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Back Roads - Season 12 - Episode 01: Shark Bay, WA (Part 1)
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00:05All right, let's go and see what's down there, hey?
00:11Oh, I can tell you it's a bit cold.
00:14This time on back roads, I'm heading west, far west, to the most western point of Western
00:35Australia.
00:36Shark Bay is one of the world's true wilderness wonderlands, where desert meets sea.
00:46Tucked away in the lesser known Gascoyne region, hides this World Heritage listed treasure.
00:55It's a beloved place for the Molgana, Nanda and Yengarda people.
01:01You want to share it with everyone, the whole world.
01:05To call Shark Bay home is an extraordinary privilege.
01:12The people here are at a defining moment.
01:15One which will shape how history remembers their response to a growing challenge.
01:22So how does a small community of 1,000 people protect this fragile jewel and still draw strength
01:31to secure their own bright future?
01:47Visiting Shark Bay isn't something you do on a whim.
01:50The locals say it's the longest driveway in Australia, 130 kilometres from the main road.
01:57But I'm told it's well worth the detour.
02:02At the centre of Shark Bay is the town of Denham.
02:06It's where the pace slows.
02:10No traffic lights here, just the odd emu to give way to.
02:17There's more to explore in town, but first I'm keen to get a sense of all that's on offer.
02:24To really appreciate the bay, I need to get out there.
02:36Welcome to Gatha the Guru, that's our word for Shark Bay, two bays.
02:41Letitia Weir grew up on these waters like generations of Mulgan of people before her.
02:49The job of Marine Park Ranger means she can look after her people's waterways.
02:56Being here and being able to work on country and learn about country through science and
03:02traditional ways is amazing.
03:05You've got beautiful red cliffs that meet beautiful pristine blue waters.
03:10And we are saltwater people, we believe that the saltwater here has healing powers.
03:16We say if you look after country, country will look after you.
03:22Look there's one, oh I see it, oh there's another one.
03:27Oh my god they're moving so fast.
03:29They are.
03:34It's teeming with wildlife.
03:37Yes it is, yep.
03:38What do you see when you go out?
03:40Oh we can see multiple things.
03:46Dewgongs, whales, manta rays, eagle rays, all different types of fish.
04:01Dolphins of course, starfish as well.
04:05How good's your job?
04:06So good.
04:13Alongside Letitia is Queensland born Jay Hayes.
04:17Together they patrol and protect an area bigger than some European nations.
04:23Sometimes it doesn't feel like it should be called work.
04:27More than two 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, I worked in the pearling industry, I was a fisherman
04:43and I studied music and was an opera singer back after high school.
04:47What?
04:48Yeah.
04:49Can you give us a few bars?
04:50Yeah sure.
04:51I must go down to the seas again, to the lowly sea and the sky.
04:59A little rough, it's been a while but I still love singing, still love the ocean.
05:04I think you've called the Dewgongs 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.
05:29Alright, yep.
05:31Happy you got it?
05:32These waters boast the largest and most diverse seagrass meadows in the world.
05:38In the water.
05:42It 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, the creator of the ecosystem.
05:56But this drop camera reveals a sad truth.
06:01Letitia and Jay are closely monitoring the state of the seagrass.
06:05And 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 sea bottom.
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.
06:50We 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.
07:08We have to figure out how we're going to reduce it in the future and how we can help repair
07:14it.
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.
07:33At low tide, volunteers gathered to pick these seagrass seedlings that wash up on surrounding beaches.
07:41What 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.
07:57Is it true you're the godfather of seagrass?
08:00Well, yes, but it's not one of the names I like.
08:04What should I call you?
08:06Well, I prefer seagrass wizard is much more exciting in my view and it brings that sort of, you know,
08:11magic 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? Oh, you might see a shark or a turtle.
08:22They're the actors in the stage underwater, but you don't actually look at the stage setting.
08:28And the stage setting are all the primary producers like corals and seagrasses that create those environments for those lovely
08:34active actors to be doing things in.
08:38I'm going to use a big word. This is amphibolus.
08:42It's okay. I'm up for big words, Gary.
08:45Amphibolus produces a viviparous seedling, which means it has its own root system, its own leaf system, and it hooks
08:57onto things and you're basically creating a small, small habitat with a bag.
09:01It's really cool.
09:03So 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 by tapping into traditional knowledge of
09:18the bay.
09:19The rangers do come out regularly and they came to us and said, we're concerned about the seagrass.
09:25Why is it important? It's the basis to the whole culture, the Mogwana culture.
09:32So if the godfather of seagrass had a dream, what would it be?
09:37That the thousand square kilometres of loss that we saw in 2011 is actually replaced.
09:44And that people are out there enjoying it. In other words, doing a bit of gardening.
09:50Seagrass gardening.
09:51Now off you go and go plant some seagrass.
09:54See ya.
10:10Luckily for me, there's a whole community of ocean gardeners ready to show me how.
10:18Ready.
10:20Yeah, go.
10:21Go, go, go.
10:28A local tour operator turned this old purling vessel into a seagrass saviour.
10:34Yeah, go, go.
10:39Go, go.
10:40Go.
10:41Go, go, go.
10:42Go, go, go.
10:42Go, go.
10:43Go, go, go, go, go.
10:45I'm getting my seagrass.
10:47Yeah, you smell what you're doing.
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, they dropped anchor for good.
11:05OK, ready, five.
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 burn down sort of thing.
11:21Liam swung into action,
11:24taking a break from tour guiding to join the conservation effort.
11:30Government grants and community funds help with the running costs,
11:34but the heavy lifting?
11:35That's all volunteers.
11:39Over three weeks, they'll plant 36,000 seedlings.
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, probably one of the most stressful things I've ever done, yeah.
12:07You must be very proud of me, son.
12:10Without Liam, this 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?
12:49Oh, I can tell you it's a bit cold.
12:59It's still early days, still 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
13:40and it's the responsibility of everyone to do that,
13:44not just the politicians and the scientists
13:47and the rich people,
13:48but all of us,
13:49even us scuba divers.
13:54I'm glad to be a part of it.
14:02It's impressive
14:03so many are willing to put their livelihoods on hold
14:07to help this environment.
14:10There's real power in the belief
14:13that every person can make a difference.
14:20Shark Bay's community has weathered many seasons,
14:24from 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!
15:08Tim's one of the oldest
15:09and 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.
15:21How 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
15:32wandering the face of this earth,
15:35came over to Australia,
15:38Fremantle,
15:39wound up at Shark Bay.
15:43And 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
16:01and 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,
16:17the restaurant out of seashells.
16:21From the lay builders' point of view,
16:23they're very easy
16:23because you can shape and cut
16:25with a minimum of difficulty.
16:30Buildings made from shells.
16:33Incredible.
16:36But the restaurant's still standing
16:38and 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 if you were in doubt,
16:58when went to the local tip,
17:00you generally found something
17:02that would fit or make do
17:04or you could do something with.
17:07It was called the local supermarket.
17:09LAUGHTER
17:12Tim told me earlier
17:13that it was a very quick proposal to you.
17:18Is that what happened?
17:19Well, actually,
17:21I was very attracted to him
17:24when I met him,
17:25but it was at least ten days
17:27before he rang up to ask me out.
17:29LAUGHTER
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.
17:42No, 55 years.
17:44Half a century.
17:46Well, more, darling.
17:48Just over, yeah.
17:51I'll let them argue over the fine points.
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 100 kilometres.
18:10It's amazing to think
18:12this is what locals once used
18:14to build homes.
18:20To immerse myself in this place
18:23is to enter a world largely unspoiled,
18:28where the Indian Ocean still reveals
18:31pristine waters
18:32and a richness
18:34that feels almost sacred.
18:41It feels to me
18:42like people here
18:43are pulled by a quiet calling
18:47to look after the natural world
18:50and look out for each other.
19:04It's what first attracted
19:06relative newcomer
19:07Ranger Jay
19:08to Shark Bay.
19:11OK, Adam.
19:13What do I do?
