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Almost all animal castaways would have died of exposure, hunger or thirst |
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long before reaching French Polynesia in the eastern Pacific |
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Reaching land here was a matter of extraordinary luck |
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Unlike Fiji, |
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there are no bats in French Polynesia,no frogs and only a handful of lizards |
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The most successful travellers were the long-haul fliers - sooty terns |
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Incredibly, |
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they can stay in the air for four years without landing |
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But to breed, they must return to nesting sites on remote islands |
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And when they do, |
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they introduce new life |
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Sticky or barbed seeds fasten on to their feathers |
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and hitch rides across oceans |
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On some islands, 75% of plants arrived with the birds |
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Seeds are even carried in the stomachs of some birds |
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As if getting a lift wasn't enough for these seeds, |
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seabirds also provide them with something else |
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The seafood these birds bring back to the islands |
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is turned into nutrient-rich guano - plant fertiliser |
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And there's enough of it to transform barren coral atolls into fertile groves |