All language subtitles for BBC.Great.Barrier.Reef.with.David.Attenborough.2of3.Visitors.1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.eng

The Great Barrier Reef.

It's home to an extraordinarily
diverse community

of animals and plants.

'Here, unknown species
are still being found

'and astonishing things discovered
about creatures we thought we knew.

'In this series, our research vessel,
the Alucia,

'will allow us to explore and
understand the reef as never before.

'This marine paradise may be
best known

'for its spectacular coral reefs...

'..but it also has 300 sand islands.'

600 continental islands.

Miles of lush forest.

And deep ocean channels.

Each of these habitats attracts
a very different set of visitors.

When I first came here
almost 60 years ago,

we knew very little
about these communities.

But today, new tracking systems
are allowing us

to follow the lives of
these creatures in new ways.

From the ocean's great predators...

..to a mysterious whale
that seeks out human contact.

I'll discover their surprising
reasons for visiting

and reveal why the reef
is so important for their survival.

Last time, we looked at the rich
community of animals

that lives among the coral,

but the reef also receives visitors.

Some travel for thousands of miles
in order to get here

and stay for only a few weeks.

Others linger on the fringes
and come in every day.

Each has its own particular reason
for doing so.

The Great Barrier Reef consists
of 3,000 individual coral reefs.

It stretches for 1,400 miles
along Australia's northeast coast.

And every year, it attracts
over a million migrating animals.

We're beginning our exploration
in the north,

on the outskirts of
this vast wilderness.

Our research vessel, the Alucia,

has brought us out here
to Osprey Reef.

90 miles, 150 kilometres
out in the Coral Sea

from the edge of the Great Barrier.

Isolated though it is, it nonetheless
plays a crucial part

in the lives of many of the
inhabitants of the Barrier Reef.

What makes Osprey so interesting

is that it lies in the path of
the south equatorial current.

This is a moving highway

that sweeps a host of different
visitors towards the great reef.

We are here to discover

why this remote outpost
is so important to them.

To do that, we're going to use
a very special piece of technology,

the Alucia's Triton submarine.

It's the first submersible of its
kind ever to dive in these waters.

Huh! It does look as though
water's gurgling up here,

but in fact, my feet aren't wet.

S-O, S-O, this is Nadir.
Am I clear to vent? Over.

'Copy Nadir. So you are clear
to vent, clear to vent.

'Have a good dive, guys.'

Roger. Venting now.

There we are!

'The sub not only gives us
stunning 360-degree views,

'it allows us to dive to depths where
no unprotected human has ever been.'

For this dive, we are only
going down to about 35 metres,

just over 100 feet,

where much of the wildlife
we're hoping to film will be feeding.

Marine geologists have recently
gathered sufficient data

for us to create an accurate
three-dimensional picture

of Osprey Reef
for the very first time.

It is, in fact, a huge mountain
hidden beneath the waves

and rising steeply from the seafloor
2,400 metres below.

The top of this vast seamount
creates a shallow lagoon

that supports a flourishing
community of corals.

This wall of rock ahead of me
is the flank of Osprey Reef.

When cold, deep,
nutrient-rich currents from the ocean

come in and strike it,
they defect it upwards.

And that creates an oasis
for living creatures of all kinds.

Many creatures live here
throughout the year.

And the boss of them all is one kind,
sharks.

There's one! Close up.

Whatever else you say about sharks,
they are so beautiful in the water.

Resident predators mean one thing -

a plentiful supply of food.

For creatures travelling
vast distances to get to the reef,

that makes Osprey a very desirable
waypoint on their journey.

Seamounts are stopping-off points
for visitors.

They come from far and wide.

From tiger sharks to turtles.

And they come to refuel and also,
it seems, recalibrate.

It appears that this is a signpost

and a checkpoint
on the way to the reef.

Visitors arrive year round.

Among them are hammerheads.

Like all sharks, they have tiny
sensors on their nose

which can pick up signals
from the earth's magnetic field.

And that helps them navigate through
the blue infinity of the open ocean.

There are tiger sharks here, too.

They come to the reef to feed.

And they seem to know
exactly where they're going.

The proportion of their brain
dedicated to smell

is the largest of any shark.

