Original subtitles

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ANNOUNCER: WHEN YOU SEE THIS SYMBOL YOU KNOW YOU'RE

WATCHING TELEVISION THAT'S EDUCATIONAL AND INFORMATIONAL.THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: HI, I'M DYLAN DREYER.

JOIN ME ON A JOURNEY TO SOME OF THE MOST AMAZING

PLACES ON OUR PLANET.

WE'LL DISCOVER THE AWESOME BEAUTY OF SOUTH AFRICA,

AND WE'LL TRAVEL TO THE OLDEST AND MOST INCREDIBLE

FOREST ON EARTH, WHERE TREES HAVE GROWN SINCE THE

TIME OF DINOSAURS.

WE'LL EXPLORE THE RICH CULTURE AND PROUD

TRADITIONS OF THE ARAB PEOPLE AND UNCOVER THE

SECRETS OF THE FIRST GREAT ARABIAN SOCIETIES.

WE'LL MEET THE PROUD PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN LANDS

OF ICE AND SNOW AND LEARN HOW THEIR ANCIENT

TRADITIONS KEEP THEM ALIVE AND WARM.

OCEANS COVER MORE THAN 72 PERCENT OF OUR PLANET,

BUT SCIENTISTS BELIEVE LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT OF

OCEANS HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN EXPLORED.

HUMAN ACTIVITY HAS CAUSED SEVERE DAMAGE TO OCEAN

HABITATS AND THREATENS ENTIRE OCEAN ECOSYSTEMS

WITH COLLAPSE.

TODAY, THERE ARE ONLY A FEW AREAS LEFT ON EARTH

WHERE THE OCEAN IS PRISTINE.

WE FIND ONE SUCH PLACE WHERE AFRICA MEETS THE

SEA.

WELCOME TO THE EASTERN COAST OF SOUTH AFRICA,

WHERE TROPICAL PREDATORS MEET COLD-WATER PREY AND

ONE OF THE GREATEST NATURAL EVENTS ON THE

PLANET.

IT'S KNOWN TO THE LOCAL PEOPLE SIMPLY AS THE WILD

COAST.

HERE, WE MAY HAVE A GLIMPSE OF WHAT THE OCEANS

MIGHT HAVE LOOKED LIKE HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO

BEFORE HUMAN DISRUPTION.

GIGANTIC SCHOOLS OF FISH ARE PURSUED BY THE HIGHEST

CONCENTRATION OF OCEAN PREDATORS IN THE WORLD.

THERE IS NO SAFE HARBOR FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES.

THIS IS A REMOTE OCEAN WILDERNESS.

BENEATH THE WAVES, WE WITNESS THE CIRCLE OF

LIFE.

THESE ARE SARDINES.

THEY ARE A VALUABLE SOURCE OF PROTEIN FOR EVERY

PREDATOR AT THE TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN.

THEY ARE CENTRAL TO THE OCEANIC ECOSYSTEM.

FOR JUST A FEW WEEKS EACH WINTER,

MILLIONS OF SARDINES FIND THEMSELVES DRAWN INTO THE

SHALLOW WATER, CREATING SHOALS UP TO TEN MILES

LONG.

FROM THE AIR, THEY COULD BE MISTAKEN FOR AN OIL

SLICK.

THE SARDINES FOLLOW THE COLD-WATER CURRENT

SWEEPING NORTHWARDS FROM THE SOUTHERN CAPE OF

AFRICA.

THIS CAN BRING THEM AS FAR AS THE WILD COAST AND

PERHAPS EVEN FURTHER NORTH TO THE BEACHES OF KWAZULU

NATAL, WHERE ANOTHER PREDATOR AWAITS THEM,

HUMANS.

PASSING NORTHWARDS FROM THE WILD COAST INTO

KWAZULU NATAL IS LIKE ENTERING A DIFFERENT SOUTH

AFRICA, EVEN A DIFFERENT WORLD.

THIS IS WHERE ZULU AND WESTERN CULTURE COME

TOGETHER, SHARING A COMMON LINK,

A CONNECTION WITH THE SEA.

INDUSTRY CAME TO THIS REGION FROM THE LAND AND

THE SUGAR CANE FIELDS, BUT THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF

WEALTH IN THE OCEAN.

WHEN THE SARDINE SHOALS PASS NORTH OF THE WILD

COAST, OPPOSING WARM-WATER CURRENTS CAN FORCE THE

COLD WATER CLOSER TO THE SHORE.

IF THIS HAPPENS, THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF FISH CAN

BE LITERALLY SWEPT UP ON THE BEACHES IN A POTENTIAL

BONANZA FOR THE LOCAL FISHERMEN.

FISHERMEN LOOK FOR DOLPHINS ARRIVING FROM THE

SOUTH, TELLTALE SIGNS THAT SARDINES ARE ON THEIR WAY.

THEY PREPARE THEIR NETS AND WAIT.

DAWN ON THE KWAZULU NATAL COAST.

AS THE DOLPHINS AND GANNETS TRACK DOWN THE

SHOALS OUT AT SEA, THE PEOPLE HERE ARE STILL

WATCHING, STILL WAITING.

EVERY WINTER STORM DISRUPTS THE MILD SOUTH

AFRICAN CLIMATE.

COLD STORM CURRENTS CARRY THE SARDINES FURTHER AND

FURTHER NORTH, WHILE WARMER CURRENTS PUSH THEM

CLOSER AND CLOSER TO THE SHORE.

MARINE ANIMALS SENSE THESE CHANGES IN THE OCEAN IN

MANY WAYS.

NOW ALL THE WILD COAST'S PREDATORS ARE ON THE MOVE,

INCLUDING THE HUMANS.

PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT ALL YEAR.

THE DOLPHINS GATHER MOMENTUM AND PREPARE TO

CHARGE.

[BIRDS SQUAWKING]

GANNETS TAKE TO THE AIR IN GREATER NUMBERS THAN

EVER.

THEY CAN DIVE FROM AS HIGH AS ONE HUNDRED FEET AND

PLUNGE AS DEEP AS 30.

IT'S TIME FOR THE SARDINE RUN.

MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF SARDINES HAVE FLOODED THE

SHALLOW SHORELINE.

THEIR NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING,

AND THE SHEER SIZE OF THEIR COMBINED WEIGHT

RIVALS ALL OF THE GREATEST MIGRATIONS ON EARTH.

EXACTLY HOW AND WHY SO MANY SARDINES GROUP

TOGETHER IS A MYSTERY, BUT WHAT'S KNOWN FOR CERTAIN

IS THAT EVERYONE GETS THEIR FILL.

THROUGHOUT THE 20TH CENTURY,

COUNTLESS TONS OF SARDINE SHOALS WOULD FILL THE NETS

AND BUCKETS OF LOCAL FISHERMEN.

IN RECENT YEARS, THE SARDINES HAVE REACHED THE

NORTHERN BEACHES IN FEWER AND FEWER NUMBERS.

AS THE OCEAN TEMPERATURES RISE,

THE CONDITIONS WILL BE LESS FAVORABLE FOR THE

SHOALS TO APPROACH THE SHALLOWS.

AS THE OCEAN CHANGES, THEIR BEHAVIOR WILL ALSO

CHANGE.

THIS BREATHTAKING DISPLAY OF LIFE IS BECOME ALL TOO

RARE.

[DOLPHINS WHISTLING]

WE ARE APPROACHING THE TIPPING POINT WHERE MANY

OF THESE INCREDIBLE SPECIES CAN NO LONGER

SURVIVE THE CLIMATE CHANGES WE ARE CREATING.

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW.

DON'T GO AWAY.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES RIGHT AFTER THIS.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: AUSTRALIA IS HOME TO SOME OF THE MOST UNIQUE

SPECIES ON THE PLANET, ISOLATED FROM THE REST OF

THE WORLD FOR MORE THAN 40 MILLION YEARS.

AUSTRALIA IS THE EARTH'S SMALLEST CONTINENT,

HOME TO A MEGA-DIVERSE COLLECTION OF ANIMALS,

BUT OVER 70 PERCENT IS CLASSIFIED AS DESERT,

WHERE VERY LITTLE GROWS.

IT'S AN ANCIENT LAND HOLDING SECRETS TO SOME OF

THE OLDEST MYSTERIES ON EARTH.

TOWARDS THE END OF 1994, EXPLORERS FOUND A SMALL

GROVE OF ANCIENT TREES, REMNANTS OF A SPECIES THAT

WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN EXTINCT FOR 65 MILLION

YEARS.

