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March 15, 2000... the day of infamy,
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as far as I'm concerned.
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I woke up in the morning,
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started having coffee,
telling our team of people
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that had just arrived that,
you know, the chances
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of seeing a beaked whale
in a 10âday period are slim.
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My assistant, Dave,
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came running inside and saying, "Ken!
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Ken! There's a beaked whale
right on the beach,
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right in front of the house!"
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And sure enough, there was
a gooseâbeaked whale swimming...
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Moving his tail anyway,
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as if it was trying to get up the beach.
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In my mind, or maybe out loud,
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I said,
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"what are you doing here?"
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They're supposed to be in deep water.
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So I pushed it back out to sea.
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(Woman) Go, baby, go!
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It swam out a little ways.
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And it came back in.
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We did this two or three times.
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And then some neighbors
came along and said,
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"there's another one down at the point."
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Covered it with, uh, sheets
and kept splashing water on it,
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while the rest kept trying
to push the other whale out.
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And then our neighbors came
and said, "there's another whale
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just another 200 yards
up the beach from us."
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As the day unfolded,
we had people calling
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00:02:02,734 --> 00:02:06,978
from all over the Northern
Bahamas saying,
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"a whale strand here,
whale strands there."
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Something was causing all these whales
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to wanna abandon the deep water
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and get the hell outta there.
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It was, uh, kinda devastating.
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Animals that I had grown to know
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over a 10âyear period were now dead.
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They were trying to get away.
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I was driven to find out why.
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(McAdams) Everywhere on Earth,
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we can hear the songs of life...
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From the smallest insects
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to the largest animals on the planet.
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[Whale singing]
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But most of us only hear half
of this living symphony.
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There's a completely different orchestra
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playing beneath the surface of the sea.
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(Man)
One of the most memorable moments
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I have in my life
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was the first time I put on headphones
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in the arctic.
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It's gray and white.
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It's almost sensory...
Complete sensory deprivation.
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I can't smell anything.
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I can barely taste anything.
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We found a little opening of water,
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in which I dropped
two underwater microphones.
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Put on the headphones,
I was completely amazed.
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[Animals calling]
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00:04:48,854 --> 00:04:51,455
Bearded seals coming out of the ether,
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as though they were from
"the martian chronicles."
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[Animals calling]
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00:05:00,573 --> 00:05:04,216
Beluga whales chirping
and chattering and clicking.
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00:05:07,578 --> 00:05:09,679
And then the bowhead whales,
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roaring lowâfrequency moans.
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And I was like, "Oh, my God!
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This is fantastic!"
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(McAdams)
Chris Clark has been recording
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the symphony of life on Earth
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for more than 40 years.
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He has built one
of the largest collections
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of animal sounds on the planet.
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(Clark) I listen to the world.
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And to me, song is life.
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It is the essence of who we are.
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And it joins us all.
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The problem is, in the ocean,
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we are injecting
enormous amounts of noise,
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so much so that we are basically
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acoustically bleaching the ocean.
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All the singing voices of the planet
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are lost in that cloud of noise.
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(McAdams)
This accumulation of sound
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is changing the entire
ecosystem underwater.
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Some of the animals
most directly affected
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by this Sonic invasion
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are the largest ever
to have lived on Earth.
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(Clark) They're so large.
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And they're so dramatic and magnificent.
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They are highly conscious animals.
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They have selfâawareness.
They think.
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They have intellectual
capabilities that rival ours.
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And their graciousness...
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(Balcomb) They're mammals.
They're just like us.
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They're a very specialized form
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of life on this planet that,
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basically, rules the ocean.
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All whales can hear.
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They have to for their survival.
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[Whales calling]
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(Clark) The ocean is a completely
different place
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acoustically than in the air.
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Sound can travel enormous distances
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very, very fast,
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whereas light doesn't
travel very far at all.
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And the whales have evolved
to take advantage of that.
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They can hear storms
that are 1,000 miles away.
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(Woman) For humans, well,
it's important for us to hear,
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but not nearly as important
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as it is for whales, dolphins
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and many kinds of fish.
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They're relying on being able
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to sense their environment acoustically.
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Whether it's finding their buddies,
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knowing where food is,
knowing where the shoreline is.
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Well, they certainly have eyes.
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And they use their eyes.
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But they're far more reliant
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on their hearing to live.
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Think about it... even in
the clearest ocean water,
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visibility is nothing close
to what you have on the land.
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00:09:20,976 --> 00:09:25,012
And 100 feet is considered
to be really good.
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But you can look up at the stars
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and see light that has been transmitted
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00:09:29,626 --> 00:09:32,328
over millions of miles on the land.
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You can look and see mountains
in the distance, miles away.
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(Man) Just as air is a brilliant
medium for light,
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water is a brilliant medium for sound.
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00:09:50,811 --> 00:09:53,279
To give you an example,
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00:09:53,271 --> 00:09:55,106
in the early 1990s,
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a group of scientists
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put a noise-making device, uh,
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down in the Southern Indian ocean.
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They wanted to see
just how far sound would travel.
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The sound that they produced
carried into the Atlantic ocean,
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into the Pacific ocean.
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It carried as far
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as those researchers were listening.
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Their furthest hydrophone,
or underwater microphone,
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was positioned off of Washington state,
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00:10:22,443 --> 00:10:26,981
which means that the sound
traveled some 17,000 kilometers
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and was still audible.
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[Whale calling]
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And the whales see the ocean
through sound.
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So their mind's eye is their mind's ear.
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(Man) So I'm in this tent with
an Inupiat whaling captain.
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And I want the ears for science.
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I wanna get the ear bones of the whale
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00:11:00,509 --> 00:11:02,076
so that I can give 'em to a colleague,
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who is a scientist, to understand,
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how do they hear?
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What... what is so different
about these animals?
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And this Inupiat whaling captain
just looked at me.
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And very deliberately, he said,
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"do you know that the ears
are the entrance
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to the soul of the whale?"
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And now, I even get emotional
remembering that statement.
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The ears of this animal
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are the entrance
to its selfâconsciousness,
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to its life, to its history,
to its future.
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(Man)
The Bahamas stranding, well,
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we had specimens
that had died within hours.
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And I knew
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that collecting a fresh specimen
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and freezing it as soon as possible
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would provide the best evidence
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that would show what sort of damage
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was going on internally.
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I transported two beaked whale heads
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and a dolphin from Bahamas
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and got 'em over
to a commercial airplane
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going to Boston.
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Trucked the specimens
right over to the cat scans
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at Harvard medical school and,
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by 2 A. M.,
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had seen the evidence
of sub-arachnoid hemorrhage
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around the brain and blood
around the ears.
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Uh, they were definitely, uh, impacted.
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I knew that it was
a humanâcaused stranding.
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I was very concerned that, uh, we learn
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what specifically are we doing that
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is causing these mortalities,
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and not do this again.
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(McAdams) Humans have been changing
the sound of the oceans
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since we first started
exploring the seas.
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But our ocean presence has exploded
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over the last 5 decades.
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(Earle) The world that these
longâlived creatures
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have experienced
is changed on a geologic scale.
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We are seeing just a different planet.
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(Man) Some whales, they live
to be 150 to 200 years old.
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When those whales were teenagers,
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the world was quiet.
Okay?
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So if I disrupt your ability to hunt,
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00:14:07,681 --> 00:14:10,016
or if I disrupt the ability of a female
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to make a choice
between the best singers
197
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because she can only hear the ones
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that are closest to her,
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what's the impact of that?
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00:14:21,117 --> 00:14:22,852
(Earle)
Getting lost in the ocean
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00:14:22,844 --> 00:14:26,312
must be terrifying to a young whale.
202
00:14:26,304 --> 00:14:30,107
Can't find its mother.
Can't find its family.
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00:14:30,099 --> 00:14:33,035
A lost whale, in that sense,
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would be, likely, a dead whale.
205
00:14:39,658 --> 00:14:41,893
(Man) Uh, I've known about
whale song for a long time.
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00:14:41,885 --> 00:14:43,752
And I've heard it many times.
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00:14:43,744 --> 00:14:46,679
And also astounded by how...
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00:14:46,671 --> 00:14:49,207
The distance
that their songs can travel,
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00:14:49,199 --> 00:14:52,567
that they have to communicate,
sometimes, oceanâwide.
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00:14:52,559 --> 00:14:54,461
Um, it's like a telephone.
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00:14:57,790 --> 00:14:59,456
And so it would be logical
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00:14:59,448 --> 00:15:01,884
that their hearing would be as powerful
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00:15:01,877 --> 00:15:05,285
as their reach when... when they sing.
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00:15:05,277 --> 00:15:07,045
I make my living as a musician.
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00:15:07,037 --> 00:15:11,708
I've subjected myself
to industrial levels of noise
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00:15:11,700 --> 00:15:13,300
because of it.
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00:15:13,292 --> 00:15:15,193
And my hearing is impaired.
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00:15:15,185 --> 00:15:17,787
And so I'm increasingly more aware
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00:15:17,779 --> 00:15:20,714
of the Sonic world we live in.
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00:15:20,706 --> 00:15:22,407
I prefer silence.
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00:15:24,568 --> 00:15:26,269
I was born and raised, um,
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00:15:26,261 --> 00:15:28,428
next to a shipyard
in the North of England.
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00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:30,856
At the end of my street
are some of the biggest,
224
00:15:30,848 --> 00:15:35,051
um, ships ever constructed
on planet Earth.
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00:15:35,043 --> 00:15:38,578
They would launch them with the,
uh, timbers cracking
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00:15:38,570 --> 00:15:40,872
and the drag chains being pulled.
227
00:15:40,864 --> 00:15:42,064
And as a small child, I...
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00:15:42,056 --> 00:15:46,594
I found that, uh,
stirring and frightening.
229
00:15:49,956 --> 00:15:52,925
No, you wouldn't think about
what was going on under the sea.
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00:15:52,917 --> 00:15:56,019
It was just some...
A means of, you know,
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00:15:56,011 --> 00:15:58,646
transporting things
or transporting people,
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00:15:58,638 --> 00:16:02,140
rather than, uh, to go underneath it.
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00:16:02,132 --> 00:16:03,733
(Woman) The dominant change
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00:16:03,725 --> 00:16:05,365
in the conditions of underwater noise
235
00:16:05,357 --> 00:16:08,426
has been from commercial shipping.
