All language subtitles for BBC Blue Planet Live (2019) - 01 English A

Two years ago, Blue Planet II
opened the world's eyes

to the wonders of our oceans.

From the vastness of the open seas.

To the fragility of the coral reefs.

And even the secrets of the deep.

It was a wake-up call -

our oceans are under
threat like never before.

So this week, we're embarking
on an ambitious mission -

joining scientists
across the planet,

working to save some
of our most iconic marine wildlife.

We'll be diving
with top predators of the Bahamas,

getting closer than ever before
to the giants of the Pacific Ocean.

And getting hands on
to save the Great Barrier Reef.

This is Blue Planet Live!

Hello and welcome
to Blue Planet Live!

Just off the front of our boat here,

we have got a couple of grey whales
live,

live, what about that?! It has been
two

two years since Blue Planet to
excited

excited viewers with extraordinary
pictures

pictures of our oceans' wildlife,
and

and never has more attention being
focused

focused on that wildlife than now.
This

This week, we are going to bring you
more

more of it, we are going to show

more of it, we are going to show you
some

some fantastic animal spectacles, we
are

are going to have live encounters
with

with things like these whales, which
are

are just here now front of the boat,
and

and we are going to be our finger on
the

the of our oceans' health. Just look
at

at this, these magnificent marine
mammals,

mammals, just a few metres away! And
from

from the drone that we have got
overhead,

overhead, you can see them
frolicking

frolicking in the water, this is a
female

female with a calf, only a couple of
months

months old, and they are here safely
in

in these salty warm waters. It is
very

very shallow here, so the likelihood
is

is that they are just under the
bout,

bout, but let's use this hiatus to
ask

ask a fundamental question - why do
our

our oceans matter?

Our oceans cover 70% of the planet.

They are a world of diverse
habitats.

habitats. Home to millions of plants
and

and animals with many more still to
be

be discovered. They are an essential
life

life support system, regulating our
planet's

planet's temperature and weather,
and

and they generate half the oxygen
that

that we breathe. They are a
mysterious

mysterious place. More research is
being

being done in our oceans than at any
other

other time. We need to understand
them

them so we can protect them.

Oh, look, here we are, one of our

whales now has gone over to our
support

support vessel, and that is the calf
at

at the front there, they are
exhibiting

exhibiting this extraordinary
behaviour

behaviour of approaching the boats.
They

They are actually craving human
attention,

attention, it is what they do. I
will

will be telling you a little bit
more

more about that later in the
programme,

programme, but isn't it great to see
this

this happening live? With any luck a
while

while will come and say hello to me
in

in a moment as well. So what are we
up

up to any serious? We are exploring
three

three unique habitats today, and to
have

have these sorts of encounters, I am
really

really distracted because the fane
has

has just come up on this site, I
have

have got to tell you, which is
absolutely

absolutely remarkable! Look at that!

absolutely remarkable! Look at that!
It

It is these encounters that will be
taking

taking place throughout the course
of

of the week, allowing us to explore
the

the oceans. The big question is,
while

while I am enjoying these whales,
where

where am I? I have travelled... Look
at

at that, look at that! I have
travelled

travelled 5500 miles from London,
all

all the way across to the western
coast

coast of Mexico, to the Baja
Peninsula,

Peninsula, which faces out onto the
Pacific

Pacific Ocean.

I'm on the Great Barrier Reef -
a spectacular natural wonder that

provides a home for an extraordinary
diversity of marine life,

It all contributes to the health of

our oceans putt in ways that
scientists

scientists are still unravelling,
new

new life is everywhere around me, a
shark

shark just swam past my fate, and
later

later we will try to bring you green
turtle

turtle hatchlings live.

turtle hatchlings live. And I am in
the

the Bahamas, as you can see, shark
central,

central, pretty soon I will be

central, pretty soon I will be
getting

getting on with this lot live. Blue
Planet

Planet II showed us how you protect
the

the seas, they bounce back, and I am
here

here to find out how effective a
marine

marine sanctuary can be.

We are still here with the whales in

Scammons lagoon. Let's take a look
at

at the lagoon whilst it is under the
water,

water, quite a unique place. It is
on

on the western side of Baja, very
shallow,

shallow, 5-12 metres, which means it
is

is salty and warm. It is a Unesco
world

world heritage site packed with
wildlife,

wildlife, loads of waterfowl,
pelicans,

pelicans, sea lions, seals, marine
turtles,

turtles, but then it also has these
remarkable

remarkable grey whales. At certain
times,

times, it can have up to 10% of the
world

world population, we think about
22,000

22,000 of these animals on the
planet

planet at the moment, and up to 2000
of

of those squeeze themselves into
this

this lagoon at this time of year,
and

and that is why there is a good
chance

chance we will get to superb views
like

like these. We have been very
fortunate

fortunate to have them right
alongside

alongside the boat, and we can see
them

them very easily, but we have
deployed

deployed some other useful
technology.

technology. We have an eye in the
sky,

sky, a helicopter, our pilot is up
there,

there, and alongside him is Florian
Schultz,

Schultz, a wildlife cameraman, what
can

can you say from up there? We have
just

just found a while that has come up
to

to the bout. The whale has just come
up

up to Chris's about, we can see it,
it

it is playing and moving around,
having

having a good time. Yeah, fantastic,
Florian

Florian has got that top shot of us
and

and the animals here. Now, this
lagoon

lagoon was discovered in 1850s

lagoon was discovered in 1850s by
Charles

Charles Scammon, a whaler who
decimated

decimated the population, so you
might

might think it would be unlikely
that

that the whales would be friendly,
but

but in 1972 they started approaching
bouts,

bouts, a bonus for the people who
work

work while watching, and it was
certainly

certainly a bonus for me when I went
out

out earlier this week and met a
while

while even more closely than I am
watching

watching these at the moment.

