-Funding for "Coastal Kingdom" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina, which proudly supports this program.

Through the generosity of our members and donors, the ETV Endowment has funded educational and entertaining programming like "Coastal Kingdom" for more than 40 years.

-Additional funding provided by... ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -There we go.

So this is a ghost shrimp.

It's one of those animals that most people have never seen before, but it lives in the intertidal zone -- that area between the highest tides and the lowest tides.

In this episode, we're gonna look at some of the animals that live in this amazing habitat.

♪♪ ♪♪ So look at that little guy.

Okay, we got something big on.

There we go.

We've got the bird.

And there's already a chick in there.

♪♪ ♪♪ So this is a ghost shrimp.

And it's one that spends its entire life in a burrow down in the sand.

And so people never see it, but it's actually super-, super-common.

I mean, there are lots of them around.

Now, I want to go ahead and put this down kind of in this little pool I created 'cause I want to make sure it stays underwater.

This is an aquatic animal.

So what I use to catch this animal is something that I got some ideas for online and made my own.

And this is just kind of an extraction tool.

It creates suction and you pull this out and it sucks out water and sand and everything out.

And hopefully you end up with one of these shrimp.

But I'll tell you what.

The first time I saw one of these, it just blew my mind.

I mean, they look like little aliens or something.

I just couldn't believe that animal was living down in the sand right below my feet.

Amazing animals.

Sometimes they're kind of this orange color.

I always wonder -- Something that lives down under the sand like this, why they're sometimes brightly colored.

I mean, it's really kind of interesting, but some of the fossorial animals tend to be very brightly colored, and I'm not really sure why.

But let me tell you how this animal works.

So it stays in this vertical burrow.

And it has these paddles that it uses to funnel water out.

And what it does is funnel water across its body into its mouthparts and stuff.

And it's a filter feeder.

So what it's doing is pulling all sorts of things out of the sand, and it's excreting this sand material, which are fecal pellets.

And so a lot of times, you can look around and see these little tiny holes.

And then around them are these fecal pellets.

They look kind of like chocolate sprinkles.

But that's not what they are.

[ Laughs ] Anyway, so the burrows of this -- this species -- this is one called the Carolina ghost shrimp -- can be about -- I don't know -- about this deep, maybe even deeper than that.

And they often have kind of branching tunnels.

You know, it's just interesting.

There's just this labyrinth of life below us.

And you look out at this sand, and it looks like there's not much here.

But the reality is, there's an awful lot living underneath here -- polychaete worms, ghost shrimp, and all kinds of other creatures.

Just an incredible animal.

But it's an animal that lives in this intertidal zone.

It likes the area between high and low tide, and that's the only place it can survive.

If it's completely covered with water all the time, it doesn't work.

Obviously, if it's high and dry, that doesn't work either.

So these ghost shrimp live here on the beach, and this is a completely different habitat than some of the other intertidal zones we have, like the salt marsh.

Let's go check out some animals that live there.

♪♪ So it's obviously low tide right now, but I'll bet there's some fish that are gonna come in here in just a few minutes.

As the tide fills, what happens is, some of these oysters and some of this mud flat becomes covered with water.

And it's a great time for little predators, little fish and things, to kind of move in and see what they can catch and eat.

Now, I've got the lightweight fishing rod here and I've got some little tiny hooks, so I don't think we're out to catch anything really huge.

But I would like to see what species of fish are using the intertidal zone right here.

♪♪ Looks like I've got a bite already.

Boy, this is a little fish!

And look what it is.

So this is one that I would expect to see here.

This is called a silver perch.

And this is in the drum family.

Let me pop it out so we can get a look at it.

So in the drum family, so like redfish and kingfish and some of the others, this is one of the ones that can use, uh, muscles, sonic muscles, basically, to make -- to vocalize, to make sort of noise.

Notice that beautiful yellow on the fins right there.

That's really pretty.

And silver perch -- You can see where it gets its name 'cause it has those beautiful silver scales and like we always talk about, countershading -- dark on top, light on the bottom.

And that way, the bottom blends in with the sky if something looks up, and then they blend in with the bottom if something's looking from above, like an osprey or something like that.

So let's put this one back in.

There it went.

So, guys, I switched to a lure 'cause I was kind of thinking we might see something else.

And I'm not sure yet, but I think that's probably what we hooked.

And, sure enough, that's what it is.

And this is one that's called a spotted seatrout.

The other thing I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna get my hands wet, 'cause when you're handling fish, it's really nice to not disturb that slime layer they have.

Spotted seatrout.

Of course, they love this area right on the edge of the oysters.

And when the tide comes in, water comes up, shrimp get active, crabs get active, mummichogs.

You know, mudminnows and stuff like that become active.

And that gives this fish a chance to grab them and eat them.

Now, one of the things we can look at -- Look at the mouth on it.

So they have a huge mouth.

And look at these spiky teeth up at the top.

And that's great for grabbing a -- you know, a smaller fish, which is primarily what they eat.

Of course, they'll eat shrimp and other things, as well.

Look at those beautiful spots.

Nice silvery head and a big powerful tail.

So this is a little guy and way too small to keep.

But this is -- You know, when they get bigger.

a lot of people love to catch these and love to eat them.

So, guys, two casts, two fish.

I know that can't last, but that's pretty good.

♪♪ I think I have something else on.

Let's see.

This is really tiny, whatever it is.

Yep.

Looks like it's another silver perch.

So there's probably -- I'll bet there's a nice little school of silver perch sitting right out there.

♪♪ So things have slowed down a little bit.

I now have two rods in and -- But I'm just watching the tide, and even just sitting here and watching, you can see the water just kind of creeping up the mud flat.

So we have -- A common tide for us is 8 1/2 feet.

So you're talking about a lot -- And that's vertically.

So you're talking about an awful lot of area, you know, laterally that has to be kind of covered up at high tide.

So, guys, I've had a couple bites on these, so I'm gonna keep an eye on them.

And I was throwing the lure and I caught the cutest little spotted seatrout right here.

And I'm gonna have to keep looking over my shoulder while I get this one off.

But, boy, what a nice little fish.

So pretty.

So I'm gonna pop this one out.

This is kind of a big lure for that little fish.

Now, you got to be a little careful about lipping these because they do have pretty sharp teeth.

But that's about the smallest spotted seatrout that you're gonna catch on a fishing rod.

Ah, what a beautiful fish!

But you know what's really neat about this?

I mean, you know, if we were fishing just, you know, six hours ago or so, we probably wouldn't have had the luck we had.

So what's happening is, the water level is coming up.

It's going up into the Spartina grass and it's going over the oysters.

All this food is coming out, and fish like these silver perch and these little spotted seatrout -- give it a quick dip -- they're coming out to feed.

And so we can take advantage of this.

And I'm gonna get this one right back in the water.

This was a lot of fun.

♪♪ ♪♪ Hey, guys.

I'm out on the edge of the marsh in this wonderful oyster rake right here.

You can see the Spartina grass and the pluff mud.

And there's lots of dead and live oysters here.

So I thought what we'd do is just kind of walk along and maybe flip some things over and see what we can see.

First thing I'm gonna do is put some gloves on because oyster cuts are no joke.

So if you're dealing with oysters, you don't want to get cut.

And if you do get cut, you want to really clean it up well, 'cause they can get infected.

A pair of gloves is really important.

There's all kinds of little -- neat little crabs and stuff in here.

Here's one called a porcelain crab.

That's a beautiful little thing.

These porcelain crabs are really flat.

If you look right here, you can see one.

It's like the whole crab has been run over by a steamroller.

And although they have big claws, the claws are very flat.

And that makes sense 'cause it helps them to kind of slide in oysters and... And, of course, they're actually filter feeders and they can also eat, you know, small pieces of dead fish and dead animals like that, as well.

But, boy, they're really, really abundant in these oyster -- in these piles of dead oysters and other debris.

Now, I'm hearing a pop and it's coming from right over here.

I think I know what that may be, and it's something kind of exciting, because the creature that I'm looking for makes a loud audible pop.

And, oh, that's pretty -- pretty deep right here.

But I know they're in here 'cause I hear them.

Oh, here's a pretty good-sized crab.

It looks like one of the mud crabs.

In fact, there's another one right here.

You know, there's so much life here.

And I also just heard a dolphin behind me.

I heard -- Looks like there's a dolphin.

A lot of things that live around these oyster rakes.

There it is.

Okay, I think I found one.

This is what I was after.

Right now, I have just a big, old pile of mud, so I think I can get this glove off.

And this is a -- This is a little guy, but they're all little guys.

That's a bigclaw snapping shrimp.

So I'll tell you what's so cool about this.

As I walked up to the oysters, I could hear this popping and that pop is protection, but it's kind of a giveaway.

And I think what's going on is this little creature probably knew I was nearby and they pop kind of to try and scare you off.

Now, bigclaw snapping shrimp can do something that few animals in the animal kingdom can do, and that's that they have this enlarged claw that they use to ratchet open, and they fire it with so much velocity so quickly that it creates cavitation bubbles.

And those cavitation bubbles implode and cause friction and heat, light, and sound.

8,500 degrees Fahrenheit.

So obviously it's a little, tiny animal and it's in a very small spot.

So these cavitation bubbles are very small, but this works well to stun prey.

Think about it.

This creature could come up to a little small grass shrimp, fire that claw, and it could stun it.

And then it could grab it and eat it.

But wait a minute.

There's a lot more to this story.

One is, these animals tend to live in colonies and they communicate with each other.

In fact, sometimes it's deafening.

I've got a good friend who who cleans boats for a living.

He says sometimes when you're underwater in certain spots, the sound is deafening from these snapping shrimp just communicating with each other.

One of the things that these little guys require is structure, and their structure is oysters.

You know, the oysters are very much like our coral reef.

They're the structure that kind of helps, along with the pluff mud -- They're places for animals to hide -- anything from redfish, to little crabs, and to these bigclaw snapping shrimp.

You've got to have a place to hide 'cause you can imagine one of these would get eaten by a fish in a minute if it couldn't hide in a burrow.

Now, one of the other things that's kind of exciting about snapping shrimp is, they form monogamous pairs.

So a single pair will stay together for years and years and years.

In fact, one of the things I'm gonna make sure I do is take this little one back and put it exactly where I caught it, because, you know, that's its home range.

That's where it lives.

And for all I know, it may have a mate right there.

Really, really interesting creature, and one that -- I always like to say -- We -- A lot of us watch TV shows and learn about animals in other parts of the world.

This is an animal that lives right here in the Lowcountry.

It's common, but that doesn't mean it's any less exciting.

It's a remarkable creature and we have it right here.

I think we've had this one out of the mud long enough, so we'll take this one back exactly where it came from and let it go.

♪♪ ♪♪ It's kind of a neat spot right here.

You can see all these -- A lot of these are live oysters on the edge here, and then this beautiful Spartina.

And even though it's pretty steep right here, you don't get much erosion at all because of these -- these oysters.

And, also, that provides kind of a backup for this Spartina right here.

Now, there's all these holes in here.

There's mud crabs, there's stone crabs, there's blue crabs.

There's all kinds of stuff.

Now, I don't want to pull the oysters out of here 'cause it looks like a lot of these are alive, but really beautiful habitat.

And it's almost like, uh, another planet in some ways.

I mean, it's got a really cool look to it.

So time to move along because [Laughs] end up being about up to here in the tide.

You know, the tide comes in really, really fast.

So we spent a lot of time looking for stuff around here, and I'm hoping we can find our way back and it's not too deep.

♪♪ One of the groups of animals that spends an awful lot of time in the intertidal zone is the shorebirds.

And today we're joined by Dr.

Andy Jones.

He's executive director of The Spring Island Trust and just happens to be a real expert on shorebirds.

Andy, thanks for joining us today.

In one of your favorite spots in the whole world, right?

-Absolutely.

Yeah.

I love the shorebird phenomenon here.

I come out here throughout the year to count and watch the migration phenomenon and see a whole diversity of species.

-So obviously we set up here for a reason.

So what's going on behind us right here?

-We were mid-winter here.

So we've got several thousand dunlin, semipalmated plovers, and other birds that are just loafing.

We're at high tide.

So they're taking a break and they're waiting for the water to go back out and reveal food.

-What are these birds doing this time of year?

-This part of the winter, they're here to feed and then leave and nest way up in the Arctic.

But in a few months, we'll also have spring migration, and shorebirds from South America are coming through to eat and then going up to the Arctic, as well.

-So now they're up high, where they can kind of sit and protect themselves, and they're waiting for the tide to go back out... -That's right.

-...so they can start feeding.

-That's right.

-So, you know, I know we sometimes call these birds collectively peeps.

Is that -- First of all, is that accurate?

-Well, peeps are the little-bitty sandpipers.

Yeah.

So the things like least and western sandpiper that are really the ones that when you look in your field guide, you say, "I'm gonna deal with these later" -- They're a little tricky.

-So if you call a plover a peep, is that accurate?

-That's not right.

Yeah, the plovers -- Yeah.

-Well, I stand corrected then.

I'm sure I've done that before.

-[ Laughs ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -Okay, so let's talk about the difference between a sandpiper and a plover.

-Yeah.

Yeah, so plovers are the big-eyed birds with a short beak.

They actually look kind of like a pigeon if you think about their shape, and they're visual predators.

They walk around, they look around the beach, and they spot food on the surface and pick it up.

Everything else out here is some kind of sandpiper with a long beak, and they feed by getting into the wet sand and probe into the sand with their beaks.

They're pretty amazing.

They have very sensitive tips to the beak, and they go into the wet sand, and they can tell that there's a clam hidden somewhere nearby, and they need to adjust and go over and grab the clam.

-So we're talking little clams, right?

-Little-bitty.

Yeah.

These are the Donax clams.

-So are they swallowing the whole thing?

-It depends on how big the clam is.

If it's small, they'll eat the whole thing and then their stomachs will crush up the shell.

And if it's a bigger clam, they might actually pry it open and get the good stuff out.

-And they're eating things like polychaete worms and things, too, right?

-They'll eat everything they find out here.

I think clams are really high in protein and fats and a really good source of food, but they're eating everything they find.

-So why is this intertidal zone, this area between high and low tide -- Why is it so important to these particular birds?

-They're waiting for the tide to go out.

And the intertidal zone is where all of these invertebrates are feeding.

And as the tide recedes, the freshly arrived food is available.

So it's like the buffet is open and the birds are waiting for the tide to get to the midpoint and off they go.

-So when we first came up, these birds were taking off and flying around and then landed back in the same spot.

Is that 'cause of predators or something?

Is that just a reaction to... -Well, they're a little jumpy because they're on the diet menu for falcons.

Like, merlins, peregrine falcons would love to make a pass at these birds.

-Do you see merlins and falcons here?

-I do.

It's pretty common to see merlin.

And they'll just make a quick appearance.

Everybody freaks out and takes to the skies.

And then after a few minutes, they'll settle back down again.

But they benefit from having thousands of birds together.

Even if most of them are asleep, a couple might be looking around and they spot the merlin and take off.

Everybody wakes up and off they go.

-One of the things that I think that you've taught me is, you can look at behaviors of birds and it tells you kind of what they are just by the way they're moving and the way they're acting.

I mean, that's a big part of it, right?

It's not just looking at characters.

Sometimes you know what a bird is because of what it's doing.

-Yeah.

The really big shorebirds with long beaks are -- They have those legs and beaks so they can get in the deeper water and the deeper mud and feed.

And so just looking out on the beach itself, they sort out by size and by beak length.

-Well, it makes sense 'cause if you're a sandpiper this tall, you can't be in water -- you know, water this deep, 'cause you're underwater.

-It'd be a little awkward.

Yeah.

-Exactly.

-Sanderlings are fun.

They're kind of cartoonish, and they act like they don't want to get their feet wet.

They chase the edge of the crashing waves.

And that's actually how they feed.

They're looking for the freshly exposed clams right as the wave recedes, and they'll go in and grab them and then run away before the next wave comes in.

Oh.

-Oh.

So, Andy, what's going on here?

-Wow.

So something flushed them.

So I'm immediately looking for a raptor.

I don't see one.

I mean, that is thousands of birds.

-So this is another way to protect yourself, right?

-That's right.

-If you're flying in a big group, it's harder to pick one off if you're a predator.

-Yeah.

You don't want to be the one bird that didn't get up when everybody else did, because then the falcon will focus on you.

And so they get up in these massive flocks.

Here's a second one coming in.

-Oh, this is awesome.

-And they might merge.

These look like mostly plovers.

-See if they merge.

Yeah, it looks like they're going to.

-Wow.

There's another flock in behind.

-Yeah.

It's almost like fish schooling, isn't it?

-It is.

It's very similar.

And they just -- They want to be close to each other.

But if you think about the speed they're moving and they can't, uh, crash into each other -- That's some pretty fast brainwork to keep that group together without colliding.

-Yeah.

How are they doing that?

How are they keeping from crashing into each other?

-I think it looks a little deceptive because we're far away and they're a little bit more spread out.

-Right.

-But, honestly, I'll see a raptor take a pass at them and the whole flock will go into a small ball.

I don't know how they can do that.

It's really impressive.

♪♪ ♪♪ -Okay, so let's talk a little bit about life cycles of some of these birds.

So where are they -- Where do they go next?

-So dunlin is our most common one right now.

They'll go up to Hudson Bay and north of the tree line into the Arctic, and they'll nest up there, and then in the fall, turn around and come back.

They're sitting here with semipalmated plovers, which are gonna go north of the Arctic Circle.

so Greenland, Baffin Island.

They are really far north, and they'll raise young up there in June.

And then by July, they're already coming south in the fall.

-And part of that is prey availability, right?

-Yes.

-There's enough to eat.

And lack of predators, too?

-Yeah.

And there's so many of them.

And it's hard to be a predator that specializes on birds when there's no birds for 10 months of the year.

So they kind of get away from all this predation pressure.

And there's so many bugs up there in the summer.

If you've been in the Arctic in the summer, it's intense.

And that's how they feed their young.

So it's a short season.

They feed a lot, they raise their young.

And in two months, it's time for everybody to leave and come south again.

It takes a lot of energy to power that really long-distance migration.

And these birds need to rest, and then feed intensively, and then rest.

And so it's really important that they not get disturbed.

And it's great that this beach has a "no dogs off leash" rule and there's not much people disturbing them.

They're taking a long, important break and that's really important for their biology.

-And we all love to see a dog run on the beach.

But if it's chasing shorebirds and disrupting things... If they're nesting, it's even worse, right?

-Absolutely.

Yeah.

And this area is protected from them in the summer.

So, yeah, it's cool to have a dog out on the beach, but not this one.

-Exactly, exactly.

♪♪ So, Andy, I see a couple oystercatchers up ahead.

-That's pretty unusual.

We don't see these out on the beach very often.

And they really are going after oysters.

That impressive, colorful bill is their tool to open up oysters and clams and other shellfish.

And so the open beach is kind of a funny spot for them to show up.

-Yeah.

Not a lot to eat here for them.

-No, no.

But unmistakable.

There's no other bird that looks like that.

You can't fool -- You can't confuse them with anything.

-Look at the birds here.

-Holy cow.

So this is a huge flock of double-crested cormorants.

They're just kind of swirling around.

I see hundreds of birds, for sure.

-You know what they're doing?

They're stop-- They look like they're feeding.

Right?

-They do.

They do.

There must be some group of fish offshore and they are feasting.

There's a couple of brown pelicans getting mixed in, as well.

-And so those cormorants are -- They're going down underwater and then kind of swimming underwater and catching fish with that hooked bill, right?

-Yeah, they're visual predators, so they're looking for fish underwater with open eyes.

And then yeah, you do not want to get bitten by a cormorant.

It's a serious beak.

It's pretty incredible.

We've been here for a while and have seen just a handful of cormorants, and suddenly they have all figured out where the food is.

-Well, and that's what's so neat about this place.

I mean, there was very little activity at one point, and then all of a sudden, it's like, all the birds showed up in one spot.

-Yeah.

-And obviously, yeah, there's a big school of fish of some sort.

A lot of those cormorants are just kind of swimming around the surface waiting to dive again.

-Yeah, yeah.

Full bellies.

[ Laughs ] Waiting for the next meal.

Whoa!

Get on this bird.

Get on this bird.

This is a jaeger.

That's a jaeger right there.

Wow.

So this is a parasitic jaeger.

This is essentially a raptor that lives out over open ocean, but it's really a gull relative.

And they fly out here and terrorize the other birds.

-Well, that's an accurate representation of what we're seeing.

-Yeah, sheer terror if you're a Forster's tern carrying fish.

So it looks for the terns with food and it goes after them and makes them drop their food, and it'll grab the fish as it falls.

-And they fly like a fighter jet.

-They do.

-I mean, that is impressive.

-Every time I see them, it's like, "Is that a peregrine falcon out over the water?

Nope.

That is a jaeger."

And that's a rare thing.

I've seen them here twice in three years.

This is a specific kind of feeding behavior called kleptoparasitism.

Not too many species do this, but that's their specialty.

They look for other birds with food, and then they go attack the bird to get them to drop the food.

-So not a nice way to make a living, but very effective.

-The jaegers are not friendly.

♪♪ -So, Andy, this is critical habitat, right, for these birds.

-It is.

This is a special spot.

There's not too many places like this.

And it's really important that these get conserved.

-And if something was to happen to this, if this disappeared, these birds would not have a very important part of their life cycle and things like that.

-That's right.

They're gonna look for other barrier islands to hang out on, but there's not so many barrier islands that don't have a lot of development or a lot of disturbance.

So we really need to protect these spots.

-Well, this was really cool, seeing this many birds.

And thanks for sharing this special spot with us.

This was really neat.

-Yeah, absolutely.

♪♪ ♪♪ -As we've seen in this episode, there's an incredible diversity of life in the marine habitats of the Lowcountry.

Things like Spartina grass and oysters and crabs and shrimp, they thrive here.

But one thing's for sure -- If you're gonna live in the intertidal zone, that area between low tide and high tide, you've got to be adaptable.

Thanks for joining us on "Coastal Kingdom."

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Funding for "Coastal Kingdom" is provided by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina, which proudly supports this program.

Through the generosity of our members and donors, the ETV Endowment has funded educational and entertaining programming like "Coastal Kingdom" for more than 40 years.

-Additional funding provided by...