A Year on Planet Earth (2022-…): Season 1, Episode 6 - A Year on My Planet Earth - full transcript

'Filmed over three years...

'..in more than 60 locations...

'..making a series like
A Year On Planet Earth

'would be impossible without
the collaboration of scientists,

'conservationists and local people.

'They work in the world's
most incredible locations.'

I get to see the mantas
every day.

I am living the dream.

It's completely wild. It looks like
something out of Jurassic Park.

'Using pioneering technology,

'they uncover behaviour
never seen before.'



It's most surreal. I could
see through the eyes of a penguin.

Oh, there's a hammer!
Look at that.

The big hammerhead is trying
to feed on these blacktips.

Every time I go up,
I still love it.

'They use unconventional methods.'

'But they also bear witness

'to the pressures of human activity
on the natural world.'

If the oceans
carry on warming,

we might not have king penguins
by the end of the century.

'Even putting their lives
on the line...'

You have to pretend
as if you are a criminal.

'..for future generations.'

I hope to pass on
whatever knowledge I have

to generations that come



because they are
wonderful creatures.

We should really care about them.

'Through their work,
they experience first-hand

'the challenges
of the changing seasons,

'the highs and lows
of a year on planet Earth.

'These are their stories.

'Halfway between South Africa
and the Antarctic,

'deep in the Southern Ocean,

'lies one of the most remote islands
on the planet.

'Marion Island is one of the last
true untouched havens for wildlife.

'And home
to more than a million penguins.'

It really is
absolutely breath-taking.

It's covered with
the most incredible wildlife.

You can't not be amazed
by this place.

The landscape
is very beautiful.

It's an isolated place

where there's nobody

except the scientists
that come to work here.

'The South African
National Antarctic Programme

'runs a base with a small field team

'that studies the impacts
of climate change.'

Besides the base,

there's no real
structural development,

there's no fences,
there's no walkways.

It's completely wild.

'The base has been manned
365 days a year

'for nearly 40 years.

'Enabling a study unmatched
anywhere else in the world.

'But 2020 posed a problem.

'The global pandemic meant that,
for the first time in decades,

'fieldwork ground to an abrupt halt.

'Until hope arrived
from an unexpected direction.

'Marion Island caught the eye
of the A Year On Planet Earth team.

'Because of the unique habitat,
the island is protected...

'..and filming hadn't been
allowed there for 20 years.

'But the pandemic
presented an opportunity

'for the perfect partnership.

'The film crew
chartered an Antarctic vessel,

'and by offering passage
to key scientists,

'they were granted
unprecedented filming access

'to one of the world's
last true wildernesses.

'Following a gruelling eight days...

'..through the unforgiving
Southern Ocean...

'..the team arrives
and gets straight to work.'

I'm Danielle Keys.

I am a PhD student
at the Nelson Mandela University.

I monitor and observe seabirds.

I absolutely love
being hands-on with animals

that don't have this internal fear
of humans.

You can get really close to them
without scaring them off,

which is incredible.

'This allows the scientists

'to take regular health checks
and measurements of the animals

'on the island.'

'To assess the impact
of climate change,

'the team needs to monitor
what the animals are eating,

'and whether this is changing
over time.'

My name is Frikkie van der Vyver,
and I'm a field biologist

with Pretoria University's
marine mammal research programme.

'Analysing the diet
of a marine mammal

'used to be daunting task.

'But these days,
there's a clever solution.

'For the fur seals of Marion,

'the answer
is hiding in their whiskers.'

The whole whisker
is a timeline

of the animal's diet.

If you think about it,
we are what we eat,

so everything that a seal,
for example, eats

gets laid down in its whiskers,

and scientists can study
a number of years back

what the seal has been eating

through doing
analysis on its whisker.

'Monitoring the diet of Marion's
vast penguin population

'is done very differently.

'Penguins spend up to 75%
of their time in the ocean,

'so, until recently,
much of their lives

'remained a mystery.

'But thanks
to a pioneering new project,

'the team has developed a way

'to follow Marion's
four different penguin species

'far out at sea.'

By putting cameras on their backs,

we can see what they do
out in the open ocean.

We will put more than one device
on them.

We will put a camera on their backs,
as well as a GPS device.

It doesn't hurt their feathers,

and the devices are small enough
to not impact how they swim.

We get a bird's-eye view

of what they actually see
in the ocean.

'The footage reveals behaviour

'never seen before.

'Gentoo penguins
wrestle over the largest squid

'every observed in their diet.