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00:16:08,418 --> 00:16:11,654
So, ships are the way
we really move goods
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00:16:11,647 --> 00:16:13,915
on this planet.
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00:16:13,907 --> 00:16:17,209
We move over 98 percent of the stuff
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00:16:17,201 --> 00:16:21,105
we need to get from point A
to point B using ships.
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00:16:23,298 --> 00:16:24,699
(McAdams) At any given time,
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00:16:24,691 --> 00:16:28,059
there are an estimated
60,000 commercial chips
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00:16:28,051 --> 00:16:30,220
traversing the world's oceans.
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00:16:34,215 --> 00:16:37,017
(Man) They're enormous.
They're like cities on water
244
00:16:37,009 --> 00:16:39,644
with far fewer people.
245
00:16:39,637 --> 00:16:43,106
And the sound of all of those ships,
246
00:16:43,098 --> 00:16:44,966
all in the water at once,
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00:16:44,958 --> 00:16:48,694
has literally filled our oceans with...
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00:16:48,686 --> 00:16:50,554
With noise.
249
00:16:50,546 --> 00:16:54,582
(Man) One of the things
about noise in the ocean
250
00:16:54,574 --> 00:16:57,208
is that humans are not
aware of it at all.
251
00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:01,103
It's one of these out of sight,
out of mind kind of things.
252
00:17:01,095 --> 00:17:03,296
It really is, in a...
In a sense, a cacophony
253
00:17:03,289 --> 00:17:04,490
of sound
254
00:17:04,482 --> 00:17:08,459
that surrounds the whales at this point.
255
00:17:08,451 --> 00:17:11,619
(McAdams) Paul Spong is
the CoâDirector of Orcalab,
256
00:17:11,611 --> 00:17:13,078
a Whaleâresearch Station
257
00:17:13,070 --> 00:17:16,273
on Hanson Island
off British Columbia, Canada.
258
00:17:20,336 --> 00:17:22,803
He and his team
use hydrophones to record
259
00:17:22,795 --> 00:17:24,663
and study the sounds of orca pods
260
00:17:24,655 --> 00:17:26,590
in the Pacific Northwest.
261
00:17:29,352 --> 00:17:32,722
(Spong) There are a host of reasons
for caring about whales.
262
00:17:36,650 --> 00:17:40,387
Certainly the beauty
and their lifestyle.
263
00:17:43,180 --> 00:17:45,282
With orcas, you have, for example,
264
00:17:45,274 --> 00:17:46,641
the most powerful creature in...
265
00:17:46,633 --> 00:17:51,003
On the planet living
an utterly peaceful life.
266
00:17:50,995 --> 00:17:52,797
That's impressive.
267
00:17:55,324 --> 00:17:57,157
Each of the family groups has, uh,
268
00:17:57,149 --> 00:17:58,917
their own special dialect
269
00:17:58,910 --> 00:18:00,844
that we listen to.
270
00:18:00,836 --> 00:18:03,405
So we can understand a lot
about who's there just from...
271
00:18:03,397 --> 00:18:06,272
Just from the sounds that they make.
272
00:18:06,264 --> 00:18:09,766
We know when they're hunting.
We know when they're resting.
273
00:18:09,758 --> 00:18:11,726
We know when they're socializing.
274
00:18:11,718 --> 00:18:13,952
We know when they're having
a great time together
275
00:18:13,944 --> 00:18:15,445
down at the rubbing beaches
276
00:18:15,437 --> 00:18:18,939
'cause we're listening all the time.
277
00:18:18,932 --> 00:18:20,700
Cruise ships, the freighters
278
00:18:20,692 --> 00:18:23,461
are very recent phenomena
in their history.
279
00:18:23,453 --> 00:18:26,788
Now, sound is everywhere around them,
280
00:18:26,780 --> 00:18:29,014
much of the time.
281
00:18:29,006 --> 00:18:30,907
When a cruise ship comes along.
282
00:18:30,899 --> 00:18:32,834
And a cruise ship
kinda comes around the corner
283
00:18:32,826 --> 00:18:36,094
into the acoustic field
of that... of the whales.
284
00:18:36,086 --> 00:18:38,388
You can hear what happens.
285
00:18:38,381 --> 00:18:40,649
This is a group of G clan whales.
286
00:18:40,641 --> 00:18:45,379
[Whales calling, clicking]
287
00:18:48,307 --> 00:18:52,344
[Droning]
288
00:19:01,100 --> 00:19:03,302
Anyway, the whales,
uh, are calling away.
289
00:19:03,294 --> 00:19:04,561
And they, uh,
290
00:19:04,554 --> 00:19:06,922
uh, try to continue it
for a little while.
291
00:19:06,914 --> 00:19:10,750
Then they get totally drowned out.
292
00:19:10,742 --> 00:19:13,143
Noise interferes with hunting,
293
00:19:13,135 --> 00:19:16,605
with a whale's ability to find fish.
294
00:19:16,597 --> 00:19:19,732
Well, if you reduce the amount of food
295
00:19:19,724 --> 00:19:21,792
that whales can get,
296
00:19:21,784 --> 00:19:25,688
then you're directly impacting
their wellâbeing, their lives.
297
00:19:29,949 --> 00:19:31,817
(Woman) I think when you listen
to the hydrophones,
298
00:19:31,810 --> 00:19:33,144
it's hard to think
299
00:19:33,136 --> 00:19:36,205
that that noise does not have
an impact on the whales.
300
00:19:36,197 --> 00:19:39,031
I mean, sometimes, it...
Listening on the headphones
301
00:19:39,023 --> 00:19:41,692
gives you a headache within 10 minutes.
302
00:19:41,684 --> 00:19:43,084
You have to take the headphones off.
303
00:19:43,076 --> 00:19:44,944
You have to turn the volume down.
304
00:19:44,936 --> 00:19:47,971
And I just think, you know, "the whales,
305
00:19:47,963 --> 00:19:50,199
they can't turn the volume down."
306
00:19:51,492 --> 00:19:54,402
[Cacophony]
307
00:20:01,032 --> 00:20:03,033
(Man) Several years ago,
I was at a meeting
308
00:20:03,025 --> 00:20:06,094
about ship noise in Hamburg, Germany.
309
00:20:06,086 --> 00:20:08,788
And we went down and saw
some of the newest
310
00:20:08,780 --> 00:20:10,381
and largest container ships.
311
00:20:10,373 --> 00:20:13,308
And they're striking.
312
00:20:13,300 --> 00:20:16,168
They're basically skyscrapers
turned sideways
313
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:19,563
with giant engines
put on the back of 'em.
314
00:20:19,556 --> 00:20:22,024
Some of the sound
may come from the engines
315
00:20:22,016 --> 00:20:23,650
that's transmitted through the hull.
316
00:20:23,642 --> 00:20:27,512
But the majority of it comes
from what is happening right
317
00:20:27,504 --> 00:20:29,271
at the propeller.
318
00:20:29,263 --> 00:20:31,831
[Bubbles bursting loudly]
319
00:20:31,823 --> 00:20:33,657
(McAdams)
It's called cavitation.
320
00:20:33,649 --> 00:20:35,517
That's when the bubbles
created by the blades
321
00:20:35,509 --> 00:20:39,179
of the propeller collapse
and burst underwater.
322
00:20:39,172 --> 00:20:42,240
It's not so much the collapse
of an individual bubble.
323
00:20:42,232 --> 00:20:43,899
It's all of them, eh,
324
00:20:43,891 --> 00:20:47,995
at once creating a very loud hiss.
325
00:20:50,556 --> 00:20:53,399
The ship's engines
generate noise as well.
326
00:20:54,757 --> 00:20:58,960
Basically, the way ship engines
are historically built
327
00:20:58,952 --> 00:21:02,189
is you bolt 'em to the frame.
328
00:21:02,181 --> 00:21:05,649
And then it vibrates the frame
and makes that sound transmit
329
00:21:05,641 --> 00:21:08,077
through all the steel or the hull
330
00:21:08,070 --> 00:21:10,804
and out into the water.
331
00:21:10,796 --> 00:21:13,098
(Man) Over the last 60 years,
332
00:21:13,090 --> 00:21:16,625
the number of ships moving
over the global surface
333
00:21:16,617 --> 00:21:19,354
of the world has increased dramatically.
334
00:21:21,313 --> 00:21:22,813
You can look at the curves.
335
00:21:22,805 --> 00:21:25,341
And it's just going up
and up and up and up.
336
00:21:25,333 --> 00:21:27,700
It really is just
like a highway, you know,
337
00:21:27,692 --> 00:21:30,461
the Los Angeles freeway
or the long island expressway.
338
00:21:30,454 --> 00:21:33,089
And if you look
at the taillights of those cars,
339
00:21:33,081 --> 00:21:35,049
it would be solid light.
340
00:21:35,041 --> 00:21:38,076
That's the shipping Lane, where,
341
00:21:38,068 --> 00:21:40,003
in this case, the light
342
00:21:39,995 --> 00:21:43,530
is all the noise from all the ships.
343
00:21:43,522 --> 00:21:45,523
Is there any evidence
that all of this noise
344
00:21:45,515 --> 00:21:48,685
is making life difficult
for whales and fishes?
345
00:21:52,713 --> 00:21:55,722
Most of humanity lives
in the Northern hemisphere.
346
00:21:55,715 --> 00:21:57,816
There's a fraction of the percentage
347
00:21:57,808 --> 00:22:00,776
of commercial shipping
in the Southern hemisphere.
348
00:22:00,768 --> 00:22:03,070
Well, we have Southern right whales.
349
00:22:03,062 --> 00:22:05,931
They're cousins
of the Northern right whales.
350
00:22:05,923 --> 00:22:10,526
Those populations are going gangbusters.
351
00:22:10,518 --> 00:22:12,953
But up North, their cousins...
352
00:22:12,945 --> 00:22:15,346
Same kind of habitat, everything else...
353
00:22:15,338 --> 00:22:19,408
They're struggling to get by.
354
00:22:19,401 --> 00:22:21,335
Why is that?
355
00:22:21,327 --> 00:22:23,896
You can say, "how many ships
are going through the area?"
356
00:22:23,888 --> 00:22:25,856
But so what?
357
00:22:25,848 --> 00:22:29,150
How... how do you show
that that has any influence
358
00:22:29,142 --> 00:22:32,177
or any impact or makes any difference?
