1 00:00:06,923 --> 00:00:07,757 [beep] 2 00:00:07,841 --> 00:00:08,925 [static] 3 00:00:12,804 --> 00:00:13,680 [beep] 4 00:00:13,763 --> 00:00:15,640 [indistinct speech over radio] 5 00:00:20,645 --> 00:00:22,772 [David Attenborough] Just 50 years ago, 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,276 we finally ventured to the moon. 7 00:00:40,331 --> 00:00:45,837 For the very first time, we looked back at our own planet. 8 00:00:53,344 --> 00:00:58,683 Since then, the human population  has more than doubled. 9 00:01:04,230 --> 00:01:08,651 This series will celebrate  the natural wonders that remain 10 00:01:09,569 --> 00:01:12,280 and reveal what we must preserve 11 00:01:12,655 --> 00:01:16,785 to ensure people and nature thrive. 12 00:01:32,175 --> 00:01:36,346 Immense shoals of fish  throng our shallow seas. 13 00:01:39,099 --> 00:01:40,558 These are anchovies. 14 00:01:48,233 --> 00:01:51,611 Small fish, in turn, sustain bigger ones. 15 00:01:58,660 --> 00:02:01,913 Hunters, such as giant trevally... 16 00:02:08,211 --> 00:02:10,463 and mobula rays. 17 00:02:15,009 --> 00:02:20,056 When hunters such as these work together,  they become extremely efficient. 18 00:03:02,307 --> 00:03:07,353 The rich coastal seas  are the fishing grounds of our planet 19 00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:13,276 and can provide an abundance of food  for wildlife and humanity. 20 00:03:27,665 --> 00:03:33,087 The seas fringing land make up  less than a tenth of the world's oceans, 21 00:03:35,131 --> 00:03:39,469 yet, astonishingly,  90 percent of all marine creatures 22 00:03:39,636 --> 00:03:42,055 live in these coastal waters. 23 00:03:46,476 --> 00:03:51,105 This superabundance  is due to the fact that the seafloor here 24 00:03:51,189 --> 00:03:53,358 is within reach of sunlight. 25 00:04:00,740 --> 00:04:04,244 Everglades National Park  in southern Florida. 26 00:04:06,579 --> 00:04:11,042 Fields of seagrass  carpet the shallow tropical waters. 27 00:04:19,092 --> 00:04:20,635 Like savannas on land, 28 00:04:20,718 --> 00:04:26,015 these lush marine meadows  support a great variety of animal life. 29 00:04:34,107 --> 00:04:38,486 Stingrays search for prey hiding in the seagrass. 30 00:04:54,919 --> 00:04:57,922 The Everglades  are also the hunting grounds 31 00:04:58,006 --> 00:05:01,009 of the coasts' most ingenious fishermen. 32 00:05:01,092 --> 00:05:02,385 [dolphins clicking] 33 00:05:08,266 --> 00:05:10,059 Bottlenose dolphins. 34 00:05:15,648 --> 00:05:20,153 They search for food using echolocation, a type of sonar. 35 00:05:22,071 --> 00:05:24,073 [dolphins clicking] 36 00:05:39,464 --> 00:05:42,925 Ahead of them, a shoal of mullet. 37 00:05:54,854 --> 00:05:56,564 These particular dolphins 38 00:05:56,647 --> 00:06:00,151 have developed their own special way  of catching their prey. 39 00:06:07,075 --> 00:06:10,536 They carefully herd the fish  into just the right place. 40 00:06:14,707 --> 00:06:19,754 Then one dolphin stirs up a ring of mud  that encircles the shoal. 41 00:06:24,801 --> 00:06:28,221 The fish panic and take to the air. 42 00:06:35,061 --> 00:06:35,978 Most escape. 43 00:06:37,438 --> 00:06:39,774 Catching flying fish isn't easy. 44 00:06:47,073 --> 00:06:50,451 But the dolphins move on  and take another helping. 45 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:20,273 People aren't allowed to fish commercially within the national park, 46 00:07:22,358 --> 00:07:24,527 so there's plenty for the dolphins. 47 00:07:37,039 --> 00:07:43,671 Only from the air can we really appreciate the industry of these master fishermen. 48 00:07:53,848 --> 00:07:59,645 The shallow seas are vitally important in the fight against climate change. 49 00:08:02,356 --> 00:08:07,278 Seagrass absorb 35 times as much carbon dioxide 50 00:08:07,361 --> 00:08:09,697 as the same area of rainforest, 51 00:08:10,698 --> 00:08:15,578 and that reduces the damage  caused by the recent warming of our seas. 52 00:08:19,540 --> 00:08:22,835 Mangroves often border  the seagrass meadows. 53 00:08:24,879 --> 00:08:28,799 These remarkable trees are the only ones that can cope 54 00:08:28,883 --> 00:08:32,011 with the varying saltiness  of coastal waters. 55 00:08:36,557 --> 00:08:40,853 They not only protect our coasts  from the destructive forces of hurricanes 56 00:08:41,938 --> 00:08:45,733 but also, like seagrass,  capture carbon dioxide. 57 00:08:53,783 --> 00:08:58,120 Their tangled roots  create safe nurseries for young fish, 58 00:08:58,204 --> 00:09:00,873 which will eventually leave the mangroves 59 00:09:00,957 --> 00:09:05,711 and make their homes in the tropical seas' most magical wonderlands, 60 00:09:07,171 --> 00:09:08,464 coral reefs. 61 00:09:14,178 --> 00:09:18,140 These reefs cover  less than one percent of the seafloor, 62 00:09:18,224 --> 00:09:22,353 yet they are home  to a quarter of all marine species. 63 00:09:30,027 --> 00:09:33,573 None of these creatures would be here  were it not for the coral. 64 00:09:45,751 --> 00:09:49,797 Corals create the structures  that provide food and shelter, 65 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,633 on which the entire community depends. 66 00:09:58,889 --> 00:10:03,603 Every resident has a role to play in maintaining the health of the reef. 67 00:10:08,190 --> 00:10:12,737 Unfortunately, few reefs  are as pristine as they once were, 68 00:10:16,073 --> 00:10:17,658 and most are now missing 69 00:10:17,742 --> 00:10:21,078 one extremely important member  of the community. 70 00:10:23,831 --> 00:10:24,665 Sharks. 71 00:10:29,587 --> 00:10:34,216 Relentless overfishing has reduced  shark populations around the world 72 00:10:34,300 --> 00:10:36,218 by over 90 percent. 73 00:10:39,972 --> 00:10:43,976 Today they only thrive in anything like their former numbers 74 00:10:44,060 --> 00:10:46,479 on the very remotest of reefs. 75 00:10:51,859 --> 00:10:55,321 French Polynesia,  in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. 76 00:10:57,073 --> 00:11:00,201 Here, at least, sharks are fully protected. 77 00:11:06,666 --> 00:11:10,086 By day, gray reef sharks  hang in the current. 78 00:11:15,716 --> 00:11:18,969 They let little wrasse  pick their teeth clean 79 00:11:19,053 --> 00:11:21,722 in readiness for the night's hunt ahead. 80 00:11:34,318 --> 00:11:37,279 These sharks prefer to hunt in darkness, 81 00:11:37,988 --> 00:11:41,909 when their acute senses  give them an advantage over their prey. 82 00:11:47,832 --> 00:11:48,666 Nightfall. 83 00:11:53,963 --> 00:11:59,051 Time for small fish to take refuge  within the nooks and crannies of the reef, 84 00:12:01,095 --> 00:12:03,764 beyond the reach of the gray reef sharks. 85 00:12:19,739 --> 00:12:22,491 The sharks can detect the slightest movement. 86 00:12:42,845 --> 00:12:44,847 Breaking cover is dangerous. 87 00:13:11,457 --> 00:13:15,419 Stay motionless  and the sharks may not detect you. 88 00:13:38,108 --> 00:13:41,779 A little fish may outmaneuver  a single shark, 89 00:13:43,864 --> 00:13:48,202 but with so many hunters  there is little chance of escape. 90 00:13:57,336 --> 00:14:01,757 Sheltering within the coral branches is usually the safest option, 91 00:14:04,718 --> 00:14:08,514 but the arrival of a second hunter  changes everything. 92 00:14:11,141 --> 00:14:13,185 Whitetip reef sharks. 93 00:14:21,694 --> 00:14:23,237 Slender and more agile, 94 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:27,783 the whitetips can get into hiding places  other hunters can't reach. 95 00:14:33,747 --> 00:14:36,250 Those that are not caught by the whitetips 96 00:14:36,333 --> 00:14:39,753 are flushed out  to the waiting gray reef sharks. 97 00:14:47,636 --> 00:14:50,389 With both kinds of sharks  hunting in partnership, 98 00:14:50,472 --> 00:14:53,726 there is little respite,  even within the reef. 99 00:15:14,371 --> 00:15:18,792 More and more sharks arrive,  attracted by the commotion. 100 00:15:59,458 --> 00:16:04,380 Such numbers of sharks were once common  on reefs around the world. 101 00:16:07,633 --> 00:16:10,552 And while so many predators  may seem damaging, 102 00:16:11,512 --> 00:16:16,225 sharks, in fact, assist in maintaining the health of the reef. 103 00:16:19,812 --> 00:16:22,773 They help to keep a balance  in the fish community 104 00:16:23,774 --> 00:16:27,778 by hunting the predators  that feed on small grazing fish. 105 00:16:35,577 --> 00:16:37,621 The grazers, in their turn, 106 00:16:37,830 --> 00:16:40,666 keep the corals free of seaweeds and parasites 107 00:16:40,749 --> 00:16:43,335 that would otherwise overgrow the reef. 108 00:16:47,172 --> 00:16:50,718 A balanced community,  with sharks as top predators, 109 00:16:50,801 --> 00:16:56,390 gives a coral reef much greater resilience in the face of damage and disaster. 110 00:17:00,060 --> 00:17:04,857 But today, even healthy coral reefs  are facing a greater threat. 111 00:17:10,654 --> 00:17:13,866 With climate change, our seas are warming. 112 00:17:17,870 --> 00:17:21,623 Microscopic plants  that live within the tissues of the corals 113 00:17:22,207 --> 00:17:25,419 give them both their color  and most of their nourishment. 114 00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:33,510 But if seas temperatures rise  by just a degree or two, 115 00:17:33,594 --> 00:17:36,472 the corals expel their plant partners. 116 00:17:44,021 --> 00:17:46,899 So they lose their main source of food... 117 00:17:49,318 --> 00:17:50,444 and turn white. 118 00:17:54,698 --> 00:17:58,911 Here, on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, unusually warm seas 119 00:17:58,994 --> 00:18:02,331 have caused many of the reefs  to bleach in this way. 120 00:18:08,003 --> 00:18:10,255 It may look hauntingly beautiful, 121 00:18:11,090 --> 00:18:13,842 but if temperatures remain high  for a few weeks, 122 00:18:14,343 --> 00:18:18,347 the corals will starve  and eventually die. 123 00:18:22,059 --> 00:18:25,104 The carbon dioxide  that causes global warming 124 00:18:25,646 --> 00:18:28,065 is also making the seas more acidic. 125 00:18:28,816 --> 00:18:31,944 No reefs can survive both changes. 126 00:18:34,947 --> 00:18:37,366 And without living corals, 127 00:18:37,449 --> 00:18:41,078 many of the reef's residents will also perish. 128 00:18:48,585 --> 00:18:51,839 During 2016 and 2017, 129 00:18:51,922 --> 00:18:56,260 over a thousand kilometers  of the Great Barrier Reef bleached. 130 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:04,810 Six months later, 131 00:19:05,435 --> 00:19:07,688 and many of the corals are dead. 132 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:12,401 The community destroyed. 133 00:19:19,741 --> 00:19:26,081 Worldwide, half of all shallow coral reefs have already died. 134 00:19:30,669 --> 00:19:34,590 The rest could be gone  over the next few decades. 135 00:19:44,766 --> 00:19:48,103 Away from the tropics,  in higher latitudes, 136 00:19:48,187 --> 00:19:50,105 the seas are much cooler. 137 00:19:52,733 --> 00:19:57,070 Storm-lashed waters bring essential nutrients to the surface. 138 00:19:58,488 --> 00:20:02,117 The enriched water, combined with long summer days, 139 00:20:02,576 --> 00:20:05,871 make these  the most productive seas on the planet. 140 00:20:15,339 --> 00:20:19,885 Fur seals thrive and even have time to ride the waves. 141 00:20:47,287 --> 00:20:49,790 Spring off the coast of California 142 00:20:51,083 --> 00:20:54,795 and fronds of golden kelp  floating on the surface 143 00:20:54,878 --> 00:20:57,256 hint at the riches hidden beneath. 144 00:21:08,475 --> 00:21:11,436 A magnificent submarine forest. 145 00:21:18,068 --> 00:21:22,489 These stands of giant kelp are as important to the oceans 146 00:21:22,572 --> 00:21:24,449 as trees are to the land. 147 00:21:31,248 --> 00:21:32,541 Like a rainforest, 148 00:21:32,624 --> 00:21:37,671 the dense canopy provides food and shelter for an abundant community. 149 00:21:45,971 --> 00:21:50,934 In the cool, rich seas,  giant kelp can grow 50 meters high. 150 00:21:54,771 --> 00:21:59,359 Air-filled floats lift the fronds  towards the sunlit surface. 151 00:22:09,536 --> 00:22:11,413 Nestling in this canopy, 152 00:22:13,457 --> 00:22:14,583 a sea otter. 153 00:22:16,710 --> 00:22:19,755 His thick fur keeps him warm  in the chilly water. 154 00:22:28,221 --> 00:22:31,308 Blowing air into it  gives him extra insulation. 155 00:22:41,193 --> 00:22:45,280 Sea otters  have the densest fur of any animal, 156 00:22:46,531 --> 00:22:50,410 and such a luxuriant coat  requires a great deal of attention. 157 00:23:20,107 --> 00:23:22,901 They need to eat a lot to keep warm 158 00:23:22,984 --> 00:23:26,488 and consume up to a quarter  of their body weight every day. 159 00:23:32,744 --> 00:23:35,705 Sea urchins are a favorite food. 160 00:23:45,298 --> 00:23:46,133 There's one. 161 00:23:47,926 --> 00:23:48,927 And a second. 162 00:23:52,597 --> 00:23:56,393 And then the otter is out of breath  and must return to the surface. 163 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,280 An urchin  looks like a rather prickly meal, 164 00:24:08,905 --> 00:24:12,367 but if you can break the shell,  there's a feast inside. 165 00:24:22,752 --> 00:24:26,715 Sea otters are crucial  to the health of the kelp forest 166 00:24:28,341 --> 00:24:31,011 because they keep down  the number of sea urchins. 167 00:24:48,278 --> 00:24:50,030 The urchins graze on kelp, 168 00:24:52,741 --> 00:24:54,910 munching through their tough stems. 169 00:25:02,667 --> 00:25:07,464 Left unchecked, they spread  across the seafloor like a plague. 170 00:25:09,466 --> 00:25:15,347 Fortunately, the otters have a helper  in the fight against these spiny grazers. 171 00:25:22,270 --> 00:25:23,730 Sheephead wrasse. 172 00:25:26,191 --> 00:25:28,568 They have powerful teeth 173 00:25:29,444 --> 00:25:33,198 and can make short work  of the smaller purple urchins. 174 00:25:58,306 --> 00:26:01,017 The larger black urchins  are more of a challenge, 175 00:26:03,103 --> 00:26:05,146 especially for smaller wrasse. 176 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,529 Only the very largest sheephead  can tackle them. 177 00:26:24,874 --> 00:26:29,129 But it still has to get past  those long spines. 178 00:26:34,301 --> 00:26:39,097 The urchin has to be flipped over  to expose its vulnerable underside. 179 00:26:44,019 --> 00:26:46,313 Not easy when you have no hands. 