- 27 minutes ago
The Maldives are the lowest country in the world--and getting lower, due to rising sea levels. Especially at risk is the island's reef system, the biggest in the Indian Ocean, with over 200 types of coral and thousands of tropical fish species. Witness the race to preserve this marine paradise from the ravages of climate change.
关于马尔代夫
岛屿特点：马尔代夫由约1200个珊瑚岛组成，以白色沙滩、清澈海水和奢华度假村闻名，是很经典的蜜月和潜水目的地。
度假体验：岛上度假村大多提供浮潜、潜水、日落巡游这类活动，也有六善卡努呼拉这种以护士鲨浮潜、海龟之旅为特色的岛，适合喜欢海洋生物的人
若想一睹地球上最壮丽的自然奇观，您必须深入海底。潜入那片生机勃勃的海底花园，那里不仅有绚丽多彩的景致，还栖息着各种宛如异星生物般的奇妙生灵。
关于马尔代夫
岛屿特点：马尔代夫由约1200个珊瑚岛组成，以白色沙滩、清澈海水和奢华度假村闻名，是很经典的蜜月和潜水目的地。
度假体验：岛上度假村大多提供浮潜、潜水、日落巡游这类活动，也有六善卡努呼拉这种以护士鲨浮潜、海龟之旅为特色的岛，适合喜欢海洋生物的人
若想一睹地球上最壮丽的自然奇观，您必须深入海底。潜入那片生机勃勃的海底花园，那里不仅有绚丽多彩的景致，还栖息着各种宛如异星生物般的奇妙生灵。
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TVTranscript
00:03The Maldives, a remote island paradise, in the sapphire waters of the Indian Ocean.
00:23But the ocean is rising and threatens to engulf this tiny island nation.
00:31The corals are suffering from climate change. It's of course impacting as well the erosion of the island.
00:38But the people here won't let it go without a fight.
00:42We are transporting as much as possible to help the marine life.
00:47Rebuilding the reef that may keep the Maldives from disappearing.
00:51And working to save this incredible home of rare creatures and soaring giants.
01:02The Maldives
01:04The Maldives
01:05The Maldives
01:07The Maldives
01:18The Maldives
01:18The Maldives
01:18The Maldives
01:44In the heart of one of the richest ecosystems on the planet,
01:48David Messnard prepares his body and mind for a transformative underwater experience.
01:58It's being like in heaven. You really feel a special moment.
02:03You feel the harmony of your tribe with you and being underwater altogether gives you such a different dimension.
02:10It's hard to explain.
02:18He's in the Maldives, a chain of low-lying islands in the Indian Ocean,
02:23surrounded by extensive coral reefs and blue lagoons that explode with marine life,
02:30making the Maldives a popular destination for divers.
02:41But David isn't an ordinary scuba diver.
02:45He's a free diver, piercing the depths of the ocean for six minutes or more on a single breath.
02:55Without bubble-making oxygen tanks and scuba equipment, David is inconspicuous underwater.
03:21We try to interact with the big animals like the dolphins, the whale sharks, the manta rays, so it's very
03:28natural.
03:33Moving silently through the seascape, as the fish do,
03:38David has a special appreciation for this undersea paradise
03:41and a personal interest in its uncertain future.
03:47The Maldives, a lot to offer, this beautiful place.
03:51Far south, you can discover the Maldives like four years ago.
03:54There's not much interaction with tourism.
03:56There's still places where no one goes.
03:59And if you want the tranquility and peace, you can find it here, definitely.
04:04On this vibrant reef, David is rarely disappointed.
04:09The Maldives is the result of an ancient geological collision between India and Africa.
04:16It lies about 1,300 miles southwest of India.
04:21The thousand-plus islands stretch over an area roughly the size of Maine.
04:34The Maldives is surrounded by a range of marine ecosystems,
04:39from sandy shores and lagoons to coral reefs.
04:46Nearly 200 species of coral provide a habitat for more than 1,000 species of fish,
04:55such as the oriental sweetlips,
05:02the schooling bannerfish,
05:07and the massive whale shark, the largest fish on the planet.
05:12The Maldives, there's a lot to offer, this beautiful place.
05:16When you look at all the beautiful dive sites we have,
05:21from the whale shark to the manta rays to places where you can be on your own,
05:27diving with no other people,
05:29I think it's really a paradise for diving.
05:34Sadly, the Maldives is in danger of becoming paradise lost.