359
00:22:32,169 --> 00:22:34,337
(Woman) Well, we really needed
a laboratory for that.
360
00:22:34,329 --> 00:22:36,130
We needed a place
where you could draw a line
361
00:22:36,122 --> 00:22:38,356
around it and ask, "okay.
362
00:22:38,349 --> 00:22:41,952
Within these waters,
what are those contributions?"
363
00:22:41,944 --> 00:22:45,413
(McAdams) Researchers chose
Cape Cod Bay near Boston,
364
00:22:45,405 --> 00:22:49,374
an important habitat
of North Atlantic right whales.
365
00:22:49,366 --> 00:22:55,211
(Man) And what was surprising
in that was how bad it was.
366
00:22:55,203 --> 00:22:58,372
(Man)
You see right whale calls illuminated
367
00:22:58,364 --> 00:23:00,766
like little firefly light.
368
00:23:00,758 --> 00:23:02,726
And then, every so often,
369
00:23:02,719 --> 00:23:05,087
several times a day,
a ship will come in.
370
00:23:08,515 --> 00:23:10,182
Comes in like a flood light.
371
00:23:10,174 --> 00:23:14,012
It obliterates the whale's
ability to hear.
372
00:23:16,138 --> 00:23:18,973
(McAdams) The study revealed that
North Atlantic right whales lost
373
00:23:18,965 --> 00:23:20,299
up to 80 percent
374
00:23:20,291 --> 00:23:21,992
of their ability to hear the songs
375
00:23:21,984 --> 00:23:24,585
of their friends and mates.
376
00:23:24,577 --> 00:23:27,445
That's a really dramatic loss
of space for these animals
377
00:23:27,438 --> 00:23:29,406
during really critical time periods.
378
00:23:29,398 --> 00:23:33,434
It's just ripping
the communicate system apart.
379
00:23:33,426 --> 00:23:35,461
Are they not getting enough to eat?
380
00:23:35,453 --> 00:23:37,054
And are they stressed out?
381
00:23:37,046 --> 00:23:40,248
So there, you get a linkage
to the whole reproductive cycle,
382
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:43,108
to the whole biology.
383
00:23:43,100 --> 00:23:48,805
There may be 450 of them left
in the entire ocean.
384
00:23:48,797 --> 00:23:52,808
That species is fighting
for its life right now.
385
00:24:04,772 --> 00:24:08,474
(Balcomb)
I joined the Navy in March, 1967.
386
00:24:08,466 --> 00:24:11,001
I learned how to fly, got my wings.
387
00:24:10,993 --> 00:24:13,161
And got stationed at a Sosus station,
388
00:24:13,153 --> 00:24:17,122
which was sound surveillance, undersea.
389
00:24:17,114 --> 00:24:20,450
The operations were that
you listen to hydrophone systems
390
00:24:20,442 --> 00:24:23,078
in the ocean for enemy submarines.
391
00:24:24,203 --> 00:24:26,972
(Man) Sosus...
392
00:24:26,964 --> 00:24:32,035
That name was topâsecret.
393
00:24:32,028 --> 00:24:33,629
Now, in 1991,
394
00:24:33,621 --> 00:24:36,188
the Soviet union was collapsing.
395
00:24:36,180 --> 00:24:39,717
And the U. S. Navy offered up Sosus.
396
00:24:39,709 --> 00:24:41,209
I walk in the building,
397
00:24:41,201 --> 00:24:43,803
High security, the whole thing.
398
00:24:43,795 --> 00:24:48,531
And it's like there are maps
all over the walls.
399
00:24:48,523 --> 00:24:50,758
There's all this machinery.
400
00:24:50,750 --> 00:24:53,619
And the way, I metaphorically
speak of this...
401
00:24:53,612 --> 00:24:56,747
The world I've been living
in fits underneath the head
402
00:24:56,739 --> 00:24:59,207
of a pin in the ocean.
403
00:24:59,199 --> 00:25:03,242
This system,
this is the Hubble telescope.
404
00:25:03,234 --> 00:25:06,169
I can listen anywhere in the ocean
405
00:25:06,161 --> 00:25:08,730
I want to at any time.
406
00:25:08,722 --> 00:25:11,724
Someone says to me, "hey, doc.
407
00:25:11,716 --> 00:25:14,450
You think you could
use this for studying whales?"
408
00:25:14,442 --> 00:25:17,745
And it was, like, "expletive deleted."
409
00:25:17,738 --> 00:25:21,374
"Are you blipping kidding me?"
410
00:25:21,366 --> 00:25:23,167
And it was in that room,
411
00:25:23,159 --> 00:25:25,994
I literally crossed the beams
412
00:25:25,986 --> 00:25:29,956
pointing to a blue whale
singing off of Ireland.
413
00:25:29,948 --> 00:25:33,316
I was listening to it from Virginia.
414
00:25:33,308 --> 00:25:38,179
[Whale calling]
415
00:25:38,171 --> 00:25:41,407
(McAdams) Since biologists have been
given access to Sosus,
416
00:25:41,399 --> 00:25:43,967
it has become
the single most important tool
417
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,563
for listening to whales oceanâwide.
418
00:25:47,555 --> 00:25:51,157
This listening system has also
allowed scientist to track
419
00:25:51,149 --> 00:25:53,451
the rise of humanâproduced noise
420
00:25:53,443 --> 00:25:56,478
in the ocean over time.
421
00:25:56,470 --> 00:25:58,438
(Balcomb)
Large commercial shipping
422
00:25:58,430 --> 00:26:01,004
has kind of a rumbling like a distant,
423
00:26:00,996 --> 00:26:05,934
uh, thunderstorm all the time.
424
00:26:05,926 --> 00:26:08,628
When I was in the Navy,
that was just a fact of life
425
00:26:08,621 --> 00:26:11,456
in the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s
426
00:26:11,448 --> 00:26:13,816
and even today as it...
427
00:26:13,808 --> 00:26:16,376
The noise environment in the ocean
428
00:26:16,368 --> 00:26:18,803
is doubling every 10 years.
429
00:26:18,795 --> 00:26:21,764
[Growing static]
430
00:26:24,958 --> 00:26:27,560
(Woman) There's different ways
that sounds can affect animals.
431
00:26:27,552 --> 00:26:30,354
I mean, there's that underlying
ambient noise level
432
00:26:30,346 --> 00:26:32,547
that's rising and rising
and rising that interferes
433
00:26:32,540 --> 00:26:37,044
with communication
and their movement patterns.
434
00:26:37,036 --> 00:26:38,936
And then there's the more acute,
435
00:26:38,928 --> 00:26:41,197
kind of, traumatic impact of sound.
436
00:26:41,189 --> 00:26:43,890
And that's causing physical damage
437
00:26:43,882 --> 00:26:46,717
or just a really strong
behavioral response.
438
00:26:46,709 --> 00:26:49,678
It's fight or flight.
439
00:26:49,670 --> 00:26:51,004
Basically, all my professional life,
440
00:26:50,996 --> 00:26:53,931
I've been responding
to marine mammal strandings,
441
00:26:53,924 --> 00:26:56,326
Dolphins, whales and seals.
442
00:26:56,318 --> 00:26:58,252
Sometimes, when we think
of a mass stranding,
443
00:26:58,244 --> 00:26:59,377
it's not much animals
444
00:26:59,369 --> 00:27:00,609
throwing themselves on the beach,
445
00:27:00,601 --> 00:27:03,537
but being out of habitat.
446
00:27:03,529 --> 00:27:07,398
One example is in Madagascar in 2008.
447
00:27:07,390 --> 00:27:08,690
As we flew in,
448
00:27:08,682 --> 00:27:11,118
going into this very small,
very rural area,
449
00:27:11,111 --> 00:27:13,878
we asked the pilot
if he would do a tour.
450
00:27:13,870 --> 00:27:17,573
We had been told there were 100
to 200 melonâheaded whales
451
00:27:17,565 --> 00:27:19,033
in an estuary.
452
00:27:19,025 --> 00:27:23,261
They were 65 kilometers away
from the open ocean.
453
00:27:23,253 --> 00:27:24,420
And I think our hearts fell
454
00:27:24,412 --> 00:27:25,845
at that point because we looked at it.
455
00:27:25,837 --> 00:27:27,806
And we said,
"it's a huge distance to go."
456
00:27:33,270 --> 00:27:36,405
Most of the animals
were in pretty tough shape.
457
00:27:36,398 --> 00:27:38,532
They looked thin, dehydrated.
458
00:27:38,524 --> 00:27:40,860
These are animals
that probably were stranding
459
00:27:40,852 --> 00:27:43,153
at some point during the day,
getting sunburned,
460
00:27:43,145 --> 00:27:44,979
abrasions, like, cuts and bruises
461
00:27:44,971 --> 00:27:47,006
from being up in the mangrove swamps.
462
00:27:52,569 --> 00:27:54,470
We herd the whales
463
00:27:54,462 --> 00:27:56,463
just like, uh,
like how we would herd cattle.
464
00:27:56,455 --> 00:27:58,356
We... we move boats the way
465
00:27:58,349 --> 00:28:02,525
you would ride a horse behind cattle.
466
00:28:02,517 --> 00:28:04,285
One right there.
467
00:28:04,277 --> 00:28:09,782
Trying to move these animals
very slowly out into open water.
468
00:28:09,774 --> 00:28:11,574
As the day would wear on,
469
00:28:11,566 --> 00:28:12,967
you could just see them deteriorating.
470
00:28:12,959 --> 00:28:15,393
They were becoming slower,
less responsive
471
00:28:15,385 --> 00:28:17,353
to what we were trying to do.
472
00:28:17,345 --> 00:28:20,415
In the end, we probably
saved a handful of whales.
473
00:28:22,675 --> 00:28:24,244
Most of them died.
474
00:28:26,270 --> 00:28:27,771
And then our job was to go in
475
00:28:27,763 --> 00:28:29,932
and figure out why they were there.
476
00:28:34,097 --> 00:28:36,498
(Woman) In the end, we probably
saved a handful of whales.
477
00:28:37,090 --> 00:28:39,758
Most of them died.
478
00:28:39,950 --> 00:28:41,084
And then our job was to go in
479
00:28:41,076 --> 00:28:43,077
and figure out why they were there.
480
00:28:31,969 --> 00:28:33,370
These animals weren't sick.
