Episode 189 The Travel Show - Short Edition

The time is quarter to two, much

more news coming up at 2pm. Now on

BBC News it's time for the travel

show.

show.

This week on The Travel Show -

as the world marks Armistice Day,

we are in America to explore a fleet

of abandoned First World War ships.

We meet the spider men and women

of Guizhou in China.

The Potomac passes some

of Washington, DC's

most iconic landmarks.

George Washington, founding father

and original president

of the United States,

lived on its banks.

But follow the river just 30 miles

south and you will discover

a section that is a world

away from the capital's

boulevards and monuments.

This is Mallows Bay

and it is a paradise for kayakers.

When you look around,

you can see why.

So much natural beauty

here and the wildlife is amazing.

When the bay is full,

you might assume it is just

another beauty spot.

But as the tide rolls out,

its secrets are revealed.

This is what remains

of potentially the largest group

of World War I ships

anywhere in the world.

And I am here a century

after the United States

entered the conflict.

The wreckage of around 100 war-era

vessels can be discovered here.

To find out how they ended up

30 miles south of Washington, DC,

I've arranged to meet marine

expert Donald Shomette.

Hello, there.

Hello.

How are you going?

Lovely to meet you.

When we entered the war,

we didn't have much of an army

or a navy or much of anything

and when we asked the prime minister

of England, Lloyd George,

what can we do,

he said ships, ships and more ships

because one out of every two ships

was being lost per week that sailed

from England to France

and the supply

line was stretched.

There was the threat of starvation.

By 1918, we outstripped

the United Kingdom,

Great Britain, in shipbuilding.

While the makeshift vessels

were built at a breathtaking speed,

they were completed too late to play

a major part in the war.

After the Armistice,

the world was in economic turmoil

and the wooden ships, obsolete.

With few commercial prospects,

the US government sold them off

to a salvage company.

The company eventually brought them

over here in this burning basin over

here, they take the ships,

burn them down and try and get

the maximum metal out of them.

So this is a graveyard for ships?

Yeah.

And it's not just First World War

vessels which can be found here.

Donald claims the oldest wreck goes

all the way back

to the American War

of Independence, 240 years ago.

In total, it is estimated

the area holds the remains

of almost 200 ships.

This wreck is a latecomer.

She is called the Accomac

and she was built in the late 1920s

as a passenger ferry.

The crazy thing is,

even though this ship has died,

there is so much living stuff on it.

On the surface, the wrecks might

look like an environmental disaster

but they have been left alone long

enough to be reclaimed by nature.

Back in my kayak, I am joined

by conservationist Joel Dunn.

You can see why they call these

shipwrecks flowerpots.

In the UK, people pay good money

to have biodiversity like this

on the roofs of their houses.

What sort of wildlife

can I expect to see?

Bald eagles and ospreys and great

blue heron and otters and beavers

and lots of fish below the water.

So you could be eaten

by the wildlife if you go back

into the bush there?

The bay is a relatively shallow

water body

with a typically muddy bottom

so the shipwrecks create structure

and from structure, you get

diversity

and from diversity, you get magic.

Joel, Donald and other conservation

groups have teamed up to have

Mallows Bay recognised

as a national marine sanctuary.

If approved, the site's wildlife

and history will come under

the protection of NOAA,

the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration.

So there's 13 national marine

sanctuaries in the country,

we want this to be the 14th.

It will bring it more attention,

partners in funding and some level

of protection from people who may be

harvesting historical artefacts.

The biggest thing it does, though,

is it creates a national tourism

resource that brings people

from all over the world.

But opinions are divided

on these new protections.

Nearby, I meet some commercial

fishermen making their living

from the river's teeming wildlife.

Slimy gross thing.

These are the blue catch.

They are ugly suckers, aren't they?

Not real pretty.

They migrated down.

It's a million-and-a-half dollar

industry just on this river alone...

They are concerned that

turning Mallows Bay

into a National Marine Sanctuary

could down the line lead

to restrictions on our fishing.

Our problem is the unknowns.

We want it to put in writing

that they that will never

bother our industry because our

livelihoods depend on it

as they will not give it to us,

they say, "We can't do it."

They say they have

no plans to do it.

Won't the extra tourism benefit you?

No.

People go into the restaurants

who will want to eat,

there'll be demand for

more fish, won't there?

Our sales will not increase

that much in that area.

People will be going back to DC.

The organisations behind

the nomination insist their plans

won't impact fishing.

The final decision

is expected next year.

Donald is adamant about the benefits

that sanctuary status will bring

to Mallows Bay.

The visitation will enlarge

enormously after it becomes

a National Marine Sanctuary.

We want Americans to see this,

we want the world to see this.

This is a world-class site.

These ships were involved in saving

the world from totalitarianism.

This is important.

Next up, we are travelling

to Guizhou in China,

home of the Miao minority,

where for centuries they have

climbed the region's sheer cliff

faces without ropes.

In the past they did

it to collect herbs

for Chinese medicines,

but we heard that they are now

putting their skills

to a different use.

So we went to meet them,

and it goes without saying,

please don't try this at home.

The incredible spider men and women

of Guizhou in China.

Next week Carmen is in Japan finding

out what's being done to save one of

the most beautiful train lines.

I

never expected to be so busy. I

don't think I'll get seat!

And don't

forget you can keep up to date in

real time by following our social

media feed.

All the details should be

on your screens right now.

But for now from me and all

the Travel Show team

here in Maryland, it's goodbye.