Original subtitles

Welcome to the Great

Barrier Reef in Australia!

The sun is just coming up. I am here

to explore how important reefs and their

their inhabitants are, and around the

the world we have teams assessing the

the health of our oceans. And I am here

here to dive with one of the most adaptable,

adaptable, robust and vulnerable of all

all marine creatures, the bull shark.

shark. And I am here in the beautiful

beautiful Sea of Cortez in pursuit of

of the largest animal that has ever lived

lived on Earth, the mighty blue whale.

whale. Join us for all of the live action

action and more. This is Blue Planet Live.

Hello, and welcome back to Blue

Planet Live. It is just gone 6am on the

the Great Barrier Reef.

The forest here is teeming with birds.

And underneath the surface, the reef

life is getting ready for another busy

busy day ahead. The wide cameramen are

are poised to bring you magnificent live

live interviews of the reef through the

the programme. Hello, my, good morning

morning to you. As you can see, beautiful

beautiful staghorn coral, then all these

these damselfish, which are reliant on

on this ecosystem for their food, their

their survival, their protection. Take

Take a look at what we found this time

time yesterday on this very spot. A beautiful

beautiful green sea turtle, making her

her way around the reef. Look at those

those spotted, sweet lips, those spotty

spotty fish, three of them, a busy part

part of the reef, and our mission today

today is to bring you Green sea turtles

turtles come alive. We will not rest until

until we succeed. With much of our marine

marine life facing unprecedented threats,

threats, we will be taking a look at how

how humans affect the oceans, and also,

also, the great, extraordinary work scientists

scientists are carrying out to protect

protect them. Our urgent support all life

life on earth, including us. But we are

are changing them faster than ever. --

-- our oceans. From plastics, to habitat

habitat loss to blooming season climate

climate change. Today across the globe,

globe, scientists are in a race against

against time to reverse our impact. The

The clock is ticking. To save our Blue

Blue Planet.

Blue Planet. Now, all of our teams are

are positioned in important marine habitats

habitats around the world, coming to you

you live from four key locations to bring

bring a spectacular wildlife encounters

encounters and to take stock of the state

state of our oceans since Blue Planet

Planet II. Where are the teams based?

based? We are in a beautiful coral key

key of Heron Island. This is shark Bay,

Bay, a prime spot for nesting green sea

sea turtles. 9000 miles away in the Bahamas

Bahamas is Steve.

Bahamas is Steve. I'm here in the shark

shark sanctuary of the Bahamas preparing

preparing to dive with these magnificent

magnificent bull sharks. 2000 miles to

to the rest of me in the Sea of Cortez,

Cortez, Chris is preparing for a quest

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

Sea of Cortez, and today we have pumped

pumped our ambition to the max, because

because we are arriving to possibly the

the greatest challenge in wildlife live

live TV. We are in pursuit of the largest

largest creature that has ever lived on

on the planet, the blue whale. We know

know that they are out there. We have

have just got to find them. Good luck

luck with that, Chris. We will be joining

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

state-of-the-art research vessel, the

the Atlantis. They have faded out from

from San Francisco Bay. We will join them

them live as they launch a deepwater submersible

submersible to explore a deep sea mountain.

mountain. I cannot wait to see the images

images that they are going to get. Tonight,

Tonight, the mission here on Heron Island

Island is to bring in more of the glorious

glorious wonders of the Great Barrier

Barrier Reef, but also to take a look

look at how human impact is affecting

affecting this precious ecosystem, and

and all of the life that it supports.

supports. Our underwater cameramen will

will be bringing you images to remind

remind you just how glorious these environments

environments are, how important they are,

are, not only for the coral, but also

also for the myriad life that depends

depends upon them and this part of the

the great Barrier Reef, the Heron Reef

Reef is doing relatively well so far,

far, compared to parts of the Great Barrier

Barrier Reef further north. Coral reefs

reefs support an incredibly huge biodiversity.

biodiversity. They support the highest

highest biodiversity of any life on the

the planet. Scientists estimate that they

they could, there still could be 8 million

million species to be discovered in these

these incredible reefs. They are so incredibly

incredibly crucial to the health of the

the oceans. They are basically the beating

beating heart of the Blue Planet. Blue

Blue Planet II introduced us to the kaleidoscopic

kaleidoscopic world of the coral reef.

reef. But scientists have revealed it

it is a world that is under pressure.

pressure. Coral reefs are created by millions

millions of tiny animals called coral

coral polyps. They build structure on

on hard surfaces like books and life gathers

gathers around them. -- like rocks. Found

Found across the globe, these underwater

underwater cities provide food... And

And shelter to a quarter of all known

known marine species. Yet, coral reefs

reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean

ocean floor. These fragile habitats need

need clean, healthy water and stable temperatures

temperatures to thrive. Like early warning

warning systems, they are one of the first

first indicators if there are problems

problems in our seas. Since filming Blue

Blue Planet II, scientists believe that

that the Great Barrier Reef has lost 50%

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

race against time to save this vital habitat

habitat before it disappears.

habitat before it disappears. Now, if

if you are watching on Sunday night at...

