Finding the Giant Goliath Grouper | What Sam Sees

I'm Sam and I'm in search of a giant fish that's as tall as a Christmas tree and weighs more than a large vending machine it has a broad hat small eyes and an enormous mouth that it uses like a vacuum to suck in its prey in one big gulp now that's a fish I've got to see let's dive in and learn all about the Goliath Grouper [Music] [Applause] the ocean thrives on the diversity of its species sometimes those at the top of the food chain get a bad rap [Music] today I'm in the beautiful coastal waters of the Florida Keys at Alba reef looking for a giant-sized predator the Atlantic Goliath Grouper this Goliath plays a very important role keeping its marine habitats healthy but its population is declining we are going on a dive with Maura J Grove a research fishery biologist and John catchin a go who helps ensure the safety for divers here in the Florida Keys fingers crossed we find one let's go this amazing coral reef is filled with all kinds of wildlife like this cute little green sea turtle munching on sea grass unlike land turtles sea turtles have flippers instead of feet and these paddle like flippers make them super speedy swimmers sea turtles travel long distances and dive deep in the ocean to eat but need to surface to breathe juveniles hide in the vegetation from ambush predators like sharks grouper and Barracuda there are always on the lookout for food [Music] here comes one now a huge silver colored Barracuda with razor-sharp teeth this torpedo shaped fish can grow as large as six feet long and weigh up to 103 pounds [Music] barracudas live near cool reefs in shallow waters hoping to surprise their prey with a sneak attack a tactic used by the Goliath Grouper - the grouper should be pretty easy to spot but we haven't seen one yet we've searched the more shallow artificial and natural reefs which are their favorite hiding places but no luck we're going on another dive later today so maybe we'll find one net let's head out to talk with Jay and John about the other species we saw so what were some of the creatures that we saw down there Jay we've got two Huns of creatures on the side there are a lot of different things going on out there and I think one of the things that the cool is is that you don't have to be a fish expert you can understand what a fish does down there or what kind of style it has so you saw the Barracuda yes we saw parrotfish signs of parrotfish all colors shapes sizes we saw some terminal-based parrotfish so characters are pretty unique they change colors throughout their life they have ever phases so even though there are tons of different colors down there we primarily saw about three species it's time to head back to the dock to get ready for my second dive but I still have lots of questions I didn't get to talk to you about the Goliath Grouper yes the Goliath Grouper the biggest grouper in the Atlantic gets awesome unfortunately we didn't get to see one though so what your corporal ive groupers groupers are kind of a funny looking fish they are you don't see their scales if you see in some other fish they look smooth to the touch they have very soft rounded fins and are known for having a grumpy frowny face with it just big lips and a big mouth and the eyes are kind of small right eyes are really small how big do Goliath groupers get Goliath groupers are awesome they get huge they get over eight feet and about over 800 pounds I've heard people say a thousand pounds they're a gigantic fish where do they typically like to hang out well I have grouper hanging out in a bunch of different areas you can find the adults on natural reefs so on that coral reef habitat in some areas they found on larger artificial reefs and the juveniles are found in the mangroves a lot of species have that life strategy where they have their young that's not in an area on the coral reefs with all the larger predators and the mangroves they are able to hide behind the roots so that they don't have to escape predation as easily and then I'm gonna get larger and there's not enough food for them anymore then they make their way back out it's the reef or there's more opportunity a dog alive grouper feed on crustaceans like lobsters shrimp crabs fish and even young sea turtles they are considered to be an ambush predator which means that they're the body type has a little bit of cryptic coloration and they'll shut their mouths and essentially create this negative pressure of this ability that when they open up their mouth the water comes shooting in and they ambush that prey and I prayed before they know anything happens they're already in the glass grouper stomach hopefully we'll be successful in finding the goliath grouper in this next dive it's so beautiful down here these coral formations are so vibrant I know they look like plants but they are actually animals swimming around the reef are stingrays schools of fish parrotfish and Barracuda it's a beautiful sight we're looking in the crevices and ledges of the reef and in the vegetation for the Goliath Grouper but still no sign we may not have found the grouper but that's why I love scuba diving you never know what you're going to find the Goliath Grouper is an impressive fish it's considered an umbrella species because its survival ensures the survival of other species that share its habitat today was a lot of fun we saw a lot of amazing creatures like the green sea turtle era fish would change colors throughout their lives and barracudas [Music] barracudas and Goliath Grouper our ambush predators but surprise their prey and swallow them full [Music] Goliath groupers pretty awesome let's protect these critically endangered species for the greater good of all species by not overfishing or destroying their habitat thanks for joining me on this adventure see you next time on what's and see [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: National Geographic Kids

Views: 302,228

Rating: 4.688889 out of 5

Keywords: what sam sees, scuba diver, scuba diving, national geographic kids, nat geo kids, kids, kid, for kids, national geographic, nat geo, animals, making stuff, educational, fish, grouper, sea turtle, barracuda, Finding, Giant Goliath Grouper, Goliath Grouper, Atlantic goliath, Sam, neighbors, green sea turtle, the barracuda, neighbors like the green sea, ocean animals, Get to know the Atlantic, PLQlnTldJs0ZQHiJtBZwH91UMHdXPB3elF, PLQlnTldJs0ZR56MScVzlbeucr3brcHb-e

Id: oqodDUcQ9zA

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 18 2018