All language subtitles for remux-M.I.2024.S01E01.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH.eng

-Visitors to the island
say that they hear people

screaming and crying.

[Narrator] A remote island is
home to a rare and bizarre tree.

-When it’s sliced open, it
bleeds a resin of deep crimson.

[Narrator] An abandoned
Japanese island provides a

glimpse into an
industrious history

-It really does bare an uncanny
resemblance to a battleship

[Narrator] Isolated.

Scarce on resources.

Islands are worlds
unto themselves.

Bizarre creatures.

Ancient gods and haunting ruins.

Baffling murders
and deadly spirits.

What will be discovered on
Earth's mysterious islands?

[rolling thunder]

[Narrator] Venice.
“The Floating City.”

Built on 118 islands off
the coast of Northern Italy,

it draws 30 million
tourists a year to see

its architectural masterpieces.

-Venice is steeped in
history and culture.

Tourists flock to famous
sites like the Grand Canal,

St. Mark’s Square,
and the Doge’s Palace.

[Narrator] But there are a
multitude of lesser-known

landmarks on the
many smaller islands in

the Venetian Lagoon.

-The Venetian Lagoon
is a bay between Venice

and the Lido,

one of the Lagoon's
barrier islands.

Most of these islands
off Venice's shores have

settlements centuries old
with monumental

art and architecture.

-But one island in
the Lagoon stands out,

and not because of
its pristine beauty.

Quite the opposite.

[Narrator] The
island is Proveglia.

A mere 17 acres,

Proveglia’s claim
to fame is that it is

completely uninhabited.

-It’s strange, really.

Proveglia is only 500 yards
from the Lido and about

three miles south of Venice,

and yet it’s
deserted and desolate.

-In 2018, the Italian government
forbade travel to the island,

"Due to security reasons."

The question is, why?

[Narrator] Two curious
explorers set out by rowboat.

-One of the first things
you notice from a distance is

what appears to be a tall tower,

amongst a cluster
of old buildings.

-As they approach the island,

they’re also
intrigued by a flat,

geometric stone formation,
a tiny island of its own.

-As they get closer,

they notice the overgrown
dilapidated state of several

stone buildings
close to the shore.

What are these
buildings and how long have

they been abandoned?

[Narrator] The two
explorers go ashore to

investigate the Island.

[♪ mysterious music playing]

-The first thing you
notice when you step onto

Proveglia is that
the main group of buildings

are in deep neglect,

with bushes and trees growing
all around them.

-It really makes you wonder,

why have these buildings
been abandoned when communities

are thriving on the
Lagoon’s other tiny islands?

[Narrator] A chilling clue is
discovered near the ruins of

one building that is somewhat
separate from the others.

-They find a solitary tombstone,

with an inscription in
Latin and a date written in

Roman numerals: 1793.

It's very strange.

[Narrator] Historical records
reveal a dark connection

between Proveglia and one of
the most devastating pandemics

to ever afflict mankind:

the Black Death,
or Bubonic Plague.

[Dr. Alison Leonard] In 1793,
a ship docked at Proveglia was

discovered to have
plague-infected sailors so

all passengers were
quarantined on the island.

[Dr. Amma Wakefield]
At that point,

the Black Death had
been ravaging Europe for

almost 450 years.

[Narrator] Originating
in Asia in the mid-1300s,

the Black Death is
second only to smallpox for

its death toll.

-The Bubonic Plague
caused an estimated

75 million deaths
around the world.

[Dr. Alison Leonard]
Spread along the world’s

busiest trade routes,

it was transmitted
either by infected rats and

fleas on ships
or through the air.

-It attacked the
lymphatic system,

resulting in boils
the size of eggs in the

groin and armpits,

seeping blood and pus,

fever, diarrhea, vomiting,
causing almost certain death.

The Black Death claimed
its first victims in the

Republic of Venice
in 1347 killing an

estimated 50,000 people.

-Venice lost hundreds
of thousands of people

over the next 200 years,

forcing the republic
to create a network of

quarantine stations
in the Venetian lagoon

called Lazaretti.

[Narrator] In 1777, Venice’s
Magistrate of Health made the

island of Poveglia
the primary plague checkpoint

for the Republic.

-Proveglia was designated as
a quarantine station.

Ships from the East coming
to Venice first had to pass

through the island’s
canal for inspection.