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

Baja Peninsula facing out into the Pacific

Pacific and I'm now on the inside, to

to the east coast of the peninsula. I'm

I'm in the Sea of Cortez. It measures

measures 700 miles by about 30-150, and

and there are 31,000 cubic miles of water.

water. Jacques Cousteau described it as

as the aquarium of the world. It is incredibly

incredibly rich in life. Birds, sea lions,

lions, seals and dolphins and occasionally

occasionally they come together with no

no less than 33 different species, about

about one third of the diversity that

that we have in the world, and it is home

home to the smallest, and the largest,

largest, the blue whale, which is the

the species that we are after today. Blue

Blue whales are big on every level. They

They are the largest animal that has ever

ever lived on the planet. They can get

get to almost 100 feet in length, they

they weigh somewhere between 100-150 tonnes.

tonnes. They have a big appetite. To sustain

sustain this bulk they eat 3.6 tonnes

tonnes of food a day. They have a big

big voice, the second loudest animals

animals on the planet, pumping it out

out at 188 decibels. Big mothers, giving

giving birth to carts that way 2.7 tonnes,

tonnes, the same as hippopotamus and they

they have a monstrous heart as well to

to pump the blood around their joint bodies.

bodies. It weighs 180 kilograms which

which is about three times the weight

weight of myself. And the males have the

the biggest reefs -- he needs his and

and the animal kingdom, three metres long.

long. Everything is big about this animal

animal except their populations. They

They were decimated by whaling in the

the 19th and 20th century. They are back

back to a population of 25,000 worldwide,

worldwide, with 2000 of these moving up

up and down the Pacific coast of North

North America and Mexico and about 300

300 coming to this body of water. But

But it is 62,000 square miles of water,

water, so they are quite hard to find.

find. To help, we have our eye in the

the sky. Larry the pilot is doing his

his best and alongside him, Matt, the

the cameraman. They will be looking out

out for the whales. We have another boat

boat down on the surface which, we have

have got a superhigh telephoto lens on

on the camera. No whales on the camera

camera but there is a view of the boat

boat cruising along through the Sea of

of Cortez. You can throw technology at

at it all you like but what you need when

when you come to a place like this is

is some good local knowledge. And we have

have got it in the form of Geraldine.

Geraldine. She is a marine biologist who

who has been working here for some time.

time. How many whales are there in this

this area that we might find today? In

In this area, around six. So we are looking

looking for six miles. The whales are

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

are the chances of finding them today?

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

confidence, no one ever says 99% when

when we are looking for animals! 99% success.

success. What about the work you have

have been doing? You have been looking

looking at the impact ecotourism might

might have been having on the male population.

population. We were worried about the

the impact, by using the passive observation

observation method, we have made this

this a successful whale-watching area.

area. We went out last week to see how

how Geraldine and her colleagues have

have achieved that.

Blue whales are increasingly popular

with tourists and scientists.

with tourists and scientists. Here in

in Baja it is a whale-watching mecca.

mecca. But these giants are shy and don't

don't want to be disturbed. Too many boats

boats can stress them and restrict their

their feeding time at the surface. Bad

Bad news for the whales, equally bad news

news for the scientists trying to observe

observe their natural behaviour.

observe their natural behaviour. However,

However, Geraldine practices and noninvasive

noninvasive research technique that means

means she can gather vital data from the

the whales without ever getting too close.

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

now... When they dive, joint circle is

is created by the force of them going

going under. A flute print. And this is

is what Geraldine waits for. -- fluke

fluke print. As they disappear into the

the deep, they leave a very special clue

clue behind. They are skinned.

clue behind. They are skinned. -- Their

Their skin. We got it. Beautiful, a beautiful

beautiful little piece of the skin of

of a whale. That is fantastic. Just like

like us, whales leave flakes of skin everywhere

everywhere they go, but on a much bigger

bigger scale. What about the science?

science? Now we have recovered this, what

what can you learn from this fragment?

fragment? This fragment of skin is important

important for our studies because with

with this, we can know whether they are

are females or males. There is enough

enough DNA, they are, to get their sex

sex ID. Anything more? We use the to track

track where the whale has potentially

potentially feeding. Anywhere in the world?

world? That is correct. This fragment

fragment of skin contains lots of personal

personal information about this one whale,

whale, and we have recovered it, none

none intrusively. No biopsy, simply waiting

waiting to pick up a bit of floating skin.

skin. By keeping their distance and not

not disturbing the whales, Geraldine is

is able to observe their natural behaviour,

behaviour, allowing us to learn more about

about this population of blue whales,

whales, and proving that noninvasive research

research practices do work.

research practices do work. But it has

has also had a positive effect for tourists

tourists here, too. Local whale watching

watching company is now train their captains

captains in passive observation techniques,

techniques, staying well back from the

the whales.

the whales. Since these rules were implemented

implemented in 2014, the whales now spend

spend more time cruising on the surface.

surface. A sign of their more natural

natural behaviour. That's a benefit both

both to the whales and the whale watchers,

watchers, and of course scientists like

like Geraldine. Amazing. A lovely flourish

flourish at the end. It was for the whale,

whale, that is exactly what it was. Thank

Thank you.

Top work to Geraldine and her team,

a great piece of applied science. What

What was also interesting was the way

way they were a covering material from

from the whales noninvasively. The whale

whale had no idea we were picking up the

the skin and on Sunday I was collecting

collecting material from whales noninvasively

noninvasively because those grey whales

whales were covering me in their snot.

snot. INAUDIBLE.

