WILL IT BITE?! - Giant Bloodsucking Parasite!

- They are hungry? They definitely look hungry. So if you're ready, I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter the sea lamprey

bite

zone. Here we go. Okay, she let go. Oh, no, no, he's still going for another

bite

, he's going for another bite. (reels of tape) (upbeat music) (ominous, suspenseful music) The Great Lakes have been invaded and their fish face an inescapable attack that threatens to decimate their populations. Like aliens in a Hollywood horror movie, these slime-covered parasitic predators have broken through and are on the hunt for blood. My mission is to discover whether or not these invaders have a taste for humans, and the only way to find out is to let myself be eaten alive by the sea lamprey.

To conduct this nightmarish experiment, I traveled to Millersburg, Michigan, where I

will

be working in conjunction with the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and the jointly managed U.S. Geological Survey, the Hammond Bay Biological Station. These organizations are at the forefront of Great Lakes research. Control of invasive species and restoration of native fish. The Great Lakes are home to five different species of lamprey; four native and one invasive. And luckily, you can clearly see that this invader is also the largest. Sea lamprey originally entered the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean through a series of artificial shipping channels in the mid-19th century.

Taking advantage of these man-made canals, they eventually invaded the five Great Lakes. With no predators or population control at the time, sea lamprey numbers skyrocketed. And by the early 1960s, the fishing industry was devastated. Taking the annual Great Lakes harvest from 15 million pounds of fish to just under 300,000 pounds of fish. This is a perfect example of how destructive and invasive species can be. And while it's clear they're a threat to fish, do they pose a threat to humans? It's a beautiful sunny morning and it seems like the perfect day for an eaten alive episode here on the "Brave Wilderness" channel.

I now have before me a 50 gallon aquarium filled with about 100 sea lampreys. I know what you all are thinking. "Coyote, wait, wait a second. Are you telling me you're going to put your arms in this aquarium with these fish that

will

suck you in, maybe tear your skin apart, and then drink your blood and bodily fluids?" Yeah, guys, that's it. This is exactly what we want to try to solve today. Now, what exactly is a sea lamprey? Is it an eel? It's a fish? Is he an alien? Well, I can tell you this. They certainly look like aliens, but no, they are not aliens.

And although their body structure may indeed make them look like eels, they are not eels either. They are actually fish, a primitive species of fish. The lineage of these creatures dates back 340 million years, meaning they were here before the time of the dinosaurs and survived beyond the dinosaurs. In fact, they have survived four extinction events. How crazy is that? Now, what makes them primitive fish? That's a great question. They are not like other fish. They have no bones in their body, but in fact, their structure is made of cartilage. They do not have a swim bladder.

They do not have pairs of fins and do not even have proper jaws. They are considered parasitic predators. I can say perfectly designed parasitic predators, and they feed mainly on fish. And the most unique thing about these primitive creatures is, in fact, the structure of their mouth. So let's crouch down here for a second, go below the surface of the water and take a closer look. You will see the way they are sucking on the glass. One of the most unique aspects is what is known as a sector disk. They don't actually have jaws like I said before, but they do have the ability to suck up different things.

Glass is a perfect surface. They can also cling to rocks, but when they look for their prey, which of course is a fish, they are able to suck them up, and then let me tell you a really horrible story. This is almost like a Hollywood B movie. When they suck on the side of the fish, their mouth is malleable, and inside that malleable mouth they have about 150 sharp, needle-like, cone-shaped teeth. Those teeth lock into place, and then right in the center of his mouth is this rough, sharp tongue. They rubbed that tongue over the scales, across them to the skin, and eventually into the flesh of the fish, where they then drank the blood and body fluids.

If you are a fish swimming through the Great Lakes and you hook up with the lamprey you were alive when they start eating you. So you know, you have to have a little respect for these primitive creatures. These perfectly designed parasitic predators had taken a huge toll on native fish species. In fact, over the life of an individual lamprey, they can kill up to 40 pounds of fish. Of every seven fish attacked by sea lamprey, only one manages to survive. Their superior sense is their ability to smell their prey. They don't have very good eyesight. In fact, they tend to be more active at night, but when I put my arms in the water, they will definitely smell any odor coming from my flesh.

It's fair to say I'm no fish, but I'm certainly full of warm, delicious blood. They are hungry? They definitely look hungry. So if you're ready, I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter the sea lamprey bite zone. Here we go. One two. That's all. Three. Oh, that water is cold. Oh, oh, oh, one just brushed against me. OMG, they are slimy. Now what I'm going to try to do is keep my hands and arms there (screams). Ooh, they squirm while slimy. I'm going to try to keep my arms here for at least a minute and 30 seconds.

