Original subtitles

.

ANNOUNCER: WHEN YOU SEE THIS SYMBOL YOU KNOW YOU'RE

WATCHING TELEVISION THAT'S EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL.THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: I'M DYLAN DREYER, TODAY WE'RE EXPLORING ONE

OF THE LARGEST FRESHWATER SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD;

THE GREAT LAKES OF NORTH AMERICA.

FROM THE ICY SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR TO THE

MIGHTY NIAGARA FALLS, WE'RE ON AN ADVENTURE

THROUGH AN ECOSYSTEM MILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE

MAKING.

WE'LL MEET THE INCREDIBLE WILD SPECIES THAT LIVE

HERE AND LEARN HOW MORE THAN 40 MILLION PEOPLE

RELY ON THE GREAT LAKES FOR WATER.

AND WE'LL UNCOVER THE RACE TO SAVE ONE OF THE GREAT

LAKES MOST IMPORTANT SPECIES,

AN ANIMAL THAT HAS SURVIVED SINCE THE TIME OF

THE DINOSAURS.

♪ MUSIC ♪ - [INTRO]

DYLAN: THE GREAT LAKES CONTAIN NEARLY 20% OF ALL

THE FRESH WATER ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

THEY WERE FORMED 14,000 YEARS AGO AT THE END OF

THE LAST GREAT ICE AGE.

AS MASSIVE GLACIERS RECEDED,

THE MELTING WATER LEFT BEHIND FILLED HUGE CANYONS

AND CREATED VAST FRESHWATER SEAS THE LIKES

OF NOTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD.

BUT THESE LAKES ARE MORE FRAGILE THAN THEY APPEAR

AND FOR ONE IMPORTANT SPECIES TIME IS RUNNING

OUT.

IN THE TRAILER BEHIND THIS TRUCK IS AN IDEA THAT MAY

WELL SAVE ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CREATURES ON

THE PLANET.

IF IT FAILS, A FISH THAT HAS LIVED ON EARTH FOR

MORE THAN 150 MILLION YEARS MAY SOON BECOME

EXTINCT.

BIOLOGIST, RON BRUCH HAS DEDICATED HIS ENTIRE

CAREER TO SAVING THE LAKE STURGEON.

RON: STURGEON ARE EXTRAORDINARY ANIMALS,

PREHISTORIC ACTUALLY.

THEY WERE HERE WHEN DINOSAURS WALKED THE

EARTH.

99% OF THEM ARE GONE, WIPED OUT IN THE LAST

HUNDRED YEARS OR SO.

THEY WON'T COME TO THIS PART OF THE LAKE UNTIL THE

WATER HITS 12 DEGREES CELSIUS.

WE HAVE A VERY GOOD IDEA HOW TO SAVE THEM BUT WE

NEED THEIR EGGS, WE NEED THEM TO COME UP THIS RIVER

TO SPAWN AT LEAST ONE MORE TIME.

DYLAN: THE GREAT LAKES ARE SIMPLY MASSIVE;

A DROP OF WATER AT THE HEADWATERS OF LAKE

SUPERIOR TAKES NEARLY 400 YEARS TO REACH THE

ATLANTIC OCEAN, AT THE MOUTH OF THE SAINT

LAWRENCE RIVER ALMOST

2,000 MILES AWAY.

WE ARE ONLY NOW JUST BEGINNING TO COMPREHEND

THE EXTRAORDINARY COMPLEXITY OF THE GREAT

LAKES, INCLUDING ONE OF THE PLANET'S GREATEST

WONDERS, NIAGARA FALLS.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: AS THE GLACIERS OF NORTH AMERICA RECEDED THEY

FILLED THE HUGE DEPRESSIONS LEFT BEHIND

WITH VAST FRESHWATER SEAS, THE LIKES OF NOTHING ELSE

ON EARTH.

WHEN THE GLACIERS RELEASED THE LAKES FROM THEIR ICY

GRIP, AN ENTIRELY NEW LANDSCAPE EMERGED.

AN EXTRAORDINARY DIVERSITY OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS

FLOODED IN TO RECLAIM TERRITORY ONCE BURIED

UNDER MILES OF ICE AND SNOW.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: THE DOMINANT CREATURE OF THE LAKES WAS

AN ENORMOUS FISH.

CLOSELY RELATED TO SHARKS THEY CAN REACH 7 FEET IN

LENGTH AND WEIGH 300 POUNDS.

