0:00:13 > 0:00:15This is Coast!
0:00:17 > 0:00:21As islanders, we're surrounded by the sea.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24It shapes and sustains us.
0:00:28 > 0:00:34Beneath the waves lie watery riches, food and other treasures.
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Bounty that defines coastal living,
0:00:37 > 0:00:42and forges fruitful relationships across our seas.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46I'm heading for a unique place,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50a North Atlantic neighbour famous for its bounty.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Out there is somewhere I've never been, yet always wanted to.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01People call it "nature's larder", and it's simply breathtaking.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I'm touching down in the Faroe Islands.
0:01:16 > 0:01:21An archipelago of 18 islands, 200 miles north west of Shetland,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24the Faroe Islands are a self-governing nation
0:01:24 > 0:01:26within the Kingdom of Denmark.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31While I'm in lands afar, the rest of the team are casting off
0:01:31 > 0:01:34on their own search for bounty.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Mark's venturing into unknown waters in the wake of our earliest fishermen.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41We're trying to fish, the boat is burning...
0:01:42 > 0:01:44This is such a risky operation!
0:01:46 > 0:01:49Hermione's discovering how a microscopic bounty
0:01:49 > 0:01:53aroused passions in Victorian art and science.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58Plankton opened up a whole new world of mystery, of the magic of nature.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02Tess is finding out how help from the seashore was
0:02:02 > 0:02:07enlisted to keep Britain flying during the Second World War.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11A German scientist stepped in with a unique solution,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14he would save our skies with seaweed.
0:02:16 > 0:02:19And I'm searching up top and down deep
0:02:19 > 0:02:21for an array of Faroese fodder!
0:02:21 > 0:02:25This is bounty from the sea.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56I'm in the Faroe Islands, a place totally dependent on the sea
0:02:56 > 0:02:58and its riches.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Out there is a world of opportunity,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08oceans awash with bounty, a natural larder.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13I want to discover what makes the Faroe Islands so reliant on the sea.
0:03:13 > 0:03:18What makes this coast and these waters so fertile?
0:03:18 > 0:03:21To find out, I'm embarking on an island odyssey.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28My journey will take me around the islands, starting in the capital,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30Torshavn, I'm making my way
0:03:30 > 0:03:34to Muli on Bordoy, then to Gjogv on
0:03:34 > 0:03:40Eysturoy where I'll attend a Faroese gathering - including a feast.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43I might be miles from home,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47but Britain has long been linked to this place by bounty.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52The British supplied the first fishing smack in the 1850s
0:03:52 > 0:03:55that took the Faroese fishing fleet offshore,
0:03:55 > 0:04:01creating a population explosion and changing this archipelago forever.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Today, the Faroe Islands are one of the six biggest suppliers
0:04:04 > 0:04:06of fish into the UK.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13An astonishing 90% of the Faroese export is fish.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19Flourishing North Atlantic waters are home to species such as cod,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21herring, mackerel and salmon.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29Bounty from these seas defines this isolated community
0:04:29 > 0:04:34and surviving the harsh winter months means nothing is off-limits.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41For 400 years, the Grindadrap whale hunt has been a ritual which continues today.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44This custom is controversial
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and draws objections from the wider world.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Gathering food for the table is a tradition handed down through
0:04:53 > 0:04:55the generations here.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Be it on land or in the sea, I want to unlock the secrets of these
0:04:59 > 0:05:05bountiful waters by doing some Faroese foraging of my own.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07I'll see what I can bring to the table at the end of my journey.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19But what, beyond fish, thrives in these waters.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Birgir Enni, a local diver and lifelong underwater forager,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26is taking me in search of other edible treasures.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31- Hello, Birgir! - Hello. Welcome.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35We're sailing north out of the main town of Torshavn,
0:05:35 > 0:05:37the capital of this little archipelago.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44I'm aboard the Nordslyd, a traditional Faroese schooner,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46built here in the 1940s.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53- What are we looking for, Birgir? - The mussels, the horse mussels.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55And where do we find Faroese horse mussels?
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Yeah, all around the island you can find them.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00- Yeah?- Yeah, in the Fjord especially.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Back home, we predominantly eat the blue mussel.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13Here, on the Faroes, appetites are somewhat bigger.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16- This is one from the British water. - OK, I'm familiar with these.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21I have one here, this is, this is our mussels.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23That's enormous! It's like a small boat.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Yeah, yeah. They can be up to 45-years-old.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28They grow very, very slowly.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31They are full of meat - I like them best of all.
0:06:31 > 0:06:35- It's for health, fire food - it makes you strong.- OK.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Finding these monsters from the deep means taking the plunge
0:06:40 > 0:06:42and getting wet.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46This is a Faroese swimming costume.
0:06:48 > 0:06:54As Birgir dives into the depths, I'm charged with searching closer to shore.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57But I'm the world's worst snorkeler,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00so the chances of me finding anything are slight.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Despite its northerly latitude, the water is surprisingly temperate.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21That's because the Faroe Islands sit right in the path
0:07:21 > 0:07:26of the Gulf Stream - a warm Atlantic current that brings nutrient-rich
0:07:26 > 0:07:30waters from the Gulf of Mexico right up into the North Atlantic.
0:07:30 > 0:07:35It makes for waters that never drop below six or seven degrees all year round.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Such clear conditions are courtesy of strong currents
0:07:45 > 0:07:47and little heavy industry.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51Coupled with a steady temperature and rich supply of plankton,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55it's the perfect habitat for horse mussels.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00These sleeping giants can lie undisturbed for decades,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03growing and growing.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Living part-buried in the sediment and amongst all this kelp,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11they're not an easy bounty to spot.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13But Birgir has come up trumps!
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Look what Birgir has found.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Catch a gander at this.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25HE STRUGGLES
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Look at the size of them! Birgir, how old do you think this one is?
0:08:31 > 0:08:34Yeah. 30 years, 30 years..
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- 30 years it's been growing just here.- Yes.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42This is the first contribution to my Faroese feast.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Look at these.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47You are very welcome.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Welcome to our garden.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56Surviving on the coast requires ingenuity and resolve.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02It characterises its people who make a life on the edge.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08Our seas promise rich pickings if we can harvest them.