'While the cameras
give us an intimate view,

'GPS data shows exactly where
the penguins go on feeding trips.

'King penguin parents

'sometimes leave their chicks
for months to find food.

'And the data reveals

'they are undertaking a journey
of epic proportions.'

We found that these birds

are travelling
hundreds of kilometres south,

all the way
to the South Antarctic polar front,

and they're foraging there

in this incredibly nutrient-rich
environment.

'But the studies are also revealing

'an accelerating crisis.'

As our oceans are warming,

this current
is moving further south,

which means that these penguins
need to forage a whole lot further

in order to catch their prey.

So their chicks are left
on the beaches a lot longer,

and often their parents
don't come back

with enough food for them.

If this carries on,

if the oceans carry on warming
the way that they are,

there's a good chance
that we might not have king penguins

by the end of the century.

'The scientists' observations
over the past 40 years

'provide hard evidence

'that climate change
is having an impact,

'and they show the importance
of studying and protecting

'this unique, pristine environment.

'During these opening
weeks of the year,

'the sun's most direct rays

'fall on the southern half
of the planet.

'In the Northern Hemisphere,
it's winter.

'Those that can have fled the cold
to follow the sun south.'

'The arrival of one such migrant

'is eagerly anticipated
in Southern Florida.'

My favourite time of year
in South Florida

has to be the winter.
That's when the sharks are here.

In the fall,
as water temperatures start to drop,

these sharks will start moving south

to stay within
their preferred water temperature.

My name is Stephen Kajiura.
I'm a professor

in the Department
of Biological Sciences

at Florida Atlantic University.

Ever since I was a little kid,
like, four or five years old,

I thought sharks were really cool.
I remember going to the library

and getting out
as many shark books as I could.

And I was just fascinated.

I wanted to study sharks.

'Stephen's childhood obsession

'led him
into a career in marine biology,

'specialising in the migration
of blacktip sharks.'

When I first
flew along the beach

and saw thousands of sharks
in the shallows,

I was astounded. I had no idea that
there were that many sharks here,

that close to the beach.

I realised we need to study
this a bit more.

There's a big school.

That's well over a thousand sharks
right there.

That's what we typically get
this time of year.

We get these large aggregations
of these sharks coming down here.

Look at 'em all.

That's a really good-sized school.

'This aerial perspective

'also reveals incredible behaviour

'that would go unnoticed
down on the water.'

These sharks
will funnel in

right up against the beach.

They don't wanna be
in the deep water,

where the big predators are.

Oh, there's a hammer!
Look at that.

There's a hammer, right there.

Larger sharks,
like big, great hammerheads,

are trying to feed on
these blacktips.

A hammerhead
will come in from deeper water

and start to chase them.

And what's interesting
is these blacktips are small enough

that they're able to dart in,
right up against the beach,

into the shallow waters.

The big hammerhead is unable
to follow into the shallow water,

so it has to peel off
and go back into deep water again.

Looking at them from the plane
is great,

but nothing beats actually
being right beside the animal

and actually bringing one up
beside the boat.

'It offers Stephen and his team

'the opportunity
to track the sharks.'

This is
our prime field season.

We've only got literally a few weeks
while the sharks are here.

We have a lot of work to do
in a short window.

And toss the float.

All right.

Let's see what we can catch.

So, we're going
to tag one of the sharks

with a satellite tag on the fin.
And what that allows us to do

is look at the movement
of these sharks

as they're moving
up and down the coast.

'First, the sharks are caught

'and carefully manoeuvred
alongside the boat.'

When you've got a shark
on the line,

you need to work it up quickly.

And once you have the shark secured,

then we're able to get this animal
processed and released

as quickly as possible.

Dart tag, have you got the number
on it? It's, um... 406856.

Any time that fin
breaks the surface of the water,

that satellite tag sends a signal

and gives us
a latitude and longitude,

so we're able
to follow its movement.

And that tag will last
for probably a year or so,

and then it will eventually
fall out of the fin.

'By the end of winter,

'as spring warms the water
further north,

'the sharks start to leave
Southern Florida.

'But for Stephen,
his work has only just begun.'

To me,
one of the most interesting aspects

of this whole project
is getting on the computer

and looking at the data,
seeing what we've learned.

These sharks are going
much farther north now

than they ever have historically.

All the way up to Long Island,
New York.

And I think this is
largely attributed to the fact

that the oceans are warming

and the sharks are encountering
their preferred water temperatures

at higher and higher latitudes.