05:42These islands are constantly changing.
05:49Currents claw at the rock,
05:52eroding the land with every wave,
05:58and changing the shape of the beaches with every season.
06:03But the Maldives faces a threat far greater than erosion.
06:09The islands barely crest above sea level.
06:13The highest part of the Maldives is just eight feet above the ocean.
06:23More than 80% of its land sits no higher than three feet above sea level,
06:30making the Maldives the lowest-lying country in the world.
06:36As the warming global climate causes the polar ice caps and sea ice to melt,
06:41sea levels are rising.
06:45So much, in fact, that scientists estimate most of the Maldives will be underwater by the year 2100.
06:57This tiny island nation is sinking.
07:02But the Maldives is not helpless.
07:06It has a natural built-in defense system.
07:11Its coral reefs.
07:15The islands rest on a ring of coral called an atoll.
07:20They're surrounded by the largest reef in the Indian Ocean,
07:24a coral garden that covers more than 2,000 square miles.
07:30The reef system circles the nearly 1,200 islands of the Maldives
07:34and acts as a protective barrier to stop waves from eating away its shores.
07:42The waves do break down the coral, producing the sand that fortifies old islands and creates new ones.
07:55Lives above and beneath the water depend on the health of the coral reefs.
08:01Lives above and beneath the sea.
08:07Baa Atoll is home to the Maldives Marine Discovery Center.
08:18Since 2005, the center has developed conservation programs
08:23to safeguard the fragile ecosystems here,
08:26led by marine biologist Sebastian Stradal.
08:30The coral reef as an ecosystem is very important
08:34because it appears that it is hosting nearly 25% of biodiversity on the planet.
08:41It's as rich as the jungle in the Amazonia, for example.
08:46On the coral, you have more than 500 species in the Maldives,
08:49but all the different fish that are living on it,
08:52all the different organisms, the sea urquins, the sea cuncumber,
08:57the crabs, the shells, everything.
09:01So it's a very, very important ecosystem.
09:05The center's top priority is to protect the coral.
09:10And if the coral die, of course, you will already have 500 species that will die,
09:17but not only that, because all this shelter will disappear.
09:20And if you have just an underwater desert, like sand, like you can have under your feet here,
09:27you will not have a lot of shelter for these animals.
09:30And these animals will have to disappear.
09:32They will have to go somewhere else.
09:33And if they don't find another place, they will completely disappear as well.
09:39This troubling scenario is a very real possibility.
09:42The coral that surrounds the Maldives is in trouble.
09:48In 1998, the weather phenomenon, El Niño, brought warmer water to the archipelago,
09:55raising the sea temperature here by as much as 5 degrees Fahrenheit,
10:00and killing two-thirds of its coral reefs in a massive bleaching event.
10:07Reef bleaching occurs when abnormally warm water kills the algae that lives in the coral.
10:14It is the algae that gives coral its vibrant color and provides it with vital nutrients.
10:23When the algae goes, so does the coral's main food source.
10:28The corals starve, break, and wash ashore, making the islands more vulnerable.
10:36Then, in 2004, just as the reefs of the Maldives were beginning to recover from El Niño,
10:42a powerful tsunami swept through the islands.
10:47The reefs absorbed most of the impact.
10:51But where the coral was already weakened by bleaching, the land took a direct hit.
10:5820 islands were wiped off the map altogether.
11:03Then, in 2010, another bleaching event killed off even more coral.
11:11The corals are suffering from, of course, this global warming as well, climate change.
11:19And the fact that they are not doing really well, that they are not growing that good,
11:24is, of course, impacting as well the erosion of the island.
11:36But the people of the Maldives aren't letting their reef go without a fight.
11:43The Marine Discovery Center is home to one of the world's largest reef projects.
11:50A coral propagation program called Reefscapers.
11:57The Reefscaper program plants living coral in spots where reefs are most needed,
12:03to provide a refuge for marine species and help spawn a new generation of corals.
12:10But first, they have to build the new reefs.
12:16Today, we're going to build a coral frame, a medium size, with 65 coral fragments.
12:22Sebastian and his team have carefully picked only the toughest species,
12:27corals that have proven to be more resistant to bleaching.
12:30We take this one because they are very colorful, they grow fast, they're solid,
12:35they're very resistant to our program, so they're easy to transplant.
12:40The coral fragments are carefully attached to an iron frame, covered with several layers of sand.