We seem to have lost Chris. It seems

that the weather and the stuff going on

on is making things difficult and it has

has been for us here in the Bahamas as

as well. I know it looks like everything

everything is absolute paradise right

right now but overnight we had gale force

force winds, lightning and thunder, so

so we've had to retreat into the harbour

harbour but in the Bahamas even in the

the middle of town there is plenty of

of wildlife. Down there you can see lots

lots of fish, including rather a lot of

of quite large bull sharks. The reason

reason they are here is that for many

many years fishermen have been cleaning

cleaning their catch at the docks and

and the sharks are enticed in by the smell

smell of potential food. These are absolutely

absolutely dazzling animals and although

although they are right here, close to

to shore, the people who have learnt not

not just to endure living alongside them

them but actually to treasure them. This

This is a true shark sanctuary where these

these animals are protected. To find out

out more about what they are doing here,

here, why they are here at this time of

of the year, what the animals actually

actually condition they are in, what part

part of their lives they are in at this

this time of year, and we will get in

in the water with them as well. This is

is not something we take lightly, we've

we've been tracking the conditions carefully,

carefully, watching the visibility and

and it is crystal clear so we will get

get in. Next time you come to me I will

will be underwater alongside these animals

animals giving me the opportunity to tell

tell you something of the tail of this

this creature. It is an animal that has

has a surprisingly tender side of much

much of its life as a complete mystery

mystery so, hopefully, I can show those

those things when I have the great pleasure

pleasure of being underwater alongside

alongside them. Anyway, a little bit closer

closer to home in the Mediterranean there

there is an animal that is battling to

to bring itself back from the of extinction.

extinction. This

This is Costas, one of the world's most

most endangered marine animals, he has

has a Mediterranean monk seal. Rescued

Rescued after he was separated from his

his mum in a storm. After years of historic

historic hunting, there are now only around

around 700 of these seals left. And over

over half live in one of your's favourite

favourite holiday hotspots in Greece.

Greece. But, with 13 million tourists

tourists coming here each year, there

there is less and less space for these

these seals to live in peace. So biologist

biologist Alex and his team are working

working hard to help people and monk seals

seals live side by side. One of the big

big problems with tourism is it tries

tries to use the same places that Mediterranean

Mediterranean monk seals use. Throughout

Throughout time, human

Mediterranean monk seals use. Throughout time, human

Throughout time, human intensity has pushed

pushed these animals from their original

original habitat into secluded marine

marine caves. And, now, to help make sure

sure these precious places where the seals

seals rest and breed are protected, Alex

Alex monitors the caves. He sets up remote

remote cameras and, when mum is a way,

way, takes vital DNA samples from the

the pups. These reveal the movements of

of the breeding seals, and helps reinforce

reinforce laws that protect the monk seals

seals use. And it seems to be working.

working. Years ago, it would be difficult

difficult to see monk seals swimming around,

around, we are working to prevent the

the extinction of the species and that

that is happening. The teen's research

research also helps re-educate local people

people on how to live alongside these

these endangered animals. And Costas is

is living proof.

Rescued by local fishermen, who in

the past would have considered a monk

monk seal a pest. Costas is now being

being rehabilitated by Alex's team. This

This involves minimal contact, so Costas

Costas doesn't get attached to humans.

humans. When he arrived, he was around

around ten days old, and severely underweight,

underweight, dehydrated. Three months

months on, Costas is making good progress

progress towards the 50 kilograms weight

weight required for release. He still

still needs some assistance, but he is

is doing very well. He is very hungry.

hungry. With such a small population of

of monk seals left, every individual is

is precious.

After five months of rehab, Costas

has grown enough to be released. And it

it is a big day when he is returned to

to the wild. As a young, breeding male,

male, it's hoped he will play his part

part in the endangered Mediterranean monk

monk seal to recover.

Great to see that little seal going

back to the wild. Apologies, we lost you

you earlier, we are stretching televisual

televisual technology to the limits, we

we are miles out at sea and we are speaking

speaking to you from the other side of

of the world but let's get back to business

business because the business was snot.

snot. And Iain Kerr has a Snotbot. Took

Took me through him. When a whale exhales,

exhales, it's throwing this

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

exhales, it's throwing this priceless

priceless biological information out into

into the air that

priceless biological information out into the air that

into the air that can tell us all about

about a whale's health, and we collect

collect that snot...

And the other cool thing about these

drones is they are affordable so we are

are democratising science. Science has

has been a prerogative of the privileged,

privileged, you know what I mean? A rich

rich person's game but now we can get

get more people collecting more data about

about whales and ocean ecosystems. There

There is one little thing I've got to

to point out, you've got to position this

this above the whales when they are blowing.

blowing. Exactly. It is a bit of a challenge

challenge because there could be a crosswind

crosswind and you've got to get it in

in the right position but, having studied

studied whales 30 years now, I've got

got a pretty good idea of what is going

going on and it's great I can mix these

these two technologies...

