All language subtitles for Bbc.indian.ocean.with.simon.reeve.S01E04.MVGroup.English-WWW.MY-SUBS.CO

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The Indian Ocean.

Home to the world's
most exotic islands.

And beautiful and rare wildlife.

I'm travelling through 16 countries
around the edge of this vast ocean

that stretches 6,000 miles
from Africa to Australia.

'Steeped in history, the Indian
Ocean is vital to world trade.

It's a journey of extremes.

'From stunning islands...

'..across pirate-infested seas...

'..to remote villages..

'..and war-torn lands.'

What was that?

RAPID GUNSHOTS

CHILDREN LAUGH

This is a journey about much more
than what's under the waves.

It's about the lives of the millions
of people...

..who live around this,
one of our greatest oceans.

On this leg of my journey,

I'm travelling from the edge
of Arabia to India,

and on to the tropical islands
of the Maldives.

'On the way I experience the chaos

'of one of the great Indian Ocean
festivals.'

Feels like the whole of Mumbai
is out on the beach.

Among beautiful coral reefs
I discover

what threatens the delicate
balance of the underwater world.

It's all dead, like a forest
that's been logged.

And on the high seas I go fishing
the old-fashioned way.

Yaaay!

FISHERMAN: Nice catch! >

I caught it! Yes!

In the Indian Ocean, sustainably.

I'm starting this part of my journey
in a remote region of Oman.

I'm next to the Strait of Hormuz,

one of the most important entry
points into the Indian Ocean.

Giant super-tankers come through
here

carrying vast quantities
of the world's oil,

which makes this stretch of water
one of the most vital on the planet.

Middle Eastern oil literally fuels
the industrialised world.

40% of all seaborne oil passes
through the Strait of Hormuz

and into the Indian Ocean.

The oil tankers pass
the Musandam Peninsula,

a strategically vital region
of Oman.

Oman was once a great power
in the Indian Ocean.

For centuries Omanis traded
with India, Africa,

and even the Far East.

And that tradition lives on into
the 21st century.

In the town of Khasab,
I met up with my Omani guide.

I've met up with Bhada here, who's
brought me down to the harbour...

..to have a look out to sea.

Hmm.

Wow, look at the boats go.

What would these boats be?

That's Iranian people. Iranians? Yes.

Heading across the water to Iran.
Exactly.

And what do they do? They come over
here trading?

Yes. There is a business between
Khasab and Iran.

The business here is
a multi-million pound operation.

A combination of western sanctions
against Iran and high import taxes

has encouraged rampant smuggling
between Oman and Iran.

They take from here different stuff,
like food, electronics, clothing.

When you say electronics...
Televisions?

TV, radio, fridge, whatever.

Sometime they put the car
in the boat. No!

They put the car in the boat.
They're not slow, eh? For sure not.

Wow, they're like power
boats. Look at them go.

Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve,
thirteen, fourteen in one go.

And more and more are coming out
again.

It is quite a staggering sight.

'The smugglers weave their way
across the Strait of Hormuz,

'through the busy shipping lanes,
dodging the Iranian Coastguard.'

I don't imagine
the Iranian authorities

are particularly happy about that,
are they?

No, I don't think so.

The speed they go at,
the size of the boats...

it does give a sense of
a dangerous game being played.

Sanctions were imposed on Iran
because of its nuclear programme.

But they're not working.

Iran says it will block
the Strait of Hormuz

and halt global oil supplies

if the West decides
to launch attacks

to prevent Iran getting
nuclear weapons.

The rising tensions have made the
waters off the Musandam Peninsula

one of the major
global flashpoints.

Bhada took me to explore
the craggy inlets

that scar the coast
of this otherworldly area.

Though it's fantastically remote,
people do live here...

on the edge of the rocky hills.

We're on our way to a community
to meet them.

This place looks incredible!

Just nestling under
these rocky hills.

Considering so much of the world's
oil is passing by a few miles away,

the Musandam Peninsula
is marvellously pristine.

Amid this arid moonscape,

the village of Kumzar
is only accessible by boat.

PEOPLE CHANT, RHYTHMIC MUSIC PLAYS

The Kumzaris,
like most Omanis, are Muslims.

But after hundreds of years
of relative isolation,

hey have their own unique culture.

And they roll out the carpet
for a foreign visitor.

MEN CHANT IN UNISON

I do love how... a journey like this,

around the Indian ocean,

can throw up such...
incredibly different cultures.

