Wild Arabia (2013–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Shifting Sands - full transcript

The wild places of Arabia
are so hot and dry

that they were virtually

untouched by people
for thousands of years.

But that ancient balance
has shifted

in the wake
of one dramatic discovery.

Oil and the wealth it has brought
have transformed this land,

bringing the 21st century
to the desert.

Arabia's animals
now live in a hi-tech world...

..but Arabia's people

are beginning to use their
technology to protect nature.

Dawn at the Al Wathba
camel racetrack



on the outskirts
of the city of Abu Dhabi.

For centuries,
the Arabs held camel races
to celebrate special occasions,

But in the last 50 years
camel-racing has been transformed,

echoing changes that
have swept all across Arabia.

Now this is one of the richest
sports in the world.

The winner of this race
stands to win a million dollars.

The prize money at stake means
that 21st century camel racing

has moved far beyond anything

these camel handlers' grandparents
could have imagined.

In today's camel races,

modern technology
is in the driving seat...

literally.

To save on weight,

jockeys have been replaced by robots
weighing no more than a laptop.



CAR HORN BEEPS

The camel trainers drive alongside.

They scream instructions
to their camels

through a speaker on the robot.

EXCITED CHATTER

The frenzy is added to
by the fevered excitement
of the race commentator,

broadcasting live to the nation.

HE SPEAKS ARABIC

When an extra burst of speed
is needed,

each robot carries a whip

which the trainer operates
by remote control.

In today's Arabia,

camel training
has become a sophisticated business.

Scientific breeding
and state-of-the-art training

have turned these camels
into elite racing machines.

The average speed
of a race horse in Europe

hasn't changed in half a century,

while the average speed of
a racing camel has increased by 30%.

To understand the vast changes

that have swept across Arabia
in recent decades,

you have to go back
millions of years.

Then, most of the Arabian Peninsula
was under water,

forming the seabed of a vast
ocean...

..the Tethys Sea.

The waters were rich
in tiny plants and animals

which sank to the bottom
when they died.

Over millennia, the decaying bodies

of billions of these
tiny life forms turned to oil.

Oil was first discovered

in the offshore waters of the Gulf
and the Arabian desert in the 1920s.

It was during the Second World War
and the boom years that followed

that the global demand for oil
started to skyrocket.

Arabia had struck it rich.

All across Arabia, the oil men
found new supplies of black gold.

Today, close to a third
of the world's oil

is supplied by the countries
of the Gulf -

that's about three billion
litres per day.

25 major oil terminals
line Arabia's Gulf coast.

Every year, some 5,000 tankers
pass through these waters.

It certainly doesn't
look wildlife-friendly...

..but in places,
the impact on nature

is not as negative
as you might think.

The divers who service the platforms

get an exclusive view
of some very exotic animals.

The legs of the platforms
become encrusted with corals.

These, and the tiny animals
associated with them,

in turn provide food for fish.

The rigs are home to dozens
of beautiful species...

..like the long fin pennant fish...

..and the half moon angel fish.

It's not just reef dwellers
that are found here.

Fish from the open sea also gather,

perhaps because the rigs
offer shelter from predatory sharks.

Also, fishing near the rigs
is banned,

allowing shoals to grow larger
than anywhere else in the Gulf.

This is a popular spawning ground.

The female Queen fish swims on her
side as she distributes her eggs.

Males jostle behind her to be
the first to fertilise them.

In summertime, the water is thick
with eggs, a feast for jellyfish.

This cauliflower jelly
is a metre across...

..but it's a tiddler

next to some of the diners
attracted to this egg soup.

A whale shark.

At 12 metres plus in length,

it's the biggest fish in the world.

A sight to take your breath away.

The diver needn't worry.

whale sharks only have tiny teeth,

and don't eat anything
more than a few centimetres long.

Whale sharks feed by filtering
food particles from the water,

though jellyfish
are not on the menu.

Every shark is accompanied
by a cloud of remoras or suckerfish,

which are thought to feed
largely on the shark's faeces.

For most of their lives -
which can be 70 years long -

whale sharks are solitary.

But there is so much food here,

that groups of over 100 sharks
can gather together.

These sharks are only in
Arabian waters for the summer.

Where they go
for the rest of the year is unknown.

Even in these waters, much
of their life remains a mystery.

They feed for just
a few hours every day,

then disappear back into the depths.

