Wild Pacific

The South Pacific islands - the most remote in the world - are home to some of 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 different here, too. The men of Pentecost Island celebrate their annual harvest by leaping from 20-metre-high scaffolds, with only forest vines to break their fall. And on the tiny island of Anuta, possibly the most remote community of people on the planet, the locals survive entirely on what they can grow and catch. The South Pacific's innumerable islands look like pieces of paradise, but the reality of life here is sometimes very different, with waves the size of buildings, brutal tropical storms and, in the far south, even blizzards. This is the real South Pacific.

In the South Pacific there is no such thing as a deserted island. They may be the most isolated in the world but every one of the region's 20,000 islands has been colonised - from New Guinea, home to birds of paradise and the tribe whose brutal initiation ceremony turns young warriors into 'crocodile' men, to Fiji, French Polynesia and Hawaii. This is the story of the ultimate castaways - from saltwater crocodiles and giant eels to crested iguanas and weird frogs - who succeeded against all odds to reach islands thousands of miles apart. These journeys were no mean feat. It has been estimated that an average of one species every 60,000 years makes it to Hawaii. Incredibly, many of these colonisers made it to these islands on the back of the most violent forces of nature, like cyclones and tsunamis. The voyages of the South Pacific's first people, the Polynesians, were no less remarkable. These journeys were undoubtedly some of the greatest acts of navigation ever undertaken, and they changed the nature of the South Pacific forever.

A large part of the remote, blue wilderness of the South Pacific is a marine desert. 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. Theirs is a journey that can end in tragedy. But the South Pacific is not all desert. New Zealand's super-rich coast supports huge pods of acrobatic dolphins; its coral reefs are some of the most diverse on earth; and there are few places richer in wildlife than the quirky Galapagos Islands, home to tropical penguins and surfing sea lions. Using the greatest shipwreck story of all time - an event that inspired Moby Dick - 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; rivers of lava exploding below the waves; roads and houses buried by molten rivers of rock. From these violent beginnings emerge coral reefs of unparalleled richness supporting large groups of grey reef sharks and giant manta rays. The rising lands of the South Pacific have also given life to some very strange creatures, from the vampire bug that thrives in tropical snow, to the megapode, a bird that uses volcanic springs to incubate their eggs; and vast swarms of jellyfish trapped forever by a coral mountain.

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; rivers of lava exploding below the waves; roads and houses buried by molten rivers of rock. From these violent beginnings emerge coral reefs of unparalleled richness supporting large groups of grey reef sharks and giant manta rays. The rising lands of the South Pacific have also given life to some very strange creatures, from the vampire bug that thrives in tropical snow, to the megapode, a bird that uses volcanic springs to incubate their eggs; and vast swarms of jellyfish trapped forever by a coral mountain.

The South Pacific is still relatively healthy and teeming with fish, but it is a fragile paradise. International fishing fleets are taking a serious toll on the sharks, albatross and tuna, and there are other insidious threats to these bountiful seas. This episode looks at what is being done to preserve the ocean and its wildlife.

The Pacific Ocean covers a third of the earth’s surface and spans from Asia to the Americas. Over 25,000 islands have formed from volcanic activity in the Pacific that gave birth to new land, species, and shelter for the underwater life. Land masses created by these underwater volcanoes account for only one percent of the entire pacific area. Watch closely as lava from underwater volcanoes make its way to the surface in an effort to form a new island.

The remoteness of the Pacific Islands made many scientists wonder how plants and animals ever made it to shore. Once these species arrived, their methods of adaptation and survival have created some of the most unique creatures on the planet. Fruit flies were among the first insects to arrive on the Hawaiian Islands millions of years ago via air current carriers. Other heavier animals have washed on shore with tangled rafts of trees and vines torn away from deadly tsunamis.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean on Earth and accounts for nearly a third of the Earth’s surface. It is home to 25,000 islands that provide feeding grounds for the most diverse water species and can be a desolate and lifeless place where members of the Essex whale ship were stranded. Introduced species are running rampant; global warming and rising sea levels will soon inundate islands; the ocean is being over-fished and species like sharks are disappearing.

The fragile ecosystem of the Pacific is constantly threatened by climate change, overfishing and man's increasing influence.

The Pacific Ocean is home to many remote islands that are thousands of miles away from mainland. Seclusion has created the freedom of species to follow their own evolutionary path. Isolation has spawned fantastic creatures such as the dingiso, kagu, and skinks which led to extraordinary human traditions found no where else in the world.

The footage seen in Wild Pacific are remarkable, never-before-seen of the most unique creatures and oceanic movements on Earth. Camera crews were faced with immeasurable tasks that took great courage and determination. Team up with cameramen and women as they head under barreling waves, search for endangered penguins, dive with the world’s most dangerous shark, embrace the sacred dingiso, and get tangled with tuna in fishing nets in the search of rare and natural footage.