Original subtitles

Of all the ocean's mammals, seals have always had a unique relationship with

mankind.

Like an otter crossed with the most loyal dog, these endlessly playful

carnivores have almost no natural fear of people.

Sadly, for the Caribbean monk seal, hunters and pirates took advantage of

relationship, killing monk seals by the thousands for their meat and oil.

The last confirmed Caribbean monk seal sighting was in 1952.

But just as the pirates hid their treasures deep among the endless islands

this shark -infested Caribbean sea, I believe the extinct monk seal may have

found a way to survive, hidden from its greatest enemy, us.

Every single year, as many as 2 ,000 species are deemed extinct worldwide.

But the process we use to declare an animal extinct is an inexact science.

It happens all the time.

Animals are rediscovered that were thought to be gone forever.

My grandfather discovered a coelacanth 66 million years after it was supposed

be extinct.

I'm Forrest Galante. I'm a wildlife biologist, and my life work is searching

animals that we've given up on.

On this expedition, I'm venturing out to the most remote island of the

Caribbean, in search of the allegedly extinct monk seal.

This warm water seal was declared extinct in 1952, but local fishermen say

otherwise. Seal! Right here! Grab your camera! Don't grab the wheel!

Spending most of its time at sea, There he goes.

tracking a seal means surrounding ourselves with paradise's deadliest

Got me. Putting us directly between the prey and its greatest predator in one of

the most fine -tingling encounters of my life.

This is Extinct or Alive, the Caribbean monk seal.

I've just touched down in the Caribbean, one of my absolute favorite places on

Earth. Now, when most people think of the Caribbean, they think of the

But when I think of the Caribbean, I think of an incredible animal nicknamed

sea wolf, the Caribbean monk seal.

There are three species of monk seal.

Hawaiian, Mediterranean, and the currently extinct Caribbean.

But only the monk seal was native to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

At one time, they also spread well into the Atlantic Ocean.

and even the east coast of Central America, making their home on the low,

beaches of secluded islands.

They were very large, up to 8 feet long and 600 pounds, with the

big, rounded heads and wide -set eyes.

Delicious prey for all the toothy predators that prefer the shallow, warm

of the Caribbean.

Legendary man -eaters, including bull sharks, tiger sharks, and even

are abundant here, along with the smaller reef and lemon shark.

The shark's ability to intimidate poachers leads me to believe the

monk seal could be surviving undetected.

It was declared extinct in 2008.

But I'm on my way to meet with a man named David, an 85 -year -old Bahamian

fisherman who's been all over the Caribbean. And he tells me that not only

he believe that there are still monk seals here, but that he has seen one

after the animal was deemed extinct.

It was David's story that made me believe the monk seal may have survived

inspired this expedition.

Now I'm here on Grand Bahama, hoping he can help direct my search.

David? Yes, sir. Hello, my friend.

Very nice to meet you. Thank you for meeting me here today.

You've been living here a long time, huh?

And you've been a fisherman that whole time?

So tell me about when you saw the shield. What happened exactly?

You pulled up on your boat. It was sitting there.

And then you just saw it jump into the water and run away.

That may sound like a simple story, but consider this.

There are no other subtropical seals native to the Caribbean, other than the

extinct monk seal.

And few animals in these waters look remotely like it.

When was this that you saw this?

Maybe six years.

Six years ago? Wow, so very recently.

With a 20 -year lifespan, the seal David allegedly saw could still be alive.

Can you show me on the map where it was?

Way out here.

That's in the middle of the ocean.

I didn't know there were two little islands out there. Are they very small?

Oh, very small.

Is there anything else you know about seals? Have you ever heard anything

Threw it in the blue hole?

Here?

Oh, wow.

That was unexpected.

Blue holes are underwater limestone caves, originally formed by glacial

after the icing.

Essentially, sinkholes connected to the sea.

They're often found in the ocean.

But when they form inland, like the one David described,

they're perfectly still and optic. Dark waters could preserve a carcass.

Just left my meeting with David.

And as ridiculous as it seems, I am now in the center of an island looking for a

monk seal.

And out here somewhere, there's a sinkhole.

There's someone hid the body of a Caribbean monk seal that they killed.

whether or not that's true is really hard to say. But if we can find the

sinkhole and then find the bones, we can at least get those tested to see how

old they are and at least understand a little bit more about the species.

Where the sinkhole is is another question altogether.

What? Yeah.

I think I found it. Oh, you just found it. It's over here.

Where are you?

Oh, whoa.

Oh, my goodness.

David didn't say it was 50 feet down.

Good place to hide a field body.

You know how I'm going to get down. It's how I'm going to get up that I'm

worried about.

I do, actually.

Okay.

Now that Mitch has helped me secure a safe exit, I'm free to explore.

Here we go.

Unfortunately, I'm not on scuba. I don't even have my fins because I have to

climb out. I just have to hold my breath, dive down, kick with my feet,

with my little dive light and see what I find.

Fortunately, I'm an experienced freediver, allowing me to stay under for

five minutes.

The surface water is fresh, but as I dive down, it gets a lot saltier.

We can think that the blue hole is connected to the ocean somehow.

I think there's thousands of feet of tunnels those seals could get washed

Without fins, you can barely make it 50 feet, so keep looking.

The more I dive around, the more I begin to realize this is not just a singular

hole. There are massive tube -like tunnels running all the way out to the

from the center of the island here. So I have to periodically go around in a

circle, checking each one with the light.

And the light is giving me an incredible view that I may be the only person to

ever witness at this depth.

I'm not seeing any light, but the clear water is very revealing.

I found it.

I got super excited because I thought this was the Caribbean moon seal skull.

But as soon as I grabbed it, even before I got to the surface, I saw the molars,

I saw the cranial bridge, and I realized this is a pig skull.

Let's go find it real now.

The big blue hole is a butt.

But I'm eager to get out on the open sea to find those islands David told me

about.

We need to travel nearly 700 miles.

to try and locate two islands you could fit in a football stadium.

Plus, the warm, shallow waters that surround these islands are teeming with

sharks, and we're sure to draw their attention.

So I've reached out to my longtime friend Neil, who's not afraid of sharky

water. Neil!

Hey, good to see you, man. Yeah, man, good to see you too. Think we can make

that run?

I think we can get it. All right, let's do it. All right, man. Come on. Sweet!

The scope of this expedition means my crew and I are packing enough food,

water, and film equipment for several weeks at sea.

We're headed over 650 miles northeast, searching for two islands you won't find

on any map.

All right, guys, so here's the plan.

Neil has agreed to help us try and find these islands, right?

It's a big ocean out there.

And this field's range is over a million square miles and over 7 ,000 islands.

So we're out here now.

We've got to look for these two little islands way up here.

Once we get to that area, we have no exact marks. We have no exact Google

reference. So what we have to do is try and find the two islands. Being out in

such a remote area, anything that needs to take a break from swimming is going

to rest on those islands. Our first plan of attack.

Check those islands. We're going to walk them. We're going to look at them

through IR. Mitch, I'm going to rely on you heavily to fly the thermal drone,

right? That's important.

The thermal drone will allow us to detect any warm -blooded animals coming

ashore after dark.

I believe the monk seal population may have retreated to these remote islands,

using isolation and the incredibly dangerous surrounding waters to keep

at bay.

David's livelihood is fishing, so he can't give up precious weeks to join us.

But his story was the inspiration for this entire journey.

I know he believes what he saw was real.

But if I can't find these islands... I'll lose my only lead to the Caribbean

monkeys.

Coming up, look at how the grass is kind of all matted down here.

Look at this.

Isn't he lovely?

Hey, guys.

And later, we're going to look for the apex predator of the Caribbean.

We're cruising the Caribbean in search of two uncharted islands where a local

fisherman told me he's seen the extinct Caribbean monk seal.

See a lot of ocean.

Oh, yeah, look. Look right out on the horizon. There's a little, little patch

land. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right where he said they would be.

We can anchor up. Absolutely. I'm going to take the little boat and run over and

scout ahead. All right, thanks.

The shallow waters around these islands mean we can only get so close.

So I'm taking the much smaller tender, which will allow us to reach the shore.

This is all seagrass flats and patched reefs.

It's great habitat for tons of marine life. So being out here in this remote

area is the perfect place for a seal to live, if they're still around.

All right, here we go. Ready, Mark? Yep. Ready, Mitch? Yep.

Let's do it.

Seals spend most of their day at sea.

So my best hope right now is to find any signs of bedding down or hauling out.

Any matted down grasses or prints in the sand.

So we know where to look for a live specimen once it gets dark.

Oh, look at these guys over here.

Look at this.

There's a whole pile of southern stingrays right here.

Probably aggregating to mate or they could perhaps be feeding on something.

at them. Come here, buddy.

Look how beautiful they are. See, they're looking for food right now.

out hunting these shallows. Look at this.

Isn't he lovely?

Their pectoral fins almost look like underwater wings.

allowing them to move swiftly and kick up sediment as they look for food along

the seabed.

Now most people think these animals are aggressive because they have the name

stingray, but the truth is they're super friendly, super docile creatures.

The sting refers to a venomous barb on their tail, which is typically easy to

avoid, but not something you want to experience.

If you don't end up right on top of them, they don't feel threatened at all,

then they're completely harmless.

Just let them slide right over you.

Aren't they great?

Hey, guys!

All right.

I came here to find a seal.

See you guys.

This island is tiny, but I'm encouraged by how much life is thriving here.

Oh, look at these absolutely fantastic creatures. See them here?

These are upside -down jellyfish.

And they're called that because if you look at how they're sitting in the

their non -stinger part, the part that they use to swim and not catch food

is down on the ground. And their stingers, which are usually floating in

water, are up in the air.

And what these animals are doing is they're sitting here in this pool, and

they're filter feeding. And their tentacles just sit there in this very

current, and as micronutrients float through here, they collect them. They'll

grip onto any little living shrimp, any fish krill, and digest it with their

potent venom. They look like flowers sitting on the bottom, and they're a

jellyfish. They just hang out upside down in tidal mangroves. Beautiful,

beautiful sea creatures.

Unfortunately, I can see high tide reaches well into this island, which

likely wash away any tracks a seal would leave behind.

After an hour of scouting solo, I'm not finding any signs of the seal.

So we've gone full circle around the island, but there are no signs of any

here, unfortunately. So what we're going to do now is head over to the other

island.

My hopes are high as we approach island number two, traveling just under a mile.

Signs of the seal may have eluded us so far, but all the life we're seeing is

abundant and thriving.

This island is bigger, with more vegetation than the other.

There's plenty of prey, and enough healthy sharks to suggest a vibrant

ecosystem.

Look at this.

How lucky are we?

Have this incredible island, this perfect seal habitat that only a handful

people have ever stepped foot on.

Look at that. Look at all of those stunning cormorants sitting out on the

These large coastal birds can have wingspans of over three feet.

But they're not just for flying.

They're excellent divers with some reaching depths of nearly 150 feet to

fish.

And really, this shows just how remote we are. This is a magnet for life.

There is no way of knowing if anyone has ever set foot on this island, and the

cormorants clearly seem to prefer their distance.

Still no sign of a seal population, so I'm going to start working inland.

Look at this here.

See, there's no marks in the sand currently.

But you wouldn't expect that because the tide comes all the way up here. Look at

how the grass is kind of all matted down here. It almost seems as if something

would crawl out of the ocean, sit here in the cover of the grass, feel very

comfortable, watch out over its domain.

And by something, I obviously mean a monk seal. So I don't know that that's

this little bedded down area is from.

I mean, it could be sea turtles that come up here. It could be other things.

But what I do know is it's a perfect spot for a monk seal.

Just a very cool little spot. Interesting to see all this vegetation

down. Good signs of a big animal. No definitive signs of a monk seal yet.

David wasn't joking.

These islands are tiny.

At only a few hundred feet wide, it doesn't take me long to cover the rest.

And while I'm seeing the perfect environment, we're coming up short on

Just like that, back to our boat, and...

To be honest, no definitive signs of seals.

When we will find them is when the sun begins to go down, and if they're here,

they're going to haul out. Just like those cormorants, they're going to be

attracted to this area of rest.

So what we have to do now is go grab the rest of the crew, wait it out until the

sun starts to sink, and then go full stealth mode for our seal that's going

be hauling out.

Coming up.

Back up, back up. Oh, what the heck was that?

All right, boys, hold on.

I'm on a remote, uncharted island in the Caribbean, searching for an extinct

monk seal that hasn't been seen in over 65 years.

There's another point here, Mitch, so let me just scout it ahead.

I'm circling the island, following the shoreline to spot any signs of the seal

during this crucial period.

The last strip of beach to check, Mitch.

Alright, that's a full circle around the island.

See the guys around here.

Honestly, very disheartening.

Cruising out to an island in the middle of nowhere.

Just finding the island was an accomplishment.

But you'd think, there'd be something out here.

You know where that other island is?

Uh, yeah.

Yeah.

Do you think you can make it there with the thermal drone?

If you fly over and just search it with the thermal, we'll at least know if

there's a mammal on it or not.

As close as these islands are, it's low tide.

Too shallow for the boat to cross.

But if Mitch's drone can make it the whole way, the thermal imaging on the

camera will detect any large mammals with ease.

Oh, there we go. Yeah, we made it. Yeah.

Oh, wow.

See the trees? Yeah.

He's done it.

Mitch is now flying over the first island we searched. Stay on the beach.

How's your battery?

Uh, 60%. Okay.

So we'll have a ton of time.

Now, to see if the thermal picks up any mammals.

Oh, what the heck was that? Back up, back up, back up.

Stay on it, stay on it. It's gone, it's gone. It went back in the water.

Can you play it back? I didn't even see it properly.

Hold on, let me see if I can pull it up.

What the hell was that?

There's definitely something there.

Can you do another lap?

I don't have the battery for it.

Okay, now bring it back.

There was a large shape, slowly moving towards the shore, just as a seal would

come in for the night. I got it. But whatever it was, it took off when it saw

the drone.

And now that it's low tide, we can't get a boat over there for hours.

First thing in the morning, as soon as we can, as soon as the boat's able to

we've got to shoot over to our island to try and see what it was.

Now, my biggest challenge will be trying to sleep, knowing that a supposedly

extinct monk seal could be snoring right over there.

So last night we got an insane thermal signature on the other island, something

that I really wasn't expecting after seeing no seal signs here.

So we wanted to run over there straight away, but the boat was high and dry with

the low tide.

Fortunately, the tide's come up enough now that the boat's at least floating

again. So what we're going to do is jump on there, rush over to the second

island, and hope, just hope that by some miracle, that seal's still there.

All right, boys, here we go.

Hold on.

Coming up.

Neil, right here! What? Don't grab the wheel!

Out! Got me.

No more bites.

No more bites today.

I'm in the Caribbean, searching two uncharted islands for an allegedly

monk seal.

And last night, while sweeping one island on foot, the thermal drone

a large mammal on the other island.

The low tides made it impossible to cross at night.

So I've waited all night to finally gain access to the island and check on our

best lead yet.

What I'm looking for is any signs of a seal, specifically a slide mark. A seal

will haul out onto the beach. It'll drag its body up like that.

And then, you know, if it decides to turn, it'll use its flippers like that

dig, flip around, and head back into the water. So that's what I'm looking for.

Unfortunately, the fact that it's been nearly 10 hours since we got that heat

signature means that the tide has risen and fallen.

And the hardest thing in the world is to track on the beach near the tideline

because it washes everything away.

There are no slides in the direct vicinity of the sighting.

So I'm working my way outwards from the site, staying close to the coast.

So we've gone.

Full circle around the island.

It's an absolutely stunning island, but there are no signs of any seals here,

unfortunately. So I don't know what it was that I saw.

I certainly can't say that it was a seal, but I really don't know what else

could have been.

That being said, we're never going to find him sitting here during the

It's just, it's an absolute impossibility. They'd only haul out at

This is prime hunting time for seals.

So our hope... was to find some trace that it was here last night.

I'm coming up empty on these islands, but I have one more idea.

We're going to look for the apex predator of the Caribbean, the only

capable of eating Caribbean monk seals, tiger sharks.

Big, mouthy, toothy sharks that will eat a seal whole, because they're much more

likely to find them than we are.

If there are seals, there's a good chance that tigers can lead us to them.

But I have one more plan for the shark.

Let's call it my number two plan.

Try and get a fecal sample from them. Then we can get that fecal sample

analyzed, and if it has Caribbean monk seal DNA in it, that is all the proof we

need. So it's a bit risky. We're talking about very big, very bitey sharks and

going to find them in their natural habitat.

But that's what we're moving on to do now.

Second only to great white in fatal human attack.

Tiger sharks are nasty hunters, and known for eating almost anything.

And to find out exactly what they've been eating, I'm going to have to get

within arm's reach of the biggest one I can find.

Last time we were here, I had to push that bull shark away from you, so

hopefully you don't have to return the favor.

So I think what we need to do is...

We're really looking for chums, so anything that's oily, anything that's

fusiform, mackerel -like.

We weren't planning on baiting sharks, so we didn't pack any chum to keep them

close.

But I did bring my favorite fishing tools in case I needed to feed the crew.

All right, you ready?

Let's do it. You ready?

Great.

Pre -dive spearfishing is one of my greatest passions.

It's the most ecologically sound way to fish.

Taking only what I need from the sea, harming nothing else, with just a barbed

pole and a rubber band.

See this absolutely stunning fish?

Seems bad to kill it, but the reality is, these are one of the biggest

of the Caribbean.

These are invasive lionfish.

They've come from the Pacific, from the Indian Ocean specifically, and they were

brought to the Caribbean for the pet trade for aquariums, and people started

releasing them. And now they've spread out all over the Caribbean, and the

problem is all these vines they have are super venomous, so other fish aren't

capable of eating them. And they sit on a reef like this, and they just gulp up

all the baby fish. So these guys are really a terrible problem.

If you ever see them in the Caribbean, you want to remove them.

In our case, they're going to make absolutely excellent shark chow.

All right.

Beautiful day of spearfishing.

One of my absolute favorite things in the world.

We've got plenty of fish for the sharks.

We've got plenty of fish for the crew to eat.

Had a great time doing it.

Doesn't get any better than this.

Serum mackerel, yellowjack, delicious hogfish.

That's as much fun as you can have with your pants on.

I'm hoping finding the tigers will mean finding our Caribbean monk seal.

But I'm going to need this chum to hold the shark's interest.

Because getting a stool sample will mean getting up close and personal.

Real personal.

So we're headed to rendezvous with the other boats.

I need the full dive crew for this mission.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. What? What? Seal, right here. What?

I just watched him dart into this cave right here.

There's a rat.

Grab your camera, grab your camera. Someone grab the wheel.

I'm in remote Caribbean waters.

in search of the allegedly extinct monk seal.

After having no luck searching two remote islands a local fisherman told us

about, I've decided the best course of action is not to search for the seal

itself, but for its fiercest predator, the tiger shark.

So my cameraman Johnny and I are meeting up with the rest of the dive crew.

Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. What?

What? Deal. Right here. What? I just watched him dart into this cave right

Grab your camera. Grab your camera. Don't grab the wheel.

review fun seal but i can totally tell how you mistake it for one it's big it's

wide it's that same grayish brownish coloration oh i could totally see from

boat seeing that cruise along the bottom must have looked like a seal out here

yeah i just saw a big spot oh man that was cool i went down and i could just

the head at first i was like oh is that a seal is that a seal and i started

parting the fish i reached out to touch it and sure enough it's a dirt shark

very very cool They're bent like sharks.

Totally harmless to humans unless you happen to stick your hand right in their

mouth, but really cool to see.

Good eyes, man.

I thought I was.

Keep looking. Keep looking.

Now that I've met up with the dive team, the gear is prepped, and we're

preparing for a very dangerous dive.

I'll be pre -diving, just holding my breath.

without any bulky gear or bubble noise.

It'll allow me to move gently and fit into the environment, allowing me to

search for the seal and get close enough to these deadly sharks to get a stool

sample, possibly proving the monk seal is part of their diet.

What we'll be attempting has never been done before to my knowledge, and as I

begin chumming the water, lemon sharks are already coming to the surface.

He got me.

So I was just chumming there, getting the sharks brought in, and dropped my

guard for one second and just managed to catch the corner of a tooth.

So not too bad, fortunately. It's not going to slow us down, but it's going to

need a couple stitches.

It's a bad sign.

My first encounter with a shark, and I'm injured.

And now my blood is in the water, just as we're all about to get in.

We'll need to be on high alert.

The reef sharks and lemon sharks that surround me as I hit the water don't

bother me much.

