Coral reef adventure
the south Pacific
lagoons that hint paradise
magnificent coral reefs that
light the dream in corners of minds
this is the world as we wish and could always be
in this great corner of life
thousands of colorful characters coexist
diversities strengthens coral reefs
the more species
the more survival systems
coral reefs be going strong for sixty million years
some corals wave like flowers in the breath
others masquerade the stones
but all corals are animals
this under order playgrounds are built by hard corals
which produce lime stone and turn it into homes
stack one on top of the other
millions of coral homes
gradually form a gigantic reef
how wonderful the largest living structures on earth
are built by tiny animals
coral reefs protect nearly all tropical coast
standing between islander's homes and violent seas
one may injured
doctors use calcium carbonate from coral
to mend our broken bones
when we were sick
chemical components from the reef
may restore our health
no place on earth
holds greater potential for medical curers
reefs
feeders
over three hundred million people
rely on fish from reefs
for Pacific islander like me
our coral reefs are as necessary as the air we breath
Russy coral a native of Fiji
has always lived close to the sea
for centuries
my ancestors were careful not to overfish
so our reef was healthy
but this year
something happened
something terrible
a blacker death set over the reef
what was killing our reef?
I made up my mind to find the answers
I decide to reach up to
some of my death partners around the world
Howard and Micheal Hall
has spent thirty years exploring and filming reefs
their underwater photography is world known
when Howard and Micheal got Russy's message
they voyaged the mountains
far from the reefs they loved
I was drawing that flight I kept wondering
what we could do to help Russy
then I realized that
our friend Richard Pile might know what to do
he is a marine biologist
across the world
red sea east Africa, Maldives, Philippines
we seeing this kind of problems showing up
in unprecedented rate
Richard showed us how coral reefs to die
and the alarming rate all around the world
ocean warming is the major cause
Richard urged just document coral reefs
on film for science
before they disappear
we knew the Max camera with a credible clarity
was the best way to do this
our mission was clear
bring back images of inside
and why Russy's reef was dying
we need to compare Russy's reef
to other reefs all across the south Pacific
starting with the largest of them all
the Great Barrier Reef
the prospect of diving coral reef
all across the south Pacific
was a bit like a dream come true
we will make hundreds of dives
and some of these would be deeper and more dangerous
than anything we have done before
it would be a most important expedition
in our thirty years' diving together
parts of the Great Barrier Reef
had been protected from overfishing for two decades
the first goal of this ten-month expedition
is to see how well that protection really worked
when I first dove here 22 years ago
these giant clams were not here
they had been fished up by commercial fishmen
today we have seen 12 giant clams
that's a great sign
that means this reef spells its back
a local marine biologist named Tracy Medway
let us to the giant potatocut
they were called potatocut
because they had these patchy potato shape
marking on the sides
throughout most of the Pacific
the really large fish had been wiped out by fishmen
for life here under because of the laws that protect them
this vegetarian protect the reef
neighboring a wave seaweeds that smudged the coral
if too many of this kind of fish are removed
corals will die
that's why overfishing destroy reefs
we often realized
how each species benefits each other
until one of them disappeared
just as the fish protect the reef
the coral offers homes and hiding place for the fish
anything from a simple shark
to a custom dream home
gobies often share a home with shrimp
whenever he ventures out of the burrow
the shrimp keeps at least one antenna on the goby
the goby get a unpackable burrow to live in
without lifting a fin
and the very near sited shrimp gets a bodyguard
with flicked its tale
the goby warns the shrimp of approaching foes
this hundred year old coral
makes a nice dinner's office
for potatocut
a small fish
a clean arrester
swims right into the coral's mouth
to feed and parasites
the coral's gets grunt
and arrester gets dinner
partnerships like this seem to require mutual trust
lots of trust
Cart Hollerway, a coral researcher
joined Michael to study interest species communication
I was afraid I was going to heaven
maybe swollen with
but I didn't
it just chin and a little bit
I was studying animal behavior for so many years
this was
this was different
this was a chance for meet it
actually be part of it
cooperation between species sustained lives here
but sometimes it is almost invisible
the coral's most important partners
are tiny microscope alga
that actually live inside the coral and most tissues
this help alga use sunlight to produce sugar
the primary food source
that give coral the energy to build reefs
most corals cannot survive without helper alga
but worldwide
abnormally warm seawater
threaten this partnership
time-up photography can show us how
and just one week
that changed two centigrade drives the alga out
without its main food source
the coral bleaches as ghostly white
if the alga don't return
the corals starves
here in Australia we went to some places that
we have been to 22 years before
and we are surprise to see that
some of the reefs so damaged by ocean warming
part Australian survey give us a baseline
for understanding what was going wrong
at Russy's reefs
when we got to Fuji
it didn't take five minutes to reconnect with Russy
Howard makes me smile again
Micheal and I were eager to help Russy
but first
we have to pay our respect to local tradition
before outsiders can direct my home island
the elders must grant permission
my people have always limited fishing
this tradition of reef conservation
has worked well for centuries
till now
first I wanted Howard to see village reef
as it used to be
the reef looks great with plenty of small fish
but we didn't see many big fish
as we did in Australia
and that worried me
but time had come
I took Howard and Michael further down the reef
I wonder where all the animals gone
these reefs are dying
and all just makes me very sad
seeing so much of these reef destroyed
we realized that
Russy's reef may be what all coral reefs look like
in thirty years
our reef was to be home of so many creatures
but now they almost all gone
after seen all these destruction though
I saw an octopus
octopus is made like a tent with the body
they put up their eight arms and
actually traps shrimps and crabs live on the reef
here octopus figure out
how to survive
not many reef to do that
for islander survive by fishing
the death of the reef is really hit us hard
especially when you have children to feed
but what kills Russy's reef?
Foreign fishing fleets have overfished this water
and thermometer tells us that
the ocean is two degrees warmer than normal
I found more bleached coral and no big fish
but I had a hunch that
ocean warming and overfishing
were not the only problems
ten mile inland
when tropical rain forest were cut down
the river turn muddy with silt
two rivers merged
one with logging upstream
one without
there was only place for all that settlement to go
at the mouth of the river
silt block the sun light that the coral needs to growth
Russy's reef had been hit
by a combination of stresses
ocean warming overfishing and siltation
corals may fight off one threat
but three at once proved too much
now I understand the problem better
but what could I do
Howard thought a healthier reef
might give us some answers
we set quest to another island
there we joined up with John Michealgusto
who is the son of the legendary explorer
John Michealgusto comes to Fuji every year
to help marine biologists
like marine's world read records
we guild Howard and Michael to a nearby reef
where siltation is not a problem
thanks to mangrove trees
their roots traps the silt
protecting the reefs
many fish sees mangroves as nursery
to protect the young
my fellow Fijians
have set aside this beneficial as mangroves
as part of marine preserve
making the reef offshore a wonder land
healthy beautiful and strong
this is the way I want my reef to be
tropical coral reefs are found worldwide
Fuji is the soft coral capital of the world
corals are beautiful
but they are also beneficial
chemical components from coral reefs
have been reproduced in the lab
to provide relief from pain
ease child birth
and even extend the life of AIDS patients
corals share their foods
in fact many of them share the same stomach
when the current fix up speed
time lap photographs shows
how these soft corals inflate like balloons
to trap passing animals
on a healthy reef like this
you see so many different creatures
we preferred not to approach these animals
it's better of they come to us
this distant cousin of the cobra
can kill a person in a matter of minutes
but they rarely bite humans
Michael is counting on that
we learned a lot of our reef from its animals
and so do the children
there is more to the reef than meets the eyes
observation is the first step in science
who would notice
that yellow fish got their tiny eggs
before they hatch
all that the sea cucumber eat the waste
leaving the reef clean up for all
some of the finest marine biologists are Fijians
we could expect scientists mixed
we've learned that we don't inherit the earth
from our parents
we borrow it from our children
children love this spot fish they've never seen before
that same discovery drives many scientist
like Richard Pile
Richard Pile calls himself a fishman
he study fish on the deepest parts of coral reefs
the deeper down we go on the coral reef
the less we know
I want to find out who lives there
you can't get a true picture of coral reef
if you only look at part of it
but deep dives could be really dangerous
even using a special breathing devises
we could still get a fatal disease
called "the bangs"
we nearly lost Howard on a deep dive
only two months ago
ha had a bad case of "the bangs"
it could have killed him
to stop the progression of the illness
I began breathing pure oxygen
but it didn't seen to help
I was losing all the feelings in my right legs
one of the terrify moment for me
was actually seeing him stumble
I just thought it can't be happening
Michael rushed Howard to the hospital
hoping the specially pressurized chamber
might hold the illness
and save his life
thank god for the communication system
because at least then I could talk to him
Howard survived
but his closest call was on my mind that
we prepare for the dive to the 350 feet
the next day on the deep dive
Howard and Richard would face pressures
nearly 12 times greater than the normal
but they are expert divers
and there is much to learn by exploring regions
where so little was known
support divers attached safety tanks to a life line
every 50 feet
as we descent
too much oxygen is bad
too little is worse
both can kill you
the safety divers go down as far as he can and stop
after that
we are on our own
as we drop down the reef wall
it gets darker and colder
and in a way we are going back in time
at 200 feet
we pass lime stone deposited the lay down
twenty thousand years ago
back when this was the top of the reef
at 350 feet
we entered the twilight zones
it's sort of spooky but wonderful
to look around the reef that
no one has ever lay eyes on for
it's starting to get interesting
it's that we could see fan corals and weed corals
this community definitely appeared to be thriving
in his quest to find out what lives down here
Richard can only bring a few back to the surface
to be documented for science
looking around I see at least a dozen of new species
I have never seen before
I doubt that anyone has seen them before
scientists like Richard
are mapping the web of life that
we are all part of
each new fish Richard finds
told millions of years of genetic engineering
for medical research
then the intense water pressure
caused the primary camera
to no function
I was glad that Howard coordinate into the dive
we hope that Howard's images
would let scientist explore reefs
that they might never be able to dive on the rope
it's not everyday you can witness
that a discovery of a new species of fish
you see the red one with the long tale
that's what I was really excited
that's definitely live
oh I see those all the time
until quite recently
the deep coral reef was
the big dark boy on the map of life
but each new discovery
leads us to the new connection
this may seen like just some magnificent red fish
but it's very important piece
to the biodiversity puzzle
as soon as I saw I knew it's something different
the months of hard work in Fiji paid off
Russy have seen first time
how corals can thrive when reefs are protected
he is now ready to return to his home island
my fellow Fijians have shown me
how to set up a marine preserve
protect the mangroves
and even cut logging operations
I really want to get started
here in Fiji we have seen some amazing reefs
but we have also seen a lot of coral damages
the siltation we saw in Russy's reef
let us to a next question
is closeness to shore
a major risk factor for corals?
French Polynesia is a perfect place
for answering this question
in French Polynesia
Howard and Michael started with
the heavily populated islands of Tahiti and Maria
where the reefs are close to shore
but with only six weeks left in the whole expedition
Howard had to get the big picture fast
Im used to hang gliders
Im used to fly around like this
but there is still something not quite right
about the engine that was fit in my back pack
Maria is sort of like Russy's island
the coral here is very sensitive
to siltation and pollution
because the corals are great close to the shore
after checking out the north side of Maria
we crossed the mountain to survey the south coast
even near towns
we didn't spot much reef damages
coastal development put reef in jeopardy
siltation pollution and the lose of mangroves
are all serious risks
but resource like this proved that
respecting the environment is a good business
because tourists avoided damaged reefs
our flight over Maria
just gave us a first impression
so was time running out
I turned to recheck board survey boat
the Quicksilver Crossing
reef check has over 4000 sport divers in 60 countries
the health of coral reef
we ask three check voluntaries
to check the coral damage here in Maria
to find out if the reefs close to shore
are the most severely damaged
from the air
it's clear how these volcano islands formed
and how coral reefs formed around them
the steepest youngest islands Tahiti and Maria
stands tall
these islands have not eroded and subsided much
so the coral reefs ringing them is not far offshore
the volcano has subsided and eroded somewhat
and the reefs are farther from shore
the final stage
is this flat and the island called and atop
the volcano has completely subsided back into the sea
leaving a ring coral which one circled a top mountain
the team headed for the second largest in the world
Rangeroa
to survey the remotest reef in French Polynesia
a cyclone wiped out most Rangeroa's coral
but storms are natural events
and coral reef still recovered from them
as long as human impacts don't interfere
here the coral seems small but healthy
right away we saw two male fish
fighting over territory
this was a sign of large thriving fish population
but why haven't we seen the huge sharks
in great reef shores Rangeroa so famous for
their absence is not necessarily a danger sign for corals
but it could single and balance the whole reef eco system
so finding the shark became our main goal
we search the shark's favorite hangouts
but they didn't see to be home
we use caution because
one thing you don't want to do
is catch a great reef shark by surprise
if the shark louse around the water
the quickest way to spot them
is from the outer light
throughout the Pacific
whole population of sharks had been wiped out
by commercial fishermen
great reef shark are especially vulnerable
and that's what worry me
the airy search for sharks turns out nothing
and we are running out of time
but there is one last place to look
to Puta Pass
here the current just screams
hundreds of starve sharks are hang out
like street gang in the canyon
we were being swept into them
and there is nothing we can do about it
could they be mating
this is when you try very hard
not to look like a shark
I have two friends badly bitten by great reef sharks
the most social of all sharks
graze tender swimming tight groups
Ive been diving for 35 years
but Ive never seen the life like this
there must be 300 sharks in this school
and that's a healthy number
this big school doesn't close the book
but it is a favorable sign
for the health of this reef ego-system
we party with the sharks for nearly an hour
knowing that on our way home
we have a current on our backs
so we can go with the float
for ten exhausting but magical months
Michael and I explored
some of the most magnificent coral reefs on earth
during that time
our concern for coral grew into a share passion
my people look at the reef
and we don't want to believe such a place
could be gone forever
my friends Howard and Michael
have given me new tools to heal my village reef
Howard's love to the reefs nearly cost his life
but after making more than 500 dives
we came back with some really powerful images
one image I can't get out of my mind
is that alone octopus crawling to the rubble
soon it may not have a home
no one set out to kill a beautiful thing
but when a reef dies
billions of living things die
corals appears to be dying faster than normal
and the trend is rapidly accelerating
most living coral reefs as we know today
could be gone in 30 years
if that happens
then something inside of me will die too
after all the coral reefs have given to us
more and more people are now returning the favor
their supporting leaders who fight global warming
joining teams like "Reef Check"
getting involved
we may have great potential
of finding new medicines on
coral reefs than any other environment on earth
to save them is really saving ourselves
it take a long long time to build a coral reef
step by step
the reef survive on partnerships
and the most important partners
that the corals have are you and I
what we must to do is
encourage a sea change in attitude
one that acknowledges
we are a part of the living world
not apart from it