All language subtitles for BBC Blue Planet Live (2019) - 02 English A

Welcome to the Great

Barrier Reef in Australia!

The sun is just coming up. I am here

to explore how important reefs and
their

their inhabitants are, and around
the

the world we have teams assessing
the

the health of our oceans. And I am
here

here to dive with one of the most
adaptable,

adaptable, robust and vulnerable of
all

all marine creatures, the bull
shark.

shark. And I am here in the
beautiful

beautiful Sea of Cortez in pursuit
of

of the largest animal that has ever
lived

lived on Earth, the mighty blue
whale.

whale. Join us for all of the live
action

action and more. This is Blue Planet
Live.

Hello, and welcome back to Blue

Planet Live. It is just gone 6am on
the

the Great Barrier Reef.

The forest
here is teeming with birds.

And underneath the surface, the reef

life is getting ready for another
busy

busy day ahead. The wide cameramen
are

are poised to bring you magnificent
live

live interviews of the reef through
the

the programme. Hello, my, good
morning

morning to you. As you can see,
beautiful

beautiful staghorn coral, then all
these

these damselfish, which are reliant
on

on this ecosystem for their food,
their

their survival, their protection.
Take

Take a look at what we found this
time

time yesterday on this very spot. A
beautiful

beautiful green sea turtle, making
her

her way around the reef. Look at
those

those spotted, sweet lips, those
spotty

spotty fish, three of them, a busy
part

part of the reef, and our mission
today

today is to bring you Green sea
turtles

turtles come alive. We will not rest
until

until we succeed. With much of our
marine

marine life facing unprecedented
threats,

threats, we will be taking a look at
how

how humans affect the oceans, and
also,

also, the great, extraordinary work
scientists

scientists are carrying out to
protect

protect them. Our urgent support all
life

life on earth, including us. But we
are

are changing them faster than ever.
--

-- our oceans. From plastics, to
habitat

habitat loss to blooming season
climate

climate change. Today across the
globe,

globe, scientists are in a race
against

against time to reverse our impact.
The

The clock is ticking. To save our
Blue

Blue Planet.

Blue Planet. Now, all of our teams
are

are positioned in important marine
habitats

habitats around the world, coming to
you

you live from four key locations to
bring

bring a spectacular wildlife
encounters

encounters and to take stock of the
state

state of our oceans since Blue
Planet

Planet II. Where are the teams
based?

based? We are in a beautiful coral
key

key of Heron Island. This is shark
Bay,

Bay, a prime spot for nesting green
sea

sea turtles. 9000 miles away in the
Bahamas

Bahamas is Steve.

Bahamas is Steve. I'm here in the
shark

shark sanctuary of the Bahamas
preparing

preparing to dive with these
magnificent

magnificent bull sharks. 2000 miles
to

to the rest of me in the Sea of
Cortez,

Cortez, Chris is preparing for a
quest

quest into the big blue. I'm in the
Sea

Sea of Cortez, and today we have
pumped

pumped our ambition to the max,
because

because we are arriving to possibly
the

the greatest challenge in wildlife
live

live TV. We are in pursuit of the
largest

largest creature that has ever lived
on

on the planet, the blue whale. We
know

know that they are out there. We
have

have just got to find them. Good
luck

luck with that, Chris. We will be
joining

joining the crew of a
state-of-the-art

state-of-the-art research vessel,
the

the Atlantis. They have faded out
from

from San Francisco Bay. We will join
them

them live as they launch a deepwater
submersible

submersible to explore a deep sea
mountain.

mountain. I cannot wait to see the
images

images that they are going to get.
Tonight,

Tonight, the mission here on Heron
Island

Island is to bring in more of the
glorious

glorious wonders of the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef, but also to take a
look

look at how human impact is
affecting

affecting this precious ecosystem,
and

and all of the life that it
supports.

supports. Our underwater cameramen
will

will be bringing you images to
remind

remind you just how glorious these
environments

environments are, how important they
are,

are, not only for the coral, but
also

also for the myriad life that
depends

depends upon them and this part of
the

the great Barrier Reef, the Heron
Reef

Reef is doing relatively well so
far,

far, compared to parts of the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef further north. Coral
reefs

reefs support an incredibly huge
biodiversity.

biodiversity. They support the
highest

highest biodiversity of any life on
the

the planet. Scientists estimate that
they

they could, there still could be 8
million

million species to be discovered in
these

these incredible reefs. They are so
incredibly

incredibly crucial to the health of
the

the oceans. They are basically the
beating

beating heart of the Blue Planet.
Blue

Blue Planet II introduced us to the
kaleidoscopic

kaleidoscopic world of the coral
reef.

reef. But scientists have revealed
it

it is a world that is under
pressure.

pressure. Coral reefs are created by
millions

millions of tiny animals called
coral

coral polyps. They build structure
on

on hard surfaces like books and life
gathers

gathers around them. -- like rocks.
Found

Found across the globe, these
underwater

underwater cities provide food...
And

And shelter to a quarter of all
known

known marine species. Yet, coral
reefs

reefs cover less than 1% of the
ocean

ocean floor. These fragile habitats
need

need clean, healthy water and stable
temperatures

temperatures to thrive. Like early
warning

warning systems, they are one of the
first

first indicators if there are
problems

problems in our seas. Since filming
Blue

Blue Planet II, scientists believe
that

that the Great Barrier Reef has lost
50%

50% of its coral cover. Now it is a
race

race against time to save this vital
habitat

habitat before it disappears.

habitat before it disappears. Now,
if

if you are watching on Sunday night
at...

at... I was on the other side of the
Baja

Baja Peninsula facing out into the
Pacific

Pacific and I'm now on the inside,
to

to the east coast of the peninsula.
I'm

I'm in the Sea of Cortez. It
measures

measures 700 miles by about 30-150,
and

and there are 31,000 cubic miles of
water.