This is so staggeringly different

from life in Mozambique,
for example...

earlier in the journey.

And yet all these countries
and communities

are connected by being next
to one of our great oceans.

All around the Indian Ocean,
people showed me great hospitality

and the Kumzaris were
no different.

We bedded down for the night
in the village hall.

I'm absolutely shattered already.

It's just the heat.

It really...
saps the energy out of you.

It's going to be a long, hot,
sweaty night.

Living out here in isolation,
on the edge of Arabia,

the Kumzaris have developed
their own language,

containing elements of Persian but
spoken nowhere else in the world.

But centuries of trade
HAVE brought outside influences

and when I met Abdu Salaam,
a village elder,

some of the language proved
surprisingly familiar.

Different kind of language. >

Even there is some words of English
in it also.

Words in English, really?
There is English words.

BHADA SPEAKS IN LOCAL LANGUAGE

Door. In Kumzari?

"Door" is "door". Door is door.

Door and, er... star.
Najim, Arabic, najim.

So you would stay "star"
for the stars

and you would say
najim in Arabic for stars.

Exactly. We have... we are bonded. We
are brothers! Star!

LAUGHTER

Can we ask,
is this your fishing crew?

Are these local people?

TRANSLATION: Yes, my crew starts
early in the morning,

at around 5am,
and keeps going until sunset.

There's a person on the mountain
whose job it is to watch the sea.

Then he directs the others
to the fish

by telling them to move to the left
or right or forward.

So they can catch the fish.

That is genius!

So he's the sort of spotter,
up there on the cliffs,

and he says, "OK, now's the time.
Get the net out and get them."

Exactly. That's his job now,
on the top there.

That's your bit. Come on.
I'll help you.

Bhada, pull harder! And you!

I don't see you pulling.
I'm pulling, I'm pulling!

Oh, right, I see.
That's how it is, is it?

(He's a tough taskmaster!)

I want to know more about
the benefits in this job.

What are the holidays like?

Looks to me like they've got
a good catch.

Are you happy with that as a catch?
TRANSLATION: Yes, thanks to God.

You've got to take the whole scene
in to appreciate

how spectacular this is, really.

On the edge of the Strait of Hormuz,

there's a community here

still pulling fish out of this bay

in the way they have done
for generations.

There's no heavy industry
polluting the sea here

and no vast fishing fleet
decimating fish stocks.

The sea off Kumzar is plentiful

and Oman is one of
the most prosperous nations

on my entire Indian Ocean journey.

Goodbye and farewell.
Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you, thank you.
You are very welcome in Kumzar.

They might be isolated today
but throughout history,

sailors from this area

used to trade around the coast
of the Indian Ocean.

Omani merchants used
the monsoon winds to travel

thousands of miles
and trade between continents.

I followed one of those
ancient routes

to the west coast of India

and headed towards the biggest
Indian Ocean city of all, Mumbai.

It's only when you're at a festival
like this

that you really start to understand

just how many people there are
in this country.

I'd arrived during one of the
biggest festivals

in the entire world -

the annual birthday celebration
for the elephant-headed god, Ganesh.

For weeks and months
before the festival,

Hindu fans buy or make statues
of the god

before carrying them
as part of a huge procession

down to the Indian Ocean.

All this is just
a temporary installation,

if you like, that will be
taken down at the end of today.

Wow!

And this is Ganesh.

Hindus believe
that paying homage to Ganesh

will remove obstacles to success

and bring good fortune
over the coming year.

Vikas Vasudev would be my guide

on this leg of my journey
in western India.

Ganesh is a visitor
during these ten days.

He visits the people of the Earth,

and then the way
you bid farewell to guests,

you bid farewell to Ganesh,
and you put him back in the Earth.

This is the all-inclusive nature
of this festival.

This lady,
who is just receiving a blessing,

or giving a blessing there,
she's Muslim - this is a Hindu god,

but this festival brings everybody in
the city and the country together.

For the finale of the festival,

even this huge Ganesh is carried
through the streets towards the sea.

THEY CHANT

That is nothing short
of miraculous.

Ganesh is on the forklift truck
and he's on the move!

We joined the devotees,
as hundreds of other Ganeshes

flooded in from different
parts of the city.

All sorts of Ganeshes at
this festival, from the big...

to the small.

DRUMS BEAT

It's a traditional Indian festival,
set to a very modern beat.

THEY PLAY DRUMS AND CHANT

It's totally surreal, being here.

