Surviving 24 Hours in the MANGROVES Challenge - Primitive Spearfishing AUSTRALIA
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00:00 One shot at him.
00:00 Look at the size of these things.
00:05 There we go.
00:06 We're just gonna chuck the flatty on.
00:09 Big cod.
00:10 We're gonna set up the hammock now, go to bed.
00:15 What's going on everyone?
00:16 Welcome back to another video.
00:17 So we're currently on the East Coast of Australia
00:20 and I've just hiked deep into this mangrove ecosystem.
00:23 And this is where I'm gonna be staying for the next 24 hours.
00:26 We're gonna have to catch our own food out here,
00:28 sleep out here in the mangroves itself.
00:31 And one thing that I'm pretty stoked about actually,
00:33 but have to be very careful is,
00:35 there was a three meter crocodile
00:37 spotted at the start of this estuary.
00:39 There's a good chance that it'd be up
00:41 in this creek right now.
00:42 So we're across from Fraser Island at the moment.
00:44 Crocs down here, this far south, is incredibly rare.
00:48 Where I film all my videos is two hours down south
00:51 and there is no crocs down there.
00:53 Big sea turtle right there.
00:55 (birds chirping)
00:58 Just in this little pool, so far up into the mangroves,
01:04 is a little sea turtle.
01:05 They come up here at high tide
01:07 and then as the water goes down,
01:08 they can't get fully back out.
01:10 So they're stuck in these little pools
01:12 for a couple more hours until the tide comes back up again.
01:15 Look at that.
01:17 Big sea turtle all the way up here.
01:21 That's what the croc would be feeding on.
01:23 If it's up in this creek,
01:25 there is so many turtles up here.
01:27 Is he gonna come up again?
01:28 Yeah, he's gonna come up once more.
01:30 (birds chirping)
01:33 Oh, hey big fella.
01:35 You're amazing.
01:37 I reckon I'm gonna go swimming
01:38 with some turtles in here later on.
01:39 This is actually the same set of mangroves
01:41 that I rescued a big sea turtle in ages ago.
01:43 I'll show you a clip.
01:45 So I was just walking through these mangroves
01:46 looking for mud crabs and I found a sea turtle
01:49 way up into the mangroves.
01:50 Oh, I think it's dead.
01:52 Oh no, he's alive.
01:54 Yes, and it was a really hot day.
01:56 I didn't want him to get hurt or anything.
01:57 So I called up fisheries, got him on the phone
01:59 to make sure it was okay for me to lift it to the water
02:01 because these are protected animals.
02:03 And yeah, we got it back in and it kicked off.
02:05 Okay, so he's up.
02:07 Yeah, he's responding.
02:08 He's trying to paddle in the air.
02:10 Yeah, yeah.
02:13 So this pool right here is really deep.
02:15 Oh, here he goes.
02:17 Oh yeah, he's loving that.
02:18 Literally the best thing to see
02:19 because there's no way it would have survived
02:21 till the next high tide.
02:22 Oh, I can actually see her.
02:24 I also just made this spear out of a stick
02:30 I found on the floor that I'm gonna be trying
02:31 to spear some fish with out here in these mangroves.
02:34 I'm keen to see what I can find.
02:37 Every time I go out into the wild,
02:38 especially a system like this, I always find cool things.
02:41 But yeah, I reckon that's good.
02:43 Definitely good enough to spear a fish.
02:45 But yeah, normally you wouldn't have to be croc-wise
02:47 in a place like this.
02:49 You wouldn't even have to think about it.
02:50 But I ran into a couple blokes who actually saw the croc
02:53 sitting up on a bank just at the start of this river system.
02:56 So maybe I won't be snorkeling with any turtles
02:59 in this creek later on.
03:00 The amazing thing about an ecosystem like this
03:03 is it's filled with life.
03:04 As the tide comes up, all new species of fish, turtles,
03:08 sometimes even dugongs, sharks,
03:10 come up into these creek systems.
03:12 And they come up into these creek systems hunting.
03:14 And then as the tide goes out,
03:16 they normally go out with it.
03:17 But certain species do get trapped up here.
03:19 So yeah, I don't really have anything planned.
03:21 It's a very harsh environment.
03:23 Very hard to survive here.
03:24 You're getting hammered by mozzies and sand flies all day.
03:27 It's super easy to cut your feet
03:29 on all these mangrove roots,
03:30 which is why I've brought my trusty steel caps with me.
03:33 First things first, we're gonna hunt around the mangroves.
03:35 Maybe see if we can get a mud crab first up in the morning,
03:38 and then go for a spear
03:39 and see if we can catch ourselves some dinner.
03:41 How good, mangrove survival.
03:43 (birds chirping)
03:46 (dramatic music)
03:48 (birds chirping)
03:51 (leaves crunching)
03:56 (birds chirping)
04:02 Fish down there.
04:17 (dramatic music)
04:19 Little mud crab.
04:28 There we go.
04:35 Hey, mate.
04:40 It is a male mud crab.
04:45 It is still a bit too small.
04:47 I reckon if I came back in like six months time,
04:50 he might be big enough, but we're gonna let him go.
04:53 But it just proves, if you were in a survival situation,
04:56 you could eat this, but all right, mate.
04:58 See ya.
05:00 Bye bye.
05:03 It's currently low tide up in the mangroves at the moment,
05:06 and there's not too much going on.
05:07 As that tide starts to come up further on in the day,
05:10 that's when all the big fish will pull up here,
05:12 and that's when I'm gonna come up here and go hunting.
05:15 But what I thought I'd do is I'd head out
05:16 to the mouth of this creek system,
05:18 where that croc was spotted,
05:20 because I reckon there'd be more fish sitting out there.
05:22 I reckon I've got a better chance
05:23 of getting one with the spear.
05:25 It would be cool to get a big flathead.
05:26 That would actually be awesome.
05:28 Let's give it a go, mate.
05:31 At the end of these little streams
05:32 is normally a really good place for fish.
05:34 I can kind of see the bottom as well,
05:36 so I don't think I have to worry about the crocodile.
05:39 It's actually been reported 11 times in the past week.
05:42 Flatty, right there.
05:44 Just out from those mangrove roots.
05:47 It's definitely legal as well.
05:49 Oh, missed it, definitely missed it.
05:56 That's all right, we'll keep going.
05:59 Hey, mate, you're okay?
06:08 (laughs)
06:10 Look at the size of these things.
06:13 That is so cool.
06:14 I'm walking through the mangroves,
06:17 and you can see how big they are.
06:20 This one in here is massive.
06:21 That is so cool.
06:23 These guys are everywhere here in Australia.
06:27 So cool to see them in an environment like this, though.
06:29 See you, skippies.
06:35 (gentle music)
06:37 There should be big muddies sitting around here.
06:47 Is that one there, actually?
06:49 Flatty!
06:53 Flatty just down there.
06:55 Big Flatty.
07:00 All right, he's staying still.
07:01 I'm gonna go get my camera quickly.
07:04 (pants)
07:05 I don't know if you can see that,
07:07 but he's sitting right there.
07:08 Sneaking up on this big Flatty right here.
07:15 See him tucked up away there?
07:17 I've got one shot at him.
07:19 Got him, yep.
07:29 There we go.
07:31 All right, that is a big Flatty.
07:34 We're gonna quickly kill him.
07:36 We don't want this fish to suffer.
07:37 I didn't get him through the head.
07:39 Yes, we got dinner, all right, mate.
07:41 All right, mate, it was a bit of a dodgy shot,
07:48 but at least we got dinner for tonight.
07:50 It's so hard practicing throwing primitive spears,
07:52 because every one that you make is different,
07:55 different weights and everything,
07:56 but I'm happy that we hit,
07:58 and we missed an estuary cod before.
08:00 But yeah, we're gonna make a fire
08:02 somewhere out of the mangroves,
08:03 'cause we're not allowed to make one in here,
08:05 and cook him up.
08:06 (gentle music)
08:08 (upbeat music)
08:11 (upbeat music)
08:14 (upbeat music)
08:16 (upbeat music)
08:19 (upbeat music)
08:21 (upbeat music)
08:24 (upbeat music)
08:26 (upbeat music)
08:29 (upbeat music)
08:32 (upbeat music)
08:34 There we go.
09:01 Yep.
09:02 Yes.
09:04 So it's been a pretty successful mission so far.
09:06 We've got food, we've made a little fire
09:09 just out of the mangroves in a place
09:10 I can cook up this fish.
09:12 Once we cook it up, I'm gonna head back into the mangroves,
09:15 stay there for the afternoon, and into the night.
09:18 I've got a torch as well.
09:19 I might even go for a hunt around,
09:21 see what I can see after dark.
09:22 (gentle music)
09:26 (gentle music)
09:29 (gentle music)
09:31 All right, and we're just gonna chuck the flatty on,
09:35 just upside down that way,
09:37 and we'll build the fire on top of it.
09:39 So we've got this big flatty, and I'm so stoked with that.
09:42 I'm grateful that we can actually eat in this video.
09:44 But since we got it first up in the morning,
09:47 I'm gonna try to get something else.
09:48 Maybe like a big mud crab, or a big sand crab,
09:51 maybe even a squid later tonight
09:53 when I go for a night walk.
09:54 I brought a torch with me,
09:56 so we're gonna be walking around tonight
09:57 looking for that crocodile and maybe some other things
10:00 that are hiding around the mangroves.
10:01 But yeah, I think this flatty's ready.
10:03 We're gonna take it off and eat it.
10:04 All that is good to eat.
10:11 So good.
10:20 Couldn't have cooked it any better.
10:22 It's cool coming out to an environment like this
10:27 with only a knife and only a few things in my backpack,
10:30 and knowing that if I was out here just for one day,
10:33 like today, I could survive.
10:35 You'd only need a meal like that every day or two
10:39 if you did wanna live out here.
10:40 So don't think I'm gonna be moving out to the mangroves
10:43 anytime soon, though.
10:44 But still pretty cool.
10:45 All right, we got our feed into us.
10:54 Let's head back into the mangroves
10:56 and see what else we can find.
10:59 (gentle music)
11:02 Tides up.
11:28 We're just hunting around now in the shallows.
11:33 I don't wanna go too close to over there
11:34 knowing that there's a croc in this creek.
11:36 (gentle music)
11:46 (gentle music)
11:49 Is that a fish's tail?
12:02 That's a fish's tail.
12:05 What is that?
12:08 What is that?
12:12 (gentle music)
12:15 Yep, we got him.
12:31 Big cod.
12:33 Yes, we got another fish.
12:35 We'll quickly kill him.
12:36 All right.
12:40 (gentle music)
12:43 After getting that flathead this morning,
12:46 I was pretty confident that we could get something else.
12:49 The tide's fully pushed out right now,
12:51 but as it was pushing out,
12:52 I spotted this little fella sitting in the mangroves.
12:55 He was actually hunting,
12:56 and that's what these fish are doing on the outgoing tide.
12:59 So yeah, got the primitive spear out,
13:01 got a good shot on him.
13:02 And that right there is a little cod,
13:03 and that right there is gonna be our dinner.
13:05 Now, the legal limit for these guys is 38 centimeters,
13:08 and this guy is 41, so a couple centimeters over.
13:11 I always think it's funny that I never know
13:13 what I'm getting myself into when I come out here.
13:15 I guess I should have known
13:16 I was gonna be waist deep in mud,
13:18 walking around creeks with crocodiles in it.
13:21 Wouldn't expect anything less from me.
13:23 I might make a fire tonight and cook him up.
13:25 (gentle music)
13:29 So tired.
13:37 I'm absolutely covered in mud.
13:39 I'm actually really wrecked.
13:40 I've had such a big day, done so much walking,
13:43 hunting around the mangroves.
13:44 It's such an unforgiving environment, but I love it.
13:48 This might be one of those nights
13:49 where I don't end up sleeping again,
13:51 and I'm not ready for that just yet.
13:53 Luckily enough, I have a couple hours
13:55 to mentally prepare myself for that.
13:57 I might need to find a place closer to the shoreline
14:00 where there's a bit of wind,
14:02 because these sand flies and mosquitoes
14:04 are actually killing me.
14:06 But hey, at least I'm clean.
14:08 So the sun's just setting at the moment.
14:27 Beautiful sunset to end an awesome adventure,
14:30 but the adventure's not over yet.
14:31 What we're gonna do now
14:32 is we're gonna wait for it to get dark,
14:34 head out to the mouth of this mangrove ecosystem,
14:37 get the torch out and look around,
14:38 see what animals we can find after dark.
14:41 So many more species are active after dark,
14:43 so I'm keen to see what we can find.
14:46 Then we're gonna go set the hammock up in the mangroves
14:48 and sleep in there.
14:49 Just getting bitten by so many sand flies,
14:52 but yeah, let's get the torch out, see what we can find.
14:55 (water splashing)
14:58 Couple sand crabs out here.
15:06 These crabs are mating.
15:09 I reckon that big blue swim is legal,
15:13 but you know what?
15:15 I'm gonna let you be, mate.
15:16 Look at this.
15:22 (water splashing)
15:25 Shovel-nosed ray.
15:29 Oh, you're beautiful, mate.
15:30 So this is a species of ray, actually,
15:37 that cruises these coastal tidal zones,
15:40 sucking up little crustaceans and fish with their mouth.
15:43 We're not gonna keep them out of water too long,
15:45 but how cool is that?
15:46 So cool to get them on the night walk right here.
15:49 But yeah, don't wanna stress out this animal,
15:50 so we're gonna get him back in the water.
15:52 Yes, that is awesome.
15:54 See you, mate.
15:57 All right.
15:59 See you later, mate.
16:02 You're okay.
16:03 Look at that.
16:06 Is that not just the coolest thing ever?
16:21 We got a shovel-nosed shark.
16:24 That is awesome.
16:25 See you later, dude.
16:26 Woo!
16:29 We got one.
16:30 I was wanting to catch one of them all day,
16:32 but I couldn't find any.
16:34 And to come out on this night walk and find one is so cool.
16:38 Swam right over to me.
16:39 All right.
16:42 That's it for today.
16:45 We're gonna set up the hammock now, go to bed.
16:49 I'm absolutely knackered.
16:51 And yeah, go on a bit more of an adventure
16:53 tomorrow morning and then head home.
16:54 So, so far being in this spot,
17:05 the mosquitoes and midges aren't too bad.
17:07 So hopefully they don't find me tonight.
17:10 Sleeping in the mangroves.
17:14 Tomorrow we would have survived 24 hours out here.
17:18 So I'll see you guys tomorrow morning.
17:19 We'll go on another little adventure before I end the video.
17:22 My feet are muddy.
17:23 That's why they're not fully in yet,
17:24 but I'll clean them off and go to sleep.
17:26 (gentle music)
17:31, (birds chirping)
17:36, (gentle music)
17:41 All right.
18:05 It's the second day.
18:06 There's actually a massive storm coming in
18:08 from over that way at the moment.
18:10 So we're gonna pack up and get out of here.
18:12 I got absolutely hammered by sand flies last night.
18:15 Not a great sleep at all.
18:17 I did get to sleep though.
18:18 But yeah, pretty interesting
18:19 sleeping out here in the mangroves.
18:21 Thank you so much for watching this video.
18:23 I really appreciate all the support.
18:25 24 hours in the mangrove survival challenge done.
18:29 I'll be posting new videos every Sunday here in Australia.
18:32 So if you wanna be a part of this,
18:34 like this video, comment down below
18:36 and subscribe to the channel.
18:38 Yeah, I'm gonna be going on a lot more
18:39 cool adventures this year.
18:40 So thank you very much everyone.
18:42 I'll see you guys next week.
18:44 (birds chirping)
18:46 (gentle music)
18:49 (gentle music)
18:52 (gentle music)
18:54 (gentle music)
18:57 (gentle music)
18:59 (gentle music)
19:02 (gentle music)
19:04 [Music]