Last week, Born To Be Wild host Doc Nielsen Donato and the team of Mabuwaya Foundation began their night survey to look for wild Philippine crocs in the marshes of San Mariano in Isabela. From a watchtower, they started to spot the crocs and saw nine pairs of flaming red-orange eyes. Upon confirming the presence of the crocs, the team started to wade into knee-deep waters. They hope to measure the crocs to find out whether those that were released here some years ago are growing in size and in numbers.
After some time, the team found a hatchling, indicating that the Philippine crocs have successfully reproduced in the wild. But the juvenile croc is now producing a “distress call” – a sound which means that it is asking for help from other crocodiles – possibly alerting the adult crocs to respond to the call and approach the team.
Meanwhile, after rescuing 13 devil rays from a fish pen in Bacon, Sorsogon, Doc Ferds’ mission isn’t over yet. He continues his investigation on how these rays get trapped inside the pen and why they frequent the area at this time of year.
From Sorsogon, the team travels to Ticao Pass in Masbate , another area where rays are often seen by locals. Ticao Pass has been tagged as the “Manta Bowl” of the Philippines . It is here that the team will meet a researcher who leaves cameras underwater to document the rays. The images revealed by these lenses under the water are nothing short of astonishing and offer a glimpse of ray movements as a group.
Do not miss Part 3 of “ Croc River ” and “Ray Migrations” Series this Wednesday after Saksi on Born To Be a Wild only on GMA-7.