And so, as oceans continue to warm,

these sharks are probably gonna
keep shifting their distribution

further and further north

and going places
they never were previously.

Conversely, in the winter,

they're not coming
quite as far south.

Why swim all the way
down to South Florida

if the water's just fine
off Central Florida somewhere?

When I started
the aerial survey project,

it was not uncommon to see in excess
of 10,000 sharks on a single flight.

And now, I'm lucky to break
a thousand.

And that's a dramatic change
in no more than a decade.

That is powerful data
to be able to share with the public,

to show a real, tangible effect
of global climate change

on a top-level marine predator.

It's scary,
because there's a dramatic shift

in a short period of time.
But I'm comforted by the fact that

sharks, as a whole, have survived
all five mass extinctions

on this planet,
and they're still here.

And so I'm quite confident

that the sharks
are gonna continue to be here.

They can adapt.
They're gonna do just fine,

and they'll be here
long after the humans go away.

'The warmth which draws
the sharks north, back up the coast,

'is now felt right across
the Northern Hemisphere.

'Winter finally gives way to spring.

'A time of growth.

'And new life.

'For many,
the hardest working months

'of their lives lie ahead.

'And some
will go to extraordinary lengths

'to raise the next generation.

'This female leatherback turtle

'reaches the end of a journey
of more than 5,000km

'from Eastern Canada.

'Her destination
is a remote fishing village

'in the Caribbean.

'Using the Earth's magnetic field
to guide her,

'she returns to the very same beach
where she was born

'nearly two decades ago.'

Wherever they were born,

they come back to the same beach
to lay eggs.

After so long,
I think that is amazing.

My name is Deon McEachnie

I am a fisherman,

and I work as a tour guide,
touring people on the beach,

and also as a patrol
to help protect leatherback turtles

that nest on the beach.

'In peak nesting season,
there are more turtles on the beach

'than people in the village.

'But until recently,

'turtles have been under threat
from the community.'

I grew up in Grande Riviere.
I've spent my entire life here.

We used to poach turtles.

My grandparents, my parents,
we ate leatherback turtles,

we ate turtle eggs.

I mean, I feel sorry about it
that you actually did that,

but, I mean, you didn't know better.

It was just a normal custom
that the villagers used to do.

'But these days,
it's unlikely to be poachers

'walking the beaches at night.

'Following an alarming decrease

'in the global population
of leatherbacks,

'the hunting and consumption
of turtles was banned,

'and the villagers set up
a conservation initiative.

'The Grande Riviere
Nature Tour Guide Association

'monitors the turtles,
and also runs night patrols.'

As soon as
the protection started

and people
began to patrol the beach,

the killing of leatherback turtles
actually stopped.

The community did change.

They are more educated now about it,
and they understand,

you know, the purpose
and how important it is.

'As well as helping
with night patrols,

'Deon runs educational tours
during the daytime.'

Right now,
she's finished laying the eggs.

She's doing a process
we call camouflaging.

Camouflaging means she trying to
hide exactly where she lay the eggs.

If you look at
the front-left flipper,

you will see that there is a cut
on the flipper.

Most likely,
that will be from a machete.

Most likely,
she's been caught in a fishing net.

The fisherman tried to, you know,
chop the turtle

to get the turtle away from the net.

'Whilst leatherbacks are now
well-protected on the beaches,

'out in the ocean,
it's a very different story.'

'Many families rely on fishing
for their livelihood.

'As the sun sets,
fishermen head out to sea.

'They use large vertical panels
of netting suspended in the water,

'called gill nets.

'As well as catching fish,

'the gill nets
often entangle other wildlife,

'including turtles.

'As a fisherman himself,

'Deon uses his knowledge
to engage with the locals.'

How many boats, other than you,
do you see out there in the night?

There's, like, 12 of us.
Could be probably more.

How many turtles
do you believe would actually die

because of being entangled
in the net?

It would be probably 40.

OK, so that's an average of,
let me say,

between 30 to 40 turtles

that will die per night
because of gill net fishing.

- Yeah.
- OK.

You wouldn't always kill them.

You wouldn't always, like...

If we was fishing them,
we wouldn't kill them.

It depends on the net.

Sometimes,
the net can be brand-new.

And if the net is new,

they have to cut up the net
to free the turtle.

And they don't want their net
to be destroyed.

Destroyed, yeah.

I mean, all you can do
is try to talk to fishermen.

But out there, in the night,

it's gonna be totally up to them

if they will take your advice
or not.

'Scientists and NGOs

'are exploring
alternative fishing methods

'that will help keep turtles
safe in these waters.

'Deon hangs up his own gill nets

'for the entire turtle
nesting season,

'and remains committed to winning
over the hearts and minds

'of the community.'

She's heading
back into the water now.

And most likely, she'll be back here
in about ten to 15 days' time...

..where she's gonna deposit
another 80 to 100 eggs.

'Deon's daughter
often joins him on his tours.'

See, she's gonna now swim.
Watch her swim.

Watch, watch, watch. What speed!

What speed, what speed! Yay!

Ooh, see her over there?

I hope to pass on
whatever knowledge I have

to generations that come,

because they are
wonderful creatures.

To come so far
and to do what they do,

you know,
there's so much to learn from them.

We should really care about them.

Ooh!

She gone... far away.

'After nesting,
leatherbacks return to the sea

'to make the long journey
to their feeding grounds

'in the north.

'As our planet continues
on its journey around the sun,

'its heat intensifies
over the Northern Hemisphere

'and the equatorial rain belt
is drawn north.'

'The summer months
see some of the highest rainfall

'across the globe.

'All around the world,

'animals follow
this movement of water...

'..in search of fresh food.'

'This seasonal shift of weather
also changes ocean currents.

'In summer,
a blizzard of nutritious plankton

'flows towards the Maldives.'

In the wet season,
the winds are usually stronger

and we get a lot more rain.

There is what we call
the manta weather.

'Enormous reef mantas

'gather here in their hundreds
to feed on the plankton.'

My name is Yaniu.

I work with the Manta Trust
as a research and education officer.

The best part of my job

is that I get to see the mantas
almost every day.

I am living the dream.

'Yaniu was born
and brought up on these islands.

'But throughout his childhood,
he had no idea

'of the incredible spectacle
just offshore.'

I learned swimming
and snorkelling

when I was really young.

I was really interested
in the natural world,

but I didn't see a manta ray
until I was 18.

When I first saw the mantas,

I was swimming with 200 mantas.

I was so excited.

And at the same time,
I was not really believing

it's happening for real.

From then, I wanted to learn more
about these creatures

and why they show up here.

'The unique geography
of the funnel-shaped bay

'traps huge amounts of plankton.

'And the mantas know exactly where
to come year after year.

'This annual feeding event

'allows Yaniu to gather data
on the population.

'Every summer, he spends his days
taking photographs of the manta rays

'for one of the biggest
photo ID projects ever undertaken.

'15 years of data have been gathered
by the Manta Trust.'

Every individual manta

have their unique spot patterns
on their belly,

which we can use to identify them.

The same way we can use
our fingerprints to identify us.

'The photographs are also used

'to track individual mantas'
movements.'

We can identify
almost any manta

that is seen in the Maldives.

And when we can't identify it,

we usually count it
as a new individual

that can go into our database.

'The results surprised everyone.

'They have identified
more than 5,000 individual mantas

'visiting the Maldives.

'Over ten times the size
of any other known population.

'Making it the manta capital
of the world.

'But news of a gathering
on this scale travels fast.'

In Maldives,
the economy depends on the tourism.

The manta tourism
is a big part of this.

With the increase in the tourism,
we also have other impacts.

There will be more boat traffic,
more pollution,

more people here.

'Despite this, Yaniu understands

'the importance of tourism
to his work.'

The tourism
and tourism establishments

have funded us
for our researchers to be here

and to go out
to where the mantas are.

So the tourism also have ups,

and, at the same time, downs

for the environment
and for the researchers.

'It's a delicate balance,

'and one the Manta Trust
are working hard to get right.'

I hope to see a future

where the mantas
and the other marine organisms

are in no threat,

and they are safe
from the human impact.

They are one of
the most exotic creatures

in the sea world.

I love them all.

'Summer trade winds

'pick up evaporated water
from the Indian Ocean...

'..and carry it north.

'The warm air meets the Himalayas,
where it condenses.

'Clouds build

'for the biggest weather event
of the year.'

'The South Asian monsoon.

'In China,
the mix of monsoon showers

'and warm sunshine

'provides the perfect conditions
for bamboo to grow.

'These tender new leaves and shoots

'provide one forest dweller
with the resource she needs

'to raise her youngster.'

'Pandas have long been

'the global symbol
of endangered species.

'In the 1980s, there were fewer
than 1,000 pandas in the wild.

'But their fortunes
are slowly changing,

'thanks, in part,
to 40 years of dedication

'of one extraordinary man.'

'When Zhang
first joined the panda team,

'the focus
was on building panda numbers

'by breeding them in captivity.

'But it nearly always resulted
in failure.'

'Zhang decided that the key

'to tackling
the panda's notoriously low libido

'was to improve
their overall happiness,

'which meant caring for them 24-7
and building strong bonds.

'His unconventional methods

'soon started to improve
their rate of conception.

'Now the challenge
was to keep the new-born cubs alive.

'But success didn't come easily.'

'Gradually,
through better understanding

'and improvements to their diet
and immunity,

'the survival rate of cubs
was transformed.'

'This incredible success

'brought Zhang worldwide acclaim
as the father of pandas.

'But his ambitions
didn't stop there.'

'Growing up
with lots of human interaction

'didn't help prepare the cubs
for life in the forest.

'So, Papa Panda and his team
invented a unique approach.'

'For two years,
keepers help raise the pandas

'until they're ready to be released
into the wild.

'Getting to this moment

'has taken decades of hard work.

'But for Zhang, it has come
at a great personal cost.'

'The incredible dedication of Zhang,

'and the centre's scientists,
keepers and rangers

'has given hope for
the long-term future of the species.

'After 30 years,
panda numbers have almost doubled

'with nearly 2,000
living in the wild.

'As summer draws to a close,

'the north begins to cool,

'dramatically transforming
an entire landscape.

'The sun's most direct rays
track south,

'drawing with them
the tropical rains.

'But on the parched plains
of Zimbabwe,

'the skies are still cloudless...

'..and it hasn't rained here
for many months.

'Now is the toughest time

'for Hwange National Park's
most famous residents.

'Elephants concentrate around
the few remaining water holes.

'Providing an opportunity
for predators.

'But lions aren't the only ones
taking advantage.'

During the dry season,

it is easy to poach animals.

Instead of hunting for the animals,

the poacher can just go
to the water hole,

wait for the animals,

shoot them to get ivory.

My name is Amos Gwema.

I am the Principal Investigation
and Intelligence Officer

for Zimbabwe Parks
and Wildlife Management Authority.

My aim is to protect the elephant
in Hwange.

'Amos and his team

'look after 35,000 elephants.

'To do this, they must cover
more than 14,500 square kilometres,

'nearly twice the size
of Yellowstone National Park,

'and yet they have
fewer than 50 rangers...

'..only one vehicle,

'and they're up against
a formidable foe.'

The poachers
use rifles, AK-47,

and even cyanide to poison
the elephant for their tusk.

In 2013,
over 200 elephants were poisoned.

Imagine a crime site

where you discover
over 60 elephant carcasses.

That was the most sorrowful...

..and painful experience
of my career.

I nearly cried.

It was a dark year.

'In an area as vast as Hwange,

'keeping track of the poachers
is a near-impossible task.

'But with his limited resources,

'Amos has had to find a way
to crack the problem.'

What we usually do
to track down poachers

is we get intelligence
from the community.

They are the ones
who know who the poachers are.

'To gather evidence,

'Amos then goes undercover
as a potential buyer of ivory

'and contacts the poacher.'

We start communicating...

Hello?

..develop a trust in each other.

You have to pretend
as if you are a criminal

because they are also intelligent.

They will attempt to find out

whether you are
a serious buyer or not.

Then we will agree
on when to do the transaction.

'Once he's built up trust,
he lays his trap.'

We will team up
with the police.

The moment the poacher
brings the ivory...

..he or she will be arrested.

I've facilitated arrests

of over 350 poachers

since 2007.

And I have got
a 95% conviction rate.

'Amos and his committed team
of rangers

'take huge risks
in carrying out this work.'

Anti-poaching
is a dangerous job.

There are some rangers who have been
shot dead by the poachers.

'But the results are extraordinary.

'The number of elephants
killed by poachers

'declined from 260 in 2013

'to none in 2020.

'And now, there have been
two successive years

'with no poaching at all.

'By using his network of informants,

'Amos has revolutionised
the way poaching activity

'can be controlled.

'In this area, at least,
elephants are safe for now.'

We don't own this wildlife.

We owe it to our children,
our grandchildren

to look after those elephants.

If we love them,
we should keep those animals

for them to enjoy also
in their lifetime.

'Amos puts his life on the line

'for the benefit
of future generations.

'Across the planet...

'..extraordinary teams
of scientists,

'conservationists and local people

'dedicate their lives

'to understanding
and protecting wildlife.

'Thanks to these passionate
custodians of planet Earth,

'there is some hope for the animals

'that share our precious home.'