0:00:29 > 0:00:34# And after all
0:00:34 > 0:00:38# The world is pretty small
0:00:38 > 0:00:42# And after all
0:00:42 > 0:00:45# Just shouldn't take it on
0:00:45 > 0:00:52# Nah nah nah, nah nah Nah nah nah, nah nah
0:00:52 > 0:00:57# And after all
0:01:00 > 0:01:04# Mother Ocean
0:01:04 > 0:01:06# Rolls along... #
0:01:06 > 0:01:09My ancestors, the first Hawaiians,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13came to these islands many centuries ago.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Their voyage across 2,500 miles of open ocean
0:01:17 > 0:01:21was an incredible feat of navigation and survival.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23They've got so much water, so much food with them,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25they know that's all they have...
0:01:26 > 0:01:32Hopefully they can catch fish and rainwater along the way, but other than that they are dependent
0:01:32 > 0:01:35on what they have on that canoe and they need to manage it well.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Eventually they found land,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43an island paradise, teeming with life.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48But they soon found out this new-found wealth was exhaustible.
0:01:50 > 0:01:55To survive on an island, you have to learn to live within your means,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58just like in a canoe.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03A lot of us today, we still look at the island as a canoe. That what we've got, it's what we've got,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05and if we waste it we're done.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12Live like you're on a canoe.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29My name is Iokepa Naeole
0:02:29 > 0:02:34and I'm a kumu a'o - a teacher.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36This is my school on the edge of the ocean.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Here, I play my small part in shaping the Hawaiians of the future.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48I teach the kids all the usual things, but as much as possible
0:02:48 > 0:02:50I like to get them outside.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56It's called the Hawaii Outdoor Education Programme, and it's our aim
0:02:56 > 0:02:59to help kids learn by connecting with the world around them.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05Observing what's out there, and learning from it, it's nothing new.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11This is the way my ancestors worked out how to survive on these islands.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16For me, that's the foundation of being Hawaiian.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22As a Hawaiian living in a place like this, I wake up in the morning,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24first thing I'm looking for is the sun,
0:03:24 > 0:03:27I'm looking for the wind direction, for the swells, the waves.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Everything I see is part of my environment, it's part of me.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37But for most Hawaiians, that changed
0:03:37 > 0:03:40with the arrival of the western world.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44We were encouraged to look at our surroundings in a very different way.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Our culture, rooted in nature, was dismissed as primitive.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56They were taught that being Hawaiian wasn't necessarily
0:03:56 > 0:03:58something to be proud of.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03My grandfather was actually physically punished for speaking Hawaiian in school.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09Being Hawaiian was something that you should put on the side because
0:04:09 > 0:04:13we're living in the western society now, we are in a society
0:04:13 > 0:04:18where you need to learn how to speak proper English, you need to be able
0:04:18 > 0:04:22to go out and make money, buy a home, two-car garage, two cars,
0:04:22 > 0:04:24those are the important things.
0:04:24 > 0:04:29So all of the things Hawaiian, even speaking our own language,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32that was all just cast aside.
0:04:39 > 0:04:45Today, our culture is in a renaissance, and we have a growing sense of pride in our heritage.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49We have been rediscovering many aspects of what it is to be Hawaiian.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52But there was something at the core of the old culture
0:04:52 > 0:04:55that has been slower to return.
0:04:56 > 0:05:02It was because of the culture being suppressed and kind of, er,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04belittled,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06that the values disappeared.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11Simple values like conservation and sharing.
0:05:15 > 0:05:20We have always been a progressive culture, not afraid of change,
0:05:20 > 0:05:25but the welfare of the natural world is no longer at the core of how we live.
0:05:25 > 0:05:30As a result, I believe we are in danger of destroying paradise.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Now, more than ever, we need to rethink
0:05:36 > 0:05:39our relationship with nature.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Being Hawaiian today is much more than being able to
0:05:49 > 0:05:51connect yourself and your genealogy to
0:05:51 > 0:05:56the ancients, the ones that settled here, it's much more than that.