What they get up to down there,
nobody knows.

The fish life
around the oil platforms

also provides food for seabirds.

90% of the world's Socotra
cormorants

breed on low-lying islands
in the Gulf.

During the breeding season -
from March to November -

temperatures on the ground can reach
a scorching 70 degrees centigrade.

The cormorants flutter
their throats to keep cool.

Despite the heat,
successful colonies -

like this one
off the coast of Bahrain -

can be tens of thousands strong.

But appearances can be deceptive.

Although some large colonies
do remain,

over half have disappeared
in the last 50 years

and oil pollution is thought
to have played a large role.

The oil industry
is a lot cleaner than it was,

but parts of the Gulf
remain polluted

because of the legacy
of large spills in the past.

This was the site of
the world's largest ever oil spill.

During the Gulf War in 1991,

the Iraqi army set fire
to huge numbers of oil wells

and nearly two billion
litres of oil were lost.

No-one knows just how many
fish and seabirds were killed,

but it certainly had
a dramatic impact.

Oil does eventually
break down naturally,

but it can take many years for all
the toxic chemicals to disperse.

The risk of further oil spills
will remain a threat to wildlife

while so much oil
passes through the Gulf.

Along the Gulf coast,

the seabed is kept fertile
by dust blowing in from the desert.

That means these shallow waters

are every bit as important
for wildlife as the deep seas.

But to exploit the food
that's on offer here,

you need the right equipment.

The beak of the Lesser Flamingo

is the only beak that's built
to be used upside down.

It's lined with bristles

which filter out
prawns and algae from the water.

It's the pigment in this food
that turns flamingos pink.

Young birds start white
and become pinker with age.

The rhythmic feeding and swallowing
looks like a graceful ballet,

but the flamingos aren't above using
those beautiful beaks

as weapons
to fight over personal space.

And space is a key issue
for the Gulf's flamingos.

Many of the lagoons they rely on

have been swallowed up
by Arabia's fast-growing cities.

This city-centre wetland
has been protected

by an edict from the very top -
Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai.

But the pressure on many other wild
places continues to increase.

The population
of the United Arab Emirates alone

has risen by nearly 10,000 per cent
since the 1960s,

leading to an explosion
in construction and trade.

The most extreme expression
of the wealth of the Gulf cities

is in Dubai...

..home to more skyscrapers
per square mile

than anywhere else on Earth.

This forest of concrete,
glass and steel

is towered over
by the Burj Khalifa.

At half a mile high,
it's 300 metres higher

than any other building on Earth.

As well as going up,
the Gulf cities are spreading out.

This is the Palm.

It's an extraordinary feat
of engineering,

but each frond was created
by dredging sand from the seabed.

And on the seabed is a grassland
as rich as the plains of Africa.

The warm, sun-drenched
waters are perfect for sea grass,

the only flowering plant in the sea.

Just like the African grasslands,
these underwater plains

are home to many predators and prey.

A blue-spotted ribbon tail ray
hunts for buried shellfish.

A blue triggerfish has the same
quarry in mind.

Small fish, like this blenny,
have to lie low.

An annulated sea snake,
two metres long

and one of the most venomous
in the world.

The snake can hunt for up to
two hours on one breath.

Hole-dwelling blennies
are a favourite prey.

Not all the reptiles here
are voracious hunters.

Unlike most sea turtles, green
turtles prefer a vegetarian diet.

Like the whale sharks, many turtles
are accompanied by remoras.

These ones are squabbling over
access.

Each remora has a suction pad
on its head

which it can stick
to animals to get a free ride.

A turtle shell is easy stick to
and worth fighting over.

The growth of the Gulf's cities
threatens the sea grass plains...

..and all the weird and wonderful
animals that depend on them.

A dugong.

Closest relative, the elephant.

Dugongs eat almost
nothing but sea grass,

using their flexible lips

to pull up both the stalk
and the nutritious roots beneath.

A group of remoras are trying
to hitch a ride on this dugong,

but he's not tolerating
the hangers-on.

Every spring the Gulf's dugongs
gather together

in what are thought to be mass
migrations between feeding grounds.

Protecting those feeding grounds
from development

would go a long way
towards protecting the dugongs,

but nobody yet knows where they are.

Luckily, help is at hand.

This is a project
run by the Abu Dhabi Government

that aims to find out
where the Gulf's dugongs are going

by fitting them
with satellite transmitters.

