Creepy California Naomi's Nightmares of Nature

Welcome to my Nightmares Of Nature.

I'm Naomi Wilkinson.

SHE SCREAMS Oh, my goodness!

And I'm coming face-to-face with the nightmares of the animal world.

SHE GASPS

The ones that make your spine tingle...

your heart beat faster...

SHE GASPS

There is! There it is!

..and your blood run cold.

Are they truly terrifying?

Or is there a twist in the tale?

Come with me, as I shine a light on wildlife's deepest, darkest secrets

and see if you can guess which will be my worst nightmare.

What's up! This time, I have come west side,

to the coast of California, where the mighty Pacific Ocean

meets the United States of America.

The coast of California might be famous for its sunshine

and laid-back lifestyle, but beneath the surface

lurks some truly terrifying nightmares.

From hideous horrors...

Urgh!

..to the unbelievable.

This is the weirdest creature ever.

And now, me and the crew are heading straight for them.

Depending on where you live in California,

if you take a nice little stroll on the beach,

you might be in for a massive shock.

Because here, just a few metres from the car park,

is a nightmare of epic proportions, and I mean huge!

This is an elephant seal.

It can grow up to four metres long and weigh up to 2,000kg -

that's longer and bigger than most cars.

You'd be forgiven for thinking they are called elephant seals

due to their whopping size,

but it's actually because of their trunk-like inflatable snouts.

'To make sure I don't get squashed like a pancake,

'I've joined elephant seal researcher Patrick

'for an early-morning stroll.'

Patrick, how dangerous are elephant seals?

In general, not super-dangerous,

but it is definitely possible to get bitten by them,

so we'll have to be careful out there.

-Have you been bitten by one before?

-I have - twice, actually.

Do they sneak up on you and get you on the back or something?

One of them did and the other, while I was holding a boat,

it came up underneath in the water and bit me on the leg.

That was a bit surprising.

We definitely want to be very careful about disturbing animals,

so we'll want to stay as a group together

and if we see any reaction with the animals,

then we'll have to stop what we're doing and back up.

And by staying together in a group, what does that do?

That's basically for our own safety.

If we splinter off, they might pick one of us off?

Yeah, actually, yeah.

Safety in numbers.

'Armed with just my backpack,

'we're about to step into a land of giants.'

So, these aren't adults?

No, most of these are going to be juveniles today.

-So they're just sort of learning how to behave?

-Yeah, exactly.

Elephant seals spend much of their life at sea,

but it's when they come ashore to breed

they earn their nightmare credentials.

Males will jealously guard their territories.

If anyone dares step on their patch,

it all kicks off in nature's ultimate heavyweight face-off.

At this time of the year, juveniles haul out onto the beach to rest.

They might be youngsters, but they're still pretty beefy.

And immediately, there's an argy-bargy on the beach.

Hm, well, sort of.

SHE GIGGLES

So, are they a little bit amateurish at this fighting at the minute?

Cos it looks like they are a bit like...

Urgh!

You know, just not quite knowing exactly what to do with themselves.

Absolutely. They're by no means expert at this point.

But once they become adults, the fighting becomes a lot more serious,

-doesn't it?

-It does. It's really to the death,

so it's mostly just to establish dominance between individuals,

but, certainly, they produce some pretty scary wounds.

'Patrick has special permission to be on the beach

'to study the juvenile seals, but with so many of them,

'it's hard to tell them apart.

'Small flipper tags help identify each animal with a unique number.

'But they're hard to spot.

'So, to make them easier to read,

'Patrick has a special trick up his sleeve.'

So, what we're going to do now is walk around the colony here

and look for those flipper tags and if we see one,

we're going to put out a dye mark using this stamping tool here.

We'll write backwards on the face of it and then stamp it on the side

-of the seal to give them a nice mark.

-Do you use hair dye?

We do, the same that your mother would use.

No way! And how long will that last?

Just shy of a year, actually, until they moult. So quite a long time.

So we're going to have to get quite close to do that?

