Browse content similar to Northumberland. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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This is the big country. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:29 | |
Big skies, big beaches, the biggest vistas. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
The coastline of Northumberland stretches for 70 glorious miles. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:38 | |
It's wild and remote and it's often empty and it's somewhere | 0:00:38 | 0:00:41 | |
that I keep coming back to. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:43 | |
This part of the world might feel timeless | 0:00:45 | 0:00:47 | |
but the coastline is constantly changing. | 0:00:47 | 0:00:50 | |
The power of the sea is ripping out great chunks revealing ancient | 0:00:50 | 0:00:54 | |
treasures. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:56 | |
And there are treasures of a different kind waiting for me | 0:00:56 | 0:00:58 | |
beneath the waves. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
One-two-three | 0:01:01 | 0:01:02 | |
four-five-six-seven... | 0:01:02 | 0:01:04 | |
Eight-nine...wow! | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
Tom is finding out about some pioneering pigs. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
You've heard about genetically modified crops - | 0:01:11 | 0:01:13 | |
what about genetically modified animals? | 0:01:13 | 0:01:16 | |
These pigs are on a farm with the only GM livestock in Britain. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:20 | |
It's all about tackling animal diseases | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
but would you eat the meat? I'll be investigating. | 0:01:22 | 0:01:26 | |
And Adam's looking forward to reaping what he's sown. | 0:01:27 | 0:01:30 | |
With the crops on the farm summer is a busy time of year with | 0:01:31 | 0:01:34 | |
harvest just around the corner. | 0:01:34 | 0:01:36 | |
But the crops and animals are very much dominated by the weather | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
patterns we have throughout the year. | 0:01:39 | 0:01:41 | |
So, I'm taking a look back to remind myself how difficult it's | 0:01:41 | 0:01:44 | |
been over the last eight months. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
Northumberland is England's most northerly county. | 0:02:01 | 0:02:05 | |
As a young man my first reporting job for the BBC was in the nearest | 0:02:05 | 0:02:09 | |
big city, Newcastle upon Tyne. | 0:02:09 | 0:02:10 | |
At weekends I'd head north to these beaches. | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
I loved the sense of space and scale. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:19 | |
And the dramatic remains of castles, | 0:02:19 | 0:02:21 | |
reminders of this coastline's bloodthirsty history. | 0:02:21 | 0:02:25 | |
Today, this land is once again under threat. | 0:02:30 | 0:02:33 | |
Not from Viking hordes or wild gangs of Border Reivers but from the sea. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:38 | |
Coastal erosion is hitting the east of the country hard. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
Storms are getting rougher, the land is taking a battering. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
Here, in this part of Northumberland, | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
they're losing more than a metre of their coastline every year. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
But here at Druridge Bay coasted erosion is forcing the land to | 0:03:03 | 0:03:07 | |
give up its secrets in a spectacular way. | 0:03:07 | 0:03:10 | |
And those secrets are quite surprising. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:15 | |
Archaeologist Clive Waddington | 0:03:15 | 0:03:17 | |
and his mostly volunteer team are busy uncovering the past. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:20 | |
Well, just what is this place revealing? | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
We've got this well-preserved Bronze Age cairn here. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
This is an old tomb, something like about 4,500 years ago. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:33 | |
It's quite large - about 16 metres in diameter but, | 0:03:33 | 0:03:36 | |
unfortunately, we've lost about half of it to the sea so the cliff | 0:03:36 | 0:03:39 | |
edge here has been eaten away by the winter storms particularly. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:43 | |
How was it discovered? | 0:03:43 | 0:03:44 | |
It was discovered by a man walking his dog here | 0:03:44 | 0:03:46 | |
and he saw the remains of one of these stone graves falling | 0:03:46 | 0:03:50 | |
out of the cliff face and realised there was human bones in it. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
So, he called the police and the police came with an archaeologist | 0:03:53 | 0:03:56 | |
and it was at that point we realised there was this large burial | 0:03:56 | 0:03:58 | |
mound that was basically falling out of the cliff. | 0:03:58 | 0:04:02 | |
So, you found lots of Bronze Age human remains - anything with them? | 0:04:02 | 0:04:06 | |
We found quite a bit of prehistoric pottery as well, so... | 0:04:06 | 0:04:10 | |
you can see this material. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:12 | |
This one's rather nice, this is a piece of, what we call, | 0:04:12 | 0:04:15 | |
food vessel, for the afterlife, for the journey into... | 0:04:15 | 0:04:18 | |
-Nice pattern on there. -Yeah, you can see this is fingernail impressions. | 0:04:18 | 0:04:23 | |
And it's in a kind of herring bone pattern. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:25 | |
-Very elaborate, really. -Yeah, and that's about 4,000 years old. | 0:04:25 | 0:04:30 | |
And this piece, | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
this is either another kind of food vessel or a burial urn. | 0:04:32 | 0:04:34 | |
And, typically, these are found upside down, | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
sometimes with a cremation inside. | 0:04:36 | 0:04:39 | |
The erosion is giving up more than just long-dead remains, | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
beneath the burial mound there's a story in the rocks themselves. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
What we've got here is this incredible | 0:04:48 | 0:04:50 | |
sequence below the Bronze Age archaeology. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
It's like a layer cake. | 0:04:52 | 0:04:54 | |
You can see the different layers of strata in there. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:56 | |
This is very different, this is all little bits of stuff. | 0:04:56 | 0:04:59 | |
It is, you can see it's very beach-rounded, | 0:04:59 | 0:05:01 | |
we've got kind of gravel in there but also larger, | 0:05:01 | 0:05:05 | |
blocks as well and this would have resulted from a very powerful | 0:05:05 | 0:05:09 | |
event, basically it's a storm surge so, today we'd call it a tsunami | 0:05:09 | 0:05:14 | |
and it's brought these large blocks up and thrown them | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
high onto the shoreline... | 0:05:16 | 0:05:18 | |
Could that have been what created the North Sea and the English Channel? | 0:05:18 | 0:05:22 | |
Yes, we think this could date so far back, | 0:05:22 | 0:05:25 | |
probably around 6,500BC and that's the time when, we think, | 0:05:25 | 0:05:29 | |
Britain finally got separated from the Continent | 0:05:29 | 0:05:31 | |
and this could have been the event that finally broke that land bridge. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:34 | |
Today there's an early sea fret and the waves are benign. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:41 | |
Often they are tempestuous but no matter what the conditions each tide | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
can reveal new secrets. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:47 | |
A rich seam for the archaeologists and for, perhaps, | 0:05:47 | 0:05:50 | |
an unexpected partner, the Northumberland Wildlife Trust. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:54 | |
I'm joining Steve Low from the trust. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
So, how come you are involved in an archaeological project? | 0:05:56 | 0:06:00 | |
Well John, we know a lot about the area at the moment | 0:06:00 | 0:06:03 | |
- its environment, its wildlife - | 0:06:03 | 0:06:05 | |
but we don't know much about how it's changed over time | 0:06:05 | 0:06:08 | |
and this dig is giving us | 0:06:08 | 0:06:10 | |
a real window into the past to tell us | 0:06:10 | 0:06:13 | |
more about what was here before, the animals | 0:06:13 | 0:06:15 | |
and the people that lived here and how they exploited them. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:18 | |
-Hello, Philippa, what are you up to? -At the moment, what I'm doing is | 0:06:18 | 0:06:22 | |
removing this layer of sand from on top of the ancient peat bed | 0:06:22 | 0:06:25 | |
-to expose these footprints. -What are you coming across? | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
-That could be an ancient cattle footprint. -Uh-huh. | 0:06:28 | 0:06:31 | |