But the 15 -foot tiger sharks that smelled our chum are a different story.

Look at the size of these beasts, looming large over everything they see.

True apex predators.

Sharks have an olfactory bulb.

that gives them a sense of smell hundreds of times greater than ours,

them to smell blood from as far as three miles away.

As I reach the bottom and look up, there's no sign of the grizzly mumps

the number of sharks seems to be multiplying.

I'm holding my breath, which thanks to training, I can do for up to five

minutes, but the cameramen have to rely on bulky scuba gear.

These tigers are enormous, 13 -footers at least, some of the biggest I've ever

seen.

Hiding among them are clusters of hammerheads.

They can grow to almost 20 feet and have been known to attack humans.

Whoa, he's coming in to check me out.

Now the tigers are coming in to investigate.

I can't chase a shark.

so the only way I can get a stool sample is to get one to come to me.

Next, by rubbing its snout, I'll stimulate the ampullae of Lorenzini,

our electroreceptive organs, so sensitive the shark will enter a state

immobility.

This should give me a chance to swab her cloaca, letting us know if she's been

eating monkeys.

The dive team has dropped a bait box.

just under the boat to control their attention.

And now, the big boss tigers are getting much bolder in their approach.

The biggest tiger's on the attack.

She's taken the box, leaving the divers alone as planned.

My whole crew is experienced in pushing the sharks away by the nose if they come

in too close.

But the bait box attack seems to have inspired more aggression.

If a feeding frenzy starts, it could turn death.

While hoping to prove the Caribbean monk seal still exists, by getting a stool

sample from a tiger shark, we've attracted far more toothy predators than

prepared to handle.

So I'm calling it off for today.

Not bad.

It is dicey today. I'm not kidding. No more bites.

No more bites today.

A full night's rest hasn't made the crew any more eager to get back in the ocean

with the sharks warm.

So I'm going to pre -dive to test the water.

Stop churning for the time being.

Just got to get in and feel it out, but the sharks haven't left.

They know where this food's coming from.

Look at them, ready to go, covered in scars.

A bit nerve -wracking.

I'm fair.

Anything happens, get me out, all right? Yep.

Down below, the tigers are fairly calm.

But with this many sharks surrounding us,

it would only take one incident to start another frenzy.

All right, guys, the sharks are a little touchy, but I think you can come in.

What we're going to have to do is insert our dominance with the lemons. Show

them who's boss. Don't let them swim.

If they come in like this, you've got to really give it to them, all right?

Jump in. Join me.

They're a little too calm, not letting me get close enough to touch them.

I actually need one to approach, so I can stimulate the electroreceptive

on the bridge of their cells.

Just above 48 razor -sharp teeth, giving me one precious second to swab the

cloaca. Easy, right?

My friend the hammerhead has returned, with the mouth too small to eat a seal.

He's more of a bottom -teeter.

But maybe his aggressive curiosity will inspire one of the big tiger sharks.

There's a stillness all of a sudden.

And there she is.

The queen has arrived.

The apex predator tiger shark.

This pregnant female looks like she could give birth at any minute.

And she's likely been eating everything she can to support her growing young.

Possibly even the Caribbean monk field we've been looking for.

This might be our lucky brick.

This is our best shot.

Now if I can just get her to come check me out.

Probably weighing close to 2 ,000 pounds, this hungry mama nearly knocked

over.

But it's exactly the moment I've been waiting for.

I got it! I got it!

I came to the Caribbean looking for a monk seal.

I didn't find one.

That doesn't mean that they're extinct, but I don't think it's looking good for

them. Oh, look at that.

Have you ever been so happy to see a bit of poop in your life?

Now what I can do is take this to the lab, get it tested, find out if by any

chance this big shark has been eating Caribbean monk seal. If it has, it'll be

in that little fecal sample. And most importantly, I have all my hands and

still. So that was awesome. Oh, my goodness.

I got a fecal sample from a shark. Whether or not that sample will yield

results of a monk seal is yet to be known.

What I did find is an incredibly beautiful, healthy marine ecosystem.

If we've made the mistake of eradicating the monk seal, at least we've learned

from that. We've learned to protect this amazing ecosystem.

We've learned from the mistakes we've made, and we won't make them again.