All language subtitles for BBC Blue Planet Live (2019) - 04 English A

All this week we've experienced some
of the most incredible ocean

wonders, and had some fantastic
encounters with iconic

marine animals.

Tonight I'm in search of one of the

most spectacular whales, the
humpback.

humpback. We are in Australia where
our

our divers are getting ready to
carry

carry out a live night dive to bring
you

you a spectacular natural wonder,
the

the fluorescent night show of the
Great

Great Barrier Reef. I will be trying
to

to dive with one of the most
threatened

threatened and dramatic of all
sharks,

sharks, the great hammerhead. Join
us

us for all this and more on Blue
Planet

Planet Live!

Welcome to Blue Planet Live. All

week we have stationed ourselves at
marine

marine hotspots across the surface
of

of the planet and putting our
fingers

fingers on the pulse of the health
of

of our oceans, accessing that to see
precisely

precisely the problem is they are
facing.

facing. During the course of this we
have

have seen some spectacular wildlife,
some

some truly fantastic things and I
can

can promise you that tonight we will
be

be seeing a lot more as well. Our
mission

mission tonight is to throw forward
into

into the future, to see what that is
in

in store for our seas.

Over the past week we have dived

deep into our oceans, exploring
above,

above, on and beneath the surface.
We

We have revealed their wonders,
explored

explored the challenges they are
facing,

facing, and met the scientists going
to

to extraordinary lengths to save
them.

them. One important question
remains.

remains. What does the future hold
for

for our Blue Planet?

A very important question indeed and

to answer it this evening we are in
three

three separate time zones on the
surface

surface of that planet so where are
we?

we? I have come 5000 miles from the
UK

UK across the Atlantic Ocean and
North

North America to the west coast of
Mexico

Mexico and the Baja Peninsula. On
the

the inside you have the Sea of
Cortez

Cortez and on the outside the
Pacific

Pacific Ocean and it is because the
other

other side of that ocean, 10,000
miles

miles away from here, that we can
join

join Liz on the Great Barrier Reef.
Thank

Thank you, Chris. We are on Heron
Island

Island just off the jetty here and
because

because the clocks have gone forward
where

where you guys are in the UK, it is
still

still dark here just before dawn and
I

I will be showing you more
extraordinary

extraordinary work that scientists
here

here are carrying out to safeguard
the

the future of our reefs and we will
be

be finding out what the divers are
doing

doing in the water at this time of
night.

night. Meanwhile, 9000 miles away
from

from me, Steve is in a shark century
off

off the Bahamas. Yes, that's right!
I'm

I'm in the shark sanctuary of the
Bahamas

Bahamas and after a week of high
winds

winds and cloudy seas, we have
finally

finally got our weather window. We
have

have a lot of sharks but are there
any

any hammerheads? Only one way to
find

find out!

Yes, I have moved since the last

time I was with you, we were up in
the

the Loretto National Park looking
for

for blue whales but we have now come
to

to the southern tip of the peninsula
so

so I have the sea of Cortez on this
site

site and the Pacific Ocean on that
site

site and also, live we have humpback
whales!

whales! This is coming to you live
from

from our chopper with Larry and Matt
up

up there and it looked like those
whales

whales had just gone down, that is
whales

whales for you! Don't worry, they
will

will be back up. We have come to
this

this particular spot because it is a
humpback

humpback whale highway. They have
spent

spent their winter in the Sea of
Cortez

Cortez and they are moving past this
area

area to head back out into the
Pacific

Pacific Ocean. We have seen mothers
and

and calves, yesterday we got a calf
actually

actually reaching almost learning
the

the technique, a little playful
humpback

humpback calf only a few months old
but

but already about six metres long
and

and probably weighing in just under
three

three tons and growing rapidly on a
diet

diet of its mother 's milk. That
looks

looks to me like a calf having some
fun

fun in the sun even if there is a
learning

learning purpose. But where have
these

these animals come from? They began
their

their journey to this part of the
world

world a long time ago. They were up
in

in the Arctic summer and have
travelled

travelled all the way from the
Aleutian

Aleutian Islands, from a lack --
from

from Alaska, the vast majority from
Monterey

Monterey Bay off California become
all

all the way down the West Coast of
the

the States and Mexico and come here
for

for the winter in order to give
birth

birth and to breed. But to
facilitate

facilitate that, because they are
fasting

fasting when they are here, they
have

have to spend a lot of time eating
when

when they are in those Arctic waters
and

and they go up there because of the
enormous

enormous productivity all of the
plankton

plankton that fuels huge shoals of
fish.

fish. They will also catch salmon,
Heron,

Heron, haddock, and they will
swallow

swallow the water and filter it to
save

save out all of the food. They can
put

put 95% of the energy they gain when
they

they are feeding up there in the
Arctic

Arctic into blubber so that... Hold
on!

on! We have got the whale on the
surface

surface again. This is a live whale,
oh

oh yes! Superb! There you can see
the

the animal still beneath the
surface.

surface. Presumably this is the
mother

mother or the calf, yes, this is the
adult

adult so the calf must still be
there

there somewhere. I'm pleased at this
point

point to be able to rejoin
Geraldine.

Geraldine. Look at this! It is
amazing.

amazing. Absolutely spectacular.
That

That is 100%! But you have cheated!
You

You have cheated on your
predictions!

predictions! But this is a good news
story

story not just for these whales but
humpbacks

humpbacks generally because the
wailing

wailing period of the 19th and 20th
century

century when we took out about 3
million

million of these animals, the
species

species has bounced back. Yes,
globally,

globally, a conservative estimate is
100,000

100,000 humpback whales. In these
waters,

waters, around 5000 visit this area.
The

The resilience of the species has
astonished

astonished researchers worldwide.
They

They think through serpents that if
there

there were 125,000 come back whales
before

before it started so it is
remarkable

remarkable they have come back to
that

that level -- through studies. But
the

the thing is, these animals here now
are

are in the process of leaving. They
have

have been breeding here as well?
This

This is where they come to breed and
they

they also exhibit courtship
behaviour.

behaviour. I'm glad you said that
because

because yesterday we went out and we
saw

saw some courtship behaviour and it
had

had me literally jumping out of my
skin!

skin! Look at this! Come on, whales.
Just

Just here would be nice. Oh! Oh! My
wish

wish came true! Unbelievable! Here,
under

under the water alongside us, I can
see

see them.

We have more animals out here, at

least another two or three out
there.

there. One, two, three, four, five,
six,

six, may be seven animals in this
group

group now. Could it be that the one
in

in the front is a female being
pursued

pursued by a number of whales
questioning

questioning humpback mating runs or
heat

heat runs are initiated by a female
who

who signals she might be ready to
mate.

mate. The female will lead the run
whilst

whilst the males compete to knock
each

each other out. This is the biggest
courtship

courtship contest on the planet.
There

There is so much energy being
expended

expended here, they are so close
together,

together, there is jostling going on
and

and sometimes when they are diving
you

you can see one animal is being
pushed.

pushed. Look at this! The males blow
a

a bubble curtain is to try to
disorientate

disorientate competitors. And open
up

up their massive pectoral fins to
try

try to force others out of the race.
You

You can see all of the scarring on
the

the backs where they have been
rubbing

rubbing each other with those
barnacles

barnacles which we think they might
actually

actually use as weapons, when they
are

are fighting. The biggest male stays
closest

closest to the female, doing
everything

everything he can to stop the others
from

from getting too close. Did you hear
that?!

that?! That sounded like a bull
elephant!

elephant! And that one. I have never
heard

heard that from these animals
before.

before. These battles can last for
several

several hours and cover up to 20
miles.

miles. Until finally there is just
one

one winner. Exhausted, the last male
swimming

swimming will escort the female
until

until it is time to mate. This
really

really is a whale bonanza, a
humpback

humpback whale bonanza.

It is not often you can use the word

bonanza in conjunction with whales!
I

I was so excited I nearly burst but
rest

rest assured we were not breaking
any

any of the whale watching protocols,
the

the whales were coming to us. But
those

those males, how do they find a
female?

female? I know they are large, 50
metres

metres long and weighing 30 tons but
how

how do they find a female in the
past

past ocean? The answer is a song and
on

on Thursday I sent you a little
quiz.

quiz. What was the single largest
pressing

pressing of an LP in history? It
wasn't

wasn't the Rolling Stones or the
Beatles

Beatles but in 1979 a version of
this,

this, 10 million copies were printed
for

for National Geographic magazine in
25

25 languages. When you come back to
us

us live, we will be trying to record
and

and listen to the song of a humpback
whale.

whale. This is what it sounds
like...

like... WHALE SONG. You might be
fantasising

fantasising about seeing Lady Gaga
in

in Vegas but we are going to bring
you

you a humpback whale live on this
programme!

programme! My confidence is soaring
now,

now, not least because I'm looking
at

at a live picture of one and all I
have

have to do is tempt it into singing!
But

But let's go over to Liz in
Australia

Australia who is also hoping to
witness

witness something quite
extraordinary.

extraordinary. I am sold on that!
Whale

Whale sounds over Lady Gaga every
time.

time. On Heron Island we are on a
glass

glass bottom boat just off the jetty
on

on the Great Barrier Reef and
because

because the sun is yet to rise here,
it

it is the perfect opportunity to
bring

bring you an incredible spectacle
from

from the coral reefs themselves. Our
divers

divers are in the water shining a
special

special blue light on the corals
under

under the cover of darkness which
shows

shows that these incredible colours
coming

coming from the little coral animals
themselves

themselves and to find out more, I
am

am joined by Anya Salih from Western
Sydney

Sydney University. Tell us what they
are

are doing when they are emitting
these

these almost supernatural lights and
colours?

colours? Corals live in shallow,
sunlit

sunlit waters and they control the
light

light for the photos in the S of the
symbiotic

symbiotic algae that live inside
them

them and give them through --
photosynthesis.

photosynthesis. But too much light
can

can damage the corals and they use
the

the fluorescent colours to control
the

the light energy reaching the algae
so

so they don't damage them.
Beautiful,

Beautiful, we have some in the tank
here

here to show you what you are
talking

talking about. These beautiful green
fluorescent

fluorescent colours they are
emitting

emitting it is basically testament
to

to the coral protecting the algae
and

and themselves essentially. We have
beautiful

beautiful images from the diverse,
thank

thank you to Mike and John for these
incredible

incredible images of the reef just
outside.

outside. Does it mean that when
corals

corals are emitting these colours,
they

they are essentially able to protect
themselves

themselves from some of the damaging
effects

effects of climate change? That's
right.

right. The when there is too much
light

light and the temperature increases
in

in the sea water, the fluorescent
colours

colours in the corals can mitigate
some

some of the damage, some of the
effects.

effects. Not all but it goes to show
what

what capabilities these little
corals

corals are able to evolve on their
own

own to protect themselves. It is
quite

quite extraordinary. How do these
new

new discoveries about corals help
science

science and technology? What are you
researching?