watching these at the moment. Oh, my
goodness

goodness me, look at that. I mean,
what

what an extraordinary thing! To
think

think that this is an animal that
can

can travel 22,000 kilometres a year,
13,000

13,000 miles from the high Arctic to
come

come all the way down here to find a
mate

mate so give birth. And here it is.
Waiting

Waiting to be tickled! Oh, my
goodness.

goodness. Look, I can see right down
inside

inside the blowhole! That is the
blowhole

blowhole of the whale, this
beautiful

beautiful marbled stem. Honestly...!
Oh,

Oh, look at

Oh, look at the eye! An
extraordinary

extraordinary thing. Wow! That is
what

what I call a sensory experience.
That

That is simply extraordinary.

That is simply extraordinary. I can
barely

barely tell you, actually, I have
had

had the enormous privilege of
meeting

meeting lots of animals throughout
my

my 57 years, but that is a memory I
will

will carry for a long time. I saw
the

the whale, I heard it, ice melted,
then

then I touched it and automatically,
when

when it's noted all over me, I got
to

to taste the whale, and I know you
will

will want to know it was a weak
cabbage

cabbage soup, that is the answer! I
want

want to make clear that I am
normally

normally reticent to touch wildlife
like

like that, but here it is actively
encouraged

encouraged because the whales are
undoubtedly

undoubtedly soliciting human
attention,

attention, and if you don't touch
them,

them, they will go off to another
bout.

bout. So they whales are here at
this

this time of year, we have seen the
female

female and her calf, they come to
give

give birth, and they have come a
tremendously

tremendously long way, because they
begin

begin their journey all the way up
in

in the Bering Sea between Alaska and
Russia.

Russia. In those frozen oceans, it
is

is up in the Arctic summer that they
go

go to feed, and they put on a
phenomenal

phenomenal amount of weight. And
then

then they begin to head south, they
travel

travel about five miles an hour, not
fast,

fast, about 75 miles a day, and they
go

go down the host of Washington,
Oregon,

Oregon, past California, and then
they

they get down here to Scammons
lagoon.

lagoon. They come here not just to
give

give birth but too might as well,
and

and we have got the female just off
the

the front of the boat, you can see
them

them beneath the water, she should
be

be coming up any second. They grow
to

to about 15 metres in length and can
weigh

weigh 30 towns, but when they come
up

up like that, they are remarkably
gentle.

gentle. What an extraordinary
opportunity

opportunity it is to engage with
these

these animals, but not just from a
whale

whale watching point of view, also a
scientific

scientific point of view, because
these

these are a perfect species to get
close

close to, and that means scientists
can

can watch them regularly and collect
lots

lots of data, and we will be finding
out

out about that later in the
programme.

programme. But now, Liz is trying to
introduce

introduce us to another iconic
marine

marine animal, no less than 7000
miles

miles away on Australia's Great
Barrier

Barrier Reef.

Thank you, Chris, welcome to Heron

Island, just after 6am, the sun is
climbing

climbing over the horizon behind me,
and

and we are on the southern part of
the

the Great Barrier Reef off the East
Coast

Coast of Australia.

The breeding season
is in full swing.

And it's a important time to look
at this fascinating place.

This whole area
a complex super organism

teeming with life.

Tens of thousands of breeding
sea birds and nesting turtles

use the trees and beaches
to lay their precious eggs here.

We have already seen so many birds

in their nests, so many checks.
Beneath

Beneath the surface of the water,
the

the coral reef supports something
like

like 72% of all the coral species
that

that exist on the Great Barrier
Reef,

Reef, as well as about 900 different
fish

fish species, and that is just for
starters.

starters. Heron repays, without a
doubt,

doubt, one of the most important and
busiest

busiest parts of the Great Barrier
Reef,

Reef, and are so many of the animals
that

that call it home you will have
already

already met on Blue Planet II, and
we

we are here to find out how they are
faring

faring two years on. Our cameramen
are

are already in the water, they have
been

been in for about an hour, and take
a

a look at these beautiful live
images

images of the reef, Mike and John,
say

say hello, they are superheroes on
rebreather

rebreather is, thank you for those
gorgeous

gorgeous images. You can already see
the

the beautiful staghorn corals, which
grow

grow quickly on these reefs,
surrounded

surrounded by a mass of damselfish.
They

They live in a symbiotic and
mutually

mutually beneficial relationship
with

with the reef, they clean the reef
of

of algae, and they get protection
from

from the corals themselves, away
from

from predators. Oh, a beautiful site
with

with the sun just breaking through
the

the water. And on Heron Island
itself,

itself, we have also got wildlife
cameras

cameras poised... That is not
wildlife,

wildlife, that is a person! Lots of
birds

birds coming in that are still
feeding

feeding their chicks on the nests,
so

so we will keep those cameras poised
for

for you throughout the course of the
week

week to bring you all the action as
it

it happens. I also want to find out
just

just how the coral reefs are faring,
just

just how important they are to the
health

health of our oceans, and what
cutting-edge

cutting-edge research scientists are
carrying

carrying out to protect these reefs
at

at this critical time in human
history.

history. But to start my journey,
there

there really is only one way to
start

start finding answers to those
questions,

questions, and that is to explore
the

the reef up close. The Great Barrier
Reef

Reef is a vast network of around
3000

3000 individual reefs, stretching
2300

2300 kilometres up the east coast of
Australia.