Their two nostrils
work independently,

allowing them to smell in stereo
and track prey over huge distances.

From Osprey, some tiger sharks

travel to a very specific destination
on the reef.

230 miles north of Osprey
lies Raine Island.

Every summer, the tiger sharks arrive
without fail.

They're here to take advantage
of a major event on the reef -

the arrival of the female
green turtles.

The tiger sharks aren't here to kill,
they've come to scavenge on the dead.

The unlucky turtles who have not
survived

their exhausting immigration.

This is why the tiger shark
has earned the unflattering title...

..Dustbin of the Sea.

They prefer the easy life
of the scavenger,

so the majority of green turtles have
little to fear from these predators.

In the summer months,
the turtles arrive in thousands.

They have come from as far as
New Guinea, Vanuatu

and New Caledonia to the east,

as well as from the Torres Straits
and beyond to the west.

Some have travelled an impressive
1,500 miles

to reach this particular beach.

It measures only a few hundred
metres across,

a tiny speck in a vast ocean.

But Raine Island plays a major role
in their lives.

70% of the Barrier Reef's breeding
green turtles come here to lay.

It's one of the most important
nesting sites in the world.

I first visited Raine
for a television series

called Zoo Quest back in 1957.

At the time, Raine was little known
and rarely visited.

It was then I met my first
green turtle hatchling.

Back then, we had no idea

just how extraordinary a story
these turtles had to tell.

We now know that if they survive,

they'll spend the next 40 years
of their lives at sea.

Only then do they return to Raine
to breed.

And astonishingly, they return
to exactly the same beach

where they themselves hatched.

How they find their way back
after decades at sea

is one of the mysteries
that surround this species.

But new research is suggesting that,
just like the sharks,

they navigate using
the earth's magnetic field.

They weigh up to 130 kilos,

so hauling themselves up the beach
is a gruelling task.

But it's expected that 30,000 of them

will come ashore
to lay their eggs this year.

With space in short supply,
it's every female for herself.

Once they've dug a hole,
laying can begin.

Each egg is roughly the size of
a Ping-Pong ball.

A female may lay up to 120 of them
at a time

and she's able to do this six times
in a single breeding season.

Once the eggs are laid,
she buries them.

For the next 60 days, the sand
will conceal them from predators

and protect them
from the blistering sun.

Keeping a very close eye
on the turtles' progress

is Dr Andy Dunstan of the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Raine Island is the biggest
green turtle rookery in the world.

So it's incredibly important

with the state of green turtles
at the moment.

Because of this, Raine is the most
protected island on the reef.

Only a handful of biologists
are allowed to land here

and Andy and his team have done so
for very good reason.

A huge number of turtles
are certainly coming ashore

to lay their eggs on the island,

but the team's observations
have revealed a worrying trend.

The number of young hatchlings
surviving incubation in the sand

has dropped to just 20%.

It's a serious cause for concern.

The hatchlings we're seeing
coming out

are nowhere near the numbers
that they should be.

The nests, when we dig them up,

have got really low levels
of successful eggs hatching.

And that is happening
because of the very substance

that makes this island so suitable
for nest-building in the first place.

Raine Island's a sand island.
They move.

But specifically
for the green turtles here,

the nesting area has become lower,
so what we're seeing now

that we never saw 30 years ago
is inundation of tidal waters.

This means that at high tide, the
island is being flooded from below

and the developing turtle eggs
are being drowned.

75% of the beach-nesting area
is not suitable.

Because turtles take a long time
to mature,

we expect to see a crash in those
adult turtle numbers in the future.

If we do something about hatchling
success and nesting success now,

we should see that recover again.

Last year, Andy and his team
made an ambitious plan.

In a trial sector, they have raised
the turtles nesting area

by one and a half metres.

They hope this will keep
the developing eggs

clear of the tidal waters
and out of harm's way.

Two long months after
the egg laying began,

the team returns to see if their plan
is working.

Under the cover of darkness,

the first of the evening's hatchlings
start to emerge.

They started to push their way up

through the sand
about two days earlier.

Now comes the moment that Andy
and his team have been waiting for.

A shallow trench helps to delay
the new arrivals temporarily

and allow the team to count them.