With that biological material, they

can blow it 50 metres in the air so it

it is your biggest chance of getting some.

some. Well... Blowing off little bits

bits of DNA and micro-biomes and hormones.

hormones. I think people say we know more

more about the surface of the moon is

is in our oceans. We need these tools

tools out there collecting more data,

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

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

Welcome back to Heron Island. The

wind is picking up. My gosh, it is the

the most glorious part of the world still

still to be in. Take a look at what our

our wildlife cameramen are looking at

at on the reef. Chris is breaking up,

up, we are stretching the limits of our

our technology with all the weather and

and distance, so we are going to take

take a look at the reef, look at how beautiful

beautiful it is. Lots of damselfish, lots

lots of different shapes of coral. And

And all of those coral structures are

are what sets up this ecosystem for a

a whole myriad of life to thrive. Corals

Corals are the architects of coral reefs.

reefs. There is a shot of us! Knee deep

deep in the water. It's actually very

very warm and lovely here this morning.

morning. Now, for a little bit more of

of a serious topic now because here on

on the Great Barrier Reef, corals that

that were once vibrant, healthy and colourful

colourful have been bowing under the pressures

pressures of our human impact like never

never before so it's my great pleasure

pleasure to be able to join Professor

Professor Peter Harrison from the Southern

Southern Cross University to talk about

about what that means for the Great Barrier

Barrier Reef. It's a lovely morning to

to be hanging out in the shallows, isn't

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

We now know coral reefs are bleaching

bleaching because of ever-increasing sea

sea temperatures but what exactly does

does that mean for the coral animal? What

What is bleaching? In a

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

What is bleaching? In a normal, healthy

healthy coral system, such as in this

this part of the coral, the brown

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

this part of the coral, the brown part

part here, you can see lots of algae in

in the tissue of the coral and come as

as a result of that, you can see that

that the coral tissue is functioning normally.

normally. However, when increased temperature

temperature and highlight conditions occur,

occur, it stresses the algae and they

they get removed from the coral tissue

tissue and the corals lose their energy,

energy, which is when bleaching occurs.

occurs. And we saw some images of vast

vast expanses turning right and dead.

dead. So are bleaching events increasing

increasing on the Great Barrier Reef,

Reef, and what does it mean for this incredible

incredible living system? Unfortunately,

Unfortunately, yes. Coral bleaching is

is occurring more frequently and severely

severely on the Great Barrier Reef. As

As a consequence of that, in 2016 and

and 2017, the northern part of the Great

Great Barrier Reef experienced massive

massive marine heatwaves and significant

significant coral death occurred as a

a result. Those bleaching events are becoming

becoming very significant for the functioning

functioning of these reef systems. Two

Two consecutive bleaching events that

that affected the reef. How much remains

remains of the Great Barrier Reef? We

We know more than 50% of the corals in

in the northern part of the Great Barrier

Barrier Reef were killed in those bleaching

bleaching events and we know in the decades

decades prior to that, another 50% of

of the corals died on the Great Barrier

Barrier Reef. In the southern Great Barrier

Barrier Reef, we have healthy coral systems

systems so they were fortunate in escaping

escaping the recent bleaching. We know

know as we go further south from the Great

Great Barrier Reef, right now there is

is bleaching occurring in the southern

southern part. These corals tend to be

be enjoying cooler temperatures, they

they tend to be somewhat protected from

from climate change in the past but that

that is changing? Absolutely on one of

of the worrying trends about the bleaching

bleaching is this is the fourth bleaching

bleaching event I've witnessed over recent

recent decades and we now know no corals

corals are safe from increased thermal

thermal stress events on the planet. Peter,

Peter, you've been researching this science

science for 35 years. What needs to happen

happen as a matter of urgency for us not

not to lose the remaining healthy parts

parts of the Great Barrier Reef and reefs

reefs around the world? It is really important

important we act now on climate change.

change. Increased carbon dioxide emissions,

emissions, trapping extra heat into the

the atmosphere, that heat is being transferred

transferred to the upper part of the sea

sea water, changing the ocean chemistry,

chemistry, increasing marine heatwaves

heatwaves and stressing corals which are

are the foundation of these reef systems.

systems. We stand to lose not only the

the corals but probably 1 million species

species associated with corals on reef

reef systems. It is as simple as that,

that, the science is telling us what is

is happening to the reef. Absolutely,

Absolutely, the science has been there

there for decades and we know exactly

exactly what is going on and we can predict

predict exactly what is happening now.

now. We know what will happen in the next

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

want to keep track what is

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

want to keep track what is happening to

to the Great Barrier Reef and reefs around

around the world, you can go to our website

website and track it, track the progress

progress of the corals live. Take a look

look at that. It is a critical time for

for our reefs. If nothing happens in the

the next ten years, we could lose 50%

50% of all of the reefs around the world.

world. What is clear is scientists around

around the world are carrying out nothing

nothing short of heroic research to stop

stop that happening and Peter and his

his team have embarked on this ground-breaking,

ground-breaking, revolutionary project

project to make sure the reefs get a much

much needed lifeline.

much needed lifeline. Peter's ground-breaking

ground-breaking idea could offer a lifeline

lifeline to the most damaged parts of

of the Great Barrier Reef. Coral IVF.

Collecting eggs and sperm from

corals that have survived a mass bleaching

bleaching and transferring them to recolonise

recolonise dead reefs. It has been successfully

successfully trialled in the Philippines

Philippines but never on a scale Peter

Peter is attempting here. For this to

to work, he is searching for live coral

coral that is healthy enough to spawn.