-When they
approached the island,

they would first pass
by the strange flat,

geometric formation
that the rowers first saw.

Did this stone structure
play a crucial role in the

island's quarantine station?

[Narrator] A closer
examination of the formation

reveals it is eight-sided.

A perfect octagon, a
shape historically used

for defensive fortresses
and castles throughout the

Middle Ages in Europe.

[Dr. Amma Wakefield]
For centuries,

the Republic of Venice
had been the dominant trading

port of Europe because
of its orientation on

major shipping routes.

But it also meant Venice was
a major target for invaders.

[Narrator] In 1379,
Genoa attacked Venice in the

War of Chioggia.

The hundreds of people
living on Proveglia were

forced to evacuate.

-The Republic of Venice
was forced to build a

more formidable defensive
system in the Lagoon

to protect the city.

The first of these fortresses
was built on Proveglia,

fully manned by artillerymen
with heavy firearms.

[Narrator] But by 1793, when
the tombstone was erected,

although the lazaretto,
or quarantine station,

on Proveglia, was in operation,

the hard-fought
wars were long over.

-The fort is clearly not
from the Lazaretti era,

but near the tombstone,

there is also an
impressive stone tower

visible from offshore.

-It's twice as high as
any building on the island

so it would have
offered a clear view

of approaching ships.

Could the tower have
played a surveillance role in

Proveglia's quarantine
station in or around 1793?

[Dr. Alison Leonard] When
you examine the tower’s

architecture, the arches,
the specific conical roof,

it appears to be the
bell tower of a church.

[Dr. Amma Wakefield] Archival
records confirm that the ruins

and the tower itself are
from the Church of San Vitale,

dating back to the 12th century.

But the island's congregation
drastically declined after the

War of Chioggia and the church
fell into a state of neglect.

-The church was
finally destroyed by Napoleon

in 1806 as
part of his suppression

of Catholic institutions.

He turned the bell tower
into a lighthouse.

So, the bell is long gone.

[Narrator] While not
directly connected to

the quarantine station,
the church ruins,

and its bell tower do
help explain the location

and significance
of the tombstone from 1793.

-The full Latin inscription on
the single tombstone reads,

"Don't dig. Here rest
those dead from contagion.

1793."

So, it's a mass grave.

This tombstone marks the
place where plague victims from

the first quarantined ship
were buried in that year.

[James Ellis] Proveglia
continued as a plague

quarantine station for
about 20 more years,

repeating its methods of
treating the diseased and

burying the dead when
infected ships were discovered.

But the island’s centuries-old
plague history wouldn’t account

for its abandonment today.

[Narrator] Rumor has it so
many bodies were burned on

Proveglia that half
the island’s soil consists

of human ashes.

[Dr. Alison Leonard] The
official estimate of the dead

buried on Proveglia from
1793 onwards is only 30 people.

But local legend claims
160,000 plague victims were

sent to what
became known as,

"The Island of No Return."

-Others claim Proveglia
was also a mass grave site

for Venice’s dead,
with barges carrying

plague-infected
corpses to Proveglia,

with the bodies either
cremated to prevent the

disease’s spread or dumped
into graves on the island.

-It’s these
types of legends that have

inspired some
locals to call Proveglia

“The Island of Ghosts.”

-Locals say that they
hear the tortured souls of

the dead screaming and crying.

[bell ringing]

[Narrator] Photographs and
video taken by island visitors

prior to its closure in
2018 reveal some artifacts

from a time period
after the early 1800s.

-In the main building
there are beds with

rotting mattresses,

leftover implements
in industrial kitchens,

and frightening
instruments and machinery.

-What was going on here?

Who inhabited this building
after the quarantine station of

the early 1800s?

[Narrator] Proveglia archives
reveal that in 1922 a

sanatorium was opened in
the existing stone buildings,

focusing on elder care.

But there is another
darker possibility of

what actually transpired.

-Outside another building,

just a few steps
from the main hospital,

there is a smaller
pavilion with a tell-tale

sign nearly covered
by the undergrowth.

It reads,
"Reparto Psichiatria,"

which in English means,

"Psychiatric Department."

-Local lore says
that there was a place

on the island that housed
Venice’s mentally ill.

