01x03 - Coral Triangle

[bunniefuu]

We live on a crowded planet

..but there are still vast areas

..where nature has the upper-hand.

It looks like another planet.

I'm heading to the last great

wildernesses.

I'll try to cross four of these rugged

landscapes

Oh, my God!

..on my toughest journeys yet.

I have to be honest.

Things are not going brilliantly.

A bit of a medical situation.

Help is a long way away.

- Well done.

- I want to meet the people for whom

the wilderness is home

Testicles for breakfast, lunch and

dinner.

..to see how they live alongside

nature.

Whoa!

I can stay down there for a minute or

so,

he's still down there now, walking

around!

And in this critical time for our

world

Huge carcasses of great trees.

..seek out the rare and majestic

creatures that still survive

My heart is racing.

..in some of the most hostile

environments.

Are you OK, Jonathan?

- Yeah, yeah.

- ..and the remotest regions

Bloody hell!

..of our wild planet.

Coo!

- Coo!

- Big cats roaming free.

This surely is the absolute definition

of a real wilderness.

HORN TOOTS

I'm on the coast of Indonesia,

onboard the Bernetta -

a converted fishing boat

that's going to be my home for the

next three weeks.

We're taking on board fuel

and supplies for the long journey.

All right. We're off!

We're heading out to sea.

We're travelling just a small area on

this map really

and that's going to take us days and

days,

and nights out on the ocean.

This is the remote south-west corner

of the Pacific Ocean.

A vast expanse of tropical sea

..dotted with thousands of jungle-clad

islands.

It's known as the Coral Triangle.

My guide here is Nesha Ichida.

- Oh, oh, dolphins, dolphins!

That's a dolphin.

- Just there?

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw it.

- She's a marine conservationist,

who's spent her career

studying and protecting the wonders of

the Coral Triangle.

- So, the Coral Triangle is the centre

of all marine biodiversity.

It's just generally home to hundreds

and hundreds of inhabitants,

from coral reef, fishes,

large megafauna -

it's insane how many species are in

one little area.

- Just here, look.

What a reminder they are of how much

glorious life there is.

I think this is a very good omen

because we're going to travel

about 1,000 miles to the East

by boat, and if something goes wrong,

help is a long way away.

The "Coral Triangle" is a name for the

sea around mainly

the Philippines, Malaysia and

Indonesia.

It might just be the most important

patch of sea on the planet.

I'm going to be travelling almost

1,000 miles

through the very heart of this marine

wilderness,

starting in the remote Togean Islands

of Indonesia.

I'll sail east to a stunning tropical

archipelago

called Raja Ampat.

On from there,

I hope to reach a remote bay on the

coast of New Guinea

to search for one of the Coral

Triangle's

most spectacular creatures - whale

sharks.

These are the Togean Islands.

We're heading in sort of that way and

we're going to meet a community

of people who spend most of their

lives living in and on the water.

I'm visiting a people called the

Bajau.

They're known as sea nomads.

For centuries, they've roamed the

tropical waters of the region.

I'm hoping the Bajau can introduce me

to the underwater wilderness of the

Coral Triangle.

Here in the Togean Islands,

1,000 miles from Indonesia's capital

city,

perched on a coral reef in the middle

of the sea,

they've built a village on stilts.

- So, we're arriving at the Bajau

village called Cabanatuan.

- What an extraordinary place.

NESHA INSTRUCTS

We've got coral reef just on the edge

of the community.

We've got to find our way through.

Because it's so shallow,

we mightwe might hit something.

- That is a stunning reef.

- It's quite impressive that it's

here,

so close to the community, isn't it?

- Yeah.

- The kids being dragged out on the

boat there!

- Hello!

CHILDREN SHOU

- Little tots.

Hello!

Oh, little tots in the water here!

What a way of life, eh?

Perched right out over the sea.

Right, let's go and say hello.

Bari!

Bari Lahama is one of the elders of

the village.

Thank you very much indeed for having

us come to visit.

What work do most people do here?

Bari and his family rely on what he

can catch,

trap or spear sustainably in the sea.

