Ocean of Islands South Pacific


Ocean of Islands

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The South Pacific.

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The name is familiar,

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but 230 years after Captain Cook's epic voyages,

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this vast ocean remains little known.

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In the endless blue,

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isolated islands harbour life that's rarely seen.

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And these are some of the most pristine waters of any ocean.

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The turquoise seas

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and picture-postcard islands look like heaven on Earth.

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But all is not what it seems.

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The South Pacific also has an unforgiving nature.

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Islands born from volcanic seas

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erupt with unique and extreme ways of life.

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People succeeded here against the odds.

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The South Pacific is a tale of the unexpected...

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..a forgotten world

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where isolation has created the bizarre and surprising.

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This is the story of life in an ocean of islands.

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Out of the blue, a giant emerges from the deep.

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Right now, the monster moves silently,

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but it's equipped with an awesome force.

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WATER WHISPERS

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MUFFLED ROARING

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GURGLING

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Some of the largest waves in the world break on South Pacific islands.

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Their birth sums up the scale of this ocean.

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The storm swell that made these waves

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has travelled 3,000 miles to reach this shallow reef.

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These distances proved a great challenge for animal castaways,

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but when they found new land, many evolved into new species.

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Human colonisers followed similar routes,

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and the ocean that isolated them from the rest of the world

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became central to their culture.

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The big waves were an inspiration,

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and riding them has been a tradition here for more than 1,500 years.

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No other ocean has had a greater impact

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on the lives of so many different animals and cultures

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than the South Pacific,

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and it's all down to its massive size.

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The whole Pacific Ocean is so large,

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you could fit the world's continents inside it

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with nearly enough room for another Africa.

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Ten thousand miles wide, less than one per cent is land.

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Best known are the Hawaiian islands.

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They sit 1,500 miles north of the equator,

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but their story was shaped by the south.

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The South Pacific is made up of thousands of islands

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united by cultures and bound together by ocean currents.

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Most of the land sits in warm waters,

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but travel south and the character of the islands change.

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New Zealand is not tropical but temperate.

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The ocean currents which cool New Zealand's waters

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occasionally bring icebergs.

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Starting in the Antarctic, they've drifted for nearly eight months...

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on the way, passing the most southerly outpost

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in the South Pacific.

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Where New Zealand's temperate seas merge

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with the icy waters of the Southern Ocean,

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lies a solitary piece of land...

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..85 miles of wave-lashed coastline.

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It looks desolate, but it's not deserted.

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At certain times of year, there's more life here

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than on any other island in the Pacific.

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SEAL SNORTS

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In August, after months at sea, elephant seals arrive.

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SEAL ROARS

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They depend on this island for breeding.

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Macquarie will soon be heaving with 60,000 elephant seals,

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but they won't have the beaches to themselves.

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One month later, another wave of migrants appear in the surf.

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These are royal penguins,

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and they're about to have their first sighting of land in seven months.

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They've spent that time hunting for fish and shrimp

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in the open ocean.

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One last hurdle and they're back on terra firma.

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This island is actually the only solid ground

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these penguins will ever set foot on.

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Macquarie's nearest neighbour is more than 400 miles away,

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and in the opposite direction from their favourite feeding grounds.

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BRAYING AND SQUAWKING

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Within days of the first arrivals, it's standing room only.

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Nobody knows exactly how these penguins navigate back to Macquarie,

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but with this many adults returning every year to breed,

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it clearly works.

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SQUAWKING AND BRAYING

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STACCATO CRIES

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Out in the open ocean, royal penguins lead solitary lives,

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so these cramped conditions take a bit of getting used to.

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Disputes settled, it's time to renew old acquaintances.

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The elephant seals have also settled down...

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even if some still play hard to get.

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SHE WAILS

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Though it's not easy turning down the advances

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of a suitor six times your size.

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A gentle nuzzle, and she appears won over.

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DEEP-THROATED GURGLING

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And it's not just love that's in the air.

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At these southerly latitudes,

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ocean winds bring rain six-and-a-half days out of seven.

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And when it doesn't rain...

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it snows.

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It couldn't be more different

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from the cliched image of a South Pacific island.