It’s said that this asylum
not only imprisoned the insane

but also drove
"the sane crazy,"

inspiring a new
nickname for Proveglia:

"Madhouse Island,"

[Narrator] Video and
photographs reveal cramped

cell-like rooms,
gruesome red stains,

and scrawled messages on
the walls of the upper floors.

-Visitors also report
being terrorized by the ghost

of an evil doctor.

-People say that
he led the asylum and

performed barbaric experiments,

including force-feedings,
lobotomies, and the

use of electric shocks.

-Locals say this
evil doctor also chained

patients to their beds and

tortured them with hammers,
chisels, and drills.

[Narrator] Although no official
records have been found,

Several local
legends persist that the

doctor did exist.

The sanatorium on
Proveglia was closed in 1968.

The island was used to
grow crops for a few years

afterwards but
then left to decay.

[Dr. Alison Leonard] Now
desolate and overgrown,

Proveglia is
under strict control by

the Italian government.

Their many attempts to
either sell the island or

re-develop it, have failed.

[Dr. Anthony Cantor]
Whether it’s because of the

tortured souls of
Proveglia’s plague pits,

or the doctor’s victims
crying out for mercy,

Proveglia is
still known by many as,

“The World’s Most
Haunted Island.”

[Narrator] Leaving
the island and its

long-deserted ruins behind,
its tragic legacy remains.

Locals warn that
scorched-black bones from

plague victims
can still be found on

Proveglia's rocky banks.

"The Island of Ghosts"
remains abandoned,

awaiting the next visitors
who dare to brave its shores.

The Wallacean Islands
form an archipelago in the

eastern part of Indonesia
that is a world of its own,

entirely separated
from both the Asian and

Australian
continental shelves.

-Millions of years ago,

the world’s continents
were mostly connected,

however, over time and
through the movement of

their tectonic plates,

they've separated
from each other,

forming the islands and the
continents we recognize today.

-But the Wallacean islands
are fascinating because

they've never been
connected to the nearby

continents of
Australia or Asia.

And that makes it very
hard for animals to get

from those continents
to the Wallacean Islands.

-So the fauna that has
evolved here in Wallacea

is highly unique...
and this is no more evident

than in places
like Flores Island,

where the Komodo
dragon has been living for

one million years.

[Narrator] Flores is
situated in the southern end

of the Wallacean Islands.

At its highest point
towers Poco Mandasawu,

a lava dome rising almost
8,000 feet above the island.

And nearby lies the
volcano of Kelimutu,

famous for its crater lakes.

-The region around
Kelimutu is the traditional

land of the Lio people.

And an anthropologist
studying this region collected

some revealing
eyewitness accounts from them.

In the dense,

mountainous jungle
they frequently spotted

what they call the lai ho’a.

-Lai ho’a
essentially means ape man.

And what the Lio described
was a very short, upright,

walking individual,
covered in hair.

[Narrator] The
anthropologist records several

supposed sightings.

He learns that to the Lio,

the lai ho’a is
part of the landscape,

and is alive and well,
living in the mountains.

-Legends or myths of
mysterious creatures or

ape-men living among us
are not unique to the Lio.

The legend of Bigfoot
is well documented,

and there have been countless
sightings of him in the forests

of North America,

yet no hard evidence
has ever been located.

[Narrator] In 2003, a
group of paleo archaeologists

excavating the
Liang Bua Cave in

Flores Island
unearth what they think is

the skull of a small child.

-Since the Liang Bua Cave
is famous for containing

remains of humans that
are up to 10,000 years old,

it wouldn’t be surprising
to find the skull of a

small child here.

-But if you look closely,
you can see that the teeth

are actually all permanent...

...Meaning that this is,
in fact, a fully grown adult.

[Narrator] As the paleo
archaeologists keep excavating,

they recover a large
part of its skeleton.

-The skeleton is of
an adult female aged

around 30 years.

She would have
only stood at about

three and a half feet
tall and weighed anywhere

She would have
from 60 to 70 pounds.

-This is very much like
the size of a hobbit,

one of those fictitious,

tiny creatures with big,
hairy feet.

-This is a skeleton that has
never previously been recorded.

It's unknown to science.

Could this be the lai ho’a,

the ape-man described
by the Lio people?

[Narrator] The archaeologists
eventually return to the

Liang Bua Cave
and discover stone tools

throughout a number
of different layers,

dating from 190,000
to 50,000 years ago.