researching? We are learning a lot
from

from corals. For example, the
efficiency

efficiency of energy transfer in
these

these fluorescent colours that
corals

corals have is so high that we are
learning

learning how to improve solar cell
and

and solar panel technologies. The
current

current solar panels have less than
50%

50% efficiency, which means the
conversion

conversion of light into electrical
power...

power... Look at that, a total live
on

on our cameras at this time of
night,

night, just before dawn, wandering
amongst

amongst these beautiful corals that
are

are not only protecting themselves
but

but helping scientists find
solutions

solutions to the very problems we
are

are imposing on them it is such a
beautiful

beautiful site for this time of the
morning!

morning! Nature, finding solutions
to

to all of our issues, that is a
beautiful

beautiful thing to end on. Thank you
for

for joining us. It is back over to
Steve

Steve in the Bahamas who is in his
element

element because he is diving with
some

some of the most beautiful animals
on

on the planet.

Well, yes, I have a ringside seat at

what has to be one of the greatest
things

things I have ever seen. We have
dozens

dozens of sharks around us. Most are
like

like this one here. It is a nurse
shark.

shark. They are quite dopey
-looking.

-looking. They hang out on the
bottom

bottom and they get their nurse name
from

from the way they suck up their food
using

using vacuum suction from the sea
bed.

bed. But this creature, that's
heading

heading towards us now, that really
is

is the main event. It's a great
hammerhead.

hammerhead. There are at least three
of

of them around us right now. And
while

while the nurse sharks are quite
dopey,

dopey, just hanging out on the
bottom,

bottom, this is a far more targeted
predator.

predator. You can see it moving with
its

its head just shaking from side to
side,

side, sensing for food. It's Mallett
-like

-like head, the most distinctive
thing

thing about the animal, and it's
probably

probably evolved as a way of
spreading

spreading out in senses. . We have
sharks

sharks coming in behind me. That is
a

a smaller male shark.

a smaller male shark. Circling
around

around trying to find the source of
the

the food. They have senses that
allow

allow them to target the weak
electrical

electrical fields that are given off
by

by the moving muscles of their prey.
It

It is a super sense that sharks
have,

have, and the hammerhead's mallet
like

like head, that cephalofoil.,
spreads

spreads out the senses, allowing
them

them to since moving muscles of a
pre-.

pre-. It is almost like they see a
moving

moving aura around their prey. The
hammerhead

hammerhead sharks movement is much
more

more targeted than the nurse sharks.
Absolutely

Absolutely extraordinary. Other than
the

the head, the most distinctive thing
about

about them is probably that
extraordinary

extraordinary dorsal fin. Huge, tall
and

and curved. It's also one of the
things

things that makes them most targeted
by

by the shark fin trade. A

by the shark fin trade. A fin of
that

that size is incredibly valuable.
Here

Here comes the larger animal,
probably

probably sensing our feed. We have a
bucket

bucket full of fish. It's common
practice

practice in the Bahamas to feed
these

these sharks. As it comes in to
wards

wards the food, you can see the
mouth

mouth on the underside filled with
thin

thin needlelike teeth, that are
perfect

perfect for catching its fish and
Ray

Ray prey. They have been seen using
that

that hammerhead to press stingrays
down

down onto the bottom and they will
use

use their whole body to tear chunks
out

out of their food. They are often
found

found with dozens of stingrays
embedded

embedded in their mouths. We have a
lot

lot more time down here with these
incredible

incredible animals. Blue Planet II
showed

showed sperm whales off Dominica,
some

some incredible images. But since
then,

then, in the years that followed,
technological

technological advances have enabled
us

us to go one stage further.

Sperm whales are highly social

animals. They have the biggest
brains

brains in the world and they live in
tight

tight family units.

But despite these close bonds,

research in the last decade has
found

found their numbers are in decline.
One

One in three babies doesn't make it
to

to their first birthday. We are
losing

losing adult females faster than we
can

can explain. Shane runs the
Dominique

Dominique sperm whale project in the
Caribbean.

Caribbean. He's trying to get to the
bottom

bottom of why. Most of the ocean is
dark

dark and humans have only explored
about

about 5%. We know very little of the
part

part of the world that sperm whales
live

live in every day. To shed light on
their

their lives below the surface, Shane
uses

uses multi-sensor tags with cameras
that

that he sticks onto the back of the
whales.

whales. We have made a lot of
assumptions

assumptions about how sperm whales
behave

behave based on what we see at the
surface,

surface, but with new technology we
are

are getting a first-hand look at
what

what it is actually like down there.
For

For Blue Planet II he filmed an
adult

adult female searching and diving
for

for squid. But around 200 metres
down,

down, we were plunged into darkness,
and

and we could only hear the sound of
the

the whale's clicks. Now, two years
on,

on, we have teamed up with Shane and
the

the latest camera tagging
technology.

technology. Not only is this one
designed

designed to cope with the crushing
depths,

depths, more importantly it has
lights

lights to illuminate the deep. We
are

are hoping that for the first time
ever

ever we will get a glimpse of what
these

these whales see and do during their
deepest

deepest dives. Where are the whales,
Kevin?

Kevin? Get us closer. But attaching
a

a tag to a 12 metre long rail is not
easy.

easy. Sperm whales can disappear for
almost

almost an hour when they died. --
when

when they dive.

Hang on.

Hang on. We got that on. Despite a

fight, the tag doesn't hurt the
whale.

whale. It's only on-board for around
six

six short hours but what it records
could

could provide scientific insight.

could provide scientific insight.
There

There is the baby! Wow. The calf has
followed

followed its mother into the deep.
This

This has never been seen before.
Shane

Shane had suspected that baby Wales
might

might follow adults into the gloom,
but

but so far he'd only ever heard
their

their clicks in the dark. It's
something

something I could never have hoped
to

to have seen 15 years ago when we
started

started the project. The footage
might

might not look like much, but it's
revealed

revealed that calves make deep dives
much

much earlier in life than first
thought,

thought, which could suggest they
are

are supplementing their diet of milk
with

with squid. This new insight needs a
lot

lot more investigation, but it could
be

be a vital clue as to why we are
losing

losing sperm whales.

We are back on the Baja Peninsula

and I am pleased to take you live to
more

more pictures of the humpback whales
as

as they move from the Sea of Cortez
into

into the Pacific Ocean. This one is
slapping

slapping its tail, a means of
communication.

communication. They use their tails
and

and pectoral fins to slap the
surface

surface of the water. I can't see
the

the pictures myself right now. This
could

could be a male, or a female having
fun.

fun. It could be a female and calf
that

that we saw earlier, teaching the
young

young calf these antics. We want to
get

get into some humpback whale song
now.

now. I've been joined by Nico
Ransome

Ransome from Murdoch University, who
has

has a hydrophone. We can drop this
in.

in. This should enable us to listen
to

to whale song. What sort of
distance?

distance? Probably from around three
kilometres,

kilometres, whale song in shallow
and

and coastal areas like breeding
grounds

grounds travels up to ten
kilometres.

kilometres. Do you think there is a
chance

chance we will hear that tail
slapping?

It's too far away. Unfortunately

not. There is a distant Wales
singing

singing right now. I can hear a male
singing.

singing. Are you sure? Can't you
hear

hear it? I have people talking in my
ear

ear and my hearing isn't
particularly

particularly good was not what we do
have

have live humpback whale song. Truly
superb.

superb. That song is incredibly
complex.

complex. Structured in units and
themes,

themes, songs and song cycles.
Exactly.

Exactly. It's only the males that
same...

same... And we just had a very high
pitched

pitched part of the song. Only the
males

males sing, and only on breeding
grounds.

grounds. 24 hours per day, seven
days

days a week, throughout breeding
season,

season, if you put down a hydrophone
like

like this then you will hear the
males

males are singing. These noises are
not

not random, they are very specific
noises

noises in a set order. All the males
in

in this population sing the same
song.

song. We are hearing the latest hit
of

of the Mexican humpback whales. This
is

is the most up-to-date song of the
male

male humpback whales of Mexico. They
will

will have to pump it up to get on
the

the charts. The intricacies of the
song

song are such, they almost create it
so

so that it can be copied and learned
by

by other whales. It's constantly
changing.

changing. One whale will add one bit
and

and another whale will add another
bit,

bit, so the song is constantly
evolving.

evolving. At the same time, all the
whales

whales should be singing the same
basic

basic song. Your work, listening to
the

the song, is about informing
conservation.

conservation. How does that work,
aside

aside from adding to science, it's
about

about informing better conservation.
My

My study is showing the threat of
shipping

shipping in the Pacific. First we
are

are trying to find the highest
densities

densities of humpback whales to say
where

where we should be protecting them,
where

where we shouldn't be putting
shipping

shipping lanes, not only to not hit
them,

them, but also so this noise doesn't
get

get masked. So the humpback whales
can

can hear each other, find each other
and

and successfully reproduce. And
hopefully

hopefully they continue to recover
from

from the damage we did to them. We
don't

don't want to re-enact any of that.
We

We don't want them not singing and
hearing

hearing clearly. We now have footage
of

of a male humpback whale singing.
They

They hang in the water. The songs
themselves

themselves last between five and 30
minutes,

minutes, but the song cycle can go
on

on all day. Hanging in the water
there,

there, putting out this
extraordinary

extraordinary song. If you speed to
the

the song up, it sounds like a
nightingale.

nightingale. If you slow down the
nightingale,

nightingale, it sounds a bit like a
whale

whale and there is a definite
musicality

musicality to it. Even artistic
flourishes.

flourishes. It could be these
humpback

humpback whales are being
artistically

artistically creative in their
construction

construction of their songs. But of
course,

course, we would need more science
to

to prove that is the case was that
we

we can go back to Liz who is hoping
to

to hear an extraordinary underwater
concert

concert of her own.

Gosh, how glorious are these sounds

of the whales, utterly mesmerising
to

to stop one of the most thrilling
parts

parts of my journey here on Heron
Island

Island has undoubtedly been
following

following the work of scientists and
the

the research they are carrying out
to

to give our coral reefs a fighting
chance.

chance. And the sounds of the oceans
go

go far beyond the sounds of those
majestic

majestic Wales. As we saw on Blue
Planet

Planet II, the reefs are alive with
noises.

noises. -- make those majestic
whales.

whales. All those animals
communicating

communicating with each other to
find

find mates and hunt for food. We
have

have a hydrophone that we can put in
the

the water now. We will see what the
reef

reef sounds like before dawn.

We can hear all the little clicks

and groans and squeaks. It's the
most

most mesmerising soundscape. It goes
to

to show how different the reefs are
now

now scientists are helping us to
better

better understand them. This is
where

where it gets super fascinating.
Doctor

Doctor Steve Simpson from the
University

University of Exeter has been
listening

listening to these sounds for many
years,

years, and he's getting super
creative

creative and using those sounds to
recolonise

recolonise and restore degraded
coral

coral reefs.

In Blue Planet II we met an

incredible tusk fish, who they
revealed

revealed used tools. He became known
as

as Percy. But we also saw the
devastation

devastation on that same reef. It's
something

something that marine biologists
Steve

Steve Simpson witnessed first hand.
The

The reef died in front of our eyes
and

and we saw the fish leave. The coral
was

was crumbling down into the sea bed.
We

We know climate change is probably
the

the biggest impact on coral reefs.
Now

Now he is working to restore the
reef

reef and bring the fish like Percy
back.

back. We are working with coral reef
restoration

restoration projects. They build
these

these large artificial structures
and

and start growing corals on them.
The

The corals grow but the fish are not
there.

there. We need to get the fish in
for

for it to work. Having already spent
almost

almost 20 years recording the sounds
in

in our oceans, Steve wondered
whether

whether he could use sound to
encourage

encourage the fish back.

All these animals live in an

acoustic world, everything is using
sound

sound as a way of finding a habitat
to

to live in. If we can recreate that,
we

we can get that recovery to happen
much

much faster. But in order to attract
the

the fish back, they first need to
find

find out what sound is the fish
prefer.

prefer. To do this, Steve has
devised

devised a chamber with a speaker at
each

each end. Each spigot then plays
different

different recordings from different
reefs.

reefs. -- each speaker in the dark,
fish

fish are released into the chamber
and

and can swim either sound. By
repeating

repeating this hundreds of times,
Steve

Steve and his team can record which
sounds

sounds attract which species. The
more

more we explore this, the more we
are

are finding different fish have
different

different references at different
stages

stages in their lives. We have to
build

build a whole repertoire of sounds,
a

a whole library of different
recordings.

recordings. If we know we are trying
to

to bring in a certain species, we
can

can play different tracks. We are
working

working out how much we can be the
conductor

conductor of this orchestra but the
orchestra

orchestra is not there, we are
trying

trying to pretend it is there and
tricked

tricked them into coming into these
areas

areas so they can be part of the
recovery

recovery that is missing. We have
got

got to keep these reefs alive. We
have

have got to be throwing them
lifelines

lifelines to give them every
opportunity

opportunity as one of the greatest
wonders

wonders on the earth. Isn't that the
most

most beautiful description of
science

science in action? Our understanding
of

of the natural world and how to
protect

protect it. Steve is finding out
that

that the sound of snapping shrimp,
those

those little clicks, tempt back the
early

early young stages of fish that need
those

those little boroughs of the
snapping

snapping shrimp make to grow and and
he

he is re-colonising the reefs
step-by-step.

step-by-step. Just incredible and it
is

is that kind of creativity and
thinking

thinking outside the box that can
really

really help the reefs survived. That
includes

includes the work Peter Harrison who
we

we met earlier this week as he was
kind

kind enough to allow me to join him
on

on one of his test site just off
Heron

Heron Island where he is carrying
out

out coral IVF and it was such a
thrill

thrill to you measure these new
little

little corals sprouting up so thank
you

you so much. Tell me how you found
those

those reefs to look after when you
came

came here first in 2016? We are
thrilled

thrilled at what we have seen. The
corals

corals are growing well and they are
looking

looking really healthy. Within a
couple

couple of years they will be
breathing

breathing size. How are you rolling
this

this out and where else are you
carrying

carrying out this incredible
research

research and how happy are you with
results

results so far? So far we have
looked

looked at three different reef
systems

systems in the Great Barrier Reef
and

and six different areas in the
Philippines

Philippines and the work in the
Philippines

Philippines is really exciting
because

because we have grown for the first
time

time in the world from larvae,
microscopic

microscopic larvae settling on the
reef

reef through to dinner plate sized
corals.

corals. That is the Philippines
you're

you're saying and we are seeing that
the

the fish have started to come back
into

into these restored sites. Those
corals,

corals, when they get to this size,
are

are reproductive so we have closed
the

the life cycle. Even more exciting,
in

in the second generation we have got
even

even faster growth rates so they are
growing

growing through to reproductive size
within

within two years and that's a world
record.

record. That is incredible, how does
it

it feel to see the fruits of your
labour

labour and the success about? It
must

must be incredible after all that
hard

hard work. We're really thrilled by
the

the outcomes and what we now know is
that

that this can be scaled to much
larger

larger scales, and applied onto many
a

a bit reef systems around the world.
What

What we want to do now is start
using

using technology to help us. What we
will

will do is adapt an underwater robot
to

to deliver larvae at larger scales
on

on the reef and we think we should
be

be to get them to hit the scales in
the

the next few weeks and eventually
onto

onto kilometre scales. They can be
kitted

kitted out especially for you to
help

help spread the larvae which is
amazing

amazing how technology can help you
scale

scale up your work. The work that
you

you and other scientists are
carrying

carrying out on the reefs is nothing
short

short of heroic but what support do
you

you need so that all of this is not
in

in vain? Yes, we are trying to
restore

restore reef systems now but we are
only

only able to buy time if we can
manage

manage climate change. What we need
is

is real action on climate change, we
need

need all individuals, families and
communities

communities to get involved. Because
we

we only have one blue planet, it is
our

our essential life support system
and

and we have to protect it far better
than

than we are doing at the moment. All
levels

levels of society responsible for
our

our planet, that is without
question.

question. And all of the information
that

that scientists are gathering to
better

better understand what our marine
life

life needs to helping to continue to
inform

inform how to better protect our
blue

blue planet. One of our teams met up
with

with a scientist who is making new
discoveries

discoveries about a very special
shark

shark indeed.

Six miles off the coast of the

island of Andros in the Bahamas, a
naval

naval boy has become a magnet for
one

one oceanic wonder. This lone beacon
is

is a big draw for passing
travellers.

travellers. Providing shelter for
schools

schools of fish. Which attract the
hunters.

hunters. Top of the food chain out
here

here are these, silky sharks.

They get their name from the silky

sheen of their skin.

So little is known about the

migrations of these open ocean
drifters.

drifters. When shark biologist
Kristin

Kristin Gutteridge heard rumours of
this

this location, it was an opportunity
for

for him to uncover the secrets --
Triston.

Triston. Which might just help
protect

protect these frightened sharks.

protect these frightened sharks.
These

These silky sharks are a completely
different

different type of animal. They have
this

this curious, bold personality that
is

is a bit intoxicating. I love it.
This

This inquisitiveness is this shark's
Achilles'

Achilles' heel. Silky sharks are in
trouble

trouble globally. In fact, silky
shot

shot of the second highest court
shark

shark species in the world.
Industrial

Industrial scale fishing often uses
floating

floating objects, working just like
the

the naval buoy to help attract an
aggregate

aggregate fish like tuna in the open
ocean.

ocean. But they don't just attract
tuna.

tuna. Every year, hundreds of
thousands

thousands of silky sharks get
accidentally

accidentally caught. For a fish that
grows

grows slowly, mature late, and
produces

produces few young, these losses
have

have caused a 90% decline in some
populations.

populations. I see the evidence of
the

the pressures that these animals are
under

under from the hooks in their mouths
and

and the wire coming out of it. You
can

can see these sharks are in trouble.
They

They have a lot to deal with out in
the

the open ocean on top of just
surviving,

surviving, they had to survive this
fishing

fishing pressure as well.

fishing pressure as well. Tristan
wants

wants to find out exactly where
these

these sharks are troubling to
understand

understand where they might be at
greatest

greatest risk but to do that he has
got

got to catch one. One method that we
can

can use to catch silky sharks is you
can

can actually bend the top of the

can actually bend the top of the
tale

tale over and it sends them into
this

this kind of bizarre trancelike
state

state and if you turn them upside
down

down at the same time, they are
almost

almost playing dead, they are just
out.

out. It's not fully understood why
but

but many shark species and that this
trancelike

trancelike state called tonic
immobility

immobility when upside down,
enabling

enabling the team to tether the
shark

shark for its safety and theirs. And
to

to discover the great journeys these
sharks

sharks make, a satellite tag is
affixed

affixed to its dorsal fin. Every
five

five minutes, this tag will record
important

important information about where
this

this shark is including depth, light
levels,

levels, and water temperature. And
in

in 30 days, it will release from the
wire,

wire, pop to the surface and start
sending

sending a stream of vital data to
Tristan.

Tristan. They deserve to be on this
planet

planet like us, like anything and
they

they deserve to be here. As humans,
we

we should be responsible. It is
critical

critical that we learn more about
these

these animals and it is critical
that

that we protect them.

Everything that was said that about

those silky sharks is also true
about

about great hammerheads. When you
see

see this many sharks around you in
one

one place, it is very easy to forget
the

the challenges that these animals
are

are facing around the world. We are
taking

taking as many as 100 million sharks
from

from the world's oceans everything
all

all year, many of those simply taken
for

for their fins. It cannot be
sustained.

sustained. I want this spectacle to
be

be going on for many years to come.
And,

And, unfortunately, our actions are
making

making that less and less likely. It
is

is also worth remembering that great
hammerheads,

hammerheads, although they may look
fierce,

fierce, have never had a recorded
human

human fatality. Not ever. Since
records

records began in 1580. They were
talking

talking about the tagging of sharks
and

and that is critically important.
The

The scientists I have been working
with

with him in the Bahamas at Bimini
Sharklab

Sharklab had been tagging these
great

great hammerheads and finding out
where

where they go.

where they go. Because, until very
recently,

recently, that was a complete
mystery.

mystery. And we are now starting to
learn

learn about the migrations of these
majestic

majestic animals. When you look
around,

around, you will see that quite a
few

few of them have got tags and the
scientists

scientists have at least 30
individuals

individuals that they know by name.
And

And not just by name but by
personality

personality and character and
behaviour.

behaviour. One coming up right
behind

behind you, small male. Even in the
short

short time since I have been here, I
have

have been starting to get to know
the

the individual personalities here.
You

You might not think of a shark as
having

having a personality but they very
much

much do. Some of them are quite bold
and

and dramatic and others are real
gentle

gentle giants. And for the
scientists

scientists here, it is a big moment
in

in the winter when the hammerheads
start

start returning. It is a chance to
see

see old friends for the first time.
There

There is a moment of excitement when
an

an older shark comes back and they
see

see it and that moment of sadness
when

when one does not

when one does not come back, because
their

their second they leave these safe
waters,

waters, the shark sanctuary of the
Bahamas,

Bahamas, and head out into the open
ocean,

ocean, then they are fair game for
just

just about anything. I have one
coming

coming up behind me here. There are
millions

millions of longline hooks trying to
catch

catch these sharks. And their
chances

chances of survival are very, very
slim,

slim, unless we all come together to
fight

fight their corner. It is a highly
migratory

migratory species and they need a
lot

lot of countries to come together to
work

work for their future survival.
While

While I'm here enjoying this
fabulous

fabulous spectacle, Chris is on the
search

search for ocean giants.

Steve Backshall, what a

professional! The redoubtable Steve
Backshall!

Backshall! He is just beneath the
surface,

surface, I am on the surface of the
ocean,

ocean, these are relatively easy
places

places to explore but if we go any
deeper,

deeper, we need some specialist kit
and

and this week we have been
partnering

partnering with the Woods Hole
oceanographic

oceanographic Institute and their
submarine,

submarine, Albion. They took it off
the

the coast of California to explore
an

an undersea mountain and they made
an

an extraordinary discovery. Just
look

look at this. Deep down beneath the
surface

surface they found this octopus
brooding

brooding site. These are female
octopuses

octopuses who have got their eggs
and

and we think, there is so much more
to

to be learned, this is the first
time

time they have seen it but we think
they

they are moved here because the
water

water is slightly warmer. They do
have

have to stick with those eggs to
make

make sure they are aerated and they
can

can do this, depending on the
temperature

temperature and how much oxygen
there

there is, for up to ten weeks.

You can see one of the animals free

swimming in the water, these
extraordinary

extraordinary octopus. This really
is

is a remarkable discovery, showing
us

us all the time that there is so
much

much more to be learnt about the
creatures

creatures that live in these deep
oceans.

oceans. They are extraordinary in
their

their shapes and forms and life
cycles.

cycles. I am perversely rather
pleased

pleased I can't tell you the names
of

of these creatures. Sometimes just
looking

looking at them and enjoying their
simple

simple beauty is enough to stimulate
us

us in order to want to try and
conserve

conserve them. A couple of months
ago,

ago, the very same Alvin was on
another

another expedition, this time
piloted

piloted by a different scientist
altogether,

altogether, Eric Cortez from the
Schmidt

Schmidt Ocean Institute in the
United

United States and he was off Costa
Rica

Rica exploring another undersea
mountain.

We are here on the RV Atlantis to

survey a series of seamounts that
have

have never been explored before. The
deep

deep sea is on average a couple of
miles

miles deep. These rise a kilometre
or

or more up off the sea floor. They
are

are sort of like islands out in the
middle

middle of nowhere. And like islands
on

on land, seamounts isolate the
animals

animals that live there, making some
of

of their inhabitants unique. From
deep

deep sea sponges to yeti crabs and
sea

sea pigs. Living on the pitch dark,
these

these creatures are some of the
strangest

strangest on our planet.

Today's ten hour dive will take Eric

over 2000 metres down into the
unknown.

unknown. 150 metres, thank you.

Everything gets dark as you descend,

and then you feel like you're on
another

another planet. It's another world
down

down there. Wow, look at that. At
depth

depth that would crush your organs,
safely

safely inside Alvin, Eric reveals
cites

cites no human has ever seen before.
I've

I've had a love of the ocean since I
was

was a little kid. It's one of the
best

best feelings in the world to
discover

discover something new, see
something

something you know that no one has
ever

ever seen before. For a long time it
was

was felt nothing could live down
there,

there, below where light can
penetrate.

penetrate. As we learn more and more
about

about the organisms living up the
steps,

steps, we also learn more and more
about

about their connections to the
surface.

surface. To chart what is down here,
the

the team carefully take a small
number

number of samples on each mission.
Every

Every dive we do, we come up with
something

something new. It's an exciting
thing

thing to be a part of. By charting
unexplored

unexplored areas like this, Eric is
highlighting

highlighting the importance of
seamounts.

seamounts. Aiming to create a marine
protected

protected area. This will limit
fishing

fishing and other damaging
activities.

activities. And protect the
exceptional

exceptional creatures that live in
these

these waters. If there are human
impacts

impacts that are happening further
offshore

offshore and deeper on these
seamounts,

seamounts, that can have effects
that

that could range from across the
globe.

globe.
Effects

Effects we don't understand yet.
It's

It's vital we protect these
ecosystems,

ecosystems, and the only way we can
protect

protect them as if we fully
understand

understand and explore them.

Incredible stuff, and it is such a

powerful idea to know that even now
in

in 2019, there are still parts of
our

our planet that we barely know
anything

anything about. That's also true of
these

these sharks. So much about their
secret

secret lives that we really are yet
to

to understand. That's one of the
reasons

reasons why if you are a young
person

person out there, and you are
looking

looking for a way to change the
world,

world, become a marine biologist.
You

You could be a huge part of making
sure

sure that animals like this have a
future.

future. It's also why I have to
salute

salute all the scientists we have
been

been working with here in Bimini
shark

shark lab and all the people working
to

to make sure they have a future.
It's

It's a shame these animals have to
rely

rely on us, but they do now. And if
all

all of the world Cross ocean oceans
adjoin,

adjoin, they are all connected, then
this

this is our back as well. It's up to
us

us to do our bit to make sure it's
as

as good a place as it possibly can
be.

be. -- if all of the world's oceans
adjoin.

adjoin. This is live, doing the
first

first ever live dive with great
hammerheads

hammerheads and a bunch of nurse
sharks

sharks as well. I have to say, it's
out

out of this world. But just a couple
of

of kilometres from where I am now, I
got

got a chance just yesterday to do a
dive

dive that proves that conservation
is

is worthwhile. Give nature a chance
and

and it will bounce back.

This is the Sapona. It was grounded

here in a hurricane many decades
ago.

ago. Ever since, it has become a
living

living reef, absolutely bursting
with

with life.

So beautiful.

The structure makes a perfect

habitat, places to hide from
predators,

predators, and it's covered with
soft

soft corals and fans.

Stingray.

All sorts of animals take up shelter

inside.

These angelfish are just stunning.

It's like swimming through the rib
cage

cage of an almighty

whale lying on the bottom. It's

incredible. The sea is full of tiny
microscopic

microscopic life just looking for
somewhere

somewhere to fix and make home. If
we

we protect our seas, then life will
bounce

bounce back, if we give it the
chance.

Hope can be a very powerful thing. I

think it's so important to know that
there

there is a real reason for all the
efforts

efforts that scientists are making
for

for our seas. If we give them a
chance,

chance, they will bounce back. And
this

this all has to be worth fighting
for.

for. My hope that while we have been
here

here we have managed to win a few
more

more friends for sharks. They really
need

need them. And it's been an
experience

experience I will truly never
forget,

forget, watching these dark
silhouettes

silhouettes just circling around in
the

the distance. I really hope it's an
experience

experience the next generation are
going

going to be able to enjoy just as
much

much as I have. We have one small
male

male hammerhead just nosing its way
towards

towards us right now. What a sight.
They

They have been stalking these seas
for

for at least 400 million years and I
hope

hope they have a few million more
left

left in them yet. It's been amazing
to

to be here in the Bahamas. And thank
you

you all very much. That's me signing
out.

Our time on Heron Island is also

drawing to a close. We have been so
humbled

humbled by the sheer majesty of what
we

we have seen here, from the tiniest
little

little corals making up the reefs to
the

the thousands of sea birds soaring
overhead.

overhead. It's been an incredible
experience

experience from beginning to end.
But

But one animal has captured our
hearts

hearts and minds more than any
other,

other, and that is the green sea
turtle.

turtle. We have seen them foraging
on

on the reefs, watch them come up to
the

the sands of Heron to nest. And
watching

watching precious little lives and
hatchlings

hatchlings emerging from the nests
and

and making it out to the big blue.
Janine

Janine Ferguson has been with us all
week

week and has another five precious
little

little individuals. Six! To release.
These

These will stay in the nest. Getting
a

a helping hand if they are found in
the

the hatcheries. Go ahead and release
them.

them. They have no mothers to watch
over

over them. They are left to their
own

own devices, to the elements and
predators

predators that are waiting for them
and

and also the ever increasing
man-made

man-made threats. But they embark on
epic

epic migrations, thousands of miles,
the

the gardeners of the oceans. They
are

are incredibly healthy and
important,

important, incredibly important for
the

the health of our oceans. I hope I
was

was allowed to help that there!
Hopefully

Hopefully these hatchlings will
spend

spend hundreds of years in the
oceans.

oceans. It's our responsibility to
safeguard

safeguard their future. Scientists
can't

can't do it alone. This is our blue
planet

planet to fiercely protect through
our

our actions and making our voices
heard.

heard. We hope we have inspired you
to

to grab that responsibility with
both

both hands. Goodbye from the barrier
Reef

Reef and thank you to all the
scientists

scientists who have helped us here.
Back

Back over to Chris.

One last chance to take a view from

the eye in the sky up there with
Larry

Larry and Matt. We don't have any
live

live whales at the moment but thank
you

you to them for their endeavours.
Liz

Liz is absolutely right. Our oceans
are

are under enormous pressure.
Scientists

Scientists and conservationists are
working

working very hard, but this is what
they

they are working for, this sort of
spectacular

spectacular wildlife. Our blue
planet,

planet, wild, wondrous and worth
fighting

fighting for. Here goes nothing.
Look

Look at the eye. I feel just as
comfortable

comfortable being in here as I would
do

do with a pack of humans. You are
hit

hit between the eyes with so much
colour.

colour. It went right between my
legs!

Here it comes. Whoa! Even the camera

is covered in snot. A live turtle.
Holy

Holy moly! That is one of the most
amazing

amazing wildlife experiences I've
ever,

ever, ever had.

I've been thinking. In 1977, Nasa

launched to space probes, the
Voyagers,

Voyagers, to study Jupiter and
Saturn,

Saturn, but they knew they were
going

going further out into space, so
they

they put a time capsule on board, an
interstellar

interstellar message in the form of
a

a record. On it they put some of the
whale

whale song from this very record. In
1990

1990 they turned that spaceship
around

around and took a photograph of our
planet,

planet, from 3.7 billion miles away.
And

And this is what it looked like. A
pale

pale blue dot floating in some
sunbeams

sunbeams deep in space. You see, our
planet

planet isn't defined by the colour
of

of its polls, the yellow of the
deserts,

deserts, the green of the forest.
Our

Our planet is defined by the blue of
the

the oceans. It's an ocean planet.
And

And now those space probes are 13
billion

billion miles away out in space. And
to

to date, no one or nothing has
listens

listens to that whale song. Nothing
and

and no one is coming to save us. All
of

of this beautiful life we have on
the

the planet, everything that scurries
across

across the ground, everything that
flies

flies through the air, everything
that

that swims through the ocean, is in
our

our hands. It's in our hands. And
now

now we are the only ones who can
make

make a difference. Who is the we and
the

the our? That's me and to you.

the our? That's me and to you.
That's

That's me and we. Me and we just
have

have to make a difference now. The
open

open University has explored a free
booklet

booklet exploring our impact on the
oceans,

oceans, including a tearout guide to
the

the different types of plastic that
can

can be recycled. You can order your
free

free copy.