There's these gloriously dressed,

elderly Indian ladies,

following a giant wall
of speakers...

playing Ibizan house,
with a slightly Indian twist.

MUSIC PUMPS

The monsoon winds made this city

one of the great
Indian Ocean trading ports.

MAN SHOUTS, THEY CHEER

And that same monsoon
delivers this deluge.

It's raining,
it's getting a little bit dark.

We're moving close to the sea now

and the festival
is really beginning.

This is an absolutely
extraordinary experience.

It feels like the whole of Mumbai
is out on the beach.

They're starting to spray Ganesh
with water over there,

and then he's going to be
immersed into the sea.

The Ganesh is going into the sea.

There he goes, into the water,

to be immersed
and return back to nature.

Ganesh is the god of wisdom,
prosperity and good fortune.

The festival is hugely popular
with the millions of people

who've flooded into
this great city in recent years,

fleeing rural poverty
and seeking a better life.

It's been a very long
and magnificent, wonderful day.

Ganesh is going into the sea until
the early hours of the morning,

but I think we're going to head off.

It's colossal.

I knew it was the biggest city
in India, but it just seems to

go on and on and on,
like the size of a small country.

Mumbai has become a great symbol of
India's economic growth in recent years.

It has some of the most
expensive property in the world,

as well as some of
the largest slums.

Like many people in Mumbai,
Vikas is not a local.

Why did you move here?

Work, man.
This is where the action is.

Was it a good decision?
I love the city,

and at the same time,
I hate it.

It's the richest city in India,

at the same time, it also has
the most poor people.

It has the largest slum in India,
so it's just full of contradictions.

In India, this is seen as the pot
of gold at the end of the rainbow,

isn't it? This is the place
to come to, to make your fortune?

Yes. Definitely.

This has the biggest pot of gold
and the biggest sewer.

"The biggest pot of gold
and the biggest sewer" -

I need to remember that.

India's population has more than
doubled in the last 40 years.

There are now at least
1.2 billion people in this country.

This population explosion
is having profound consequences.

In just a short time,

Mumbai has gone from being
a small port to a mega-city.

One of the original fishing
communities here were the Kolis.

This is incredible.

I wondered how India's
rapid changes were affecting them

and the ocean that sustained them
for generations.

We're walking into
near total darkness!

We're down by the sea in a small fishing
village that has become an urban warren.

Are you sure this isn't
into somebody's house?

This is absolutely unbelievable.

It's really overwhelming here,
actually.

I'm overwhelmed by
the sights and senses.

Bloody hell, look at this.

The Koli have been
fishermen for centuries,

making a living
from the Indian Ocean.

Now they live down here
on the beach,

surrounded by pollution, muck
and tower blocks of the big city.'

Namaste. Namaste. Simon, Amur.

'Amur is a community leader.'

How do we mend a fishing net?

I'll sit there...
or I'll sit next to you.

OK. Through there... right...

He's a good teacher.

Can you tell me a little bit
about the community you represent?

TRANSLATOR: 'The Koli are the
original inhabitants of Mumbai.

'We are the fisherfolk.'

What's the fishing like off here?

This is a huge city.

I imagine with all the ships
and the pollution,

the fish stocks must be declining,
but is that the case?

'It's difficult for us.

'Before, we earned good money
and our kids ate well.

'But because of the lack of fish
in the sea,

our life has become difficult.'

More people means more stomachs to feed.
It means over-fishing and more pollution,

and lack of fish is just one
of the problems faced by the Koli.

Property developers are now
after their patch of seafront.

You live on what looks to me
like prime real estate,

right next to high-rises
and in a city of billionaires.

'I want to stand up and show you
this village of ours.'

Excuse me.

'There are no toilets or
running water here.

'The high rises have
all the facilities.

'All THEIR needs are met.

'But no-one listens to us.'

The Koli people believe they are being
deliberately denied basic amenities,

so they'll have no choice but to
move away from the seafront.

It does feel a little bit to me
as though your whole way of life

is being threatened, because the fish
stocks on which you rely are dwindling,

and you're being squeezed out by
the developers who want your land.

Does the community here
feel under threat?

'You know, everybody wants
a piece of this seafront location.

'But the sea is our God.
We make a living from the sea.

'It feeds our children. So whatever
happens, we're not leaving.

'We'll stay here, come what may.'

