0:00:02 > 0:00:03Coast is on its biggest expedition ever.
0:00:04 > 0:00:09I've come to Australia - a mighty island with a living coastline
0:00:09 > 0:00:12so dramatic it can overwhelm the senses.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16The vivid colours, the scents
0:00:16 > 0:00:19and sounds, the textures of Australia's coast evoke
0:00:19 > 0:00:25powerful emotions and create deep memories in those who come here.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31This is a place where we can touch the past and hear a nation's
0:00:31 > 0:00:34heartbeat in the tales of those who live here.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49We're off to the beach, but not just any beach. We're exploring
0:00:49 > 0:00:53two of the most iconic and treasured resort coastlines in the world -
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Australia's glistening Gold Coast
0:00:56 > 0:00:59and its northerly neighbour, the Sunshine Coast.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03They share such simple names, yet they evoke
0:01:03 > 0:01:05rays of sunshine into any tiring mind.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10You could just call them the holiday coasts.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14And bisecting them, the richly diverse Moreton Bay,
0:01:14 > 0:01:16where we stop off along the way.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21To appreciate the scale of our journey, it's best to scale
0:01:21 > 0:01:22great heights.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25The perfect start to the day.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Isn't it wonderful up here?
0:01:28 > 0:01:32The air's clearer, the light's brighter, the colours are sharper.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37But the apparent gloss of this coastline conceals many
0:01:37 > 0:01:40intriguing histories and a challenging future.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43At first sight, you might say it's all bikini-clad meter maids
0:01:43 > 0:01:47catching the next big wave and chilling out on the promenade.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52But on our journey, we're stepping behind this facade
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and discovering that these holiday meccas are much, much more.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01First, anthropologist Dr Xanthe Mallett reveals that the
0:02:01 > 0:02:05region had a key role in protecting the nation in World War II...
0:02:05 > 0:02:08This fort could have been the front line in the Pacific War.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11..palaeontologist Professor Tim Flannery explores
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Fraser Island, a world-famous sanctuary.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17But is it edible?
0:02:17 > 0:02:19It's like tasting history, really.
0:02:19 > 0:02:22Marine ecologist Dr Emma Johnston finds that to save
0:02:22 > 0:02:25the dugong, you have to catch one first.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27What we're looking for is when they pop up
0:02:27 > 0:02:28and their nose pops out of the water.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36Brendan Moar investigates how rips work and the dangers they present...
0:02:36 > 0:02:39OK, Brendan. We're going to put you in the guts of the rip.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41I feel like a long way from the beach now.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44This is a strange and unsettling place.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49And I uncover the tragic past behind an outpost for outcasts.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52This is Coast Australia.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20This time, our trip covers a coastline that
0:03:20 > 0:03:25runs from the iconic Surfers Paradise through Moreton Bay,
0:03:25 > 0:03:29past Noosa on the Sunshine Coast and up to Fraser Island in the north.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31This is the Gold Coast,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34where the mighty Pacific meets the most densely populated
0:03:34 > 0:03:37coastal community on the Continent. And you don't have to look
0:03:37 > 0:03:41too closely at the coastline to see that the name fits -
0:03:41 > 0:03:42golden sands,
0:03:42 > 0:03:43plenty of sunshine
0:03:43 > 0:03:47and a certain razzle-dazzle glitz to kick off our journey.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55First up, Miriam Corowa examines the roots of Surfers Paradise
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and its link to a modern American city.
0:03:59 > 0:04:04The foundations for Surfers Paradise were laid in 1933.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07That's when hotelier and entrepreneur Jim Cavill
0:04:07 > 0:04:11pushed to have a sleepy town called Elston renamed.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15Two hotly contested names were suggested - Sea Glint
0:04:15 > 0:04:19or Surfers Paradise, which was also the name of Jim's pub.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Jim lobbied hard for Surfers Paradise and won the vote -
0:04:23 > 0:04:28a marketing masterstroke in hindsight and great for his business.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32By the '50s, the town had rapidly transformed itself into a hip
0:04:32 > 0:04:34beach destination.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Subsequent development was driven by an easing of building
0:04:37 > 0:04:41regulations and the post-World War II economic boom.
0:04:41 > 0:04:42You won't go short on souvenirs.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46And as for cheery postcards, they're marvellous!
0:04:46 > 0:04:49They're making the folks back home feel terrible!
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Australia was flush and investors loved it here,
0:04:53 > 0:04:57dubbing the region the Gold Coast - not for the colour of its sand
0:04:57 > 0:05:00but for its money-making opportunities.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Of course, there was only a finite amount of waterfront.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07But for the property developers, the solution was simple.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11It was the construction of massive canals that opened up modern
0:05:11 > 0:05:17Surfers Paradise to a real estate boom in the '50s and '60s.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20'I'm meeting a man who played a key role in the creation of this
0:05:20 > 0:05:23'waterfront wonderland.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28'Jock McIlwain is an engineer, former developer and entrepreneur.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32'He arrived in Surfers Paradise in 1959 and found
0:05:32 > 0:05:36'himself in a spot perfect for building canals.'
0:05:36 > 0:05:38The geology and the geography of the place
0:05:38 > 0:05:40was ideal for canal developments.
0:05:40 > 0:05:46The tidal movement was only less than two metres and that
0:05:46 > 0:05:50meant that beaches could be provided in front of waterfronts.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53What were those first canals like?