Australia. It is the largest living
structure

structure on earth. It is so big
that

that it is even visible from space.

The Great Barrier Reef accounts for

all living coral on the planet. This
is

is a bustling underwater metropolis,
teeming

teeming with life. And immersing
yourself

yourself in it is an incredible
experience.

experience. The minute you look
beneath

beneath the surface, you are hit
between

between the eyes of so much colour
and

and so many animals, it is
breathtaking

breathtaking down there. This place
blows

blows me away, it really does. Every
single

single nook and cranny is covered
with

with these glorious little coral
animals.

animals. You have hundreds and
thousands,

thousands, even millions of coral
animals

animals building these incredibly
beautiful

beautiful structures, that make up
this

this reef. But they are all
different

different colours, housing all
different

different types of fish, it's so
beautiful.

The reef and all its inner workings,
all the life it supports,

is simply staggering,
and we'll discover more

of its wonders during the week.

And at this time of year,
Heron is also home to some very

special new arrivals
- turtle hatchlings.

We're going to do our very best
to bring them to you live.

I have been told it is looking

rather promising.

Now, about 9000 miles away
from us in the Bahamas,

Steve is set to explore a very
different marine area -

one that people have had
the foresight to protect

for a much misunderstood animal.

The Bahamas. A scattering of 700

islands in 100,000 square miles of
pristine,

pristine, tropical seas. Its reefs
are

are a refuge to one of the highest
diversities

diversities of sharks and rays on
earth.

earth. 78 species are found here and
right

right now, the resident reef and
bull

bull sharks are joined by visitors.
Great

Great hammerheads spend the winter
here,

here, alongside one of the biggest
predators

predators on the planet, the tiger
shark.

shark. So, all of our technical
checks

checks are done, I just need to wait
for

for a gap in the sharks. I don't
want

want to step off onto a shark. That
would

would be a bad start. I have a gap,
here

here goes nothing. OK, I need to
make

make my way down to the crew and
join

join them on the bottom. Already I
can

can see a large amount of sharks
here.

here. There is probably two or three
different

different kinds. But the dominant
shark

shark in this location is going to
be

be the Caribbean Reef shark. There
is

is one cruising past the camera. At
least

least 20 of them in the water around
us.

us. This is almost a blueprint for
the

the shark you would expect to see on
a

a reef. It is torpedo -shaped,
fantastically

fantastically streamlined and it has
the

the classic, crescent -shaped tail
you

you see on any fast fish. That is
perfect

perfect for explosive speed. The
animals

animals are being drawn in here by a
textbook

textbook smell. Sharks have a
phenomenally

phenomenally adept sense of smell
and

and they can detect one single drop
of

of blood in an Olympic swimming pool
sized

sized area of water. The bait we
have

have in the water will be drawing
them

them in from hundreds of litres
around.

around. It is common practice here
in

in the Bahamas to use bait to
attract

attract sharks, both for the
tourists

tourists and scientists to get close
up.

up. The first question people would
ask

ask would be, isn't it dangerous,
risky

risky to be surrounded by this many
apex

apex predators? I have been lucky
enough

enough to have been many hundreds of
dives

dives with sharks over the years and
what

what you realise quite quickly, is
these

these animals are so good at
accepting

accepting their environment. They
know

know what is pray in the water
around

around them and it is not us. I
don't

don't look anything like a fish, so
they

they don't target us. They may swim
up

up close but at the last second,
they

they just swim away. The statistics
about

about sharks approve it is true.
Around

Around the world, you are more
likely

likely to be killed taking a selfie
than

than you are to be

than you are to be killed by a
shark.

shark. In fact, these animals have
far,

far, far more to fear from us as
human

human beings. This is one of the
great

great wildlife experiences in the
world

world and I have to say, I feel just
as

as comfortable being in here
surrounded

surrounded by all these
extraordinary

extraordinary animals, as I will do
going

going for a walk with a pack of
poodles.

poodles. That said, obviously it is
a

a big animal, you can get to be as
large

large as me, heavy, very powerful.
They

They have to be treated with
respect.

respect. So I am watching the body
language

language of individual sharks. At
present,

present, they are just cruising
around

around with the fins spread like
wings.

wings. If there fins come down below
them

them like this, they are getting
ready

ready to make a tight turn. And if
their

their back arches, you have to be
very

very careful. But right now, they
are

are interested in fish food. I am
enjoying

enjoying the spectacle, the success
of

of the shark sanctuary here in the
Bahamas.

Bahamas. But on the other side of
the

the Americas and Mexico, Chris is
having

having his own encounter with the
Pacific

Pacific giants.

