Dirty Jobs (2005) s09e03 Episode Script
Journey to Croc Country
1 I've made a mess in all 50 states a big one.
Now I'm packing my bags for Australia, land of kangaroos Look at me.
I'm over here.
And didgeridoos.
[ didgeridoo sputters, drones .]
But I'll be doing more than cuddling koalas.
Oh, her bum is soaking wet.
I'll be getting dirty down under.
I'm still trying to get my head around what I just saw.
Coming up on "Dirty Jobs: Down under" [bleep.]
It's bugs, boats, and blood.
Eww! You cut through your nail, doctor.
We're going croc hunting He just looks pissed off.
Not for food Are we gonna eat it? In the hopes of making a croc vomit.
Oh, geez.
Aghh.
Yeah.
For science.
[ laughing .]
Oh, my god! it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it whoa-oh, oh-oh, oh Australia is diverse, From endless barren landscapes to lush vegetation.
Creatures are unique.
I think he just rubbed his scent gland on me.
I've been marked.
Where you able to get that? And the traditions are ageless.
[ laughs .]
You guys getting hungry? But it's here in northern Australia That you'll find a unique prehistoric creature of the water The infamous saltwater crocodile, Which is why we've come to the city of darwin.
We're here.
Here at crocodylus park, They've got over 1,000 fresh-and saltwater crocs For research and study Ranging from hatchlings all the way up to Eric.
Just grab a bird.
Yeah.
Come on.
Charlie Manolis is a park zoologist.
He's gonna help me give Eric a light breakfast snack.
Come on.
Probably best to leave that door open.
That's it.
Grab that.
Just wait for him to come up.
Oh, yeah.
Always keep an eye on him.
Stand back a little.
Come on, Eric.
I got a chicken.
So, why are we feeding Eric chickens? Oh, we got two chickens.
Come on.
Well, aside from the fact that he's hungry, We want to get an up-close view of a saltwater croc.
Can he hear us? Can he see? He can he knows we're in here.
He can feel.
He can't see, 'cause he's got his eyes closed underwater.
He's come up now to look at you.
His eyes are gonna open.
Rowe: Mmm, chicken.
Come on.
Come on.
Let's go.
Back, back.
Back, guys.
Back.
Back.
Right back.
Back out.
Yeah.
Now you can throw that just in front of him now.
Yeah? Quick.
Just got to come back.
Grab a second one.
Thank you.
Just be real careful.
Yeah.
Get ready to go back, boys.
He's gonna move fast.
I can't go anywhere.
Okay.
Manolis: That's it.
Rowe: Oh, Eric.
Just back a little bit there, Mike.
You pig! That's it.
Two chickens, five bites, Two swallows.
Wow.
Probably got one more there if he wants.
Okay.
Eric, do you want another chicken? Three's a charm.
See if he'll come up for you.
Come on.
Beat it on the ground.
Mm, I got a chicken.
Here he comes.
Oop.
I got a chicken! There.
[ laughs .]
Oh, my god! That's such a big animal.
Yeah, he would weigh probably, you know, 1,300, 1,500 pound.
Wow.
He'd probably keep eating if you let him.
Mission accomplished.
Beautiful.
Now, we could feed caged crocodiles chickens all day But the real reason we're here is for science.
We're gonna study what crocodiles eat, Which means we've got to catch one and make it vomit.
So, off we go.
The crew and I hit the road, destined for the Adelaide river And the green northern Australia territory Just around the bend from crocodylus park.
Go.
Quick.
Let's get you in, eh? The estuarine crocodile is the animal we're looking for, And the estuarine crocodile Is without question the largest living reptile on the planet.
Also known as the saltwater crocodile, These great survivors of the dinosaur age Have been known to grow up to 7 meters in length.
The salty inhabits coastal rivers, billabongs, Floodplains, sometimes the open sea.
It's considered to be the top end's most dangerous predator.
In 1971, the saltwater crocodile Became a protected species in the northern territory.
Since then, their numbers have increased steadily.
I know all this, of course, because it says so right here.
Very helpful.
We've got to go, guys.
This is my boat? Yeah.
So, should we hop in? Heading north Adelaide.
Adelaide river.
[ bird crying .]
The Adelaide river winds its way Through Australia's northern territory For hundreds of miles Before eventually dumping into the gulf near the indian ocean.
Today I'll be traveling with charlie and the crew During the last hours of sunlight Because the best way to catch these monsters is in the dark.
So, the odds of us seeing them During the day are fairly slim? With this high tide, very.
Very, 'cause they'll be in amongst the mangroves.
But even so, it's so hot That any croc worth his salt is in the water.
Yeah.
There's a croc coming out to see us.
Look.
There it is.
There he is.
Look.
He says, "why are you here, Mike?" yep.
There you go.
So, he's a modest size, it seems.
He's only small.
There he goes.
Then he goes under.
They don't let you get too close.
The really interesting thing Is that the average size of crocodile has changed.
In 1980, when I first came up to the territory And started work on crocs, The average size was maybe, you know, a bit over a meter.
Now they're a lot closer to 12 foot.
Yeah.
So they're just bigger.
They're getting bigger.
And the bigger crocs are killing the little crocs.
Do they have a natural predator? The biggest predator on crocs is other crocs.
Keep an eye out for any more crocs.
The cold-blooded croc reserves its energy during the day.
They're lethargic, and they seem slow, but don't be fooled.
They're capable of great, explosive speed and power, And they attack prey as big as water buffalo and sharks.
Charlie and his crew are here to regulate the croc population To keep Australians safe.
Croc.
Crocodile back there.
And these guys will go to great lengths to do it.
This way.
Just in here.
Look.
Oh, yeah.
See him sitting there? Sure.
Only a little one.
What do you reckon, Brett? Eight? 8-footer, 8, 9, 8½? Okay, here we go.
All right.
Just here.
See if we can get him.
Even if we just look at him.
Yep.
Right.
Manolis: So, this has got a little harpoon head You see it, right? With a couple of barbs in it.
I have to come your side, mate.
Go wherever you have to go.
You just move in behind him, Mike.
The croc skin is so thick that those little hooks just go in.
They stay, in order to hook him, and you've got like a big fish.
But we'll have to just keep a little bit quiet As he comes in, right? Yep.
See if we can get him, have a look at him.
Rowe: Holy smokes, you got him! Wow.
Wow.
Yeah, yeah, let him go.
Man: He'll get all tangled up.
Holy crap, Brett, you really threw that thing.
Okay.
All right, now, that's the part I didn't anticipate.
Hang on.
Hang on.
Ash, Ash.
Back, back to Brett.
Back to Brett.
Brett, what are you doing, brother? All right.
Seriously? Just watch your head on the branches, guys.
Holy crap! What's happened is he's gone behind the vegetation.
Yeah.
I got to come in there, and we'll pick him up.
'cause once they get tangled, it makes it hard to bring them in.
I'm thinking more about Brett right now, waist-deep in mud.
We're nearly out of rope here.
Yeah, I know.
Have you got a flag on him? No, mate.
You got a fair bit of line out there, Brett.
Okay.
Brett, that's a big move.
Is that the kind of thing You had in mind for me this evening? No.
Yeah, 'cause the whole leaving the boat in the dark That was opportunity.
That was opportunity.
That was opportunity, So, we'll have a look at this one anyway.
So, he's still attached.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, he's like 100 meters out there on all your rope.
But you, we'll try and get one at night Where they don't see you quite so close.
I'm still trying to get my head around what I just saw.
You're right.
Boy just dove out of the boat You just keep going straight, mate.
We'll pull him up.
In the mud that was waist-deep.
That was Do you want do you want to Here you go.
That would be him right here.
So, you come on up here, Mike.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Watch this line right there.
If someone's gonna get bitten, it's gonna be you, right? Right.
That seems reasonable.
I believe he's under the boat.
We're gonna pull the loose talon.
The only thing we want to watch We don't want to put too much pressure on that.
We don't want to pull the The barbs haven't gone in real good.
Yeah.
Man: You can smell him now.
[ sniffs .]
actually, that's me.
You may want to change your underpants there, Mike.
I've been on the road a long time, gentlemen.
I don't know what I smell like anymore.
All right.
Glad your pants are brown, or where they khaki to start with? [ laughs .]
Coming up Oh, there's the snout.
We go trawling for some tail.
I'll sit on it.
I'll sit on it.
Watch his head doesn't come up, 'cause you'll lose your ghoulies.
I got plans for the ghoulies.
Man: The hard part during the day is they can see you.
They see you coming up.
At nighttime, you can keep the spotlight on their eyes, And they don't see you.
The moment he comes up and he sees us, he's gonna go berserk.
Rowe: Berserk? [ thud .]
Ayehh! Oh, there's the snout now.
Oh.
Ay! [bleep.]
There he is.
Oh, I see what you [ splash .]
Here, Brett, let me work this, so it looks like Okay.
Just gently tap, when I say.
Gently tap his nose? Oh, it's in his mouth.
That's probably bad.
Yeah, we had him.
Just got to tap him, Get his mouth open just that little bit.
There? That little bit more.
Yeah.
Come on, buddy.
Come on.
You can do it.
So, if I tap him on the nose, he opens his jaws typically? That's it.
He's all yours now.
He's all mine? Good.
Good.
Yeah.
So, you've got him just around his top.
Just the top jaw.
If you put it around both jaws, they're closed, It'll just slide off.
It slides away.
There's nothing to hold on.
The top jaw that's it.
It's the strongest part of their body the neck.
What we're gonna do now is just yeah, that's it.
Some of you may notice a big pole With a tiny camera on the end of it.
You'll see it coming in and out of the shot from time to time.
That was meant to give you a stunning, up-close, In-depth look at this croc that we're filming.
Unfortunately, Doug, our cameraman, He forgot to press the "on" button.
So you get you get bit by one of these things, Aside from the damage just at the bite, What about all the stuff in his mouth? Oh, man, there's certain bacteria on there That are not real good.
And what happens is when they do bite you really well, The tissue dies, bacteria get in.
They've now learned here at the hospital, If you get a croc bite, you don't stitch it up.
Leave it open, 'cause that's the last thing you want, 'cause you create a little incubator for all these bacteria.
Man, he's a great eating machine.
This is a dinosaur.
Yeah.
Man, this is the last of the dinosaurs.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Now, the idea here is to close those jaws.
That's it.
And then tie them off.
Tie them off again.
Man: Don't get your fingers caught Because if he rolls, he'll take you with him.
If he rolls, he'll take your finger with you.
That's it.
Yeah.
So, around again? Yeah, just do a couple like that.
Man, he's got some kind of breath on him.
That could be Brett.
[ laughter .]
Now if you just lift him up, put his head up above this here.
Uh-uh-uh.
Ooh.
That's it.
That's it.
Bend him down.
Yeah.
That's it.
That way, we can take him up Are we gonna be doing this in the dark? Truly secure.
This is the plan in the dark tonight? Yeah.
But I'll work better.
You've seen it all during the day.
[ sighs .]
Ready, Brett? Brett: Yep.
Okay.
[ grunting .]
Okay.
This is all according to plan? Uh-uh-uh, hop on him, Mike.
Hop on him.
Hop on him like so? Sit on him.
Sit on his front.
Sit on his front? Yeah, just sit on him.
Which way? Sit on him.
That's it.
Watch his head doesn't come up 'cause you'll lose your ghoulies.
I got plans for the ghoulies.
Okay, so don't let that go, whatever you do.
Don't let what go? This go? That one.
That's it.
All right, just take a deep breath.
Hold on.
A quick word about the harpoon Since I'm looking at it right now.
Just under the skin.
Didn't go into the meat.
No, it just goes in under the skin.
The hooks are only Well, you'll see it when you get at them.
And you can catch hundreds and hundreds And hundreds of these guys.
What we're gonna do is cover his eyes 'cause once their eyes are covered, They'll tend to quieten down.
You just go in Just sort of pull the skin up so the hook comes out.
Mm-hmm.
Done.
Not even a drop of blood.
Let me have a look at this.
No blood.
Are we gonna eat it? It's important to know that now.
Are we gonna eat it? Yeah.
No.
No.
Okay.
What we're gonna do now, We're gonna give you a little bit of a training run, Mike.
So, your goal is put this in the water somewhere.
I'll show you the harpoon in a second.
And the object is to try and hit him in the neck.
Just bring your pole up if you can, Mike.
Just get comfortable With my pole? With your pole, yeah.
Right-handed? Left-handed? Either way.
So, you guys stand up here when this happens? I got to figure that's his head looking at me right now, right? That pointy part is actually his nose.
That's the front of his nose.
So, he's looking the other way as we're coming up on him.
Ah, I see.
So, I want to hit him right in the meaty part of the neck.
Yeah, toward the back of his head.
That's it.
Ready, set, go.
Now! Oh [bleep.]
Okay.
Not as easy as it looks.
No, that was I don't think I made that look easy, to be honest.
You hesitate, and the croc goes past you, And your whole opportunity is lost.
Styrofoam ball.
Man: Yeah, that should have been there.
Okay, let's try on a styrofoam ball.
Hit it hard as you can now.
Power.
Yeah.
Go.
Whack! Like so.
You can let go of the rope, though.
I can let go of the rope? Manolis: When you whacked it.
I just think it's impressive that I got the ball.
Let go of that rope.
Oh, geez! You're right, once you go by him, you're by him.
Once you're by him, don't even bother.
I'll be standing here behind you.
We'll be coming in about this fast? Coming through like this.
I'll be keeping it on his head, And you'll be going Bang! Whaa! That's it.
I'm still I'm just not You're not hitting him dead-on.
So, I've had enough practice to prove that if I get one, It'll just be blind luck.
But I've relied on blind luck most of my career, charlie.
As the sun sets on the Adelaide river, There's not much to do but wait for the crocs to stir.
We ready the crew And assemble some blinding spotlights and wait.
Even the gator in the boat is becoming anxious.
Manolis: You all right? Getting dressed.
Man: What'd you do to it? Make sure it worked.
But the crocs aren't the only things that come out at night.
Covered absolutely covered with mosquitos.
Just covered.
Covered.
There's one right there.
Look at that.
Look at the eyes jumping right out.
Right at us.
He's just been sitting.
So, these two guys have probably been sitting there The whole time while we've been waffling on about mosquitos.
Mm-hmm.
Really see the eyes on that one.
Got to get right behind the light if you can.
Good grief, they are out in force.
Can you see its eyes? There you go, right there.
Oh.
Manolis: That's okay.
Just come in slowly.
Look at that.
Those eyes are red.
He's going under.
Uh-oh.
[bleep.]
I think we've got a boat problem.
[ engine sputtering .]
I think there's a problem with the engine.
So, with one boat dead in the water, We make a very simple plan.
John, charlie and I, along with the camera gear, Will all go onto the working boat.
How do we fit the entire crew And all the gear onto two boats? Well, we don't, which means That we'll just have to leave a few of our folks behind.
True, they'll have no working engine, And yes, there are hungry crocs everywhere, But they should be fine As long a they remain perfectly still in the inky blackness And don't attract any attention or do anything silly Like, I don't know, start a fire.
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What do you got? You got something lit.
Batteries.
Huh.
Well, there's a fire on the boat.
Things go very bad very quickly out on a river.
In just a couple of seconds, that engine went down, And then there's a small fire over here.
Is it out? That leak was The lead melted off.
Yeah.
Woman: The big one wouldn't do it.
Seems fairly close to the Gas tank.
Seems like they have the fire under control, So we did the only responsible thing And packed up the boat and said farewell to the stranded crew And headed out into the dark to find some man-eating dinosaurs.
Coming up All right, let's try another one.
[ indistinct shouting .]
We're surrounded.
It's a good try.
Only took us six hours cruising around in the dark.
We lost a boat.
We had to transfer all the gear.
