Sea of Shadows (2019)

[bunniefuu]

It's a shame.

It's more than a
shame, it's a...

I don't know how to
put it in English, just...

My kids have seen me
away for so many things,

covering wars, drug lords,
natural disasters.

And now they see me going
because of the vaquita,

this little animal that
calls their attention.

Buenos dias.

Buenos dias.
- Como estas?

I'd love to bring back
a nice beautiful happy ending story.

I don't know if it's gonna happen.

These are 22 totoaba swim bladders.

One person was transporting
them in the trunk of a vehicle

coming from San Felipe to Mexicali.

This is the suitcase where
this guy was transporting the

totoaba swim bladders when he
got captured and then released.

He's not arrested, released.

The guy claimed his constitutional right
to remain silent.

So, they don't know
what organization all this comes from.

They don't know who was
going to get this in order

to take it to China.

22 totoaba swim bladders.

Look at that one. It's huge.

This is it.

This is why vaquitas are dying.

This is why a lot of the species from
the upper gulf of California are in danger.

This is what is fueling
the entire operation,

from the small
town of San Felipe,

all the way to the huge country of China.

This is butchery.

I wanna find out who
is making the profit of this.

How it starts at a price of $4500
and ends up in China about 70,000.

There is a lot of money involved.

Who is the El Chapo of the totoaba.

Our team at earth league international,

we have potentially many many
wars to fight around the world.

And we think it's important to
be here now and to fight this

w*r because it's highly symbolic.

It's extinction in real time,
under our eyes,

entirely driven by profits
and greed,

and this is what is happening
to the planet.

Hey man.

Hey. How are you?

Good to see you again.
- Good to see you.

Let's get out of here.
- Yeah.

I have a car here.
- Al right.

A couple of years ago
I started to create a unique

team of people who did much...

Until yesterday they were chasing
Bin Laden, El Chapo and...

Russian Mafia, Italian Mafia, and now
they're actually fighting for the planet.

Yeah one of our sources
was telling me last week,

the Chinese community in Tijuana,

the Chinese community in Mexicali,

they have the, you know,
relationship with some of the

Sinaloans from the cartels.

Sinaloa?

Yeah, it's the one that's running
a lot of the trade up here.

At first, when you look
at this matter from the outside,

you think it's just an environmental issue.

But then the more you dig in,
the more you realize that

there are huge criminal implications
behind this problem.

When you have the involvement
of the Chinese traffickers,

the involvement of the drug cartels, and

you can imagine, you need much
more than a conservation plan.

You know, you need
much more than that.

And this is exactly why we're here.

What was surprising actually,
when we started working on

this issue is that almost nobody
was looking at the Chinese.

And for us, it's very important
to find the exact point

where Chinese traffickers meet
with the Mexican traders.

They wanna do it
like this. Al right.

So we hope to get
this information from these two guys.

They are locals.

They are very connected and
they know who are the players.

Very nice to see you.

Of course.

This is a problem.

Now let me ask you.
Do you have any idea if there's any

Chinese connections
out of Tijuana and Mexicali?

Oh yes. Absolutely.

That's where the cut off is.

That needs to be fused together.

He only.
- Only? One person?

The whole thing?

Now, who's that?

How did he get there?
- One guy?

Oh, how did he get there?

So then you know, he's the guy that's been

paying all the...

Oscar Parra is apparently the guy
who is dealing with the Chinese.

But we don't know yet who's
physically buying from Oscar Parra.

So if you look at the entire supply chain,

and you have to look
at the entire supply chain

If you want to understand the problem.

You have to also come here
to the very origin of the issue.

Ground zero if you want, San Felipe.

The fishing of the
totoaba is here.

Vaquita lives here.

This is the place where the
totoaba trafficking begins.

Look at that. A dolphin.

Yeah.

There are miles of gill nets
all over the sea of Cortez

Destroying one of the most
beautiful places on earth.

Jacques Cousteau said, 'this is
the aquarium of the planet.'

It's so rich, full of life.

This w*r is not
just for the vaquita.

The vaquita is our flag.

This is the big challenge.

If we don't save the vaquita we
will lose the whole sea of Cortez.

We will lose the aquarium of the planet.

I keep thinking about the last vaquita.

The moment when only one vaquita
will be left in the wild.

He or she will be calling
to other vaquitas.

Nobody will answer.

Welcome to San Felipe.

I am the rear admiral, Edgar Capatillo
commander of the naval sector.

Nice to meet you. Cynthia Smith.

I got the call to join
a group of veterinarians and

scientists to help save
the vaquita from extinction by

bringing it into human care.

No other option was working.

The speed at which the species
was declining really picked up.

There were 100, and then there were 60,

and then there were 30.

And now there's fewer than 30.

If they stay out there,
we believe they're gonna all die.

Unfortunately, we got
here really late and there's just

no room for error.

Have a look at the sea pens.

Yeah. Have a quick look at the sea pen.

We haven't formally met.
I'm Cynthia Smith.

Great to meet you.

The vaquita is still a mystery.

Most of us have never even seen one,
no underwater footage exists of them.

So to prepare for this mission
we built them sea pens and pools,

and creating a sanctuary option to

provide them with what they need to thrive.

But there are so few vaquitas left,

that finding them will be really hard.

Most fishermen have never seen a vaquita.

So they don't really believe they exist.

They think of them as a myth.

That they're just ghosts.

We brought in the best observers
in the world.

60-something scientists
and vets and biologists,

the right equipment, and the right boats.

All of that to really make a difference.

Odissea, instructions please?

Yeah, Odissea stand by.

November 49, can you come back
toward us please.

Yeah. Copy. Coming back.

The definition of success for this project
is that vaquitas return to the wild,

that they are only with us
for a short time,

And then they go home.

But this can only happen if
the sea of Cortez is safe for them again.

The government put the ban on gill nets.

The gill nets that were trapping
vaquitas out of the water.

A lot of fishermen went out of business.

Fishermen got some money
as compensation,

but what everybody tells you
is compensation is not enough,

compensation is not the money
I used to make.

You are in the verge
of a social outburst that had

turned into violence.

And the drug cartels
are taking advantage of this.

Because the fishermen,
they're not willing to wait,

and they're jumping
into the totoaba business,

becoming part
of the cartels of fishing illegally.

Thank you.

Currently we're just approaching a net.

Hopefully there's no animals in it.

Hopefully it's fresh.

Five meters and we have the buoys.

Okay. Haul in and lock it off.

That's the horrible thing,
if a poacher just forgets about a net,

And just leaves it in the ocean,

it becomes a ghost net and that
can be the most deadly thing.

Straight down on port.

We got a turtle in the net.

Turtle in the net copy that.

Alive or dead?

It was dead.

Damn.

These walls of death k*ll everything here.

If we let emotions get in the way
of things, game over.

You have to keep a level head
no matter how many

dead animals we go through.

We want no nets in the ocean.

And our tactic right now is to pull them.

Anyone who says just one person
can't make a difference,

just look at what we've done here.

All these whales that have been saved,
All these dolphins and sea lions and rays.

30 people can save literally
thousands of lives here.

Careful! Careful!

Totoaba coming up.

Is it dead?

Dead.

Al right.
Totoaba coming on board.

Yep.

Thank you.

The swim bladder is
still very much intact.

This could still be sold.

Whenever Sea Shepherd
finds a totoaba in a net,

we open up the fish that
we pull out of the net,

we take the swim bladder that
is so precious to all these

people and we destroy it.

The poacher who gets this
will earn around $5,000.

And on the black market
this can go up to $100,000.

Jose!

Bridge bridge deck, we have
a panga approaching from port.

We have the military protecting us 24/7.

The poachers are losing
so much money due to Sea Shepherd

that they're prepared
to take any means necessary.

Four individuals in a
panga, with fishing gear,

but with no fishing rods.

They can't really make it more obvious
that they're going out to get a net.

So we'll keep that target on radar,

and we'll watch where they're going.

As an outsider it is nearly impossible
To infiltrate the totoaba cartel.

But sometimes you find that one
person that is willing to talk.

How many nets you have
right now in the water?