But these corals release eggs and

sperm on just a few nights each year so

so there is no margin for error. There

There is good coral cover, lots of diversity,

diversity, lots of survivors from the

the bleaching events. We need to catch

catch the eggs and sperm now before the

the next bleaching event because we can't

can't be sure that these corals will survive

survive the coming bleaching. With a site

site identified, the team can deploy the

the 65 metre spawn catch her. A giant

giant ring of floats that will corral

corral the released eggs and sperm into

into a fine net where it can be collected.

collected. But, as night falls, the weather

weather turns. It's always a bit of a

a worry when the wind blows up, particularly

particularly as the wind is coming from

from the wrong direction. We are having

having to use a more exposed side. The

The window of opportunity is shrinking

shrinking fast. And because artificial

artificial light affects the spawning,

spawning, the team prepared to work in

in virtual darkness. It's a race against

against time. Our dive teams are in the

the water and now our job is to start

start looking for surface eggs as they

they start to develop before the wind

wind picks up. If we can get a little

little bit in these spawn catcher nets,

nets, we are looking good in the next

next few days. As long as we can stay

stay on the water. Because that was a

a big lightning strike. Small boats are

are one of the most dangerous places to

to be in a lightning storm. Peter and

and the team might be battling the weather

weather on the surface but their timing

timing is perfect.

Beneath the coral was putting on a

dazzling display. Millions of individual

individual corals are releasing their

their eggs and sperm at exactly the same

same time. This extraordinarily natural

natural phenomenon is happening right

right on cue. More than 1000 kilometres

kilometres over the Great Barrier Reef

Reef you will see sequence spawning of

of many of these same species. Look at

at that! That is one heck of a lot of

of spawn. The team worked deep into the

the night to collect as much as possible.

possible. By the time they are finished

finished it is 3:30am. Overnight, the

the spawn is transported 30 kilometres

kilometres north. Just 18 months ago,

ago, this reef was full of life and colour,

colour, but today it is a dead, white

white expanse. Peter's team have built

built floating pools above this reef where

where the microscopic larvae will mature.

mature. In time they will be released

released to form new colonies on the dead

dead skeleton below. In just three years,

years, the new coral should be ready to

to breed. Is a complex operation. We have

have a lot of healthy embryos, and it

it looks like we are going to be successful

successful on release getting through

through to the second stage. We still

still have some way to go but so far,

far, I'm really happy and increasingly

increasingly confident that we will get

get good results.

get good results. I don't think we really

really fully appreciate how much dedication,

dedication, innovation, creativity goes

goes into understanding these complex

complex ecosystems and finding novel ways

ways to save them and for me, that project

project is a shining example of that.

that. On Sunday, Peter is going to show

show me one of his coral restoration sites

sites right here off Heron Island to see

see how the brand-new Little corals are

are doing. I cannot wait for that. Thank

Thank you for chatting to us. Sadly, the

the human impact on the Ocean stretches

stretches beyond climate change, and many

many other marine species face threats

threats from pollution, boats strikes

strikes and entanglement. One of the most

most endangered species is the North Atlantic

Atlantic right whale, and there are believed

believed to be only 400 individuals left

left in the wild, so our teams set out

out to discover what is being done to

to save this animal from extension. Off

Off the East Coast of America in the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean, the North Atlantic right

right whale is one of the world's most

most endangered large whales. Today there

there are only about 400 animals there.

there. In 2017 there were five animals

animals born, in 2018, there were none,

none, so those kinds of numbers, we have

have to look at very closely to find out

out what is going on with these animals.

animals. Michael has found that lobster

lobster and crab fishing practices in

in the area are a big problem for these

these whales. Entanglement is the number

number one human stress on these animals

animals at this point. He thinks it is

is a major factor in why so few whale

whale calves are being born. These entanglements

entanglements can cause significant loss

loss of weight. This animal here, you

you can see the marks on the top of the

the head which will be used to identify

identify them and catalogue the individuals.

individuals. Photographed February 2010,

2010, you can see that it is nice and

and fat, and ten months later on the 30th

30th of December, you can see that it

it is much more pencil like and you can

can see all of the scarring from the entanglement.

entanglement. To produce healthy calves,

calves, the whales need as much energy

energy as possible but, laden down with

with fishing gear, many staff to death.

death. The individual suffering and trauma

trauma these animals go through, especially

especially the entanglements, has become

become part of my existence. I think about

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

without fixing it, because, like many

many other people in this business, it

it is very personal, at this point because

because so many of us have spent so much

much time trying to figure it out, and

and it is really tough. To solve the problem

problem of entanglement, Michael and his

his team work together with a fishing

fishing industry to develop pioneering

pioneering new designs in fishing gear.

gear. In terms of solutions, this is your

your standard lobster trap here, then

then the line is up to the surface. This

This is how it works and this is the risk

risk of entanglement for the whales, whereas

whereas if we take away the end line and

and the surface buoy then the whale swims

swims free and we need to be able to retrieve

retrieve the track without the end line.

line. Electronic signals are omitted from

from the trap to let these surfers know

know its location and an underwater balloon

balloon inflates, pulling the trap to

to the surface for retrieval. Still in

in its test stage, rootless fishing gear,

gear, if rolled out globally could be

be vital for the recovery of these whales.

whales. Since Christmas and this year

year of 2019 we have had seven new carts,

carts, which is a whole lot more than

than zero, which we had last year. The

The reason for those to go up is that

that the mothers have had enough time

time to gain enough weight so that their

their body system tells them that it is

is OK to get pregnant and you will make

make it through settling and winning your

your calf. The arrival of these seven

seven carts is a possible indicator that

that there is still hope for this dwindling

dwindling population. Is it enough? No.

