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Coral Reef Adventure
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The South Pacific.
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Lagoons that hint at paradise.
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Magnificent coral reefs that tease and
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delight the dreaming corners of our minds.
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This is the world as we
wish it could always be.
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In this great carnival of life
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thousands of colorful characters coexist.
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Diversity strengthens the coral reefs,
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the more species,
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the more survival systems.
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Coral reefs have been going strong
for sixty million years.
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Some corals sway like
flowers in the breeze.
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Others masquerade as stones.
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But all corals are animals.
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These underworld playgrounds
are built by hard corals
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which produce lime stone
and turn it into homes.
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Stacked one on top of the other
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millions of coral homes
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gradually form a gigantic reef.
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How wonderful that the largest
living structures on earth
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are built by tiny animals.
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Coral reefs protect
nearly all tropical coasts,
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standing between islander's
homes and violent seas.
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When we're injured
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doctors use calcium carbonate from coral
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to mend our broken bones.
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When we're sick
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chemical components from the reef
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may restore our health.
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No place on earth
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holds greater potential for medical cures.
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Reefs
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Feeders
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Over three hundred million people
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rely on fish from reefs.
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For Pacific islanders like me
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our coral reefs are as
necessary as the air we breath.
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Rusi Vulakoro, a native of Fiji
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has always lived close to the sea.
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For centuries
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my ancestors were careful not to over fish.
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So our reef was healthy.
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But this year
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something happened,
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something terrible.
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A blanket of death set over the reef
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What was killing our reef?
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I made up my mind to find some answers.
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I decided to reach out to
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some of my dive partners around the world.
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Howard and Michele Hall
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have spent thirty years
exploring and filming reefs.
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Their underwater photography
is world renowned
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When Howard and Michele got Rusi's message
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They were in the mountains,
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far from the reefs they loved.
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All during that flight I kept wondering
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what we could do to help Rusi.
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Then I realized that
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our friend Richard Pyle
might know what to do.
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He is a marine biologist
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All across the world
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Red Sea, East Africa,
Maldives, Philippines,
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We're seeing these kind
of problems showing up
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at unprecedented rates.
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Richard showed us how coral reefs are dying
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at an alarming rate all around the world.
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Ocean warming is the major cause.
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Richard urged us to
document the coral reefs
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on film for science
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before they disappear.
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We knew that the IMAX camera
with it's incredible clarity
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was the best way to do this.
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Our mission was clear.
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Bring back images that
would give scientists
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insights into why Rusi's reef was dying.
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We needed to compare Rusi's reef
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to other reefs all across
the South Pacific.
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Starting with the largest of them all,
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the Great Barrier Reef.
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The prospect of diving coral reefs
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all across the South Pacific
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was a bit like a dream come true.
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We would make hundreds of dives,
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and some of these would be
deeper and more dangerous
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than anything we have done before.
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It would be our most important expedition
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in our thirty years of diving together.
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Parts of the Great Barrier Reef
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had been protected from
overfishing for two decades.
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The first goal of this ten-month expedition
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was to see how well that
protection really worked.
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When I first dove here 22 years ago,
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these giant clams were not here.
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00:08:02,125 --> 00:08:05,764
They had been long fished out
by commercial fishermen.
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00:08:06,506 --> 00:08:09,385
Today we have seen 12 giant clams.
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That's a great sign
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that means this reef is bouncing back.
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A local marine biologist
named Tracey Medway
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led us to the giant potato cod.
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They are called potato cod
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because they have these
splotchy potato shaped
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markings on their sides.
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Throughout most of the South Pacific,
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the really large fish have
been wiped out by fishermen
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Potato cod thrive here only because
of the laws that protect them.
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These vegetarian convict
tangs protect the reef
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Nibbling away seaweeds
that smother corals.
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If too many of these kinds
of fish are removed
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00:09:00,915 --> 00:09:03,440
corals will die.
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That's why overfishing destroys reefs.
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We often don't realize
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how two species benefit from each other
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until one of them disappears.
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Just as fish protect the reef,
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the coral offers homes and
hiding places for the fish.
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Anything from a simple shark
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to a custom dream home.
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Gobies often share a home
with bulldozer shrimp.
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Whenever he ventures out of the burrow
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the shrimp keeps at least
one antenna on the goby.
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The goby gets an impeccable
burrow to live in
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without lifting a fin.
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00:10:00,623 --> 00:10:04,504
And the very nearsighted
shrimp gets a bodyguard.
