All language subtitles for BBC Blue Planet Live (2019) - 03 English A

Welcome back to the Bahamas, a

paradise for sharks big and small.
I'll

I'll be following their epic
migrations

migrations and seen what the future
holds

holds for the next generation. And I
am

am flying over Mexico's Sea of
Cortez

Cortez looking for whales, dolphins,
seals

seals and sharks, live! And, on the
other

other side of the world, as the sun
is

is rising, I'm taking to the water,
discovering

discovering how all the animals here
contribute

contribute to the health of the
Great

Great Barrier Reef. Join us for all
the

the action and more on Blue Planet
Live.

Hello and welcome back to Blue

Planet too, for one whole week we
have

have our teams in strategically
selected

selected locations across the globe.
Two

Two years on from Blue Planet two,
this

this is an opportunity to take a
snapshot

snapshot from a moment in time. One
week

week in our ocean's 3.8 billion year
history

history to find out how they are
faring

faring and revel in their glory.
Tonight

Tonight we will follow marine
wildlife,

wildlife, embarking on vast
migrations,

migrations, crossing seas and
oceans,

oceans, finding out how those marine
habitats

habitats are all interconnected. And
events

events in one place can have impacts
thousands

thousands miles away.
The

The world's oceans. The Atlantic.
Pacific.

Pacific. Indian. Arctic. And
Antarctic.

Antarctic. All joined by powerful
currents.

currents. Together, they form one,
global

global ocean, a vast, interconnected
body

body of water, shifting heat...
Nutrients

Nutrients and life around the
planet.

planet. Shaping our climate...
Defining

Defining our way of life, like a
ripple

ripple effect, what happens in one
corner

corner impacts another. With warming
waters,

waters, plastic pollution,
overfishing...

overfishing... And, increasingly
powerful

powerful storms, understanding our
Blue

Blue Planet as one ocean is key to
how

how we protect it.

how we protect it. So, our teams are
live

live broadcasting now from three
different

different time zones. So, where am
I?

I? Well, I'm in the Bahamas,
specifically

specifically in Bimini, in the
Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean. We are 4000 miles
away

away from the UK and this place is a
globally

globally important shark sanctuary.
Liz,

Liz, on the other hand, is on the
other

other side of the world. She is,
before

before her breakfast coffee, getting
up

up before the door 9000 miles away
in

in Australia. Thank you very much.
Tonight

Tonight I'm finding out how what
happens

happens where you are can have a
direct

direct impact on where I am here on
the

the Great Barrier Reef. Meanwhile,
Chris

Chris is 7000 miles away from us in
Mexico,

Mexico, taking to the skies. Yes,
hello,

hello, and welcome to the Sea of
Cortez.

Cortez. I've widened my field of
view

view today by jumping on board our
helicopter

helicopter to take part in an aerial
survey.

survey. Our mission is to bring you
some

some ocean giants. Yesterday we
promised

promised blue whale and I'm ashamed
to

to say we failed you butter fingers
are

are crossed today because we are
confident

confident we are going to find some
whales,

whales, and if not those, then some
other

other large marine animals. It'll be
fantastic,

fantastic, Steve! Over to you! Thank

fantastic, Steve! Over to you! Thank
you

you very much, Chris. We will scour
the

the skies, we will find them on the
beaches,

beaches, we will even wade around in
tidal

tidal mud to find marine animals and
give

give you a health check of our
oceans

oceans right now. Blue Planet II
showed

showed how animals and particularly
sharks

sharks undertake migrations,
crossing

crossing oceans, and an awful lot of
them

them are turning up right here in
the

the Bahamas. We have at least 78
species

species of sharks and rays using
these

these waters as a sanctuary, the
fact

fact it is protected has an enormous
impact

impact for their lives. But why are
they

they coming here to the be Hamas?
Well,

Well, a part of the puzzle and part
of

of the answer lies with one of their
close

close cousins, the stingrays.

I'm being overwhelmed by what looks

like a flotilla of flying carpets.
These

These are southern stingrays, an
animal

animal closely related to the shark.
The

The eyes are on the top of the body
looking

looking upwards. And the mouth is on
the

the underside. Let's see if I can
get

get this one in close to my
underwater

underwater camera so you can see
that

that mouth. There it is! They have
the

the sting that gives them their
name,

name, and that is down here at the
base

base of the tale. If you look it up
really

really close, it has a lacerating
edge

edge to it, coated in venom. That
stinger

stinger is its way of defending
itself.

itself. Hammerhead sharks have been
found

found with dozens of those stingers
embedded

embedded into their mouths. I've
seen

seen one or two males around but,
almost

almost all of these are big females.
Why

Why are they here, right now, in
these

these shallows? Well, there is only
one

one way to find out.

Yes, we will try to answer that

question right now with the help
from

from some of my friends from Bimini
Shark

Shark Lab, the most fantastically
named

named Institute of learning in the
entire

entire world. You've been studying
the

the sharks and rays for a long time,
Matt

Matt Smukall. This is a female,
what's

what's going on? If you look at her
here,

here, she looks very descended but
you

you never want to assume she is
pregnant

pregnant so we are going to go ahead
an

an ultrasound her to see if we can
look

look at her pups to try to
understand

understand how big they are. If

look at her pups to try to
understand how big they are. If

understand how big they are. If you
want

want to put your hand here,

understand how big they are. If you
want to put your hand here,

want to put your hand here, you can
feel

feel the pup moving around. Are you
serious?

serious? Yes, it's kicking. Do you
ever

ever wake up and go, I have the
weirdest

weirdest job in the world? Yes, but
also

also the greatest. Look at the
ultrasound,

ultrasound, you can see the mouth of
the

the pup moving within the uterus.
These

These pups are near term. I can see
the

the little, small dot no actually, I
saw

saw it! That is incredible! We can
tell

tell based on the bars that the pups
are

are near term so she is close to
popping

popping any day now. Now that we've
confirmed

confirmed she's pregnant, we're
going

going to let her go. I can actually
feel

feel that movement, the movement of
her

her pups, incredible! I never
thought

thought I'd get the opportunity to
do

do that, that is incredible. If you
notice,

notice, she is missing her barb. We
have

have a lot of stingrays and other
sharks

sharks that come to this area for
reproduction

reproduction to speed up gestation
in

in the warm waters so they are
coming

coming in and foraging on things
like

like sting rays and turtles. Well,
that

that was a very quick health check,
she

she certainly looks stress-free,
should

should we let her go? Let's let her
go

go on her way. Fantastic, there she
goes.

goes. Not this way! Anyway but this
way!

way! Gliding off in between us both.
Sensational!

Sensational! Now, Matt, why are
these

these waters so important to
stingrays

stingrays and sharks? The Bahamas
are

are productive for a number of fish
species

species are not only do you have
great

great fish but you also have the
stingrays,

stingrays, turtles, then the
predatory

predatory sharks coming in at the
top

top of the food chain with the warm
waters.

waters. It is a great way to speed
up

up gestation and metabolism. We will
be

be learning lots more about that in
the

the show. But, for now, let's head
all

all the way across the world to Liz,
who

who is on the water on the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef. Thank you very much,
Steve,

Steve, we are just off the jetty on
Heron

Heron Island, it's a beautiful
morning,

morning, check out the magnificent
backdrop.

backdrop. This week, we've been
looking

looking at the activities of green
sea

sea turtles and I've positioned
myself

myself over what is known as a
cleaning

cleaning station so let's go to our
live

live underwater camera to take a
look

look at what we've got, if we have
got

got some green turtles. Take a look
at

at that! Hello, turtle on our
cameras!

cameras! What they do is they start
to

to gather around these cleaning
station

station scattered across the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef for a very important
task

task indeed. They are going to try
and

and solicit the help of these
cleaner

cleaner fish, little cleaner fish
that

that love to eat the algae and
parasites

parasites of the skin and the shells
of

of sea turtles. It is a mutually
beneficial

beneficial relationship. This is an
image

image from a couple of days ago on
this

this cleaning station where the
turtle

turtle stretches out her neck,
saying

saying to the little fish, "Clean
off

off the parasites, get your fill of
algae,

algae, I'll feel better, my skin
will

will be cleaner, and you will get a
lovely

lovely meal". It's a beautiful place
to

to be at this time of the morning.
As

As we saw on Blue Planet II, turtles
are

are great Ocean wonders spending
about

about 90% of their lives in the
ocean,

ocean, they hatch on the beaches,
then

then they head out to sea and they
only

only return to land to nest and lay
their

their eggs. The distances that
turtles

turtles travel can be simply
staggering.

staggering.
Now,

Now, hatchlings travel to greatest
distance

distance of their entire lives for
the

the most part at the mercy of the
currents.

currents. Loggerhead turtles from
this

this area of the divorce - make
Great

Great Barrier Reef go past New
Zealand,

Zealand, all the way across the
Pacific

Pacific to Chile and Peru, a
distance

distance of 8000 miles. Now, at
about

about 16 years of age, the turtles
will

will have made their way back across
the

the Pacific towards the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef and at that age they
are

are known do to make known as
juveniles.

juveniles. They are not ready to
breed

breed yet. They establish foraging
grounds,

grounds, find where the best food is
and

and that is where they will stick
for

for about 13 years. Once they are
mature

mature enough to breed, they head
back

back towards the beaches, where they
first

first were born, and near those
areas,

areas, they will set up breeding
locations

locations as well where they will
nest.

nest. And during their adult lives,
so

so around 30 years and upwards, they
move

move back and forth between those
two

two locations, distances as great as
something

something like 1600 miles, even 2000
miles.

miles. The green sea turtles on
Heron

Heron are known to travel up to
Indonesia

Indonesia and the Coral Sea to feed,
then

then they come back here to nest. As
these

these turtles travel, they are
transporting

transporting incredibly important
nutrients

nutrients to all of the areas they
travel

travel to. There is a live turtle
there,

there, just beneath me! Oh, such a
treat

treat to have them so close to us!
And

And these guys travels so far
throughout

throughout their lives, that all of
the

the nutrients that deposit in the
form

form of poo, basically, they are
incredibly

incredibly important to the oceans.
The

The parasites... Look at her! She is
breathtaking!

breathtaking! But the parasites and
the

the barnacles on their skin as well
as

as the algae they get travels around
the

the oceans as well, they are like
hitchhikers

hitchhikers and sometimes they will
drop

drop off on a completely different
part

part of the ocean which adds to the
biodiversity

biodiversity of the oceans and adds
to

to the health of it. Honestly, the
roles

roles of these green turtles around
our

our oceans cannot be overestimated.
Oh,

Oh, my gosh, she is breathtaking!
She

She is right under us, getting ready
for

for a bout of cleaning. The threats
to

to our oceans are on the increase of
it

it means that as these turtles
migrate

migrate all around the planet they
are

are exposed to more and more
dangers.

dangers. So, I travelled to the
Cairns

Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre
a

a few weeks ago to find out a little
bit

bit more.
This

This image of a turtle entangled in
plastic

plastic from Blue Planet II was a
shocking

shocking revelation for many but in
the

the past few years public awareness
and

and funding for the rescue and
rehabilitation

rehabilitation of turtles has
increased.

increased. Providing a lifeline for
these

these endangered creatures.