So far, the signs
are very encouraging.

And as the night wears on,
it gets better and better.

This is looking great. We're getting
much better nesting success,

much better hatching success,

the turtles are nesting right across
the whole area

and not disturbing each other
so much.

And those clutches which are
underneath the sand

are hatching much more successfully.

It's confirmation that Andy and
his team have found the right way

to restore this vital breeding area.

But for the young hatchlings, the
trials of life have only just begun.

Each new arrival will have to make
a perilous dash to reach the ocean.

Now they're on their own.

Andy and his team must not interfere
at this stage.

Inevitably, the tiny, defenceless
hatchlings

attract scores of predators.

SQUAWKING

Terns and herons patrol the beach.

And in the shallows,
reef sharks lie in wait.

Great numbers are lost,

but enough will make it to the ocean
to ensure the species' survival.

As the young turtles leave the reef,

they get a helping hand
from the ocean currents.

Swept out into the open ocean
and there, they face new hazards.

If they survive,
they will eventually return

to the very same beaches
where they hatched.

Remote islands like Raine
are hugely important

to both turtles and birds

that come to the reef
to lay their eggs.

There are 900 isolated islands on the
Great Barrier from which to choose

and there's a habitat
to suit every visitor.

Turtles need sandy beaches

and many birds need trees.

'The Alucia is taking us
to one of these wooded islands

'near the southern end
of the Great Barrier.'

Almost 1,000 miles south of Raine
is Heron Island.

And every year, it attracts

thousands of birds
seeking somewhere safe to nest.

The island is surrounded by
fragile coral reef.

So to reach the shore, I'm leaving
the Alucia anchored in deeper water.

FAINT BIRDSONG

The warm waters of the Barrier Reef
are full of fish.

Full of food, as far as
birds are concerned.

There are immense numbers of seabirds
throughout the year on the reef.

But the moment comes in the year
when, in fact, a bird has to lay.

And to do that,
it has to go onto land.

And the number of sites where they
can build a nest are very limited.

So they will put up with a great deal
of crowding

and even with intruders, like myself,
without deserting their nest.

Hello.

'Noddies are very protective parents.

'Very little deters them
from their chick-rearing duties.'

Over one-and-a-half million birds

come to the Great Barrier's islands
every year to breed.

To see one of the most intriguing,
you'll have to wait until after dark.

WAILING

'The first indication that this
secretive character has arrived

'is its rather unusual song.'

WAILING

The old sailors used to call it
the ghost bird

because of its extraordinary call.

More properly known as
the wedge-tailed shearwater.

WAILING

'The birds' haunting calls guide me
to their breeding grounds.'

WAILING

These are true seafaring birds.
Out at sea when they're feeding,

they are very expert at flying
just above the surface,

or indeed swimming on the surface,
catching their fish.

But when they come into land, well,

they have to come in in the dark,
for a start.

And their landing is sometimes
not very expert.

Night-vision cameras probably give us

better pictures of their landing
ground than they seem to have.

Their legs with which they paddle
over the surface of the sea

are placed far back on their body,
and that makes them clumsy walkers.

These birds have travelled

an extraordinary 4,000 miles
to get here.

After spending months feeding at sea,

they've had to come to land
in order to breed.

Once paired, they're devoted couples

and both male and female
share the tasks of parenthood.

Even though there are trees here,

the shearwaters prefer to make
their nests underground.

At the bottom of the nest hole,
their three-week-old chick

is waiting for its next meal.

TWEETING

Being a shearwater parent
is a demanding job.

Their young requires
constant feeding.

It consumes so much food

that eventually, it'll outweigh
its own parents.

But its demands compel the adults
to continually fly out to sea

and come back again with more food.

And their takeoffs are often
just as clumsy as their landings.

Fortunately for their nestlings,

there's no shortage of fish
in the summer months.

And scientists have only just
discovered why that is.

In the waters
just beyond Heron Island,

there's a rich, swirling current
known as the Capricorn Eddy.

As it spins clockwise,
it pulls up cool waters from below,

which bring rich nutrients
to the surface.

That fuels the growth of huge blooms
of tiny marine creatures, plankton,

the foundation of the entire
marine food web.

So this part of the reef
is particularly rich with fish.

Vital food for the hungry young.

By choosing Heron Island
as a nesting ground,

the birds can give their nestlings
the best possible start in life.

When I first came to
the Barrier Reef,

we knew very little about
these seasonal visitors.

We could only speculate
as to why they came here

and where they came from.

Today, new research is enabling us
to understand more clearly

why, every year, particular species
come to specific locations to breed.

But there are still large animals

whose movements remain
something of a mystery.

Manta rays are the nomads
of the reef.

They're huge creatures.

They can measure 15 feet,
five metres across

and weigh almost
one-and-a-half tonnes.

They come to the reef to feed on
plankton,

but they also use it as a sanctuary,

where they can breed,
or get a good clean.

Many make their way to the waters
that surround Lady Elliot Island

on the southern end
of the Great Barrier.

For the visiting manta rays,
this is a paradise.

A place where these ocean giants
can get a little pampering.

These are the beauty salons
of the reef.

And they're often run
by a pair of wrasse,

small fish with a stripe
running from head to tail.

These committed cleaners

regularly tend to a host of
different creatures.

They provide a vital service,

removing the dead skin and parasites
from outside

and even inside
their clients' bodies.

It may seem like a thankless task,

but the cleaner fish
are getting a good meal out of it.

And of all their clients, the
manta rays are their star customers.

When business is brisk,
they patiently wait in line.

Like planes in a holding pattern,

they circle
until an opportunity arrives.

When it's their turn, the manta rays
surrender themselves completely.

Within seconds,
a host of fish rush to their side.

Manta rays are rarely left waiting
for long.

Each fish tends to a very specific
part of the manta's body.

And the cleaning can last
a full hour.

For the most part,
the service is second to none.

But occasionally, the cleaners
can get a little carried away.

A female wrasse has taken a nibble
out of the manta ray's flesh.

She's broken the rules,
and there's a price pay.

Her partner chases after her.

It's the cleaner fish equivalent
of a stern telling off.

Scientists believe males do this
to protect future business.

If the bite is a one-off,
the manta ray will return.

But research has shown
that if it happens too often,

the pair risks driving
regular visitors away.

Fortunately,
it seems her indiscretion

hasn't put their client off.

The manta is back
and business has resumed.

Manta rays come here in such numbers

that the island has become the
focal point for a research project.

Dr Kathy Townsend has been tracking
the manta's movements

and numbers for the last seven years.

Lady Elliot Island
is like the centre of the universe

for manta rays on
the east coast of Australia.

We come back time and time again

because we get large aggregations
of these animals.

We are doing several things
with the manta rays.

First of all, we're trying
to understand

how many there are potentially here.

And to do that, you need to do
some sort of tagging.

This is a key part of Kathy's work in
tracking these gentle ocean giants.

And the team has already attached
acoustic tags

to a large number of study animals.

We have six acoustic listening
stations around Lady Elliot Island.

And as an animal goes past,

within a 500-metre radius
of this listening station,

it picks up the tag and we know
that that animal's been past.

That has revealed that many
of the mantas have travelled

hundreds of miles up the eastern
coast of Australia to get here.

One of the lovely things
about working with manta rays

is that they're extremely curious

and they'll seek you out to come
and see what you're up to.

It's really unusual behaviour.

Most sharks and rays
have no interest

in having any interaction
with people whatsoever.

But for whatever reason, manta rays
are highly-curious creatures

and will basically look at you
eye to eye.

The manta ray's inquisitive nature
works to Kathy's advantage.

It means she can get close enough to
photograph them for identification.

And one of the best places to do that
is at the cleaning stations.

We need to get in underneath
the animal

and take a photograph from below.

Each individual has a very unique
spot pattern

that stays with them from birth
until they pass away.

That's very handy for us.

When Project Manta began
seven years ago,

it was thought that fewer than
40 individuals came to Lady Elliot.

Today, Kathy and her team
have catalogued more than 800.

I think manta ray research is quite
important

because first of all,
this is a very large-bodied animal

that very little information
is known about.

Various places around the world,

the manta ray populations
have declined dramatically,

to the point where they've now been
listed as threatened

on that list for endangered species.

