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The world's greatest wilderness,
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the open ocean.
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00:00:38,999 --> 00:00:42,461
It covers over half
the surface of our planet.
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00:00:48,467 --> 00:00:50,552
Here, there is nowhere to hide
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00:00:51,637 --> 00:00:53,180
and little to eat.
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00:00:57,643 --> 00:01:01,146
It's the marine
equivalent of a desert.
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00:01:13,408 --> 00:01:17,246
And patrolling this desert,
spinner dolphins.
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They stick together.
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In a super pod, 5,000-strong.
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That maximises their chances
of finding something to eat.
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00:02:01,206 --> 00:02:02,874
Like all who live here,
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they must go to extraordinary lengths
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00:02:05,711 --> 00:02:09,047
to make their home in the big blue.
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00:02:32,571 --> 00:02:33,905
There are rare moments
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00:02:33,989 --> 00:02:37,492
when these empty seas
can explode with life.
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00:02:45,584 --> 00:02:49,338
Lanternfish off the Pacific Coast
of Costa Rica.
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00:02:50,255 --> 00:02:52,716
They're scarcely bigger than minnows.
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00:02:52,799 --> 00:02:54,593
But what they lack in size,
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00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,095
they make up for in numbers.
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00:03:00,682 --> 00:03:03,977
They are one of the most
numerous fish anywhere.
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00:03:10,817 --> 00:03:13,695
Normally they only come
to the surface at night
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to feed on plankton.
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But this immense shoal
has risen during the day,
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almost certainly in order to spawn.
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For the dolphins,
this would be a bonanza.
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00:03:45,894 --> 00:03:50,482
They have located the shoal
using their echo-sounding calls.
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00:04:01,827 --> 00:04:04,079
But they
have to get to it quickly.
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00:04:09,251 --> 00:04:11,503
They are not the only hunters here.
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00:04:12,045 --> 00:04:15,507
Yellowfin tuna have also
detected the shoal.
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00:04:24,933 --> 00:04:28,270
And behind them,
with their two-metre wingspans,
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00:04:28,353 --> 00:04:30,188
Mobula rays.
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00:04:39,865 --> 00:04:41,533
Now sailfish,
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00:04:41,616 --> 00:04:45,412
one of the fastest fish in the sea,
have joined the chase.
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00:04:52,919 --> 00:04:56,465
The lanternfish may return
to the deep at any moment.
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00:05:03,388 --> 00:05:06,308
But now, the dolphins have got here.
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00:05:35,420 --> 00:05:39,090
They swim beneath the shoal,
pinning it to the surface
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00:05:39,257 --> 00:05:42,761
and forcing the lanternfish
to pack more closely together.
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00:05:50,101 --> 00:05:53,355
And now the sea begins to boil.
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00:06:02,864 --> 00:06:07,035
The tuna charge into
the shoal at over 40 miles an hour.
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00:06:38,191 --> 00:06:42,487
The slower swimming rays arrive at last.
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00:06:48,827 --> 00:06:50,829
With their immense mouths agape,
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00:06:50,912 --> 00:06:54,374
they scoop up the lanternfish
by the hundred.
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00:06:58,044 --> 00:07:01,590
The shoal has now
been largely dispersed,
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00:07:01,673 --> 00:07:04,509
and the sailfish pick off the survivors.
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00:07:07,345 --> 00:07:09,389
In just 15 minutes,
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00:07:10,849 --> 00:07:15,270
all that's left
is a silvery confetti of scales.
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00:07:26,281 --> 00:07:31,202
But here, such feasts
are only too infrequent.
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00:07:40,295 --> 00:07:43,965
Whilst the dolphins perform
great feats of endurance,
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00:07:44,090 --> 00:07:47,093
others are driven
to even greater extremes
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00:07:47,552 --> 00:07:50,764
to find food in this ocean desert.
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00:08:09,407 --> 00:08:11,576
A sleeping giant.
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00:08:16,414 --> 00:08:17,832
A sperm whale.
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00:08:25,590 --> 00:08:29,594
This family is resting
between bouts of feeding.
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00:08:36,810 --> 00:08:38,770
Who knows what the owners
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of the biggest brain
in the planet dream about.
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00:08:50,115 --> 00:08:51,950
One has a calf.
