging
task of trying to free the net without letting the ray escape.
It’s four feet off the bottom.
Alright!
Come on this side and attend the hole then!
I’m trying!
There’s a four foot hole under the.
Alright!
Attend the hole!
…If you don’t attend that hole.
As the team begin to think they might lose this ray, Neil, and Andrew Kirkpatrick spot
it making a break for a gap in the net.
My ray identification skills are good!
It is a female!
With the ray now located and the net freed from the bottom, Neil, and the team can manoeuvre
it into a safe position for capture.
The ray is right down in here, we’re just about to pinch everything off and lift her
out of the water.
It is a girl, exactly what we’ve been looking for.
The fact that this ray is a female is hugely significant, it means that Neil can ultrasound
this ray to see if it is carrying pups.
Data on this animal’s reproductive cycle is extremely rare, and would be a significant
addition to the other data they’ve collected.
So we’re on the run, heading as fast as we can back to the Aquarium dock.
We have the ray comfortably covered, eyes are covered.
The water, watch this water flowing out of these spiracles, beautiful!
It means she’s being well oxygenated by the water from the barrel at the back.
Back at the Aquarium, Neil, and his team’s priority is to anaesthetise the animal as
quickly as possible.
So we’re bringing the ray straight up, and into the anaesthetic.
Turn the oxygen on!
Turn the oxygen on!
Although at first the ray appears distressed, by temporarily covering it’s eyes and allowing
the clove oil to take effect, the animal is soon calm and fully anaesthetised.
So we’re gonna bring Lotti Rheining, from Dolphin Quest, in, who’s our ultrasonographer.
And she’s gonna let us see whether there are any immature rays inside this adult ray.So,
Lotti, what do you think?
Let's see!
Exciting stuff!
Let's go have a look!
Right, so we’ll slide her a little bit forward so that you can reach.
She seems really comfortable.
Perfect!
In this anaesthetic solution.
Just gonna move the camera out of the way a little bit.So what we’re looking for is
movement within the coelomic body cavity.
If there are any small rays, they’ll be rather like little wrapped up tacos, folded
up on themselves.
And there can be up to two, or three, correct?
Up to four, actually.
Up to four.
Yep.
Female rays will mature from between four and six years old, and give birth to live
pups after one year of pregnancy.
This ray is quite small for a pregnant female and so it’s possible she’s not yet carrying
pups.
So i’m seeing no evidence of, er, juvenile rays within this adult female.
So I think we’re free to go ahead and put our tags in this fish, do our DNA clips, and
take our blood samples.Ok, I’ve lost the vacuum on that one.
Although this ray will not provide any reproductive data for Neil, and his team, she can still
provide important migratory data via her satellite tag, and crucial DNA samples for genetic analysis.
There we go.
She’s going to start to swim, here she goes.
The release of this spotted eagle ray concludes a scientific journey that has seen Neil, and
his team pushed to their absolute limits.
Capturing these rays has not been easy, but working together the team have succeeded.
Fantastic!
To see that fish swim away strongly into the current, at, just beautiful!
These fish deserve our attention, and our respect, and understanding.
If this population can continue to thrive in Bermuda, they can be ambassadors for the
ocean.
Good job, buddy!
Teamwork makes the dream work.
Since the filming of this program, the satellite tracking data has confirmed that these animals
make no long-range migrations, but the DNA samples are a match to other eagle ray populations.
The team’s evidence suggest that millions of years ago, Bermuda, must have been more
accessible to this species.
As the earth surface changed, so did the position of Bermuda.
The result is a unique and precious population that moved with the Island.
The future of this species is bright, but one slip could see these glorious creatures
disappear from these waters, forever.
Beautiful!
The spotted eagle ray.
Long may they reign.
Woo!
Next time on Ocean Vet, Neil, and his team enter the world of the tiger shark.
They’ll be tested to the limit as they try to install a satellite tagging computer to
an eight hundred pound monster shark!
And, Neil, and his team swim with these animals to see if there is any truth behind their
reputation as ferocious man-eaters!