Placing the hobbit in
a similar timeframe.

-The tools are found
close to the remains of a

Stegodon that is a now-extinct
elephant-like species

that roamed large
parts of Southeast Asia

about 50,000 years ago.

-So this smaller
framed species was also capable

of shaping tools and hunting
these animals...

It means that despite
its small brain size,

it was by no
means unintelligent.

[Narrator] It is thought
that one of our ancient human

ancestors arrived in the
Indonesian archipelago.

On the nearby
island of Java,

several different
sites have turned up the

remains of Homo erectus,

indicating that this
early species of human was

undeniably living very
close to Flores Island.

[Dr. Alison Leonard] Homo
erectus appeared out of Africa

almost 2 million years ago
and was the first to have body

proportions similar
to that of Homo sapiens,

that's us, modern humans.

So could it be that this
smaller human species descended

from Homo erectus?

[Narrator] Here in Java,

stone tools dating back
750,000 years were discovered.

-At the time,
they were theorized to have

been made by Homo erectus.

-This means one of two things:

either those tiny
humans arrived here on their

own or they evolved
from a Homo erectus population

already living on Flores.

-Apart from the obvious
differences in their body size,

the skull of the
hobbit is very different

from that of Homo erectus.

[Narrator] The brain of the
hobbit found in the cave would

have measured
23 cubic inches,

which is about the
size of a chimpanzee’s.

The brain of homo erectus,
however, was more than

twice as big,
roughly 60 cubic inches.

-If this smaller species
were to have evolved

from Homo erectus,

it would mean it
gradually became smaller.

But this would actually
require huge evolutionary

reversals in both
body and brain size,

something which contradicts
normal evolutionary patterns.

[Dr. Dan Riskin] There is one
possible theory as to how this

could have happened...

...Because this is an island,

Homo erectus could have
become smaller over time

through a process
known as insular dwarfing.

[Narrator] Insular
dwarfing is an example

of the island effect,

a phenomenon related
specifically to islands.

It holds that when
resources are scarce and

space is limited,
big animals shrink,

and little ones get bigger.

-We have seen this phenomenon
occur with other mammals

in similar contexts like
the hippos on Cyprus who

shrank to the
size of sea lions.

-So, it is possible
that Homo erectus could have

gotten to
Flores Island and over the

course of thousands
of years shrunk to be

as small as the
remains found in the

Liang Bua Cave.

-But if this small human species
really was descended from

Homo erectus,
and just shrank over time,

certain fundamental
similarities in the skeletons

of these and homo
erectus should exist.

-The feet of the smaller
species of human found on

Flores Island are
exactly what you would think of

when you picture the feet
of a fictional hobbit,

like Frodo Baggins... Relative
to the rest of its size,

they're pretty large,

about 75% of the
length of the femur,

whereas for us
it's about 55%.

-Incredibly,
we can actually compare these

smaller feet to the
footprints of Homo erectus.

They have been found preserved
in the ground in Kenya.

These relatively big feet
don’t match the footprints we

can see here.

Homo erectus prints are
almost indistinguishable

from our own,

while these feet
are not even close.

[Narrator] Homo erectus is
one of only several early

iterations of what
eventually evolved to

become modern humans.

On the evolutionary
time scale,

Homo erectus appeared
quite recently,

while several other
older species of humans have

played a role in
our development.

-The wrist bones of
this smaller species are

totally different.

They lack certain distinct
features that have evolved with

humans over the course of
hundreds of thousands of years.

For example, a
bone in our wrists,

known as the trapezoid bone,

is a completely
different shape from that

of the specimens on Flores.

-Their wrists really appear to
resemble those of chimpanzees,

but they also bear
a resemblance to

those of Homo habilis,

a much older species
of hominin than Homo erectus.

[Narrator] Homo habilis is
one of the most ancient of our

human ancestors and inhabited
large parts of

sub-Saharan Africa
from around two and a half

to 1.4 million years ago.

-It’s possible that this
version of early human somehow

made the trek
eastward from Africa and

over time
evolved into the hobbit.

But it's impossible
to know for sure.

We need more evidence
in the form of bones to be

able to prove this.

[Anthea Nardi] So how did
they even get to Flores Island,

it’s always been an island.

How did they make
their way across the sea?

