South Pacific (TV series)
Encyclopedia
South Pacific is a British
nature documentary
series from the BBC Natural History Unit
, which began airing on BBC Two
on 10 May 2009. The six-part series surveys the natural history
of the islands of the South Pacific
region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand
. It was filmed entirely in high-definition
. South Pacific was co-produced by the Discovery Channel
and the series producer was Huw Cordey. It is narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch
. Filming took place over 18 months in a variety of remote locations around the Pacific including: Anuta
(Solomon Islands
), Banks Islands
, French Frigate Shoals
, Papua New Guinea
, Palmyra
, Kingman Reef
, Tuvalu
, Palau
, Caroline Islands
, Tuamotus
and Tanna Island in Vanuatu.
On 6 May 2009, BBC Worldwide
released a short clip of big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom surfing in slow motion
, high-definition footage as a preview of the series, attracting extremely positive reactions on the video sharing website YouTube
.
The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 15 June 2009. At the end of each fifty-minute episode, a ten-minute featurette takes a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming the series.
The series was released by Discovery International in the USA under the title Wild Pacific, with narration provided by Mike Rowe
.
The opening episode presents an overview of the natural history of the region, introducing some of the themes that are explored in more detail in later programmes. The South Pacific covers a vast area, and less than 1% is land, ranging from the Hawaiian Islands north of the equator to New Zealand in the south. On Macquarie Island
, the most southerly outpost before Antarctica, springtime sees the arrival of huge numbers of elephant seal
s. Aerial footage shows the entire world population of royal penguin
s, which nest here in a single colony. Cold ocean currents flow all the way to the Galápagos Islands, 8000 miles away, enabling sea lion
s and penguin
s to survive on the equator. Isolation has enabled the region's wildlife to evolve in unusual ways. On Metoma
, robber crabs, the world's largest terrestrial invertebrate
s, are filmed massing at night to feed on coconut
s. On Hawaii, the most isolated archipelago
of all, the caterpillar
s have turned carnivorous. There is an incredible diversity of human cultures and customs too, despite colonisation taking place relatively recently. The men of Pentecost Island
leap from timber scaffold towers with only a vine tied to their ankles to break their falls. On small islands such as Anuta
, people have fostered strong communities and sustainable hunting, farming and fishing practices to make up for the limited availability of food. The story of Easter Island
, where a whole civilization brought about their own downfall through over-exploitation of their resources, is a lesson from history.
The second instalment looks at how plants, animals and humans colonised even the most remote islands. Most pioneers came from the west, with New Guinea
acting as the launch pad. The saltwater crocodile
is one species which managed to swim the 60-mile crossing to the next island group, the Solomons
. The mass spawning of grouper
s on a Solomon Island reef releases millions of eggs, which drift on ocean currents to establish new populations. The activity allows grey reef sharks to snatch a few distracted groupers. Few animals made it to Fiji
, Tonga
and Samoa
, 1000 miles further east. Fruit bat
s were the only mammals to cross the ocean divide, but smaller animals were carried here by cyclone
s and jet stream
winds. In the absence of ground predators, invertebrates have reached monstrous proportions. Fijian crested iguana
s are thought to have floated here on rafts of vegetation. Seabird
s have made the crossing to French Polynesia
, where their rich guano helped fertilise barbed seeds stuck to their feathers and turn barren coral atolls into fertile groves. One plant needs no such help. Coconuts can survive drifting for two months at sea and lay roots into bare sand. Before the arrival of humans, fewer than 500 species colonised Hawaii in 30 million years. Once established, they evolved into countless new varieties. The story of human colonisation is no less remarkable. The ancestors of modern Polynesians
, most probably Lapita
s of Southeast Asia
, arrived in Fiji 3,500 years ago and Hawaii 2,000 years ago.