481
00:28:33,363 --> 00:28:34,663
They weren't injured.
482
00:28:34,655 --> 00:28:38,224
We ruled out the things
that we knew it wasn't.
483
00:28:38,216 --> 00:28:41,017
And the only smoking gun left
484
00:28:41,009 --> 00:28:44,145
was this oil and gas exploration work
485
00:28:44,137 --> 00:28:46,011
being done offshore that coincided
486
00:28:46,003 --> 00:28:50,106
in time and location with this event.
487
00:28:50,098 --> 00:28:51,266
(McAdams) Prospecting teams,
488
00:28:51,258 --> 00:28:53,925
commissioned by
an Exxonmobil subsidiary,
489
00:28:53,918 --> 00:28:56,620
were hunting for oil
off the coast of Madagascar,
490
00:28:56,612 --> 00:28:58,880
near the mouth of the river.
491
00:28:58,872 --> 00:29:02,075
They were using a special
industrial echo sounder
492
00:29:02,067 --> 00:29:04,435
that emits sound waves
to map the sea floor.
493
00:29:04,427 --> 00:29:06,861
[Highâpitched beeping]
494
00:29:06,853 --> 00:29:09,255
(Moore) Exxonmobil stopped all of
the work that they were doing.
495
00:29:09,247 --> 00:29:13,017
And they provided volumes of data.
496
00:29:13,009 --> 00:29:15,343
When I was reading through all
of it, one thing caught my eye.
497
00:29:15,336 --> 00:29:18,038
And it was a series
of satellite photographs
498
00:29:18,030 --> 00:29:19,263
of this region.
499
00:29:19,255 --> 00:29:22,925
And they were claiming
these images showed
500
00:29:22,917 --> 00:29:25,118
that there were animals
stranded prior to the work
501
00:29:25,110 --> 00:29:28,312
that they were doing offshore,
so they couldn't have caused it.
502
00:29:28,304 --> 00:29:30,505
In the images,
there were these dark objects
503
00:29:30,497 --> 00:29:33,632
lined up perpendicular to the water.
504
00:29:33,624 --> 00:29:35,525
And they were claiming
505
00:29:35,518 --> 00:29:37,386
that these were all whales
that had stranded.
506
00:29:37,378 --> 00:29:39,179
And I'm looking at 'em, like...
I've been doing strandings
507
00:29:39,171 --> 00:29:40,371
for almost 20 years.
508
00:29:40,363 --> 00:29:42,331
And I've never seen animals
beach themselves
509
00:29:42,323 --> 00:29:46,266
in such a perfect pattern.
510
00:29:46,258 --> 00:29:47,960
And I was like, "those are boats."
511
00:29:49,953 --> 00:29:52,654
Those are dugout canoes
used by local fishermen.
512
00:29:52,646 --> 00:29:54,781
That was the moment that...
That I got really angry.
513
00:29:54,774 --> 00:29:56,374
And I was, like, "you know,
now you're just...
514
00:29:56,366 --> 00:29:58,567
There's no way you can believe that."
515
00:29:58,559 --> 00:29:59,993
They were throwing everything at us
516
00:29:59,985 --> 00:30:01,019
to say it couldn't have been us.
517
00:30:01,011 --> 00:30:02,812
And I looked at that and I said, "no.
518
00:30:02,804 --> 00:30:05,271
There's no way."
519
00:30:05,263 --> 00:30:07,932
(McAdams)
An independent scientific review panel
520
00:30:07,924 --> 00:30:11,493
came to the same conclusion
as Moore and her team.
521
00:30:11,486 --> 00:30:14,321
The whales were most likely
trying to escape the noise
522
00:30:14,313 --> 00:30:16,548
of the industrial echo sounder.
523
00:30:20,343 --> 00:30:23,245
But fossil fuel companies
are doing much more
524
00:30:23,237 --> 00:30:27,207
than just mapping the ocean
with waves of sound.
525
00:30:27,199 --> 00:30:28,867
(Man) More and more and more,
what you're seeing
526
00:30:28,859 --> 00:30:33,929
is deep ocean prospecting
for oil and gas.
527
00:30:33,921 --> 00:30:36,522
So the modern form of dynamite
528
00:30:36,514 --> 00:30:39,952
is found in the form of airguns...
529
00:30:40,678 --> 00:30:44,188
[Air blasting loudly]
530
00:30:47,048 --> 00:30:50,717
Most of which goes
vertically down into the ocean.
531
00:30:50,709 --> 00:30:53,211
It reflects off the Earth's crust.
532
00:30:53,203 --> 00:30:56,072
And then you create an image
of the composition of the Earth,
533
00:30:56,064 --> 00:30:58,665
and you search for oil and gas.
534
00:30:58,657 --> 00:31:00,691
And then you have sets of them,
535
00:31:00,683 --> 00:31:02,785
10, 20, 30, 40 of them in a...
536
00:31:02,777 --> 00:31:03,977
What's called an array.
537
00:31:03,970 --> 00:31:06,104
It's a big matrix of them behind a ship.
538
00:31:06,096 --> 00:31:09,265
And they all explode simultaneously.
539
00:31:09,257 --> 00:31:12,359
And there are multiple surveys,
all setting off these charges
540
00:31:12,351 --> 00:31:14,219
at a regular rate of 10 seconds
541
00:31:14,211 --> 00:31:15,644
or 12 seconds.
542
00:31:15,636 --> 00:31:18,972
And the survey goes on
for months at a time.
543
00:31:18,964 --> 00:31:20,699
If you were listening in the ocean,
544
00:31:20,691 --> 00:31:23,125
you could hear the regular
explosions of these sounds
545
00:31:23,118 --> 00:31:25,419
coming from Africa, South America,
546
00:31:25,411 --> 00:31:27,579
Great Britain, Canada.
547
00:31:27,571 --> 00:31:33,242
And now it's also
invading into the Arctic.
548
00:31:33,234 --> 00:31:34,702
Airguns have been shown to have
549
00:31:34,694 --> 00:31:38,496
an enormous environmental footprint.
550
00:31:38,488 --> 00:31:41,190
In baleen whales, the great whales,
551
00:31:41,182 --> 00:31:44,117
they have been shown to silence animals.
552
00:31:44,109 --> 00:31:47,652
They've been shown
to cause animals to flee, uh,
553
00:31:47,645 --> 00:31:51,381
large areas of habitat.
554
00:31:51,373 --> 00:31:54,341
The areas we're talking about
are enormous... in some cases,
555
00:31:54,333 --> 00:31:56,034
documented over literally
556
00:31:56,026 --> 00:31:58,762
hundreds of thousands of...
of square miles.
557
00:31:58,754 --> 00:32:02,691
[ Whales calling,
air gun blasts in distance ]
558
00:32:06,218 --> 00:32:10,255
These companies are able
to take resources
559
00:32:10,247 --> 00:32:12,481
from the global commons...
560
00:32:12,473 --> 00:32:14,742
Hydrocarbons, in this case...
561
00:32:14,735 --> 00:32:16,736
And exploit those
562
00:32:16,728 --> 00:32:22,966
and damage the ocean ecosystem
without cost.
563
00:32:22,958 --> 00:32:26,962
That, to me, is intolerable.
564
00:32:31,157 --> 00:32:34,192
(McAdams) The sound of seismic
prospecting for oil and gas
565
00:32:34,184 --> 00:32:36,620
is changing life in the oceans.
566
00:32:36,612 --> 00:32:38,378
But it's also changing life for people
567
00:32:38,370 --> 00:32:41,508
who depend on the oceans,
living on land.
568
00:32:44,134 --> 00:32:47,109
(Man) This coast has made
569
00:32:47,102 --> 00:32:52,006
thousands of generations
able to survive.
570
00:32:51,998 --> 00:32:57,437
All my relatives
before me lived from this.
571
00:32:57,429 --> 00:33:00,097
I've been a fisherman for many years.
572
00:33:10,165 --> 00:33:13,968
What is happening now
is a disaster to us.
573
00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:18,964
Oil industry is hunting oil
and gas on our fishing grounds.
574
00:33:18,956 --> 00:33:21,024
[Airgun blasts]
575
00:33:21,016 --> 00:33:24,084
Catches immediately were reduced
576
00:33:24,076 --> 00:33:27,045
by 60 percent.
577
00:33:27,038 --> 00:33:28,806
This was massive.
578
00:33:28,798 --> 00:33:31,433
And this was clearly
the seismic shootings,
579
00:33:31,425 --> 00:33:33,626
the blastings.
580
00:33:33,618 --> 00:33:37,320
Then, after some time,
not coming back...
581
00:33:37,312 --> 00:33:39,781
It's not coming back.
Why is that so?
582
00:33:39,773 --> 00:33:40,839
It should come back
583
00:33:40,831 --> 00:33:43,500
if everything was normal in the sea.
584
00:33:43,492 --> 00:33:46,000
If this is going to... to go on,
585
00:33:45,993 --> 00:33:48,160
those blastings in the sea,
586
00:33:48,152 --> 00:33:50,354
in all the world's sea,
587
00:33:50,346 --> 00:33:52,381
we are going to kill ourselves
in the end.
588
00:33:52,373 --> 00:33:55,808
Because we are killing our food.
589
00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,034
This is happening all around...
around the world.
590
00:33:58,026 --> 00:34:00,528
We know it.
But we...
591
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,690
It seems like we are not able
to do anything about it.
592
00:34:11,953 --> 00:34:13,354
(McAdams)
We've been successful before
593
00:34:13,747 --> 00:34:15,781
in acting to protect the health
of the oceans
594
00:34:16,373 --> 00:34:19,375
and the largest animals on Earth.
595
00:34:19,567 --> 00:34:21,968
There was a time when the oil of whales
596
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:26,163
was the natural resource
used to fuel our world.
597
00:34:26,155 --> 00:34:28,557
(Man)
The great whales were literally pushed
598
00:34:28,549 --> 00:34:30,483
to the brink of extinction
599
00:34:30,475 --> 00:34:32,310
when everything was fair game.
600
00:34:32,302 --> 00:34:34,203
It was a total horror story.
601
00:34:34,396 --> 00:34:36,863
What happened in the early 20th century
602
00:34:36,855 --> 00:34:39,691
is that that practice
became industrialized.
603
00:34:39,683 --> 00:34:43,085
Whalers started using
large factory ships.
604
00:34:43,077 --> 00:34:47,013
And they began decimating populations.
605
00:34:47,005 --> 00:34:49,279
(McAdams)
The consequences of human consumption
606
00:34:49,271 --> 00:34:51,607
were apparent to legendary oceanographer
607
00:34:51,599 --> 00:34:55,067
Jacques Cousteau, who battled
against commercial whaling.
608
00:34:55,059 --> 00:34:58,161
Most countries agreed to stop
whaling in the 1980s,
609
00:34:58,154 --> 00:35:01,957
and some whale populations
have rebounded since then.
610
00:35:01,949 --> 00:35:05,586
Jacques' son, JeanâMichel,
driven by a similar passion
611
00:35:05,578 --> 00:35:08,413
for the oceans and the largest
animals on Earth,
612
00:35:08,405 --> 00:35:10,707
continues his father's legacy.
613
00:35:13,301 --> 00:35:14,801
(Cousteau)
My father, when I was a kid,
614
00:35:14,793 --> 00:35:16,794
created a movie, very wellâknown,
615
00:35:16,786 --> 00:35:20,622
which has put the ocean
in everybody's home,
616
00:35:20,614 --> 00:35:22,516
called "the silent world."
617
00:35:29,114 --> 00:35:30,982
Well, it was pretty silent then.
618
00:35:30,974 --> 00:35:34,644
The big difference
between the past and today
619
00:35:34,636 --> 00:35:38,405
is that we've created a lot of noise.
620
00:35:38,397 --> 00:35:41,867
I wish we were making music,
but we're not.
621
00:35:43,660 --> 00:35:45,127
When you're in a place
622
00:35:45,119 --> 00:35:47,887
where there may be whales and dolphins,
623
00:35:47,879 --> 00:35:50,321
put a mask on with a snorkel.
624
00:35:50,313 --> 00:35:53,649
Go in 5 feet of water
625
00:35:53,642 --> 00:35:57,077
and close your eyes and listen.
626
00:35:57,069 --> 00:35:59,771
[Animals calling]
627
00:35:59,763 --> 00:36:01,565
It's fascinating.
628
00:36:04,792 --> 00:36:10,030
My first real encounter
with a whale was in Patagonia.
629
00:36:10,022 --> 00:36:13,558
The first time I saw a really,
really friendly humpback whale
630
00:36:13,550 --> 00:36:15,418
was at silver bank, Dominican Republic.
631
00:36:15,410 --> 00:36:20,079
It was three humpback whales in Hawaii.
632
00:36:20,071 --> 00:36:23,141
(Man)
When we first came to Hanson island,
633
00:36:23,134 --> 00:36:24,967
we brought a little kayak along with us.
634
00:36:24,959 --> 00:36:28,329
And I started paddling around
with the whales
635
00:36:28,321 --> 00:36:31,090
to see if I could understand
more about them.
636
00:36:31,082 --> 00:36:34,050
We had two guys onboard.
637
00:36:34,042 --> 00:36:36,577
They were just, sort of,
like, space cadets.
638
00:36:36,569 --> 00:36:39,337
One of 'em was a... a Vietnam vet
639
00:36:39,329 --> 00:36:41,964
that had been shot
I don't know how many times.
640
00:36:41,956 --> 00:36:43,523
And had... every bone in his body
641
00:36:43,516 --> 00:36:46,118
had some kinda metal plate or shrapnel.
642
00:36:46,110 --> 00:36:48,111
Anyway, he just wanted
to see a whale, you know?
643
00:36:48,103 --> 00:36:49,810
And we're telling him, "well,
you're on the wrong trip, guy.
644
00:36:49,802 --> 00:36:51,369
We're not gonna get near one."
645
00:36:51,361 --> 00:36:54,130
Big fog bank came in and surrounded me.
646
00:36:54,122 --> 00:36:56,656
And I got totally lost.
647
00:36:56,648 --> 00:36:57,915
I didn't know what to do.
648
00:36:57,907 --> 00:36:59,241
I didn't know where the whales were.
649
00:36:59,234 --> 00:37:00,534
I didn't know where I was.
650
00:37:00,526 --> 00:37:03,428
The current was taking me.
651
00:37:03,420 --> 00:37:04,955
I had my flute onboard.
652
00:37:04,947 --> 00:37:07,481
And I picked up my flute
and started play,
653
00:37:07,473 --> 00:37:09,474
probably to calm me down.
654
00:37:09,466 --> 00:37:12,602
And after a few minutes,
uh, the whales came by.
655
00:37:12,594 --> 00:37:14,861
As they were moving,
they were coming toward me.
656
00:37:14,853 --> 00:37:16,922
They could've gone somewhere else.
657
00:37:16,915 --> 00:37:18,548
They knew I was there.
658
00:37:18,540 --> 00:37:21,977
And all of a sudden, I felt
something under my flippers.
659
00:37:21,969 --> 00:37:23,469
And then the whale came under the boat
660
00:37:23,461 --> 00:37:25,262
and the first mate was freaking out,
661
00:37:25,254 --> 00:37:27,121
like they're all gonna die.
662
00:37:27,113 --> 00:37:29,982
And just lifted me out of the water.
663
00:37:29,974 --> 00:37:33,143
Whale lifted the boat
up on its back and, you know,
664
00:37:33,135 --> 00:37:34,668
it was clear out of the water.
665
00:37:34,661 --> 00:37:36,629
I put down my flute
and picked up the paddle
666
00:37:36,621 --> 00:37:38,522
and started following them.
667
00:37:38,514 --> 00:37:41,783
And, uh, after a little while,
I got lost again.
668
00:37:41,775 --> 00:37:44,076
So I stopped paddling
and picked up my flute
669
00:37:44,068 --> 00:37:45,735
and started playing it.
670
00:37:45,727 --> 00:37:47,803
And they came back around me again.
671
00:37:54,067 --> 00:37:57,436
(Clark) And I dove down,
672
00:37:57,428 --> 00:37:58,829
and I looked her in the eye.
673
00:37:58,822 --> 00:38:00,889
We were looking at each other.
674
00:38:00,881 --> 00:38:03,582
When you look in the eyes
of a whale, uh,
675
00:38:03,574 --> 00:38:05,609
they're actually looking...
676
00:38:05,601 --> 00:38:08,336
They're seeing your soul, you know?
677
00:38:08,328 --> 00:38:11,498
And if you're perceptive,
you'll see their soul.
678
00:38:17,595 --> 00:38:19,629
And I reached out and touched her.
679
00:38:19,621 --> 00:38:21,589
I could have touched them.
680
00:38:21,581 --> 00:38:25,685
Took its flipper, and just...
681
00:38:25,678 --> 00:38:28,412
Laid it on the head of this guy
682
00:38:28,404 --> 00:38:31,239
from... you know, the guy
that was all shot up.
683
00:38:31,231 --> 00:38:32,598
You know, he was just so excited.
684
00:38:32,590 --> 00:38:33,590
He was sitting there playing
685
00:38:33,582 --> 00:38:35,383
with the barnacles and stuff on it.
686
00:38:35,375 --> 00:38:37,476
And... and the first mate was thinking,
687
00:38:37,468 --> 00:38:40,103
well, he's gonna get
his head chopped off.
688
00:38:40,095 --> 00:38:44,065
When you are little wee, wee
diver there,
689
00:38:44,058 --> 00:38:46,092
they know you're there.
690
00:38:46,084 --> 00:38:49,694
They flip them and fold them back.
691
00:38:49,686 --> 00:38:54,657
Because they're totally aware
of your presence.
692
00:38:54,649 --> 00:38:56,751
And they don't wanna hurt you.
693
00:38:59,077 --> 00:39:01,712
(Man)
Finally, uh, I came to an island
694
00:39:01,704 --> 00:39:03,104
that loomed up out of the fog,
695
00:39:03,096 --> 00:39:06,265
and landed and waited
until the fog cleared.
696
00:39:06,257 --> 00:39:08,692
And I would say, one of the...
697
00:39:08,685 --> 00:39:11,554
One of the profound experiences I had...
698
00:39:11,546 --> 00:39:13,747
To me, these are some of the most, uh,
699
00:39:13,739 --> 00:39:16,073
emotional experiences I've had.
700
00:39:16,065 --> 00:39:16,500
That was it.
I was in love.
701
00:39:17,492 --> 00:39:19,458
Right?
It was... that was it.
702
00:39:19,450 --> 00:39:22,420
[Whale calling]
703
00:39:29,552 --> 00:39:31,052
(Sting)
I was listening to the noise
704
00:39:31,044 --> 00:39:33,880
that sea mammals and fish
are all subjected to,
705
00:39:33,873 --> 00:39:35,306
which was painful to me.
706
00:39:35,298 --> 00:39:38,400
I... I can see that it would...
it would cause a...
707
00:39:38,392 --> 00:39:41,161
A psychosis, you know?
708
00:39:41,153 --> 00:39:42,955
Day after day...
709
00:39:45,749 --> 00:39:49,392
(Man) Hearing really developed
as an animal detection system,
710
00:39:49,384 --> 00:39:53,753
the primary means
of establishing an alert
711
00:39:53,745 --> 00:39:56,080
that you had to get away,
get away quickly.
712
00:39:56,072 --> 00:39:59,040
Because really, it was a matter
of flight or hide is...
713
00:39:59,033 --> 00:40:01,535
Were your only modes of survival.
714
00:40:01,527 --> 00:40:05,697
Our system's stress in response to noise
715
00:40:05,689 --> 00:40:09,091
comes from this environmentally
animal necessity
716
00:40:09,083 --> 00:40:10,517
of avoiding a threat.
717
00:40:10,509 --> 00:40:14,512
So we hear sirens on the street...
718
00:40:14,504 --> 00:40:16,372
Every one of those sirens,
it can be shown,
719
00:40:16,364 --> 00:40:18,898
you're going to get
some elevation in heart rate,
720
00:40:18,890 --> 00:40:22,527
some vasoconstriction,
release of stress hormones.
721
00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:25,788
All of these different stress
markers happen to you.
722
00:40:25,780 --> 00:40:30,818
So we're getting this barrage of stress
723
00:40:30,810 --> 00:40:32,511
even when we don't perceive it as such.
724
00:40:32,503 --> 00:40:34,637
If you've ever been
725
00:40:34,629 --> 00:40:36,963
in an incredibly loud club
726
00:40:36,955 --> 00:40:38,690
or a loud party or a loud restaurant,
727
00:40:38,682 --> 00:40:40,082
and there was a moment when you actually
728
00:40:40,075 --> 00:40:42,410
felt vertigo and nausea
729
00:40:42,402 --> 00:40:43,702
because you didn't think
730
00:40:43,694 --> 00:40:45,828
that you could survive
there another moment,
731
00:40:45,820 --> 00:40:47,562
and you burst out the door...
732
00:40:51,324 --> 00:40:53,325
Imagine what it is for
these marine species
733
00:40:53,317 --> 00:40:56,252
that have no door
to pass through to get away.
734
00:40:56,244 --> 00:40:58,112
There's nowhere to go.
735
00:41:04,142 --> 00:41:06,678
(Man) Few years ago, there were
a group of researchers
736
00:41:06,671 --> 00:41:08,605
who had been taking fecal samples
737
00:41:08,597 --> 00:41:11,599
of North Atlantic right whales.
738
00:41:11,591 --> 00:41:14,092
They saw something really funny
739
00:41:14,084 --> 00:41:17,387
in their data taken from 2001.
740
00:41:17,379 --> 00:41:22,016
Those fecal samples registered
fewer and fewer stress hormones.
741
00:41:23,509 --> 00:41:25,043
They looked more closely
742
00:41:25,035 --> 00:41:28,171
and they found that their samples
743
00:41:28,163 --> 00:41:30,063
seemed to turn around
at a particular date.
744
00:41:30,056 --> 00:41:32,497
And that was September 11th.
745
00:41:35,279 --> 00:41:36,645
(Man) After September 11th,
746
00:41:36,637 --> 00:41:39,780
there was a halt
to so much of shipping traffic.
747
00:41:39,772 --> 00:41:42,741
And that fall in shipping traffic
748
00:41:42,733 --> 00:41:47,669
seemed to correlate with a dramatic fall
749
00:41:47,661 --> 00:41:49,797
in stress hormones in right whales.
750
00:41:49,789 --> 00:41:52,256
They didn't see this in any other year.
751
00:41:52,248 --> 00:41:55,317
There's a direct,
significant correlation
752
00:41:55,310 --> 00:41:57,979
between the amount of ship noise
753
00:41:57,971 --> 00:41:59,137
and the physiology
754
00:41:59,129 --> 00:42:03,499
and the stress levels in these animals.
755
00:42:03,491 --> 00:42:06,260
It's a devastating finding.
756
00:42:06,252 --> 00:42:09,454
It's shocking
because it's so measurable,
757
00:42:09,446 --> 00:42:12,215
what was found
in the wake of the attacks.
758
00:42:17,679 --> 00:42:20,147
(Balcomb) One of the first things
they teach you at,
759
00:42:20,139 --> 00:42:22,073
uh, the naval officer academy
760
00:42:22,066 --> 00:42:25,268
is he who rules the ocean,
761
00:42:25,260 --> 00:42:28,262
rules the world.
762
00:42:28,254 --> 00:42:30,089
And it's true.
763
00:42:33,517 --> 00:42:36,519
I talked a friend
into going for a flight
764
00:42:36,511 --> 00:42:38,986
the following morning of the stranding.
765
00:42:38,978 --> 00:42:42,447
We searched around
and found more specimens.
766
00:42:42,439 --> 00:42:46,142
But we also saw military ships,
767
00:42:46,134 --> 00:42:47,535
U.S. Navy destroyer
768
00:42:47,528 --> 00:42:50,830
and some other warships.
769
00:42:50,822 --> 00:42:54,225
So then I just put the two
and two together.
770
00:42:57,085 --> 00:42:59,587
(McAdams) The missing piece
of the puzzle for Ken balcomb
771
00:42:59,579 --> 00:43:01,313
was the U. S. Navy,
772
00:43:01,305 --> 00:43:02,939
an institution he had served in
773
00:43:02,931 --> 00:43:06,734
with distinction
during his early career.
774
00:43:06,726 --> 00:43:09,561
(Balcomb)
The warships were bouncing their sonars
775
00:43:09,553 --> 00:43:13,390
with very high intensity
and frequency sound.
776
00:43:13,716 --> 00:43:17,051
[Sonar squealing]
777
00:43:17,043 --> 00:43:21,346
A screeching tone is hard to listen to.
778
00:43:21,338 --> 00:43:25,476
It's just overpowering.
779
00:43:25,468 --> 00:43:27,535
I can't imagine anything more absurd
780
00:43:27,527 --> 00:43:31,531
than dropping acoustic bombs
in downtown cities.
781
00:43:32,957 --> 00:43:34,825
It's... it's equivalent.
782
00:43:36,952 --> 00:43:39,093
(McAdams)
Naval warships use a technique
783
00:43:39,085 --> 00:43:41,352
that mimics the natural abilities
784
00:43:41,345 --> 00:43:43,346
of whales and dolphins.
785
00:43:43,338 --> 00:43:46,441
(Balcomb)
They'll send out a click
786
00:43:46,433 --> 00:43:49,134
and listen for the echo off a target,
787
00:43:49,126 --> 00:43:50,461
and know how far away it is
788
00:43:50,453 --> 00:43:54,155
and how fast it's moving
and even what kinda target.
789
00:43:54,147 --> 00:43:56,815
Sonar is the principal
submarine detection system
790
00:43:56,807 --> 00:43:58,074
used by the U. S. Navy
791
00:43:58,066 --> 00:44:00,369
and other navies of the world.
792
00:44:03,897 --> 00:44:06,298
(McAdams) Joel Reynolds has spent
much of his career
793
00:44:06,290 --> 00:44:09,394
fighting in the courts
to protect the oceans.
794
00:44:12,622 --> 00:44:16,525
(Reynolds) The Navy developed
something called active sonar.
795
00:44:16,517 --> 00:44:18,584
And this is the system
that they use to protect
796
00:44:18,576 --> 00:44:22,447
our massive aircraft carriers
with 5,000 sailors on them.
797
00:44:25,941 --> 00:44:27,575
In its simplest terms,
798
00:44:27,567 --> 00:44:30,903
it involves generating
extremely loud sound underwater
799
00:44:30,895 --> 00:44:32,630
to detect targets.
800
00:44:36,125 --> 00:44:37,933
(Balcomb) It's in a sweep.
801
00:44:37,925 --> 00:44:40,660
So when the sweep
is pointed right at you,
802
00:44:40,652 --> 00:44:43,554
you get the full intensity of it.
803
00:44:43,546 --> 00:44:47,549
And then, about a minute
later, it does it again.
804
00:44:47,541 --> 00:44:49,842
(Reynolds)
We began to investigate.
805
00:44:49,834 --> 00:44:52,135
We learned that they had no permits.
806
00:44:52,127 --> 00:44:54,396
They'd done no environmental reviews.
807
00:44:54,388 --> 00:44:56,455
There were no safeguards,
808
00:44:56,448 --> 00:44:57,848
uh, built into the program
809
00:44:57,840 --> 00:45:01,177
to protect the marine environment.
810
00:45:01,169 --> 00:45:04,571
(McAdams) The impact of active sonar
on whales and dolphins
811
00:45:04,563 --> 00:45:07,465
has been clearly documented
in the Bahamas case
812
00:45:07,457 --> 00:45:11,493
and others where animals
have been killed.
813
00:45:11,485 --> 00:45:15,087
(Man) When biologists have
studied their bodies,
814
00:45:15,079 --> 00:45:19,883
they have seen an array
of very disturbing pathologies.
815
00:45:19,875 --> 00:45:22,144
Bleeding around the brain, uh,
816
00:45:22,137 --> 00:45:24,138
lesions in organ tissue,
817
00:45:24,130 --> 00:45:26,264
all consistent with,
818
00:45:26,256 --> 00:45:29,459
uh, decompression sickness or the bends.
819
00:45:32,453 --> 00:45:36,956
Divers know that they have
to surface gradually, uh,
820
00:45:36,948 --> 00:45:39,857
when they're ending a dive.
821
00:45:39,849 --> 00:45:43,285
Otherwise, nitrogen
can build up in the blood
822
00:45:43,277 --> 00:45:47,247
to the point where it damages the body.
823
00:45:47,239 --> 00:45:48,705
That is precisely
824
00:45:48,698 --> 00:45:52,735
what seems to be
happening to beaked whales.
825
00:45:52,727 --> 00:45:55,329
(Balcomb)
They're deepâwater animals,
826
00:45:55,321 --> 00:45:58,289
all of a sudden
they just leave the water.
827
00:45:58,281 --> 00:46:00,517
And now they can't decompress.
828
00:46:02,543 --> 00:46:04,611
(Jasny)
After the Bahamas strandings occurred,
829
00:46:04,603 --> 00:46:07,105
the Navy denied it was involved.
830
00:46:07,097 --> 00:46:09,198
It took the better part of 2 years
831
00:46:09,190 --> 00:46:11,724
for it to admit culpability.
832
00:46:11,717 --> 00:46:13,285
The chief of naval operations,
833
00:46:13,277 --> 00:46:14,710
the head guy,
834
00:46:14,702 --> 00:46:17,071
was convinced, finally,
835
00:46:17,063 --> 00:46:20,531
that, uh, yeah, that it's their fault.
836
00:46:20,523 --> 00:46:22,292
They did it.
837
00:46:25,686 --> 00:46:27,620
(Man)
There are many other navies in the world
838
00:46:27,612 --> 00:46:29,680
that use this same kind of technology
839
00:46:29,672 --> 00:46:31,806
to detect submarines.
840
00:46:31,799 --> 00:46:35,069
Many of them follow our lead, of course.
841
00:46:35,061 --> 00:46:39,037
It's a global problem
in its truest sense.
842
00:46:39,029 --> 00:46:41,564
(Man)
Probably the most visible effect
843
00:46:41,556 --> 00:46:43,323
of ocean noise, uh,
844
00:46:43,315 --> 00:46:46,417
has been this series of mass strandings
845
00:46:46,409 --> 00:46:49,946
of whales on the beaches
around the world.
846
00:46:49,938 --> 00:46:52,005
Time and again, in the Bahamas,
847
00:46:51,997 --> 00:46:55,733
in the canary islands,
off Spain, off Greece,
848
00:46:55,726 --> 00:47:01,197
they have turned up along the coast.
849
00:47:01,189 --> 00:47:04,425
The Navy was acting lawlessly
for years, uh,
850
00:47:04,417 --> 00:47:08,153
before we started taking them to court.
851
00:47:08,145 --> 00:47:12,115
It's not an easy thing to...
to fight the U. S. Navy.
852
00:47:12,107 --> 00:47:14,741
I think a lot of us look at the Navy
853
00:47:14,733 --> 00:47:16,968
as people acting in the public interest.
854
00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:19,595
And it's a little painful
to have to go after them.
855
00:47:19,587 --> 00:47:21,554
But once we did, uh,
856
00:47:21,547 --> 00:47:23,515
they started doing
environmental reviews.
857
00:47:23,507 --> 00:47:25,575
They started getting permits.
858
00:47:25,567 --> 00:47:27,568
They started a research program
859
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:30,495
which is now the largest source
860
00:47:30,487 --> 00:47:34,657
of marine mammal research funds,
probably, on the planet.
861
00:47:34,649 --> 00:47:39,293
The trick is to get the Navy
to move beyond research.
862
00:47:39,285 --> 00:47:40,886
We're at the point
863
00:47:40,878 --> 00:47:42,845
where we know enough to say
864
00:47:42,838 --> 00:47:44,873
that the Navy has to do more
865
00:47:44,865 --> 00:47:47,867
to reduce harm from its exercises.
866
00:47:47,859 --> 00:47:49,926
(Reynolds) We don't believe
there's an inconsistency
867
00:47:49,918 --> 00:47:53,755
between defending the United States
868
00:47:53,747 --> 00:47:55,648
and protecting the environment.
869
00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:59,777
Whales and other marine life
should not die for practice.
870
00:48:02,738 --> 00:48:05,272
(McAdams)
Three years after the Bahamas stranding,
871
00:48:05,264 --> 00:48:07,132
Ken balcomb was watching orcas
872
00:48:07,125 --> 00:48:10,593
from his new home in Washington state.
873
00:48:10,585 --> 00:48:13,655
(Balcomb)
The ship was about 3 miles out.
874
00:48:13,647 --> 00:48:17,417
It was just, like, deja vu
of the Bahamas.
875
00:48:30,700 --> 00:48:33,335
(McAdams)
Three years after the Bahamas stranding,
876
00:48:33,327 --> 00:48:35,094
Ken balcomb was watching orcas
877
00:48:35,086 --> 00:48:37,988
from his new home in Washington state.
878
00:48:37,980 --> 00:48:41,990
(Balcomb) It was just, like,
deja vu of the Bahamas.
879
00:48:41,982 --> 00:48:45,385
Uh, I was just dumbfounded.
880
00:48:45,378 --> 00:48:47,144
Yeah.
881
00:48:47,136 --> 00:48:50,707
[Sonar screeching]
882
00:48:59,106 --> 00:49:00,974
Shut the damn thing off.
883
00:49:00,966 --> 00:49:04,069
[Sonar screeching]
884
00:49:07,730 --> 00:49:10,932
Before the ship
started utilizing its sonar,
885
00:49:10,924 --> 00:49:12,892
the whales were feeding at salmon bank,
886
00:49:12,884 --> 00:49:14,952
south end of this island.
887
00:49:14,944 --> 00:49:16,711
Something very unusual was happening.
888
00:49:16,704 --> 00:49:19,173
All the whales
gathered together in groups
889
00:49:19,165 --> 00:49:22,066
and went very close to the shore.
890
00:49:22,058 --> 00:49:23,726
We started seeing every porpoise.
891
00:49:23,718 --> 00:49:26,320
They were all just streaking,
892
00:49:26,312 --> 00:49:29,414
as fast as they could go,
away from the sound.
893
00:49:29,406 --> 00:49:33,542
And a minke whale was going
away from the sound.
894
00:49:33,534 --> 00:49:36,403
(McAdams)
Navy sonar is like an enormous predator.
895
00:49:36,395 --> 00:49:40,364
When whales hear it,
some go silent, stop foraging
896
00:49:40,357 --> 00:49:43,466
and abandon their habitat.
897
00:49:43,458 --> 00:49:48,429
Repeated exposure to sonar
can harm whole populations.
898
00:49:48,421 --> 00:49:51,289
You didn't have to have
a hydrophone to hear the sonar.
899
00:49:51,281 --> 00:49:55,784
It was virtually unbearable
for us on the porch.
900
00:49:55,776 --> 00:49:59,879
I can't imagine what it must've
been like underwater.
901
00:49:59,871 --> 00:50:03,074
In the following days, 11 porpoises
902
00:50:03,066 --> 00:50:06,835
were found on the beach, dead.
903
00:50:06,827 --> 00:50:10,063
You know, one of the complaints
from an admiral was that,
904
00:50:10,056 --> 00:50:13,993
"well, you know,
we can't worry about the fish."
905
00:50:13,985 --> 00:50:16,452
Nobody comes in the Navy,
that I know of,
906
00:50:16,444 --> 00:50:19,246
to say they wanna hurt a whale.
907
00:50:19,238 --> 00:50:21,106
When I was in the Navy, I had the honor
908
00:50:21,098 --> 00:50:23,032
of commanding 3 warships...
909
00:50:23,024 --> 00:50:25,259
The commodore of 13 warships
910
00:50:25,251 --> 00:50:30,555
and then chief of staff
of naval surface forces.
911
00:50:30,547 --> 00:50:34,716
If you know that there is
a whale in the area,
912
00:50:34,709 --> 00:50:36,410
unless you're at war,
913
00:50:36,402 --> 00:50:39,504
you're... you're trying
to avoid using those sonars.
914
00:50:39,496 --> 00:50:42,405
[Sonar screeching]
915
00:50:42,397 --> 00:50:45,566
(Man)
Midâfrequency sonar can be pretty loud.
916
00:50:45,558 --> 00:50:49,694
Putting sound in the water
can have an impact
917
00:50:49,686 --> 00:50:53,456
upon whales and other mammals
that inhabit the ocean.
918
00:50:53,448 --> 00:50:56,050
It's also important to understand
919
00:50:56,042 --> 00:50:59,677
that what the sound is looking for
920
00:50:59,670 --> 00:51:01,839
are a potential enemy
921
00:51:01,831 --> 00:51:04,999
whose intent is to kill sailors
922
00:51:04,991 --> 00:51:07,526
and destroy our ships.
923
00:51:07,518 --> 00:51:08,718
(Parker) What's at stake
924
00:51:08,710 --> 00:51:11,512
if we are not good
at antiâsubmarine warfare
925
00:51:11,504 --> 00:51:13,405
is not only the threat
926
00:51:13,397 --> 00:51:15,965
of loss of life of America's
sons and daughters
927
00:51:15,957 --> 00:51:17,424
and our friends and allies,
928
00:51:17,417 --> 00:51:20,319
but also those capital ships
that we invest in.
929
00:51:20,311 --> 00:51:21,879
Ships are expensive,
930
00:51:21,871 --> 00:51:24,172
and obviously human beings
can't be replaced.
931
00:51:24,164 --> 00:51:27,901
So we have to be very good
at antiâsubmarine warfare.
932
00:51:29,260 --> 00:51:31,627
(Honigman)
I don't believe that National Security
933
00:51:31,619 --> 00:51:34,856
and Environmental Protection
are inconsistent at all.
934
00:51:34,848 --> 00:51:37,482
I think there has to be an accommodation
935
00:51:37,474 --> 00:51:39,675
between those two principles,
936
00:51:39,668 --> 00:51:42,243
where the Navy can operate in a way
937
00:51:42,235 --> 00:51:45,604
that has the minimal impact
upon the environment
938
00:51:45,596 --> 00:51:48,065
and still perform its training
939
00:51:48,057 --> 00:51:50,092
and, if necessary, its mission.
940
00:51:54,320 --> 00:51:58,057
We all value security.
941
00:51:58,049 --> 00:52:01,117
We have to think of security,
however, in the broader terms
942
00:52:01,109 --> 00:52:03,878
of what we're doing
to our life support system.
943
00:52:03,870 --> 00:52:06,438
And that means considering
life in the ocean
944
00:52:06,431 --> 00:52:09,199
as a part of what makes
our lives possible.
945
00:52:09,191 --> 00:52:12,061
[Cacophony crescendos]
946
00:52:18,859 --> 00:52:21,427
(Balcomb)
We can't support the human population,
947
00:52:21,419 --> 00:52:24,354
at the rate we're growing,
948
00:52:24,346 --> 00:52:27,048
with a diminishing ecosystem.
949
00:52:27,040 --> 00:52:29,710
[Whale song]
950
00:52:33,638 --> 00:52:35,438
And they're the sentinels
of whether or not
951
00:52:35,430 --> 00:52:37,331
it's healthy out there.
952
00:52:37,324 --> 00:52:41,234
Killing 'em off is not sensible.
953
00:52:41,226 --> 00:52:43,628
The typical mode
that we all have is status quo.
954
00:52:43,620 --> 00:52:45,787
It's easier, in some ways,
not to do anything
955
00:52:45,779 --> 00:52:48,180
than it is do something.
956
00:52:48,172 --> 00:52:50,273
So, we are at this tipping point.
957
00:52:50,265 --> 00:52:53,101
This is a problem that we can solve.
958
00:52:53,093 --> 00:52:55,728
The question is whether we have
the political will to solve it.
959
00:52:55,720 --> 00:52:59,389
That's really what it comes down to.
960
00:52:59,382 --> 00:53:02,084
(Earle) I attended a shipping
conference not long ago
961
00:53:02,076 --> 00:53:05,278
where the organizers started
the conference by saying,
962
00:53:05,270 --> 00:53:08,138
"if only we knew 50 years ago
963
00:53:08,130 --> 00:53:11,467
what we know today
about sound in the ocean,
964
00:53:11,459 --> 00:53:13,860
we could design propellers
965
00:53:13,852 --> 00:53:18,088
that are not only much quieter,
but are more efficient."
966
00:53:18,080 --> 00:53:20,449
Designing a quieter ship
967
00:53:20,441 --> 00:53:23,375
will result in
increased fuel efficiency,
968
00:53:23,368 --> 00:53:26,370
which is reduced cost to the owner.
969
00:53:26,362 --> 00:53:28,631
We're talking about ships
that have fuel costs,
970
00:53:28,623 --> 00:53:30,289
on a perâvessel basis,
971
00:53:30,281 --> 00:53:32,383
tens of millions of dollars a year.
