[00:00.31]Unable to sail directly east because of the prevailing winds,
[00:04.23]they were forced south and into the area of the South Pacific
[00:07.73]known then as the Desolate Region.
[00:11.00]A vast, uncharted, windless ocean the size of Australia.
[00:16.54]These beautiful blue waters are the clearest in the world.
[00:21.29]But they are a watery desert, clear and blue
[00:25.12]because there is so little plankton,
[00:27.17]the key to all marine food chains.
[00:29.37]Plankton need nutrients,
[00:31.31]but most nutrients are locked in the deep,
[00:33.57]denied access to the surface by a layer of water called the thermocline,
[00:38.30]around 200 metres down.
[00:41.03]The little life that does exist at the surface seeks shelter,
[00:54.05]no matter how superficial it may be.
[00:56.60]In time, whole communities build on the flotsam. Barnacle larvae settle,
[01:02.14]along with miniature predators.
[01:02.14]Frogfish. On just a piece of drifting rope,
[01:02.14]tiny creatures may spend their entire lives.
[01:02.14]