[Dr. Dan Riskin] We’ve always
assumed that these early humans

didn’t build boats,
but what if that’s wrong?

What if they built a vessel
that could take them over,

or maybe they hitched a
ride on a piece of debris

that floated across the water.

We just don’t know.

[Dr. Alison Leonard] What
we do know is that it was

one of the last early human
species to go extinct,

and it would have started
to do so around the same time

as Homo sapiens
arrived on Flores Island

50,000 years ago.

[Narrator] Until new
evidence emerges,

the hobbit of Flores Island
will remain a mystery.

Of Japan's four main islands,

Kyushu is its
southernmost and third largest.

To its west, in
the East China Sea,

lie a number of
little islands,

one in particular
with a curious profile:

Hashima Island.

-The south end of
Hashima Island is

broad and flat,

but as you move northwards
it rises gradually,

and its center is dominated by
massive rectangular buildings.

These give way to shorter,
squat buildings,

before the island
tapers off into a point

at its northern end,

making it look very
much like a ship’s bow.

[James Ellis] Buildings are
constructed helter-skelter

on top and
around each other.

There doesn't seem to be
much method to the madness.

And there is a mess of
concrete block towers and

what looks like industrial
equipment along the shoreline.

-There's also an enormous
seawall which protects the

island from the
worst of the ocean.

Japan, as we know,
frequently gets

visited by typhoons.

Considering how
small this island is,

it would definitely need
significant protection when hit

by such winds and high seas.

-From a distance, it
really does bear an uncanny

resemblance to a battleship.

The seawall is
essentially like its hull,

which is why it received
the nickname, Gunkanjima,

or Battleship Island.

Clearly this place
was inhabited,

but who would want to live here?

[Narrator] The areas
where Gunkanjima meets the

sea are all flat,

while the buildings are
constructed on steeper terrain,

rising towards the
center of the island.

On closer inspection, it
becomes evident that the

shoreline actually
consists of reclaimed land.

-Reclaimed land is
when land is “created,"

either by removing
the water, say by a dam,

or by raising the
level of the land.

In other words,

by pouring landfill into
the water until it reaches

above the water line.

-But in order
to do that on this scale,

you would need a lot of rock.

Ferrying all that over from
the Japanese mainland would

be very time-consuming
and expensive.

[Dr. Anthony Cantor] The
reclaimed areas make up a large

portion of Gunkanjima,

giving the
island lot more space.

And from the looks of it,

the island has all the
amenities that you'd want

in a little village.

[Narrator] There's also the
remains of what looks to have

been a swimming pool,
as well as a public bath.

-So the people who lived
here were definitely in it

for the long haul.

They wanted to be as
comfortable as possible out

on this island.

-Even with the reclaimed land,
there is almost no space here.

High-rise apartment buildings
crowd out much of the island.

Some of the
apartments are tiny,

one-bedroom spaces,

whereas others have
two or three bedrooms and

are more spacious,

indicating that
entire families lived here.

-The apartments still have
things inside them.

TVs, children’s toys,
and appliances litter some

of the rooms.

[Dr. Anthony Cantor] And the
TV set looks like it was from

the 1960s or 70s,
really not that long ago.

[Dr. Amma Wakefield]
This place must have been

abandoned pretty suddenly.

[Dr. Sarah Klassen]
Gunkanjima itself measures only

about 16 acres,
but for such a tiny island,

the population must
have been pretty high,

because there are
a lot of apartment buildings.

So people lived
and worked here,

but what exactly
were they doing?

[Narrator] In the
southern half of the island,

a small opening leads to a
concrete and brick passage

that descend
into the ground.

-What you can see here
are reinforced walls,

but once you descend
to around 23 feet,

there is a little opening
where you can see that a tunnel

continues deeper into a shaft.

-If I was to guess,
I would say these are

different entrances
into a mine.

[Dr. Anthony Cantor] The
Japanese had used coal for fuel

for centuries,

but they only began doing
so on an industrial scale

in the 19th century.

[Narrator] Historically,
Japan forbade most nations

from having any
diplomatic or trade relations.

This all changed when
Commodore Matthew Perry,

an American naval officer,

sailed into Tokyo Bay with
four gunships and forced Japan

to open up to trade.

-Commodore Perry’s
visit sparked this period of

modernization and
industrialization that we now

refer to as the
Meiji Restoration.