Welcome back to Scammons Lagoon. In

the interim, whilst you were
listening

listening to Steve, I did get
snorted

snorted on again by the calf and I
will

will add to the recipe. As well as
cabbage,

cabbage, there is some Brussel
sprout

sprout in there as well. But the
proximity

proximity of these animals means
they

they are very easy to study. This
means

means scientists can continually do
trans-sex

trans-sex across the lagoon and
count

count them. That is the female, so
the

the female

the female must be alongside it.

the female must be alongside it.
They

They come here to give birth. One of
the

the key reasons is the water is warm
and

and if you are giving birth to a
smaller

smaller organism, you don't want to
spend

spend a lot of its growing energy
trying

trying to keep warm. That is why
they

they don't give birth in the Arctic
waters,

waters, they come to the warm water
so

so they can pump these calves are
full

full of milk and they grow very,
very

very rapidly. Also, there are no
orca

orca or sharks in here so it is a
safe

safe place for them as well. I am
pleased

pleased one of the scientists
working

working here has joined us. Romina,
join

join us. Each one of these animals
is

is identify because of the spot
pattern

pattern and these whale barnacles
that

that grow on them. It is a
crustacean

crustacean related to crabs and
lobsters

lobsters and doesn't do it any harm.
The

The Barnacle does well because it
doesn't

doesn't have any predators but they
are

are an asset to you because you can
spot

spot them? To use them for
recognition,

recognition, during the season we
can

can recognise them with the pattern
they

they form. During the different
seasons

seasons we will have to consider
these

these barnacles as a distinctive
pattern.

pattern. We try to focus our
attention

attention on them when you are
comparing

comparing to the 5000 individuals we
have.

have. Some of them you have been
watching

watching over an extended period of
time,

time, there was one in a photograph
from

from 1977? Yes, we have this female
this

this year. I took the photograph. We
matched

matched it with this one from 1977.
She

She has come here 13 times as a
single

single whale to mate and with a car.
This

This tells us she must be 50 years
of

of old? Yes, we know this because of
her

her sexual maturity. Scientists have
been

been using drones to measure the
whales.

whales. They fly the drone out from
land

land and then find the wails, which
they

they can identify as individuals,
then

then when they get the data they
start

start measuring them, so they can
generate

generate a relative volume, they can
follow

follow the female throughout the
course

course of the breeding season after
they

they have given birth and they can
see

see them shrinking because they are
giving

giving them up to their calves. But
if

if they do it season, after season,
they

they can judge the health of the
wails

wails when they arrive, one of the
things

things they have noticed is they are
seeing

seeing more and more thinner wails
in

in the lagoon. This is another means
of

of looking at their health. The
number

number of calves born is one, what
the

the whales behaviour is. They are
trying

trying to feed here, which is
unnerving.

unnerving. Typically they should be
fasting

fasting because there isn't enough
food.

food. They are leaving earlier and
they

they are suffering from
malnutrition.

malnutrition. This feed is giving us
the

the ability to keep our finger on
the

the pulse of this animal and learn
about

about the impact. Not just here in
Baja,

Baja, but all the way to the Arctic.
Have

Have we got a whale here? That is
the

the question. They have finally gone
down.

down. We can use this opportunity to
head

head across the Pacific to the
barrier

barrier Reef and back to Liz.

barrier Reef and back to Liz. Thank
you

you very much, Chris.

Heron Island is surrounded
by white sandy beaches,

which have been known to attract up
to 1800 green turtles

during the nesting season,
so it's the perfect location

to discover just how important these
visitors are to this reef.

But sea turtles also play
an incredibly important role

across all our oceans.

Sea turtles. These ancient mariners

have been wondering our oceans since
the

the dinosaurs. Some can grow up to
two

two metres long and live for 100
years.

years. There are seven species
worldwide.

worldwide. And the most common
turtle

turtle here at the Great Barrier
Reef

Reef is the green turtle. Turtles
are

are the gardeners of the ocean. They
encourage

encourage new growth by eating algae
off

off the reefs. And grazing on the
seagrass

seagrass meadows. Travelling
thousands

thousands of miles in a lifetime,
their

their influence is widespread.
Protecting

Protecting these turtles is crucial
to

to our seas.

Here on Heron Island,
the green turtle population has

already faced some great challenges
in the past.

In the 1950s the island was home
to a turtle cannery,

to make turtle soup.

But turtle numbers plummeted
and the cannery was closed

16 years later soon
after Heron Island resort opened.

Since then the Queensland Parks
and Wildlife Service have been

monitoring the nesting population
and numbers have been recovering.

To find out just how important
Heron is to turtles,

I'm with Janine Ferguson.

What are you doing here? A couple of
days ago we had some hatchlings

days ago we had some hatchlings make
their

their way to the ocean. Now it is my
job

job to come through and check the
success

success rate of the nest. Obviously
this

this is indicative of a successful
hatching?

hatching? Yes it is, beautiful
little

little white eggshell. These ones
didn't

didn't produce hatchling. Not every
egg

egg laid results in hatchling.
Looking

Looking at the number of unhatched
eggs,

eggs, is this indicative of the
number

number you would expect? It is
normally

normally about 78% success rate. I
do

do recognise this position because a
couple

couple of days ago when we first
met,

met, we chatted to what we would
talk

talk about stop it was in the
afternoon

afternoon and it was unexpected, but
take

take a look at this. Out of nowhere,
I

I saw a tiny head poking out and
before

before you know it, how

before you know it, how many are
there?

there? I don't know, well over 50.
This

This is the most extraordinary
thing.

thing. Not that way little one, not
that

that way. It is the most glorious
thing

thing I have ever seen. I cannot
believe

believe the speed at which they
emerge.

emerge. It is crazy. Every instinct
is

is telling them to head to the sea.
It

It is the most emotional thing to
watch.

watch. These little fellas have so
many

many odds stacked against them, it
is

is unreal. Still if few just pushing
their

their way out of the sand. They are
so

so perfect and they are giving it
all

all their might. All of the effort
is

is in the scurry to the water.

is in the scurry to the water. Come
on,

on, oh my gosh, amazing to see them
scurrying

scurrying through the coral. Yeah,
it

it is a lot. You can do it! That is
the

the last of them. That is the last
of

of them, and I hope, I hope that
little

little one can make it out there.
That

That was one of the most amazing
wildlife

wildlife experiences I have ever,
ever

ever had. Every new wildlife
experience

experience for me becomes the top of
the

the list, so that is the best one I
have

have had, and to experience it with
you

you was a real honour, such tiny
animals

animals with real resilience and
drive

drive to make it out on the reef.
Yeah.

