>> [Guitar plays] >> [Laughs] So this is a little American alligator, it's not a crocodile.

Okay, here we go.

Here's a couple more.

In fact, one of them just flew.

Port Royal Sound is a marriage of ocean and land, a relationship created by a combination of rising sea level, extremely high tides, and unique geology.

This ecosystem was created when rising sea levels submerged valleys along the coast.

The result is Port Royal Sound, a marine habitat that extends inland for over 20 miles.

Since our tides average 8 1/2 feet and we get minimal fresh water inflow, our salinity is influenced by tidal waters from the ocean, not fresh water from the uplands.

Massive oyster rakes colonize our flats.

These shellfish reefs filter our waters and provide a safe place for marine creatures to feed and hide.

Spartina grass is the basis for our marine food web.

As the grass decays, the waters become turbid with detritus, giving the smallest marine organisms a rich source of nutrients.

These plankton provide plenty of food for crabs, shrimp, and a high diversity of fish species.

Join us as we explore Port Royal Sound, one of North America's overlooked ecological jewels.

Port Royal Sound is home to an incredible diversity of bird species, but the oystercatcher has to be about the most charismatic of all.

Their bright-orange bills, their black and white dapper coloration, and their comical movements make them favorites for most naturalists.

We've got a real treat today.

We have got Dr. Al Segars with us.

And Al has agreed to let us participate in an oystercatcher survey.

So, Al, why do we want to study oystercatchers?

>> Well, Tony, you said they're great birds, and studies have shown us the population has really crashed -- about 90% population decline.

So we're working with actually a crew in a plane, and they're actually spotting these birds from the plane, 'cause they can cover a lot more ground.

They can do the whole state.

We're basically gonna verify and ground-truth what they're seeing in the air.

So, amazing birds, really struggling in terms of habitat.

And so we're gonna go see what we can find today.

>> Sounds great.

>> Good.

>> Let's go.

Al, here are some dolphins.

>> Yeah, I'm glad you said dolphins and not porpoises, Tony.

There's kind of a misconception.

We have bottlenose dolphins here in South Carolina.

Amazing animals.

You know, very often they'll trail along behind a boat.

Some of these guys might actually be looking for handouts.

One of the problems we have is dolphin feeding.

And, again, that's kind of a dangerous place for them to be -- around a boat propeller.

And we're seeing more and more boat strikes.

So, certainly, we want to discourage -- not only discourage, but it's illegal to feed these animals.

And people often wonder why.

And then it puts them in the most dangerous place in the world.

And we're seeing more boat strikes as people, out of ignorance more so than intent, feed these animals.

>> Yeah, people think they're doing the animals a favor, when in reality, they're hurting them.

>> Oh, yeah, they're just training them to come to the most dangerous place in their life.

But amazing animals, and, again, they're very curious.

>> Al, we've got what looks like a pair of oystercatchers right here.

So how do you want to do this?

>> Well, we don't want to spook them, so we're gonna come aground a little further up.

>> So we're gonna sneak up behind them.

>> We're gonna sneak up.

Stay far enough away where we really don't disturb the birds.

They're very tolerant, but you can get too close.

So we're going to err on the side of caution, yeah.

>> Okay, we found a nice pair of birds.

First question I have, why are they paired up at this point?

>> They're territorial.

So when they set up their nesting range, as they're just starting to do now, they're gonna stake out some turf and defend it against other oystercatchers.

>> So this is a male and a female, and they've picked their spot.

>> Two adult birds.

Look through the scope, and you can see that bright-orange bill.

And it's really unique in the adult birds.

And they reach breeding age probably four to five years of age.

The young birds actually have darkish tips to their bill, kind of a gray charcoal color on the distal kind of tip of their bill.

So these are definitely two adult birds, again, getting ready to set up breeding territory for nesting this summer.

And it's not really their favorite habitat.

Normally, they like to nest on the beach.

But there's another species that likes to go to the beach, too -- us.

And so they really lost a lot of their natural nesting habitat, which is one of the reasons their population is in decline.

So they come up on shell rakes like this and are prone to overwash.