19:14He and his family
19:16moved here in 2022.
19:18When you put your legs out,
19:20it's like easier to actually stand
19:23and then feet apart.
19:25Drawn by the sense of belonging
19:27and support they wanted
19:29for raising their kids.
19:31Oh, man.
19:32I 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
19:54in your backyard,
19:55but bigger.
19:58Coming to get you, Irene.
20:03Right.
20:04Coming here
20:05has been fantastic
20:06for us as a family,
20:07spending quality time together
20:08out in nature.
20:10It's been brilliant.
20:16Monday to Friday,
20:17Jay's job
20:18is to protect this place.
20:23But on weekends,
20:25he turns to it
20:26to recharge.
20:30It's how he gets the energy
20:31to keep showing up.
20:35We used to live in Perth
20:36and I just felt like
20:38we weren't living enough.
20:39I was fairly consumed by work
20:42and stuck in traffic a lot.
20:45And here,
20:46you know,
20:47Jay clocks off at 4.30
20:48and he meets us over the road
20:50at the beach for a swim
20:51and a jetty jump after school
20:52and it's a completely
20:55different lifestyle for us.
20:57It's a way of life
20:58many of us
20:59can only dream of.
21:02Marine life bursts into view
21:04around 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.
21:29So, those directions
21:31were good directions.
21:32Moving to Shark Bays
21:33also had a positive impact
21:35for Jay's wife, Sophie.
21:37Come on in.
21:38I want to show you my home.
21:39Giving the former marine scientist
21:41a new creative outlet.
21:44And an art studio
21:46by the looks of it.
21:47You can make any nook
21:48of a house an art studio.
21:51So, does the marine science
21:53background come into the art?
21:55Absolutely.
21:56I love to have a fusion
21:57this mix of sort of
21:59scientific, anatomically
22:02correctness
22:03fused with creativity.
22:05So, you know, marine species
22:08but with a bit of creative flair
22:11and also, you know,
22:13melding with science.
22:15And also got other pieces.
22:18So, obviously,
22:19there's the monkey mire dolphins
22:20and there's a part of it
22:22that I want to make sure
22:23it's a bottlenose, you know.
22:25And so, we have the
22:27our predatory species here
22:28the tiger shark
22:29and then this one
22:31is a special one for me.
22:32These are rays and sharks
22:34that are known to occur
22:36within the Shark Bay marine park.
22:38So, we've got 52
22:39different species here.
22:40That is like a
22:421,000 piece jigsaw puzzle
22:43that would do my head in.
22:45It did my head in.
22:46It did my head in.
22:47Sophie and Jay
22:48have certainly embraced Shark Bay.
22:53Turns out
22:54you don't need
22:54to be born here
22:55to become well ingrained
22:57in this community.
23:00Oh, good morning.
23:02So, we have our weekly
23:04dip and sip today.
23:06Find someone
23:07you've either not met before
23:09or someone
23:10who you've seen around
23:12but you'd like to introduce yourself.
23:13They've really made the effort
23:15to belong
23:17and they're reaping the rewards.
23:41I've mingled with the newcomers,
23:43but 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?
24:16Yeah.
24:16So these here are stromatolites.
24:22In simpler terms, they're living rocks.
24:27This here is two and a half thousand 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
24:49that we kind of are breathing today.
24:52Wow.
24:53And Letitia was lucky enough to grow up here.
24:57Once you know what you're looking at, it's mind-blowing.
25:04So when I was younger, I just thought that I was just plain old boring old rocks.
25:10Until I grew up and 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
25:37warmer.
25:39We just like to test the saline to make sure that there's no discolouration in them.
25:45Oh my god, there's a shovel nose!
25:46Oh no!
25:49They're really endangered, so it's pretty special.
25:51And it's just coming to say hi!
25:52How awesome, so close!
25:53Critically 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.
26:20This place matters too much.
26:23It heartens me that it is in good hands.
26:27This community knows they're stronger when they work together.
26:39We 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.
26:57To 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.
27:38Next 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.
27:49It happened.
27:51It 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 anywhere else.
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