Coral Reef Adventure

1 00:00:03,900 --> 00:00:10,116 Coral reef adventure 2 00:00:12,874 --> 00:00:15,921 The south Pacific. 3 00:00:15,962 --> 00:00:20,273 Lagoons that hint paradise. 4 00:00:20,468 --> 00:00:22,439 Magnificent coral reefs that tease 5 00:00:22,940 --> 00:00:27,297 and delight the dreaming corners of our minds. 6 00:00:28,980 --> 00:00:33,653 This is the world as we wish it could always be. 7 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:41,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 8 00:01:02,902 --> 00:01:05,239 In this great carnival of life, 9 00:01:05,322 --> 00:01:09,077 Thousands of colorful characters co-exist. 10 00:01:09,119 --> 00:01:12,040 Diversities strengthens a coral reef. 11 00:01:12,081 --> 00:01:13,458 The more species, 12 00:01:13,501 --> 00:01:16,313 the more survival systems, 13 00:01:16,505 --> 00:01:22,089 Coral reefs have been going strong for sixty million years. 14 00:01:22,889 --> 00:01:26,769 Some corals sway like flowers in the breeze. 15 00:01:26,810 --> 00:01:30,399 Others masquerade as stones. 16 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:34,330 But all corals are animals. 17 00:01:37,992 --> 00:01:41,831 These underwater playgrounds are built by hard corals 18 00:01:41,872 --> 00:01:46,076 which produce lime stone and turn it into homes. 19 00:01:46,546 --> 00:01:48,966 Stacked one on top of the other, 20 00:01:49,007 --> 00:01:50,427 millions of coral homes, 21 00:01:50,468 --> 00:01:55,039 gradually form a gigantic reef. 22 00:01:56,768 --> 00:02:00,273 How wonderful that the largest living structures on earth, 23 00:02:00,316 --> 00:02:06,532 are built by tiny animals. 24 00:02:11,081 --> 00:02:14,251 Coral reefs protect nearly all tropical coast. 25 00:02:14,335 --> 00:02:18,958 Standing between islander's homes and violent seas. 26 00:02:33,027 --> 00:02:34,070 When you're injured, 27 00:02:34,113 --> 00:02:37,117 doctors use calcium carbonate from corals 28 00:02:37,158 --> 00:02:39,996 to mend our broken bones. 29 00:02:40,037 --> 00:02:41,414 When we're sick, 30 00:02:41,455 --> 00:02:43,208 chemical compounds from the reef 31 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:46,671 may restore our health. 32 00:02:46,713 --> 00:02:47,923 No place on earth, 33 00:02:47,964 --> 00:02:51,877 holds greater potential for medical cures. 34 00:02:54,348 --> 00:02:55,099 Reefs, 35 00:02:55,142 --> 00:02:56,351 feed us. 36 00:02:56,394 --> 00:02:58,312 Over three hundred million people 37 00:02:58,396 --> 00:03:01,416 rely on fish from reefs 38 00:03:02,359 --> 00:03:05,031 For Pacific islanders like me, 39 00:03:05,072 --> 00:03:09,848 our coral reefs are as necessary as the air we breath. 40 00:03:19,300 --> 00:03:22,262 Rusi Vulakoro, a native of Fiji, 41 00:03:22,305 --> 00:03:25,591 has always lived close to the sea. 42 00:03:31,984 --> 00:03:33,195 For centuries, 43 00:03:33,236 --> 00:03:36,115 my ancestors were careful not to overfish. 44 00:03:36,156 --> 00:03:38,785 So our reef was healthy. 45 00:03:38,828 --> 00:03:39,954 But this year, 46 00:03:39,995 --> 00:03:42,290 something happened. 47 00:03:42,332 --> 00:03:44,842 Something terrible. 48 00:03:49,049 --> 00:03:53,100 A black air of death settled over the reef. 49 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:59,316 What was killing our reef? 50 00:04:05,740 --> 00:04:09,871 I made up my mind to find some answers. 51 00:04:09,912 --> 00:04:11,455 I decide to reach out to 52 00:04:11,498 --> 00:04:15,116 some of my dive partners around the world. 53 00:04:15,837 --> 00:04:17,714 Howard and Michele Hall 54 00:04:17,757 --> 00:04:21,512 have spent thirty years exploring and filming reefs. 55 00:04:21,553 --> 00:04:25,308 Their underwater photography is world-renowned. 56 00:04:25,350 --> 00:04:28,021 When Howard and Michele got Rusi's message, 57 00:04:28,104 --> 00:04:29,439 they were in the mountains, 58 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,637 far from the reefs they loved. 59 00:04:42,874 --> 00:04:44,836 All during that flight I kept wondering 60 00:04:44,877 --> 00:04:47,506 what we could do to help Rusi. 61 00:04:47,548 --> 00:04:48,841 Then I realized that, 62 00:04:48,882 --> 00:04:51,094 our friend Richard Pyle might know what to do. 63 00:04:51,178 --> 00:04:53,550 He is a marine biologist. 64 00:04:53,764 --> 00:04:55,892 All across the world, 65 00:04:55,935 --> 00:04:59,647 We have Red Sea, Africa, Maldives, Philippines. 66 00:04:59,690 --> 00:05:02,444 We're seeing these kinds of problems showing up 67 00:05:02,485 --> 00:05:04,112 in unprecedented rates. 68 00:05:04,154 --> 00:05:06,532 Richard showed us how coral reefs were dying 69 00:05:06,575 --> 00:05:09,760 at an alarming rate all around the world. 70 00:05:10,371 --> 00:05:13,650 Ocean warming is the major cause. 71 00:05:14,842 --> 00:05:17,089 Richard urged us to document the coral reefs 72 00:05:17,130 --> 00:05:18,423 on film for science, 73 00:05:18,466 --> 00:05:20,579 before they disappear. 74 00:05:21,803 --> 00:05:25,016 We knew the IMAX camera ,with its incredible clarity, 75 00:05:25,058 --> 00:05:27,517 was the best way to do this. 76 00:05:30,232 --> 00:05:32,583 Our mission was clear. 77 00:05:33,612 --> 00:05:36,616 Bring back images that would give scientists insights, 78 00:05:36,658 --> 00:05:39,600 to why Rusi's reef was dying. 79 00:05:40,246 --> 00:05:41,999 We needed to compare Rusi's reef 80 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,044 to other reefs all across the south Pacific. 81 00:05:45,086 --> 00:05:47,673 Starting with the largest of them all, 82 00:05:47,714 --> 00:05:49,713 the Great Barrier Reef. 83 00:06:09,369 --> 00:06:11,206 The prospect of diving coral reefs 84 00:06:11,247 --> 00:06:13,334 all across the south Pacific, 85 00:06:13,375 --> 00:06:16,558 was a bit like a dream come true. 86 00:06:17,298 --> 00:06:19,426 We would make hundreds of dives. 87 00:06:19,467 --> 00:06:22,012 And some of these would be deeper and more dangerous, 88 00:06:22,054 --> 00:06:24,200 than anything we have done before. 89 00:06:24,390 --> 00:06:26,811 It would be our most important expedition 90 00:06:26,852 --> 00:06:29,356 in our thirty years of diving together. 91 00:06:34,613 --> 00:06:36,491 Parts of the Great Barrier Reef, 92 00:06:36,532 --> 00:06:40,550 had been protected from overfishing for two decades. 93 00:06:40,663 --> 00:06:43,291 The first goal of this ten month expedition, 94 00:06:43,334 --> 00:06:47,450 was to see how well that protection really worked. 95 00:07:02,944 --> 00:07:05,156 When I first dove here 22 years ago, 96 00:07:05,197 --> 00:07:07,284 these giant clams were not here. 97 00:07:07,325 --> 00:07:10,964 They'd been long fished up by commercial fishermen. 98 00:07:11,706 --> 00:07:14,585 Today we have seen 12 giant clams. 99 00:07:14,628 --> 00:07:15,712 That's a great sign. 100 00:07:15,754 --> 00:07:18,851 That means this reef is bouncing back. 101 00:07:21,762 --> 00:07:24,641 A local marine biologist named Tracey Medway, 102 00:07:24,683 --> 00:07:27,778 led us to the giant Potato cod. 103 00:07:28,939 --> 00:07:30,300 They were called Potato cod, 104 00:07:30,620 --> 00:07:32,277 because they had these splashy potato shape 105 00:07:32,318 --> 00:07:35,266 marking on their sides. 106 00:07:38,869 --> 00:07:40,455 Throughout most of the South Pacific, 107 00:07:40,496 --> 00:07:43,625 the really large fish had been wiped out by fishermen. 108 00:07:43,668 --> 00:07:48,322 Potato Cod thrive here only because of the laws that protect them. 109 00:07:55,685 --> 00:07:58,897 These vegetarian Convict tangs protect the reef 110 00:07:58,939 --> 00:08:03,362 nibbling away seaweeds that smother corals. 111 00:08:03,403 --> 00:08:06,074 If too many of these kind of fish are removed: 112 00:08:06,115 --> 00:08:08,640 corals will die. 113 00:08:08,869 --> 00:08:12,348 That's why overfishing destroys reefs. 114 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,627 We often don't realize 115 00:08:14,668 --> 00:08:16,755 how two species benefit each other, 116 00:08:16,796 --> 00:08:19,901 until one of them disappears. 117 00:08:21,846 --> 00:08:24,099 Just as the fish protect the reef, 118 00:08:24,140 --> 00:08:27,979 coral offers homes and hiding places for the fish. 119 00:08:28,021 --> 00:08:30,190 Anything from a simple shack, 120 00:08:30,233 --> 00:08:33,070 to a custom dream home. 121 00:08:50,593 --> 00:08:54,307 Gobies often share a home with Bulldozer shrimp. 122 00:08:54,349 --> 00:08:56,811 Whenever he ventures out of the burrow, 123 00:08:56,895 --> 00:09:00,983 the shrimp keeps at least one antenna on the goby. 124 00:09:01,025 --> 00:09:03,404 The goby gets a impeccable burrow to live in 125 00:09:03,445 --> 00:09:05,739 without lifting a fin. 126 00:09:05,823 --> 00:09:09,704 And the very near-sighted shrimp gets a bodyguard. 127 00:09:09,745 --> 00:09:11,247 With a flick of its tail, 128 00:09:11,290 --> 00:09:16,211 the goby warns the shrimp of approaching predators. 129 00:09:48,382 --> 00:09:49,634 This hundred year old coral 130 00:09:49,676 --> 00:09:51,011 makes a nice dentist's office 131 00:09:51,052 --> 00:09:54,224 for Potato cod. 132 00:09:54,266 --> 00:09:56,268 A small fish, 133 00:09:56,310 --> 00:09:57,270 a cleaner wrasse , 134 00:09:57,311 --> 00:09:59,356 swims right into the cod's mouth 135 00:09:59,398 --> 00:10:03,155 to feed on parasites. 136 00:10:06,073 --> 00:10:08,702 The cods gets groomed, 137 00:10:08,745 --> 00:10:11,706 and the wrasse gets dinner. 138 00:10:11,749 --> 00:10:16,255 Partnerships like this seem to require mutual trust. 139 00:10:16,296 --> 00:10:19,051 Lots of trust! 