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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:41,608 --> 00:00:45,778 The South Pacific is, on the face of it, still a healthy ocean. 2 00:00:48,682 --> 00:00:51,117 We depend on it. 3 00:00:51,218 --> 00:00:56,422 Over 60% of the world's fish catch comes from the Pacific. 4 00:00:56,523 --> 00:00:57,957 But like all oceans, 5 00:00:58,058 --> 00:01:00,259 it has little or no protection, 6 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,464 so it may not stay healthy much longer. 7 00:01:07,301 --> 00:01:11,137 So what's being done to preserve its natural treasures? 8 00:01:15,075 --> 00:01:19,479 And what does the future hold for this fragile paradise? 9 00:01:40,033 --> 00:01:44,504 For the South Pacific, this is a critical time. 10 00:01:47,074 --> 00:01:49,976 It's changing in ways that, if left unchecked, 11 00:01:50,077 --> 00:01:52,545 could develop into a global crisis. 12 00:01:55,783 --> 00:01:59,085 Some of its residents have been through crisis before. 13 00:02:02,656 --> 00:02:07,560 Humpback whales were hunted so relentlessly during the last century 14 00:02:07,661 --> 00:02:10,029 that their numbers crashed by 90%. 15 00:02:18,071 --> 00:02:19,906 But recently, they've made a comeback, 16 00:02:20,007 --> 00:02:24,043 surging from 5,000 to 60,000 animals. 17 00:02:25,579 --> 00:02:29,882 Their blubber is no longer boiled down for oil. 18 00:02:29,983 --> 00:02:36,122 Today, these whales are greeted by boats loaded not with harpoons, 19 00:02:36,190 --> 00:02:37,690 but with tourists. 20 00:02:42,229 --> 00:02:46,332 The waters of Tonga are one of the few places in the world 21 00:02:46,433 --> 00:02:50,803 where it's legal to get in and meet the giants face to face. 22 00:03:12,626 --> 00:03:17,029 Some claim that to look into the eye of a whale 23 00:03:17,130 --> 00:03:19,832 is a life-changing experience. 24 00:03:45,692 --> 00:03:49,595 In the 1970s, a campaign to "Save the Whale" 25 00:03:49,696 --> 00:03:51,597 made the headlines around the world, 26 00:03:51,698 --> 00:03:54,333 and led to an unprecedented agreement 27 00:03:54,434 --> 00:03:57,737 to protect what remained of the world's whales. 28 00:04:00,407 --> 00:04:05,244 It proved that global pressure CAN save wildlife that's under threat. 29 00:04:13,887 --> 00:04:18,691 So what are the current threats to wildlife in the Pacific? 30 00:04:22,195 --> 00:04:25,865 It's no secret that the world is getting warmer. 31 00:04:28,168 --> 00:04:32,271 And the low-lying islands of the South Pacific are on the front line, 32 00:04:32,372 --> 00:04:36,742 as global warming causes sea levels to rise. 33 00:04:44,484 --> 00:04:46,986 On the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, 34 00:04:47,087 --> 00:04:51,057 nowhere is higher than five metres above sea level. 35 00:04:59,399 --> 00:05:03,736 Tuvalu's nine atolls and islands are home to 12,000 people. 36 00:05:03,837 --> 00:05:06,939 Their contribution to global warming is tiny, 37 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,876 but its impact on them is massive. 38 00:05:12,245 --> 00:05:15,348 Sea walls are the nation's only defence, 39 00:05:15,449 --> 00:05:19,318 but building higher walls is likely to prove futile. 40 00:05:19,419 --> 00:05:21,487 During big spring tides, 41 00:05:21,588 --> 00:05:25,891 seawater simply bubbles up through the ground. 42 00:05:39,439 --> 00:05:45,011 In 2006, the islanders experienced their highest tides ever. 43 00:05:47,814 --> 00:05:51,317 These islands could soon become uninhabitable. 44 00:05:51,418 --> 00:05:55,488 The seawater is poisoning the soil and groundwater. 45 00:05:59,693 --> 00:06:03,295 Eventually, the islands may have to be evacuated. 46 00:06:03,397 --> 00:06:07,700 This would be an unprecedented move... 47 00:06:07,801 --> 00:06:10,836 An entire nation relocated. 48 00:06:15,876 --> 00:06:18,878 So the ocean is threatening its islands, 49 00:06:18,979 --> 00:06:20,880 thanks to global warming. 50 00:06:22,182 --> 00:06:26,986 And yet, the Pacific is playing a massive part 51 00:06:27,087 --> 00:06:29,021 in slowing down climate change. 52 00:06:37,697 --> 00:06:42,234 The world's oceans have absorbed about half of all the carbon dioxide 53 00:06:42,335 --> 00:06:45,237 released so far into the atmosphere by industry, 54 00:06:45,338 --> 00:06:48,641 significantly reducing the greenhouse effect. 55 00:06:51,445 --> 00:06:53,112 But there's a catch... 56 00:06:53,213 --> 00:06:57,616 For the fish, all that extra carbon dioxide in the water 57 00:06:57,717 --> 00:06:59,685 can have some unwanted side effects. 58 00:07:02,155 --> 00:07:06,959 All life in the Pacific is dependent on the tiniest of creatures - 59 00:07:07,060 --> 00:07:10,262 the plankton that floats freely in the currents. 60 00:07:12,132 --> 00:07:16,802 One of the most plentiful is the sea butterfly, 61 00:07:16,903 --> 00:07:20,840 a tiny marine snail, which uses its enlarged foot 62 00:07:20,941 --> 00:07:22,842 to fly through the water. 63 00:07:30,150 --> 00:07:33,752 Sea butterflies are such important food for so many marine animals 64 00:07:33,854 --> 00:07:37,323 they have been dubbed the "potato chips of the ocean". 65 00:07:38,859 --> 00:07:43,062 But they could be under threat from all that extra carbon dioxide. 66 00:07:47,734 --> 00:07:52,671 Dissolved carbon dioxide is slowly turning the water more acidic, 67 00:07:52,772 --> 00:07:57,009 making it harder for sea butterflies to build their calcium shells. 68 00:07:59,112 --> 00:08:01,380 The loss of these swimming "potato chips" 69 00:08:01,481 --> 00:08:04,250 would have repercussions right up the food chain. 70 00:08:13,693 --> 00:08:16,829 And with a billion people around the world 71 00:08:16,930 --> 00:08:18,898 dependent on fish for their protein, 72 00:08:18,999 --> 00:08:22,268 fewer fish would clearly be bad news for people too. 73 00:08:24,337 --> 00:08:26,539 Of course, there's no need to worry, 74 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,575 if the greenhouse gases are brought under control. 