Deep South Deadly on a Mission: Pole to Pole

My name's Steve Backshall.

And I'm on a mission, searching for...

Deadly places,

deadly adventures

and deadly animals.

And you're coming with me, every step of the way!

Argh!

'In our quest for the best of Deadly,

'we tussle with a swimming dinosaur...'

Oh, my word, it's enormous!

'..get a taste of titanic tornado force...'

They just went off like missiles.

'..and search out a heat-seeking snake.'

Having left the Arctic far behind, our pole-to-pole expedition

is now in warmer climes, the massive Lone Star State of Texas.

And we're getting started with something a bit different.

'It's one of the fastest, strongest and most

'lethal we've ever encountered on Deadly, but it's not an animal.'

I want to show you something of how nature itself can have

extraordinary, destructive force.

That force is the whirlwind of legend - the tornado.

Texas sits on the world's tornado hotspot, known as Tornado Alley.

Well, this really puts it into perspective.

It's torn apart this house almost like it was a doll's house...

..and tossed cars around and caused absolute devastation.

This here is a testament to what a deadly force of nature

tornadoes can be.

It's just too dangerous to experience a tornado like this

first-hand, so...

..instead of doing that, we decided to create our own...using this.

This is an Albatross fighter jet.

Powered by an immense jet engine, it can fly over 450mph.

But we aren't leaving the ground.

The bit we're interested in is this - the exhaust.

When this jet fires up,

wind is going to come out of the back of here at well over 100mph,

possibly considerably more, and I'm going to try

and walk up the back and experience how it feels to be in a tornado.

'I'm no stranger to danger on Deadly.

'But staring down the barrel of a jet engine

'is a whole different level.'

All right, Dan, fire her up.

-Here goes nothing.

-OK.

OK, coming up.

Whoa-ho-ho! Argh! Oh, my goodness!

'The engines are on low thrust,

'roughly equivalent to a force one tornado, the least severe.

'But with wind speeds hitting over 80mph, it's already

'nearly impossible to stand up.'

When you're in wind like this,

the first thing that happens is that you start to get rain and water.

Argh!

'The rainwater is like a wet slap in the face.

'In a real tornado, there'd be giant hailstones -

'chunks of ice travelling at 300mph.

Argh! My ear defenders have gone.

It's all right. It'll be OK.

'Next up, this bag of flour is going to simulate dust

'sucked into our tornado.'

Aaargh! This is absolutely nuts.

'Like abrasive sandpaper, even dust

'and earth can strip the bark off trees and blast the paint off cars.

'The pilot is increasing the thrust.'

'Wind speeds are now reaching over 150mph.

'I'm now in a category three tornado.'

'In this wind speed, even soft items caught in the jet stream

'will have a massive impact force.

'Using my body as a target lets me find out.

'Let's see what kind of damage a tomato will do.

'They're coming at me like rockets!'

Ow!

'A direct hit, and I've been floored by a supersonic soft fruit.'

OK, that's it, that's all I can take.

'I've had to bail out at a category three tornado.

'The most violent tornado winds are a category five.'

Oh, my goodness.

I've just been pretty much blown into the next county.

It was a horrifying sensation of what it must feel like to be

inside the tornado.

I got hit by two tomatoes, soft tomatoes,

and it felt like I'd been shot.

They just went off like missiles. Um...

But...although this has been rather dramatic, rather exciting,

obviously, there's a very, very serious side to what

a force of nature like a tornado can do in real life.

A category five tornado has winds of up to 300 miles an hour,

sucking up and spewing out everything in their path.

To see this destructive force for ourselves, I'm getting well

out of the way, and we're towing a car into the firing line.

The winds produced by our jet aren't strong enough to blow the car away,

but can show us what everyday objects can do

if caught in the wind.

-JET THRUSTERS FIRE UP

-The power is starting to build.

'Fence posts and timbers turn into jagged javelins.

'Tiles and even dinner plates are like spinning ceramic blades.