12:48We just use a cable tie, we hold the coral family on top of it, and we just zip it
12:55like this.
12:55Now we just finished to attach all the coral fragments to the frame,
13:00so Monty is cutting the cable ties, so just what it's over.
13:05So now you can see, it looks really nice.
13:13They install the frame in the water as quickly as possible, to avoid stressing the coral.
13:20It is not a delicate process.
13:24The Reefscaper's program has already installed more than 3,000 coral frames on the ocean floor.
13:34Every six months, they replace fragments that might have died,
13:38and take pictures of the new growth to monitor the progress of the coral.
13:46Slowly but surely, new reefs are forming.
13:51The first year, first year and a half, is going really slow.
13:54The coral, they will attach themselves to the bar, first of all.
13:58And after that, it will be exponentially, because more tips will start to form,
14:02and they will all grow at the same time.
14:05So after three years, we estimate that your coral frame will be covered entirely.
14:13As the corals take shape, fish begin to arrive.
14:18Coral reefs form nurseries for about one quarter of the ocean's fish.
14:24The first year, you don't have a lot of fish, but suddenly, when you have hundreds of frames,
14:31it attracts a lot of fish.
14:33All sorts of animals that needed a shelter in this area, and they were happy to find this area,
14:39because in the nature, the animals in the ocean, they cannot survive if they don't have a shelter,
14:46so if they are small or even if they are a little bit big.
14:53Where coral thrives, so do other animals.
14:59During the day, soldier fish hide among the coral, where their bright colouring helps them blend in.
15:08The moray eel also uses the reef as a hiding spot, waiting for the opportunity to dart out and catch
15:16a meal.
15:19Strong Indian ocean currents act as super-highways, carrying animals and nutrient-rich water to the reef.
15:25They are what make the Maldives an underwater paradise.
15:31They also carry the world's garbage, far away from its original source.
15:39Most of that garbage is plastic.
15:44It's estimated that 5.3 trillion pieces of plastic float in our oceans.
15:53275,000 tons of plastic.
15:59The weight of that much plastic equals the weight of 570 fully loaded Boeing 747s.
16:11It's believed that up to 10% of the plastic comes from free-floating ghost nets.
16:16Nylon fishing nets, discarded by fishing boats on the high seas.
16:22Most fishermen around the Maldives don't even use nets.
16:27Yet the nets still find their way to these shores.
16:30Carried by the strong monsoon winds that blow from every direction with each season.
16:38Ghost nets present a terrible threat to the wildlife of the Maldives.
16:45Each year, in the Bah Atoll, dozens of sea turtles are found entangled in these nets.
16:54Each time the monsoon will turn, it's also synonym that a lot of wind is coming,
17:00and a lot of current is coming as well.
17:03So, suddenly, there's a big movement in the ocean, and, yeah, these turtles will arrive here along the coast of
17:11the Maldives.
17:12So, this is how we find them.
17:15Unfortunately, these turtles, when they arrive there, they will get trapped, because they will put their flipper inside these nets,
17:21and they will not be able to escape anymore.
17:24So, they will try to escape desperately for a certain time, weeks, but they are not able to do it.
17:30Only if they will cut off their flipper, which happens actually quite often.
17:34If they are not able to cut off their flipper, they will start to drift with the current, and they
17:40will arrive here in the Maldives.
17:45Fortunately, locals tip the Marine Discovery Center whenever a turtle is found.
17:52Today, the rescue team is heading out to a nearby dock to pick up a stranded turtle.
18:03Good morning, how's it going?
18:07Well, you can see the left front flipper have been cut, but it's already healing.
18:15Nearly healed already.
18:16Barnacles.
18:17A lot of barnacles.
18:19The animal is calm, so that's good.
18:23It's not very dirty as well.
18:26It looks in a good state.
18:28So, we're just going to carry it and put it in our boat.
18:32It's an olive ridley turtle, named for its distinctive olive-colored shell.
18:37You can see the main injury is the missing left front flipper.
18:42It kind of looked like this.
18:44We can imagine it was a bite.
18:47It doesn't look really like a previous entanglement.
18:52Here, you can see some wounds between the neck and the carapace.
18:58It's not so bad.
19:03Olive ridley turtles are not meant to be in the Maldives.
19:08They're solitary animals that live out in the open ocean, often more than 2,000 miles from shore.
19:17The olive ridley is the smallest species of sea turtle.
19:21They weigh an average of 100 pounds and reach just 2 feet in shell length.
19:27But they are strong swimmers.
19:30An olive ridley turtle can migrate thousands of miles in a year by following the currents through the ocean.
19:45Five species of sea turtles live in the Indian Ocean, around the Maldives.
19:51But it's the olive ridley turtle that rescuers see most often, likely because they're being swept here in ghost fishing
19:59nets.
20:02That's exactly what the team thinks happened to this turtle.
20:07They'll bring it back to the Marine Discovery Centre, where marine biologist Sarah Davies will perform a thorough check-up
20:14to determine the extent of its injuries.
20:18Anyone in the Maldives, if they find any injured or sick turtles, they call us and we bring them here
20:24to our centre, where we provide care, TLC, a bit of loving for the turtles, just to try and get
20:33them back to health and back out to the ocean as soon as possible.
20:38So, we're going to flip the animal to have a look at what's going on the other side of his
20:42body, because now obviously this side looks good, but we don't know what's on the other side, if it's injured
20:47as well.
20:49So, I'm just going to flip it.
20:58This part looks kind of damaged, like if the animal had a shock. It's a little bit broken actually. You
21:07can see there's a lot of blood beneath this plastron.
21:17It's clear to Sebastian that the turtle is bleeding internally.
21:22Obviously pretty bad.
21:23The team can only hope the injuries are not too extensive.
21:31Since the turtle arrived at the centre, it has barely moved.
21:35You can see there's a lot of blood underneath.
21:38The medical team puts it into a tank.
21:42It manages to float and attempts to swim, a good sign.
21:48At the moment it's fine, so we're also going to try probably to give him something to eat.
21:54Look if he's still hungry.
21:57He doesn't seem to be very interested in this, in the fish.
22:05This turtle, now named Rafaela, will stay here until she's healed enough to handle the rigors of sea life.
22:18Later in the day, the Marine Discovery Centre receives another call.
22:24It's a second olive ridley turtle.
22:28This one is in serious condition.
22:32It looks like it's spent months entangled in a ghost net, drifting and unable to feed itself.
22:39So we just received a phone call from the police.
22:42They have found a turtle that was injured, beached.
22:46So we're going to go there.
22:48It's an island about 20 minutes from here.
22:51And we're going to pick up the turtle.
22:52Hopefully it's in good shape and still alive.
22:59Hello, this is Sebastian from the Marine Discovery Centre.
23:02We are dead at Vandu now.
23:04Where are you exactly?
23:06Apparently we have very bad news.
23:07They just informed us that the turtle died.
23:10We're still going to go pick up the turtle, to have a look at it, why it died,
23:16to see the species, to take several records, the measurements, the weight, et cetera,
23:20and put it on our database.
23:22The centre keeps a record of each turtle they encounter.
23:27They'll use that data to find out how and why this happened,
23:30and hopefully stop it one day.
23:37Good evening, how are you?
23:39Hello.
23:40Good?
23:42Well, it's obviously dead.
23:46Olive Ridley.
23:47That's pretty bad shape.
23:49Yeah, that's really bad.
23:49And you saw, this is quite a big turtle, and the guy, he was just carrying it like this,
23:54so it must be, yeah, completely underweight.
23:58Just have the carapace left and the bone.
24:03Sebastian moves the turtle onto a Marine Centre boat,
24:06where he makes a shocking discovery.
24:11Did it move?
24:13It's still alive.
24:15It just moved.
24:16It was still breathing, I mean, yeah.
24:20In the fresh water, it will be better.
24:22Let's see how it's going to go.
24:26Sebastian thinks the turtle has been trapped for at least two weeks.
24:31Its attempts to escape have caused the net to cut into its front left flipper,
24:36almost completely severing it.
24:39Here you can see it's extremely weak.
24:42It's very warm and...
24:43It's extremely bad shape.
24:44But you can imagine the animal was suffering for a couple of weeks,
24:48maybe months.
24:50Let's see what's possible to do now.
24:56The team has never encountered a turtle in such critical condition before.
25:02Without a minute to spare, they head back to the Marine Discovery Centre.
25:07Yeah.
25:16So, I'm basically just going to have a quick look at the wounds,
25:20and try to clean as much as I can.
25:22Just try to disinfect the wounds a little bit.
25:29Okay.
25:31So, we're just putting some iodine just to try and clean out the wounds.
26:01Let's see.
26:02Now it's cool.