180 00:26:55,780 --> 00:26:57,115 Success at last. 181 00:27:00,869 --> 00:27:02,621 And everybody benefits. 182 00:27:16,343 --> 00:27:20,639 These fish and otters,  living within marine protected areas, 183 00:27:20,722 --> 00:27:23,183 keep the kelp grazers under control. 184 00:27:29,648 --> 00:27:34,736 But just outside these sanctuaries, the urchins graze unchecked... 185 00:27:38,615 --> 00:27:40,909 and fell the kelp forest. 186 00:27:45,330 --> 00:27:49,751 All those that depend on the kelp have disappeared. 187 00:27:58,009 --> 00:28:03,139 In California, kelp forests  grow abundantly in protected areas 188 00:28:03,223 --> 00:28:08,978 where the whole marine community  can live without pressure from people. 189 00:28:20,365 --> 00:28:25,704 Here, at least, sea otters  can chill out Californian style. 190 00:28:39,592 --> 00:28:41,177 [bird caws] 191 00:28:45,014 --> 00:28:48,560 Three thousand kilometers further north,  in Alaska, 192 00:28:48,643 --> 00:28:51,604 spring arrives much later in the year. 193 00:28:57,193 --> 00:28:59,195 After a cold, hard winter, 194 00:28:59,279 --> 00:29:03,575 the first rays of the sun  trigger a great annual event. 195 00:29:11,374 --> 00:29:15,086 Immense shoals of herring  rise up from the depths 196 00:29:15,170 --> 00:29:17,380 and move into shallower waters. 197 00:29:20,175 --> 00:29:22,177 They're gathering to breed. 198 00:29:26,389 --> 00:29:28,641 But predators are waiting for them. 199 00:29:38,526 --> 00:29:40,612 Steller's sea lions. 200 00:29:50,371 --> 00:29:54,918 So intent on their mission, the herring make easy prey. 201 00:30:11,518 --> 00:30:16,940 Sea lions drive the fish to the surface, within range of aerial hunters. 202 00:30:22,904 --> 00:30:28,535 Bald eagles, normally solitary birds, have assembled in numbers for the feast. 203 00:30:36,251 --> 00:30:38,586 In places, the herrings reach shore, 204 00:30:40,505 --> 00:30:44,509 and there the eagles  don't even need to take to the air. 205 00:31:14,163 --> 00:31:15,582 Humpback whales. 206 00:31:16,249 --> 00:31:17,709 [whale lows] 207 00:31:21,963 --> 00:31:24,632 They have come  all the way from the tropics, 208 00:31:24,716 --> 00:31:27,260 hoping to get their first meal in months. 209 00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:51,200 These whales have a remarkable way  of collecting this seasonal bounty.  210 00:32:11,179 --> 00:32:12,430 They work as a team. 211 00:32:13,514 --> 00:32:15,516 The lead whale dives first... 212 00:32:17,393 --> 00:32:21,397 and blows a curtain of bubbles  to concentrate the fish. 213 00:32:27,570 --> 00:32:29,155 [whale calling out] 214 00:32:32,742 --> 00:32:35,411 A call synchronizes the attack. 215 00:32:35,495 --> 00:32:37,497 [whale song increases in volume] 216 00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:28,089 By cooperating in this way,  each whale can eat a ton of fish a day. 217 00:33:31,926 --> 00:33:33,928 Yet the herring are so abundant 218 00:33:34,512 --> 00:33:39,058 that, in spite of the whales, most managed to reach the shallows. 219 00:33:42,061 --> 00:33:43,354 And here they spawn. 220 00:33:51,070 --> 00:33:54,282 The females lay their eggs  on the seagrass. 221 00:33:59,662 --> 00:34:03,916 The males follow,  fertilizing the eggs with clouds of sperm. 222 00:34:10,173 --> 00:34:16,095 Once, herring thrived here in an abundance we can barely imagine today. 223 00:34:24,562 --> 00:34:28,066 They used to turn shorelines white   with spawn, 224 00:34:28,608 --> 00:34:32,987 right across the North Pacific  from Japan to California. 225 00:34:38,576 --> 00:34:41,162 With industrialized fishing techniques 226 00:34:41,746 --> 00:34:45,583 it's all too easy  to overexploit these breeding stocks. 227 00:34:52,548 --> 00:34:57,470 This is one of the few places where a fishery still survives. 228 00:35:06,521 --> 00:35:09,857 Pacific herring populations  are greatly reduced. 229 00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:12,443 A mere fraction of what they once were. 230 00:35:23,955 --> 00:35:26,833 This sorry tale of unsustainable fishing 231 00:35:26,916 --> 00:35:31,003 has been repeated time and again  around the world. 232 00:35:35,591 --> 00:35:39,637 Many of the world's fish stocks  are now in serious decline. 233 00:35:41,556 --> 00:35:44,475 A third of them have collapsed altogether. 234 00:36:00,366 --> 00:36:02,243 In coastal seas,  235 00:36:02,326 --> 00:36:07,707 jellyfish are taking over waters  that were once dominated by fish. 236 00:36:18,759 --> 00:36:21,762 Compass jellyfish have an ethereal beauty, 237 00:36:22,346 --> 00:36:27,393 but they provide very little sustenance  for other wildlife or us. 238 00:36:47,997 --> 00:36:51,876 These immense swarms  are becoming increasingly common. 239 00:36:52,376 --> 00:36:57,298 A worrying sign of a serious imbalance  in our shallow seas. 240 00:37:08,434 --> 00:37:14,148 Unless we start to fish sustainably, our seas, once so bountiful, 241 00:37:15,942 --> 00:37:22,073 will be filled with little more  than vast swarms... of jellyfish. 242 00:37:39,131 --> 00:37:42,218 But the future  does not have to be like this. 243 00:37:52,728 --> 00:37:58,359 On the Pacific coast of South America, we can see how the oceans can recover. 244 00:38:03,489 --> 00:38:06,867 The Atacama, the world's driest desert. 245 00:38:07,368 --> 00:38:12,081 Inland it's barely able  to sustain life of any kind, 246 00:38:16,711 --> 00:38:19,463 and yet the coast  could not be more different. 247 00:38:26,804 --> 00:38:31,600 For centuries, seabirds have gathered  in millions on these desert shores. 248 00:38:37,606 --> 00:38:41,277 But 50 years ago the great colonies disappeared 249 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,322 because we overfished the local waters. 250 00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:51,871 Controls were introduced , and now the fish stocks are recovering. 251 00:38:52,621 --> 00:38:59,128 So today, three million guanay cormorants assemble each year to raise their young. 252 00:38:59,211 --> 00:39:01,213 [cawing] 253 00:39:11,724 --> 00:39:14,685 Each morning the birds head out to sea. 254 00:39:35,164 --> 00:39:39,752 The colonies are so vast they take over an hour to empty. 255 00:39:55,476 --> 00:39:58,646 Joining the procession, Inca terns. 256 00:40:06,862 --> 00:40:08,531 Peruvian boobies. 257 00:40:17,540 --> 00:40:22,628 A great caravan of hunters, all searching for the same thing. 258 00:40:34,140 --> 00:40:35,266 Anchovies. 259 00:40:44,775 --> 00:40:47,528 These little fish are so abundant 260 00:40:47,611 --> 00:40:51,323 that they support  the greatest fishery on our planet. 261 00:40:57,955 --> 00:41:01,959 Astonishingly, they can account  for a tenth of all the fish 262 00:41:02,042 --> 00:41:05,087 we harvest from our oceans every year. 263 00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:19,560 Sea lions are first to find the shoals. 264 00:41:37,995 --> 00:41:44,460 As fish are driven to the surface, they come within range of pelicans. 265 00:42:12,112 --> 00:42:14,990 Cormorants dive to grab their share. 266 00:42:25,751 --> 00:42:28,504 Boobies strike from heights of 20 meters. 267 00:42:40,849 --> 00:42:44,103 They hit the water  at a hundred kilometers an hour. 268 00:43:24,935 --> 00:43:29,481 Today, the lives of five million cormorants and boobies 269 00:43:29,565 --> 00:43:31,900 depend on the great shoals. 270 00:43:38,073 --> 00:43:41,076 Yet, if we allow the anchovies  to fully recover, 271 00:43:41,660 --> 00:43:45,914 they could sustain  the 25 million seabirds they once did. 272 00:43:52,588 --> 00:43:54,256 It is a vivid reminder 273 00:43:54,340 --> 00:43:58,385 of the astonishing riches  our coastal seas can support. 274 00:44:08,270 --> 00:44:12,900 And, when given the chance, they can recover surprisingly quickly. 275 00:44:17,613 --> 00:44:21,742 The islands of Raja Ampat  in Southeast Asia. 276 00:44:23,744 --> 00:44:28,290 These seas were largely stripped  of sharks and other large fish 277 00:44:28,374 --> 00:44:31,043 by years of unregulated fishing. 278 00:44:35,422 --> 00:44:40,094 This lagoon was once occupied by a shark fishing camp. 279 00:44:45,516 --> 00:44:49,603 Now it's a nursery for baby sharks. 280 00:44:56,026 --> 00:45:00,739 The seas around Misool were fully protected in 2007, 281 00:45:00,823 --> 00:45:03,992 and the recovery has been miraculous. 282 00:45:06,537 --> 00:45:11,041 Today there are 25 times more sharks  than a decade ago. 283 00:45:15,337 --> 00:45:20,384 Turtles that used to be hunted  now peacefully graze on the seagrass. 284 00:45:33,105 --> 00:45:35,649 Sharks are returning to local reefs, 285 00:45:36,525 --> 00:45:39,236 helping to restore the balanced community, 286 00:45:39,820 --> 00:45:43,824 giving them a greater resilience  against the effects of coral bleaching. 287 00:46:03,844 --> 00:46:06,472 Ocean-going manta rays. 288 00:46:17,816 --> 00:46:20,819 Seven meters from wing tip to wing tip. 289 00:46:28,202 --> 00:46:30,329 These endangered giants 290 00:46:30,412 --> 00:46:33,665 spend most of their lives  roaming the high seas. 291 00:46:36,919 --> 00:46:39,880 But now they are returning  to this sanctuary 292 00:46:39,963 --> 00:46:42,716 to seek the attention of cleaner wrasse. 293 00:46:51,099 --> 00:46:57,689 Misool is one of the few places on Earth where biodiversity is actually increasing. 294 00:47:02,653 --> 00:47:06,448 Since protection,  there are three times more fish 295 00:47:06,532 --> 00:47:08,200 than just ten years ago. 296 00:47:20,629 --> 00:47:24,341 Fishermen working nearby waters  profit from the overspill. 297 00:47:25,801 --> 00:47:28,846 They now catch more fish for less effort. 298 00:47:42,067 --> 00:47:45,237 We have far too few marine sanctuaries, 299 00:47:45,988 --> 00:47:49,449 and in many commercial fishing is still allowed. 300 00:47:54,037 --> 00:47:58,250 We need to turn  a third of all our coastal seas 301 00:47:58,333 --> 00:48:00,836 into properly protected areas. 302 00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:12,723 If we do that, our planet's fishing grounds would recover 303 00:48:13,223 --> 00:48:18,604 and help sustain both humanity  and the rest of the natural world. 304 00:48:33,702 --> 00:48:35,996 Please visit ourplanet.com 305 00:48:36,163 --> 00:48:40,584 to discover what we need to do now  to restore our coastal seas. 306 00:48:43,170 --> 00:48:48,926 ♪ I can hear the whole world Singing together ♪ 307 00:48:51,678 --> 00:48:57,434 ♪ I can hear the whole world Say it's now or never ♪ 308 00:49:00,437 --> 00:49:04,733 ♪ 'Cause it's not too late If we change our ways ♪ 309 00:49:04,816 --> 00:49:08,612 ♪ And connect the dots to our problems ♪ 310 00:49:08,695 --> 00:49:14,743 ♪ I can hear the whole world Say we're in this together ♪ 311 00:49:14,826 --> 00:49:16,536 ♪ We're in this together ♪