Original subtitles

Two years ago, Blue Planet II opened the world's eyes

to the wonders of our oceans.

From the vastness of the open seas.

To the fragility of the coral reefs.

And even the secrets of the deep.

It was a wake-up call -

our oceans are under threat like never before.

So this week, we're embarking on an ambitious mission -

joining scientists across the planet,

working to save some of our most iconic marine wildlife.

We'll be diving with top predators of the Bahamas,

getting closer than ever before to the giants of the Pacific Ocean.

And getting hands on to save the Great Barrier Reef.

This is Blue Planet Live!

Hello and welcome to Blue Planet Live!

Just off the front of our boat here,

we have got a couple of grey whales live,

live, what about that?! It has been two

two years since Blue Planet to excited

excited viewers with extraordinary pictures

pictures of our oceans' wildlife, and

and never has more attention being focused

focused on that wildlife than now. This

This week, we are going to bring you more

more of it, we are going to show

more of it, we are going to show you some

some fantastic animal spectacles, we are

are going to have live encounters with

with things like these whales, which are

are just here now front of the boat, and

and we are going to be our finger on the

the of our oceans' health. Just look at

at this, these magnificent marine mammals,

mammals, just a few metres away! And from

from the drone that we have got overhead,

overhead, you can see them frolicking

frolicking in the water, this is a female

female with a calf, only a couple of months

months old, and they are here safely in

in these salty warm waters. It is very

very shallow here, so the likelihood is

is that they are just under the bout,

bout, but let's use this hiatus to ask

ask a fundamental question - why do our

our oceans matter?

Our oceans cover 70% of the planet.

They are a world of diverse habitats.

habitats. Home to millions of plants and

and animals with many more still to be

be discovered. They are an essential life

life support system, regulating our planet's

planet's temperature and weather, and

and they generate half the oxygen that

that we breathe. They are a mysterious

mysterious place. More research is being

being done in our oceans than at any other

other time. We need to understand them

them so we can protect them.

Oh, look, here we are, one of our

whales now has gone over to our support

support vessel, and that is the calf at

at the front there, they are exhibiting

exhibiting this extraordinary behaviour

behaviour of approaching the boats. They

They are actually craving human attention,

attention, it is what they do. I will

will be telling you a little bit more

more about that later in the programme,

programme, but isn't it great to see this

this happening live? With any luck a while

while will come and say hello to me in

in a moment as well. So what are we up

up to any serious? We are exploring three

three unique habitats today, and to have

have these sorts of encounters, I am really

really distracted because the fane has

has just come up on this site, I have

have got to tell you, which is absolutely

absolutely remarkable! Look at that!

absolutely remarkable! Look at that! It

It is these encounters that will be taking

taking place throughout the course of

of the week, allowing us to explore the

the oceans. The big question is, while

while I am enjoying these whales, where

where am I? I have travelled... Look at

at that, look at that! I have travelled

travelled 5500 miles from London, all

all the way across to the western coast

coast of Mexico, to the Baja Peninsula,

Peninsula, which faces out onto the Pacific

Pacific Ocean.

I'm on the Great Barrier Reef - a spectacular natural wonder that

provides a home for an extraordinary diversity of marine life,

It all contributes to the health of

our oceans putt in ways that scientists

scientists are still unravelling, new

new life is everywhere around me, a shark

shark just swam past my fate, and later

later we will try to bring you green turtle

turtle hatchlings live.

turtle hatchlings live. And I am in the

the Bahamas, as you can see, shark central,

central, pretty soon I will be

central, pretty soon I will be getting

getting on with this lot live. Blue Planet

Planet II showed us how you protect the

the seas, they bounce back, and I am here

here to find out how effective a marine

marine sanctuary can be.

We are still here with the whales in

Scammons lagoon. Let's take a look at

at the lagoon whilst it is under the water,

water, quite a unique place. It is on

on the western side of Baja, very shallow,

shallow, 5-12 metres, which means it is

is salty and warm. It is a Unesco world

world heritage site packed with wildlife,

wildlife, loads of waterfowl, pelicans,

pelicans, sea lions, seals, marine turtles,

turtles, but then it also has these remarkable

remarkable grey whales. At certain times,

times, it can have up to 10% of the world

world population, we think about 22,000

22,000 of these animals on the planet

planet at the moment, and up to 2000 of

of those squeeze themselves into this

this lagoon at this time of year, and

and that is why there is a good chance

chance we will get to superb views like

like these. We have been very fortunate

fortunate to have them right alongside

alongside the boat, and we can see them

them very easily, but we have deployed

deployed some other useful technology.

technology. We have an eye in the sky,

sky, a helicopter, our pilot is up there,

there, and alongside him is Florian Schultz,

Schultz, a wildlife cameraman, what can

can you say from up there? We have just

just found a while that has come up to

to the bout. The whale has just come up

up to Chris's about, we can see it, it

it is playing and moving around, having

having a good time. Yeah, fantastic, Florian

Florian has got that top shot of us and

and the animals here. Now, this lagoon

lagoon was discovered in 1850s

lagoon was discovered in 1850s by Charles

Charles Scammon, a whaler who decimated

decimated the population, so you might

might think it would be unlikely that

that the whales would be friendly, but

but in 1972 they started approaching bouts,

bouts, a bonus for the people who work

work while watching, and it was certainly

certainly a bonus for me when I went out

out earlier this week and met a while

while even more closely than I am watching

watching these at the moment.