26:02It's in fresh water.
26:04It can hydrate a little bit, relax as well.
26:10So let's see tomorrow.
26:12Of course the animal is still suffering a lot,
26:17but let's see tomorrow how this one is going,
26:22if there's some life still.
26:31All of Ridley turtles were once considered
26:33the most abundant sea turtle in the world,
26:36with more than 800,000 breeding females.
26:42But in the last 100 years,
26:44the population has dropped more than 80%.
27:01The new dawn brings bad news.
27:05The turtle did not survive the night.
27:12It's a heartbreaking morning for the team,
27:15but the fight for survival continues for the rest of the residents
27:19in their rehab facility.
27:24The Marine Discovery Center is a permanent home to those turtles
27:28that never heal enough to survive in the wild.
27:32The Marine Center gives them a new home.
27:38We have Ossie.
27:39So Ossie is one that's very active.
27:42She's always very enthusiastic,
27:44always kind of swimming around in the tank,
27:46but unfortunately her main problem is that she can't dive.
27:49She has a buoyancy problem.
27:51She was found tangled in a net,
27:53so she did have to have, unfortunately,
27:56one of her flippers amputated.
27:59When a turtle suffers from trauma,
28:01its system releases gas into its body cavities,
28:05inflating them like a balloon
28:06and preventing the turtle from submerging in the water.
28:12Feeding time is a great opportunity
28:14for these floating turtles to exercise.
28:19Sarah encourages them to swim after pieces of frozen fish
28:23to keep the turtles active.
28:27This strength training is necessary to help the turtles
28:30recover the propelling power lost
28:32with their amputated flippers.
28:38We have Elsa.
28:40Elsa is usually everyone's favourite.
28:43She is missing both her front flippers, unfortunately.
28:46We really thought there was, you know,
28:49going to be the end for Elsa, really.
28:51We didn't think she would really be able to survive
28:53and recover after that,
28:55but she's really amazing.
28:57In two years,
28:58she's managed to be able to dive,
29:01but unfortunately, she's still very slow.
29:04She doesn't have the reaction speed
29:06to overcome any predators
29:07or to potentially get food for herself.
29:12Ghost nets have destined
29:13Ozzie and Elsa to a life in captivity.
29:18But the Marine Discovery Centre and its worldwide partners
29:21can at least offer them a second chance.
29:25So recently, we had some contact with an aquarium in Spain,
29:31and they're really keen to take Ozzie.
29:34They have an interest in putting a prosthetic flipper on her.
29:38I think with another flipper,
29:41she'd really be able to get herself down under the water,
29:44and I think it would be a really good opportunity.
29:49When we rescue a turtle, of course,
29:51it's always very painful to see the state of the animal,
29:56but at the same time, we are happy that we have managed to rescue it
30:01and take it here under observation.
30:04The positive thing is, as well,
30:06that more and more people are aware
30:08about our rehabilitation centre,
30:11especially the locals, all the marine biologists,
30:13so everybody now is calling us whenever they find a turtle.
30:20All of Ridleys aren't native to the Maldives.
30:25But five different species of sea turtle
30:28do call these islands home.
30:31including the hawksbill.
30:36They are typically solitary creatures,
30:38and, unlike the olive ridley turtle,
30:42tend to avoid the open ocean,
30:44preferring to lounge in coral reefs near the shore.
30:50The hawksbill is able to push its massive shell,
30:53which can grow up to three feet long,
30:55into tight spots in the reef,
30:57to search for food.
31:03This hawksbill is on the lookout for a meal,
31:06and it has the perfect tool for the job,
31:09a pointed bill shaped like a hawk's beak
31:11that helps them get at prey hidden among the coral crevices.
31:18The hawksbill is actually a species that is constantly foraging,
31:24so you will see them, they will be very active there,
31:27they will be on the bottom, not that deep,
31:29between 2-3 metres until like maybe 6-7 metres.
31:35Hawksbills are always on the lookout for food.
31:39They will eat almost anything.
31:41Crabs, shellfish, spawning corals,
31:44even the soft corals themselves.
31:49It's a good thing hawksbills have such a voracious appetite.
31:55They help to keep reefs healthy by eating sponges that compete for space with reef-building corals.
32:04They are the lawnmowers of the sea, grazing on seagrass and preventing underwater meadows from becoming overgrown and unhealthy.
32:14The sea turtle is vital to maintaining a stable marine ecosystem in the Maldives.
32:21But it's not the only creature with an important job.
32:26These grey reef sharks have company.
32:32Remora, or suckerfish, swim with the sharks and act as a spa attendant,
32:37cleaning their skin, eating tiny parasites,
32:42and snacking on leftover food fragments the shark may spill in the water.
32:48Of course, remoras get plenty in return for the work they do.
32:54Besides being well-fed with very little effort,
32:57they get a speedy form of transportation,
33:00and a bodyguard to protect them from other hunters that roam the sea.
33:06Remoras are powerful swimmers.
33:08Even when not latched on,
33:10they can keep up, swimming alongside the shark with ease.
33:23This kind of relationship isn't reserved just for powerful predators.
33:27A sleek unicorn fish visits a cleaning station,
33:32where the attendants are far more stationary.
33:37Cleaner wrasses will invite fish into their station by swishing their tails up and down.
33:44These tiny fish fill a crucial role here,
33:48helping bigger fish clean their nooks and crannies,
33:51eating any parasites that might have taken hold.
33:58This kind of interspecies cooperation is called a symbiotic relationship.
34:05It's common throughout the world's oceans.
34:13Clownfish, for example, have a special relationship with their homes.
34:21These colorful creatures live among sea anemones.
34:27Though they look like flowers,
34:29anemones are relatives of the jellyfish,
34:32and pack a powerful sting.
34:37Special stinging cells on their tentacles hold an incredibly powerful paralyzing neurotoxin,
34:44deadly to most creatures.
34:47But not to the clownfish,
34:49thanks to a layer of mucus that surrounds its body,
34:53protecting it from the sting.
34:57By living among sea anemones,
35:00the clownfish gets a powerful defense system.
35:06And in turn, the anemone gets to snack on the clownfish's leftovers.
35:16Cooperation occurs within a species as well,
35:20especially when there are thousands on a journey,
35:22and no time for traffic jams.
35:28Silver sprats, at just three inches long,
35:32are a favorite meal of many creatures in these waters.
35:37But what they lack in size, they make up for in coordination.
35:42These massive schools swirl through the sea in perfectly choreographed swarms,
35:47dipping and dodging to confuse potential predators.
35:52It's as though the school has a mind of its own.
36:02Traveling in a massive group like this also helps in the search for food.
36:08Thousands of eyes are better than two.
36:12The fish share information by watching each other closely.
36:19When one makes a move toward something interesting,
36:21the rest immediately follow suit,
36:24cascading through the water towards their intended target.
36:36Manta rays, on the other hand,
36:38aren't known for traveling in a group.
36:42But here in the Maldives, they do,
36:45soaring through the water like eagles in flight.
36:50These charismatic creatures have exceptionally large brains.
36:54Some researchers believe that mantas, like primates,
36:58can recognize themselves in a mirror,
37:01though this self-awareness has yet to be proved.
37:10The strong currents that carry plankton to the islands
37:14make the Maldives an ideal feeding site for these gentle giants.
37:20With an estimated population of 5,000 mantas,
37:24the Maldives is the world epicenter of manta ray research.
37:31So guys, we're going to be diving Manta Point today.
37:36Beth Taylor is a marine biologist with the Maldivian Manta Ray Project.
37:40A network of researchers stationed across the country with one common goal.
37:46To learn more about the life cycle and behavior
37:49of one of the world's most fascinating manta populations.
37:57Here on Lamu Ato, Beth and her team are headed down
38:01to one of the busiest cleaning stations in the Maldives,
38:05Manta Point.
38:07Perfect. It's right here.
38:09What makes Lamu, in general, very, very special
38:14is the health and the diversity of the reefs.
38:17They host so many fish,
38:20and obviously the most important being the cleaner wrasse.
38:23So without these guys, the sharks, the grouper, the snapper,
38:26and the manta ray would have nowhere to come and clean.
38:34The team hopes to get close enough to identify
38:37as many local mantas as possible.
38:42But dive conditions are far from ideal.
38:48The incoming current is not stirring enough plankton
38:51to attract large numbers of mantas.
38:55Even if a few do show up, they may not want to come close.
39:03In low light with limited visibility,
39:06mantas must be wary of any possible predator.
39:17Beth signals the team.
39:20She has spotted a male manta named Harris.
39:24This may be a successful dive after all.
39:28Harris himself, he's a wonderful manta,
39:32but he is one of the more shy individuals.
39:34And this is mainly due, we believe anyway,
39:38to the slight damage he has on his cephalic fin.
39:43Cephalic fins extend from the head like devil's horns.
39:46They are essential to a manta's ability to feed.
39:52They funnel water and plankton into its mouth.
39:58An injured fin affects the manta's capacity,
40:01not only to feed, but to mate and clean itself.
40:08The team believes this injury may be the reason
40:11Harris is keeping his distance.
40:20A second manta has been spotted.
40:23This one has no qualms about approaching the divers.
40:30It is Michelle.
40:33Lamu's most famous manta.
40:36We saw Michelle and we were like,
40:38yeah, we're going to get a good shot today.
40:40Every time when we dive with Michelle,
40:43it's amazing.
40:45Every time.
40:55Michelle is different from all the other mantis.
40:58He always come over you.
41:00He'll always check you.
41:02He'll take a good look at you.
41:08Mantis are identified by the pattern of spots on their bellies.
41:13Each is unique, like a human fingerprint.
41:19The research team hopes to photograph these patterns
41:22so they can catalogue and monitor the resident mantis of the Lamu Atoll.
41:37Back on land, Beth and her colleagues will enter the photos and data collected on this dive
41:43into a shared database cataloguing the biology, behaviour and migration patterns of the Maldivian manta rays.
41:54Today was a lot more rough than I was expecting.
41:57The team's observations may help explain the low number of mantis at the cleaning station today.
42:03Did you notice how many very, very large grouper there were?
42:07Yeah.
42:08Really, really...
42:08Especially on the second dive.
42:09Yeah, exactly.
42:10Really, really dominating.
42:13It is because, like, on the lunar calendar from 26th to 30th, they're breeding on the channel.
42:21I see.
42:21So, we've been seeing them, like, last couple of days.
42:27Manta rays are incredibly intelligent, so they're very, very aware of their surroundings.
42:32For a long time, we've believed that this area could potentially be a spawning ground for grouper.
42:38And what I've noticed with my colleagues is that when the very, very large of the species are present,
42:43the mantis won't be there.
42:44But when it's the spawning time and you see all these adults and these really, really mature grouper,
42:50you won't find the mantis.
42:51And if you do, they cruise by and they don't stay.
43:01Dive after dive, the Maldivian manta ray project uncovers the complex behaviors of these majestic creatures.
43:22One hundred and twenty-five miles north of Lamu, marine biologist Nicola Bassett prepares for a dive in one of
43:30the archipelago's largest isles.
43:32The Ari Atoll.
43:35The reef here has both feeding and cleaning stations, making it a prime research spot for marine biologists.
43:43And another key stop for mantis migrating through the Maldives.
43:49It is an amazing day. As you can see, the sea is really calm, a blue sky, a few clouds
43:55and sun shining.
43:57So hopefully luck will be on our side under the water as well as above it.
44:08Parrot fish are the first to greet Nicola on the reef.
44:17Not far from them, she spots three juvenile male mantis.
44:24Like humans, female and male mantis can be distinguished by their sex organs.
44:35Females have two pelvic fins that resemble paddles at the base of their tails.
44:43Males also have a pair of pelvic fins, but in addition, they develop a set of claspers that are only
44:49visible as the male reaches sexual maturity.
44:53When they do, these male mantis will return to this station to reproduce.
45:00Cleaning stations in general, we know are an important area for manta courtship and manta mating behaviour.
45:09Mantis are solitary, but then at these cleaning stations, they come together.
45:12So it's a good area for males to meet females.
45:27After seven years and more than 25,000 sightings, the Maldivian Manta Ray Project has recorded 3,000 different mantis
45:35in these waters.
45:37It's the largest number of identified manta rays anywhere in the world.
45:43Yet there is still much to be learned about their behaviour.
45:50The charismatic fish with the largest brain in the ocean remains one of the most captivating wonders of this underwater
45:57realm.
46:04From white sand beaches and emerald seas.
46:12To vibrant seascapes.
46:17And majestic giants.
46:22The Maldives is a stunning natural wonder.
46:27But this fragile paradise, so vulnerable to the powers of nature, needs protection.
46:35In this untamed environment where coral reefs barricade islands from destruction.
46:41And fish develop alliances to guarantee their survival.
46:48Every small effort counts.
46:51To preserve this tiny island treasure.
46:55Perilously scattered in the planet's rising oceans.
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