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But surprisingly, what makes Macquarie so rich in wildlife

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also benefits other islands in the tropical South Pacific,

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thousands of miles away.

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Macquarie's penguins and seals depend

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on a cold, nutrient-rich current... and that doesn't stop here.

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Powered by the strongest winds in the world,

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the current continues east

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until it hits the tip of South America,

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where it's driven northwards.

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Over 8,000 miles later, the cold current reaches the equator

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and a remote archipelago...

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The water has warmed up on the journey north,

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but it's still cold and nutrient rich.

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This has allowed some animals to live here

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which you wouldn't normally find this close to the equator.

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Sea lions.

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Isolated on the Galapagos, they've been here so long

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they've become a separate species.

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When the surf's up,

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the sea lions spend hours just messing around in the waves.

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Surfing burns a lot of energy, and they can only do it

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because these cold seas support vast numbers of fish.

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The sea lions share these nutrient-rich waters

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with another equatorial misfit.

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Penguins -

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the only penguins found in the tropics.

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Like the sea lions, Galapagos penguins can survive here

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because the water keeps them cool and well fed.

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But these conditions are not constant.

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In El Nino years, when currents reverse, warm waters replace cold,

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fish populations crash

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and then, stuck on Galapagos, penguins and sea lions starve.

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Their numbers will bounce back,

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but it's the price these animals pay for life on these isolated islands.

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There are thousands of islands in the South Pacific.

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Many are unbelievably remote.

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Some are thousands of miles away from the nearest continent

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and hundreds of miles from their nearest neighbour.

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Imagine each island as a castle,

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and the ocean a giant moat stretching to the horizon in every direction,

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and you have captured the essence of their isolation.

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It's a wonder how any life reached these islands at all.

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But no matter how remote or small an island is,

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animals have somehow conquered the massive ocean barrier

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to reach these specks of land.

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For the lucky few that made it,

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South Pacific islands provided great opportunities.

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Once here, they had the freedom to be different.

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Crabs may not seem unusual,

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but there's one kind here that's like no other.

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On this little island in Vanuatu lives a real oddity.

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It's the largest terrestrial invertebrate on Earth...

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..the robber crab.

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The biggest can weigh up to four kilograms -

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the same as a newborn baby -

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and have a leg span of one metre.

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It's a hermit crab on steroids.

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At night, the huge "robbers" really come alive.

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Although these crabs are found throughout the Pacific,

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it's only on undisturbed islands that you can see them in such numbers.

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Exactly why robber crabs have grown so big is a mystery,

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but with so few creatures making it to these remote islands,

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the giant crustaceans

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seem to have filled a niche normally taken by medium-sized mammals.

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And with almost no competition from other native animals,

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the crabs' huge size allows them to make the most of another great coloniser -

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something found here in abundance.

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Coconuts are one of their favourite foods -

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it's why they're also called "coconut crabs" -

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and they've been known to carry them as far as three miles

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to a favourite den.

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Robber crabs are perhaps the only animals in the world

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able to break into a coconut.

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The husk is ripped off by powerful pincers.

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Other legs drill through the germinating holes on the seed itself

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until the nut finally cracks.

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The whole process can take several hours,

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but the reward is a meal rich in protein.

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Robber crabs may rule the land, but they're no masters of the sea.

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An adult crab would drown in a few minutes,

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which raises the question -

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how did these monsters get to so many of the South Pacific's most isolated islands?

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This female carries the answer -

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thousands of eggs,

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which will soon be left to the mercy of the ocean currents.

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A few shakes of her tail are all that's needed

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to send them on their way.

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The eggs will hatch immediately.

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Then the larvae will have just 50 days to find a new home above the water.

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For animal castaways,

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finding new land in this vast ocean was a chance in a million.

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THUNDER RUMBLES

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To beat the odds, luck was needed,

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sometimes coming from an unlikely source...

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cyclones.

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WIND WHISTLES

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Each year, these powerful tropical storms form over the huge ocean.

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The largest can span more than 600 miles.

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THUNDER ROLLS

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Cyclones are one of the most destructive forces in the South Pacific.

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Yet surprisingly, they have played a critical role

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in spreading life to the loneliest islands.

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And few islands are more remote than these.

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Two thousand miles from the nearest continent,

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Hawaii is the world's most isolated archipelago.

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It is so far flung

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that less than 500 kinds of animal settled here in 30 million years.

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Remarkably, many of these colonisers

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were carried to Hawaii on the back of cyclones.

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For an animal to be sucked up by storm winds, carried across the ocean

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and dumped here alive was a matter of extraordinary luck.

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Yet that's what happened to the ancestor of this insect.

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It's a kind of fruit fly...

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but no ordinary one.

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Hawaii's fruit flies are the birds of paradise of the insect world.

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They attract females with elaborate courtship rituals

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and have a sophisticated range of territorial behaviour.

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Male hammerhead flies use their heads as battering rams.

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A male clavisetae fruit fly

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fans sex pheromones from his raised abdomen.

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His extended tongue is an added attraction.

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Since that first coloniser,

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they have evolved into nearly 1,000 species,

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many with their own unique behaviour.

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When it comes to choosing a mate, females are very fussy.

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One wrong move by her suitor and she's off.

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BUZZING

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Hawaii's isolation has had a curious effect

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on the evolution of some of its other wildlife, too.

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Crawling around these ferns are caterpillars.

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They're the larvae of a moth and look ordinary enough.

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But these tiny caterpillars are perhaps the strangest of their kind in the world.

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When one finds the right spot, it settles down to chew through a leaf.

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So far, so normal.

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But the caterpillar is not actually swallowing the bits of leaf.

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It's channelling a gap between the segments.

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When finished, it'll tuck itself into the space.

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So what is so strange about this animal?

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Well, those are not your typical caterpillar feet,

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and what follows is not your typical caterpillar behaviour.

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This is a carnivorous caterpillar...

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..with a vice-like hold and a bite to match.

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Hawaii's numerous fruit flies were just too good an opportunity to ignore.

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And the stick-like camouflage of another kind of meat-eating caterpillar

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is just as effective when ambushing prey.

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Nobody knows what set Hawaii's carnivorous caterpillars on this extraordinary path,

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but it's the sort of quirky evolution that's common on isolated islands.

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Each South Pacific island has its own unique set of creatures.

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With so many islands, this adds up to thousands of animals

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found nowhere else on Earth.

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Isolated by miles of ocean,

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human colonisers also developed different ways of life.

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Each culture has its own customs, and some are truly bizarre.

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SINGING

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The locals are in celebratory mood.

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THEY ARE SINGING

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This man is about to perform one of the strangest rituals in the world.

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It's a tradition that tests the mettle of the most courageous men.

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Having a head for heights is only the start.

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Forest vines are tied around his ankles.

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They will be his lifeline.

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LEAVES RUSTLE, TOWER CREAKS

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For centuries, Pentecost men have been leaping head first

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from wooden scaffolds with only forest vines to break their fall...

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..a tradition that inspired modern bungee jumping.

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The jumps may look like acts of madness,

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but the festival's origins have a serious side.

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They celebrate the annual harvest of their staple crop.

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And with up to nine cyclones pounding the South Pacific a year,

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a successful harvest is worth celebrating.

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The close calls with Mother Earth are not miscalculations.

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The diver's hair is actually meant to brush the ground

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in a symbolic act of fertilisation.

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And it's believed the closer the jumper gets to the ground,

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the taller the crops will grow the next year.

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Human history across most of the South Pacific

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dates back less than 2,000 years.

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By comparison, animal colonisers first arrived on these shores

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over 30 million years ago.

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Yet by the 12th century,

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people had colonised almost every habitable piece of land.

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Surrounded by water, the ocean became embedded in their culture -

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sometimes in surprising ways.

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DRUMMING

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In the Banks Islands, women use the sea to make music.

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And their songs celebrate the creatures that live in it.

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No matter where people settled in the South Pacific,

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their survival depended

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on a deep understanding of the ocean and its wildlife.

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And one ocean event has featured in the Pacific islanders' calendar

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since they first arrived here.

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It happens on just one night a year, in November.

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Armed with torches and homemade nets,

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these islanders prepare for a harvest.