75 00:08:29,643 --> 00:08:32,611 Or is there? 76 00:08:32,712 --> 00:08:35,347 Although the burning of fossil fuels 77 00:08:35,448 --> 00:08:38,317 is often viewed as the biggest environmental threat, 78 00:08:38,418 --> 00:08:42,254 here in the Pacific there are more pressing concerns. 79 00:08:43,924 --> 00:08:45,691 The fish may disappear 80 00:08:45,792 --> 00:08:49,962 long before the impact of climate change really takes hold. 81 00:08:56,937 --> 00:09:00,973 A leading group of ecologists recently predicted 82 00:09:01,074 --> 00:09:05,077 that in just 40 years, seafood will be off the menu. 83 00:09:08,548 --> 00:09:12,651 The problem has a lot to do with fishing. 84 00:09:24,731 --> 00:09:29,969 In Fiji, the villagers of Moturiki Island are fishing for dinner. 85 00:09:39,579 --> 00:09:43,349 Using a traditional fishing technique known as a fish drive, 86 00:09:43,450 --> 00:09:46,151 they work together to scare the fish off the reef 87 00:09:46,253 --> 00:09:48,487 and into an ever-smaller corral. 88 00:09:50,290 --> 00:09:54,426 Each year, in coastal waters around the Pacific's islands, 89 00:09:54,527 --> 00:09:58,497 subsistence fishermen catch around 80,000 tonnes of fish. 90 00:10:04,437 --> 00:10:08,140 In the past, there was always plenty more fish in the sea, 91 00:10:08,241 --> 00:10:12,211 but recently, catches have been declining. 92 00:10:13,613 --> 00:10:15,781 Why should this be? 93 00:10:15,882 --> 00:10:18,550 It could be that more efficient fishing gear, 94 00:10:18,652 --> 00:10:23,589 such as modern nylon nets coupled with growing island populations, 95 00:10:23,690 --> 00:10:25,591 has led to over-fishing. 96 00:10:28,928 --> 00:10:31,797 But catching too many fish 97 00:10:31,898 --> 00:10:34,933 may not be the main reason why there are now too few. 98 00:10:39,205 --> 00:10:44,843 Pacific coastal fish live and breed in the most fragile of habitats - 99 00:10:44,911 --> 00:10:46,712 coral reefs. 100 00:10:48,281 --> 00:10:52,017 But many reefs have been trampled on, smashed by boats, 101 00:10:52,118 --> 00:10:55,688 and even dynamited in the quest for fish. 102 00:10:55,789 --> 00:10:59,558 And damaged reefs support fewer fish. 103 00:10:59,659 --> 00:11:03,329 This could be why the fishermen are catching less. 104 00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:10,369 In Fiji, biologists are working with fishermen 105 00:11:10,470 --> 00:11:14,340 to bring the fish back by replanting the reefs. 106 00:11:14,441 --> 00:11:17,242 This is a coral nursery. 107 00:11:17,344 --> 00:11:19,912 But with wild corals already struggling, 108 00:11:20,013 --> 00:11:22,748 where have these coral seedlings come from? 109 00:11:25,518 --> 00:11:27,986 The coral gardeners monitor the reef, 110 00:11:28,088 --> 00:11:30,956 looking for corals that need a helping hand. 111 00:11:37,897 --> 00:11:43,335 Despite all this real estate, many corals end up clustered together. 112 00:11:43,436 --> 00:11:46,338 Crowded out, they will eventually die, 113 00:11:46,439 --> 00:11:50,209 so the gardeners uproot them, creating more space for some, 114 00:11:50,310 --> 00:11:53,045 and giving the uprooted ones a fresh start. 115 00:11:56,282 --> 00:12:00,886 Each coral head is broken down into a dozen or more fingers 116 00:12:00,987 --> 00:12:04,923 and each of these is tied onto a concrete disc. 117 00:12:08,194 --> 00:12:12,598 As every gardener knows, vigorous growth requires sunlight, 118 00:12:12,699 --> 00:12:15,033 plenty of nutrients and the right temperature. 119 00:12:15,135 --> 00:12:18,303 So the coral gardeners choose just the spot. 120 00:12:28,214 --> 00:12:32,251 Within six months, the corals are branching out. 121 00:13:14,861 --> 00:13:18,564 They're spaced out onto adjacent tables 122 00:13:18,665 --> 00:13:22,901 and, a year or two after planting, they're ready for harvesting. 123 00:13:28,208 --> 00:13:31,610 The coral heads are broken down once more. 124 00:13:31,711 --> 00:13:34,746 In the space of two years, a single finger of coral 125 00:13:34,848 --> 00:13:38,283 has multiplied into 50 or more. 126 00:13:41,821 --> 00:13:44,890 Some of these will be re-planted on fresh discs, 127 00:13:44,991 --> 00:13:47,726 while others will be returned to the reef. 128 00:13:50,663 --> 00:13:53,699 If replicated, coral gardening could help 129 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,502 restore reefs throughout the Pacific. 130 00:13:56,603 --> 00:13:58,337 But its biggest success 131 00:13:58,438 --> 00:14:01,840 may be in sowing the seeds of conservation in the local fishermen. 132 00:14:09,883 --> 00:14:14,086 Within days, these cuttings will have stuck themselves to the reef, 133 00:14:14,187 --> 00:14:16,421 while reefs that were replanted a year ago 134 00:14:16,523 --> 00:14:20,058 are already starting to bloom. 135 00:14:20,159 --> 00:14:25,731 In a few more years, this area should be awash with fish. 136 00:14:28,134 --> 00:14:33,472 So there's hope for coastal fisheries on which local people depend. 137 00:14:33,573 --> 00:14:37,676 Out in the open ocean, it's another story. 138 00:14:37,777 --> 00:14:39,378 There is no protection here, 139 00:14:39,479 --> 00:14:42,614 and yet this is where most fish are now being caught. 140 00:14:45,451 --> 00:14:49,221 These may look like minnows, but they are tuna, 141 00:14:49,322 --> 00:14:52,391 each a healthy two kilos or more. 142 00:14:55,728 --> 00:14:59,498 Four different species are fished in the tropical Pacific. 143 00:14:59,599 --> 00:15:01,433 These are skipjack tuna, 144 00:15:01,534 --> 00:15:04,736 with some yellowfin tuna mixed in. 145 00:15:04,837 --> 00:15:09,908 But this boat is not setting nets. 146 00:15:12,445 --> 00:15:15,914 The ancient technique of fishing with rod and line 147 00:15:16,015 --> 00:15:19,084 is now practised on an industrial scale. 148 00:15:42,542 --> 00:15:46,244 The water jets break up the outline of the boat from below, 149 00:15:46,346 --> 00:15:50,282 and mimic the noise and commotion of baitfish when under attack. 150 00:15:52,518 --> 00:15:55,821 Meanwhile, live baitfish are strewn around the boat 151 00:15:55,922 --> 00:15:57,856 to keep the tuna interested. 152 00:16:03,396 --> 00:16:05,864 It may look like a lot of effort for a few fish, 153 00:16:05,965 --> 00:16:11,970 but this pole and line technique of fishing can be surprisingly effective. 154 00:16:17,877 --> 00:16:22,914 Fishing for export is now big business in the tropical Pacific, 155 00:16:23,016 --> 00:16:26,151 with tuna alone accounting for 30 times more fish 156 00:16:26,252 --> 00:16:29,655 than all the fish caught by subsistence fishermen. 157 00:16:33,993 --> 00:16:37,029 So is commercial fishing sustainable? 158 00:16:39,132 --> 00:16:41,299 Skipjack are the smallest, 159 00:16:41,401 --> 00:16:44,369 and by far the most abundant tuna species in the Pacific. 160 00:16:45,905 --> 00:16:48,740 They reach maturity in just a year 161 00:16:48,841 --> 00:16:52,344 and then spawn many times within a season. 162 00:16:52,445 --> 00:16:55,080 They seem to be the perfect catch, 163 00:16:55,181 --> 00:16:57,582 as their numbers just keep bouncing back. 164 00:17:07,894 --> 00:17:11,730 But not all marine life is so resilient. 165 00:17:11,831 --> 00:17:13,598 Thanks to modern fishing, 166 00:17:13,700 --> 00:17:18,570 some of the best-known animals of the Pacific are in deep trouble. 167 00:17:23,209 --> 00:17:27,813 Sharks have been top dog in the Pacific for millions of years. 168 00:17:29,048 --> 00:17:31,750 They control the numbers of other fish, 169 00:17:31,851 --> 00:17:33,318 and so play a vital role 170 00:17:33,419 --> 00:17:36,455 in keeping the underwater ecosystem healthy and diverse. 171 00:17:41,461 --> 00:17:46,431 In French Polynesia, grey reef sharks gather. 172 00:17:54,807 --> 00:18:00,078 While scalloped hammerheads patrol the Galápagos Islands, 173 00:18:00,179 --> 00:18:05,317 these are rare hot spots where sharks converge in large numbers. 174 00:18:05,418 --> 00:18:07,786 But divers claim this is just a fraction 175 00:18:07,887 --> 00:18:10,288 of the number of sharks they used to see. 176 00:18:16,329 --> 00:18:18,897 Many sharks are ocean migrants, 177 00:18:18,998 --> 00:18:22,834 travelling hundreds of miles in search of prey, 178 00:18:22,935 --> 00:18:25,270 like the oceanic whitetip. 179 00:18:29,308 --> 00:18:31,443 Amazingly, this may once have been 180 00:18:31,544 --> 00:18:34,479 the most abundant large animal on the planet. 181 00:18:36,549 --> 00:18:40,952 But it's fallen prey to fishermen's hooks and nets. 182 00:18:41,053 --> 00:18:44,923 Surveys suggest oceanic whitetips may have declined 183 00:18:45,024 --> 00:18:47,292 by a staggering 99%. 184 00:18:48,661 --> 00:18:52,864 It's like the disappearance of bison from America's Great Plains, 185 00:18:52,965 --> 00:18:56,468 yet it's only happened in the past 50 years, 186 00:18:56,569 --> 00:18:59,171 and almost no-one has noticed. 187 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:05,143 Incredibly, the world's oceans may have lost more than 90% 188 00:19:05,244 --> 00:19:09,347 of their large predatory fish since industrialised fishing began. 189 00:19:15,221 --> 00:19:19,858 Tiger sharks still turn up in Hawaiian waters, 190 00:19:19,959 --> 00:19:23,829 drawn here by another great ocean wanderer. 191 00:19:40,079 --> 00:19:44,482 These black-footed albatross are certainly an endangered species, 192 00:19:44,584 --> 00:19:47,018 but not because of the sharks. 193 00:19:48,254 --> 00:19:55,060 Thousands of adult black-footed albatross are caught each year on fishing lines. 194 00:19:56,629 --> 00:20:00,732 In fact, 19 of the world's 22 species of albatross 195 00:20:00,833 --> 00:20:03,134 are endangered or vulnerable to extinction, 196 00:20:03,236 --> 00:20:04,736 largely thanks to fishing. 197 00:20:11,477 --> 00:20:14,012 The Antipodean, or wandering albatross 198 00:20:14,113 --> 00:20:16,381 is found in the waters around New Zealand, 199 00:20:16,482 --> 00:20:20,318 home to the most diverse seabird community in the world. 200 00:20:26,692 --> 00:20:29,961 These are rich fishing grounds for fishermen too. 201 00:20:38,771 --> 00:20:41,973 The birds know that where there are fishermen, 202 00:20:42,074 --> 00:20:44,542 a free lunch is sure to follow. 203 00:20:44,644 --> 00:20:47,545 So how does this get them into trouble? 204 00:20:49,715 --> 00:20:53,218 With a wingspan over three metres, an albatross is built to soar 205 00:20:53,319 --> 00:20:56,688 thousands of miles across the ocean in its quest for food. 206 00:21:00,793 --> 00:21:04,062 As it might go for days with nothing, 207 00:21:04,163 --> 00:21:05,664 it can't afford to be choosy. 208 00:21:09,568 --> 00:21:12,437 Anything near the surface is snapped up. 209 00:21:27,853 --> 00:21:32,123 Unfortunately, not everything a fisherman casts overboard 210 00:21:32,224 --> 00:21:33,491 is a healthy meal. 211 00:21:35,861 --> 00:21:41,833 Far out at sea, a long-line fishing vessel is setting its line. 212 00:21:41,934 --> 00:21:45,804 It's long-line vessels in particular that have been held responsible 213 00:21:45,905 --> 00:21:47,772 for the decline of the albatross. 214 00:21:52,712 --> 00:21:56,481 The fishermen pay out a line 30 miles long 215 00:21:56,582 --> 00:21:58,450 across the surface of the ocean, 216 00:21:58,551 --> 00:22:01,386 and every few metres, they attach a secondary line 217 00:22:01,487 --> 00:22:04,622 with a hook, baited with a fish or squid. 218 00:22:06,826 --> 00:22:10,362 Every night, this vessel casts over 1,000 hooks, 219 00:22:10,463 --> 00:22:13,865 and it is just one of many long-liners plying the Pacific, 220 00:22:13,966 --> 00:22:17,402 some with lines 100 miles long. 221 00:22:20,673 --> 00:22:24,843 But this fisherman is well aware of the threat to the seabirds, 222 00:22:24,944 --> 00:22:27,345 and to prevent them from swallowing his hooks, 223 00:22:27,446 --> 00:22:30,081 he has adopted bird-friendly fishing methods. 