0:05:56 > 0:06:02Being Hawaiian is all about connecting yourself to this place.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08In many ways,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12this place is still the paradise my ancestors discovered -
0:06:12 > 0:06:16a long chain of volcanic islands, each one unique,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20but all of them isolated by the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Here on the most remote islands on the planet,
0:06:25 > 0:06:27the ocean is our lifeblood.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33If we are to get re-connected to nature, this is where we need to start.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40He'e nalu, or wave sliding,
0:06:40 > 0:06:43was perfected here on these same waves over 800 years ago.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Like many aspects of our culture,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50it was once banned by the missionaries from the west,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52but now has become so popular
0:06:52 > 0:06:55it is one of the fastest growing sports,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57not only in Hawaii, but in the whole world.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02Through the rebirth of surfing a new generation of Hawaiians
0:07:02 > 0:07:05are beginning to reconnect with what makes Hawaii so special.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10My name is Jack Johnson, and I grew up
0:07:10 > 0:07:15here in Hawaii on the north side of the island - the North Shore -
0:07:15 > 0:07:20and pretty much surfed any second I had a chance to, and just grew up surfing all the time.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24I like spending time in the water, whether it's sailing or snorkelling
0:07:24 > 0:07:30or just taking a swim, and it's nice to have fish around. The ecosystems that are created around a coral reef,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33you take away the reef you take away the whole system.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The coral reefs that fringe much of the Hawaiian coastline
0:07:41 > 0:07:44are the basis for most of the life found in our ocean here.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50They are also a natural defence against Pacific swells,
0:07:50 > 0:07:53and they create the waves that made Hawaii famous.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Hawaii comes straight up out of... volcanoes from the ocean floor,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08and so the waves and these open ocean swells are very deep
0:08:08 > 0:08:13and travelling very fast, then when they hit the coral reefs which just jut up,
0:08:13 > 0:08:18by the time it slows down it's really dramatic and it gets these really hollow waves
0:08:18 > 0:08:20and they're really beautiful to look into from the side.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Surfing is totally dependent on the forces of nature.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25To surf well, you spend so much time immersed
0:09:25 > 0:09:29in the natural environment that it starts to change the way you think.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34You're sitting out there floating at sea, looking back at the land.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38It's almost like pictures from space looking back at Earth.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41I feel pretty small in nature and have a lot of time to ponder
0:09:41 > 0:09:45and think about things and what's been going on in your life.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Everything's fast-paced - it's this hour you have to concentrate on what's important.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54You're thinking about nature a lot and hopefully you start thinking about what you can do to help.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00My ancestors found out the hard way that nature needed help.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07When they first settled the islands they didn't do things perfectly. There was a lot to learn for them.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11Of all the ecosystems they depended on,
0:10:11 > 0:10:15the reef was the most important and the most fragile.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19If the reef suffered, they suffered.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Over many generations, through trial and error, they came up with a system
0:10:23 > 0:10:27that allowed them to harvest the island's natural resources,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30but at the same time protecting them.
0:10:30 > 0:10:36Back then, in order for the culture and the society to survive,
0:10:36 > 0:10:41you had to make sure that everything was in lokahi, everything was in harmony.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46So drastic measures were taken to ensure that, through kapu.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Kapu, in the Hawaiian language, means forbidden.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55If an animal or plant, or even a whole reef was suffering from human impact,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59it was declared kapu. It meant you couldn't touch it, you couldn't
0:10:59 > 0:11:03pick it, you couldn't kill it and you certainly couldn't eat it.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10The penalties were so severe...
0:11:12 > 0:11:18..that it would be a very uncommon thing
0:11:18 > 0:11:22for someone to go out and do something against the law.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26If you took the wrong fish,
0:11:26 > 0:11:32you could pay for it, you know, with your life - that's how seriously they took it back then.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Obviously in today's world, that would be a punishment too severe,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41but I believe that the ideas and principles our ancestors lived by
0:11:41 > 0:11:43should be taken seriously again.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49The story of the green sea turtle shows us that those old ideas
0:11:49 > 0:11:52are still relevant today.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56The green sea turtle was once reserved for only the royal table,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01but with the end of the kapu system, it became food for anyone's table.
0:12:01 > 0:12:06Just in time, someone saw what was going on.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08It really wasn't until
0:12:08 > 0:12:12about 1969 that, um...
0:12:12 > 0:12:16I became aware and concerned about sea turtles in Hawaii.
0:12:16 > 0:12:21And we were sitting down on the dock and a boat came in,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25and there were local fisherman on it and they had, lo and behold, they had
0:12:25 > 0:12:29turtles stacked up left and right in this boat.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32And I asked the fellow, "Where are these turtles going?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34"Where did you get so many turtles?"
0:12:34 > 0:12:38and he said, "Oh, they were going to some of the tourist restaurants."
0:12:38 > 0:12:41They paid them a dollar a pound.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Whoa, 100-pound turtle, hundred-dollar bill, this is,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47this is pretty good
0:12:47 > 0:12:50for the fishermen anyway, but then I started thinking
0:12:50 > 0:12:56how many, how many turtles could be taken and the population sustained?
0:12:56 > 0:13:01The French Frigate Shoals up past the island of Kauai, 400 miles past Kauai,
0:13:01 > 0:13:06accounts for about 90% of the nesting throughout the entire Hawaiian chain.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10In the summer of 1973,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15on the single-most important islet at French Frigate Shoals
0:13:15 > 0:13:17we counted 67 turtles,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and that didn't seem like very many turtles to me
0:13:20 > 0:13:22to be a major part of the breeding herd.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27If some reasonable steps weren't taken to put the brakes on this hunting,
0:13:27 > 0:13:31this was going to destroy a wonderful part
0:13:31 > 0:13:34of the Hawaiian ecosystem.