these endangered creatures. This is
Midori,

Midori, a rescued green sea turtle.
She

She was found over two years ago
with

with tumours and plastic blocking
her

her digestive system. Following an
extensive

extensive treatment plan by the
total

total rehabilitation centre in
Cairns,

Cairns, we have privileged access to
see

see if Midori is fit enough to be
released

released back into the wild.
Thankfully,

Thankfully, she has now passed all
the

the plastic in her system so Jenny
Gilbert

Gilbert and her team are giving her
a

a scan to reveal if she is finally
free

free from tumours. So, Jenny, what
are

are your thoughts, looking at the
scan?

scan? I can't see any tumours and we
haven't

haven't picked up any plastic. As
she

she ready to go? She is healthy and
ready

ready to go. The next task is to fit
Midori

Midori with a GPS tracker so the
team

team can monitor her after release.
And

And this is nontoxic, right?
Nontoxic,

Nontoxic, yes. What kind of data is
this

this going to give you about Midori
once

once she is in the wild? It gives us
a

a top time, bottom time, dive time,
water

water temperature, distance and
salinity.

salinity. All in that. The most
important

important thing about releasing a
turtle

turtle is we want a health profile
so

so we want to know that this turtle
is

is diving and staying down there and
feeding

feeding rather than doing short and
shallow

shallow dives. With the tracker
fitted,

fitted, Midori is transported 28
miles

miles off the coast to a reef.

Today is the culmination of two and

a half years of rehabilitation and
thousands

thousands of hours of care. Ready?
Step

Step forward. Stepping forward. Go.

Step forward. Stepping forward. Go.
Yeah!

How are you feeling? Fantastic. What

a great release. That is to one half
years

years in captivity and she has just
gone

gone straight out. We can actually
see

see what she is doing. She is a
scientist

scientist for us.

scientist for us. What an incredibly
special

special moment it was the release
that

that Turtle, who is going to be
joining

joining the other green sea turtles.
Every

Every individual is so precious.
That

That was the culmination is that a
lot

lot of hard work on the part of a
team,

team, it was special to be part of
that.

that. We are over this beautiful
green

green sea turtle off of the Jetty on
Heron

Heron Island. It is a special thing
to

to be sharing their stone with these
majestic

majestic creatures. We have some of
the

the tracking data from

Midori from the last 12 days or so.

She is sticking close to the place
where

where she was released but that is
not

not that unusual. Most rehabilitated
and

and released titles tend to stay
local

local for about ten days and then
they

they start living further afield.
She

She has been rehabilitated for two
and

and a half years and it takes a
while

while to get back into her stride.
We

We cannot wait to see what she is
going

going to do in the next few days. We
will

will keep you updated. It is clear
that

that higher migrations and
wide-ranging

wide-ranging feeding habits will
contribute

contribute to the health of the
Great

Great Barrier Reef, just like those
of

of the best green sea turtle I am
sharing

sharing the ocean with now. Chris is
in

in Mexico in the sky is looking for
other

other majestic ocean wanderer.

other majestic ocean wanderer.
We

We promised you a large marine
mammals

mammals live and we have got one.
You

You are looking at a giant man

You are looking at a giant man, what
an

an extraordinary animal. These can
have

have a wingspan of several metres
and

and it is closing across the surface
feeding

feeding on the plankton in these
waters.

waters. The Sea of Cortez is a
remarkable

remarkable place for wildlife. It is
quite

quite big. 62,000 square miles of
surface

surface and that is why we are
taking

taking part in this aerial survey.
We

We have Larry piloting the chopper.
We

We have our wildlife cameraman
bringing

bringing you these extraordinary
pictures.

pictures. We have marine biologist
Geraldine

Geraldine Busquet Vass. We have
already

already seen something we can take
off

off and marine survey. A great whale
which

which is uncommon in this area but
this

this winter we have had 53 whales
which

which is surprising -- had five.
They

They do not typically come in here
but

but probably they have malnutrition
so

so they are entering the Gulf trying
to

to find some food. What about other
whale

whale species? A far greater area
than

than we would do on the surface,
this

this is a great way of doing a
census.

census. What are we seeing in blue
whales?

whales? Around 300 blue whales but
within

within the park on a 13 different
individuals.

individuals. Yesterday I was seeing
what

what are our chances of finding the
blue

blue and you are offering a
statistic

statistic of 99%. Are you going to
revise

revise your off I govern we have so
few

few animals in this area? I am going
to

to go for 99%. We love Geraldine.
She

She is so optimistic when it comes
to

to finding things. That beautiful
shot,

shot, look at that. We have scored
with

with error Manta ray. One of the key
things

things is that the Sea of Cortez
offers

offers great opportunities for
wildlife

wildlife spectacles. If you cast
your

your mind back to Blue Planet II you
might

might remember the mobulas that were
found

found here, extraordinary groups of
these

these animals coming together very
densely

densely and performing these
extraordinary

extraordinary leaps out of the
water.

water. I never guess the thing that
these

these things could throw themselves
out

out of the water. They look amongst
the

the least aerodynamic. These mobulas
come

come together in huge numbers,
bleeding

bleeding and mating and feeding, it
is

is a great place for them to be
together

together -- breeding. The other
thing

thing we have seen are large numbers
of

of dolphins together. The species we
have

have been looking at me and they
have

have been common dolphins and these
typically

typically occur in groups of ten to
50

50 but sometimes you will get pods
of

of up to 2000 of these dolphins.
They

They will be searching the waters
here

here for any sign of food. I was
able

able to get close to them when we
first

first came out. I went out on a boat
and

and it is always thrilling to see
them.

them. It is marvellous to watch how
they

they twist and turn in the water.
One

One thing they do typically if you
are

are out whale watching is they will
go

go bow-riding, using the pressure
wave

wave of water being pushed by the
boat

boat to push them through the water,
so

so they are having an easy ride at
the

the front. Unite think this is
behaviour

behaviour they have adapted solely
because

because they can utilise it in front
of

of a boat but we have been doing
aerial

aerial surveys and picked up amazing
shots

shots of dolphins bow-riding blue
whale.

whale. The blue whale is a huge
animal,

animal, it is not very fast. They
typically

typically move forward about 12
miles

miles another but I guess because of
its

its bulk it is shifting water in
front

front of it and the dolphins can
take

take advantage of that body of
water.

water. Not just a blue whales, we
have

have also seen dolphins in front of
Fenn

Fenn whales which has been an
extraordinary

extraordinary thing to see. Dolphins
are

are famed for being playful. We know
that

that they are a very curious animal
and

and if you cast your mind back to
Blue

Blue Planet II you will know that we
were

were watching one playing with
Coral.