water. Jacques Cousteau described it
as

as the aquarium of the world. It is
incredibly

incredibly rich in life. Birds, sea
lions,

lions, seals and dolphins and
occasionally

occasionally they come together with
no

no less than 33 different species,
about

about one third of the diversity
that

that we have in the world, and it is
home

home to the smallest, and the
largest,

largest, the blue whale, which is
the

the species that we are after today.
Blue

Blue whales are big on every level.
They

They are the largest animal that has
ever

ever lived on the planet. They can
get

get to almost 100 feet in length,
they

they weigh somewhere between 100-150
tonnes.

tonnes. They have a big appetite. To
sustain

sustain this bulk they eat 3.6
tonnes

tonnes of food a day. They have a
big

big voice, the second loudest
animals

animals on the planet, pumping it
out

out at 188 decibels. Big mothers,
giving

giving birth to carts that way 2.7
tonnes,

tonnes, the same as hippopotamus and
they

they have a monstrous heart as well
to

to pump the blood around their joint
bodies.

bodies. It weighs 180 kilograms
which

which is about three times the
weight

weight of myself. And the males have
the

the biggest reefs -- he needs his
and

and the animal kingdom, three metres
long.

long. Everything is big about this
animal

animal except their populations.
They

They were decimated by whaling in
the

the 19th and 20th century. They are
back

back to a population of 25,000
worldwide,

worldwide, with 2000 of these moving
up

up and down the Pacific coast of
North

North America and Mexico and about
300

300 coming to this body of water.
But

But it is 62,000 square miles of
water,

water, so they are quite hard to
find.

find. To help, we have our eye in
the

the sky. Larry the pilot is doing
his

his best and alongside him, Matt,
the

the cameraman. They will be looking
out

out for the whales. We have another
boat

boat down on the surface which, we
have

have got a superhigh telephoto lens
on

on the camera. No whales on the
camera

camera but there is a view of the
boat

boat cruising along through the Sea
of

of Cortez. You can throw technology
at

at it all you like but what you need
when

when you come to a place like this
is

is some good local knowledge. And we
have

have got it in the form of
Geraldine.

Geraldine. She is a marine biologist
who

who has been working here for some
time.

time. How many whales are there in
this

this area that we might find today?
In

In this area, around six. So we are
looking

looking for six miles. The whales
are

are big, but that is a big ask. What
are

are the chances of finding them
today?

today? I would say 99%. I've your
confidence,

confidence, no one ever says 99%
when

when we are looking for animals! 99%
success.

success. What about the work you
have

have been doing? You have been
looking

looking at the impact ecotourism
might

might have been having on the male
population.

population. We were worried about
the

the impact, by using the passive
observation

observation method, we have made
this

this a successful whale-watching
area.

area. We went out last week to see
how

how Geraldine and her colleagues
have

have achieved that.

Blue whales are increasingly popular

with tourists and scientists.

with tourists and scientists. Here
in

in Baja it is a whale-watching
mecca.

mecca. But these giants are shy and
don't

don't want to be disturbed. Too many
boats

boats can stress them and restrict
their

their feeding time at the surface.
Bad

Bad news for the whales, equally bad
news

news for the scientists trying to
observe

observe their natural behaviour.

observe their natural behaviour.
However,

However, Geraldine practices and
noninvasive

noninvasive research technique that
means

means she can gather vital data from
the

the whales without ever getting too
close.

close. That was the last dive so
now...

now... When they dive, joint circle
is

is created by the force of them
going

going under. A flute print. And this
is

is what Geraldine waits for. --
fluke

fluke print. As they disappear into
the

the deep, they leave a very special
clue

clue behind. They are skinned.

clue behind. They are skinned. --
Their

Their skin. We got it. Beautiful, a
beautiful

beautiful little piece of the skin
of

of a whale. That is fantastic. Just
like

like us, whales leave flakes of skin
everywhere

everywhere they go, but on a much
bigger

bigger scale. What about the
science?

science? Now we have recovered this,
what

what can you learn from this
fragment?

fragment? This fragment of skin is
important

important for our studies because
with

with this, we can know whether they
are

are females or males. There is
enough

enough DNA, they are, to get their
sex

sex ID. Anything more? We use the to
track

track where the whale has
potentially

potentially feeding. Anywhere in the
world?

world? That is correct. This
fragment

fragment of skin contains lots of
personal

personal information about this one
whale,

whale, and we have recovered it,
none

none intrusively. No biopsy, simply
waiting

waiting to pick up a bit of floating
skin.

skin. By keeping their distance and
not

not disturbing the whales, Geraldine
is

is able to observe their natural
behaviour,

behaviour, allowing us to learn more
about

about this population of blue
whales,

whales, and proving that noninvasive
research

research practices do work.

research practices do work. But it
has

has also had a positive effect for
tourists

tourists here, too. Local whale
watching

watching company is now train their
captains

captains in passive observation
techniques,

techniques, staying well back from
the

the whales.

the whales. Since these rules were
implemented

implemented in 2014, the whales now
spend

spend more time cruising on the
surface.

surface. A sign of their more
natural

natural behaviour. That's a benefit
both

both to the whales and the whale
watchers,

watchers, and of course scientists
like

like Geraldine. Amazing. A lovely
flourish

flourish at the end. It was for the
whale,

whale, that is exactly what it was.
Thank

Thank you.

Top work to Geraldine and her team,

a great piece of applied science.
What

What was also interesting was the
way

way they were a covering material
from

from the whales noninvasively. The
whale

whale had no idea we were picking up
the

the skin and on Sunday I was
collecting

collecting material from whales
noninvasively

noninvasively because those grey
whales

whales were covering me in their
snot.

snot. INAUDIBLE.