And central to this
process was coal.

[Narrator] In 1890, the
Mitsubishi Corporation bought

Gunkanjima and sank
a 650-foot shaft into

the ground below.

By 1916, coal production
was in full swing,

and the island housed
some 3,000 workers.

[Dr. Amma Wakefield] So
this is where all the rock they

needed to reclaim the land
around the island came from,

the coal mines.

[Dr. Sarah Klassen] But it
wasn’t only the island’s

population that increased,

so too did Japan’s
imperial ambitions.

They needed resources
to fuel their unbelievably

rapid modernization,

and Japan itself
didn’t have enough,

so they turned their
eyes to Korea and China.

-They needed
workers for their mines

and to build their railways,

and so Chinese and
Korean people were forced

to perform
backbreaking labor under

very difficult conditions.

It was basically slavery.

[Narrator] Many such laborers
were sent into the coal mines.

During the Second World War,

roughly 600 Korean
workers were forced to work

in the mines
of Gunkanjima.

They did so under
unimaginable duress and

were subject to
random acts of cruelty

from their Japanese guards.

-We don't know for sure,

but it is thought about
20% of the Korean laborers

on Gunkanjima died.

This would have
been a real hell on earth

for a lot of people.

-And a lot of
people really lived here.

In total, there were over
30 apartment towers built

on the island.

They kept building them
throughout the Second World War

in order to meet the
Japanese empire’s enormous

demand for coal.

Such “good” housing,
however,

was reserved
for the Japanese,

not for the Korean laborers.

[Dr. Anthony Cantor] By 1959,

these 30 apartment
towers housed

over 5,000 people.

This was Gunkanjima’s peak,

and it was home to
a large community of miners,

company office workers,
and their families.

-Remember, this
is a tiny island.

Putting over 5,000 people
here would make the population

density here unbelievably high.

[Narrator] The population
density of today’s Mumbai is

around 73,000 people
per square mile for its

22 million inhabitants.

-You may think that
that's a lot... because it is.

But on Gunkanjima this
statistic is way higher.

The population density of
this island translates to over

216,000 people per square mile.

Almost three times
as dense as Mumbai.

[Narrator] As Japan began
to transition to oil

throughout the 1960s,

the need for
coal began to wane.

Cheap oil from the
Middle East began

supplanting local resources,

and by 1973, oil
was making up 78% of

Japan’s energy supply,

90% of which was imported.

-So there was no longer any
need for places like Gunkanjima.

By 1974 it had mined
its last piece of coal.

The mines were shuttered for
good and the people who called

the island home relocated
to the Japanese mainland.

[Dr. Anthony Cantor] So the
island was left to the elements.

But if these abandoned
buildings could talk,

you’d get a recitation of
everything that makes us human.

All the aspects of humanity,
both good and bad,

have featured in the
story of this island.

[Narrator] Gunkanjima is now
a window into Japan's past.

It symbolizes the
Meiji Restoration and

Japan's rapid
transition from a feudal to

an industrial society,

as well as the hardship
that was part of this process.

Nestled between the
Horn of Africa and

the Arabian Peninsula,

lies the Yemeni
island of Socotra,

the largest land mass
in an archipelago

of the same name.

-While it’s the biggest
island in this cluster,

Socotra is still pretty small.

It’s basically a third
of the size of Jamaica.

But you’re unlikely to
take a vacation here,

it’s one of the most
isolated landforms on Earth.

[Narrator] There are
only about 50,000 people

on this remote island,

with goats outnumbering
humans 4 to 1.

-The goats are everywhere,

in the country,
in the streets,

and even in the restaurants.

-When you read about
Socotra you'll notice that

the words used to
describe it have a

certain tone to them.

Striking...

...Mysterious...

...Otherworldly.

So why is this
island so odd-looking?

[Narrator] Socotra is
believed to have been once

part of the
supercontinent of Gondwana.

Over millions of years,
Gondwana slowly came apart,

thanks to what's known
as plate tectonics.

-Gondwana's geological
breakup led to both the

creation of the Socotra
archipelago and its isolation.

The buckling of the plates
also increased the island's

height which contributed
to its otherworldly geology.

-But it’s not just the
Geology here that's so wild,

it’s the Ecology.

