00:00A newborn albatross on Marion Island, 2,000 kilometers southeast of the South African coast.
00:07Albatrosses often only have one chick at a time and care for it devotedly, sometimes for over a year.
00:15Once finally mature, the young bird will head for the waters of South Africa with their abundance of fish.
00:23But in that search for food, they're up against some daunting and dangerous competition.
00:27Trawlers, which tow their gigantic nets via steel cables called warp lines.
00:34Incoming birds, eager to catch some fish, sometimes fly into the cables and can even drown from their subsequent injuries.
00:43A silent tragedy that only properly came to light around the turn of the millennium.
00:48It was only once we started doing dedicated observations or putting cameras over the works that you can see this happening.
00:57So it's not a huge number every trail, but it's enough that over all the trawling effort, we were seeing thousands of albatrosses being killed every year by these warp strikes.
01:09In South Africa alone, up to 14,000 albatrosses perish every year, part of a global disaster that costs the lives of over 700,000 seabirds annually.
01:26Suspended between the lethal steel cables, the yellow hose pipes and streamers form a visual barrier that deters birds from entering the danger zone.
01:35The idea dates back to the 1970s, but has been adapted to use with trawlers by the albatross task force of NGO BirdLife South Africa.
01:46We were able to reduce the mortality of albatrosses by an incredible 99%.
01:51There is nowhere in the earth that this has happened.
01:54It was the first example of conservation success of this magnitude.
02:02Although that success didn't happen overnight, the albatross guardians tested the technique at sea while winning over trawler crews,
02:09and finally managing to get bird scaring lines made mandatory in South Africa in 2006.
02:20The lines are cut to size and assembled here, by people who have disabilities, but no shortage of skill and dedication.
02:28Over a thousand have been made since the launch of a special social project, covering the demand for 60% of South Africa's deep sea trawlers.
02:35For many of them, a first step towards meaningful work, giving them a renewed sense of purpose.
02:42For the members, it's been great. They've learned so much, and they actually feel that what they're doing is contributing towards saving the sea life for future generations.
02:58It also gives them an incentive. You find that the members actually have money to take home, so it enhances their capacity in their families.
03:10But while bird scaring lines are mandatory, they're not always used.
03:14A situation that fisheries expert Sihle Nkongo wanted to set straight.
03:20He invented a sensor that detects when the nets are deployed.
03:24Encased in a weatherproof shell, it measures the tension in the main pipe that the likewise yellow streamers are suspended from.
03:31That data is transmitted in real time, revealing whether or not the deterrent lines were actually deployed.
03:37A win on the conservation front, and for fisheries that want to prove their eco-friendly credentials to be awarded globally recognised sustainability certification.
03:48It's on a vessel's best interest to ensure that they can confirm that the vessels have been compliant with deploying the best carry lines.
04:01So the device comes very handy to the companies as well.
04:06We require that evidence for our Marine Stewardship Council certification, and the standard is in the future going to require that we actually provide that evidence.
04:16These yellow-coloured lifelines are also mandatory in the likes of Namibia, Argentina and Chile, but on the global scale, protection is still insufficient.
04:26The moment they count is 700,000 seabirds are dying as a result of seabird bycatch annually.
04:33If we can, through collaborations and work collectively to achieve every single vessel, to get every single vessel to use mitigation measures, we will have done our work.
04:48Albatrosses off the coast of South Africa are now much better protected.
04:53But worldwide, more than half of the 22 species of the bird are still endangered.
05:03We have never seen one of those who come straight from that name.
05:06The other way, we're possible to find the demonstrations at the damille.
05:10This is a very interesting place one, and this is also a very interesting place to be able to do a few minutes.
05:14The couple of places come back to me to the right now.
05:16The two, the two of us, the two people.
05:19The second place for us, the three of us, the two of us, the two of us, the one of us are called the Dear Ones, rich in Ocean.
05:24The last place for us is on the right, which has seen the island.
05:27We have been looking for our security of the water.
05:28The second place is on the street as an island.
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