The third programme begins in the tropics, where a white sperm whale
calf stays close to its mother. The 19th century story of the Essex, with its whalemen stranded in their lifeboats after a sperm whale attack is used to illustrate the difficulty of surviving in the open ocean. The currents which circle the South Pacific support huge shoals and an incredible variety of life, but much of the centre is an ocean desert. Nutrients are trapped at depth by the thermocline
, making the windless surface clear but barren. Life can be tough for large predators. Some, including short-finned pilot whale
s, can dive to great depths to hunt squid
. Others, like rare oceanic whitetip shark
s, track the whales hoping for scraps or a chance to seize a young calf. The waters around the Galápagos teem with life thanks to the cool, nutrient-rich Antarctic current. Underwater footage shows penguins, manta ray
s and sea lions feeding. The sea lions work together to divide shoals into smaller bait balls, and blow bubbles into the reef to scare fish out. Seabirds are great ocean wanderers, but all must return to land to breed. On French Frigate Shoals
, frigatebird
s take sooty tern
chicks from their nests, whilst offshore a dozen tiger shark
s snatch any unfortunate black-footed albatross
chicks that get their maiden flight wrong. Dusky dolphin
s and bull sperm whales are filmed in the waters off New Zealand, where an exhausted whale beached in a shallow bay is guided back out to sea by rescue boats.
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The fourth instalment opens with rare footage of Kavachi
, an undersea volcano
, erupting. The South Pacific islands are typically volcanic in origin, and those of Hawaii are among the youngest. Kilauea
’s rivers of lava flow directly into the sea, where they cool rapidly and release steam explosively. Pioneering species such as ōhia lehua
colonise new land, putting roots down through the cracks into subterranean lava tube
s where strange troglobite
s eke out their existence. In the Galápagos Islands, penguins take advantage of the cool shade of lava tubes to raise their chicks, but predatory Sally Lightfoot crab
s lie in wait in the shadows. On the Solomons, megapodes bury their eggs in the warm ash of an active volcano, a natural incubator. Aerial photography of Mauna Kea
, the Society Islands
, Bora Bora
and Rangiroa
shows how erosion changes the character of volcanic islands over time. Eventually they sink back into the sea, leaving behind coral atolls and sheltered lagoons. Channels between ocean and lagoon attract feeding manta rays. The region’s coral reefs are the richest in the world-–the pristine Kingman Reef
, a sunken volcano, has over 200 kinds of coral alone. Underwater footage includes giant clam
s spawning, grey reef sharks hunting needlefish
by night and a timelapse sequence of a Triton’s trumpet
engulfing a crown-of-thorns starfish
. Reef fish are also agents of erosion-–the bumphead parrotfish chews through coral and excretes it as sand. The final scene shows huge swarms of jellyfish
in the marine lakes
of Palau
, the jewel of Micronesia
.
The fifth programme looks at the unusual animal life of the South Pacific. Species have evolved new behaviour to take advantage of ecological niches. On New Guinea, kangaroo
s such as the dingiso
have become arboreal, taking the place of monkey
s. The lack of predators on the ground has resulted in more flightless bird
s than anywhere else on Earth, including the kagu
from New Caledonia
. The Solomon Islands are home to the monkey-tailed skink
, the largest of its kind. Unlike any of its relatives, it has a prehensile tail
, forms social bonds and has turned vegetarian. The differing bill shapes of Hawaii’s honeycreeper
s are used to illustrate how one colonising species can evolve into many specialists. In New Zealand, Fiordland crested penguin
s raise their chicks in the forests and short-tailed bat
s behave more like mice, hunting wetas on the ground. The fate of some New Zealand animals illustrates the fragility of island life. The kakapo
, once a successful and abundant herbivore, was defenceless against Māori hunters and introduced predators. There are now 70 million Australian possum
s in New Zealand’s forests, where they out-compete native wildlife. Controlling introduced species is a huge problem across the South Pacific. Wild tuatara
s can still be found on Stephens Island
, but the flightless wren
was not so lucky – the last of its kind were killed by pet cats before it was declared a new species. The collapse of the Rapanui
civilization on Easter Island shows that human beings are not immune to this precarious existence.
The final episode focuses on the environmental problems facing the South Pacific. Climate change
threatens many islands, because they are low-lying and could be engulfed by rising seas
. On Tuvalu
, seawater bubbles up through the ground at high tides, making evacuation a realistic possibility. Oceans absorb half of all atmospheric CO2, but this turns them acidic, preventing sea creatures from building calciferous shell
s. The most immediate threat is overfishing
. Reef damage by boats and tourism affects fish populations, but coral gardeners in Fiji have a solution. They harvest and grow corals artificially, then transplant them back to damaged reefs. Different fishing methods are compared, from sustainable pole and line fishing practised by Solomon Islanders to long-line fishing
, which has endangered albatross
populations across the region. Commercial fishing vessels lay huge purse seine nets, large enough to catch 150 tonnes at a time. Cameras follow the action inside the net as a haul of yellowfin
and skipjack tuna
are brought to the surface. Greenpeace
's flagship Esperanza patrols the high seas, unprotected pockets of ocean where fishing is unregulated
. Less than 1% of the Pacific is protected, and yet up to 90% of its large predatory fish may have been lost already. A Fijian community reef is proof that protection could yet work. Tourism benefits from divers prepared to pay for close encounters with bull
and tiger sharks, and fishermen benefit from increased stocks. An international conservation effort also helped save humpback whale
s, as numbers have recovered since the whaling ban.
of "Over the Rainbow
" performed by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
. The original song was sung by Judy Garland
in the movie The Wizard of Oz
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
nature documentary
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
series from the BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
, which began airing on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
on 10 May 2009. The six-part series surveys the natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
of the islands of the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It was filmed entirely in high-definition
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
. South Pacific was co-produced by the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
and the series producer was Huw Cordey. It is narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Cumberbatch
Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English film, television, and theatre actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking ; William Pitt in the historical film Amazing Grace ; the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy ; Paul...
. Filming took place over 18 months in a variety of remote locations around the Pacific including: Anuta
Anuta
Anuta is a small high island in the southeastern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu, the smallest permanently inhabited isolated Polynesian island.-Description:...
(Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
), Banks Islands
Banks Islands
The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu.Together with the Torres Islands to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu...
, French Frigate Shoals
French Frigate Shoals
The French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
, Palmyra
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
, Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, east-west and north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at...
, Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
, Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
, Tuamotus
Tuamotus
The Tuamotus or the Tuamotu Archipelago are a chain of islands and atolls in French Polynesia. They form the largest chain of atolls in the world, spanning an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly the size of Western Europe...
and Tanna Island in Vanuatu.
On 6 May 2009, BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide
BBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. In the year to 31 March 2010 it made a profit of £145m on a turnover of £1.074bn. The company had made a profit of £106m...
released a short clip of big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom surfing in slow motion
Slow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger....
, high-definition footage as a preview of the series, attracting extremely positive reactions on the video sharing website YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
The series was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 15 June 2009. At the end of each fifty-minute episode, a ten-minute featurette takes a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming the series.
The series was released by Discovery International in the USA under the title Wild Pacific, with narration provided by Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe
Mike Rowe may refer to:*Michael Rowe, television writer for Futurama*Mike Rowe , host of the Discovery Channel show Dirty Jobs* Mike Rowe , retired Canadian professional ice hockey player...
.
1. "Ocean of Islands"
- UK broadcast 10 May 2009, 2.49 million viewers (9.2% audience share)
The opening episode presents an overview of the natural history of the region, introducing some of the themes that are explored in more detail in later programmes. The South Pacific covers a vast area, and less than 1% is land, ranging from the Hawaiian Islands north of the equator to New Zealand in the south. On Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island
Macquarie Island lies in the southwest corner of the Pacific Ocean, about half-way between New Zealand and Antarctica, at 54°30S, 158°57E. Politically, it has formed part of the Australian state of Tasmania since 1900 and became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 1978. In 1997 it became a world heritage...
, the most southerly outpost before Antarctica, springtime sees the arrival of huge numbers of elephant seal
Southern Elephant Seal
The Southern Elephant Seal is one of the two extant species of elephant seal. It is both the most massive pinniped and member of the order Carnivora living today...
s. Aerial footage shows the entire world population of royal penguin
Royal Penguin
The Royal Penguin inhabits the waters surrounding Antarctica. Royals look very much like Macaroni Penguins, but have a white face and chin instead of the Macaronis' black visage. They are long and weigh . Males are larger than females...
s, which nest here in a single colony. Cold ocean currents flow all the way to the Galápagos Islands, 8000 miles away, enabling sea lion
Galápagos Sea Lion
The Galápagos sea lion , a species of sea lion, exclusively breeds on the Galápagos Islands and – in smaller numbers – on Isla de la Plata . Being fairly social, and one of the most numerous species in the Galápagos archipelago, they are often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores or rock groups or...
s and penguin
Galapagos Penguin
The Galapagos Penguin is a penguin endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It is the only penguin that lives north of the equator in the wild; it can survive due to the cool temperatures resulting from the Humboldt Current and cool waters from great depths brought up by the Cromwell Current...
s to survive on the equator. Isolation has enabled the region's wildlife to evolve in unusual ways. On Metoma
Torres Islands
The Torres Islands are in the Torba Province of Vanuatu, the northernmost island group in the country. The chain of islands that make up this micro-archipelago straddle the broader cultural boundary that distinguishes Island Melanesia from several Polynesian outliers located in the neighbouring...
, robber crabs, the world's largest terrestrial invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s, are filmed massing at night to feed on coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
s. On Hawaii, the most isolated archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
of all, the caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
s have turned carnivorous. There is an incredible diversity of human cultures and customs too, despite colonisation taking place relatively recently. The men of Pentecost Island
Pentecost Island
Pentecost Island is one of the 83 islands that make up the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu. It lies due north of capital Port Vila. Pentecost Island is known as Pentecôte in French and Pentikos in Bislama. The island was known in its native languages by names such as Vanu Aroaroa, although these...
leap from timber scaffold towers with only a vine tied to their ankles to break their falls. On small islands such as Anuta
Anuta
Anuta is a small high island in the southeastern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu, the smallest permanently inhabited isolated Polynesian island.-Description:...
, people have fostered strong communities and sustainable hunting, farming and fishing practices to make up for the limited availability of food. The story of Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
, where a whole civilization brought about their own downfall through over-exploitation of their resources, is a lesson from history.
2. "Castaways"
- UK broadcast 17 May 2009, 2.58 million viewers (9.6% audience share)
The second instalment looks at how plants, animals and humans colonised even the most remote islands. Most pioneers came from the west, with New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
acting as the launch pad. The saltwater crocodile
Saltwater Crocodile
The saltwater crocodile, also known as estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles...
is one species which managed to swim the 60-mile crossing to the next island group, the Solomons
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. The mass spawning of grouper
Grouper
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.Not all serranids are called groupers; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name grouper is usually given to fish in one of two large genera: Epinephelus...
s on a Solomon Island reef releases millions of eggs, which drift on ocean currents to establish new populations. The activity allows grey reef sharks to snatch a few distracted groupers. Few animals made it to Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
and Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, 1000 miles further east. Fruit bat
Fruit Bat
Fruit Bat can refer to:* Megabats, a species of bat which eats fruit* Les "Fruitbat" Carter, guitarist of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine* Fruit Bats , an American band...
s were the only mammals to cross the ocean divide, but smaller animals were carried here by cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s and jet stream
Jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. The main jet streams are located near the tropopause, the transition between the troposphere and the stratosphere . The major jet streams on Earth are westerly winds...
winds. In the absence of ground predators, invertebrates have reached monstrous proportions. Fijian crested iguana
Fiji Crested Iguana
The Fiji crested iguana is a critically endangered species of iguana native to some of the northwestern islands of the Fijiian archipelago, where it is found in dry forest.-Taxonomy and etymology:...
s are thought to have floated here on rafts of vegetation. Seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s have made the crossing to French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
, where their rich guano helped fertilise barbed seeds stuck to their feathers and turn barren coral atolls into fertile groves. One plant needs no such help. Coconuts can survive drifting for two months at sea and lay roots into bare sand. Before the arrival of humans, fewer than 500 species colonised Hawaii in 30 million years. Once established, they evolved into countless new varieties. The story of human colonisation is no less remarkable. The ancestors of modern Polynesians
Polynesians
The Polynesian peoples is a grouping of various ethnic groups that speak Polynesian languages, a branch of the Oceanic languages within the Austronesian languages, and inhabit Polynesia. They number approximately 1,500,000 people...
, most probably Lapita
Lapita
Lapita is a term applied to an ancient Pacific Ocean archaeological culture which is believed by many archaeologists to be the common ancestor of several cultures in Polynesia, Micronesia, and some coastal areas of Melanesia...
s of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, arrived in Fiji 3,500 years ago and Hawaii 2,000 years ago.
3. "Endless Blue"
- UK broadcast 24 May 2009, 1.42 million viewers (5.3% audience share)
The third programme begins in the tropics, where a white sperm whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
calf stays close to its mother. The 19th century story of the Essex, with its whalemen stranded in their lifeboats after a sperm whale attack is used to illustrate the difficulty of surviving in the open ocean. The currents which circle the South Pacific support huge shoals and an incredible variety of life, but much of the centre is an ocean desert. Nutrients are trapped at depth by the thermocline
Thermocline
A thermocline is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid , in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below...
, making the windless surface clear but barren. Life can be tough for large predators. Some, including short-finned pilot whale
Short-finned Pilot Whale
The Short-finned Pilot Whale is one of the two species of cetacean in the genus Globicephala. It is part of the oceanic dolphin family , though its behaviour is closer to that of the larger whales....
s, can dive to great depths to hunt squid
Squid
Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...
. Others, like rare oceanic whitetip shark
Oceanic whitetip shark
The oceanic whitetip shark, Carcharhinus longimanus, is a large pelagic shark inhabiting tropical and warm temperate seas. Its stocky body is most notable for its long, white-tipped, rounded fins....
s, track the whales hoping for scraps or a chance to seize a young calf. The waters around the Galápagos teem with life thanks to the cool, nutrient-rich Antarctic current. Underwater footage shows penguins, manta ray
Manta ray
The manta ray is the largest species of the rays. The largest known specimen was more than across, with a weight of about . It ranges throughout waters of the world, typically around coral reefs...
s and sea lions feeding. The sea lions work together to divide shoals into smaller bait balls, and blow bubbles into the reef to scare fish out. Seabirds are great ocean wanderers, but all must return to land to breed. On French Frigate Shoals
French Frigate Shoals
The French Frigate Shoals is the largest atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Its name commemorates French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse, who nearly lost two frigates when attempting to navigate the shoals...
, frigatebird
Great Frigatebird
The Great Frigatebird is a large dispersive seabird in the frigatebird family. Major nesting populations are found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as a population in the South Atlantic....
s take sooty tern
Sooty Tern
The Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscatus , is a seabird of the tern family . It is a bird of the tropical oceans, breeding on islands throughout the equatorial zone. Colloquially, it is known as the Wideawake Tern or just wideawake...
chicks from their nests, whilst offshore a dozen tiger shark
Tiger shark
The tiger sharks, Galeocerdo cuvier, is a species of requiem shark and the only member of the genus Galeocerdo. Commonly known as sea tigers, tiger sharks are relatively large macropredators, capable of attaining a length of over . It is found in many tropical and temperate waters, and is...
s snatch any unfortunate black-footed albatross
Black-footed Albatross
The Black-footed Albatross, Phoebastria nigripes, is a large seabird from the North Pacific of the albatross family Diomedeidae. It is one of three species of albatross that range in the northern hemisphere, nesting on isolated tropical islands...
chicks that get their maiden flight wrong. Dusky dolphin
Dusky Dolphin
The dusky dolphin is a dolphin found in coastal waters in the Southern Hemisphere. Its specific epithet is Latin for "dark" or "dim". It is very closely genetically related to the Pacific white-sided dolphin, but current scientific consensus is that they are distinct species...
s and bull sperm whales are filmed in the waters off New Zealand, where an exhausted whale beached in a shallow bay is guided back out to sea by rescue boats.
4. "Ocean of Volcanoes"
- UK broadcast 31 May 2009, 2.29 million viewers (9.9% audience share)
The fourth instalment opens with rare footage of Kavachi
Kavachi
Kavachi is one of the most active submarine volcanoes in the south-west Pacific Ocean. Located south of Vangunu Island in the Solomon Islands, it is named after a sea god of the New Georgia Group islanders, and is also referred to locally as Rejo te Kavachi...
, an undersea volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
, erupting. The South Pacific islands are typically volcanic in origin, and those of Hawaii are among the youngest. Kilauea
Kilauea
Kīlauea is a volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and one of five shield volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii. Kīlauea means "spewing" or "much spreading" in the Hawaiian language, referring to its frequent outpouring of lava. The Puu Ōō cone has been continuously erupting in the eastern...
’s rivers of lava flow directly into the sea, where they cool rapidly and release steam explosively. Pioneering species such as ōhia lehua
Metrosideros polymorpha
The ōhia lehua is a species of flowering evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that is endemic to the six largest islands of Hawaii. It is a highly variable tree, being tall in favorable situations, and much smaller when growing in boggy soils or on basalt...
colonise new land, putting roots down through the cracks into subterranean lava tube
Lava tube
Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like...
s where strange troglobite
Troglobite
Troglobites are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglobite species include spiders, insects, fish and others. They live permanently underground and cannot survive outside the cave environment. Troglobite adaptations and characteristics include a heightened...
s eke out their existence. In the Galápagos Islands, penguins take advantage of the cool shade of lava tubes to raise their chicks, but predatory Sally Lightfoot crab
Grapsus grapsus
The crab Grapsus grapsus is one of the most common crabs along the western coast of the Americas. It is known variously as "red rock crab", "abuete negro", and, together with other crabs such as Percnon gibbesi, as "Sally Lightfoot"...
s lie in wait in the shadows. On the Solomons, megapodes bury their eggs in the warm ash of an active volcano, a natural incubator. Aerial photography of Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea is a volcano on the island of Hawaii. Standing above sea level, its peak is the highest point in the state of Hawaii. However, much of the mountain is under water; when measured from its oceanic base, Mauna Kea is over tall—significantly taller than Mount Everest...
, the Society Islands
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
, Bora Bora
Bora Bora
The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surrounding islets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km² in total, and of the atoll of Tupai , located north of Bora Bora...
and Rangiroa
Rangiroa
Rangiroa or Te Kokōta , is the largest atoll in the Tuamotus, and one of the largest in the world . It is part of the Palliser group. The nearest atoll is Tikehau, located only 12 km to the West...
shows how erosion changes the character of volcanic islands over time. Eventually they sink back into the sea, leaving behind coral atolls and sheltered lagoons. Channels between ocean and lagoon attract feeding manta rays. The region’s coral reefs are the richest in the world-–the pristine Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, east-west and north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at...
, a sunken volcano, has over 200 kinds of coral alone. Underwater footage includes giant clam
Giant clam
The giant clam, Tridacna gigas , is the largest living bivalve mollusc. T. gigas is one of the most endangered clam species. It was mentioned as early as 1825 in scientific reports...
s spawning, grey reef sharks hunting needlefish
Needlefish
Needlefish are piscivorous fishes primarily associated with very shallow marine habitats or the surface of the open sea. Some genera include species found in marine, brackish, and freshwater environments while a few genera are confined to freshwater rivers and streams, including Belonion,...
by night and a timelapse sequence of a Triton’s trumpet
Triton (mollusk)
Triton is the common name given to a number of very large sea snails, predatory marine gastropods in the genus Charonia. The name "triton" is also often applied as part of the common name, to other, much smaller sea snails of other genera within the same family, Ranellidae.Tritons are named after...
engulfing a crown-of-thorns starfish
Crown-of-thorns starfish
The crown-of-thorns starfish is a large nocturnal sea star that preys upon coral polyps. The crown-of-thorns receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines that cover its body. It is endemic to tropical coral reefs in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean...
. Reef fish are also agents of erosion-–the bumphead parrotfish chews through coral and excretes it as sand. The final scene shows huge swarms of jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
in the marine lakes
Jellyfish Lake
Jellyfish Lake is a marine lake located on Eil Malk island in Palau. Eil Malk is part of the Rock Islands, a group of small, rocky, mostly uninhabited islands in Palau's Southern Lagoon, between Koror and Peleliu. There are about 70 other marine lakes located throughout the Rock Islands. Jellyfish...
of Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
, the jewel of Micronesia
Micronesia
Micronesia is a subregion of Oceania, comprising thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is distinct from Melanesia to the south, and Polynesia to the east. The Philippines lie to the west, and Indonesia to the southwest....
.
5. "Strange Islands"
- UK broadcast 7 June 2009, 2.15 million viewers (8.7% audience share)
The fifth programme looks at the unusual animal life of the South Pacific. Species have evolved new behaviour to take advantage of ecological niches. On New Guinea, kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s such as the dingiso
Dingiso
The Dingiso , also known as Bondegezou , is a species of tree-kangaroo native and endemic to Western New Guinea of Indonesia, where it lives in alpine forests in the Sudirman Range at elevations of 3250 to 4200 m, just below the tree line.It was first filmed for the BBC documentary South Pacific in...
have become arboreal, taking the place of monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s. The lack of predators on the ground has resulted in more flightless bird
Flightless bird
Flightless birds are birds which lack the ability to fly, relying instead on their ability to run or swim. They are thought to have evolved from flying ancestors. There are about forty species in existence today, the best known being the ostrich, emu, cassowary, rhea, kiwi, and penguin...
s than anywhere else on Earth, including the kagu
Kagu
The Kagu or Cagou is a crested, long-legged, and bluish-grey bird endemic to the dense mountain forests of New Caledonia. It is the only surviving member of the genus Rhynochetos and the family Rhynochetidae, although a second species has been described from the fossil record...
from New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. The Solomon Islands are home to the monkey-tailed skink
Solomon Islands skink
The Solomon Islands skink is an arboreal species of skink endemic to the Solomon Islands. It is the largest known extant species of skink...
, the largest of its kind. Unlike any of its relatives, it has a prehensile tail
Prehensile tail
A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to be able to grasp and/or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees...
, forms social bonds and has turned vegetarian. The differing bill shapes of Hawaii’s honeycreeper
Hawaiian honeycreeper
Hawaiian honeycreepers are small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. Some authorities still categorize this group as a family Drepanididae, but in recent years, most authorities consider them a subfamily, Drepanidinae, of Fringillidae, the finch family...
s are used to illustrate how one colonising species can evolve into many specialists. In New Zealand, Fiordland crested penguin
Fiordland Penguin
The Fiordland Crested Penguin , also known as Tawaki , is a species of crested penguin from New Zealand...
s raise their chicks in the forests and short-tailed bat
Mystacinidae
Mystacinidae is a family of unusual bats, the New Zealand short-tailed bats. There is one living genus, Mystacina, with two extant species, one of which is believed to have become extinct in the 1960s. They are medium-sized bats, about in length, with grey, velvety fur.Mystacinids are the most...
s behave more like mice, hunting wetas on the ground. The fate of some New Zealand animals illustrates the fragility of island life. The kakapo
Kakapo
The Kakapo , Strigops habroptila , also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand...
, once a successful and abundant herbivore, was defenceless against Māori hunters and introduced predators. There are now 70 million Australian possum
Common Brushtail Possum (New Zealand)
The Common Brushtail Possum is a major agricultural and conservation pest in New Zealand. It also goes by the name Paihamu.-Introduction by European settlers:...
s in New Zealand’s forests, where they out-compete native wildlife. Controlling introduced species is a huge problem across the South Pacific. Wild tuatara
Tuatara
The tuatara is a reptile endemic to New Zealand which, though it resembles most lizards, is actually part of a distinct lineage, order Sphenodontia. The two species of tuatara are the only surviving members of its order, which flourished around 200 million years ago. Their most recent common...
s can still be found on Stephens Island
Stephens Island, New Zealand
Stephens Island is at the northern most tip of the Marlborough Sounds in the South Island of New Zealand. It lies two kilometres to the northeast of Cape Stephens, the northernmost point of D'Urville Island. The Māori call the island Takapourewa but Stephens Island is the commonly used name...
, but the flightless wren
Stephens Island Wren
The Stephens Island Wren or Lyall's Wren was a nocturnal, flightless, insectivorous passerine.-Habitat:...
was not so lucky – the last of its kind were killed by pet cats before it was declared a new species. The collapse of the Rapanui
Rapanui
The Rapa Nui or Rapanui are the native Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, in the Pacific Ocean. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the Rapa Nui people make up 60% of Easter Island's population, with some living also in mainland Chile...
civilization on Easter Island shows that human beings are not immune to this precarious existence.
6. "Fragile Paradise"
- UK broadcast 14 June 2009, 1.99 million viewers (9.4% audience share)
The final episode focuses on the environmental problems facing the South Pacific. Climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
threatens many islands, because they are low-lying and could be engulfed by rising seas
Current sea level rise
Current sea level rise potentially impacts human populations and the wider natural environment . Global average sea level rose at an average rate of around 1.8 mm per year over 1961 to 2003 and at an average rate of about 3.1 mm per year from 1993 to 2003...
. On Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, seawater bubbles up through the ground at high tides, making evacuation a realistic possibility. Oceans absorb half of all atmospheric CO2, but this turns them acidic, preventing sea creatures from building calciferous shell
Seashell
A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer created by an animal that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washed up on beaches by beachcombers...
s. The most immediate threat is overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
. Reef damage by boats and tourism affects fish populations, but coral gardeners in Fiji have a solution. They harvest and grow corals artificially, then transplant them back to damaged reefs. Different fishing methods are compared, from sustainable pole and line fishing practised by Solomon Islanders to long-line fishing
Long-line fishing
Longline fishing is a commercial fishing technique. It uses a long line, called the main line, with baited hooks attached at intervals by means of branch lines called "snoods". A snood is a short length of line, attached to the main line using a clip or swivel, with the hook at the other end....
, which has endangered albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
populations across the region. Commercial fishing vessels lay huge purse seine nets, large enough to catch 150 tonnes at a time. Cameras follow the action inside the net as a haul of yellowfin
Yellowfin tuna
The yellowfin tuna is a species of tuna found in pelagic waters of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide.Yellowfin is often marketed as ahi, from its Hawaiian name ahi although the name ahi in Hawaiian also refers to the closely related bigeye tuna. The species name, albacares can lead to...
and skipjack tuna
Skipjack tuna
The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish...
are brought to the surface. Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
's flagship Esperanza patrols the high seas, unprotected pockets of ocean where fishing is unregulated
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
Illegal fishing takes place where vessels operate in violation of the laws of a fishery. This can apply to fisheries that are under the jurisdiction of a coastal state or to high seas fisheries regulated by regional organisations....
. Less than 1% of the Pacific is protected, and yet up to 90% of its large predatory fish may have been lost already. A Fijian community reef is proof that protection could yet work. Tourism benefits from divers prepared to pay for close encounters with bull
Bull shark
The bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, also known as Zambezi shark or unofficially known as Zambi in Africa and Nicaragua shark in Nicaragua, is a shark common worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers...
and tiger sharks, and fishermen benefit from increased stocks. An international conservation effort also helped save humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
s, as numbers have recovered since the whaling ban.
Title music
The music in the title sequence is a ukelele medleyMedley (music)
In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
of "Over the Rainbow
Over the Rainbow
"Over the Rainbow" is a classic Academy Award-winning ballad song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by E.Y. Harburg. It was written for the movie The Wizard of Oz, and was sung by Judy Garland in the movie...
" performed by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
Israel "IZ" Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole was a Hawaiian musician.He became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993...
. The original song was sung by Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
in the movie The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
.
Merchandise
DVD and Blu-ray Disc were released to accompany the TV series:- A Region 2DVD region codeDVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
, 2-disc DVD set (BBCDVD2940) and a Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
set (BBCBD0047) featuring all six full-length episodes was released on 15 June 2009.
- A Region 1DVD region codeDVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
, 2-disc DVD set (B002BEXDXY) and a Blu-ray Disc set (B002BEXDXO) featuring all six full-length episodes was released on 14 July 2009. This version is known as Wild Pacific.