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With a flick of it's tale,
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00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:11,011
The goby warns the shrimp
of approaching predators.
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This hundred year old coral
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makes a nice dentist's office
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for potato cod.
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A small fish,
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a cleaner wrasse,
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swims right into the cod's mouth
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to feed on parasites.
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The cod gets groomed
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and the wrasse gets dinner.
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Partnerships like this seem
to require mutual trust.
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Lots of trust.
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Cat Hollerway, a coral researcher
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joined Michele to study
intersperses communication.
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I was afraid I was going to inhale it,
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maybe swallow it.
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But I didn't.
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It just tickled and pinched a little bit.
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I studied animal
behavior for so many years.
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This was...
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This was different.
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This was a chance for me to
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actually be part of it.
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00:12:18,399 --> 00:12:22,571
Cooperation between species
sustains life here.
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But sometimes it's almost invisible.
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The coral's most important partners
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are tiny microscope algae
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that actually live inside
the coral animals tissues.
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These helper algae use
sunlight to produce sugar,
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the primary food source
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that gives corals the
energy to build reefs.
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00:12:46,270 --> 00:12:50,275
Most corals cannot survive
without helper algae.
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00:12:50,318 --> 00:12:51,652
But worldwide,
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abnormally warm seawater
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threatens this partnership.
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Time lapsed photography can show us how
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in just one week
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that change of two degrees centigrade
drives the algae out.
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Without its primary food source
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the coral bleaches a ghostly white.
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If the algae don't return,
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the coral starves.
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Here in Australia we
went to some places that
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we've been to 22 years before
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and I was surprise to see that
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some of the reefs were so
damaged because of ocean warming.
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Our Australian survey gave us a baseline
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for understanding what was going wrong
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at Rusi's reef
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2000 miles away in Fiji
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when we got to Fiji,
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it didn't take five minutes
to reconnect with Rusi.
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Howard made me smile again.
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Michele and I were eager to help Rusi.
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But first
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we had to pay our respects
to local tradition.
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Before outsiders can direct my home island
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the elders must grant permission.
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My people have always limited fishing.
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This tradition of reef conservation
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has worked well for centuries.
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'Til now.
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First I wanted Howard to
see my village reef
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as it used to be.
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The reef looked great with
plenty of small fish.
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But we didn't see nearly as many big fish
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as we did in Australia.
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And that worried me.
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But time had come.
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I took Howard and Michele
further down the reef.
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I wondered where all the animals had gone.
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These reefs are dying.
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And it all just makes me very sad.
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Seeing so much of this reef destroyed
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we realized that
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Rusi's reef may be what
all coral reefs look like
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in thirty years.
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Our reef used to be home
to so many creatures
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but now they are almost all gone.
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00:16:44,146 --> 00:16:45,982
After seen all these destruction though
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I saw an octopus.
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Octopus make like a tent with their body.
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They put up their eight arms and
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actually trap shrimps and
crabs that live on the reef.
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He had obviously figured out
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how to survive.
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Not many reef dwellers are able to do that.
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For islanders who survive by fishing,
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the death of the reef has
really hit us hard.
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00:17:28,496 --> 00:17:32,371
Especially when you have children to feed.
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00:17:38,844 --> 00:17:41,680
But what killed Rusi's reef?
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00:17:41,764 --> 00:17:46,187
Foreign fishing fleets
have over fished this water.
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00:17:46,229 --> 00:17:51,543
And thermometers tells us that the
ocean is two degrees warmer than normal.
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I found more bleached coral
and no big fish.
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00:17:57,036 --> 00:17:59,455
But I had a hunch that
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00:17:59,498 --> 00:18:01,239
ocean warming and overfishing
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00:18:01,331 --> 00:18:03,731
were not the only problems.
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00:18:10,721 --> 00:18:12,391
Ten miles inland,
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00:18:12,432 --> 00:18:15,953
when tropical rain forests were cut down,
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00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,012
the river turned muddy with silt.
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00:18:26,786 --> 00:18:28,788
Two rivers merge,
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00:18:28,830 --> 00:18:31,320
one with logging upstream,
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00:18:31,330 --> 00:18:34,087
one without.
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There's only one place for
all of that settlement to go.
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At the mouth of the river
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silt blocks the sun light that
the coral needs for growth.
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00:18:48,398 --> 00:18:53,421
Rusi's reef had been hit
by a combination of stresses.
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00:18:54,948 --> 00:18:58,997
Ocean warming, overfishing and siltation.
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00:19:00,059 --> 00:19:01,842
Corals may fight off one threat
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00:19:01,843 --> 00:19:05,590
but three at once proved too much.
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00:19:06,698 --> 00:19:08,497
Now I understood the problem better
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00:19:08,498 --> 00:19:10,053
but what could I do?
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00:19:10,096 --> 00:19:12,290
Howard thought a healthier reef
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00:19:12,291 --> 00:19:14,183
might give us some answers.
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00:19:14,184 --> 00:19:17,696
We set quest for another island.
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00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,235
There we joined up with
Jean-Michele Cousteau
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00:19:21,236 --> 00:19:25,158
who is the son of the legendary explorer.
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00:19:26,284 --> 00:19:29,665
Jean-Michele comes to Fuji every year
to help marine biologists
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00:19:29,666 --> 00:19:32,114
like Maria Joao Rodriguez,
monitor coral reefs.
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00:19:35,653 --> 00:19:38,553
We guided Howard and
Michele to a nearby reef
247
00:19:38,823 --> 00:19:40,935
where siltation is not a problem,
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00:19:41,202 --> 00:19:43,550
thanks to mangrove trees.
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00:19:45,634 --> 00:19:47,412
Their roots trap silt,
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00:19:47,858 --> 00:19:49,675
protecting the reefs.
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00:19:53,089 --> 00:19:57,000
Many fish use mangroves as a nursery
to protect their young.
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00:20:03,211 --> 00:20:04,592
My fellow Fijians
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00:20:04,593 --> 00:20:08,034
have set aside the beneficial mangroves
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00:20:08,198 --> 00:20:10,254
as part of a marine preserve.
255
00:20:10,921 --> 00:20:13,449
Making the reef offshore a wonderland,
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00:20:13,829 --> 00:20:16,650
healthy, beautiful and strong.
257
00:20:21,602 --> 00:20:24,350
This is the way I want my reef to be.
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00:20:28,782 --> 00:20:32,652
Tropical coral reefs are found worldwide.
259
00:20:33,182 --> 00:20:37,667
Fiji is the soft coral
capital of the world.
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00:21:20,993 --> 00:21:22,662
Corals are beautiful,
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00:21:22,704 --> 00:21:25,420
but they are also beneficial.
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00:21:25,624 --> 00:21:27,668
Chemical compounds from coral reefs
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00:21:27,711 --> 00:21:29,421
have been reproduced in the lab
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00:21:29,463 --> 00:21:31,842
to provide relief from chronic pain,
265
00:21:32,465 --> 00:21:33,385
ease child birth
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00:21:33,426 --> 00:21:37,156
and even extend the life of AIDS patients.
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00:21:38,809 --> 00:21:41,210
Corals share their food.
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In fact many of them share
the same stomach.
269
00:22:04,428 --> 00:22:06,431
When the current picks up speed
270
00:22:06,472 --> 00:22:08,100
time lapse photography shows
271
00:22:08,142 --> 00:22:11,730
how these soft corals inflate like balloons
272
00:22:11,772 --> 00:22:14,000
to trap passing morsels.
273
00:22:19,616 --> 00:22:22,037
On a healthy reef like this,
274
00:22:22,078 --> 00:22:25,618
you see so many different creatures.
275
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,469
We preferred not to approach the animals.
276
00:22:33,510 --> 00:22:36,218
It's better if they come to us.
277
00:22:38,016 --> 00:22:39,727
This distant cousin of the cobra
278
00:22:39,769 --> 00:22:43,357
can kill a person with its venom
in a matter of minutes,
279
00:22:43,399 --> 00:22:46,201
but they rarely bite humans.
280
00:22:46,612 --> 00:22:49,055
Michele is counting on that.
281
00:22:56,125 --> 00:22:58,713
We learn a lot about a
reef from its animals,
282
00:22:58,754 --> 00:23:01,048
and so do the children.
283
00:23:01,091 --> 00:23:04,552
There is more to the
reef than meets the eye.
284
00:23:29,338 --> 00:23:33,600
Observation is the first step in science.
285
00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,309
Who would notice
286
00:23:38,350 --> 00:23:41,438
that yellow damselfish
guard their tiny eggs
287
00:23:41,479 --> 00:23:43,911
before they hatch.
288
00:23:44,693 --> 00:23:47,363
Or that the sea cucumber filters waste
289
00:23:47,405 --> 00:23:50,934
leaving the reef cleaner for all.
