Encountering Deadly Spiders in The Amazon (Full Episode) | Pole to Pole with Will Smith | Nat Geo

♪♪ [birdsong] [machete chopping] [Will Smith] This is dense jungle. Ahh. That's what machetes are for. [insect buzzing] [grunting] Come on. Did you ever have one of those friends that, like, gets you in trouble all the time? I remember my very first snakebite. You never forget your first. Yeah, that's Bryan. [Bryan] Over the last 25 years, I've had 27 snake bites, 24 broken bones, 400 stitches, three concussions, two stingray stings, and one near-fatal scorpion sting in the Amazon. -[insect buzzing] -Ah! [Will] That went in my ear. I don't like bugs. -[screaming] -[insects buzzing] I don't like snakes. I don't like spiders. And Bryan has us in the middle of the Amazon... ...looking for deadly creatures. On my Pole to Pole journey, I'm exploring the extremes of our planet, because I'm discovering that it's at the edges where you find the answers to life's most important questions. My next leg has dropped me right into the heart of the Amazon to join a groundbreaking scientific expedition to the world's largest rainforest. [animals screeching] [Carla Perez] This is our tree. [Will] Wow. This thing is gigantic. [Carla] Two hundred feet. Seems like a lot of gear to climb a tree. [Carla] Yeah. [laughing] The expedition is led by mountaineer Carla Perez. Okay, Bryan, you are ready to go. -All right, awesome. -[Will] All right. And my man, Professor Bryan Fry. Show me the way, Coach. Now, Bryan thinks there are creatures here that could hold the secret to saving millions of lives. You are doing great, Bryan. [Bryan] The goal of the expedition is to find new species, not just for the sake of finding new species. We're not collecting stamps here. But hunting for new species that might lead to important scientific breakthroughs. [Will] Just have to pull myself up. [Bryan] But first, we want to show Will what an incredible place the Amazon is, and the sheer scale of the life that it contains. [Will] Do you see how well I'm doing? Keep going, keep going. You didn't even imagine I was gonna be this good at it. [Carla laughing] [Will] Here we are. We made it. Wow. Wow. It's just amazing, eh? -Sittin' on top of the world. -[chuckles] [Will] Look at that. Just endless. There is not a hospital as far as I can see. [laughter] Yo, this is fantastic, man. This is fantastic. I brought you up here to show you why the Amazon is the best place on Earth to look for new species. [birds calling] If you look around, not everything is what you'd expect. Most of what you're seeing that's green, that's not actually part of the tree. That's the small plants living on the tree. They're called epiphytes. A tree this size could have over 200 different species. Just look at what you're sitting on. That's not the tree. That's soil. [Will] That's wild. It's like another forest floor... -[Bryan] Yeah. -...on top of the tree. Exactly. [Bryan] And the same is true of animals. The Amazon is hiding a wealth of species that you might not be able to see, but you can hear. Let me show you something really cool. I've recorded the sounds of all the animals in earshot of this tree for 24 hours. [animals calling] There's a brown woolly monkey, howler monkey, and that's-- that's what we're hear-- a howler monkey is what we're hearing now, right? -Yeah, that really spooky sound. -Yeah. That's the Pavarotti of the jungle. [monkeys howling] -Yeah, that's him. [Will] You have a pygmy marmoset in here. Yeah, they're cool. A little arboreal primate. -[beep] -[marmoset chittering] Mm, mm, mm, mm. [beep] -[common potoo calling] -Mm-hmm. Oh, man, the common potoo got rhythm. [both laughing] It is on and poppin' in the Amazon. It's like a nature club. [laughing] It's like... [making techno beat] [various animal calls] [beatboxing] ...all day and all night long. [animals continue calling] Now, I get it. This is the most alive place on Earth. It feels like there's more life in this one tree than the whole of Antarctica. [squawking] [Bryan] Exploring the incredible diversity -of life in a canopy... -[hooting] ...is already proving incredibly revolutionary for biosciences. But to find the species I'm interested in for this expedition, we're going somewhere much less charted-- down into the pitch black. ♪ La, la, la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la ♪ ♪ Yo ♪ -♪ What's the deal ♪ -[Carla] Try to follow my steps. [music continues] [Will] Those