Ever wonder what it would be like to be stuck in a cramped box, all alone, in total darkness, scared by strange unknown sounds, and surrounded by some of the world's most dangerous animals? It sounds like most peoples nightmares, but for me it was an incredible experience and part of a National Geographic Channel expedition. Project Hippo, Close Encounter, had me inside an incredibly life like hippo decoy with the objective of crawling close enough to get a sweat sample from their big sweaty bodies. That's right hippo sweat sample!!
Hippo sweat is a hot topic in the scientific world, because scientists recently discovered that hippo sweat is a natural sun block as well as an antiseptic. Chemists and pharmaceutical companies are keen to unlock the secrets of this strange compound so that they might utilize it for human applications. The only problem...getting close enough to a hippo to acquire a sample. Hippos may look like big chubby, happy creatures, but do not be fooled. They are the second largest land animal on the planet, tipping the scales at over 3 tons, huge mouths armed with razor sharp tusks, and an extreme attitude. More people are killed by hippos in Africa than any other animal, so getting close enough to swap the sweat from their bodies was a serious undertaking, thus the hippo suit was born.
]]> A National Geographic Channel team of experts, including biologists, behavioral scientists, engineers, wildlife experts, and modelers, all joined forces to produce an incredibly life-like hippo decoy. A decoy that I would crawl inside and approach wild hippos in the country of Zambia, trying to get close enough t get that elusive sweat sample. It seemed like I spent more time inside that hippo suit than I did outside while in Zambia. At times I would spend over six hours at a time in costume, definitely not a picnic. It was stifling hot inside. I had very limited vision, so I was never really sure what was going on around me.I had to be very quiet and tried to remain calm while inside the hippo decoy, not always easy when surrounded by dangerous animals. I had close encounters with elephants, hyena, lions, crocodiles, and of course hippos. Much of my work took place at night in total darkness, which only heightened my stress level. My experiences inside the hippo decoy were incredibly rewarding as a scientist, yet at times also extremely scary.
It was exhilarating to be a part of nature, literally another animal on the savanna, observing natural behavior in these magnificent creatures. It is almost impossible for me to convey in words what it felt like to hear the high screamed yelps of hyenas all around me late at night moving in for the kill ( i was to be the kill), to feel the ground beneath my feet literally tremble as an angry elephant ran towards me, or experience the sights and sounds of an agitated 3 ton hippo as it lumbered ever closer to me. There are lots of scientists out there that study these animals, yet very few that actually get to experience what it feels like to be a "part" of nature, a element in the grand ecosystem in which they study. I did and am truly thankful, and have greasy old hippo sweat to thank for all of it!
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While working in Kruger National Park I knew that there would be many dangers to deal with on this expedition. Whenever I'm working in Africa I always have to remind myself to not simply get caught up in the majestic beauty, but also keep a sharp eye for the many dangers all about, like lions, elephants, buffalo, crocs. I'm always prepared for these dangers and my Nat Geo film crew takes every precaution when working in the field. We are all well versed in working around dangerous animals and have decades of experience between us, yet on this expedition we all found ourselves grossly out of our element and in one of the most dangerous situations that I can remember.
Our mission on this expedition was to capture a number of Nile crocodiles and attach satellite transmitters to them enabling scientists to monitor their movements. We were working in a very remote part of the park, in an area called the Olifants Gorge, a massive canyon cut out by the raging Olifants River. The good news was that the Olifants was filled with big crocodiles affording us lots of opportunities for captures, the bad news was that it was extremely difficult to get down the canyon walls to the rivers edge. There was only one place to enter the canyon, and that involved scaling a very steep bank down to the river, therefore we had to pack everything on our backs making the descent a perilous journey. Owing to the difficulties of the situation the only boat that would be able to utilize in this remote area was an inflatable....never ideal when capturing sharp toothed crocodiles! This was our only option making us all a little uneasy. Adding to our anxiety was the fact no one had EVER floated this section of the river in a rubber raft, and there was only one way in and one way out.
Once we pushed off we were stranded on the river until we exited the canyon many miles down stream. If something went wrong there could be no rescue, and to make matters worse, this section of the River wasn't a lazy slow moving stretch, but rather a frothing whitewater flume cutting through sheer rock walls on either side. Man, this was serious whitewater!! As we stood around I asked who among the crew had whitewater rafting experience, and all I heard were crickets chirping!!! No one had any experience, and these were dangerous rapids filled with crocs and hippos.
]]> To say that we were all a little uneasy is an understatement. Man you could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Nonetheless we piled into our small dingy and pushed off, letting the jaw like canyon walls quickly swallow us up. We hadn't been in the water a few minutes when the first set of rapids grabbed the boat and literally had its way with us, setting us into a dizzying power spin. We were out of control which was scary, but the situation became gravely dangerous when my producer yelled HIPPO! Directly in front of us was a mammoth of an angry hippo and we were whirly gigging right towards him. Everyone in the boat screamed as we desperately tried to back paddle against the swift current. Our efforts were futile and we were on top of the hippo in a flash. Thankfully this big boy submerged and let us pass. Hippos may be the most dangerous animal in Africa, especially when you invade their turf (like in a big rubber boat).Surviving the hippo was a relief but I quickly realized that we had many miles ahead of us, no way to turn back, and most likely hundreds if not thousands of hippos we would have to survive. We were all scared but had no choice except to continue. The float may be best described as a comedy of errors as five groan men frantically tried to learn the ins and outs of whitewater rafting while being thrown into life and death situations literally around every bend. Talk about trial by fire. Man, this was a suicide mission.
Over the next many hours we battled countless sets of raging toothy rapids that threatened to swallow our boat again and again. We floated over, into, through, and around more giant angry hippos than I care to remember, and at the end of each and every set of rapids were dozens of massive crocodiles lined up across the river with their mouths agape. The crocs seemed to be waiting for us to fall overboard in the rollercoaster rapids, a hippo to capsize us, or the boat to simply sink at the hands of so many neophytes, resulting in a quick and easy lunch. Yet, somehow, someway, unbelievably, the miracle of all miracles occurred, for we survived the gauntlet of death, and made it through the canyon arriving at our take out spot!
The stars were obviously aligned to allow five rafting rookies to navigate an inflatable raft through countless dangers and successfully log the first ever descent of the raging Olifants gorge in a rubber dinghy!! Its not a feat we plan on duplicating anytime soon, and we collectively decided that we would all retire from the rafting world with this single title under our belts!
p.s. we didn't catch a single croc that day.....
p.p.s the crocs didn't catch a single one of us that day
]]>Crocs are one of the oldest living reptiles whose ancestors existed during the days of the dinosaurs.
They are smarter than your average reptile, they have one of the most highly developed brain of the species.
It's eyes have a nictitating membrane made of a thin translucent tissue that is used as protection for their eyes when open underwater.
Talk about bite force! They constantly replace old teeth with new ones and some species may produce nearly 100 teeth during their lifetimes.
Hide and Seek - Crocodiles have sense organs on their skin and face that might enable them to detect food by distinguishing changes in pressure or electrical impulses when prey moves nearby in the water. Some crocodiles can hold their breath for an hour when they are fairly inactive.
Crocodiles can communicate using a variety of different calls.
Nothing is too rough for them to swallow, the crocodile's digestive system is highly acidic which allows it to digest bones and horns.
]]>Dangerous Encounters: Croc Crisis premieres this Saturday at 8p et/pt.
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Plunging to extreme ocean depths, braving frigid waters, and dodging razor sharp teeth, Brady Barr was on a quest to get close up to one of the worlds most mysterious, deep-sea sharks- the giant Sixgill. On his way, Brady takes a ride on an enormous Tiger Shark.
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Also available on iTunes.
]]>Dr. Brady Barr
National Geographic
Have you ever felt like you were in the belly of the beast? Well I sure have, and I actually got to experience it on a recent expedition to Tanzania. I'm a scientist whose research involves capturing wild crocodiles, a very dangerous pursuit not only for me but also for the crocs. Subduing crocodiles is extremely stressful to the animal, so I am always looking for alternatives to this "hands-on" approach. Not long ago I was speaking to a group of children and explaining to them what I do and one small boy raised his hand and said, "Dr. Brady why don't you dress up as a crocodile and just join their club?" I laughed and continued my lecture, yet couldn't shake this crazy idea form the back of my mind. Could it actually work? There was only one way to find out.
I had the engineers at National Geographic build me an incredibly life-like crocodile disguise, for my venture into the reptilian world. The "croc suit" consisted of a protective metal cage covered by a Kevlar shield, and topped off with a life like latex cape. It really looked like a croc - and it better because the plan was for me to wear the suit and crawl up to a group of basking wild crocs, close enough to attach a scientific device to their backs! This is a procedure that normally requires me to rope a croc and then wrestle it in into submission. This was a bold and scary experiment.
A few months later on a stifling hot African day, I found myself in the country of Tanzania with a fellow scientist, a bunch of big wild crocs, and of course the "croc suit". Today was the big day...deployment day. The temperature was well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, as I started to contort my body into the tight confines of the suit. The thermometer I had mounted inside the suit read 120 degrees; I might cook in this oven if this procedure took too long. My heart raced as I thought about the large number of dangerous crocs a short distance away, as well as the gauntlet of hippos (Africa's most dangerous animal) that I would have to navigate before I even got to the crocs. Once inside the suit a wave of claustrophobia and nausea gripped me. It was a very tight fit inside, and the apparatus was heavy at over 80 pounds. I was super nervous as the crew left me all alone, and I started my 60 meter crawl to the basking crocs.
]]> An immediate concern was that I could only see straight ahead, I had no idea what dangers might be approaching from behind me. I was in radio contact with my crew but that seemed like little comfort. As I approached the first croc my heart was pounding, my mouth was dry and my body tense, yet my senses seemed razor sharp, keener than they had ever been before. I held my breath and inched closer, not knowing what to expect. The crocodile was now directly in front of me and had its gaze transfixed on me. I had never seen a croc from this vantage point, and boy did it look big. Seeing it on their level, the animal was simply beautiful in an awe inspiring primeval way. Within arms length the big croc just stared back at me, then calmly closed its eyes. Wow, a huge sigh of relief escaped my body, because this was a sure sign that the animal was comfortable with my presence. It was simply amazing that I was within three feet of a wild unrestrained croc and that it was accepting me as another croc.I got caught up in the specialness of the moment, realizing that I was doing something that had never been done before, when suddenly I was jolted back to the seriousness of the task at hand. My cameraman radioed to me that there was a large croc moving towards me from behind. Once again my heart raced and I held my breath expecting the worst, all the while wondering if my little croc suit could withstand an attack from a half ton reptilian giant. The seconds seemed like an eternity as I waited for the big croc. I could now hear his heavy feet and lumbering body as he got closer.
The attack I feared never came; instead he saddled up beside me and lay down. He too was accepting me as just another croc. I definitely wanted to make history on this day, and not become history, so I quickly deployed my data logger onto the back of the croc in front of me and made a hasty retreat. As I crawled away I was lost in the euphoria of my successful experiment. On this day I literally became a crocodile, the animal I have dedicated my career to studying.
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