STURGEON WOULD REIGN SUPREME THROUGHOUT THIS

VAST WATERSHED FOR MORE THAN

10,000 YEARS.

THE LAKES WERE FILLED WITH MILLIONS OF THESE GENTLE

GIANTS.

HOWEVER, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19TH CENTURY THE

STURGEON'S PARADISE CAME TO AN ABRUPT END.

TO THE NEWLY-ARRIVED EUROPEANS,

THE STURGEON WAS NOTHING BUT AN UGLY NUISANCE.

THEIR FLESH WAS TOO OILY TO HAVE MUCH COMMERCIAL

VALUE, SO THEIR CARCASSES WERE DRIED AND BURNED AS

FUEL.

IN THE LATE 1800'S STURGEON EGGS WERE RENAMED

CAVIAR AND CASUAL SLAUGHTER BECAME A KILLING

FRENZY.

A FISH THAT HAD ONCE DOMINATED THE GREAT LAKES

DECLINED BY 99%; EXTINCT IN MOST OF IT'S ANCIENT

SPAWNING GROUNDS.

RON: AS A BIOLOGIST YOU TRY NOT TO GET TOO

ATTACHED BUT I'VE BEEN WATCHING A PARTICULAR FISH

FOR OVER 20 YEARS.

WE TAGGED HER WHEN SHE WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD.

IF SHE COMES BACK THIS YEAR SHE'LL BE PUSHING

120.

SHE WAS BORN RIGHT HERE; JUST ONE OF COUNTLESS NUMBER

OF EGGS LAID ALL AROUND THE LAKES.

MOST OF THOSE EGGS DIDN'T LAST MORE THAN A FEW DAYS.

PERHAPS A FEW MILLION OR SO WOULD'VE MADE IT PAST

THE FIRST SUMMER, BUT ONLY 1 IN A BILLION WOULD'VE

SURVIVED TO BE AS OLD AS SHE IS NOW.

DYLAN: THE CROSS-SECTION OF A STURGEON'S FIN

PROVIDES SCIENTIST WITH A LIVING RECORD OF AN

INDIVIDUAL FISH'S HISTORY, BUT ALSO A DISTURBING

PORTRAIT OF THE GREAT LAKES OVER THE PAST

CENTURY AND A HALF.

RON: THIS IS A FIN SAMPLE FROM FISH 571,

MY SPECIAL FEMALE STURGEON.

LIKE DATING A TREE, EVERY LINE REPRESENTS A YEAR IN

THE LIFE OF THE FISH.

DYLAN: IN THE LATE 1800'S WHEN INDUSTRIALIZATION

BEGAN, HEAVY METALS LIKE MERCURY AND LEAD STARTED

TO APPEAR.

FOR THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS HUMANS SYSTEMATICALLY

RAVAGED THE ENTIRE GREAT LAKES ECOSYSTEM,

FLUSHING RAW SEWAGE, DIOXINS,

ACID RAIN, PCB'S, AND FERTILIZERS INTO THE LAKES

IN EVER INCREASING VOLUMES.

BY THE LATE 1960'S LAKE ERIE,

THE SHALLOWEST OF THE LAKES,

WAS SEVERELY POISONED, IT'S SHORELINES FOULED

WITH THE CARCASSES OF MILLIONS OF OXYGEN STARVED

FISH.

RON: BY THE 1980'S THINGS HAD BEGUN TO IMPROVE,

ACTUALLY IT WAS QUITE DRAMATIC.

WHEN YOU CONSIDER HOW DAMAGED THESE LAKES WERE,

IT'S A MIRACLE THAT ANY STURGEON SURVIVED.

DYLAN: TODAY GROWING ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS

HAS PROMPTED GOVERNMENTS AND INDUSTRIES TO

IMPLEMENT TIGHTER CONTROLS ON AIR AND WATER

POLLUTION.

GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE THAT HAD GROWN UP WITH THEIR

BACKS TO THE LAKES ARE SWIMMING IN THEM ONCE

AGAIN.

BUT WHILE COMMUNITIES ALONG THE SHORELINES ARE

TRANSFORMED INTO RECREATIONAL PARKLANDS ONE

IMPORTANT SPECIES STILL HAS A LONG RECOVERY AHEAD.

COMING UP NEXT, WE'LL CLIMB TO THE TOPS OF THE

TALLEST TREES TO MEET A FAMILY OF BALD EAGLES.