We are, yeah. It's one of the excuses that we have

-to work quite closely with these guys.

-What could possibly go wrong?

Let's do it.

This is very strange. I've got a lot of eyes on me.

'I can't forget what Patrick said earlier.'

It is definitely possible to get bit by them.

Right, we've found one that we can mark.

Just get the...

SHE SPLUTTERS ..hair dye ready.

'With the dye mixed, the number written on backwards

'and my not-so-hi-tech marking device, we are ready to go.'

9404, we're coming to get you.

'With this many seals and the tide high,

'there's not much room for manoeuvre.

'One false move could land me in serious trouble.

'Patrick will distract the seal and then it's up to me.

'It's now or never.'

SEAL GROANS

-My heart.

-Nice work.

That's really scary!

I was more worried about this little one.

I need a really strong, sweet cup of tea.

If we jump out of here, we can get away from these guys.

Yeah, let's get away.

'It was time to give the elephant seals and those with a

new hair colour some peace and quiet.

'Mission accomplished.'

I've done some odd things on this show, but I never thought I would

end up applying hair dye to an elephant seal.

Yeah, I have seen some sleeping beauties today,

but after that little experience,

there is no doubt in my mind that elephant seals,

especially those adult males,

are a force to be reckoned with, and finding yourself in their path -

that is never going to end well.

They are certainly in the running for my worst nightmare.

It's time now to leave the beach

and head along the Californian coast for yet another nightmare encounter.

My next creature is the stuff of legend, a true ocean giant,

some even say a sea monster.

And today, I'm the lucky one who gets to meet one.

It's got three hearts, nine brains, and can measure eight metres across.

The giant Pacific octopus is a nightmare to behold.

They are formidable predators who come out at night to hunt

and have been known to eat birds and even sharks.

They may look all arms and legs,

but they ruthlessly dispatch prey with impressive skill -

either pulling them apart,

or biting them using their hard-beaked mouth.

I've come to Monterey Bay Aquarium to meet octopus expert Alicia

and one very special resident.

So, who lives in here, Alicia?

-I call this one Lady.

-Lady.

-It's a lady.

-It is massive, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

-She looks a little bit mean.

-Looking at her, she's a bit like...

-They're not mean,

-they're actually very friendly.

-Are you sure?

Let's see if she wants to come over and play with us.

-Really? OK.

-I'm going to just tempt her over

-with a little piece of shrimp, here.

-Is that her favourite food?

Uh-huh.

-Look at those suckers!

-The suckers are used both for gripping,

-like a suction cup...

-She's got hold of you.

It's like one of those mats you put in the bath.

-Exactly.

-How many suckers have they got?

-About 2,000.

-Whoa!

There are nerves that run down each arm,

and they're used to taste, just like our taste buds.

Yes, you heard right.

These super-sticky arms don't just grab you, they also taste you.

Wow! Oh, it's a bit alarming how quickly they can capture you.

So, they've got a mouth somewhere in there?

The mouth is in the middle here.

There goes the shrimp that we gave her.

And is it quite dangerous?

It's the only hard part that they have in their entire body,

but it's used to open clams and crabs

and so it could definitely cut through bone.

NAOMI GASPS

So you want to stay away from the beak.

Yeah, I guess if it can eat a crab...

-Yeah.

-That's a pretty strong mouth part.

-Uh-huh.

-Uh-oh!

Are you OK? Do you need any help?

-No, I'm fine.

-I'm not sure I'd know what to do to help, to be honest.

I'm offering to help, but I don't know how.

-Now, watch out.

-Watch out?!

This is where the water would come from if she was going to spray.

She can spray us?

-What do you mean?

-Sometimes they're being playful

and they might spray a little water at you.

So far, we're safe, but just a warning.

What does that mean when it does a massive wide open...

Whoa!

That's what it means!

It's taking in the water, is it?

-Yeah.

-Oh!

This is the weirdest creature ever.

-Would you like to pet her?

-Erm...

Yes?

-Is it going to be safe?

-Yes, of course.

-She's not going to drag me in there?

-Don't worry.

I'm sort of nervous, but I also really want to try this.

-Oh!

-There you go.

Hold on. Right, go on.

That is so strange.

-It sucks on straightaway.

-Mm-hm.

Look at this.

It's an absolutely brilliant strategy, isn't it,

to capture their prey? My goodness. Just to...

SHE IMITATES OCTOPUS SUCKING ..and suck it in towards you.

Mm-hm. I mean, imagine if all of these arms were on you.

You can't... You wouldn't be able to get away.

Imagine a small animal.

Doesn't stand a chance.

-It's really pulling me in.

-You're getting a little braver.

-Yeah, I am.

-Let me know if you need my help.

I'm OK while it's just one arm, I think...

Oh, here we go.

They wouldn't ever go for a human, would they?

No. I mean...

It's never happened.

..Till today.

I've heard that octopuses are not only voracious predators,

but also some of the smartest creatures in the ocean.

Would you say they're intelligent creatures?

I would say so. In their own way.

They're not intelligent in the same way that humans are...

-No.

-..but in the wild, they definitely need to be smart

in order to find their prey.

The things that they feed on typically hide

and so they have to find their prey and then they have to figure out how

to get it open. So, like, a crab. How would you eat crab?

You have to figure out how they get the shell off.

Or a mussel, you have to get the shell open,

so they're used to having to figure out those puzzles.

And that's why we like to give them toys and things and interact with

them, because they need that sensory input.

Exactly like it would be for them in the wild?

-Yeah, exactly.

-Yeah.

We try to keep them occupied,

because if they don't have anything to do,

that's when they start getting up to mischief.

I can believe it, as well.

NAOMI SQUEALS

OK, it's got me with two arms now.

-I think I'd quite like to escape, if that's all right.

-All right.

I mean, there's being friendly and then there's being very,

very clingy. Let go.

That's just a bit too close for comfort, thanks.

Uh-oh!

It's suggested that octopuses can sense subjects better by touch

than by sight. Can you do the same?

Yeah. Easy.

My challenge is to identify as many objects as I can

in one minute, using just my sense of touch.

Be nice, guys.

Rich, if I could see you, I would be looking at you.

Go on, then. Do your worst.

Who's going to count me in?

Three, two, one.

Go!

Argh! Argh!

Is it alive?! Oh, my gosh!

-What is that? It's not alive?

-No.

What on... I don't... Jelly?

-Squeak-squeak. Is that a rubber ducky?

-Quack, quack!

None of these things are alive or going to bite me, are they?

-A lychee?

-Stop, stop!

Oh, that's embarrassing.

If Lady the octopus was here right now,

I would give her many high-fives.

It's not every day you get to meet an eight-limbed creature with the

brains of Einstein, but a fondness for arm-wrestling.

I mean, can you just imagine the horror for

those unfortunate victims, seeing the sight of one of these giant

Pacific octopuses coming at you from the gloom?

So, the question still remains -

will this formidable hunter grab hold

and not let go of the title Worst Nightmare?

Can I have my arm back now, please?

I'm sticking around Monterey Bay for just a bit longer,

as here lies another nightmare of a completely different kind.

Here on Nightmares Of Nature, I have met animals that are scary,

that are deadly and that, to be frank,

are sometimes just downright gross.

But I am happy to say - no, I am over the moon to say -

that my next animal is none of those.

In fact, it is quite the opposite.

Get in!

Not only are sea otters the cutest creatures on the planet,

they're also the furriest.

Sea otters in California spends most of their time around the coast,

lying on their backs in the kelp, eating shellfish.

It's a hard life being a sea otter(!)

Erm, hang on - what are they doing on Nightmares Of Nature?

Every year here in California, baby sea otters lose their mothers and,

as you can imagine, for those orphaned or abandoned little pups,

that can be a very real nightmare.

Hey. But it's OK.

All is not lost, because here at Monterey Bay Aquarium,

they take in these vulnerable otters and help them return to the wild.

To help me learn about the challenges these mega-fluff balls

face, I've met up with all-round good guy and otter specialist Karl.

He's got an orphaned sea otter that's only a few weeks old

and it needs feeding.

But it's not straightforward.

Baby sea otters mustn't get used to humans,

otherwise they'll find it harder to go back to the wild.

So Karl has a novel solution.

So before we go in there with 714,

we're going to have to put on this disguise.

And this is basically...

It's silly, but it's, essentially,

trying to mask our human form,

so that she's not going to habituate to us over time.

We need them to be a little bit afraid of people?

Exactly. Yeah. So, we're going to cover our faces with a welder's mask

and our form with these capes,

and then we're going to cover our scent with these gloves.

And do we have to be quiet?

We can do hand signals and stuff, but she's not used to human voices.

So, if we start talking, she is going to get scared by it.

OK. I think I've done this wrong.

Yeah, you might've done.

'So, with my Darth Vader costume on,

'it was time to see otter 714.'

Sh-h-h!

'That's me there, behind the mask.

'And this is the cutest animal in the world.

'First up, some nice, fresh clams.

'Karl tells me it's the first time she's ever eaten clams like this.

'And they seem to be going down very well.

'For otters, it's a lot easier to eat on their back.

'It's like having a ready-made table to eat from.

'At this early age, everything is new.

'So she's a little bit clumsy.

'Karl says that's the deepest dive she's ever made.

'Right, now for a bit of exercise.

'Normally in the wild, her mother would be helping her with this,

'so without her mum, we have to step in with a bit of water aerobics.

'Finally, it's time for some hair care.

'Sea otters don't have any blubber to keep them warm,

'so they have thick fur.

'And to make sure it keeps them warm,

'they have to groom it and keep it free from water.

'I am dying with cute overload.

'Don't mind if I do!

'Let's hope she graduates from her playpen

'and makes it back to the wild safely.

'With the cute factor already at a dangerous level,

'there is even more to come,

as I head out with Karl to check on sea otters in the wild.'

Ooh!

'Until recently, sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction,

'and even though they've made a comeback,

'they are is still considered endangered species.

'So every orphaned sea otter that's saved and taken back to the wild is

'important. Out here, Karl can check up on the reintroduced otters

'and their friends.'

Look! Right here.

Oh, we're coming past two.

There's another one. Another one coming up, doing a little roly-poly.

Woohoo!

Oh! They just look so comfortable in the water, don't they?

-Yeah.

-Typically, how long are the otters with you

before you let them go?

The young pups, it's an average of between eight and ten months.

'Orphaned otters will have to get used to life

'back in the wild quickly, if they are to survive.

'They have to fend for themselves, finding food and avoiding danger.'

All these animals that we're releasing back to the wild

only get numbers, we don't do names.

And part of the reason we don't name them is just to

reduce the likelihood that everybody that's working with the animals

becomes too attached.

There is always a chance that they're not going to survive

-once they go back out.

-One's popped up right next to us.

'So, I've seen and felt how furry sea otters are,

'but how furry is furry?'

The fur in some areas can be up to a million or close to a million hairs

per square inch of body.

It's not uniformly that dense, but in some of the areas,

which is incredible.

'That's more hair on one otter than probably everyone

'sitting in your living room right now.

'And definitely more than on some of the crew!'

I've had my fair share of nightmares,

so this has been a complete treat.

It has been a joy and an honour to see the beneficial work

that Karl and his team are doing to help sea otter conservation.

As far as nightmares go,

I think the only damage a baby otter is ever going to do is break your

heart with cuteness.

So I'm probably not going to be putting them

at the top of my nightmare list.

Right, let's get this nightmare mission back on track.

From the adorable, we go to the abnormal.

It's time to meet some aliens.

Strange really to think that scientists

know more about the surface of the moon than they do

about parts of the ocean.

But here, just off the beach in central California,

is one of the deepest underwater canyons in the world.

And I'm told that lurking out there in the deep and in the dark

are weird alien-like creatures that could give you nightmares.