It's perhaps inevitable that
a fishing community like the Kolis

will struggle to survive

in the polluted waters
off a growing mega-city,

but as this extraordinary country
continues to develop and industrialise,

the impact of India's
increasing population

is being felt
all around the Indian Ocean.

Nearly 200 million people have been
added to India's population

in the past decade. To understand
the consequences for the ocean,

Vikas and I headed to
his home state of Gujarat.

Along the way, I had a fascinating
reminder of the connections

that have linked countries
around the Indian Ocean

for hundreds of years.

Incredible, we just stopped to help a
rickshaw that's got some kind of problem,

and it's loaded with
what appears to be black Africans -

We're driving through rural India!

These are the Siddi people,

the descendants of black Africans
who live in communities

close to the coast in this area
and across India.

Vikas and I went to meet
a local leader.

Meet Simon.

Namaste! Namaste.

Very nice to meet you, sir.

Who are the Siddis?
Who are the Siddi people?

TRANSLATOR: 'The Siddis are descended
from Africans who came to India.

'The Muslim princes
brought us here from Africa.

'We have been in Gujarat
for 600 years.

'They were brought here as slaves.

'They were brought here to work...

'..because the Siddis
are hard-working people.'

Hello, ladies, namaste!

African ladies, wearing saris.

The movement of Africans to India
has been little studied,

but over centuries, the Siddis have found
their own place in Indian society.

Mohammad is saying the communities
live very harmoniously,

and that's pretty unusual, frankly,
in this country, which has suffered

such caste and communal and religious
conflicts over the generations.

It's quite wonderful to hear him
saying, "No, we get along fine!"

Oh, that's the cutest scene!

'Mohammed took us to a local school,
which was full of Siddi children.'

Namaste. Assalamu alaikum!

Do any of you know where Africa is? Could any of
you come and point to where Africa is on the map?

Come on, mate.

Yay!

SIMON LAUGHS

Clap, everybody, come on!

'The children are kept in touch
with their history.'

TRANSLATION: 'After they
came here as slaves,

'they were soon recognised as being
very hard-working.

'They were particularly
good at working with wood.

'They were spread right
across India,

'but because of their skills
in carpentry,

'they were brought to Gujarat.

'They came to Gujarat in 1411,

'so before 1411,
we don't know much.'

Merchants were trading huge
distances across the Indian Ocean,

centuries before the Atlantic was
explored and Columbus reached America.

They weren't all just slaves,
as well.

So many Africans came as sailors,
as merchants, as traders,

as soldiers, as warriors, to India.

It's still hardly known about
in India itself.

But this is all about people
travelling across the Indian Ocean.

The ancestors of
these little children here

were blown across the Indian Ocean
by the monsoon winds...

many, many years ago.

Some experts think millions
of Africans travelled to India.

Many were slaves, but they also
came as merchants and warriors.

There's even believed to have been
an African king in central India.

All around the Indian Ocean,
cultures have mingled.

Sometimes people travelled
willingly,

sometimes they were forced. The ancestors
of the villagers here may well been traded

through the East African
slave market I visited in Zanzibar

on the first leg
of my Indian Ocean journey.

THEY PLAY MUSIC

MEN BEAT DRUMS

Centuries have passed
since their ancestors arrived,

but the Siddis still perform dances
with African roots.

This group appears
at temples for money.

MUSIC CONTINUES

'We travelled on through Vikas' home
state, Gujarat, towards the coast.

I don't like driving at night
in India

because you never know what
you're going to find.

Now, we've got a dangerous
obstruction in the road.

Holy cows!

How are we going to move the cows?

Oh, a gentle tap.

Come on!

Convoy moving.

You look a bit tougher.

Would you mind moving just out of
the way?

Would you mind just moving to one
side? We've had quite a long day.

Would you just mind moving, please?

Could you help us, city boy?

He doesn't want to move.

Whoa.

The most vital bit of work
we've done.

Oh, my God!

What a sight.

Vikas had brought me to Veraval,

just one of the hundreds
of huge fishing ports

that now dot the coast of India.

I have never seen anything
quite like this.

It's the biggest fishing port
in India,

and I think it's probably the port
in India with the most flags.

Every trawler is just completely
bedecked with flags

as far as the eye can see.

There are hundreds, there must be
thousands, of fishing boats here.

There are 4,000 trawlers
based here at Veraval.

On my journey,

I'd already seen the impact
of overfishing on the Indian Ocean.

This was the first time I'd seen
an entire fishing fleet.

All the boats were moored up,

waiting for the end
of the monsoon season.

Why don't we see if we can get
on this boat? They're waving at us.

Oh, man.

A bit of poo there. Afternoon,
gentleman! Can we come aboard?

Several million tonnes of fish

are landed at ports along
the coast of India each year.

Can there be any doubt this is
having a massive impact on fish

and marine life
in the Indian Ocean?

THEY SHRIEK

Oh, man, we're going to go
into the water.

It's the world's most polluted
water. Save yourself, Vikas! Quick!

'If anyone could tell me about the
health of Indian Ocean fish stocks,

'it was a Veraval skipper.'

Is it becoming harder to fish
the waters off here

because of the number of boats?

TRANSLATION: Yes, the fishing
has become very difficult.

The number of fishing boats
has been increased,

and that's what makes it difficult.

Because of this, we have to go quite
far out to fish. 400-500 kilometres.

500 kilometres?

That's the distance you're having
to travel out into the ocean?

That's incredible.

Do you think we might be destroying
fish stocks in our seas -

is this what you are seeing?

TRANSLATION: Every year
we are catching less fish.

So every year,
fish stocks are reducing.

It could be that this season
will be very bad for us.

On my journey, conservationists
had already warned me

we're fishing our oceans to death.

But despite the collapsing
fish numbers,

they're still building
more boats here.

In fact, the fishing industry is
subsidised by the Indian government.

Colossal fishing fleets like this
are wiping out the fish in our seas.

It's devastating to learn about,

to be told about it - not just
by scientists, but by the captain

of a fishing boat who says
he's seeing his catch diminishing.

He's worried the fish are being
wiped out - he's worried,

I'm worried, we all,
in my view, should be worried.

This might look beautiful,

but what this sight really is
is the destruction of our oceans.

Ultimately,
it's up to governments to reduce

the impact of the world's growing
population on the environment.

Politicians have to take a
long-term view and protect our seas.

I left India and headed south-west
towards the coral island paradise

widely seen as a barometer

of the health of
the world's oceans - the Maldives.

I can see literally dozens
of tiny little islands

strewn across a perfectly flat sea.

Almost like little emeralds.

This is definitely a contender

for the most beautiful sight
in the world.

The 1,200 islands which make up
the Maldives are scattered

over 35,000 square miles.

Every year, hundreds of thousands
of tourists fly in for a unique

Indian Ocean experience.

What a way to travel.

Look at this. Paradise.
We've landed in paradise.

The Maldives specialises in high-end
and high-cost tourism.

This hotel was keen to show off
its luxury suites.

I know what you're thinking.

Honest to God, we don't stay
in many places like this.

This is a deluxe beach villa.

Is this all for me?!
This is all for you.

What's this?

I've got my own swimming pool!

This is what people come
to the Maldives for.

And, to be honest, I can
really see the attraction.

Apart from how posh it is here,
the thing that really strikes me

is just how flat the Maldives is.

The highest point on these islands
is only about here above my head.

So Maldivians say they're very
keen on environmental issues,

because they're aware
of what could happen to them

from things like rising sea levels.

It also means they're
very connected to the ocean.

And in this luxury resort, you can
even have a meal under the sea.

What is this?

This is an underwater restaurant.

HE GASPS

It's like we're in an aquarium.

'My guide to the Maldives
was Marie Celine,

'an expert in the environmental
issues facing these islands.'

So, how do you describe yourself?

You're a scientist,
a conservationist,

coral reef specialist?

I would call myself
a preservationist now.

We do rely on coral reefs here
in the Maldives, in the sense that

our whole livelihoods
depend on it, and our survival.

Tourism is that important
to the Maldives? Yes, it is.

Tourism and fisheries, which
are boats connected to the reefs.

The entire Maldives archipelago
is made up of coral islands,

one of the most extensive
reef systems in the world.

Marie runs a unique
coral conservation project,

and offered to take me
there on her boat.

Hello, gentlemen.

Let's set off.

Where are we and where are we
going to? You see that?

We are somewhere around here.

So we're moving up and then we'll
cross this big channel here.

How long is it going to take us,
given that it's already very dark?

We're trying to get there
by sunrise. OK.

So that you will see the beauty
of the atoll. Tomorrow morning. Yes.

The sort of sky that Turner painted.

To be greeted by a dawn
like this is...

A tonic, is what it is. A tonic.

We'd reached an area called
the Baa Atoll.

It's a UNESCO biosphere reserve

because of the fantastic diversity
of marine life underwater.

It's also a truly stunning sight.

Although they make up less than
1% of the global marine environment,

coral reefs
around the planet provide food

and shelter for more than
25% of all marine species.

These awesome coral structures are
made by tiny animals called polyps.

Reefs are a crucial habitat
for hundreds of unique fish

and marine invertebrates.

They are also a nursery
for many young fish

from the rest of the ocean.

It is amazing down there.

I mean, the colours of the coral

are like the colours
on a paint chart, really.

And the size of the coral reefs,
just from these tiny little corals

the size of my small finger right up
to great dining tables of coral.

Amazing.
It's an amazing place to visit.

Coral has created
this stunning seascape.

The reefs form protective
barriers around the islands,

creating atolls with stunning
turquoise lagoons.

This is the Indian Ocean
at its most glorious.

I had a poster on my wall
when I was a kid

growing up in London.

A poster of a tropical island.
And this... This looks like it.

It's just staggering.

Climate change threatens
to raise sea levels,

which could put the Maldives
underwater.

But scientists fear
it is also causing

the temperature
of the sea to rise.

That's a catastrophe for coral

because both here
and around the world,

coral reefs are incredibly
vulnerable to change.

Wow. That's a nice piece of coral.
Why is this coral white?

When the temperature rises even
one centigrade above the usual

average, and stays like that for a
while, the coral polyps get upset.

Then it dies and this is what
becomes of the coral.

We're not talking about the
temperature plummeting to freezing

or rocketing to boiling, are we?
No, not at all. A slight change.

In what ways is the coral reef

so important to people here
in the Maldives?

The coral reef keeps the rest
of the ecosystems in balance.

They are like the rainforests.

And like many of our great
rainforests,

coral reefs around the world
are now being devastated.

There's reef just over here,
maybe only 20 metres away from us,

which Marie was saying was vibrant
and healthy just 18 months ago.

Sea temperatures are now
at an all-time high.

Around the world, coral reefs
are dying at an unprecedented rate.

It's called coral bleaching.

Coral is also threatened
by pollution and fishing.

Even here in paradise,

a great swathe of reef
was a barren wasteland.

It's all dead.
It really is all dead.

It's a devastated,
and a devastating site as well.

Like a forest that's been logged.

The figures are really frightening.

Three quarters of the world 's
coral reefs are now at risk

of a severe decline
because of climate change,

because of pollution,
and because of overfishing.

And if we lose them, which is possible - some
scientists think we could lose coral reefs

within a single generation - we're
not just losing something that's

pretty for tourists to come and
look at, we're losing an absolutely

fundamental part of our seas, of our
oceans, of the marine environment.

Marie has started a groundbreaking
coral regeneration project

to try to stem the tide
of destruction.

You sure you know the way? Goodness.

The salvation of the coral...
starts here, does it?

The team here are welding
hundreds of special frames

to literally build new coral reef.

Do you think I could have a go?

I love the idea that this
is actually going to be used

to save coral!

I don't think he's very
impressed with my work.

Happy with that?

You got in eight out of ten!
Eight?! Thank you, sir!

You must have been bribing him!

How dare you? This was natural
welding skill, I'll have you know!

'The frames are given
a rustproof coating.

'Then carefully selected live
coral cuttings are attached.

'Marie's husband, Tom,
showed me how to do it.'

I was expecting it
to be more complicated.

You're basically just attaching
the coral with cable ties.

Yes, basically, that is
what it is. Fantastic.

'Over time, this will
grow into a new reef.'

How many of these frames have you
put into the water so far?

Over 1,000 structures.
More than 1,000? Yes.

'This project is run at a resort
and largely funded by tourists.

'People who contribute get to
have their own name on the reef.'

We're in a bit of a rush now
because this is a live coral

and it's out of the water.
We need to get it back into the sea.

This innovative project
has been a huge success.

Marie and Tom's reefs
are flourishing

and the technique is being
used elsewhere in the Maldives

and around the world to help save
and regenerate endangered coral.

There's more to the Maldives
than just tourism.

More than 300,000 people live here

and half the workforce are
employed in the fishing industry.

This is the locals' fish market?

Yes, it's where the local boats
bring their catch.

They must have had a load
just come in.

'The main catch here is tuna.

'Some is eaten locally, but much
of this is exported to the UK.'

Does this look familiar?

That is some yellowfin.

This is yellowfin tuna? Little...
They're tiny. Baby yellowfin.

'Tuna is one of the main fish
taken from our seas.

'In the Indian Ocean alone, it is
a multibillion pound industry.'

Skipper, can I ask, how long have
you been fishing?

TRANSLATION: 33 years.

How has the fishing changed

in the three decades
that you have been fishing?

TRANSLATION:
Before, we used to get big fish.

Nowadays, we get very small fish.

These are the fish left

after the big boats have
caught the fish in the nets.

Ten years ago, they started using big
nets to catch large amounts of fish.

That's when the changes started.

After overfishing our other oceans,
in the last ten years

the giant industrial trawling
fleets from Europe and Asia

have begun targeting
the Indian Ocean with vast nets

that scoop up entire
shoals of tuna.

Do you ever see the giant fishing
trawlers with the really big nets?

Do you ever see them
when you're out at sea?

TRANSLATION: We do see those boats.

Mostly we see the nets
which are left after fishing,

which we see drifting in the sea.

They're so huge,
they can weigh tonnes.

Here, they don't fish using
those obscenely big nets.

They fish in a much more
traditional, sustainable way.

Tomorrow, I'll get up at the crack
of dawn and head out on a boat

and see how they do it.

Fishermen in the Maldives have
pioneered sustainable tuna fishing.

But out of sight over the horizon,
huge foreign trawlers

pull hundreds of thousands
of tonnes of fish

from the Indian Ocean.

Yasir Wahid has witnessed
the industrial nature

of their trawling operation.

It's quite hard for people
to get a sense of the scale

of the fishing nets used by
the big industrial trawlers.

Can you try to describe
to us how big they are?

Six of them could even cover
the entire Maldives archipelago.

If you square the islands... Wow!

Yes, to the area.

They would be able to spread
their nets all over our archipelago.

Around the country? Yes.

'Using nets more than seven miles
long, the foreign trawlers

'indiscriminately scoop up
marine life,

'including huge quantities of
fish they cannot sell

'and dolphins and turtles.

'Often this unwanted bycatch,
as it is called,

'is just dumped back
into the sea, dead.'

Every bit of life that was in that
part of the sea will be taken out

and put into a boat.

It's an incredibly
destructive form of fishing

and I think it's contributing
to killing life in our oceans.

The method used by these
Maldivian fishermen

could not be more different.

First step is to try to spot
the tiny fish

they use as bait for the tuna.

They've seen bait.

He's given the signal and now
they want to get the nets in,

catch the bait... Oh, it's all go!

MAN SINGS

Let's get the net in.

The fishermen surround
a small shoal of live bait

and haul it to the surface.

This here, fishing like this,
they use everything.

And they don't end up
with dolphins in the net.

In they go, thousands and
thousands of them.

Is that a good haul?
Are they happy with this? Yes.

With the bait in the boat, all eyes
were peeled for signs of tuna.

They're getting ready, they've
seen some activity in the water.

We might be about to start fishing.
Tuna? Here we go.

The live bait goes in
and the tuna start flying out.

Be careful. Wow!

This is pole and line tuna fishing.
It's fast and furious.

Blinking heck!

It's a skipjack!

A skipjack!

This is a skipjack tuna
that Yasir has just caught.

This is what we eat masses of
in tins, in the UK.

So much of it comes from here
in the Indian Ocean.

Catching fish like this leaves
most of the shoal alive

so they can reproduce -
they're not annihilated.

Tuna caught this way
is now available in Britain.

It's sold as pole and line tuna
but it costs just a little more

than tuna caught by
the industrial fishing fleets.

I haven't caught a single one yet.

Yeah! Here's a big one.

How many have you got now?
Ten. Ten? Ten?!

Yes! This is why we need to pay
a premium for this fish,

it's bloody impossible to catch!

Come on!

Yes! I caught a tuna!

In the Indian Ocean!
Sustainably! Pole and line!

Sustainably! You are so right!

Oh, I feel like a proper fisherman.

You've got to believe
in fishing sustainably.

We have to fish sustainably,

otherwise we're going to wipe out
life in our oceans.

Fishing this way means that
there's very little bycatch.

There's very little wasted fish,

and we're not pulling dolphins
or turtles out of the water.

The Maldives is in many ways
a unique country.

They've pioneered eco-friendly
tourism

as well as sustainable fishing.

But there are contradictions here.