No. Are we going in the right direction?

direction? Yes.

In many ways the population of North

Atlantic right whales epitomises the problem

problem is these animals have at the moment.

moment. They are, we focused on entanglement,

entanglement, but ship strike is another

another as his acoustic disturbance. All

All of the boats moving through the water,

water, using sonar, is known to disrupt

disrupt their ability to find food and

and communicate with one another. Quite

Quite a lot of research is being done

done into this. It is only with that research

research and the results generated that

that we can make any progress, when it

it comes to solving a problem. We have

have our Snotbot up in the air. Ian is

is flying at the moment, no sign of the

the whales, but I'm pleased to say that

that we are joined by Andy Brogan, as

as well. If we get some samples today,

today, what will they contain, and what

what will they tell us? It is quite an

an exciting array of information we can

can get from the samples. In West Africa,

Africa, we explored the genetic diversity

diversity of the population. We were able

able to find that there was more diversity

diversity than was previously believed.

believed. That's a good thing for the

the population. In Mexico, we looked at

at the hormone levels and found that they

they varied widely, which suggests I healthy

healthy breeding population. By looking

looking at hormones you can see whether

whether the animal is stressed so that

that might be an asset again, if looking

looking at potential disturbing from shipping

shipping or even whale-watching. That

That would be the silver lining, that

that would be amazing if we could do that.

that. There are some problems and challenges

challenges there, but if we can work through

through them with analysis partners, then

then we can change whale confit -- conservation.

conservation. We have some shots of you

you here, collecting the whale snot, then

then you pack this offer you send it off

off to the laboratories. They process

process is so simple, once they get these

these dishes back,

these dishes back, I will squeegee the

the samples, then send it off to the lab,

lab, then we share the meta data, if we

we know it, how many animals there were,

were, all of the demographic information,

information, then just analyse those samples.

samples. You have been working around

around the world with all different species,

species, humpback whales? And number of

of different populations, breeding populations,

populations, feeding populations off the

the coast of New England, West Africa,

Africa, the Caribbean, Alaska. Here, these

these are southern Right whales. Yes,

Yes, the first exercise we did was in

in Patagonia with the southern right whales.

whales. The other thing, if we get to

to see a whale today because of the work

work Geraldine has been doing with the

the recognition software that she has

has got, then we might be able to identify

identify the whale, and know about it

it in advance of you collecting the sample.

sample. Absolutely. That is the great

great thing about all of this collaborative

collaborative work. Instead of just going

going out and collecting one dataset with

with the drones, working with people like

like Geraldine and her team we can bring

bring all of this information together,

together, and better understand the animals.

animals. No sign of the whales at the

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

give up. We are not giving up, everyone

everyone on the boat is scouring the surface

surface of the Sea of Cortez for a while,

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

coming to you, live, but in the meantime,

meantime, back to the Bahamas and Steve

Steve Backshall. Absolutely, I got my

my fingers crossed for you, Chris. I am

am here on the bottom of the harbour in

in the Bahamas, and as you can probably

probably see, I'm absolutely surrounded

surrounded by bull sharks. I have kind

kind of lost count of how many there are,

are, at least 15, could be substantially

substantially more. And the bull shark,

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

intriguing, complex and surprising of

of all species of sharks. So when you

you look at it in form, you can see where

where it gets its bull shark name from.

from. They are stocky, they are hefty,

hefty, they have a bullish appearance,

appearance, and sometimes even a bullish

bullish attitude. This is a supremely

supremely adaptable and opportunistic

opportunistic animal. Bull sharks are

are one of the early species of sharks

sharks that can move from saltwater environments

environments into freshwater. And that

that is a critical part of their life-cycle,

life-cycle, and one of the things that

that makes them most vulnerable to overfishing.

overfishing. It is an animal that will

will go into estuaries, brackish water,

water, areas with poor visibility, and

and because of that, it doesn't have as

as developed eyesight as some of its other

other shark cousins, so the eyes are relatively

relatively small. This is an opportunist,

opportunist, that has a very wide array

array of different kinds of prey. They

They will feed on fish, on birds at the

the surface, on rays, dolphins, and they

they will even bite through the shells

shells of turtles. All of the sharks you

you can see around me at the moment are

are females. I have not seen a single

single male shark. And they are quite

quite big in the belly. The reason for

for that is that these are pregnant. How

How do we know that? Here in the Bahamas,

Bahamas, is a rather marvellous institute

institute of learning called the Shark

Shark Lab and they have been doing ultrasounds

ultrasounds on bull sharks, and how to

to do that? Very, very carefully! And

And what they see on the ultrasound are

are pops inside these animals. It is thought

thought that they are coming here into

into the warm, shallow, coastal waters

waters around Bimini to speed their gestation

gestation and aid them in their pregnancy.

pregnancy. So these sanctuaries, these

these havens here in the Bahamas are critical

critical to the survival of these bull

bull sharks. But they don't stay here

here all year long. And when they do move

move off into different waters, then they

they do become vulnerable. To learn a

a little bit more about where they go,

go, we will study the rest of the year

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

just going to enjoy being surrounded by

by this show, of magnificent sharks. A

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

whale, any old whale, just a whale at

at this point we do. There are no whales

whales in view, very sadly. That's not

not surprising, because they spend 75%

75% of their time on the water. The blue

blue whales are diving to feed down to

to depths of 100 metres, the deepest ego

ego is 500 metres, and that is relatively

relatively accessible when it comes to

to wild oceans. Deeper than that things

things become tough. Below 1800 metres

metres there is no light and by the time

time you get down 4000 metres, it is about

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

there, and you need specialist equipment,

equipment, and that's why we are pleased

pleased to be partnering with an institution

institution who have some fabulous kit

kit and I'm pleased to be passing over

over to Andy Bowen of the US National

National deep sea submergence facility,

facility, and he is on the RV Atlantis

Atlantis off the coast of California.

California. How are things out there,

there, Andy? Will come to the vessel at

at Atlantis. We have a fantastic day today,

today, calm seas and light winds. A beehive

beehive of activity but the key thing

thing that has been going on is launching

launching the research submersible, Alvin,

Alvin, going over the side now. Three

Three divers just climbed aboard, locked

locked inside the titanium sphere. It

It is two metres in diameter, 70 millimetres

millimetres thick. And they are going

going to be

going to be visiting a seamount, 70 metres

metres below us, they are critically important,

important, biological hotspots, with all

all kinds of diversity, and they link

link layers of the ocean together, a perfect

perfect setup for what we are doing, and

and the human exploration of these will

will be critical. We will be using a submersible

submersible to range around the seamount,

seamount, and look at the diversity.

So, what you are seeing at the

moment is Alvin being taken over, all

all 22 tonnes of Alvin. He is going to

to be unlatched from the A-frame, there

there is a swimmer on board making sure

sure that the lifting hardware is properly

properly in place. Once we get down to

to the water's surface, the swimmers will

will release Alvin from the left line.

line. It will float away from the RV Atlantis

Atlantis and they will be in communication

communication with the captain on board.

board. You can see one of the viewports,

viewports, the mechanical arm for gathering

gathering samples, and bringing them back.

back. Here we go. Just about to pull that

that big line. And there they go. Come

Come on and see what they've learned on

on our next programme.

I love the Woods Hole Oceanographic

Institute, 500 scientists thriving on

on what they call a culture of curiosity,

curiosity, I can't wait to see what they

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

it's very exciting. It is tempting to

to think of that deep sea environment

environment has been very obviously pristine

pristine because we never go down there,

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

I'm afraid to say scientists of our own

own at the National history Museum in

in London have been investigating it and

and finding some serious problems.

While we may think the deep ocean is

this alien, remote place, it is absolutely

absolutely fundamental to us being here

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

only explored about 1% of it. Which is

is just crazy! Because we are talking

talking about our own planet here. This

This lack of deep sea exploration presents

presents marine biologist with the problem.

problem. While surface pollution is therefore

therefore all of us to see, damage to

to what we imagine is a pristine environment

environment down in the deep is much harder

harder to measure. The deep sea is really

really the epitome of out of sight out

out of mind. I think one of the saddest

saddest examples of our litter in the

the deep ocean is a plastic shopping bag

bag found at the bottom in a place called

called Challenger deep, over 10,000 metres

metres down in the deep ocean, the deepest

deepest point on the planet, and it'll

it'll probably be there for decades, if

if not centuries, if not millennia. Lack

Lack of light and low oxygen means objects

objects take longer to degrade in the

the deep. In the case of plastics, they

they never go away, they just break down

down and get smaller and smaller, until

until they are tiny particles in the water.

water. And it isn't just plastic that

that the dives have found here. One of

of my most recent expeditions to the Gulf

Gulf of Mexico, we were exploring what

what we thought was a shipwreck. When

When we got closer we realised it was

was actually a 40 foot shipping container

container that had been lost at sea. And

And we found ourselves driving through

through a field of washing machines, refrigerators,

refrigerators, dishwashers. It's estimated

estimated that 1500 shipping containers

containers are lost at sea each year.

year. This is over one kilometre down

down in the Gulf of Mexico. What kind

kind of an impact are those metals that

that may be leaching out of that degrading

degrading container having on the life

life down there? Those are the kinds of

of questions we can't answer because we

we know so little about the deep ocean.

ocean. Incredible deep sea exploration

exploration is help us understand that

that when we irresponsibly throw something

something away, that can often become

become a precious habitat where unthinkable

unthinkable damage can be done because

because of our waste. On the last programme,

programme, we witnessed about 70 precious

precious green sea turtle hatchlings emerging

emerging from their nest, and with all

all their might making it into the ocean.

ocean. But the odds are stacked against

against them, it's estimated one in a

a thousand make it to adulthood. They

They are part of the food web. Sea birds,

birds, sharks, humans hunt them. Threats

Threats like pollution and entanglement

entanglement in fishing nets also adds

adds as factors to these quite high odds

odds stacked against them, poor little

little mites. But scientists have recently

recently found that yet another threat

threat impacts these green sea turtles,

turtles, and that is, before they even

even emerge from the nest. I am joining

joining Janine Ferguson to find out what

what that threat is. What are you doing

doing here? What we are doing a strategically

strategically placed around the island

island in different habitats, we have

have things like this temperature taker,

taker, they monitor the sea temperature

temperature all year round. You may ask,

ask, what does sand temperature have to

to do with sea turtles? Would you believe

believe that the sex of the sand around

around the nest actually determines the

the sex of the hatchlings. So, the temperature

temperature of the sand determines the

the sex of the hatchlings, in what way?

way? They have a pivotal temperature.