'But to see the full deadly potential,

'I need to score a direct hit on the car.'

Plant pot.

The flowerpot explodes on impact, showering jagged, serrated pieces

in every direction. Each one is now its own deadly projectile.

Now, this is actually pretty frightening.

That MASSIVE dent there, from the base of a humble flowerpot.

Just imagine what would be caused by something heavier.

You have to say, looking at this, that there is

no doubt that tornadoes, this remarkable force of nature,

have the power to make us feel incredibly fragile

and vulnerable, and for that reason they are, without doubt, deadly.

Our next objective has stalked the waters of the state

for millions of years.

A heavily armoured hunter of the murky deeps.

This is the Trinity River. There are plenty of alligators here

and this would be our most obvious choice, but actually our target

animal is just as prehistoric, just as big and has even fiercer teeth.

Not a 'gator, but a fish - the alligator gar.

We're heading about an hour and a half downriver to the spot

where Bubba, our guide, reckons the best fishing is.

Already, it's really wild, there's no sign of people whatsoever.

'Very few people venture down this river.

'Without Bubba guiding us, we'd have no chance of navigating past

'shallows, sunken logs and rapids.'

It's got a kind of lost world feel about it,

and I think from the fact that Bubba's

cut his engines that this could be where we start fishing.

'Alligator gar are notoriously wily and difficult to catch.

'They probably won't take the bait while they can sense the boats.

'So we're going to set up our fishing gear

'and monitor it from 100 metres away.'

So the way that this is working is we're going to put

a whole bunch of rods all the way down the shore here,

places where we think there are fish, and they have a special

bite indicator that'll tell us if they've got a bite.

'Now we have to sit back and wait for the fish to start feeding.

'For hours, our bite detector alarms are silent.

'But then...'

-We can hear beeping.

-ALARM BEEPS

One of our lines is going and going fast.

It's just downriver now.

'We need to get back to our rod and reel it in.'

Finally, we have got some action.

There is definitely something on the end of this line.

He's running!

OK, here we go.

It's pulling the whole boat round!

Look at that!

It is dragging our whole boat.

This is a really, really big fish.

Look at how much it's bending the rod! That is phenomenally strong!

Come to the surface now.

Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!

Oh, my word, it's enormous!

This fish could weigh as much as me.

My fishing line just can't take the strain.

'To bring in this titan, we need to get a rope around it.'

Whoa!

'This is the first time I've tried to lasso a slippery fish.'

No!

-Yes, we've got him, we've got him.

-Hang on to him now.

-Yeah, I got him.

-OK.

'It would be too dangerous to bring this giant onto our small boat.

'So we're taking it into the shallows to get a closer look.'

I have to say, I've never been so overwhelmed,

so absolutely awed and so surprised by a fish.

It's enormous. Seven feet long, which is well over two metres.

Much, much longer than I am tall and it is immensely powerful.

I mean, really, it has no natural predators other than man.

Even a good-sized alligator is going to leave this well alone,

and it's just free to roam in these waters searching out for other

fish to feed on, perhaps feeding even on mammals that are coming down

to the water's edge, certainly on water birds.

All round the lips are

tiny, spiky little teeth for snagging into slippery fish prey.

But inside the mouth, they're more like a crocodile's teeth.

They're long, fang-like, pointed.

There's simply no way any prey is getting away

once this has got hold of it.

This is the largest freshwater fish on the continent, and I don't think

that anyone seeing this is going to doubt that for a single second.

The alligator gar, prehistoric wonder,

with a mouth packed full of teeth.

It's a mighty monster with a mighty mouth, and undoubtedly deadly.

Alligator gar can breathe air

and are fine out of the water for a while,

but it's time it got back to hunting.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

We're now crossing the continent,

leaving the Deep South behind and heading out west...

..on the trail of a super-charged hunter of the deep blue sea.

We're setting out from San Diego,

away from the shore and into the open ocean...

..in search of the fastest shark on Earth - the mako.

As an idea of how fast they can go,

right now our boat's doing about 35km an hour.

Well, the mako does 50,

and could cruise straight past us as if we were standing still.

That is a seriously fast fish!

'The seas are flat calm, making it easier for us to spot

'swimming shapes close to the surface.'

Oh, wow!

We're now about nine miles out to sea.

It's time to chum the water.

Hopefully, the scent from this bait will draw in the sharks.

I think we might have something.

There was just a fin came up alongside the bait.

I don't know.

I'm going to be putting on some dark gloves

to cover up the white of my fingers.

The last thing you want when you're in the water with these animals

is fingers which look kind of like white sardines,

and therefore food, in its face.

We decide to get in and have a look.

At first, it seems there's nothing.

But then a distinctive silhouette appears.

It's not the speedster we're after, but a beautiful blue shark.

It may have swum in from many miles away.

It's a long, slender species built for cruising the open ocean,

catching the few fish they find.

They have the most glorious blue shade to the skin. It almost...

That one just nudging my camera now, look at that!

He's right in my face!

They're sort of like...

the equivalent of a puppy dog.

The blues are eternally curious, born of lives in the open ocean

where all potential meals need to be investigated.

Drawn in by the electrical pulses coming from the cameras,

they're keen to check us out,

see if we might offer a small bit of food in this vast ocean.'

Suddenly, the two tiddlers give way to a blue

that's the biggest I've ever seen.

He's over three metres long and seems to have no fear.

But far from trying to sneak a bite out of me, he seems

inquisitive, intrigued, even friendly.

I think I might have a new favourite animal.

Blue sharks have won our hearts,

but they certainly haven't demonstrated their deadly abilities.

After hours in the water with the blues,

we begin to give up hope of seeing a mako.

Until the crew on deck spot another shape fast approaching.

Mako shark!

Coming right at 'em, coming right at 'em!

The mood in the water instantly changes.

These sharks have a wholly different demeanour.

Look at the attitude of the mako shark.

It's so different to that of the blue.

These sharks are not interested in playing.

They smell blood and are primed,

ready to explode into action at any time.

And they're such a sinister shark.

The two of them are patrolling around us.

One second they're there, the next second they're gone.

They just disappear into the blue.

The makos use bursts of speed to catch fast-swimming prey

like tuna, seal and swordfish.

The attack strategy is sneaky.

They lunge in from below, take one mortal bite,

then leave the animal to bleed out before coming in to feed.

This is without doubt one of the most impressive predators

you'll ever see anywhere in any environment.

These sharks come in with an angular, agitated movement

and a face full of sharp teeth.

There's no doubt they mean business.

The mako shark,

a shark that can go from cruising to exploding in the blink of an eye

is, without doubt, deadly.

A journey that began on the ice flows of the high Arctic

is fast approaching the Tropics.

Mexico. Specifically the Baja peninsula and the Sea of Cortez.

Here, we'll ride into the desert in search of a venomous heat-seeker.

But first, we're setting out into one of THE most diverse of all seas.

The Sea of Cortez is stuffed full of fish

and wherever you've got an ecosystem like that,

you're bound to have top predators who are scoffing them down.

Right here, it's California sea lions,

one of the most playful and most potent predators you'll ever find.

Sea lions are elegant and manoeuvrable predators,

especially the sleeker and smaller females.

They sense fish with tactile whiskers and keen eyesight.

And they often enjoy swimming with humans

as much as we enjoy sharing the water with them.

One, two, three, go.

This is like swimming in the most extraordinary aquarium.

Literally hundreds of different species of brightly coloured fish,

all flying around my ears like little birds. It's exquisite.

Close to shore waits a charming surprise.

These cracks and crevices amongst the rocks are protected

from the waves and the tides.

It's a perfect place for the females

and for the youngsters to relax and lounge around.

Wonderful!

But male - or bull - seals appear like a different animal,

weighing perhaps 3.5 times more than the females.

This is a male

and he is enormous!

Look at the size of him!

It's all about battling other males

to gain the right to territory and to females.

All that weight is purely about dominance.

The bigger the male, the more females he can command.

Sea lion combat can be brutal.

I'm trying very hard not to breathe out too much

because quite often sea lions will blow bubbles

underwater as a symbol of defiance,

as a threat, and the last thing I want to do

is to make this big fella think that I'm trying to challenge him.

You see that?

As he came round towards the camera there, blowing out bubbles?

That, along with barking underwater and showing off the teeth,

those are all big signs of dominance,

all ways of this sea lion letting us know

that he is the most powerful kid on the block.

These animals really have the potential to do great damage,

a fearsome bite force.

And a little nudge like that towards the camera or towards me

is a way of letting us know what he is truly capable of.

He's just kind of lying on the bottom

as if he's having a snooze, but this is an air-breathing mammal.

Oh, wow!

Well, that was definitely a threat.

There's no doubt this big male wants to let me know who's boss.

He's back again, to your left, Johnny!

The bull seal has made his message clear,

so we slowly back away and head for the surface.

Sea lions, I guess,

have this reputation as being

playful comics of the underwater world,

but then, when you see a big male, it is a whole different story.

They're so territorial, those big teeth,

and they let you know who's boss.

They're definitely deadly.

The deserts that surround the Sea of Cortez are also filled

with unique life, much of which only occurs here.

To find it, we're taking horses inland.

We'll be searching day and night, so we're heading for the hills.

Most of the year, this is completely dry, there's no rain at all,

but in the last few weeks, they've had quite a lot,

and the whole desert has bloomed.

It's very green, there's loads of flowers around, but also,

all of the desert life here is taking its chance to flourish.

Our target is a venomous serpent which is only found here.

What a breath-taking place.

This looks like the perfect spot for our base camp.

Now all we have to do is find out who else is living here.

Baja has around 60 species of snakes,

but the one I'm looking for is really special.

With so many venomous snakes, spiders and scorpions,

you have to watch where you put your fingers.

We search all day and are out past midnight,

but don't find our prize.

However, as dusk falls on day two, all that hard work pays off.

MAN CALLS

Sounds like one of our fellas has found something.

We have a snake on the move, hunting. It's a rattlesnake.

Let's get in and get a closer look.

Oh, perfect.

Because this is exactly what I really hoped to find.

Yai-ya!

All of a sudden,

it's the last place you want to be

handling a highly venomous snake,

spines and prickles

and stinging bushes everywhere.

But none of them compare to what

this snake is capable of doing.

This is the red diamond rattlesnake.

It's an absolute beauty and a really good size as well.

Ooh yai-ya-ya!

It's quite warm because we are now at the end of the day.

It's had the whole day to warm up

and now...

..it's thinking about heading out in search of food.

But first they need to find a target.

It's got very big eyes.

Its visual acuity is actually really, really good,

and that tongue that's flickering around,

its sense of taste is incredibly accurate,

but it also has the heat-sensitive pits in its face.

They are pit vipers and able to sense prey even in total darkness,

purely from the heat that their body gives off as they move.

These pits on rattlesnakes and all other pit vipers

allow them to see the warmth emitted from moving animals' bodies.

They're so sensitive that even in total darkness

their accuracy is lethal.

The red diamond rattlesnake is actually quite unusual.

What we saw earlier on as we came up to it is quite typical of this

particular animal. They go out and they actively seek their prey.

Most rattlesnakes will find a good spot and sit and wait.

But the red diamond is much more proactive in how it finds its prey.

I have to say that I really wouldn't want to be a rat or a mouse

out on a night like tonight,

with snakes like this just waiting to feed.

The red diamond rattler.

Fiercely toxic, active hunter, and the largest rattlesnake in Baja.

Undeniably deadly.

So far, so stunning.

But next time, I'll be facing the most frightening animal on Earth...

in open water.

It's coming back towards us, Johnny.