Coral. These days there are other
entities

entities in the ocean, not just
natural

natural things but things like
plastic,

plastic, and this is what happens if
dolphins

dolphins get involved playing with
that.

that.
Dolphins,

Dolphins, the acrobats of the sea.
With

With over 30 species, from common
dolphins

dolphins to spinners, they are
present

present in almost every ocean around
the

the world, including our coastlines.
Travelling

Travelling in large pods with
impressive

impressive displays of speed and
agility.

agility. But it was this group of
bottlenose

bottlenose dolphins from Blue Planet
II

II that show as they are more
playful

playful side.

playful side. Dropping and catching
fragments

fragments of coral seems like a
popular

popular pastime with these
youngsters.

youngsters. These games are thought
to

to develop their coordination and
dexterity

dexterity that they will need when
they

they start hunting in the open
ocean.

ocean. Two years on, their behaviour
hasn't

hasn't changed. But their playthings
have.

have. Plastic. Although these
dolphins

dolphins appear to be playing with
it,

it, ingestion or entanglement can be
deadly.

deadly. With 8 million tonnes still
finding

finding its way into heresies each
year

year animals are coming into contact
with

with plastic on a daily basis. But
there

there is hope. Since Blue Planet II
the

the world has woken up to this
threat.

threat. But thousands of
organisations

organisations attempting to reverse
the

the trend. More money is being spent
on

on removing plastic than ever
before.

before. From state-of-the-art
technology

technology and the open seas to
global

global beach planes. People are
coming

coming together to read our oceans
of

of plastic.

of plastic.
Sometimes

Sometimes it takes seeing the
effects

effects on marine mammals that we
have

have such an emotional connection to
to

to really make us sit up and take
notice

notice and start to change our
habits.

habits. I find it heartening so many
people

people are already doing all they
can

can to live better lives. In the
Bahamas

Bahamas we have had incredible
results

results seeing so many different
kinds

kinds of sharks and rays. This is a
shark

shark sanctuary. The animals are
protected.

protected. Catching them is illegal
but

but it is not the turquoise seas
that

that is the reason they do so well,
it

it is these spiderlike plants,
mangroves.

mangroves. Our cameraman is down in
the

the mangroves and has a camera under
the

the water and we may have some baby
sharks

sharks on the camera right now. And
a

a few other fish as well. You can
already

already see why these mangroves are
so

so important. They are themselves a
remarkable

remarkable plant so wait I am now is
in

in tidal salt water. I was standing
on

on the sand a couple of hours ago
and

and right now it is up to my thighs
and

and mangroves can shed salt through
their

their rates and can reproduce using
seed

seed pods like this which look like
Cuban

Cuban cigars but it is a living tree
that

that is cast onto the and will set
up

up a mangrove elsewhere. There are
lots

lots of different sharks travelling
a

a long way to come to these
mangroves,

mangroves, lemon sharks travelling
2000

2000 miles from the east Coast of
America

America to come here to the
mangroves.

mangroves. Why? They are a very
special

special and important place indeed.
This

This tangled mass of rates is the
mangroves.

mangroves. It is an environment that
changes

changes constantly with the tides
throughout

throughout the day and provides the
perfect

perfect spot for baby marine animals
to

to hide out in. I am enjoying
clemency

clemency to see another vital piece
of

of the puzzle for maintaining a
healthy

healthy population of sharks. Look
at

at that. Yep, they are all waiting
for

for us. Baby sharks. That is
absolutely

absolutely incredible.

absolutely incredible. These are
lemon

lemon sharks. They have been studied
by

by researchers for over 30 years. It
looks

looks like they want to be fed.
Yeah,

Yeah, we have a little bit of squid
if

if you want to give it a go. I would
genuinely

genuinely loved her. How old are the
sharks

sharks we are looking at? Most of
them

them are in their first few years of
life,

life, the majority will be two or
three

three and the larger ones are four
or

or five. That small narrow walkway
we

we walked in the bigger sharks
cannot

cannot use that. What are they
taking

taking shelter from? The biggest
predator

predator of ginger lemon sharks is
adult

adult lemon sharks. They are
cannibalistic.

cannibalistic. Also bull sharks and
other

other species like that. This is a
nursery

nursery where the youngsters are
safe

safe from other... That went right
between

between my legs! I should be waiting
a

a cricket box or something! OK.
Seriously.

Seriously. That went right between
my

my legs. They must like you. That
one

one day is a decent size. They will
be

be pretty loyal to the mangroves
they

they were Bourne end. They will be
and

and they mangrove their entire life
cycle.

cycle. What are the main threats to
mangroves?

mangroves? We see the mangroves are
being

being removed to build hotels and
bigger

bigger resorts and that means that
these

these will be using the same areas
but

but they will not have the security.
Lose

Lose the mangroves and you lose the
lemon

lemon sharks. Yeah.

It may not look like any other

nursery you have seen before but you
can

can see how vital this environment
is

is to these rather wonderful and
surprisingly

surprisingly cute animals.
Quite

Quite lucky to have escaped that
intact,

intact, I think! I hope to redress
the

the balance on sharks this year is
to

to try to convince people they can
be

be cute and I think seeing those
baby

baby sharks, they certainly can be.
These

These mangroves, let's have another
look

look at our live camera, is there
anything

anything there? We've got a baby
lemon

lemon shark right now, we've seen a
couple

couple of them swimming together
side

side by side. Lemon sharks have an
ability

ability to form friendships, believe
it

it or not. We've got to make
together

together right now! These two
animals

animals have been following each
other

other all day, nose to tail. It is
remarkably

remarkably cute but they are not the
only

only animals that rely on mangroves.
Egrets,

Egrets, herons, pelicans will nest
in

in the trees, you have sponges all
over

over the branches, as much as 80% of
fish

fish rely at some point in their
lives

lives directly or indirectly on
mangroves

mangroves so this is an absolute
paradise

paradise for wildlife. It is a bit
more

more of a hard sell for us as human
beings.

beings. It's often portrayed as
being

being an environment that is a
stinking,

stinking, stagnant swamp that is bug
ridden.

ridden. And of course it is prime
real

real estate with an ocean view so
they

they are being cut down at a
frightening

frightening rate. We've lost 30-50%
of

of the world's mangroves in my
lifetime.

lifetime. In the Americas they are
being

being lost faster than tropical
rainforests.

rainforests. If we lose them, then
we

we face a life with seas that have
simply

simply nothing in them. In the
Bahamas,

Bahamas, that is not a problem
because

because we have mangroves here and
because

because of that we have fabulous
seas.

seas. Let's see what is happening in
the

the sea with Liz on the other side
of

of the world.
We

We have got fabulous seas as well
here,

here, Steve Backshall, we are on the
jetty

jetty of Heron Island. Look at that,
beautiful,

beautiful, green sea turtles
wandering

wandering around in the morning
light,

light, jellies everywhere, we have
rays

rays of all sorts, we have cowed
tail,

tail, whiptail, we've also got lemon
sharks,

sharks, black tip sharks, black tip
sharks,

sharks, the most wonderful spot just
off

off the jetty every morning we see a
heck

heck of a lot of life and every
species

species here is deeply reliant on
the

the next, all of these animals are
here

here to feed on the prey they need
that

that is buried in the sand, if you
are

are a ray, but also on the small
fish

fish in the shallows if you are a
juvenile

juvenile shark. The Great Barrier
Reef

Reef is deeply connected, of course.
Scientists

Scientists take to the often to get
a

a better understanding of how all
those

those connections work, so our coral
expert

expert got a bird's eye view just a
few

few ago.

First time I flew over a reef was in

the 1990s and I got a sense of the
scale

scale of the whole reef. And what
was

was really remarkable was just the
incredible

incredible colours coming from the
reef

reef system, these blue and
turquoise

turquoise colours. It does something
to

to me personally, it makes the hairs
on

on the back of my neck stand up, I
just

just react to that colour and for me
it

it is like a spiritual home for the
marine

marine world. I think the reef Edge,
the

the scalloped edge, where you see
the

the forces, the wave action coming
in,

in, the wash moving through with all
the

the nutrients coming into the reef
system,

system, that is one of the most
extraordinary

extraordinary owes. In terms of
sheer

sheer beauty it is central part of
the

the reef where you get all these
intricately

intricately connected parts of the
different

different reef systems, all the
patchwork.

patchwork. One of the beautiful
things

things about having the privilege of
flying

flying over a reef system, it
reinforces

reinforces how spectacularly
beautiful

beautiful these systems are and I
wish

wish everyone on the planet could
see

see a healthy, functioning reef
system.

system. Hopefully in the future
there

there will be enough systems so that
people

people can enjoy them.
That

That looked incredibly special,
Peter.

Peter. How much do you enjoy going
up

up there? You had a big smile on
your

your face. It's fantastic to get
that

that perspective and to be able to
see

see the magnificence of these reef
systems.

systems. Why is it important for
scientists

scientists to understand these
connections?

connections? It is very important
because

because when we are focusing on a
reef,

reef, you look at these small-scale
interactions

interactions and it's only when you
get

get back in the air you remember
these

these reef systems, although
physically

physically separate, they are
interconnected,

interconnected, and they are
interconnected

interconnected through larvae
dispersing

dispersing between them over time
and,

and, therefore, you find that you
get

get flow of energy and life between
these

these different reef systems. How
much

much do corals contribute to the
connections

connections and animals? How much
can

can corals travel from one part of
the

the Great Barrier Reef, a 2300
kilometre

kilometre stretch of reef networks?
It

It is immense and one of the things
that

that is exciting about the research
we've

we've been doing is that we are
starting

starting to realise these
connections

connections are very large scale.
You

You can get some coral larvae and
fish

fish juvenile that recruit into
different

different parts of the reef system,
dispersing

dispersing from one reef over tens
of

of thousands of kilometres. Hundreds
of

of kilometres? Hundreds and
sometimes

sometimes thousands of kilometres
which

which explains why so many of the
organisms

organisms we see on some of the
reefs

reefs on the Great Barrier Reef are
found

found in other parts of the world.
And

And we see so much life here, the
turtles,

turtles, the sharks, the rays, we
have

have live shots of the rays and the
pre-recorded

pre-recorded footage of what has
happened

happened since we arrived here. It's
teeming

teeming with life and they are
important

important for the connectivity of
the

the Great Barrier Reef, aren't they?
Absolutely

Absolutely and one of the
fascinating

fascinating things as it is not only
the

the reefs, it is other organisms
moving

moving between different habitat so
for

for example some fish start off in
the

the nursery areas and mangroves,
then

then they migrate to seagrass beds,
then

then to the inshore reefs, than
outer

outer reefs. So, all of these flows
between

between reefs systems, it shows as
they

they are interconnected. It so
fascinating,

fascinating, the more we learn about
this

this reef, the more incredibly
awe-inspiring

awe-inspiring it is. It is thanks to
these

these aerial surveys we can
understand

understand the interconnectivity and
into

into reliance on everything of it
but

but all of our oceans ecosystem is
the

the world over are connected. One
healthy

healthy ecosystem will affect the
health

health of the next, it is one Blue
Planet,

Planet, one, living, breathing
organism.