first couple steps in the jungle, it really is overwhelming-- the smells, the sounds, and the-- the density. [Carla] Watch out this section, guys. -There's a lot of insects. [Will] You're really surrounded by Mother Nature. And it sounds so silly, but that was actually a revelation for me. There is a real, like, blossoming explorer within me. I got this. ♪ Oo-wee ♪ We are arriving. The main goal of our expedition is just there. But today, we are not going up. We are going down. -Going down? -Yep. [Bryan] When you think of the Amazon, you don't necessarily think of caves. But if you're ever gonna find something new... caves are a great place to start. And the Tayos cave is a hidden world where we will find new life. -[Will grunting] -[Carla] Are you okay? Oh, goodness. This is the cave. [bouncing rock echoing] -Whoa. -You see? Whoa. I don't like that at all. We are going down about a 20-story building, 206 feet. -So, yeah. So now, the moment has arrived. -[Will] Okay. -See you on the bottom. Thank you. [Carla speaking English] Yeah, I'm a little concerned. I'm certainly a little concerned. When you flip on your lights, you're gonna see things that you never even imagined, except maybe in some really feverish dreams. Okay. Oh, there are some really cool things in there. I'm not gonna ruin the surprise, but there's some wicked-looking animals. My specific field of study is venomology. It's my job to discover new species of venomous animals. Venom's formed the backbone of some of our most effective drugs. They've been truly revolutionary in biomedical science. Imagine if down there, there's a cure for cancer. So, we're looking for venomous species? Yep. Some of the scorpions, we haven't tested their toxicity yet. -Which means that the odds of the antivenom working really aren't that great. Yeah, this whole thing is stupid. Yeah, this was a bad idea, the whole-- the whole idea. -And it's all on me. -[Bryan] Yes. [Will sighs] Oh goodness. [gear clanking] Okay, we got sounds, and clicks, and pops, and stuff. All right-- oh, gee, oh! All right, hold on, I gotta-- just give me a second to get my movie star face back. -[Bryan laughing] -All right. How's that? Still-- I'm still breathing too hard, though, right? All right. Oh, that's-- I shouldn't have done that. Part of this whole thing for me is like playing my edges. I just wanna keep inching out a little bit farther to see something or feel something that is outside of my comfort zone. Did my torch go off? This is my worst nightmare, but I'm not gonna let my fear stop me. -[Carla] Great. Great job. Wow. Yo. This is great. It's like another world. You can just tell things just look like no humans have seen it before. Yeah, it's crazy. The biodiversity in here has barely been scratched. There's only been a handful of studies, and the cataloging of life in here is far, far from complete. The creatures here are as isolated as if they were on an island in the middle of the ocean. So, they have the potential to evolve into genetically distinct new species. Evolving in such a dark and hostile environment like this breeds intense competition, which also promotes innovation -in ways to kill. So, you get new types of venom with a power that is just mind-blowing. [Will] Okay. What if we just left? All right, okay. How far does it go? [Bryan] We don't know. Most of the cave has never been explored. My team has identified this chamber as a prime zone for all the things we're after. So, there should be lots of scorpions and spiders here. [Will] So, we're basically gonna try to, like, clear this room? Yeah. Guys, now I will let you go and collect some specimens. You leaving me with him? -Uh-huh. -[laughter] -No, I trust. But if you need me, you just scream, "Carla!" [echoing] Carla! Hey, there's-- what is that? There's... -A little cave cricket. -A cave cricket? Ah, it jumped. -Ooh, hey. -[Bryan] That's a big cockroach. Here's big food for somebody. -Wow. -You wanna hold it? Dammit. Yeah, all right, here we go. Because I can't act scared since you-- ah. -It's like Men in Black. -[laughing] -Oh, hey! -[Will] Ooh. Oh, that's a nice one. Oh, wow. -Can I have a jar, please? -Which one-- okay. -So, this is a big... -Big spider, yes. I can see that from here. I have a bigger jug, if you want. -Yeah, I need... -Here, bigger jug. We're gonna need a bigger jug. -Here we go. -Thank you. Ooh, ooh. -Ew, ah! -And the lid, please. -Okay, sorry. Here you go, sorry. This