140 00:10:20,844 --> 00:10:23,306 Cart Hollerway, a coral researcher, 141 00:10:23,347 --> 00:10:28,971 joined Michele to study inter-species communication. 142 00:11:01,234 --> 00:11:02,652 I was afraid I was going to inhale it, 143 00:11:02,695 --> 00:11:04,238 maybe swallow it. 144 00:11:04,279 --> 00:11:05,448 But I didn't. 145 00:11:05,490 --> 00:11:08,933 It just tickled and pinched a little bit. 146 00:11:11,790 --> 00:11:15,070 I've studied animal behavior for so many years. 147 00:11:15,153 --> 00:11:16,088 This was.. 148 00:11:16,129 --> 00:11:17,006 This was different. 149 00:11:17,047 --> 00:11:18,466 This was a chance for me to 150 00:11:18,508 --> 00:11:21,442 actually be part of it. 151 00:11:23,599 --> 00:11:27,771 Cooperation between species sustains life here. 152 00:11:27,812 --> 00:11:31,526 But sometimes it's almost invisible. 153 00:11:31,567 --> 00:11:34,113 The coral's most important partners, 154 00:11:34,155 --> 00:11:36,533 are tiny microscope algae, 155 00:11:36,617 --> 00:11:41,346 that actually live inside the coral animal's tissues. 156 00:11:42,582 --> 00:11:45,880 These helper algae use sunlight to produce sugar, 157 00:11:45,921 --> 00:11:47,298 the primary food source. 158 00:11:47,339 --> 00:11:51,429 that gives corals the energy to build reefs. 159 00:11:51,470 --> 00:11:55,475 Most corals cannot survive without helper algae. 160 00:11:55,518 --> 00:11:56,852 But worldwide, 161 00:11:56,895 --> 00:11:58,855 abnormally warm seawater 162 00:11:58,898 --> 00:12:01,847 threaten this partnership. 163 00:12:02,778 --> 00:12:04,822 Timelapse photography can show us how, 164 00:12:04,863 --> 00:12:06,449 in just one week, 165 00:12:06,491 --> 00:12:11,594 the change of two centigrades drives the algae out. 166 00:12:13,209 --> 00:12:15,212 Without its main food source, 167 00:12:15,253 --> 00:12:18,907 the coral bleaches a ghostly white. 168 00:12:20,719 --> 00:12:22,513 If the algae don't return, 169 00:12:22,556 --> 00:12:24,870 the corals starves. 170 00:12:29,607 --> 00:12:31,735 Here in Australia we went to some places that 171 00:12:31,776 --> 00:12:33,653 we've been to 22 years before. 172 00:12:33,696 --> 00:12:35,114 And I was surprised to see that 173 00:12:35,156 --> 00:12:40,200 some of the reefs are so damaged because of ocean warming. 174 00:12:44,127 --> 00:12:46,755 Our Australian survey gave us a baseline 175 00:12:46,797 --> 00:12:49,218 for understanding what was going wrong 176 00:12:49,259 --> 00:12:50,219 at Rusi's reef, 177 00:12:50,260 --> 00:12:53,992 2000 miles away in Fiji. 178 00:13:33,612 --> 00:13:34,906 When we got to Fuji, 179 00:13:34,947 --> 00:13:39,496 it didn't take five minutes to reconnect with Rusi. 180 00:13:42,166 --> 00:13:46,001 Howard makes me smile again. 181 00:13:47,340 --> 00:13:49,718 Michele and I were eager to help Rusi. 182 00:13:49,759 --> 00:13:50,719 But first, 183 00:13:50,761 --> 00:13:54,742 we had to pay our respect to local tradition. 184 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:01,735 Before outsiders can dive at my home island, 185 00:14:01,776 --> 00:14:05,760 the elders must grant permission. 186 00:14:07,702 --> 00:14:11,610 My people have always limited fishing. 187 00:14:11,915 --> 00:14:14,002 This tradition of reef conservation, 188 00:14:14,043 --> 00:14:16,296 has worked well for centuries. 189 00:14:16,339 --> 00:14:18,924 Til now. 190 00:14:20,552 --> 00:14:23,265 First I wanted Howard to see my village reef, 191 00:14:23,306 --> 00:14:25,908 as it used to be. 192 00:14:37,576 --> 00:14:40,547 The reef looked great with plenty of small fish. 193 00:14:40,839 --> 00:14:43,468 But we didn't see nearly as many big fish 194 00:14:43,684 --> 00:14:45,207 as we did in Australia. 195 00:14:45,607 --> 00:14:47,492 And that worried me. 196 00:14:51,345 --> 00:14:53,932 But time had come. 197 00:14:53,974 --> 00:14:57,946 I took Howard and Michele further down the reef. 198 00:15:03,362 --> 00:15:06,150 I wondered where all the animals gone. 199 00:15:10,038 --> 00:15:13,074 These reefs are dying. 200 00:15:13,668 --> 00:15:17,220 And all just makes me very sad. 201 00:15:22,118 --> 00:15:25,011 Seeing so much of this reef destroyed, 202 00:15:25,580 --> 00:15:26,826 we realized that, 203 00:15:26,909 --> 00:15:30,477 Rusi's reef may be what all coral reefs look like, 204 00:15:30,881 --> 00:15:32,410 in thirty years. 205 00:15:35,490 --> 00:15:39,245 Our reef used to be home of so many creatures. 206 00:15:39,286 --> 00:15:43,471 But now they're almost all gone. 207 00:15:48,907 --> 00:15:50,241 After seeing all of the destruction though, 208 00:15:50,939 --> 00:15:52,943 I saw an octopus. 209 00:15:57,468 --> 00:15:59,601 Octopus make like a tent with their body. 210 00:15:59,620 --> 00:16:01,520 They put out their eight arms and 211 00:16:01,850 --> 00:16:05,881 actually trap shrimps and crabs that live on the reef. 212 00:16:11,875 --> 00:16:13,878 He'd obviously figured out 213 00:16:13,919 --> 00:16:16,720 how to survive. 214 00:16:17,383 --> 00:16:22,012 Not many reef dwellers will do that. 215 00:16:27,522 --> 00:16:29,941 For islanders to survive by fishing, 216 00:16:29,983 --> 00:16:33,155 the death of the reef has really hit us hard. 217 00:16:33,196 --> 00:16:37,071 Especially when you have children to feed. 218 00:16:43,544 --> 00:16:46,380 But what killed Rusi's reef? 219 00:16:46,464 --> 00:16:50,887 Foreign fishing fleets have overfished these waters. 220 00:16:50,929 --> 00:16:56,243 And thermometers tell us that the ocean is two degrees warmer than normal. 221 00:16:58,811 --> 00:17:01,694 I found more bleached coral and no big fish. 222 00:17:01,736 --> 00:17:03,482 But I had a hunch, 223 00:17:03,983 --> 00:17:05,939 that ocean warming and overfishing 224 00:17:06,031 --> 00:17:08,431 were not the only problems. 225 00:17:15,421 --> 00:17:17,091 Ten miles inland, 226 00:17:17,132 --> 00:17:20,653 when tropical rain forest were cut down. 227 00:17:20,700 --> 00:17:23,712 The river turned muddy with silt. 228 00:17:31,486 --> 00:17:33,488 Two rivers merged. 229 00:17:33,530 --> 00:17:36,020 One with logging upstream. 230 00:17:36,030 --> 00:17:38,787 One without. 231 00:17:39,934 --> 00:17:45,046 There was only place for all that sediment to go. 232 00:17:46,996 --> 00:17:48,212 At the mouth of the river, 233 00:17:48,281 --> 00:17:50,937 silt blocked the sunlight that the coral needs for growth. 234 00:17:53,098 --> 00:17:58,121 Rusi's reef had been hit by a combination of stresses. 235 00:17:59,648 --> 00:18:03,697 Ocean warming, overfishing and siltation. 236 00:18:04,759 --> 00:18:06,542 Corals may fight off one threat, 237 00:18:06,625 --> 00:18:10,290 but three at once proved too much. 238 00:18:11,398 --> 00:18:13,725 Now I understood the problem better. 239 00:18:13,808 --> 00:18:14,753 But what could I do? 240 00:18:14,796 --> 00:18:17,515 Howard thought a healthier reef, 241 00:18:17,598 --> 00:18:19,492 might give us some answers. 242 00:18:19,575 --> 00:18:22,396 We set quest for another island. 243 00:18:23,140 --> 00:18:26,637 There we joined up with Jean-Michel Cousteau, 244 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,858 who's the son of the legendary explorer. 245 00:18:30,984 --> 00:18:34,782 Jean-Michel comes to Fuji every year to help marine biologists, 246 00:18:34,865 --> 00:18:36,814 like Maria Joao Rodriguez, monitor coral reefs. 247 00:18:40,353 --> 00:18:43,253 We guided Howard and Michele to a nearby reef, 248 00:18:43,523 --> 00:18:45,635 where siltation is not a problem, 249 00:18:45,902 --> 00:18:48,250 thanks to mangrove trees. 250 00:18:50,334 --> 00:18:52,112 Their roots traps the silt, 251 00:18:52,558 --> 00:18:54,375 protecting the reefs. 252 00:18:57,789 --> 00:19:01,700 Many fish sees mangroves as a nursery to protect the young. 253 00:19:07,911 --> 00:19:09,547 My fellow Fijians, 254 00:19:09,630 --> 00:19:12,734 have set aside these beneficial mangroves, 255 00:19:12,898 --> 00:19:14,954 as part of marine preserve. 256 00:19:15,621 --> 00:19:18,149 Making the reef off-shore a wonderland. 257 00:19:18,529 --> 00:19:21,350 Healthy beautiful and strong. 258 00:19:26,302 --> 00:19:29,050 This is the way I want my reef to be. 259 00:19:33,482 --> 00:19:37,352 Tropical coral reefs are found world-wide. 260 00:19:37,882 --> 00:19:42,367 Fiji is the soft coral capital of the world. 261 00:20:25,693 --> 00:20:27,362 Corals are beautiful. 262 00:20:27,404 --> 00:20:30,120 But they're also beneficial. 263 00:20:30,324 --> 00:20:32,368 Chemical compounds from coral reefs, 264 00:20:32,411 --> 00:20:34,121 have been reproduced in the lab. 265 00:20:34,163 --> 00:20:36,542 To provide relief from chronic pain, 266 00:20:37,165 --> 00:20:38,085 ease child birth, 267 00:20:38,126 --> 00:20:41,856 and even extend the life of AIDS patients. 268 00:20:43,509 --> 00:20:45,910 Corals share their food. 269 00:20:46,096 --> 00:20:49,621 In fact, many of them share the same stomach. 270 00:21:09,128 --> 00:21:11,131 When the current picks up speed. 271 00:21:11,172 --> 00:21:12,800 Timelapse photography shows, 272 00:21:12,842 --> 00:21:16,430 how these soft corals inflate like balloons, 273 00:21:16,472 --> 00:21:18,700 to trap passing morsels. 274 00:21:24,316 --> 00:21:26,737 On a healthy reef like this, 275 00:21:26,778 --> 00:21:30,318 you see so many different creatures. 276 00:21:35,540 --> 00:21:38,169 We preferred not to approach the animals. 277 00:21:38,210 --> 00:21:40,918 It's better if they come to us. 278 00:21:42,716 --> 00:21:44,427 This distant cousin of the cobra, 279 00:21:44,469 --> 00:21:48,057 can kill a person with its venom in a matter of minutes. 