972
00:53:32,375 --> 00:53:34,710
So, designing more efficient vessels
973
00:53:34,702 --> 00:53:37,036
just makes a whole lot of sense.
974
00:53:37,028 --> 00:53:39,697
It is in the U. S. Navy's best interest
975
00:53:39,689 --> 00:53:43,398
to be as quiet as possible
when we operate at sea.
976
00:53:43,391 --> 00:53:45,492
Hull forms are changing dramatically
977
00:53:45,484 --> 00:53:47,585
over the last several decades.
978
00:53:47,577 --> 00:53:49,211
And you can just look out and see
979
00:53:49,203 --> 00:53:52,071
that you have
more catamaranâshaped hulls,
980
00:53:52,063 --> 00:53:55,866
where you have less metal
actually in the water.
981
00:53:55,858 --> 00:53:57,793
And so that is reducing the sound
982
00:53:57,785 --> 00:53:59,386
and also reduces the friction,
983
00:53:59,378 --> 00:54:03,246
which means that it's
more fuelâefficient and quieter.
984
00:54:03,239 --> 00:54:07,009
(Man) Researchers and Navies
have been modifying their ships
985
00:54:07,001 --> 00:54:09,703
to reduce noise for... for years.
986
00:54:09,695 --> 00:54:12,196
Commercial ships can reduce the noise
987
00:54:12,188 --> 00:54:15,658
that they put in the water
by some 90 percent.
988
00:54:15,650 --> 00:54:18,452
That's significant.
989
00:54:18,444 --> 00:54:22,247
Another way to reduce the noise
is go a little slower.
990
00:54:22,239 --> 00:54:24,506
(McAdams)
Chris Clark also advocates
991
00:54:24,498 --> 00:54:26,199
speed limits for cargo ships
992
00:54:26,192 --> 00:54:28,427
as well as rerouting shipping lanes
993
00:54:28,419 --> 00:54:30,986
where they are clearly
impacting habitats.
994
00:54:30,978 --> 00:54:34,014
(Clark)
The average waiting time for a ship
995
00:54:34,006 --> 00:54:35,640
when it gets to port,
996
00:54:35,632 --> 00:54:38,267
before it unloads its cargo,
997
00:54:38,259 --> 00:54:39,759
is 3 days.
998
00:54:39,751 --> 00:54:43,060
Wouldn't it make sense
to maybe go a little slower
999
00:54:43,052 --> 00:54:45,854
and save billions of dollars
in fuel costs?
1000
00:54:45,847 --> 00:54:48,716
And then when you get to shore
you have a very efficient system
1001
00:54:48,708 --> 00:54:50,542
of getting your cargo off the ship,
1002
00:54:50,534 --> 00:54:53,103
rather than sitting there for 3 days.
1003
00:54:53,095 --> 00:54:56,763
So reducing noise could be
a winâwinâwin.
1004
00:54:56,755 --> 00:55:01,058
A win for marine mammals having
to deal with noise in the ocean.
1005
00:55:01,050 --> 00:55:03,519
A win for the climate and for humans
1006
00:55:03,511 --> 00:55:05,345
who have to deal with air pollution.
1007
00:55:05,337 --> 00:55:06,837
And even a...
1008
00:55:06,830 --> 00:55:09,533
A win for industry, saving money
over the life of a ship.
1009
00:55:14,832 --> 00:55:16,900
(Balcomb) In terms of human life,
there is a threat
1010
00:55:16,892 --> 00:55:20,428
that they have to prepare for
and then practice for.
1011
00:55:20,420 --> 00:55:22,688
I think they should avoid the problems.
1012
00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:24,648
And you avoid 'em by not practicing
1013
00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:28,342
in where you know sensitive animals are.
1014
00:55:28,334 --> 00:55:31,369
Breeding areas, feeding areas,
migratory routes...
1015
00:55:31,361 --> 00:55:34,931
When there are animals present,
test someplace else.
1016
00:55:34,924 --> 00:55:38,767
[Blasting]
1017
00:55:38,759 --> 00:55:42,362
(Sting)
We are searching harder every day
1018
00:55:42,354 --> 00:55:46,423
for more and more oil everywhere.
1019
00:55:46,415 --> 00:55:48,182
So if there are... there is a technology
1020
00:55:48,174 --> 00:55:50,108
to make it less, uh,
1021
00:55:50,100 --> 00:55:53,269
abusive to the... to the Sonic World,
1022
00:55:53,261 --> 00:55:54,895
then we should...
We should embrace that,
1023
00:55:54,887 --> 00:55:56,388
no matter what the cost.
1024
00:55:56,381 --> 00:55:58,616
Are there alternative technologies,
1025
00:55:58,608 --> 00:56:01,676
other than setting off
a bomb every 9 seconds,
1026
00:56:01,668 --> 00:56:03,736
that are available to us today?
1027
00:56:03,728 --> 00:56:06,497
And the answer is, you bet there are.
1028
00:56:06,489 --> 00:56:10,992
And you can be profoundly
quieter than the explosion.
1029
00:56:10,984 --> 00:56:13,185
For example,
there's an emerging technology
1030
00:56:13,177 --> 00:56:17,113
called marine vibroseis that
doesn't produce an explosion.
1031
00:56:17,105 --> 00:56:20,475
It produces a continuous,
very lowâfrequency sound
1032
00:56:20,468 --> 00:56:24,471
that is thousands of times less
intense and less invasive
1033
00:56:24,463 --> 00:56:26,264
than an explosion.
1034
00:56:26,256 --> 00:56:30,459
And it also produces
a much higher resolution image
1035
00:56:30,451 --> 00:56:31,951
of the Earth.
1036
00:56:31,943 --> 00:56:33,444
It won't cure the problem.
1037
00:56:33,436 --> 00:56:34,836
There will still be impacts.
1038
00:56:34,828 --> 00:56:36,970
But it would at least reduce the fever.
1039
00:56:39,597 --> 00:56:41,365
The one good thing about ocean noise
1040
00:56:41,358 --> 00:56:43,725
is that when you stop making noise,
1041
00:56:43,717 --> 00:56:45,719
it goes away.
1042
00:56:50,048 --> 00:56:53,017
[Animals calling]
1043
00:56:57,480 --> 00:56:59,814
(Man) I've always believed,
from the very beginning
1044
00:56:59,806 --> 00:57:02,775
of my struggle, my fight, that we...
1045
00:57:02,767 --> 00:57:04,569
We are going to win this.
1046
00:57:06,695 --> 00:57:09,531
I have become a grandfather.
1047
00:57:09,523 --> 00:57:13,892
I'm all the time thinking about
who is coming behind us.
1048
00:57:13,885 --> 00:57:16,121
Our children, our grandchildren
1049
00:57:16,113 --> 00:57:19,348
and who comes behind them.
1050
00:57:19,340 --> 00:57:21,474
What are we leaving
for the next generations?
1051
00:57:21,466 --> 00:57:24,968
Will they survive?
1052
00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:26,528
(Earle)
Things that we could not know,
1053
00:57:26,520 --> 00:57:29,955
going back 50 years ago,
now are coming into focus.
1054
00:57:31,347 --> 00:57:34,050
The ocean, through all of human history,
1055
00:57:34,042 --> 00:57:37,512
has made it possible for us to thrive,
1056
00:57:37,505 --> 00:57:40,881
to live, to have a secure future.
1057
00:57:41,073 --> 00:57:42,573
We can't go back.
1058
00:57:42,565 --> 00:57:45,401
But we can make things
better going forward.
1059
00:57:45,393 --> 00:57:49,562
This is the time to return the favor.
1060
00:57:49,554 --> 00:57:53,491
My father used to say,
"people protect what they love."
1061
00:57:53,483 --> 00:57:54,916
And I kept telling him,
1062
00:57:54,908 --> 00:57:58,411
"how can you protect
what you don't understand?"
1063
00:57:58,403 --> 00:58:00,837
And now we're starting to understand.
1064
00:58:00,830 --> 00:58:02,231
And that information,
1065
00:58:02,223 --> 00:58:04,858
we need to bring it everywhere,
in every school.
1066
00:58:04,850 --> 00:58:07,686
We need to get the kids out, wet.
1067
00:58:14,651 --> 00:58:17,019
I have a daughter who's 4 1/2,
1068
00:58:17,011 --> 00:58:19,312
and she hasn't seen a whale yet.
1069
00:58:19,304 --> 00:58:21,239
And I wanna make sure
that she sees a whale
1070
00:58:21,231 --> 00:58:23,298
and that her kids
see whales and their kids
1071
00:58:23,290 --> 00:58:24,557
see whales.
1072
00:58:24,550 --> 00:58:26,718
(Man) Oh, my God!
1073
00:58:26,710 --> 00:58:31,647
(Group) Oh, my God!
1074
00:58:31,639 --> 00:58:33,607
(Man) Look at his belly!
Look at the white!
1075
00:58:33,599 --> 00:58:37,508
Wow! Whoa!
1076
00:58:37,500 --> 00:58:39,269
Oh, my God!
1077
00:58:43,064 --> 00:58:45,598
Okay, that might have been
one of the greater moments
1078
00:58:45,590 --> 00:58:46,958
of my life.
1079
00:58:46,950 --> 00:58:49,819
There's something incredible
about that experience.
1080
00:58:49,812 --> 00:58:51,913
And the planet is not just about us.
1081
00:58:51,905 --> 00:58:55,540
We're... we're one species here.
1082
00:58:55,532 --> 00:58:58,001
And it's incredibly irresponsible for us
1083
00:58:57,993 --> 00:59:00,961
not to be better stewards.
1084
00:59:00,953 --> 00:59:03,354
And it's not about science...
Science plays a role in it.
1085
00:59:03,346 --> 00:59:05,014
You use science.
1086
00:59:05,006 --> 00:59:07,107
But it really comes down
to, what do we...
1087
00:59:07,099 --> 00:59:08,332
What do we value?
1088
00:59:08,325 --> 00:59:10,928
We value a living ocean.
1089
00:59:13,922 --> 00:59:16,257
We're putting the ocean at risk.
1090
00:59:16,249 --> 00:59:17,883
And if you put the ocean at risk,
1091
00:59:17,875 --> 00:59:20,144
you're putting all of us at risk.83811
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