Yeah. Such a joy to watch that with
you,

you, Janine. Let's see how many have
hatched.

hatched. Every now and then you are
very

very lucky, it is a bit like
Christmas,

Christmas, every now and then you
are

are lucky enough to find yourself a
little

little hatchling, and that is the
eggshell.

eggshell. Why is it that live
hatchlings

hatchlings are still in the nest
when

when they all left three days ago?
Well,

Well, some of them may not be as
necessarily

necessarily viable or fate as their
siblings,

siblings, some of them may have been
caught

caught up among the rest of the
remaining

remaining egg shell. Or they may
have

have been caught up in roots as
well.

well. Because this is a hatchery run
by

by yourselves, you can give them a
helping

helping hand. What happens to them
now?

now? It looks a bit smaller than the
ones

ones we saw.

ones we saw. You think so? May it is
just

just me! Could be. We will let them
go

go very soon, I will finish
excavating

excavating the nest to make sure I
have

have got them all out, then we will
release

release them. Wonderful. It is not
just

just the hatchlings that have
challenges

challenges against them, is it?

challenges against them, is it? When
the

the mothers arrive here a couple of
months

months ago, pregnant, they have got
a

a real task on their hands too. We
have

have some footage from a few months
ago

ago of a pregnant female arriving,
talk

talk us through this. Under the
cover

cover of darkness, she has to haul
herself

herself up, she weighs more than 100
kilos,

kilos, up to the dry sand. From
there,

there, she uses all four flippers to
remove

remove the vegetation and dry sand
to

to dig her egg chamber, which is
done

done completely by those rear
flippers.

flippers. She digs to a depth of
about

about 60 centimetres, and into that
she

she will lay her clutch of eggs. How
many

many in a season? She will lay
around

around five clutches, each with
about

about 100 eggs. So she probably has
to

to do this five times? Sometimes up
to

to nine times in a season. Such a
big

big effort for an animal that is
streamlined

streamlined in the water, a lot of
work

work to lay the eggs. Now she has
finished,

finished, she will make her way back
to

to the ocean. So beautiful. The
season,

season, how many have been lying,
what

what it does equate to do in
hatchlings?

hatchlings? For this season, it has
been

been very slow because of the El
Nino

Nino effect, 180 females on the
beach

beach this year, and out of that we
expect

expect around 43,000 hatchlings to
make

make their way to the water. Sounds
like

like a good number, but it is not
that

that simple, is it? No,
unfortunately,

unfortunately, the survival rate for
hatchlings

hatchlings is about one in 1000. So
43

43 individuals from this season?
That

That really puts it into
perspective.

perspective. Only 43 will make it to
maturity.

maturity. I am so privileged to see
the

the hatchling base close. We will be
keeping

keeping an eye on the hatcheries and
all

all the title nests where we are on
the

the island during the course of the
week.

week. What is clear is that Heron
Island

Island is such an important habitat
to

to protect for sea turtles, and the
same

same is true. Many of our marine
species,

species, including one of the
turtles'

turtles' biggest predators. In the
be

be Hamas, Steve can tell us more. --
the

the Bahamas.

But oh so we are still here amongst

an extravaganza of sharks. And it is
truly

truly one of the world's great
wildlife

wildlife spectacles, valuable in and
of

of itself, but sharks are incredibly
important

important animals in any marine
ecosystem.

ecosystem. These are an apex
predator.

predator. They kind of function like
the

the immune system of a reef. So they
take

take out sick and injured animals,
they

they alter the behaviour of other
creatures

creatures around them, and they have
been

been here in our oceans for at least
400

400 million years. So everything
else

else has adapted to respect these
top-of-the-line

top-of-the-line predator. Being here
with

with so many sharks around is
actually

actually a pretty unusual experience
nowadays.

nowadays. Many of these sites that I
have

have been diving, you feel quite
lucky

lucky to see even one shark, so to
be

be here with this many, it is pretty
incredible.

incredible. And while sharks really
power

power is very little danger to us as
human

human beings, unfortunately it is
not

not the same the other way around.
We

We human beings are taking at least
100

100 million sharks from the oceans
each

each and every year, many of those
purely

purely taken for their fins. It is a
number

number that cannot be sustained. If
it

it carries on like this, our
children

children will not have the
opportunity

opportunity to see this, diving
surrounded

surrounded by the stunning apex
predators.

predators. So more than anything, we
need

need to learn that sharks are not
the

the mindless monsters they are so
often

often made out to be, they are
heroes,

heroes, and here in the Bahamas they
have

have one particular knight in
shining

shining armour.

I always had a passion for the

ocean, I fell in love with scuba
divers,

divers, I fell in love with
everything.

everything. It was a colony, I
think.

Cristina left her homeland of Italy

over 20 years ago, heading for the
Bahamas.

Bahamas. Ever since, she has been a
champion

champion of the marine world and one
of

of its most misunderstood creatures.

Two decades of diving at one site

off the island of grand Bahama has
given

given her a remarkable connection
with

with one particular family of
animals.

animals. Cristina is known locally
as

as the shark dancer. And this is her
stage.

stage. I love that there is a busy
silence.

It is the most peaceful and

wails when they arrive, one of the
things

things they have noticed is they are
seeing

seeing more and more thinner wails
in

in the lagoon. This is another means
of

of looking at their health. The
number

number of calves born is one, what
the

the whales behaviour is. They are
trying

trying to feed here, which is
unnerving.

unnerving. Typically they should be
fasting

fasting because there isn't enough
food.

food. They are leaving earlier and
they

they are suffering from
malnutrition.

malnutrition. This feed is giving us
the

the ability to keep our finger on
the

the pulse of this animal and learn
about

about the impact. Not just here in
Baja,

Baja, but all the way to the Arctic.
Have

Have we got a whale here? That is
the

the question. They have finally gone
down.

down. We can use this opportunity to
head

head across the Pacific to the
barrier

barrier Reef and back to Liz.

barrier Reef and back to Liz. Thank
you

you very much, Chris.

Heron Island is surrounded
by white sandy beaches,

which have been known to attract up
to 1800 green turtles

during the nesting season,
so it's the perfect location

to discover just how important these
visitors are to this reef.

But sea turtles also play
an incredibly important role

across all our oceans.

Sea turtles. These ancient mariners

have been wondering our oceans since
the

the dinosaurs. Some can grow up to
two

two metres long and live for 100
years.

years. There are seven species
worldwide.

worldwide. And the most common
turtle

turtle here at the Great Barrier
Reef

Reef is the green turtle. Turtles
are

are the gardeners of the ocean. They
encourage

encourage new growth by eating algae
off

off the reefs. And grazing on the
seagrass

seagrass meadows. Travelling
thousands

thousands of miles in a lifetime,
their

their influence is widespread.
Protecting

Protecting these turtles is crucial
to

to our seas.

Here on Heron Island,
the green turtle population has

already faced some great challenges
in the past.

In the 1950s the island was home
to a turtle cannery,

to make turtle soup.

But turtle numbers plummeted
and the cannery was closed

16 years later soon
after Heron Island resort opened.

Since then the Queensland Parks
and Wildlife Service have been

monitoring the nesting population
and numbers have been recovering.

To find out just how important
Heron is to turtles,

I'm with Janine Ferguson.

What are you doing here? A couple of
days ago we had some hatchlings

days ago we had some hatchlings make
their

their way to the ocean. Now it is my
job

job to come through and check the
success

success rate of the nest. Obviously
this

this is indicative of a successful
hatching?

hatching? Yes it is, beautiful
little

little white eggshell. These ones
didn't

didn't produce hatchling. Not every
egg

egg laid results in hatchling.
Looking

Looking at the number of unhatched
eggs,

eggs, is this indicative of the
number

number you would expect? It is
normally

normally about 78% success rate. I
do

do recognise this position because a
couple

couple of days ago when we first
met,

met, we chatted to what we would
talk

talk about stop it was in the
afternoon

afternoon and it was unexpected, but
take

take a look at this. Out of nowhere,
I

I saw a tiny head poking out and
before

before you know it, how

before you know it, how many are
there?

there? I don't know, well over 50.
This

This is the most extraordinary
thing.

thing. Not that way little one, not
that

that way. It is the most glorious
thing

thing I have ever seen. I cannot
believe

believe the speed at which they
emerge.

emerge. It is crazy. Every instinct
is

is telling them to head to the sea.
It

It is the most emotional thing to
watch.

watch. These little fellas have so
many

many odds stacked against them, it
is

is unreal. Still if few just pushing
their

their way out of the sand. They are
so

so perfect and they are giving it
all

all their might. All of the effort
is

is in the scurry to the water.

is in the scurry to the water. Come
on,

on, oh my gosh, amazing to see them
scurrying

scurrying through the coral. Yeah,
it

it is a lot. You can do it! That is
the

the last of them. That is the last
of

of them, and I hope, I hope that
little

little one can make it out there.
That

That was one of the most amazing
wildlife

wildlife experiences I have ever,
ever

ever had. Every new wildlife
experience

experience for me becomes the top of
the

the list, so that is the best one I
have

have had, and to experience it with
you

you was a real honour, such tiny
animals

animals with real resilience and
drive

drive to make it out on the reef.
Yeah.

Yeah. Such a joy to watch that with
you,

you, Janine. Let's see how many have
hatched.

hatched. Every now and then you are
very

very lucky, it is a bit like
Christmas,

Christmas, every now and then you
are

are lucky enough to find yourself a
little

little hatchling, and that is the
eggshell.

eggshell. Why is it that live
hatchlings

hatchlings are still in the nest
when

when they all left three days ago?
Well,

Well, some of them may not be as
necessarily

necessarily viable or fate as their
siblings,

siblings, some of them may have been
caught

caught up among the rest of the
remaining

remaining egg shell. Or they may
have

have been caught up in roots as
well.

well. Because this is a hatchery run
by

by yourselves, you can give them a
helping

helping hand. What happens to them
now?

now? It looks a bit smaller than the
ones

ones we saw.

ones we saw. You think so? May it is
just

just me! Could be. We will let them
go

go very soon, I will finish
excavating

excavating the nest to make sure I
have

have got them all out, then we will
release

release them. Wonderful. It is not
just

just the hatchlings that have
challenges

challenges against them, is it?