280 00:21:48,099 --> 00:21:50,901 But they rarely bite humans. 281 00:21:51,312 --> 00:21:53,755 Michele is counting on that. 282 00:22:00,825 --> 00:22:03,413 We learn a lot about the reef from its animals. 283 00:22:03,454 --> 00:22:05,748 And so do the children. 284 00:22:05,791 --> 00:22:09,252 There's more to the reef than meets the eye. 285 00:22:34,038 --> 00:22:38,300 Observation is the first step in science. 286 00:22:41,340 --> 00:22:43,009 Who would notice, 287 00:22:43,050 --> 00:22:46,138 that yellow damsel fish guard their tiny eggs 288 00:22:46,179 --> 00:22:48,611 before they hatch. 289 00:22:49,393 --> 00:22:52,063 Or that the sea cucumber filters waste, 290 00:22:52,105 --> 00:22:55,634 leaving the reef cleaner for all. 291 00:22:59,156 --> 00:23:03,829 Some of the finest marine biologists are Fijians. 292 00:23:03,872 --> 00:23:07,686 We could have a budding scientist in our midst. 293 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,708 We've learned that we don't inherit the earth 294 00:23:36,750 --> 00:23:38,461 from our parents. 295 00:23:38,502 --> 00:23:41,806 We borrow it from our children. 296 00:23:43,718 --> 00:23:47,849 Children love to spot fish they've never seen before. 297 00:23:47,890 --> 00:23:51,520 That same thrill of discovery drives many scientist, 298 00:23:51,604 --> 00:23:53,870 like Richard Pyle. 299 00:23:57,529 --> 00:24:00,992 Richard Pyle calls himself a fish nerd. 300 00:24:01,034 --> 00:24:05,434 He studies fish on the deepest parts of coral reefs. 301 00:24:06,750 --> 00:24:08,086 The deeper down we go on the coral reef, 302 00:24:08,127 --> 00:24:10,171 the less we know. 303 00:24:10,214 --> 00:24:12,611 I want to find out who lives there. 304 00:24:14,386 --> 00:24:16,514 You can't get a true picture of a coral reef, 305 00:24:16,555 --> 00:24:18,892 if you only look at part of it. 306 00:24:18,933 --> 00:24:21,562 But deep dives can be really dangerous. 307 00:24:21,605 --> 00:24:23,899 Even using a special breathing devices, 308 00:24:23,940 --> 00:24:26,467 we can still get a fatal disease called, 309 00:24:26,759 --> 00:24:28,156 "the bends". 310 00:24:31,619 --> 00:24:33,371 We nearly lost Howard on a deep dive 311 00:24:33,412 --> 00:24:35,665 only two months ago. 312 00:24:35,707 --> 00:24:38,628 Ha had a bad case of "the bends" 313 00:24:38,670 --> 00:24:42,049 It could have killed him. 314 00:24:42,091 --> 00:24:44,344 To stop the progression of the illness, 315 00:24:44,386 --> 00:24:46,556 I began breathing pure oxygen. 316 00:24:46,597 --> 00:24:48,433 But it didn't seen to help. 317 00:24:48,474 --> 00:24:52,439 I was losing all feeling in my right leg. 318 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:54,692 One of the terrifying moments for me, 319 00:24:54,733 --> 00:24:58,572 was actually seeing him stumble. 320 00:24:58,614 --> 00:25:02,161 I just thought this can't be happening. 321 00:25:02,202 --> 00:25:04,747 Michele rushed Howard to the hospital, 322 00:25:04,790 --> 00:25:07,418 hoping that a specially pressurized chamber, 323 00:25:07,460 --> 00:25:09,588 might halt the illness. 324 00:25:09,629 --> 00:25:13,083 And save his life. 325 00:25:14,344 --> 00:25:16,013 Thank god for the communication system, 326 00:25:16,055 --> 00:25:19,114 because at least then I could talk to him. 327 00:25:23,315 --> 00:25:25,526 Howard survived, 328 00:25:25,569 --> 00:25:27,446 but his close call was on my mind as 329 00:25:27,487 --> 00:25:31,951 we prepared for a dive to 350 feet. 330 00:25:33,371 --> 00:25:35,915 The next day on the deep dive, 331 00:25:35,958 --> 00:25:38,002 Howard and Richard would face pressures 332 00:25:38,043 --> 00:25:41,257 nearly 12 times greater than normal. 333 00:25:41,298 --> 00:25:43,844 But they are expert divers, 334 00:25:43,885 --> 00:25:46,430 and there's much to learn by exploring regions, 335 00:25:46,473 --> 00:25:48,898 where so little is known. 336 00:26:03,872 --> 00:26:07,084 Support divers attach safety tanks to a life line, 337 00:26:07,126 --> 00:26:12,312 every 50 feet. 338 00:26:40,965 --> 00:26:42,633 As we descend, 339 00:26:42,676 --> 00:26:45,346 too much oxygen is bad. 340 00:26:45,387 --> 00:26:47,557 Too little is worse. 341 00:26:47,599 --> 00:26:50,090 Both can kill you. 342 00:26:56,820 --> 00:27:01,586 The safety divers go down as far as they can and stop. 343 00:27:01,952 --> 00:27:03,120 After that, 344 00:27:03,162 --> 00:27:05,675 we're on our own. 345 00:27:11,173 --> 00:27:12,759 As we drop down the reef wall, 346 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,804 it gets darker and colder. 347 00:27:15,847 --> 00:27:20,103 And in a way we're going back in time. 348 00:27:20,144 --> 00:27:21,605 At 200 feet, 349 00:27:21,646 --> 00:27:24,734 we pass lime stone deposits that were laid down 350 00:27:24,775 --> 00:27:26,987 twenty thousand years ago. 351 00:27:27,029 --> 00:27:30,316 Back when this was the top of the reef. 352 00:27:37,835 --> 00:27:39,505 At 350 feet, 353 00:27:39,546 --> 00:27:42,583 we entered the twilight zones. 354 00:27:44,177 --> 00:27:46,389 It's sort of spooky, but wonderful, 355 00:27:46,431 --> 00:27:47,933 to look around at a reef that 356 00:27:48,017 --> 00:27:51,630 no one has ever laid eyes on before. 357 00:28:03,454 --> 00:28:06,924 It's starting to get interesting. 358 00:28:10,881 --> 00:28:17,656 We don't see any of the corals that rely on sunlight down here. Instead, we see fan corals and whip corals. 359 00:28:17,849 --> 00:28:21,744 This reef community definitely appears to be thriving. 360 00:28:22,815 --> 00:28:25,444 In his quest to find out what lives down here, 361 00:28:25,485 --> 00:28:29,156 Richard can only bring a few specimens back to the surface 362 00:28:29,199 --> 00:28:32,410 to be documented for science. 363 00:28:35,624 --> 00:28:38,378 Looking around I see at least a dozen of new fich species 364 00:28:38,419 --> 00:28:40,422 I've never seen before. 365 00:28:40,464 --> 00:28:43,586 I doubt that anyone has ever seen them before. 366 00:28:50,144 --> 00:28:51,646 Scientists like Richard, 367 00:28:51,688 --> 00:28:53,565 are mapping the web of life that 368 00:28:53,608 --> 00:28:55,736 we are all part of. 369 00:28:55,777 --> 00:28:58,197 Each new fish Richard finds, 370 00:28:58,239 --> 00:29:01,201 holds millions of years of genetic engineering 371 00:29:01,653 --> 00:29:04,260 for medical research. 372 00:29:14,922 --> 00:29:16,757 Then the intense water pressure, 373 00:29:16,799 --> 00:29:18,634 caused the primary camera 374 00:29:18,677 --> 00:29:20,714 to malfunction. 375 00:29:22,683 --> 00:29:26,049 I was glad that Howard called an end to the dive. 376 00:29:27,564 --> 00:29:29,108 We hope that Howard's images, 377 00:29:29,149 --> 00:29:31,152 would let scientist explore reefs 378 00:29:31,194 --> 00:29:34,593 that they might never be able to dive on their own. 379 00:29:36,117 --> 00:29:38,079 It's not everyday you get to witness 380 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,200 that a discovery of a new species of fish. 381 00:29:41,291 --> 00:29:43,043 You see the red one with the long tail, 382 00:29:43,086 --> 00:29:44,087 that's what I was really excited about. 383 00:29:44,129 --> 00:29:46,298 That's definitely new. Oh, yeah. 384 00:29:46,340 --> 00:29:49,693 Oh, I see those all the time! 385 00:30:15,672 --> 00:30:17,008 Until quite recently, 386 00:30:17,049 --> 00:30:19,677 the deep coral reefs were 387 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:22,733 this big, dark void on our map of life. 388 00:30:23,058 --> 00:30:24,435 But each new discovery, 389 00:30:24,476 --> 00:30:27,000 leads us to new connections. 390 00:30:28,274 --> 00:30:30,985 This may seen like just some insignifcant red fish, 391 00:30:31,028 --> 00:30:32,737 but it's very important piece 392 00:30:32,780 --> 00:30:34,615 to the biodiversity puzzle. 393 00:30:34,658 --> 00:30:37,077 As soon as I saw it, I knew it's something different. 394 00:30:37,118 --> 00:30:40,850 The months of hard work in Fiji paid off. 395 00:30:42,751 --> 00:30:44,546 Rusi have seen first hand, 396 00:30:44,588 --> 00:30:48,218 how corals can thrive when reefs are protected. 397 00:30:48,259 --> 00:30:52,077 He's now ready to return to his home island. 398 00:30:53,767 --> 00:30:55,519 My fellow Fijians have shown me 399 00:30:55,562 --> 00:30:57,815 how to set up a marine preserve, 400 00:30:57,856 --> 00:30:59,483 protect the mangroves, 401 00:30:59,525 --> 00:31:02,737 and even curb logging operations. 402 00:31:02,988 --> 00:31:05,900 I really want to get started 403 00:31:07,494 --> 00:31:10,164 Here in Fiji we've seen some amazing reefs, 404 00:31:10,207 --> 00:31:13,419 but we have also seen a lot of coral damage. 405 00:31:13,503 --> 00:31:15,881 The siltation we saw at Rusi's reef 406 00:31:15,922 --> 00:31:18,617 led us to our next question. 407 00:31:18,719 --> 00:31:20,178 Is closeness to shore 408 00:31:20,221 --> 00:31:23,443 a major risk factor for corals? 409 00:31:26,771 --> 00:31:28,482 French Polynesia is a perfect place 410 00:31:28,524 --> 00:31:31,959 for answering this question. 411 00:31:52,098 --> 00:31:53,558 In French Polynesia, 412 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:55,352 Howard and Michele started with 413 00:31:55,395 --> 00:31:58,774 the heavily populated islands of Tahiti and Mo'orea, 414 00:31:58,816 --> 00:32:02,714 where the reefs are close to shore. 415 00:32:02,863 --> 00:32:05,700 But with only six weeks left in the whole expedition, 416 00:32:05,742 --> 00:32:09,594 Howard had to get the big picture fast. 417 00:32:22,265 --> 00:32:23,642 I'm used to hang gliders. 418 00:32:23,725 --> 00:32:27,064 I'm used to flying around in contraptions like this, 419 00:32:27,146 --> 00:32:29,442 but there is still something not quite right 420 00:32:29,483 --> 00:32:32,546 about the engine that will fit in my backpack. 421 00:32:41,541 --> 00:32:44,796 Mo'orea is sort of like Rusi's island. 422 00:32:44,839 --> 00:32:46,591 The coral here is very sensitive 423 00:32:46,632 --> 00:32:48,469 to siltation and pollution. 424 00:32:48,510 --> 00:32:52,305 Because the reefs are very close to shore. 425 00:32:52,975 --> 00:32:56,271 After checking out the north side of Mo'orea, 426 00:32:56,312 --> 00:33:00,148 we head across the mountain to survey the south coast. 427 00:33:37,412 --> 00:33:38,955 Even near towns, 428 00:33:38,996 --> 00:33:42,200 we didn't spot much reef damage. 429 00:33:42,460 --> 00:33:45,589 Coastal development puts reef in jeopardy. 430 00:33:45,631 --> 00:33:48,969 Siltation, pollution and the loss of mangroves 431 00:33:49,010 --> 00:33:51,556 are all serious risks. 432 00:33:51,598 --> 00:33:53,434 But resorts like this proved that 433 00:33:53,475 --> 00:33:56,354 respecting the environment is good business. 434 00:33:56,395 --> 00:34:01,480 Because tourists avoid damaged reefs. 435 00:34:10,790 --> 00:34:12,251 Our flight over Mo'orea 436 00:34:12,293 --> 00:34:14,254 just gave us a first impression. 437 00:34:14,295 --> 00:34:15,840 So with time running out, 438 00:34:15,881 --> 00:34:18,426 I turned to Reef Check, aboard the survey boat, 439 00:34:18,469 --> 00:34:20,763 the Quiksilver Crossing. 440 00:34:20,804 --> 00:34:25,228 Reef Check has over 4000 sport divers in 60 countries, 441 00:34:25,269 --> 00:34:29,141 monitoring the health of coral reefs. 442 00:34:29,441 --> 00:34:31,069 We ask Reef Check volunteers 443 00:34:31,111 --> 00:34:32,864 to check the coral damage here in Mo'orea 444 00:34:32,905 --> 00:34:35,450 to find out if the reefs closest to shore 445 00:34:35,492 --> 00:34:38,400 are the most severely damaged. 446 00:34:50,471 --> 00:34:51,472 From the air, 447 00:34:51,515 --> 00:34:54,519 it's clear how these volcanic islands formed 448 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:58,820 and how coral reefs formed around them. 449 00:35:01,820 --> 00:35:04,908 The steepest youngest islands, Tahiti and Mo'orea 450 00:35:04,950 --> 00:35:07,036 stands tall. 451 00:35:07,077 --> 00:35:10,457 These islands have not eroded and subsided much 452 00:35:10,541 --> 00:35:14,909 so the coral reef ringing them is not far offshore. 453 00:35:22,515 --> 00:35:25,770 The volcano has subsided and eroded somewhat 454 00:35:25,812 --> 00:35:29,695 and the reefs are farther from shore. 455 00:35:31,778 --> 00:35:32,989 The final stage 456 00:35:33,030 --> 00:35:37,495 is this flat and the island called and atoll. 457 00:35:37,536 --> 00:35:41,250 The volcano has completely subsided back into the sea, 458 00:35:41,291 --> 00:35:46,845 leaving a ring of coral which once circled a tall mountain. 459 00:35:49,762 --> 00:35:53,642 The team headed for the second largest atoll in the world, 460 00:35:53,684 --> 00:35:55,269 Rangiroa. 461 00:35:55,311 --> 00:35:59,851 To survey the remotest reefs in French Polynesia. 462 00:36:02,279 --> 00:36:04,198 10 years ago, 463 00:36:04,241 --> 00:36:07,495 a cyclone wiped out most Rangiroa's coral. 464 00:36:07,537 --> 00:36:09,205 But storms are natural events. 465 00:36:09,248 --> 00:36:11,876 And coral reefs do recover from them 466 00:36:11,918 --> 00:36:15,819 as long as human impacts don't interfere. 467 00:36:17,008 --> 00:36:21,305 Here, the coral seems small but healthy. 468 00:36:24,769 --> 00:36:26,980 Right away we saw two male Parrot fish 469 00:36:27,022 --> 00:36:30,316 fighting over territory. 470 00:36:30,985 --> 00:36:36,305 This was a sign of a large and thriving fish population. 471 00:36:39,581 --> 00:36:41,876 But why haven't we seen the hug 472 00:36:41,918 --> 00:36:46,496 schools of great reef sharks Rangiroa's so famous for? 473 00:36:47,717 --> 00:36:51,431 Their absence is not necessarily a danger sign for corals, 474 00:36:51,473 --> 00:36:55,353 but it could signal an imbalance in the whole reef eco system. 475 00:36:55,394 --> 00:36:59,567 So finding the shark became our main goal. 476 00:37:01,487 --> 00:37:03,990 We search the shark's favorite hangouts, 477 00:37:04,031 --> 00:37:07,077 but they didn't see to be home. 478 00:37:13,169 --> 00:37:14,379 We used caution, because 479 00:37:14,421 --> 00:37:16,007 one thing you don't want to do 480 00:37:16,048 --> 00:37:20,303 is to catch a great reef shark by surprise. 481 00:37:24,227 --> 00:37:26,938 If the shark's are out roaming the reef and shallow water, 482 00:37:26,981 --> 00:37:28,565 the quickest way to spot them 483 00:37:28,608 --> 00:37:31,054 is from the ultra light. 484 00:37:31,820 --> 00:37:32,946 Throughout the Pacific, 485 00:37:33,030 --> 00:37:35,450 whole population of sharks had been wiped out 486 00:37:35,493 --> 00:37:37,620 by commercial fishermen. 487 00:37:37,662 --> 00:37:40,332 Great reef sharks are especially vulnerable. 488 00:37:40,374 --> 00:37:43,267 And that's what worried me. 489 00:37:44,087 --> 00:37:47,050 The airial search for sharks turns up nothing. 490 00:37:47,091 --> 00:37:48,844 And we're running out of time. 491 00:37:48,886 --> 00:37:51,097 But there's one last place to look, 492 00:37:51,139 --> 00:37:53,309 Tiputa Pass. 493 00:37:53,350 --> 00:37:56,754 Here the current just screams. 494 00:38:32,864 --> 00:38:35,326 Hundreds of startled sharks are hanging out 495 00:38:35,367 --> 00:38:38,037 like a street gang in this little canyon. 496 00:38:38,080 --> 00:38:39,832 We were being swept right into them, 497 00:38:39,873 --> 00:38:45,222 and there's nothing we can do about it. 498 00:39:04,407 --> 00:39:07,412 Could they be mating? 499 00:39:07,453 --> 00:39:08,788 This is when you try very hard, 500 00:39:08,830 --> 00:39:12,182 not to look like a shark. 501 00:39:12,335 --> 00:39:17,898 I've had two friends badly bitten by great reef sharks. 502 00:39:19,303 --> 00:39:21,097 The most social of all sharks, 503 00:39:21,139 --> 00:39:25,555 grays tend to swim in tight groups. 504 00:39:36,661 --> 00:39:38,705 I've been diving for 35 years, 505 00:39:38,746 --> 00:39:42,335 but I've never seen the likes of this. 506 00:39:42,376 --> 00:39:44,755 There must have been 300 sharks in this school. 507 00:39:44,797 --> 00:39:48,004 And that's a healthy number. 508 00:39:50,055 --> 00:39:52,474 This big school doesn't close the book. 509 00:39:52,515 --> 00:39:54,727 But it is a favorable sign 510 00:39:54,769 --> 00:39:58,549 for the health of this reef eco-system. 511 00:40:02,363 --> 00:40:04,657 We party with the sharks for nearly an hour, 512 00:40:04,700 --> 00:40:06,410 knowing that on our way home 513 00:40:06,452 --> 00:40:07,871 we have a current in our backs. 514 00:40:07,912 --> 00:40:11,687 So we can go with the flow! 515 00:41:08,621 --> 00:41:11,751 For ten exhausting, but magical months, 516 00:41:11,793 --> 00:41:13,045 Michele and I explored 517 00:41:13,086 --> 00:41:18,594 some of the most magnificent coral reefs on earth. 518 00:41:18,635 --> 00:41:19,554 During that time, 519 00:41:19,595 --> 00:41:24,926 our concern for corals grew into a shared passion. 520 00:41:30,110 --> 00:41:31,946 My people look at the reef, 521 00:41:31,988 --> 00:41:34,241 and we don't want to believe such a place 522 00:41:34,282 --> 00:41:37,423 could be gone forever. 523 00:41:38,455 --> 00:41:40,415 My friends Howard and Michele 524 00:41:40,458 --> 00:41:45,900 have given me new tools to heal my village reef. 525 00:41:46,508 --> 00:41:51,264 Howard's love for the reefs nearly cost him his life. 526 00:41:51,306 --> 00:41:53,517 But after making more than 500 dives, 527 00:41:53,559 --> 00:41:57,314 we came back with some really powerful images. 528 00:41:57,357 --> 00:41:59,109 One image I can't get out of my mind 529 00:41:59,150 --> 00:42:02,989 is that lone octopus crawling through the rubble. 530 00:42:03,031 --> 00:42:07,144 Soon it may not have a home. 531 00:42:09,957 --> 00:42:12,585 No one sets out to kill a beautiful thing. 532 00:42:12,628 --> 00:42:14,296 But when a reef dies, 533 00:42:14,338 --> 00:42:18,928 billions of living things die. 534 00:42:18,969 --> 00:42:21,807 Corals appear to be dying faster than normal, 535 00:42:21,848 --> 00:42:26,480 and the trend is rapidly accelerating. 536 00:42:27,189 --> 00:42:30,068 Most living coral reefs as we know today, 537 00:42:30,110 --> 00:42:33,532 could be gone in 30 years. 538 00:42:33,573 --> 00:42:35,242 If that happens, 539 00:42:35,284 --> 00:42:40,407 then something inside of me will die too. 540 00:42:45,506 --> 00:42:48,135 After all the coral reefs have given us, 541 00:42:48,177 --> 00:42:51,723 more and more people are now returning the favor. 542 00:42:51,807 --> 00:42:54,728 They're supporting leaders who fight global warming, 543 00:42:54,769 --> 00:42:57,190 joining teams like "Reef Check", 544 00:42:57,231 --> 00:43:01,017 getting involved. 545 00:43:01,696 --> 00:43:03,239 We may have greater potential 546 00:43:03,281 --> 00:43:04,450 of finding new medicines on 547 00:43:04,491 --> 00:43:08,413 coral reefs than any other environment on earth. 548 00:43:08,455 --> 00:43:13,138 To save them is really saving ourselves. 549 00:43:26,187 --> 00:43:28,358 It takes a long long time to build a coral reef. 550 00:43:28,399 --> 00:43:30,861 Step by step, 551 00:43:30,903 --> 00:43:33,573 the reef survive on partnerships. 552 00:43:33,615 --> 00:43:35,449 And the most important partners 553 00:43:35,518 --> 00:43:39,412 the corals have are you and I. 553 00:43:40,305 --> 00:44:40,515