290
00:23:54,456 --> 00:23:59,129
Some of the finest marine
biologists are Fijians.
291
00:23:59,172 --> 00:24:02,986
We could have a budding scientist
in our midst.
292
00:24:29,380 --> 00:24:32,008
We've learned that we
don't inherit the earth
293
00:24:32,050 --> 00:24:33,761
from our parents.
294
00:24:33,802 --> 00:24:37,106
We borrow it from our children.
295
00:24:39,018 --> 00:24:43,149
Children love to spot fish
they've never seen before.
296
00:24:43,190 --> 00:24:46,820
That same thrill of discovery
drives many scientists
297
00:24:46,904 --> 00:24:49,170
like Richard Pyle.
298
00:24:52,829 --> 00:24:56,292
Richard Pyle calls himself a fish nerd.
299
00:24:56,334 --> 00:25:00,734
He studies fish on the deepest
parts of coral reefs.
300
00:25:02,050 --> 00:25:03,386
The deeper down we go on a coral reef
301
00:25:03,427 --> 00:25:05,471
the less we know.
302
00:25:05,514 --> 00:25:07,911
I want to find out who lives there.
303
00:25:09,686 --> 00:25:11,814
You can't get a true picture of coral reef
304
00:25:11,855 --> 00:25:14,192
if you only look at part of it.
305
00:25:14,233 --> 00:25:16,862
But deep dives can be really dangerous.
306
00:25:16,905 --> 00:25:19,199
Even using special breathing devises
307
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:21,703
we could still get a fatal disease
308
00:25:21,744 --> 00:25:23,456
called "the bends".
309
00:25:26,919 --> 00:25:28,671
I nearly lost Howard on a deep dive
310
00:25:28,712 --> 00:25:30,965
only two months ago.
311
00:25:31,007 --> 00:25:33,928
He had a bad case of "the bends"
312
00:25:33,970 --> 00:25:37,349
It could have killed him.
313
00:25:37,391 --> 00:25:39,644
To stop the progression of the illness,
314
00:25:39,686 --> 00:25:41,856
I began breathing pure oxygen
315
00:25:41,897 --> 00:25:43,733
but it didn't seen to help.
316
00:25:43,774 --> 00:25:47,739
I was losing all
feeling in my right leg.
317
00:25:47,780 --> 00:25:49,992
One of the terrifying moments for me
318
00:25:50,033 --> 00:25:53,872
was actually seeing him stumble.
319
00:25:53,914 --> 00:25:57,461
I just thought this can't be happening.
320
00:25:57,502 --> 00:26:00,047
Michele rushed Howard to the hospital
321
00:26:00,090 --> 00:26:02,718
hoping that a specially pressurized chamber
322
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,888
might halt the illness
323
00:26:04,929 --> 00:26:08,383
and save his life.
324
00:26:09,644 --> 00:26:11,313
Thank god for the communication system
325
00:26:11,355 --> 00:26:14,414
because at least then I could talk to him.
326
00:26:18,615 --> 00:26:20,826
Howard survived.
327
00:26:20,869 --> 00:26:22,746
But his close call was on my mind when
328
00:26:22,787 --> 00:26:27,251
we prepare for a dive to 350 feet.
329
00:26:28,671 --> 00:26:31,215
The next day on the deep dive
330
00:26:31,258 --> 00:26:33,302
Howard and Richard would face pressures
331
00:26:33,343 --> 00:26:36,557
nearly 12 times greater than normal.
332
00:26:36,598 --> 00:26:39,144
But they are expert divers
333
00:26:39,185 --> 00:26:41,730
and there is much to learn
by exploring regions
334
00:26:41,773 --> 00:26:44,198
where so little is known.
335
00:26:59,172 --> 00:27:02,384
Support divers attached
safety tanks to a life line
336
00:27:02,426 --> 00:27:07,612
every 50 feet.
337
00:27:36,265 --> 00:27:37,933
As we descend,
338
00:27:37,976 --> 00:27:40,646
too much oxygen is bad.
339
00:27:40,687 --> 00:27:42,857
Too little is worse.
340
00:27:42,899 --> 00:27:45,390
Both can kill you.
341
00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:56,886
The safety divers go down
as far as he can and stop.
342
00:27:57,252 --> 00:27:58,420
After that
343
00:27:58,462 --> 00:28:00,975
we are on our own
344
00:28:06,473 --> 00:28:08,059
As we drop down the reef wall
345
00:28:08,100 --> 00:28:11,104
it gets darker and colder.
346
00:28:11,147 --> 00:28:15,403
And in a way we are going back in time.
347
00:28:15,444 --> 00:28:16,905
At 200 feet,
348
00:28:16,946 --> 00:28:20,034
we pass lime stone deposits
that were laid down
349
00:28:20,075 --> 00:28:22,287
twenty thousand years ago,
350
00:28:22,329 --> 00:28:25,616
back when this was the top of the reef.
351
00:28:33,135 --> 00:28:34,805
At 350 feet,
352
00:28:34,846 --> 00:28:37,883
we entered the twilight zone.
353
00:28:39,477 --> 00:28:41,689
It's sort of spooky but wonderful
354
00:28:41,731 --> 00:28:43,233
to look around at a reef that
355
00:28:43,317 --> 00:28:46,930
no one has ever lay eyes on before.
356
00:28:58,754 --> 00:29:02,224
It's starting to get interesting.
357
00:29:06,181 --> 00:29:09,642
We don't see any of the
corals that rely on sunlight.
358
00:29:09,668 --> 00:29:12,423
Instead we see fan
corals and whip corals.
359
00:29:13,149 --> 00:29:17,044
This reef community definitely
appears to be thriving.
360
00:29:18,115 --> 00:29:20,744
In his quest to find out
what lives down here,
361
00:29:20,785 --> 00:29:24,456
Richard can only bring a
few specimens back to the surface
362
00:29:24,499 --> 00:29:27,710
to be documented for science.
363
00:29:30,924 --> 00:29:33,678
Looking around I see at least
a dozen new fish species
364
00:29:33,719 --> 00:29:35,722
that I have never seen before.
365
00:29:35,764 --> 00:29:38,886
I doubt that anyone has seen them before.
366
00:29:45,444 --> 00:29:46,946
Scientists like Richard
367
00:29:46,988 --> 00:29:48,865
are mapping the web of life that
368
00:29:48,908 --> 00:29:51,036
we are all part of.
369
00:29:51,077 --> 00:29:53,497
Each new fish Richard finds
370
00:29:53,539 --> 00:29:56,501
holds millions of years
of genetic engineering
371
00:29:56,953 --> 00:29:59,560
for medical research.
372
00:30:10,222 --> 00:30:12,057
Then the intense water pressure
373
00:30:12,099 --> 00:30:13,934
caused the primary camera
374
00:30:13,977 --> 00:30:16,014
to malfunction.
375
00:30:17,983 --> 00:30:21,349
I was glad that Howard
called an end to the dive.
376
00:30:22,864 --> 00:30:24,408
We hope that Howard's images
377
00:30:24,449 --> 00:30:26,452
will let scientist explore a reef
378
00:30:26,494 --> 00:30:29,893
that they might never be
able to dive on their own.
379
00:30:31,417 --> 00:30:33,379
It's not everyday you get to witness
380
00:30:33,420 --> 00:30:36,500
the discovery of a new species of fish
381
00:30:36,591 --> 00:30:38,343
You see that red one with the long tale
382
00:30:38,386 --> 00:30:39,387
that's the one I'm really excited about.
383
00:30:39,429 --> 00:30:41,598
That's definitely new.
384
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,993
Oh, I see those all the time.
385
00:31:10,972 --> 00:31:12,308
Until quite recently,
386
00:31:12,349 --> 00:31:14,889
the deep coral reefs were
387
00:31:14,890 --> 00:31:18,033
this big dark void on our map of life.
388
00:31:18,358 --> 00:31:19,735
But each new discovery
389
00:31:19,776 --> 00:31:22,300
leads us to new connections.
390
00:31:23,574 --> 00:31:26,285
This may seen like just
some insignificant little red fish,
391
00:31:26,328 --> 00:31:28,037
But it's a very important piece
392
00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:29,915
to the biodiversity puzzle.
393
00:31:29,958 --> 00:31:32,377
As soon as I saw I knew
it was something different
394
00:31:32,418 --> 00:31:36,150
the months of hard work in Fiji paid off
395
00:31:38,051 --> 00:31:39,846
Russy has seen first hand
396
00:31:39,888 --> 00:31:43,518
how corals can thrive
when reefs are protected
397
00:31:43,559 --> 00:31:47,377
he is now ready to return
to his home island
398
00:31:49,067 --> 00:31:50,819
my fellow Fijians have shown me
399
00:31:50,862 --> 00:31:53,115
how to set up a marine preserve
400
00:31:53,156 --> 00:31:54,783
protect the mangroves
401
00:31:54,825 --> 00:31:58,037
and even curb logging operations
402
00:31:58,288 --> 00:32:01,200
I really want to get started.
403
00:32:02,794 --> 00:32:05,464
Here in Fiji we've
seen some amazing reefs.
404
00:32:05,507 --> 00:32:08,719
But we have also seen a
lot of coral damage.
405
00:32:08,803 --> 00:32:11,181
The siltation we saw in Rusi's reef
406
00:32:11,222 --> 00:32:13,917
led us to a next question.
407
00:32:14,019 --> 00:32:15,478
Is closeness to shore
408
00:32:15,521 --> 00:32:18,743
a major risk factor for corals?
409
00:32:22,071 --> 00:32:23,782
French Polynesia is a perfect place
410
00:32:23,824 --> 00:32:27,259
for answering this question.
411
00:32:47,398 --> 00:32:48,858
In French Polynesia
412
00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:50,652
Howard and Michele started with
413
00:32:50,695 --> 00:32:54,074
The heavily populated
islands of Tahiti and Mo'orea
414
00:32:54,116 --> 00:32:58,014
where the reefs are close to shore.
415
00:32:58,163 --> 00:33:01,000
But with only six weeks left
in the whole expedition
416
00:33:01,042 --> 00:33:04,894
Howard had to get the big picture fast.
417
00:33:17,565 --> 00:33:18,942
I'm used to hang gliders.
418
00:33:19,025 --> 00:33:22,364
I'm used to fly around in
contraptions like this.
419
00:33:22,446 --> 00:33:24,742
But there is still
something not quite right
420
00:33:24,783 --> 00:33:27,846
about an engine that
can fit in my back pack.
421
00:33:36,841 --> 00:33:40,096
Mo'orea is sort of like Rusi's island.
422
00:33:40,139 --> 00:33:41,891
The coral here is very sensitive
423
00:33:41,932 --> 00:33:43,769
to siltation and pollution
424
00:33:43,810 --> 00:33:47,605
because the reefs are
very close to shore.
425
00:33:48,275 --> 00:33:51,571
After checking out the
north side of Mo'orea
426
00:33:51,612 --> 00:33:55,448
we head across the mountains
to survey the south coast.
427
00:34:32,712 --> 00:34:34,255
Even near towns
428
00:34:34,296 --> 00:34:37,500
we didn't spot much reef damage.
429
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,889
Coastal development puts reefs in jeopardy.
430
00:34:40,931 --> 00:34:44,269
Siltation pollution, and
the loss of mangroves
431
00:34:44,310 --> 00:34:46,856
are all serious risks
432
00:34:46,898 --> 00:34:48,734
But resorts like this prove that
433
00:34:48,775 --> 00:34:51,654
respecting the environment
is a good business.
434
00:34:51,695 --> 00:34:56,780
Because tourists avoid damaged reefs.
435
00:35:06,090 --> 00:35:07,551
Our flight over Mo'orea
436
00:35:07,593 --> 00:35:09,554
just gave us a first impression.
437
00:35:09,595 --> 00:35:11,140
So with time running out
438
00:35:11,181 --> 00:35:13,726
I turned to Reef Check aboard survey boat
439
00:35:13,769 --> 00:35:16,063
the Quicksilver Crossing
440
00:35:16,104 --> 00:35:20,528
Reef Check has over 4000
sport divers in 60 countries
441
00:35:20,569 --> 00:35:24,441
monitoring the health of coral reefs.
442
00:35:24,741 --> 00:35:26,369
We asked Reef Check volunteers
443
00:35:26,411 --> 00:35:28,164
to check the coral damage here in Mo'orea.
444
00:35:28,205 --> 00:35:30,750
to find out if the reefs closest to shore
445
00:35:30,792 --> 00:35:33,700
are the most severely damaged.
446
00:35:45,771 --> 00:35:46,772
From the air
447
00:35:46,815 --> 00:35:49,819
it's clear how these volcano islands formed
448
00:35:49,860 --> 00:35:54,120
and how coral reefs formed around them.
449
00:35:57,120 --> 00:36:00,208
The steepest youngest
islands Tahiti and Mo'orea
450
00:36:00,250 --> 00:36:02,336
stand tall.
451
00:36:02,377 --> 00:36:05,757
These islands have not
eroded and subsided much
452
00:36:05,841 --> 00:36:10,209
so the coral reef ringing
them is not far offshore.
453
00:36:12,150 --> 00:36:13,953
Bora Bora is middle
aged, so the volcano
454
00:36:19,644 --> 00:36:21,070
has subsided and eroded somewhat
455
00:36:21,112 --> 00:36:24,995
and the reefs are farther from shore.
456
00:36:27,078 --> 00:36:28,289
The final stage
457
00:36:28,330 --> 00:36:32,795
is this flat donut of an island
called and atoll
458
00:36:32,836 --> 00:36:36,550
The volcano has completely
subsided back into the sea
459
00:36:36,591 --> 00:36:42,145
leaving a ring of coral which
one circled a tall mountain.
460
00:36:45,062 --> 00:36:48,942
The team headed for the
second largest atoll in the world.
461
00:36:48,984 --> 00:36:50,569
Rangiroa
462
00:36:50,611 --> 00:36:55,151
to survey the remotest
reefs in French Polynesia.
463
00:36:57,579 --> 00:36:59,498
10 years ago
464
00:36:59,541 --> 00:37:02,795
a cyclone wiped out most of
Rangiroa's coral
465
00:37:02,837 --> 00:37:04,505
But storms are natural events
466
00:37:04,548 --> 00:37:07,176
and coral reef do recover from them
467
00:37:07,218 --> 00:37:11,119
as long as human impacts don't interfere.
468
00:37:12,308 --> 00:37:16,605
Here the coral seems small but healthy.
469
00:37:20,069 --> 00:37:22,280
Right away we saw two male parrot fish
470
00:37:22,322 --> 00:37:25,616
fighting over territory.
471
00:37:26,285 --> 00:37:31,605
This was a sign of a large
and thriving fish population.
472
00:37:34,881 --> 00:37:37,176
But why haven't we seen the huge
schools of grey reef sharks
473
00:37:37,218 --> 00:37:41,796
Rangiroa so famous for?
474
00:37:43,017 --> 00:37:46,731
Their absence is not necessarily
a danger sign for corals
475
00:37:46,773 --> 00:37:50,653
but it could single an imbalance
in the whole reef ecosystem.
476
00:37:50,694 --> 00:37:54,867
So finding the sharks became our main goal.
477
00:37:56,787 --> 00:37:59,290
We search the shark's favorite hangouts
478
00:37:59,331 --> 00:38:02,377
but they didn't see to be home.
479
00:38:08,469 --> 00:38:09,679
We used caution because
480
00:38:09,721 --> 00:38:11,307
one thing you don't want to do
481
00:38:11,348 --> 00:38:15,603
is catch a grey reef shark by surprise
482
00:38:19,527 --> 00:38:22,238
if the sharks are out roaming
the reef in shallow water
483
00:38:22,281 --> 00:38:23,865
the quickest way to spot them
484
00:38:23,908 --> 00:38:26,354
is from the ultralight.
485
00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:28,246
Throughout the Pacific
486
00:38:28,330 --> 00:38:30,750
whole populations of
sharks have been wiped out
487
00:38:30,793 --> 00:38:32,920
by commercial fishermen.
488
00:38:32,962 --> 00:38:35,632
Grey reef sharks are especially vulnerable
489
00:38:35,674 --> 00:38:38,567
and that's what worry me.
490
00:38:39,387 --> 00:38:42,350
The aerial search for
sharks turns up nothing.
491
00:38:42,391 --> 00:38:44,144
And we're running out of time
492
00:38:44,186 --> 00:38:46,397
but there is one last place to look.
493
00:38:46,439 --> 00:38:48,609
Tiputa Pass
494
00:38:48,650 --> 00:38:52,054
Here the current just screams.
495
00:39:28,164 --> 00:39:30,626
Hundreds of startled sharks are hanging out
496
00:39:30,667 --> 00:39:33,337
like a street gang in this little canyon.
497
00:39:33,380 --> 00:39:35,132
We're being swept into them
498
00:39:35,173 --> 00:39:40,522
and there's nothing we can do about it.
499
00:39:59,707 --> 00:40:02,712
Could they be mating?
500
00:40:02,753 --> 00:40:04,088
This is when you try very hard
501
00:40:04,130 --> 00:40:07,482
not to look like a shark.
502
00:40:07,635 --> 00:40:13,198
I've had two friends badly
bitten by grey reef sharks
503
00:40:14,603 --> 00:40:16,397
The most social of all sharks,
504
00:40:16,439 --> 00:40:20,855
greys tend to swim in tight groups.