0:05:53 > 0:05:56The early canals were put in in isolated positions
0:05:56 > 0:05:58and they were too narrow.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03The waters didn't move in and out freely during the tidal movement.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07They tended to become stagnant and people didn't like that very much.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10You get kind of a smell.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15I went to Miami and learnt all about canals in the early '60s
0:06:15 > 0:06:19and I found that the main thing was to
0:06:19 > 0:06:23concentrate on widening the canals and to give them aeration
0:06:23 > 0:06:27so that the water quality remained very high.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29And I did experiments on this development here.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34I put dyes in and I showed that we had to have seven tidal movements
0:06:34 > 0:06:39here before the water had changed completely, 100%.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45'Following this breakthrough, the residents flowed in after
0:06:45 > 0:06:48'the water started flowing both in and out.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50'And that's how Surfers Paradise found
0:06:50 > 0:06:56'another 400km of coastline and converted itself into a mini
0:06:56 > 0:06:59'Miami, with all the glamorous trimmings.'
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Almost everything in Surfers Paradise is connected to the sea.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09It's a glittering stereotype of Australians at play
0:07:09 > 0:07:11but the sea represents danger,
0:07:11 > 0:07:16especially the unpredictable rips that often claim lives.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20Brendan Moar is lending his body to science to help solve
0:07:20 > 0:07:21the riddle of the rips.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24- Brendan, how are you, mate? - Very good. How are you?- Good.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28In Surfers Paradise, water safety and life-saving have a long history.
0:07:29 > 0:07:33While shark attacks grab the biggest headlines in Queensland,
0:07:33 > 0:07:36the greatest risk to unsuspecting swimmers are the invisible
0:07:36 > 0:07:39clutches of the ocean herself - rips.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42I started young.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46'I'm meeting Warren Young, the Gold Coast's chief lifeguard -
0:07:46 > 0:07:48'a man with a lot of lives to watch over.'
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Patrolling beaches in rips, you've got to be on the ball.
0:07:51 > 0:07:52You've got to pick the right bank
0:07:52 > 0:07:54and then you've got to keep the people
0:07:54 > 0:07:57secure by constant surveillance and moving in and out with them.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59You know, taking a board out the back
0:07:59 > 0:08:02and just sitting in front of them, see how they're going, you know.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04It's so many things.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08'Testing the waters here today is a world expert on the subject.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11'He's Dr Rob Brander, better known as Dr Rip.'
0:08:11 > 0:08:14- G'day, Rob.- Hey, Brendan. How you going?- Doing good. How are you?
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- Yeah, good, thanks. - It's turned into a beautiful day.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Yeah, it's beautiful. The only problem is we've got a beach with
0:08:19 > 0:08:21lots of rips on it at the moment.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24And if you look at the beach right now, if you want to spot a rip,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27there's waves breaking everywhere - waves breaking, shallow water.
0:08:27 > 0:08:28You get a lot of white water.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31You get white down there, but right here in front of us,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34see this dark gap? It's about 30-40 metres wide?
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Well, that's what we call a rip current
0:08:36 > 0:08:40because it's deeper water, waves don't break as much there.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42All that water's coming in with the breaking waves
0:08:42 > 0:08:45and it's going back out through that rip.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Using GPS measurements on swimmers, Rob has discovered
0:08:48 > 0:08:51crucial information about the way rips behave.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54We're finding, on most beaches, that 80% of the time, rips do
0:08:54 > 0:08:57recirculate and maybe you should just stay afloat
0:08:57 > 0:09:00and relax because there's an 80% chance that you'll be taken
0:09:00 > 0:09:03within minutes back into shallow water.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04All right, so you hold that.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07'It seems a promising theory, so I've offered to put my body on the
0:09:07 > 0:09:12'line to test it out in this rip and learn how best to escape it.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15'A chest monitor will measure my heart rate.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19'To track my position, Rob's put a GPS on my head.'
0:09:19 > 0:09:22I imagine this looks really, really good, doesn't it?
0:09:22 > 0:09:24OK, Brendan, we're going to put you in the guts of the rip.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26You're going to walk out to about waist-deep water,
0:09:26 > 0:09:28head out a little bit in the rip
0:09:28 > 0:09:29and then you're going to do three things -
0:09:29 > 0:09:32first, you're going to swim parallel to the beach, heading that way,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34and then when you've finished doing that, come back
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and swim parallel to the beach going that way.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38And then the third time you go in,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40you're just going to stay afloat, relax,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42and see where the rip takes you.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45- You ready?- Wish me luck. - Good luck. You'll be fine.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52'To swim to the left, I have to say, isn't too bad.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58'But going the other way is very hard work.'
0:10:03 > 0:10:06- So what's the verdict? - That was harder.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Yeah, I don't think you actually got out of the rip, so we're going to
0:10:09 > 0:10:11go back in one more time
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- and try one more action. This time, you're just going to float.- OK.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16- Back you go.- Give me a moment to get my breath!- No, just go!
0:10:18 > 0:10:22'Initially, floating in the rip is fine, but after a few minutes,
0:10:22 > 0:10:24'I'm not getting any closer to the beach.'
0:10:24 > 0:10:26I feel like I'm a long way from the beach now.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30'In fact, I'm actually heading further offshore.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37'So in the interests of my personal safety,
0:10:37 > 0:10:39'we decide to call in the jetski.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:54Being stuck out there was freaky. That vehicle's awesome.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56Yeah, OK. Well, good job.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Let's go look at the data and see what happened to you.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03'The data tells us the first parallel swim with the current only
0:11:03 > 0:11:09'lifted my heart rate a little. The second swim - a lot!
0:11:09 > 0:11:11'But what about when I just floated?'
0:11:11 > 0:11:12The third one was interesting
0:11:12 > 0:11:14cos you just went out and you had to float
0:11:14 > 0:11:17and, of course, we had the GPS on you
0:11:17 > 0:11:18and we can see that you sort of went
0:11:18 > 0:11:22slowly out and then the rip pulsed and took you much further out.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25It was OK at first but then as I went further and further out,
0:11:25 > 0:11:27you know, it just gets pretty freaky out there
0:11:27 > 0:11:32and my mind starts to go a bit crazy. And yeah, it's not a good feeling.
0:11:32 > 0:11:33And your heart rate goes up.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36That's the whole story right here, is that, I mean, you can
0:11:36 > 0:11:38tell people to swim parallel but it's like a coin flip -
0:11:38 > 0:11:42which direction is going to be easy or hard? So it's not foolproof.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45If you're floating, well, that's great. If you float
0:11:45 > 0:11:47and you end up out of the rip really fast - great,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50but if you're taken out, you're still going to get nervous.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52So there's no ultimate answer.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Like the sea itself, rips are unpredictable,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00and Rob reckons the best advice is simple - swim between the flags.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08From Surfers Paradise, we travel north to Bribie Island
0:12:08 > 0:12:10at the top end of Moreton Bay.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Separated from the mainland by the narrow ribbon that is
0:12:14 > 0:12:18Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island is a haven for wildlife
0:12:18 > 0:12:20and holidaymakers.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25But it's also home to an historic military
0:12:25 > 0:12:29compound that was designed to play a crucial role in World War II.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35To uncover more, Dr Xanthe Mallet's hitting the beach.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Today, you can freely drive along the sands of Bribie Island.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44But back in 1942, civilians were barred from this beach,
0:12:44 > 0:12:45with good reason.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54Over 70 years ago, World War II was being fought on Australia's doorstep.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Darwin had been bombed, and with the Japanese assault in the
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Pacific in full swing, the threat of invasion by Japan was real indeed.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12A naval assault from the north would come right past these shores,
0:13:12 > 0:13:17so I've come to discover how Australia planned to repel an attack.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19Well, I'm only allowed to go
0:13:19 > 0:13:22so far in one of these. The rest of the way, I'm on foot.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28'I'm looking for a fort at the north end of the beach.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38'I've arranged to meet historian Richard Walding to find out
0:13:38 > 0:13:42'why this point on the Australian map is so important.'
0:13:44 > 0:13:47He's spent years studying the fort and its role in the War.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51This was strategically very significant for the Pacific War.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55It was to protect the US submarine base, which was in Brisbane,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57and that was one of the biggest US submarine
0:13:57 > 0:13:59bases in the world at the time.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01For about eight months, it was the biggest.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04They had something like 74 submarines on patrol over
0:14:04 > 0:14:05that period.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Had the Battle of the Coral Sea not gone the way it did
0:14:09 > 0:14:13and Japan did better in the Battle, this could have been the front line.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16This fort could have been the front line in the Pacific War.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22Adding to the tension were stories of what became known as
0:14:22 > 0:14:25the Brisbane Line.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27There's a thing called the Brisbane Line that is rumoured to be
0:14:27 > 0:14:31a line, north of which they were prepared to abandon,
0:14:31 > 0:14:33if the Japanese came further south.
0:14:33 > 0:14:34Everything, what,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37north of this, would have been just sacked off as collateral damage?
0:14:37 > 0:14:38It would have, yeah.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41So this was the last bastion for the Pacific War
0:14:41 > 0:14:44if the Japanese came further south.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48But what was it like for the men who were posted here,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50living in the shadow of a Japanese strike?
0:14:52 > 0:14:57Former digger, 92-year-old Tommy Dorrett, knows first-hand.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01He was 18 when he was conscripted and sent to Bribie Island.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04We've got some names on here. Are you actually listed on here?
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Yeah, I got... On the top left-hand side.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08Tom Dorrett.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10So all these guys did serve here with you?
0:15:10 > 0:15:14All served here with me. Yeah, the whole lot of them, yeah.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17I'm the only one that's still up and travelling.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19Did you stay friends with them after the War?
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Right up until they were finished.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23- Did you? - We were always on the phone.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24Really?
0:15:24 > 0:15:26OK, let's go.
0:15:26 > 0:15:28All right. After you, Sir.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31Be the first time I was called Sir on a gun.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35'Tommy's job was to man one of the fort's two gun batteries.'
0:15:35 > 0:15:38That's the old roster board in there.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- So your name would have been on that? - My name would have been there
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and that's the position you would have taken on the gun.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46How long were the shifts?
0:15:46 > 0:15:47Five hours.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The relief crew would be sleeping in this room in here
0:15:51 > 0:15:53and you would swap on.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57And they would come down and take your bed and you'd go up there
0:15:57 > 0:16:00and they'd take your place up there.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- After you.- Age before beauty!
0:16:03 > 0:16:05This is where the guns would have been?
0:16:05 > 0:16:07That's where the barrel come out there.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10The shooting end, if it's come out there.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13It could traverse from that side to that side.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16- All the way round, 180 degrees? - All the way around, 180 degrees.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19So that would have covered the whole bay, then, wouldn't it?
0:16:19 > 0:16:21Up and down, yeah.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Only weeks after Tommy was transferred to the fort,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27the hospital ship Centaur was torpedoed by a Japanese
0:16:27 > 0:16:30submarine about 60km east of the island.
0:16:30 > 0:16:36268 perished in a sinking that was condemned as a war crime.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38We couldn't see it, of course.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40- You could hear the thump.- Could you?
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Oh, my mate did. Sanderson was on duty.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45He heard the boom.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Fear of the invasion must have been really high.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52It puts you on your toes, that's for sure, because we knew
0:16:52 > 0:16:56that there was a sub in the very close area. We were getting
0:16:56 > 0:17:03this stand-to every day, every hour, until they knew it had gone.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04It was scary stuff, yeah.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09'The sinking of the Centaur made the prospect of seeing
0:17:09 > 0:17:14'the Japanese fleet steaming across the horizon seem more likely
0:17:14 > 0:17:15'than ever.'
0:17:16 > 0:17:19But no attack came, and throughout the War,
0:17:19 > 0:17:24the soldiers here waited for action. Occasionally, they made their own.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27The orderly sergeant come up here one day
0:17:27 > 0:17:30and said, "Get your rifles and the bayonets.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33"We're going down to Caloundra end." And, of course, there was
0:17:33 > 0:17:37a heap of mothers and children and that along the end of the Caloundra.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39What, tourists on the beach?
0:17:39 > 0:17:41From Caloundra, yeah.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43And we had to shoo 'em all off.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47THEY LAUGH
0:17:48 > 0:17:51So the most action you saw was shooing the tourists off the beach?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54That was the most action we got up until then, yeah.
0:17:55 > 0:18:01In the end, Fort Bribie never fired a shot in anger, and in 1945,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03after the War, it was abandoned.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08I just hope this historically important piece of military
0:18:08 > 0:18:12history that's been left to crumble away won't be forgotten.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17The next step of our journey takes us
0:18:17 > 0:18:19to the southern end of Moreton Bay.
0:18:19 > 0:18:23Nestled between the mainland and North Stradbroke Island
0:18:23 > 0:18:28is a spot that today looks like an idyllic holiday destination.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Back in the early 20th Century, it was a place with a sad,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36almost inhuman purpose.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Moreton Bay was once infamous for the penal colony that operated here.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52What's less well known is that there was a time when one of the
0:18:52 > 0:18:57islands was the unhappy home to a different kind of exile altogether.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04This is Peel Island - a place with a hidden but heartbreaking history.
0:19:05 > 0:19:06Hi, Thom.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10'I'm meeting historian Thom Blake to learn more.'
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Who was living on Peel Island?
0:19:12 > 0:19:16This was a home for lepers for quite a long time.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Yes, beginning in the early 20th Century.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Leprosy's something that I associate with the dim
0:19:22 > 0:19:23and distant past, really.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26I don't really think about it in the 19th Century.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27It was,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31but still was around very much, even in Queensland, in the 19th Century.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35The first case was recorded in 1855, but most significantly,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39in 1891, was the first white person,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43and that really terrorised the whole community,
0:19:43 > 0:19:48so much so that there was a special act called the Leprosy Act.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51Leprosy is a bacterial infection that has terrified people
0:19:51 > 0:19:53throughout history,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56largely because they wrongly believed the disease was
0:19:56 > 0:19:58highly contagious.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03The Leprosy Act, passed in 1892, enabled the "removal and
0:20:03 > 0:20:08"indefinite detention of any person suspected of having the disease".
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Leprosy was far more prevalent in the non-white population.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18That's what very much sort of exaggerated the fear in Queensland,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21that somehow, the whites would get this terrible disease
0:20:21 > 0:20:23from...from...from non-whites.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27- Can you show me where the people lived?- Let's go and have a look.
0:20:27 > 0:20:32Now partly restored, the Peel Island leper colony, or lazaret,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35was established in 1907 with 71 patients.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40To save money, it was a multiracial facility,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43and held both men and women.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45The compounds were strictly segregated
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and each patient lived in their own hut.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50People lived in these huts.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54Were they completely isolated here, or could members of the family come?
0:20:54 > 0:20:56There were very strict rules about who could visit.
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Family members could come, but the conditions were very onerous.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03You couldn't touch, you couldn't kiss.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07But of course, many families just often abandoned their members
0:21:07 > 0:21:12who were lepers and they became outcasts and forgotten.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14But remarkably, in a community
0:21:14 > 0:21:17that had been virtually abandoned by society,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21certain attitudes from the outside world still held sway here.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Although everyone here was suffering from the same affliction,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30there was huge variation in the ways they were treated,
0:21:30 > 0:21:32not least in terms of their accommodation.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37These shacks, set far back from the shore,
0:21:37 > 0:21:42were for the male non-white patients, as they were called.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Two years ago, traditional owner Joan Hendriks
0:21:45 > 0:21:47saw them for the first time.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51I had no idea until two years ago
0:21:51 > 0:21:55that this was the conditions our people lived in.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57It's just unbelievable.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00How inhumane would anyone get?
0:22:00 > 0:22:03It's very painful to even be here.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Things were so bad that in 1909,
0:22:07 > 0:22:1028 non-white patients wrote to the home secretary
0:22:10 > 0:22:13begging for decent housing.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18"Since we have lived on this island, we are dying away fast.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23"About 15 already have died here and only one white.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27"We are not looked after as well as the whites.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30"And us poor sufferers who suffer most
0:22:30 > 0:22:32"cannot get what we ask for."
0:22:34 > 0:22:36And I think those words tell a story.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46Patient numbers at the lazaret peaked at 86.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53But through its 52-year lifetime, many would die here.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00There are around 200 graves in this graveyard.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Most of them unmarked, all of them unvisited.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06They're a reminder that many of the people
0:23:06 > 0:23:08sent to Peel Island never left.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15In 1959, the lazaret was finally closed.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22In 2007, it was designated as a national park.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26This is a strange and unsettling place.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28On the one hand, some of the buildings lend it
0:23:28 > 0:23:31the air of an abandoned holiday camp.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34But the story they have to tell is an overwhelmingly sad one.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38It's about people who were misunderstood and mistreated.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42And not only that. They were held captive, like criminals,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44even though they'd committed no crime.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56We're travelling up the coast and offshore now
0:23:56 > 0:23:59to the northernmost point of our expedition,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Fraser Island.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05A World Heritage site and the biggest sand island in the world.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10On nine separate occasions covering millions of years,
0:24:10 > 0:24:13the dunes here have overlapped and built up on each other
0:24:13 > 0:24:16as ice ages came and went
0:24:16 > 0:24:18and sea levels rose and fell.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25Professor Tim Flannery has come here to unlock the riddle of its sands
0:24:25 > 0:24:29and discover how it supports an incredible diversity of life.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33I'm heading for one of the greatest natural wonders of the world,
0:24:33 > 0:24:34Fraser Island.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37And I'm really keen to learn how that pile of golden sand
0:24:37 > 0:24:39has painted a rainbow all of its own.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46This sand island is one of the world's oldest.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51For at least a million years, sand from as far away as Sydney
0:24:51 > 0:24:54has been making its way north up the East Coast.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00And it all accumulates here.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07The sand gathers here due to the bulge of Australia's East Coast.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11Pushed up from the south, it can't take the lefthander
0:25:11 > 0:25:13to cling to the shore beyond Fraser Island.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18So that's the last place it stays by land before heading out to sea.
0:25:20 > 0:25:24In the past, Fraser Island hasn't just proved a magnet for sand,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28it's also attracted a variety of human enterprises
0:25:28 > 0:25:31keen to exploit its natural resources.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34From the 1860s until 1991,
0:25:34 > 0:25:36there was extensive logging on the island.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42While sand-mining operations ran from 1949 till 1976.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Now, I want to learn what that sand
0:25:48 > 0:25:51can tell us about this island's incredible evolution,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55so I'm meeting paleoclimatologist, Jamie Schulemeister.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Hello. Good day, Tim. Good to meet you. Welcome to Fraser Island.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01You, too. Thank you very much.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06Jamie has long studied the dunes here and what they can tell us.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Ah, I can see the coloured sands.
0:26:11 > 0:26:12That is fantastic!
0:26:12 > 0:26:16It's got the whole story recorded in the cliff.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18This is the soil-forming process.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20And the white layers are the bleached layers,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24where all the nutrients have been ripped out of them.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26And the orange and yellow layers are the layers underneath
0:26:26 > 0:26:29in which all those nutrients have been taken into.
0:26:29 > 0:26:31So, the rainwater's carrying the minerals
0:26:31 > 0:26:34- and depositing them at different points?- Absolutely.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37The reddish sands are iron rich.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Yellows have more aluminium.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Blacks, manganese.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43But depending on the nutrients the grains hold,
0:26:43 > 0:26:46they're different sizes, too.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47- This is the beach sand.- Mm-hm.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Then this one here is the bleached sand on top
0:26:50 > 0:26:55and this is the bright-red, iron-rich sand underneath.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59And the best way to measure size isn't with your fingers.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02So if you take a pinch of the sand and then place it in your mouth...
0:27:02 > 0:27:04- Yeah?- Mm!
0:27:04 > 0:27:05I can feel the individual grains.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07They're fairly coarse, it seems to me.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12But my tongue tells me the sand stripped of nutrients is finer.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15And as for the iron-rich grains...
0:27:15 > 0:27:18It's got a creaminess about it,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20but with that granularity, as well.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22With those small grains that are still there,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24but there's something else.
0:27:24 > 0:27:25So what's happened there is
0:27:25 > 0:27:27the small grains are the sand that was always down there
0:27:27 > 0:27:31and that creaminess is all the minerals that have been washed down.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35And they form little layers, little clay-type layers around the grains.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Yeah. It's like tasting history, really, in a sense, for me.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45Remarkably, over time, the vegetation here
0:27:45 > 0:27:48has found enough nutrients in the sand
0:27:48 > 0:27:51not just to survive, but thrive.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56As the heavens open on me, the sand itself is about to demonstrate
0:27:56 > 0:27:59how it provides another key element for life.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Crystal-clear fresh water.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10At least 80-million litres flows down this creek every day.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13And after a century in the sand aquifer,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17it's as clean and refreshing as any water I've ever tasted.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Fraser Island is essentially a massive sponge
0:28:21 > 0:28:23that sucks in rainwater,
0:28:23 > 0:28:27which gets filtered down into a huge porous reservoir,
0:28:27 > 0:28:32estimated to be at least 17 times the size of Sydney Harbour.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34It might stay there for 100 years
0:28:34 > 0:28:36before it gets discharged into the sea.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40But there's yet another reason
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Fraser Island is an unspoilt paradise.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47- Looking for a lift, mate? - Salvation! John, how are you?
0:28:47 > 0:28:49- Ah, not bad! - What happened to sunny Queensland?
0:28:51 > 0:28:53John Sinclair has spent a lifetime
0:28:53 > 0:28:56fighting for the island's conservation.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59Now, John, I understand that, you know, this island wouldn't quite be
0:28:59 > 0:29:02what it is today without you and a few mates.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05We've been successful in stopping sand mining
0:29:05 > 0:29:09and for making it World Heritage listed,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12which meant the end of the logging operations.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18And so it's been an interesting 42 years for our organisation.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23And the long battle has been well worth it.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28There are now 870 species of flowering plants and ferns here.
0:29:28 > 0:29:35Over 230 species of birds and 25 mammal species, including dingos.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39It's got one of the greatest measured biomasses
0:29:39 > 0:29:41of any area in the world.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43It's produced what seems to be
0:29:43 > 0:29:45incredible biodiversity from almost nothing.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47From water, sand and sunlight.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50- And wind.- And wind, OK.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Wind is the driving force of it all.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56- Really?- Yes. If it wasn't for the wind, you wouldn't have the waves,
0:29:56 > 0:30:00you wouldn't have the sand being transported up from the south
0:30:00 > 0:30:03to create Fraser Island in the first place.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05And it's the wind that brings the rain.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11As I'm discovering, there's no shortage of rain here,
0:30:11 > 0:30:14but there's also no shortage of beauty.
0:30:16 > 0:30:20Which I guess proves you really can build a paradise
0:30:20 > 0:30:22out of nothing but sand.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Our trip now takes us back to the tranquil waters of Moreton Bay.
0:30:29 > 0:30:32I've come to the western shores of the bay
0:30:32 > 0:30:34to learn how a prison within a prison
0:30:34 > 0:30:37established up the Brisbane River,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40laid the foundations for Australia's third largest city.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44# One Sunday morning
0:30:44 > 0:30:46# As I went walking...#
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Folk singer and autoharp player, Evan Mathieson,
0:30:49 > 0:30:52is passionate about songs that tell a story.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56This one, Moreton Bay, recounts the tale
0:30:56 > 0:30:59of one of Australia's most brutal penal settlements
0:30:59 > 0:31:03and its cruellest commander, Captain Patrick Logan.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07# I am a native of Erin's Island
0:31:07 > 0:31:11# But banished now from my native shore...#
0:31:11 > 0:31:13The Moreton Bay settlement was for convicts
0:31:13 > 0:31:17who had reoffended once here in Australia.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21Their crimes ranged from larceny to sex offences, to murder.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24When Logan took up his command in 1826,
0:31:24 > 0:31:28it was a struggling outpost of around 200.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30But during his four years in charge,
0:31:30 > 0:31:33he instigated an intensive programme of construction,
0:31:33 > 0:31:35building up the settlement to become
0:31:35 > 0:31:38a self-sufficient community of over 1,000.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Logan oversaw the construction of Queensland's
0:31:40 > 0:31:42first permanent buildings,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46in what would later become the city of Brisbane.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49But it would be a city built on foundations of hardship.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55Moreton Bay penal settlement was probably one of the harshest
0:31:55 > 0:32:01and most brutal in the whole of Australia's penal history.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Particularly under Captain Logan.
0:32:03 > 0:32:10In one of the years, he ordered 200 floggings of 11,000 lashes.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13He instigated a treadmill up on the Tower Mill
0:32:13 > 0:32:15and took the windmill blades off
0:32:15 > 0:32:19and the prisoners used to spend hours just pumping water,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22or whatever they used the power of the mill to do.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24He was a very brutal man.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Logan was killed by Aborigines in 1830
0:32:28 > 0:32:31while out on an expedition.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33But he was destined never to be forgotten.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36- Is there more of that song? - Oh, yes, yes.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39- Could you play it?- Yes.
0:32:42 > 0:32:47# For three long years I've been beastly treated
0:32:47 > 0:32:50# And heavy irons on my legs, I wore
0:32:52 > 0:32:57# My back, with flogging has been lacerated
0:32:57 > 0:33:01# And oft times, painted with my crimson gore...#
0:33:01 > 0:33:05I love it when history is preserved in song.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11We're leaving Moreton Bay now
0:33:11 > 0:33:15and heading up to the heart of the Sunshine Coast, Mooloolaba.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18This town is home to a commercial fishing fleet
0:33:18 > 0:33:22that catches more prawns than any other on the East Coast.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25But as pressure mounts on the industry,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27what sort of future does it face?
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Brendan Moar has come in search of answers.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36The local prawn industry's facing tough times.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39In a nation of massive prawn consumers,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41you really have to wonder why.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46Is it overfishing, foreign fishing ports, the cost of capture?
0:33:46 > 0:33:49To find out the answer, I'm joining the prawn trawler, Shebimie,
0:33:49 > 0:33:51for a night on the high seas.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54- Hey, Brendan!- Good day, Bill. - How are you?- Very good. How are you?
0:33:54 > 0:33:56- Good, mate. Welcome aboard. - Thank you, sir.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59- Let's go and catch some prawns. - Fantastic.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Bill Hennebry has been fishing the waters off Mooloolaba for 38 years.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08He's owned his own boat since 1988.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10So, Bill what's the plan?
0:34:10 > 0:34:13We're going to go out here to about 45 fathoms
0:34:13 > 0:34:15and we're going to put the gear on the bottom
0:34:15 > 0:34:19and see if we can catch some real nice king prawns.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23In Queensland, trawling for prawns is an industry
0:34:23 > 0:34:27that's grown from virtually nothing over the last 50 years.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30It boomed through the '70s, '80s and into the mid '90s,
0:34:30 > 0:34:35thanks largely to an export market driven by a low Australian dollar.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38But the price fishermen receive for prawns has virtually halved
0:34:38 > 0:34:41in real terms since 2001.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44And about half the 40,000 tonnes of prawns
0:34:44 > 0:34:47Australians will consume this year will be imported.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51- Is it getting harder to make a living?- Yes.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55We're still getting 25-year-old prices.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57But everything else has gone up.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Prawns are always taken at night.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03And were aiming for a spot about 50 kilometres off the mainland.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11- All right, are you ready?- I'm ready! - You ready?- Yeah, I'm ready!
0:35:11 > 0:35:15- Show us some excitement! Let's do it! - I'm totally ready!- Let's do it!
0:35:22 > 0:35:24That's it. All the wire's out. We're now fishing.
0:35:26 > 0:35:27But tonight, our test net
0:35:27 > 0:35:30isn't exactly bursting with the bounty of the sea.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39- One king prawn!- There he is. - That's the one. Not good enough.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42That's the first time I've ever held a prawn that's still alive.
0:35:45 > 0:35:47Watch where we go on there, Barry!
0:35:47 > 0:35:51Adding to the pressure is the danger.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54In the early '80s, fishermen were about 18 times more likely
0:35:54 > 0:35:58to die on the job than the average Australian worker.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Safety has improved markedly, but the fatality rate
0:36:01 > 0:36:04is still around nine times higher than the national average.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11And in case you're wondering, Bill's deckhand, Barry, can't swim.
0:36:13 > 0:36:18How is that for you, whenever you hear about another man lost?
0:36:18 > 0:36:20It makes you look at what you're doing
0:36:20 > 0:36:22and sometimes you feel like quitting
0:36:22 > 0:36:24and going and finding something else to do,
0:36:24 > 0:36:28but I guess we're just born to do this, so we go back to doing it.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31You get over it.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33Have a service for him.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Have a farewell and get on with it.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40And a few hours later, all thoughts
0:36:40 > 0:36:43have turned to just one thing, the catch.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46- Now, that's a prawn! - Now, that is a serious prawn.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51- You can hang onto him.- Righto. I'm...I could ride him to school.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54Bill and Barry work with remarkable efficiency
0:36:54 > 0:36:57getting the haul ready for market.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02These are our mediums, our 10-20s.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Through the prawn washer.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09So, is that a decent catch, Bill?
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Well, it didn't work out too bad.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13About 14 boxes there.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15That's 150-odd pound.
0:37:15 > 0:37:1770 kilos, sort of thing.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Not brilliant, but its all right.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23At today's prices, this catch is worth around 1,000.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25You've got two men out here.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29That's right. And the overheads, you know... It's not enough.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35We've fallen a little short of it being a successful trip.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38But I've seen enough to get a small taste of the risks and realities
0:37:38 > 0:37:40of being a fisherman.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43I also realise that life on the sea
0:37:43 > 0:37:47probably isn't the life for me.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Bill, too, is somewhat dubious about my skills as a fisherman.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54- Righto, I better hand you this back. Bill.- I'm going to need that.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57- You're going to need it. - You're not going to.- No.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00- LAUGHTER - I don't think so.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03- Good night, Barry.- Nice to have met you, mate.- You, too. See you later.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07I'm just happy to be back on solid ground.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17Follow the coastline north from Mooloolaba and soon you'll hit
0:38:17 > 0:38:21one of Australia's most famous beaches, Noosa.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25This is a mile-long sheltered crescent of sand,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27where cosmopolitan sophistication
0:38:27 > 0:38:30meets board shorts and thongs.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Around here, you're very likely
0:38:35 > 0:38:38to bump into millionaires and movie stars.
0:38:38 > 0:38:42And there are even those who've made the games of childhood
0:38:42 > 0:38:43into a way of life.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Denis! How are you doing?
0:38:48 > 0:38:50Hey! How are you?
0:38:50 > 0:38:52You're a professional sand sculptor and you work on the beach.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55- Where did it all go wrong? - I used to be a photographer.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58I was working, like, six to seven days a week.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00And at that time, my eldest son was only three.
0:39:00 > 0:39:04And so I was running out of the door, you know, front door,
0:39:04 > 0:39:06carrying camera gear under each arm
0:39:06 > 0:39:10and he sort of waved at me and said, "Bye, Dad."
0:39:10 > 0:39:14And I went. I was choking back tears when I hopped into my car.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16And I went back upstairs and I said, "What do you want to do?"
0:39:16 > 0:39:21He said, "I want to go to Tea Tree Bay in the Noosa National Park
0:39:21 > 0:39:23"and build things in sand."
0:39:25 > 0:39:26From that promise to his son,
0:39:26 > 0:39:29Denis has built not only these impressive sculptures
0:39:29 > 0:39:31and scores more like them,
0:39:31 > 0:39:35but a career that's taken him nine times around the world
0:39:35 > 0:39:37in the last seven years.
0:39:38 > 0:39:40And at what point did you realise
0:39:40 > 0:39:43that this thing you were doing to entertain your little boy
0:39:43 > 0:39:45was actually potentially a way of earning a living?
0:39:45 > 0:39:47A French woman approached me and she said,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51"Are you aware of the international circuit of sand sculptures?"
0:39:51 > 0:39:52And I went, "What?!"
0:39:52 > 0:39:55- Can such things be?- Yes.
0:39:55 > 0:39:58Right, I'm going to let you make the magic happen. All right.
0:40:03 > 0:40:08Watching Denis work is to observe a unique demonstration of speed,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11skill and artistry.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25So, where'd you get the inspiration
0:40:25 > 0:40:27for that particular arrangement of figures?
0:40:27 > 0:40:30Well, I really love dolphins
0:40:30 > 0:40:32and I swim with them occasionally.
0:40:32 > 0:40:36And I'd love to be a mermaid so I wouldn't have to come up so often.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41Right, Denis, I'm inspired.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45No worries, mate.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47- Inspired.- See you.
0:40:49 > 0:40:51I'm astonished how I'm forever finding people
0:40:51 > 0:40:54who create unique careers on the coast.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59Travel to the eastern boundary of Moreton Bay
0:40:59 > 0:41:01and you'll find Moreton Island.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06Its Aboriginal name, Moorgumpin, means, "place of sand hills."
0:41:06 > 0:41:10And some of the dunes here reach up over 200 metres high.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20This island is also the home of Queensland's first lighthouse.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24Constructed using convict labour in 1857,
0:41:24 > 0:41:25it was built in response
0:41:25 > 0:41:27to the rising number of wrecks that occurred
0:41:27 > 0:41:30as the shipping traffic into Moreton Bay and Brisbane increased.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35But on the island's western shore, you can find proof
0:41:35 > 0:41:38that not all shipwrecks are the result of wild weather,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41bad luck or faulty seamanship.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45Here at Tangalooma, these wrecks came about thanks to lobbying
0:41:45 > 0:41:48by recreational boat owners wanting a safe anchorage.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52The first was sunk in 1963
0:41:52 > 0:41:57and now 15 former dredgers and barges not only provide shelter,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00but an excellent artificial reef
0:42:00 > 0:42:02for both divers and snorkelers.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10We're leaving the shores of Moreton Island now
0:42:10 > 0:42:12as our focus returns to the well-protected
0:42:12 > 0:42:14and shallow waters of Moreton Bay.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Because the bay has an average depth of only seven metres,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21sunlight can reach the seafloor here,
0:42:21 > 0:42:25allowing a wide array of marine plants to grow.
0:42:27 > 0:42:30That in turn supports a diverse range of wildlife,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32including a species struggling to survive
0:42:32 > 0:42:34our encroachment into its habitat.
0:42:36 > 0:42:39Marine ecologist, Dr Emma Johnston, is on an expedition
0:42:39 > 0:42:42to track down some of these creatures and discover
0:42:42 > 0:42:46how a team of scientists collecting crucial scientific data
0:42:46 > 0:42:48is trying to safeguard their future.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54Do a bit of detective work on the mudflats of Moreton Bay
0:42:54 > 0:42:57and there are clues to be found about the presence
0:42:57 > 0:43:00of a curious local inhabitant.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01This is sea grass.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05The preferred diet of the sea cow, or dugong.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08The majority of this internationally-endangered species
0:43:08 > 0:43:11are now found off the coast of northern Australia,
0:43:11 > 0:43:15but there are only about 1,000 left in these waters.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18And today, I'm going on a dugong hunt.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20Janet!
0:43:20 > 0:43:22Marine biologist, Janet Lanyon, and her team
0:43:22 > 0:43:26are carrying out work vital to protecting the dugong population.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29And these hunts are critical to their studies.
0:43:29 > 0:43:30Get some samples.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32Yes, and we need to go now, while the tide's right.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36We're looking for a large grey sea mammal
0:43:36 > 0:43:41that can grow up to three-metres long and 500 kilograms in weight.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Dugongs only hold their breath for a couple of minutes
0:43:43 > 0:43:45and they're out there feeding now.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48So what we're looking for is when they pop up
0:43:48 > 0:43:50and their nose pops out of the water.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54Historically, and still today,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57dugongs have strong social and cultural significance
0:43:57 > 0:44:01for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders living in coastal regions.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05But in the mid 1800s, it was the non-indigenous hunters
0:44:05 > 0:44:07that truly decimated their numbers.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Dugong blubber was a prized commodity.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12It was used to treat a variety of ailments,
0:44:12 > 0:44:15including lung disease and rheumatism.
0:44:15 > 0:44:20And as this ad shows, it was even sold as a cure for baldness.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Today, apart from hunting by traditional owners,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29dugongs are fully protected.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31He turns right at the last minute.
0:44:31 > 0:44:33And we're finally onto one.
0:44:33 > 0:44:34- Down there!- Coming!
0:44:36 > 0:44:37There he is!
0:44:47 > 0:44:52To the dugong, this probably feels like an alien abduction.
0:44:52 > 0:44:54But it soon settles.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56Catches are strictly limited to five minutes
0:44:56 > 0:44:59to minimise the animal's stress at all the attention.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03The measuring and sampling is crucial to learn about factors
0:45:03 > 0:45:05such as nutrition, reproduction
0:45:05 > 0:45:09and to see how stable population numbers are.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13Because they live in shallow waters, dugongs are under continuous attack
0:45:13 > 0:45:16from human threats, such as propeller strikes,
0:45:16 > 0:45:18pollution and fishing nets.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21- Put your hand over it. - All right? Ready? Release.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30This was a female. A pretty big adult.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33- About 265 centimetres.- Uh-huh.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35Really big tail. Very fat.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Probably within the range of pregnant female,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40so we suspect that she might be.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43We got skin samples for genetics
0:45:43 > 0:45:46and she was an animal that we haven't captured in the past,
0:45:46 > 0:45:48so she was a new animal. New one for our sample.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50- And you got all that in five minutes?- Yeah, that's right.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52With her thrashing around!
0:45:52 > 0:45:55A pregnant female is great news.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58Because what makes the population especially vulnerable
0:45:58 > 0:46:00is the dugong's slow reproductive rate.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06A female may only have a few calves in her lifetime.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09And every year, about 95% of the adult population
0:46:09 > 0:46:12have to survive just to keep numbers stable.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17As the tide turns, we're onto another one.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Since the programme started in 2001,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26the team have carried out about 1,300 captures
0:46:26 > 0:46:28on around 700 individuals.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32Once the information gathered today
0:46:32 > 0:46:35has been added and compared to an existing database of analysis,
0:46:35 > 0:46:38it'll give researchers a more accurate assessment
0:46:38 > 0:46:41of population numbers and behaviour patterns.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44OK. Are you ready? Release.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49Most importantly, they'll learn where these enigmatic creatures
0:46:49 > 0:46:51are most vulnerable.
0:46:51 > 0:46:54And how we can best manage their protection.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Now it's time for us to leave this Golden Coast,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07after what, in many ways, has been a journey of contradictions.
0:47:09 > 0:47:11But if there is one constant, it's the sand
0:47:11 > 0:47:15that continues to sustain and enrich these shores.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19I've visited more than a few historic castles
0:47:19 > 0:47:22in my travels around the UK coast and beyond.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25So far in Australia, I haven't encountered
0:47:25 > 0:47:29any man-made structures of quite the antiquity I'm used to.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33But because of the great age of the sand on this beach,
0:47:33 > 0:47:39even a humble sandcastle becomes a historic building of sorts.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49Next time, we travel to the southernmost point
0:47:49 > 0:47:52of the Australian mainland, the Victorian Coast.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57Dr Xanthe Mallett will be unravelling the mystery
0:47:57 > 0:48:01behind a tragic shipwreck that marked the end of an era.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03It's amazing that after so much time,
0:48:03 > 0:48:05we can come down here and see it!
0:48:06 > 0:48:11Brendan Moar finds out first-hand about the incredible risks it took
0:48:11 > 0:48:14to build the world's biggest war memorial.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19Ah, this is an incredible view! But it's kind of terrifying.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Professor Tim Flannery tracks down proof of the existence
0:48:23 > 0:48:26of a truly massive predator.
0:48:26 > 0:48:27- Come on! - LAUGHTER
0:48:27 > 0:48:29Look at that! Can you believe it?
0:48:29 > 0:48:31Look, that is the tiniest find!
0:48:31 > 0:48:34And I discover the crucial role
0:48:34 > 0:48:37this lighthouse played in the birth of a nation.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39This is known as a land full of light.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40So what this is saying is, like,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43"Hello, hello, this is Cape Otway. I'm here. You've arrived."