The Incredible Life Of Dolphins and Whales | Ocean Stories | FD Ocean

The northwest coast of the United States, the home of nature filmmaker Florian Graener, while dolphin expert Ute Margrethe has settled in Ireland. The two German expatriates have never met but share a common passion. Each in their own way, both have decided to dedicate their lives to the sea and its inhabitants. The rugged coastline of Ireland is Ute Margrethe's second home. For the last 11 years she has been studying solitary dolphins. The scientist has a special relationship with a female dolphin called Mara. Ute accompanies Mara all year round and has acquired astonishing insights. The Salish Sea in the northwest of the United States is characterized by fjords and mighty mountains. Fascinated by the untamed landscape, marine biologist and nature filmmaker Florian Graener has made a home on Puget Sound. He lives on Whidbey, one of the many islands in the region. Florian's house is only a stone's throw from the sea. German shepherd Ciro is the biologist's constant companion when he sets out with his heavy camera to his favorite diving area. This is where he spends every free minute. From here he can get straight into the water without having to carry his bulky equipment very far. While Florian dives, Ciro waits patiently on the beach. The shallow water is a very special habitat with fields of green seagrass covering the seabed. Here you see the world from a very different perspective. Golden eye ducks look for food near the coast. They comb the seagrass for shellfish, snails and fish spawn. Suddenly Florian has the feeling he's being watched by a dozing harbor seal. The waving seagrass is where the seals sleep. They can stay underwater for more than half an hour. Their sedateness and chubby shape are deceptive. Seals are in fact extremely athletic. It takes only a few flaps of their fins to reach the deepest parts of the fjord 700 meters under the surface. Although Florian comes across seals on almost every dive, he's always impressed by their elegance and curiosity. Some creatures are only discovered at second glance. Bizarre looking sea slugs graze on the floor of seagrass meadows which are home to a surprising variety of life. On the western edge of Europe, the wild coast of Ireland has been formed by the waves of the Atlantic. The Emerald Isle is a land full of myth and mystery. Some of the most astonishing stories are however true. In her small apartment, Uta Margrethe is preparing for her daily dive. For many years she has lived on a stud farm on the Irish coast. Without ever really having an interest in horses, Uta is heading for the seaside. Her diving site is just a short walk away. Purposefully she heads for a remote inlet which like so many in Ireland is deserted. But this bay has a secret. In the year 2000, a dolphin turned up here unexpectedly and stayed. The fisherman christened the female Mara, the Gaelic word for sea. Since that time, Uta has accompanied Mara in all the different seasons. Probably the only human who voluntarily spends up to seven hours at a time in the cold waters of the Atlantic. Every meeting begins with an extensive greeting ritual. Normally, dolphins live in groups or pods. Uta will probably never know why some dolphins like Mara get separated from their families and seek contact with humans. Over the years, an unusual and close relationship has developed between Uta and Mara. This unconventional behavior is great good fortune for the scientist who can thus accompany Mara in her underwater world. The Atlantic is cold but highly nutritious, good conditions for a wide variety of wildlife. Dolphins, however, aren't universally popular. Mara's neighbors are mostly crabs that look for food near the coast. For Uta, the excursions with Mara are a unique opportunity to explore the underwater world through a dolphin's eyes. For hours, Mara shows her human companion around her realm of seaweed and rock. Boredom is a foreign concept. She wants to explore and discover everything. But Mara's sociability is not to everyone's liking. A young spider crab evades her approach by means of camouflage. Ara shares her habitat with real giants two and a half times her size. The coast of Ireland is also home to basking sharks. Even though its mouth is as big as a door, humans have nothing to fear from the shark which lives on plankton. Basking sharks are nomads of the ocean and will at some point disappear once more into the depths of the Atlantic. Vancouver Island in the north of the Salish Sea. Florian is hoping to find black bears here. Together with his friend Todd Graves, he searches the shoreline. Todd, I think we can stop here. There's something right there. And a bear does indeed appear from the forest. Florian thinks it's come down from the mountain where it's been eating wild fruits. So as not to disturb the bear, Florian films from the boat. Three quarters of the bear's diet is vegetarian. When they eat animals, they tend to be small, sometimes very small. When the tide goes out, the crabs hide under the stones, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the bear. But the bear doesn't appear to be all that hungry and moves off again. On the Puget Sound, about an hour's drive from Florian's house, lies Seattle, also known as the Emerald City. The port is the pulsating centre of the region and its unmistakable skyline features the Space Needle Tower. But Florian isn't here to see exciting architecture. He is magically drawn to water. No one at the pier is aware of what's happening right under their noses. And not that many people would think of going diving in the city. Florian is one of the few and he's hoping for a very special encounter. For the first few metres of his dive, he's accompanied by stellar sea lions. These, biggest of all species of sea lion, are looking for the same thing as Florian. 30 metres down, it's pitch black. This eternal darkness is home to what he's looking for. But it's not as easy to find as the many fish that live here. Florian is just about to give up when he catches sight of a movement in the glare of the light. Like some weightless being from another world, a huge octopus moves through the murk, a five to six metre long male. Wolf eels too have something supernatural about them. The powerful jaws can crack open a lobster or sea urchin shell. The giant octopus is on the lookout for a partner. These mighty animals only live for five years at the most. Towards the end of their lives, they put all their energy into procreation and afterwards starve to death. The love-hungry octopus searches cave after cave, but only startles a few wolf eels. One of the caves does indeed contain a female octopus, but she is not yet ready to mate. Florian's dive against the backdrop of the Seattle skyline was a complete success. Now he knows where to find the animals next time. Ireland was once known as the Island of Saints, as evidenced by the numerous ruined churches and monasteries. Off the southwestern tip of Ireland lie the Skellig Islands. Historians surmise that twelve monks and an abbot once lived on St Michael, but 800 years ago the settlers left their stone houses forever. Today, silent sackcloth-clad ascetics have been replaced by noisy clowns of the sea. Puffins spend the summer here, bringing up their offspring. At the end of August, when their young can fly, the puffins will once again disappear into the vast expanse of the Atlantic. The craggy Irish coast is lobster country, and sometimes the lobster fishermen get some unexpected company. Mara has attached herself to one of the boats. Curious, she follows the line down to the lobster pods. Lobsters can live as long as a hundred years. If they don't succumb to the irresistible smell of fish from the lobster pods. This lobster throws caution to the winds and seals its own fate. Whether intentionally or by chance, thanks to Mara's intrusiveness, this is one lobster that won't be eaten tonight. Her presence confuses the crustacean, which promptly beats a retreat. Mission accomplished, Mara moves on. She isn't the only solitary dolphin on the Irish coast. Uta Magdhav visits the little port of Dingle. Once a sleepy fishing village, after the unexpected appearance of a dolphin in 1983, the place has changed beyond recognition. Fungi, as the dolphin was named, became a star and the pride of Dingle. Do not stand on the outer decks. Thank you for listening to the safety announcement and we hope you enjoy your trip. People come from all over the world to see Fungi the dolphin, who for many of the fishermen has become a good source of income. But what if one day he fails to show up? At the moment, however, Fungi appears as regular as clockwork. No other dolphin has stayed so long among humans without a break. Uta's own life is closely linked to that of Fungi. He was her first great dolphin love, as it were, and the reason that she has stayed in Ireland. Fungi decides when the show is over. When he's had enough, he disappears. Where to? No one knows. Deception Pass, a passage connecting the narrow Puget Sound with the broader Strait of Juan de Puca. The area is well known for orcas. No other animal fascinates Florian as much as these black and white whales. And the marine biologist knows exactly where to find them. The orcas in the Salish Sea are the most studied in the world. In contrast to many of their relatives, they are not nomadic and are thus known as residents. Three clans totaling almost 90 animals roam the fjords hunting for food. For Florian, they are the undisputed rulers of the seas. The orca clans here are divided into different groups, each with its own distinctive dialect. They are superb hunters and feed almost exclusively on salmon. Due to the whales' unique behaviour, scientists talk of an inherent orca culture. They know each individual animal. But the huge creatures are in danger. The overfishing of salmon stocks is causing their populations to shrink steadily. Florian meets Kenneth Balcombe, one of the pioneers of orca research. Ken has been studying the animals for 35 years and has offered to identify the animals Florian has been filming. The naming that we do is alphanumeric. We just followed Mike Bigg's pattern of the first pod that he saw he called A pod, second one was B pod and within each pod he gave him a number. And when he got down here the alphabet had J, K and L and that's what we have. Okay, that's L78. Has a open saddle, big finger on the saddle. That's J27. One up in front is probably J30. Well, he's got a very tall dorsal fin. There's J30 and 33, they're about two years different in age and he's the older. All right. And so his fin's a little bit taller. They appear so strong and powerful and actually sizably, you know, much stronger and bigger than the females and yet they really depend on the females. Yeah, they're mama's boys. They're teddy whales really. They, yeah, they do what mom says and mom gets to introduce them to the proper females. Florian hopes to see a lot of the residents on his dives in the Salish Sea. On the Irish coast, as so often in this part of the Atlantic, a storm is raging. The force of the wind lashing land and sea is overwhelming. For Mara, the huge waves are no problem. Effortlessly, she glides through the rough sea. At some point, even the mightiest storm blows itself out. At the moment, it's still dangerous to dive. But Uta knows that right now, a lot of interesting things are going on underwater. There's also a lot for Mara to discover after the storm. Interesting flotsam accumulates on the coast. This cap now has a new owner. Mara not only seems to know what the object is, but also what it's for. She greets Uta with her new acquisition. The dolphin watches with interest what Uta does with the strange object. And the scientist has to ask herself once again, who is studying whom? After further examination, Mara loses her interest in the hat and turns to other things. In the summer, tourists also come to Uta's bay, many dreaming of meeting a dolphin in the wild. Few have any idea how strong an adult dolphin can be. Uta uses her underwater camera to film Mara propelling stones the size of footballs along the seafloor. The tourists can only guess what's happening under the water, but this certainly isn't the gentle animal they've been expecting. Uta's recordings show that, besides elegance and curiosity, Mara has another wild side. The children prefer to stay on dry land and Uta joins them, happy that Mara's outburst of emotion is safely in the can. Mara's behaviour has won the respect of the tourists. She has now calmed down again and seeks human contact. Wild dolphins don't react to whistles or other forms of enticement. They take a decision and express themselves via body language, movement and eye expression. Only someone like Uta, who's studied them in depth, can put themselves in their position. Mara displays the same behaviour as Fungi. She decides when the show's over. Uta's mission includes passing on knowledge about solitary dolphins. Thus, the bay becomes a temporary school. The night skyline of Seattle. Florian has returned to the realm of the giant octopus. The light from his lamps attracts a squid and some bizarre-looking fish. Then, the show begins. As if from nowhere, a male octopus moves through the beam of light, only to disappear into the darkness again a few seconds later. Maybe the same one as before. Florian wants to know whether it managed to mate with the female in the cave, but a thorny head is blocking his view. When the fish finally moves away, the filmmaker discovers long tentacles, fanning hanging threads full of tiny bubbles. Thousands of eggs form a curtain in the octopus's cave. The female will be busy for six months looking after her eggs and protecting them from predators. She will stay in the cave without eating until her young hatch. Octopuses mate only once in a lifetime. It is the only time that these intelligent creatures seek the company of their own kind. Florian is fascinated. It is very rare to get such good footage of a female. Most hide themselves away and cannot be found, despite their size. Without pause, the female blows oxygen-rich water at her eggs and frees them from sediment. After hatching, the young have to fend for themselves. This is the moment that some of their enemies have been waiting for. The mother octopus will have starved to death and her corpse will serve to feed other animals. On the emerald isle, some time has passed since Mara's outburst. Uta has been away for a few days and is wondering if Mara is still in her bay. On her way there, she passes numerous other lonely inlets that could appeal to Mara. But the dolphin is already waiting for Uta, who has come with a friend who's a fisherman. Mara heads for an undulating underwater garden. Hundreds of kinds of algae in all shapes and colours grow off the coast of Ireland. Some, like the spaghetti-like thongweed, are tasty and nutritious. Brown and red algae, too, are food for many sea dwellers. But Mara isn't here because she's hungry. She brings Uta a piece of bladder wrack. Then she appears to ask for it back. The scientist understands that Mara wants a peeling massage. This is somewhat of a sensation, as the use of tools by dolphins was only recently discovered by scientists. Mara shows that dolphins are capable of quite different feats. She can't use the tool herself and instead asks Uta to help her. An anticipatory act of planning, usually seen as a human characteristic. After the massage, Mara swims purposefully to the fishing boat. Although they've known each other for some time, up until now, dolphin and fisherman have kept a respectful distance. Often, one fleeting contact is enough to break the ice. Was that the first time? The very first time, I couldn't believe it. Because before I'd seen her in the warm of the boat, it was absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe it. I'm just waiting to tell my family when I go home. I could never believe it. Uta and the fisherman say goodbye, leaving Mara alone in the bay. Dolphins aren't the only sea mammals on the Irish coast. Mara shares her realm with harbour seals. Usually, these two loners hardly notice each other. Today, their curiosity gets the better of them. Once again, it is Mara who takes the initiative. The seal is more cautious. Seals communicate visually. This one keeps Mara in view, while she, in turn, scans it with her sonar. The unusual encounter lasts for a few minutes, then both go their separate ways. Florian wants to show his wife Gina the orcas. He sets out to sea again with Todd Graves. Couldn't be a better day for... Do you see them? I do. I'll try to see how many there are. The Elle family has turned up, the biggest group of residents in the fjord area. Using a list of kens, the two try to identify the individual whales. While Florian is busy filming, Gina makes a great discovery. Look, there's a baby, too. Only three to five young are born every year, each over two metres long. Orcas can be clearly identified from the markings below their dorsal fins. I saw that one. Look, it has a triangle. The light part is like a V, a little curve there. I'm pretty sure that's him. L78. So some of these whales are so old, I can't believe it. It just makes you have more respect for them, I think. I mean, you do anyway, and then you find out that, oh, she's born in 1928. Orcas aren't the only whales that Florian gets to film here. Every year, mighty grey whales pass through the Salish Sea. Once almost extinct, the population now numbers 20,000. Growing up to 15 metres in length, these huge creatures eat microscopic shrimp that they filter out of the water. They feed only in the summer. The rest of the year, they rely on their reserves of fat. At around 10,000 kilometres a year, their migratory routes are longer than those of other whales. The mother animals give birth in the warm waters off the coast of Mexico before setting off for Alaska. A perilous journey, above all for the calves. These orcas aren't here to hunt salmon. The grey whale calf is in great danger. These orcas are not from here. They are transients that patrol the west coast of the United States. They hunt grey whales. The mother desperately tries to protect her calf and outswim the orcas. The hunt goes on for several hours. The constant attacks leave the calf exhausted. Despite its huge size, the grey whale has no chance against the attackers. The mother loses the unfair fight and her calf. On the Irish coast, less dramatic events are unfolding. Besides Mara and Fungi, another dolphin has achieved fame and fortune here. For two years, Duggie visited the little port of Torrey in the north of Ireland. For Ben, the ferryman's dog, it was love at first sight. As soon as Duggie appeared in the harbour, Ben rushed to join him. As long as it stayed underwater, the dolphin was invisible to Ben, as the dog cannot dive. Nevertheless, the pair seemed to enjoy their game of hide-and-seek. At one point, Duggie would surface or draw attention to himself in some other way. As the scars show, this wasn't the first time they played together. From a scientific point of view, this friendship cannot be explained. Above all, if you're of the opinion that nothing in nature occurs just for fun. What the pair really felt when playing together remains their secret. At first, the locals thought the dolphin might be sick and asked Uta for help. The two scrutinized each other closely. Dolphins perceive their environment especially clearly by a sound. Using various click sounds, Duggie scanned Uta carefully. Uta was able to reassure the inhabitants of Torii that their dolphin was young, healthy and especially curious, just like Ben. She assumed that Duggie had come across Ben by chance in the harbour and they'd been playmates ever since. She also thought it possible that Duggie would disappear again as suddenly as he appeared. As things turned out, she was right. After two years, Duggie stopped showing up. And no one knows if he will ever return. All that Ben has left are memories. Evening in Puget Sound. On a moonlit night, Florian prepares to dive on his local beach on Whidbey Island. Siron waits for his master to return. Swarms of smelts are looking for food. These smaller fish are food for a young salmon that hides in the seagrass during the day. But its enemies too are on the prowl. A spiny dogfish is on the lookout for some juicy salmon. Strange-looking sea slugs are fishing for food. Here it's eat or be eaten. Bizarre creatures come up from the depths. Some of the jellyfish are breathtakingly elegant. The seabed is a kaleidoscope of strange beings. There is no habitat so foreign to us as the sea. It's an archaic world of darkness that seems to be from another time. Suddenly, particularly strange shapes appear. Chimera, deep-sea dwellers more than a meter long, related to sharks and rays. For Florian, encountering such animals is always a very special experience. They're living fossils that first roamed the oceans 150 million years ago. The male has grip organs on the ventral fin in order to keep a hold of the female during mating. And a strange growth on its head. The light attracts a distant relative of the chimera, a spiny dogfish. The next minute, Florian cannot believe his eyes. A six-gill shark slowly swims past. This powerful animal, five meters in length, is also a deep-sea dweller that comes to the upper levels to hunt. Its sluggish movements are deceptive. The shark can swim extremely quickly. Even if no attacks on humans have been registered, its size alone demands Florian's respect. Scientists think that six-gill sharks don't just come to the fjords to hunt, but as viviparous creatures, also bear their young here. Florian hopes one day to film such a birth. The Salish Sea is Florian's personal paradise. A wilderness that he has fallen deeply in love with. Ireland became Uta Margrethe's new home, where she pursues the study of solitary dolphins with passion and dedication. What Uta and Florian have in common is love and respect for the sea and its inhabitants.