They've called in some assistance
from the far side of the world.

Ah, to the other boats, can you guys
keep on our starboard side?

Australian scientist
Richard Campbell

works with two
Aboriginal Australians.

Dwayne and Philip
grew up hunting dugongs for food...

..and now put their skills
to a different use.

Even for an expert,
finding a dugong isn't easy.

They only take a breath
every five minutes or so

and barely break the surface.

The team need eyes in the sky.

HELICOPTER WHIRRS

CHATTER OVER RADIO

Once the dugong's been spotted,

Dwayne and Philip
use their expertise

to approach
with as little disturbance
to the animal as possible.

Dwayne speared his first dugong
from an open boat at the age of 12,

but today he's going to have to
grab the dugong,

a third of a ton of slippery muscle.

It's not for the faint-hearted.

Going to catch him, Dwayne? Yep.

Dwayne gets a loop
around the tail...

..and the team work fast

to secure the dugong safely
to the side of the boat.

Protecting the Gulf's dugongs

means that a few will have
to carry satellite transmitters

but each one weighs just half a kilo

and tied around the tail,
they do no harm.

This is a chance to take
some useful measurements.

Get it on there, Yussef. OK?

Yeah, yeah, OK.

2.72. 2.72.

Nearly 3 metres, a good size.

This would have made for quite
a feast in Philip's youth.

The team also take skin samples
for genetic analysis.

The hairs on the body are a clue

to the fact that dugongs' ancestors
used to live on land.

Yeah, just DNA, mate.
We don't need much.

After just a few minutes,
the dugong is released.

Mission accomplished for the team.

Success! Good job!

Information about
this dugong's movements

will help determine
which regions of the Gulf

need to be protected
from future development.

In the great desert heartland
of Arabia,

the relationship between people
and nature goes back a long way.

The Arabs survived here
by hunting the desert's animals

and for 4,000 years,
one very special predator

has helped them catch their prey...

..the falcon.

For many Arabs, falconry remains
a passion bordering on obsession.

Mohammed Al-Kaabi
comes out from the city

to fly his birds every weekend.

This is Haty.

Pedigree falcons like her
can cost as much as 100,000.

Haty's trained to return to Mohammed

using a lure that simulates
her quarry.

It's a workout that keeps her
agile and in top condition.

Mohammed is showing his sons,
Salem and Saif,

how to put Haty through her paces.

LAUGHTER

MOHAMED ISSUES COMMANDS IN ARABIC

This is a rite of passage

that Arab boys have enjoyed
for thousands of years.

MOHAMED ISSUES COMMANDS IN ARABIC

It's time for the boys
to get hands-on.

It's crucial to keep calm.

A falcon must learn
to trust its handler

or it will never fly back to him.

In the morning, the boys
will move on to the next lesson.

Traditionally,
that's hunting live prey.

Sadly, the Arab love of hunting
with rifle, dog and falcon

has pushed some desert animals -
like the houbara bustard -

to the brink of extinction.

But with the appliance of science,

there is now a solution
that can keep everyone happy.

With a lure attached to the back
of a remote-controlled plane,

Mohammed can stretch
the falcon to its limits.

No wild animals will die today,

but the thrill of the hunt
is just as strong.

Mohammed's sons are growing up in
a world that's increasingly aware

of the need to look after
our natural resources.

That's particularly challenging here

because of the difficulties
of living

in one of the hottest,
driest places on Earth.

For much of the year,
Arabia is so hot

that many people are at their
most active after sunset.

Even at night,
the heat can be unbearable,

so much of people's time is spent
indoors in air-conditioned spaces.

Dubai is home to the world's
largest shopping mall,

kept cool all-year round -

good for the ski slope
and the ice rink.

Dubai by night is a vision of the
most energy-hungry society on Earth.

The richest Arab countries

use more energy per person
than anywhere else,

and virtually all of it
comes from burning fossil fuels.

As well as contributing
to climate change,

that makes these countries
very reliant on oil.

And the Gulf oil wells will start to
run dry within the next few decades.

But there's an even more pressing
problem for Arabia

than its huge demand for power.

FIREWORKS CRACKLE

Every night of the year,

Dubai puts on the biggest
water show on Earth.

The fountains reach as high
as a 50-storey building.

Perhaps because it's a desert,
Arabia is addicted to water.