We seem to have lost Chris. It seems

that the weather and the stuff going
on

on is making things difficult and it
has

has been for us here in the Bahamas
as

as well. I know it looks like
everything

everything is absolute paradise
right

right now but overnight we had gale
force

force winds, lightning and thunder,
so

so we've had to retreat into the
harbour

harbour but in the Bahamas even in
the

the middle of town there is plenty
of

of wildlife. Down there you can see
lots

lots of fish, including rather a lot
of

of quite large bull sharks. The
reason

reason they are here is that for
many

many years fishermen have been
cleaning

cleaning their catch at the docks
and

and the sharks are enticed in by the
smell

smell of potential food. These are
absolutely

absolutely dazzling animals and
although

although they are right here, close
to

to shore, the people who have learnt
not

not just to endure living alongside
them

them but actually to treasure them.
This

This is a true shark sanctuary where
these

these animals are protected. To find
out

out more about what they are doing
here,

here, why they are here at this time
of

of the year, what the animals
actually

actually condition they are in, what
part

part of their lives they are in at
this

this time of year, and we will get
in

in the water with them as well. This
is

is not something we take lightly,
we've

we've been tracking the conditions
carefully,

carefully, watching the visibility
and

and it is crystal clear so we will
get

get in. Next time you come to me I
will

will be underwater alongside these
animals

animals giving me the opportunity to
tell

tell you something of the tail of
this

this creature. It is an animal that
has

has a surprisingly tender side of
much

much of its life as a complete
mystery

mystery so, hopefully, I can show
those

those things when I have the great
pleasure

pleasure of being underwater
alongside

alongside them. Anyway, a little bit
closer

closer to home in the Mediterranean
there

there is an animal that is battling
to

to bring itself back from the of
extinction.

extinction.
This

This is Costas, one of the world's
most

most endangered marine animals, he
has

has a Mediterranean monk seal.
Rescued

Rescued after he was separated from
his

his mum in a storm. After years of
historic

historic hunting, there are now only
around

around 700 of these seals left. And
over

over half live in one of your's
favourite

favourite holiday hotspots in
Greece.

Greece. But, with 13 million
tourists

tourists coming here each year,
there

there is less and less space for
these

these seals to live in peace. So
biologist

biologist Alex and his team are
working

working hard to help people and monk
seals

seals live side by side. One of the
big

big problems with tourism is it
tries

tries to use the same places that
Mediterranean

Mediterranean monk seals use.
Throughout

Throughout time, human

Mediterranean monk seals use.
Throughout time, human

Throughout time, human intensity has
pushed

pushed these animals from their
original

original habitat into secluded
marine

marine caves. And, now, to help make
sure

sure these precious places where the
seals

seals rest and breed are protected,
Alex

Alex monitors the caves. He sets up
remote

remote cameras and, when mum is a
way,

way, takes vital DNA samples from
the

the pups. These reveal the movements
of

of the breeding seals, and helps
reinforce

reinforce laws that protect the monk
seals

seals use. And it seems to be
working.

working. Years ago, it would be
difficult

difficult to see monk seals swimming
around,

around, we are working to prevent
the

the extinction of the species and
that

that is happening. The teen's
research

research also helps re-educate local
people

people on how to live alongside
these

these endangered animals. And Costas
is

is living proof.

Rescued by local fishermen, who in

the past would have considered a
monk

monk seal a pest. Costas is now
being

being rehabilitated by Alex's team.
This

This involves minimal contact, so
Costas

Costas doesn't get attached to
humans.

humans. When he arrived, he was
around

around ten days old, and severely
underweight,

underweight, dehydrated. Three
months

months on, Costas is making good
progress

progress towards the 50 kilograms
weight

weight required for release. He
still

still needs some assistance, but he
is

is doing very well. He is very
hungry.

hungry. With such a small population
of

of monk seals left, every individual
is

is precious.

After five months of rehab, Costas

has grown enough to be released. And
it

it is a big day when he is returned
to

to the wild. As a young, breeding
male,

male, it's hoped he will play his
part

part in the endangered Mediterranean
monk

monk seal to recover.

Great to see that little seal going

back to the wild. Apologies, we lost
you

you earlier, we are stretching
televisual

televisual technology to the limits,
we

we are miles out at sea and we are
speaking

speaking to you from the other side
of

of the world but let's get back to
business

business because the business was
snot.

snot. And Iain Kerr has a Snotbot.
Took

Took me through him. When a whale
exhales,

exhales, it's throwing this

Took me through him. When a whale
exhales, it's throwing this

exhales, it's throwing this
priceless

priceless biological information out
into

into the air that

priceless biological information out
into the air that

into the air that can tell us all
about

about a whale's health, and we
collect

collect that snot...

And the other cool thing about these

drones is they are affordable so we
are

are democratising science. Science
has

has been a prerogative of the
privileged,

privileged, you know what I mean? A
rich

rich person's game but now we can
get

get more people collecting more data
about

about whales and ocean ecosystems.
There

There is one little thing I've got
to

to point out, you've got to position
this

this above the whales when they are
blowing.

blowing. Exactly. It is a bit of a
challenge

challenge because there could be a
crosswind

crosswind and you've got to get it
in

in the right position but, having
studied

studied whales 30 years now, I've
got

got a pretty good idea of what is
going

going on and it's great I can mix
these

these two technologies...

With that biological material, they

can blow it 50 metres in the air so
it

it is your biggest chance of getting
some.

some. Well... Blowing off little
bits

bits of DNA and micro-biomes and
hormones.

hormones. I think people say we know
more

more about the surface of the moon
is

is in our oceans. We need these
tools

tools out there collecting more
data,

data, more often. And it's exciting!
Let's

Let's see if we can get the...

Welcome back to Heron Island. The

wind is picking up. My gosh, it is
the

the most glorious part of the world
still

still to be in. Take a look at what
our

our wildlife cameramen are looking
at

at on the reef. Chris is breaking
up,

up, we are stretching the limits of
our

our technology with all the weather
and

and distance, so we are going to
take

take a look at the reef, look at how
beautiful

beautiful it is. Lots of damselfish,
lots

lots of different shapes of coral.
And

And all of those coral structures
are

are what sets up this ecosystem for
a

a whole myriad of life to thrive.
Corals

Corals are the architects of coral
reefs.

reefs. There is a shot of us! Knee
deep

deep in the water. It's actually
very

very warm and lovely here this
morning.

morning. Now, for a little bit more
of

of a serious topic now because here
on

on the Great Barrier Reef, corals
that

that were once vibrant, healthy and
colourful

colourful have been bowing under the
pressures

pressures of our human impact like
never

never before so it's my great
pleasure

pleasure to be able to join
Professor

Professor Peter Harrison from the
Southern

Southern Cross University to talk
about

about what that means for the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef. It's a lovely morning
to

to be hanging out in the shallows,
isn't

isn't it? Thank you for joining us.
We

We now know coral reefs are
bleaching

bleaching because of ever-increasing
sea

sea temperatures but what exactly
does

does that mean for the coral animal?
What

What is bleaching? In a

does that mean for the coral animal?
What is bleaching? In a

What is bleaching? In a normal,
healthy

healthy coral system, such as in
this

this part of the coral, the brown

healthy coral system, such as in
this part of the coral, the brown

this part of the coral, the brown
part

part here, you can see lots of algae
in

in the tissue of the coral and come
as

as a result of that, you can see
that

that the coral tissue is functioning
normally.

normally. However, when increased
temperature

temperature and highlight conditions
occur,

occur, it stresses the algae and
they

they get removed from the coral
tissue

tissue and the corals lose their
energy,

energy, which is when bleaching
occurs.

occurs. And we saw some images of
vast

vast expanses turning right and
dead.

dead. So are bleaching events
increasing

increasing on the Great Barrier
Reef,

Reef, and what does it mean for this
incredible

incredible living system?
Unfortunately,

Unfortunately, yes. Coral bleaching
is

is occurring more frequently and
severely

severely on the Great Barrier Reef.
As

As a consequence of that, in 2016
and

and 2017, the northern part of the
Great

Great Barrier Reef experienced
massive

massive marine heatwaves and
significant

significant coral death occurred as
a

a result. Those bleaching events are
becoming

becoming very significant for the
functioning

functioning of these reef systems.
Two

Two consecutive bleaching events
that

that affected the reef. How much
remains

remains of the Great Barrier Reef?
We

We know more than 50% of the corals
in

in the northern part of the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef were killed in those
bleaching

bleaching events and we know in the
decades

decades prior to that, another 50%
of

of the corals died on the Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef. In the southern Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef, we have healthy coral
systems

systems so they were fortunate in
escaping

escaping the recent bleaching. We
know

know as we go further south from the
Great

Great Barrier Reef, right now there
is

is bleaching occurring in the
southern

southern part. These corals tend to
be

be enjoying cooler temperatures,
they

they tend to be somewhat protected
from

from climate change in the past but
that

that is changing? Absolutely on one
of

of the worrying trends about the
bleaching

bleaching is this is the fourth
bleaching

bleaching event I've witnessed over
recent

recent decades and we now know no
corals

corals are safe from increased
thermal

thermal stress events on the planet.
Peter,

Peter, you've been researching this
science

science for 35 years. What needs to
happen

happen as a matter of urgency for us
not

not to lose the remaining healthy
parts

parts of the Great Barrier Reef and
reefs

reefs around the world? It is really
important

important we act now on climate
change.

change. Increased carbon dioxide
emissions,

emissions, trapping extra heat into
the

the atmosphere, that heat is being
transferred

transferred to the upper part of the
sea

sea water, changing the ocean
chemistry,

chemistry, increasing marine
heatwaves

heatwaves and stressing corals which
are

are the foundation of these reef
systems.

systems. We stand to lose not only
the

the corals but probably 1 million
species

species associated with corals on
reef

reef systems. It is as simple as
that,

that, the science is telling us what
is

is happening to the reef.
Absolutely,

Absolutely, the science has been
there

there for decades and we know
exactly

exactly what is going on and we can
predict

predict exactly what is happening
now.

now. We know what will happen in the
next

next 10-20 is. If you are at home
want

want to keep track what is

next 10-20 is. If you are at home
want to keep track what is

want to keep track what is happening
to

to the Great Barrier Reef and reefs
around

around the world, you can go to our
website

website and track it, track the
progress

progress of the corals live. Take a
look

look at that. It is a critical time
for

for our reefs. If nothing happens in
the

the next ten years, we could lose
50%

50% of all of the reefs around the
world.

world. What is clear is scientists
around

around the world are carrying out
nothing

nothing short of heroic research to
stop

stop that happening and Peter and
his

his team have embarked on this
ground-breaking,

ground-breaking, revolutionary
project

project to make sure the reefs get a
much

much needed lifeline.

much needed lifeline. Peter's
ground-breaking

ground-breaking idea could offer a
lifeline

lifeline to the most damaged parts
of

of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral
IVF.

Collecting eggs and sperm from

corals that have survived a mass
bleaching

bleaching and transferring them to
recolonise

recolonise dead reefs. It has been
successfully

successfully trialled in the
Philippines

Philippines but never on a scale
Peter

Peter is attempting here. For this
to

to work, he is searching for live
coral

coral that is healthy enough to
spawn.

But these corals release eggs and

sperm on just a few nights each year
so

so there is no margin for error.
There

There is good coral cover, lots of
diversity,

diversity, lots of survivors from
the

the bleaching events. We need to
catch

catch the eggs and sperm now before
the

the next bleaching event because we
can't

can't be sure that these corals will
survive

survive the coming bleaching. With a
site

site identified, the team can deploy
the

the 65 metre spawn catch her. A
giant

giant ring of floats that will
corral

corral the released eggs and sperm
into

into a fine net where it can be
collected.

collected. But, as night falls, the
weather

weather turns. It's always a bit of
a

a worry when the wind blows up,
particularly

particularly as the wind is coming
from

from the wrong direction. We are
having

having to use a more exposed side.
The

The window of opportunity is
shrinking

shrinking fast. And because
artificial

artificial light affects the
spawning,

spawning, the team prepared to work
in

in virtual darkness. It's a race
against

against time. Our dive teams are in
the

the water and now our job is to
start

start looking for surface eggs as
they

they start to develop before the
wind

wind picks up. If we can get a
little

little bit in these spawn catcher
nets,

nets, we are looking good in the
next

next few days. As long as we can
stay

stay on the water. Because that was
a

a big lightning strike. Small boats
are

are one of the most dangerous places
to

to be in a lightning storm. Peter
and

and the team might be battling the
weather

weather on the surface but their
timing

timing is perfect.