0:09:09 > 0:09:15From the fruitful North Atlantic to the fish-rich North Sea,
0:09:15 > 0:09:20fishing has united coastal communities for thousands of years.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25And this shared heritage stretches back to a time
0:09:25 > 0:09:28when this sea didn't even exist.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35Mark's heading for Ertebolle on the north west coast of Denmark
0:09:35 > 0:09:39to investigate archaeological evidence of the very first
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Europeans to fish at sea.
0:09:47 > 0:09:517,000 years ago in the Mesolithic period,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55this fjord would have been a lush, bountiful landscape.
0:09:55 > 0:10:02Now flooded, these waters hold the secret to a Stone Age technology
0:10:02 > 0:10:05that would forever change our coast.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11In the 1970s, archaeologists made a remarkable discovery,
0:10:11 > 0:10:17some three metres down on the seabed they found a perfectly preserved
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Stone Age village.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24It would transform our understanding of how people lived in the past.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35I might be in Denmark, but our two coasts were once linked.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37There's the mountains of Scotland.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40That's because a landmass used to connect
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Britain and mainland Europe.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So, let's put seaweed in, which was once dry land.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51It's known as Doggerland.
0:10:51 > 0:10:53Over the centuries, sea levels rose
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and flat flood plains were reclaimed by the North Sea.
0:10:57 > 0:11:02People were forced to choose which shrinking landmass to follow,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07one towards Britain or one towards mainland Europe.'
0:11:07 > 0:11:12We were once connected across the North Sea with a common culture.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17I've come here to Denmark to find out how discoveries made here
0:11:17 > 0:11:21shed light on our Stone Age ancestors back in Britain.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30Soren Andersen was a principal investigator at the excavation
0:11:30 > 0:11:34of Tybrind Vig, a 7,000-year-old settlement found
0:11:34 > 0:11:37submerged in a fjord.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42Discoveries included pots, tools and graves,
0:11:42 > 0:11:47but there was something more surprising - three boats.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50And I have a slide here where you can see one.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55That's a big one lying on the dry land, on the beach,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57for the first time in 6,500 years!
0:11:57 > 0:12:00I mean, that must be some of the oldest boats in Europe.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04It is, it is. And what surprised us mostly,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07it was ten metres long.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12So, it's an enormous trunk has been used for that boat.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17The boat was proof of a shifting way of life from hunting on land
0:12:17 > 0:12:19to hunting at sea.
0:12:19 > 0:12:24Prior to this, Stone Age people were transient hunter-gatherers.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29By building the first boats, they could now fish from the sea
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and settle on the coast.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36The local museum has built a replica of one of the original boats,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39which contained an unexpected feature.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42What is surprising is that we have had a fireplace or
0:12:42 > 0:12:45hearth to the rear of the boat.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48I mean, it's a completely mad idea, isn't it?
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- Lighting a fire in a wooden boat? - They had a fire in a wooden boat.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53THEY LAUGH
0:12:53 > 0:12:57It was a discovery that confounded archaeologists.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01Not only had they found evidence the first fishing boats,
0:13:01 > 0:13:057,000 years ago, Stone Age people
0:13:05 > 0:13:08were taking fire out to sea.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10What was going on?
0:13:14 > 0:13:20This might look like an empty field, but it could unlock the answer.
0:13:20 > 0:13:27In the 1890s, a huge Stone Age rubbish dump or midden was uncovered here.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30It dated to the same period as the boats
0:13:30 > 0:13:34and it was full of millions of shells and fish bones.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Look! Here we've got some of the shells that have been thrown
0:13:37 > 0:13:43up by animals. Oyster and scallops and all sorts of things here.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47When the midden was originally excavated, it produced many
0:13:47 > 0:13:51really important finds, including this extraordinary, exquisite
0:13:51 > 0:13:54fish hook from the Stone Age.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59This coastal bounty, masses of bones from protein-rich fish
0:13:59 > 0:14:03together with the boats, suggests these people were prolific
0:14:03 > 0:14:06and successful fishermen.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10Among the bones found in the midden, were a number of species that
0:14:10 > 0:14:13were typically caught at night.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18Could that perhaps be the reason for the fires on the boats?
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Eel bones were found in their thousands among the Stone Age rubbish.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28These are fish most active after dark,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32as retired fisherman Enjar Grevy remembers.
0:14:32 > 0:14:34- Hello, Enjar!- Yes.- Hi!- Hi, hi.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37- Can I come on-board?- Yes.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42Enjar fished for the elusive eel at night using lamp light,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44a practice now banned.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49- Did that attract the eels?- Yes. Where the lights end,
0:14:49 > 0:14:53you can see the eels come slowly passing by.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58- Sometimes just opposite the boat. - And then how did you catch them?
0:14:58 > 0:15:05When the light was on and I saw the eel...
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Very slowly, down...
0:15:09 > 0:15:11ding-a-ling-ling...
0:15:13 > 0:15:16- ..then pull them in. - As easy as that?- Yes.
0:15:17 > 0:15:22The idea that this type of fishing might have origins dating
0:15:22 > 0:15:27back over 7,000 years on this fjord, is something I want to test.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33We've been given special permission by the government to do some
0:15:33 > 0:15:38experimental archaeology to find out how and why
0:15:38 > 0:15:42our Stone Age ancestors might have fished at night.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52Stone Age expert Jacqui Wood is helping me.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- That should be enough. - You reckon so?- Yeah.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01- Right!- In it goes.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Findings from the Stone Age boats revealed that embers
0:16:05 > 0:16:09sat on a bed of sand and clay to protect the wood from burning.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Leave that to settle a little bit and we'll take some logs with us
0:16:12 > 0:16:14to keep it going.
0:16:14 > 0:16:15Off we go!
0:16:17 > 0:16:21Jacqui and assistant Kif have brought along a prehistoric fishing
0:16:21 > 0:16:23kit of harpoons and flares,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27all based on archaeological findings.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32While Stone Age man would have known what to do, for us
0:16:32 > 0:16:34it's more error than trial,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and it's not long before we're in trouble.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- Hang on we've got a problem here, Jacqui.- OK.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43- I've dumped a whole lot of bark at the back there...- No!