IT'S CALLED THE WOLLEMI PINE.

FINDING THIS TREE WAS ABOUT AS LIKELY AS FINDING

A SMALL DINOSAUR WANDERING THROUGH THE FOREST.

THEY ARE THE LAST SURVIVORS OF THE FIRST

TREES TO EVER GROW ON EARTH.

THE WOLLEMI PINES ARE AMONG THE RAREST LIVING

THINGS ON OUR PLANET.

THEIR EXACT LOCATION IS A CLOSELY-HELD SECRET.

ACCESS IS STRICTLY CONTROLLED.

UNTIL NOW, THIS WILDERNESS WAS ENOUGH PROTECTION FOR

THEM, BUT IN OUR MODERN WORLD,

NOTHING IS SAFE FOR LONG.

WELCOME TO AUSTRALIA, THE LAND DOWN UNDER.

THIS IS THE OLD WORLD.

WHEN EUROPE WAS YOUNG, THIS WAS ANCIENT.

WHEN THE GRAND CANYON WAS A SHALLOW CREEK,

THESE VALLEYS LOOK MUCH AS THEY DO TODAY.

OVER EONS OF TIME, AUSTRALIA EVOLVED AN

EXTRAORDINARY DIVERSITY OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS UNTIL

THE ARRIVAL OF MANKIND.

ALL OF THE VERY LARGE ANIMALS ARE NOW EXTINCT.

SINCE THE ARRIVAL OF EUROPEANS,

ANOTHER HUNDRED SPECIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS HAVE

VANISHED.

FIVE THOUSAND MORE ARE NOW CLOSE TO THE EDGE OF

EXTINCTION.

THIS HIDDEN CANYON IS THE ONLY SANCTUARY ON EARTH

FOR THE SURVIVORS OF A SPECIES THAT DOMINATED THE

WORLD'S FORESTS FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED MILLION

YEARS.

THE TREES LOOK LIKE NOTHING ELSE IN THE

FOREST.

THEY GROW TO MORE THAN 120 FEET HIGH.

FEWER THAN 40 ADULT TREES HAVE BEEN FOUND.

THEY'RE A KIND OF PLATYPUS TREE,

MEANING THEY DON'T FIT INTO ANY SINGLE CATEGORY.

THEY ARE PINES, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE FRONDS LIKE A

PALM TREE, AND THEIR BARK IS ALIVE,

COVERED IN A MILLION SPROUTING TIPS.

TREES LIKE THIS WERE THE FIRST TO EVER GROW ON

LAND.

THE SURVIVING TREES ARE MONITORED AND PROTECTED

WITH GREAT CARE.

AS A FINAL LINE OF DEFENSE,

SCIENTISTS HAVE CAREFULLY NURTURED SEEDS AND GROWN

SEVERAL TREES BACK IN THE LAB.

TODAY, THERE ARE MORE TREES IN THE LABORATORY

THAN IN THE WILD, BUT AFTER HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS

OF YEARS, THE RAREST TREES ON EARTH ARE STILL

FIGHTING TO STAY ALIVE.

THIS MAY BE THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF THE

EARTH THAT HUMAN BEINGS HAVE WATCHED THESE TREES

SHED THEIR SPORES.

WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR.

THEY HAVE SO MUCH TO TEACH US ABOUT OUR ANCIENT PAST

AND HOW TO SURVIVE OUR FUTURE.

STAY TUNED.

"JOURNEY" WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: SURROUNDED BY THE ARABIAN SEA,

THE RED SEA, AND THE PERSIAN GULF,

THE ARABIAN PENINSULA IS THE LARGEST PENINSULA IN

THE WORLD.

PEOPLE HAVE LIVED ON THIS DRY,

BARREN LAND FOR MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND

YEARS, CREATING RICH CULTURE,

POWERFUL RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS,

AND EVEN DEVELOPING ALGEBRA.

ONLY ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO,

MOST PEOPLE IN ARABIA LIVED IN TENTS OR HOUSES

MADE OF MUD AND STONE.

TODAY, THE REGION IS HOME TO MEGA CITIES,

BOOMING ECONOMIES, AND VAST OIL RESERVES THAT

HELP POWER THE GLOBE.

OVER THE LAST TWO THOUSAND YEARS,

THIS DESERT REALM HAS SPARKED TWO ERAS OF

ENLIGHTENMENT.

WHO WOULD EVER THINK THAT THE SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE

COULD SPROUT HERE AND GROW?

ONLY ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO,

MOST PEOPLE IN ARABIA LIVED IN TENTS OR IN

HOUSES OF CORAL ROCK OR MUD,

BUT IN A MATTER OF DECADES,

ALL THAT CHANGED.

SAUDI ARABIA IS NOW A NATION OF SOME 30 MILLION

PEOPLE.

THE CAPITAL CITY OF RIYADH AND THE HOLY CITY OF MECCA

HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED.

A MODERN DISTRICT HAS GROWN UP AROUND THE GRAND

MOSQUE.

FIVE TIMES EACH DAY, MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD

TURN TOWARD MECCA TO PRAY.

MUHAMMAD WAS BORN IN MECCA AROUND THE YEAR 570.

PROPHET MUHAMMAD INSPIRED THE WHOLE REGION WITH A

THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE.

HE LIVED MUCH OF HIS LIFE HERE IN THE CITY OF

MEDINA.

THE MAIN MOSQUE IN MEDINA IS HUGE,

384,000 SQUARE METERS.

THE QURAN IS THE HOLIEST BOOK OF ISLAM.

THE QURAN URGES FOLLOWERS TO READ AND GATHER

KNOWLEDGE.

THIS SIMPLE INSTRUCTION TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD HAD A

HUGE IMPACT AND LED TO A SECOND GOLDEN AGE.

THE TRIBES WERE UNIFIED BY THEIR BELIEF IN ONE GOD.

THEY CONQUERED MORE TERRITORY THAN THE ROMANS

IN ABOUT HALF THE TIME.

WHILE MUCH OF EUROPE LAPSED INTO ITS DARK AGE,

ISLAMIC SCHOLARS TRANSLATED THE WORKS OF

THE ANCIENT GREEKS AND HINDUS.

THE FIRST SEED OF THE GOLDEN AGE WAS SOWN ON

ARABIAN SOIL.

BY WEAVING TOGETHER MANY IDEAS,

ISLAMIC SCHOLARS CAME UP WITH ALGEBRA.

THE FOUNDATION OF SCIENCE WAS STRENGTHENED WHEN IBN

AL-HAYTHAM CAME ALONG.

HIS THEORIES OF GRAVITY AND MOMENTUM PRECEDED

ISAAC NEWTON'S WORK BY SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS.

IN OVER TWO HUNDRED BOOKS, HE REVOLUTIONIZED PHYSICS

AND OPTICS.

IBN AL-HAYTHAM BUILT ONE OF THE FIRST CAMERA

OBSCURAS.

HE WAS THE FIRST TO EXPLAIN HOW THE EYE SEES,

AND HIS PIONEERING WORK IN OPTICS LED TO TELESCOPES

AND CAMERAS.

THESE SCHOLARS HELPED UNDERSTAND CHEMISTRY,

CALCULATED THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE EARTH

WITH GREAT PRECISION, AND IGNITED THE EUROPEAN

RENAISSANCE CENTURIES LATER.

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS

GOLDEN AGE OF ISLAM, WHICH LIT UP THREE CONTINENTS

FOR EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS AND CHANGED OUR

UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD.

DON'T GO AWAY.

"JOURNEY" WILL BE RIGHT BACK.

ANNOUNCER: WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

.

ANNOUNCER: WE NOW RETURN TO THE MORE YOU KNOW ON NBC.

DYLAN: THE SAAMI PEOPLE OF NORTHERN SWEDEN HAVE BEEN

HERDING REINDEER FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

TODAY, ONLY ABOUT TEN PERCENT OF THE POPULATION

STILL MAKES A LIVELIHOOD FROM REINDEER,

PROVIDING THEIR COMMUNITIES WITH MEAT,

FUR, AND TRANSPORTATION.

[OPMUT SINGING]

DYLAN: THIS IS OPMUT.

HE COMES FROM A LONG LINE OF SAAMI HERDERS AND

SINGERS.

WITH NO WRITTEN LANGUAGE UNTIL RECENTLY,

SINGERS LIKE OPMUT ARE THE HISTORY BOOKS OF THEIR

PEOPLE.

THE SAAMI HAVEN'T LET TIME PASS THEM BY.

REINDEER ARE STILL AT THE CENTER OF THEIR CULTURE,

AND THE REINDEER ROUNDUP IS AS IMPORTANT AS EVER,

BUT THEY TAKE WHAT THEY NEED FROM MODERN

TECHNOLOGY, HELICOPTERS AND HORSES,

SINGING AND CELL PHONES, WHATEVER WORKS BEST.

THIS YEAR, THE REINDEER MUST HAVE LIKED OPMUT'S

SONG.

THE SAAMI GATHERED TOGETHER FIVE THOUSAND

ANIMALS FROM THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS.

GETTING THIS MASSIVE HERD OF REINDEER INTO THE

CORRAL IS JUST THE FIRST STEP.

THE ROUNDUP IS SOMETHING NOT TO BE MISSED.

EVEN TODAY, MANY PEOPLE TRAVEL FOR DAYS JUST TO BE

HERE.

THE SAAMI CALL THEMSELVES THE PEOPLE OF THE SUN AND

THE WIND.

THE ANCESTORS OF THESE MEN AND WOMEN DOMESTICATED THE

REINDEER LONG BEFORE PEOPLE ELSEWHERE IN THE

WORLD HAD TAMED THE HORSE.

OPMUT: THE ROUNDUP ISN'T ALL WORK.

IT'S ALSO A BIG SOCIAL EVENT.

I HAVEN'T SEEN MY DAUGHTER,

LISBA, FOR ALMOST A YEAR.

[OPMUT SINGING]

OPMUT: THIS OLD HUT HAS BEEN IN OUR FAMILY FOR

GENERATIONS.

IT HOLDS WONDERFUL MEMORIES FOR BOTH OF US.

[SINGING CONTINUES]

DYLAN: ONE OF OPMUT'S FAVORITE SONGS IS ABOUT

THE MASTER REINDEER, A CELESTIAL BULL REINDEER

WHO HIDES IN THE MISTS OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.

[SINGING CONTINUES]

DYLAN: ONE NIGHT, AS THE LEGEND GOES,

WHEN THE LIGHTS WERE AT THEIR BRIGHTEST,

THE MIGHTY BULL RODE THE STARS DOWN TO EARTH AND

STOLE THE REINDEER FROM THE SAAMI.

EVER SINCE THEN, THE SAAMI HAVE BEEN WATCHFUL IN CASE

THE BULL SHOULD RETURN ONE DAY AND TRY TO STEAL THE

HERD AGAIN.

TODAY IN THE CORRAL, BATTLES FOR SUPREMACY

BREAK OUT AMONG THE DESCENDANTS OF THAT

LEGENDARY BULL OF THE NORTHERN SKY.

[REINDEER GRUNTING]

DYLAN: SINCE THAT NIGHT WHEN THE MASTER REINDEER

CAME FROM THE SKY AND STOLE THE HERD,

THE SAAMI TAKE PRECAUTIONS NEVER TO LOSE THEIR

REINDEER AGAIN.

THE HERDERS NOW CAREFULLY MARK EACH CALF.

ON ONE EAR, THE HERDER PUTS HIS FAMILY'S MARK.

ON THE OTHER EAR, HE PUTS HIS OWN.

ALL THE MARKS OF ALL THE FAMILIES ARE RECORDED IN A

GREAT BOOK, AN ANCIENT REGISTRY WHERE EVERY SAAMI

COUNTS HIS WEALTH IN RECORDED EAR MARKS.

OPMUT IS A RESPECTED ELDER,

AND SO IS THIS OLD BULL.

OPMUT AND HIS OLD FRIEND GUIDE THE OTHER REINDEER

OUT OF THE CORRAL BACK TO THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS

AND BACK TO FREEDOM.

THE SAAMI BELIEVE THE REINDEER ARE CHILDREN OF

THE SUN AND THE WIND, AND AS LONG AS THEY ARE

ALLOWED THEIR FREEDOM, THEY WILL ALWAYS RETURN.

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED OUR JOURNEY TO THE GREAT

NORTH.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, SAFE TRAVELS.

♪ CREDITS ♪