watching these at the moment. Oh, my goodness

goodness me, look at that. I mean, what

what an extraordinary thing! To think

think that this is an animal that can

can travel 22,000 kilometres a year, 13,000

13,000 miles from the high Arctic to come

come all the way down here to find a mate

mate so give birth. And here it is. Waiting

Waiting to be tickled! Oh, my goodness.

goodness. Look, I can see right down inside

inside the blowhole! That is the blowhole

blowhole of the whale, this beautiful

beautiful marbled stem. Honestly...! Oh,

Oh, look at

Oh, look at the eye! An extraordinary

extraordinary thing. Wow! That is what

what I call a sensory experience. That

That is simply extraordinary.

That is simply extraordinary. I can barely

barely tell you, actually, I have had

had the enormous privilege of meeting

meeting lots of animals throughout my

my 57 years, but that is a memory I will

will carry for a long time. I saw the

the whale, I heard it, ice melted, then

then I touched it and automatically, when

when it's noted all over me, I got to

to taste the whale, and I know you will

will want to know it was a weak cabbage

cabbage soup, that is the answer! I want

want to make clear that I am normally

normally reticent to touch wildlife like

like that, but here it is actively encouraged

encouraged because the whales are undoubtedly

undoubtedly soliciting human attention,

attention, and if you don't touch them,

them, they will go off to another bout.

bout. So they whales are here at this

this time of year, we have seen the female

female and her calf, they come to give

give birth, and they have come a tremendously

tremendously long way, because they begin

begin their journey all the way up in

in the Bering Sea between Alaska and Russia.

Russia. In those frozen oceans, it is

is up in the Arctic summer that they go

go to feed, and they put on a phenomenal

phenomenal amount of weight. And then

then they begin to head south, they travel

travel about five miles an hour, not fast,

fast, about 75 miles a day, and they go

go down the host of Washington, Oregon,

Oregon, past California, and then they

they get down here to Scammons lagoon.

lagoon. They come here not just to give

give birth but too might as well, and

and we have got the female just off the

the front of the boat, you can see them

them beneath the water, she should be

be coming up any second. They grow to

to about 15 metres in length and can weigh

weigh 30 towns, but when they come up

up like that, they are remarkably gentle.

gentle. What an extraordinary opportunity

opportunity it is to engage with these

these animals, but not just from a whale

whale watching point of view, also a scientific

scientific point of view, because these

these are a perfect species to get close

close to, and that means scientists can

can watch them regularly and collect lots

lots of data, and we will be finding out

out about that later in the programme.

programme. But now, Liz is trying to introduce

introduce us to another iconic marine

marine animal, no less than 7000 miles

miles away on Australia's Great Barrier

Barrier Reef.

Thank you, Chris, welcome to Heron

Island, just after 6am, the sun is climbing

climbing over the horizon behind me, and

and we are on the southern part of the

the Great Barrier Reef off the East Coast

Coast of Australia.

The breeding season is in full swing.

And it's a important time to look at this fascinating place.

This whole area a complex super organism

teeming with life.

Tens of thousands of breeding sea birds and nesting turtles

use the trees and beaches to lay their precious eggs here.

We have already seen so many birds

in their nests, so many checks. Beneath

Beneath the surface of the water, the

the coral reef supports something like

like 72% of all the coral species that

that exist on the Great Barrier Reef,

Reef, as well as about 900 different fish

fish species, and that is just for starters.

starters. Heron repays, without a doubt,

doubt, one of the most important and busiest

busiest parts of the Great Barrier Reef,

Reef, and are so many of the animals that

that call it home you will have already

already met on Blue Planet II, and we

we are here to find out how they are faring

faring two years on. Our cameramen are

are already in the water, they have been

been in for about an hour, and take a

a look at these beautiful live images

images of the reef, Mike and John, say

say hello, they are superheroes on rebreather

rebreather is, thank you for those gorgeous

gorgeous images. You can already see the

the beautiful staghorn corals, which grow

grow quickly on these reefs, surrounded

surrounded by a mass of damselfish. They

They live in a symbiotic and mutually

mutually beneficial relationship with

with the reef, they clean the reef of

of algae, and they get protection from

from the corals themselves, away from

from predators. Oh, a beautiful site with

with the sun just breaking through the

the water. And on Heron Island itself,

itself, we have also got wildlife cameras

cameras poised... That is not wildlife,

wildlife, that is a person! Lots of birds

birds coming in that are still feeding

feeding their chicks on the nests, so

so we will keep those cameras poised for

for you throughout the course of the week

week to bring you all the action as it

it happens. I also want to find out just

just how the coral reefs are faring, just

just how important they are to the health

health of our oceans, and what cutting-edge

cutting-edge research scientists are carrying

carrying out to protect these reefs at

at this critical time in human history.

history. But to start my journey, there

there really is only one way to start

start finding answers to those questions,

questions, and that is to explore the

the reef up close. The Great Barrier Reef

Reef is a vast network of around 3000

3000 individual reefs, stretching 2300

2300 kilometres up the east coast of Australia.

Australia. It is the largest living structure

structure on earth. It is so big that

that it is even visible from space.

The Great Barrier Reef accounts for

all living coral on the planet. This is

is a bustling underwater metropolis, teeming

teeming with life. And immersing yourself

yourself in it is an incredible experience.

experience. The minute you look beneath

beneath the surface, you are hit between

between the eyes of so much colour and

and so many animals, it is breathtaking

breathtaking down there. This place blows

blows me away, it really does. Every single

single nook and cranny is covered with

with these glorious little coral animals.

animals. You have hundreds and thousands,

thousands, even millions of coral animals

animals building these incredibly beautiful

beautiful structures, that make up this

this reef. But they are all different

different colours, housing all different

different types of fish, it's so beautiful.

The reef and all its inner workings, all the life it supports,

is simply staggering, and we'll discover more

of its wonders during the week.

And at this time of year, Heron is also home to some very

special new arrivals - turtle hatchlings.

We're going to do our very best to bring them to you live.

I have been told it is looking

rather promising.

Now, about 9000 miles away from us in the Bahamas,

Steve is set to explore a very different marine area -

one that people have had the foresight to protect

for a much misunderstood animal.

The Bahamas. A scattering of 700

islands in 100,000 square miles of pristine,

pristine, tropical seas. Its reefs are

are a refuge to one of the highest diversities

diversities of sharks and rays on earth.

earth. 78 species are found here and right

right now, the resident reef and bull

bull sharks are joined by visitors. Great

Great hammerheads spend the winter here,

here, alongside one of the biggest predators

predators on the planet, the tiger shark.

shark. So, all of our technical checks

checks are done, I just need to wait for

for a gap in the sharks. I don't want

want to step off onto a shark. That would

would be a bad start. I have a gap, here

here goes nothing. OK, I need to make

make my way down to the crew and join

join them on the bottom. Already I can

can see a large amount of sharks here.

here. There is probably two or three different

different kinds. But the dominant shark

shark in this location is going to be

be the Caribbean Reef shark. There is

is one cruising past the camera. At least

least 20 of them in the water around us.

us. This is almost a blueprint for the

the shark you would expect to see on a

a reef. It is torpedo -shaped, fantastically

fantastically streamlined and it has the

the classic, crescent -shaped tail you

you see on any fast fish. That is perfect

perfect for explosive speed. The animals

animals are being drawn in here by a textbook

textbook smell. Sharks have a phenomenally

phenomenally adept sense of smell and

and they can detect one single drop of

of blood in an Olympic swimming pool sized

sized area of water. The bait we have

have in the water will be drawing them

them in from hundreds of litres around.

around. It is common practice here in

in the Bahamas to use bait to attract

attract sharks, both for the tourists

tourists and scientists to get close up.

up. The first question people would ask

ask would be, isn't it dangerous, risky

risky to be surrounded by this many apex

apex predators? I have been lucky enough

enough to have been many hundreds of dives

dives with sharks over the years and what

what you realise quite quickly, is these

these animals are so good at accepting

accepting their environment. They know

know what is pray in the water around

around them and it is not us. I don't

don't look anything like a fish, so they

they don't target us. They may swim up

up close but at the last second, they

they just swim away. The statistics about

about sharks approve it is true. Around

Around the world, you are more likely

likely to be killed taking a selfie than

than you are to be

than you are to be killed by a shark.

shark. In fact, these animals have far,

far, far more to fear from us as human

human beings. This is one of the great

great wildlife experiences in the world

world and I have to say, I feel just as

as comfortable being in here surrounded

surrounded by all these extraordinary

extraordinary animals, as I will do going

going for a walk with a pack of poodles.

poodles. That said, obviously it is a

a big animal, you can get to be as large

large as me, heavy, very powerful. They

They have to be treated with respect.

respect. So I am watching the body language

language of individual sharks. At present,

present, they are just cruising around

around with the fins spread like wings.

wings. If there fins come down below them

them like this, they are getting ready

ready to make a tight turn. And if their

their back arches, you have to be very

very careful. But right now, they are

are interested in fish food. I am enjoying

enjoying the spectacle, the success of

of the shark sanctuary here in the Bahamas.

Bahamas. But on the other side of the

the Americas and Mexico, Chris is having

having his own encounter with the Pacific

Pacific giants.

Welcome back to Scammons Lagoon. In

the interim, whilst you were listening

listening to Steve, I did get snorted

snorted on again by the calf and I will

will add to the recipe. As well as cabbage,

cabbage, there is some Brussel sprout

sprout in there as well. But the proximity

proximity of these animals means they

they are very easy to study. This means

means scientists can continually do trans-sex

trans-sex across the lagoon and count

count them. That is the female, so the

the female

the female must be alongside it.

the female must be alongside it. They

They come here to give birth. One of the

the key reasons is the water is warm and

and if you are giving birth to a smaller

smaller organism, you don't want to spend

spend a lot of its growing energy trying

trying to keep warm. That is why they

they don't give birth in the Arctic waters,

waters, they come to the warm water so

so they can pump these calves are full

full of milk and they grow very, very

very rapidly. Also, there are no orca

orca or sharks in here so it is a safe

safe place for them as well. I am pleased

pleased one of the scientists working

working here has joined us. Romina, join

join us. Each one of these animals is

is identify because of the spot pattern

pattern and these whale barnacles that

that grow on them. It is a crustacean

crustacean related to crabs and lobsters

lobsters and doesn't do it any harm. The

The Barnacle does well because it doesn't

doesn't have any predators but they are

are an asset to you because you can spot

spot them? To use them for recognition,

recognition, during the season we can

can recognise them with the pattern they

they form. During the different seasons

seasons we will have to consider these

these barnacles as a distinctive pattern.

pattern. We try to focus our attention

attention on them when you are comparing

comparing to the 5000 individuals we have.

have. Some of them you have been watching

watching over an extended period of time,

time, there was one in a photograph from

from 1977? Yes, we have this female this

this year. I took the photograph. We matched

matched it with this one from 1977. She

She has come here 13 times as a single

single whale to mate and with a car. This

This tells us she must be 50 years of

of old? Yes, we know this because of her

her sexual maturity. Scientists have been

been using drones to measure the whales.

whales. They fly the drone out from land

land and then find the wails, which they

they can identify as individuals, then

then when they get the data they start

start measuring them, so they can generate

generate a relative volume, they can follow

follow the female throughout the course

course of the breeding season after they

they have given birth and they can see

see them shrinking because they are giving

giving them up to their calves. But if

if they do it season, after season, they

they can judge the health of the wails

wails when they arrive, one of the things

things they have noticed is they are seeing

seeing more and more thinner wails in

in the lagoon. This is another means of

of looking at their health. The number

number of calves born is one, what the

the whales behaviour is. They are trying

trying to feed here, which is unnerving.

unnerving. Typically they should be fasting

fasting because there isn't enough food.

food. They are leaving earlier and they

they are suffering from malnutrition.

malnutrition. This feed is giving us the

the ability to keep our finger on the

the pulse of this animal and learn about

about the impact. Not just here in Baja,

Baja, but all the way to the Arctic. Have

Have we got a whale here? That is the

the question. They have finally gone down.

down. We can use this opportunity to head

head across the Pacific to the barrier

barrier Reef and back to Liz.

barrier Reef and back to Liz. Thank you

you very much, Chris.

Heron Island is surrounded by white sandy beaches,

which have been known to attract up to 1800 green turtles

during the nesting season, so it's the perfect location

to discover just how important these visitors are to this reef.

But sea turtles also play an incredibly important role

across all our oceans.

Sea turtles. These ancient mariners

have been wondering our oceans since the

the dinosaurs. Some can grow up to two

two metres long and live for 100 years.

years. There are seven species worldwide.

worldwide. And the most common turtle

turtle here at the Great Barrier Reef

Reef is the green turtle. Turtles are

are the gardeners of the ocean. They encourage

encourage new growth by eating algae off

off the reefs. And grazing on the seagrass

seagrass meadows. Travelling thousands

thousands of miles in a lifetime, their

their influence is widespread. Protecting

Protecting these turtles is crucial to

to our seas.

Here on Heron Island, the green turtle population has

already faced some great challenges in the past.

In the 1950s the island was home to a turtle cannery,

to make turtle soup.

But turtle numbers plummeted and the cannery was closed

16 years later soon after Heron Island resort opened.

Since then the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service have been

monitoring the nesting population and numbers have been recovering.

To find out just how important Heron is to turtles,

I'm with Janine Ferguson.

What are you doing here? A couple of days ago we had some hatchlings

days ago we had some hatchlings make their

their way to the ocean. Now it is my job

job to come through and check the success

success rate of the nest. Obviously this

this is indicative of a successful hatching?

hatching? Yes it is, beautiful little

little white eggshell. These ones didn't

didn't produce hatchling. Not every egg

egg laid results in hatchling. Looking

Looking at the number of unhatched eggs,

eggs, is this indicative of the number

number you would expect? It is normally

normally about 78% success rate. I do

do recognise this position because a couple

couple of days ago when we first met,

met, we chatted to what we would talk

talk about stop it was in the afternoon

afternoon and it was unexpected, but take

take a look at this. Out of nowhere, I

I saw a tiny head poking out and before

before you know it, how

before you know it, how many are there?

there? I don't know, well over 50. This

This is the most extraordinary thing.

thing. Not that way little one, not that

that way. It is the most glorious thing

thing I have ever seen. I cannot believe

believe the speed at which they emerge.

emerge. It is crazy. Every instinct is

is telling them to head to the sea. It

It is the most emotional thing to watch.

watch. These little fellas have so many

many odds stacked against them, it is

is unreal. Still if few just pushing their

their way out of the sand. They are so

so perfect and they are giving it all

all their might. All of the effort is

is in the scurry to the water.

is in the scurry to the water. Come on,

on, oh my gosh, amazing to see them scurrying

scurrying through the coral. Yeah, it

it is a lot. You can do it! That is the

the last of them. That is the last of

of them, and I hope, I hope that little

little one can make it out there. That

That was one of the most amazing wildlife

wildlife experiences I have ever, ever

ever had. Every new wildlife experience

experience for me becomes the top of the

the list, so that is the best one I have

have had, and to experience it with you

you was a real honour, such tiny animals

animals with real resilience and drive

drive to make it out on the reef. Yeah.

Yeah. Such a joy to watch that with you,

you, Janine. Let's see how many have hatched.

hatched. Every now and then you are very

very lucky, it is a bit like Christmas,

Christmas, every now and then you are

are lucky enough to find yourself a little

little hatchling, and that is the eggshell.

eggshell. Why is it that live hatchlings

hatchlings are still in the nest when

when they all left three days ago? Well,

Well, some of them may not be as necessarily

necessarily viable or fate as their siblings,

siblings, some of them may have been caught

caught up among the rest of the remaining

remaining egg shell. Or they may have

have been caught up in roots as well.

well. Because this is a hatchery run by

by yourselves, you can give them a helping

helping hand. What happens to them now?

now? It looks a bit smaller than the ones

ones we saw.

ones we saw. You think so? May it is just

just me! Could be. We will let them go

go very soon, I will finish excavating

excavating the nest to make sure I have

have got them all out, then we will release

release them. Wonderful. It is not just

just the hatchlings that have challenges

challenges against them, is it?

challenges against them, is it? When the

the mothers arrive here a couple of months

months ago, pregnant, they have got a

a real task on their hands too. We have

have some footage from a few months ago

ago of a pregnant female arriving, talk

talk us through this. Under the cover

cover of darkness, she has to haul herself

herself up, she weighs more than 100 kilos,

kilos, up to the dry sand. From there,

there, she uses all four flippers to remove

remove the vegetation and dry sand to

to dig her egg chamber, which is done

done completely by those rear flippers.

flippers. She digs to a depth of about

about 60 centimetres, and into that she

she will lay her clutch of eggs. How many

many in a season? She will lay around

around five clutches, each with about

about 100 eggs. So she probably has to

to do this five times? Sometimes up to

to nine times in a season. Such a big

big effort for an animal that is streamlined

streamlined in the water, a lot of work

work to lay the eggs. Now she has finished,

finished, she will make her way back to

to the ocean. So beautiful. The season,

season, how many have been lying, what

what it does equate to do in hatchlings?

hatchlings? For this season, it has been

been very slow because of the El Nino

Nino effect, 180 females on the beach

beach this year, and out of that we expect

expect around 43,000 hatchlings to make

make their way to the water. Sounds like

like a good number, but it is not that

that simple, is it? No, unfortunately,

unfortunately, the survival rate for hatchlings

hatchlings is about one in 1000. So 43

43 individuals from this season? That

That really puts it into perspective.

perspective. Only 43 will make it to maturity.

maturity. I am so privileged to see the

the hatchling base close. We will be keeping

keeping an eye on the hatcheries and all

all the title nests where we are on the

the island during the course of the week.

week. What is clear is that Heron Island

Island is such an important habitat to

to protect for sea turtles, and the same

same is true. Many of our marine species,

species, including one of the turtles'

turtles' biggest predators. In the be

be Hamas, Steve can tell us more. -- the

the Bahamas.

But oh so we are still here amongst

an extravaganza of sharks. And it is truly

truly one of the world's great wildlife

wildlife spectacles, valuable in and of

of itself, but sharks are incredibly important

important animals in any marine ecosystem.

ecosystem. These are an apex predator.

predator. They kind of function like the

the immune system of a reef. So they take

take out sick and injured animals, they

they alter the behaviour of other creatures

creatures around them, and they have been

been here in our oceans for at least 400

400 million years. So everything else

else has adapted to respect these top-of-the-line

top-of-the-line predator. Being here with

with so many sharks around is actually

actually a pretty unusual experience nowadays.

nowadays. Many of these sites that I have

have been diving, you feel quite lucky

lucky to see even one shark, so to be

be here with this many, it is pretty incredible.

incredible. And while sharks really power

power is very little danger to us as human

human beings, unfortunately it is not

not the same the other way around. We

We human beings are taking at least 100

100 million sharks from the oceans each

each and every year, many of those purely

purely taken for their fins. It is a number

number that cannot be sustained. If it

it carries on like this, our children

children will not have the opportunity

opportunity to see this, diving surrounded

surrounded by the stunning apex predators.

predators. So more than anything, we need

need to learn that sharks are not the

the mindless monsters they are so often

often made out to be, they are heroes,

heroes, and here in the Bahamas they have

have one particular knight in shining

shining armour.

I always had a passion for the

ocean, I fell in love with scuba divers,

divers, I fell in love with everything.

everything. It was a colony, I think.

Cristina left her homeland of Italy

over 20 years ago, heading for the Bahamas.

Bahamas. Ever since, she has been a champion

champion of the marine world and one of

of its most misunderstood creatures.

Two decades of diving at one site

off the island of grand Bahama has given

given her a remarkable connection with

with one particular family of animals.

animals. Cristina is known locally as

as the shark dancer. And this is her stage.

stage. I love that there is a busy silence.

It is the most peaceful and

wails when they arrive, one of the things

things they have noticed is they are seeing

seeing more and more thinner wails in

in the lagoon. This is another means of

of looking at their health. The number

number of calves born is one, what the

the whales behaviour is. They are trying

trying to feed here, which is unnerving.

unnerving. Typically they should be fasting

fasting because there isn't enough food.

food. They are leaving earlier and they

they are suffering from malnutrition.

malnutrition. This feed is giving us the

the ability to keep our finger on the

the pulse of this animal and learn about

about the impact. Not just here in Baja,

Baja, but all the way to the Arctic. Have

Have we got a whale here? That is the

the question. They have finally gone down.

down. We can use this opportunity to head

head across the Pacific to the barrier

barrier Reef and back to Liz.

barrier Reef and back to Liz. Thank you

you very much, Chris.

Heron Island is surrounded by white sandy beaches,

which have been known to attract up to 1800 green turtles

during the nesting season, so it's the perfect location

to discover just how important these visitors are to this reef.

But sea turtles also play an incredibly important role

across all our oceans.

Sea turtles. These ancient mariners

have been wondering our oceans since the

the dinosaurs. Some can grow up to two

two metres long and live for 100 years.

years. There are seven species worldwide.

worldwide. And the most common turtle

turtle here at the Great Barrier Reef

Reef is the green turtle. Turtles are

are the gardeners of the ocean. They encourage

encourage new growth by eating algae off

off the reefs. And grazing on the seagrass

seagrass meadows. Travelling thousands

thousands of miles in a lifetime, their

their influence is widespread. Protecting

Protecting these turtles is crucial to

to our seas.

Here on Heron Island, the green turtle population has

already faced some great challenges in the past.

In the 1950s the island was home to a turtle cannery,

to make turtle soup.

But turtle numbers plummeted and the cannery was closed

16 years later soon after Heron Island resort opened.

Since then the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service have been

monitoring the nesting population and numbers have been recovering.

To find out just how important Heron is to turtles,

I'm with Janine Ferguson.

What are you doing here? A couple of days ago we had some hatchlings

days ago we had some hatchlings make their

their way to the ocean. Now it is my job

job to come through and check the success

success rate of the nest. Obviously this

this is indicative of a successful hatching?

hatching? Yes it is, beautiful little

little white eggshell. These ones didn't

didn't produce hatchling. Not every egg

egg laid results in hatchling. Looking

Looking at the number of unhatched eggs,

eggs, is this indicative of the number

number you would expect? It is normally

normally about 78% success rate. I do

do recognise this position because a couple

couple of days ago when we first met,

met, we chatted to what we would talk

talk about stop it was in the afternoon

afternoon and it was unexpected, but take

take a look at this. Out of nowhere, I

I saw a tiny head poking out and before

before you know it, how

before you know it, how many are there?

there? I don't know, well over 50. This

This is the most extraordinary thing.

thing. Not that way little one, not that

that way. It is the most glorious thing

thing I have ever seen. I cannot believe

believe the speed at which they emerge.

emerge. It is crazy. Every instinct is

is telling them to head to the sea. It

It is the most emotional thing to watch.

watch. These little fellas have so many

many odds stacked against them, it is

is unreal. Still if few just pushing their

their way out of the sand. They are so

so perfect and they are giving it all

all their might. All of the effort is

is in the scurry to the water.

is in the scurry to the water. Come on,

on, oh my gosh, amazing to see them scurrying

scurrying through the coral. Yeah, it

it is a lot. You can do it! That is the

the last of them. That is the last of

of them, and I hope, I hope that little

little one can make it out there. That

That was one of the most amazing wildlife

wildlife experiences I have ever, ever

ever had. Every new wildlife experience

experience for me becomes the top of the

the list, so that is the best one I have

have had, and to experience it with you

you was a real honour, such tiny animals

animals with real resilience and drive

drive to make it out on the reef. Yeah.

Yeah. Such a joy to watch that with you,

you, Janine. Let's see how many have hatched.

hatched. Every now and then you are very

very lucky, it is a bit like Christmas,

Christmas, every now and then you are

are lucky enough to find yourself a little

little hatchling, and that is the eggshell.

eggshell. Why is it that live hatchlings

hatchlings are still in the nest when

when they all left three days ago? Well,

Well, some of them may not be as necessarily

necessarily viable or fate as their siblings,

siblings, some of them may have been caught

caught up among the rest of the remaining

remaining egg shell. Or they may have

have been caught up in roots as well.

well. Because this is a hatchery run by

by yourselves, you can give them a helping

helping hand. What happens to them now?

now? It looks a bit smaller than the ones

ones we saw.

ones we saw. You think so? May it is just

just me! Could be. We will let them go

go very soon, I will finish excavating

excavating the nest to make sure I have

have got them all out, then we will release

release them. Wonderful. It is not just

just the hatchlings that have challenges

challenges against them, is it?

challenges against them, is it? When the

the mothers arrive here a couple of months

months ago, pregnant, they have got a

a real task on their hands too. We have

have some footage from a few months ago

ago of a pregnant female arriving, talk

talk us through this. Under the cover

cover of darkness, she has to haul herself

herself up, she weighs more than 100 kilos,

kilos, up to the dry sand. From there,

there, she uses all four flippers to remove

remove the vegetation and dry sand to

to dig her egg chamber, which is done

done completely by those rear flippers.

flippers. She digs to a depth of about

about 60 centimetres, and into that she

she will lay her clutch of eggs. How many

many in a season? She will lay around

around five clutches, each with about

about 100 eggs. So she probably has to

to do this five times? Sometimes up to

to nine times in a season. Such a big

big effort for an animal that is streamlined

streamlined in the water, a lot of work

work to lay the eggs. Now she has finished,

finished, she will make her way back to

to the ocean. So beautiful. The season,

season, how many have been lying, what

what it does equate to do in hatchlings?

hatchlings? For this season, it has been

been very slow because of the El Nino

Nino effect, 180 females on the beach

beach this year, and out of that we expect

expect around 43,000 hatchlings to make

make their way to the water. Sounds like

like a good number, but it is not that

that simple, is it? No, unfortunately,

unfortunately, the survival rate for hatchlings

hatchlings is about one in 1000. So 43

43 individuals from this season? That

That really puts it into perspective.

perspective. Only 43 will make it to maturity.

maturity. I am so privileged to see the

the hatchling base close. We will be keeping

keeping an eye on the hatcheries and all

all the title nests where we are on the

the island during the course of the week.

week. What is clear is that Heron Island

Island is such an important habitat to

to protect for sea turtles, and the same

same is true. Many of our marine species,

species, including one of the turtles'

turtles' biggest predators. In the be

be Hamas, Steve can tell us more. -- the

the Bahamas.

But oh so we are still here amongst

an extravaganza of sharks. And it is truly

truly one of the world's great wildlife

wildlife spectacles, valuable in and of

of itself, but sharks are incredibly important

important animals in any marine ecosystem.

ecosystem. These are an apex predator.

predator. They kind of function like the

the immune system of a reef. So they take

take out sick and injured animals, they

they alter the behaviour of other creatures

creatures around them, and they have been

been here in our oceans for at least 400

400 million years. So everything else

else has adapted to respect these top-of-the-line

top-of-the-line predator. Being here with

with so many sharks around is actually

actually a pretty unusual experience nowadays.

nowadays. Many of these sites that I have

have been diving, you feel quite lucky

lucky to see even one shark, so to be

be here with this many, it is pretty incredible.

incredible. And while sharks really power

power is very little danger to us as human

human beings, unfortunately it is not

not the same the other way around. We

We human beings are taking at least 100

100 million sharks from the oceans each

each and every year, many of those purely

purely taken for their fins. It is a number

number that cannot be sustained. If it

it carries on like this, our children

children will not have the opportunity

opportunity to see this, diving surrounded

surrounded by the stunning apex predators.

predators. So more than anything, we need

need to learn that sharks are not the

the mindless monsters they are so often

often made out to be, they are heroes,

heroes, and here in the Bahamas they have

have one particular knight in shining

shining armour.

I always had a passion for the

ocean, I fell in love with scuba divers,

divers, I fell in love with everything.

everything. It was a colony, I think.

Cristina left her homeland of Italy

over 20 years ago, heading for the Bahamas.

Bahamas. Ever since, she has been a champion

champion of the marine world and one of

of its most misunderstood creatures.

Two decades of diving at one site

off the island of grand Bahama has given

given her a remarkable connection with

with one particular family of animals.

animals. Cristina is known locally as

as the shark dancer. And this is her stage.

stage. I love that there is a busy silence.

It is the most peaceful and

extraordinary variety of life.

Blue Planet II took us into the deep

sea, earth's final frontier. Almost 11,000

11,000 metres at its deepest. We were

were introduced to extraordinary creatures.

creatures. Flapjack octopus, ghost sharks

sharks and feather stars. All surviving

surviving temperatures close to freezing

freezing and immense pressure. However,

However, scientists believe there could

could be more species here than in all

all other habitats on Earth combined.

combined. And there are other treasures.

treasures. Hydrothermal vents balance

balance the chemical composition of our

our oceans. But they are also home to

to precious metals, like gold and silver.

silver. As these run out on land, deep

deep sea mining is a rapidly growing threat.

threat. If we don't treat the deep ocean

ocean with care, what could we lose before

before we even know it is there?

before we even know it is there? The whales

whales just keep giving us the view from

from our helicopter. One of these remarkable

remarkable grey whales here in the lagoon.

lagoon. You can see it on the surface.

surface. It looks like one of the females.

females. She may have a car with her,

her, although there are single females

females as well. Most of the males have

have left by now but some still hanging

hanging around looking for mates. But

But what about the deep sea life, what

what an extraordinary environment. To

To get down there you need specialist

specialist kit and it is more specialist

specialist than what we have got our what

what we can afford.

The Atlantis expedition hopes to find out more about the deep

so that we can better protect it.

They have a research vessel in San

Francisco and on board, their submersible.

submersible. This has a two metre titanium

titanium sphere which means it is good

good to go down to 4500 metres. I am pleased

pleased that later in the week it will

will sail out of San Francisco and explore

explore an underwater mountain off the

the coast of California and we will be

be there with them live and there is every

every chance we will be seeing some very,

very, very unique wildlife indeed. Their

Their studies allow us to make better

better informed decisions when it comes

comes to conserving the wildlife. When

When it does come to conservation, as

as we have seen with Steve, if you change

change something in one part of the world,

world, you can have benefits in another.

This is evidence that if you protect

the oceans, the animals in then bounce

bounce back. The next part of the puzzle

puzzle is getting people to love sharks

sharks because we take care of things

things we love. In the Bahamas, they do

do that better than anywhere else on earth.

earth. 20 kilometres north of grand Bahama,

Bahama, lies a shark site. It is of global

global importance. Unlike anywhere else

else in the world.

Throughout this marine protected

area, food is used to bring sharks in.

in. Feeding sharks is hotly debated topic.

topic. There are people who think it is

is a bad idea and might potentially change

change the behaviour of sharks. But I

I can totally see that. But there no doubt,

doubt, shark tourism in the Bahamas is

is incredibly important. Each year, over

over 20,000 people come to the Bahamas

Bahamas to dive with sharks, making it

it the largest shark diving industry in

in the world. Shark diving here in the

the Bahamas is worth an estimated $114

$114 million every year to the local economy

economy and questionably, the sharks are

are worth more alive than they are dead.

dead. And that is hugely important to

to the survival of these extraordinary

extraordinary animals. A big part of the

the solution has to be getting people

people to love sharks and this could be

be the best place in the world for that.

that. And also an opportunity to encounter

encounter one of the most feared. A tiger

tiger shark is unmistakable in form. It

It has the dapper Ling running down its

its side. That gives its tiger name. They

They will feed on just about anything

anything they can find in the water and

and with those teeth, they can even go

go through the shell of a turtle. A great

great hammerhead. Amazing! Look at that

that powering straight in. That is just

just extraordinary!

just extraordinary! This is absolutely

absolutely dazzling. I don't know which

which way to look. Tiger sharks, great

great hammerheads, bull sharks... It is

is the well's greatest safari, it just

just so happens to be underwater.

just so happens to be underwater. Welcome

Welcome back to Heron Island, this is

is the moment I have been waiting for,

for, we are releasing seven hatchlings

hatchlings into the sea. Getting a new

new chance of life out into this very

very precious reef because of the work

work taking place here. And look at them

them all, scurrying towards the sea. It

It is the most beautiful sight. What are

are their chances? Their chances, just

just as great as any other ones. Every

Every instinct telling them to head to

to the sea. It is just divine. We just

just goes to show how precious this ecosystem

ecosystem is. The scientists hear of working

working night and day to better understand

understand how to protect it and all its

its inhabitants. With every new study

study we are gaining a greater understanding

understanding of how this place has changed

changed since Blue Planet II was filmed.

filmed. On the next programme we will

will take a closer look at how the impact

impact of our modern world is affecting,

affecting, not only these precious, little

little hatchlings and the sea turtles

turtles around here, but the reef, the

the great barrier and the reefs around

around the world. We will see you then.

This is our final view of Scammons

Lagoon where we have had this remarkable

remarkable evening with our grey whales.

whales. We have grey whales down there

there at the moment. They just keep giving.

giving. That is our last live view of

of one of the well's remarkable animals.

animals. Message thanks to our cameramen

cameramen who have given us these extraordinary

extraordinary views. I have been sat on

on looking out into the Pacific ocean

ocean and thinking, we get these oceans

oceans different names, Atlantic, Pacific

Pacific and Indian. But there are no fences

fences between them, they are all joined

joined up. As a consequence, or the ecosystems

ecosystems are connected to one another,

another, they are dependent upon one another

another and ultimately, our health and

and future is dependent on them as well.

well. What a programme we have had. I

I have got to say these exotic locations

locations are not the only place you can

can see fantastic wildlife. Around the

the UK's shoreline, there are plenty more.

more. We are pleased to be bringing you

you Blue Planet UK. Every day for 30 PM

PM on BBC One you can see some fascinating

fascinating stories of some extraordinary

extraordinary animals around the UK's

UK's coastline. We are back later in the

the week, so what have you got coming

coming up? Next time we will bring you

you more encounters with our most iconic

iconic animals of the ocean. More whales,

whales, more sharks. Turtles, stingrays,

stingrays, seals and we will be live as

as our mission into the deep is launched.

launched. Be there when it happens live.

live. What about that, what a programme.

programme. You will have to sit down and

and have a cup of tea. I have been snorted

snorted on by our whale and I've tasted

tasted it and I am very, very happy man.

man. We will be back again for three more

more programmes later in the week and

and the first will be on Wednesday. Please

Please join us at APM on BBC One for some

some more Blue Planet Live. Perhaps no

no more snot, but definitely some more

more spectacular animals. The Open University

University has produced a free booklet

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can be recycled. To order your free copy

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