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[beep]

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[static]

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[beep]

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[indistinct speech over radio]

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[David Attenborough] Just 50 years ago,

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we finally ventured to the moon.

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For the very first time,
we looked back at our own planet.

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Since then, the human population 
has more than doubled.

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This series will celebrate 
the natural wonders that remain

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and reveal what we must preserve

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to ensure people and nature thrive.

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Immense shoals of fish 
throng our shallow seas.

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These are anchovies.

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Small fish, in turn, sustain bigger ones.

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Hunters, such as giant trevally...

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and mobula rays.

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When hunters such as these work together, 
they become extremely efficient.

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The rich coastal seas 
are the fishing grounds of our planet

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and can provide an abundance of food 
for wildlife and humanity.

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The seas fringing land make up 
less than a tenth of the world's oceans,

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yet, astonishingly, 
90 percent of all marine creatures

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live in these coastal waters.

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This superabundance 
is due to the fact that the seafloor here

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is within reach of sunlight.

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Everglades National Park 
in southern Florida.

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Fields of seagrass 
carpet the shallow tropical waters.

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Like savannas on land,

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these lush marine meadows 
support a great variety of animal life.

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Stingrays search for prey
hiding in the seagrass.

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The Everglades 
are also the hunting grounds

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of the coasts' most ingenious fishermen.

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[dolphins clicking]

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Bottlenose dolphins.

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They search for food using echolocation,
a type of sonar.

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[dolphins clicking]

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Ahead of them, a shoal of mullet.

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These particular dolphins

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have developed their own special way 
of catching their prey.

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They carefully herd the fish 
into just the right place.

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Then one dolphin stirs up a ring of mud 
that encircles the shoal.

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The fish panic and take to the air.

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Most escape.

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Catching flying fish isn't easy.

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But the dolphins move on 
and take another helping.

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People aren't allowed to fish commercially
within the national park,

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so there's plenty for the dolphins.

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Only from the air can we really appreciate
the industry of these master fishermen.

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The shallow seas are vitally important
in the fight against climate change.

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Seagrass absorb
35 times as much carbon dioxide

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as the same area of rainforest,

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and that reduces the damage 
caused by the recent warming of our seas.

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Mangroves often border 
the seagrass meadows.

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These remarkable trees
are the only ones that can cope

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with the varying saltiness 
of coastal waters.

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They not only protect our coasts 
from the destructive forces of hurricanes

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but also, like seagrass, 
capture carbon dioxide.

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Their tangled roots 
create safe nurseries for young fish,

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which will eventually leave the mangroves

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and make their homes in the tropical seas'
most magical wonderlands,

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coral reefs.

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These reefs cover 
less than one percent of the seafloor,

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yet they are home 
to a quarter of all marine species.

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None of these creatures would be here 
were it not for the coral.

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Corals create the structures 
that provide food and shelter,

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on which the entire community depends.

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Every resident has a role to play
in maintaining the health of the reef.

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Unfortunately, few reefs 
are as pristine as they once were,

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and most are now missing

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one extremely important member 
of the community.

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Sharks.

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Relentless overfishing has reduced 
shark populations around the world

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by over 90 percent.

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Today they only thrive
in anything like their former numbers

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on the very remotest of reefs.

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French Polynesia, 
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

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Here, at least,
sharks are fully protected.

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By day, gray reef sharks 
hang in the current.

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They let little wrasse 
pick their teeth clean

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in readiness for the night's hunt ahead.

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These sharks prefer to hunt in darkness,

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when their acute senses 
give them an advantage over their prey.

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Nightfall.

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Time for small fish to take refuge 
within the nooks and crannies of the reef,

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beyond the reach of the gray reef sharks.

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The sharks can detect
the slightest movement.

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Breaking cover is dangerous.

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Stay motionless 
and the sharks may not detect you.

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A little fish may outmaneuver 
a single shark,

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but with so many hunters 
there is little chance of escape.

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Sheltering within the coral branches
is usually the safest option,

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but the arrival of a second hunter 
changes everything.

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Whitetip reef sharks.

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Slender and more agile,

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the whitetips can get into hiding places 
other hunters can't reach.

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Those that are not caught by the whitetips

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are flushed out 
to the waiting gray reef sharks.

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With both kinds of sharks 
hunting in partnership,

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there is little respite, 
even within the reef.

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More and more sharks arrive, 
attracted by the commotion.

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Such numbers of sharks were once common 
on reefs around the world.

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And while so many predators 
may seem damaging,

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sharks, in fact, assist
in maintaining the health of the reef.

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They help to keep a balance 
in the fish community

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by hunting the predators 
that feed on small grazing fish.

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The grazers, in their turn,

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keep the corals
free of seaweeds and parasites

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that would otherwise overgrow the reef.

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A balanced community, 
with sharks as top predators,

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gives a coral reef much greater resilience
in the face of damage and disaster.

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But today, even healthy coral reefs 
are facing a greater threat.

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With climate change, our seas are warming.

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Microscopic plants 
that live within the tissues of the corals

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give them both their color 
and most of their nourishment.

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But if seas temperatures rise 
by just a degree or two,

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the corals expel their plant partners.

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So they lose their main source of food...

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and turn white.

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Here, on Australia's Great Barrier Reef,
unusually warm seas

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have caused many of the reefs 
to bleach in this way.

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It may look hauntingly beautiful,

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but if temperatures remain high 
for a few weeks,

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the corals will starve 
and eventually die.

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The carbon dioxide 
that causes global warming

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is also making the seas more acidic.

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No reefs can survive both changes.

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And without living corals,

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many of the reef's residents
will also perish.

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During 2016 and 2017,

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over a thousand kilometers 
of the Great Barrier Reef bleached.

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Six months later,

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and many of the corals are dead.

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The community destroyed.

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Worldwide, half of all shallow coral reefs
have already died.

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The rest could be gone 
over the next few decades.

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Away from the tropics, 
in higher latitudes,

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the seas are much cooler.

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Storm-lashed waters bring essential
nutrients to the surface.

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The enriched water,
combined with long summer days,

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make these 
the most productive seas on the planet.

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Fur seals thrive
and even have time to ride the waves.

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Spring off the coast of California

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and fronds of golden kelp 
floating on the surface

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hint at the riches hidden beneath.

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A magnificent submarine forest.

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These stands of giant kelp
are as important to the oceans

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as trees are to the land.

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Like a rainforest,

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the dense canopy provides food and shelter
for an abundant community.

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In the cool, rich seas, 
giant kelp can grow 50 meters high.

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Air-filled floats lift the fronds 
towards the sunlit surface.

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Nestling in this canopy,

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a sea otter.

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His thick fur keeps him warm 
in the chilly water.

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Blowing air into it 
gives him extra insulation.

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Sea otters 
have the densest fur of any animal,

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and such a luxuriant coat 
requires a great deal of attention.

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They need to eat a lot to keep warm

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and consume up to a quarter 
of their body weight every day.

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Sea urchins are a favorite food.

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There's one.

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And a second.

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And then the otter is out of breath 
and must return to the surface.

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An urchin 
looks like a rather prickly meal,

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but if you can break the shell, 
there's a feast inside.

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Sea otters are crucial 
to the health of the kelp forest

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because they keep down 
the number of sea urchins.

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The urchins graze on kelp,

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munching through their tough stems.

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Left unchecked, they spread 
across the seafloor like a plague.

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Fortunately, the otters have a helper 
in the fight against these spiny grazers.

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Sheephead wrasse.

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They have powerful teeth

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and can make short work 
of the smaller purple urchins.

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The larger black urchins 
are more of a challenge,

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especially for smaller wrasse.

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Only the very largest sheephead 
can tackle them.

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But it still has to get past 
those long spines.

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The urchin has to be flipped over 
to expose its vulnerable underside.

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Not easy when you have no hands.

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Success at last.

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And everybody benefits.

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These fish and otters, 
living within marine protected areas,

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keep the kelp grazers under control.

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00:27:29,648 --> 00:27:34,736
But just outside these sanctuaries,
the urchins graze unchecked...

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and fell the kelp forest.

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All those that depend on the kelp
have disappeared.

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In California, kelp forests 
grow abundantly in protected areas

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where the whole marine community 
can live without pressure from people.

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Here, at least, sea otters 
can chill out Californian style.

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[bird caws]

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Three thousand kilometers further north, 
in Alaska,

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spring arrives much later in the year.

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After a cold, hard winter,

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the first rays of the sun 
trigger a great annual event.

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Immense shoals of herring 
rise up from the depths

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and move into shallower waters.

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They're gathering to breed.

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But predators are waiting for them.

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00:29:38,526 --> 00:29:40,612
Steller's sea lions.

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00:29:50,371 --> 00:29:54,918
So intent on their mission,
the herring make easy prey.

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00:30:11,518 --> 00:30:16,940
Sea lions drive the fish to the surface,
within range of aerial hunters.

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00:30:22,904 --> 00:30:28,535
Bald eagles, normally solitary birds,
have assembled in numbers for the feast.

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In places, the herrings reach shore,

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00:30:40,505 --> 00:30:44,509
and there the eagles 
don't even need to take to the air.

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00:31:14,163 --> 00:31:15,582
Humpback whales.

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[whale lows]

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00:31:21,963 --> 00:31:24,632
They have come 
all the way from the tropics,

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00:31:24,716 --> 00:31:27,260
hoping to get their first meal in months.

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00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:51,200
These whales have a remarkable way 
of collecting this seasonal bounty. 

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They work as a team.

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The lead whale dives first...

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00:32:17,393 --> 00:32:21,397
and blows a curtain of bubbles 
to concentrate the fish.

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00:32:27,570 --> 00:32:29,155
[whale calling out]

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00:32:32,742 --> 00:32:35,411
A call synchronizes the attack.

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00:32:35,495 --> 00:32:37,497
[whale song increases in volume]

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00:33:22,500 --> 00:33:28,089
By cooperating in this way, 
each whale can eat a ton of fish a day.

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00:33:31,926 --> 00:33:33,928
Yet the herring are so abundant

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00:33:34,512 --> 00:33:39,058
that, in spite of the whales,
most managed to reach the shallows.

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00:33:42,061 --> 00:33:43,354
And here they spawn.

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00:33:51,070 --> 00:33:54,282
The females lay their eggs 
on the seagrass.

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00:33:59,662 --> 00:34:03,916
The males follow, 
fertilizing the eggs with clouds of sperm.

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00:34:10,173 --> 00:34:16,095
Once, herring thrived here in an abundance
we can barely imagine today.

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00:34:24,562 --> 00:34:28,066
They used to turn shorelines white  
with spawn,

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right across the North Pacific 
from Japan to California.

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00:34:38,576 --> 00:34:41,162
With industrialized fishing techniques

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00:34:41,746 --> 00:34:45,583
it's all too easy 
to overexploit these breeding stocks.

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00:34:52,548 --> 00:34:57,470
This is one of the few places
where a fishery still survives.

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00:35:06,521 --> 00:35:09,857
Pacific herring populations 
are greatly reduced.

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00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:12,443
A mere fraction of what they once were.

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00:35:23,955 --> 00:35:26,833
This sorry tale of unsustainable fishing

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00:35:26,916 --> 00:35:31,003
has been repeated time and again 
around the world.

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00:35:35,591 --> 00:35:39,637
Many of the world's fish stocks 
are now in serious decline.

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00:35:41,556 --> 00:35:44,475
A third of them have collapsed altogether.

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00:36:00,366 --> 00:36:02,243
In coastal seas, 

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jellyfish are taking over waters 
that were once dominated by fish.

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00:36:18,759 --> 00:36:21,762
Compass jellyfish have an ethereal beauty,

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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.

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00:37:08,434 --> 00:37:14,148
Unless we start to fish sustainably,
our seas, once so bountiful,

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00:37:15,942 --> 00:37:22,073
will be filled with little more 
than vast swarms... of jellyfish.

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00:37:39,131 --> 00:37:42,218
But the future 
does not have to be like this.

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00:37:52,728 --> 00:37:58,359
On the Pacific coast of South America,
we can see how the oceans can recover.

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00:38:03,489 --> 00:38:06,867
The Atacama, the world's driest desert.

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00:38:07,368 --> 00:38:12,081
Inland it's barely able 
to sustain life of any kind,

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00:38:16,711 --> 00:38:19,463
and yet the coast 
could not be more different.

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00:38:26,804 --> 00:38:31,600
For centuries, seabirds have gathered 
in millions on these desert shores.

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00:38:37,606 --> 00:38:41,277
But 50 years ago
the great colonies disappeared

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00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,322
because we overfished the local waters.