AND LATER, WE'LL TEAM UP WITH CONSERVATIONISTS

FIGHTING TO SAVE THE LAKE STURGEON.

DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: WELCOME BACK TO JOURNEY,

I'M DYLAN DREYER.

JUST AS REMARKABLE PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE TO

IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE LAND,

AIR, AND WATER OF THE GREAT LAKES,

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CIVILIZATION AND THE

NATURAL WORLD HAS GROWN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX.

THE GREAT CHALLENGE OF OUR TIME IS LEARNING HOW TO

FIND A SUSTAINABLE BALANCE BETWEEN THE NEEDS OF HUMAN

SOCIETIES AND THE NATURAL RESOURCES WE DEPEND ON.

NORTH AMERICA'S GREAT LAKES ARE ON THE

FRONTLINES OF THAT STRUGGLE.

THE FLOW OF WATER FROM THE UPPER TO THE LOWER LAKES

PROVIDES ONE OF THE FEW SOURCES OF RENEWABLE CLEAN

POWER, FREE FROM THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF

GREENHOUSE GASSES.

ONTARIO POWER GENERATION'S HYDRO PLANT ON THE NIAGARA

RIVER CREATES ENOUGH ELECTRICITY FOR A MILLION

HOMES.

IN ANTICIPATION OF A GROWING DEMAND FOR POWER

O.P.G.

HAS UNDERTAKEN A NEW EXCAVATION PROJECT,

USING THE LARGEST DRILL BIT IN THE WORLD.

IT WILL BURROW ITS WAY FROM THE BACK POWERPLANT

TO THE TOP OF NIAGARA FALLS,

10 KILOMETERS AWAY.

THE NEW TUNNEL WILL CHANNEL ENOUGH ADDITIONAL

WATER TO POWER 160,000 MORE HOMES.

WATER HAS OTHER USES THAT SERVE TO DRAMATICALLY

REDUCE THE CONSUMPTION OF FOSSIL FUELS.

SHIPS ARE THE MOST ENERGY EFFICIENT MEANS OF

TRANSPORTATION, TWICE AS EFFICIENT AS RAIL AND

NEARLY 8 TIMES MORE EFFICIENT THAN ROAD.

A SINGLE FREIGHTER CAN ROUTINELY CARRY NEARLY 900

TRUCKLOADS OF CARGO AT A TIME.

EVERY YEAR MORE THAN 300 MILLION TONS OF RAW

MATERIALS AND MERCHANDISE MOVE IN AND OUT OF DOZENS

OF PORTS THROUGHOUT THE GREAT LAKES AND SAINT

LAWRENCE SEAWAY SYSTEM.

BUT WITH THESE SHIPS COME UNINVITED GUESTS.

SEA LAMPREY ENTERED THE UPPER GREAT LAKES NEARLY

80 YEARS AGO; JUST ONE OF MORE THAN 150 ALIEN

SPECIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD THAT HAVE

ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES IN THE LAKES.

SOME SPECIES, LIKE THE ZEBRA MUSSEL,

ACCIDENTALLY ENTERED IN THE BALLAST WATER FROM

OCEAN-GOING SHIPS.

ONCE THEY TAKE HOLD THEY ARE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO

REMOVE; FOREVER CHANGING THE ECOSYSTEM THEY'VE

INVADED.

TOM DOOLITTLE AND ED WIGGINS STUDY BALD EAGLES

ON THE BAD RIVER RESERVATION IN NORTHERN

WISCONSIN.

RECENTLY THE SUCCESS RATE AT SOME NESTS ON THE

RESERVATION HAS TAKEN AN UNEXPECTED TURN FOR THE

WORST.

USING REMOTE CAMERAS, THEY PLAN TO MONITOR THE NESTS

24 HOURS A DAY TO TRY AND SOLVE THE MYSTERY.

THE CAMERA REVEALS THAT THE CHICKS HAVE LARGELY

BEEN EATING SEA LAMPREY.

AS PARASITES WHO FEED ON OTHER FISH,

LAMPREY ARE FILLED WITH TOXINS AND MERCURY BUILT

UP IN THEIR TISSUE.

SADLY, THE OJIBWE BIRD OF WISDOM AND FORESIGHT HAD

NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT ITS FOOD WAS POISONING ITS OWN

CHICKS.

THERE ARE SOME WHO BELIEVE THERE ARE SPIRITS WATCHING

OVER THESE LAKES.

ON THE NORTH SHORE OF SUPERIOR THERE IS A SACRED

PLACE VISITED BY OJIBWE SHAMAN FROM THE ANCIENT

PAST.