Despite concerns
about climate change,

the only way tourists can get here
is on long-haul flights

with a huge carbon footprint.

And of course,
tourism has other by-products.

It's easy to forget
that these are populated islands,

with lots of tourists as well.

They produce a lot of muck.

This is really behind the scenes
in the Maldives, eh? Oh, my God.

What a sight! There's a
stinking smoke hanging in the air.

It's actually cascading off the edge
there into the water.

My God.

There's flies everywhere.

Are you OK? I don't know
if we can get through here.

This is where the Maldives
dumps its rubbish.

Just 20 years ago, this was another
unspoiled coral island.

Bloody hell!

The stink, and the dust!

'Since then, up to 300 tonnes
of waste every day

'has been shipped here.'

I just swallowed another bloody fly,

there are so many around here.

Look at this! Oil drums.

This is quite a gobsmacking sight.

These drums here
are rupturing and leaking.

Do you think the toxins
will hit the sea?

I think so, because it
is quite porous, the sand,

here in the Maldives, so then it
would seep into the sea from here.

It's not very far.

You can just about make out
the water there,

through the haze
from the burning of the rubbish

which appears to be going on.

FLIES BUZZ

It's sort of apocalyptic here.

I don't mind the dust,
natural dust, at all.

But the smoke that is
coming off here,

and the dust that's being
blown up is really toxic.

Bloody hell!

The scenes here are
gobsmacking. Gobsmacking.

Really upsetting as well.

More flies than I have ever seen
anywhere in the world.

This is a poisoned environment.

It shouldn't be happening anywhere,
least of all here.

This feels about as far removed
from my images of the Maldives

as I think it's possible to get.

For all of us, it is. Even for
the Maldivian, this is not real.

You don't often see this.
No, we don't. We don't.

On the islands, you see little
heaps that are being burned,

but not at this scale.

You've got such
a fabulous environment

and you've got such an
amazing patch of Planet Earth.

It's desperately sad to see this
bit of it being poisoned like this.

It is. But at the moment,
this is the only solution,

just dumping it here and burning it.

We need to find proper solutions
to manage the waste.

For me, this is not
waste management,

this is just dumping and burning.

Yeah, I have to admire
the Maldives as well,

because we're not being
stopped from being here.

For a country that depends so
heavily on tourism,

there hasn't been
any attempt to muzzle us,

or prevent us from seeing this site.

Partly, I think, because people
here in the Maldives

face the same challenges
as we all do.

The entire world is creating
this sort of rubbish

and nobody really knows
what to do with it.

The government here says that it
will sort out the rubbish island.

I hope that they're true
to their word.

These islands lie at the very
heart of the Indian Ocean

and the environmental stakes
couldn't be higher.

Industrial fishing,
pollution, rising sea levels

and the warming of these coral
waters are all insistent threats.

Before I left, I was hoping to see
one of the wonders of the seas

that make this place
so worth preserving.

You see the black blanket that pops
up? Just where the bird is now?

If you keep looking there...

'Every new moon, this area receives
some very special visitors

'who come in great numbers
to feed on clouds of plankton.'

These are manta rays.

Measuring up to seven metres across,
they're the largest rays in the sea.

They travel hundreds of miles
from other parts of the Indian Ocean

to mate among the coral reefs here.

The mantas seem playful
and inquisitive,

and, despite their huge size,
were completely unthreatening.

That was amazing!

Actually quite moving.
Those are huge creatures!

Yet they're so...
they're so graceful in the water.

They sort of fly. They fly through
the water with these giant wings.

The mantas are one of
the most spectacular examples

of the riches of the Indian Ocean.

We still don't know
much about them.

And yet, like the rest
of the environment here,

we're threatening
their very survival.

I found the Maldives one of
the most breathtaking countries

I've ever visited,
but what had really surprised me

about my short visit
was just how much I'd learnt here

about the challenges facing
the whole Indian Ocean

and our global seas.

This is the end of this
part of my journey.

I've spent so much time
in boats, my legs are still wobbling

now I'm back on dry land.

But in the next leg, I'll start in
Sri Lanka. I'm going to head around

the Bay of Bengal, and then down the
eastern edge of the Indian Ocean.

Next time: I'll be helping
Indian fishermen

fighting to save our seas.

I don't think it's good
to be the tallest person!

And in Bangladesh,
I'll see the graveyard

where the world's ships go to die.

Giant ships with great,
huge chunks ripped off them.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd