00:00I don't even know if these elephants exist
00:03the way I imagined them
00:04I'm Elisa from Gainsurf
00:06and Steve, my first question for you
00:09is about your profession
00:10you're an explorer and a scientist
00:12and sounds almost like something
00:14from another era, romantic
00:16so I'd like to ask you
00:19a challenging question
00:20why do we still need explorers
00:22and scientists to do the stuff
00:24you do every day?
00:27I think
00:30the 21st century is the most important
00:32century for exploration
00:34I'm not talking about going to Mars
00:36I'm talking about on Earth
00:39you see what we're doing
00:40in the ghost elephants film
00:42the DNA work
00:44some of this
00:47technology came from
00:49COVID, we use COVID swabs
00:51and we can swab the dung of any animal now
00:53and get a
00:55full resolution of its genome
00:56something that cost
00:58two billion dollars
00:59to do the human genome
01:01a decade ago
01:02now costs
01:03a few hundred dollars
01:04and takes three hours
01:05for us to do that
01:07for these species
01:09so our
01:11ability to work
01:12for future scientists
01:13by gathering samples
01:14from remote locations
01:15our ability to learn
01:17from those samples
01:18is far beyond
01:19anything that we could have imagined
01:2110 years ago
01:2220 years ago
01:23and in Africa
01:25we are
01:28I focus on the exploration
01:30of the sources
01:31of the great rivers of Africa
01:33the inland river basins
01:34we call it the great spine of Africa
01:36I've just come from the source of the Nile
01:38in Rwanda
01:41these landscapes
01:42are where you find
01:44people like the king
01:45you find
01:46people living close to
01:47language, culture, tradition
01:50indigenous cultures
01:51connected to those places
01:53they find them to be sacred
01:55the
01:56we
01:57just in the last
01:58three years
01:59we have
02:01documented the true source
02:02of the Zambezi
02:03rewriting history
02:04that's the
02:05wildest river in Africa
02:06down in
02:07the largest waterfall
02:10in the world
02:10Victoria Falls
02:11that's where it receives
02:11its water from
02:13we go to South Sudan
02:15and we fly aerial surveys there
02:17so
02:17fixed wing aeroplanes
02:18with AI
02:19cameras
02:20on the wings
02:22physical counters
02:23counting animals
02:24as we fly over
02:24and we find
02:25the largest
02:26wildlife migration
02:27on the planet
02:28that no one knew
02:28was there
02:306 million animals
02:32across the floodplains
02:34of the White Nile
02:34that is
02:35never before been documented
02:37the Angolan Highlands
02:38where the ghost elephants are
02:4026 source lakes
02:41acidic source lakes
02:42not known to be there
02:45the second largest
02:46peatland discovery
02:47peatlands are these
02:48organic marshes
02:49that hold lots of water
02:51like a sponge
02:52hold it and release it
02:53into rivers
02:53giving them resilience
02:54to climate change
02:55we didn't know that
02:56before we went there
02:57so we found a new peatland
02:59in Rwanda
03:00not known to be there
03:01we
03:02our models
03:02tell us that they should be there
03:04but never documented
03:05we've done that now
03:05so to be an explorer
03:07in the 21st century
03:08is something
03:10and I'm not talking about
03:11Mars or the deep ocean
03:12where we haven't
03:13explored properly
03:14I'm talking about
03:15our backyard
03:17in soil samples
03:18from your garden
03:19in the river
03:20down the road
03:21in the forest
03:22we don't know
03:23what's in there
03:23and new technologies
03:25are revealing
03:25what is there
03:26what I wanted to ask you
03:27about
03:28this documentary
03:30is
03:30the very beginning
03:31how did you
03:33met with
03:34Werner Herzog
03:35how
03:36he was
03:37fascinated
03:38by your
03:38very long
03:40search for
03:41dead ghost elephants
03:45we became friends
03:47just having dinners
03:50and talking
03:53and
03:53not
03:54about ghost elephants
03:55in the beginning
03:56but he's learning
03:57about the work
03:58and when I do talk
03:59about the ghost elephants
04:00and
04:02at that time
04:03I was saying
04:04we've just got
04:05our first
04:06photographs
04:07from those
04:08camera traps
04:09motion sensing
04:10heat sensing
04:11there's 180 traps
04:12out there
04:12we've got
04:13100
04:13acoustic sensors
04:15these are listening
04:15for elephants
04:16nothing
04:16nothing
04:17and then suddenly
04:18I'm driving
04:19in Cape Town
04:21and on my phone
04:22these photographs
04:22three of them
04:23come on
04:23and I stop
04:24on the side
04:25of the road
04:26it's these
04:27black and white
04:28photographs
04:30and
04:30that's when
04:31I'd say to Werner
04:32like
04:32now
04:33okay
04:34now we are going
04:35to go there
04:35and live in the valleys
04:37I had started
04:38working with
04:39the master trackers
04:40the Jun Kwasi
04:40and he was very
04:41interested in that
04:42these are the first
04:42people really
04:44finding the last
04:44elephants
04:45the ghost elephants
04:46now are very
04:47interested
04:48and then I
04:48invited him
04:49to join us
04:49in Namibia
04:50as we
04:51prepare the
04:52master trackers
04:53to go
04:54to Angola
04:55and from that
04:56point forward
04:56he was in
04:57now he's
04:58now it's
04:58an
05:01unflinching
05:01vision
05:02a creative
05:03energy that
05:04just uplifts
05:05the whole team
05:05like
05:05and that was
05:07that's an
05:08experience
05:09to see
05:10from interest
05:11to
05:12storytelling
05:13when it
05:14switched
05:15in Vanna
05:16it was
05:17a powerful
05:18experience
05:18for everyone
05:19involved
05:19and we
05:19carried that
05:20energy
05:20through
05:21the next
05:22three
05:22four months
05:23when we
05:23intensively
05:24searching for
05:25these elephants
05:25because now
05:26and we're
05:27saying this
05:27too
05:28you know
05:28films are
05:29about
05:29funding the
05:30films
05:30it's difficult
05:30to fund
05:31them
05:31I'm just
05:31telling them
05:32like you
05:32know
05:32we're going
05:33now
05:34it doesn't
05:35matter
05:35about money
05:36or cameras
05:37or anything
05:38it's happening
05:39now
05:39we are ready
05:40the master trackers
05:42are ready
05:42it's happening
05:43and Vanna
05:45we
05:46you know
05:47as
05:48magic always
05:48happens at the
05:49last moment
05:49to make it
05:50possible
05:50and it
05:50was possible
05:52thank you so
05:53much for your
05:53time
05:55pleasure
05:56good to meet
05:56you
05:57means finding
05:59ourselves
05:59you
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