challenges against them, is it? When
the

the mothers arrive here a couple of
months

months ago, pregnant, they have got
a

a real task on their hands too. We
have

have some footage from a few months
ago

ago of a pregnant female arriving,
talk

talk us through this. Under the
cover

cover of darkness, she has to haul
herself

herself up, she weighs more than 100
kilos,

kilos, up to the dry sand. From
there,

there, she uses all four flippers to
remove

remove the vegetation and dry sand
to

to dig her egg chamber, which is
done

done completely by those rear
flippers.

flippers. She digs to a depth of
about

about 60 centimetres, and into that
she

she will lay her clutch of eggs. How
many

many in a season? She will lay
around

around five clutches, each with
about

about 100 eggs. So she probably has
to

to do this five times? Sometimes up
to

to nine times in a season. Such a
big

big effort for an animal that is
streamlined

streamlined in the water, a lot of
work

work to lay the eggs. Now she has
finished,

finished, she will make her way back
to

to the ocean. So beautiful. The
season,

season, how many have been lying,
what

what it does equate to do in
hatchlings?

hatchlings? For this season, it has
been

been very slow because of the El
Nino

Nino effect, 180 females on the
beach

beach this year, and out of that we
expect

expect around 43,000 hatchlings to
make

make their way to the water. Sounds
like

like a good number, but it is not
that

that simple, is it? No,
unfortunately,

unfortunately, the survival rate for
hatchlings

hatchlings is about one in 1000. So
43

43 individuals from this season?
That

That really puts it into
perspective.

perspective. Only 43 will make it to
maturity.

maturity. I am so privileged to see
the

the hatchling base close. We will be
keeping

keeping an eye on the hatcheries and
all

all the title nests where we are on
the

the island during the course of the
week.

week. What is clear is that Heron
Island

Island is such an important habitat
to

to protect for sea turtles, and the
same

same is true. Many of our marine
species,

species, including one of the
turtles'

turtles' biggest predators. In the
be

be Hamas, Steve can tell us more. --
the

the Bahamas.

But oh so we are still here amongst

an extravaganza of sharks. And it is
truly

truly one of the world's great
wildlife

wildlife spectacles, valuable in and
of

of itself, but sharks are incredibly
important

important animals in any marine
ecosystem.

ecosystem. These are an apex
predator.

predator. They kind of function like
the

the immune system of a reef. So they
take

take out sick and injured animals,
they

they alter the behaviour of other
creatures

creatures around them, and they have
been

been here in our oceans for at least
400

400 million years. So everything
else

else has adapted to respect these
top-of-the-line

top-of-the-line predator. Being here
with

with so many sharks around is
actually

actually a pretty unusual experience
nowadays.

nowadays. Many of these sites that I
have

have been diving, you feel quite
lucky

lucky to see even one shark, so to
be

be here with this many, it is pretty
incredible.

incredible. And while sharks really
power

power is very little danger to us as
human

human beings, unfortunately it is
not

not the same the other way around.
We

We human beings are taking at least
100

100 million sharks from the oceans
each

each and every year, many of those
purely

purely taken for their fins. It is a
number

number that cannot be sustained. If
it

it carries on like this, our
children

children will not have the
opportunity

opportunity to see this, diving
surrounded

surrounded by the stunning apex
predators.

predators. So more than anything, we
need

need to learn that sharks are not
the

the mindless monsters they are so
often

often made out to be, they are
heroes,

heroes, and here in the Bahamas they
have

have one particular knight in
shining

shining armour.

I always had a passion for the

ocean, I fell in love with scuba
divers,

divers, I fell in love with
everything.

everything. It was a colony, I
think.

Cristina left her homeland of Italy

over 20 years ago, heading for the
Bahamas.

Bahamas. Ever since, she has been a
champion

champion of the marine world and one
of

of its most misunderstood creatures.

Two decades of diving at one site

off the island of grand Bahama has
given

given her a remarkable connection
with

with one particular family of
animals.

animals. Cristina is known locally
as

as the shark dancer. And this is her
stage.

stage. I love that there is a busy
silence.

It is the most peaceful and

extraordinary variety of life.

Blue Planet II took us into the deep

sea, earth's final frontier. Almost
11,000

11,000 metres at its deepest. We
were

were introduced to extraordinary
creatures.

creatures. Flapjack octopus, ghost
sharks

sharks and feather stars. All
surviving

surviving temperatures close to
freezing

freezing and immense pressure.
However,

However, scientists believe there
could

could be more species here than in
all

all other habitats on Earth
combined.

combined. And there are other
treasures.

treasures. Hydrothermal vents
balance

balance the chemical composition of
our

our oceans. But they are also home
to

to precious metals, like gold and
silver.

silver. As these run out on land,
deep

deep sea mining is a rapidly growing
threat.

threat. If we don't treat the deep
ocean

ocean with care, what could we lose
before

before we even know it is there?

before we even know it is there? The
whales

whales just keep giving us the view
from

from our helicopter. One of these
remarkable

remarkable grey whales here in the
lagoon.

lagoon. You can see it on the
surface.

surface. It looks like one of the
females.

females. She may have a car with
her,

her, although there are single
females

females as well. Most of the males
have

have left by now but some still
hanging

hanging around looking for mates.
But

But what about the deep sea life,
what

what an extraordinary environment.
To

To get down there you need
specialist

specialist kit and it is more
specialist

specialist than what we have got our
what

what we can afford.

The Atlantis expedition hopes
to find out more about the deep

so that we can better protect it.

They have a research vessel in San

Francisco and on board, their
submersible.

submersible. This has a two metre
titanium

titanium sphere which means it is
good

good to go down to 4500 metres. I am
pleased

pleased that later in the week it
will

will sail out of San Francisco and
explore

explore an underwater mountain off
the

the coast of California and we will
be

be there with them live and there is
every

every chance we will be seeing some
very,

very, very unique wildlife indeed.
Their

Their studies allow us to make
better

better informed decisions when it
comes

comes to conserving the wildlife.
When

When it does come to conservation,
as

as we have seen with Steve, if you
change

change something in one part of the
world,

world, you can have benefits in
another.

This is evidence that if you protect

the oceans, the animals in then
bounce

bounce back. The next part of the
puzzle

puzzle is getting people to love
sharks

sharks because we take care of
things

things we love. In the Bahamas, they
do

do that better than anywhere else on
earth.

earth. 20 kilometres north of grand
Bahama,

Bahama, lies a shark site. It is of
global

global importance. Unlike anywhere
else

else in the world.

Throughout this marine protected

area, food is used to bring sharks
in.

in. Feeding sharks is hotly debated
topic.

topic. There are people who think it
is

is a bad idea and might potentially
change

change the behaviour of sharks. But
I

I can totally see that. But there no
doubt,

doubt, shark tourism in the Bahamas
is

is incredibly important. Each year,
over

over 20,000 people come to the
Bahamas

Bahamas to dive with sharks, making
it

it the largest shark diving industry
in

in the world. Shark diving here in
the

the Bahamas is worth an estimated
$114

$114 million every year to the local
economy

economy and questionably, the sharks
are

are worth more alive than they are
dead.

dead. And that is hugely important
to

to the survival of these
extraordinary

extraordinary animals. A big part of
the

the solution has to be getting
people

people to love sharks and this could
be

be the best place in the world for
that.

that. And also an opportunity to
encounter

encounter one of the most feared. A
tiger

tiger shark is unmistakable in form.
It

It has the dapper Ling running down
its

its side. That gives its tiger name.
They

They will feed on just about
anything

anything they can find in the water
and

and with those teeth, they can even
go

go through the shell of a turtle. A
great

great hammerhead. Amazing! Look at
that

that powering straight in. That is
just

just extraordinary!

just extraordinary! This is
absolutely

absolutely dazzling. I don't know
which

which way to look. Tiger sharks,
great

great hammerheads, bull sharks... It
is

is the well's greatest safari, it
just

just so happens to be underwater.

just so happens to be underwater.
Welcome

Welcome back to Heron Island, this
is

is the moment I have been waiting
for,

for, we are releasing seven
hatchlings

hatchlings into the sea. Getting a
new

new chance of life out into this
very

very precious reef because of the
work

work taking place here. And look at
them

them all, scurrying towards the sea.
It

It is the most beautiful sight. What
are

are their chances? Their chances,
just

just as great as any other ones.
Every

Every instinct telling them to head
to

to the sea. It is just divine. We
just

just goes to show how precious this
ecosystem

ecosystem is. The scientists hear of
working

working night and day to better
understand

understand how to protect it and all
its

its inhabitants. With every new
study

study we are gaining a greater
understanding

understanding of how this place has
changed

changed since Blue Planet II was
filmed.

filmed. On the next programme we
will

will take a closer look at how the
impact

impact of our modern world is
affecting,

affecting, not only these precious,
little

little hatchlings and the sea
turtles

turtles around here, but the reef,
the

the great barrier and the reefs
around

around the world. We will see you
then.

This is our final view of Scammons

Lagoon where we have had this
remarkable

remarkable evening with our grey
whales.

whales. We have grey whales down
there

there at the moment. They just keep
giving.

giving. That is our last live view
of

of one of the well's remarkable
animals.

animals. Message thanks to our
cameramen

cameramen who have given us these
extraordinary

extraordinary views. I have been sat
on

on looking out into the Pacific
ocean

ocean and thinking, we get these
oceans

oceans different names, Atlantic,
Pacific

Pacific and Indian. But there are no
fences

fences between them, they are all
joined

joined up. As a consequence, or the
ecosystems

ecosystems are connected to one
another,

another, they are dependent upon one
another

another and ultimately, our health
and

and future is dependent on them as
well.

well. What a programme we have had.
I

I have got to say these exotic
locations

locations are not the only place you
can

can see fantastic wildlife. Around
the

the UK's shoreline, there are plenty
more.

more. We are pleased to be bringing
you

you Blue Planet UK. Every day for 30
PM

PM on BBC One you can see some
fascinating

fascinating stories of some
extraordinary

extraordinary animals around the
UK's

UK's coastline. We are back later in
the

the week, so what have you got
coming

coming up? Next time we will bring
you

you more encounters with our most
iconic

iconic animals of the ocean. More
whales,

whales, more sharks. Turtles,
stingrays,

stingrays, seals and we will be live
as

as our mission into the deep is
launched.

launched. Be there when it happens
live.

live. What about that, what a
programme.

programme. You will have to sit down
and

and have a cup of tea. I have been
snorted

snorted on by our whale and I've
tasted

tasted it and I am very, very happy
man.

man. We will be back again for three
more

more programmes later in the week
and

and the first will be on Wednesday.
Please

Please join us at APM on BBC One for
some

some more Blue Planet Live. Perhaps
no

no more snot, but definitely some
more

more spectacular animals. The Open
University

University has produced a free
booklet

booklet including a tear out guide
to

to the different types of plastic
can

can be recycled. To order your free
copy

copy please call...

Follow the links to the Open University.