0:16:43 > 0:16:47- ..and it's actually burning the boat!- OK, well...
0:16:47 > 0:16:50This is completely mad, isn't it?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53We're in the middle of the North Sea, in a dug-out canoe.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55I mean, we're trying to fish,
0:16:55 > 0:17:00the boat is burning - this is such a risky operation.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02But it must have been a really sort of profitable one to the
0:17:02 > 0:17:05people in the Mesolithic, or they wouldn't have done it, would they?
0:17:05 > 0:17:07You either drown or you starve.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13With the fire under control, the fishing can get underway.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17Jacqui believes our ancestors used bundles of birch bark
0:17:17 > 0:17:20slotted into sticks as flares.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26- OK, Jacqui. There you go. - Oh, wow!- Wow!
0:17:26 > 0:17:29It's amazing how deep you can see into the water.
0:17:29 > 0:17:35Fire had a dual purpose, to light the way and lure the fish.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39It appears that light fools the fish into thinking it's a
0:17:39 > 0:17:43different time of day, or they mistake it for luminescent prey.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- Isn't that beautiful? - Isn't that amazing?
0:17:46 > 0:17:49It's just like tea lights, isn't it?
0:17:49 > 0:17:51They're like little tar boats.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Tar, found in the birch bark, acts as an accelerant,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59creating brilliant candles that burn on the water.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03Do you think they knew about this bark and this extraordinary characteristic of it?
0:18:03 > 0:18:06Oh, absolutely. Because they actually cooked the bark
0:18:06 > 0:18:10underground in pits with fires to get the actual tar off.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13So, there it is. It's burning still on the surface.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Like little candles, aren't they?
0:18:16 > 0:18:21- You can see how that, that will actually, that light will then go through the water...- Yep.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- ..and really attract the eel. - So, basically this would fascinate
0:18:24 > 0:18:27the eels and they'd come to see what it is
0:18:27 > 0:18:29and then we'd actually harpoon them.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33There's something down there, actually.
0:18:35 > 0:18:41My harpoon with a bone point tip is designed for trapping eels.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43But I'm not having much luck.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45I don't think I'd make a very good Mesolithic fisherman!
0:18:45 > 0:18:48THEY CHUCKLE
0:18:48 > 0:18:51We haven't matched the skills of our Stone Age ancestors
0:18:51 > 0:18:56and with eel numbers down and wind conditions less than favourable,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58we leave empty handed.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02But we've proved the principle that you can take fire to sea
0:19:02 > 0:19:04and fish at night.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09After this experiment, I'm completely convinced that
0:19:09 > 0:19:14Stone Age people used lights to fish at night
0:19:14 > 0:19:16here on this fjord.
0:19:17 > 0:19:23A practice they started continued for thousands of years.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Our forebears were some of the first boat builders
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and advanced fishermen.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Pioneers in coastal living.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Their ingenuity enabled them
0:19:34 > 0:19:40to exploit the incredible bounty that lay underneath the sea.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Our Stone Age ancestors fished to survive.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59The bounty they ate was one they caught themselves
0:19:59 > 0:20:01from unsullied seas.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07Today, our world is one of cleaned, processed, pre-packed bounty.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13And some of what we take out of our waters is wrapped in a problem
0:20:13 > 0:20:16that goes back in - plastic.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22A billion tonnes has been discarded since the '50s, a floating
0:20:22 > 0:20:28coastal scrapheap, which may take thousands of years to degrade.
0:20:36 > 0:20:41In Orford Ness, on the east coast of England, artist Fran Crowe
0:20:41 > 0:20:47is on a mission to turn one person's rubbish into another's bounty.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50I came across a United Nations report
0:20:50 > 0:20:55that estimated on average there are 46,000 pieces of plastic
0:20:55 > 0:20:58floating on every square mile of sea.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02And in a rather mad, crazy moment I decided to set myself a challenge
0:21:02 > 0:21:05of saving one square mile of sea by collecting
0:21:05 > 0:21:1046,000 plastic pieces whilst walking my local beaches.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14It took me a year to do.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17On a typical walk, I'd find maybe 700 pieces,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20even on a beach that looked pristine when you went there.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24And on Orford Ness, I could probably pick up several thousand,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26but I couldn't actually carry everything I saw.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33When I get the stuff home, first of all I have to dry it,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36get the sand off it and so on, but then I start to sort it.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38And I'll sort it by colour, for instance,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42putting all the pink and red plastics together or the blue.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45I also sort it by type,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49so I'm putting bottle tops together, I've got cotton bud sticks here.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52These have definitely been flushed from homes.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58It's the materials for my art and it's my personal bounty from the sea.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07I am making something beautiful with them often.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09That isn't my main purpose,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13but I do hope that what I'm doing will inspire people
0:22:13 > 0:22:19to think differently about these kind of objects and how we use them.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26Today, what I've collected from this tiny bit of Orford Ness,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30I'm going to just put into one big pile.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33This is going to be...
0:22:33 > 0:22:37a seafood soup, harvested by hand from the North Sea.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40To serve, just add water and salt.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57I'm 200 miles offshore from Britain in the Faroe Islands.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Here, you're never more than three miles from the sea.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08It's made the Faroese experts in coastal living,
0:23:08 > 0:23:13reliant on, and defined by, bounty from these waters.
0:23:14 > 0:23:20I'm on a quest to find out how they survive in the middle of the North Atlantic.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25I've already bagged, with a little bit of help, some giant mussels
0:23:25 > 0:23:30from the deep, now I want to unearth whatever delicacies lurk on land.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32It might look green,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37but this treeless coast is battered by the elements.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41I want to know what can thrive in these conditions and how.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49The Faroes' position in the path of the Gulf Stream
0:23:49 > 0:23:51creates verdant waters,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55rich in bounty, but things are tougher on land.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59Four seasons in one day is the norm
0:23:59 > 0:24:03and being a tiny archipelago in a vast ocean
0:24:03 > 0:24:06means growing anything is a struggle.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10So the locals have learned to harvest other things.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Sea birds flock to towering cliffs,
0:24:13 > 0:24:17guillemots, scavenging great skuas,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19parading puffins.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26Past and present, the Faroese risk life and limb,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30swinging on a wing and a prayer to net this feathered quarry
0:24:30 > 0:24:32and gather their eggs.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45But when it comes to greens,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49there's a four-legged competitor for these scarce riches.
0:24:51 > 0:24:52Sheep.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54And they're everywhere.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Already here when the Vikings, the first documented settlers,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01arrived 1,000 years ago,
0:25:01 > 0:25:06they gave this place its name - The Faroes or Land Of The Sheep.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11Today, there are more of them on the islands than there are people.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14As a result, mutton, like fish,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18forms a large part of the Faroese diet.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21But here it doesn't come in its freshest form.
0:25:23 > 0:25:28It's called skerpikjot and it's dried outside in ocean winds,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31another bounty from these seas.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36I'm heading for the tiny hamlet of Muli on Bordoy
0:25:36 > 0:25:38to meet shepherd Archie Black.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- Hello, Archie. - Hello, nice meeting you.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46He's going to introduce me to this peculiar Faroese delicacy.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50What do you call this little house?
0:25:50 > 0:25:53This is wind drying house for sheep meat.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56So, this is the meat here hanging up drying, is it?
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Yes, it's the back legs of the sheep.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01This storehouse, as you see, it's very close to the sea
0:26:01 > 0:26:05and during storms the sea salt gets up in the air.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08So the salty air from the sea blows through
0:26:08 > 0:26:10these gaps in the timber walls.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14It blows through, yes. This storehouse is from around 1600.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16There were no refrigerators in those times,
0:26:16 > 0:26:20so it's a way to preserve the meat. It's the only way.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25The skerpikjot can hang for up to six months
0:26:25 > 0:26:30in these little houses, curing in the salt-rich sea air.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Salt draws out moisture, drying the mutton.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37It also prevents the growth of mould and microbes
0:26:37 > 0:26:40that can turn the meat rancid, making it safe for us to eat.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43But it doesn't do much for the smell.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Oh, Archie. I really hesitate to ask,
0:26:49 > 0:26:54- but may I try a very, very small piece?- A very small piece.
0:26:55 > 0:27:01- This is softer than this one.- Yeah. - These soft ones - hanging for around
0:27:01 > 0:27:03four, maybe five months.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06And these are harder - seven to eight months.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09I think I'll start with a soft one.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18- A small piece. - And do you eat it raw?- Yes.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20Just straight in, this hasn't been cooked?
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Sometimes... No, no. This is just wind dried. You manage.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26HE EXHALES
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Mm.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35You get used to it!
0:27:35 > 0:27:38- I can see you might get used to it. - Yes.- It's, um...
0:27:39 > 0:27:43It has two consistencies - the outside that's been dried in
0:27:43 > 0:27:50the wind, which is quite tough, and the inside that's quite soft
0:27:50 > 0:27:52- and like soft cheese.- Yes.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56But the aroma in your mouth is fantastically powerful.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58- It's very powerful, yeah.- Yeah.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- It really goes around your whole mouth.- Yeah.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- It goes up the back of your brain... - Yes.- ..round the back of your head
0:28:04 > 0:28:06and back down.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Skerpikjot might be an acquired taste,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16but curing and salting meat in remote places like this,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19surrounded by an often angry sea,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21provides a lifeline.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26The isolation of these islands has created a hardy people,
0:28:26 > 0:28:31who, past and present, have used all their resources to survive.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46Food is not the only bounty provided by our seas.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Artists have long looked to the changing moods
0:29:01 > 0:29:03of our coast for inspiration.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08From the rousing music of Vaughan Williams
0:29:08 > 0:29:10and the epic art of Constable,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13to Coleridge's Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
0:29:13 > 0:29:16and Shakespeare's Tempest.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24And hidden beneath the waves, nature forms its own art.
0:29:25 > 0:29:30An unexpected bounty that fires the imagination.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32It's just a little harder to see.
0:29:37 > 0:29:42On Devon's south coast, Hermione's peering into the deep to uncover
0:29:42 > 0:29:47one of the most fundamental and beautiful bounties within our seas.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56Torquay, a resort built and invented by the Victorians.
0:29:59 > 0:30:04150 years ago, people weren't just promenading up and down the piers,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07they were making the most of the mild climate and the sheltered coves
0:30:07 > 0:30:09in an altogether different way.
0:30:11 > 0:30:17For many Victorians, Torquay was the home of marine zoology and botany.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19The English Riviera once teemed
0:30:19 > 0:30:23with bonneted and bespectacled naturalists.
0:30:23 > 0:30:27And with ready access to sandy beaches and plentiful rock pools,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31they were all prospecting for wonders from the sea.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37They were exploring a life aquatic.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Now, inside here are some of the world's drifters,
0:30:40 > 0:30:44little algae and animals that float with the currents.
0:30:44 > 0:30:49The Victorians were captivated by the microscopic world of plankton.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57A collective of plants and animals that drift with our tides.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04Most of these tiny floaters are almost impossible to spot with the naked eye.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09They are no one species, shape or size.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Found in vast numbers throughout the world's ocean,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16they underpin the marine food chain.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21But 150 years ago,
0:31:21 > 0:31:25how on Earth could the Victorians even see this minute bounty from the sea?
0:31:27 > 0:31:30I'm meeting historian Kate Williams to find out.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34The Victorians were completely obsessed by
0:31:34 > 0:31:37the microscope and particularly with plankton.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41Plankton opened up a whole new world of mystery, of the magic of nature,
0:31:41 > 0:31:46and also about all this incredible, beautiful detail they could see.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Microscopes were first invented in the 16th century.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53But it was one Victorian man's obsession with them
0:31:53 > 0:31:56that introduced plankton to the masses.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02Amateur naturalist John Quekett was a microscope fanatic
0:32:02 > 0:32:05who hand made one at aged 15.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11His dream was to develop microscopes for professionals and hobbyists alike.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Quekett was really leading the way in the idea of what you could see
0:32:16 > 0:32:19under the microscope, particularly with plankton -
0:32:19 > 0:32:20he was obsessed with plankton.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22So, where does plankton come into the story, then?
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Well, plankton is the number one focus of the story.
0:32:25 > 0:32:29He used plankton as essentially a kind of eye test
0:32:29 > 0:32:31for the microscope, so he could check whether
0:32:31 > 0:32:35the microscope's resolution, the magnification was correct.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41And one kind of plankton, known as diatoms,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44would forever be the microscopist's friend.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46Because at every stage of magnification
0:32:46 > 0:32:49their cells reveal new details.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52So much so that they're still used today
0:32:52 > 0:32:55to check microscope resolution.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59As technology advanced, so Quekett's obsession grew.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03He wrote a book which sparked a passion for microscopy
0:33:03 > 0:33:05and plankton amongst the middle classes.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09The Practical Treatise On The Use Of The Microscope,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12- not really a catchy title. - It's a bestseller!
0:33:12 > 0:33:14No, it is a catchy title, this was a best seller!
0:33:14 > 0:33:16So, this... If we were two Victorian ladies,
0:33:16 > 0:33:19I'd say, "Miss Hermione, give it to me, I want it!"
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Because it was so fascinating.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24He persuaded your average middle class person that
0:33:24 > 0:33:30looking down a microscope was the most fun you could possibly have.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34"The microscope is the most important instrument ever yet
0:33:34 > 0:33:37"bestowed by art on the investigator of nature."
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Microscopes flew off the shelves into the parlours
0:33:43 > 0:33:49of the Victorian middle classes, but they didn't just look at plankton,
0:33:49 > 0:33:54they arranged it into astonishing displays to show to their friends.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00This is a rosette slide.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03Each individual element of the picture
0:34:03 > 0:34:05is a single piece of plankton.
0:34:05 > 0:34:10Dazzled by nature, the Victorians had created a new art form,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14one that you had to gaze down a microscope to admire.
0:34:15 > 0:34:21But how do you manipulate something so tiny into such stunning arrangements?
0:34:22 > 0:34:25One man keeping this Victorian craft alive today
0:34:25 > 0:34:27is plankton arranger Klaus Kemp.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33- Hi, Klaus. Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, yes.
0:34:35 > 0:34:36Klaus, plankton are so tiny,
0:34:36 > 0:34:39how did the Victorians go about picking them up.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42They were using a thing called a pig's eyelash.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46A pig's eyelash is a long stem
0:34:46 > 0:34:49with a slightly...arrowhead to it,
0:34:49 > 0:34:54which allows them to individually pick up a diatom
0:34:54 > 0:34:57and place it into position.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03Instead of a pig's eyelash, Klaus uses a fine glass needle
0:35:03 > 0:35:07to pick up individual diatoms to place in his artworks.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13I'm desperate to have a go to see if I can pick up a plankton.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Oh, wow.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20It's just a slide covered in little... Oh, gosh!
0:35:20 > 0:35:24..little, tiny fragments. It's a bit like looking at a slide of glitter.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27OK, I've got the needle positioned over one.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30Right, now drop the needle to touch the diatom.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33Oh, it's lost it. No, it's coming up. It's got...
0:35:33 > 0:35:36- Keep going, keep going. You're going to clear the slide.- Right, OK.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39- Then move the slide out of the way. - Klaus, I think it's fallen off.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41- HE GASPS - What?!
0:35:41 > 0:35:45- I think it's fallen off.- You're not supposed to make it fall off.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Klaus, I just don't know how you do this all day.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50It's absolutely impossible.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00Klaus has taken this Victorian art form into the 21st century
0:36:00 > 0:36:02with his own unique style.
0:36:05 > 0:36:10The Victorians and their microscopes opened up the minute world
0:36:10 > 0:36:14of plankton, but they were only beginning to understand
0:36:14 > 0:36:16this bounty's full importance.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Today, we know that plankton is not only fundamental to life
0:36:21 > 0:36:24in our seas, but to life on dry land, too.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28It emits half of all the oxygen we breathe.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31So, without plankton there would be no fish in the sea
0:36:31 > 0:36:33and probably no you and no me.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39Plankton underpin the very existence of every living thing on Earth.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45And with climate change affecting our seas,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48it's more important than ever to know what's happening to it.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53Marine biologist Richard Kirby is on a mission to measure plankton
0:36:53 > 0:36:58levels around the world, using nothing more than a secchi disc,
0:36:58 > 0:37:01which looks a lot like a dinner plate on a piece of string.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03- Got it?- Yeah.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05You're measuring the depth at which
0:37:05 > 0:37:07it just disappears from sight beneath the surface.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11The disappearing disc allows Richard to measure
0:37:11 > 0:37:14the density of plankton in the water.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18So, as the disc disappears, the only thing that's preventing us
0:37:18 > 0:37:21from seeing it is the phytoplankton in the water?
0:37:21 > 0:37:24That's right. The creatures that start the whole marine food chain.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27It's just disappearing out of sight now.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31And the depth we're at is 10.4 metres.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35But Richard is just one man and our oceans are vast,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39so he's enlisting the help of sailors around the world to get their own
0:37:39 > 0:37:42secchi discs and submit their data to his survey
0:37:42 > 0:37:44via a mobile phone app.
0:37:44 > 0:37:49Got the app on. Secchi. And now we can input our depth.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52- And we measured 10.4 metres, spot on.- 10.4.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54- And submit.- And submit.
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Richard's work, like that of the Victorian John Quekett,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01is putting these tiny creatures on the map.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05By engaging seafarers with plankton,
0:38:05 > 0:38:09he's safeguarding the future of this vital bounty from our seas.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37I'm on an overseas treasure hunt.
0:38:37 > 0:38:38My prize?
0:38:38 > 0:38:40Bounty from the sea.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45The Faroe Islands have been dubbed nature's larder.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48I'm on a journey to discover
0:38:48 > 0:38:52why plentiful seas make for rich pickings.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54But when foul tides bring hard times,
0:38:54 > 0:38:58you need a back-up.
0:38:58 > 0:39:03And for the Faroese, that bounty is farmed Atlantic salmon,
0:39:03 > 0:39:05their biggest export.
0:39:07 > 0:39:13There are 25 salmon farms in the Faroes, one in almost every fjord.
0:39:13 > 0:39:19They produce 70,000 tonnes of these slippery slabs of silver every year,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22worth a whopping £265 million.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28They're the number one foreign supplier of salmon into the UK.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32But keeping salmon contained in large numbers like this
0:39:32 > 0:39:35doesn't come without complications.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41The biggest threat to farmed salmon around the world
0:39:41 > 0:39:44is sea lice, a marine parasite.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49These copepods are a member of the crustacean family,
0:39:49 > 0:39:51like crabs and lobsters.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57Problematic for captive salmon, sea lice also target passing wild fish.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01But here in this tiny archipelago,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04they believe they could have a global solution.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08- Hello, Arni.- Hello, Nick. Welcome on-board.- Thank you very much.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12Arni Olsen works for the biggest producer of salmon in the Faroes
0:40:12 > 0:40:15and they're exploiting their unique location.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18We're pioneers when it comes to farming in rough waters,
0:40:18 > 0:40:21because it's probably the farming area where you farm salmon
0:40:21 > 0:40:23with the strongest currents in the world.
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Doesn't it make it difficult for farming?
0:40:25 > 0:40:27It does make it difficult,
0:40:27 > 0:40:29but the current optimises the welfare of the salmon.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33We don't see the same kind of problems. For example, the sea lice
0:40:33 > 0:40:36numbers are much lower than in comparatively weaker currents.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41Farming in fjords with strong currents can stop sea lice
0:40:41 > 0:40:44taking hold, but doesn't eradicate them completely.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50To do that, the Faroese want to move their commercial treasure offshore,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52into the open ocean.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01But colossal seas present mountainous challenges.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Marine scientist Oystein Patursson is overseeing trials
0:41:05 > 0:41:07that could make this ambition a reality.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11This was deployed on our test site in the open ocean.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Is this a standard mooring line?
0:41:13 > 0:41:18No, these are more heavy-duty than would be used on a fish farm.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22- And what's the breaking strain on this?- It's about 100 tonnes.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25- 100 tonnes. So, it will hold 100 tonnes of force?- Yes, yes.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- And how many of these would hold the...?- There would be 12 of these.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31- 12 of these?!- Yes.
0:41:31 > 0:41:32That gives you...
0:41:32 > 0:41:36That's an incredible insight into the power of the ocean.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41Sea pens are tethered by a complex mooring system
0:41:41 > 0:41:44of heavy-duty ropes and chains.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46But there's more to open sea farming
0:41:46 > 0:41:49than simply holding the rigs in place.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52- This is all broken.- Yeah, you see the steel is broken here.
0:41:52 > 0:41:57That's amazing! This has been snapped by the power of the ocean?
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Yeah, just where the... Twist and twist...
0:41:59 > 0:42:01When the waves are moving by,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05- it keeps on twisting and twisting. - The forces must be fantastic.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08Yeah, we had very large waves during this winter.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11It was 16 or 18 metres and, er...
0:42:11 > 0:42:14- 16 or 18 metres? That's taller than a house!- Yeah.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20The pens need to be strong enough to contain the fish,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24yet flexible enough to roll with wild waters.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28Trials are ongoing to perfect this challenging design.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33By working with all nature can throw at them,
0:42:33 > 0:42:38the Faroese could be the first to solve the sea lice problem.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41If they succeed, they'll be enhancing their own bounty
0:42:41 > 0:42:44and that of salmon farmers around the world.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51Making the most of their seas comes naturally to the Faroese people.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56This resourcefulness was a life saver in World War II.
0:43:12 > 0:43:17With Britain short of food, Faroese fishermen came to our aid,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20landing much-needed bounty at Aberdeen.
0:43:21 > 0:43:27The North Sea was awash with mines, German U-boats lurking.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30And to the south the Battle of the Atlantic raged,
0:43:30 > 0:43:33to keep food and supplies flowing.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41From a quiet corner of Cornwall, Tess is investigating
0:43:41 > 0:43:44how Britain's defence of this precious trade route,
0:43:44 > 0:43:48bringing in vital bounty from the sea, was launched.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50This coastline looks peaceful enough now,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54but during World War II, the Lizard Peninsula was home
0:43:54 > 0:43:56to a crack Air Force squadron,
0:43:56 > 0:44:01flying the deadliest, fastest aircraft, the Mosquito.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12This miraculous aircraft was a product of war,
0:44:12 > 0:44:16built with the sole purpose of taking on the Germans.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21It was the brainchild of aviation pioneer Geoffrey de Havilland.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26In an age of sluggish metal-clad bombers, he broke with convention -
0:44:26 > 0:44:29he made this one out of wood.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33This is a piece of an actual De Havilland Mosquito.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37It was part of the fuselage fished out of the Thames after a crash.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40And if you look here, you can see the outer and inner ply,
0:44:40 > 0:44:44between which is balsa wood, which is incredibly light.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47This whole piece is featherweight.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51De Havilland's wooden aircraft might have seemed vulnerable,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54but it solved the problem of metal shortages
0:44:54 > 0:44:57to become our fastest and most manoeuvrable bomber.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01It was constructed like a giant model plane,
0:45:01 > 0:45:05built in two halves and literally stuck together with glue.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12But what was it like to fly one of these timber terrors?
0:45:14 > 0:45:18I'm meeting Flight Lieutenant Des Curtis,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21one of the last surviving Mosquito crew.
0:45:21 > 0:45:26He flew from an RAF base here on the Lizard Peninsula
0:45:26 > 0:45:28to fight in the Battle of the Atlantic.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33Des, what was it actually like to be in a Mosquito, to fly one?
0:45:33 > 0:45:35Oh, very exhilarating
0:45:35 > 0:45:38because it was the fastest aircraft at the time,
0:45:38 > 0:45:41it was the most versatile aircraft.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44People say that the Spitfire was the most beautiful aircraft,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47but anybody who's ever flown in a Mosquito will tell you
0:45:47 > 0:45:50that was the best aircraft they ever flew.
0:45:52 > 0:45:56During the war, German U-boats sank 15 million tonnes
0:45:56 > 0:46:00of Allied shipping as they sought to starve supplies
0:46:00 > 0:46:02and cripple our war effort.
0:46:02 > 0:46:07The Mosquito's mission was to take these deadly submarines on.
0:46:07 > 0:46:11Our job then was to use this very fast moving Mosquito
0:46:11 > 0:46:16to seek out German U-boats in the Bay of Biscay
0:46:16 > 0:46:20and attack them as they were going in and out of the U-boat pens.
0:46:20 > 0:46:25All this noise going on while you were diving at 30 degrees
0:46:25 > 0:46:28onto the sea, by the time you got near the water level you were
0:46:28 > 0:46:30doing nearly 400 miles an hour,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33which was the maximum speed of a Mosquito.
0:46:36 > 0:46:40This wooden wonder seemed set to win the Battle of the Atlantic,
0:46:40 > 0:46:44but it wasn't long before it, too, came under threat.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49As the German blockade tightened its grip, concerns grew that
0:46:49 > 0:46:54the one vital ingredient needed to make the Mosquito would be cut off.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57Balsa wood was perfect for the job -
0:46:57 > 0:47:01light, strong and just the right compression strength
0:47:01 > 0:47:03for the manufacturing of Mosquitos.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07Only one problem, it came from Ecuador.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12With a raw material from the far side of the world
0:47:12 > 0:47:15and nothing even remotely similar on home soil,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19the race was on to create a substitute.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23The answer would come from an unexpected source.
0:47:24 > 0:47:28A German scientist stepped in with a unique solution -
0:47:28 > 0:47:32he would save our skies with bounty from our seas.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Seaweed.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40With or without the German blockade,
0:47:40 > 0:47:45this was one resource we had in abundance around our shores.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49But who would think of building an aircraft out of seaweed?
0:47:49 > 0:47:53Step forward this man, Peter Plesch, a chemist.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56He was tasked with finding a home-grown material
0:47:56 > 0:47:59to keep Mosquitos rolling off the production line.
0:48:01 > 0:48:02Peter was born in Frankfurt,
0:48:02 > 0:48:07but the rise of Nazism in the 1930s forced his Jewish family
0:48:07 > 0:48:11to uproot themselves and flee to England.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15This German scientist had come to the aid of Britain's war effort.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19To tell me more is Philippa Neilson, his granddaughter.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23What do you think was his inspiration as a child?
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Why did he become a scientist?
0:48:25 > 0:48:27Well, his father was a doctor, a medical doctor,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30and one of his patients was Albert Einstein,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32who went on to become a family friend.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34That's not any old scientist, is it?
0:48:34 > 0:48:37No. So, as a child, Einstein would be in and around the family home.
0:48:37 > 0:48:42And here he is, Einstein with that unmistakable brainy hair.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44And Peter, then, in his own right,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47becomes a really eminent professor eventually, doesn't he?
0:48:47 > 0:48:50Yes, he was a specialist in polymer chemistry.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54He went on to write over 160 papers himself
0:48:54 > 0:48:58and, in fact, he wrote the last one when he was aged 90.
0:49:00 > 0:49:05In 1942, Peter Plesch joined a company called Cefoil,
0:49:05 > 0:49:08who were exploring the potential of transforming seaweed
0:49:08 > 0:49:10into a solid material.
0:49:12 > 0:49:17I've actually got a recording here of Peter talking about his first encounter with seaweed.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23Somebody at the Ministry of Aircraft production
0:49:23 > 0:49:28saw this very light and flimsy foam
0:49:28 > 0:49:35and said, "If you can make this material up to a certain standard
0:49:35 > 0:49:39"of mechanical strength, then we would be interested in this."
0:49:41 > 0:49:45So, the professor buried himself away in his laboratory,
0:49:45 > 0:49:49calculating and concocting experiments using alginates,
0:49:49 > 0:49:51a substance derived from seaweed,
0:49:51 > 0:49:56in a bid to create a substitute for the balsa wood used in the Mosquito.
0:49:58 > 0:49:59His work was top secret.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03This is a letter between staff members at the Ministry of Supply
0:50:03 > 0:50:05and it refers to the company Peter worked for.
0:50:05 > 0:50:09It reads, "MAP," Ministry of Aircraft Production,
0:50:09 > 0:50:12"are contemplating starting a production unit for the manufacture
0:50:12 > 0:50:15"of a solid foam from alginates
0:50:15 > 0:50:18"as a substitute for balsa wood for aircraft."
0:50:18 > 0:50:21"Experiments are understood to have been successful
0:50:21 > 0:50:25"and if the war goes on, this requirement may grow in importance."
0:50:29 > 0:50:33Peter Plesch turned seaweed into this material,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37which is as light and as strong as balsa wood.
0:50:37 > 0:50:39So, how did he do it?
0:50:41 > 0:50:46This is the last surviving piece of Peter Plesch's seaweed substitute
0:50:46 > 0:50:48suitable for the Mosquito.
0:50:48 > 0:50:54But the only evidence for how he created it lies in complex scientific equations.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01To us mere mortals, Peter's research is as clear as mud,
0:51:01 > 0:51:03so in order to crack the code
0:51:03 > 0:51:06I've enlisted the help of a top notch scientist
0:51:06 > 0:51:10and, together, we're going to conduct our own seaweed experiment.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Dr Katherine Haxton is from Keele University.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23She's brought along some powdered alginate, extracted from seaweed.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26This is what Peter would have had to work with.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31OK, so we've got our solid alginate, and then we add the water to it.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35Alginate doesn't dissolve readily, so it clumps together...
0:51:35 > 0:51:38- It's clotted. So, can I have a go? - Sure.
0:51:42 > 0:51:46'With a bit of a blend and some foaming agent to add air bubbles
0:51:46 > 0:51:48'to the material and make it light,
0:51:48 > 0:51:52'we have a thick, sticky, gel-like substance.'