Beneath the coral was putting on a

dazzling display. Millions of
individual

individual corals are releasing
their

their eggs and sperm at exactly the
same

same time. This extraordinarily
natural

natural phenomenon is happening
right

right on cue. More than 1000
kilometres

kilometres over the Great Barrier
Reef

Reef you will see sequence spawning
of

of many of these same species. Look
at

at that! That is one heck of a lot
of

of spawn. The team worked deep into
the

the night to collect as much as
possible.

possible. By the time they are
finished

finished it is 3:30am. Overnight,
the

the spawn is transported 30
kilometres

kilometres north. Just 18 months
ago,

ago, this reef was full of life and
colour,

colour, but today it is a dead,
white

white expanse. Peter's team have
built

built floating pools above this reef
where

where the microscopic larvae will
mature.

mature. In time they will be
released

released to form new colonies on the
dead

dead skeleton below. In just three
years,

years, the new coral should be ready
to

to breed. Is a complex operation. We
have

have a lot of healthy embryos, and
it

it looks like we are going to be
successful

successful on release getting
through

through to the second stage. We
still

still have some way to go but so
far,

far, I'm really happy and
increasingly

increasingly confident that we will
get

get good results.

get good results. I don't think we
really

really fully appreciate how much
dedication,

dedication, innovation, creativity
goes

goes into understanding these
complex

complex ecosystems and finding novel
ways

ways to save them and for me, that
project

project is a shining example of
that.

that. On Sunday, Peter is going to
show

show me one of his coral restoration
sites

sites right here off Heron Island to
see

see how the brand-new Little corals
are

are doing. I cannot wait for that.
Thank

Thank you for chatting to us. Sadly,
the

the human impact on the Ocean
stretches

stretches beyond climate change, and
many

many other marine species face
threats

threats from pollution, boats
strikes

strikes and entanglement. One of the
most

most endangered species is the North
Atlantic

Atlantic right whale, and there are
believed

believed to be only 400 individuals
left

left in the wild, so our teams set
out

out to discover what is being done
to

to save this animal from extension.
Off

Off the East Coast of America in the
Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean, the North Atlantic
right

right whale is one of the world's
most

most endangered large whales. Today
there

there are only about 400 animals
there.

there. In 2017 there were five
animals

animals born, in 2018, there were
none,

none, so those kinds of numbers, we
have

have to look at very closely to find
out

out what is going on with these
animals.

animals. Michael has found that
lobster

lobster and crab fishing practices
in

in the area are a big problem for
these

these whales. Entanglement is the
number

number one human stress on these
animals

animals at this point. He thinks it
is

is a major factor in why so few
whale

whale calves are being born. These
entanglements

entanglements can cause significant
loss

loss of weight. This animal here,
you

you can see the marks on the top of
the

the head which will be used to
identify

identify them and catalogue the
individuals.

individuals. Photographed February
2010,

2010, you can see that it is nice
and

and fat, and ten months later on the
30th

30th of December, you can see that
it

it is much more pencil like and you
can

can see all of the scarring from the
entanglement.

entanglement. To produce healthy
calves,

calves, the whales need as much
energy

energy as possible but, laden down
with

with fishing gear, many staff to
death.

death. The individual suffering and
trauma

trauma these animals go through,
especially

especially the entanglements, has
become

become part of my existence. I think
about

about it a lot. I can't move on
without

without fixing it, because, like
many

many other people in this business,
it

it is very personal, at this point
because

because so many of us have spent so
much

much time trying to figure it out,
and

and it is really tough. To solve the
problem

problem of entanglement, Michael and
his

his team work together with a
fishing

fishing industry to develop
pioneering

pioneering new designs in fishing
gear.

gear. In terms of solutions, this is
your

your standard lobster trap here,
then

then the line is up to the surface.
This

This is how it works and this is the
risk

risk of entanglement for the whales,
whereas

whereas if we take away the end line
and

and the surface buoy then the whale
swims

swims free and we need to be able to
retrieve

retrieve the track without the end
line.

line. Electronic signals are omitted
from

from the trap to let these surfers
know

know its location and an underwater
balloon

balloon inflates, pulling the trap
to

to the surface for retrieval. Still
in

in its test stage, rootless fishing
gear,

gear, if rolled out globally could
be

be vital for the recovery of these
whales.

whales. Since Christmas and this
year

year of 2019 we have had seven new
carts,

carts, which is a whole lot more
than

than zero, which we had last year.
The

The reason for those to go up is
that

that the mothers have had enough
time

time to gain enough weight so that
their

their body system tells them that it
is

is OK to get pregnant and you will
make

make it through settling and winning
your

your calf. The arrival of these
seven

seven carts is a possible indicator
that

that there is still hope for this
dwindling

dwindling population. Is it enough?
No.

No. Are we going in the right
direction?

direction? Yes.

In many ways the population of North

Atlantic right whales epitomises the
problem

problem is these animals have at the
moment.

moment. They are, we focused on
entanglement,

entanglement, but ship strike is
another

another as his acoustic disturbance.
All

All of the boats moving through the
water,

water, using sonar, is known to
disrupt

disrupt their ability to find food
and

and communicate with one another.
Quite

Quite a lot of research is being
done

done into this. It is only with that
research

research and the results generated
that

that we can make any progress, when
it

it comes to solving a problem. We
have

have our Snotbot up in the air. Ian
is

is flying at the moment, no sign of
the

the whales, but I'm pleased to say
that

that we are joined by Andy Brogan,
as

as well. If we get some samples
today,

today, what will they contain, and
what

what will they tell us? It is quite
an

an exciting array of information we
can

can get from the samples. In West
Africa,

Africa, we explored the genetic
diversity

diversity of the population. We were
able

able to find that there was more
diversity

diversity than was previously
believed.

believed. That's a good thing for
the

the population. In Mexico, we looked
at

at the hormone levels and found that
they

they varied widely, which suggests I
healthy

healthy breeding population. By
looking

looking at hormones you can see
whether

whether the animal is stressed so
that

that might be an asset again, if
looking

looking at potential disturbing from
shipping

shipping or even whale-watching.
That

That would be the silver lining,
that

that would be amazing if we could do
that.

that. There are some problems and
challenges

challenges there, but if we can work
through

through them with analysis partners,
then

then we can change whale confit --
conservation.

conservation. We have some shots of
you

you here, collecting the whale snot,
then

then you pack this offer you send it
off

off to the laboratories. They
process

process is so simple, once they get
these

these dishes back,

these dishes back, I will squeegee
the

the samples, then send it off to the
lab,

lab, then we share the meta data, if
we

we know it, how many animals there
were,

were, all of the demographic
information,

information, then just analyse those
samples.

samples. You have been working
around

around the world with all different
species,

species, humpback whales? And number
of

of different populations, breeding
populations,

populations, feeding populations off
the

the coast of New England, West
Africa,

Africa, the Caribbean, Alaska. Here,
these

these are southern Right whales.
Yes,

Yes, the first exercise we did was
in

in Patagonia with the southern right
whales.

whales. The other thing, if we get
to

to see a whale today because of the
work

work Geraldine has been doing with
the

the recognition software that she
has

has got, then we might be able to
identify

identify the whale, and know about
it

it in advance of you collecting the
sample.

sample. Absolutely. That is the
great

great thing about all of this
collaborative

collaborative work. Instead of just
going

going out and collecting one dataset
with

with the drones, working with people
like

like Geraldine and her team we can
bring

bring all of this information
together,

together, and better understand the
animals.

animals. No sign of the whales at
the

the moment? Don't give up, don't
give

give up. We are not giving up,
everyone

everyone on the boat is scouring the
surface

surface of the Sea of Cortez for a
while,

while, and if we get one, we will be
coming

coming to you, live, but in the
meantime,

meantime, back to the Bahamas and
Steve

Steve Backshall. Absolutely, I got
my

my fingers crossed for you, Chris. I
am

am here on the bottom of the harbour
in

in the Bahamas, and as you can
probably

probably see, I'm absolutely
surrounded

surrounded by bull sharks. I have
kind

kind of lost count of how many there
are,

are, at least 15, could be
substantially

substantially more. And the bull
shark,

shark, to me, is one of the most
intriguing,

intriguing, complex and surprising
of

of all species of sharks. So when
you

you look at it in form, you can see
where

where it gets its bull shark name
from.

from. They are stocky, they are
hefty,

hefty, they have a bullish
appearance,

appearance, and sometimes even a
bullish

bullish attitude. This is a
supremely

supremely adaptable and
opportunistic

opportunistic animal. Bull sharks
are

are one of the early species of
sharks

sharks that can move from saltwater
environments

environments into freshwater. And
that

that is a critical part of their
life-cycle,

life-cycle, and one of the things
that

that makes them most vulnerable to
overfishing.

overfishing. It is an animal that
will

will go into estuaries, brackish
water,

water, areas with poor visibility,
and

and because of that, it doesn't have
as

as developed eyesight as some of its
other

other shark cousins, so the eyes are
relatively

relatively small. This is an
opportunist,

opportunist, that has a very wide
array

array of different kinds of prey.
They

They will feed on fish, on birds at
the

the surface, on rays, dolphins, and
they

they will even bite through the
shells

shells of turtles. All of the sharks
you

you can see around me at the moment
are

are females. I have not seen a
single

single male shark. And they are
quite

quite big in the belly. The reason
for

for that is that these are pregnant.
How

How do we know that? Here in the
Bahamas,

Bahamas, is a rather marvellous
institute

institute of learning called the
Shark

Shark Lab and they have been doing
ultrasounds

ultrasounds on bull sharks, and how
to

to do that? Very, very carefully!
And

And what they see on the ultrasound
are

are pops inside these animals. It is
thought

thought that they are coming here
into

into the warm, shallow, coastal
waters

waters around Bimini to speed their
gestation

gestation and aid them in their
pregnancy.

pregnancy. So these sanctuaries,
these

these havens here in the Bahamas are
critical

critical to the survival of these
bull

bull sharks. But they don't stay
here

here all year long. And when they do
move

move off into different waters, then
they

they do become vulnerable. To learn
a

a little bit more about where they
go,

go, we will study the rest of the
year

year a little later on. For now, I'm
just

just going to enjoy being surrounded
by

by this show, of magnificent sharks.
A

A whale, a whale, my kingdom for a
whale,

whale, any old whale, just a whale
at

at this point we do. There are no
whales

whales in view, very sadly. That's
not

not surprising, because they spend
75%

75% of their time on the water. The
blue

blue whales are diving to feed down
to

to depths of 100 metres, the deepest
ego

ego is 500 metres, and that is
relatively

relatively accessible when it comes
to

to wild oceans. Deeper than that
things

things become tough. Below 1800
metres

metres there is no light and by the
time

time you get down 4000 metres, it is
about

about 0-3dC. It is tough to get down
there,

there, and you need specialist
equipment,

equipment, and that's why we are
pleased

pleased to be partnering with an
institution

institution who have some fabulous
kit

kit and I'm pleased to be passing
over

over to Andy Bowen of the US
National

National deep sea submergence
facility,

facility, and he is on the RV
Atlantis

Atlantis off the coast of
California.

