- 6 hours ago
Back Roads Season 12 Episode 1
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00:06¡Suscríbete al canal!
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04:05¿Qué es lo que es lo que es lo que es?
04:13Alongside Letitia is Queensland-born Jay Hayes.
04:17Together, they patrol and protect an area bigger than some European nations.
04:24Sometimes it doesn't feel like it should be called work.
04:27More than 2 million hectares of breathtaking beauty and precious sea life.
04:35So what did you do before this?
04:37I've had lots of different jobs.
04:38I was a commercial diver, a saturation diver.
04:41I worked in the pearling industry.
04:42I was a fisherman and I studied music and was an opera singer back after high school.
04:47What?
04:48Yeah.
04:49Can you give us a few bars?
04:51Yeah, sure.
04:51I must go down to the seas again, to the lowly sea and the sky.
04:59A little rough.
05:00It's been a while, but I still love singing.
05:03I still love the ocean.
05:04I think you've called the dugongs in.
05:08They heard the song.
05:10And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.
05:16Who would have imagined an opera singer in the middle of the ocean?
05:22But Jay's dulcet tones aren't the only gem in the bay.
05:29All right, yeah.
05:31I'm happy you got it.
05:32These waters boast the largest and most diverse seagrass meadows in the world.
05:41It is home to an array of animals and lots of seafood that our Mulguna people eat.
05:49We call it Whittier Jalinew.
05:52It's the lungs of the ocean.
05:54It's the creator of the ecosystem.
05:57But this drop camera reveals a sad truth.
06:01Letitia and Jay are closely monitoring the state of the seagrass.
06:06And it's not looking good.
06:082011 was a big moment in this bay.
06:11There was a big heat wave and it wiped out a huge portion of the seagrass.
06:18Twice the size of Singapore.
06:20You can see it's quite a mosaic, kind of patchy area.
06:23And a desert, sandy seabottom.
06:27So there was 9 million tonnes of carbon released at that time, which is massively significant.
06:39It was devastating.
06:41It was just like you'd go for a swim down the jetty and it would be like a lukewarm bath.
06:45It was just so hot and then so devastating to see so much seagrass wash up on the shore as
06:50well.
06:51We lost a lot of animal life, so, you know, our food stocks went down as well.
06:57No wonder it broke so many hearts around here.
07:00Yeah, if we don't do anything now, in 50 years' time, what's it going to look like?
07:05Climate change is affecting everything.
07:08I think we have to figure out how we're going to reduce it in the future and how we can
07:13help repair it.
07:17In the face of such enormous challenge, the Shark Bay community could have been overwhelmed.
07:26Instead, they rallied, rolled up their sleeves and got down to work.
07:32At low tide, volunteers gather to pick these, seagrass seedlings that wash up on surrounding beaches.
07:40What we're doing now is we're replanting to assist the recovery of the seagrasses.
07:49If you're looking for seagrass solutions, I'm told to look no further than retired professor Gary Kendrick.
07:58Is it true you're the godfather of seagrass?
08:01Well, yes, but it's not one of the names I like.
08:05What should I call you?
08:06Well, I prefer seagrass wizard is much more exciting in my view.
08:10It brings that sort of, you know, magic to the game.
08:15Why do you care so much about the seagrass?
08:17Well, you know, what do you do when you jump in the water?
08:19You see the fish?
08:20Oh, you might see a shark or a turtle.
08:22They're the actors in the stage underwater.
08:25But you don't actually look at the stage setting.
08:28And the stage setting are all the primary producers like corals and seagrasses
08:32that create those environments for those lovely active actors to be doing things in.
08:39I'm going to use a big word.
08:40This is amphibolous.
08:42It's OK, I'm up for big words, Gary.
08:45Amphibolous produces a viviparous seedling,
08:50which means it has its own root system, its own leaf system,
08:55and it hooks onto things,
08:58and you're basically creating a small, small habitat with a bag.
09:01It's really cool.
09:04So this is the plan, replanting the seagrass one by one.
09:10It's a method Gary and his University of Western Australia team came up with
09:15by tapping into traditional knowledge of the bay.
09:19The rangers do come out regularly.
09:22And they came to us and said, we're concerned about the seagrass.
09:26Why is it important?
09:27It's the basis to the whole culture, the Morguna culture.
09:33So if the godfather of seagrass had a dream, what would it be?
09:38That the 1,000 square kilometres of loss that we saw in 2011 is actually replaced,
09:44and that people are out there enjoying it.
09:47In other words, doing a bit of gardening.
09:50Seagrass gardening.
09:52Now, off you go and go plant some seagrass.
09:55See ya.
10:10Luckily for me,
10:13there's a whole community of ocean gardeners ready to show me how.
10:27A local tour operator turned this old pearling vessel into a seagrass saviour.
10:45I'm getting my seagrass.
10:50At the helm is Liam Ridgely.
10:54His family from Emerald in Queensland
10:56once sailed into Shark Bay on a lap of Australia,
11:00liked it so much,
11:01they dropped anchor for good.
11:05OK, ready, fire.
11:07When the die-off happened,
11:09the water was black for about four or five years.
11:11It was very difficult to find marine life,
11:12and you could just see their ecosystem just suffering.
11:15So it was really devastating to my family.
11:18It was like seeing your backyard burned down sort of thing.
11:21Liam swung into action,
11:24taking a break from tour guiding
11:26to join the conservation effort.
11:30Government grants and community funds help with the running costs,
11:33but the heavy lifting?
11:35That's all volunteers.
11:39Over three weeks,
11:41they'll plant 36,000 seedlings.
11:45There you go!
11:47If even just 5% of those seedlings survive,
11:50you've created a massive seagrass mellow.
11:55And like a farmer,
11:56do you feel the panic of when you're sowing seeds?
12:00Yeah, yeah,
12:01probably one of the most stressful things I've ever done, yeah.
12:07You must be very proud of me, son.
12:10Without Liam,
12:12this wouldn't be happening
12:13because I wouldn't have the energy for it.
12:16I've been out here for 33 years working out here,
12:18and this was the best place for dugongs to feed on the planet.
12:23Like, I've been here and 100 dugongs were in the boat.
12:25Well, now there's only three or four or five,
12:27and it's because the grass is not here.
12:30This is one of a number of locally-driven restoration projects.
12:35There's just so much goodwill here
12:37and so much hope of encouraging marine life to return.
12:43All right, let's go and see what's down there, hey?
12:49Well, I can tell you, it's a big hole.
12:59It's still early days,
13:01still in the trial stage.
13:04But that hasn't stopped volunteers like Annette Ward,
13:07a schoolteacher from Perth,
13:10jumping in and giving it a go.
13:19Once we lay the bags down,
13:21it's almost like a landscape.
13:25We have starfish crawling on the sandbags.
13:28We have fish,
13:30turtles chomping on some of the seagrass,
13:33so they certainly bring in the life.
13:38We're helping to save the seagrass,
13:41and it's the responsibility of everyone to do that,
13:44not just the politicians and the scientists and the rich people,
13:48but all of us,
13:49even us scuba divers.
13:54I'm glad to be a part of it.
13:56Thank you.
13:59Thank you.
14:02It's impressive so many are willing to put their livelihoods on hold
14:07to help this environment.
14:11There's real power in the belief
14:13that every person can make a difference.
14:20Shark Bay's community has weathered many seasons.
14:25From Australia's first recorded European landing,
14:28to a pearling boom
14:31that drew Malay and Chinese migrants.
14:35Grazing and fishing kept the long-timers going.
14:39And when the 1970s rolled around,
14:43a sailor named Tim came ashore
14:45and started making his own mark on the town.
14:49Denham's first restaurant
14:51has just been completed by Tim Hargraves
14:53with a cheap but effective building material.
14:56They're obviously not very heavy, Tim.
14:59No.
15:00Amazing how heavy they can get.
15:05Now 87...
15:07Come on in!
15:08..Tim's one of the oldest
15:10and most colourful residents of Shark Bay.
15:14Everyone said that if I wanted to understand Shark Bay,
15:17I had to come and talk to you.
15:19Oh, well, good.
15:20How did you end up here?
15:23Well, that's interesting.
15:26I did about four years in the army
15:29and I spent seven years wandering the face of this earth,
15:35came over to Australia,
15:38Fremantle, wound up at Shark Bay.
15:42And, uh, that's where our money ran out.
15:46Along for the ride was new wife, Maggie.
15:50I fell in love with her.
15:52I hadn't known her 24 hours
15:55and we got...
15:56I proposed to her.
15:58You're a quick mover.
15:59Well, I was always spontaneous and that sort of thing.
16:05As well as spontaneous,
16:07Tim's also creative,
16:10building his family a house out of mud
16:15and, of course, the restaurant out of seashells.
16:21From the lay builder's point of view,
16:23they're very easy
16:23because you can shape and cut with a minimum of difficulty.
16:31Buildings made from shells.
16:33Incredible.
16:36The restaurant's still standing and it's gorgeous.
16:39Absolutely, yeah.
16:40Because I'm not really a builder
16:42but I've got a bit of a sense of design.
16:49I guess that's something about Shark Bay.
16:51People seem to make do with what's available.
16:54Oh, absolutely.
16:56And, um, if you were in doubt,
16:58when you went to the local tip,
17:00you generally found something that would fit.
17:03or make do
17:04or you could do something with.
17:07It was called the local supermarket.
17:09LAUGHTER
17:12Tim told me earlier
17:14that it was a very quick proposal to you.
17:18LAUGHTER
17:19Is that what happened?
17:20Well, actually, I was very attracted to him when I met him,
17:25but it was at least ten days before he rang up to ask me out.
17:30LAUGHTER
17:30So you weren't that quick, Tim.
17:32You took ten days.
17:34Well, ten days is pretty close.
17:37LAUGHTER
17:37And so how long have you been married?
17:40Uh, 54 years.
17:41No, 55 years.
17:44Half a century.
17:46Oh, more, darling.
17:48Just over, here.
17:51Well...
17:52I'll let them argue over the fine points.
17:54LAUGHTER
17:55I've got some small details of my own to check out.
17:59Shell Beach.
18:0145km out of town,
18:03where trillions of tiny cockle shells
18:06stretch for more than a hundred kilometres.
18:10It's amazing to think this is what locals once used
18:14to build homes.
18:17LAUGHTER
18:20To immerse myself in this place
18:23is to enter a world largely unspoiled,
18:28where the Indian Ocean still reveals pristine waters
18:32and a richness that feels almost sacred.
18:41It feels to me like people here
18:43are pulled by a quiet calling
18:47to look after the natural world
18:50and look out for each other.
18:54LAUGHTER
19:04¡Suscríbete al canal!
19:25Drawn by the sense of belonging and support they wanted for raising their kids.
19:31Oh man, I can see this going really badly.
19:40OK, I've got this.
19:44How's this for a childhood?
19:47Can you believe this is your backyard?
19:50No.
19:51How special is it?
19:52It's kind of like having a pool in your backyard, but bigger.
19:58Coming to get you, Irene.
20:03Right.
20:04Coming here has been fantastic for us as a family, spending quality time together, out in nature.
20:10It's been brilliant.
20:16Monday to Friday, Jay's job is to protect this place.
20:24But on weekends, he turns to it to recharge.
20:30It's how he gets the energy to keep showing up.
20:35We used to live in Perth and I just felt like we weren't living enough.
20:39I was fairly consumed by work and stuck in traffic a lot.
20:45And here, you know, Jay clocks off at 4.30 and he meets us over the road at the beach
20:50for a swim and a jetty jump after school.
20:53And it's a completely different lifestyle for us.
20:57It's a way of life many of us can only dream of.
21:02Marine life bursts into view around every corner.
21:06Look at all the fish.
21:10I reckon I could get used to this.
21:15I can see why you love this spot.
21:18I want to see some yoga on there.
21:21You'll be waiting a while.
21:23No handstands for me.
21:30Those directions were good directions.
21:32Moving to Shark Bays also had a positive impact for Jay's wife, Sophie.
21:37Come on in, I want to show you my home.
21:39Giving the former marine scientist a new creative outlet.
21:44And an art studio by the looks of it.
21:47You can make any nook of a house an art studio.
21:51So does the marine science background come into the art?
21:55Absolutely.
21:56I love to have a fusion, this mix of sort of scientific, anatomically correctness, fused with creativity.
22:05So, you know, marine species, but with a bit of creative flair.
22:11And also, you know, melding with science.
22:15And also got other pieces.
22:18So obviously there's the monkey mire dolphins.
22:21And there's a part of it I want to make sure it's a bottlenose, you know.
22:25And so we have our predatory species here, the tiger shark.
22:29And then this one is a special one for me.
22:32These are rays and sharks that are known to occur within the Shark Bay marine park.
22:38So we've got 52 different species here.
22:41That is like a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle that would do my head in.
22:45It did my head in. It did my head in.
22:48Sophie and Jay have certainly embraced Shark Bay.
22:53Turns out you don't need to be born here to become well ingrained in this community.
23:01Morning. So we have our weekly dip and sip today.
23:06Find someone you've either not met before or someone who you've seen around but you'd like to introduce yourself.
23:13They've really made the effort to belong.
23:17And they're reaping the rewards.
23:41I've mingled with the newcomers, but word is Shark Bay guards something very old.
23:53So I'm heading out to Hamlin Pool, about an hour out of town.
24:04And find Jay and Letitia back at work.
24:08Yeah, it's 31st.
24:12Yeah, similar to the last location.
24:13Yeah, yeah.
24:15What are we looking at here?
24:16So these here are stromatolites.
24:22In simpler terms, they're living rocks.
24:26This here is 2,500 years old.
24:31This is one of two active formations of stromatolites in the world.
24:36Millions of years ago this was what created and started life on Earth.
24:41So it was consuming carbon dioxide and sulphur and off-gassing oxygen and created the atmosphere that we kind of
24:50are breathing today.
24:52Wow!
24:54And Letitia was lucky enough to grow up here.
24:58Once you know what you're looking at, it's mind-blowing.
25:05So when I was younger, I just thought that I was plain old boring old rocks until I grew up
25:11and my auntie would tell me how they are actually our ancient ancestors.
25:16So our people who have passed on, they are now stromatolites, so living rocks.
25:24I think that's why our salt water has healing powers.
25:30But just like the seagrass, the stromatolites too are bearing the quiet scars of a world growing warmer.
25:39I just like to test the selene and make sure that there's no discolouration in them.
25:45Oh my god, there's a shovel nose!
25:47Oh no!
25:49They're really endangered, so it's pretty special.
25:51And it's just coming to say hi!
25:52How awesome!
25:53So close!
25:54Critically endangered in many other parts of the world, but here they have huge numbers.
25:59Yeah, really amazing.
26:00And just while we're standing here chatting, up to our knees, he comes up to say hi!
26:05Little visitor, yeah.
26:07This place is so special.
26:16If this is where it all began, it can't be where it ends.
26:21This place matters too much.
26:24It heartens me that it is in good hands.
26:27This community knows they're stronger when they work together.
26:38We want to share it with everyone, the whole world, so we want to save it for generations.
26:49I think everyone wants the same outcome for this place.
26:54To protect this pristine environment, to look after our small town community.
27:01You know, we want to see it thrive now and into the future.
27:07There's always just something happening every day.
27:11Someone's going to be going on the boat.
27:12Someone's going to be diving.
27:13You can tag along.
27:17And it's just a great place for everyone to enjoy.
27:36Well, this is one way to see Shark Bay.
27:39Next time on Backroads, I dig deep into what life is like living in paradise.
27:45People come from around the world to explore this untouched beauty.
27:50It happened. It really happened.
27:52I can see why this place has an effect on people.
27:55But how do you leave room for those who've always called it home?
27:59We don't have that freedom anywhere else.
28:01We don't have that freedom everywhere.
28:04I've got aismus around the world to see you vowing after seeing you going out mundo
28:05Thank you.
28:05Gracias por ver el video.
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