0:51:52 > 0:51:56- It's kind of like crystals, almost, isn't it?- It's quite fibrous.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58Yeah.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02'But this is still a long way from Peter's solid block.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04'So now we need to dry it.'
0:52:04 > 0:52:07So on his scale, to make, say, eight tonnes of alginate,
0:52:07 > 0:52:10he would have to remove 92 tonnes of water.
0:52:10 > 0:52:12That's about 1,000 bath tubs.
0:52:12 > 0:52:16'To do this, Peter turned to an innovative but dangerous method of
0:52:16 > 0:52:22'using electricity and water to dry his material from the inside out.'
0:52:22 > 0:52:25Katherine, I was looking forward to doing this...
0:52:27 > 0:52:31..but, well, nothing's really happening, is it?
0:52:31 > 0:52:34No, we wouldn't necessarily expect to see anything happening,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37but that doesn't mean that nothing's happening on a chemical basis.
0:52:37 > 0:52:40The modern equivalent, or what a 21st-century scientist
0:52:40 > 0:52:43might have reached for, would be a microwave.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45So, last stop is the microwave.
0:52:45 > 0:52:48- Yeah, we'll put it in a microwave and start it drying.- Great.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52The microwave may speed things up,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55but this could still take a long time.
0:52:57 > 0:53:01I do have a gel that I tried making earlier in the lab,
0:53:01 > 0:53:03- which I can show you.- OK.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05This was microwaved for about an hour.
0:53:05 > 0:53:08- Right.- Then it was dried in an oven.
0:53:08 > 0:53:11If you turn it over, you can start to see a sort of
0:53:11 > 0:53:15gel-like structure with bubbles in it to indicate the foamy nature.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18It's incredible to think he came up with this idea
0:53:18 > 0:53:21and worked it and worked it and worked it and made it happen.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25Yeah, it's no insignificant effort. It took a lot of ingenuity,
0:53:25 > 0:53:29a lot of perseverance, to get to the stage he did with the alginates.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33- And, Katherine, he didn't have a microwave.- No.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39Even with 21st century know-how, we failed to replicate Peter's work,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42a testament to his inventiveness.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47The ingenious German professor had transformed a bounty
0:53:47 > 0:53:52from the sea into a balsa wood replacement destined for the skies.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57So, why didn't we see a fleet of seaweed Mosquitos
0:53:57 > 0:53:59take on the German military?
0:53:59 > 0:54:01I'll let Peter Plesch tell you that.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07By the summer of '44, I had solved the problem.
0:54:07 > 0:54:11I'd produced a material which was good enough
0:54:11 > 0:54:14for the De Havilland engineers, but by then the Battle of the Atlantic
0:54:14 > 0:54:18had turned and the supply of balsa wood was no longer a problem.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22So I solved the problem but not in time.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25If it had been necessary, there was a solution there.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29Using seaweed, an everyday bounty from our seas,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32Peter Plesch achieved the seemingly impossible.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35That it never took off was down to the endeavours
0:54:35 > 0:54:39of the Allied Forces, including the Mosquito pilots
0:54:39 > 0:54:41who gained the upper hand
0:54:41 > 0:54:44and brought the Battle of the Atlantic to a close.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47One of the strange side-effects of war
0:54:47 > 0:54:50is the way it can set imaginations free.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52In the desperate search for solutions,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55there can be extraordinary flashes of inspiration,
0:54:55 > 0:55:01transforming humble seaweed into this, an ingenious wartime bounty.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I'm nearing the end of my Faroese odyssey.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21I've discovered how the bounty from these seas nourishes a unique people,
0:55:21 > 0:55:27sustaining and maintaining a way of life steeped in tradition,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31but one where both eyes are firmly on the future.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37More than anywhere else, these islands thrive on their bounty.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41I've reached my final destination,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44and having netted my catch on land and sea,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47all that's left to do is eat it.
0:55:50 > 0:55:53I'm heading to a traditional Faroese gathering.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57But rather than bring a bottle, it's bring your bounty.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05TRADITIONAL FAROESE FOLK SINGING
0:56:08 > 0:56:12The setting for my feast is a spectacular natural cut
0:56:12 > 0:56:16in the coastline called a Gjogv, giving this place its name.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20Bounty of all descriptions has been landed here,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24including tradition, like this one, the chain dance.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28TRADITIONAL FAROESE FOLK SINGING
0:56:32 > 0:56:39It was a medieval popular music craze that swept through Europe in the 1200s.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43Dances were a way to share dramatic stories and legends about ancient times.
0:56:43 > 0:56:47They soon spread with travelling sea trade
0:56:47 > 0:56:52and that's how they washed up here in the 13th century.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Stranded in the middle of the North Atlantic,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59this is now the only place on Earth to still practice this tradition.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05This is storytelling with a real passion,
0:57:05 > 0:57:08which is just rising from the sea and the rock.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14With 70,000 verses, dances can go on all night.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17So a pit-stop for some fuel is a must!
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Time to share my Faroese treasures from the sea.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24Does the Faroese food help make a certain kind of character?
0:57:24 > 0:57:27Yes, of course, of course.
0:57:27 > 0:57:32Because Faroese food is our food and we eat a lot from the sea.
0:57:32 > 0:57:35We're also eating from hills.
0:57:35 > 0:57:38This food comes from around our islands and in our islands.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Bounty from the sea has shaped these people,
0:57:43 > 0:57:46carving them out like their rocky coastline.
0:57:47 > 0:57:52The Faroese use everything the seas offer to survive.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54In nature's larder nothing is wasted.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08I've learned so much from Faroese Islanders -
0:58:08 > 0:58:12finding bounty on land and sea,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16making a few resources go a very long way.
0:58:16 > 0:58:19It might be tradition here on the Faroes
0:58:19 > 0:58:22but it's a lesson for the rest of the world.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30Our waters are rich with wondrous surprises.
0:58:30 > 0:58:36They inspire, sustain and connect communities across the world.
0:58:36 > 0:58:42Bounty from the sea defines a way of life that all coastal people share.