THEY PAINTED MYTHOLOGICAL ANIMALS.

MISHIPESHU, A HORNED CREATURE THAT HAD TO BE

APPEASED FOR SAFE PASSAGE ACROSS THE DANGEROUS

WATERS OF THE LAKE.

RON: SINCE I WAS A YOUNG MAN I'VE BEEN FASCINATED

BY THE PAINTINGS OF THIS BAY.

TO ME IT'S CLEAR THE ARTISTS WERE CELEBRATING

THE CREATURES THEY DEPENDED ON FOR SURVIVAL.

THE WOODLAND CARIBOU USED TO NUMBER IN THE THOUSANDS

HERE, THE BALD EAGLE WAS CONSIDERED A BIRD OF

FORESIGHT AND WISDOM, BUT WHAT I LOVED THE MOST WAS

THE PAINTING OF THE STURGEON,

A FISH THAT WAS HIGHLY REVERED.

DYLAN: DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE BACK RIGHT

AFTER THIS.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

[Music]

DYLAN: A REGIONAL POPULATION OF 40 MILLION

PEOPLE PUTS EXTRAORDINARY DEMANDS ON THE GREAT LAKES

WATERSHED, YET THIS POPULATION IS PREDICTED TO

DOUBLE BY THE END OF THIS CENTURY.

ALREADY 1 IN 3 CANADIANS AND 1 IN 7 AMERICANS RELY

ON THE GREAT LAKES FOR THEIR DRINKING WATER AND

THE THIRST WILL ONLY INCREASE.

ONE OF THE MOST PROGRESSIVE CITIES IS

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA WHICH HAS SET A STANDARD FOR

LEADERSHIP BY CLEANING UP ITS HARBOR AND CONTROLLING

THE FLOW OF HUMAN AND INDUSTRIAL WASTES.

THERE ARE OTHER SIGNS OF PROGRESS.

ON THE CANADIAN SIDE OF SUPERIOR,

THE NATIONAL MARINE CONSERVATION AREA NOW

PROTECTS MORE THAN 10,000 SQUARE KILOMETERS OF THE

LAKE.

OFFSHORE OF THE SLATE ISLANDS YOU CAN STILL

GLIMPSE AN EXTRAORDINARY EDEN.

IN 1911 A SMALL GROUP OF WOODLAND CARIBOU CROSSED

FROM THE MAINLAND.

THE SPRUCE FORESTS HERE ARE COATED IN THE LICHEN,

WHICH THE CARIBOU NEED TO SURVIVE.

THE ISLANDS BECAME A REFUGE FROM THE EXCESSES

OF HUMANKIND AS WELL AS NATURAL PREDATORS LIKE

WOLVES AND BEARS.

THE SLATES NOW HAVE THE HIGHEST DENSITY OF ANY

CARIBOU POPULATION IN THE REGION.

THESE SPLENDID SOULS FROM A LOST WILDERNESS

HAVE PROSPERED BY SIMPLY BEING LEFT ALONE.

HOWEVER, LEAVING NATURE ALONE TO REPAIR ITSELF IS

RARELY ENOUGH.

RON: AFTER DECADES OF MIXED RESULT,

TIME MAY BE RUNNING OUT FOR THE STURGEON.

TO SAVE THEM, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE MUCH MORE

AGGRESSIVE ACTION.

WE'RE BUILDING NEW SPAWNING BEDS TO PROVIDE

PROTECTION FOR THE YOUNG FISH ONCE THEY HATCH.

WE'VE DONE PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING WE CAN,

NOW WHAT WE NEED IS FOR THE FISH TO ARRIVE.

HOPEFULLY MY FEMALE WILL BE AMONG THEM.

THERE'S THIS HUGE EXCITEMENT AND THE SUPPORT

FROM THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS JUST INCREDIBLE.

IT USED TO BE ONLY A FEW PEOPLE WOULD COME OUT,

NOW THERE ARE THOUSANDS ALL CHEERING FOR THE FISH.

[CROWD CHEERING]

DYLAN: THE MIRACLE OF NATURE THAT OCCURS ON THE

WOLF RIVER IN WISCONSIN IS THE LARGEST STURGEON

SPAWNING RUN LEFT IN NORTH AMERICA.

RON AND HIS CREW WORK QUICKLY TO MINIMIZE STRESS

ON THE FISH.

THE DATA WILL HELP DETERMINE THE FISH'S

OVERALL CONDITION, HOW MANY EGGS THEY CARRY,

AND HOW OFTEN THEY'RE RETURNING TO SPAWN.

FISH CAUGHT IN PREVIOUS YEARS CARRY A TINY I.D.

CHIP THAT CAN BE DETECTED BY A BARCODE READER.

RON: THE WHOLE TIME I'VE GOT MY EYE PEELED FOR MY

FISH.

IN THE BACK OF MY MIND I'M THINKING: "WHERE IS SHE?",

AND THEN I SPOTTED HER.

UNMISTAKABLE, I RECOGNIZE THE MARKINGS ON HER HEAD.

DYLAN: RON AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAVE AN

ELABORATE STRATEGY THAT THEY HOPE WILL REINTRODUCE

STURGEON TO OTHER RIVERS ALL AROUND THE GREAT

LAKES.

RON: THESE FISH WILL SPAWN UP TO 30 OR MORE TIMES

OVER THEIR LIFETIME, SO WE'RE CAREFUL HOW WE

HANDLE THEM.

WE DON'T TAKE ALL THE EGGS,

WE LEAVE ENOUGH FOR HER TO FINISH HER NATURAL SPAWN

IN THE RIVER.

I'VE GONE THROUGH THIS RITUAL 8 TIMES WITH THIS

FISH, AND EACH TIME I WONDER IF IT'LL BE THE

LAST.

SHE'S A SURVIVOR AND MAYBE 50 YEARS FROM NOW SHE'LL

COME UP THIS RIVER LOOKING FOR ME AND I'LL BE COMING.

DYLAN: DON'T GO AWAY, JOURNEY WILL BE BACK RIGHT

AFTER THIS.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

♪ MUSIC ♪

DYLAN: AS THE STURGEON RETURN,

THE WORK OF RON AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAS ONLY JUST

BEGUN.

NOW THEY CAREFULLY BEGIN THE PROCESS OF RAISING

HUNDREDS OF BABY STURGEON TO BE RELEASED BACK INTO

THE GREAT LAKES AND BACK INTO THE FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM

THAT NEEDS THEM.

RON: WE HAVE 8 TRAILERS IN PLACE NOW ON 8 DIFFERENT

RIVERS, EACH READY FOR THE FERTILIZED EGG FROM WOLF

RIVER.

A STURGEON WANTS TO SPAWN IN THE RIVER WHERE IT WAS

BORN.

WE PUMP THE RIVER'S WATER THROUGH THE TANKS SO THE

YOUNG FISH ARE IMMERSED THEN FROM THE MOMENT THEY

HATCH.

EACH STREAM HAS A UNIQUE CHEMICAL PROFILE THAT IS

FANTASTICALLY SUBTLE.

THESE LITTLE FISH HAVE TO IMPRINT ON THAT CHEMISTRY

SO THEY CAN FIND THEIR WAY BACK TO THIS RIVER WHEN

THEY'RE READY TO SPAWN.

DYLAN: BY THE TIME FALL ARRIVES THE YOUNG STURGEON

WILL HAVE SPENT 6 MONTHS IN THE TRAILER AND THEY'RE

READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP ON THEIR OWN.

RON: IT'S NOT JUST THE FISH THAT ARE IMPRINTED,

THESE CHILDREN ARE THE STURGEON'S GUARDIANS OF

THE FUTURE.

20 YEARS FROM NOW WHEN THESE FISH COME BACK HERE

TO SPAWN, I HOPE THESE KIDS WILL BE WAITING FOR

THEM, WITH KIDS OF THEIR OWN.

THE WAY I SEE IT, IF WE CAN SOMEHOW ALL WORK

TOGETHER TO SAVE THIS MAGNIFICENT FISH THAT HAS

SURVIVED FOR 150 MILLION YEARS,

THEN MAYBE WE CAN SAVE THE GREAT LAKES AS WELL.

DYLAN: RON AND HIS COLLEAGUES WILL CONTINUE

REINTRODUCING STURGEON EACH YEAR.

HOPEFULLY THEY WILL RESTORE THESE REVERED FISH

TO THEIR RIGHTFUL PLACE AMONG THE LIVING TREASURES

OF THE GREAT LAKES.

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ON OUR JOURNEY TO THE

FRESH WATER SEAS OF NORTH AMERICA,

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, SAFE TRAVELS.

♪ MUSIC ♪ - [CREDITS]