California. How are things out
there,

there, Andy? Will come to the vessel
at

at Atlantis. We have a fantastic day
today,

today, calm seas and light winds. A
beehive

beehive of activity but the key
thing

thing that has been going on is
launching

launching the research submersible,
Alvin,

Alvin, going over the side now.
Three

Three divers just climbed aboard,
locked

locked inside the titanium sphere.
It

It is two metres in diameter, 70
millimetres

millimetres thick. And they are
going

going to be

going to be visiting a seamount, 70
metres

metres below us, they are critically
important,

important, biological hotspots, with
all

all kinds of diversity, and they
link

link layers of the ocean together, a
perfect

perfect setup for what we are doing,
and

and the human exploration of these
will

will be critical. We will be using a
submersible

submersible to range around the
seamount,

seamount, and look at the diversity.

So, what you are seeing at the

moment is Alvin being taken over,
all

all 22 tonnes of Alvin. He is going
to

to be unlatched from the A-frame,
there

there is a swimmer on board making
sure

sure that the lifting hardware is
properly

properly in place. Once we get down
to

to the water's surface, the swimmers
will

will release Alvin from the left
line.

line. It will float away from the RV
Atlantis

Atlantis and they will be in
communication

communication with the captain on
board.

board. You can see one of the
viewports,

viewports, the mechanical arm for
gathering

gathering samples, and bringing them
back.

back. Here we go. Just about to pull
that

that big line. And there they go.
Come

Come on and see what they've learned
on

on our next programme.

I love the Woods Hole Oceanographic

Institute, 500 scientists thriving
on

on what they call a culture of
curiosity,

curiosity, I can't wait to see what
they

they come up with later in the week,
it's

it's very exciting. It is tempting
to

to think of that deep sea
environment

environment has been very obviously
pristine

pristine because we never go down
there,

there, we don't get to see it but
I'm

I'm afraid to say scientists of our
own

own at the National history Museum
in

in London have been investigating it
and

and finding some serious problems.

While we may think the deep ocean is

this alien, remote place, it is
absolutely

absolutely fundamental to us being
here

here on planet earth. And yet, we've
only

only explored about 1% of it. Which
is

is just crazy! Because we are
talking

talking about our own planet here.
This

This lack of deep sea exploration
presents

presents marine biologist with the
problem.

problem. While surface pollution is
therefore

therefore all of us to see, damage
to

to what we imagine is a pristine
environment

environment down in the deep is much
harder

harder to measure. The deep sea is
really

really the epitome of out of sight
out

out of mind. I think one of the
saddest

saddest examples of our litter in
the

the deep ocean is a plastic shopping
bag

bag found at the bottom in a place
called

called Challenger deep, over 10,000
metres

metres down in the deep ocean, the
deepest

deepest point on the planet, and
it'll

it'll probably be there for decades,
if

if not centuries, if not millennia.
Lack

Lack of light and low oxygen means
objects

objects take longer to degrade in
the

the deep. In the case of plastics,
they

they never go away, they just break
down

down and get smaller and smaller,
until

until they are tiny particles in the
water.

water. And it isn't just plastic
that

that the dives have found here. One
of

of my most recent expeditions to the
Gulf

Gulf of Mexico, we were exploring
what

what we thought was a shipwreck.
When

When we got closer we realised it
was

was actually a 40 foot shipping
container

container that had been lost at sea.
And

And we found ourselves driving
through

through a field of washing machines,
refrigerators,

refrigerators, dishwashers. It's
estimated

estimated that 1500 shipping
containers

containers are lost at sea each
year.

year. This is over one kilometre
down

down in the Gulf of Mexico. What
kind

kind of an impact are those metals
that

that may be leaching out of that
degrading

degrading container having on the
life

life down there? Those are the kinds
of

of questions we can't answer because
we

we know so little about the deep
ocean.

ocean. Incredible deep sea
exploration

exploration is help us understand
that

that when we irresponsibly throw
something

something away, that can often
become

become a precious habitat where
unthinkable

unthinkable damage can be done
because

because of our waste. On the last
programme,

programme, we witnessed about 70
precious

precious green sea turtle hatchlings
emerging

emerging from their nest, and with
all

all their might making it into the
ocean.

ocean. But the odds are stacked
against

against them, it's estimated one in
a

a thousand make it to adulthood.
They

They are part of the food web. Sea
birds,

birds, sharks, humans hunt them.
Threats

Threats like pollution and
entanglement

entanglement in fishing nets also
adds

adds as factors to these quite high
odds

odds stacked against them, poor
little

little mites. But scientists have
recently

recently found that yet another
threat

threat impacts these green sea
turtles,

turtles, and that is, before they
even

even emerge from the nest. I am
joining

joining Janine Ferguson to find out
what

what that threat is. What are you
doing

doing here? What we are doing a
strategically

strategically placed around the
island

island in different habitats, we
have

have things like this temperature
taker,

taker, they monitor the sea
temperature

temperature all year round. You may
ask,

ask, what does sand temperature have
to

to do with sea turtles? Would you
believe

believe that the sex of the sand
around

around the nest actually determines
the

the sex of the hatchlings. So, the
temperature

temperature of the sand determines
the

the sex of the hatchlings, in what
way?

way? They have a pivotal
temperature.

temperature. For us, and green sea
turtles,

turtles, it is 27.6 degrees, so
nests

nests that are intimating warmer
than

than that will produce more females,
nests

nests that are cooler will produce
more

more males. Immediately that makes
me

me think if we are facing
ever-increasing

ever-increasing temperatures, what
does

does that mean for green sea turtles
on

on the Green barrier reef? There has
been

been some recent research within the
northern

northern Great Barrier Reef, and
some

some of the studies have shown that
some

some of the juveniles from around
about

about five to eight years old have
very

very strong bias to females. More
females

females are being made. Worst-case
scenario,

scenario, ever rising temperatures,
we've

we've got no males! What
temperatures

temperatures are you clocking here
on

on Heron Island? In the different
habitats,

habitats, you have different
temperatures.

temperatures. If the female layout
in

in the sunny areas, they will
produce

produce more females but as you can
see

see we have lovely vegetation here
and

and the majority of our sea turtles
actually

actually nest under the shade of the
trees

trees in a cooler nest and produce
more

more males. Again, drives home the
importance

importance of vegetation on islands
like

like this one to balance out and get
more

more males into the population as
well.

well. Fascinating research, thank
you.

you. Over in the Bahamas, Steve is
ready

ready to tell us how the behaviour
of

of bull sharks makes them vulnerable
to

to human impacts.