And this looks like a human footprint. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
You can see the heel there, the instep and the toes. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:38 | |
-Smaller footprint than mine! -Definitely. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:41 | |
What kind of person would that footprint have belonged to? | 0:06:41 | 0:06:44 | |
We think that would have belonged to someone perhaps who | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
lived in the dig nearby. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:48 | |
A hunter gatherer using the environment to gather | 0:06:48 | 0:06:51 | |
all of their food. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:52 | |
Eating the wild boar, | 0:06:52 | 0:06:54 | |
the deer and everything else we are finding in here. | 0:06:54 | 0:06:57 | |
And it's really quite inspirational to think that that's been | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
there for thousands of years and here we are seeing it today. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
So, what is all this telling us about the way that Druridge Bay has | 0:07:03 | 0:07:07 | |
changed over the many thousands of years? | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
This used to be part of the mainland | 0:07:10 | 0:07:13 | |
and now that is much further back from us. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:16 | |
Coastal erosion is continuing to happen | 0:07:16 | 0:07:18 | |
and we try to fight it all of the time but, of course, I think | 0:07:18 | 0:07:22 | |
we need to recognise we can't always be successful with that. | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
Erosion here is opening up for us an extraordinary window into our past. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:36 | |
But sights like these are vulnerable, for many of the secrets | 0:07:36 | 0:07:40 | |
they keep are being lost to the sea all up and down our east coast. | 0:07:40 | 0:07:44 | |
Here at Druridge Bay at least there's a chance to learn | 0:07:44 | 0:07:48 | |
something before all trace is lost. | 0:07:48 | 0:07:50 | |
Now, the idea of growing GM crops in the UK is hugely controversial. | 0:07:54 | 0:07:59 | |
But what about the genetic modification of animals? | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
Tom has been investigating. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:04 | |
The lowlands of Scotland. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
A wealth of natural beauty. | 0:08:14 | 0:08:16 | |
Untouched, you might think, by interference from the modern world. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:23 | |
But appearances can be deceptive. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:27 | |
Just over there, nestling amongst the trees is Roslin. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:30 | |
Home to some of the most extraordinary scientific | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
breakthroughs. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:34 | |
Dolly, the cloned sheep was created there and now another radical | 0:08:34 | 0:08:39 | |
achievement - full of potential but stalked by controversy. | 0:08:39 | 0:08:43 | |
SHOUTING | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
We've been arguing about the rights and wrongs of GM crops for 30 years. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:49 | |
And in Europe they are so tightly regulated one of the leading | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
biotech companies, Monsanto, | 0:08:53 | 0:08:54 | |
has just scrapped plans to develop new GM varieties in the EU. | 0:08:54 | 0:08:59 | |
But here, at the Roslin Institute, south of Edinburgh, | 0:09:00 | 0:09:04 | |
little noticed by the opponents of GM some remarkable things have | 0:09:04 | 0:09:08 | |
been happening. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:09 | |
This is the tail of a pig, but no ordinary pig. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:13 | |
She's the first farm animal in the UK produced using new | 0:09:14 | 0:09:18 | |
gene-editing technology. | 0:09:18 | 0:09:20 | |
She goes by the grand name of Pig 26. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:24 | |
-So, which one is home to Pig 26? -The pen at the top here. | 0:09:24 | 0:09:28 | |
'Chief swineherd - well, professor of biotechnology is Bruce Whitelaw.' | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
-What do you think, ready for some feed? -I would imagine they are. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:35 | |
-Pigs normally are. -Come on then, ladies. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:39 | |
Pig 26 has been genetically engineered to have a very | 0:09:39 | 0:09:43 | |
precise mutation in one specific gene. | 0:09:43 | 0:09:46 | |
The key thing of that mutation is exactly where we want it to | 0:09:46 | 0:09:49 | |
be in one of the 20,000 genes this animal has. | 0:09:49 | 0:09:52 | |
And why are you doing it? What problem are you seeking to solve? | 0:09:52 | 0:09:55 | |
Pigs suffer from many diseases. One in particular is a swine fever | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
and the disease we are looking at is African swine fever. | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
The African pig can tolerate this virus - it does not die. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:06 | |
If one of these animals was infected by African swine fever | 0:10:06 | 0:10:09 | |
virus it would bleed to death within a couple of days. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
-A pretty nasty way to go. -A pretty nasty way to go. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
No vaccine, no drugs to treat it. | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
African swine fever is spreading, it's already rampant in Russia | 0:10:17 | 0:10:21 | |
and, it's feared, could reach here. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:23 | |
How far down the line are you to making Pig 26 resistant? | 0:10:25 | 0:10:28 | |
If the disease came here would she be immune? | 0:10:28 | 0:10:31 | |
She would probably not be immune. | 0:10:31 | 0:10:33 | |
There are two steps to this project, one is showing we can actually | 0:10:33 | 0:10:36 | |
target a specific sequence in that specific gene | 0:10:36 | 0:10:40 | |
and that's what Pig 26 demonstrates. | 0:10:40 | 0:10:43 | |
The next challenge is to change one base in that to the base | 0:10:43 | 0:10:47 | |
normally found in the African pig and we're working on that just now. | 0:10:47 | 0:10:51 | |
The traditional genetical modifying or genetic engineering | 0:10:51 | 0:10:54 | |
technology involves transferring a whole gene or even a hybrid gene. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:58 | |
Sometimes between species. | 0:10:58 | 0:11:00 | |
This technology allows us | 0:11:00 | 0:11:02 | |
to manipulate the endogenous gene very precisely and very subtly. | 0:11:02 | 0:11:07 | |
Some genes contain thousands of bases, | 0:11:07 | 0:11:09 | |
we just want to change one single base. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:11 | |
It's taken the scientists at Roslin years to get this far | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
but when you realise the complexity of what they are trying to do | 0:11:16 | 0:11:20 | |
you start to see why. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
To make sense of it I'm going back to school, in fact, pre-school. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:26 | |
Imagine this represents the inside of a fertilised egg | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
taken from a pregnant sow. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:34 | |
Now, a bit of a stretch I know, | 0:11:34 | 0:11:35 | |
in reality it would be smaller than a pinhead. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:39 | |
And each one of those fertilised eggs would contain 20,000 genes, | 0:11:39 | 0:11:44 | |
like the balls here, | 0:11:44 | 0:11:45 | |
and each one of those would control a characteristic like the | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
length of the tail or maybe the risk of catching a certain disease. | 0:11:48 | 0:11:52 | |
But finding the gene you want to modify is just the first step. | 0:11:54 | 0:11:57 | |
Each gene contains a string of DNA and only by cutting that in exactly | 0:11:59 | 0:12:04 | |
the right place do you achieve the affect that you want | 0:12:04 | 0:12:08 | |
and that's exactly what the scientists did at Roslin. | 0:12:08 | 0:12:11 | |
Admittedly, using chemistry not scissors. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
Before putting the new strand of DNA back in with all the other genes. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:20 | |
When that fertilised egg grows into an embryo and eventually a pig | 0:12:23 | 0:12:28 | |
every cell in its body contains that altered gene. | 0:12:28 | 0:12:31 | |
With a process as complicated as this it's hardly surprising | 0:12:32 | 0:12:36 | |
that creating a pig that's resistant to swine fever is | 0:12:36 | 0:12:39 | |