temperature. For us, and green sea turtles,

turtles, it is 27.6 degrees, so nests

nests that are intimating warmer than

than that will produce more females, nests

nests that are cooler will produce more

more males. Immediately that makes me

me think if we are facing ever-increasing

ever-increasing temperatures, what does

does that mean for green sea turtles on

on the Green barrier reef? There has been

been some recent research within the northern

northern Great Barrier Reef, and some

some of the studies have shown that some

some of the juveniles from around about

about five to eight years old have very

very strong bias to females. More females

females are being made. Worst-case scenario,

scenario, ever rising temperatures, we've

we've got no males! What temperatures

temperatures are you clocking here on

on Heron Island? In the different habitats,

habitats, you have different temperatures.

temperatures. If the female layout in

in the sunny areas, they will produce

produce more females but as you can see

see we have lovely vegetation here and

and the majority of our sea turtles actually

actually nest under the shade of the trees

trees in a cooler nest and produce more

more males. Again, drives home the importance

importance of vegetation on islands like

like this one to balance out and get more

more males into the population as well.

well. Fascinating research, thank you.

you. Over in the Bahamas, Steve is ready

ready to tell us how the behaviour of

of bull sharks makes them vulnerable to

to human impacts.

Yes, that's right! The adults we

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

all pregnant females. And, for the moment,

moment, they are safe in this shark sanctuary.

sanctuary. But they don't have their pups

pups here. They are going to head away

away from the Bahamas, across the open

open ocean, heading towards the mainland.

mainland. And the second they do that,

that, they are running the gauntlet. So,

So, out there, in the open ocean, these

these sharks enjoy no protection whatsoever.

whatsoever. And there are, it is estimated,

estimated, every single year, 10 billion

billion hooks cast out into the sea for

for high-value food fish, like tuna and

and sailfish. Sharks are a huge part of

of the bycatch from that kind of fishing,

fishing, and they are also targeted for

for their valuable fins, used in shark

shark fin soup, for which millions of

of animals are taken single year. So,

So, out there, they are vulnerable, and

and then they head into the estuaries,

estuaries, where they have their pups,

pups, and, again, they are vulnerable

vulnerable there. Disability to move between

between different systems has probably

probably evolved to make them less vulnerable

vulnerable to predators but now they are

are ever more vulnerable through overfishing

overfishing from us, human beings. Tomorrow...

Tomorrow... We find out some more about

about where sharks come in general, have

have their young, and the threats that

that face those pups. One of the big problems

problems is these animals, they get very

very old, the oldest can live to be 400,

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

don't mature until 18 years of age so

so they regenerate very, very slowly.

slowly. Take out the population and it'll

it'll take a long, long time to bounce

bounce back.

If you were to search the surface of

planet Earth, you would not find a more

more disappointed man because, unfortunately,

unfortunately, despite the 99% assurance

assurance of Geraldine, we haven't found

found a blue whale for you live. Therefore

Therefore we didn't launch in our Snotbot

Snotbot and anger today. But we did yesterday!

yesterday! So take a look at this! Starting

Starting engines, three, two, one, taking

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

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

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

to slow down. Look at that animal, oh

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

going to break! Here we go! That was a

a pretty weak blow. I hate to say it,

it, that was a weak blow. That was not

not an explosive sneeze. Here we go, it

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

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

it's like that scene in Star Wars where

where you're going for the exhaust port.

port. But you're going for the whales

whales blowhole. Look at the screen! Here

Here it comes, here it comes! I my goodness

goodness me! Oh my goodness! I've

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

bot. Even the camera is covered! Let's

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

got it.

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

of British ingenuity, we bounce the bomb

bomb and we snorted the bot and we got

got it back into the hotel Andy Bowen

Bowen told me the sample he recovered

recovered yesterday was the best sample

sample ever that they had ever got from

from the Snotbot, masses of snot, therefore

therefore the capability of learning a

a lot more about the blue whale, and it

it was a blue whale that Geraldine new!

new! Mrs invincible! Mrs Infinity, sorry.

sorry. What about that? It all paid off,

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

be back here tomorrow. Hopefully the signal

signal will be better, we will be more

more reliable than our communication.

communication. I'll be taking to the air

air to look at the

air to look at the richness of the Sea

Sea of Cortez. But back to Liz now. As

As magnificent

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

As magnificent as Heron Island are, our

our oceans are telling us in no uncertain

uncertain terms our

our oceans are telling us in no uncertain terms our

uncertain terms our behaviours are impacting

impacting them in ways that are unsustainable,

unsustainable, damaging and even catastrophic

catastrophic but there is still time to

to turn this around and the scientists

scientists I've met are doing everything

everything they can to make sure we don't

don't lose our marine habitats forever

forever and we can all play a part in

in that, too. Our waters around the UK

UK play a very important part in this

this story, too, so we've been running

running reports about our own marine life

life back in Britain, make sure you catch

catch it tomorrow. It is Blue Planet UK

UK on BBC One. Tomorrow night we will

will be back to take a closer look at

at how everything is deeply connected

connected in our oceans and how better

better understanding of this can help

help us to protect our seas. Next time,

time, we will catch up with the animals

animals that make the greatest journeys.

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

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

out what is lurking in the deep. Join

Join us live. Make sure you join us tomorrow

tomorrow night to 8pm, BBC One, we will

will see you then. Take care and good

good night.

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