Out of sight, out of mind, I say!

-That way.

-Oh!

'If only it was that easy.

'To help me face my fears of the weird and unknown,

'I'm meeting up with underwater explorer Stephanie

'at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

'And she's offered to show me around.'

-Hi!

-Hi, come on aboard.

What is this?

This is our remotely operated vehicle, or RV.

This one's named Ventana, which means, "window" in Spanish.

-What does it do?

-This window used to be a window into the sea

and we take it down to about 2,000 metres

and just see what's living down there.

And you capture images using this lens, do you?

-This camera?

-Yes, exactly. That is our main camera,

that's sort of the focal point of the whole vehicle.

So what have you found?

There's all kinds of things that live down there, actually.

But instead of trying to describe them to you,

why don't we go take a look at some of them?

Yeah. OK. I'm up for that.

It may be a little bit creepy, but they're OK.

NAOMI LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

Stephanie's research centre lab is like a space station for the ocean.

Over the years, Stephanie and her fellow underwater explorers have

discovered all manner of creatures using their remotely operated

vehicles - or, to you and I, cool robotic submarines.

They've even managed to preserve some of these critters

in their deep sea storeroom.

It's an Aladdin's cave of big teeth and tentacles,

all in suspended animation.

Having this collection allows scientists

to figure out what actually lives in the deep ocean

and how they live.

'But what do they look like when they're alive?

'Stephanie's got some special footage captured by her submarines

'to show me.'

It's like watching a bit of a horror film, isn't it?

A bit of a sci-fi alien film.

'I present to you, the anglerfish.'

How big do you think this animal is?

Ah, that's a good question.

Like, that big.

It's about as big as my fist.

-Is it?!

-Yeah.

It's tiddly. Why is it tiny?

A lot of animals in the deep sea are much smaller than you'd think,

when you get to see footage like this.

What's the big beacon on the top of its head?

OK, so this is actually its lure. It's basically its fishing pole.

So they use that to attract other animals

that are searching in the deep sea.

This can come down in front of the mouth when it's using it.

So, the little fish will swim towards that and then it just...

And then... Chomp!

It's amazing that we were able to find this animal,

but we don't often get chances to see interactions between animals.

-Yeah.

-And so we don't know what it would look like when it's actually

caught a piece of...

So, that is something you would love to see, is it?

-It is something I would love to see.

-It's all part of your research,

-trying to find out more and more about these creatures.

-Yeah.

I mean, that's a bit of a tricky fish, because if it was swimming

away from you, you would think, "Oh, that's a pretty little one,"

and then it would turn around and it would be like...

-SHE HISSES

-Yeah. Terrifying.

And that's just the start of the freak show.

What?! What am I looking at?

'The fang tooth.'

Urgh!

It looks like a lightsaber.

'The vampire squid.'

Like a spaceship.

'The dragon fish.'

And the boggley-eyed...

one!

Being introduced to all those ocean oddballs makes you realise just how

many new exciting species are out there

still waiting to be discovered.

Yes, they might have googly eyes,

massive fangs and be made up of weird blobs,

but when you get to know these deep sea creatures, you find they really

aren't that bad. Nightmare?

Nah.

I quite fancy myself as an underwater explorer.

Hm.

Well, that's just about it for our California coastal trip.

I just need to decide which animal is going to get that top nightmare

spot. I've got it down to two.

Can you give me a hand? It's either giant Pacific octopus

-or elephant seal.

-Octopus!

-Octopus!

-Elephant seal!

Helpful.

OK, I have made up my mind.

Yeah. It's super-smart,

it has killer instinct and once it has a grip of you,

it is never letting go -

the giant Pacific octopus is my Worst Nightmare.

That's one mean sucker!

Argh! Argh! Is it alive?!

Quack-quack!

Tennis ball? Ping-pong ball?

Lychee?

What's that? What is it?

A little rubber bouncy ball?

Have you all gone? Hilarious.

SHE LAUGHS

Hey!