yet to become a reality but that doesn't mean it can't be done. | 0:12:39 | 0:12:43 | |
And these birds are the proof. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
Here at Roslin they've not only genetically modified pigs they've | 0:12:49 | 0:12:52 | |
created GM chickens and these guys have some very special qualities. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:58 | |
They are part of a GM experiment to eradicate bird flu | 0:12:59 | 0:13:03 | |
which can be passed to humans so the work of Dr Lucy Freem | 0:13:03 | 0:13:07 | |
and her colleagues is of, potentially, global importance. | 0:13:07 | 0:13:10 | |
Excitingly, we have already developed a chicken that is | 0:13:10 | 0:13:15 | |
partially resistant to bird flu so these chickens, | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
if they catch bird flu, do get sick and die | 0:13:18 | 0:13:21 | |
but they don't pass the virus on to other chickens kept in the same | 0:13:21 | 0:13:24 | |
pen or, potentially, on to humans so that's already a really big advance. | 0:13:24 | 0:13:28 | |
So, we are trying to improve on that | 0:13:28 | 0:13:30 | |
and make a chicken that's fully resistant to bird flu, | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
that when exposed to it is resistant to catching it as well. | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
The team at Roslin is even starting work on the highly complex | 0:13:37 | 0:13:41 | |
task of tackling foot and mouth disease. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:44 | |
So, could gene editing be a major part of animal | 0:13:44 | 0:13:47 | |
health in years to come? | 0:13:47 | 0:13:49 | |
It has the potential but it's only one of the potential solutions. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
We have huge research going into vaccine technology, drug | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
development, husbandry, management of the animals in general. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:03 | |
All that will come together and give us | 0:14:03 | 0:14:05 | |
our solutions to these diseases in the future | 0:14:05 | 0:14:09 | |
but genetic engineering has an opportunity to contribute to that. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:12 | |
Genetically-modified livestock is confined to the experimental farm, | 0:14:18 | 0:14:23 | |
unlike GM crops there aren't commercial varieties ready | 0:14:23 | 0:14:26 | |
to go so broad public opinion is largely unformed. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:31 | |
But, some objections are starting to emerge, | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
as I'll be finding out later. | 0:14:34 | 0:14:36 | |
Back in May, Ellie was in Portsmouth, | 0:14:45 | 0:14:47 | |
a town long associated with the Royal Navy but out beyond the warships | 0:14:47 | 0:14:51 | |
are massive inter-tidal mudflats home to some of our rarest creatures. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:56 | |
But crossing those mudflats to see them? Well, that's the challenge... | 0:14:57 | 0:15:01 | |
This is Fareham Creek. | 0:15:04 | 0:15:06 | |
At low tide the mudflats stretch as far as the eye can see. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:11 | |
I'm on the hunt for one of our most threatened native shellfish. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:20 | |
But, to find out if they are here, I need to head out there. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:23 | |
Not as easy as you might think. | 0:15:23 | 0:15:25 | |
What I'm hoping to see are native oysters. | 0:15:27 | 0:15:29 | |
In its heyday the Solent had one of the largest natural populations. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:35 | |
They were harvested and shipped to London | 0:15:35 | 0:15:37 | |
and Paris to meet the demands of high society. | 0:15:37 | 0:15:41 | |
But since 2000 they have been in decline. | 0:15:41 | 0:15:43 | |
Jolyon Chesworth is running a project to try | 0:15:48 | 0:15:51 | |
and gauge accurate numbers. | 0:15:51 | 0:15:52 | |
-Some extraordinary footwear here. -That's right. | 0:15:54 | 0:15:56 | |
These are mud shoes and it's what we wear when we go out onto | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
the mudflats and carry out surveys, to help stop us sinking. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
They are based on the design of herons' feet | 0:16:02 | 0:16:04 | |
and they have these expandable wings | 0:16:04 | 0:16:06 | |
so when you put your foot down the pressure lifts the wings up | 0:16:06 | 0:16:09 | |
and helps evenly spread your weight | 0:16:09 | 0:16:11 | |
and stops you going too far into the mud. | 0:16:11 | 0:16:13 | |
That's the wrong way round, Ellie, you need to turn them round and slip them on like normal shoes. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:18 | |
-Blimey. There's nothing normal about these shoes. -HE CHUCKLES | 0:16:18 | 0:16:20 | |
Nearly there. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:22 | |
Really tight. There we go. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
-Perfect. -I was born into them(!) Shall we give them a try? | 0:16:24 | 0:16:27 | |
-Yeah, let's go. -SHE LAUGHS | 0:16:27 | 0:16:29 | |
I feel like a clown. | 0:16:29 | 0:16:31 | |
MUSIC: "Walking On The Moon" by The Police | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
It's tough going in the mud but it's the only way to find them. | 0:16:34 | 0:16:37 | |
# Giant steps are what you take | 0:16:37 | 0:16:39 | |
# Walking on the moon | 0:16:40 | 0:16:41 | |
# I hope my leg don't break... | 0:16:43 | 0:16:46 | |
Strewth, this is loads of work and why do you do it? | 0:16:46 | 0:16:49 | |
This area's been recommended for protection through a marine | 0:16:49 | 0:16:52 | |
conservation zone for native oysters | 0:16:52 | 0:16:55 | |
but it hasn't progressed cos there's a lack of evidence to suggest | 0:16:55 | 0:16:58 | |
they are here in enough numbers to actually designate this site | 0:16:58 | 0:17:01 | |
so what we are going to be doing, over the coming months, | 0:17:01 | 0:17:04 | |
is to be going out and looking for them, monitoring them and actually | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
gathering the evidence to make sure this site does get designated. | 0:17:07 | 0:17:11 | |
We're not going to do the whole patch today? | 0:17:11 | 0:17:12 | |
-No, we're just going to have a little recce. -Cool, we're against the tide as well, | 0:17:12 | 0:17:16 | |
so let's get on with it, shall we? | 0:17:16 | 0:17:18 | |
For a full survey, Jolyon will be out here for up to six hours. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:24 | |
And will cover around two miles. | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
What you have found there is a Pacific oyster | 0:17:27 | 0:17:29 | |
and a large one at that. | 0:17:29 | 0:17:31 | |
The reason you can tell the difference between a Pacific and | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
a native is the Pacific oysters have quite a sharp point | 0:17:34 | 0:17:38 | |
and they fan out and they have a very corrugated rim. | 0:17:38 | 0:17:42 | |
The native oysters, as we will hopefully find later, | 0:17:42 | 0:17:44 | |
are a lot smoother and flatter. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:47 | |
Jolyon records all Pacific oyster sightings to keep | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
track of their numbers too. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:51 | |
Because they are a known invasive species. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
Are they a problem for our native oysters? | 0:17:55 | 0:17:57 | |
In some areas, possibly, in this area we don't have them | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
in such numbers that they are likely to compete. | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
Also, the native oysters prefer deeper water whereas these prefer | 0:18:02 | 0:18:06 | |
shallow, inter-tidal areas so their ranges don't necessarily overlap. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:11 | |
It doesn't take long before we find what we're looking for. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:13 | |
Here we've got a native oyster. | 0:18:16 | 0:18:18 | |
Sometimes called a flat oyster | 0:18:18 | 0:18:20 | |
because it has a very flat shell to it. | 0:18:20 | 0:18:22 | |
-You can see it's quite a different shape... -Yes. -..from the Pacific. | 0:18:22 | 0:18:26 | |
It's much rounder, much smoother. Obviously, this one's a lot smaller | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
but that's because it's quite a few years younger than this one. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:32 | |
These can get, like you say, quite a bit bigger, | 0:18:32 | 0:18:34 | |
-though, so the size isn't the give away. -No, no. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:37 | |
This is probably a year or two old | 0:18:37 | 0:18:39 | |
whereas that one is more like seven years. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
Hopefully, Jolyon can find enough native oysters to get these | 0:18:41 | 0:18:45 | |
mudflats protected ensuring their survival for years to come. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:49 | |
On the other side of Portsmouth harbour, | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
a once-thriving oyster farm lies dormant. | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
Back in the 1900s this would have been a hive of fishing activity. | 0:19:04 | 0:19:08 | |
But pollution brought business to a standstill after | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
The First World War. | 0:19:11 | 0:19:12 | |
Today, this man-made farm now plays host to thousands of birds | 0:19:14 | 0:19:17 | |
rather than oysters, including one of our rarest seabirds, | 0:19:17 | 0:19:21 | |
the little tern. | 0:19:21 | 0:19:22 | |
The RSPB are using some rather unusual methods to try | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
and protect it. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:29 | |
And that's where this beast comes in. | 0:19:32 | 0:19:35 | |
Thank you. These are cockleshells and it's on this surface that | 0:19:36 | 0:19:41 | |
little terns like to nest but because they are fairly | 0:19:41 | 0:19:44 | |
particular they prefer to nest on this - crushed-up cockleshells. | 0:19:44 | 0:19:48 | |
Hence the roller. Cheers, Wes. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:51 | |
All bagged up, I head to the oyster beds with RSPB warden Wes Smith. | 0:19:54 | 0:19:59 | |
-They'd better appreciate it. -I'm sure they will. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:03 | |
What's happening with this lot, then? | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
We're going to get this lot across to the island | 0:20:05 | 0:20:07 | |
here where we are going to put the shells out | 0:20:07 | 0:20:10 | |
and create some perfect nesting material for the little terns. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
Little terns only visit the UK in the summer to nest | 0:20:14 | 0:20:17 | |
and rear their young. | 0:20:17 | 0:20:19 | |
This is the perfect time to do it, right now. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:21 | |
-We had two circling overhead today. -Wow. | 0:20:21 | 0:20:24 | |
So, they're just on their way back. | 0:20:24 | 0:20:26 | |
The little tern has been in decline right across Europe. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:31 | |
During the summer months 8% of the UK's entire | 0:20:31 | 0:20:34 | |
population are found right here. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:37 | |
Why this island as opposed to anywhere else along this coast? | 0:20:38 | 0:20:41 | |
Well, this one here is currently empty. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:45 | |
We've got some black-headed gulls | 0:20:45 | 0:20:46 | |
and Mediterranean gulls on some of the islands | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
which are very suitable for them. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:51 | |
Little terns, being small birds, they tend to get bullied, | 0:20:51 | 0:20:53 | |
pushed out of the main cluster so this one here if they can get | 0:20:53 | 0:20:56 | |
it just at this timing it will be absolutely perfect for them. | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
Finally, it's time to help volunteer warden Chris Coburn cover | 0:21:03 | 0:21:06 | |
the newly-weeded surface with shells. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:08 | |
Then, some hard landscaping is needed. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
-What's with the bricks, Chris? -Well, this looks very uniform. | 0:21:13 | 0:21:18 | |
So, you area little tern, you are coming back to your nest - | 0:21:18 | 0:21:20 | |
-where is it? -I would never know. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:23 | |
Right, so let's have a little marker. | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
Are we playing boules with the bricks? | 0:21:26 | 0:21:28 | |
-Yeah. -Just anywhere? | 0:21:28 | 0:21:29 | |
A bit of set dressing to try and really encourage them in? | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
If you've got little terns nesting here they've now got | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
identifiable locations - they go flying over, "Ah, that's my brick. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:39 | |
-"Now, where was my nest?" And this is where we are very cunning. -Oh! | 0:21:39 | 0:21:42 | |
I'm going to put done some decoys to see if we can attract them. | 0:21:42 | 0:21:45 | |
So, these handmade jobs are life-size... | 0:21:45 | 0:21:48 | |
HE CHUCKLES | 0:21:48 | 0:21:50 | |
-Shows how small they are. -Yeah. | 0:21:50 | 0:21:51 | |
-That's why they are called little terns. -Yeah, yeah. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
Does this work, putting a decoy in? | 0:21:53 | 0:21:56 | |
In America they've moved colonies of 2,000 birds. | 0:21:56 | 0:22:00 | |
-It's taken a little while but... -By using these decoys? | 0:22:00 | 0:22:03 | |
By using these decoys it just works a treat. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:06 | |
With the decoys set the only thing left to do is wait. | 0:22:06 | 0:22:09 | |
Hopefully, these lifelike models will transform these derelict | 0:22:11 | 0:22:14 | |
oyster beds into a little-tern haven. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:17 | |
BIRDS CRY | 0:22:17 | 0:22:19 | |
There's more to Northumberland than its long swathes of sandy | 0:22:26 | 0:22:30 | |
beaches and wide open skies. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:33 | |
There's all the drama of the national park, its brooding valleys | 0:22:33 | 0:22:37 | |
and sweeping hillsides. | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
And down there, hidden amongst the trees, | 0:22:39 | 0:22:41 | |
is something unique in the British landscape. | 0:22:41 | 0:22:44 | |
A graveyard of sorts, of once proud metal. | 0:22:49 | 0:22:53 | |
Row upon row of rusting machines that used to dominate harvest time. | 0:22:53 | 0:22:58 | |
So many, that you can see them from space. | 0:22:58 | 0:23:00 | |
They all belong to farmer John Manners. 350 combine harvesters. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:18 | |
John's taking farming diversification to a new level. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:22 | |
John, this is an amazing sight. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
I've never seen anything like it, 350 dead combine harvesters. | 0:23:26 | 0:23:30 | |
Yes, well they are not going to go again. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:32 | |
-When they get here I'm called the undertaker. -JOHN CRAVEN CHUCKLES | 0:23:32 | 0:23:35 | |
How did it all start? What made you begin this job? | 0:23:35 | 0:23:39 | |
I needed some wheels and tyres for a tractor which were very | 0:23:39 | 0:23:44 | |
expensive and I found this combine which was local... | 0:23:44 | 0:23:47 | |
..and I got it for the same price as the wheels and tyres | 0:23:49 | 0:23:51 | |
so I brought it home, took the wheels and tyres off | 0:23:51 | 0:23:53 | |
put them onto my tractor and then somebody came wanting the engine, | 0:23:53 | 0:23:57 | |
somebody came wanting something else and it just mushroomed. | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
-It grewed and grewed! -Yes, it did. It just went on and on and on. | 0:23:59 | 0:24:03 | |
That one looks as though it's been on fire. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:18 | |
Yes, that's a fire-damaged combine. | 0:24:18 | 0:24:20 | |
-Is it a common thing for combines to burn out? -Oh, yes, it is. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:24 | |
You've got to look after them. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:27 | |
Hose them out, blow them out, | 0:24:27 | 0:24:29 | |
clean the engines out cos of the dust and the muck and everything. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:32 | |
Cos, a brand-new combine is incredibly expensive, isn't it? | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
About 300,000 for the top of the range. | 0:24:48 | 0:24:52 | |
So, it's understandable why people want a lot of spares. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:56 | |
Well, I don't cater for the new boy. | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
I cater for the smaller market...the banger market, should we say, | 0:24:58 | 0:25:03 | |
in the combine world. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:04 | |
And how much - can you tell me - how much do you pay for a combine? | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
-I can't tell you that! -BOTH LAUGH | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
Trade secret. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
It's business, isn't it? Competitors might start! | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
Earlier, we heard how, deep in the Scottish countryside scientists | 0:25:34 | 0:25:38 | |
have produced Britain's first genetically-modified farm animals. | 0:25:38 | 0:25:42 | |
But, as Tom's been finding out, not everyone's comfortable with the idea. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:47 | |
Genetically-modified pigs that can't catch swine fever? | 0:25:49 | 0:25:53 | |
GM chickens that can't catch bird flu? | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
This is the kind of future that | 0:26:00 | 0:26:02 | |
scientists at the Roslin Institute are working towards. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:05 | |
But if GM animals become part of the future of British farming it | 0:26:07 | 0:26:10 | |
raises some questions. | 0:26:10 | 0:26:12 | |
How would farmers feel about rearing them? | 0:26:12 | 0:26:14 | |
How would the government regulate them? | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
And, perhaps most importantly, how would you and I, | 0:26:16 | 0:26:19 | |
the consumers, feel about eating lamb from a GM sheep or | 0:26:19 | 0:26:23 | |
bacon from a genetically-engineered pig? | 0:26:23 | 0:26:26 | |
At Stagehall farm in the Scottish Borders they rear cattle | 0:26:33 | 0:26:36 | |
the conventional way. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:38 | |
Most of the calves are Angus. | 0:26:39 | 0:26:41 | |
What we are looking for is short-horn cows | 0:26:41 | 0:26:43 | |
and a lot of Angus to sell. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:46 | |
-So, most of the calves are black, as you see. -Hello. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
-Has he got a name? -He's Elwood. -Elwood. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:52 | |
He was bred here, he's got a brother as well. | 0:26:52 | 0:26:55 | |
Him and his brother are very similar. | 0:26:55 | 0:26:57 | |
Elwood's family is the result of generations of careful | 0:26:57 | 0:27:01 | |
cross-breeding by beef farmer Nigel Miller, | 0:27:01 | 0:27:04 | |
president of the National Farmers' Union in Scotland. | 0:27:04 | 0:27:07 | |
Come on! | 0:27:07 | 0:27:09 | |
Come on, there's a bit of food here too. Come on. | 0:27:09 | 0:27:11 | |
He thinks traditional methods have worked well | 0:27:11 | 0:27:14 | |
but feels there is room for the precision of GM. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:17 | |
With this sort of very precise technology you can start | 0:27:17 | 0:27:20 | |
looking at health and welfare issues and building them into our breeds. | 0:27:20 | 0:27:24 | |
One of the things they said they were just beginning to | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
work on at Roslin was foot and mouth disease. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:29 | |
What would you think if they did something with that? | 0:27:29 | 0:27:31 | |
Well, that would be a miraculous change for me if you could break | 0:27:31 | 0:27:36 | |
out of the whole problem of foot and mouth, it would be fantastic. | 0:27:36 | 0:27:40 | |
Nigel does have his reservations, though. | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
He's worried about the possible influence of big business. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:46 | |
We don't want this to be a commercial | 0:27:46 | 0:27:49 | |
lock on breeding of livestock. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:51 | |
So, you're worried, are you, if someone gets their patent on the super cow? | 0:27:51 | 0:27:54 | |
And that then they could control everything? | 0:27:54 | 0:27:56 | |
Yeah, I think that's a real fear and that's one of the reasons why | 0:27:56 | 0:28:01 | |
genetic modification in plants has got a bad name | 0:28:01 | 0:28:04 | |
and I don't think we want to go there. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:05 | |
We don't want to have farmers or communities held to | 0:28:05 | 0:28:08 | |
ransom by a commercial organisation. | 0:28:08 | 0:28:11 | |
But for others, the objections go much deeper. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:17 | |
Environmental scientist Dr Helen Wallace is from GeneWatch - | 0:28:21 | 0:28:24 | |
an organisation with concerns about GM crops and animals. | 0:28:24 | 0:28:29 | |
Here at Roslin, not far behind us, | 0:28:30 | 0:28:32 | |
they are actually working on animals that are resistant to disease. | 0:28:32 | 0:28:35 | |
Surely that's good for the animals' welfare? | 0:28:35 | 0:28:38 | |
Well, there's not very much understood about how that | 0:28:38 | 0:28:41 | |
resistance might work in practice, so one concern is that | 0:28:41 | 0:28:45 | |
disease-resistant animals could act as a reservoir for the virus, | 0:28:45 | 0:28:49 | |
be infected and pass it on to other animals but without you knowing. | 0:28:49 | 0:28:53 | |
And when it comes to eating this meat, which, of course, | 0:28:53 | 0:28:55 | |
we aren't doing yet - what are your worries there? | 0:28:55 | 0:28:59 | |
I think it will be up to consumers to decide | 0:28:59 | 0:29:01 | |
whether they really want to eat this meat. | 0:29:01 | 0:29:03 | |
They'll have concerns about food safety | 0:29:03 | 0:29:05 | |
because it's difficult to provide definitive evidence that the | 0:29:05 | 0:29:09 | |
changes in the meat, | 0:29:09 | 0:29:10 | |
or the changes in the milk are safe for humans in the longer term. | 0:29:10 | 0:29:13 | |
These small fry are the first GM animals anyone's likely to eat. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:21 | |
American scientists are genetically modifying salmon | 0:29:21 | 0:29:24 | |
so they grow bigger faster. | 0:29:24 | 0:29:27 | |
And they could go on sale over there later this year. | 0:29:27 | 0:29:30 | |
So, what will that mean here in Scotland where salmon has | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
spawned a huge industry? | 0:29:35 | 0:29:38 | |
Salmon and Trout Association chairman Hugh Campbell Adamson | 0:29:38 | 0:29:42 | |
says GM fish pose many threats to wild salmon. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:46 | |
The worst one is getting genetics muddled up with our wild fish. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:50 | |
And these wonderful fish we have that swim thousands of miles | 0:29:50 | 0:29:53 | |
yet still get back to their original river | 0:29:53 | 0:29:55 | |
and still do that extraordinary life cycle - | 0:29:55 | 0:29:58 | |
there's a real danger, I think, and a lot of people would think of these | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
fish being polluted to a degree by genes coming in artificially. | 0:30:02 | 0:30:06 | |
But if they are properly contained, as they say, | 0:30:06 | 0:30:08 | |
in tanks away from the sea, surely that's not a problem? | 0:30:08 | 0:30:11 | |
If you could swear to me, | 0:30:12 | 0:30:14 | |
Tom, that every single fish is going to stay inside that cage | 0:30:14 | 0:30:17 | |
and never get into the wild, | 0:30:17 | 0:30:18 | |
and that was to be proved I think a lot of the problems would go. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:22 | |
But, I don't think, our record, as humans, | 0:30:22 | 0:30:25 | |
on this is particularly good. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:26 | |
Back at Roslin, Britain's only genetically-modified livestock | 0:30:29 | 0:30:33 | |
are safely behind bars, including these latest additions, GM sheep. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:38 | |
So, what's the view here of contaminating the gene pool? | 0:30:40 | 0:30:44 | |
If, for example, Pig 26 escaped and bred with ordinary farm pigs? | 0:30:44 | 0:30:50 | |
All it would do was transfer disease resistance to that animal. | 0:30:51 | 0:30:54 | |
But, as far as people who don't like GM are concerned, | 0:30:54 | 0:30:57 | |
you have then got a GM-contaminated stock of pigs. | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
So, it's a natural mutation we have with Pig 26, it's a | 0:31:01 | 0:31:04 | |
normal mutation which could be found in that population. | 0:31:04 | 0:31:07 | |
We've engineered it into Pig 26. | 0:31:07 | 0:31:09 | |
It is possible that some time in the future a natural mating would | 0:31:09 | 0:31:13 | |
produce that mutation. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:14 | |
There's no additional risk to a GM as in Pig 26 compared to that | 0:31:14 | 0:31:18 | |
natural mutation. | 0:31:18 | 0:31:19 | |
There's no doubt it's a challenging thought, the idea of GM livestock | 0:31:23 | 0:31:28 | |
grazing these fields, sentient beings whose genes we've tweaked. | 0:31:28 | 0:31:33 | |
But, cutting disease and boosting productivity is a huge prize. | 0:31:33 | 0:31:39 | |
Leaving us plenty to chew on. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:41 | |
You never know what any season will bring | 0:31:46 | 0:31:48 | |
until Mother Nature plays her hand. | 0:31:48 | 0:31:51 | |
The hot summer finally arrived last month | 0:31:51 | 0:31:54 | |
and for Adam it was time to make hay while the sun shone. | 0:31:54 | 0:31:57 | |
Come on, lambs. | 0:32:17 | 0:32:18 | |
HE WHISTLES | 0:32:21 | 0:32:22 | |
Come on, lambs. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:25 | |
The pastures have been flourishing in the much-needed sunshine | 0:32:25 | 0:32:28 | |
which is great for the livestock and for my sanity. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:32 | |
I thought the British summer was a thing of the past. | 0:32:32 | 0:32:34 | |
And this field has got a lot of lovely natural shade and water. | 0:32:34 | 0:32:38 | |
And, as the temperature's warming up, these lambs need it. | 0:32:38 | 0:32:42 | |
Go on, Millie, good girl. | 0:32:43 | 0:32:45 | |
In the summer months the pasture in this valley is valuable grazing. | 0:32:46 | 0:32:50 | |
The moist soil combined with lots of sunshine is ideal for grass growth. | 0:32:50 | 0:32:54 | |
But, earlier in the year it was a different story. | 0:32:56 | 0:32:58 | |
I hoped that when we turned the corner from winter to spring | 0:32:58 | 0:33:01 | |
we'd have perfect growing conditions. | 0:33:01 | 0:33:03 | |
But it wasn't to be. Spring was dreadful. | 0:33:05 | 0:33:07 | |
When we were expecting the weather to warm up it stayed cold | 0:33:07 | 0:33:10 | |
and rained a lot. There was no sunshine. | 0:33:10 | 0:33:13 | |
And it had an immense effect across the UK and particularly in Ireland | 0:33:13 | 0:33:17 | |
where they had a lack of fodder or feed for their sheep and cattle. | 0:33:17 | 0:33:20 | |
And because the grass didn't grow, | 0:33:20 | 0:33:23 | |
the ewes weren't producing milk and the lambs suffered. | 0:33:23 | 0:33:26 | |
We weren't too badly affected here but in some | 0:33:26 | 0:33:28 | |
parts of the country sheep were dying and dying in their hundreds. | 0:33:28 | 0:33:32 | |
I visited Welsh sheep farmer Errol Morris. | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
He lost nearly 200 sheep during the prolonged heavy snow in April. | 0:33:39 | 0:33:43 | |
-Is that a dead one up there? -Ah, there's another one up there, yes. | 0:33:45 | 0:33:48 | |
When the storm came they ran for shelter | 0:33:49 | 0:33:51 | |
and the walls were where they went. | 0:33:51 | 0:33:54 | |
And have they died mainly of the cold? | 0:33:54 | 0:33:57 | |
Yes, it's the cold and suffocation in the drifts. | 0:33:57 | 0:34:00 | |
If they are under the snow at this...like concrete...they | 0:34:01 | 0:34:06 | |
have no hope, have they? | 0:34:06 | 0:34:07 | |
Eventually, the snow cleared, spring arrived and it was onwards | 0:34:10 | 0:34:13 | |
and upwards. | 0:34:13 | 0:34:15 | |
It's amazing how the tides can turn. | 0:34:17 | 0:34:19 | |
July brought sunshine and plenty of it | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
and I didn't meet a single farmer who wasn't pleased to see the | 0:34:21 | 0:34:24 | |
warmer weather and for the grassland it was perfect to get it growing. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:28 | |
For the sheep it couldn't have come a moment sooner. | 0:34:31 | 0:34:33 | |
At last, the lush green pasture bloomed, the grass flourished | 0:34:33 | 0:34:38 | |
and the fresh food supply for my animals was plentiful. | 0:34:38 | 0:34:40 | |
And it wasn't just the grazing pastures like this one that improved. | 0:34:41 | 0:34:45 | |
Some of the other fields were in perfect condition too | 0:34:45 | 0:34:47 | |
so it was all hands to the deck to make hay while the sun shone. | 0:34:47 | 0:34:51 | |
There's usually only a small window | 0:34:55 | 0:34:57 | |
when hay is at the right stage for harvesting. | 0:34:57 | 0:34:59 | |
And that came in July. | 0:34:59 | 0:35:01 | |
The grass was cut and left to dry in the fields. | 0:35:06 | 0:35:09 | |
This hay turner helps accelerate this process by turning | 0:35:09 | 0:35:12 | |
the grass to remove moisture. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:14 | |
In this fine weather it's turned twice a day. | 0:35:18 | 0:35:20 | |
Hay can be made in around four days and that's exactly what we did. | 0:35:20 | 0:35:24 | |
And as soon as it's ready it's baled for storage. | 0:35:28 | 0:35:31 | |
This machine compresses the hay into bales making it easy to handle, | 0:35:32 | 0:35:36 | |
transport and store. | 0:35:36 | 0:35:37 | |
Once it's done eight it releases them together. | 0:35:41 | 0:35:44 | |
Then we bring in a tractor with a front loader to collect them. | 0:35:44 | 0:35:48 | |
And that's when the real hard graft starts. | 0:35:49 | 0:35:51 | |
The farm team have to lug and stack the bales in hot | 0:35:53 | 0:35:55 | |
and dusty conditions. | 0:35:55 | 0:35:57 | |
It's no easy task. | 0:35:57 | 0:35:58 | |
But it's a job well done. | 0:36:00 | 0:36:02 | |
We had more grass than we expected this year | 0:36:06 | 0:36:09 | |
so the hay stores are brimful and we've got some surplus hay to | 0:36:09 | 0:36:12 | |
sell which is absolutely brilliant, it's a bit of a bonus. | 0:36:12 | 0:36:16 | |
This hay's going off to Wales. | 0:36:16 | 0:36:18 | |
It's quite an art, loading these lorries, so they're safe? | 0:36:21 | 0:36:24 | |
Yes, got to be safe to go down the road. | 0:36:24 | 0:36:26 | |
-And how many will you get on? -It will be 50. | 0:36:26 | 0:36:29 | |
But, there's a lot of grass about this year | 0:36:29 | 0:36:31 | |
-so the price has been falling, hasn't it? -Yeah, weather's been | 0:36:31 | 0:36:34 | |
-so good everybody has made hay rather than silage. -Yeah. | 0:36:34 | 0:36:37 | |
So it means there's a lot of hay about. | 0:36:37 | 0:36:39 | |
-You're buying this at £60 a ton? -Yeah. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:41 | |
And what will you sell it on for? | 0:36:41 | 0:36:43 | |
Hopefully 80 or something around there, as much as I can get. | 0:36:43 | 0:36:46 | |
And that will pay for you haulage and make a living as well? | 0:36:46 | 0:36:49 | |
Hopefully, yes. | 0:36:49 | 0:36:51 | |
It's really important that the load is totally secure for the motorway. | 0:36:51 | 0:36:54 | |
So, the driver's just put a strap across and he'll hold that | 0:36:54 | 0:36:58 | |
bale on so that Dave can back out and get his spikes out of the bale. | 0:36:58 | 0:37:01 | |
Well done, Dave. Good skills. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:07 | |
Hay needs to be stored indoors but as we don't have enough barn | 0:37:08 | 0:37:12 | |
space we make silage too that can be kept outside. | 0:37:12 | 0:37:15 | |
This is a stack of silage bales. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:21 | |
Silage is similar to hay in that they are both grass | 0:37:21 | 0:37:25 | |
that are mown and then made into the product but hay is kept very dry. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:31 | |
And silage is baled when the grass is still a bit green | 0:37:31 | 0:37:34 | |
and a bit younger so it's higher in protein and sugars | 0:37:34 | 0:37:38 | |
and it was only three weeks ago that the contractors were | 0:37:38 | 0:37:40 | |
out in the field working hard | 0:37:40 | 0:37:42 | |
and in those rows of grass the baler goes along and creates the bale and | 0:37:42 | 0:37:46 | |
that's followed by the wrapper, | 0:37:46 | 0:37:48 | |
a really clever machine that picks up the bale and spins it | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
and while it's being spun the wrap is going round | 0:37:51 | 0:37:54 | |
and round the bale and it has two or three wraps of plastic on it. | 0:37:54 | 0:37:59 | |
And what's happening inside here - | 0:37:59 | 0:38:01 | |
the plastic has created anaerobic conditions, so with no air. | 0:38:01 | 0:38:05 | |
And the grass is starting to ferment and pickle | 0:38:05 | 0:38:08 | |
and that means it can be stored for over a year | 0:38:08 | 0:38:11 | |
and we feed it to the cattle and sheep in the winter. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:13 | |
It's a really good feed. | 0:38:13 | 0:38:15 | |
One of the downsides is that we end up with lots of plastic | 0:38:15 | 0:38:19 | |
but now we recycle it | 0:38:19 | 0:38:20 | |
and we send it to a company that make it into chicken houses. | 0:38:20 | 0:38:23 | |
-In fact, my dog kennels were made out of it. -HE WHISTLES | 0:38:23 | 0:38:26 | |
Here, dogs. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:27 | |
While this has been a success story the same can't be | 0:38:32 | 0:38:35 | |
said for our arable crops. | 0:38:35 | 0:38:37 | |
The oilseed rape suffered during the prolonged cold spring and it | 0:38:38 | 0:38:42 | |
wasn't until the end of June that it finally flowered, | 0:38:42 | 0:38:44 | |
a month later than normal. | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
The crop has now started to set seed and in this pod - if you open it up | 0:38:48 | 0:38:52 | |
you can see the little green seeds that will turn red | 0:38:52 | 0:38:56 | |
and then black ready for harvest. | 0:38:56 | 0:38:58 | |
And this spring oilseed rape replaced the failed winter crop | 0:38:58 | 0:39:02 | |
so I'm relying on it to do quite well. | 0:39:02 | 0:39:05 | |
It's grown reasonably well and we're probably a few weeks off harvest | 0:39:05 | 0:39:08 | |
but the ground has started to crack and what | 0:39:08 | 0:39:11 | |
we need now to help these seeds grow a bit more is some more rain. | 0:39:11 | 0:39:15 | |
And it gets worse. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:21 | |
In another field of oilseed rape it's not just the weather | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
that was the problem, it's the common poppy. | 0:39:24 | 0:39:26 | |
About a month ago this oilseed rape was in flower | 0:39:28 | 0:39:30 | |
and the flowers are bright yellow but they were mixed with red, | 0:39:30 | 0:39:34 | |
cos it was also full of poppies. | 0:39:34 | 0:39:36 | |
Lovely if you are a photographer, not so good if you're a farmer. | 0:39:36 | 0:39:40 | |
And this oilseed rape struggled in the spring | 0:39:40 | 0:39:42 | |
and usually the leaf makes a canopy | 0:39:42 | 0:39:45 | |
and competes with all the weeds around it but because it was quite | 0:39:45 | 0:39:49 | |
thin the weeds have come through so now it's got all sorts in it. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:52 | |
There's thistles, these daisies, we've got rayless mayweed | 0:39:52 | 0:39:56 | |
and then the poppies. | 0:39:56 | 0:39:58 | |
And that's going to cause a bit of a problem at harvest. | 0:39:58 | 0:40:00 | |
But, also, in next year's crop. | 0:40:00 | 0:40:02 | |
So, if I grab a poppy seed...you can see there's the seed head... | 0:40:02 | 0:40:08 | |
..and in there are thousands of little seeds that will shed | 0:40:08 | 0:40:12 | |
onto the soil and grow next year. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:14 | |
So, that's going to be a bit of a challenge when we are growing | 0:40:14 | 0:40:17 | |
wheat in here that we are going to plant in September, October time. | 0:40:17 | 0:40:21 | |
My barley also had a tough start in the spring | 0:40:27 | 0:40:30 | |
but it made a great recovery. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:32 | |
Well, that was until the heatwave came. | 0:40:32 | 0:40:34 | |
The intense heat and dry weather back in July really set this | 0:40:34 | 0:40:39 | |
crop back. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:40 | |
It's still doing OK, | 0:40:40 | 0:40:41 | |
it's flowered and now it's got the seeds growing in the head | 0:40:41 | 0:40:45 | |
and this will be ready in about three-weeks time. | 0:40:45 | 0:40:49 | |
And this grain, once it's harvested will go for making beer. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:52 | |
And the straw that's left behind is quite a good animal feed. | 0:40:52 | 0:40:56 | |
Farmers are always moaning about the weather - | 0:41:04 | 0:41:06 | |
it's either too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry | 0:41:06 | 0:41:09 | |
but when it comes to the weather we really are in the lap of the gods. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:12 | |
And we have to deal with whatever Mother Nature throws at us. | 0:41:12 | 0:41:16 | |
Next week, I'm shopping for a special animal | 0:41:18 | 0:41:21 | |
that's from one of the oldest rare breeds in the world. | 0:41:21 | 0:41:24 | |
Today, I'm in Northumberland | 0:41:33 | 0:41:35 | |
and soon I'll be heading out into the North Sea. | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
It's rich in natural resources | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
and home to an astonishing range of wildlife. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:43 | |
It's here you'll find England's largest colony of grey seals | 0:41:43 | 0:41:47 | |
thriving in the waters around the Farne Islands. | 0:41:47 | 0:41:50 | |
And each year hundreds of thousands of seabirds arrive here to breed. | 0:41:50 | 0:41:55 | |
But today I'm going in search of a creature out there whose life | 0:42:03 | 0:42:07 | |
we know very little about. | 0:42:07 | 0:42:09 | |
Underwater cameraman Ben Burville is at the start of a five-year | 0:42:12 | 0:42:16 | |
project to learn more about the life of this elusive mammal. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:21 | |
What are the chances of us seeing this creature? | 0:42:21 | 0:42:24 | |
-With nature you never know, John. -Fingers crossed! -Fingers crossed. | 0:42:24 | 0:42:27 | |
Our high-speed rib will take us | 0:42:32 | 0:42:34 | |
far out to sea to an area where they've been spotted in the past. | 0:42:34 | 0:42:37 | |
So, what exactly is it that we're looking for? | 0:42:41 | 0:42:42 | |
What we are looking for today, John, is this. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:46 | |
This is a white-beaked dolphin. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:47 | |
The most abundant of dolphins in the North Sea | 0:42:47 | 0:42:50 | |
with about 8,000 to 10,000 of them in there | 0:42:50 | 0:42:52 | |
-but one that very few people know much about. -Why's that? | 0:42:52 | 0:42:56 | |
It's really the fact it tends to be in deeper waters | 0:42:56 | 0:42:58 | |
and tends to be offshore. | 0:42:58 | 0:43:00 | |
Is it important now to find out more about these dolphins? | 0:43:00 | 0:43:03 | |
It is important for their conservation. And also to find out | 0:43:03 | 0:43:06 | |
whether activities that we do can affect them in an adverse way. | 0:43:06 | 0:43:10 | |
We're passing close to the Farne Islands so I want to make | 0:43:17 | 0:43:20 | |
a short stop to catch up on an important project there. | 0:43:20 | 0:43:24 | |
For just a little while our quest for white-peaked dolphins is put on hold. | 0:43:24 | 0:43:28 | |
Ciaran, good to see you. Graeme. | 0:43:29 | 0:43:31 | |
You are now welcome to the Farne Islands. | 0:43:31 | 0:43:33 | |
Thank you very much, nice to be back. | 0:43:33 | 0:43:35 | |
Lovely weather at the moment, isn't it? | 0:43:35 | 0:43:37 | |
I was here five years ago right at the start of a crucial puffin count. | 0:43:37 | 0:43:42 | |
Let's hope your egg is...oh! LAUGHTER | 0:43:42 | 0:43:45 | |
-Let's hope your egg hatches OK, this year! -Indeed, good luck. | 0:43:45 | 0:43:48 | |
What the count showed was that puffin numbers had collapsed. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:53 | |
Ornithologists were fearful for the future. | 0:43:53 | 0:43:56 | |
Five years on and the latest survey has just ended. | 0:43:56 | 0:44:00 | |
Is the picture any better? | 0:44:00 | 0:44:02 | |
In 2008 the population had declined by about a third from the last census. | 0:44:02 | 0:44:06 | |
Also, this winter was a very, very tough winter. It was a cold winter. | 0:44:06 | 0:44:10 | |
A lot of onshore winds and we had a big puffin wreck. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:12 | |
What do you mean by a "wreck" there? | 0:44:12 | 0:44:14 | |
A puffin wreck basically involves birds washing up on the coast. | 0:44:14 | 0:44:17 | |
So, people were finding birds all along the north-east | 0:44:17 | 0:44:20 | |
coast from northern Scotland down to Yorkshire. | 0:44:20 | 0:44:23 | |
There was about 3,500 birds involved. That sounds a lot | 0:44:23 | 0:44:25 | |
-and it was the biggest wreck for about 60 years... -All dead? | 0:44:25 | 0:44:28 | |
-All dead. -So, what about this year's census? | 0:44:28 | 0:44:31 | |
This year's census is good news - we've gone up around 8% on top of | 0:44:31 | 0:44:35 | |
what we had to around about 40,000 pairs of puffins on these islands. | 0:44:35 | 0:44:39 | |
The census may be over | 0:44:40 | 0:44:42 | |
but work goes on to discover more about these colourful birds. | 0:44:42 | 0:44:46 | |
You are a brave man, Graeme, I've done that once | 0:44:46 | 0:44:48 | |
and I got a very nasty bite! | 0:44:48 | 0:44:50 | |
They are pretty vicious, I hope it's just a chick. | 0:44:50 | 0:44:52 | |
I've got a nibble. It feels like a chick, I'll just bring it out now. | 0:44:52 | 0:44:56 | |
-And you've got to a few hundred of these to do. -Indeed. | 0:44:56 | 0:44:58 | |
A few hundred bites and scratches. | 0:44:58 | 0:45:01 | |
-There he is. Little fellow here. -How old will that chick be? | 0:45:01 | 0:45:05 | |
He's probably around the 35-day mark, he's pretty much ready | 0:45:05 | 0:45:08 | |
to fledge, he's got his head cleared of down, just a few tufts here. | 0:45:08 | 0:45:11 | |
-So now you are going to put a ring on him. -We are. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:15 | |
We'll get a ring and, hopefully, get some good data. | 0:45:15 | 0:45:18 | |
And what information do you hope to get from the ringing? | 0:45:18 | 0:45:21 | |
The basic thing is how long they are living for. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:23 | |
So if this bird comes back in future years | 0:45:23 | 0:45:25 | |
and we re-catch it we know when it was ringed, | 0:45:25 | 0:45:28 | |
we know its exact ring number so it's got its own identity. | 0:45:28 | 0:45:30 | |
And we know exactly how old it is. | 0:45:30 | 0:45:32 | |
-Pop him back in again. -Back in the hole and he'll be happy as Larry | 0:45:32 | 0:45:36 | |
and he will be out in a few days and head out into the Atlantic Ocean. | 0:45:36 | 0:45:40 | |
And when would he come back again? | 0:45:40 | 0:45:41 | |
Maybe in around about four-years time usually to get mature | 0:45:41 | 0:45:44 | |
and start breeding for the first time. | 0:45:44 | 0:45:47 | |
But until then he'll just be floating around. | 0:45:47 | 0:45:49 | |
So, it's nice to know there's good news for the puffins here. | 0:45:56 | 0:45:59 | |
Photogenic, approachable little birds whose numbers are on the up. | 0:45:59 | 0:46:03 | |
Everyone loves puffins but there's one bird species | 0:46:05 | 0:46:08 | |
here on the Farnes which is nowhere near as friendly. | 0:46:08 | 0:46:12 | |
Just ask Ellie.... | 0:46:12 | 0:46:14 | |
BIRDS SHRIEK | 0:46:14 | 0:46:15 | |
She was here a few weeks ago filming for a brand-new BBC One | 0:46:15 | 0:46:19 | |
wildlife series. | 0:46:19 | 0:46:20 | |
And she had a rather nasty encounter with arctic terns, the bad-tempered | 0:46:20 | 0:46:25 | |
cousins of the little terns she met earlier on this programme. | 0:46:25 | 0:46:30 | |
Oh! | 0:46:30 | 0:46:32 | |
BIRDS SHRIEK | 0:46:32 | 0:46:34 | |
Oh, my goodness. They are really unhappy. | 0:46:34 | 0:46:36 | |