224 00:22:32,251 --> 00:22:36,221 It's why he sets his lines at night, when the albatross are sleeping. 225 00:22:37,790 --> 00:22:39,791 And he deploys tori lines. 226 00:22:39,892 --> 00:22:43,094 These simple streamers are remarkably effective 227 00:22:43,195 --> 00:22:46,064 at scaring birds away from the hooks. 228 00:22:51,003 --> 00:22:54,506 He also thaws out his bait before hooking it, 229 00:22:54,607 --> 00:22:56,508 so it sinks out of sight quickly. 230 00:23:00,379 --> 00:23:04,649 His bird catch is now virtually zero. 231 00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:13,391 This leaves more hooks free for his target species - bigeye tuna. 232 00:23:16,862 --> 00:23:20,498 These are powerful fish, and can weigh well over 100 kilos. 233 00:23:20,599 --> 00:23:27,372 It may look brutal, but the most humane way to kill one quickly 234 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:28,973 is to shoot it. 235 00:23:50,529 --> 00:23:54,966 The future of the albatross still hangs in the balance. 236 00:23:55,067 --> 00:23:58,870 The birds around New Zealand are benefiting from a law that states 237 00:23:58,971 --> 00:24:03,808 all long-line fishing vessels must use bird-friendly methods. 238 00:24:03,909 --> 00:24:06,778 But albatross are great travellers, 239 00:24:06,879 --> 00:24:11,349 so they're still at risk throughout the rest of the South Pacific. 240 00:24:11,450 --> 00:24:15,653 Only if all fishing vessels adopt the same bird-friendly techniques 241 00:24:15,754 --> 00:24:17,856 will the story of the albatross - 242 00:24:17,957 --> 00:24:20,758 like that of the whale - have a happy ending. 243 00:24:24,563 --> 00:24:28,032 Saving sharks is not so straightforward. 244 00:24:28,134 --> 00:24:30,902 They're not just caught accidentally - 245 00:24:31,003 --> 00:24:33,271 their fins are worth a fortune, 246 00:24:33,372 --> 00:24:37,275 thanks to an Oriental taste for shark-fin soup. 247 00:24:41,514 --> 00:24:46,151 Over 70 million sharks are killed every year, 248 00:24:46,252 --> 00:24:49,654 many in the South Pacific, where shark finning is neither outlawed 249 00:24:49,755 --> 00:24:51,623 nor properly regulated. 250 00:24:54,293 --> 00:24:56,227 This is a bigeye thresher, 251 00:24:56,328 --> 00:25:00,298 a shark that's almost never been seen in the wild. 252 00:25:10,976 --> 00:25:14,946 Shark finning is a wasteful and often cruel practice, 253 00:25:15,047 --> 00:25:19,083 and one that may ultimately disrupt the balance of life in the ocean, 254 00:25:19,185 --> 00:25:22,253 proving catastrophic for other marine life too. 255 00:25:26,258 --> 00:25:29,561 So how can sharks be saved? 256 00:25:36,869 --> 00:25:41,105 In Bega Lagoon, in Fiji, the local people are proving 257 00:25:41,207 --> 00:25:44,409 that sharks can be more valuable alive than dead. 258 00:25:48,314 --> 00:25:54,552 Tourists will pay good money for an encounter with real live sharks. 259 00:25:54,653 --> 00:25:57,755 This is a community-owned reef, 260 00:25:57,856 --> 00:26:00,892 and some of the money goes to the local villagers - 261 00:26:00,993 --> 00:26:03,962 a big incentive not to kill the main attraction. 262 00:26:06,699 --> 00:26:10,101 Fijians have long had an affinity with sharks. 263 00:26:10,202 --> 00:26:12,837 Their ancestors worshipped a shark god, 264 00:26:12,938 --> 00:26:16,007 who they believed kept them safe from harm. 265 00:26:16,108 --> 00:26:19,110 They would feed sharks, not hunt them, 266 00:26:19,211 --> 00:26:21,980 and these divers continue the tradition. 267 00:26:22,081 --> 00:26:26,217 First to the feast are tawny nurse sharks. 268 00:26:27,820 --> 00:26:30,455 But these sharks are scavengers. 269 00:26:32,391 --> 00:26:35,994 It's the big predators the tourists want to see. 270 00:26:43,669 --> 00:26:46,037 Bull sharks. 271 00:26:46,138 --> 00:26:48,439 Growing up to three-and-a-half metres long, 272 00:26:48,540 --> 00:26:51,643 these sharks are one of the ocean's top predators, 273 00:26:51,744 --> 00:26:54,078 with an aggressive reputation. 274 00:27:10,529 --> 00:27:12,497 The chief shark feeder 275 00:27:12,598 --> 00:27:15,566 is from a village where the shark god is still worshiped. 276 00:27:15,668 --> 00:27:18,102 So he has no fear. 277 00:27:25,311 --> 00:27:29,514 A bowl of shark-fin soup can sell for over 100 dollars, 278 00:27:29,615 --> 00:27:33,451 but here, each tourist pays that to see these sharks alive, 279 00:27:33,552 --> 00:27:37,622 and dives take place several times each week. 280 00:27:41,660 --> 00:27:46,764 To protect the sharks, this reef has now been declared a marine reserve... 281 00:27:48,634 --> 00:27:52,937 ...with the added bonus that other fish are protected too. 282 00:28:03,449 --> 00:28:07,452 Before the reserve was established, this reef had been fished-out. 283 00:28:09,555 --> 00:28:14,659 Even a single giant trevally of this size was a rarity. 284 00:28:17,696 --> 00:28:21,866 Today, the divers are in for a special treat. 285 00:28:45,324 --> 00:28:48,192 A five-metre tiger shark. 286 00:29:10,282 --> 00:29:13,484 The dive leaders have named her Scarface. 287 00:29:13,585 --> 00:29:16,387 She turns up once a month or so. 288 00:29:34,206 --> 00:29:37,708 She's inquisitive, but not aggressive. 289 00:29:47,352 --> 00:29:49,387 The show's over. 290 00:29:49,488 --> 00:29:53,825 The divers have had a great day, and local people benefit too. 291 00:29:53,926 --> 00:29:58,329 With so many fish, some spill over into the waters beyond the reserve, 292 00:29:58,430 --> 00:30:00,631 where fishermen now catch many more 293 00:30:00,732 --> 00:30:03,234 than they did before the reserve was set up. 294 00:30:06,238 --> 00:30:09,440 Marine reserves clearly work. 295 00:30:09,541 --> 00:30:12,343 So why aren't there more of them? 296 00:30:12,444 --> 00:30:18,583 In truth, marine protection is decades behind wildlife protection on land. 297 00:30:18,684 --> 00:30:21,886 Take the islands of New Zealand. 298 00:30:21,987 --> 00:30:27,692 Beyond the farmed landscape are wild places where nature can flourish. 299 00:30:30,529 --> 00:30:33,831 More than a quarter of the country is set aside 300 00:30:33,932 --> 00:30:36,734 in national parks and other reserves. 301 00:30:43,208 --> 00:30:48,012 In contrast, less than 1 % of the Pacific Ocean is protected. 302 00:30:51,383 --> 00:30:55,686 Instead, it is divided up into fishing zones. 303 00:30:57,990 --> 00:31:03,494 Each island nation owns the fishing rights up to 200 miles offshore. 304 00:31:04,530 --> 00:31:08,733 Beyond these territorial waters are the so-called "high seas". 305 00:31:09,902 --> 00:31:11,669 Bounded by national waters, 306 00:31:11,770 --> 00:31:14,672 the high seas pockets of the western Pacific 307 00:31:14,773 --> 00:31:17,141 cover half a million square miles. 308 00:31:19,344 --> 00:31:22,847 The surrounding island nations would like these pockets 309 00:31:22,948 --> 00:31:24,882 to be declared marine reserves - 310 00:31:24,983 --> 00:31:27,685 safe havens where migratory fish can breed. 311 00:31:28,954 --> 00:31:32,690 The idea is being promoted by Greenpeace. 312 00:31:32,791 --> 00:31:37,128 Greenpeace made their name campaigning to save the whales. 313 00:31:37,229 --> 00:31:39,096 They're now responding to concerns 314 00:31:39,197 --> 00:31:41,198 about the future of the Pacific's fish. 315 00:31:43,435 --> 00:31:46,304 The high seas pockets they're now patrolling 316 00:31:46,405 --> 00:31:48,105 were once a fishing free-for-all. 317 00:31:48,206 --> 00:31:51,509 Although now regulated by international treaty, 318 00:31:51,610 --> 00:31:53,277 they are rarely policed, 319 00:31:53,378 --> 00:31:57,248 so Greenpeace have assigned a monitoring role to themselves. 320 00:32:00,285 --> 00:32:03,621 This is the Esperanza - 321 00:32:03,722 --> 00:32:05,523 Greenpeace's largest vessel. 322 00:32:05,624 --> 00:32:08,459 The crew are searching for any sign of fishing activity 323 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,529 but it's a huge area. 324 00:32:15,767 --> 00:32:18,970 After two weeks at sea, a blip on the radar indicates 325 00:32:19,071 --> 00:32:20,871 a fishing vessel is near. 326 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:23,874 Greenpeace want to discover 327 00:32:23,976 --> 00:32:27,445 where the vessel is from and what it's been catching. 328 00:32:29,381 --> 00:32:31,215 They launch their inflatable boats. 329 00:32:32,951 --> 00:32:36,821 Although Greenpeace film their own activities, 330 00:32:36,922 --> 00:32:41,826 we put our cameraman on board to ensure an unbiased record of events. 331 00:32:49,835 --> 00:32:54,138 As these are international waters, any nation can fish here legally, 332 00:32:54,239 --> 00:32:56,173 and many do, including the US, 333 00:32:56,274 --> 00:33:00,411 the European Union, Japan and other East Asian countries. 334 00:33:05,851 --> 00:33:09,854 This is a large Taiwanese long-liner. 335 00:33:11,823 --> 00:33:15,826 Taiwan has a large fishing fleet, with many vessels fishing 336 00:33:15,927 --> 00:33:18,663 almost exclusively in international waters. 337 00:33:20,365 --> 00:33:23,401 The encounter turns out to be entirely amicable. 338 00:33:26,571 --> 00:33:30,441 Visitors are rare for fishermen on the high seas, 339 00:33:30,542 --> 00:33:34,078 and these men are not aware that they have anything to hide. 340 00:33:34,179 --> 00:33:37,882 Greenpeace ask if they can inspect the vessel's catch 341 00:33:37,983 --> 00:33:40,251 and the fishermen oblige. 342 00:33:40,352 --> 00:33:43,654 In a freezer, there are several dozen frozen sharks 343 00:33:43,755 --> 00:33:47,191 but the valuable parts are being stored elsewhere. 344 00:33:47,292 --> 00:33:49,794 The shark fin, what do you...? 345 00:33:49,895 --> 00:33:53,097 - Do you sell them in Taiwan too? - No, no. 346 00:33:53,198 --> 00:33:57,668 In another freezer are a dozen sacks of shark fins. 347 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,741 The fins from hundreds of sharks. 348 00:34:05,077 --> 00:34:09,146 By documenting these catches, Greenpeace hope to highlight 349 00:34:09,247 --> 00:34:14,618 why it's necessary to declare these high sea pockets marine reserves, 350 00:34:14,720 --> 00:34:19,423 and to back the growing movement from Pacific Islanders for protection. 351 00:34:19,524 --> 00:34:22,626 This would help to protect all ocean life, 352 00:34:22,728 --> 00:34:25,129 especially the valuable tuna. 353 00:34:28,900 --> 00:34:30,634 Tuna are predators. 354 00:34:30,736 --> 00:34:36,307 They herd smaller fish to the surface, where they can be picked off one by one. 355 00:34:46,952 --> 00:34:50,020 They are high-speed fish - the cheetahs of the ocean. 356 00:34:52,891 --> 00:34:57,995 They're also the wildebeest - they herd together in their thousands 357 00:34:58,096 --> 00:35:01,899 and undertake epic migrations across the Pacific in search of their prey. 358 00:35:04,903 --> 00:35:07,271 If these animals lived on land, 359 00:35:07,372 --> 00:35:11,842 they'd be famous for providing the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth. 360 00:35:13,979 --> 00:35:19,216 Instead, they're better known as a filling for a sandwich. 361 00:35:22,954 --> 00:35:28,392 In an ocean with no marine reserves, migratory fish have nowhere to hide. 362 00:35:33,465 --> 00:35:38,169 Up to 2 kilometres long and 200 metres deep, 363 00:35:38,270 --> 00:35:42,873 "purse seine" nets are designed to encircle schools of tuna. 364 00:35:57,055 --> 00:36:01,225 A fisherman checks his nets, breathing air pumped down a tube 365 00:36:01,326 --> 00:36:03,494 from the vessel above. 366 00:36:08,233 --> 00:36:11,702 It's not only tuna that get caught in these nets. 367 00:36:26,751 --> 00:36:31,622 A lone turtle was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 368 00:36:34,659 --> 00:36:37,595 She can only hold her breath for a few minutes 369 00:36:37,696 --> 00:36:40,965 and the path to the surface isn't clear. 370 00:36:47,706 --> 00:36:50,341 She begins to panic. 371 00:37:10,996 --> 00:37:15,299 These fishermen are superstitious about turtles. 372 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,902 Bringing one on board 373 00:37:17,969 --> 00:37:19,503 is bad luck. 374 00:37:22,207 --> 00:37:24,975 It's her lucky day. 375 00:37:27,479 --> 00:37:30,547 More and more fishing vessels are being drawn 376 00:37:30,649 --> 00:37:34,318 to the South Pacific each year, as this is one of the last oceans 377 00:37:34,419 --> 00:37:36,987 where healthy numbers of fish still remain. 378 00:37:37,088 --> 00:37:38,689 But for how much longer? 379 00:37:40,325 --> 00:37:44,361 Fishing is now a high-tech operation, with radar picking up 380 00:37:44,462 --> 00:37:49,133 distant flocks of birds that indicate fish feeding below. 381 00:37:52,170 --> 00:37:57,374 The net is paid out in a wide circle around the fish. 382 00:37:57,475 --> 00:38:02,079 It's a race against time, as the fish could disappear at any moment. 383 00:38:17,028 --> 00:38:22,066 As the circle closes, pellets of dye are dropped into the water. 384 00:38:30,308 --> 00:38:33,610 The dye, and the speedboats overhead, 385 00:38:33,712 --> 00:38:36,714 discourage the tuna from making a dash through the closing gap 386 00:38:36,815 --> 00:38:38,315 in the wall of net. 387 00:38:52,397 --> 00:38:54,565 As the net closes, 388 00:38:54,666 --> 00:38:58,869 a draw-cord running along the bottom of the net is pulled tight. 389 00:39:07,045 --> 00:39:12,282 The net becomes a bag, or "purse", and the fish are trapped. 390 00:39:26,564 --> 00:39:31,402 There are 150 tonnes of fish in this one haul. 391 00:39:31,503 --> 00:39:36,106 It used to take a fishing vessel one whole year to catch this many fish. 392 00:39:41,813 --> 00:39:47,618 These are mostly yellowfin tuna, plus some skipjack. 393 00:39:49,687 --> 00:39:52,322 As they're slower breeders than skipjack, 394 00:39:52,424 --> 00:39:55,759 many yellowfin are caught before they're old enough to breed. 395 00:39:55,860 --> 00:39:58,929 This makes them more vulnerable to over-fishing. 396 00:40:01,833 --> 00:40:06,070 Tuna fishing has grown into an eight-billion dollar industry. 397 00:40:08,039 --> 00:40:13,577 And over four million tonnes of tuna are caught worldwide each year, 398 00:40:13,678 --> 00:40:16,847 a four-fold increase in as many decades. 399 00:40:19,350 --> 00:40:23,487 Almost two-thirds of the catch now comes from the Pacific. 400 00:40:31,062 --> 00:40:36,066 In the Atlantic, yellowfin catches have been shrinking since 1990. 401 00:40:36,167 --> 00:40:39,236 Now a similar decline has begun in the Pacific. 402 00:40:50,982 --> 00:40:53,817 Tuna need to swim constantly 403 00:40:53,918 --> 00:40:58,522 to keep water flowing over their gills, otherwise they can't breathe. 404 00:41:14,539 --> 00:41:18,542 The fishermen want to get them out of the water as quickly as possible. 405 00:41:18,643 --> 00:41:22,246 When starved of oxygen, a build-up of lactic acid in their muscles 406 00:41:22,347 --> 00:41:25,849 causes the quality of their meat to deteriorate. 407 00:41:47,472 --> 00:41:51,742 The fish are scooped up from the water, a tonne or two at a time. 408 00:41:55,346 --> 00:41:57,548 Every last fish from this school 409 00:41:57,649 --> 00:42:02,319 of 7,000 yellowfin and skipjack tuna is plucked from the water. 410 00:42:11,229 --> 00:42:13,997 With fishing techniques now so efficient, 411 00:42:14,098 --> 00:42:17,067 and with ever more vessels plying the Pacific, 412 00:42:17,168 --> 00:42:19,636 there is real concern among biologists 413 00:42:19,737 --> 00:42:23,207 that even the resilient skipjack may begin to decline. 414 00:42:38,523 --> 00:42:41,758 This vessel is not one of the newcomers. 415 00:42:41,859 --> 00:42:46,863 It's a Papua New Guinea-flagged ship, fishing in their territorial waters. 416 00:42:49,100 --> 00:42:51,301 So it is subject to catch limits 417 00:42:51,402 --> 00:42:54,371 and regulations that are amongst the strictest in the Pacific, 418 00:42:54,472 --> 00:42:59,176 designed to ensure that tuna fishing remains sustainable. 419 00:42:59,277 --> 00:43:03,547 But New Guinea's fishermen are concerned about the increasing numbers 420 00:43:03,648 --> 00:43:06,516 of foreign vessels now fishing for Pacific tuna. 421 00:43:07,752 --> 00:43:10,120 They were the first nation to propose 422 00:43:10,221 --> 00:43:13,790 that the high seas pockets beyond their national waters 423 00:43:13,891 --> 00:43:17,894 be declared marine reserves, as now advocated by Greenpeace. 424 00:43:21,032 --> 00:43:23,934 After our cameraman left the Esperanza, 425 00:43:24,035 --> 00:43:26,069 Greenpeace continued their journey, 426 00:43:26,170 --> 00:43:29,740 and captured these images of the world's biggest purse seiner, 427 00:43:29,841 --> 00:43:34,011 with a capacity almost four times larger than the New Guinea vessel. 428 00:43:34,112 --> 00:43:39,416 It's a Spanish ship fishing for Pacific tuna 429 00:43:39,517 --> 00:43:41,251 to stock European supermarkets. 430 00:43:43,354 --> 00:43:45,756 The presence of such large vessels, 431 00:43:45,857 --> 00:43:49,359 from countries that have already over-fished their own tuna stocks, 432 00:43:49,460 --> 00:43:52,596 has riled the operators of local fishing fleets, 433 00:43:52,697 --> 00:43:56,166 perhaps with some justification. 434 00:43:57,735 --> 00:44:02,306 Some biologists have recently warned that tuna populations in the Pacific 435 00:44:02,407 --> 00:44:07,878 will be crashing within five years unless urgent action is taken. 436 00:44:12,617 --> 00:44:16,853 Perhaps it's time to think again about the ways we fish. 437 00:44:27,131 --> 00:44:31,768 These pole and line fishermen are Solomon Islanders, 438 00:44:31,869 --> 00:44:34,104 and this fishing is a local industry. 439 00:44:59,397 --> 00:45:04,601 They target specific species, and mature individuals. 440 00:45:04,702 --> 00:45:10,107 There's almost no by-catch - no seabirds, no sharks. 441 00:45:22,153 --> 00:45:26,857 And they can be selective - flicking juvenile fish off their hooks 442 00:45:26,958 --> 00:45:29,092 so they can grow and breed. 443 00:45:31,262 --> 00:45:35,365 Because it's impossible to hook every last fish in a school, 444 00:45:35,466 --> 00:45:38,468 some are always left to fight another day. 445 00:45:42,173 --> 00:45:46,443 And since the fish don't suffer for hours in nets, 446 00:45:46,544 --> 00:45:49,212 this meat is of a high quality. 447 00:46:25,983 --> 00:46:30,420 These fishermen may not catch as many fish as a purse seiner, 448 00:46:30,521 --> 00:46:34,291 but then, that's the point. 449 00:47:00,885 --> 00:47:03,320 Whether any fishing is sustainable 450 00:47:03,421 --> 00:47:07,557 depends on how many fish are caught, how many are left to breed 451 00:47:07,658 --> 00:47:11,661 and how many other species are caught by accident. 452 00:47:13,397 --> 00:47:16,566 But these fishermen may have got it about right. 453 00:47:18,503 --> 00:47:22,539 The Marine Stewardship Council assesses the environmental impacts 454 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:25,041 of the world's fisheries, and they believe 455 00:47:25,142 --> 00:47:27,110 that pole and line fisheries have the potential 456 00:47:27,211 --> 00:47:29,746 to be approved as officially sustainable. 457 00:47:32,049 --> 00:47:35,685 So now it's down to us, the fish-eaters. 458 00:47:37,488 --> 00:47:39,022 It may cost a few pennies more 459 00:47:39,123 --> 00:47:42,025 to buy a tin of tuna labelled "sustainably caught", 460 00:47:42,126 --> 00:47:47,831 but it could ensure future generations can also enjoy a tuna sandwich, 461 00:47:47,932 --> 00:47:49,733 tuna steak or sashimi. 462 00:47:54,405 --> 00:47:56,473 And protecting the fish will ensure a healthy ocean 463 00:47:56,574 --> 00:47:59,175 for all the marine life of the Pacific. 464 00:48:00,745 --> 00:48:04,781 It will require international commitment and co-operation, 465 00:48:04,882 --> 00:48:08,852 but the whales are a reminder that it can be done. 466 00:48:16,894 --> 00:48:21,298 For the whales, for the fish, and for ourselves, 467 00:48:21,399 --> 00:48:28,271 the way we harvest the Pacific is key to protecting this fragile ocean paradise. 468 00:48:59,403 --> 00:49:02,005 To film the purse seine fishing sequence, 469 00:49:02,106 --> 00:49:06,242 the South Pacific team decided they would need to put a cameraman 470 00:49:06,344 --> 00:49:07,844 inside the fishing net. 471 00:49:09,447 --> 00:49:13,149 Few divers have ever attempted this before. 472 00:49:13,250 --> 00:49:15,819 And it proved to be a real challenge. 473 00:49:21,092 --> 00:49:24,427 To be in the right spot at the right time, 474 00:49:24,528 --> 00:49:27,864 the film crew must take up residence on a purse seine vessel. 475 00:49:27,965 --> 00:49:34,671 This 60-metre Papua New Guinea vessel can hold 800 tonnes of fish. 476 00:49:34,772 --> 00:49:39,743 For the 30-strong, all-male crew this boat is home. 477 00:49:42,246 --> 00:49:45,115 They spend 330 days of the year at sea, 478 00:49:45,216 --> 00:49:48,385 and can go two years without seeing their families. 479 00:49:50,421 --> 00:49:54,090 Their lives are a never-ending quest for fish. 480 00:49:55,192 --> 00:49:57,594 They're in port for three days, 481 00:49:57,695 --> 00:49:59,829 which gives the film crew a chance 482 00:49:59,930 --> 00:50:02,198 to jump on board. 483 00:50:02,266 --> 00:50:03,833 Here we are. 484 00:50:10,241 --> 00:50:11,508 It's a vast ocean, 485 00:50:11,609 --> 00:50:14,577 and even the fishermen don't know where the fish are, 486 00:50:14,679 --> 00:50:18,548 so they set a course for the location of their last big catch. 487 00:50:18,649 --> 00:50:22,252 The film crew have arranged for a dive boat to meet them there. 488 00:50:22,353 --> 00:50:25,021 Without the support of a professional dive boat, 489 00:50:25,122 --> 00:50:28,024 it would be dangerous to get in the water and film. 490 00:50:29,560 --> 00:50:34,764 Just hours after leaving, reports come in of big tuna catches up north, 491 00:50:34,865 --> 00:50:37,434 and the captain sets a new course. 492 00:50:37,535 --> 00:50:41,171 This is not good news for the team. 493 00:50:42,206 --> 00:50:45,442 Our dive boat is based out of here... 494 00:50:45,543 --> 00:50:48,478 and we're gonna be up here. 495 00:50:48,579 --> 00:50:51,614 For the dive boat, that would be about 45 hours. 496 00:50:51,716 --> 00:50:55,585 This new location is well out of range of the dive boat. 497 00:50:55,686 --> 00:50:59,155 With the success of the shoot hinging on the diving, 498 00:50:59,256 --> 00:51:01,391 this is a worrying turn of events. 499 00:51:01,492 --> 00:51:04,594 The fishing boat motors on all night, taking the team 500 00:51:04,695 --> 00:51:07,530 further and further from their planned rendezvous. 501 00:51:10,367 --> 00:51:13,002 Our position now is three degrees... 502 00:51:13,104 --> 00:51:17,040 Eventually, the crew make contact with a passing fishing boat, 503 00:51:17,141 --> 00:51:21,010 and it's heading back in the direction of their dive boat. 504 00:51:21,112 --> 00:51:22,645 There is another boat out here, 505 00:51:22,747 --> 00:51:26,149 which is going on a much better course, so we're gonna transfer. 506 00:51:29,620 --> 00:51:32,956 It's a lucky escape for the team. 507 00:51:33,057 --> 00:51:36,459 The new vessel spends all day and all night 508 00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:39,796 motoring towards the new fishing grounds. 509 00:51:39,897 --> 00:51:43,233 8.28 in the morning, and we've already discovered fish. 510 00:51:43,334 --> 00:51:45,568 Right out there, about 150 metres, 511 00:51:45,669 --> 00:51:47,937 the sea is frothing and boiling 512 00:51:48,038 --> 00:51:51,107 and that's obviously where the tuna are, 513 00:51:51,208 --> 00:51:54,177 so the ship is doing a circle round it and that's where they'll set the nets. 514 00:51:54,278 --> 00:51:56,613 It's all on, it's all on. 515 00:52:01,852 --> 00:52:04,120 Although it's a relief to begin filming, 516 00:52:04,221 --> 00:52:06,756 the real challenge is still to come. 517 00:52:06,857 --> 00:52:09,626 They need to get inside the net, 518 00:52:09,727 --> 00:52:13,429 and right now, that's not a very inviting prospect. 519 00:52:14,698 --> 00:52:19,469 But first, they need their dive boat to find them in this vast expanse. 520 00:52:19,570 --> 00:52:24,040 I can see our dive boat on the horizon, she's a little speck in the distance. 521 00:52:26,477 --> 00:52:29,546 Here we ago again, ship transfer. 522 00:52:29,647 --> 00:52:32,215 There you go, that's our new home. 523 00:52:33,250 --> 00:52:34,884 See you tomorrow. 524 00:52:39,023 --> 00:52:43,660 At five in the morning, the fishermen are already setting the nets. 525 00:52:43,761 --> 00:52:47,096 It's time to take the plunge. 526 00:52:47,198 --> 00:52:50,099 It may seem a little strange 527 00:52:50,201 --> 00:52:52,602 why we're putting fishing net on our scuba gear, 528 00:52:52,703 --> 00:52:57,240 but it has a very useful purpose. These jagged edges of the gear 529 00:52:57,341 --> 00:53:00,143 are completely covered with this fishing net 530 00:53:00,244 --> 00:53:03,680 to prevent us from getting snagged and caught like fish. 531 00:53:03,781 --> 00:53:08,852 I don't normally wear a knife this big, but in this kind of situation, 532 00:53:08,953 --> 00:53:13,323 with all the nets around and possibility of entanglement, 533 00:53:13,424 --> 00:53:14,757 it's a really good idea. 534 00:53:14,859 --> 00:53:19,128 This is a shark shield, and with a tuna-fishing boat, 535 00:53:19,230 --> 00:53:22,398 thousands of bloody tuna in the water, 536 00:53:22,499 --> 00:53:25,668 and a sea full of sharks, it could come in very handy. 537 00:53:25,769 --> 00:53:28,471 They enter the net. 538 00:53:33,244 --> 00:53:37,213 Despite having done all they can to prepare, 539 00:53:37,314 --> 00:53:40,083 this is a jump into the unknown. 540 00:53:43,120 --> 00:53:46,856 The scale of the net is breathtaking. 541 00:53:50,094 --> 00:53:54,297 They're relieved to find that there are no sharks this time. 542 00:53:54,398 --> 00:53:57,133 But there are also no fish. 543 00:54:01,005 --> 00:54:03,072 Frustratingly, days pass 544 00:54:03,173 --> 00:54:05,742 and the fishermen fail to find any more fish. 545 00:54:05,843 --> 00:54:07,744 We're going down to the wire here. 546 00:54:07,845 --> 00:54:11,848 We've got two days left and we still haven't seen any fish, 547 00:54:11,949 --> 00:54:14,050 so getting a little nervous. 548 00:54:14,151 --> 00:54:20,256 Yeah, it'd be tragic to be out here and not have the opportunity to film this. 549 00:54:21,959 --> 00:54:24,460 Eventually, they locate a school. 550 00:54:24,561 --> 00:54:28,331 So the question is, are there any fish in that net? 551 00:54:28,432 --> 00:54:33,303 This is the team's last chance to get the sequence. 552 00:54:42,079 --> 00:54:46,516 To their great relief, all their effort has finally paid off. 553 00:54:55,025 --> 00:55:00,530 They share the net with 150 tonnes of tuna - 554 00:55:00,631 --> 00:55:03,599 one of the biggest catches of the year. 555 00:55:05,235 --> 00:55:08,304 It's an intense experience. 556 00:55:11,408 --> 00:55:14,444 Once again, there are no sharks. 557 00:55:15,612 --> 00:55:20,183 But as the net tightens, the space inside gets ever smaller. 558 00:55:24,154 --> 00:55:26,222 The fish begin to panic. 559 00:55:33,163 --> 00:55:35,698 Eventually, the crew have to bail out. 560 00:55:39,269 --> 00:55:42,572 They continue to film from outside the net. 561 00:55:53,350 --> 00:55:55,985 The filming has been a success, 562 00:55:56,086 --> 00:56:00,123 but seeing death on this scale has quite an impact on the team. 563 00:56:11,702 --> 00:56:13,836 Speechless, really. 564 00:56:13,937 --> 00:56:16,839 It was...unbelievable. 565 00:56:23,113 --> 00:56:27,050 Really. It's hard to find words to describe that. 566 00:56:31,488 --> 00:56:36,559 At first you got in, it was just empty, there's just that serene silence, that... 567 00:56:36,660 --> 00:56:42,231 Turn around, and all of a sudden, this whole space is filled with fish, 568 00:56:42,332 --> 00:56:45,935 just frenetic, fast-moving fish just going crazy. 569 00:56:46,036 --> 00:56:49,272 From then on in, it was just absolutely intense. 570 00:56:49,373 --> 00:56:51,441 You don't know which is up or down or side. 571 00:56:51,542 --> 00:56:53,476 Your whole frame of reference goes off. 572 00:56:53,577 --> 00:56:57,180 And finally, the net was the one static point, wasn't it? 573 00:56:57,281 --> 00:56:59,348 ELLEN: At the start of the dive, you feel like the net 574 00:56:59,450 --> 00:57:02,218 is something to keep away from, but by the end of the dive 575 00:57:02,319 --> 00:57:05,321 the net is the only thing you can use as a frame of reference 576 00:57:05,422 --> 00:57:09,625 and everything else is just moving, and it's very disorientating. 577 00:57:11,762 --> 00:57:13,529 And there were other surprises. 578 00:57:15,165 --> 00:57:19,735 The slick of blood that comes from this is just, like, pouring out of the net 579 00:57:19,837 --> 00:57:23,606 in this massive slick, and you would have thought in this ocean 580 00:57:23,707 --> 00:57:26,042 it would have attracted hundreds of sharks, 581 00:57:26,143 --> 00:57:28,478 but I didn't see a single one, not one shark. 582 00:57:29,646 --> 00:57:34,817 It's a worrying sign that all is not well in the South Pacific. 583 00:57:34,918 --> 00:57:37,520 So what of the fish? 584 00:57:37,621 --> 00:57:42,725 What we saw today was a highly unique experience 585 00:57:42,826 --> 00:57:47,230 and I think it does make you wonder what our impact on the oceans are 586 00:57:47,331 --> 00:57:49,198 when you see it first-hand like that. 587 00:57:51,668 --> 00:57:53,236 The team were lucky. 588 00:57:53,337 --> 00:57:58,040 With so many vessels now fishing throughout the Pacific, 589 00:57:58,142 --> 00:58:02,345 it may not be possible to film scenes like these for very much longer. 51101

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