That's a lot of... that's a big loss.

Exactly it's a lot of money.

Who is paying for
all these nets?

I mean he cannot pay for all these nets.

Like, there is hundreds
of thousands of dollars of nets

right now, right, who is paying?

There is someone to loan them money.

So it's still a loan. So I give you...

Give you... Yeah.

Okay. So, curious now if you lose
$56,000 in nets, you still owe...

Then you have to pay.

The money to these people.

You owe the man, of course.

So who are these people?
- He knows?

The buyer. Mexican, or Chinese?

Mexicanos.

Still Mexicanos okay.

We want to interview the highest
officer in charge of the investigation,

And we wanna know why they
haven't captured him.

Admiral Romel Ledezma,
is the one that is in charge

Of the law enforcement
in the area.

Federal police,
the army, the navy,

All the law enforcement areas
of the Mexican government come

Together in the desk and the
decisions of admiral Ledezma.

All I want is to put
pressure on the authorities,

And try to make things happen.

As a journalist, that's
as far as you can go,

But it's a lot.

So if I meet with an admiral,
if I meet with a commissioner,

If I meet with a minister,
and I ask him about the thing,

They know we're watching.

And if they come
out with a promise,

They better keep it.

For us it's important to
understand how the cartels operate,

Where do they land, and where the
trafficking actually is starting.

There is one organization that
has been operating here for years,

Fighting for the vaquitas,

Patrolling the waters,
removing the nets,

And it is Sea Shepherd.

Hi, Carolina, how are you?

Hey Andrea.
- Nice to see you.

Nice to see you. Welcome.

Thank you.
- Here's the ship.

We're gonna head north
because we know that's where

The main totoaba
run is at the moment.

So now, go night ship.
Nav lights off.

Yeah, it's off.

The farther north we go,
the poachers get much bolder.

The poachers that come out of San
Felipe are always very cautious,

But from Santa Clara,

They're the ones, that
shot at us. Like...

Oh, from Santa Clara?

Yeah. We were in the
north whenever that happened.

Okay.

On all five occasions now. Yeah.

They went north.

Certainly get the drone ready.

Yeah.

It is actually
very powerful to see how

Sea Shepherd operates.

Their weapon is
basically a camera on a drone.

The only weapon.

Watch your legs.

Al right. So where am I going?

Okay the first target is target number three,

They're at our 11:30.

Al right. We're out there.

So. We got two pangas here,
we've another six up here.

We've another...

Like, there seems to
be around nine or ten,

Just along this stretch
of two miles of coastline.

Bridge, I'm pretty sure
they were pulling in a net.

I'll fly a little
closer and find out.

Okay copy that.

So yeah, these guys are pulling in a net.

Yeah.

There we go. They saw us.

Yeah.

This is what we do every night.

We see a target, we
launch the drone,

We see if there's a net,
we chase them away,

We pick up the net.

Now they've seen us we are
hoping that they cut their net.

Yeah, they cut it.

So they're leaving.

They have cut their net,
they are now taking off.

I have the exact position
they have cut their net, so...

Awesome! We will drag.

Anyone else around?

Actually he looks like
he's turning towards us jack.

How far ahead of us?

Is he feeling like
intimidating us?

What's he up to?

Actually he is coming
really close to us here.

Aye aye.

We'll... I'll make sure
there's no g*ns on board,

If not we are going to
be on your port side.

I hate it when they do this.

I really hate it.

Yeah, that's a panga,
he's coming to give us

A bit of intimidation.

Okay let me know if
you want me to do spotlight,

Because they know we're here.

Where are they?

Can you let me know
where they're at?

Al right they're on us.

These guys are just
approaching your aft,

Around 40 meters out.

What are they doing?

Al right.
They're just about 20 30 meters from your aft.

They're gonna come around again.

They're trying to intimidate us.

Navy coming,
but we don't have a position on them.

Al right starboard side.

Panga really really close.

It's going around our port side,

Is coming around on our bow now.

Land the drone and
bring the guys inside please?

I can keep the drone
in the air if I go to the fly

Bridge and we'll fly from there.

Okay, that's a good plan.

The rest of you have to go inside
so that none of you get shot, yeah.

Bridge, bridge, do we know how
far away the navy is currently?

They're right in front of us.

He's on her. I can see it now.

The navy
has stopped the pursuit.

The panga is heading
north to Santa Clara.

Now that
this chase has happened,

I doubt we will see any
other poachers tonight.

Right. Right. Right.

Because they all work together.

They already
radio everyone else.

Yeah, I'm sure they have.

This is organized crime
we're currently watching.

It's like cocaine out here.

Hold.

Totoaba.

It's alive. It's alive.

We have a knife ready?

Yeah, we'll pull it up and
we'll put it up over the gunnel.

Totoaba coming on board.

Problem is the net that
is designed to catch totoaba

Unfortunately kills
vaquita by accident.

And every single vaquita that
I've seen that has been dead

Is because of a net.

We got it. Ooh!

We will continue the fight here.

Pull nets. Free animals.

And fight for every single life.

We won't stop.

Every single animal here
matters for every single

Animal everywhere
else in the ocean.

Aw, check out these lads!

It's all so
incredibly intertwined.

Oh that's fantastic!

There they are.

We're not a virus here
to k*ll our host.

To sit there and let an entire
ocean die because of the greed

Of a few, and to
be okay with that?

That is unacceptable.

As a species, that
is unacceptable.

If that happens we
should be ashamed.

Four trucks, four
trucks of federal police.

It's interesting, in San Felipe,

You usually you see
one truck at a time.

And here there are four
going around together.

Everybody is looking at us.

Look at the hummer.
Look at the yellow hummer.

Who can afford this
kind of car here?

It's a super expensive car.

Yeah, and no license plates.

Look, this is exactly what
we saw last night with Sea Shepherd.

Santa Clara is really the
heart of the totoaba cartel.

Very weird... Vibe.

Now are they off-loading
a panga to our right?

Andrea, can you tell?

They're launching, I
think they're launching now.

Yeah, they're launching man.

You can
see exactly how they do it.

There is a bunch
of police to your left.

Oh yeah there's marines.

Okay they are in
front of the marines.

Two trucks of marines behind us.

In theory patrolling and I guess
they're here to control the pangas.

There's no other reason why,
but all this is supposed to be ill*gal.

And we saw with our own eyes,
you see here another panga

Going to the water so,
we saw with our own eyes,

All those ill*gal pangas, they
escaped back here like a safe

Haven for a totoaba poachers.

But the safe haven is also
full of police and marines,

So you don't
understand why they're here,

What they're doing here.

It smells.
The whole thing stinks.

You're you're
clearly not using your gears.

But did you see
marines or police working with

The ill*gal fisherman?

You saw it.

So you have a very big problem
if the government works like this.

This ill*gal fisherman
they work very close with

Chinese traffickers.

Did you ever see a
Chinese trafficker here?

Somebody is looking at us.

At us?

Yes.
They're under those...

Do you have any idea
who that drone would be,

The one that's...

What those drones?

That white drone?

They have those drones
here because like when...

Who is they? I don't know.

Military? Police?

No, no. Fishermen?

No, no these drones, like
when people like you guys

Come here, like they film.

They film everybody.

Who? Who?

Oh people from the town.

No, I understand, but I
want to know if they are the...

You know, I understand here
in the town there are good

Fishermen like you
that play by the rules,

And there are also fishermen
who do not play by the rules,

And are actually getting
more and more dangerous.

I wanna know it belongs to them?

I'm not sure, I just
don't know, I don't know.

Yeah. I see.

That's the truth.

Let's get out of here.

If we can save the vaquita,

And we shine a light on this
gorgeous little animal,

And we can show people
this animal is about to

Disappear off the planet,
because of human activity.

We can't keep
k*lling the planet.

We have to change
what we're doing.

Not just for the vaquita, but
for all animals in the gulf.

You know you'd have
to be out this way any way or...

There are no firearms
with those people, are there?

I don't know.
There might be. Yeah.

Matt's, I'm gonna
grab your binoculars.

I think there are firearms.

They do have firearms?
Let's not slow down.

The guy in the blue has one.

Are they military or civilian?

They look like military.

Wait a minute no they don't.

There's some
really bad guys here,

They don't wanna
see us succeed so...

This is real and
there are a lot of risks.

We have to hold on to the hope
that it's gonna work because

There is no good
ending if we don't try.

Wanderlust,
you're getting awfully close

To the fog bank there.

We could have a problem
moving forward if you

Come any further forward.

Fly bridge to bridge,

I've got a positive
sighting right off our bow.

Wanderlust we also
just had what looked like a

Little blow from our
perspective about half way

Between the slick that's
directly in front of us,

And the fog bank.

Are we sure it was a vaquita?

We're not even
sure it was a vaquita.

It seems like the
vaquita-like behaviour though.

Bridge,
I've got a positive sighting.

How far out?

200 feet.

We are now pointing in
the direction of the sighting,

Approximately one
mile out from us.

Oh, yeah,
what is that right there.

You guys see those animals?

Oh yeah. There.

I have the vaquita in sight.

I'm gonna stay with the
net in case we get an animal.

Extender, set the net now.

Right there.
Right there. Right there.

Turn hard, hit it straight!
Hard, hard, hard.

Cut him off here.

It's moving in the right
direction, toward the net.

25 meters in front of the net.

The net is out!

It's going right
towards the net.

Keep going. Another 20.

That's good right there.

See if we can keep our
eyes on the animal though.

Here. Here. Here.

These are
sophisticated creatures.

They're thinking
through problems.

There's a net over here,
there's a net over there,

And I don't wanna
get in that net,

I wanna get out of here
and so they took a minute,

And evaluated the situation
and then they beat the net.

And then they swam under it.

That's amazing.

There is something very
special about those animals.

And the hardest thing is going to
be if they don't accept our care.

Some species just
don't tolerate that,

And then we have
to put 'em back.

So we're gonna have to choose
between possible death in our care,

Or certain death in the ocean.

So what do you do?

You know, how do you
make that decision?

The authorities
just told us Oscar parra,

The top one of the cartel.

They are accusing him
of k*lling one soldier.

What we see now is
worse than ever.

Once the piece aired,
there was a huge outcry in the area.

I received death
threats, many of them.

Perhaps illegals,
perhaps the government,

We hit some nerves, so we
are on the right track.

I will wear a
camera as well, and so...

He's there. He's there?

Yeah.

Let's do that
quickly and then let's go.

Okay.

I said ten minutes. Good.

Oscar parra is just a tool.

The Chinese traders need people
like parra to keep the trade on.

We've recruited Mexican sources,

In contact with the
Chinese traffickers.

Our goal is to extract as
much information as possible

And come back safe.

We met him
already several times.

So this time is the real,
and now he has to give us stuff.

Yeah.

'cause we have been
talking with him for months.

So let's finish it up with this.

Yeah.

What if he checks us,
and wants to look underneath the shirt?

You stop him.
- Yeah.

You stop him
also in a very violent way,

And you say, "hey if you
wanna go, the deal is off."

Correct.
We have to trust you.

Pedro, he's from San Felipe.

He's a butcher himself, he has
been dealing with totoaba for

A long time, and
also other crimes.

These people do not help you
because they have a good heart,

They help you because
they want money.

Be careful. Be careful.

They're coming. They're coming.

Just got in.

Hey, sorry about the lateness.

Yeah sorry.

So they just got
out, and we can follow them.

This is the restaurant.

So here you are in
front of the restaurant.

And then to show us that it was
a real number he actually called...

Oh he called the
owner of the restaurant?

In real time.

And you have the
name of this guy, right?

Yeah, so that's Lee. David Lee.

Oh that's lee.
Okay. Interesting.

That's very good information.

So this is...

Now we have to find a way to
connect David to totoaba traffic.

Our Asian undercover teams,
they're gonna engage this

David either directly, or
find people who work with him,

But we need evidence.

And evidence that
can hold in court.

Hello.

No wonder why nobody
is arresting this guy,

I mean Oscar parra is
paying off the police,

It is corruption all the way,

And nobody is doing
anything about it.

We are so used to this,

So used of listening
to promises that are

Not ever fulfilled, to see
the authorities being weak,

When it comes to
fight organized crime.

It is like everything
is like paused.

Waiting for what?

I mean clocks ticking.

If they don't do something,
this is gonna be the year of

The end of the vaquita.

Course right now is 097.

097 over.

Copy. Thanks.

Flying bridge this
is the wanderlust,

We have a possible sighting.

As soon as we hear those words,

We see a vaquita.

There is this, you know,
nervous energy on the boat

And we're excited for the
possibility of success.

But we are terrified by
the possibility of failure.

How many animals?

Two maybe three.

I have vaquita 8:00
from the wanderlust.

400 meters, 8:00.

Yeah. Between us
and the wanderlust.

Hold on.

Net out.

Net out. Net out.

Our net's out.
100 meters in front of extender.

Okay. Hold on.

Right
there guys. Right there.

12:00 from the wanderlust.

Right here.

Going to the right.
So kind of headed to the net.

It might be...

Turn. Turn. Turn.
Turn. Turn. Turn.

Cut them off! Go that way!

The net's right there!

Lucky you are right on it.

Yeah, they're heading
straight for the net.

Turn down the pace. Turn.

They might be in the net.

They're in the net.

What?

They are loose.

They're in the
net right in front of.

Al right guys,
everybody calm down.

They're fine.

We have one hook
in the stretcher.

Oh no pulling.

Are we okay guys?

We have a vaquita.

Woo!

It's alive and well.

Excellent.
Oh my god I can't believe it.

Breath...

Hey we okay?

Her teeth are fully
erupted and she is a girl.

Okay.

Hey. Just wanted to let
you know we're doing good still.

She likes it over on the
side, she's pretty relaxed.

Her respiration has
calmed down a little bit.

And occasionally
she's a little feisty,

Which we like, so I
think we're in good shape.

Ready? Three, two one...

This is a
female, a mature female,

Lovely mature female.

As beautiful as it can get.

Hey, Lorenzo.

I just checked she doesn't
seem to be pregnant right now.

She's got a prominent uterus,
so I'll have to check when

We get home, but I don't
think we need to.

We're good.

I'm good, let's go.

Okay, so keep her.
You think to keep her?

To keep her and go to El Nieto.

- Okay. Okay. Al right.
- Yeah.

Okay we're gonna
keep her and go to El nieto.

There's a tremendous amount
of excitement, anxiety.

I mean all these emotions
are packed up tight together.

And there's so many unknowns.

No one's actually ever
held a live vaquita.

It'll be the first time anyone
listens to the heart of a vaquita.

There are so many firsts
that are gonna be happening.

Awesome.
Just go nice and slow.

Good good good.

Okay. It's okay.

Just let her go.

Yeah yeah, see, see.

She just needs to learn...
It's okay.

She needs to learn about the
perimeter so just let her go.

And when she hits
just gently let her...

Just push her gently
away from the wall.

Yeah she looks great.

Okay.

You could
see her learning to turn,

And you could see her
starting to navigate the area.

And that was encouraging.

We could be starting
to think about, okay,

When do we start
offering her live fish?

Who's going home
right now to go to sleep,

So that they can come
back in a few hours to,

You know, take on watch?

And then things
started to change.

She hasn't breathed.
What?

She hasn't taken a breath.

When was the
last time she took a breath?

It was over two minutes...

Just before...
Is her heart beating?

Just before...
Okay check her heart.

She's beating.

She's unstable.
We need to let her go.

Go ahead and get in people.
And you guys grab her.

Al right. Let's go. Just go fast.

Okay, grant. Are you
okay? You okay?

Run...

Make sure she's taking a breath.

She won't...

Which way guys?

Okay one two three.
Go. Let her go.

Go girl, go.

She's circling back.

Al right, she's coming back.

Let's get ready.
Let's get back in.

You guys be careful.

Is she breathing? I hear breathing.

Her breathes like...
Can you hear the breath?

She's gone. She's gone.

No she's not, she's not gone.

Let's do emergency medicine.