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They gather in the reef shallows,

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watching and waiting for what will soon be a flurry of activity.

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As the moon rises,

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it triggers a natural phenomenon and a very strange spectacle...

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..the rising of worms -

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palolo worms.

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These are actually the worms' rear ends - their reproductive segments.

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The part with the head remains in the coral rock.

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When they reach the surface, eggs and sperm will mix.

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EXCITED SHOUTING

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The tide washes the wriggling worms into the shallows

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where they are scooped up by the bucketful.

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The whole event lasts just a couple of hours, but in that time,

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hundreds of kilos can be gathered.

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Rich in proteins and fats,

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palolo worms are the caviar of the South Pacific.

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This may be a short-lived feast, but living in the South Pacific

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means making the most of anything going.

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Every year, in June, tiger sharks appear

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in the shallow waters around this scattering of tiny, sandy islands.

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They've travelled hundreds of miles in anticipation of an event

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that lasts less than two weeks.

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And their timing is impeccable.

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Albatross chicks are sitting ducks.

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The sharks may have lost the element of surprise,

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but their high visibility will make little difference

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to the albatross chicks' behaviour.

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HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLING

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Right now, the focus is on flying.

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For fledging albatross, that's not as simple as you'd think.

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The problem is the island's runway is a bit short,

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especially for a bird with one of the world's longest wingspans.

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The maiden flight often ends in a wet landing.

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And that's why the sharks are here.

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With their highly acute senses,

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they're onto the chicks within a few moments of touchdown.

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During two weeks of fledging,

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over 100 albatross chicks make the same fatal error...

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and the sharks take full advantage.

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In an ocean where food can be surprisingly scarce,

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this annual feast is something these sharks depend on.

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The size of many South Pacific islands means that food is often limited.

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The smaller and more isolated they are, the harder it is to survive.

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And in this ocean of islands, there's one tiny island that stands out.

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It's home to perhaps the most remote community of people on the planet,

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with a truly inspiring story.

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These men are from the island of Anuta.

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This fishing technique is unique to their island

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and essential when the weather is too rough for their boats.

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Octopus tentacles are used as bait.

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And it's very effective.

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Once a shoal has been found, dozens of fish can be caught in this way.

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The struggling fish are killed with a quick bite to the head.

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Anutans have more fishing techniques than almost anywhere else in the Pacific -

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a vital skill, given the size of their island.

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And this is it.

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Just one-sixth of a square mile in area.

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Anuta is so small, that no matter where you are,

0:40:220:40:26

the sound of the waves is ever present.

0:40:260:40:30

WAVES WHISPER

0:40:300:40:32

CHILDREN CALL

0:40:320:40:34

Life on Anuta has changed little

0:40:370:40:40

since these people's ancestors arrived here nearly 400 years ago.

0:40:400:40:45

Many Anutans still spend their entire lives on this remote speck of land.

0:40:450:40:51

Anuta's isolation has meant that the 300 people who live here

0:40:560:41:00

have had to become completely self-sufficient.

0:41:000:41:04

Almost every square metre of the island

0:41:060:41:09

is cultivated to grow staple crops like taro or breadfruit.

0:41:090:41:14

Some food will be stored in the ground -

0:41:150:41:18

an insurance policy against cyclones.

0:41:180:41:20

With few trees on the island,

0:41:270:41:29

their wooden outrigger canoes are treasured items,

0:41:290:41:32

and some have been in continuous use for nearly 150 years.

0:41:320:41:36

Without them, these people would struggle to survive here,

0:41:430:41:47

since it's the sea that Anutans look to for many of their needs.

0:41:470:41:53

The men have a plan for whichever direction the wind takes them.

0:42:200:42:24

They know the location of every one of their reefs,

0:42:260:42:29

lining up landmarks on the island to gauge their exact position.

0:42:290:42:34

It makes fishing trips very productive.

0:42:350:42:38

MEN CHAT

0:42:380:42:40

Anuta's isolation has shaped their society.

0:42:460:42:51

Too far away to trade with other islands,

0:42:510:42:54

they have a strong community spirit.

0:42:540:42:56

Everything is shared and all work together for the common good.

0:43:020:43:07

It's the secret of their success.

0:43:070:43:10

Anuta has one of the highest population densities on Earth -

0:43:170:43:22

equal to that of Bangladesh - yet on their tiny speck of land,

0:43:220:43:25

these people have always lived completely within their resources.

0:43:250:43:30

It's a remarkable achievement,

0:43:400:43:42

and not one that is shared by all

0:43:420:43:44

who have made a home in the South Pacific.

0:43:440:43:47

Lost in the vastness of this ocean

0:43:510:43:54

is an island with a legendary tale of over-exploitation.

0:43:540:43:59

This was once the most inaccessible island in the world.

0:44:080:44:13

When the first people arrived here 1,000 years ago,

0:44:170:44:22

Easter Island was a paradise

0:44:220:44:25

thought to be richer in wildlife than even the Galapagos.

0:44:250:44:30

Back then, its hills were cloaked with a forest of giant palms.

0:44:320:44:38

It was also home to one of the largest seabird colonies

0:44:380:44:42

in the South Pacific.

0:44:420:44:43

Initially, life must have been easy for the Easter Islanders,

0:44:470:44:51

the Rapa Nui.

0:44:510:44:53

And with time on their hands, they set to work

0:44:530:44:56

carving huge stone statues known as moai.

0:44:560:45:00

Before long, each clan was trying to carve

0:45:030:45:05

larger, grander figures than those of their neighbours...

0:45:050:45:09

..competition that was to be their undoing.

0:45:100:45:13

Vast quantities of wood were used to transport the stone statues,

0:45:180:45:23

and slowly but surely,

0:45:230:45:24

the Rapa Nui used up their island's precious resources.

0:45:240:45:29

Eventually, their civilisation descended into chaos and warfare.

0:45:290:45:34

Clan fought against clan, with disastrous consequences.

0:45:340:45:39

By the time of their ultimate collapse, the Rapa Nui

0:45:570:46:01

had changed their island beyond recognition.

0:46:010:46:04

These are the hills where the giant palm forest once stood.

0:46:100:46:15

And these are the cliffs

0:46:150:46:16

that once rang to the sound of those huge seabird colonies,

0:46:160:46:20

all hunted to extinction by the Rapa Nui.

0:46:200:46:24

Today, the giant stone statues

0:46:270:46:29

are a poignant reminder of the precarious nature

0:46:290:46:32

of life on remote islands.

0:46:320:46:34

All South Pacific islanders must make the most

0:46:420:46:45

of whatever resources they have...

0:46:450:46:47

..and the Anutans are no exception.

0:46:490:46:52

They harvest the wildlife that also depends on this little piece of land.

0:46:560:47:02

WHISTLING

0:47:110:47:14

NASAL "OW-OW-OW"

0:47:160:47:18

Each hunter uses his own preferred call.

0:47:210:47:24

LIPS VIBRATING

0:47:240:47:26

The noise will lure their quarry closer to their nets.

0:47:280:47:32

SWISHING

0:47:330:47:35

WHISTLING

0:47:370:47:39

LIPS VIBRATING

0:47:420:47:44

ANIMAL SQUAWKING

0:47:490:47:51

Noddy terns.

0:47:530:47:54

They've spent the day fishing out at sea,

0:47:540:47:57

so it's only when they return to roost at night they can be caught.

0:47:570:48:01

It would be easy for the Anutans to over-harvest the noddy terns -

0:48:080:48:12

even exterminate the colony.

0:48:120:48:14

But that's not the Anutan way.

0:48:160:48:19

Their approach ensures a future for the next generation to enjoy.

0:48:220:48:27

Life has always been precarious in the South Pacific,

0:49:060:49:10

but with the right balance, both people and animals

0:49:100:49:13

will continue to thrive in this great ocean of islands.

0:49:130:49:19

Some of the biggest waves in the world

0:49:390:49:41

break on South Pacific islands.

0:49:410:49:43

One of the aims of this series was to capture the awesome power

0:49:430:49:46

of these natural forces from underwater.

0:49:460:49:50

So the team headed to Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands...