Oh, infrared's not flattering at all.
Makes us all look like ghouls.
The tide is low on the adelaide river.
We only have two hours to find ourselves a croc.
Right there, ash.
Seems to be coming at us.
Lucky for us, the crocs are everywhere.
Manolis: This guy's gonna let you get up right close.
Gonna come right up next to him.
Have you got something on the end? Yeah.
Okay.
I'll check.
Just let the pole go.
Let the pole go? Got a camera on there, right? See if you got something on the back of that.
Whole lot of nothing.
Thought I did.
I didn't.
They're both going under.
We just saw three, but they all went down.
Maybe back up in there pretty far.
We're following this.
Back of the neck.
Too small? No, no, no.
Ah! Oh! Sorry.
That's okay.
I ran out of slack.
That's all right.
Man: You got to watch Got him? Nah, didn't get him.
Got him on the head.
It's too small.
You can tell that he was small, But he might have been 5 foot, could have been 6 foot.
Get him if you want to.
Where is he? Oh, right there.
Son of a gun! Got him on the side of the head.
I got him on the side of the head.
It still didn't stick in.
He went up into the bushes? Yep.
Just wait for him to come down.
Just come out.
He's going.
He's going.
I think you might have You all right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's okay.
Let the line go.
All right, the line.
Watch your motor, john.
Just put that down there that way.
He's either coming toward us or he shook it.
Yeah, there he is.
There he is.
I don't know how well it went in, So we'll just play him real careful there, Mike.
We don't want to put too much pressure on him in case he's only Just snagged.
Well, in case it's just gone in Oh, oh, oh.
There you go.
Look.
Yeah.
You're right on the let it go.
Give him slack.
Give him slack.
Give him slack.
Give him slack.
I got him.
That's it.
Now, it's right on the nuchals, right? What's a nuchal? The scales on the back of the neck.
Is that good? No.
There's a chance that it's in, But it might not hold 'cause it's bone.
What we'll do is we'll just get him up, And richard can drive another one just for security.
And then we'll have two, And then we can check yours when we get him in.
Keep that light keep that light right in his eyes.
Keep it up, though.
Whoa.
Keep it on his over here.
Follow the line.
That's it.
There he is.
Oh.
Back over here.
Follow the line.
On that line.
Take us forward, ash.
There he is.
Got him right on this side.
[ sighs .]
Rowe: We still got him? Man: No, he came out.
Oh, he came out.
We lost the barb.
Ah! Oh, well.
Didn't hold.
That's good, though.
That's good.
This close.
This close we were.
You got him right there toward the front.
So, you either go just forward of that Uh-huh.
Or down to the side of it.
Yeah.
Anywhere under there.
Yep, yep, yep.
I got it.
That's his bone, so the There's not enough to grab ahold of him.
That's okay.
That was a good shot, though.
Thanks.
That's good.
All right, let's try another one.
The eerie glow of the croc's eyes Are because of a layer called "tapetum.
" It's right behind the retina.
It contains crystals that reflect the light And also makes it possible For the crocs to see better at night.
Oh! You hit him in the head again.
I felt it bounce right off the bone.
He's a good 10-footer.
Son of a gun! Might be a bit bigger.
Oh, don't rub it in, charles.
Would not want to swim this river at night.
Now the tide is rising, And we have yet to catch a croc 9 foot or bigger.
Time's running out.
Oh [bleep.]
I thought he was facing the other way! Crap.
Crap! Man: Yes! Watch your motor! Watch your motor! Manolis: Motor, motor, motor! Got him? Yeah.
Bring him in, Mike.
You can come in this way, Mike.
Oh, geez.
Give me that.
Let's have a look where it is.
Just slowly.
You got time.
Slowly bring him in.
Okay.
That's good.
Okay.
Okay, we just need a snout rope.
Rowe: Got a snout rope? Okay, need some light over here.
That's a rope.
I had one right here.
A snout rope.
All right.
Don't keep the don't have to keep him tight now.
All right.
Let's have a look.
Oho ho ho! You get him? Yeah, yeah.
Mike junior doesn't want to come up.
That's okay.
We got him now.
We got him? There, just relax now.
That's it.
Just release that.
Yep.
I got it.
He just looks pissed off.
I got him.
There.
Got the tape? Just secure it.
But watch out he doesn't turn on you.
Those teeth that are jabbing out.
That's it.
That's enough.
Yeah.
Yeah? That's enough? Yeah, yeah.
You sure about that? Yep.
It's a lovely little croc.
Thank you.
Okay.
6 nothing.
It's a good try, though.
Thanks.
Ah, it's good.
You got your first croc.
There you go.
Thanks.
You did well, Mike.
Well, you know, it's a piece of cake.
Only took us six hours cruising around in the dark.
We lost a boat.
We had to transfer all the gear.
So, we've got two.
Is that enough to do our work tomorrow? She's probably a bit small for what we really want, 'cause the scales here are a bit small for the transmitter.
What we might do, though, is we will measure her.
We're gonna give her a tag, a mark, And we'll know who she was.
Just put a Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I got the rope.
So, we're gonna let her go? So Now, the easy part was catching her.
Like this? Yeah.
[bleep.]
sorry.
Push her up.
Push her up there.
That's it.
Yeah, get her up.
Push her.
Slowly make our way.
We've done what we came out to do.
Hi, guys.
Rowe: Folks need any help? All right, so it's pretty simple at this point.
We made it back, by the way.
We towed the third boat in.
The croc stays in the boat overnight.
Tomorrow morning, we'll meet the croc at crocodylus With Brett and charlie.
I'm not totally clear on the details Beyond the fact that I'm going to bed now, And I will see you in the morning.
Coming up, a little internal medicine.
Oh, geez.
Ah, best not to look.
That's it.
Eh.
You're in.
That's it.
Good man.
Okay, I'm in.
Rowe: This is happening more and more to me.
Shave in the shower, I miss stuff, And then all day long, you know, You feel a little patch right there.
Can you see that right there? It's driving me crazy.
So Amber went out and got me a razor.
I missed a little bit right here, too, And all day long, you pick at it, you pick at it, You pick at it, you pick at it, you pick at it.
That's where I draw the line, man.
Amber shaving me? Not unless I shave her.
I can arrange that.
Back at crocodylus park, The boat from last night's hunt has been parked overnight.
Croc's still in the back of the boat.
Science will commence very soon.
So, at crocodylus park, The crocodile is in the exact same position As we left him last night.
He's alive and happy.
Don't know about happy, But she's certainly very much alive.
What we'll do is we'll untie her.
I'm gonna get you to grab the pointy end of the crocodile, And we'll just drag her straight out of here, Put her onto this stretcher.
Once we've got her on there, we can sedate her, Get her nice and quiet, And then we can get organized to do what we want to do.
And what that is that we want to do Is make this croc vomit So we can study what it's been eating.
So, what we'll do You work your way down there.
That's it.
Now you're gonna line the tail right up.
What have we got? 9 foot.
Oh, you're going that one.
9 foot, 3 inches.
That's a nice-sized animal.
This is an immobilizing agent.
We don't want her, while we've got her Trying to get her stomach contents out, struggling.
We don't want her hurting herself.
We don't want her hurting any of us.
That's more important.
I'd even put it in a whole different order, but All right.
Start right here.
It'll be tough skin.
That's it.
Push that in.
Bit of muscle.
That's it.
That's all you need.
[ crocodile hisses .]
See? Oop.
That's it.
Come on.
Come on.
It's all right.
Relax.
Shh.
Relax.
We're going to put her on this little frame right here, Mike, And what we'll do is we'll maneuver her up and down.
We'll get her head up So that we can put some water down into her throat Just to give bit of fluid in there So that we can pull the gut pump.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
The sedative really seems to have kicked in.
[ chuckles .]
Just let her calm down a bit.
That's what we don't want her struggling while we Not while she's up doing the teeter-totter.
They'll eat just about anything Rats swimming across the river, pigs, snakes.
Anything that they can essentially grab.
But there is very little hardly any published information On the diet of these larger saltwater crocodiles.
So what we'll get out of this one, hopefully, will be good.
We just got to suck it and see a little bit with this one.
Suck it and see? I keep forgetting.
That's not an amErican expression, is it? It is.
I just don't think it means what you think it means.
Not to belabor the point, But what does "suck it and see" mean down here? "let's try it out and see what happens.
" Give it a go.
Am I getting that right? It's getting worse, isn't it? You know what? It actually translates in a very similar fashion.
Yeah.
Suck it and see.
The type should be in that orange "are we gonna get together again?" "suck it and see.
" "do you think there's a future in this relationship?" "suck it and see.
" "you think 'Dirty Jobs' will get picked up for another season?" "suck it and see.
" Okay.
Let's get you down the pointy end here, Mike, all right? The idea here is that we've got to get her mouth open.
Mm-hmm.
You know what's gonna happen? You're gonna put this in her mouth, And then you're gonna reach through this, aren't you? Uh, one of us is going to.
I'd have gone with "suck it and see.
" Since everybody seemed reasonably confident That the croc was finally immobilized, We went ahead and freed her up So that we could put this high-tech dental ring Into place.
Try and open her mouth, And we're gonna slip this in at the end.
Manolis: That's it.
Come on.
The ring is a large piece of pvc pipe, And, of course, when dealing with deadly crocs, A little duct tape never hurts either.
Put a strip right across.
That's it.
That's it.
There.
It's just a [ croc gurgling .]
oh, she's making a noise.
That's it.
Well, sure.
Now you can have a good look.
See the look at that.
Can I touch a tooth? Yeah.
You can.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, they're sharp.
But it's really these big teeth.
Yeah, that's the business.
These are the business end that really hang onto stuff.
And the back ones do a bit of crunching Once they've got the prey.
Excellent.
So, let's try her up on the what's-her-name.
Oh, you got the heavy end.
As always.
Just position her that's it Just to get started.
And so we're gonna tilt her head up.
We're gonna get this tube down into the stomach, Put a little bit of water in there, And then once we've done that, we'll then grab our scoop, Tilt her back up this way with a bucket underneath And try and scoop some of that food out And just see what she's been eating.
What's in here? Oil.
Just oil.
Just to lubricate this a little bit, And also when we do the tube.
That's it.
Excellent.
That's enough? Keep going.
All the tube, yeah.
No, yeah, no.
You want to lube this up.
Don't skimp on the lube.
You can skimp on virtually anything, But don't skimp on the lube.
Let's try the, uh It's amazing how much each end looks like the other.
You got him in? Yeah.
Now go in that way.
Yeah, you all right? Yep.
Excellent.
Shh.
Ah, beautiful.
The stomach's just a little like a bag.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't have different chambers like other animals.
Okay, how far have you gone? About that far.
I think we're in it now.
You're about in it? A little bit of water.
So you're saying right now the tube is Tube's probably around here, Which means it'll be in the stomach.
So, the fluid, the water, just helps to get it all mixed up So that we can, you know, bring it out.
Just a little bit of water.
Just slowly pour that in.
That's it.
Just slowly.
That's it.
The answer after the break.
But let's face it if they're hungry, They'll eat fish and snakes and toads, too.
All right, so, this goes in oriented like this? Yep.
Back through the throat there, and you'll As you go through Mm-hmm.
You're probably gonna get pretty close.
A little bit of resistance there.
Am I in? There we go.
Okay.
So, you're now in the stomach.
Now, what we're gonna do she's a mature female.
I suspect that she's probably nested this year, And often usually when they nest, they don't feed.
They'll sit for three months.
Ah, so she may have.
She'll have something.
She'll have rocks or she'll still have bits in there.
So, ready, boys? We're gonna tilt her up so that she's Gravity's gonna help us here.
All right? Yep.
Okay, Mike.
Yep.
There it goes.
Now you want me to pull forward? Yeah.
You guys all right? Mm-hmm.
Oops.
That's it, yeah.
Not much in there.
Not much in there.
You getting anything out? No, just a little bit of Mucus? Mucus and stuff.
Should get a bit of water come through, though.
Might have to try the bigger scoop, charles.
This is the bigger scoop Also known in golf as a driver.
She's just gonna twitch a little bit, so just careful.
Hey, hey, come on.
There you go.
You in? Yeah.
Okay.
Ready? I'd say she's empty.
She's empty.
I'd say she's pretty empty, too.
Just scoop a little bit Ah, mucus.
I would say as I said, she's probably a nesting female.
Probably hasn't eaten in a few months.
Well, we didn't get anything out.
Maybe we'll have better luck putting something in.
This white rock is actually a digital logger.
It'll sit in the croc's belly And transmit movement, temperature, Other information back to charlie for study.
There's only one way to get it into the belly, of course.
[ laughs .]
Okay, this just goes against everything that Just go gentle.
That's it.
Just gentle.
Going through okay? Yes.
Good.
Oh, geez.
Ah, best not to look.
Are you kidding me? You're doing good.
That's as far as I can go.
That's okay.
You think you're in the stomach? Can you feel anything in there? I think so.
Okay.
I got a lot of Well, let me I'm gonna Did you feel that second Sphincter? Yeah? Yeah.
I'm pushing.
It's on the end of my fingertips now, and I'm pushing it.
I'm pushing.
Okay.
Shove it forward a bit.
Well, there's the matter of the teeth.
Just go straight.
Move there this way a little bit.
Just That's it.
That's it.
That's better.
Good.
Ah.
That's it.
Ah! You're in.
That's it.
Good man.
Okay, I'm in.
I'm in.
Okay.
Feel anything else in there? No.
She's empty.
No, she's empty.
Let your logger go.
Yep.
And then out you come.
Ah.
That's it.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Good man.
Good.
Excellent.
Good.
Whoo! [ laughs .]
Empty-ish.
Yeah, she's empty.
The scoop would have had bits of insect, Something on it had she eaten.
I've been in many holes.
That's a new one.
Now comes the part where we do everything in reverse Remove the tape, piping, and secure the croc For its return to the adelaide river.
Charlie and his crew will tag her So they can find her easily in the next trip.
And as scary as all this seems, We manage to do it without spilling a drop of blood.
Just an additional tag that we're gonna put on That will sit like that.
It won't stay there forever, But at least over the next sort of couple months.
That seems much more [bleep.]
[bleep.]
[bleep.]
Eww, you cut through your nail, doctor.
[bleep.]
Oh! Okay, so maybe we did spill a little bit of blood.
It's okay.
Here, ash, just punch a hole through there Without stabbing yourself, and we'll put that in.
Just a little hole.
Yeah, that's it.
Just to give you enough to now you can just put it through.
Ash: You okay, charlie? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rowe: Yeah, sure, fine.
That's it.
Done.
You all right? Yeah, it's fine.
I just saw it slide under the nail there, And it made me go, "ew.
" Now we just want to get her back into the boat.
That's it.
Pull her through.
That's it.
Done.
Excellent.
Excellent.
It's all come together.
So, what happens now Is you're gonna take this back to where we We'll take her back to the river, Put a transmitter on the back of her neck.
Yep.
And then we'll just see where she goes.
I'd say she's a female.
She'll have a little area that she stays in all year.
She just waits for the boys to come to her, Where she nests, where she lives.
Well, typically what these shows do, you know We follow you back, and we watch the majestic reptile Swim back into its natural environment To pursue a life of reptile fulfillment, But we know that's gonna happen.
We've seen it 1,000 times.
So we're just gonna let you do it.
Excellent.
But not until I thank you sincerely For your time and your goodwill.
It was great fun.
Brett, come here, man.
You're something else.
Thank you.
With all the grandeur and mystery That Australia has to offer, I am a bit disappointed I didn't find anything in the croc's stomach.
I know not everybody can eat like Eric, But I was hoping to find part of a kangaroo or something.
At least I got a great hat out of the gig.
Manolis: You've been a great help.
Thank you.
I think you've learned something, too.
I have.
I've learned never to say goodbye While sitting on a gearshift.
Now I'm packing my bags for Australia, land of kangaroos Look at me.
I'm over here.
And didgeridoos.
[ didgeridoo sputters, drones .]
But I'll be doing more than cuddling koalas.
Oh, her bum is soaking wet.
I'll be getting dirty down under.
I'm still trying to get my head around what I just saw.
Coming up on "Dirty Jobs: Down under" [bleep.]
It's bugs, boats, and blood.
Eww! You cut through your nail, doctor.
We're going croc hunting He just looks pissed off.
Not for food Are we gonna eat it? In the hopes of making a croc vomit.
Oh, geez.
Aghh.
Yeah.
For science.
[ laughing .]
Oh, my god! it's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it whoa-oh, oh-oh, oh Australia is diverse, From endless barren landscapes to lush vegetation.
Creatures are unique.
I think he just rubbed his scent gland on me.
I've been marked.
Where you able to get that? And the traditions are ageless.
[ laughs .]
You guys getting hungry? But it's here in northern Australia That you'll find a unique prehistoric creature of the water The infamous saltwater crocodile, Which is why we've come to the city of darwin.
We're here.
Here at crocodylus park, They've got over 1,000 fresh-and saltwater crocs For research and study Ranging from hatchlings all the way up to Eric.
Just grab a bird.
Yeah.
Come on.
Charlie Manolis is a park zoologist.
He's gonna help me give Eric a light breakfast snack.
Come on.
Probably best to leave that door open.
That's it.
Grab that.
Just wait for him to come up.
Oh, yeah.
Always keep an eye on him.
Stand back a little.
Come on, Eric.
I got a chicken.
So, why are we feeding Eric chickens? Oh, we got two chickens.
Come on.
Well, aside from the fact that he's hungry, We want to get an up-close view of a saltwater croc.
Can he hear us? Can he see? He can he knows we're in here.
He can feel.
He can't see, 'cause he's got his eyes closed underwater.
He's come up now to look at you.
His eyes are gonna open.
Rowe: Mmm, chicken.
Come on.
Come on.
Let's go.
Back, back.
Back, guys.
Back.
Back.
Right back.
Back out.
Yeah.
Now you can throw that just in front of him now.
Yeah? Quick.
Just got to come back.
Grab a second one.
Thank you.
Just be real careful.
Yeah.
Get ready to go back, boys.
He's gonna move fast.
I can't go anywhere.
Okay.
Manolis: That's it.
Rowe: Oh, Eric.
Just back a little bit there, Mike.
You pig! That's it.
Two chickens, five bites, Two swallows.
Wow.
Probably got one more there if he wants.
Okay.
Eric, do you want another chicken? Three's a charm.
See if he'll come up for you.
Come on.
Beat it on the ground.
Mm, I got a chicken.
Here he comes.
Oop.
I got a chicken! There.
[ laughs .]
Oh, my god! That's such a big animal.
Yeah, he would weigh probably, you know, 1,300, 1,500 pound.
Wow.
He'd probably keep eating if you let him.
Mission accomplished.
Beautiful.
Now, we could feed caged crocodiles chickens all day But the real reason we're here is for science.
We're gonna study what crocodiles eat, Which means we've got to catch one and make it vomit.
So, off we go.
The crew and I hit the road, destined for the Adelaide river And the green northern Australia territory Just around the bend from crocodylus park.
Go.
Quick.
Let's get you in, eh? The estuarine crocodile is the animal we're looking for, And the estuarine crocodile Is without question the largest living reptile on the planet.
Also known as the saltwater crocodile, These great survivors of the dinosaur age Have been known to grow up to 7 meters in length.
The salty inhabits coastal rivers, billabongs, Floodplains, sometimes the open sea.
It's considered to be the top end's most dangerous predator.
In 1971, the saltwater crocodile Became a protected species in the northern territory.
Since then, their numbers have increased steadily.
I know all this, of course, because it says so right here.
Very helpful.
We've got to go, guys.
This is my boat? Yeah.
So, should we hop in? Heading north Adelaide.
Adelaide river.
[ bird crying .]
The Adelaide river winds its way Through Australia's northern territory For hundreds of miles Before eventually dumping into the gulf near the indian ocean.
Today I'll be traveling with charlie and the crew During the last hours of sunlight Because the best way to catch these monsters is in the dark.
So, the odds of us seeing them During the day are fairly slim? With this high tide, very.
Very, 'cause they'll be in amongst the mangroves.
But even so, it's so hot That any croc worth his salt is in the water.
Yeah.
There's a croc coming out to see us.
Look.
There it is.
There he is.
Look.
He says, "why are you here, Mike?" yep.
There you go.
So, he's a modest size, it seems.
He's only small.
There he goes.
Then he goes under.
They don't let you get too close.
The really interesting thing Is that the average size of crocodile has changed.
In 1980, when I first came up to the territory And started work on crocs, The average size was maybe, you know, a bit over a meter.
Now they're a lot closer to 12 foot.
Yeah.
So they're just bigger.
They're getting bigger.
And the bigger crocs are killing the little crocs.
Do they have a natural predator? The biggest predator on crocs is other crocs.
Keep an eye out for any more crocs.
The cold-blooded croc reserves its energy during the day.
They're lethargic, and they seem slow, but don't be fooled.
They're capable of great, explosive speed and power, And they attack prey as big as water buffalo and sharks.
Charlie and his crew are here to regulate the croc population To keep Australians safe.
Croc.
Crocodile back there.
And these guys will go to great lengths to do it.
This way.
Just in here.
Look.
Oh, yeah.
See him sitting there? Sure.
Only a little one.
What do you reckon, Brett? Eight? 8-footer, 8, 9, 8½? Okay, here we go.
All right.
Just here.
See if we can get him.
Even if we just look at him.
Yep.
Right.
Manolis: So, this has got a little harpoon head You see it, right? With a couple of barbs in it.
I have to come your side, mate.
Go wherever you have to go.
You just move in behind him, Mike.
The croc skin is so thick that those little hooks just go in.
They stay, in order to hook him, and you've got like a big fish.
But we'll have to just keep a little bit quiet As he comes in, right? Yep.
See if we can get him, have a look at him.
Rowe: Holy smokes, you got him! Wow.
Wow.
Yeah, yeah, let him go.
Man: He'll get all tangled up.
Holy crap, Brett, you really threw that thing.
Okay.
All right, now, that's the part I didn't anticipate.
Hang on.
Hang on.
Ash, Ash.
Back, back to Brett.
Back to Brett.
Brett, what are you doing, brother? All right.
Seriously? Just watch your head on the branches, guys.
Holy crap! What's happened is he's gone behind the vegetation.
Yeah.
I got to come in there, and we'll pick him up.
'cause once they get tangled, it makes it hard to bring them in.
I'm thinking more about Brett right now, waist-deep in mud.
We're nearly out of rope here.
Yeah, I know.
Have you got a flag on him? No, mate.
You got a fair bit of line out there, Brett.
Okay.
Brett, that's a big move.
Is that the kind of thing You had in mind for me this evening? No.
Yeah, 'cause the whole leaving the boat in the dark That was opportunity.
That was opportunity.
That was opportunity, So, we'll have a look at this one anyway.
So, he's still attached.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, he's like 100 meters out there on all your rope.
But you, we'll try and get one at night Where they don't see you quite so close.
I'm still trying to get my head around what I just saw.
You're right.
Boy just dove out of the boat You just keep going straight, mate.
We'll pull him up.
In the mud that was waist-deep.
That was Do you want do you want to Here you go.
That would be him right here.
So, you come on up here, Mike.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Watch this line right there.
If someone's gonna get bitten, it's gonna be you, right? Right.
That seems reasonable.
I believe he's under the boat.
We're gonna pull the loose talon.
The only thing we want to watch We don't want to put too much pressure on that.
We don't want to pull the The barbs haven't gone in real good.
Yeah.
Man: You can smell him now.
[ sniffs .]
actually, that's me.
You may want to change your underpants there, Mike.
I've been on the road a long time, gentlemen.
I don't know what I smell like anymore.
All right.
Glad your pants are brown, or where they khaki to start with? [ laughs .]
Coming up Oh, there's the snout.
We go trawling for some tail.
I'll sit on it.
I'll sit on it.
Watch his head doesn't come up, 'cause you'll lose your ghoulies.
I got plans for the ghoulies.
Man: The hard part during the day is they can see you.
They see you coming up.
At nighttime, you can keep the spotlight on their eyes, And they don't see you.
The moment he comes up and he sees us, he's gonna go berserk.
Rowe: Berserk? [ thud .]
Ayehh! Oh, there's the snout now.
Oh.
Ay! [bleep.]
There he is.
Oh, I see what you [ splash .]
Here, Brett, let me work this, so it looks like Okay.
Just gently tap, when I say.
Gently tap his nose? Oh, it's in his mouth.
That's probably bad.
Yeah, we had him.
Just got to tap him, Get his mouth open just that little bit.
There? That little bit more.
Yeah.
Come on, buddy.
Come on.
You can do it.
So, if I tap him on the nose, he opens his jaws typically? That's it.
He's all yours now.
He's all mine? Good.
Good.
Yeah.
So, you've got him just around his top.
Just the top jaw.
If you put it around both jaws, they're closed, It'll just slide off.
It slides away.
There's nothing to hold on.
The top jaw that's it.
It's the strongest part of their body the neck.
What we're gonna do now is just yeah, that's it.
Some of you may notice a big pole With a tiny camera on the end of it.
You'll see it coming in and out of the shot from time to time.
That was meant to give you a stunning, up-close, In-depth look at this croc that we're filming.
Unfortunately, Doug, our cameraman, He forgot to press the "on" button.
So you get you get bit by one of these things, Aside from the damage just at the bite, What about all the stuff in his mouth? Oh, man, there's certain bacteria on there That are not real good.
And what happens is when they do bite you really well, The tissue dies, bacteria get in.
They've now learned here at the hospital, If you get a croc bite, you don't stitch it up.
Leave it open, 'cause that's the last thing you want, 'cause you create a little incubator for all these bacteria.
Man, he's a great eating machine.
This is a dinosaur.
Yeah.
Man, this is the last of the dinosaurs.
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Now, the idea here is to close those jaws.
That's it.
And then tie them off.
Tie them off again.
Man: Don't get your fingers caught Because if he rolls, he'll take you with him.
If he rolls, he'll take your finger with you.
That's it.
Yeah.
So, around again? Yeah, just do a couple like that.
Man, he's got some kind of breath on him.
That could be Brett.
[ laughter .]
Now if you just lift him up, put his head up above this here.
Uh-uh-uh.
Ooh.
That's it.
That's it.
Bend him down.
Yeah.
That's it.
That way, we can take him up Are we gonna be doing this in the dark? Truly secure.
This is the plan in the dark tonight? Yeah.
But I'll work better.
You've seen it all during the day.
[ sighs .]
Ready, Brett? Brett: Yep.
Okay.
[ grunting .]
Okay.
This is all according to plan? Uh-uh-uh, hop on him, Mike.
Hop on him.
Hop on him like so? Sit on him.
Sit on his front.
Sit on his front? Yeah, just sit on him.
Which way? Sit on him.
That's it.
Watch his head doesn't come up 'cause you'll lose your ghoulies.
I got plans for the ghoulies.
Okay, so don't let that go, whatever you do.
Don't let what go? This go? That one.
That's it.
All right, just take a deep breath.
Hold on.
A quick word about the harpoon Since I'm looking at it right now.
Just under the skin.
Didn't go into the meat.
No, it just goes in under the skin.
The hooks are only Well, you'll see it when you get at them.
And you can catch hundreds and hundreds And hundreds of these guys.
What we're gonna do is cover his eyes 'cause once their eyes are covered, They'll tend to quieten down.
You just go in Just sort of pull the skin up so the hook comes out.
Mm-hmm.
Done.
Not even a drop of blood.
Let me have a look at this.
No blood.
Are we gonna eat it? It's important to know that now.
Are we gonna eat it? Yeah.
No.
No.
Okay.
What we're gonna do now, We're gonna give you a little bit of a training run, Mike.
So, your goal is put this in the water somewhere.
I'll show you the harpoon in a second.
And the object is to try and hit him in the neck.
Just bring your pole up if you can, Mike.
Just get comfortable With my pole? With your pole, yeah.
Right-handed? Left-handed? Either way.
So, you guys stand up here when this happens? I got to figure that's his head looking at me right now, right? That pointy part is actually his nose.
That's the front of his nose.
So, he's looking the other way as we're coming up on him.
Ah, I see.
So, I want to hit him right in the meaty part of the neck.
Yeah, toward the back of his head.
That's it.
Ready, set, go.
Now! Oh [bleep.]
Okay.
Not as easy as it looks.
No, that was I don't think I made that look easy, to be honest.
You hesitate, and the croc goes past you, And your whole opportunity is lost.
Styrofoam ball.
Man: Yeah, that should have been there.
Okay, let's try on a styrofoam ball.
Hit it hard as you can now.
Power.
Yeah.
Go.
Whack! Like so.
You can let go of the rope, though.
I can let go of the rope? Manolis: When you whacked it.
I just think it's impressive that I got the ball.
Let go of that rope.
Oh, geez! You're right, once you go by him, you're by him.
Once you're by him, don't even bother.
I'll be standing here behind you.
We'll be coming in about this fast? Coming through like this.
I'll be keeping it on his head, And you'll be going Bang! Whaa! That's it.
I'm still I'm just not You're not hitting him dead-on.
So, I've had enough practice to prove that if I get one, It'll just be blind luck.
But I've relied on blind luck most of my career, charlie.
As the sun sets on the Adelaide river, There's not much to do but wait for the crocs to stir.
We ready the crew And assemble some blinding spotlights and wait.
Even the gator in the boat is becoming anxious.
Manolis: You all right? Getting dressed.
Man: What'd you do to it? Make sure it worked.
But the crocs aren't the only things that come out at night.
Covered absolutely covered with mosquitos.
Just covered.
Covered.
There's one right there.
Look at that.
Look at the eyes jumping right out.
Right at us.
He's just been sitting.
So, these two guys have probably been sitting there The whole time while we've been waffling on about mosquitos.
Mm-hmm.
Really see the eyes on that one.
Got to get right behind the light if you can.
Good grief, they are out in force.
Can you see its eyes? There you go, right there.
Oh.
Manolis: That's okay.
Just come in slowly.
Look at that.
Those eyes are red.
He's going under.
Uh-oh.
[bleep.]
I think we've got a boat problem.
[ engine sputtering .]
I think there's a problem with the engine.
So, with one boat dead in the water, We make a very simple plan.
John, charlie and I, along with the camera gear, Will all go onto the working boat.
How do we fit the entire crew And all the gear onto two boats? Well, we don't, which means That we'll just have to leave a few of our folks behind.
True, they'll have no working engine, And yes, there are hungry crocs everywhere, But they should be fine As long a they remain perfectly still in the inky blackness And don't attract any attention or do anything silly Like, I don't know, start a fire.
Whoa.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
What do you got? You got something lit.
Batteries.
Huh.
Well, there's a fire on the boat.
Things go very bad very quickly out on a river.
In just a couple of seconds, that engine went down, And then there's a small fire over here.
Is it out? That leak was The lead melted off.
Yeah.
Woman: The big one wouldn't do it.
Seems fairly close to the Gas tank.
Seems like they have the fire under control, So we did the only responsible thing And packed up the boat and said farewell to the stranded crew And headed out into the dark to find some man-eating dinosaurs.
Coming up All right, let's try another one.
[ indistinct shouting .]
We're surrounded.
It's a good try.
Only took us six hours cruising around in the dark.
We lost a boat.
We had to transfer all the gear.
Oh, infrared's not flattering at all.
Makes us all look like ghouls.
The tide is low on the adelaide river.
We only have two hours to find ourselves a croc.
Right there, ash.
Seems to be coming at us.
Lucky for us, the crocs are everywhere.
Manolis: This guy's gonna let you get up right close.
Gonna come right up next to him.
Have you got something on the end? Yeah.
Okay.
I'll check.
Just let the pole go.
Let the pole go? Got a camera on there, right? See if you got something on the back of that.
Whole lot of nothing.
Thought I did.
I didn't.
They're both going under.
We just saw three, but they all went down.
Maybe back up in there pretty far.
We're following this.
Back of the neck.
Too small? No, no, no.
Ah! Oh! Sorry.
That's okay.
I ran out of slack.
That's all right.
Man: You got to watch Got him? Nah, didn't get him.
Got him on the head.
It's too small.
You can tell that he was small, But he might have been 5 foot, could have been 6 foot.
Get him if you want to.
Where is he? Oh, right there.
Son of a gun! Got him on the side of the head.
I got him on the side of the head.
It still didn't stick in.
He went up into the bushes? Yep.
Just wait for him to come down.
Just come out.
He's going.
He's going.
I think you might have You all right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's okay.
Let the line go.
All right, the line.
Watch your motor, john.
Just put that down there that way.
He's either coming toward us or he shook it.
Yeah, there he is.
There he is.
I don't know how well it went in, So we'll just play him real careful there, Mike.
We don't want to put too much pressure on him in case he's only Just snagged.
Well, in case it's just gone in Oh, oh, oh.
There you go.
Look.
Yeah.
You're right on the let it go.
Give him slack.
Give him slack.
Give him slack.
Give him slack.
I got him.
That's it.
Now, it's right on the nuchals, right? What's a nuchal? The scales on the back of the neck.
Is that good? No.
There's a chance that it's in, But it might not hold 'cause it's bone.
What we'll do is we'll just get him up, And richard can drive another one just for security.
And then we'll have two, And then we can check yours when we get him in.
Keep that light keep that light right in his eyes.
Keep it up, though.
Whoa.
Keep it on his over here.
Follow the line.
That's it.
There he is.
Oh.
Back over here.
Follow the line.
On that line.
Take us forward, ash.
There he is.
Got him right on this side.
[ sighs .]
Rowe: We still got him? Man: No, he came out.
Oh, he came out.
We lost the barb.
Ah! Oh, well.
Didn't hold.
That's good, though.
That's good.
This close.
This close we were.
You got him right there toward the front.
So, you either go just forward of that Uh-huh.
Or down to the side of it.
Yeah.
Anywhere under there.
Yep, yep, yep.
I got it.
That's his bone, so the There's not enough to grab ahold of him.
That's okay.
That was a good shot, though.
Thanks.
That's good.
All right, let's try another one.
The eerie glow of the croc's eyes Are because of a layer called "tapetum.
" It's right behind the retina.
It contains crystals that reflect the light And also makes it possible For the crocs to see better at night.
Oh! You hit him in the head again.
I felt it bounce right off the bone.
He's a good 10-footer.
Son of a gun! Might be a bit bigger.
Oh, don't rub it in, charles.
Would not want to swim this river at night.
Now the tide is rising, And we have yet to catch a croc 9 foot or bigger.
Time's running out.
Oh [bleep.]
I thought he was facing the other way! Crap.
Crap! Man: Yes! Watch your motor! Watch your motor! Manolis: Motor, motor, motor! Got him? Yeah.
Bring him in, Mike.
You can come in this way, Mike.
Oh, geez.
Give me that.
Let's have a look where it is.
Just slowly.
You got time.
Slowly bring him in.
Okay.
That's good.
Okay.
Okay, we just need a snout rope.
Rowe: Got a snout rope? Okay, need some light over here.
That's a rope.
I had one right here.
A snout rope.
All right.
Don't keep the don't have to keep him tight now.
All right.
Let's have a look.
Oho ho ho! You get him? Yeah, yeah.
Mike junior doesn't want to come up.
That's okay.
We got him now.
We got him? There, just relax now.
That's it.
Just release that.
Yep.
I got it.
He just looks pissed off.
I got him.
There.
Got the tape? Just secure it.
But watch out he doesn't turn on you.
Those teeth that are jabbing out.
That's it.
That's enough.
Yeah.
Yeah? That's enough? Yeah, yeah.
You sure about that? Yep.
It's a lovely little croc.
Thank you.
Okay.
6 nothing.
It's a good try, though.
Thanks.
Ah, it's good.
You got your first croc.
There you go.
Thanks.
You did well, Mike.
Well, you know, it's a piece of cake.
Only took us six hours cruising around in the dark.
We lost a boat.
We had to transfer all the gear.
So, we've got two.
Is that enough to do our work tomorrow? She's probably a bit small for what we really want, 'cause the scales here are a bit small for the transmitter.
What we might do, though, is we will measure her.
We're gonna give her a tag, a mark, And we'll know who she was.
Just put a Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I got the rope.
So, we're gonna let her go? So Now, the easy part was catching her.
Like this? Yeah.
[bleep.]
sorry.
Push her up.
Push her up there.
That's it.
Yeah, get her up.
Push her.
Slowly make our way.
We've done what we came out to do.
Hi, guys.
Rowe: Folks need any help? All right, so it's pretty simple at this point.
We made it back, by the way.
We towed the third boat in.
The croc stays in the boat overnight.
Tomorrow morning, we'll meet the croc at crocodylus With Brett and charlie.
I'm not totally clear on the details Beyond the fact that I'm going to bed now, And I will see you in the morning.
Coming up, a little internal medicine.
Oh, geez.
Ah, best not to look.
That's it.
Eh.
You're in.
That's it.
Good man.
Okay, I'm in.
Rowe: This is happening more and more to me.
Shave in the shower, I miss stuff, And then all day long, you know, You feel a little patch right there.
Can you see that right there? It's driving me crazy.
So Amber went out and got me a razor.
I missed a little bit right here, too, And all day long, you pick at it, you pick at it, You pick at it, you pick at it, you pick at it.
That's where I draw the line, man.
Amber shaving me? Not unless I shave her.
I can arrange that.
Back at crocodylus park, The boat from last night's hunt has been parked overnight.
Croc's still in the back of the boat.
Science will commence very soon.
So, at crocodylus park, The crocodile is in the exact same position As we left him last night.
He's alive and happy.
Don't know about happy, But she's certainly very much alive.
What we'll do is we'll untie her.
I'm gonna get you to grab the pointy end of the crocodile, And we'll just drag her straight out of here, Put her onto this stretcher.
Once we've got her on there, we can sedate her, Get her nice and quiet, And then we can get organized to do what we want to do.
And what that is that we want to do Is make this croc vomit So we can study what it's been eating.
So, what we'll do You work your way down there.
That's it.
Now you're gonna line the tail right up.
What have we got? 9 foot.
Oh, you're going that one.
9 foot, 3 inches.
That's a nice-sized animal.
This is an immobilizing agent.
We don't want her, while we've got her Trying to get her stomach contents out, struggling.
We don't want her hurting herself.
We don't want her hurting any of us.
That's more important.
I'd even put it in a whole different order, but All right.
Start right here.
It'll be tough skin.
That's it.
Push that in.
Bit of muscle.
That's it.
That's all you need.
[ crocodile hisses .]
See? Oop.
That's it.
Come on.
Come on.
It's all right.
Relax.
Shh.
Relax.
We're going to put her on this little frame right here, Mike, And what we'll do is we'll maneuver her up and down.
We'll get her head up So that we can put some water down into her throat Just to give bit of fluid in there So that we can pull the gut pump.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
The sedative really seems to have kicked in.
[ chuckles .]
Just let her calm down a bit.
That's what we don't want her struggling while we Not while she's up doing the teeter-totter.
They'll eat just about anything Rats swimming across the river, pigs, snakes.
Anything that they can essentially grab.
But there is very little hardly any published information On the diet of these larger saltwater crocodiles.
So what we'll get out of this one, hopefully, will be good.
We just got to suck it and see a little bit with this one.
Suck it and see? I keep forgetting.
That's not an amErican expression, is it? It is.
I just don't think it means what you think it means.
Not to belabor the point, But what does "suck it and see" mean down here? "let's try it out and see what happens.
" Give it a go.
Am I getting that right? It's getting worse, isn't it? You know what? It actually translates in a very similar fashion.
Yeah.
Suck it and see.
The type should be in that orange "are we gonna get together again?" "suck it and see.
" "do you think there's a future in this relationship?" "suck it and see.
" "you think 'Dirty Jobs' will get picked up for another season?" "suck it and see.
" Okay.
Let's get you down the pointy end here, Mike, all right? The idea here is that we've got to get her mouth open.
Mm-hmm.
You know what's gonna happen? You're gonna put this in her mouth, And then you're gonna reach through this, aren't you? Uh, one of us is going to.
I'd have gone with "suck it and see.
" Since everybody seemed reasonably confident That the croc was finally immobilized, We went ahead and freed her up So that we could put this high-tech dental ring Into place.
Try and open her mouth, And we're gonna slip this in at the end.
Manolis: That's it.
Come on.
The ring is a large piece of pvc pipe, And, of course, when dealing with deadly crocs, A little duct tape never hurts either.
Put a strip right across.
That's it.
That's it.
There.
It's just a [ croc gurgling .]
oh, she's making a noise.
That's it.
Well, sure.
Now you can have a good look.
See the look at that.
Can I touch a tooth? Yeah.
You can.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, they're sharp.
But it's really these big teeth.
Yeah, that's the business.
These are the business end that really hang onto stuff.
And the back ones do a bit of crunching Once they've got the prey.
Excellent.
So, let's try her up on the what's-her-name.
Oh, you got the heavy end.
As always.
Just position her that's it Just to get started.
And so we're gonna tilt her head up.
We're gonna get this tube down into the stomach, Put a little bit of water in there, And then once we've done that, we'll then grab our scoop, Tilt her back up this way with a bucket underneath And try and scoop some of that food out And just see what she's been eating.
What's in here? Oil.
Just oil.
Just to lubricate this a little bit, And also when we do the tube.
That's it.
Excellent.
That's enough? Keep going.
All the tube, yeah.
No, yeah, no.
You want to lube this up.
Don't skimp on the lube.
You can skimp on virtually anything, But don't skimp on the lube.
Let's try the, uh It's amazing how much each end looks like the other.
You got him in? Yeah.
Now go in that way.
Yeah, you all right? Yep.
Excellent.
Shh.
Ah, beautiful.
The stomach's just a little like a bag.
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't have different chambers like other animals.
Okay, how far have you gone? About that far.
I think we're in it now.
You're about in it? A little bit of water.
So you're saying right now the tube is Tube's probably around here, Which means it'll be in the stomach.
So, the fluid, the water, just helps to get it all mixed up So that we can, you know, bring it out.
Just a little bit of water.
Just slowly pour that in.
That's it.
Just slowly.
That's it.
The answer after the break.
But let's face it if they're hungry, They'll eat fish and snakes and toads, too.
All right, so, this goes in oriented like this? Yep.
Back through the throat there, and you'll As you go through Mm-hmm.
You're probably gonna get pretty close.
A little bit of resistance there.
Am I in? There we go.
Okay.
So, you're now in the stomach.
Now, what we're gonna do she's a mature female.
I suspect that she's probably nested this year, And often usually when they nest, they don't feed.
They'll sit for three months.
Ah, so she may have.
She'll have something.
She'll have rocks or she'll still have bits in there.
So, ready, boys? We're gonna tilt her up so that she's Gravity's gonna help us here.
All right? Yep.
Okay, Mike.
Yep.
There it goes.
Now you want me to pull forward? Yeah.
You guys all right? Mm-hmm.
Oops.
That's it, yeah.
Not much in there.
Not much in there.
You getting anything out? No, just a little bit of Mucus? Mucus and stuff.
Should get a bit of water come through, though.
Might have to try the bigger scoop, charles.
This is the bigger scoop Also known in golf as a driver.
She's just gonna twitch a little bit, so just careful.
Hey, hey, come on.
There you go.
You in? Yeah.
Okay.
Ready? I'd say she's empty.
She's empty.
I'd say she's pretty empty, too.
Just scoop a little bit Ah, mucus.
I would say as I said, she's probably a nesting female.
Probably hasn't eaten in a few months.
Well, we didn't get anything out.
Maybe we'll have better luck putting something in.
This white rock is actually a digital logger.
It'll sit in the croc's belly And transmit movement, temperature, Other information back to charlie for study.
There's only one way to get it into the belly, of course.
[ laughs .]
Okay, this just goes against everything that Just go gentle.
That's it.
Just gentle.
Going through okay? Yes.
Good.
Oh, geez.
Ah, best not to look.
Are you kidding me? You're doing good.
That's as far as I can go.
That's okay.
You think you're in the stomach? Can you feel anything in there? I think so.
Okay.
I got a lot of Well, let me I'm gonna Did you feel that second Sphincter? Yeah? Yeah.
I'm pushing.
It's on the end of my fingertips now, and I'm pushing it.
I'm pushing.
Okay.
Shove it forward a bit.
Well, there's the matter of the teeth.
Just go straight.
Move there this way a little bit.
Just That's it.
That's it.
That's better.
Good.
Ah.
That's it.
Ah! You're in.
That's it.
Good man.
Okay, I'm in.
I'm in.
Okay.
Feel anything else in there? No.
She's empty.
No, she's empty.
Let your logger go.
Yep.
And then out you come.
Ah.
That's it.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Good man.
Good.
Excellent.
Good.
Whoo! [ laughs .]
Empty-ish.
Yeah, she's empty.
The scoop would have had bits of insect, Something on it had she eaten.
I've been in many holes.
That's a new one.
Now comes the part where we do everything in reverse Remove the tape, piping, and secure the croc For its return to the adelaide river.
Charlie and his crew will tag her So they can find her easily in the next trip.
And as scary as all this seems, We manage to do it without spilling a drop of blood.
Just an additional tag that we're gonna put on That will sit like that.
It won't stay there forever, But at least over the next sort of couple months.
That seems much more [bleep.]
[bleep.]
[bleep.]
Eww, you cut through your nail, doctor.
[bleep.]
Oh! Okay, so maybe we did spill a little bit of blood.
It's okay.
Here, ash, just punch a hole through there Without stabbing yourself, and we'll put that in.
Just a little hole.
Yeah, that's it.
Just to give you enough to now you can just put it through.
Ash: You okay, charlie? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Rowe: Yeah, sure, fine.
That's it.
Done.
You all right? Yeah, it's fine.
I just saw it slide under the nail there, And it made me go, "ew.
" Now we just want to get her back into the boat.
That's it.
Pull her through.
That's it.
Done.
Excellent.
Excellent.
It's all come together.
So, what happens now Is you're gonna take this back to where we We'll take her back to the river, Put a transmitter on the back of her neck.
Yep.
And then we'll just see where she goes.
I'd say she's a female.
She'll have a little area that she stays in all year.
She just waits for the boys to come to her, Where she nests, where she lives.
Well, typically what these shows do, you know We follow you back, and we watch the majestic reptile Swim back into its natural environment To pursue a life of reptile fulfillment, But we know that's gonna happen.
We've seen it 1,000 times.
So we're just gonna let you do it.
Excellent.
But not until I thank you sincerely For your time and your goodwill.
It was great fun.
Brett, come here, man.
You're something else.
Thank you.
With all the grandeur and mystery That Australia has to offer, I am a bit disappointed I didn't find anything in the croc's stomach.
I know not everybody can eat like Eric, But I was hoping to find part of a kangaroo or something.
At least I got a great hat out of the gig.
Manolis: You've been a great help.
Thank you.
I think you've learned something, too.
I have.
I've learned never to say goodbye While sitting on a gearshift.