Wah! Ahh! | 0:46:36 | 0:46:38 | |
Got me. | 0:46:38 | 0:46:39 | |
Ow! This is not fun. Not fun. I'm going to take refuge in here. | 0:46:40 | 0:46:45 | |
It's actually drawn blood from my head! | 0:46:48 | 0:46:50 | |
And Britain's Big Wildlife Revival starts next | 0:46:51 | 0:46:55 | |
Sunday on BBC One at 5:35. | 0:46:55 | 0:46:58 | |
For me, it's time to say goodbye to the Farnes | 0:46:58 | 0:47:00 | |
and get back to my main mission. | 0:47:00 | 0:47:02 | |
Well, I'm off now to search for white-beaked dolphins way | 0:47:02 | 0:47:05 | |
out in the North Sea, | 0:47:05 | 0:47:07 | |
but first, here's the Countryfile weather forecast for the week ahead. | 0:47:07 | 0:47:11 | |
I'm off the coast of Northumberland with Ben Burville. | 0:49:08 | 0:49:11 | |
Ben's a GP by day but away from the surgery he's an underwater cameraman. | 0:49:11 | 0:49:15 | |
We're in search of one of the North Sea's best kept secrets, | 0:49:21 | 0:49:24 | |
white-beaked dolphins. | 0:49:24 | 0:49:26 | |
If Ben captures underwater footage of them it will be a first for British | 0:49:27 | 0:49:31 | |
television, never before have these dolphins been shown in UK waters. | 0:49:31 | 0:49:35 | |
-Dolphin. -Definitely, dolphin. | 0:49:38 | 0:49:41 | |
-Yeah, got one, dorsal fin. -Where? -Five o'clock. | 0:49:41 | 0:49:44 | |
-Quarter of a mile. -Give me a range. -Quarter of a mile. | 0:49:46 | 0:49:49 | |
Five o'clock. | 0:49:49 | 0:49:50 | |
-There it is, you see it there? -What is it? | 0:49:52 | 0:49:54 | |
-It's a minke whale. -A minke whale. It's not a white-beaked dolphin. | 0:49:54 | 0:49:58 | |
No, that's a minke whale. | 0:49:58 | 0:50:00 | |
It's a great sighting but thrilling as it is to spot a minke | 0:50:01 | 0:50:04 | |
whale it's not why we are out here today. | 0:50:04 | 0:50:07 | |
We head further out into the North Sea to continue our search. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:18 | |
Why have we stopped, Ben? Nobody's seen a dolphin, have they? | 0:50:31 | 0:50:35 | |
No, we've stopped cos there's quite a few puffins over | 0:50:35 | 0:50:37 | |
there in the water. | 0:50:37 | 0:50:38 | |
Is it a sign there are maybe dolphins around? | 0:50:38 | 0:50:41 | |
It's a sign there may be food in the water, big sand eels... | 0:50:41 | 0:50:43 | |
-There could be dolphins here as well. -There could well be dolphins there as well. | 0:50:43 | 0:50:47 | |
To use an old landlubber saying - | 0:50:48 | 0:50:50 | |
"It's like looking for a needle in a haystack." | 0:50:50 | 0:50:53 | |
Now, we are rendezvousing with Newcastle University's marine | 0:50:54 | 0:50:57 | |
research ship, the Princess Royal. | 0:50:57 | 0:50:59 | |
Today, Ben is working alongside Simon Laing whose team is hoping to find | 0:50:59 | 0:51:03 | |
out what effect the construction of wind farms at sea has on dolphins. | 0:51:03 | 0:51:08 | |
And Simon is using sound, not pictures. | 0:51:08 | 0:51:11 | |
What have we got here, Simon? | 0:51:11 | 0:51:13 | |
This is a towed hydrophone, it's a | 0:51:13 | 0:51:15 | |
special type of microphone that listens... | 0:51:15 | 0:51:17 | |
-A microphone! -Yeah. | 0:51:17 | 0:51:19 | |
I've seen lots of microphones in my time | 0:51:19 | 0:51:21 | |
but never one that looked like this. | 0:51:21 | 0:51:23 | |
It is a special microphone that listens for sounds underwater. | 0:51:23 | 0:51:26 | |
But the really clever part is in here. | 0:51:27 | 0:51:30 | |
Now the microphone's in the water we can come over to the computer | 0:51:30 | 0:51:34 | |
and as soon as we press record what we will start to see are some | 0:51:34 | 0:51:37 | |
of the sounds we are hearing right now, popping up on the screen. | 0:51:37 | 0:51:40 | |
That's background noise you're seeing on screen. | 0:51:40 | 0:51:42 | |
What sort of symbol would you see if it was a white-beaked dolphin? | 0:51:42 | 0:51:46 | |
We would hopefully see a red triangle popping up on screen | 0:51:46 | 0:51:48 | |
and that would mean we're recording something in real-time | 0:51:48 | 0:51:51 | |
and it would be about 200 metres behind the vessel. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:54 | |
Can you actually hear the sound of the dolphins? | 0:51:54 | 0:51:56 | |
Dolphins make two types of sounds. They make whistles and clicks. | 0:51:56 | 0:52:00 | |
We can hear the whistles but we can't hear the clicks. | 0:52:00 | 0:52:03 | |
I've got a recording here of some white-beaked dolphin | 0:52:03 | 0:52:05 | |
whistles if you'd like to have a listen? | 0:52:05 | 0:52:08 | |
DOLPHIN WHISTLES | 0:52:08 | 0:52:11 | |
-That really is a whistle, isn't it? -Yeah, yeah. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:14 | |
One of the things we're trying to determine with this project - | 0:52:14 | 0:52:16 | |
do the dolphins in the north east of England have a different | 0:52:16 | 0:52:19 | |
whistle to those in Scotland? | 0:52:19 | 0:52:21 | |
Because that would indicate those two populations are very separate if that is the case. | 0:52:21 | 0:52:25 | |
And what's the research telling you? | 0:52:25 | 0:52:27 | |
The research is telling us they may well have different whistles, yeah. | 0:52:27 | 0:52:31 | |
So, you could have, in this bit of the North Sea, Geordie dolphins? | 0:52:31 | 0:52:34 | |
With a Geordie accent?! | 0:52:34 | 0:52:35 | |
Potentially, yes, you could have Geordie dolphins in the north east. | 0:52:35 | 0:52:39 | |
Whatever the accent there's not a whistle right | 0:52:39 | 0:52:41 | |
now from the white-beaked dolphins so we're, obviously, in the wrong place. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:46 | |
I'm going to try my luck again with Ben. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:48 | |
HE CHUCKLES | 0:52:51 | 0:52:52 | |
Done it. Whoops! | 0:52:52 | 0:52:53 | |
Ben reckons our best chance of seeing the dolphins lies 18 miles | 0:52:56 | 0:52:59 | |
out in the Farne Deeps where the sea floor will be around 100 | 0:52:59 | 0:53:03 | |
metres below us, that's equivalent to the height of Saint Paul's Cathedral. | 0:53:03 | 0:53:08 | |
We've arrived at our destination. | 0:53:22 | 0:53:24 | |
All we can do now is keep our eyes peeled and hope. | 0:53:24 | 0:53:27 | |
There we are, look! Straight there! | 0:53:39 | 0:53:41 | |
SHOUTING | 0:53:41 | 0:53:43 | |
It's 15 metres from us. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:45 | |
-OK, here at the front of the boat. -I see it. -Can you see it? | 0:53:46 | 0:53:50 | |
-There you are. -Wow! | 0:53:50 | 0:53:52 | |
So, this is a white-beaked dolphin and it's choosing to bow-ride. | 0:53:52 | 0:53:55 | |
One-two-three-four-five | 0:53:57 | 0:53:59 | |
six-seven... | 0:53:59 | 0:54:01 | |
eight-nine. Wow! | 0:54:01 | 0:54:03 | |
A beautiful sight, John. | 0:54:07 | 0:54:09 | |
Isn't it an amazing sight and I can see the white beaks so clearly now. | 0:54:09 | 0:54:14 | |
What's incredible to me is that these wild creatures want to come | 0:54:17 | 0:54:21 | |
so close to our boat and just play around. | 0:54:21 | 0:54:24 | |
It's illegal to disturb dolphins | 0:54:24 | 0:54:26 | |
so Ben's been granted a special licence to dive close to them. | 0:54:26 | 0:54:30 | |
-This is a massive pod. -This is a big pod. An aggregation here. | 0:54:31 | 0:54:35 | |
-Several pods, you think? -Without a doubt, mixing. -See what you find. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:40 | |
-John, I am surrounded by dolphins. -What an experience. | 0:55:08 | 0:55:12 | |
When they are under the water they are using an echo location | 0:55:14 | 0:55:18 | |
and they are using clicks and whistles. | 0:55:18 | 0:55:20 | |
And the whistles really are to communicate with each other and... | 0:55:20 | 0:55:24 | |
..the maximum we can hear is about 20 kHz. | 0:55:25 | 0:55:28 | |
-Here we go, I'm just going to have a look at that one. -OK. | 0:55:30 | 0:55:33 | |
-Quite amazing to see, isn't it? -What did you get? | 0:55:53 | 0:55:55 | |
Without doubt, some identification of males and females. | 0:55:55 | 0:55:59 | |
And what do you notice about their behaviour? | 0:55:59 | 0:56:01 | |
Their behaviour is that they are inquisitive. | 0:56:01 | 0:56:03 | |
There are amazing wildlife just off our shores here and... | 0:56:03 | 0:56:08 | |
-That we know so little about. -So little about. | 0:56:08 | 0:56:10 | |
The information you're gathering underwater could be | 0:56:10 | 0:56:12 | |
vital for the future protection of these creatures. | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
It certainly could for the future protection of these creatures. Yes, John, you're right. | 0:56:15 | 0:56:20 | |
Well, it's been a real privilege spending some time here in one | 0:56:24 | 0:56:27 | |
of the deepest parts of the North Sea with these wonderful creatures. | 0:56:27 | 0:56:32 | |
And now, thanks to the underwater footage that Ben's been collecting we | 0:56:32 | 0:56:36 | |
should know a little bit more about their, up till now, secret lives. | 0:56:36 | 0:56:41 | |
Next week, Countryfile is in Oxfordshire, where, amongst other things, | 0:56:41 | 0:56:44 | |
we will be taking part in a tug-of-war with a difference. | 0:56:44 | 0:56:48 | |
But, from the North Sea, goodbye. | 0:56:48 | 0:56:50 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:56:53 | 0:56:56 |