For the visiting mantas, the Great
Barrier Reef really is a sanctuary.

Here, this ocean giant
is properly protected.

While they're in these waters,

they're safe from the fisheries
that threaten them elsewhere.

Manta rays aren't the only animals
that find refuge here.

The Great Barrier protects
its visitors in many different ways.

'That becomes clear when you
look at the reef from above.

'This part of tropical Australia

'lies right in the path of regular
seasonal cyclones.

'And from up here, you can see
what valuable protection

'the reef can provide.'

This tangle of limestone walls

acts as a barrier
against the open ocean.

Between it and the land,
the waters are warm and shallow.

An ideal haven for visitors.

In the winter, many creatures
come up here to escape

the freezing temperatures
of the Antarctic.

Among them are humpback whales.

WHALE SONG

Weighing up to 40 tonnes,

they're the largest of
the Great Barrier Reef's visitors

and they have also travelled
great distances to get here.

Each year, they make an exhausting
6,000-mile-round trip

from the Antarctic and back again.

Incredibly, 20,000 of them do it.

Here, in these warm
and sheltered waters,

they give birth
and suckle their newborn calves.

But in fact, we still know
very little

about what else they do
once they get here.

Where exactly do they go
during their time on the reef?

The fact that we don't know

is a reminder of just how vast
this great wilderness is.

But not all whales make
the task of tracking them so hard.

In fact, there's one species which
does quite the opposite.

Incredibly, this whale actively
seeks out the scientists

who are trying to study them.

This endearing little character
is the dwarf minke whale.

And surprisingly,
it was only first observed

here on the reef in the 1980s.

But since then, we've realised that
they're extremely faithful visitors,

returning every year to the
same location on the northern reef.

Why they do so,
we still don't understand.

But research is beginning
to reveal their story.

Dr Alistair Birtles knows more about

this still-mysterious species
than anyone else.

So he's affectionately known as
Professor Minke.

To observe the whales in detail,
he has to step into their world.

The very first time I got in
the water, um...

was with a degree of apprehension,
great excitement.

Um...I don't think I'd ever been
in the water with a whale before.

And the first thing you see
is the white shoulder, um...

and then the rest of the grey animal
emerges around it.

It's very special being in the water

with these animals
in their own environment.

It's an extraordinary experience.

Every year, Alistair
and his research team

return to spend time with
the dwarf minkes.

These annual reunions are beginning
to reveal more and more

about these fascinating creatures.

It seems that they spend most of
their lives out in the open ocean,

leading what's thought to be
a solitary existence.

But surprisingly, when they get here,
on the Great Reef,

they actively seek human contact.

Behaviour like this
happens nowhere else.

It is entirely the world's curiosity
that brings them in.

I think we're a rather
strange object.

We're a visitor into their world.

I'm sure they're wondering exactly
what we are

and what we're doing, just as
we're wondering what they're doing.

For Birtles, there are
many familiar faces here.

And he has his own pet names
for regular visitors.

Bento, I have seen every year
for the last eight years.

She has a bent-over dorsal fin

from I think where she was
fairly savagely mauled by a shark.

And last year's encounter
was a particularly special one

because she had a calf with her.

That's the first time in eight years
that we've known she had a calf.

And it was a little male and it was
a very special interaction.

What Birtles and his team
want to discover

is why this usually-solitary whale

suddenly becomes so extremely
social when it gets here.

There are a number of clues.

We know they're not feeding.
We've never seen them feed.

But we see a lot of socialising
going on.

Minkes were known as the silent
whale when we began working on them

and there were no recordings
of dwarf minkes.

It went on for quite a while
before we heard any sounds.

And then there's an extraordinary
sound they make

which the researcher who labelled it

called it the Star Wars sound.

I thought it was a little more like
Beethoven's Fifth

because it's got a triple beat
and then a long shwang

that he thought was the lightsaber.

So it goes, da-da-da-dang.

WHALE SONG

WHALE SONG

When you hear it underwater, it kind
of reverberates through your chest.

It's a very powerful sound.

WHALE SONG

The song is only produced by males

and it's thought to be related to
courtship.

WHALE SONG

Curiously, two thirds of
the individuals

Alistair encounters are adolescents.

One theory is that the whales are
coming here to find potential mates

and learn the dos and don'ts
of minke social behaviour.

Though Birtles' team has amassed

a huge amount of data
over the decades,

there is clearly still much to learn.

Where, for example, do the whales go
after this social gathering?

But now, a brand-new
tagging programme

is shedding more light
on their annual journey.

Tagging is not easy.

The diver has to get into position,

choose his mark
and then discharge the tag,

all on a single breath.

There's no room for error.

After initially taking fright,

the whale comes back
to the dive boat.

It seems that minkes aren't
too distressed by the process.

The tracking data the team is now
collecting

may reveal the piece of the puzzle
that, until now, has been missing.

So for 20 years, we've been
studying what the whales do

in this area of the Great Barrier
Reef.

We know they're only here
for a few weeks

and we had no idea where they went

when they left
the Great Barrier Reef

at the end of their sojourn here.

It really is an extraordinary
journey

that we now know that they make.

Spot, the young male that was
the first ever minke

to have a satellite tag attached
in 2013,

he travelled over 7,000 kilometres
deep into the Subantarctic.

That's an extraordinary journey
for what is a little whale, to make.

The tagging tells us where
the whales are travelling fast

and where they're spending
extra time.

There's a few places along the east
coast of Australia and Bass Strait

where they may spend one,
two or even three weeks of time

milling around, probably feeding.

So we may have discovered
some of these feeding sites

for the dwarf minke whale
along their migration path.

For Birtles, it's not just about

solving the mystery
of where the whales go.

I am worried about them
when they leave the reef.

The dwarf minkes are well protected

when they're in
the Great Barrier Reef,

but when they leave there,
they face many threats and dangers

and they have to cross
major shipping channels.

There are all sorts of threats
from fishing.

I mean, if commercial whaling
is resumed in the Southern Ocean,

which is the objective
of the research that's going on

at the moment from the Japanese,
then these whales would be at risk.

It's hoped the new tagging programme
may help us understand

how best to protect these whales
throughout the entire year.

By venturing into their underwater
world, Birtles and his team

are discovering valuable
new facts about these whales.

But their research
has only just begun.

The more we learn about the creatures
that come here, the more we discover

just how important the Great Barrier
Reef is to their survival.

The reef is immense.

Millions of visitors travel
great distances to get to it.

And there, find food, shelter
and an opportunity to meet a mate.

A global community of animals
rely on this great wilderness.

And that makes it one of
the most important

and influential habitats
on the planet.

Next time, in our final programme...

..we'll investigate the dangers
that now threaten the reef

and its inhabitants.

THUNDERCLAP

We'll meet the extraordinary people

who are doing everything
in their power

to protect this marine paradise.

It is one of the most magnificent
ecosystems on the planet.

What's really quite shocking is
that we may lose it

before we truly understand it.

And we'll attempt
our most ambitious dive yet.

Nobody has ever dived as deep as this
before on the Great Barrier Reef.

As we search for new species and
try to predict what the future holds

for the Great Barrier.

For this episode, one of
our underwater teams

travelled to Lady Elliot Island
in the south.

Here, the reef's majestic manta rays

are stripped of dead skin
and parasites by tiny cleaner fish.

The crew's goal was to film
a rare behaviour.

The moment when the cleaner fish
breaks the rules

and bites a manta ray's flesh.

To film the story,
the team worked closely

with marine biologist,
Dr Kathy Townsend.

Manta rays will often seek out
and spend time with divers,

which, of course, makes them amazing
animals to be in the water with.

Manta rays may be inquisitive,
but they can easily be spooked.

The challenge for cameraman,
Mike Pitts,

was to make himself
as unobtrusive as possible.

You are bulky and clumsy,

you've got large cameras, lights.

So what you don't want to do
is to obstruct the manta ray.

The manta ray might get disturbed
and it'll just swim off.

I generally keep as low as possible.

So your profile sort of matches in
with the reef.

And so what you notice
after a while is

the manta rays will come closer
and closer and closer to you.

And I can literally... I feel them
brushing over my head as they go.

While the team's objective
was to film the cleaning station,

on the fourth day of the shoot,

they were treated to something
truly unexpected.

We were close to the end of the dive

and we hadn't really seen anything
for about 58 minutes

and then I spotted a pair.

I saw Kathy and suddenly
she zoomed off and we followed.

And I could see out in the distance,
there was a male above a female

and he was following her every move

as she moved through the water.

Kathy got really excited.

They were undergoing behaviour
I'd never seen before.

I'd seen various types of courtship
behaviour

that involves having trains,

where there's a female at the front
followed by several males.

What was happening between these two
was really quite unique.

The male was obviously trying
to court her,

but in a very unusual way.

He was taking his front
cephalic lobes

and he was actually stroking her
on her back.

Obviously trying to entice her
to say,

"Listen, you know,
I'm the one for you".

She, on the other hand,
was not quite enthusiastic

about the attention
that he was bestowing upon her.

And all of sudden, she'd just fling
up into the air to shake him off

and say, "No, it's not ready
for that yet".

And then she would settle back down.

I knew it was something very special
because,

seeing Kathy's reactions
to what was going on,

she was so excited about it,
she was bubbling.

You could wait a lifetime
to see something like that.

Just a very rare event.

In the far north, another wildlife
crew had their sights set

on filming a very special
seasonal visitor.

In winter, dwarf minke whales
come to the reef

for just a few short weeks.

Wildlife cameraman, Dean Miller,

has been documenting these whales
for 15 years.

It's a little bit unnerving
sometimes jumping in

and seeing a seven-tonne,
seven-metre animal

come out from the gloom.

And you're hoping that it is going
to be the whale

and not something
with a few more teeth.

Every animal presents
a very different challenge

when it comes to filming behaviour,

but over the years, Dean has learned
the minke tricks of the trade.

It's sometimes a game of
cat and mouse, in a way.

Because if you're not looking,
they tend to come a lot closer.

So if I can see a whale approaching
in the distance

and I know it's going to be
a good approach this time,

I'll purposely hold off
and turn my dome around

and actually see in the reflection
of the dome the whale coming to me

and then, when I think it's probably
about five to six metres away,

I'll turn around and get
the best shot I've had all day.

They sneak up on you.

Over time, they build up
that confidence

and they just really, really try
to edge much closer

each and every time
and get a good look.

I do have other tricks, as well.
I'll sing through my snorkel.

HUMMING

You can be in the water
for seven, eight hours a day

and you might only get two of these
passes for that whole day.

And when they happen,
they're just mind-blowing.

You've got this big, big animal.

I mean, it's the size of a minibus,
coming to look at you.

You can get out at the end of a day
and just have the biggest smile.

I've just watched the sunset
from in the water.

A whale nearly touched me.
It just doesn't get any better.

'While our underwater crews

'were rewarded with
spectacular interactions,

'on Heron Island,
I had the opportunity

'to meet one of
my favourite visitors.'

The noddy.

The birds' relaxed nature
and attachment to their nests

meant we could tell their story
without disturbing them.

Without deserting their nest.

Hello.

But when cameraman, Mike Pitts
returns

to film the hatchlings
three months later,

disaster hits the island
on his first night.

THUNDERCLAP

WIND GUSTS

The following morning, Mike discovers
that the storm has destroyed

the very spot where I had filmed.

It was shattered.
It was like a warzone.

You think of these idyllic,
tropical islands

and you couldn't be further from
the truth.

Are you still rolling?

You can see that
many of the trees are down.

And it's brought down the chicks
with them and the nests.

Eggs are smashed, chicks are dying.

And the chicks that have survived

are now on these trunks and branches

and on the ground
of the forest itself,

hoping for their parent birds

to find them
and bring the food they need.

But the parent birds are so confused

because so many of the trees
are gone.

It's very disheartening to see it,
and, er...it's a real sad sight.

I'd never seen the aftermath
of such a strong storm.

But, of course, your emotions
always get the better of you.

You still see survivors,
just sitting on the nest,

protecting the egg or the chick.

It really is quite amazing,
their resilience.

It puts the whole reef
into a context whereby

you're following
the rhythms of life.

We were there to record it
and film it

and that's part of
the Great Reef story.