>> Especially at high tide, there's not a lot of real estate here, is there?

>> Oh, no.

So if you get a great big high tide on a full moon, it's a windy day, a big boat comes by, washes the nest away.

So we've really impacted these birds by taking their nesting habitat away.

>> So what is the nest gonna look like?

First of all, when are these guys gonna build their nest, and what is it gonna look like?

>> They aren't very good home builders.

They just kind of scrape out a little depression in the shell and will lay their eggs in there.

And they pretty much guard it.

They stay with it.

One bird will go feed, take turns guarding the nest.

But there's no real structure.

It's really more just a scrape than a nest.

>> And, of course, there's a lot of predators that eat oystercatchers.

>> Yeah, minks, raccoons certainly on the beaches where they nest.

Dogs, feral cats.

We've impacted them in lots of ways as far as the habitat, especially with their nesting.

[Bird chirping] >> So, obviously, these guys eat oysters.

How do they do it?

>> Amazing.

You and I have stabbed ourself in the hand with an oyster knife more times than you want to tell people.

But these guys actually, when the oyster is cracked, it's partially out of the water, these birds walk, stick their bill down, cut the abductor muscle that closes the shell before the oyster can close.

That's pretty slick.

>> That's pretty quick.

>> And the learning curve needs to be fast.

So you've gotta learn how to do it.

I actually had the chance to watch a pair of adults teach a chick how to feed.

And they would go over, and they'd go in, cut the muscle, pull the oyster out, hold their oyster up and shake it, and make the chicks run over.

Then they stick the oyster back in the shell and make the chicks take it out of the shell -- over and over and over again.

So just a miracle of nature how all this works.

>> I notice there's a couple other birds around.

It looks like there's some Ruddy Turnstones.

Kind of mucking around and turning over little pieces of oyster and such.

>> Here's some more coming.

[Birds Chirping] Here are two birds flying in now.

You can hear them talking.

So as the tide comes in, Tony, and the oysters go underwater, there's nothing for them to eat.

So they're going to use this as a rest area.

So not only are these shell rakes important from a nesting standpoint, but this is where they're gonna come rest between tide cycles.

Again, they eat oysters.

When the oysters are underwater, they can't get to them.

So this is kind of a lounge between low tides.

>> So what's going on here?

>> Yeah, I think we're having a little turf war here.

We've had some -- a pair of birds that are trying to set up shop here, and these other birds have come in on them.

So they're having a little territorial display.

>> Coastal real estate is pretty important here.

>> And it gets more expensive every day, it really does.

>> Well, I tell you, there are so many charismatic things to these.

They're beautifully colored, they have great voices, they're very interactive.

They're fun to watch.

>> If you had to love a bird, this would be one at the top of the list, 'cause they're great birds.

Really great birds.

>> The conditions are perfect today.

It's overcast, it is steamy.

I mean, it's sticky out here.

And most importantly, it rained last night.

And that means it's a good time to look for one of the only reptiles that spends its entire life in and around the salt marsh.

So what I thought we'd do is just kind of look around and see what we can find.

[Thunder rumbles] Okay, we got into a little bit of a rainstorm, but that's made it even more humid, and we walked right up on this little female.

And she is -- I can't tell if she's already nested and she's heading back into the marsh or if she maybe is heading someplace to nest.

This is a diamondback terrapin.

Adult female -- I can tell by size.

And also it's got a huge head.

Females get a much bigger head than the males.

And females eat different foods.

They eat things like periwinkle snails and bigger crabs.

Whereas the males, with the smaller bodies and smaller heads, have to eat smaller things.

Beautiful diamond sort of pattern.

Now, these are extremely variable.

They can be kind of dull green or they can be very ornately patterned.

This is one that, I would say, it a little bit more dull than most.

But I'm gonna -- looks like I've caused her to make a little bit of a detour.

But maybe she's already nested and she's heading back into the marsh.

There's sea oxeye daisy behind us and the marsh is just around the corner.

Okay, here's another one.

This one... You know, this one is headed away from the marsh.

I'm gonna pull her out just so we can see her.

Oh, much prettier turtle, too.

This is another big female.

And this one is moving, actually, in the opposite direction as the other one.

This is moving out of the marsh, so I bet it's going up in here to nest.

They like sunny spots, kind of open, grassy areas, but usually on the edge of -- close to the marsh, but usually on the edge of a thicket like this.

Boy, they are neat animals.

And this is about as big as they get.

It's important to realize that this same female has been nesting in this same area for decades.

These guys have a tendency to stay in one general area.

And it's crossed roads, it's avoided raccoons and other predators.

We know for a fact that this species can live 50 or 60 year, and maybe more than that.

Just an incredible, incredible animal.

So this female's gonna lay eggs here.

The eggs are gonna hatch in about two months or so -- actually, probably 70 days or so.

But then the babies are gonna overwinter in the nest.

They're gonna stay in that nest until next spring.

And so the little babies don't emerge until after they go through an entire winter underground.

When they start out, they are little guys -- little, tiny things.

And it takes them probably 15 years or more to reach adult size.

It's not that often that you get to see turtles like this.

There are obviously a bunch moving today.

We timed it perfectly.

But I'll tell you what.

Let's take a look at where these animals spend most of their lives.

Here in the salt marsh.

They go in and out with the tides.

There's plenty of small crabs and periwinkle snails and things to eat.

This is a great place for a terrapin to live.

But let's go see if we can catch one.

So what we've gotta do first is look for heads.

So terrapins will stick just their little heads up out of the water.

Then we're gonna take this cast net and we're gonna throw it -- well, the turtle will probably go down before we get there.

But even if it does, we'll throw the cast net and see if we can catch it.

Yeah, I think I see one.

That landed right on top of where he was.

But let's see if he moved.

Yep, we got one.

Yep, a little male.

So this is a much smaller male terrapin.

And also look how small the head is.

Very tiny head.

Kind of a not as tall turtle as the females, as well.

And they just don't get nearly as big.

This is a full-size adult male.

You see where it gets its name, from these beautiful sort of diamond patterns.

One of the other things to look at is look at these big paddles for back feet.

These guys are aquatic.

They spend a majority of their lives in the water, in salt water or brackish water, and they have to swim in and out with the tides every day.

So they've got to have some pretty strong legs and some pretty good paddles to move themselves through the water.

Now, since this is one of our study sites, we want to get some information from this animal.

So I'm gonna give him a little dip in the water, get him good and wet.

And the first thing I want to do is measure him.

So... the carapace length -- and the carapace is the top part of the shell.

I'm just gonna take a quick measurement.

And it looks like he's 13.1.

So 131 millimeters.

Just let me jot those down.

And then what we want to do is we want to be able to individually mark this animal.

We want to know who it is.

So the way we mark turtles is we give each one of them an alphabet code.

And this one is supposed to be ABJ.

So each one of these scutes represents a letter of the alphabet.

A-B-C-D -- all the way around.

So the way to do that is to use a file.

Okay, this will leave -- this won't hurt the turtle, but it will leave a permanent mark so I know who it is next time I catch it.

'Cause I think there's a good chance that we'll catch this terrapin again.

Terrapins are not here in the numbers that they once were, so we need to learn all we possibly can about them so we can do the best job of taking care of them.

About this time of year, a lot of boats show up in the Broad River.

And they're after one of the most exciting fish that occurs anywhere, and that's the cobia.

Our deep saline waters are an ideal place for cobia to spawn.

So we are going to take an adventure today with Captain Christopher Mattson of Mattson Charter Services.

And Chris is gonna take us on an adventure to catch a cobia.

>> We're gonna try, Tony.

>> So how are we gonna do this, Chris?

>> Well, Tony, we've just got set up.

We've got our anchor down, we've got the chum bag on the bottom, we've got our rods out.

Soon, we're going to start trying to catch a little more bait, try to catch some greenies or whatever else might be around.

There's a small strip of live bottom, and that's pretty much the only live bottom that we have here is these little breaks from the current, and that's where these fish will migrate.

>> This is really exciting.

Cobia are neat fish, and I hope we get a chance to see one.

>> Absolutely.

Me, too.

>> I'm using something called a sabiki rig, and we're trying to catch what are called greenies -- threadfin herring.

And they're down in deep water like this, and they're excellent bait for cobia.

So what I'm doing is just kind of jigging this sabiki rig off the bottom and seeing if I can can get something.

This can be a really, really productive way to catch bait.

Yep.

Looks like three on this one.

Excellent.

And maybe these will catch a cobia for us.

All right, we got something.

He's going under the boat.

[Reel ticking] >> What is it, Tony?

>> It came up to the surface.

It looked like it might have been a cobia, but I'm... Ha!

Oh, man!

Nice pull there.

Oh, it is a cobia.

Oh, beautiful.

>> Easy on him now.

>> What a great looking animal this is.

All right, Chris, I'm going to see if I can get him up a little bit closer.

Every time we get him close, he just kind of makes a run for it.

>> One shake of the head can pop everything loose.

>> Boy, this fish does not seem to tire out very quickly.

And there's a lot of current here, and he's still... >> There you go.

Ease the tension off.

>> Get this rod out of the way.

>> Beautiful fish.

>> It really is.

So how big do these fish have to be?

We're gonna let this one go, but how big do these have to be so that you can keep them?

>> Tony, they've got to be 33 inches to the fork.

>> Right.

>> And the fork of the tail is right here.

>> One of the things we're gonna do is get a DNA sample from this fish, so I'm gonna cut a little bit of a clip off the anal fin.

And we can take this sample to Waddell Mariculture Center, and they can tell us a little about where this fish came from.

Could be this fish was actually spawned at Waddell Mariculture Center and released into these waters.

Or it could be it came from somewhere else.

Because one of the things we want to do is learn all we can about these fish so that we can protect them for the future.

Right, Chris?

>> That's right.

>> We want to catch these for years to come, don't we?

>> Absolutely.

Let's dunk this one back in the water for a second, Tony, and then go over a few more points about that.

>> So let's take a quick look at this fish.

And a couple things you notice.

One is they have a row of spines that are right here that are just absolutely impressive.

And you see they're very much like nails.

Chris, show them the spines.

That's the spines you gotta worry about.

And I didn't even realize those existed until Chris pushed on that.

That is unbelievable!

I mean... >> Yeah, Tony, they are full metal.

I mean, just solid bone.

Feel 'em.

>> Razor -- razor sharp.

>> And you can only go up to 90 degrees, then they lock into place.

>> That's just incredible.

Now, they're built like a torpedo, aren't they?

They're fast and they're muscular.

>> They are.

>> So these fish come here to spawn, right?

>> That's correct.

>> And our conditions are perfect.

There's great food -- things like crabs that they need for egg production, and lots of fish.

There's threadfin herring.

>> Menhaden.

I get a lot of sea robins.

They eat a lot of sea robins.

>> This animal epitomizes Port Royal Sound to me.

I mean, it comes here, this is a very special place because it's so deep and because the water is so salty here.

It just -- this is the animal that epitomizes what Port Royal Sound is all about.

>> Absolutely.

Right now, we're 12 miles inshore, and that is just unheard of for cobia.

>> Okay, well, we don't want to hurt this fish.

We want to release it.

>> Absolutely.

>> So let's get it back in and let it go.

>> When you're resuscitating them, you like to have them in the water with their face facing into the current.

And you don't let them go until they start to fight you.

>> So we want to make sure we revive this one, make sure it's ready to go and -- >> [Chris laughs] It's especially important when you're releasing tarpon as well, Tony, that you resuscitate them to the point where they're actually fighting to get out of your hand.

>> Good.

Yeah, we want this fish to do well.

>> Starting to fight a little bit.

Oh, yeah, she's about ready.

She'll drop down.

>> All right, good deal.

>> Yeah, there.

>> I'm not sure, there's definitely something on it.

I'm not sure -- oh!

There we go!

>> What do you have there, Tony?

>> I can't tell.

This feels good, whatever it is.

>> It's about to come up to the surface.

>> Oh!

>> There you go!

>> This is a nice fish.

So it looks like this may take a while.

These are amazingly strong fish.

They pull hard.

They just are very, very impressive.

They're solid muscle.

And, of course, there's all the current here, too, which they use to their advantage.

But this is a nice big fish.

I think he's coming in a little bit closer, Chris.

Well, we're not there yet, are we?

Oh!

Boy, that was a good run.

Just dove straight down.

>> Yeah, this is far from over.

Just make sure you don't grab that line.

>> Okay.

This is a strong fish.

Oh, man.

>> Yeah.

>> Every time I feel like I'm getting this fish in, it runs about 20 yards of line out.

So...

I mean, I'm certainly no professional fisherman, but this is a strong fish.

Guys, I hate to be kind of a wimp -- ha ha -- but I'm gonna pass this off to the professional fisherman for a minute, and Chris is gonna see if he can make a little headway on this.

This is a big fish, and I'm kind of getting tired.

Okay, Chris.

>> You can feel on this line, Tony -- there she is!

Right here behind the boat, see her?

You can feel the abrasion of the line from having been pulled off so many times already.

>> So, Chris, don't make this look too easy.

Oh!

All right, I'm gonna switch with you.

>> That bottom lip.

Now close it.

Ready, one, two, three.

[Grunting] Okay, so...

This is a big, big fish, Chris.

So this is a big female.

And a female like this... >> She's 42.

>> And a female -- 42 pounds.

So this is a big cobia.

And it's still very, very green.

I mean, that was a long fight.

But this fish still has a lot of energy.

A big female like this can lay a million eggs.

She can spawn twice -- two million eggs in one year from a fish like this.

These fish can reach 15 pounds in a single year.

So they grow extremely quickly.

The other thing that's really important, Chris, these are our fish, right?

These are fish that moved from offshore to here -- east to west and west to east, and they're not coming north or south or anything like that.

They're our fish, move in every year.

>> Everybody thinks, "I'm gonna get this fish because the Florida guys are gonna get it or the Georgia guys are gonna get it," and it's not true.

You know, almost all these fish, their actual migration pattern is east to west.

>> And the big ones are females, right?

>> Most of the big ones are females.

They've got a little bit of a broader head, typically, and a lot more of a swollen abdomen.

We're gonna let this one go anyway.

>> This one could be full of eggs.

I'm gonna stand away from those spines.

Let's go ahead and get this one back in the water.

>> Absolutely.

We're gonna make sure we resuscitate her even though she's totally lively.

We want to make sure that she's 100%, or as close as we can get to 100% before we let her go.

>> She looks good.

>> She's definitely doing good.

>> Looks like she's coming right back.

>> I'm gonna let her go.

>> Just let her go whenever you're ready.

>> She's on her way.

Good job, Tony.

>> That was incredible.

>> Wonderful fight.

>> Thank you so much for letting us join you today.

>> Thank you for having me, Tony.

>> I'll tell you what -- Port Royal Sound is an amazing fishery, isn't it?

>> It really is.

Huge diversity of life.

>> These kids from Whale Branch Middle School are building their very own oyster rake.

They've bagged the oysters.

They're working with South Carolina DNR with the SCORE Program, and they're gonna place these bags out in the marsh and make an oyster reef.

This is Tyree Harris.

Tyree is a student at Whale Branch Middle School.

Tyree, you having a good time?

>> Yes.

>> So what do you think is gonna live here?

What kind of animals are gonna live in this reef?

>> I think all types of crabs, more fish, and worms.

And some larger fish to eat those fish.

>> That's right.

So this is kind of a nursery for animals that live in the open ocean, isn't it?

>> Yes.

>> So reefs like this are important for water quality, too, right?

>> Well, one oyster can filter up to two gallons of water per hour.

So that helps the water clarity.

>> Absolutely!

And you multiply that times the number of oysters that are out here, and we're talking about a lot of water filtering, right?

>> Yeah.

>> So what you're doing is important for the whole ecosystem, not just right here, and not just for your school.

Looks like they're just about finished putting these recycled oyster shells back in the marsh.

It won't be long until new oysters take root and this becomes a reef that is loaded with life.

Thanks for joining us on "Coastal Kingdom."