Okay. There's a heartbeat guys.

Come on. Come on sweetie.

Okay. Oh, there you go.
Good girl. Good girl.

Take a breath. Come on.

You can do it. Come on.

We can bring her up on board.
Push up from underneath.

Oh, mama.

Al right give me a trach tube
and an oxygen kit.

And if someone else...
Francis and Jake can do drugs.

I'm gonna start my intubation.

Okay. Hold her upright.

Who are you? Stay here.

Hold her right there.

Yes please.
Just get me the oxygen.

Come on sweetie.
Please come on pumpkin.

Okay, let's see...

Come on, come back to me.
Come on mama.

Give me a
heart reading. Still...

No, we got no heart.

No. We don't.

She's dead. She's dead.

Hold on. No heart rate?

Yeah, I don't have a heart rate.

I remember grant
looking up and saying,

"she's not okay."
and that was the hard moment.

But, you know, so, as
soon as he looked up,

And said that and I
realized, you know,

This is like, this is,
this is the time like,

We gotta start getting
ready to release her.

And I was really hoping that
that was gonna be enough for her.

That just seeing the ocean
in front of her was gonna be

Enough to have
her snap out of it.

You know, and come back
and start to recover.

But then she circled back and she
wasn't breathing at that point.

My heart is broke wide open.

Because, not just for her,
and not just for the team,

But for the species and
what that meant, you know.

It was, that...

It hit me then, like I
knew in that moment,

That damn it, you know,
these animals as hard as

We're trying it's not
right for them, you know.

This isn't a solution.

They are a species that just
can't adapt to being in the

Care of humans.

And there can only
be 15 animals left.

We tried to buy them more time,

But it just didn't work.

Our only hope now is to
eradicate the threat,

And if we don't, it will not
only be the end of the vaquita,

But the entire sea of Cortez.

This, this hasn't finished.

The fact that the vaquita cpr
project didn't go well at all,

Doesn't mean that
the problem is solved.

The navy went to my show
and said we're doubling our bet,

We're sending more boots on the
ground in order to get the bad guys.

A huge operation was put
together that also involved

Sea Shepherd, military, police.

So this is the time.

If they wanna save the vaquita,

Now is the time
for law enforcement.

Uno, dos,
tres, cuatro, cinco, seis.

Tonight looks like a good night.

I can currently see six pangas
within three miles of us.

Fonj, fonj, we've a panga
stopped just ahead of us.

We're coming into
drone range now.

Okay, we're coming up.

Thank you sir.

The military they need our
help in locating the poachers.

Sea Shepherd's drone,
we can fly at 5 meters,

And I can confirm if there's
swim bladders on board.

I can confirm if there's
weapons on board.

And then tell the military
where to make an arrest.

You're almost ahead of us. 0.79.

Copy that. I can see them.

I have visual on their ship now.

What the hell's that?

There's certainly
something on board there,

Something that
they're throwing in a box.

They're heading
towards the beach.

Bridge. They've just
landed at the marina.

They've just landed.

I don't know what the
hell's going on here.

So what I see currently
is lots of people on dock,

But I don't see
any military there,

Just lots of people on
dock on the northern dock.

No they are on the beach.

Are they planning
to move to the marina?

Because it doesn't seem to
be happening on the beach.

It's happening
right in front of us.

The box is now going
up the ramp towards a car.

I'm pretty sure that is
the same box that they

Put whatever they put in,
and they seem to be treating

That as quite important.

A bunch of lads are currently
getting into a car and leaving.

If there's any way for
you to tell the military,

They're now going.

These guys are really
rushing into their panga.

And like running.

Do you want me to follow them?

Yeah. Let's chase them
the whole way frickin home.

Coming on top of them now.

They are stopping.

Copy that.

They are down to zero knots now.

They're doing something
at the side of their boat.

That's a r*fle.

I heard g*n shots.

They frickin...

Son of a!

They shot the drone down.

Apparently there's
a big riot at the marina.

You see this is Facebook live.

The fishermen,
literally fighting...

With the navy you see.

They're fighting.

So what I hear is they finally
arrested three fisherman with totoaba.

And then now these people want to
force the navy to release them.

Stay on the left, it's safer.

More police.

It appears that
the fishermen took control

Of one of the navy boats.

Look it's full of
fishermen walking all over.

Oh, fight back.

Shots were fired
and the stones keep coming.

Crazy. Frickin crazy.

After what I saw,
I believe that the w*r

Cannot be won in
the front lines.

We have to acknowledge that to
stop the totoaba trafficking,

So we can stop the use of
ill*gal gill nets in the sea,

And hopefully stop the
k*lling of the vaquita,

We have to take down
those Chinese traders.

They are the enablers,

And drivers of the whole
ill*gal supply chain.

Yeah you can make a
right turn and that drops us

Into another parking
lot in the front of it.

The Chinese
we found in mexicali,

This David is now
our main target.

They are not here yet.

So we just pass it, we'll
go through very slowly.

I brought in our Asian
undercovers to get close to him,

And they were successful.

They already had a
bunch of meetings

And David doesn't
suspect anything.

Kevin.
No we're in the area.

Of course, yeah.
And this is confirmed

Okay.

No Andrea and I are
already in the area,

Don't worry about that, yeah.

Okay. Sounds good, yeah.

Good luck.

Okay so they are there.

They're getting ready to
walk in in like seconds.

So I'm gonna get
the camera ready.

Al right.
We give them five minutes.

And then after
five minutes you get in.

I'll get in. Yep.

And then you
will follow from inside.

Okay.

We have now reached
the point when we think we've

Got enough trust that we can
finally ask about totoaba.

He's here on the left.

But keep going, let's not
attract too much attention.

They look like legit,
they look like business men,

When in fact they are criminals.

They have been
trafficking totoaba for years.

Good to see you. Kevin.

Yeah, we're just
going through the videos.

This is David?
- Yeah.

Good. It is really
really good stuff?

Oh wow.

The video evidence
that we gathered was enormous.

Now where do we go from here?

The situation in
Mexico is so screwed up,

I'm not sure how much law
enforcement is willing to do.

So I thought, okay,
let's go public.

Let's get in touch with the
most important journalist

Here in Mexico,
Carlos Loret de Mola,

Let's attack them with
the power of the media.

Andrea. Nice to meet you.

How's everything so far?

Good. Very busy. Very hectic.

I'm gonna ask you
about that in a minute.

Yeah. Absolutely.

Welcome.

Thank you very
much for being here.

Gracias, thank you.

How is the situation
now in the vaquita area?

It is completely out of control.

I would call it a real
totoaba cartel, we have now.

They do a lot of ill*gal stuff.

We recorded conversation,
they were talking about

Money laundering,
around totoaba.

They were talking
about human trafficking.

So there are many
different ill*gal businesses.

And that's why it's very
very important to stop them,

Because they are
committing all those crimes,

Under the nose of
Mexican government so,

They have to be stopped.

Is the government aware of this?

As we speak we are
providing the Chinese government,

The Mexican government
and the us government

A confidential Intel brief with
all the information that we have.

Names, numbers, pictures,
undercover footage.

So you're gonna give
all this to the Mexican, us...

Absolutely.
- And Chinese authorities.

And China. Yeah.

Because we also want
the Chinese authorities to act

on their nationals,
because without them it'll be

Impossible for the totoaberos
and the bucheros to

export, to smuggle,
the product back to China.

The public should know that we gave
them a lot of information,

More than enough to start
an investigation and

act upon these people.

Because if I just give it
to the government agencies

without telling anyone else,

they can put it under
the carpet and... never happened.

The vaquita is getting extinct,

Five hours drive from Los
Angeles, in the 21st century,

Is the global symbol of how
we are destroying this planet

And that's why everyone should
root for the vaquita right now.

Because if we can
save the vaquita,

Then maybe we know how to
save the rest of the planet.

If we lose the vaquita,
in front of our eyes,

With all our money,
and you know, power...

Then we're done.

Then it's the
beginning of the end.

It's the beginning of many
other animals going extinct

In front of our eyes.

We'll keep
putting pressure on them.

All the way. All the way.

Until it happens.