| [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] |
|