If you look around the island,

it’s covered with
things that you just don’t see

in neighboring
Somalia or Yemen,

or anywhere else on
earth for that matter.

[Narrator] The island’s
unusual geology has created an

incredible array of
landscapes and climates,

from evergreen forests
to semi-arid deserts.

And this leads to a wide
range of flora and fauna.

[Dr. Dan Riskin] UN biologists
did a survey of everything

living on this island.

And when they were done,

they had clocked
over 700 endemic species.

That means species that are
found nowhere else on Earth.
And when they were done,

It's no wonder people
consider this an alien place.

[Narrator] But of all the
wild things on the island,

there is nothing as
unusual or as mysterious

as the Dracaena cinnabari,
the Dragon Blood tree.

To the locals, it’s known
as the heart of Socotra.

-This tree is a big part
of why people describe the

island as being otherworldly.

It basically looks like
an upside-down tree,

one that can grow up to
30 feet and live hundreds

and hundreds of years.

[Dr. Alison Leonard]
The appearance of the

Dragon Blood tree

isn't the most unusual
thing about it, for that,

we can just take a
look at its name.

In short, the tree bleeds.

Sort of.

If you take a knife
and slice the surface,

it literally looks like
you're cutting into flesh.

-What the ancients thought
was blood is actually the sap

or resin of the tree.

-This resin was especially
prized in ancient times as it

was used for everything

from the mystical arts,
like alchemy,

to more everyday
products like varnishes

and toothpastes.

But today it’s used for
lots of different ailments,

even in luxury
skincare lines as it's said

to rejuvenate the skin.

[Narrator] Chemical analysis
reveals that compounds in the

Dragon Blood tree give
its sap antibacterial and

anti-carcinogenic properties.

And it can boost
immune function.

-Recent animal studies have
also suggested that the resin

speeds up the
healing of wounds and

reduces clotting time.

So that's kind of perfect for
a sap that looks like blood.

-Studies into the medicinal
uses of the sap are still in the

early stages so who knows
what other magical properties

it might possess.

But how does the
tree pull off its most

magical feat, survival?

[Narrator] The tree itself is
a marvel of natural engineering.

You don’t usually see
trees like this in places

like this because dry
earth can’t generally

sustain much foliage.

-Given the Dragon tree
isn’t typically anywhere near

a water source,

and doesn’t get rain
except during monsoon season,

how does it survive?

[Narrator] While the Dragon
Blood tree does have roots that

draw water from the earth
when there’s water to be found,

its ability to
moisturize is largely due

to its strange appearance.

-The odd upside-down shape
of the tree isn't random;

it's an amazing
evolutionary adaptation.

It functions as
a moisture trap,

capturing water from the
atmosphere via fog and clouds,

and drawing it through its body.

[Narrator] The Dragon Blood
tree also has the capacity to

store the water it collects.

In one study of the trees,
researchers found that their

leaves have a water content
of 83% while the wood itself

is 78% water.

Remarkably, these trees
can hang on to that

moisture months
into a drought.

-But this tree isn’t
just saving itself.

The Dragon tree actually
draws water into the soil and

can provide the
nearby earth with more water

than it gets from rainfall,

making it a vital part
of the island’s ecosystem.

It’s truly a giving tree.

[Narrator] It’s called an
umbrella species because it

protects a whole ecosystem
beneath it from geckos

to flowering plants.

-The biggest threat to the tree,

and the island in general,
is climate change.

The semi-desert climate here
has always been punishing but

in recent years,

the rainy season
has become much less rainy,

which means the island
has faced severe droughts.

-It’s predicted that the
number of Dragon Blood trees

will drastically decline over
the next 30 to 80 years.

-Remember, there are a
number of plants and creatures

that only exist under the canopy
of the Dragons Blood tree.

It is a crucial piece of
the island’s biodiversity.

Without it the entire
system is at risk.

[Narrator] In a way,
the Dragon Blood tree is

the perfect symbol
for the climate crisis.

[Dr. Dan Riskin] The
tree is what you might call

a keystone species.

That's named after a
keystone in an arch,

it's that one stone
that if you take it out,

the whole thing collapses.

If you lose this
one weird tree,

who knows how many of
the 700 unique species of

flora and fauna will go with it,

and these are species
found nowhere else on Earth.

It's a house of cards,

and we're putting
ourselves in danger too.