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00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:51,871
Controls were introduced ,
and now the fish stocks are recovering.

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00:38:52,621 --> 00:38:59,128
So today, three million guanay cormorants
assemble each year to raise their young.

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00:38:59,211 --> 00:39:01,213
[cawing]

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00:39:11,724 --> 00:39:14,685
Each morning the birds head out to sea.

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00:39:35,164 --> 00:39:39,752
The colonies are so vast
they take over an hour to empty.

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00:39:55,476 --> 00:39:58,646
Joining the procession, Inca terns.

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00:40:06,862 --> 00:40:08,531
Peruvian boobies.

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00:40:17,540 --> 00:40:22,628
A great caravan of hunters,
all searching for the same thing.

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00:40:34,140 --> 00:40:35,266
Anchovies.

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00:40:44,775 --> 00:40:47,528
These little fish are so abundant

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00:40:47,611 --> 00:40:51,323
that they support 
the greatest fishery on our planet.

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00:40:57,955 --> 00:41:01,959
Astonishingly, they can account 
for a tenth of all the fish

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00:41:02,042 --> 00:41:05,087
we harvest from our oceans every year.

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00:41:16,599 --> 00:41:19,560
Sea lions are first to find the shoals.

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00:41:37,995 --> 00:41:44,460
As fish are driven to the surface,
they come within range of pelicans.

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00:42:12,112 --> 00:42:14,990
Cormorants dive to grab their share.

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00:42:25,751 --> 00:42:28,504
Boobies strike from heights of 20 meters.

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00:42:40,849 --> 00:42:44,103
They hit the water 
at a hundred kilometers an hour.

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00:43:24,935 --> 00:43:29,481
Today, the lives of five million
cormorants and boobies

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00:43:29,565 --> 00:43:31,900
depend on the great shoals.

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00:43:38,073 --> 00:43:41,076
Yet, if we allow the anchovies 
to fully recover,

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00:43:41,660 --> 00:43:45,914
they could sustain 
the 25 million seabirds they once did.

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00:43:52,588 --> 00:43:54,256
It is a vivid reminder

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00:43:54,340 --> 00:43:58,385
of the astonishing riches 
our coastal seas can support.

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00:44:08,270 --> 00:44:12,900
And, when given the chance,
they can recover surprisingly quickly.

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00:44:17,613 --> 00:44:21,742
The islands of Raja Ampat 
in Southeast Asia.

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00:44:23,744 --> 00:44:28,290
These seas were largely stripped 
of sharks and other large fish

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00:44:28,374 --> 00:44:31,043
by years of unregulated fishing.

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00:44:35,422 --> 00:44:40,094
This lagoon was once occupied
by a shark fishing camp.

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00:44:45,516 --> 00:44:49,603
Now it's a nursery for baby sharks.

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00:44:56,026 --> 00:45:00,739
The seas around Misool
were fully protected in 2007,

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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.

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00:45:15,337 --> 00:45:20,384
Turtles that used to be hunted 
now peacefully graze on the seagrass.

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00:45:33,105 --> 00:45:35,649
Sharks are returning to local reefs,

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00:45:36,525 --> 00:45:39,236
helping to restore the balanced community,

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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

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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

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00:46:39,963 --> 00:46:42,716
to seek the attention of cleaner wrasse.

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00:46:51,099 --> 00:46:57,689
Misool is one of the few places on Earth
where biodiversity is actually increasing.

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00:47:02,653 --> 00:47:06,448
Since protection, 
there are three times more fish

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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.

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00:47:42,067 --> 00:47:45,237
We have far too few marine sanctuaries,

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00:47:45,988 --> 00:47:49,449
and in many
commercial fishing is still allowed.

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00:47:54,037 --> 00:47:58,250
We need to turn 
a third of all our coastal seas

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00:47:58,333 --> 00:48:00,836
into properly protected areas.

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00:48:08,760 --> 00:48:12,723
If we do that,
our planet's fishing grounds would recover

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00:48:13,223 --> 00:48:18,604
and help sustain both humanity 
and the rest of the natural world.

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00:48:33,702 --> 00:48:35,996
Please visit ourplanet.com

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00:48:36,163 --> 00:48:40,584
to discover what we need to do now 
to restore our coastal seas.

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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 ♪

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00:49:14,826 --> 00:49:16,536
♪ We're in this together ♪