He's renowned as one of the best

fishermen in the village.

Oh, we're going that way. That's good.

- Yeah.

- Bari has agreed to take us out

and show us the wonders of the

undersea world.

That looks verystable.

Right, and we're off!

Are you leaning back to try and make

it a bit more stable?

- Yes.

- I think we might be in a spot of

bother in terms of that.

- We're good!

- This is the real wilderness of the

Coral Triangle,

beneath the waves.

With one huge final breath filling his

lungs,

Bari begins his descent.

His only equipment is a home-made

speargun,

made with a piece of elastic on a

pole.

Within a minute, he's 15 metres down

and beginning the hunt.

Every second he's down is a

calculation.

If he pushes himself too far,

he could easily blackout and drown.

After just under two minutes,

he's down at 20 metres

..below the level even most scuba

divers should be going.

Oh, my goodness.

I mean, he is an astonishing human

being.

I can stay down there for a minute or

so, not much longer.

But he's still down there now,

just walking around on the seabed,

looking for more food.

I'll go back down and try and join

him.

Finally, Bari's having some success.

But all he's getting are smaller reef

fish,

which means he keeps diving for hour

after hour.

The bodies of the Bajau have evolved

over thousands of years.

Scientists have established their

blood can actually absorb

and hold more oxygen than the rest of

us,

keeping them alive under water for

longer.

They're like human seals,

able to free dive down as deep as 60

metres underwater.

It is an astonishing sight to see.

I mean, the Bajau can stay down for

not just

two, three, four minutes,

but 11, 12 even 13 minutes,

without coming up for a breath.

They've just adapted to their watery

world.

For generations, the Bajau have lived

like this

from the riches of the Coral Triangle.

Such a simple landscape here.

There's land, there's sky, there's

sea,

but under that surface there is a

whole other dimension of the planet.

Back in the Bajau village, Bari and

his wife,

Mamma Henni, offer to put us up for

the night in their house on stilts.

In here

So this is the wash area,

the shower and the toilet as well.

A hole down here, and beneath it,

well, that's the sea.

The Bajau have kept an intimate

connection with the ocean

for generations,

but now, of course, they're also

linked to the wider world,

and many teenagers here are scrolling

screens like everywhere else.

A critical job has been delegated.

- Shiraliah.

- Shiraliah?

- Yes.

- That is a beautiful name.

BABY GRIZZLES

I think it's a mission fail.

And then this is where I am tonight.

I'm going to sleep on the Premier

League.

Night, all!

c*ck CROWS

THUNDER RUMBLES

RAIN PATTERS

That was just about the worst night's

sleep ever.

Total truth.

c*ck CROWS

Wish it had rained last night, to be

honest.

It's noisy, but it would drown out the

bloody c*ck!

The chickens provide some meat and

eggs,

but most of life here revolves around

fishing.

The family eat what Bari catches

but, to buy clothes and other

essentials,

he also sells fish at a nearby market

to people from other islands.

I'm trying to help with breakfast.

OK.

Are you proud of Bari for what he

does?

Do you worry about him when he goes

fishing?

It's not surprising Mamma Henni

worries.

Bari usually goes out alone in his

small boat,

sometimes miles out to sea,

diving to crazy depths.

That's risky enough, without even

thinking about the powerful

tiger sharks that hunt in these

waters.

Bari, is what you do dangerous?

Bari, I'm really sorry to ask,

but what happened to your

brother-in-law?

Bari can't afford to stop fishing.

A paltry catch during the day

means he's heading out again.

He's going to face the demons, the

sharks,

and the depths, in the dark.

I do like the sea when I can actually

have some vision,

where there is a sun above.

Going into the sea at night Um

A little bit apprehensive about it.

At night, the beautiful reef I saw in

daytime

is transformed into an eerie world,

almost ghostly.

Many fish are asleep or hiding from

the sharks

that come out to hunt at night.

In the dark ocean, alone and miles

from any help,

it does feel dangerous,

as if anything could emerge from the

inky black gloom.

That's a danger Bari is facing more

and more often.

He doesn't take much from the sea

but commercial fishing around the

Coral Triangle

by trawlers and foreign fishing fleets

has decimated the population of

larger, more valuable fish.

So, Bari has to target smaller reef

fish, like this goat fish.

It means he has to take chances

and dive more often to feed his

family.

Bari's aware of the risks, but feels

he has no choice.

Increasingly, it can be a tough life,

surviving on the edge of a wilderness.

I just want to say thank you so much

for your hospitality.

Man hug.

Sweaty man, that's me.

Thank you very much indeed. Thank you

so much.

- Thank you, thank you.

- Thank you. All right.

We will gather our stuff, and we will

head off.

Bye, guys!

Reluctantly, I'm leaving Bari and

Mamma Henni.

I've got hundreds of miles to travel

across the Coral Triangle.

The Bernetta is the cosy home for all

our kit and filming crew.

At the helm is Captain Lindra and a

small crew of Indonesian sailors.

We're travelling across the Malacca

Sea,

towards a small cluster of islands

off the Indonesian coast of New

Guinea,

an area called Raja Ampat.

It's just about the richest and most

spectacular undersea environment

on Earth.

The bull's-eye at the heart of the

Coral Triangle.

It's not the fastest boat on the sea,

but that does give me time to soak up

the surroundings.

There's a few birds out there fishing.

There's some flying fish as well.

Time passes slowly on the ocean.

He's playing a game.

What's it called?

Look. He's played it a lot!

Level 3,657, I just saw.

It's not long before we spot evidence

of one of the threats

to life in the Coral Triangle.

It's so strange to suddenly see a

fishing boat emerging.

It just appeared almost from nowhere.

The Coral Triangle has a fair claim

to be perhaps the richest eco-system

anywhere in our oceans.

But it's still fished by international

industrial trawlers

that take out millions of tons of

bigger fish, like tuna, every year,

and bottom trawlers that rip up the

seabed

for prawns and other shellfish.

But Nesha's taking me

to a place where marine life is

protected like nowhere else.

It's still a long way across open

ocean.

And, even with modern communications

on board the Bernetta,

there are real risks in being this

remote.

VOICE OVER RADIO

It's our third night at sea, and one

of the team is in trouble.

So, we've got a bit of a problem.

Eric, our director,

has come down ill.

He's not in a great way,

and we're just trying to work out how

far we are

from proper medical help,

and it would seem we are

We're quite a long way.

Eric has a serious fever.

He's had his vaccinations,

but nothing is 100% effective.

Travelling in remote tropical parts of

the planet,

you can pick up anything from Malaria

to Typhoid,

as I know myself.

Are you feeling comfortable, or do you

want another pillow or anything?

- My head feels like an iron.

- Oh, Eric.

I'm just going to put this on your

forehead, all right?

- Thanks.

- I'm so sorry, pal. Do you want a bit

more ice and another towel?

- This is fine.

- All right, let's We'll just go

outside and confer, OK?

- Yeah.

- So, his temperature is 39.5,

which !sis not great.

So, now I've got to keep an eye on

him, of course,

and we've also got to see where the

hell are we,

and can we get him to a hospital?

A temperature of 40 degrees can be

life-threatening.

So, we need to come up with a plan in

case it continues to rise.

- So, we'll be right under here at 5am

tomorrow.

- Right.

- But the nearest airport is Seranti

right here.

- Oh,

- BLEEP.

- So, it's far.

- When I say it's far, it's far.

We need to work out what we're going

to do.

We think that five o'clock tomorrow

morning, we'll be

On our current course, we'll be

two hours from a community

on an island,

but whether they've got a clinic there

is unclear.

We need to dig out a satellite phone

and start calling to try and get

some

some more information and some help.

What did he What did the captain

say?

- Medivac is the next thing.

- Helicopter?

- Yeah.

- It'll take hours of sailing to reach

a place

where a chopper can land,

but we head in that direction.

We treat Eric, get him comfortable,

and hope his raging fever subsides.

So, a quick update on Eric.

He's doing a lot better.

He's just had some toast, which is a

very good sign,

and we are just going to leave him to

rest and recover.

- Yeah, let's see how you go.

Feel better, Eric.

- Thanks.

- It's a bloody relief, to be honest.

I mean, if you can imagine,

we're out here -

just have a look around.

There's nothing out here.

Not another boat, nor another ship.

It looks completely empty.

EXHALES

How far to go now?

- 111.

- 111 miles or kilometres?

- No, 110. Miles.

- With Eric well and truly on the

mend,

we'll press on for a couple more days

towards our next destination.

Land ahoy!

I've always wanted to say that!

We're arriving into Raja Ampat.

This would be a welcome sight any

time, wouldn't it?

Particularly after you've been on a

long journey across the sea.

Our planet can still be so sublimely

beautiful.

Raja Ampat has been described as

one of the last real paradises

left on Earth. Quite a claim,

but possibly justified.

Raja Ampat is home to more than 2,000

species of fish

and hundreds of corals.

It looks like a welcoming committee is

heading our way.

So, apparently, there's a patrol

coming.

Oh, bloody hell. He's got an as*ault

r*fle.

Do you know what they're doing?

- So, they're checking on the onboard

paperwork.

- OK.

- That's part of the patrol around

here in Raja Ampat,

to make sure there's, you know, you're

following the rules,

there's no fishing, for example, in a

no-take zone.

- Is it a Government patrol? Is it a

police patrol, or what?

- There is one police, water police,

in there.

They're law enforcers.

- It's more like a conservation

patrol.

- Yes.

Conservation patrol, but it is an MPA.

So

- A Marine Protected Area?

- Yes.

- So, they're definitely good guys.

- Yeah, for sure. We need this.

It's very, very important.

- Marine Ranger Mohid Eniba combs

boats in this part of Raja Ampat,

checking for ill*gal catches.

I mean, a fishing boat, like any boat,

has got 1,000 different little places

you can hide something,

hasn't it?

And how did you feel when you

discovered that?

This patrol is part of a revolution

that's happened here in Raja Ampat.

A couple of decades ago, this area was

chockfull of fishing boats.

Fish life was steadily being wiped

out.

But Indonesia decided to protect Raja

Ampat as a treasure,

seizing and sinking hundreds of

ill*gal fishing boats.

Across thousands of square miles,

fishing is now heavily restricted, or

banned altogether.

The results have been spectacular.

A wilderness can be restored.

Just look at that colour.

Raja Ampat is Nesha's world.

This is where she's spent most of her

career

as a scientist, monitoring and

protecting.

Immediately, it's clear.

This is an undersea paradise.

Three-quarters of the world's coral

species

are found in the Coral Triangle.

Within moments, I'm surrounded by

shoals of damsel fish

..and great clouds of fusiliers.

That's a trigger fish.

Raja Ampat is at the heart of the

Coral Triangle,

which is like nowhere else on Earth.

You can see why it's been described as

the Amazon of the seas

..and it's a crucial part of the

global ocean system

on which all life depends.

After all, it's ocean eco-systems

that produce half the oxygen we

breath.

Of all the fish here, there's one in

particular

that's vital for a healthy sea.

The shark.

The smallest sharks are just six

inches long.

The biggest, the size of a truck.

They still evoke fear

..but now we know nearly all sharks,

including this beautiful white-tipped

reef shark,

are, of course, totally harmless to

humans.

However, as apex predators,

they maintain order and balance

in the entire underwater eco-system.

Oh, my.

That was

That was completely breathtaking.

Honestly, I mean, maybe this is just

normal for you being here,

but that was utterly spectacular.

But it's It's so deceptive.

Just look at thethe water.

You have no comprehension

of what is beneath the surface here.

- I'm still very happy to see so many

different fish.

Every food chain level is there, and

you got to see some sharks as well.

- But globally, sharks are in trouble.

Overfishing, legal and ill*gal,

is k*lling tens of millions each year.

They're eaten around the planet,

and shark fins are used

in a tasteless soup in China and

elsewhere.

Just a decade ago, many sharks here

were facing extinction.

One species was only spotted three

times in 20 years.

Today, this is a protected marine

reserve,

policed by patrols like the one that

stopped us earlier.

Overall, shark numbers are now an

incredible 25 times higher

than in unprotected areas

..and right now, Nesha and her

colleagues

are taking shark conservation

one big step further.

- Are you ready to see the pups?

- I'm ready, yes. I think.

"Pups"?

- So, we've got two here.

This is our first-born, Mali.

- That is a sight of epic cuteness,

quite frankly.

I know that's not a very scientific

thing to think or say, but

Oh! She's

He/she is moving.

- She.

- She.

Oh, my goodness.

Hello.

- Oh, she's saying hi to you!

- Hello to you, too!

- Hey, Mali.

- She doesn't look really like a shark

to me.

She looks At the front like a

cuddly toy,

and then

..strange wings.

The tail and the rest of her is a bit

sharky

..but she just looks so cute.

- Mali is a zebra shark,

or better known as Indo-Pacific zebra

shark.

- Right.

- In the last 15 years of monitoring,

we've only seen about less than 20

sights

and that's very little comparing to

how much the other sharks

like blacktip, grey reef,

whitetip, they've all rebounded and

have, like, insane numbers.

But these guys unfortunately haven't

done so well.

- So, where did she come from?

- So, Mali comes from Sea Life Sydney.

Over there, the second one, she

actually come from Las Vegas.

- No!

- Yes.

The zebra shark will actually lay

eggs, which are known to be hardy

and can survive trans-pacific

shipment,

and obviously it's much easier to ship

eggs than pups.

These two will be released in about

two and a half months.

She is part of this whole initiative

of re-sharking the world.

- "Re-sharking"?

That is not a phrase I've heard

before.

- ReShark is an initiative to

repopulate the oceans

with sharks,

and we're working with public

aquariums all over the world

who have built the experience of

animal care

and also breeding them,

especially those species that need a

little bit of help

and haven't done very well in the

wild.

- Wow.

I haven't heard that anywhere, ever.

I'm here at the start of something

huge.

This is a global first.

ReShark has massive ambitions.

It's a worldwide collaboration between

governments,

universities, aquariums and

conservation groups.

So, we're going to go and collect some

snails and clams

for the sharks.

- Right here, a snail.

One of their favourite, actually.

- Oh, they're tiny.

- They are tiny, but they're still

pups.

- The aim is to breed and reintroduce

hundreds of harmless,

helpful sharks, like little Mali here,

and possibly re-shark other world

sites,

perhaps even off the coast of Wales.

There it goes.

Tail's wagging, almost!

- Yeah, she's amazing.

She's the I would say, like, the

best species to work with.

It's hard not to fall in love.

- But to make a project like this

work,

the local community needs to be

involved as well.

The answer here is eco-tourism.

This marine reserve is partly set up

and funded

by a diving resort,

which also provides jobs and careers

for local people,

so they don't need to hunt for sharks

to put food on their table.

It's not the full answer, is it?

We can't just keep decimating shark

numbers around the planet,

and think that Nesha is going to be

able to put

all of that life back into the seas.

- We need to turn off the tap, first

and foremost.

But, of course, we can't just be

blanketing the oceans

with no-take zones, without

alternative livelihoods

for the people who actually depend on

the ocean.

So, the fact that zebra shark is a

highly sought after

species for snorkelers and divers,

really is a main driver

why this project is so loved and

embraced by the local community

and government, because it is part of

the

alternative livelihood, instead of

fishing them out.

- It's time to leave Raja Ampat

and set off on the last stage of my

journey across the Coral Triangle.

It's also time to say goodbye to

Nesha.

Nesha!

Farewell.

- Have a great trip.

- Travel safe.

- Thank you.

- Thank you so much for all you've

done,

and all you've shown us!

- It's been a pleasure.

- Good luck, OK?

- Good luck to you!

- So, we're heading out again, back to

sea,

into a slightly wilder, choppier bit

of the ocean.

These are not uncharted waters, of

course not,

but they are for this team.

This boat has never been there,

and we're going to look for the great

giant of our oceans,

the largest fish in the sea.

We're on a hunt, searching for whale

sharks.

My voyage in search of these giant

fish

will take me around the Indonesian

coast of the island of New Guinea.

Three days of sailing should hopefully

get me

to my final destination -

a remote area of New Guinea called

Cenderawasih Bay.

I am ludicrously excited at the

thought

we mightwe might see whale sharks.

Despite their size, whale sharks have

always been elusive.

The legendary Jacques Cousteau only

saw two

in decades of exploring the sea,

and, now, they're even rarer.

The global population of whale sharks

has halved in recent

decades mainly because, obscenely,

they're fished for their fins.

To up our chances of spotting them,

one of the world's top whale shark

experts has agreed to come aboard.

Abam Sianipar is one of the few

scientists

who have conducted research in

Cenderawasih Bay.

We're heading towards the bay.

We're heading towards this hot spot,

really, isn't it?

- Yep.

- It's a bio-diversity hot spot

- Yup.

- ..of planetary significance.

- So, some fish scientists might also

consider this place

as a cauldron of evolution for marine

biodiversity

because, you know, these areas are so

remote

there's very little research happening

around here.

And this area seems to produce more

and more new species of fish

in the year that we studied them.

So, again, yes, it is a special place

for whale sharks,

but for marine biodiversity, it's also

a very exciting place.

- But first we have to get there

..and that means back into the daily

rhythm of life on the boat.

It wouldn't really be an expedition if

anything went entirely to plan.

THUNDER CRASHES AND RUMBLES

It's going to be pretty tricky

spotting whale sharks in this weather.

We're making pretty slow progress now

as well, there's a bit of wind.

I'm just not sure we'll make it to the

area we wanted to get to.

But eventually, the weather picks up.

A few days more pottering along

and we finally make it to the edge of

Cenderawasih Bay.

Within the vastness of the Coral

Triangle,

this is another huge protected

Indonesian national park.

The bay is 200 miles across

..and here is our best chance of

seeing whale sharks.

- No fins, no fins.

- Oh.

- When they travel, they don't always

stay on the surface.

From our last study,

one of the whale sharks dived up to

1,000 metres

inside of the bay,

and from the

- A kilometre down?

- Yeah.

- In the bay?

- In the bay.

- Wow!

- And then that's kind of like also

one of the biggest why,

in kind of, like, the whale shark

communities,

why this, you know, animal does this

dive,

what's down there.

To certain depths people might argue

there might be food there.

But when you go close to 1,000, and

even beyond

..there's basically nothing there.

- Is there any creature on this planet

of such comparable size

about which we know so little as the

whale shark?

- It's still one of the biggest

mysteries.

- Whale sharks can be 18 metres long,

and weigh up to 30 tonnes.

They migrate thousands of miles across

the seas,

but we don't really know why.

Nobody really knows where they breed

or where their babies are born.

We do know they can live to 100 or 150

years old.

That means there could be whale sharks

swimming

Earth's oceans right now

that were born before the invention of

light bulbs!

To try and solve some of the many

mysteries about them,

Abam and his colleagues have set up a

monitoring programme

to photograph and track the whale

sharks of Cenderawasih Bay.

Thank goodness Abam knows one place

where we have a really good chance of

finding them.

What on earth is that structure?

- That is what we call a "bagan".

- A bagan?

- A bagan.

So, a bagan is a lift-net fishing

platform

that the people in the village have

developed to

specifically fish for bait fish, and

also small

Other small fish during the night with

the help of lights.

- So, how come they're here, inside

such a protected area?

- These fishermen have got a special

permit,

both from the national park but also

from the

..the local people, which is the

custodian of theof the areas.

- They're allowed to fish here because

this is a more traditional

form of fishing -

it's not dragging an industrial size

net

- No.

- ..through the entire bay.

- Exactly.

There's some fins just popping up to

the surface there.

- You saw something?

- Just here.

- Oh, my goodness.

It can't possibly be!

Are you serious?

- I think

- There's one waiting for you here?

- Yeah.

- No way!

There's a whale shark here already!

Oh!

- Hello, hello!

- It's the size of a bus!

- Yup.

- This is like a time traveller,

or something from another planet.

I've never been so close to anything

remotely of this size in the ocean.

It's utterly It's just

breathtaking.

- They are quite amazing.

One thing that always captivates me is

also how

how gently they move,

how graceful they manoeuvre their

bodies,

like doing a ballet under water.

- I can't quite believe this.

I didn't think we would actually see

them

..let alone right underneath us.

What a staggering creature.

- Even the biggest one that we've

seen,

I think 7-7.5 metres in length

- Mm-hm.

- ..and we still consider them as a

non-adult individual.

So, probably juveniles,

and they use some areas like

Cenderawasih Bay

as a nursery for them to eat as much

as they can

- Right.

- ..to grow as fast as they can,

and then potentially leaving the bay

when they get bigger.

- Whale sharks come to this platform

because local fishermen here share

their catch.

Because of that, this is one of the

only places on the planet

where scientists can monitor large

numbers of whale sharks.

Abam and his colleagues have put

satellite tags

on dozens of these giants.

They're running the largest whale

shark tagging project in the world.

They also take photos to identify and

record sharks.

They each have a unique pattern of

spots.

This is astonishing.

I know you need to do some science,

rather than me just getting a lump in

my throat looking at them.

What do you want to do?

- I want to get in the water with

them.

- Oh, my God!

HE LAUGHS

Oh, my God!

And by any chance, do you need

somebody to, you know,

hold your camera?

- Sure, of course!

- Well, I'm game.

Let's get in the water.

- Let's do it.

I think we try to avoid them as much

as we can.

I try to maintain a distance, like,

three metres

- OK.

- But of course, they are swimming

around.

Sometimes they creep up on your back,

we can't do anything about it.

But we'll just try our best.

Three, two, one

- Whale sharks aren't hunters like

some of their shark cousins.

They're not interested in me.

They're more like vacuum cleaners,

filter feeding and sieving plankton

and small fish

through their huge mouths.

Their teeth are tiny,

and their throats can be just the

width of a 10p piece.

The visibility around the platform

isn't amazing,

so you don't see them coming from far

off -

they just emerge almost out of the

gloom,

and then suddenly this enormous,

ancient, prehistoric,

present-day, other worldly alien

creature

is coming right at you

..and I absolutely bloody love it.

Abam's work is shedding new light on

the life of the whale shark.

Here in Cenderawasih Bay,

there's thought to be a population of

around 130 of them,

mostly juveniles.

Some live in the bay, while others

come and go.

For some unknown reason, all the

sharks here are males.

Where the females go is another

mystery.

It's early days, but the project here

is one of our best chances

of finding out more about these

magnificent creatures

and protecting them.

And it's all made possible

because of the local Indonesian

fishermen

who have, for years, fed the sharks.

Nerdin has fished on this bagan since

he was a boy.

What do the whale sharks mean to you?

You do feed them quite a lot of fish,

don't you?

Why do you give them so much?

I've reached the end of my voyage

across the Coral Triangle.

This miraculous corner of our world.

I've learnt how this little-known

wilderness

is vital to life in the wider ocean

..and I've seen on this journey

how its crucial local people are

involved in preserving it.

Nerdin and the fishermen here are an

inspiring example

of how people can live alongside

nature,

cherishing it without over-exploiting

it.

How do you feel?

I saw you smiling as you were feeding

them.

As you're putting food almost into the

mouths

of these enormous creatures.

What an amazing place to end this part

of the journey,

with Nurdin on his fishing platform

giving away great big boxes of his

fish to the whale sharks!

I absolutely love it.

HE LAUGHS

Bloody brilliant.

You really are.

Next time

LOW GROWLING

There are lions going past my tent!

..I'm crossing one of the world's

great deserts

..on an epic hunt with the legendary

trackers of the Kalahari.

Man, this is intense.

Coo!

- Coo!