0:49:550:50:00

..well known for big, barrelling waves.

0:50:010:50:03

On board was top surf cameraman, Bali Strickland.

0:50:060:50:10

Often you're like, "If I'd been one metre that way,

0:50:100:50:13

"the shot would've been perfect."

0:50:130:50:15

So to actually get the perfect position is pretty hard.

0:50:150:50:18

But Bali was used to a camera housing this size,

0:50:180:50:22

so how was he going to manage

0:50:220:50:24

with one this big?

0:50:240:50:26

German camera technician Rudi Diesel

0:50:280:50:30

had only finished building this housing one day before the shoot.

0:50:300:50:35

Inside was a camera that could film in super slow motion

0:50:350:50:38

and high definition.

0:50:380:50:39

Until now, no-one had ever tried using one underwater.

0:50:390:50:44

About to take a 100,000-plus camera into the water.

0:50:440:50:48

Don't see much in the monitor.

0:50:490:50:51

Unfortunately, the camera turned out to be...

0:50:510:50:54

well, camera shy.

0:50:540:50:56

-Oh, boy!

-The anticipation was there.

0:50:560:50:59

There was huge expectation.

0:50:590:51:03

When you're breaking new ground,

0:51:030:51:04

you have to be prepared for swings and roundabouts.

0:51:040:51:07

You have to be patient sometimes.

0:51:070:51:10

And there was another problem.

0:51:100:51:12

The waves were tiny - more Cornwall than Carolines.

0:51:120:51:17

The team had brought along world-class surfer Dylan Longbottom

0:51:170:51:21

to give some scale to the waves,

0:51:210:51:24

but it was having the opposite effect.

0:51:240:51:26

When you look at the size of the waves,

0:51:270:51:29

it's hard to imagine that in a single day,

0:51:290:51:31

if the conditions were right,

0:51:310:51:33

the wave would break way over your head with this perfect barrel.

0:51:330:51:37

But there's no sign of it at the moment.

0:51:370:51:39

Next day, Rudi felt sure

0:51:460:51:47

his custom-built housing was now up and running.

0:51:470:51:50

OK, switch it on...

0:51:500:51:52

Yes, it works!

0:51:550:51:57

The words I like to hear most often on a shoot - "Yes, it's working."

0:51:570:52:01

The words I don't like to hear very often, Rudi,

0:52:010:52:04

are, "No, it's not working. I think it's broken."

0:52:040:52:07

But all was well with the housing

0:52:070:52:08

and, finally, it was ready to make a splash.

0:52:080:52:11

Bali and Dylan paddled out to the surf zone.

0:52:200:52:23

The waves were still small,

0:52:270:52:29

but the hard, jagged reef beneath Bali's feet

0:52:290:52:32

was a constant reminder of the dangers here.

0:52:320:52:35

And even in small waves,

0:52:380:52:39

getting into position with the large housing was going to be a challenge.

0:52:390:52:43

Bali lined up for his first shot...

0:52:510:52:54

..capturing the action at 20 times slower than normal speed.

0:53:010:53:04

An interesting shot, but not what the team were after.

0:53:110:53:15

So why were there no big waves?

0:53:160:53:19

There's no land between here and Kamchatka, 3,000 miles away.

0:53:190:53:24

And the waves that arrive here

0:53:240:53:26

start off around Japan or the east coast of Russia.

0:53:260:53:29

And when a storm hits these places,

0:53:290:53:32

it whips up the sea, generating swell.

0:53:320:53:35

It's rather like throwing a pebble into a pool.

0:53:350:53:38

The ripples radiate outwards

0:53:380:53:40

which, when they reach land, make waves.

0:53:400:53:43

So if the size of these waves was anything to go by,

0:53:450:53:49

Japan and Russia were having some unusually mild winter weather.

0:53:490:53:53

And that was more than you could say for Pohnpei.

0:53:560:54:00

And there were still no big waves.

0:54:010:54:04

The only good news was that the housing was still working

0:54:040:54:08

and remained watertight, despite being soundly tested

0:54:080:54:12

both below and above the water.

0:54:120:54:14

Then, when the team thought things couldn't get any worse...

0:54:180:54:21

If conditions got any calmer here, we'd probably have small boys

0:54:210:54:25

out sailing their toy boats out on this millpond!

0:54:250:54:28

I mean, we came for 12-foot barrelling waves

0:54:280:54:31

and we've got a sort of gentle riffle at the moment.

0:54:310:54:35

Time to check the swell charts.

0:54:350:54:37

There was better news on the Russian front -

0:54:380:54:41

a big storm sending swell Pohnpei's way.

0:54:410:54:44

At the end of the shoot, the waves arrived -

0:54:450:54:47

the biggest the team had seen so far.

0:54:470:54:51

The big surf proved even more of a challenge for Bali.

0:54:570:55:00

And there was still the sharp reef to avoid.

0:55:030:55:06

Bali's final shots had promise,

0:55:140:55:16

but these waves were still much smaller than the team had hoped for.

0:55:160:55:20

Having seen the potential of Rudi's camera underwater,

0:55:200:55:23

I just know I've got to get it back out

0:55:230:55:25

on one of these locations and use it in a big barrel,

0:55:250:55:29

because the results will be incredibly surprising

0:55:290:55:32

and totally unique.

0:55:320:55:34

Four months later, with news of a large swell coming from Russia,

0:55:360:55:40

the team were back in Pohnpei.

0:55:400:55:42

This time, the waves looked big, even with surfers in them.

0:55:440:55:48

And expert surfer Dylan couldn't wait to get out there.

0:55:500:55:55

Well, we've turned up

0:55:550:55:56

and we've seen a couple of absolutely monster barrels.

0:55:560:56:00

So we've got what we came for.

0:56:000:56:03

And, um...I'm pretty nervous,

0:56:030:56:05

because I'm about to swim that huge torpedo camera back out there...

0:56:050:56:09

..and it's dangerous-looking!

0:56:110:56:14

The big waves had brought surfers from all over the world,

0:56:140:56:18

but this was definitely a day for the professionals.

0:56:180:56:22

Bali was going to have to use all his surf experience

0:56:240:56:28

to get the shots without risking his safety.

0:56:280:56:30

Positioning was going to be everything.

0:56:320:56:34

This really is a dangerous sport.

0:56:340:56:36

Superficially, it looks a bit like skiing down the face of a mountain.

0:56:360:56:40

The difference here is that the mountain is actually chasing YOU

0:56:400:56:44

and wanting to gobble you up as you go along.

0:56:440:56:47

-MAN:

-Oh!

0:56:470:56:49

This is what we came for.

0:56:510:56:53

Bali got into position for his first shot of the day -

0:56:540:56:57

a ten-foot barrel wave.

0:56:570:57:00

Capturing a shot like this leaves little margin for error,

0:57:020:57:05

as Bali discovered.

0:57:050:57:07

I tried to hold on as long as I could

0:57:070:57:09

and it sucked me over the falls afterwards.

0:57:090:57:12

This thing is so heavy, I was in the foam, inside, trying to get up.

0:57:120:57:16

My right leg cramped and I couldn't get up for ages.

0:57:160:57:21

I was just lucky there wasn't really much behind it,

0:57:210:57:24

or I'd still be in there trying to get out. Phew!

0:57:240:57:28

For the next shots, Bali's position in the waves was right on the money.

0:57:280:57:33

Using the slow-motion camera underwater had paid off,

0:57:340:57:37

here, for the first time, revealing the vortices created by huge waves.

0:57:370:57:43

Then the shot that crowned a perfect day.

0:57:450:57:49

I shot it. I wasn't sure how good it was.

0:57:490:57:51

I've watched it back and I've still got shivers in my spine,

0:57:510:57:54

because it's probably the best shot I've ever got in the water,

0:57:540:57:58

without a doubt.

0:57:580:57:59

And here it is.

0:58:000:58:02

Big-wave surfer Dylan Longbottom

0:58:020:58:05

in a 12-foot, monster barrel wave

0:58:050:58:09

filmed in super slow motion -

0:58:090:58:12

the first shots of their kind ever recorded.

0:58:120:58:15

And this time, Bali's exit from the wave was perfect.

0:58:160:58:21

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