is... -I'm not good at this. Is that-- make sure it's the right lid. Yes, that's a big girl. [Will] This is definitely the biggest spider I've ever seen. The big brown one, the Goliath birdeater, isn't found near this region, so there's a good chance this could be a new species of, you know, big brown tarantula. That's insane. For me, going on these expeditions is like a once-in-a-lifetime level of craziness. But for scientists like Bryan, this is just another day in the office. All right, I'm gonna show you It might sound stupid, but we're gonna turn our lights off, but we're gonna use another type of light. -Okay. -So, we're gonna use UV lights. It's how we find a certain animal that's really hard to see otherwise. Ooh, wow. Look at your shirt. Ooh. They use that at the club when they put the mark on you. So, we're looking for something that does that? Yeah, a little glowy buddy. -Ooh, hey. Ooh, right there. -[Will] What is that, what... -You know what animal that is? -[Will] Looks like a scorpion. And they glow. We don't know why. [Will] Have you ever been stung by a scorpion? Oh yeah, they suck. It felt like my finger was in a flame -for about eight hours. -Ooh. So, are these things fast? We'll see... -No. -I guess we'll see in a second. -Ooh, hey! -Awesome. Here we go. So, do you wanna just do it on your own? Actually flip your own rocks and look for your own animals? Okay. Yes. I think-- yes, sir. -I would like to do that. Awesome. It's pretty dark in here. So, yeah. The team is hoping that, like, I would find my own species. But I'm pretty sure that's not gonna happen. Um... 'cause I'm not really gonna look. Yeah, there's nothing here. Oh, there's a spider. Y'all see that? Ooh, there's a family of 'em. Damn! It's like 10. Like somewhere around 10 spiders is where I leave. And they don't-- they're not new species. I can-- they-- those are normal species that they just-- they're regular spiders, so there's nothing special. So, there's no reason for us to proceed with the expedition in that direction. Yo. Yo. Yo. I don't want no parts of that. To me, this looks like a regular species. So, I'm gonna just leave that alone. Ooh! Y'all can see that, right? Um... we caught one of these already, so I think this is cool. I'm gonna just Ooh, that's a bat. That's a bat. That is a bat. -[bat squeaking] -Ooh, no, that's not one bat, that's 10 bats. They're flying. All gone. -Oh! -[wings flapping] [♪ "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg playing] Oh! -[music stops] -[echoing] Carla! So, we've caught a number of animals so far, and who knows what's in their venom. Yeah, that thing is insane-looking. So, there might be potential cures that come out of the tarantula? [Bryan] Absolutely, the tarantulas or the scorpions. So, of all these critters, how do you know which one's the most useful? Well... whichever is the most potently venomous. Venoms are effective killers because they target vital parts of the body. But what's cool, is in low quantities, these effects can be harnessed for good. The venom of a Brazilian pit viper kills with a sudden drop of blood pressure. But it's been developed into a medicine that more than 40 million people use to keep their blood pressure under control. Scorpion venoms paralyze the nervous system, but they've inspired a medicine that can help treat stroke victims. A component in spider venom can alleviate pain rather than cause it. Imagine the medical breakthroughs that could be made from new venomous species found in the Amazon. So, we're going to milk the biggest of the tarantulas. Is that like the scientific term, "milking"? Well, we try to use "venom extraction," but you know, "milking" just sounds kinda cool. [Will] How long does the spider stay knocked out? I try to do as minimal as possible. -Got it. -So, it's usually out for about 5 minutes, 10 minutes at most. So, you should hurry up, then. It takes three of us just to wrangle the animal. Uh-oh. Oh, geez. He's seeming frisky. Yeah, he look like he's been milked before. And he didn't like it. [Bryan] We really don't wanna get nailed by it, because, wow, do they suck. Okay, okay, all right. Dave will wrangle the body. I'll apply the TENS. You'll run the TENS. This is called the TENS machine? Yeah, it's the same machine that an athlete would use on a muscle injury. But we're gonna use it to gently stimulate -the venom glands. -Okay, got it, got it. [Bryan] All right, so first, Emilio's going to pop open one of the fangs. -[Will] Whoa. Whoa. -Yeah, that's a big fang. Okay, I've got the pad on. -I got the TENS on. Just tell me when to milk. Okay, just keep running it up. Keep running it up. Faster. You getting any venom? Ooh, a nice big drop. Look at that. There we go, ooh. That was a good amount. No, yeah, just let it hold, yeah. -Hold it at that position. -Hold it right there? You could-- you're increasing it one milliamp at a time. So, we only use as much electricity as it takes to actually stimulate the venom gland-- the same amount of neuroelectricity -it would send. 