1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:01:39,996 --> 00:01:42,530 [wind chime tinkles] 4 00:01:48,241 --> 00:01:49,438 [footsteps] 5 00:01:52,575 --> 00:01:54,707 Yeah, well, here we are. 6 00:01:54,742 --> 00:01:56,775 Five days on the island already. 7 00:01:57,910 --> 00:01:59,448 Things are going great. 8 00:02:00,814 --> 00:02:03,320 The dunes all around. 9 00:02:03,355 --> 00:02:06,125 Isolation all about. 10 00:02:10,197 --> 00:02:13,132 But the work is the most important thing. 11 00:02:14,498 --> 00:02:16,135 And that's why I'm here. 12 00:02:16,830 --> 00:02:19,369 I'm gonna do it. 13 00:02:19,404 --> 00:02:22,438 Carry on, push through, do the monitoring work. 14 00:02:25,608 --> 00:02:28,675 Chase the seals. Never forget. 15 00:02:28,710 --> 00:02:31,810 Never forget the seals on Mercury Island. 16 00:02:36,256 --> 00:02:39,818 So anyway, this is just to say that 17 00:02:42,328 --> 00:02:43,657 basically, this guy 18 00:02:43,692 --> 00:02:48,167 is fucking glad to be back here for a while. 19 00:03:04,548 --> 00:03:07,648 [birds call] 20 00:03:44,016 --> 00:03:47,820 Down the mountain to the desert. 21 00:03:47,855 --> 00:03:49,525 [Joëlle] And then? 22 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,791 When we get to the desert... When you first get to... 23 00:03:51,826 --> 00:03:53,562 The first desert, you turn left. 24 00:03:55,093 --> 00:03:57,434 You drive for about 300K, 25 00:03:57,469 --> 00:03:59,931 then you get to the second desert, and you turn right. 26 00:04:06,775 --> 00:04:09,644 [Joëlle] In 1988, I went to visit my brother, Yves, 27 00:04:09,679 --> 00:04:14,451 on an island off the Skeleton Coast called Ichaboe Island. 28 00:04:20,118 --> 00:04:23,361 We drove through the Namib Desert to Lüderitz, 29 00:04:23,396 --> 00:04:25,660 which is the harbour from which the boats leave 30 00:04:25,695 --> 00:04:27,860 to go to the Guano Islands. 31 00:04:32,999 --> 00:04:35,538 Yves is a nature conservationist. 32 00:04:37,036 --> 00:04:38,805 There are very few young men 33 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:40,477 who would have wilfully signed up 34 00:04:40,512 --> 00:04:43,777 to manage 50,000 gannets on a remote island 35 00:04:43,812 --> 00:04:46,879 where there was absolutely nobody. 36 00:04:50,852 --> 00:04:54,986 His enthusiasm for what he was doing completely intrigued me, 37 00:04:55,021 --> 00:04:58,022 and I wanted to go and see for myself. 38 00:05:03,964 --> 00:05:06,965 As we got closer and closer to Ichaboe, 39 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,772 I could just smell this pungent guano, birdshit. 40 00:05:11,807 --> 00:05:15,776 And then the sounds. It's a cacophony. 41 00:05:15,811 --> 00:05:20,616 [birds call] 42 00:05:35,633 --> 00:05:37,963 [gannets and penguins call] 43 00:05:44,675 --> 00:05:46,136 [Yves] When you step onto Ichaboe, 44 00:05:46,171 --> 00:05:48,578 if you've got a passion for seabirds, 45 00:05:48,613 --> 00:05:50,580 it's mind-blowing; 46 00:05:50,615 --> 00:05:54,617 the entire island being covered from one end to the other 47 00:05:54,652 --> 00:05:58,555 with an incredible gannet population, at that time, 48 00:06:00,218 --> 00:06:02,988 along with thousands of penguins 49 00:06:03,023 --> 00:06:06,530 and thousands of bank cormorants and Cape cormorants. 50 00:06:08,193 --> 00:06:11,403 Ichaboe Island is just mesmerising. 51 00:06:11,966 --> 00:06:13,636 [birds call] 52 00:06:27,047 --> 00:06:30,048 [Joëlle] Yves was a headman on Ichaboe. 53 00:06:30,083 --> 00:06:32,886 Headmen were first posted to these bird islands 54 00:06:32,921 --> 00:06:34,789 in the late 1800s, 55 00:06:34,824 --> 00:06:38,188 after guano harvesters mined the islands flat 56 00:06:38,223 --> 00:06:41,532 and left nothing for the birds to nest in. 57 00:06:44,669 --> 00:06:46,196 By the time Yves got there, 58 00:06:46,231 --> 00:06:48,605 industrial fishing was forcing the birds 59 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:52,103 to travel further and further to find food for their young, 60 00:06:52,138 --> 00:06:55,172 threatening their survival even more. 61 00:06:59,651 --> 00:07:01,486 By protecting the seabirds, 62 00:07:01,521 --> 00:07:05,622 my enigmatic brother had found his niche as a conservationist, 63 00:07:05,657 --> 00:07:08,460 and it was heart-warming for me to see. 64 00:07:14,666 --> 00:07:16,028 [Yves] In the morning here, 65 00:07:16,063 --> 00:07:18,569 it's the best time to come and check who's male and female, 66 00:07:18,604 --> 00:07:20,164 because you can see all the footprints 67 00:07:20,199 --> 00:07:23,101 on the females' backs. You can see all the footprints. 68 00:07:26,073 --> 00:07:28,975 From the males when they copulate with females. 69 00:07:29,010 --> 00:07:31,813 Then the male actually on the female's back, 70 00:07:31,848 --> 00:07:34,849 standing on the wings and the back there. 71 00:07:34,884 --> 00:07:37,555 And when the ground gets nice and moist, like it is now, 72 00:07:37,590 --> 00:07:40,987 you can see who's been banging away at night. 73 00:07:45,961 --> 00:07:48,698 [Joëlle] Yves's exhilaration with the natural world 74 00:07:48,733 --> 00:07:50,568 was contagious. 75 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,935 I encouraged him to video his experiences, 76 00:07:54,970 --> 00:07:57,168 and I would film whenever I could visit. 77 00:07:59,271 --> 00:08:02,844 Later, he entrusted me with his diaries. 78 00:08:06,718 --> 00:08:12,722 After my visit, he wrote, "14th September, 1988." 79 00:08:14,286 --> 00:08:16,528 "My sister came to visit." 80 00:08:16,563 --> 00:08:20,059 "At last, I could reveal Ichaboe to someone else." 81 00:08:22,129 --> 00:08:26,637 "There were bird densities like I hadn't experienced." 82 00:08:26,672 --> 00:08:28,639 "The cherry on the top was when the gannets 83 00:08:28,674 --> 00:08:32,808 obliterated a crayfish boat from view." 84 00:08:32,843 --> 00:08:35,074 "The snow-white orchestra showing off 85 00:08:35,109 --> 00:08:36,878 just before she left." 86 00:08:36,913 --> 00:08:38,715 [birds call] 87 00:08:47,055 --> 00:08:50,320 [Yves] After I spent four years on Ichaboe Island, 88 00:08:50,355 --> 00:08:54,599 there was a survey vessel going up to Mercury Island. 89 00:08:54,634 --> 00:08:58,130 Mercury had been abandoned for nearly 20 years, 90 00:08:58,165 --> 00:09:02,167 and there was a seal problem developing there. 91 00:09:02,202 --> 00:09:05,170 Since I was the conservator on Ichaboe, 92 00:09:05,205 --> 00:09:10,142 my boss, Dr Williams, said, "Can you please come with me, 93 00:09:10,177 --> 00:09:14,113 and do an assessment and a survey of the island, 94 00:09:14,148 --> 00:09:17,985 and go and look what's going on there?" 95 00:09:18,020 --> 00:09:20,284 I was very excited to go there. 96 00:09:20,319 --> 00:09:25,025 So I said, "I'm jumping on that boat." 97 00:09:59,699 --> 00:10:00,764 [bird whistles] 98 00:10:41,774 --> 00:10:44,401 [birds call] 99 00:10:47,406 --> 00:10:51,815 [Joëlle] Of the island, author Lawrence Green once wrote, 100 00:10:51,850 --> 00:10:53,751 "Some forgotten shipmaster 101 00:10:53,786 --> 00:10:57,414 showed a touch of genius when he named Mercury Island." 102 00:10:59,253 --> 00:11:02,386 "That bare rock with the birds crying onto it 103 00:11:02,421 --> 00:11:04,124 shakes like quicksilver 104 00:11:04,159 --> 00:11:06,797 whenever the sea comes in from the south-west 105 00:11:06,832 --> 00:11:09,096 and dashes into the cave." 106 00:11:10,132 --> 00:11:13,133 [waves crash] 107 00:11:18,173 --> 00:11:19,272 "This is the place 108 00:11:19,308 --> 00:11:22,340 where one man after another has gone mad." 109 00:11:27,985 --> 00:11:31,052 [Yves] Wildness. Utter wildness. 110 00:11:32,088 --> 00:11:35,056 I was absolutely astounded. 111 00:11:35,091 --> 00:11:38,125 You don't get wilder than this. 112 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:42,492 Mercury is so remote and so far from civilisation. 113 00:11:42,527 --> 00:11:47,167 That augmented the feeling of wildness. 114 00:11:47,202 --> 00:11:51,105 It looks like a sleeping, kind of crocodilian, 115 00:11:51,140 --> 00:11:54,812 dinosaur-ish, weird creature. 116 00:11:54,847 --> 00:11:56,979 The whole place was cosmic. 117 00:11:57,575 --> 00:12:01,511 [birds call] 118 00:12:01,546 --> 00:12:04,118 They dropped me at the bottom of the jetty 119 00:12:04,153 --> 00:12:05,757 and I climbed up the stairs, 120 00:12:05,792 --> 00:12:10,322 and I was faced with this wave of seals coming straight at me. 121 00:12:10,357 --> 00:12:12,863 And I just stood there, frozen. 122 00:12:20,004 --> 00:12:21,201 There was nobody on the island. 123 00:12:21,236 --> 00:12:23,907 The whole settlement was deserted. 124 00:12:27,143 --> 00:12:30,012 We walked around the island, went right up to the top, 125 00:12:30,047 --> 00:12:32,080 and as far as we could go. 126 00:12:34,953 --> 00:12:38,955 All we could see was this complete imbalance, 127 00:12:38,990 --> 00:12:42,992 with a seething mass of seals everywhere 128 00:12:43,027 --> 00:12:46,930 bumping into every seabird colony. 129 00:12:46,965 --> 00:12:50,098 It became a competition for space. 130 00:12:52,531 --> 00:12:54,938 We realised then that the whole thing 131 00:12:54,973 --> 00:12:59,338 would eventually be colonised by seals. 132 00:12:59,373 --> 00:13:01,813 No gannets, no penguins, 133 00:13:01,848 --> 00:13:06,411 the whole island would have just gone to the seals. 134 00:13:09,482 --> 00:13:12,956 Should we just allow nature to take its course? 135 00:13:15,092 --> 00:13:19,391 Since we were the ones that put it in the wrong place, 136 00:13:19,426 --> 00:13:23,428 now there's only one species on this planet 137 00:13:23,463 --> 00:13:26,871 that can make it right, and that's us human beings. 138 00:13:26,906 --> 00:13:28,972 [seals bark] 139 00:13:31,570 --> 00:13:34,978 Then we made a plan, right then. 140 00:13:35,013 --> 00:13:36,980 Mercury Island has to be manned, 141 00:13:37,015 --> 00:13:39,213 and the seals must be chased off, 142 00:13:39,248 --> 00:13:43,855 if we wish to prevent this local extinction. 143 00:13:47,058 --> 00:13:50,961 I was the perfect person at the perfect time 144 00:13:50,996 --> 00:13:53,623 to go to the perfect place... 145 00:13:53,658 --> 00:13:56,395 which was in total disorder. 146 00:13:59,939 --> 00:14:02,368 [birds call] 147 00:14:04,207 --> 00:14:06,570 [seals grunt and bark] 148 00:14:12,182 --> 00:14:14,281 [seal barks] 149 00:14:14,316 --> 00:14:17,086 [animal noises continue, muffled] 150 00:14:17,121 --> 00:14:20,056 [Joëlle] "17th October, 1990." 151 00:14:21,653 --> 00:14:23,587 "Animal and wild surround." 152 00:14:23,622 --> 00:14:26,997 "The seals, like the sound of a nightmare on repeat, 153 00:14:27,032 --> 00:14:29,692 seem to be talking in human sentences, 154 00:14:29,727 --> 00:14:34,565 in between the growls, burps, farts, whines, squeals, snorts, 155 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:39,405 raucous shouts and hysterical laughter." 156 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,980 "How the birds have managed to survive these conditions, 157 00:14:43,015 --> 00:14:45,444 I don't know." 158 00:14:45,479 --> 00:14:48,216 "Let me leave it at that for tonight." 159 00:14:53,289 --> 00:14:56,455 [seals grunt] 160 00:14:56,490 --> 00:14:59,194 [birds call] 161 00:15:09,536 --> 00:15:14,110 [penguin honks] 162 00:15:15,773 --> 00:15:18,081 [Yves] Yes, good morning, pal. 163 00:15:21,020 --> 00:15:26,254 I'm here on Mercury Island. It's unbelievable. [chuckles] 164 00:15:26,289 --> 00:15:29,125 [penguin honks] 165 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:31,523 [in time with penguin's honks] Un-believ-able! 166 00:15:31,558 --> 00:15:33,228 What an absolutely... 167 00:15:33,263 --> 00:15:34,559 [penguin calls] 168 00:15:34,594 --> 00:15:37,661 ...beautiful ball of a planet this is! 169 00:15:37,696 --> 00:15:41,104 I just can't believe it, man. It's absolutely stunning! 170 00:15:43,042 --> 00:15:45,471 And... there they go. 171 00:15:50,709 --> 00:15:54,711 And now it's just me and the dudes. 172 00:16:10,762 --> 00:16:15,171 [Joëlle] "Shout, scream and whip." 173 00:16:15,206 --> 00:16:19,439 "I've got 15,000 seals to deal with." 174 00:16:19,474 --> 00:16:23,410 "Ichaboe is a civilised world compared with this lot." 175 00:16:28,351 --> 00:16:32,386 "Once, this island would have had a myriad of species 176 00:16:32,421 --> 00:16:35,224 living in equilibrium." 177 00:16:35,259 --> 00:16:40,229 "Unmanned, the seals have made it their domain." 178 00:16:40,264 --> 00:16:43,529 "With no one to deter them, and no predators, 179 00:16:43,564 --> 00:16:46,301 their numbers grew and grew." 180 00:16:46,336 --> 00:16:50,437 "Their heavy bodies destroy everything in their path." 181 00:17:34,879 --> 00:17:37,319 [seals bark] 182 00:17:37,354 --> 00:17:38,452 Shoo! 183 00:17:40,192 --> 00:17:41,290 Shoo! 184 00:17:41,853 --> 00:17:43,622 [seal grunts] 185 00:18:12,356 --> 00:18:15,192 [waves crash] 186 00:18:18,659 --> 00:18:20,098 And here we are! 187 00:18:51,857 --> 00:18:54,693 The harsh realities thereof. 188 00:18:57,929 --> 00:19:02,206 Had a wash, shower, washed my hair. 189 00:19:02,241 --> 00:19:05,440 Put on a set of new clothes. Clean. 190 00:19:07,444 --> 00:19:10,379 All spruced up and brand new. 191 00:19:13,252 --> 00:19:15,186 This is where I am the king. 192 00:19:15,848 --> 00:19:17,947 This is my domain. 193 00:19:20,523 --> 00:19:23,590 It's out of the wind. My perfect bowl. 194 00:19:23,625 --> 00:19:26,890 We're in a little amphitheatre, out of the wind. 195 00:19:26,925 --> 00:19:28,496 Bank Rock... 196 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:30,861 and the sky! 197 00:19:36,341 --> 00:19:40,640 Let... Let us walk along this intricate little path here. 198 00:19:42,248 --> 00:19:45,381 It's really a kind of path that, er... 199 00:19:45,416 --> 00:19:50,287 [coughs] You need to have goat's feet, man! Goat's feet! 200 00:19:52,654 --> 00:19:54,984 You gotta be nifty on your toes, 201 00:19:55,019 --> 00:19:57,019 you gotta make sure you land with your... 202 00:19:57,054 --> 00:19:58,592 Your foot's gotta be... 203 00:19:58,627 --> 00:20:00,660 [waves crash] 204 00:20:00,695 --> 00:20:02,497 Sorry, just need to... 205 00:20:02,532 --> 00:20:05,599 Yeah, sorry, Vid, I can't hold your hand now, eh, because... 206 00:20:05,634 --> 00:20:06,864 [chuckles] 207 00:20:06,899 --> 00:20:09,735 That's fair enough without a video in your hand, 208 00:20:09,770 --> 00:20:10,934 but when you have, er... Phew! 209 00:20:10,969 --> 00:20:13,673 I really thought I was gonna fall. 210 00:20:13,708 --> 00:20:15,510 And I'm stuck here now. 211 00:20:17,283 --> 00:20:19,547 I've just about had heart failure here, 212 00:20:19,582 --> 00:20:21,978 because I didn't have my feet in the right place. 213 00:20:22,013 --> 00:20:23,287 They have to be... 214 00:20:24,983 --> 00:20:26,290 in the right place! 215 00:20:26,325 --> 00:20:27,489 Shit! 216 00:20:27,524 --> 00:20:29,524 So you see, that's the goat path. 217 00:20:30,956 --> 00:20:31,922 Part of the Earth 218 00:20:31,957 --> 00:20:34,056 man doesn't venture to too often. 219 00:20:34,091 --> 00:20:37,532 And when you do, you do so with trepidation. 220 00:20:39,371 --> 00:20:41,338 Yeah, and that's Uranus Cave. 221 00:20:41,373 --> 00:20:44,308 The hollow mountain in the sea. 222 00:20:44,343 --> 00:20:46,805 Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! [laughs] 223 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:48,906 And that's Growler Rock. 224 00:20:48,941 --> 00:20:50,677 He just growled. The Growler! 225 00:20:50,712 --> 00:20:53,548 I call him the Growler, you know? Ha! 226 00:20:56,421 --> 00:20:58,883 Yes, most impressive, most impressive. 227 00:20:58,918 --> 00:21:00,951 Most impressive indeed! 228 00:21:05,661 --> 00:21:10,059 So there we have the island getting litten up. 229 00:21:10,094 --> 00:21:13,436 And there's my friend, Bank Rock. 230 00:21:13,471 --> 00:21:16,967 That is the head of the very beast. 231 00:21:17,002 --> 00:21:19,970 With the eye right in the centre. 232 00:21:21,842 --> 00:21:26,482 And then get right onto the top, like we're riding on its back. 233 00:21:28,552 --> 00:21:33,016 There, by Jupiter Peak, or on top of the Dragon's Spine. 234 00:21:38,892 --> 00:21:44,368 Surrounded by all this incredible isolation. 235 00:21:45,162 --> 00:21:49,703 ♪ Splendid isolation 236 00:21:49,738 --> 00:21:52,541 ♪ I don't need no one 237 00:22:01,420 --> 00:22:05,917 The true essence of island living 238 00:22:05,952 --> 00:22:07,952 is to be by yourself. 239 00:22:09,626 --> 00:22:14,024 And nobody else knows that better than me. 240 00:22:32,517 --> 00:22:34,583 [Joëlle] "I have just acupunctured the island 241 00:22:34,618 --> 00:22:37,487 with about a hundred needles that show the places 242 00:22:37,522 --> 00:22:40,985 that need to be guarded against the seal invasion." 243 00:22:44,661 --> 00:22:46,760 "Magnetic Mercury attracts them 244 00:22:46,795 --> 00:22:48,663 and the island sure offers a haven 245 00:22:48,698 --> 00:22:51,534 for those furry, whiskered beasts." 246 00:22:52,801 --> 00:22:54,834 "Niches and ledges everywhere." 247 00:22:56,904 --> 00:22:59,773 "But the seals have an alternative." 248 00:22:59,808 --> 00:23:01,577 "The birds do not." 249 00:23:12,821 --> 00:23:16,559 [wind chime tinkles] 250 00:23:23,227 --> 00:23:25,568 *[Yves] 251 00:23:32,808 --> 00:23:34,445 *[bird whistles] 252 00:23:37,516 --> 00:23:42,915 [bird whistles, chirrups] 253 00:23:42,950 --> 00:23:45,687 What a pleasure to have a little thing like that around. 254 00:23:45,722 --> 00:23:47,920 -He just, like, softens your... -[bird whistles] 255 00:23:47,955 --> 00:23:50,758 ...softens an island soul's heart! 256 00:23:50,793 --> 00:23:52,188 [bird chirrups] 257 00:23:52,223 --> 00:23:56,060 Right, I'll put you back in the, erm, studio. [chuckles] 258 00:23:56,095 --> 00:23:57,897 There's a good lad. 259 00:24:03,300 --> 00:24:06,543 And there are some penguins in my room. 260 00:24:08,844 --> 00:24:13,044 Let's go and see what these little fuckers are up to. 261 00:25:51,683 --> 00:25:52,781 Eh? 262 00:25:56,116 --> 00:25:57,555 There he is now. 263 00:25:58,349 --> 00:26:00,657 All huddled up on my chest. 264 00:26:00,692 --> 00:26:03,924 And I'm just gonna keep him like this until he's dry. 265 00:26:04,795 --> 00:26:06,388 Eh? 266 00:26:06,423 --> 00:26:11,162 Our patient has reached hospital status. 267 00:26:11,197 --> 00:26:13,637 And we're gonna give him a hot-water bottle. 268 00:26:13,672 --> 00:26:16,365 Island-style hot Oros bottle. 269 00:26:18,435 --> 00:26:21,337 There they are, both together. 270 00:26:21,372 --> 00:26:24,340 The penguin chick and the Oros bottle. 271 00:26:24,375 --> 00:26:25,880 And it's gonna warm it up nicely 272 00:26:25,915 --> 00:26:28,212 under the blanket for him, there. 273 00:26:28,247 --> 00:26:30,852 Finn has made a dramatic recovery. 274 00:26:30,887 --> 00:26:33,624 [laughs] 275 00:26:33,659 --> 00:26:37,320 Hey! It was me that saved your life, my friend. 276 00:26:37,355 --> 00:26:40,356 Now you're all hot and excited and full of beans. 277 00:26:40,391 --> 00:26:41,929 Yeah. 278 00:26:41,964 --> 00:26:44,668 We'll put you in the greenhouse where there's a wet floor. 279 00:26:44,703 --> 00:26:46,164 [laughs] 280 00:26:48,806 --> 00:26:51,202 Well, that's how a penguin chick recovers. 281 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:30,945 Yeah. 282 00:28:50,257 --> 00:28:54,523 Seals are the most radical animal in the world. 283 00:28:54,558 --> 00:28:58,263 They are at the top of their evolutionary scale 284 00:28:58,298 --> 00:29:01,431 and that is what makes them so amazing. 285 00:29:03,336 --> 00:29:06,304 You can't imagine a better seal. 286 00:29:07,945 --> 00:29:10,847 It is the most agile creature. 287 00:29:10,882 --> 00:29:13,542 Far more agile than a dolphin. 288 00:29:13,577 --> 00:29:16,149 They've got a thick skin. They've got a layer of blubber. 289 00:29:16,184 --> 00:29:18,580 They've got an undercoat of fur. 290 00:29:18,615 --> 00:29:20,417 They've got a top coat of fur. 291 00:29:20,452 --> 00:29:24,388 They're completely equipped to deal with the cold. 292 00:29:24,423 --> 00:29:26,830 They can dive deeper. They can swim further. 293 00:29:26,865 --> 00:29:30,427 They can stay longer out at sea. 294 00:29:34,873 --> 00:29:38,875 They are the most incredible animals. 295 00:29:57,390 --> 00:30:00,292 So, since there's too many of them, 296 00:30:00,327 --> 00:30:06,595 obviously they have an impact on more vulnerable species, 297 00:30:06,630 --> 00:30:09,532 like the gannets and the penguins and the cormorants. 298 00:30:13,637 --> 00:30:16,814 [birds call] 299 00:30:59,221 --> 00:31:03,960 He's one fine little fellow, this one. Alias Kingston. 300 00:31:03,995 --> 00:31:07,326 And he's been brought up for the last week or so. 301 00:31:07,361 --> 00:31:10,131 Them dirty feet. 302 00:31:10,166 --> 00:31:11,330 But he's doing all right. 303 00:31:11,365 --> 00:31:13,904 Hey, it's breakfast time, pal. 304 00:31:15,633 --> 00:31:20,174 And one day, you're gonna see that swim past you, bru. 305 00:31:20,209 --> 00:31:22,671 It's gonna swim past you like that. 306 00:31:22,706 --> 00:31:24,673 So now, let's have you. Come on. 307 00:31:25,544 --> 00:31:27,885 Come on. Come on. 308 00:31:31,385 --> 00:31:33,022 That's the way! 309 00:31:33,684 --> 00:31:35,156 That's the way! 310 00:31:37,589 --> 00:31:39,160 On Mercury Island, 311 00:31:39,195 --> 00:31:44,297 I did the feeding and foraging of bank cormorants. 312 00:31:44,332 --> 00:31:49,269 They are the most important bringers of nest material. 313 00:31:50,701 --> 00:31:53,108 They swim out to a particular bank, 314 00:31:53,143 --> 00:31:55,704 that's why they're called bank cormorants, 315 00:31:55,739 --> 00:31:58,982 where seaweed grows, and they rip it off the rock, 316 00:31:59,017 --> 00:32:01,182 and bring it back to the island. 317 00:32:02,119 --> 00:32:03,987 [calls] 318 00:32:04,022 --> 00:32:06,121 It's crucial to have the bank cormorants there 319 00:32:06,156 --> 00:32:09,685 to be able to provide the other birds with nest material. 320 00:32:11,359 --> 00:32:14,932 These are so I know exactly who you guys are, eh? 321 00:32:18,234 --> 00:32:22,302 For penguins, I used to mark a nest, mark the adults, 322 00:32:22,337 --> 00:32:26,174 and when the eggs came out, I used to mark them, as well. 323 00:32:26,209 --> 00:32:27,945 A little bit shy this morning. 324 00:32:36,714 --> 00:32:39,121 And you weigh them every five days 325 00:32:39,156 --> 00:32:41,992 from the day they hatch until the day they leave. 326 00:32:47,791 --> 00:32:50,726 They're incredibly entertaining. 327 00:32:50,761 --> 00:32:53,267 They've all got individual characters, 328 00:32:53,302 --> 00:32:56,336 especially if they're surrounding your house, 329 00:32:56,371 --> 00:32:59,108 and you see the same ones every day. 330 00:33:03,081 --> 00:33:06,115 And I did the same thing with gannets, as well. 331 00:33:06,579 --> 00:33:08,249 They only lay one egg, 332 00:33:08,284 --> 00:33:15,289 so you weigh those chicks from day one until day 95. 333 00:33:16,655 --> 00:33:18,655 They're completely helpless 334 00:33:18,690 --> 00:33:21,031 for the first two weeks of their lives 335 00:33:21,066 --> 00:33:22,659 and you just watch this little thing grow 336 00:33:22,694 --> 00:33:25,398 from a bald chick into its down 337 00:33:25,433 --> 00:33:26,729 and then into its feathers, 338 00:33:26,764 --> 00:33:28,698 and then getting ready to fledge, 339 00:33:28,733 --> 00:33:31,404 and watch its weight pick up every day. 340 00:33:31,439 --> 00:33:33,769 And for me, it was just fascinating. 341 00:33:37,181 --> 00:33:40,578 It drove me out there every day for years. 342 00:33:48,654 --> 00:33:50,126 Nothing! Nothing! 343 00:34:46,811 --> 00:34:48,844 [Joëlle] "Gannets playing in the gale." 344 00:34:48,879 --> 00:34:50,179 "They circle the island, 345 00:34:50,214 --> 00:34:54,751 and I watch them twisting necks, adjusting lenses." 346 00:34:54,786 --> 00:34:58,722 "The blue accurate eyes stare down at me inquisitively 347 00:34:58,757 --> 00:35:02,330 as they make their sounds to avoid collision of wings." 348 00:35:06,204 --> 00:35:09,106 "I really, really love gannets." 349 00:35:32,527 --> 00:35:36,331 "Sometimes I think I could stay forever." 350 00:35:36,366 --> 00:35:39,136 "Strange how I miss absolutely nobody." 351 00:35:40,205 --> 00:35:42,370 "No one. Not a soul." 352 00:35:46,508 --> 00:35:49,212 "Do I have something others don't have?" 353 00:35:49,247 --> 00:35:51,478 "Or do I lack something others have, 354 00:35:51,513 --> 00:35:52,846 so I can live like I do, 355 00:35:52,881 --> 00:35:57,781 on a windblown, unfriendly place, like Planet Mercury?" 356 00:36:03,294 --> 00:36:06,361 *We had four kids under five. 357 00:36:07,496 --> 00:36:09,760 *Five under eight. [chuckles] 358 00:36:12,369 --> 00:36:13,533 *We continued going 359 00:36:13,568 --> 00:36:15,502 backwards and forwards to Belgium 360 00:36:15,537 --> 00:36:17,834 and... and South Africa. 361 00:36:19,937 --> 00:36:22,476 Yvie was such a weird little thing. 362 00:36:24,348 --> 00:36:26,007 I didn't know what to do with this child. 363 00:36:26,042 --> 00:36:28,581 I mean, he wouldn't talk until he was three. 364 00:36:30,288 --> 00:36:34,455 He pretended he was a little dog when he was small. 365 00:36:34,490 --> 00:36:36,325 When I told him to do something, 366 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:37,953 he would bark at me. 367 00:36:37,988 --> 00:36:39,922 [laughs] 368 00:36:42,366 --> 00:36:45,598 When he first went to school, he was impossible, 369 00:36:45,633 --> 00:36:48,304 he wouldn't do any work whatsoever. 370 00:36:51,672 --> 00:36:52,972 He'd sit in the classroom 371 00:36:53,007 --> 00:36:56,510 and stare out of the window and think about the sea. 372 00:37:05,048 --> 00:37:08,016 I built a four-bedroomed house. 373 00:37:08,051 --> 00:37:11,624 We put a hut for him in the bottom of the garden. 374 00:37:11,659 --> 00:37:13,626 He wanted that and he loved it. 375 00:37:18,468 --> 00:37:22,602 I never worried about him being by himself 376 00:37:22,637 --> 00:37:25,803 because I just thought he would know how to handle it. 377 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,658 *[Yves] 378 00:38:41,881 --> 00:38:43,518 It's water day. 379 00:38:45,115 --> 00:38:48,523 Getting brought along by the Tobias Hainyeko. 380 00:38:48,558 --> 00:38:51,724 Sweet fresh water! 381 00:38:54,124 --> 00:38:56,366 I think I'd better get some clothes on. 382 00:38:56,401 --> 00:38:59,468 Been kaalgat all day. [laughs] 383 00:38:59,503 --> 00:39:03,505 ♪ Water of love, deep in the ground 384 00:39:03,540 --> 00:39:08,136 ♪ But there ain't no water here to be found 385 00:39:09,843 --> 00:39:12,074 Yeah, well, we had our re-supply, 386 00:39:12,109 --> 00:39:15,517 and this is what the place looks like afterwards. 387 00:39:15,552 --> 00:39:17,948 Everything stacked up here. 388 00:39:17,983 --> 00:39:22,425 And then over here, we're ready, they can drop the H bomb, 389 00:39:22,460 --> 00:39:24,955 because the shop is completely kitted out 390 00:39:24,990 --> 00:39:28,728 with almost everything imaginable. 391 00:39:29,797 --> 00:39:31,566 The little shop on Mercury. 392 00:39:31,601 --> 00:39:34,503 Here you make all your purchases. 393 00:39:36,606 --> 00:39:40,872 Erm... what can I say? [chuckles] 394 00:39:40,907 --> 00:39:43,204 All alone on the bloody island once again, 395 00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:46,944 but that's the way one wants it to be. 396 00:39:46,979 --> 00:39:49,419 Sometimes you just wanna get away, 397 00:39:49,454 --> 00:39:51,454 you don't want anybody to hassle you, 398 00:39:51,489 --> 00:39:53,819 you don't want anybody to be there. 399 00:39:53,854 --> 00:39:55,623 You wanna run around kaalgat. 400 00:39:55,658 --> 00:40:01,464 You wanna paint the buildings bright purple. 401 00:40:01,499 --> 00:40:02,828 You want to... 402 00:40:06,702 --> 00:40:09,131 Anything. You just can do anything. 403 00:40:09,166 --> 00:40:12,673 That's the best part of being alone. 404 00:40:12,708 --> 00:40:18,008 ♪ Blue neon light, I catch you on the morrow 405 00:40:18,043 --> 00:40:22,683 ♪ I catch, catch me now, I think I got your number 406 00:40:22,718 --> 00:40:25,521 ♪ I don't care anyhow 407 00:40:25,556 --> 00:40:27,820 ♪ I think about tomorrow 408 00:40:27,855 --> 00:40:29,723 ♪ Ah, la-di-da-di-dee 409 00:40:29,758 --> 00:40:31,923 ♪ Da-da, da-da, ta-deeda 410 00:40:31,958 --> 00:40:33,463 ♪ Ta-da, ta-da, ta-da 411 00:40:33,498 --> 00:40:35,597 ♪ Blue neon light 412 00:40:35,632 --> 00:40:38,193 ♪ Da, da-da, da-da 413 00:40:38,228 --> 00:40:40,668 ♪ Da-de-da, dada-da 414 00:40:43,541 --> 00:40:46,740 [Yello] ♪ My head's still full of poison 415 00:40:46,775 --> 00:40:49,710 ♪ What I do is insane 416 00:40:55,982 --> 00:40:59,247 This is a party. This is, basically, I'm having a party. 417 00:40:59,282 --> 00:41:00,919 You got that, Vid? 418 00:41:04,188 --> 00:41:07,926 ♪ I wake up in the evening 419 00:41:07,961 --> 00:41:10,225 ♪ The sun is still around 420 00:41:10,260 --> 00:41:14,966 [Yves] I've had one beer and one bottle of champagne! 421 00:41:17,102 --> 00:41:21,676 Ain't seen no hide, no hair, no... no... 422 00:41:21,711 --> 00:41:23,876 nothing of another human being. 423 00:41:23,911 --> 00:41:25,515 Nothing! Nothing! 424 00:41:25,550 --> 00:41:27,748 Are there actually human beings out there? 425 00:41:27,783 --> 00:41:28,914 You want some, Vid? 426 00:41:28,949 --> 00:41:30,817 You're the only one with brains around here. 427 00:41:30,852 --> 00:41:32,951 Maybe you shouldn't have some. 428 00:41:32,986 --> 00:41:36,559 ♪ Another day 429 00:41:36,594 --> 00:41:39,628 ♪ Already night 430 00:41:39,663 --> 00:41:42,092 -♪ Blue neon light -Look at this eye. 431 00:41:42,127 --> 00:41:43,929 Just look at this eye. 432 00:41:43,964 --> 00:41:46,096 You have got a complex. 433 00:41:46,131 --> 00:41:50,936 I know you're a reflection of myself. But just watch it. 434 00:41:50,971 --> 00:41:52,300 It's you! 435 00:41:52,335 --> 00:41:54,544 A reflection of you, eh, guy? 436 00:41:54,579 --> 00:41:56,678 It's right in the centre of the lens! 437 00:41:56,713 --> 00:41:58,548 It's the return of the fly! 438 00:41:58,583 --> 00:42:00,913 Yeah! 439 00:42:00,948 --> 00:42:03,212 [yells] 440 00:42:15,391 --> 00:42:17,864 All right, now, that's it, that's it, that's it. 441 00:42:17,899 --> 00:42:19,701 You... You got me there. 442 00:42:19,736 --> 00:42:22,198 OK, yeah, all right. Well, I'm gonna stop you there, 443 00:42:22,233 --> 00:42:27,335 because, er, we've got some serious dancing to do here now. 444 00:42:27,370 --> 00:42:30,305 [laughs maniacally] 445 00:42:30,340 --> 00:42:33,748 -[music stops] -[birds call] 446 00:42:42,627 --> 00:42:45,628 [Joëlle] "I just went off to make a vow to Bank Rock." 447 00:42:45,663 --> 00:42:48,158 "No drink for a two-week spell." 448 00:42:48,193 --> 00:42:50,963 "I find it helps if you make vows." 449 00:42:50,998 --> 00:42:53,999 "A two-week break will let me get nice and fit." 450 00:42:54,034 --> 00:42:57,574 "Healthy body, healthy mind. True words." 451 00:43:00,678 --> 00:43:02,810 [exhales] 452 00:43:05,947 --> 00:43:08,376 [Joëlle] "The Otavi seal colony is swelling 453 00:43:08,411 --> 00:43:11,148 as the operation proceeds." 454 00:43:11,183 --> 00:43:12,182 "It's starting to absorb 455 00:43:12,218 --> 00:43:14,954 all those who are fed up with me." 456 00:43:18,729 --> 00:43:22,896 "Still, I must keep at it from sunrise to sunset." 457 00:43:22,931 --> 00:43:26,702 "Chasing, shouting, whipping, stoning." 458 00:43:31,302 --> 00:43:32,972 "I do need a bit of a break, 459 00:43:33,007 --> 00:43:35,271 although sometimes, when everything is right, 460 00:43:35,306 --> 00:43:37,746 I don't want to leave here." 461 00:43:37,781 --> 00:43:42,344 "After my last gannet fledges, I'm ready. Not before." 462 00:43:50,486 --> 00:43:55,093 "An island is finite. That is its singular quality." 463 00:43:57,361 --> 00:43:59,933 "It is whole and there is an end." 464 00:44:04,302 --> 00:44:07,435 "There are birds to count. I can count all of them." 465 00:44:07,470 --> 00:44:09,470 [Yves] Three male juveniles. 466 00:44:09,505 --> 00:44:11,747 [Joëlle] "I draw conclusions, 467 00:44:11,782 --> 00:44:14,684 then count again, over and over." 468 00:44:14,719 --> 00:44:17,786 [Yves] Fifteen adults to one... [speaks indistinctly] 469 00:44:25,730 --> 00:44:28,159 [Joëlle] "To create order like this, alone, 470 00:44:28,194 --> 00:44:31,228 gives me a sense of control." 471 00:44:31,263 --> 00:44:33,736 "As fickle as it might be, 472 00:44:33,771 --> 00:44:37,806 as detached as the birds really are, 473 00:44:37,841 --> 00:44:41,337 if there were no numbers, I'd have to invent them." 474 00:44:57,388 --> 00:45:01,357 [Yves] Seal got him. And now I've got him. 475 00:45:01,392 --> 00:45:04,492 He's recuperating fairly well. 476 00:45:04,527 --> 00:45:07,528 Getting some of his strength back. 477 00:45:07,563 --> 00:45:13,204 But, yeah, that gash is really quite something. 478 00:45:13,239 --> 00:45:15,371 It's the fourth day now that I've got him. 479 00:45:15,406 --> 00:45:16,944 He's already putting on weight. 480 00:45:16,979 --> 00:45:18,374 Ate seven fish yesterday. 481 00:45:18,409 --> 00:45:20,145 But the fish is passing through, 482 00:45:20,180 --> 00:45:25,480 so the internals are not damaged. 483 00:45:25,515 --> 00:45:28,989 He's still very shy, still very scared. 484 00:45:29,024 --> 00:45:31,728 But we're gonna get you right, aren't we, mate? 485 00:45:52,278 --> 00:45:53,311 [Joëlle] "There's a supreme law 486 00:45:53,346 --> 00:45:56,346 that governs life here on Mercury." 487 00:45:57,481 --> 00:46:00,119 "No seals allowed." 488 00:46:00,154 --> 00:46:02,187 "There's no appeal, either." 489 00:46:10,098 --> 00:46:12,032 "Cute pups are a menace." 490 00:46:12,067 --> 00:46:14,265 "They draw their mothers back to the island, 491 00:46:14,300 --> 00:46:16,971 followed by other pregnant females." 492 00:46:20,108 --> 00:46:22,878 "The return of the seals year after year 493 00:46:22,913 --> 00:46:25,815 is a cycle that must be broken." 494 00:46:33,385 --> 00:46:36,155 "I certainly have my work cut out for me." 495 00:46:55,913 --> 00:46:58,111 [Yves] It's a blistering-hot morning. 496 00:46:58,146 --> 00:47:01,378 It's nine o'clock in the morning and it's already 30 degrees. 497 00:47:03,085 --> 00:47:07,450 Penguins are all heading for the water's edge. 498 00:47:10,455 --> 00:47:12,994 They're right here in front of the palace. 499 00:47:16,461 --> 00:47:22,300 It's just a mass of penguins coming down to cool off. 500 00:47:25,008 --> 00:47:27,470 But what a beautiful day for a human being. 501 00:47:33,918 --> 00:47:36,985 I've been for my umpteenth swim today. 502 00:47:37,020 --> 00:47:40,516 The water's a beautiful 14 degrees. 503 00:47:40,551 --> 00:47:42,485 Enjoying a cup of tea. 504 00:47:45,127 --> 00:47:47,655 But we're gonna go take a look outside now. 505 00:47:47,690 --> 00:47:52,462 And, erm, we're gonna concentrate on the penguins. 506 00:47:52,497 --> 00:47:55,366 Outside at the moment, I've taken a look out there, 507 00:47:55,401 --> 00:47:57,698 and it's just dying chicks. 508 00:47:57,733 --> 00:47:59,634 [penguin honks] 509 00:47:59,669 --> 00:48:04,012 And if you imagine yourselves in a wetsuit, 510 00:48:04,047 --> 00:48:06,080 and a pullover jersey over that, 511 00:48:06,115 --> 00:48:08,676 plus a hood and a balaclava, 512 00:48:08,711 --> 00:48:10,414 that's how a penguin chick feels. 513 00:48:10,449 --> 00:48:13,120 So, let's go and take a look out there. 514 00:48:15,355 --> 00:48:18,290 The colony's still devoid. 515 00:48:20,129 --> 00:48:21,898 All those nests empty. 516 00:48:24,034 --> 00:48:25,132 Right till up there, 517 00:48:25,167 --> 00:48:27,904 where normally that is a mass of penguins. 518 00:48:29,435 --> 00:48:32,304 A lot of them are here in the shade of the house. 519 00:48:32,339 --> 00:48:36,539 And here we have the classic example of the suffering chick. 520 00:48:36,574 --> 00:48:40,345 -[chick squeals] -Abandoned, alone. 521 00:48:40,380 --> 00:48:45,482 Yeah, that's the natural world. It's a harsh and cruel world. 522 00:48:46,617 --> 00:48:49,420 And we're gonna see the carnage now 523 00:48:49,455 --> 00:48:52,192 of this baking-hot day here. 524 00:48:54,031 --> 00:48:55,690 One dead chick. 525 00:49:00,598 --> 00:49:02,565 One dead study chick. 526 00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:07,042 Another downy. 527 00:49:09,079 --> 00:49:10,947 Yet another downy. 528 00:49:13,050 --> 00:49:14,709 One dying downy. 529 00:49:17,417 --> 00:49:20,781 Two over there. There's two next door. 530 00:49:20,816 --> 00:49:22,387 These two here. 531 00:49:22,422 --> 00:49:25,192 More and more and more. 532 00:49:25,227 --> 00:49:29,262 This is just absolutely devastating. 533 00:49:29,297 --> 00:49:31,968 And this is just one part of the island. 534 00:49:41,408 --> 00:49:43,441 *[in French] 535 00:49:49,548 --> 00:49:53,385 [Joëlle] "Perched on one of my ledges over Hellfire Passage 536 00:49:53,420 --> 00:49:58,258 as an orange orb sets. What a day." 537 00:50:00,229 --> 00:50:02,757 "I concentrated on the seal scare in the nude." 538 00:50:02,792 --> 00:50:03,991 "Got an all-over tan 539 00:50:04,027 --> 00:50:07,696 and a bit of a burn on one side of the pork sausage." 540 00:50:08,831 --> 00:50:10,336 "That's nothing." 541 00:50:10,371 --> 00:50:14,373 "More than 30 chicks died of heatstroke." 542 00:50:14,408 --> 00:50:17,079 "Vid filmed the carnage." 543 00:50:18,610 --> 00:50:21,182 "What a shit way to go." 544 00:51:02,423 --> 00:51:03,488 [sighs] 545 00:51:13,599 --> 00:51:15,566 Opto, what's your buzz, huh? 546 00:51:17,603 --> 00:51:19,306 Yeah, he's had a hard time. 547 00:51:19,341 --> 00:51:22,474 He can't walk properly. He falls all over the show. 548 00:51:22,509 --> 00:51:25,279 Old Opto, short for "optimistic". 549 00:51:25,314 --> 00:51:28,216 Poor old Opto is full of seal-bite wounds 550 00:51:28,251 --> 00:51:32,253 and going through the moult. That's why he looks so scruffy. 551 00:51:32,288 --> 00:51:36,191 There's a healing seal-bite wound in his chest over there. 552 00:51:40,890 --> 00:51:43,363 Right there. 553 00:51:43,398 --> 00:51:45,365 And he's got another one in the flipper. 554 00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:48,830 But he looks decidedly scruffy and unruly. 555 00:51:48,865 --> 00:51:51,899 And hopefully, we can make him feel better. 556 00:52:32,579 --> 00:52:35,910 [Joëlle] "The seals have brought out every emotion in me." 557 00:52:38,255 --> 00:52:39,782 "I fume at their persistence." 558 00:52:39,817 --> 00:52:41,916 [seals call] 559 00:52:41,951 --> 00:52:43,885 "They're making me cruel." 560 00:52:55,569 --> 00:52:57,371 "I feel like a monster, 561 00:52:57,406 --> 00:53:01,474 a monster inflicting my will on the destiny of this island 562 00:53:01,509 --> 00:53:04,747 that has been left to nature's cruel logic." 563 00:53:08,483 --> 00:53:09,816 "Then I remind myself 564 00:53:09,851 --> 00:53:14,520 that the pure face of nature left the scene long ago." 565 00:54:23,085 --> 00:54:25,327 [Joëlle] "Those seals won't relent." 566 00:54:25,362 --> 00:54:27,857 "And this rock is not just an island, 567 00:54:27,892 --> 00:54:31,058 it's a pure blood beast." 568 00:54:40,443 --> 00:54:41,970 "I wonder if I've gone crazy, 569 00:54:42,005 --> 00:54:46,040 fighting off these seals like they're a dark force." 570 00:54:46,075 --> 00:54:50,319 "Or maybe that's what's keeping me sane. Who knows?" 571 00:54:51,982 --> 00:54:54,818 "There's no one here to tell me." 572 00:55:00,661 --> 00:55:03,332 [birds call] 573 00:55:06,733 --> 00:55:09,800 [birds screech] 574 00:55:10,968 --> 00:55:12,539 [birds call] 575 00:55:13,542 --> 00:55:15,377 *[Yves] 576 00:55:35,894 --> 00:55:38,158 [Joëlle] "It's the day of the innocents." 577 00:55:38,193 --> 00:55:40,831 "Unweaned, abandoned pups are weak, 578 00:55:40,866 --> 00:55:44,802 exhausted, emaciated, and hungry for mother's milk." 579 00:55:45,475 --> 00:55:46,574 "I have to tell myself 580 00:55:46,610 --> 00:55:50,137 that these consequences are unavoidable." 581 00:55:50,172 --> 00:55:53,910 "It's all to try and prevent the penguins' extinction." 582 00:56:00,853 --> 00:56:04,426 "I dreamt I was sick and getting worse." 583 00:56:04,461 --> 00:56:09,057 "A hard lump pushed out of my chest on the heart side." 584 00:56:09,092 --> 00:56:13,160 "I could make out my mother, Joëlle, and my little brother 585 00:56:13,195 --> 00:56:15,965 watching me as I died." 586 00:56:33,655 --> 00:56:36,051 "How I wish I could meet my forefathers, 587 00:56:36,086 --> 00:56:39,120 who might have walked this path before." 588 00:56:39,155 --> 00:56:43,498 "To learn how I fit in, what steps to take." 589 00:56:45,865 --> 00:56:48,932 "If only my father could lead me to other elders, 590 00:56:48,967 --> 00:56:51,539 steer me to walk a different path, 591 00:56:51,574 --> 00:56:54,608 guided by those I know so little about." 592 00:56:56,942 --> 00:56:59,976 "Could he teach me something good for a change?" 593 00:57:07,150 --> 00:57:09,216 "In the very heart of Mercury, 594 00:57:09,251 --> 00:57:13,022 a war rages between sea and stone." 595 00:57:14,861 --> 00:57:18,225 "Geological time accelerates." 596 00:57:18,260 --> 00:57:20,799 "The centuries are sculptured in rock." 597 00:57:25,069 --> 00:57:29,038 "Here, I'm humble, as in a cathedral, 598 00:57:29,073 --> 00:57:33,713 and certain that one day, even Mercury will be no more." 599 00:57:43,560 --> 00:57:46,924 [mother] I think Yvie wanted an anchor very badly. 600 00:57:50,897 --> 00:57:55,431 He was really quite a little rebel escapist. 601 00:57:59,169 --> 00:58:01,268 He was always 602 00:58:01,303 --> 00:58:05,074 running away and climbing out the bathroom window 603 00:58:05,109 --> 00:58:07,516 to get away from Claude. 604 00:58:10,048 --> 00:58:13,588 Claude looked so nice in those pictures. 605 00:58:13,623 --> 00:58:16,283 It's hard to imagine the ferocious creature 606 00:58:16,318 --> 00:58:18,285 that he became. 607 00:58:35,139 --> 00:58:37,513 [rain pours] 608 00:58:41,211 --> 00:58:43,816 [thunder rumbles] 609 00:58:46,282 --> 00:58:51,219 [penguin calls] 610 00:59:04,938 --> 00:59:08,643 [birds call] 611 00:59:11,373 --> 00:59:14,143 [seals bark] 612 00:59:20,415 --> 00:59:22,822 [Joëlle] "Today was one of the most emotional days 613 00:59:22,857 --> 00:59:24,157 of my life." 614 00:59:24,192 --> 00:59:28,025 "I've never experienced such a demanding situation." 615 00:59:28,060 --> 00:59:30,357 "There is so much trampling over penguins, 616 00:59:30,392 --> 00:59:32,964 their nests, their eggs and chicks." 617 00:59:32,999 --> 00:59:34,867 "I can't bear it." 618 00:59:50,412 --> 00:59:52,687 [seals bark] 619 01:00:01,698 --> 01:00:04,391 [Joëlle] "Blood in the sea feeds my anger." 620 01:00:04,426 --> 01:00:07,966 "I too have made blood flow like a river." 621 01:00:08,001 --> 01:00:11,233 "Is it right? Is it wrong?" 622 01:00:11,268 --> 01:00:14,676 "No wonder I had my first nightmare in ages." 623 01:00:15,976 --> 01:00:18,372 [birds screech] 624 01:00:18,407 --> 01:00:22,442 "There were steep slopes of dogs pouring down in fear." 625 01:00:22,477 --> 01:00:25,918 "They were seal-type dogs, or dog-type seals, 626 01:00:25,953 --> 01:00:29,251 moving en masse, as they do in reality, 627 01:00:29,286 --> 01:00:31,418 all to get away from me." 628 01:00:42,838 --> 01:00:45,135 [Yves] It looks like a very nice, pleasant day 629 01:00:45,170 --> 01:00:46,972 here on Mercury. 630 01:00:47,843 --> 01:00:49,777 But we've had a seal 631 01:00:50,472 --> 01:00:52,142 gone psychopathic, 632 01:00:54,883 --> 01:00:56,212 taking out penguins. 633 01:01:00,955 --> 01:01:02,889 All the empty nests. 634 01:01:12,164 --> 01:01:13,669 Shit. 635 01:01:17,004 --> 01:01:18,839 Fucking seals! 636 01:01:22,042 --> 01:01:25,406 And whatever seal I come across now 637 01:01:25,441 --> 01:01:27,408 is in for a tough time. 638 01:01:37,860 --> 01:01:39,959 They can all go to hell! 639 01:01:39,994 --> 01:01:42,962 I don't need this shit on Mercury, OK? 640 01:01:44,229 --> 01:01:47,868 I've taken out three of the little fucks! 641 01:01:49,102 --> 01:01:54,138 Except for one seal bitch over there 642 01:01:54,173 --> 01:01:57,405 who's gonna get her arse tanned like there ain't no tomorrow! 643 01:01:57,440 --> 01:02:00,111 You just don't know it, you stupid cow! 644 01:02:00,146 --> 01:02:01,750 [grunts] Fuck! 645 01:02:02,819 --> 01:02:06,821 [grunts] Bye! Bye! 646 01:02:11,454 --> 01:02:14,829 I don't wanna see these fucks! [echoes] 647 01:02:17,394 --> 01:02:21,462 Jeez, that's a bunch of bloody bullshit, man. 648 01:02:21,497 --> 01:02:22,771 [exhales sharply] 649 01:02:25,171 --> 01:02:26,841 [exhales] 650 01:02:31,045 --> 01:02:33,815 A little tot of whisky. 651 01:02:33,850 --> 01:02:35,476 Doesn't matter if it spills. 652 01:02:49,228 --> 01:02:50,964 [clears throat] 653 01:02:50,999 --> 01:02:52,262 [sighs] 654 01:02:53,364 --> 01:02:56,068 For those that aren't here. 655 01:02:56,103 --> 01:03:01,007 There's a howling gale going on outside here, yeah? 656 01:03:01,042 --> 01:03:02,943 So, this is why I'm trying these things. 657 01:03:02,978 --> 01:03:04,978 I mean, you can't really help me, yeah. 658 01:03:05,013 --> 01:03:09,081 I just help... I can't really help it. 659 01:03:09,116 --> 01:03:11,512 Erm... And nor can you really help me, 660 01:03:11,547 --> 01:03:14,086 can you, Vid, you fucking asshole? 661 01:03:14,121 --> 01:03:16,187 [wind howls] 662 01:03:18,257 --> 01:03:20,026 Listen to the wind! 663 01:03:27,134 --> 01:03:29,937 Woe betide the innocent ones 664 01:03:29,972 --> 01:03:33,842 who fall into the devil's cauldron. 665 01:03:33,877 --> 01:03:35,074 [cackles] 666 01:03:36,341 --> 01:03:38,913 Power, power, power! 667 01:03:38,948 --> 01:03:44,314 [yells] 668 01:03:45,317 --> 01:03:47,548 That's not the way to do it! 669 01:03:47,583 --> 01:03:51,321 Yeah, well, so what, eh? Fuck the rest. 670 01:03:51,356 --> 01:03:52,454 [cork pops] 671 01:04:02,268 --> 01:04:07,007 You're not supposed to behave like a fucking bozo. 672 01:04:07,042 --> 01:04:10,604 If things are going bananas, 673 01:04:10,639 --> 01:04:12,639 then they must be going great. 674 01:04:12,674 --> 01:04:15,345 That's the way I feel about it. 675 01:04:15,380 --> 01:04:16,544 I love you. 676 01:04:16,579 --> 01:04:19,415 The whole damn goddamn lot of you. 677 01:04:19,450 --> 01:04:20,955 All of you. 678 01:04:22,024 --> 01:04:24,255 You funny little fellows. 679 01:04:24,290 --> 01:04:27,423 You just don't know how appreciated you are 680 01:04:27,458 --> 01:04:30,591 by some of us that live on this planet. 681 01:04:32,694 --> 01:04:37,664 And I don't have to even mention what I think about you 682 01:04:37,699 --> 01:04:40,942 and how glad I am to have you around here. 683 01:04:40,977 --> 01:04:43,912 Whoopsie! Whoopsie! Yeah. [laughs] 684 01:04:43,947 --> 01:04:45,441 OK, I'm sorry. 685 01:04:45,476 --> 01:04:47,443 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! 686 01:04:47,478 --> 01:04:52,415 We need adult penguins. Let me tell you that, Vid. 687 01:04:52,450 --> 01:04:58,454 Shall we see them in the 22nd century? 688 01:04:58,489 --> 01:05:01,391 I don't think I'd be able to stand it. 689 01:05:01,426 --> 01:05:03,492 No, it's not, it's not, it's... 690 01:05:05,397 --> 01:05:07,969 This is the worst day of my life. 691 01:05:08,763 --> 01:05:10,664 [birds screech] 692 01:05:20,445 --> 01:05:24,216 Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, yeah? 693 01:05:24,251 --> 01:05:26,350 Switch off! Switch off! 694 01:06:19,669 --> 01:06:22,505 [Joëlle] "Unlike other visits to the mainland, 695 01:06:22,540 --> 01:06:25,706 the infinite desert now only mirrors how desperate I am 696 01:06:25,741 --> 01:06:28,775 for the world of touch and talk." 697 01:06:32,253 --> 01:06:35,452 "From here, I can hold Mercury in my hand 698 01:06:35,487 --> 01:06:39,159 and see myself split in two parts that struggle to agree." 699 01:06:40,360 --> 01:06:42,261 "I can see my body and my soul 700 01:06:42,296 --> 01:06:45,297 wanting something other than birds and waves, 701 01:06:45,332 --> 01:06:48,531 wings, wind, rock and sky." 702 01:06:50,766 --> 01:06:53,272 "I wonder if it's time to lay down my weapons 703 01:06:53,307 --> 01:06:54,768 and listen to myself." 704 01:06:59,181 --> 01:07:02,479 "I've got to wrench myself from this contained existence 705 01:07:02,514 --> 01:07:06,219 where dreams and life have begun to merge." 706 01:07:06,254 --> 01:07:07,781 [wind howls] 707 01:07:17,298 --> 01:07:18,495 [bird cries] 708 01:07:18,530 --> 01:07:20,101 [Yves yells] On that day! 709 01:07:20,136 --> 01:07:22,730 [Yves yells] 710 01:07:28,606 --> 01:07:29,803 [seal barks] 711 01:07:30,575 --> 01:07:32,212 [seal snarls] 712 01:07:32,247 --> 01:07:33,378 [birds call] 713 01:07:33,413 --> 01:07:38,779 [Yves yells, echoing] Scheizer! 714 01:07:39,881 --> 01:07:46,061 [Yves screams] 715 01:07:46,855 --> 01:07:50,725 [indistinct radio chatter] 716 01:07:53,532 --> 01:07:55,829 [indistinct radio chatter] 717 01:08:14,421 --> 01:08:17,389 [helicopter rotors whir] 718 01:08:25,795 --> 01:08:26,961 [Yves grunts] 719 01:08:26,996 --> 01:08:32,569 [Yves] The anger that built up suddenly burst. 720 01:08:32,604 --> 01:08:36,243 I had a nervous breakdown, panic-attack kind of thing. 721 01:08:36,278 --> 01:08:39,807 And I had to be taken off the island. 722 01:08:42,416 --> 01:08:47,947 And I had to walk past my gannet study colony. 723 01:08:47,982 --> 01:08:51,192 "Sorry, guys, I'm not gonna see you today." 724 01:08:51,227 --> 01:08:54,690 "Nor you. Nor you. Nor you. Nor you." 725 01:08:55,891 --> 01:08:57,561 "I'll see you when I see you." 726 01:09:12,908 --> 01:09:18,549 To have this perpetual grinding thing in your brain, 727 01:09:18,584 --> 01:09:23,521 which you had to do every single day, for years... 728 01:09:25,261 --> 01:09:30,363 At sunrise, you get up, out of bed, 729 01:09:30,398 --> 01:09:33,366 and immediately, you are in the guano, 730 01:09:33,401 --> 01:09:38,272 and fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting! 731 01:09:42,740 --> 01:09:44,905 What I was doing was wrong. 732 01:09:47,283 --> 01:09:49,448 And nobody knows about it. 733 01:09:54,290 --> 01:09:58,424 And... to get the story right... 734 01:10:01,825 --> 01:10:04,364 I had to kill the pups. 735 01:10:10,339 --> 01:10:11,437 [swallows] 736 01:10:16,411 --> 01:10:18,741 -Do you know that? -[Joëlle] No. 737 01:10:24,716 --> 01:10:27,387 Oh, right. Do you know that? 738 01:10:27,422 --> 01:10:30,786 -No. -No, come on, Yves, man! 739 01:10:30,821 --> 01:10:33,492 I had to kill all the pups. 740 01:10:37,960 --> 01:10:41,731 [Joëlle] And do you think that affected your... 741 01:10:41,766 --> 01:10:44,800 your, erm... your sanity in that way? 742 01:10:44,835 --> 01:10:46,703 Of course. 743 01:10:46,738 --> 01:10:48,804 -[Joëlle] Well, what... -Who wants to do that? 744 01:10:48,839 --> 01:10:51,873 Who wants to, every single morning of your life, 745 01:10:51,908 --> 01:10:57,714 kill every single pup that was born overnight? 746 01:10:57,749 --> 01:11:01,916 Today, tomorrow, the next day, the next day. 747 01:11:01,951 --> 01:11:05,293 No. Not cool. 748 01:11:05,328 --> 01:11:06,690 Shouting and screaming 749 01:11:06,725 --> 01:11:09,363 like a fucking sergeant major in the army, 750 01:11:09,398 --> 01:11:12,399 as though seals are people. 751 01:11:12,434 --> 01:11:14,434 [breathes deeply] 752 01:11:14,469 --> 01:11:15,897 That you can just regiment them, 753 01:11:15,932 --> 01:11:19,868 to tell them, "Listen, fuck off, you're not allowed here." 754 01:11:19,903 --> 01:11:21,738 But they don't know. 755 01:11:23,808 --> 01:11:26,039 And they can smell that there's a female up there 756 01:11:26,074 --> 01:11:27,678 that's just had a pup. 757 01:11:27,713 --> 01:11:31,319 So this one's gonna come up and have a pup, so then... 758 01:11:31,354 --> 01:11:34,454 And then you've gotta kill those pups the next morning. 759 01:11:34,489 --> 01:11:37,391 -Don't you know this story? -[Joëlle] No, of course not. 760 01:11:37,426 --> 01:11:40,757 That's why you have a nervous breakdown, if you... 761 01:11:40,792 --> 01:11:43,496 What does it do eventually to your psyche? 762 01:11:43,531 --> 01:11:46,598 And that's what happened to me. I couldn't handle it anymore. 763 01:11:46,633 --> 01:11:49,667 But I knew that that was the only way. 764 01:11:49,702 --> 01:11:51,636 That was the only way. 765 01:11:51,671 --> 01:11:55,376 They told me, "You must do this." 766 01:11:55,411 --> 01:11:57,004 And I very quickly realised, 767 01:11:57,039 --> 01:11:59,677 if I do this, I'm gonna get nowhere. 768 01:11:59,712 --> 01:12:03,010 So, if you do that, 769 01:12:03,045 --> 01:12:07,916 which was the right option in a cruel fashion, 770 01:12:07,951 --> 01:12:12,624 then you are going to win the war. 771 01:12:12,659 --> 01:12:13,856 And so I had to do that, 772 01:12:13,891 --> 01:12:17,629 otherwise I would have got nowhere. 773 01:12:17,664 --> 01:12:19,598 Absolutely nowhere. 774 01:12:26,442 --> 01:12:29,036 I felt very guilty. 775 01:12:29,071 --> 01:12:32,006 [ethereal music] 776 01:12:50,224 --> 01:12:51,960 [wind blows] 777 01:12:54,096 --> 01:12:56,470 [Yves] To be so brutal, 778 01:12:56,505 --> 01:13:00,936 to be so, so, so brutal, 779 01:13:00,971 --> 01:13:04,379 it had to be inside me somewhere. 780 01:13:08,176 --> 01:13:10,550 That's why I was able to do it. 781 01:13:54,860 --> 01:13:58,928 I lost weight, I was sick, I had panic attacks every day. 782 01:14:00,899 --> 01:14:03,196 I ended up in hospital. 783 01:14:04,232 --> 01:14:06,705 They got a replacement for me. 784 01:14:07,675 --> 01:14:09,444 And that was it. 785 01:14:15,617 --> 01:14:17,980 [Joëlle] Only by going through his diaries 786 01:14:18,015 --> 01:14:21,753 have I realised the anguish my brother endured 787 01:14:21,788 --> 01:14:25,559 and the remorse he was wrestling with. 788 01:14:25,594 --> 01:14:27,594 But despite his fragile state, 789 01:14:27,629 --> 01:14:30,091 he was determined to go back to Mercury 790 01:14:30,126 --> 01:14:32,797 to stop the seals from breeding there. 791 01:14:32,832 --> 01:14:36,801 Otherwise, all the sacrifices would have been in vain. 792 01:14:39,267 --> 01:14:41,674 Abandoning the birds to their fate 793 01:14:41,709 --> 01:14:44,138 was not an option for Yves. 794 01:14:44,173 --> 01:14:46,272 [indistinct chatter] 795 01:14:54,315 --> 01:14:56,315 [Yves] I'd already been in Walvis Bay 796 01:14:56,350 --> 01:14:58,724 for about six months. 797 01:14:58,759 --> 01:15:02,057 And there was a change of governments 798 01:15:02,092 --> 01:15:06,259 and the islands were given to Namibia. 799 01:15:06,294 --> 01:15:08,965 And the guy who had taken my position 800 01:15:09,000 --> 01:15:11,935 had decided to stay with South Africa, 801 01:15:11,970 --> 01:15:14,740 so the post on Mercury was open. 802 01:15:15,941 --> 01:15:17,776 I said, "I want it." 803 01:15:19,912 --> 01:15:24,783 "My job on that island is not finished." 804 01:15:32,056 --> 01:15:33,891 [man] Yes, I've got old Yves here. 805 01:15:33,926 --> 01:15:35,926 I don't know whether you've got anything 806 01:15:35,961 --> 01:15:38,797 you want to be brought out to the island or anything? Over. 807 01:15:38,832 --> 01:15:40,568 [man on radio] Yeah, put the bugger on! 808 01:15:40,603 --> 01:15:42,702 It's about time we heard from him. 809 01:15:42,737 --> 01:15:44,132 We've been missing him. 810 01:15:44,167 --> 01:15:46,134 He suddenly disappeared off the air. 811 01:15:46,169 --> 01:15:50,105 Yes, hello, Ichaboe. Captain Quicksilver here. 812 01:15:50,140 --> 01:15:52,646 Going back to the planet very shortly, 813 01:15:52,681 --> 01:15:55,748 so I'll see you tomorrow and hand you all your goodies. 814 01:15:55,783 --> 01:15:58,311 Is there any special things that you want? Over. 815 01:15:58,346 --> 01:16:02,084 [man] Ja, Yves, very good to hear your voice again 816 01:16:02,119 --> 01:16:04,823 and look forward to getting you back on the island. 817 01:16:04,858 --> 01:16:08,024 So, we'll see you tomorrow. Over. 818 01:16:08,059 --> 01:16:10,994 [birds call] 819 01:16:12,866 --> 01:16:15,867 [Yves] Even though I was still suffering from panic attacks, 820 01:16:15,902 --> 01:16:18,705 I'd said, "I'm not gonna tell anyone." 821 01:16:18,740 --> 01:16:20,938 "I'm just gonna see what happens." 822 01:16:32,820 --> 01:16:34,886 [Yves] When something gets taken away from you, 823 01:16:34,921 --> 01:16:38,021 especially in that fashion, unexpectedly, 824 01:16:38,056 --> 01:16:41,827 then you realise your work, your passion, 825 01:16:41,862 --> 01:16:46,062 you will do it in a blizzard, you will do it in a heatwave, 826 01:16:46,097 --> 01:16:48,702 and nothing is gonna stop you from doing it. 827 01:16:48,737 --> 01:16:50,033 Nothing. Nothing. 828 01:16:53,335 --> 01:16:55,643 And that's why I went back there. 829 01:16:58,373 --> 01:17:00,241 I said, "Thank you, dear God, 830 01:17:00,276 --> 01:17:03,211 for bringing me back to this beautiful place 831 01:17:03,246 --> 01:17:06,786 where I've sweated and cried and shed so much blood." 832 01:17:06,821 --> 01:17:10,284 "The outside world doesn't even exist!" 833 01:17:14,290 --> 01:17:18,864 -[penguins call] -[Yves whistles a tune] 834 01:17:22,397 --> 01:17:24,969 [Yves] All the birds are up already. 835 01:17:25,004 --> 01:17:29,105 [Yves whistles a tune] 836 01:17:29,140 --> 01:17:34,077 ♪ Cast your fears! Cast your fears away! 837 01:17:34,112 --> 01:17:39,445 ♪ Sink your tears deep into Spencer Bay 838 01:17:39,480 --> 01:17:43,185 ♪ Feels like I lived here for a thousand years 839 01:17:43,220 --> 01:17:44,956 ♪ Da-da, na-no 840 01:17:45,860 --> 01:17:47,321 Well, back on Mercury. 841 01:17:48,489 --> 01:17:51,996 Naturalist in exile. [laughs] 842 01:17:52,031 --> 01:17:55,736 [Yves whistles a tune] 843 01:17:55,771 --> 01:17:57,771 And all the happier for it. 844 01:17:59,500 --> 01:18:01,940 Everything's pretty much the same. 845 01:18:03,746 --> 01:18:06,010 Nice to have bankies around. 846 01:18:07,981 --> 01:18:11,147 It's the one bird I really miss, this guy. 847 01:18:11,182 --> 01:18:14,249 That's it, steal his nest. Steal his whole bloody nest. 848 01:18:14,284 --> 01:18:15,382 [chuckles] 849 01:18:19,993 --> 01:18:22,796 And look who's parking on the roof! 850 01:18:23,997 --> 01:18:26,701 A whole row of crowned cormorants. 851 01:18:30,432 --> 01:18:32,399 What about this park bench here? 852 01:18:32,434 --> 01:18:35,270 How's about we park here and watch the sunrise? 853 01:18:35,305 --> 01:18:38,174 It's built for ten. 854 01:18:38,209 --> 01:18:42,145 Actually, I don't know if it's actually very nice to sit on. 855 01:18:43,214 --> 01:18:45,049 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I think it is. 856 01:18:45,084 --> 01:18:47,953 Yeah, wonderful park bench. All the hobos park... 857 01:18:47,988 --> 01:18:49,922 -[clattering] -Fuck! 858 01:18:49,957 --> 01:18:53,387 Can you believe it? The tin just... Fuck! 859 01:18:53,422 --> 01:18:55,796 [laughs] 860 01:18:56,590 --> 01:18:59,327 [wind chime tinkles] 861 01:18:59,362 --> 01:19:01,560 Yeah, well, here we are. 862 01:19:01,595 --> 01:19:03,936 Five days on the island, already. 863 01:19:04,906 --> 01:19:07,874 Things are going great. 864 01:19:07,909 --> 01:19:11,273 Wrap it all up. Make your models. 865 01:19:11,308 --> 01:19:13,913 Have your surf. Take your rows across. 866 01:19:13,948 --> 01:19:17,213 Make my bags. Do my macramé. 867 01:19:17,248 --> 01:19:19,853 You can practise your hobbies. 868 01:19:19,888 --> 01:19:23,087 You can learn new things, start new things. 869 01:19:23,122 --> 01:19:24,990 You can do what you want. 870 01:19:26,422 --> 01:19:29,962 But the work is the most important thing. 871 01:19:30,998 --> 01:19:32,965 And that's why I'm here. 872 01:19:33,000 --> 01:19:36,166 Chase the seals. Never forget. 873 01:19:36,201 --> 01:19:40,137 Never forget the seals on Mercury Island. 874 01:19:40,172 --> 01:19:43,107 Because we're gonna be chasing them seals. 875 01:19:43,142 --> 01:19:44,273 But this is the time 876 01:19:44,308 --> 01:19:46,814 when we don't have so many of them around. 877 01:19:49,280 --> 01:19:53,117 But anyway, this is just to say that 878 01:19:55,319 --> 01:19:56,549 basically, this guy, 879 01:19:56,584 --> 01:20:00,454 he's fucking glad to be back here for a while. 880 01:20:00,489 --> 01:20:02,797 [birds call] 881 01:20:08,596 --> 01:20:11,003 When I got back to Mercury, 882 01:20:11,038 --> 01:20:15,634 I had to continue to chase seals off the island. 883 01:20:15,669 --> 01:20:18,175 But it was already much easier. 884 01:20:21,147 --> 01:20:25,512 Eventually, I could see that my efforts were working. 885 01:20:25,547 --> 01:20:27,184 And after that, 886 01:20:27,219 --> 01:20:29,956 it kind of gave me a psychological confidence 887 01:20:29,991 --> 01:20:33,091 over myself, which made me feel, 888 01:20:33,126 --> 01:20:36,490 "Hey, snap out of it, you're gonna be all right." 889 01:20:42,168 --> 01:20:45,070 *[woman on radio] 890 01:20:45,105 --> 01:20:48,040 Yeah, I'm quite looking forward to it, actually. 891 01:20:48,075 --> 01:20:49,338 Gives me a good chance 892 01:20:49,373 --> 01:20:51,637 to get back into the whole scene, you know. Over. 893 01:21:01,583 --> 01:21:05,090 "Be as busy as possible." 894 01:21:06,522 --> 01:21:08,159 Gonna work a bit of penguin. 895 01:21:08,194 --> 01:21:12,394 First, a sip of tea out of my penguin cup. 896 01:21:12,429 --> 01:21:15,936 Those are my feet covered in seal shit. 897 01:21:18,435 --> 01:21:21,337 Eventually, after losing their pups 898 01:21:21,372 --> 01:21:23,372 two or three seasons in a row, 899 01:21:23,407 --> 01:21:25,979 the seals slowly clicked on to the fact 900 01:21:26,014 --> 01:21:28,949 that this place is not cool for seals. 901 01:21:31,349 --> 01:21:34,152 So, now all we've gotta do is apply a bit of control 902 01:21:34,187 --> 01:21:36,990 without killing, without culling, 903 01:21:37,025 --> 01:21:42,523 so that the other species can get their foothold back. 904 01:21:42,558 --> 01:21:48,034 And then to see how the seabird colonies just blossomed, 905 01:21:48,069 --> 01:21:50,630 because the space was now available. 906 01:21:55,010 --> 01:21:58,209 There's a fine stack of penguins for you. 907 01:22:01,214 --> 01:22:03,412 Then there's a little friend over here. 908 01:22:03,447 --> 01:22:04,545 Come on. 909 01:22:07,385 --> 01:22:08,956 Come. 910 01:22:08,991 --> 01:22:11,057 Good little scratch there. 911 01:22:11,092 --> 01:22:13,488 I'm burning up all this fucking shit. 912 01:22:13,523 --> 01:22:16,755 This Mercurian wants to be pure in the mind, you know. 913 01:22:16,790 --> 01:22:18,097 And then what I'm gonna do 914 01:22:18,132 --> 01:22:20,231 is I'm gonna make another balcony here. 915 01:22:20,266 --> 01:22:22,464 Yo, Vid, you're lucky you haven't got a pair of arms 916 01:22:22,499 --> 01:22:26,303 and a pair of legs, cos you'd be helping me here. 917 01:22:26,338 --> 01:22:30,241 She's nice. She's nice. She's very nice. 918 01:22:30,276 --> 01:22:31,737 But I don't wanna see her. 919 01:22:31,772 --> 01:22:34,410 You're stuck with me, pal, in this crazy job. 920 01:22:34,445 --> 01:22:37,776 So, just do your job and film. Right? Right! 921 01:22:37,811 --> 01:22:39,778 Good, you little fuck. [laughs] 922 01:22:39,813 --> 01:22:41,252 I was only joking, you know. 923 01:22:41,287 --> 01:22:43,254 But when I'm alone like this, you must accept 924 01:22:43,289 --> 01:22:46,092 that you are the only one that I can take it out on. 925 01:22:46,127 --> 01:22:47,555 I hate to admit it, 926 01:22:47,590 --> 01:22:51,229 but, like, half of these girls I know off by heart. 927 01:22:52,430 --> 01:22:55,101 Vid, switch yourself off, my bru. 928 01:22:55,136 --> 01:22:58,566 Here, this is the island, eh? 929 01:22:58,601 --> 01:23:02,042 And we were standing right there on the balcony. 930 01:23:03,771 --> 01:23:05,573 And there's Boy-Boy. 931 01:23:05,608 --> 01:23:07,740 He's been looking at the sea all day. 932 01:23:07,775 --> 01:23:09,577 Come on, in you go. 933 01:23:11,152 --> 01:23:12,613 In you go, mister. 934 01:23:15,156 --> 01:23:16,353 [laughs] There you go! 935 01:23:22,460 --> 01:23:23,591 [penguins call] 936 01:23:56,692 --> 01:23:58,428 New balcony. 937 01:24:01,763 --> 01:24:03,301 And, of course, 938 01:24:03,336 --> 01:24:05,798 doesn't take long for these guys to click on, eh? 939 01:24:08,803 --> 01:24:10,506 Here come the boys, here come the boys, 940 01:24:10,541 --> 01:24:11,573 here come the boys! 941 01:24:11,608 --> 01:24:13,344 [boat engine revs] 942 01:24:13,379 --> 01:24:15,511 And it's a different kind of dolphin. 943 01:24:15,546 --> 01:24:17,546 It's a bloody big thing. 944 01:24:26,161 --> 01:24:28,128 Wow, man! 945 01:24:28,163 --> 01:24:30,790 Wow! Whoo! 946 01:24:30,825 --> 01:24:33,265 Bottlenose, man! Ha! 947 01:24:34,697 --> 01:24:36,433 You beautiful things! 948 01:24:38,767 --> 01:24:40,833 God, I've never seen them here before! 949 01:24:40,868 --> 01:24:42,373 [boat engine stops] 950 01:24:46,247 --> 01:24:48,247 [waves lap] 951 01:24:52,880 --> 01:24:54,154 [grunts] 952 01:24:56,455 --> 01:24:59,258 Catching them right through this little gap here. 953 01:24:59,293 --> 01:25:00,556 [laughs] 954 01:25:00,591 --> 01:25:04,131 Action or what? Action shots. Action shots. 955 01:25:04,166 --> 01:25:06,133 [waves crash] 956 01:25:06,168 --> 01:25:10,434 Whoo-hoo! There they go. 957 01:25:10,469 --> 01:25:15,274 And this is happening the entire length and breadth of the cove. 958 01:25:17,476 --> 01:25:20,840 What a life these guys are having, man. Jeepers! 959 01:25:20,875 --> 01:25:23,513 I wanna be a seal! [laughs] 960 01:25:23,548 --> 01:25:25,416 I wanna be a seal! 961 01:25:25,451 --> 01:25:28,386 [upbeat music] 962 01:25:45,636 --> 01:25:48,802 Those panic attacks lasted for four years. 963 01:25:48,837 --> 01:25:52,773 And then I told myself, "You've gotta be able to control this." 964 01:25:52,808 --> 01:25:55,413 Once I could gauge when it was gonna happen, 965 01:25:55,448 --> 01:25:58,614 I could implement what I had to do. 966 01:25:58,649 --> 01:26:00,814 Suppress, suppress, suppress. 967 01:26:00,849 --> 01:26:03,718 And it was gone. 968 01:26:03,753 --> 01:26:06,424 That took four years to heal that. 969 01:26:09,297 --> 01:26:10,395 [bell rings] 970 01:26:10,430 --> 01:26:12,331 Don't we make a pretty little pair? 971 01:26:12,366 --> 01:26:15,796 He looks the same as me and I look the same as him. 972 01:26:15,831 --> 01:26:19,536 So, how's that, eh? No dying on us, eh? 973 01:26:19,571 --> 01:26:20,768 [birds chirp] 974 01:26:45,630 --> 01:26:48,730 After the third year, I could feel it was going right. 975 01:26:48,765 --> 01:26:49,664 After the fourth year, 976 01:26:49,700 --> 01:26:51,733 I could actually start relaxing. 977 01:26:51,768 --> 01:26:55,341 And in my fifth year, I felt I had done my job. 978 01:27:24,768 --> 01:27:26,735 [birds call] 979 01:27:36,813 --> 01:27:40,914 All I could see was this thriving island 980 01:27:40,949 --> 01:27:43,488 with all the birds. 981 01:27:43,523 --> 01:27:45,688 Thousands, thousands and thousands 982 01:27:45,723 --> 01:27:47,921 and thousands of birds. 983 01:27:49,958 --> 01:27:54,961 And the seals, right there, 900 metres away, 984 01:27:54,996 --> 01:27:58,470 colonised the beach on the mainland. 985 01:28:07,415 --> 01:28:13,815 On the island, was this beautiful eco-system. 986 01:28:13,850 --> 01:28:19,326 And so the whole of Spencer Bay was pretty much in equilibrium. 987 01:28:20,395 --> 01:28:22,054 I felt absolutely fantastic. 988 01:28:59,896 --> 01:29:02,666 [bird calls] 989 01:29:02,701 --> 01:29:04,866 [waves crash] 990 01:29:07,706 --> 01:29:09,772 [Yves] OK, Vid! 991 01:29:09,807 --> 01:29:11,070 [clicks stones together] 992 01:31:19,541 --> 01:31:22,806 A good man took my place. 993 01:31:22,841 --> 01:31:26,205 They don't have to do what I had to do. 994 01:31:26,240 --> 01:31:28,174 They can enjoy the island. 995 01:31:52,607 --> 01:31:54,640 I hate killing things. 996 01:31:54,675 --> 01:31:57,137 It's not what you want to do. 997 01:31:57,172 --> 01:32:00,074 You don't wanna kill this clever animal 998 01:32:00,109 --> 01:32:04,650 that is so agile in the water and so flipping agile on land. 999 01:32:04,685 --> 01:32:09,215 Especially, if you're a feeling person. 1000 01:32:09,250 --> 01:32:12,152 I only kill things that I have to kill, 1001 01:32:12,187 --> 01:32:16,695 which would be problem animals within the sphere of my work. 1002 01:32:18,259 --> 01:32:20,963 Otherwise, I don't wanna kill anything. 1003 01:32:31,173 --> 01:32:32,777 [Joëlle] By the time Yves left, 1004 01:32:32,812 --> 01:32:35,274 he had spent eight years on Mercury. 1005 01:32:37,311 --> 01:32:40,114 One of his last diary entries reads, 1006 01:32:42,118 --> 01:32:45,757 "Peering into the immensity of the night sky, 1007 01:32:45,792 --> 01:32:48,826 what a universe we live in." 1008 01:32:48,861 --> 01:32:53,061 "How dare we put our planet through the risks we do." 1009 01:32:53,096 --> 01:32:57,703 "Humans are so gifted, yet so destructive." 1010 01:32:57,738 --> 01:33:01,806 "Should we merely observe the outcomes of our folly?" 1011 01:33:01,841 --> 01:33:05,205 "Or is it our responsibility to step in?" 1012 01:33:06,912 --> 01:33:09,616 "I hate man, yet I love him, 1013 01:33:10,751 --> 01:33:12,949 for I, too, am a man." 1014 01:33:44,884 --> 01:33:48,688 [Yves] Stepping ashore on the new world. 1015 01:33:48,723 --> 01:33:50,723 [laughs] 1016 01:33:55,290 --> 01:33:57,763 New world's full of kelp. [laughs] 1017 01:33:59,866 --> 01:34:04,099 Well, here we are, eh? Here we are. 1018 01:34:04,134 --> 01:34:07,674 New man, new world, new pozzie, new everything. 1019 01:34:08,369 --> 01:34:10,204 New town. 1020 01:34:10,976 --> 01:34:12,371 New island. 1021 01:34:30,523 --> 01:34:32,028 [birds call] 1022 01:35:17,009 --> 01:35:19,009 [♪ "Night Flanger" by Yello] 1023 01:35:38,360 --> 01:35:41,966 ♪ I wake up in the evening 1024 01:35:42,001 --> 01:35:45,464 ♪ The sun is still around 1025 01:35:45,499 --> 01:35:49,072 ♪ The street seems to be busy 1026 01:35:49,107 --> 01:35:52,911 ♪ I hear the traffic sounds 1027 01:35:52,946 --> 01:35:56,310 ♪ Last night's been lousy 1028 01:35:56,345 --> 01:36:00,083 ♪ I had a lot to drink 1029 01:36:00,118 --> 01:36:03,482 ♪ Too many dry martinis 1030 01:36:03,517 --> 01:36:06,991 ♪ And cans of beer to sink 1031 01:36:08,060 --> 01:36:11,457 ♪ Another day 1032 01:36:11,492 --> 01:36:14,801 ♪ Already night 1033 01:36:14,836 --> 01:36:18,431 ♪ Blue neon light 1034 01:36:18,466 --> 01:36:21,874 ♪ Blue neon light 1035 01:36:25,143 --> 01:36:27,275 ♪ I could call my Rhianna 1036 01:36:28,608 --> 01:36:30,916 ♪ Ask her to meet me now 1037 01:36:32,282 --> 01:36:34,579 ♪ I think I lost her number 1038 01:36:35,989 --> 01:36:38,319 ♪ It's too late, anyhow 1039 01:36:39,454 --> 01:36:41,894 ♪ I could put on the TV 1040 01:36:43,128 --> 01:36:45,359 ♪ Or I could stay in bed 1041 01:36:46,593 --> 01:36:49,165 ♪ Decisions drive me crazy 1042 01:36:50,234 --> 01:36:52,839 ♪ Decisions drive me mad 1043 01:36:54,667 --> 01:36:58,042 ♪ Another day 1044 01:36:58,077 --> 01:37:01,441 ♪ Already night 1045 01:37:01,476 --> 01:37:05,181 ♪ Blue neon light 1046 01:37:05,216 --> 01:37:08,184 ♪ Blue neon light