0:13:35 > 0:13:40By the mid-1970s, there was a reprieve for the turtle.
0:13:40 > 0:13:45They were declared an endangered species and protected by law.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48For the first time in nearly 200 years,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50turtles were effectively kapu.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54This modern form of protection
0:13:54 > 0:13:57was doing what the old Hawaiians had known centuries ago.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00Give nature a chance, and it will recover.
0:14:04 > 0:14:09You can now see turtles here, there and nearly everywhere.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13The key factors that have led to this road to recovery
0:14:13 > 0:14:17that we're seeing with the Hawaiian turtle
0:14:17 > 0:14:22clearly relate to the single act of stopping the harvesting,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24stopping the hunting.
0:14:24 > 0:14:28Stop killing them, let them reproduce
0:14:28 > 0:14:34and they will replenish themselves if a sufficient time has gone by.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40I see turtles all over the place.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45Every time I get out of my canoe I'm weaving in between turtles.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47I don't look at them as food.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50I'm sorry, it's not the same any more.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Realising how close they were
0:14:54 > 0:14:58to going extinct...for me, it's a species that is hands-off now.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Under protection, the green turtle's recovery has been incredible.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07Sadly, though, other native animals with the same level of protection
0:15:07 > 0:15:10continue to decline.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Scientists believe the Hawaiian monk seal may not survive.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18The threat to the monk seal is not hunting but loss of habitat.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24In old Hawaii, declaring an animal kapu was only part of the story.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28Back then, they understood that you cannot protect a species
0:15:28 > 0:15:32without protecting the ecosystem that supports it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36But to protect an ecosystem, you need a detailed understanding
0:15:36 > 0:15:38of how it works.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42There were individuals in old Hawaii who had just that.
0:15:42 > 0:15:44They were called the konohiki.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49The konohiki was the one appointed by the chiefs to make sure that,
0:15:49 > 0:15:53from the top of the mountain, all the way out to the ocean,
0:15:53 > 0:16:01that it was run efficiently and with conservation in mind.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04The konohiki were all scientists.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07They looked at every detail in the world around them -
0:16:07 > 0:16:10they counted the birds, monitored the fish, and decided
0:16:10 > 0:16:14whether the island ecology was in balance.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16You could call them the game warden,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19you could call them the natural resource manager,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23you could call them the judge as well, when it came to
0:16:23 > 0:16:26enforcing the kapu.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Today the konohiki are all gone,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but the need for them is just as great.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Now, it's up to anyone who spends time in the wild
0:16:35 > 0:16:37to watch out for the environment.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42At any hint of a problem, it's up to us to raise the alarm.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46We've gotta, you know, we've gotta be the konohiki now.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27A lot of people my age, they go to bars and they go to clubs
0:17:27 > 0:17:29and that's how they have a good time.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33For me, I'm never more content than when
0:17:33 > 0:17:37it's me and a turtle or a fish, or a pod of dolphins or a shark.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40It's just, it's all in your preference and, for me,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44being in that environment with those animals is where I belong.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49I think that there's not even a comparison
0:17:49 > 0:17:51for free-diving and scuba diving for me.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55You can't swim very fast and it restricts you with the animals.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59Free-diving, it's just you, your fins,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01your mask and snorkel and the ocean.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Water-people in general
0:18:12 > 0:18:14are the best friend that the ocean has
0:18:14 > 0:18:18because we respect it and we love it so much
0:18:18 > 0:18:20that we want to preserve and protect it.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Just from the sheer amount of man hours that we spend in the ocean,
0:18:24 > 0:18:28we've seen things that maybe a lot of people don't know are there.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33One of the saddest signs of the times for me
0:18:33 > 0:18:36is seeing what the dolphins are playing with.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38The best kind of toys that you see them with
0:18:38 > 0:18:41are obviously leaves that have drifted offshore,
0:18:41 > 0:18:46they'll pick 'em up either with their rostrum or on their pectoral fins.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51They'll come and they'll pick it up and they'll swim with it,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53fast enough so that the leaf will stay there.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04But also, when they're not playing with leaves, since there's a lot of
0:19:04 > 0:19:08plastic in the water, you see them a lot with the plastic grocery bags.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16There is a lot of instances where it could get stuck on their blowhole
0:19:16 > 0:19:20or it would get stuck around their rostrum so they can't open their mouth,
0:19:20 > 0:19:22or they'll swallow it and it'll clog their throat.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32I think that plastic has become an alternative - if not the main thing -
0:19:32 > 0:19:34that they have to play with out there.
0:19:41 > 0:19:44Dolphins playing with plastic bags
0:19:44 > 0:19:47may appear to many people as unfortunate or even unpleasant,
0:19:49 > 0:19:53but to a konohiki it would be seen as a sign -
0:19:53 > 0:19:58a warning sign that we are placing our environment under unnatural
0:19:58 > 0:19:59and mounting pressure.
0:20:06 > 0:20:11To the rest of the world, Hawaii is seen as a typical island paradise.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14That obviously attracts visitors,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18and in the age of cheap air travel, lots of visitors.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21Today, we have about a million residents,
0:20:21 > 0:20:24but a further seven million people arrive each year
0:20:24 > 0:20:27for a few weeks in paradise.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34It's the main source of income on the islands, the tourist industry,
0:20:34 > 0:20:39and it's, uh, if not looked after, it'll slowly eat everything up
0:20:39 > 0:20:42and just take away everything that people come here for.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49You've got a visitor industry that is designed to
0:20:49 > 0:20:51please the visitor, take their money.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56Before, the ocean was our refrigerator.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Now it's like a...
0:20:59 > 0:21:01cash cow for many people.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06# Going, my boat's leaving today
0:21:06 > 0:21:11# I'm gonna get down to the water Gonna wash these blues away
0:21:11 > 0:21:17# Man, the city has taken too much from me
0:21:17 > 0:21:22# I'm gonna head out to the country Find a place where I can breathe
0:21:22 > 0:21:27# Got money and got no use for you
0:21:27 > 0:21:31# Unless you can buy me true love
0:21:31 > 0:21:37# Now it's funny how many times they prove
0:21:37 > 0:21:42# That the only true fortune you can save
0:21:42 > 0:21:47# Is the truth. #
0:21:49 > 0:21:53We want visitors to enjoy our ocean and wildlife
0:21:53 > 0:21:57but now the tourist industry is encouraging too many people into the water
0:21:57 > 0:22:01without any real thought for the damage they can cause.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09In a normal free-diving session for me, I may see
0:22:09 > 0:22:12boat anchors that have torn off coral heads, so you see a broken
0:22:12 > 0:22:14coral head lying there on the floor,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18or depending on where you go, you see people that just don't know any better
0:22:18 > 0:22:22that are standing on the coral heads, not knowing what they're doing.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26Coral reefs are very fragile.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30Just one touch from a finger can kill a coral polyp.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34In some of the bays most heavily publicised by the visitor industry,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38up to 90% of the coral is now makee - dead.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51The irony is that, as the industry strives for ever-greater profits,
0:22:51 > 0:22:56it's transforming the landscape that attracted the visitors in the first place.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58What are people coming to Hawaii for?
0:22:58 > 0:23:02They're not coming here just to see hotel buildings, they're coming here
0:23:02 > 0:23:07to experience things out of nature, to see beautiful coral reefs,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11to see beautiful mountains. Let's not throw away the reason the people come here.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15You could shoot yourself in the foot by taking away the reasons.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20The islands have become a playground for visitors,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23but it's all of us who are paying the price.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31One of my best places, my favourite places when I was growing up to go camping,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34there's now a huge hotel right on the property.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38We've developed our coastline so much that we no longer have access
0:23:38 > 0:23:44to the simple things in life that kept us, you know, happy.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Call some place paradise and kiss it goodbye, yeah?
0:23:51 > 0:23:54It's the same all over the world.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02It's easy to think that all these problems are someone else's fault.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06But I think, whether you were born here, or whether you're here
0:24:06 > 0:24:10for just two weeks, everyone has a role to play in making things right.
0:24:12 > 0:24:14The ancestors had a principle
0:24:14 > 0:24:17which I think could help steer us back on course.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22The word kuleana means
0:24:22 > 0:24:24privilege and responsibility.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26It's that double-edged sword.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28If you have the privilege of
0:24:28 > 0:24:32enjoying something, you also have the responsibility to protect it.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37As a teacher, I believe it's my kuleana,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40my responsibility, to encourage people to act
0:24:40 > 0:24:44more like the Hawaiians of old and take better care of these islands.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47The key is to work on this next generation right here
0:24:47 > 0:24:53and create a whole new army of environmental thinkers.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58Well, the first step is to get them off the couch.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01My school is part of Hawaiian Canoe Club.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Outrigger paddling is not only culturally significant but also
0:25:05 > 0:25:08a lot of fun and a great way to get kids to start seeing the world
0:25:08 > 0:25:10as the ancients did.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It's your refrigerator, it's your playground,
0:25:13 > 0:25:16it's your gym, it's your church. It's everything to you.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20The ocean is our life as Hawaiians.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22Everybody ready to race?
0:25:24 > 0:25:27HE CALLS OUT IN HAWAIIAN AND THEY ANSWER
0:25:30 > 0:25:31Have fun!
0:25:42 > 0:25:46When you get kids out onto the open ocean, they have to work together
0:25:46 > 0:25:50and they have to understand better the rhythms of the ocean -
0:25:50 > 0:25:54how small they are and how precarious our existence is.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57It makes them realise that there's more to life
0:25:57 > 0:26:00than TVs and MP3 players.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03The more you get kids out there, the more they ask questions.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05They see stuff that doesn't belong
0:26:05 > 0:26:08and they want to know who put this plastic bag in the water?
0:26:08 > 0:26:11How come it's brown today and not so blue?
0:26:11 > 0:26:14They wanna know who's polluting THEIR environment.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18You could sit in a classroom and teach kids
0:26:18 > 0:26:20about preserving the ecology
0:26:20 > 0:26:24and the environment, but it takes a few hours to get them out there
0:26:24 > 0:26:27and witness something that'll change their life forever.
0:27:06 > 0:27:12# Miserere, miserere
0:27:12 > 0:27:17# Miserere, miserere
0:27:17 > 0:27:24# Miserere, miserere...
0:27:27 > 0:27:29# Have you ever been so happy that you're sad
0:27:29 > 0:27:33# That the lights turn to stars and the stars become eyes
0:27:33 > 0:27:35# And hellos are goodbyes and the laughs are the sighs
0:27:35 > 0:27:39# And the show disappears with the note 'until next time'
0:27:39 > 0:27:45# Long live living If living can be this
0:27:50 > 0:27:55# Long live living If living can be this
0:28:01 > 0:28:07# Long live living If living can be this. #
0:28:19 > 0:28:24To be able to go surf someplace that, that's such a privilege.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29There's something that you have to do to earn that privilege,
0:28:29 > 0:28:31and if it's cleaning up the beach,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34that's one thing, if it's going out there diving
0:28:34 > 0:28:36and picking up debris from the reef,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39going out there and cleaning something up like that,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43that gives you, that gives you privilege, but you gotta earn 'em.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51It's never too big a task when you're out in the water
0:28:51 > 0:28:53to try to clean up everything that you see.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58I'll pick up the plastic and I'll stuff it in my leash or I'll tie it to the leash cord in the back
0:28:58 > 0:29:01or any way that I can kind of secure it down.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04If I see it, I'll pick it up, I never just leave it there.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06Just leaving it there is just as bad
0:29:06 > 0:29:09as you just going and throwing it there in the first place,
0:29:09 > 0:29:11it's the same thing.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17Everyone here has a responsibility to help.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21It's up to each Hawaiian to work out how they can be most effective.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23If you can inspire thousands of people as you do it,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25so much the better.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Right now, we'd like to... (INAUDIBLE) ..for the kids.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32We've got a song...
0:29:32 > 0:29:35we play in the schools sometimes.
0:29:35 > 0:29:36I wanna hear it loud.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39'Music's always just been a little hobby.'
0:29:39 > 0:29:42The last few years it's become more of something I do,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45and it's brought a lot of attention to myself,
0:29:45 > 0:29:47and so I've decided to take some of that attention
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and focus it on some issues back here in Hawaii,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53and so we started the Kokua Hawaii Foundation,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56and kokua in the Hawaiian language means to help.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02# Three, it's a magic number Yes it is... #
0:30:02 > 0:30:04We saw there was a bit of a hole as far as working with kids
0:30:04 > 0:30:06and getting them ready for the future.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10And we do things like we started recycling programmes,
0:30:10 > 0:30:12and we fund field trips that send kids out into nature
0:30:12 > 0:30:15where they learn about native plants and animals.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19OK, ready? One, two...
0:30:19 > 0:30:22'I was in the studio recording a record and I had the idea
0:30:22 > 0:30:24of 'reduce, reuse, recycle.'
0:30:24 > 0:30:27I kind of just made this song up in about an hour there.
0:30:27 > 0:30:30Kids' songs, it's always fun, you don't have to over-analyse it,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33you know, you just try to make it funky and fun.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36- # Cos two times three is... - Six!
0:30:36 > 0:30:39- # And three times six is...- 18!
0:30:39 > 0:30:42# And the 18th letter in the alphabet is R! #
0:30:42 > 0:30:45As a kid, I grew up dreaming about
0:30:45 > 0:30:48being on a deserted island and having to figure out how would you survive.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51# We gotta learn to reduce, reuse, recycle
0:30:51 > 0:30:54# Reduce, reuse, recycle... #
0:30:54 > 0:30:57It's kind of what life's about, is trying to be sustainable.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59# Reduce, reuse, recycle
0:30:59 > 0:31:02# Now if you're going to the market to buy some juice
0:31:02 > 0:31:06# Bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste... #
0:31:06 > 0:31:08It's funny cos the kids
0:31:08 > 0:31:10start singing it and some of them probably think
0:31:10 > 0:31:13this is important stuff, others just think it's fun,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16they get to dance and yell out, and the words sink in,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18and I'll meet kids and they'll start singing the song to me.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Right, everybody sing.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22# Reduce, reuse, recycle... # That's good!
0:31:22 > 0:31:24# Reduce, reuse, recycle
0:31:24 > 0:31:30# Reduce, reuse, recycle Reduce, reuse, recycle... #
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Reduce, reuse, recycle.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36A simple message of how to live within your means.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38# It's a magic... #
0:31:41 > 0:31:44It's basically what we learned in that canoe all those centuries ago.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48That message is now spreading
0:31:48 > 0:31:51beyond the schoolroom and into our communities.
0:31:51 > 0:31:55# Three, it's a magic number. #
0:31:55 > 0:31:57But just as WE'RE learning to think Hawaiian again,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00it's no longer enough.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05Our islands are now facing a problem so large
0:32:05 > 0:32:08that we Hawaiians cannot solve it alone.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15# Oh Captain, tell me true
0:32:15 > 0:32:19# Does my darling sail with you?
0:32:19 > 0:32:23# No, she does not sail with me
0:32:23 > 0:32:27# She sleeps on the bottom of the sea
0:32:27 > 0:32:31# What did the deep sea say?
0:32:31 > 0:32:34# Tell me, what did the deep sea say?
0:32:34 > 0:32:39# It moaned and groaned and it splashed and it foamed
0:32:39 > 0:32:42# And it rode on its weary way. #
0:32:46 > 0:32:51We're currently on Kamilo Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55This area is an accumulation point for marine debris.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58It's currently in the running for
0:32:58 > 0:33:01the title of dirtiest beach in the world.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Most of this debris is not from Hawaiians themselves,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08not from products that are consumed here,
0:33:08 > 0:33:10not from tourists that use the beaches.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Most of it comes from what we call the Pacific Rim,
0:33:13 > 0:33:16the area on the continents surrounding Hawaii.
0:33:16 > 0:33:23The shores of Hawaii are littered with the debris of civilisation.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Every year,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31the world produces nearly 150 billion kilograms of plastic.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36It is thought that as much as half ends up in the environment.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40Once there, it doesn't break down - it just accumulates.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45The idea that plastics are throwaway materials
0:33:45 > 0:33:47that are used once then tossed,
0:33:47 > 0:33:51that was a concept developed to use the vast productivity
0:33:51 > 0:33:54generated by our economic system in World War II,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57to keep it moving, keep it going after the war came to a close.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02It was decided, "Well, we'll generate a throwaway society."
0:34:02 > 0:34:05This is, in part, responsible for what you're seeing here,
0:34:05 > 0:34:10and I think if we had the tools to be archaeologists of plastic and to date it,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13we would find that some of the particles here
0:34:13 > 0:34:16date from the dawn of the plastic era in the 1950s.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24Hawaii is the most remote island chain in the world,
0:34:24 > 0:34:28and yet global garbage is found from the shores of Kamilo Beach,
0:34:28 > 0:34:33right up to the north-western limits of the archipelago 1,500 miles away.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38The islands to the northwest are the oldest in the chain.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41They were once great volcanoes, like the main islands,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45but have slowly sunk back down into the ocean.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49We call the northwest Hawaiian islands the Kapuna islands
0:34:49 > 0:34:53because that's exactly what they are - kapuna are our elders.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07By us going up there and looking at what is happening
0:35:07 > 0:35:10to the northwest Hawaiian islands,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13we're learning from that and that's what kapuna do.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15They teach the younger generation
0:35:15 > 0:35:19and sometimes they have very harsh lessons to teach.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25You hear mixed reports about the northwest Hawaiian islands.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30On one hand, what I've seen of them on TV is just, you know, there's seabirds everywhere
0:35:30 > 0:35:34and monk seals and spinner dolphins, and it seems like such a cool place,
0:35:34 > 0:35:39but I've also read reports on the other hand that there are beaches there covered in trash.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58These small and isolated islands have never been permanently settled
0:35:58 > 0:36:02by people, and so have remained a sanctuary for Hawaiian wildlife.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08In June 2006,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11the northwest Hawaiian islands were made a US national monument.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16The largest fully protected marine conservation area on the planet.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20The continuing health of these islands is critical
0:36:20 > 0:36:24to the survival of some of Hawaii's most vulnerable species.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30The northwest Hawaiian islands marine ecological reserve
0:36:30 > 0:36:33is a national treasure. It's protected by law.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41There is no law that can stop the drift of oceanic currents,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44and there is no law that can stop the oceanic currents
0:36:44 > 0:36:47from bringing plastic debris to those islands.
0:36:52 > 0:36:57And as it exists now, the Hawaiian chain is in dire threat, daily,
0:36:57 > 0:37:01from tons and tons of marine debris of every description
0:37:01 > 0:37:05causing every type of ecological harm that you can imagine.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Midway, the most famous of the northwest Hawaiian islands,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27has the harshest lesson of all.
0:37:32 > 0:37:34Midway played a pivotal role
0:37:34 > 0:37:38in the Second World War, but now it's part of the national monument.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42For the last 50 years, animals have been re-colonising the island
0:37:42 > 0:37:46and living quite comfortably among the remnants of war.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Midway is the breeding ground of millions of seabirds.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Including 90% of the world's Laysan albatross.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18It's hard for me to imagine that at one point there were planes
0:38:18 > 0:38:23taking off and landing all the time on Midway, and being such a central part in the war
0:38:23 > 0:38:27because now it seems like the albatrosses have taken over the island, they're everywhere.
0:38:29 > 0:38:30At the height of the season,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33there's about 1.4 million albatross on the island -
0:38:33 > 0:38:35that's a lot of birds.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47During the nesting season, the Laysan albatross chicks
0:38:47 > 0:38:50are confined to this small piece of land in the middle of the Pacific.
0:38:50 > 0:38:55They are completely dependent on what their parents bring them to eat
0:38:55 > 0:38:56from the open ocean.
0:38:56 > 0:38:59They fatten up for seven months,
0:38:59 > 0:39:02then the young albatrosses should be fit,
0:39:02 > 0:39:07ready to fledge and able to begin fending for themselves.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12But these days, many of them are barely getting off the ground.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26When I first pulled up to this little corner it was horrifying.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30I didn't know it was here and I looked at it...and...it's horrible.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33There's trash, there's plastic, there's dead albatrosses.
0:39:33 > 0:39:34It's just awful.
0:39:37 > 0:39:40A lot of them, they try to fly and you know that once those wings
0:39:40 > 0:39:44go in the water it's trouble, cos they get all waterlogged.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48I feel so badly for these guys who are sitting here but some of them,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52the ones who look fairly healthy, I don't want to move them,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56I don't wanna tire them out any more than they are.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00But the ones that do come down and get stuck up on the rocks,
0:40:00 > 0:40:01I wanna pull those guys out.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Many albatross chicks are just too weak to make it to adulthood.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16To find out why,
0:40:16 > 0:40:19we need to look at what the parents are unwittingly feeding them.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23My science class was, um...
0:40:23 > 0:40:31given these boluses of these Laysan albatrosses to dissect,
0:40:31 > 0:40:34and the bolus is basically what
0:40:34 > 0:40:36the albatross regurgitates.
0:40:36 > 0:40:43What we found was very little of the stomach contents was actually
0:40:43 > 0:40:46what they normally eat, their regular diet.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Most of what we found in each albatross bolus was...
0:40:50 > 0:40:53was marine debris - plastic lighters,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57floaters, fishing lures, even little plastic toys.
0:40:59 > 0:41:05What my kids began to express to me
0:41:05 > 0:41:09was basically, "How the heck?"
0:41:09 > 0:41:15How did these foreign objects get into the stomach of this, this albatross?
0:41:17 > 0:41:19- Oh, my God...- Yeah.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Laysan albatross
0:41:22 > 0:41:26assume that anything floating on the ocean surface is edible.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29For millions of years, this has been a fair assumption.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32But, today, in some parts of the Pacific,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36there is more plastic than food.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39The entire Pacific Ocean is circulating this debris,
0:41:39 > 0:41:46so there are many billions of particles circulating in this never-ending spiral
0:41:46 > 0:41:49that, you know, may never touch land and will just constantly
0:41:49 > 0:41:52be in the ocean until they are degraded to the point
0:41:52 > 0:42:00where they either sink to the bottom or they become ingested by some creature.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10In nature, albatross chicks typically die from either starvation
0:42:10 > 0:42:13or dehydration and that's kind of the way it's always been.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17Plastics help this process along by taking up room in their stomachs
0:42:17 > 0:42:20that would normally be reserved for food and water.
0:42:20 > 0:42:21So when you have an albatross chick
0:42:21 > 0:42:23that's got half its stomach full of plastic,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26that's half its stomach that can't be used.
0:42:31 > 0:42:33So as you walk around this nesting colony,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36all that you really see left are just the dead ones
0:42:36 > 0:42:41and, um, you can see in the dead ones that have been left here for a while
0:42:41 > 0:42:44they've started to decay, and inside those
0:42:44 > 0:42:48you can see a lot of the plastics that have been left behind.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54What I think that I might do is wander around for an hour
0:42:54 > 0:42:56and pick up the noticeable recognisable bits,
0:42:56 > 0:43:00and then hopefully I can take them down to the beach and lay them out
0:43:00 > 0:43:02so we can get a better idea of what's out there.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10At first glance, it doesn't really seem like
0:43:10 > 0:43:12there's too many plastics on the ground,
0:43:12 > 0:43:17but once you start looking around and taking a closer look, you just see that it's everywhere.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25Even in the old days, the Hawaiians used to look at certain species
0:43:25 > 0:43:27to get an idea of what's going on out there
0:43:27 > 0:43:33and where they should start to apply different kapu and restrictions.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36Sadly, these birds are giving their lives
0:43:36 > 0:43:41to show us what we're doing to the oceans.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49So I spent about an hour this afternoon walking around,
0:43:49 > 0:43:54picking up all the plastic that I could find out of the dead albatross chicks
0:43:54 > 0:43:55and the boluses that they cough up.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58Um, I've kind of laid it out here,
0:43:58 > 0:44:03based on just different categories of the stuff that I've found.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06The fishing gear is what you would expect to find.
0:44:06 > 0:44:10The lines get broken and floats get lost and stuff like that,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14so this type of stuff isn't quite so surprising.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16If you aren't a fisherman,
0:44:16 > 0:44:19you're probably feeling good about yourself right now,
0:44:19 > 0:44:20you're thinking, "OK, this isn't my fault."
0:44:20 > 0:44:23So now I'm going to pick on the smokers.
0:44:23 > 0:44:24These are all lighters.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27And if you're a golfer, here's some golf balls.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Roller balls that come in your deodorant.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31We have all these kids' toys...
0:44:31 > 0:44:32Bunch of combs and brushes.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34So if you guys drink juice in the morning...
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Here's a glue stick...a few glue sticks actually.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41Here's a little gun, which is kind of fitting for Midway, I guess.
0:44:41 > 0:44:43Everyone knows Santa Claus.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45Some print cartridges...
0:44:45 > 0:44:48and if you think about how big the albatrosses are
0:44:48 > 0:44:51and how big their necks are, this is about the same size.
0:44:51 > 0:44:53It's amazing that they can even get these things down.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56It can't be very comfortable for them.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58The next one...
0:44:58 > 0:45:01We have a bunch of pens that have made it over here.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03Here's a bunch of toothpicks.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05This is somewhat of a monstrosity.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07Door handles... Clothes pins...
0:45:07 > 0:45:09It's a baby rattle...
0:45:09 > 0:45:12There's still actually lip balm in it. I wouldn't want to use it.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16If I was an albatross, I don't think that I would like to swallow this.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Still, if you've made it this far without thinking
0:45:22 > 0:45:25that something that you use has become a problem,
0:45:25 > 0:45:30the toothbrushes should get you because I know that everybody uses toothbrushes.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Every single piece of this plastic that we've pulled out
0:45:36 > 0:45:39of the albatross colonies has come here in an albatross.
0:45:39 > 0:45:44It hasn't washed up on the beach, it hasn't been dumped here by humans,
0:45:44 > 0:45:45it came here inside a bird.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54I don't think that people actually realise on a day-to-day basis
0:45:54 > 0:45:56what the impact actually is.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58We did this -
0:45:58 > 0:46:02we all did this to them, and it's just horrid, it's horrifying.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Throw-away living may be profitable
0:46:13 > 0:46:16but the consequences are intolerable.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20It's certainly a problem for everyone
0:46:20 > 0:46:26and it will require all facets of society to solve it.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29The ocean itself eventually will spit this stuff out,
0:46:29 > 0:46:31but we have to stop putting it in.
0:46:31 > 0:46:36If we don't stop putting it in, it will never be able to spit it all out,
0:46:36 > 0:46:38and that's the situation we are in right now.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50When Hawaii - one of the most isolated places on the planet -
0:46:50 > 0:46:53is damaged by the world's wasteful and unsustainable living,
0:46:53 > 0:46:56we should all sit up and pay attention.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Our tiny islands are offering up a warning,
0:47:01 > 0:47:03but also can provide some hope.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Hawaiian history has shown us that sustainable living
0:47:07 > 0:47:09is not impossible.
0:47:09 > 0:47:13If it's been done before, it can be done again.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16We just need to work out what's important to us.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20If you have an environment like this
0:47:20 > 0:47:23to live in,
0:47:23 > 0:47:28you can have any mansion, any jet plane, you can keep it, OK?
0:47:28 > 0:47:32I'm rich. I've got everything I need.
0:47:32 > 0:47:38As a society, we have to realise that this wealth is exhaustible.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41If we don't use it wisely,
0:47:41 > 0:47:45that wealth will turn into poverty for us,
0:47:45 > 0:47:49and this poverty means not being able to survive.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53When this has gone, it's already gone.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55We can't mail order anything else.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01It's no longer enough for just us, on our islands,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04to re-discover how to live within our means.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06We all have to think Hawaiian now.
0:48:08 > 0:48:09Live like you're in a canoe.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21MUSIC: The 3 R's by Jack Johnson