organism. Chris is still in the
skies.

skies.
Well,

Well, here we are, hovering above
the

the Sea of Cortez this afternoon
conducting

conducting our aerial survey. If you
are

are watching earlier, you saw we had
that

that fabulous manta ray. I think
Florian

Florian has the beautiful view but
there

there isn't much down there, we are
failing

failing in our quest to find
anything.

anything. Florian is working hard,
Larry

Larry can't take his eye off the sea
and

and Geraldine is counting everything
we

we find. Not finding things is as
important

important as finding things, isn't
it?

it? Negative data is important. When
you

you don't see things, you know they
are

are not distributed there which is
the

the point of doing the survey, to
know

know who is there, when it is there
and

and what types of species we can
see.

see. I'm sorry to tease you but are
you

you sticking to a 99% chance of a
blue

blue whale? Come on, Chris! We saw a
manta

manta rays and a grey whale, what
else

else do you want? We've had some
successes

successes so far, no doubt. Another
thing

thing we have seen from up here are
mass

mass feeding events, and, typically
the

the queue for this that leads to
them

them are dolphins on the surface of
the

the water and we see these animals
speeding

speeding towards their food. Now,
typically,

typically, the animals we have been
looking

looking at have been common
dolphins,

dolphins, short beaked and long beak
difficult

difficult to tell apart but you can
see

see that classic hourglass pattern
and

and they look like they are
travelling

travelling incredibly fast but, in
fact,

fact, their fastest speed is 37
miles

miles an hour. As soon as they get
into

into the bait ball, they get
excited,

excited, they stir things up, they
can

can press the fish together which
means

means it is easily spotted by birds,
and

and it is then that we start to see
the

the pelicans arriving. They will
come

come from great distances across the
sea,

sea, honing in on this rich source
of

of food. One pelican watches
another,

another, which watches another,
which

which watches another, so an network
aggregates

aggregates in this area. They will
plunge

plunge into the water from about 60
feet

feet high, they come in at about 60
or

or 90 degrees, and they dive down
only

only a couple of metres, not far
beneath

beneath the surface. Just like
gannets

gannets in the UK, they are
specially

specially evolved for this, their
beak

beak breaks their entry into the
water

water and their body is covered with
airbags,

airbags, if you like, to cushion the
view

view as they hit the water, cushion
the

the impact as they get into it.
Then,

Then, of course, other animals will
come

come because this is such a rich
source

source of food. And the last
visitors

visitors and the slowest moving,
these

these can be the large whales. Here
you

you can see a whale coming up from
beneath

beneath that mass of fish, probably
anchovies

anchovies and sardines, and filling
its

its huge, expanded mouth. You can
see

see that very characteristic pimply
face

face of the humpback whale. And
humpbacks

humpbacks like this are typically
attending

attending these sorts of compressed
shoals

shoals of fish that we call bait
balls.

balls. Absolutely fantastic! And,
now,

now, I'm looking down, we have some
live

live dolphins here, we have a view
live

live from our chopper in the Sea of
Cortez,

Cortez, a bit of activity but they
don't

don't seem to be moving quite so
fast

fast as normal. We will try to get
closer

closer to them. When we were out
earlier,

earlier, it wasn't just the dolphins
we

we were looking at, we were
extremely

extremely fortunate to find the
world's

world's largest fish. Yes, we found
a

a whale shark. Just to look at
theirs.

theirs. What a beautiful animal! Not
a

a large fish feeder, they eat small
fish,

fish, but they are swimming along on
the

the surface in these warm waters
with

with their mouth wide open because
they

they are filtering the water for
plankton.

plankton. It is an extraordinary
opportunity

opportunity to see one of these
beautiful

beautiful animals. Now, you can find
them

them all over the world in warm
waters

waters but they remain a mystery.
Cast

Cast your mind back to Blue Planet
II,

II, they thought they might have
found

found for the very first time at the
beginning

beginning of the 21st century, the
place

place where these animals go to
breed.

breed. As it turned out, that wasn't
the

the case but they have been back on
the

the case and, as you'll see here,
the

the scientists have found another
lead.

lead.
At

At up to 12 metres long, whale
sharks

sharks are the largest fish on the
planet.

planet. They can live for 100 years,
cruising

cruising our seas in search of
plankton

plankton and tiny fish.

plankton and tiny fish. Solitary
giants,

giants, they cross oceans, and maybe
even

even swim around the entire globe.
But

But this lonely lifestyle makes them
really

really hard to study. One of the
things

things that interest me about whale
sharks

sharks is how little we know about
their

their adult phase of their life so
once

once the sharks hit adulthood at
about

about eight or nine metres, how they
usually

usually disappear off into the open
ocean.

ocean. Now scientists from around
the

the globe are trying to figure out
how

how to protect these gentle giants,
which

which means answering questions like
where

where these enormous fish breed. If
you

you want to protect a species, you
have

have to answer these fundamental
questions

questions about its life history
that

that seems simple but have stumped
scientists

scientists for years. Blue Planet to
revealed

revealed a large group of females
thought

thought to be pregnant in the
Galapagos.

Galapagos. But the scientists were
back

back to square one when recent
underwater

underwater ultrasounds revealed they
were

were not pregnant at all, just
fattening

fattening up in the bountiful waters
there.

there. Now the same team are
shipping

shipping their attention to another
site.

site. Just off the coast of Saint
Helena,

Helena, a British island in the
middle

middle of the Atlantic Ocean, they
are

are investigating a gathering of
male

male and female adult male sharks
that

that dish - Mike whale sharks and
they

they think they found their breeding
grounds.

grounds. There's only one pregnant
female

female that's ever been examined so
the

the fact there are adult males and
females

females is something we want chase
up.

up. What finding as you have this
50-50

50-50 ratio of mature males and
females

females which put strength behind
the

the theory that Saint Helena is the
place

place where mature adults will come
and

and come and mate and breed. And if
this

this is the case, this discovery
could

could bring us one step closer to
protecting

protecting these extraordinary fish
for

for the future. People often ask why
we

we are doing the research, why do we
need

need to understand where they breed,
where

where they go, which sites are they
using.

using. Once we know this
information,

information, we can better inform
management

management measures and protect the
species.

What about that! Extraordinary!

Saint Helena! Maybe that is where
they

they are all going, all the whale
sharks

sharks going to Saint Helena?
Absolutely

Absolutely amazing. We've been doing
the

the aerial survey and we have a
couple

couple of dolphins down there, which
are

are not quite the blue whale we are
looking

looking for but nevertheless it's
great

great to see these animals live on
TV.

TV. They are on the surface but this
week

week we have been very pleased to
have

have been partnering with the Woods
Hole

Hole Oceanographic Institute, who
offer

offer a service to us of being able
to

to dive much deeper under the water.
We

We are going over now to talk to
Andy

Andy Bowen, the director of the US
National

National Deep Sea Submergence
Facility

Facility and he is on board the RV
Atlantis

Atlantis with their submersible
Alvin

Alvin off the coast of California,
Andy,

Andy, how are things going on?
Welcome

Welcome aboard the research vessel
Atlantis.

Atlantis. We have a fantastic day
for

for diving and, actually, we are
just

just in the final stages of
recovering

recovering our research submersible,
Alvin.

Alvin. Yesterday, it dived to the
top

top of a seamount 1000 metres below
us

us with the objective of surveying
the

the ecosystem there, the glass
sponges,

sponges, crabs, and deep sea corals,
and

and their distribution. Chad King
was

was on board the Alvin and had the
opportunity

opportunity to see with his own eyes
through

through the viewport is the unique
ocean

ocean environment. Humans are still
effective

effective at engaging this. This,
for

for example, is a deep sea bubble
gum

gum coral, which is actually half
the

the size of the Alvin submersible
and

and centuries-old. Please come back,
we've

we've got plenty more dives during
this

this expedition. Chad and I will be
talking

talking about the unique recently
discovered

discovered footage.

Thank you. Other team have to leave

the Atlantis with some urgency
because

because the boat is heading out into
the

the Pacific and that they do not
leave

leave now they are going to be stuck
on

on it for two months. We will be
getting

getting more in the final show on
Sunday.

Sunday. One of the greatest rates in
marine

marine biology has been a better
understanding

understanding of where sharks go and
the

the people I have been working with
here

here have been instrumental in ever
greater

greater understanding and knowledge
of

of the movements of these animals
that

that once were a complete mystery. I
have

have been working across the sea in
Florida

Florida with some of their
scientific

scientific colleagues in just over a
week

week ago I was there and I took the
flight

flight of my life.

flight of my life.
This

This is Palm Beach, Florida. It is a
playground

playground for the rich and famous
but

but do they know that off the coast
is

is one of the greatest gatherings of
large

large predators on the planet?

large predators on the planet? Each
year,

year, thousands of black tip sharks
gather

gather here before migrating north
to

to their summer feeding grounds
almost

almost 4000 miles away off the coast
of

of North Carolina. They are followed
by

by larger predatory sharks including
hammerheads,

hammerheads, which grows in from
deeper

deeper waters to feast on the mass
gathering

gathering of black tips. I have
joined

joined Stevie, a professor at
Florida

Florida Atlantic University. Each
year

year he takes to the monitor this
extraordinary

extraordinary natural spectacle.
Just

Just a slick of sharks going on all
the

the way parallel to the coast. That
is

is absolutely fantastic. They stand
out

out so well against the sandy
bottom.

bottom. That is one of the reasons
we

we are so successful with the
surveys,

surveys, clear water, white sandy
bottom,

bottom, you can see everything. And
they

they are shallow. They make it easy
for

for you. Are you getting a sense of
how

how the numbers are changing over
time?

time? We have been doing these
surveys

surveys for the last nine years and
we

we have seen this decline in the
number

number of sharks. At the same time
we

we have seen an increase in the
water

water temperature down here. They
have

have narrow thermal tolerance. They
like

like water between 21 and 25 Celsius
and

and has water temperatures are
rising

rising you are getting fewer sharks
this

this far south. The black tips you
have

have got here, there are constant
interactions

interactions between those and the
larger

larger predatory sharks. How is that
likely

likely to be affected? If you do not
have

have these black tips sweeping down,
tens

tens of thousands every spring,
there

there is no food for the big
hammerheads

hammerheads and the black tips are
not

not eating may fetch so we do not
know

know what might happen. Global seed
temperatures

temperatures have increased by 1
degrees

degrees in the last 50 years. While
that

that does not sound like a lot the
knock-on

knock-on effects can be seen in our
oceans.

oceans. These ecosystems remain
pretty

pretty much unchanged for millennia
but

but they are dramatically changing
in

in my lifetime and where that will
lead

lead we simply do not know.
What

What incredible images for a shark
lover,

lover, that must have been a dream
come

come true. For a healthy reef you
need

need ocean fetters beneath the
surface

surface to be healthy and goes above
the

the surface to be healthy including
the

the sea birds that come here during
the

the breeding season. Kingfishers,
silver

silver gulls and the fluffy chicks
we

we are trying not to tread on, there
are

are so many of them, Eastern egrets
and

and the eastern golden glove that
comes

comes all the way from Siberia. By
far

far the greatest numbers are
disease,

disease, the black noddies. This
nest

nest is made of carefully picked out
twigs

twigs and bird to. We have these
wedge

wedge tailed shearwaters. It is a
beautiful

beautiful place to appreciate sea
birds

birds and their importance to the
reef

reef simply cannot be overestimated
so

so joining me is a doctor from the
University

University of Tasmania to tell me
more.

more. You are a sea bird expert.
Tell

Tell me about how important sea
birds

birds are to reef ecosystems.
Critical.

Critical. As the birds are foraging
out

out on the open ocean over may be
hundreds

hundreds of kilometres fish and
squid,

squid, they bring that nutrition
from

from the fish and squid back to
these

these islands like Heron and they
deposited

deposited and it is built up in the
nests

nests and we are trying to avoid it.
Live

Live on TV. Just on Heron 45 tonnes
every

every year. Just from the black
noddies.

noddies. That is a lot of bird
excrement.

excrement. And it is beneficial
nutrients

nutrients like nitrogen and
phosphorus.

phosphorus. It is not just the
island,

island, it is the reef out there.
Those

Those nutrients flow from the island
out

out onto the reef and this is where
things

things start to get really exciting.
New

New research is showing those
nutrients

nutrients are fundamental to fish
growth

growth so they're more nutrients you
have

have the bigger the fish and the
faster

faster they grow and the more of
them.

them. You have more corals growing
faster

faster and probably most important
those

those corals have more resilience.
So

So if we have a climate event may be
the

the nutrients could actually help
the

the corals resist that climate
change.

change. Birds are helping corals to
manage

manage rising sea temperatures. That
is

is how interconnected everything
here

here is. It is one of your areas of
expertise

expertise and research that there is
a

a lot of plastic in our oceans and
birds

birds are picking up plastic when
they

they are trying to feed. What does
this

this mean for populations? They are
not

not just bringing back fish and
squid

squid and the good stuff, they are
also

also bringing back the bad stuff. In
the

the Great Barrier Reef shearwaters
contain

contain on average 25% of them
contain

contain plastic so this is a perfect
example.

example. This is plastic from a
wedge

wedge tailed shearwater's stomach.
We

We do not want this in the birds.
They

They deposited onto the islands. So
they

they are also leaving plastic on the
islands.

islands. Absolutely. The birds are
not

not just the link between sea and
land

land for good stuff, it is also for
bad

bad stuff. What does this mean for
sea

sea birds especially considering how
many

many different ecosystems they
visit?

visit? Around the world sea birds
are

are declining faster than any other
bird

bird group. This is very worrying
for

for the health of the oceans and for
our

our islands. With their decline,
less

less nutrients but some bright spots
with

with shearwaters doing great. There
is

is light in the story but we can all
play

play a part particularly with
plastic.

plastic. Each individual can show
the

the planet that we care by changing
our

our plastics habits. I cannot wait
to

to show you on Sunday the
extraordinary

extraordinary work that scientists
are

are carrying out here. Some mind
blowing

blowing stuff to show you when it
comes

comes to giving the reefs a
lifeline.

lifeline. It is time to go back to
Chris.

Chris.
Sadly

Sadly we are running out of time on
the

the aerial survey over the Sea of
Cortez

Cortez but I think it has been
successful.

successful. We did not find a blue
whale

whale but we saw a grey whale which
is

is an unusual sighting. Of course we
had

had the whale shark which is
fantastic

fantastic and we are following this
giant

giant man

giant man Manta ray. Many of the
species

species have been fish feeders. We
saw

saw those feeding frenzy is with the
whales

whales and the dolphins.

whales and the dolphins. We have
seen

seen sardine fishermen out plying
their

their trade. Globally each year
somewhere

somewhere between one and three
Chilean

Chilean fish are caught by our
fishermen.

fishermen. 10% of them are thrown
back

back in. Here in the Sea of Cortez
85%

85% of the fish stocks are being
overexploited

overexploited and when it comes to
things

things like sardines 80% of them are
being

being used to produce fish pellets
and

and those fish pellets are fed to
animals

animals or they go for pet food.
There

There are solutions and there has
been

been a solution affected here. There
is

is a place on the south of this
peninsula,

peninsula, quite a small area, 95
square

square kilometres, and in the ten
years

years following it being protected,
the

the fish biomass quadrupled and you
can

can see there are huge numbers of
fish

fish that have come back here. It is
a

a place for the apex predators to
return

return as well. It has paid
dividends

dividends for fishermen because they
are

are making far more money out of
ecotourism

ecotourism by leading divers to the
site

site than they were making when they
were

were fishing it in the first place.
Plenty

Plenty of marine protected areas
around

around the world. The largest is in
Antarctica.

Antarctica. There is a giant one
around

around Hawaii. Just last week the
British

British government declared a Marine
Protected

Protected Area around the middle of
the

the Atlantic with no less than
90,000

90,000 square miles. Top work. These
marine

marine protected areas are a good
idea

idea but we need no take zones in
them,

them, no doubt about it. That is
about

about all we have got time for. I
will

will be back tomorrow with another
great

great success story. I am going to
give

give you a clue. Which song was
featured

featured on the single largest
pressing

pressing of an LP record in the
history

history of the music business? You
will

will find out tomorrow. Until then,
over

over to Steve.

over to Steve.
I

I could not agree more. Coming up
another

another final show... We are on the
search

search for humpback whales. The
Great

Great Barrier Reef as you have never
seen

seen it before. And I will be diving
with

with these guys live. There is
nothing

nothing else quite like the
hammerhead

hammerhead shark.

That is one of the great wildlife

encounters on planet Earth.

encounters on planet Earth. Yes, our
final

final show on Sunday at 8pm on BBC
One.

One. Please tune in. Our planet,
worth

worth fighting for, wild and
wondrous.

wondrous. The Open University has
produced

produced a free booklet exploring
the

the human impact on our oceans
including

including a tater guide to the
different

different types of plastic that
could

could be recycled. To order, please
call

call or go to the website.

Follow the links to the Open University.