The Great Swamp Search
Season 4 Episode 5
Themes: Working Together
Prominent Characters
Captain Barnacles
Captain Barnacles is the leader of the Octonauts, and he gives instructions to the others on how they’ll accomplish their goal of saving the animals.
Tweak
The tech-savvy inventor of the Octonauts, Tweak takes the group to the Everglades where she grew up to help her father. She exhibits bravery in this episode, including a moment when she rides on the back of a python to save her father as a forest fire burns around them.
Ranger Marsh
Ranger Marsh is Tweak's dad and a park ranger in the Everglades. He cares for the animals there, and he needs the Octonauts’ help to rescue the invasive species who won’t be prepared for the coming wildfire.
Plot Highlights
- The Octonauts receive a distress call over the radio from Twig’s dad, Ranger Marsh. Captain Barnacles sounds the octoalert, and the group heads out on the alligator-inspired GUP-K to find Ranger Marsh in the everglades.
- When the group finds Ranger Marsh, he tells them about a coming lightening storm that’s likely to cause a wildfire. This is typical for the everglades and many of the critters know what to do to stay safe, but the invasive species that aren’t accustomed to wildfires need help. He shows the group three invasive species that they need to find and get home safe - a sucker mouth catfish, a trio of lizards, and an unidentified mysterious creature.
- The Octonauts and Ranger Marsh split up into two groups - one to warn the animals of the coming wildfires and the other to find the invasive species. The catfish and lizards are resistant to being captured, leading to chases and coordinated effort to catch them, but when they find out that they get to go home they’re happy and excited.
- Turnip, Dashi, and Shellington come upon a large snakeskin, and they realize that a snake that large doesn’t belong in the Everglades. They realize that the snake might be the unidentified invasive species, so they call the others and meet up. Ranger Marsh identifies the snakeskin as belonging to a Burmese python.
- They find newly hatched python eggs and start collecting the eggs and baby snakes. The mother python approaches them and demands that they leave her eggs alone, even threatening to eat the Octonauts. When lightning strikes and a fire starts, though, the snake becomes scared and goes along with the Octonauts when they promise to take her and her babies home safely.
- The group rides on the GUP-K to escape the fire zone as trees and sparks fall around them. When one of the baby pythons bounces out of the vehicle, Ranger Marsh jumps out to rescue it and gets stuck in mud and blocked from the GUP-K by a fallen tree. Twig courageously rides on the back of the python to swim under the tree and free her father and the baby python. They make it back to the GUP-K, and the group rides to safety.
Discussion Questions
After your child watches this episode, we encourage you to talk to them about the way that the Octonauts worked together to save the animals in this episode. Additionally, if they’re interested in learning more about invasive species or the Everglades, consider checking out videos like this one on invasive species and this one about the Everglades.
- Why did Ranger Marsh call the Octonauts for help? What did they need to do?
- How did the Octonauts find and rescue the invasive species? Do you think they did a good job working together?
- What did Twig do to rescue her dad when he got stuck in the mud during the fire? What did you think of this part of the episode? Do you think Twig was being brave?
- Did you think any parts of this episode were scary? How did you feel while you were watching it?