Yes, that's right! The adults we

have here, as I've said, they are
all

all pregnant females. And, for the
moment,

moment, they are safe in this shark
sanctuary.

sanctuary. But they don't have their
pups

pups here. They are going to head
away

away from the Bahamas, across the
open

open ocean, heading towards the
mainland.

mainland. And the second they do
that,

that, they are running the gauntlet.
So,

So, out there, in the open ocean,
these

these sharks enjoy no protection
whatsoever.

whatsoever. And there are, it is
estimated,

estimated, every single year, 10
billion

billion hooks cast out into the sea
for

for high-value food fish, like tuna
and

and sailfish. Sharks are a huge part
of

of the bycatch from that kind of
fishing,

fishing, and they are also targeted
for

for their valuable fins, used in
shark

shark fin soup, for which millions
of

of animals are taken single year.
So,

So, out there, they are vulnerable,
and

and then they head into the
estuaries,

estuaries, where they have their
pups,

pups, and, again, they are
vulnerable

vulnerable there. Disability to move
between

between different systems has
probably

probably evolved to make them less
vulnerable

vulnerable to predators but now they
are

are ever more vulnerable through
overfishing

overfishing from us, human beings.
Tomorrow...

Tomorrow... We find out some more
about

about where sharks come in general,
have

have their young, and the threats
that

that face those pups. One of the big
problems

problems is these animals, they get
very

very old, the oldest can live to be
400,

400, these can be 40 or 50. They
don't

don't mature until 18 years of age
so

so they regenerate very, very
slowly.

slowly. Take out the population and
it'll

it'll take a long, long time to
bounce

bounce back.

If you were to search the surface of

planet Earth, you would not find a
more

more disappointed man because,
unfortunately,

unfortunately, despite the 99%
assurance

assurance of Geraldine, we haven't
found

found a blue whale for you live.
Therefore

Therefore we didn't launch in our
Snotbot

Snotbot and anger today. But we did
yesterday!

yesterday! So take a look at this!
Starting

Starting engines, three, two, one,
taking

taking off, three, two, one. Good
view!

view! I can see the whale! Here we
go!

go! Stay up, you beauty. I'm going
to

to slow down. Look at that animal,
oh

oh my god! Oh, my goodness me! It's
going

going to break! Here we go! That was
a

a pretty weak blow. I hate to say
it,

it, that was a weak blow. That was
not

not an explosive sneeze. Here we go,
it

it is coming up again. All right,
I've

I've got it on screen. I can see
it's

it's like that scene in Star Wars
where

where you're going for the exhaust
port.

port. But you're going for the
whales

whales blowhole. Look at the screen!
Here

Here it comes, here it comes! I my
goodness

goodness me! Oh my goodness!
I've

I've never seen so much snot on a
bot.

bot. Even the camera is covered!
Let's

Let's bring that baby back! You've
got

got it.

Oh, yes! Oh, yes! What a great piece

of British ingenuity, we bounce the
bomb

bomb and we snorted the bot and we
got

got it back into the hotel Andy
Bowen

Bowen told me the sample he
recovered

recovered yesterday was the best
sample

sample ever that they had ever got
from

from the Snotbot, masses of snot,
therefore

therefore the capability of learning
a

a lot more about the blue whale, and
it

it was a blue whale that Geraldine
new!

new! Mrs invincible! Mrs Infinity,
sorry.

sorry. What about that? It all paid
off,

off, and I'm pleased to say we will
be

be back here tomorrow. Hopefully the
signal

signal will be better, we will be
more

more reliable than our
communication.

communication. I'll be taking to the
air

air to look at the

air to look at the richness of the
Sea

Sea of Cortez. But back to Liz now.
As

As magnificent

Sea of Cortez. But back to Liz now.
As magnificent

As magnificent as Heron Island are,
our

our oceans are telling us in no
uncertain

uncertain terms our

our oceans are telling us in no
uncertain terms our

uncertain terms our behaviours are
impacting

impacting them in ways that are
unsustainable,

unsustainable, damaging and even
catastrophic

catastrophic but there is still time
to

to turn this around and the
scientists

scientists I've met are doing
everything

everything they can to make sure we
don't

don't lose our marine habitats
forever

forever and we can all play a part
in

in that, too. Our waters around the
UK

UK play a very important part in
this

this story, too, so we've been
running

running reports about our own marine
life

life back in Britain, make sure you
catch

catch it tomorrow. It is Blue Planet
UK

UK on BBC One. Tomorrow night we
will

will be back to take a closer look
at

at how everything is deeply
connected

connected in our oceans and how
better

better understanding of this can
help

help us to protect our seas. Next
time,

time, we will catch up with the
animals

animals that make the greatest
journeys.

journeys. Green sea turtles... Whale
sharks...

sharks... Dolphins... And we find
out

out what is lurking in the deep.
Join

Join us live. Make sure you join us
tomorrow

tomorrow night to 8pm, BBC One, we
will

will see you then. Take care and
good

good night.

The open University has reduced a

free booklet exploring the human
impact

impact on our oceans including a
tearout

tearout guide to the different types
of

of plastic that could be recycled.
To

To order your free copy, please
call...

Follow the links to the Open University.