Ooh, they're going right into my arms. Man, this brings up some flashbacks of leeches. When the leeches ate me alive, they swam around my arms and rubbed them like this. Finally he found me, sucked and induced the bite. Now they swim from one side to the other. They definitely detect that I'm here. Oh, that is a very, very disturbing feeling. Slimy bodies rubbing against me. I don't even want to look down. Right now I'm just thinking about those sector disks slamming against my arms. Those teeth fighting and then that rough tongue cutting into my skin. But so far they just swim around me.

It's interesting because I feel like the warm blood in my body could definitely be detected. On the other hand, you have to think about the fact that fish are cold-blooded, so perhaps warm blood is not something they necessarily look for. Alright, let's up the ante if they bite me. In fact, I'm going to push my arms into the piles of lamprey. (tense music) Wow, that's crazy. That's a really strange feeling. All that slime. Oh, wow. Man, I feel like I have my arms in an alien's mouth right now. All slippery and slimy. I'm actually just moving my fingers over the lamprey, and they just swim through my fingers.

Right here you have the opportunity to feast. Come on guys. I'm fine. I'm telling you, there's good blood here. You're not interested? This is the Coyote Peterson buffet line. Wow, at this point, my hands have been here for almost two minutes. Absolutely no bite. In fact, I'm grabbing bunches of lamprey and stringing them together, and all they do is swim with a slimy effort. Now, these fish are surrounded by all kinds of rumors. When you're swimming in the Great Lakes, I know a lot of people have heard the rumor that possibly these things will attach themselves, suck you in, bite you, and then suck out your insides.

Based on putting my arms in this aquarium, I don't think that's going to happen, guys. Unless you are a native species of fish swimming around, you have absolutely nothing to fear, at least in my opinion at this point in the sea lamprey. So I have two theories as to why the lamprey hasn't turned me into a buffet line. The first is that these guys have an incredible sense of smell. Remember, they are practically swimming noses. Coyote Peterson, it doesn't smell like fish. My second theory is that they primarily feed on things that are cold-blooded. I'm warm-blooded, so maybe it's possible that the lamprey isn't interested at all in having a warm-blooded meal.

However, I think that to take this experiment to the next level, we will need to induce suction. What I want to do is take a lamprey and stick one to my arm, one to my stomach, and one to my neck. If that doesn't give them a chance to feast on human blood. I don't know what will do it. Stay tuned, guys. I have a feeling the second part of this experiment will be tremendously entertaining. (suspenseful music) Now before we sit back and watch the sea lamprey enjoy an all-you-can-eat Coyote Peterson buffet. First, it is important that you understand how these alien invaders managed to create such a catastrophic stronghold in the Great Lakes ecosystem.

These parasitic predators have a fairly simple but well-structured life cycle. During the spawning phase, adults leave the lakes and migrate towards streams. It builds crescent-shaped rocky nests, lays eggs, and then dies. After the eggs hatch, the larva leaves the nest and finds areas of soft sediment on the river bottom. They hide and enjoy a hidden life for several years. Once ready, the larvae transform into

parasite

s, with suction cup mouths, hooked teeth and a voracious appetite. They then swim to the lake and feed on fish for 12 to 18 months until they are ready to spawn. Females can lay almost 100,000 eggs, so it is easy to understand how the invasion occurred.

However, within this simple life structure, there is also a problem with lampreys' invasive armor. More on this shortly, as it sounds like the dinner bell is ringing. Well, this is the second part of our sea lamprey-eaten-alive experiment, and this is what we call inducing a suction. Now, for this part of the experiment to be effective, I will have the help of Dr. Alderboa. He will be the one to actually administer the suction by placing a sea lamprey on three different points on my body; my forearm, my stomach and, dare I say, my neck. Now to truly determine whether or not the sea lamprey will feast on the blood of humans.

This is the best way to determine whether or not I can become a buffet line. If you're wondering if I'm nervous or not. Yes, this is the part that definitely gets my heart racing and my adrenaline pumping. They will continue to suck. I'm going to feel the wrath of that harsh tongue, and it may very well be some blood. So at this point, I think if you're ready, it's time to let the feeding frenzy begin, Dr. Alderboa, pick us a very hungry sea lamprey. My forearm, my poor forearm is ready. - Sit back and relax, friend. - (exhales) I almost feel like I'm about to donate blood, and in a sense, I am.

My own blood in the name of science to determine whether or not these creatures will feast on humans. Alright, that one jumped, that means it's ready. - Okay, I'm ready. - Very good, what I'm going to do is place my form like this. - Stay. - They are wildly. Okay, now what's going to happen is Mario is going to place it right on my forearm. You know, here's a nice solid piece of meat. There's blood flow and that mouth says, oh, here we go, right there. - Suction. - Oh! - It's in. - Oh yes, ah!

Oh my, my, that's some powerful suction. The suction power in this creature's mouth is about four times that of a normal household vacuum cleaner. What it's doing now is just investigating with those jawless lips, and it's called a sector disk. He has a control there. Now the mouth is quite malleable and there are about 150 cone-shaped teeth in it. They use those teeth to lock themselves in place. Now, they usually feast on fish. When they latch onto that fish, remember, a fish is slimy, you have to get a good hold if you want to hold on and then eventually allow that rough tongue that works almost like a boring drill to pierce through the scales. and the skin of the fish before they go down.

Oh wow, that's a crazy feeling. Oh, I can definitely feel it wearing away at my skin. Oh, I'm starting to notice a little pain at this point. Well, as they tore away at the scales (groans) and flesh of the fish, eventually an anticoagulant they released from their saliva allowed them to slip through the blood and bodily fluids. Oh wow, I can definitely feel something happening there. Just like leeches, I can feel that tongue working (moans) on my skin, and the suction, my goodness, I'd say it's more powerful than four tons of vacuum cleaner. He's pulling my skin up and into his mouth.

Yowzers! Well, that's an uncomfortable feeling. Now, the difference between the lamprey and a leech is that the leech had these little jaws that were shaped like the Mercedes Benz logo that cut into your body. Of course, that anticoagulant and numbing agent didn't allow me to feel anything. I don't think there is a numbing agent involved in the lamprey latching. (pulsing, upbeat music) Yeah, wow, it really is (screams), he's really, really digging into this point. Oh yes, something is happening. Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh! (moans) Wow, that onesuction is unreal. Oh, wow! Yes, is something happening? Something is definitely happening.

Oh, he's holding on tighter. Now, the interesting thing about the teeth. Oh, okay, it got loose, it got loose. So I want to take a good look at that. Ah, man, that makes my whole body squirm, and when that thing comes off, it's like a really strong suction cup that just (slurps) comes off my arm. Look at the way the teeth curled into my skin and sucked. You can see where those jawless lips were locked. And that's right where all those teeth were sinking. You can see the purple discoloration on my skin and honestly just a little bit of blood seeping right into that spot.

Now with my forearm, I have to think that that skin is pretty tough. There's a lot of muscle here and it's very solid. It's not necessarily, you know, like a fish. A fish's body has organs in soft spots, and those lampreys will really try to concentrate on an area where they can easily burrow. My forearm wasn't exactly giving me the best opportunity to go deeper. I felt the effects, but I think it's time to take it to the next level and let one of these lamprey attach itself to my stomach. Alright, Mario, are you ready? I'm going to lift up my shirt and expose a nice, soft section of flesh.

Very soft, good soft zone. Are you ready for one? - so that one of them can grab onto and create suction. - Okay, let's let him find his target. He's trying to suck me in. (Coyote screams) Oh, man. - He's going to run through the gauntlet. Ah OK. - Well. - Turn your head. -He is good. - I think so (screams). Yeah, that's pretty good. (moans)-he's on. - Oh yeah. Definitely (groans) that's a very different feeling than the forearm. Now the skin on my belly is much softer, and that suction (moans) is coming to town right now.

I feel all those teeth (screams) digging in. Oh, the turn is hard. Now, when these creatures are in the environment, (screams) look at that, it came out! (tense music) Ooh, that's some good suction. Oh wow, yes. I could definitely feel the teeth digging in, and it almost felt like the tongue was starting to scrape. Wow, that gives you goosebumps. Oh well. Probably approaching the 62 mark here with this vine. Real creepy slime monster sucked. (moans) It's okay, just hold him. Now it's not so much painful as it is like pressure, very strong suction and that really creepy feeling of, wow, is this really it?

Oh, oh, oh, let it go. - We're ok. He's back out. -Oh, no, he just chose a different place. (moans) Oh yeah, that's an even better hold right there. I think you repositioned yourself and said, "Oh, you know what? This stain is even softer. And maybe even tastier." The real question is: will he start having a feeding response and actually try to eat me? Remember it's not after my organs. He's not trying to dig inside me. What they do is remove the skin and meat from the fish, so that it reaches the blood and body fluids.

Okay, let it go. (moans) - There's a lot of blood there. - Well. Like I told you guys, there may be blood, there you have it. That's some pretty good suction, the teeth grinding against the skin and the tongue scratching, almost like a razor-sharp cheese grater. And you could see the battle wound there. A little blood, not so bad. In fact, it feels good to have the fish out of my skin right now, yikes! I think what I learned from that bike is that he finally determined, once my blood entered his mouth, that maybe it wasn't a fish.

This is not something I'm going to feast on. But since they have the nickname (groans) vampire fish, I think we should continue with the third and final suction. And we all know that vampires bite their necks, which means our next lamprey will take a big bite out of my neck. Lots of blood flowing right there, really soft skin. (exhales) I know you want to see what's going to happen. I think I'm ready. Dr. Alderboa finds us an extra hungry sea lamprey. The buffet line has just become an all-you-can-eat buffet line. Let's put one on my neck. (suspense music) This is not easy.

It's not easy to let these things get to you. Pick me a good solid slimy sucker, Mario. - Okay, I have a good one. - Oh, he looks hungry. - This boy is ready. - Okay, up here. - Okay, ready. (suspenseful music) (Coyote screams) There you have it. Hold on to it. - Okay, I got it. - Oh my God. Yes, that's a good, good suction. Oh, it came loose. He is looking for another place. (groans) Oh, that's much more painful than the arm or the stomach. Oh! (moans) It's okay. - Are you OK. - Yes, (moans) it sucks very well.

I can feel that twisting sensation. The teeth hold in place. Man, I feel like that's right on a solid flow of blood right there. Oh, the vampire fish, he really lives up to his name right now. (moans) I'm going to try letting him suck for a full 60 seconds. (moans) Oh wow, every time it twists, it's incredibly painful. Those sharp little cone-shaped teeth that sink in, add up to 150 teeth in that mouth, remember. Oh yes, no, I can feel his tongue grazing my skin. Oh, that makes my whole body squirm. Oh, that's amazing. (moans) - You're doing well. - How am I doing? - Just relax. -Oh, okay, he let go.

Oh, no, no, he's still going for another bite! He went for another bite. Oh yeah, he's got me good. You can feel every part of those teeth grinding on your skin. Oh, wow. Yes, now the tongue is definitely going to work. It's trying to figure out, "Is this something I can do?" Oh my God. (groans) That's the most uncomfortable feeling I've felt in a long time. (moans) He's really turned on. Oh! (Coyote moans) - Let it go. - No, no, don't label it. (moans) - Do you want him to leave? - Let it stay there, I want to make sure we get to the full 60 seconds.

They don't call these things vampire fish for nothing, folks. Oh here we go. - That is a good one. Let me go, hey, don't mess with me. - Is there blood? - Yes. - Now I promise you guys, there will be some blood. A lot of blood is flowing down your neck and that sea lamprey was definitely locked in place. My god, oh man, it makes me dizzy, just thinking about my blood and bodily fluids being absorbed by the vampire fish. (suspense music) Well, this is what I was able to determine at this point, those teeth are sharp and that tongue is raspy, yes, it's like a cheese grater touching your skin.

But in the end I feel like every time the blood came to the surface and they felt the human taste in their mouth, they let go and said, "You know what? This is not a fish. This is not what I naturally feast on." So if you're heading to the Great Lakes to swim, I'd definitely say you're not afraid of getting sucked in, let alone eaten alive by sea lamprey. Now, if you are a fish swimming in lakes, this is undoubtedly your worst nightmare. Therefore, ongoing control efforts to keep the sea lamprey population under control are incredibly important.

Without this work, the lamprey will decimate fish populations. But again, like I said, when it comes to humans, if you go to the lake to swim, you have absolutely nothing to fear. I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave. Stay wild. We'll see in the next adventure. I have a few more here that could probably use a feed. - I'm probably fine. - The cameraman? - Yes, go ahead, bring me one. - Want one? - Around the world, invasive species have detrimental effects on ecosystems, but no species has been more destructive to Great Lakes fish than the sea lamprey.

Fishing in these bodies of water was almost destroyed. However, the ongoing effort to control these invaders led by the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission has been one of the most successful programs of its kind in history. So although millions and millions of eggs are laid each year, the life cycle has been identified and, most importantly, intercepted. Thanks to a combination of environmentally safe lampricides, strategic river barriers, mass traps and experiments with pheromones and alarm signals, this can alter the course of spawning. The invasive sea lamprey population has declined by almost 90% in the Great Lakes. Now that is a success story.

Sea lamprey control is an investment in the health of the environment. If you would like more information or would like to join the fight against sea lamprey, contact the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission and help keep our freshwater systems free of blood-sucking aliens. Hey Coyote Pack, if you think getting eaten alive by the lamprey was intense, stay tuned while I set the table for a tank full of piranhas. And if you can't wait, join the membership right now and be the first to see what happens. Oh boy. (animal roars)