'Cause we like these animals, you know, we're driven by childlike love for these creatures. We don't wanna hurt them. [Will] Oh, we worried about not hurting them? -[both chuckle] -[Bryan] We need to act quickly. The spider's waking up rapidly. [Will] All right, I'm going up, going up, going up. [Bryan] Look at the size of that drop! Yo, this is wild. This is wild. [Bryan] That is an amazing amount of venom. -We're good? I can stop? Your first venom extraction. -Whew. -Oh. That's stressful. And that was just the start. The team collected dozens more creatures. And anything they didn't recognize, they just milked it. -Well done. -All right, good stuff. -Good stuff. -Go, team. -Good job. -Gracias, gracias. I mean, it's a weird way to make a living, but Bryan seemed really happy. [Bryan] The expedition has been extraordinarily successful. We're only scratching the surface of a bonanza that we collected. I can only imagine what kind of breakthroughs are contained in all of these new venoms. It was a very, very special day. It's one of those things you don't forget too often. "What'd you do today, Daddy?" "Oh, I milked a tarantula, sweetie." It looks like we're leaving. So, how you feeling about the cave now? You know, it was, um... it was interesting. We milked the spider. Thank you for that, it's my first time. I've never milked a tarantula before, so... -Not a big thing in Philly? -Yeah, yeah, we don't-- we don't do that, we don't do that a lot. But when did you, um... land on the idea of poison becoming medicine as your thing? Um, a few different parts, you know. One is, I was just a weird kid, you know, who really liked venomous snakes. Another part's, you know, a weapons-grade-sized dose -of survivor's guilt... ...where when I was a kid, I was absolutely nuked by spinal meningitis. It causes an inflammation of your spinal cord and your brain. Because it can be very rapidly lethal... you don't come out unscathed. Came out of the hospital, my muscles so wasted, I had to relearn how to walk all over again. It also left me with complete deafness in my right ear. But I got away as lightly touched as you can. So, you said survivor's guilt. Like, what do you mean? Well, it's-- you know, it's a pretty common thing, and it's not logical. But I'm driven in part by... being one of the ones who survived. Anything I can do to help alleviate that kind of suffering, you know, is worth doing. I get it. Something that can hurt you being able to heal you and help you. -I like that. -Thank you, I appreciate it. Bryan has been bitten, and stung, and poisoned multiple times. If I get bit at work, you know, we done for the day, for sure, and-- and we probably done for tomorrow. But in life, there's something to be said about not being scared of getting bit. [Bryan] Of the myriad of animals that we got, we have at least 10 new species just from this one expedition. -That's beautiful. -Oh, yeah. That's beautiful. [Will] Who knows what we might find in those new species, what medicines, what cures. And to think, we're just one team, and this is a forest of almost 400 billion trees... ...with enough potential for thousands of expeditions to explore for centuries to come. All right, team! We're ready to go. I literally have no idea where we're going. -Well, we've been in the caves catching all kinds of little creepy-crawlies. -But you know that snakes are my first true love. You said snakes are-- are your first true love? Yeah, so that's what we're going after now, are some very, very large snakes. Snakes. Oh, God. [Carla speaking Spanish] [Bryan] We're gonna go after the world's heaviest snake, the Ecuadorian anaconda. Yeah, this is the beginning of a really bad movie. [♪ suspenseful music playing] -[blowing forcefully] -[thwacking] When they pull this camera out of an anaconda 100 years from now, I just want you to know, um... -it's his fault.