505
00:40:31,961 --> 00:40:34,005
I've been diving for 35 years
506
00:40:34,046 --> 00:40:37,635
but I've never seen the likes of this.
507
00:40:37,676 --> 00:40:40,055
There must be 300 sharks in this school
508
00:40:40,097 --> 00:40:43,304
and that's a healthy number.
509
00:40:45,355 --> 00:40:47,774
This big school doesn't close the book
510
00:40:47,815 --> 00:40:50,027
but it is a favorable sign
511
00:40:50,069 --> 00:40:53,849
for the health of this reef ecosystem.
512
00:40:57,663 --> 00:40:59,957
We party with the sharks for nearly an hour
513
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:01,710
knowing that on their way home
514
00:41:01,752 --> 00:41:03,171
we'll have the current at our backs
515
00:41:03,212 --> 00:41:06,987
so we can go with the flow.
516
00:42:03,921 --> 00:42:07,051
For ten exhausting but magical months
517
00:42:07,093 --> 00:42:08,345
Michele and I explored
518
00:42:08,386 --> 00:42:13,894
some of the most magnificent
coral reefs on earth.
519
00:42:13,935 --> 00:42:14,854
During that time
520
00:42:14,895 --> 00:42:20,226
our concern for corals
grew into a shared passion.
521
00:42:25,410 --> 00:42:27,246
My people look at the reef
522
00:42:27,288 --> 00:42:29,541
and we don't want to believe
that such a place
523
00:42:29,582 --> 00:42:32,723
could be gone forever.
524
00:42:33,755 --> 00:42:35,715
My friends Howard and Michele
525
00:42:35,758 --> 00:42:41,200
have given me new tools
to heal my village reef.
526
00:42:41,808 --> 00:42:46,564
Howard's love to the reefs
nearly cost him his life.
527
00:42:46,606 --> 00:42:48,817
But after making more than 500 dives
528
00:42:48,859 --> 00:42:52,614
we came back with some
really powerful images.
529
00:42:52,657 --> 00:42:54,409
One image I can't get out of my mind
530
00:42:54,450 --> 00:42:58,289
is that lone octopus
crawling through the rubble.
531
00:42:58,331 --> 00:43:02,444
Soon it may not have a home.
532
00:43:05,257 --> 00:43:07,885
No one set out to kill a beautiful thing.
533
00:43:07,928 --> 00:43:09,596
But when a reef dies
534
00:43:09,638 --> 00:43:14,228
billions of living things die.
535
00:43:14,269 --> 00:43:17,107
Corals appears to be
dying faster than normal
536
00:43:17,148 --> 00:43:21,780
and the trend is rapidly accelerating.
537
00:43:22,489 --> 00:43:25,368
Most living coral reefs
as we know them today
538
00:43:25,410 --> 00:43:28,832
could be gone in 30 years.
539
00:43:28,873 --> 00:43:30,542
If that happens
540
00:43:30,584 --> 00:43:35,707
then something inside of me will die too.
541
00:43:40,806 --> 00:43:43,435
After all the coral reefs have given us
542
00:43:43,477 --> 00:43:47,023
more and more people are
now returning the favor.
543
00:43:47,107 --> 00:43:50,028
Their supporting leaders
who fight global warming
544
00:43:50,069 --> 00:43:52,490
joining teams like Reef Check
545
00:43:52,531 --> 00:43:56,317
getting involved.
546
00:43:56,996 --> 00:43:58,539
We may have greater potential
547
00:43:58,581 --> 00:43:59,750
of finding new medicines on
548
00:43:59,791 --> 00:44:03,713
coral reefs than any other
environment on earth.
549
00:44:03,755 --> 00:44:08,438
To save them is really saving ourselves.
550
00:44:21,487 --> 00:44:23,658
It take a long, long time
to build a coral reef
551
00:44:23,699 --> 00:44:26,161
step by step
552
00:44:26,203 --> 00:44:28,873
the reefs survive on partnerships.
553
00:44:28,915 --> 00:44:30,876
And the most important partners
554
00:44:30,918 --> 00:44:36,097
that the corals have are you and I.
555
00:44:59,624 --> 00:45:01,627
What we must to do is
556
00:45:01,668 --> 00:45:03,379
encourage a sea change in attitude
557
00:45:03,421 --> 00:45:05,048
one that acknowledges
558
00:45:05,091 --> 00:45:06,593
we are a part of the living world
559
00:45:06,634 --> 00:45:09,891
not apart from it.
41463
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