For centuries we have considered
the ocean a vast limitless resource.
Why shouldn't we?
There were shoals of fish
too big to imagine.
And we didn't just need to eat
the fish and the whales we took...
...we needed their oil
for fuel, for power and light.
Yet one by one, fisheries were
depleted around the world.
In the Mediterranean, the
north Atlantic, and the pacific.
The fish we took were at
the centre of a delicate food chain
that connected the
tiniest micro-organisms
to the largest animals
on the Earth.
Break the food chain by
taking too much from the sea,
and one by one,
the other predators disappear.
But there is a place where
man still shares the ocean,
where the food chain
is still unbroken.
This is where
Africa meets the Sea.
We are in the Transkei...
...on the Eastern coast
of South Africa.
Each winter, the coastline
becomes a battleground
where tropical predators
meet cold water prey
in one of the greatest
natural events on the planet.
Gigantic shoals of fish,
pursued by the highest concentration
of ocean predators in the world,
will head here,
to a place called...
the Wild Coast.
With no safe harbor
for hundreds of miles,
it is a remote
ocean wilderness.
Here we can have a glimpse
of what the oceans of the world
might have looked like
hundreds of years ago.
Here, beneath the waves,
we will witness
the circle of life.
These are the Sardines.
They are a valuable
source of protein
for every predator at
the top of the food chain.
They are central to
the oceanic ecosystem.
For just a few weeks each winter,
millions of sardines find themselves
drawn into the shallow water
creating shoals up
to ten miles long.
From the air, they could
be mistaken for an oil slick.
The sardines follow
the cold water currents
sweeping northwards from
the Southern Cape of Africa,
pursuing the plankton
and nutrients they crave.
This can bring them
as far as the Wild Coast,
and perhaps even further north
to the beaches of KwaZulu Natal,
where another
predator awaits them.
Passing northwards from
the Wild Coast into KwaZulu Natal
is like entering
a different world,
a different South Africa.
This is where Zulu and
Western culture come together,
sharing a common link.
A connection with the sea.
Industry came to this region
from the land and
the sugar cane fields,
but there is another kind
of wealth in the ocean.
When the sardine shoals
pass north of the wild coast,
opposing warm water currents
can force the cold water,
closer to the shore.
If this happens, thousands
and thousands of fish
can be literally swept up
on the beaches
in a potential bonanza
for the local fisherman.
Fishermen look for dolphins and
gannets arriving from the south.
tell tale signs that
sardines are on their way.
But for now they
prepare their nets, and wait.
Not so far away,
just beneath the waves,
another resident of this coastline
is waiting for the shoals.
These Bottlenose Dolphins
will work together in groups
using their sonar to
track down the sardines.
The sardines begin their journey
hundreds of miles south
of the Wild Coast
near the fishing ports
Mossel Bay and Port Elizabeth.
It is also home to
some of the predators
that will pursue them.
This is a colony of
over 60.000 gannets,
many of whom will
make the journey north.
They will be joined
by Cape Fur Seals.
These seals have traveled
only a short distance
from the Eastern Cape
and have found a shoal,
not of sardines, but of
a baitfish called Massbunker.
The school of fish has formed
what is known as a baitball
in an effort to confuse
the predators and protect itself.
The shoal moves
and changes shape
allmost as if it
is a single entity.
By swimming close together,
and only reacting to
the movement of their neighbor,
every single fish contributes
to this "shoal intelligence".
Another predator
attacks the baitball:
the streamlining and speed
of the African Penguin
is too much
for the massbunker.
Nevertheless, this shoal
is actually going to escape,
returning to the depths.
Many factors can affect the
progress of the sardine shoals.
As global warming
raises sea temperatures,
the fish may be forced
further away from the coast
into deeper and colder water.
This far south, they
face another hazard...
Fishing boats take thousands
of tons of sardines each year.
The quantity of sardines taken
is strictly regulated by
the South African government
in an effort to ensure
the fishery is sustainable.
But there is allways the possibility
that whatever is taken here,
may reduce the number
of sardines heading north.
Back on the Wild Coast,
Common Dolphins begin to
arrive from the colder waters
of western and
southern South Africa.
They are not native to this
warmer, subtropical waters.
In June and July,
joining the sardine hunt,
they forget the
territorial differrences
and gather in pods
of up to 4 or 5000.
There can be as many
as 20.000 of them here,
off the Transkei.
Their presence is a sure sign
that the shoals are approaching.
There is a higher concentration
of shark species
here in South Africa
than everywhere
else in the world.
Perfectly evolved sea hunters,
Sharks can detect their prey
from a distance of several miles.
So when the shoals
begin to arrive,
you can be sure these Black Tips,
Copperheads and Duskys
will be among
the first to find them.
The nets, that have
been dettering sharks
from the
KwaZulu Natal beaches
are being removed,
in anticipation of
the approaching shoals.
Too many predators
could be trapped
if the nets were to remain.
It is here, that
the earliest evidence
of man's relationship with
the sea has been discovered.
As the fishermen wait for
the arrival of the sardines,
these women collect
shellfish from rock pools,
in a tradition
that we now know,
dates back over
a 160.000 years.
Every cold front that
arrives from the south
brings with it cooler air,
and colder water,
drawing the sardines
further and further north.
Traveling alongside them
is another winter visitor...
Humpback whales head
northwards like steam trains
towards their
winter breeding grounds
in the warm
waters of Mozambique.
Whilst their arrival coincides
with the sardine shoals,
perhaps they are
more spectators
than participants
in this annual event.
Breaching is a common
site from the shoreline
at this time of year
...as the grand procession
of hundreds of Humpbacks
proceeds northwards.
Dawn on the
KwaZulu Natal coast.
As the dolphins and gannets track
down the shoals out at sea,
the people here are
still watching, still waiting
Every winter storm disrupts
the mild South African climate,
with cold currents carrying the
sardines further and further north
and warm currents pushing them
closer and closer to the shore.
The predators sense
a change in the ocean,
in its temperature, in the
presence of plankton.
In the oil secreted
by advancing shoals
and possibly even in the arrival
of other predatory
species in the region.
The sharks may have
taken the pilot shoals,
but now, all the Wild Coast's
predators are on the move.
Gannets take to the air in
greater numbers than ever.
They can dive from
as high as 100 feet,
and plunge as deep as 30.
They can hit the water at
speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.
The dolphins are
searching for the shoals,
pods joining together
to form superpods.
They gather momentum,
and prepare to charge.
Throughout the 20th century,
sardine shoals were so huge
that millions of them would be
sidetracked into the shallows
where they were taken in nets,
buckets, even upturned skirts.
This is what became
known as the "Sardine Run."
In recent years, sardines have been
reaching the northern beaches
in fewer and fewer numbers.
As the ocean temperatures rise,
the conditions will be
less favorable for the shoals
to approach the shallows.
As the ocean changes,
their behavior
will also change.
Further south, however,
on the Wild Coast,
there is still an
abundance of activity,
like nowhere else on Earth.
The shoal has been
forced to the surface.
It twists and turns and
scatters, dazzling its attackers.
The sea is alive with predators,
unconcerned with each other,
focused only upon taking the sardines
from every conceivable direction.
An undersea battle has begun!
So how do we fit
into the food chain?
If we have to squeeze
the fish into the can
or pack it in ice
...what can we do to
keep our oceans Alive?
Can we control
ourselves just enough
to share the sea with
the other predators
at the top of the food chain?
Can we control
ourselves just enough
to keep the circle of life
spinning beneath the waves?
What would it take?
Once upon a time
all the world's oceans
were as rich and vital
as the Wild Coast.
What would it take
to bring the world's
oceans back to life?
It is time for a sea change.
In the late nineteenth century,
French scientist,
Marcel Herubel first proposed
the concept of marine reserves.
He suggested that
whole areas of the ocean,
the fish hatcheries
and nurseries, be protected.
No one listened.
Right now, over 12% of
the world's land is protected,
yet less than one hundredth
of one percent of the ocean
is a marine reserve.
New Zealand and South
Africa now lead the way,
with South Africa committing
to protecting 20% of its coastline.
If the rest of
the world were to follow,
there would be hope
for our ocean wilderness.
Hope for the great shoals
and for the predators.
For now, there is a place
where we can have a glimpse
of what the oceans of
the world would have looked like
hundreds of years ago...
and perhaps,
one day, could again...
This is the Wild Ocean
This is where
Africa meets the Sea.
Translation: jierro