The Gulf States
consume more water per person

than anywhere else in the world.

In Saudi Arabia and Jordan,

water is pumped from hundreds
of metres under ground

and brings life to the desert.

Huge fields of crops, each one
several hundred metres across,

dot the landscape over huge areas -

clearly visible from space.

These man-made oases
have had a huge impact on nature.

Songbirds now
flock into the desert.

This is a perfect place to drink
and grab a well-needed shower.

The fields are also rich in food,
like grubs and worms.

They even have their
own public transport system.

Thousands of birds have changed
their migration routes

to visit these fields

on their journey between
Europe and Africa every year.

Some species - like the pied wagtail
and the wheatear -

are familiar in the UK.

Others, like the hoopoe
and the bluethroat,

usually spend their summers
further east,

in northern Russia
or eastern Europe.

But the songbirds who stop off here
don't have things all their own way.

Birds of prey also migrate

and they too gather here
in huge numbers.

These aerial predators aren't just
here for a shower and a drink.

All that flying
builds up a healthy appetite.

Of all the songbird hunters
to gather here,

perhaps the most graceful

is one that might be seen
on the Scottish moors -

a hen harrier.

The harrier has a dish-shaped face
like an owl.

This helps catch sound,

enabling it to hear the slightest
rustle of a hidden bird.

And the long, narrow wings
can turn on a sixpence.

It's pied wagtail for dinner.

In the short term,
this type of agriculture

is good news for the birds
and provides jobs for local people

but it uses water
at a staggering rate.

The underground reservoirs
will begin to run dry

within the next ten years.

The land will be desert once again

and the people who work here
will lose their livelihood.

The fields sum up a problem
that faces all of us -

how to meet people's needs
in a world of limited resources.

But the immense wealth

that's made Arabia a world leader
in energy and water consumption

is now being used to try and find
solutions to those same problems.

This is the solar power plant

for the most futuristic town
on Earth - Masdar.

Lying on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi,

Masdar is a prototype
for the cities of the future.

100 per cent carbon neutral,
but with all mod-cons.

Some features are simple ideas

borrowed from traditional
Arab architecture.

The overhang from the floor above
shades those below

and the streets are narrow

so that they are shaded
from the intense heat of the sun.

Any breeze is captured
in a wind tower

and channelled down to the street.

Combined with a light spray
of water,

this can lower the temperature
at ground level

by 15 degrees centigrade.

Simple solutions like this

create a cool outdoor space,
even in midsummer.

In Masdar's vision of tomorrow,

transport will be underground
in unmanned pods.

'Doors opening.'

'Welcome to Masdar City.'

Here, in the heart of oil country,

are the designers of Masdar,

taking us on a journey
into the post-oil future.

Arabia's cities are already world
leaders in design and architecture.

If the concepts from Masdar
can be expanded here,

then maybe they can also
lead the way

in reducing our impact
on the world around us.

Arabia is a place
where people and animals

have lived alongside each other
for thousands of years.

Oil money has changed Arabia...

..but there is still a deep affinity
for the natural world.

Even today's ultra hi-tech
camel racing

still has the Arab love of camels
at its heart.

At the end of each race,
after the robots are dismounted

and the prizes distributed,

the camels are pampered
like beloved family pets...

..hand-fed alfalfa and dates.

The Arab people have never forgotten

that it was their
relationship with the camel

that enabled them to survive
the inhospitable deserts
of Arabia in the first place.

If that deep connection with
wildlife can be maintained...

..then there will always be a place
for nature in the heart of Arabia.

Spectacular gatherings
of whale sharks

appear every year
off the coast of Arabia,

but getting close to the biggest
fish in the sea

proved a challenge
for the Wild Arabia team.

Director Liz White
and cameraman Hugh Miller

are travelling out
to the middle of the Gulf,

midway between Qatar and Iran.

They've joined up with a team
of whale shark scientists.

Have you changed any of them?
Yeah. Good. What were they on?

The scientists
want to understand more

about the mysteries
of the Gulf's whale sharks,

but they know that getting close to
them will be particularly difficult.

The sharks here
are quite different from elsewhere

because they swim quite fast,

so getting all of the data
that we need from one shark here

will be a challenge.

Hugh has been tipped off
about these high-speed sharks

so he's brought a secret weapon.

So this thing on the back here
with the propeller

is going to drive me through
the water in a stable manner.

But before Hugh's had time
to prepare his kit,

word comes from the bridge.

HE SPEAKS ARABIC

The boat crew have spotted
a group of whale sharks.

We can just about make out the fins
if they turn the right way.

We're just going to see
how many are there.

Got to watch out,
there's one right in front of us.

Yeah, one right in front of us now.

With only his snorkel and his fins,
Hugh goes into action.

We've definitely
got three sharks here.

Hugh and Dave are in the water,
but they move pretty fast.

The guys will be swimming
pretty hard to keep up with them.

Sure enough, under water,
Hugh is struggling.

Whale sharks look like
slow movers,

but every stroke
of that massive tail

pushes them forward
at great speed.

Hugh can barely keep up

and keeping a steady shot
while kicking so hard

is nearly impossible.

Not much filming success,
but an amazing experience for Hugh.

I mean, you don't appreciate
how many sharks there are.

I mean, the visibility
means I can only see so far,

and it's incredible
just to come up here

and there's just black fins
everywhere.

The scientists have also been
pursuing the sharks with cameras.

They want to get ID photographs
of as many individuals as possible.

The team uses
specially adapted spear guns

to attach
the satellite transmitters.

Whale shark skin
is over ten centimetres thick

so the sharks never feel a thing.

The scientists have collected
seawater samples

that show why the sharks are here
in the first place.

I've got four pots here
full of fish eggs,

so we can kind of say that
the sharks were certainly there

to consume the fish eggs.

If you looked to the density,
that's two good-sized fillet steaks

in around about three minutes

and these sharks were feeding with
us for five hours

and after we left the water,
they were still feeding.

Scientists and film crew are happy
with the way things have started,

but as evening falls,
the wind starts to pick up

and the morning brings
heavy seas and bad news.

I'm standing here with the weather
forecast for the next ten days

and it looks like
we're going to have

anywhere from 20 to 40 knots winds

and there's no end to it.
It's just wind, wind, waves.

and the likelihood of seeing sharks
in this kind of weather,

is close to zero.

The dreaded Shamal winds
blow from the north east,

bringing clouds of dust
from the Iranian desert

and churning up the sea.

Even if they could
see the sharks,

it would be too dangerous to launch
the dive boats in this weather.

The Shamal can blow
for weeks at a time.

All the crew can do is wait.

The science team take the chance to
look over some of their ID photos.

They have a programme to help them
recognise individual sharks

by the pattern of their spots.

Every pattern is unique,
like human fingerprints.

To everyone's relief, the weather
improves sooner than expected.

Soon, signs of life
are spotted from the bridge.

A school of bottlenose dolphins,
but no whale sharks.

Strong winds disperse
the fish eggs

which the whales
are here to feed on

and the groups of sharks
often break up as a consequence.

Liz makes use of a drilling
platform as a vantage point.

Whale sharks are often seen
near the platforms

because fish gather to spawn here.

Watching the spawning fish

is a popular pastime
for the platform workers,

some of whom take notes
on any whale sharks they spot,

to help the research project.

While the crew are on board,
there's an encouraging sighting.

Whale shark!

Where is it?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. A big one.

Could this finally be Hugh's chance
to try out his new toy?

Are you ready?

But just when it seems that
everything is going smoothly...

Very unfortunate timing.

What's happening is we have an
aggregation straight ahead of us

and now we have
a big tanker coming in,

so we cannot launch any boats.

We don't know what's going
to happen with the aggregation,

if they're going
to disperse and dive,

Sure, they'll dive because the
tanker's heading right towards them.

These are anxious moments for
the film crew and the scientists.

But the tanker takes a detour,

leaving the whale sharks
undisturbed.

Now, everything is good to go.

Immediately, the propeller
starts to deliver on its promise,

giving Hugh a smooth ride
alongside these gentle giants.

After his magical encounter,
Hugh does his bit for science.

He's frozen a few shots
from his video camera

to see if he can help
ID any of the sharks.

Yeah, I think, Hugh,
we have actually got

a completely new individual,
looking at this side of it.

So you have to add it to the
database, maybe we'll call him Hugh.

Brilliant, I'd love that.

I think Hugh's a good name
for a whale shark.

I think it's a very good name
for a whale shark.

Out at sea, having given
film crew and scientists

a glimpse into his life...

..Hugh the Shark
swims off into the depths.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd