Series from 2009
| Genres: | Documentary |
|---|
This landmark series explores the sheer scale and majesty of the largest ocean on Earth, the isolation of its islands, the journeys wildlife and humans have gone through to reach these specks of land, and what happened to both after their arrival.
The extraordinary isolation of the South Pacific islands has created the most curious, surprising and precarious examples of life found anywhere on Earth; from giant crabs that tear open coconuts, to flesh eating caterpillars that impale their prey on dagger like claws. Human culture is quite different here too. The men of Pentecost Island celebrate their annual harvest by leaping from 20 metre wooden scaffolds with only forest vines to break their fall.
The 20,000 islands of the South Pacific may be the most isolated in the world, but every one of them has been colonised. This is the story of the ultimate castaways - from salt water crocodiles and giant eels to crested iguanas and weird frogs - who succeeded against all odds to reach islands thousands of miles apart. The voyages of the South Pacific's first people - the Polynesians - were no less remarkable. These journeys were undoubtedly the greatest acts of navigation ever undertaken, and they changed the nature of the South Pacific forever.
Many animals that live in the ocean, among them sharks, whales and turtles - must go to extraordinary lengths to survive. Tiger sharks travel hundreds of miles to feast on fledging albatross chicks and, every year, sperm whales journey from one side of the South Pacific to the other in their search for food and mates. Against the background of the greatest shipwreck story of all time, the huge challenges of survival in this seemingly endless blue ocean are revealed.
Witness the birth, growth and death of an island in the greatest ocean on Earth. Millions of years are condensed into an hour revealing unforgettable images of an erupting underwater volcano.
Why do animals perfectly adapted to island life give up the ghost when new species arrive?
[Final Episode] The South Pacific is still relatively healthy and teeming with fish, but it is a fragile paradise. What is being done to preserve the South Pacific and its wildlife?
