WWI Mallows Bay The Travel Show

mad'.

Now on BBC News, time

for The Travel Show.

This week on The Travel Show... As

the world marks Armistice Day, we am

in America to worse -- to explore a

fleet of abandoned First World War

ships.

Creating a national tourism

resource which brings people from

all over the world.

These ships were

involved in saving the world from

totalitarianism.

We meet the spider

men and women of Guizhou in China.

And go behind the scenes at a new

show were the cast members have to

get used to performing in a

downpour.

Obviously, this is due

bias there is no expense spared in

the staging. We are talking 65

world-class artists, athletes and

performers and best of all, in the

middle of the desert, you can even

get raid on.

The Potomac passes some of

Washington, DC's Mostar Tomic

landmarks. George Washington,

founding father and original

President of the United States,

lived on its banks. But all 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 were or why it. 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 of vessels can

be discovered here. To find out how

they ended up 30 miles south of

Washington, DC, either rained to

meet marine expert Donald Shemett.

Hello, they are.

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 in 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 will compete --

completed to play -- too late to

play a major part in the law. -- in

the war. After the Armistice, the

world was in economic turmoil and

the wooden ships, obsolete. But 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 caught the

Ackemack 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 Rex 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 Joll done.

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 bass breeze

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 bottoms so the shipwrecks

create structure and from structure,

you get diversity and from

diversity, you get magic.

Joll,

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 NOAH, the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration.

There are 13

centuries in the country, we wanted

to be deporting. 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, it creates a

national tourism resource which

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.

It is heavy, isn't it? Oh, yes,

definitely happy. It is going on

forever. These are blue catch. They

are rightly succours, aren't they?

Not very pretty. Being in the

industry just on this river alone...

They are concerned that turning

Mallows Bay into a National Marine

Sanctuary could down the line leads

restrictions on our fishing.

Our

problem is the unknown is. We want

it to put in writing that theme that

will never bother our industry

because our livelihoods depend on it

as they will not give a toss, they

say we can't do it. They say they

have no plans to do it.

Went the

extra tourism benefit you?

No.

People go into the restaurants who

will want to eat, that demand for

more fish?

House sales will not

increase that much. People will be

going back to DC.

The organisations

behind the nomination insist they

are 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 century.

We want Americans in the world to

see this. This is a world-class

site. These ships were involved in

saving the world from

totalitarianism. This is important.

Says the project began 45 years ago

in 1972, there have been 13 Marine

sanctuaries designated all across

the United States. You can find the

first site off the coast of North

Carolina. The final resting place of

the USS monitor. The monitor fought

on the union side in the American

civil war and took part in the first

ever naval battle between ironclad

ships. Diving down to the wreck

requires a permit sue if you don't

want to make the plunge, you can

head to neighbouring Virginia were a

full-size replica is on display at

the visitor centre. For those who

prefer warm waters, Florida Keys is

home to one of the world's largest

living barrier: -- Coral reefs.

There is also estimated to be 1000

shipwrecks spread across the ocean

floor. It was declared a century in

1990 and the protection zone takes

an almost 3000 square nautical

miles. Over on the west coast, near

California's Big Sur, is Monterey

Bay. It is a popular site in nature

watches and has been called the

Serengeti of the sea, a reference to

Tanzania's famous wildlife reserve.

And if you want to visit on marine

safari, from November to February,

you can spot elephant seals on their

breeding season. The seals are a

triumphant composite -- conservation

story. Once they were almost hunted

to extinction but now there are

200,000 worldwide.

Coming up on The Travel Show, we had

to China to meet the spider men and

women of Guizhou.

Anyway, it's off to Dubai to take a

look behind the scenes at a new show

whether performers also need to have

a good head for heights.

Thousands

of artists were auditioned from

across the world. We chose 65 of

them to come here and they came from

23 different countries.

So don't go away.

essential guide wherever you are

headed. Next up, we are travelling

to China, 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

they are now putting their skills to

a different use. And we went to meet

them, and it goes without saying,

please don't try this at home.

The incredible Spiderman and women

of Guizhou in China. And we are

finishing this week by meeting and

other group of people with a great

head for heights. This time in

Dubai, home of the world hold --

world's tallest building, Burj

Khalifa, and is also the venue of a

new show where gymnasts and athletes

are turning years of training into

an art form. We went to meet them.

Dubai might be known for its

skyscrapers and luxury lifestyles,

but it is here in this basement

rehearsal room that the Emirates'

latest attraction takes shape. New

York bake -- New York-based artistic

director Tara Young is responsible

for leading his team of talented

gymnast and performers. Thousands of

Guinness were edition from across

the world. We chose 65 to come here,

they came from 25 different

countries. -- gymnasts. And after

months of extensive training and

rehearsal they opened a production

staged in a new purpose you'll

production here in the start of the

-- heart of the city.

I need to be a

little bit point and no insight,

straight.

Ranging in age from 17 to

37, this championship level Gemina

's have a daily training schedule --

gymnasts, affecting their skills.

On

an average day the artists trained

for eight to 12 hours, depending on

the day. We are now operating

between eight and ten shows a week,

so on top of their performance

schedule bowels are doing training.

-- they are also doing training. You

can see from watching the action

there is a huge amount of trust that

is built the please these too. Nick

and Hayley met when they arrived,

but they are both specialists in

what they do. But they have never

worked together before so they had

to learn to work together.

I myself

trained at gymnastics since the age

of seven and like many of the

performers in the show we did

gymnastics from a young age. With

gymnastics is very important the

technical side of things, which

helps you perform, or do the skills,

and make them look effortless. And

that's a really big part of our job

as artist to really give in tension

to what we are doing, but also to

make it look effortless, and

obviously after many years of

training it does come fairly

effortless. We obviously have to put

effort in, but it is making it look

clean and simple to the audience, to

make them feel that they could maybe

try that skill and succeed, but

obviously it is a lot harder than it

looks.

Working at height brings its

own challenges, and it can take many

months for the artists to get used

to performing in the specially

designed harnesses that lift them

off the ground.

In the show I am

classed as a flyer, so I work a lot

with the guys, they lift us, they

throw us in the air, some of them

catch, the opening act that we do,

we are flying in harnesses and we

come in from the top of the stage,

and interact with the other

performers on the ground, and that

is a good feeling. Because you are

flying up from high, a big height,

so it gives you a bit of a rush.

This show is the first theatrical

production to take up permanent

residence here in Dubai. And it's

home is a new purpose built ten

Storey Theatre complex kitted out

with a state of the lighting and

sound system. The show was conceived

and curated by the man behind Cirque

du Soleil and it draws its

inspiration from the story of Dubai

and how it transformed from a humble

pearl trading outpost to the global

city has become today. The audiences

are encouraged to interpret the

story with their own meaning at

mixing fantasy with reality

accompanied by a specially composed

score. Unique to the staging is

this. The water pit, which can be

filled or drained in seconds and

forms an integral part of the set,

and means that the performers have

to be adept at working both wet and

dry. Obviously, this is Dubai, so

there is no expense spared in the

staging. We are talking 65

world-class artist, athletes and

performers. We are talking

motorcycles circling around in a

bowl in midair. And best of all, in

the middle of a desert, we even get

rain.

Next year, Cirque du Soleil

completes its 20th anniversary in

residence in was a guess, and be

craters of this show will hope that

it is just a successful here in

Dubai. But in the meantime, the

matter how many shows they give, for

the performance pushing their bodies

to the limit high above the stage,

no day is ever the same.

You have to

say there is always challenges in

live theatre, but that is make that

-- that is what makes it exciting

for us, everything there is new day,

a new audience comes in, and

everyday is new show. Technically

there will always be challenges in

the theatre, but we have the most

amazing crew they can overcome this,

and artistically we have a really

strong cast that can roll with it,

and when there is a change of the

last minute they can improvise

because now so skilled that that can

happen, so it's all good.

That's it for this week coming up

next week: Carmen is in Japan and

learning about what is being done to

help save one of the country's most

beautiful train lines.

I never

expected this tiny station to be so

busy. I don't think we going to get

a seat!

And we're off to New York to

join a dinner party with a

difference will stop as we drop in

on the gastrin or's club which

specialised in eating some of the

strangest and scariest food in the

world. Oh dear. -- gastronaut.

One

of the biggest misconceptions about

the gastronauts is that we eat crazy

things just for the sake of it

that's not true, the things that we

are actually really delicious.

And

don't forget you can keep up with us

in real-time by following all our

social media feed. All the details

should be on your screen right now,

at one hour, from me and all the

Travel Show team here in Maryland,

it's goodbye.