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00:08:53,451 --> 00:08:57,831
It's about two weeks old, but still
dependent on its mother's milk.
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00:08:58,790 --> 00:09:00,542
It's hungry.
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00:09:03,795 --> 00:09:07,841
It communicates with
its mother using a pattern of clicks.
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00:09:14,639 --> 00:09:17,142
But its mother slumbers on.
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00:09:23,356 --> 00:09:26,276
The calf,
covered in suckerfish,
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of which it can't yet rid itself,
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00:09:28,486 --> 00:09:30,029
has to be patient.
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Sleep over, and refreshed,
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00:10:01,186 --> 00:10:02,854
the whales move on.
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00:10:05,607 --> 00:10:09,277
Sperm whales don't wait for their prey
to rise to the surface.
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00:10:10,111 --> 00:10:13,531
They swim down
into the depths to find it.
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00:10:19,204 --> 00:10:21,539
They take a series of heavy breaths...
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00:10:25,418 --> 00:10:27,796
...to saturate their blood with oxygen.
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00:10:29,923 --> 00:10:33,051
Then, down they go.
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00:10:41,309 --> 00:10:45,396
This entire family
dives together in search of squid.
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00:10:53,905 --> 00:10:57,575
The mother will push her body
to the limits of her endurance,
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00:10:57,742 --> 00:11:00,954
and already it's hard for her calf
to keep up with her.
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00:11:12,590 --> 00:11:15,969
The calf sticks to its mother
as closely as it can
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00:11:18,304 --> 00:11:19,931
touching her frequently
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00:11:22,475 --> 00:11:24,435
as if for reassurance.
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00:11:38,366 --> 00:11:40,451
But 500 metres down,
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00:11:41,286 --> 00:11:44,455
it seems the calf
can't hold its breath any longer.
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00:12:10,231 --> 00:12:14,736
In their early years,
calves are forced to sit out the hunt.
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00:12:20,199 --> 00:12:22,660
The adults continue their dive.
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00:12:36,341 --> 00:12:38,676
The mother changes her calls
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into a series of louder
and more rapid clicks.
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00:12:48,895 --> 00:12:53,191
She's now using sonar
to hunt down shoals of squid.
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00:13:02,283 --> 00:13:05,495
At 800 metres, a burst of clicks.
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00:13:14,545 --> 00:13:16,714
Then, silence.
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00:13:19,258 --> 00:13:20,760
She's made a catch.
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00:13:27,475 --> 00:13:30,436
The hunters could be away
for as much as an hour.
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00:13:46,411 --> 00:13:49,288
Finally, the mother
returns from the deep
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00:13:49,414 --> 00:13:51,249
with a stomach full of squid.
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00:14:11,269 --> 00:14:12,812
After a long wait,
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00:14:13,646 --> 00:14:16,774
this hungry calf can take some milk.
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00:14:22,947 --> 00:14:26,117
It's one of the richest
produced by any mammal.
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00:14:27,618 --> 00:14:31,289
And the calf guzzles
a bathful of it a day.
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00:14:48,139 --> 00:14:53,352
It may be six years before a calf
masters the art of deep diving
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00:14:54,479 --> 00:14:57,690
and is able to find food for itself.
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00:15:14,832 --> 00:15:20,004
The emptiness of the big blue
is what makes life so hard for hunters.
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00:15:26,594 --> 00:15:28,554
But it's this emptiness
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00:15:28,679 --> 00:15:32,183
that makes it
comparatively safe for prey.
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00:15:41,359 --> 00:15:45,029
A baby turtle, hatched just days ago,
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00:15:45,196 --> 00:15:48,866
is leaving the crowded,
dangerous waters of the coast,
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00:15:48,950 --> 00:15:51,702
and heading for the open ocean.
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00:15:58,751 --> 00:16:01,921
Only recently have we
begun to solve the mystery
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00:16:02,046 --> 00:16:06,551
of where baby turtles disappear to
in their early years.
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00:16:15,393 --> 00:16:18,896
To start with, they fill
their little stomachs with plankton.
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00:16:19,230 --> 00:16:22,233
But soon, they need
something more substantial.
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00:16:43,921 --> 00:16:47,175
Hundreds of miles offshore,
in every ocean,
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00:16:47,258 --> 00:16:50,261
there are communities
of young castaways.
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00:16:59,604 --> 00:17:03,107
So, anything
that floats attracts them.
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00:17:11,032 --> 00:17:12,283
A Ivy-
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00:17:12,658 --> 00:17:15,494
It may have been
at sea for several years,
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00:17:15,620 --> 00:17:19,123
and it has already become
the centre of a small community.
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00:17:21,334 --> 00:17:23,794
Young pufferfish are here
for the same reason.
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A floating log
is just the kind of refuge
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00:17:33,471 --> 00:17:35,640
this young turtle has been looking for.
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00:17:37,141 --> 00:17:40,436
Here, there's not only seaweed
on which to graze,
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00:17:40,519 --> 00:17:42,063
but barnacles.
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00:17:55,660 --> 00:17:58,496
But it's important to stay undercover.
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00:18:05,002 --> 00:18:08,839
A young ocean-going
silky shark is here too.
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00:18:28,234 --> 00:18:30,778
It's learning what tastes good,
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00:18:34,907 --> 00:18:36,200
and what doesn't.
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00:18:56,762 --> 00:18:59,181
We now know
that many young turtles
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00:18:59,265 --> 00:19:02,059
stay in such places for several years
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00:19:03,060 --> 00:19:04,478
until adulthood.
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00:19:17,908 --> 00:19:22,621
Even if it means facing
the full force of the high seas.
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00:19:30,671 --> 00:19:33,841
The sun, beating down
on the deep blue,
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00:19:34,258 --> 00:19:37,678
warms the surface waters
so that they evaporate.
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00:19:45,436 --> 00:19:49,023
As the vapour rises,
it condenses into clouds.
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00:19:51,442 --> 00:19:55,446
They rapidly build into
gigantic burgeoning towers,
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00:19:56,155 --> 00:19:59,367
which eventually
generate violent storms,
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00:19:59,450 --> 00:20:02,119
some a thousand miles across.
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00:20:18,636 --> 00:20:22,306
Hurricane force winds
sweep across the open ocean,
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00:20:22,973 --> 00:20:26,852
building waves
that could rise to 30 metres tall.
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00:20:41,242 --> 00:20:44,829
Out here, ships have been
known to sink without trace.
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00:20:59,510 --> 00:21:02,555
One hundred
and thirty million containers
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00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,599
are shipped across
the oceans every year.
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00:21:07,685 --> 00:21:12,356
And on average, four of them
fall into the sea every day.
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00:21:27,538 --> 00:21:29,498
In 1992,
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00:21:29,582 --> 00:21:34,044
a few were lost that contained
a consignment of bath toys,
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00:21:39,884 --> 00:21:44,722
including 7,000
plastic ducks like these.
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00:21:56,609 --> 00:22:00,905
They started their travels
a thousand miles off Alaska.
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00:22:04,450 --> 00:22:07,495
Some drifted
right across the Pacific Ocean,
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00:22:07,578 --> 00:22:09,663
and reached Australia.
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00:22:16,420 --> 00:22:18,297
Others were carried north,
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00:22:18,422 --> 00:22:22,092
and landed on shores
between Russia and Alaska.
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00:22:24,303 --> 00:22:27,431
They even found their way
into the high Arctic.
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00:22:42,154 --> 00:22:46,158
One duck,
having been at sea for 15 years,
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00:22:46,283 --> 00:22:48,327
and crossing three oceans,
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00:22:48,452 --> 00:22:52,164
eventually landed
on the west coast of Scotland.
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00:22:59,964 --> 00:23:02,591
Their travels vividly illustrate
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00:23:02,675 --> 00:23:06,262
how a network of currents
connects all our oceans
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00:23:06,345 --> 00:23:09,974
into one gigantic circulatory system.
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00:23:25,364 --> 00:23:28,033
Many of the inhabitants of the big blue
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00:23:28,158 --> 00:23:32,413
rely on these currents
to carry them to feeding grounds.
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00:23:48,053 --> 00:23:49,763
The blue shark.
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00:23:55,185 --> 00:23:58,480
It travels over 5,000 miles a year,
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00:23:58,564 --> 00:24:00,190
riding on the currents,
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00:24:00,274 --> 00:24:03,527
supported by its broad wing-shaped fins.
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00:24:09,366 --> 00:24:12,703
This one may not
have eaten for two months.
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00:24:19,752 --> 00:24:23,380
But the currents can carry
promising traces of fatty oils
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00:24:23,464 --> 00:24:25,341
from many miles away
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00:24:25,424 --> 00:24:27,801
and will lead it to its next meal.
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00:24:35,809 --> 00:24:39,605
After days of travel,
the smell of food gets stronger.
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A dead whale,
recently struck by a ship.
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00:25:10,427 --> 00:25:13,305
This could be a real feast,
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00:25:13,430 --> 00:25:15,599
but the blue shark must be cautious.
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00:25:26,193 --> 00:25:28,112
Great white sharks,
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ten times heavier than the blue,
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00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:39,790
are highly possessive
around a whale carcass.
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00:26:07,484 --> 00:26:11,530
Great whites are eager
to feed on energy-rich whale blubber,
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00:26:12,072 --> 00:26:15,242
which we now know
forms a major part of their diet.
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00:26:28,172 --> 00:26:30,382
Once the great white has had its fill,
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00:26:30,507 --> 00:26:33,010
smaller sharks, like the blue shark,
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00:26:33,343 --> 00:26:35,846
tackle what's left of the carcass.
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00:26:46,023 --> 00:26:49,485
As the oils from this dead whale
spread more widely,
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00:26:49,568 --> 00:26:52,279
more and more blue sharks appear.
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00:27:14,593 --> 00:27:18,472
Within days, the carcass
will be stripped of its blubber.
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00:27:27,648 --> 00:27:30,901
Then, no longer kept buoyant by its oil,
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00:27:31,318 --> 00:27:35,155
it will sink into the depths below.
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00:27:38,408 --> 00:27:41,912
The blue, with its reserves
of fat replenished,
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00:27:41,995 --> 00:27:45,833
can now survive
for another two months without eating.
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00:28:10,107 --> 00:28:14,152
Over half of all animals
in the open ocean
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00:28:14,278 --> 00:28:16,446
drift in currents.
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00:28:25,330 --> 00:28:28,417
jellyfish cross entire oceans
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00:28:28,500 --> 00:28:32,713
feeding on whatever happens
to tangle with their tentacles.
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00:28:37,301 --> 00:28:40,971
Some can grow to a metre,
even two metres across.
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00:28:43,015 --> 00:28:45,267
And when, by lucky chance,
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00:28:45,350 --> 00:28:49,271
they encounter
a patch of sea rich in plankton,
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00:28:49,354 --> 00:28:51,481
their numbers explode.
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00:29:36,276 --> 00:29:39,196
It's such a successful strategy,
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00:29:39,279 --> 00:29:43,742
that jellies are one of the most
common lifeforms on the planet.
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00:29:53,877 --> 00:29:55,671
But among the jellies,
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00:29:55,754 --> 00:29:57,714
and looking somewhat like them,
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00:29:58,131 --> 00:30:01,593
is a rather more complex
and sinister creature.
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00:30:06,890 --> 00:30:09,393
The Portuguese man 0' war.
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00:30:15,065 --> 00:30:18,151
It floats with the help
of a gas-filled bladder,
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00:30:19,111 --> 00:30:21,613
propped by a vertical membrane.
197
00:30:23,407 --> 00:30:25,534
With that serving as a sail,
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00:30:25,617 --> 00:30:28,745
it maintains a steady course
through the waves.
199
00:30:53,854 --> 00:30:56,565
Long threads trail behind it,
200
00:30:56,648 --> 00:30:59,359
some as much as 30 metres long.
201
00:31:03,947 --> 00:31:07,826
Each is armed with
many thousands of stinging cells.
202
00:31:09,786 --> 00:31:12,164
A single tentacle could kill a fish,
203
00:31:12,289 --> 00:31:14,791
or, in rare cases, a human.
204
00:31:20,213 --> 00:31:22,549
But among its lethal tentacles,
205
00:31:23,175 --> 00:31:25,135
lurks a man 0' war fish
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00:31:25,969 --> 00:31:28,555
that feeds by nibbling them.
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00:31:34,394 --> 00:31:38,315
Whilst this fish
has some resistance to the stings,
208
00:31:38,482 --> 00:31:40,984
it must still be extremely careful.
209
00:31:44,321 --> 00:31:47,365
Most other fish are not so lucky.
210
00:32:09,513 --> 00:32:12,599
A tentacle has caught
this one, and reels it in.
211
00:32:24,694 --> 00:32:26,863
It's already paralysed.
212
00:32:31,785 --> 00:32:34,454
Specialised muscular tentacles
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00:32:34,538 --> 00:32:38,041
transfer the victim to others
that digest the catch,
214
00:32:38,875 --> 00:32:41,545
liquefying it with powerful chemicals.
215
00:32:48,718 --> 00:32:51,054
Eventually all that is left
216
00:32:54,099 --> 00:32:56,059
is a scaly husk.
217
00:33:04,401 --> 00:33:06,403
This voracious man 0' war
218
00:33:06,486 --> 00:33:10,490
may collect over a hundred
small fish in a day.
219
00:33:34,764 --> 00:33:39,019
For the most part,
the big blue seems featureless.
220
00:33:41,688 --> 00:33:45,984
A place where the winds blow,
uninterrupted by land.
221
00:33:50,655 --> 00:33:52,574
But beneath the surface,
222
00:33:52,657 --> 00:33:56,286
there are long
mountain ranges, deep trenches,
223
00:33:56,828 --> 00:33:59,247
and isolated volcanic peaks
224
00:33:59,331 --> 00:34:02,709
that make it far more varied
than the human eye can see.
225
00:34:09,883 --> 00:34:13,220
We're only just discovering
in any detail
226
00:34:13,303 --> 00:34:16,973
how the inhabitants
of the big blue exploit that.
227
00:34:26,983 --> 00:34:29,569
A lonely whale shark
228
00:34:30,070 --> 00:34:31,821
on a special journey.
229
00:34:37,702 --> 00:34:40,872
She is as long as a small aircraft,
230
00:34:41,206 --> 00:34:44,167
and she weighs over 20 tonnes.
231
00:34:48,046 --> 00:34:51,341
Like many sharks, she does not lay eggs,
232
00:34:51,424 --> 00:34:53,426
but gives birth to live young.
233
00:35:09,901 --> 00:35:12,487
She carries up to 500 of them
234
00:35:12,570 --> 00:35:14,239
in her swollen belly.
235
00:35:21,288 --> 00:35:23,873
She may be the biggest fish in the sea,
236
00:35:24,207 --> 00:35:28,628
but the place where whale sharks
give birth has not yet been found.
237
00:35:35,468 --> 00:35:39,806
Today, however, we may be a step
closer to solving this mystery.
238
00:35:42,392 --> 00:35:45,186
We have known
that great numbers of whale sharks,
239
00:35:45,270 --> 00:35:47,105
at certain times of the year,
240
00:35:47,230 --> 00:35:50,400
appear around the Galapagos Islands.
241
00:35:51,985 --> 00:35:55,113
Here they assemble around a tiny islet
242
00:35:55,238 --> 00:35:58,950
that rises abruptly
from particularly deep water.
243
00:36:02,954 --> 00:36:05,749
It's known as Darwin Island.
244
00:36:14,758 --> 00:36:18,762
Here, swirling currents
bring out nutrients from the deep,
245
00:36:18,845 --> 00:36:20,805
so enriching these waters
246
00:36:20,930 --> 00:36:23,725
that they attract
great concentrations of fish
247
00:36:23,808 --> 00:36:25,810
from far and wide.
248
00:36:34,611 --> 00:36:38,615
Thousands of hammerhead sharks
also assemble here.
249
00:36:41,868 --> 00:36:44,287
They are nearly all female.
250
00:36:52,003 --> 00:36:55,382
They, too, it seems,
have come here to breed.
251
00:37:03,473 --> 00:37:07,477
The whale shark receives
an extraordinary welcome.
252
00:37:28,331 --> 00:37:32,001
Silky sharks,
themselves three metres long,
253
00:37:32,335 --> 00:37:34,421
bounce against her rough skin,
254
00:37:37,549 --> 00:37:41,052
perhaps to scrape off
any parasites they might have.
255
00:37:46,349 --> 00:37:50,186
These sharks could be a danger
to any newly-born young.
256
00:37:54,065 --> 00:37:56,359
So, perhaps to avoid them,
257
00:37:57,610 --> 00:37:59,612
the whale shark dives
258
00:38:02,949 --> 00:38:06,411
down to around 600 metres.
259
00:38:33,229 --> 00:38:36,733
And there, she may release her young.
260
00:38:39,235 --> 00:38:40,612
In these great depths,
261
00:38:40,737 --> 00:38:44,324
away from the predators
that hunt in the waters above,
262
00:38:44,407 --> 00:38:46,409
and with abundant food,
263
00:38:46,743 --> 00:38:50,497
her babies could grow
and eventually disperse.
264
00:39:01,341 --> 00:39:03,009
No one, it is true,
265
00:39:03,092 --> 00:39:07,096
has ever seen young ones
in these little-visited depths.
266
00:39:12,936 --> 00:39:16,356
But the fact that hundreds
of expectant whale sharks
267
00:39:16,439 --> 00:39:18,191
come here every year,
268
00:39:19,317 --> 00:39:22,654
is strong evidence that somewhere here
269
00:39:22,779 --> 00:39:27,450
lies the nursery
of the biggest fish in the sea.
270
00:39:54,686 --> 00:39:58,565
There are almost 50,000 sizeable islands
271
00:39:58,648 --> 00:40:00,984
scattered across the world's oceans.
272
00:40:04,654 --> 00:40:07,532
One of them is South Georgia.
273
00:40:11,703 --> 00:40:14,747
An ideal place for those ocean-dwellers
274
00:40:14,831 --> 00:40:18,501
who are compelled to land
in order to breed.
275
00:40:22,171 --> 00:40:24,257
The wandering albatross.
276
00:40:34,434 --> 00:40:38,396
It may spend as much
as a year continuously at sea,
277
00:40:42,191 --> 00:40:44,068
searching for food,
278
00:40:44,193 --> 00:40:48,072
gliding on wings that are
three and a half metres across.
279
00:40:48,865 --> 00:40:51,409
The biggest of any living bird.
280
00:41:05,214 --> 00:41:07,550
The entire world population
281
00:41:07,634 --> 00:41:12,055
of 76, 000 Wanderers
nest on South Georgia
282
00:41:12,472 --> 00:41:15,933
and half a dozen or so
of the other smaller islands
283
00:41:16,059 --> 00:41:18,061
that lie in the Southern Ocean.
284
00:41:23,232 --> 00:41:24,484
It's spring.
285
00:41:24,567 --> 00:41:28,738
And this bird is returning
to the nest site it has always used.
286
00:41:39,582 --> 00:41:42,418
Its lifelong partner is already here.
287
00:41:52,178 --> 00:41:53,471
In South Georgia,
288
00:41:53,596 --> 00:41:56,933
individual birds have been
studied for their entire lives
289
00:41:58,309 --> 00:42:01,521
revealing that older pairs
in their late thirties
290
00:42:01,604 --> 00:42:03,731
will go to extraordinary lengths
291
00:42:03,815 --> 00:42:07,193
to give their young
the best possible start in life.
292
00:42:28,047 --> 00:42:30,800
This chick is now several weeks old,
293
00:42:31,718 --> 00:42:34,345
but still has its warm, downy coat.
294
00:42:48,818 --> 00:42:53,656
The chick will need a regular
supply of regurgitated fish and squid.
295
00:43:16,763 --> 00:43:19,724
With food so scarce in the open ocean,
296
00:43:19,849 --> 00:43:24,145
both parents may have to scour
thousands of square miles
297
00:43:24,228 --> 00:43:27,064
just to provide enough for one meal.
298
00:43:51,380 --> 00:43:55,927
Ageing parents struggle on
all through the Antarctic winter,
299
00:43:56,052 --> 00:43:59,889
to raise a chick that is big,
strong and healthy.
300
00:44:19,992 --> 00:44:22,995
After some 130 days,
301
00:44:23,079 --> 00:44:27,291
the youngster begins to replace
its down with flight feathers.
302
00:44:45,643 --> 00:44:49,397
Finally, nine months
after their egg was laid,
303
00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:51,858
this chick is ready to leave.
304
00:45:16,007 --> 00:45:19,302
Of all the chicks
they've reared in recent years,
305
00:45:20,219 --> 00:45:24,223
such a favoured chick
will have the best chance of survival.
306
00:45:27,226 --> 00:45:29,854
But it will also be their last.
307
00:45:33,190 --> 00:45:37,194
Elderly parents never recover
from their exertions.
308
00:45:38,821 --> 00:45:40,823
They will soon leave this island,
309
00:45:41,324 --> 00:45:43,075
never to be seen again.
310
00:46:01,761 --> 00:46:04,138
Surviving in the open ocean
311
00:46:04,221 --> 00:46:06,557
has always tested animals to the limit.
312
00:46:08,851 --> 00:46:12,271
But today, they face a new,
additional threat.
313
00:46:19,028 --> 00:46:20,196
Plastic.
314
00:46:23,699 --> 00:46:25,701
just over a hundred years ago,
315
00:46:25,785 --> 00:46:28,537
we invented a wonderful new material
316
00:46:28,621 --> 00:46:31,874
that could be moulded
into all kinds of shapes.
317
00:46:31,958 --> 00:46:34,085
And we took great trouble to ensure
318
00:46:34,210 --> 00:46:37,380
that it was hard-wearing, waterproof,
319
00:46:37,463 --> 00:46:39,382
and virtually indestructible.
320
00:46:41,384 --> 00:46:43,302
Now, every year,
321
00:46:43,386 --> 00:46:47,723
we dump around eight million
tonnes of it into the sea.
322
00:46:50,643 --> 00:46:56,065
Here, it entangles and drowns
vast numbers of marine creatures.
323
00:47:02,655 --> 00:47:06,993
But it has even more widespread
and far-reaching consequences.
324
00:47:15,751 --> 00:47:19,255
A pod of short-finned pilot whales.
325
00:47:28,931 --> 00:47:31,142
They live together in,
what are perhaps,
326
00:47:31,267 --> 00:47:35,146
the most closely-knit of families
in the whole ocean.
327
00:47:42,945 --> 00:47:47,783
Today, in the Atlantic waters
off Europe, as elsewhere,
328
00:47:48,117 --> 00:47:51,120
they have to share
the ocean with plastic.
329
00:48:02,173 --> 00:48:05,968
A mother is holding
her new-born young.
330
00:48:09,847 --> 00:48:11,223
It's dead.
331
00:48:22,526 --> 00:48:25,654
She is reluctant to let it go
332
00:48:25,738 --> 00:48:28,824
and has been carrying
it around for many days.
333
00:48:51,180 --> 00:48:55,059
As plastic breaks down,
it combines with other pollutants
334
00:48:55,184 --> 00:48:59,188
that are consumed
by vast numbers of marine creatures.
335
00:49:10,282 --> 00:49:12,952
In top predators like these,
336
00:49:13,035 --> 00:49:16,539
the toxic chemicals
can build up to lethal levels.
337
00:49:27,383 --> 00:49:30,386
It's possible her calf
may have been poisoned
338
00:49:30,719 --> 00:49:33,222
by her own contaminated milk.
339
00:49:39,395 --> 00:49:42,565
Pilot whales have big brains.
340
00:49:42,648 --> 00:49:45,734
They can certainly experience emotions.
341
00:49:48,779 --> 00:49:51,365
judging from
the behaviour of the adults,
342
00:49:51,448 --> 00:49:55,578
the loss of the infant
has affected the entire family.
343
00:50:04,086 --> 00:50:08,299
Unless the flow of plastics
into the world's oceans is reduced,
344
00:50:09,425 --> 00:50:14,305
marine life will be poisoned by them
for many centuries to come.
345
00:50:22,313 --> 00:50:24,773
The creatures
that live in the big blue
346
00:50:24,857 --> 00:50:29,153
are, perhaps, more remote
than any animals on the planet.
347
00:50:32,823 --> 00:50:35,409
But not remote enough, it seems,
348
00:50:35,492 --> 00:50:40,456
to escape the effects of what
we are doing to their world.
349
00:50:55,304 --> 00:50:59,558
Next time, we journey
into the bountiful green sea.
350
00:51:03,562 --> 00:51:05,564
These are enchanted worlds,
351
00:51:05,648 --> 00:51:07,942
home to strange creatures...
352
00:51:12,821 --> 00:51:15,950
...where only the most ingenious
will triumph.
30292
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