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00:00They cover two-thirds of our planet.
00:05They hold clues to the mysteries of our past.
00:10And they're vital for our future survival.
00:15But the secrets of our oceans have remained largely undiscovered.
00:22I win! I think so.
00:25Yes! Yes!
00:29Explorer Paul Rose is leading a team of ocean experts
00:33on a series of underwater science expeditions.
00:38For a year, the team has voyaged across the world
00:41to build up a global picture of our seas.
00:44We are doing some pretty uncharted research here.
00:47That is psychedelically incredible!
00:50We're here to try and understand the Earth's oceans
00:53and put them in a human scale.
00:58Our oceans are changing faster than ever.
01:01I've never seen ice like this before.
01:04There's never been a better time
01:06to explore the last true wilderness on Earth.
01:16It's that way.
01:18Something quite big.
01:20Yes, look!
01:22It's a whale.
01:25The team is exploring a unique corner of the Pacific Ocean,
01:29the Sea of Cortez.
01:31Oh, my goodness!
01:33This is so beautiful, isn't it?
01:35I think that those are fin whales.
01:37And this is the first day.
01:39The first day at the Sea of Cortez.
01:41It feels good, doesn't it?
01:42Yes, it certainly does.
01:47The Sea of Cortez is a rich, fertile gulf
01:51separating the peninsula of Baja California from mainland Mexico.
01:59This sea is an exceptional marine environment,
02:03home to the greatest variety of whales and dolphins
02:06found anywhere in the world.
02:15But today, this ocean paradise is under threat.
02:19Over the last 50 to 100 years,
02:21humans have had a growing impact on the systems
02:24that make this sea so interesting.
02:26The health of sea lions, sharks and sperm whales,
02:30you know, all these big animals
02:32that are found here in this little, young sea.
02:35Fishing, tourism and industry have triggered complex changes here,
02:39and it's these that the team has come to investigate.
02:50This is definitely on the edge.
02:53Environmentalist Philippe Cousteau
02:55will examine the shifting balance of this delicate ecosystem.
03:00Whoa, look at that!
03:03If you're seeing an explosion of squid,
03:05that is at the cost to some other species.
03:10Maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue
03:13discovers how local people have found a way to protect our seas.
03:17They are very aware that the seas only have a limited resource.
03:22They have to be farmed in a way that is sustainable.
03:28There's five sperm whales down there!
03:30Marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mato
03:33explores how life is responding
03:36in a rare encounter with one of the largest carnivores on Earth.
03:40I got a sonar boom.
03:42I felt that boom going right through my body.
03:48The Sea of Cortez is a sea under change,
03:51and we're going to witness those changes,
03:53and I think that's a fantastic mission for a diving expedition.
03:57This will be a voyage of discovery into a sea of change.
04:05We're headed off to Los Islotes to go diving with sea lions,
04:08which I have to say is one of my favourite things to do in the world.
04:13Large breeding colonies of California sea lions are found here.
04:18But commercial fishing is increasing,
04:21and that is starting to affect them.
04:24There's been a lot of overfishing of their traditional food,
04:27like sardines, in the Sea of Cortez.
04:29So a lot of the sea lions are suffering because of that.
04:33The animals of Los Islotes are a mysterious exception.
04:37Somehow, these animals are thriving.
04:42Marine biologist Tuni Mato will be helping to unearth their secret.
05:00The first aim is to check out how healthy this colony is.
05:05He came close!
05:08Light-spinning bullet!
05:10The manoeuvrability underwater kind of puts us to shame, I feel.
05:19That one over there is a bit of a big boy. I think he's one of the males.
05:24Oh, and he's certainly come around to check me out.
05:27Yeah, that looks like a big boy.
05:30Oh, and he's certainly come around to check me out.
05:33Yeah, that is a big male, that's for sure.
05:36He is awesome.
05:38You can see that huge bony crest on their head.
05:41They use that to reverberate sound so that everybody can hear them
05:44and let them know that they're in the territory and they're in charge.
05:49Blowing bubbles is a way of saying, keep your distance.
05:57Hello.
06:00This looks like the nursery area to me, with all the juveniles.
06:06Apparently the pups here in this particular population
06:09spend an awful lot longer with their mothers
06:11than pups of the same species in different areas.
06:14So they go out and fish with their mothers, so they learn that behaviour.
06:20The number of pups in the water is a sign this colony is doing well,
06:24as it means the females are healthy enough to breed regularly.
06:30There were about 30 pups a year in the early 90s
06:33and now there are more than 100 a year.
06:35And it's a real success story, which is good news.
06:39But with many fish stocks declining,
06:42the mystery is why this colony is doing so well.
06:46Something else must be going on.
07:01They look so incongruous on land, don't they?
07:05And as soon as he's in the water, he's absolutely perfectly streamlined.
07:09Amazing.
07:11Master of his environment.
07:20Gathering sea lions' droppings, or scats,
07:23might give Toonie clues about their diet.
07:26Sea lion poo number two.
07:33Essentially, I'm doing the scientific equivalent of panning for gold.
07:39I'm looking at the sea lion poo
07:42and what we're looking for are the fish otoliths,
07:46which are the ear bones of fish.
07:48And from the otoliths, we can identify what the fish are eating.
07:52Gold! I've got gold!
07:56These ear bones could reveal the answer.
08:00And it seems Toonie really has struck gold.
08:04What we've found here is a fish otolith from a deep-water sea bass
08:08that lives pretty much between 75 and 265 metres.
08:12And it's a very large fish.
08:14It's a very large fish.
08:16It's a very large fish.
08:18That lives pretty much between 75 and 265 metres.
08:22That instantly shows that this population has, at some stage,
08:27adapted to fishing at much deeper depths.
08:32California sea lions normally hunt at depths of around 70 metres,
08:36catching fish such as sardines.
08:41But the ear bones Toonie's found
08:43prove the animals at Losis lotus have been able to change their hunting patterns.
08:48And that's the reason why that population seems to be doing so well.
08:54Because of this crucial adaptation,
08:56the Losis lotus sea lions no longer have to compete with fishermen,
09:01and they're flourishing.
09:05The fact that this particular colony
09:07is being able to adapt to the threats and challenges that are facing it
09:10and thrive is a great story.
09:13Hopefully, if this colony can exhibit this kind of behaviour,
09:17then others can follow suit,
09:19and there may be a bright future for the California sea lion.
09:35Although life is changing fast here,
09:37change itself is nothing new to our seas and oceans.
09:43In fact, their size and shape are constantly shifting.
09:49Oceanographer Toonie has brought the team west to the Bay of Conception,
09:53because here you can actually see that process in action.
10:01Beneath these calm waters is a giant fracture in the Earth's crust.
10:06It's part of the infamous San Andreas fault line,
10:09and it created this sea.
10:14The Sea of Cortez is quite young in geological terms.
10:17The peninsula split away from the main coastline of Mexico
10:21about five million years ago,
10:23so it basically started tearing apart.
10:25And the great thing I like so much is the fact that it's still moving.
10:29The whole of the Bahia Peninsula is moving pretty much west
10:33at a rate of five centimetres a year.
10:37This bay offers Toonie the chance to look for evidence
10:40that this sea is getting bigger.
10:44And Paul's hoping she'll cook a snack in the process.
10:47Lewis, could we have six eggs huevos?
10:52Would that be OK?
10:54He's a good man, isn't he?
10:56Thanks very much. Thank you.
11:00Don't forget these.
11:02Good luck. Happy cooking.
11:07Toonie and Lucy are swimming over part of the San Andreas fault line.
11:14As the Earth's crust is being ripped apart beneath them,
11:17heat and gas from the centre of the planet
11:19are escaping through cracks called hydrothermal vents.
11:24Oh, no!
11:25Oh, no!
11:26Oh, no!
11:27Oh, no!
11:28Oh, no!
11:29Oh, no!
11:30Oh, no!
11:31Oh, no!
11:32Oh, no!
11:33Oh, no!
11:35Oh, look!
11:36Look at all these bubbles coming through!
11:38Oh, God, yeah!
11:41It's rare to see a hydrothermal vent in five metres of water.
11:47They're normally found deep beneath the surface.
11:50Oh, look! You can see the heat shimmer!
11:54This is the shimmering water,
11:56where the hot water's coming out of the ground
11:59and mixing with the colder seawater around it.
12:02And that's the evidence of all the hydrothermal activity,
12:05accompanied by all the bubbles.
12:09Oh, that's hot! That's really hot!
12:13It's actually burning my fingers!
12:16This hot water is over 90 degrees centigrade.
12:21It once trickled down through cracks in the Earth's crust
12:24towards the furnace of the inner Earth.
12:27There it was superheated and forced out into the Sea of Cortez.
12:33Right, so we brought our eggs with us
12:37and we're going to bury them here
12:40because it's really, really warm here.
12:43And then we're going to take them back on board for lunch.
12:47We're cooking in the sea floor.
12:50It's not right.
12:53Hot, mineral-rich water like this
12:55is only found in places where fault lines are tearing the Earth apart.
12:59It proves that directly below the team,
13:01the Earth's crust is slowly moving
13:04and this sea is steadily growing.
13:08Seas and oceans are thought of as immovable features of our planet.
13:12This dive has shown they're anything but.
13:16It's quite amazing to think that this action
13:19of the tearing apart of these two landmasses
13:23is a continuum and it's been going on for thousands of years.
13:28But although this process created the Sea of Cortez,
13:31it will also destroy it.
13:34As Baja California continues to move north-west,
13:38it will eventually break away from the mainland
13:40to become a giant island.
13:44Then the Sea of Cortez will disappear forever,
13:47engulfed by the rest of the Pacific Ocean.
13:50Hey, I know what you're holding behind you can't fool me.
13:53Boiled eggs. Hard-boiled eggs, soft-boiled eggs.
13:56Do you know what I'm struggling with? It's soldiers.
13:58I don't know what Spanish is for soldiers.
14:04That looks perfect.
14:06That is a hard-boiled egg.
14:08That's a perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect,
14:11perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect,
14:14perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect, perfect,
14:17Those are good. A hard-boiled egg.
14:19That's a perfect, perfect,
14:21hydrothermal vent-boiled egg.
14:25Is it OK to eat? Of course it's alright to eat.
14:27That's blooming great.
14:29You could do it like an oyster, couldn't you?
14:31What, in one?
14:35That's absolutely brilliant.
14:37Did you just down an egg in one?
14:39That's absolutely brilliant.
14:41I thought it was worth a go.
14:44Sir Cortez eating eggs cooked by Lucy and Tony
14:47on a hydrothermal vent. Awesome.
14:49Cheers, mate.
14:59Top predators such as sharks
15:01are being decimated in the Sea of Cortez.
15:08The team plans to investigate a surprising knock-on effect.
15:13They are ugly creatures.
15:15A few decades ago, there were no Humboldt squid
15:18in the Sea of Cortez.
15:20Now there could be over 20 million.
15:23They've taken over in a really short space of time
15:26and it's to do with the amount of fishing
15:28that's gone on in this particular sea.
15:31So they've taken out the top predators
15:33and now the Humboldt squid have basically filled in
15:36the giant empty space.
15:39Growing to over two metres long,
15:41these are ferocious cannibalistic hunters.
15:44Look at the beak. It's so strong.
15:47You see it overlaps?
15:49If you imagine that, that is kind of hooked over.
15:51So if your finger's in there, it's gone.
15:54And look at their eyes.
15:56Oh, that's too eerie.
15:59Humboldt squid are thought to have excellent vision
16:02and are armed with over 30,000 barbed hooks
16:05inside their suckers.
16:07You can feel them. They've properly sharped these hooks.
16:10The team wants to find out
16:12what impact the squid invasion is having.
16:15Honestly, that is nasty.
16:17And that means seeing them hunt.
16:23Humboldts live in the depths of the ocean.
16:28Local fishermen say catching one
16:30tempts others up from the deep.
16:37I caught a squid!
16:39We've got a squid here.
16:46We've got a squid in the area.
16:49We've been fishing about two hours
16:51and we've run into a huge pile of squid.
16:54And what's really interesting
16:56is that every single time we put a hook down,
16:59it brings up a squid that's got marks and rips
17:02and bites all over it.
17:04The number of the ones that we've pulled up
17:06have actually been eaten.
17:08So this is demonstrating the cannibalistic habits of the squid,
17:12which is really quite unnerving,
17:14watching a mate get caught on a line
17:16and then eat him on the way up.
17:20To see how they hunt, there's only one option.
17:23To dive in.
17:26I don't particularly want to get in there
17:28with a whole load of arms and suckers and teeth.
17:33Dive safety supervisor Richard Bull
17:35is also worried.
17:37There are some very serious reports
17:40of people getting grabbed by them,
17:42divers getting grabbed by them.
17:44One grabs them, another one grabs them,
17:46and another one grabs them.
17:47And if you don't react quickly,
17:49then you are on your way down to the deep.
17:53This is to keep us safe.
17:55In case something goes wrong,
17:57the rest of the crew can grab.
17:59There'll be a line tied to this
18:00and they can grab us and bring us up.
18:03It's now past midnight
18:05and the weather has started to deteriorate.
18:08Waves are coming in strong.
18:10It's really rough.
18:11The wind is picking up.
18:13This is definitely on the edge.
18:16We're not eating in five minutes.
18:18It's off.
18:22We've got to get more shots, man!
18:24We've got to get more shots, man!
18:30Oh, look at that current.
18:33It's off.
18:34OK.
18:41Look at that!
18:43That was a very rough entry in the water.
18:47Whoa!
18:48Look at that!
18:49Oh, I can see squid!
18:51They're right here!
18:53Oh, there are loads of them!
18:56Oh, there's one!
18:58Oh!
19:01Oh, my goodness!
19:04We can see the squid,
19:05which are kind of racing and pulsing
19:07out of the darkness.
19:10As they come closer,
19:11the squid seem to be doing something peculiar.
19:15There are several of them flashing their colours
19:18and we can see these ghostly white shadows
19:22that are flashing red.
19:26Do you see the colour of him?
19:28That red flash.
19:32These flashes may be a form of language
19:35that could possibly help groups of squid
19:37to communicate as they hunt.
19:40They are definitely attracted to the lures.
19:44Oh!
19:45Yeah, there it is.
19:49The squid have started to attack
19:51the team's bait in a pack.
19:53There's, like, 10 or 20 out here.
19:58Invertebrates don't normally hunt together like this.
20:02But Humboldt squid are intelligent.
20:06By flashing,
20:07they might be organising themselves
20:09into a hunting pack.
20:12And that's helping them to devastate local fish stocks,
20:16eating an estimated 10,000 tonnes a night.
20:21Underwater,
20:22Toony and Philippe are unaware
20:24of how windy it's become on the surface.
20:28It's kicking up.
20:29It's getting very rough.
20:35I'm thinking we're on the edge.
20:37My job's to say no.
20:39Agreed.
20:41We've put them in at the edge of our capability
20:44and the seas have picked up
20:47and the weather's obviously getting worse.
20:49So it's time to bring them back.
20:52The rough seas will now make
20:54for a dangerous exit from the water.
21:16Get him over that ladder quickly.
21:20Keep it light, guys.
21:25Well done, mate.
21:26It's too rough for anyone.
21:32One heck of a dive, that's for sure.
21:35You all right, mate?
21:36I'm pooped.
21:40What time is it?
21:42Ten past three.
21:44So we've been squid digging since 80 o'clock this evening.
21:50The success of the Humboldt squid
21:53is having a radical effect on this ecosystem.
21:58If you're seeing an explosion of squid,
22:00that is at the cost to some other species.
22:04They'll eat their way down the food chain
22:06until there's nothing left down there.
22:10And this problem isn't just affecting the Sea of Cortez.
22:13Many invertebrates, like squid,
22:16are booming throughout our oceans.
22:19The expedition has witnessed one of the great changes
22:22affecting life in our oceans today.
22:36After the late night, Paul gives the team some time off.
22:43It's a very good part of the expedition,
22:45right in the middle of it.
22:46And in the thick of it.
22:51I'm loving this sea.
22:54It just looks like it holds those hidden jewels
22:56that essentially we're all here to try and find.
23:00Now I have this real sense of ownership,
23:02and it saddens me to think that anything at all is being done
23:06to harm this special, beautiful place.
23:11The team has already seen some of the squid
23:14The team has already seen some of the surprising effects
23:17of man's impact here.
23:18But there's more to explore in this remarkable sea.
23:22There's still a lot of challenges ahead.
23:24Oh, we've got sperm whales coming up here.
23:26You know, all these great things we've still got to do
23:28in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez.
23:31For maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue,
23:34oceans aren't just about the creatures living within them.
23:38For me, it's the connection between the people in the past,
23:42their relationship with the sea,
23:43and what that can tell us about people living today.
23:48Lucy's been researching a shipwreck
23:50that's been found in the middle of the sea.
23:53It's a shipwreck that's been found in the middle of the sea.
23:56It's a shipwreck that's been found in the middle of the sea.
23:59She's been researching a shipwreck
24:00that tells a tragic story of man's relationship with the ocean.
24:05It's a boat that was smuggling migrant workers
24:07with the aim of trying to get into the United States of America.
24:12It is a bit like an investigation into the lives of these people
24:16as they took this treacherous journey across the sea.
24:19Is this a transport ship or what?
24:21Yes, exactly, a transportation of people.
24:23And there'll be clues left within the shell of that boat
24:26to give us an indication of what life on board was like.
24:49You can just see a magic out of the bottom of the sea.
24:57This is the wreck of the Fang Ming.
25:01It's sort of eerie as you swim around.
25:04There's abandoned pieces of her decking and rotting ropes.
25:18The Fang Ming was formerly a working vessel
25:21that was used to transport people to and from work.
25:24It was formerly a working vessel in China,
25:27possibly a fishing vessel.
25:30And then she subsequently crossed the Pacific
25:33carrying this cargo of Chinese migrant workers.
25:40Lucy wants to find out where the Chinese workers were kept
25:43during the crossing.
25:51Wow.
25:52You first.
25:59It's like walking into a deserted building.
26:05It feels a little bit like a slavery ship or a prison.
26:11This was meant to carry boxes of fish.
26:17Instead, in this tiny, dark space,
26:1988 men and seven women were kept for weeks at sea.
26:26Imagine what it would have been like all crammed in here.
26:31It must have been quite horrific.
26:34Apparently, there were actually people employed on the boats
26:37to control them, to keep them crammed in these confined quarters.
26:44The Chinese workers were just hours from their destination
26:47when the Fang Ming was seized by the authorities.
26:52Everyone on board was sent back to China.
26:58In 1999, the Fang Ming was sunk
27:01to become the first artificial reef in Latin America.
27:06All these old pipes and walls have just been colonised by marine life.
27:11It's just completely taken it over.
27:18But for Lucy, the Fang Ming will always be a reminder
27:22of a deeper human story.
27:26You start to think about, you know,
27:28they had reasons to put their lives at risk in that way,
27:31to endure that experience.
27:33And it's sort of representative of migrant workers,
27:36illegal immigrants.
27:38You know, the sea is providing an access for people
27:41to move around the globe for reasons
27:43that we wouldn't have necessarily understood
27:45to move around the globe for reasons
27:47that we wouldn't have necessarily seen in the past.
27:54For anyone navigating these waters,
27:56the weather can be dangerously unpredictable.
28:06The expedition arrived just after a hurricane,
28:09and now the weather's threatening again.
28:16Whoa!
28:19Look, that's a bit of bolt.
28:21Yeah, it's the first time we've seen this weather, isn't it?
28:24Absolutely.
28:26Does that mean the hurricane's coming back?
28:28Well, I checked with the captain a couple of hours ago
28:30and he said the weather's going to be all right,
28:32the wind's going to pick up, but no hurricane, he said.
28:35What about the thunder and lightning?
28:37Where does that fit into the whole equation?
28:39He didn't mention it, he just talked about wind.
28:43So, no wind, isn't it?
28:45But we're going to be struck down by lightning.
28:47Yeah, I don't know. I'd better check again.
28:49It's raining over there.
28:50Yeah, amazing.
28:51I didn't think it'd rain today.
28:52Oh, my goodness!
28:54It's funny, I was just thinking about, you know,
28:56a passage-making brief, you know,
28:58get ourselves organised for the big crossing.
29:02I'd better incorporate some severe weather briefing on it.
29:09Paul was hoping to move north,
29:11but because of the weather, the team is stuck here.
29:16We really are, you know, squeaking every possible thing
29:20into this expedition.
29:22We don't really need too much bad weather, that's for sure.
29:27So we're going to anchor for probably at least five hours
29:31and then, say, at three or four in the morning,
29:33make way again.
29:42Once the storm has blown through, they set sail again.
29:50The team is heading north
29:52to meet one of the most isolated tribes in Mexico.
29:56They're known as guardians of this sea,
29:58and Lucy's keen to find out why.
30:02This is the area where the Saray Indians live.
30:05So they're basically indigenous people
30:07who live here and fish the seas.
30:09And so it's that sort of symbiotic relationship
30:11between, you know, what's happening around the edges of the ocean
30:14and the people that live there
30:16and how they sort of work with the oceans
30:18and fish the seas, etc.
30:25Just over 450 Sarays exist today.
30:30Lucy's been invited to see their approach to managing this sea.
30:35That must be Chapo, then, yeah?
30:37Chapo. Hello, Chapo.
30:39My name is Paul.
30:41Lucy. Lucy.
30:43Chapo, thank you so much for your help.
30:4583-year-old Chapo Burnett is the village shaman, or holy man.
30:49OK, yeah.
30:51He still fishes with his son, Raimondo.
30:53OK, thank you.
30:59They work in a notorious area
31:02called Hell's Channel,
31:04so Chapo asks the sea gods for a safe passage.
31:18Chapo and Raimondo are going to collect scallops.
31:21Lucy wants to see how they go about it.
31:32MUSIC PLAYS
31:38He's basically walking along the seabed with the bag between his legs
31:41and it's like he's gathering them
31:43in a way that you might harvest crops.
31:47It's quite a nice comparison,
31:49harvesting of the land and harvesting of the sea.
31:56In just a few minutes, Raimondo has almost filled his bag,
32:00but the Seres are careful to manage the stocks.
32:03When I spoke to Raimondo,
32:05he implied that they basically do crop rotation.
32:09If they feel that they're over-harvesting one area,
32:12they'll move to another area and maybe fish octopus.
32:15So the principles are sustainable.
32:19This approach clearly works.
32:25In Hell's Channel,
32:27the scallop beds are productive and healthy year after year,
32:30a stark contrast to the rest of the Sea of Cortez,
32:34where shellfish production is collapsing.
32:43Oh, thank you, sir.
32:50That is delicious.
32:52I'm never going to cook a scallop again.
32:55It's absolutely gorgeous.
32:58Oh, yeah, no kidding.
33:00Muy bien.
33:06The Sere Indians demonstrate a technique
33:09that balances the needs of people with the health of the sea.
33:16They are living in a modern world.
33:18They have to compete with large commercial fishing operations,
33:22and yet they're also very aware that the seas only have a limited resource.
33:26They have to be farmed in a way that is sustainable.
33:41For the last target of the expedition,
33:43the team aims to carry out pioneering research
33:46on one of the planet's largest carnivores.
33:50I've asked a couple of sperm whale scientists
33:53who work specifically within the Sea of Cortez
33:55to come and join us for a few days on board.
33:59How are you?
34:01Dr Carina Acevedo-Whitehouse and Dr Diane Gendron are experts on whales.
34:07Welcome. Thanks for joining our expedition.
34:10With the scientists on board, the team prepares for the challenge ahead.
34:14I'll show you around.
34:16Sperm whales, that's all we care about.
34:18We can't even speak or think or do anything clearly
34:22because we're full of sperm whales.
34:26There are certain experiences that could stay with you for the rest of your life,
34:30and I think if we do manage to snorkel with the sperm whales,
34:34I don't think I'd ever, ever forget that. Ever.
34:43Next morning, the search begins.
34:46Relatively little is known about sperm whales.
34:49They live far offshore and are hard to find.
34:52Locating them is the first task.
34:56So our plan is to go about another hour north-east
34:59and begin our search pattern and see what we can find.
35:06Sperm whales dive for up to 40 minutes at a time.
35:09Diane and Philippe are using a directional microphone
35:12to try to track them underwater.
35:15Anything within this spectrum of the cone, it's going to pick up.
35:18Anything outside, like here, like my voice,
35:20which is quite loud right next to it, it doesn't pick up.
35:23It's pretty cool.
35:25Let's see what we can hear.
35:36Sperm whales are amongst the loudest animals in the world.
35:39Their clicks reach 220 decibels, louder than a shotgun blast,
35:44so they can be heard for many miles underwater.
35:48So you can hear the sperm whales clicking.
35:50As soon as I turn it off of where the sperm whales are,
35:53the sounds, the clicks go away.
35:55So that way we know where to go, right?
35:57Yeah, they're this way.
35:59Roger, that's all copied.
36:00So do you have an estimate on numbers in the group over?
36:03We've got a pretty broad sweep all along the port side.
36:06To me it seems like there would be more than one group.
36:08That's great news.
36:10Whales.
36:11We've actually come right onto a really large group.
36:15So we're timing this pretty perfectly.
36:19Very exciting time.
36:23Lucy catches the first glimpse.
36:25Oh, is it going to turn?
36:27It's going, it's going, it's going.
36:32Yay!
36:34Yay!
36:42Here we go, fluke, fluke.
36:45Woo-hoo!
36:46Did you see that?
36:47I hope these guys saw it in the mail.
36:49Big fluke.
36:54Big fluke.
36:56You couldn't book him, could you?
36:59This is the team's chance to take a closer look.
37:04Learning more about sperm whales is important
37:06because they're a vital part of the ocean's food chain.
37:10Particularly here in the Sea of Cortez,
37:12where their main diet is Humboldt squid.
37:17We decided to just hop in the panga and kind of get a bit closer
37:20and see how they respond to us being around them
37:23and maybe getting in the water with them.
37:26And we've got some dolphin escorts here
37:28that are swimming right around the panga, right next to us.
37:30We can almost reach out and touch them.
37:37Then, the moment Toonie's been waiting for...
37:39Oh, my goodness, look at these.
37:41..the whales rise up to breathe.
37:47Part of the challenge with studying these animals
37:49is that you really only get the briefest glimpse of their life cycle
37:53by witnessing them only on the surface.
37:55So the opportunity to try and get underwater and film them
37:58is very important.
38:01But that's not going to be easy.
38:03There, he's diving.
38:05Oh, he's diving.
38:06Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!
38:09Seeing as that was the deepest diving mammal on our planet,
38:12we could be here for some time.
38:17Sperm whales can dive to over 2,000 metres.
38:22So until they resurface,
38:24studying them underwater will be out of the question.
38:29We do our absolute utmost to get to swim with sperm whales,
38:32and as soon as they see us, they're just like,
38:34you know what, I'm not interested today, and that's it,
38:37with one flick of the tail.
38:40Go for it.
38:48Lucy and Karina want to find out how healthy these whales are.
38:55Their sheer size makes taking blood virtually impossible,
38:59so Karina's the first scientist
39:01to try to capture a sample of the whales' breath in the wild.
39:05Oh, yes, yes.
39:07Oh, how amazing.
39:11So we take the lids off basically once we're really close,
39:14but largely we aren't very close.
39:19Germs in the whales' breath will tell Karina
39:22if they have any infections in their lungs.
39:31But taking a sample is easier said than done,
39:34as the sample dishes have to be held right over the whales' blowhole.
39:42Oh, no.
39:49No.
39:54Please don't, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
40:00Oh, how very disappointing.
40:04Reel her back in, yes, next time.
40:09They fail to capture a single sample.
40:13But Karina has an ingenious plan B.
40:16OK.
40:19Oh, wow. What a superb-looking thing.
40:23It's a fabulous idea to link science collecting
40:26with a small miniature helicopter.
40:29With sample dishes attached,
40:31the helicopter can fly straight through the whales' breath
40:34without disturbing them.
40:38But pilot Agustin Payen has strong winds to contend with.
40:50Oh, the wind, the wind, the wind, the wind, the wind.
40:53Stop running.
40:59It's very quick to get the glider.
41:02We're moving up on some whales right now,
41:04nice and slowly, to parallel their course.
41:07And then he can swing this in and collect a sample of the blow.
41:11So it's all a matter of timing.
41:14Go, Agustin, it's perfect, man.
41:20Go, buddy.
41:24Just a bit further out, Agustin.
41:28It's going to dive, yeah. Can you believe it?
41:34Toonie and Philippe aren't having much luck either.
41:38I think there's a whole load of sonar conversations going on
41:41down there at the moment, which is basically the sperm whales
41:44telling each other there's a bunch of wannabes
41:46knocking around on the boat.
41:49And to get the heck out of here.
41:51You can just see them, they're all just diving all around us.
41:55OK, Agustin, get in there, buddy.
41:58Despite the strong winds,
42:00they're finally getting closer with the helicopter.
42:03Get in there.
42:05Forward, mate.
42:13That's the sample, he's got it.
42:15The germs caught in the dish will help reveal more information
42:19about the health of the sperm whale population here.
42:25Well done. Perfect.
42:28And with each sample so hard to collect,
42:31this one will be important for Carina's research.
42:34Thank you. Perfect.
42:36Thanks very much. Very good.
42:38OK, that was a good sample.
42:40And what is it that you're specifically looking for with these?
42:43Mycobacteria, for example, the agent that can cause tuberculosis.
42:46Haemophilus, that's a very common germ
42:49that causes infection in the lungs.
42:51It can cause severe problems, even meningitis.
42:53So it's just a list of germs to start with.
42:57Carina's early findings suggest whales could have caught
43:01some of these bacteria from humans,
43:03perhaps through activities like whale watching.
43:08Her groundbreaking work has highlighted this problem for the first time.
43:12It might be an important development in protecting sperm whales.
43:17Look, look, look. One, two, three.
43:22After almost five hours,
43:24the whales finally seem to be staying at the surface.
43:27Philippe and Thuny are desperate to observe them underwater.
43:47There's five sperm whales down there.
44:08The large females in this group are over 90 years old.
44:13The large females in this group are over nine metres long
44:17and can weigh more than 12 tonnes each.
44:36You can see how they just turn around and touch each other.
44:40It's so social.
44:44The whales are socialising.
44:46This is a rare sight.
44:50It suggests their food stocks are plentiful,
44:53as they can afford to take time out from hunting.
45:00It shows the explosion of Humboldt squid
45:03might actually be benefiting these animals.
45:11Suddenly, Diane spots something astonishing at the surface.
45:14Woo-hoo!
45:16That's a big male.
45:19This is amazing.
45:22A large, mature male has joined the group.
45:27This giant in the centre of the pack could weigh over 40 tonnes.
45:32Male sperm whales have the largest brain of any animal that's ever lived.
45:37We don't see that every day.
45:39No, seriously.
45:41This is... You're lucky.
45:43It's a treat.
45:58Adult males usually live in small groups in the cold waters around the poles,
46:03so this one has probably come here to breed.
46:09After a short time, he grows sexually aroused and starts courting the females.
46:18This behaviour is seldom seen,
46:21and it shows how important the Sea of Cortez is as a breeding ground for sperm whales.
46:34More than any other,
46:36this dive has illustrated why the health of this sea is so vital to the life within it.
46:57I'm blown away.
46:59I must be one of the luckiest people on the planet right now.
47:02There just aren't words to explain how incredible that feeling is.
47:06I got so naboomed.
47:08I heard and felt that pulse, just that boom going right through my body,
47:13as if it was doing the kind of x-ray scan of what the heck I was.
47:17I want a hug.
47:23Oh, man. I felt like crying.
47:26It was a really strange reaction, but you feel like crying when you watch it.
47:33It's a spectacular end to the expedition.
47:37How was it?
47:39Oh, my God, it was fantastic, Paul.
47:41A voyage that's offered a remarkable window into the world of our changing oceans.
47:46Well done. Well done indeed.
47:51The Sea of Cortez is a place in flux,
47:54and there are so many things we don't know
47:57and so many things that we're doing carelessly,
48:00and what is that doing to the natural balance?
48:03This sea has revealed how destructive man's impact can be.
48:09But it's also shown us we can live in harmony with the ocean.
48:18And that in the face of great change, life can adapt and even thrive.
48:24The Sea of Cortez at the moment still seems to be an incredibly rich place.
48:30So, yes, it's changing,
48:32but I personally feel like the sea finds its own equilibrium.
48:40This shifting balance will create winners and losers,
48:44but as yet it's impossible to predict who they'll be.
48:53NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
49:23NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology