- 4 hours ago
Simon Reeve travels from the rugged coast of South Africa, where he joins the fight against wildlife poachers, through Mozambique, and on to the tropical island of Zanzibar. On the way, he swims with sharks, meets the refugees who have found shelter in a luxury beachfront hotel, and travels on a hug…..
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TravelTranscript
00:07the Indian Ocean home to the world's most exotic islands and beautiful and
00:15rare wildlife I'm traveling through 16 countries around the edge of this vast
00:23ocean that stretches 6,000 miles from Africa to Australia steeped in history the Indian Ocean is
00:32vital to world trade it's a journey of extremes from stunning islands across pirate infested seas
00:43to remote villages and war-torn lands was that journey about much more than just what's under the
01:09way it's about the lives of the millions of people who live around this one of our greatest oceans
01:22I start my journey at the tip of Africa and travel up the east coast of the continent to
01:26the island of Zanzibar I discover what threatens the oceans mightiest predator I think they've got
01:34something and I confront my own fears on my first ocean dive you've got me to swim with sharks we're
01:46stuck in this on this first part of my journey I travel by land sea and air through a country
01:57ravaged
01:58by civil war 3,500 people living living now and ending on the exotic island of Zanzibar with its stunning
02:09coral beaches
02:37I'm at the bottom of Africa somewhere out there
02:40two of the world's mightiest oceans collide over there is the Atlantic but I'm heading this way this
02:48is the start of my journey around the glorious Indian Ocean it's a huge trip it's an enormous
02:55challenge and it begins right here right now on the rugged coast of South Africa
03:08the Indian Ocean might be better known for tropical beaches and palm trees but down here near the Cape of
03:15Good Hope the sea churns with life and the coastline is dramatic
03:29there's no neat dividing line between two great scenes and the water here is fed by currents from
03:35both the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean as a result the water temperature can fluctuate wildly and there's
03:41a huge diversity of marine life this area is a breeding ground for vast stocks of fish seabirds and
03:48mammals oh dolphins opuses just off the left across the Indian Ocean this spectacular wildlife is in
04:03desperate need of protection I hitched a ride on a South African fisheries patrol boat whose job it is
04:11to police these waters this pearly beach area there's a group of poachers that live out here okay and they
04:18actually swim from the shoreline all the way through to the island Keith governor and his team are targeting
04:26poachers who are after a little known but valuable sea creature part of what we're going to do today is
04:35basically looking and protecting a resource called abalone abalone abalone in layman's terms you could
04:41describe as a shellfish basically it's become a commodity now that is wanted in the Far East and that as
04:48a
04:48food as a food was a delicacy delicacy is the word yeah and it's it's become so wanted that people
04:54are in
04:55South Africa now are actually poaching it more and more to and to sell off to syndicates basically
05:00crime gang crime gangs itself and that stuff then gets smuggled onto the black market into the far
05:06east and people will poach from the shoreline where divers would walk into the water and poach off a
05:11reef and so on and you also have the one where it's sea-based where people use rubber ducks when
05:16you
05:16say rubber duck you mean something like this yeah something like this this one specially designed for
05:21enforcement and it's super fast it's super fast the patrol received the tip-off that poachers have
05:28been spotted they were hunting for rare abalone which is protected in South African waters it was
05:34time to launch the rubber duck if we tell you to hang on drop whatever you're doing and you hang
05:39on okay
05:39okay okay no matter what's happening just hang on okay let's go hold on
05:51right that side
05:55find on the starboard wow
05:57coming very fast so they won't be able to get away
06:07keep this course it looked like we were going to catch a group of poachers red-handed now you see
06:12that there the divers are busy busy on the rock there at the moment as you can see but just
06:16a few
06:16hundred feet from the coast we ran into a floating natural barrier that could entangle the boat propeller
06:23I mean if you look at the kelp here you can see how thick it is my god look at
06:27this like a tangle of
06:31knots I can see that guy is just sort of crouching down trying to stay out of sight it was
06:36a third
06:37guy he's just just gone into the water so there's poaching going on right here right now it's very
06:43frustrating it's very frustrating you can see them you want to grab them but I mean you see now they're
06:48just carrying equipment and walking away and run away this is whiskey bravo over Keith alerted the local
06:57police who tracked and caught the poachers the trade in abalone has become a multi-million pound
07:06business my goodness this was abalone they'd confiscated from other poachers it's basically
07:15a shellfish it so it doesn't look like very much let's be honest it's slimy and not particularly
07:20pleasant but a plate of abalone can sell for more than a hundred pounds in a restaurant in China there's
07:28abalone here worth I would guess tens of thousands of pounds yeah and bizarrely the black market trade
07:37in abalone is linked to serious organized crime but the problem is it just opens up a whole lot of
07:43things such as drugs illegal weapons those type of things it's connected with all these other
07:49crime activities it's it's a spider's web basically this is such a weird situation weird story but it
08:02gets even odder because what we're being told is that while abalone is being smuggled out of the country
08:08by criminal gangs the same people are then involved in smuggling back in a methamphetamine drug called
08:15tick which is apparently causing all sorts of chaos here in South Africa this two-way trade is centered
08:25on nearby Cape Town where use of the drug tick has reached epidemic proportions abalone is smuggled out of
08:35the country to China and the same gangs use the profits to trade in tick police here have even
08:41found large quantities of abalone together with tick while carrying out drugs rates I headed to Manenberg
08:49an area notorious for poverty drugs and violent crime I met up with William Williams who runs a
08:56local charity that works with people addicted to tick how has tick affected the community in in recent years
09:04it's almost like people has lost this whole thing of caring about other people and only caring about
09:11themselves and that the biggest thing for them is getting the drugs so if they have to rob the neighbor
09:18of
09:19steal from the neighbor do anything against their neighbor to be able to get this drug this was a side
09:27of
09:27South Africa few visitors get to see it was the poaching of an ocean mollusk that have brought me here
09:33but
09:34almost everyone I met had a story about the damage the methamphetamine drug tick is now doing to the community
09:40it can hurt families like just parents and children like kids today when they use drugs mean like
09:49mothers fathers kids they use it together we use like me also use it I use it for eight years
09:55eight years 24 years old now and what does it do to the mind make you in nothing like you
10:02know
10:02it's a suicidal but some of my friends they use it they are me today readily available and highly
10:12addictive tickets become a massive problem in Cape Town William took me down the street to meet a
10:22local addict but as we walked into his house it became clear it was the neighborhood drug dead and the
10:28man wasn't alone hello is it okay to come in thank you gentlemen can I sit down is that a
10:42real gun yeah
10:43oh dear we must do it with the real gun because the bastards we come in here to want to
10:51have some
10:52this is the gun okay these are into the business these weren't just users I'd stumbled into a drug
11:00gang my name is one Simon Simon nice to meet you on left look man the man was smoking heroin
11:07while
11:08they were waiting for a delivery of tick this is my second in the month that in the month it
11:15was
11:17upsetting to see that a teenage girl had got caught up with this group man look shit yeah I think
11:27you
11:27don't like a pipe like this this you call in our language a lolly a lolly a lolly that is
11:35not a brain
11:35cojack another gang member produced some tips they were almost proud to show me the drug that's
11:54ripping apart this community you call him longy yeah wow are you are you feeling are you feeling I feel
12:07like then hi my own dance for how long they always go from now until tomorrow you know wait don't
12:19you
12:19have any money suddenly the mood changed the men started jostling us and demanding money it was time
12:29to make a quick exit okay we need to go right now okay I think we're gonna get in the
12:39car that last
12:43situation that surprised me suddenly you're you're into a situation which is so dark you're witnessing
12:51people who've fallen so far down I can't quite believe how far this situation develops from something
13:00that appears so simple as poaching abalone if there is a desperation for the drugs people will go out and
13:08get the abalone to pay for this drug it's desperate absolutely desperate the weird connection between
13:23abalone poaching and the drug trade in Cape Town was proof that even in big coastal cities life is still
13:31linked to the sea from the Cape my journey around the Indian Ocean was now really beginning a commuter
13:43train through the southern suburbs showed me a more affluent side of South Africa but I wasn't traveling far
13:53as I headed to meet some friendlier local residents I think this is our stop I was a bit surprised
14:09to find
14:09penguins in Africa but there used to be millions living along the coast here I'd arrived during the
14:17molting season when the penguins were waiting patiently for their new set of clothes so this is
14:28quite a boring time for them they have to basically just wait why the coast well you know you can
14:34say
14:34it's a boring time but I see it as time out I mean we also need that as humans you
14:40know you need to take
14:40time out at some point and this is a time out conservationist tribute and when he spent two
14:46years studying these penguins living alone with them on a remote island not surprisingly her nickname
14:52is birdie and she feels that penguins have plenty to teach us we could learn quite a bit from them
14:58what
14:59would what would be the key lessons that we should learn both the male and the female take care of
15:04the
15:04chicks it's a teamwork it's not just a woman duty to take care of the chicks I see you think
15:11there
15:11there's an equality in the penguin household there is that we humans could look we perhaps we boys could
15:17learn from hmm I wonder but like many species that rely on the ocean the African penguin is struggling to
15:27survive the birds are simply not getting enough to eat scientists believe that fish stocks which
15:34penguins rely on are taking a hammering in this area because of the changing environment and humans
15:40overfishing so the day we're here is quite an important day for the colony here because some they're
15:51going to round up or catch and collect some of the really underweight young chicks and they're going
15:58to take them to a facility where they're going to feed them up so that they can actually have a
16:02chance
16:02of surviving when they're in the water in the last few decades the penguin population along the coast
16:09has suffered a dramatic fall penguin numbers have dropped by 80 percent they've got they've got one
16:16they've got a baby penguin just over here it's a little chick it's actually quite sad to think 10
16:23years after this are they still going to be there or not you know and it's it's quite sad just
16:28thinking
16:28about it you you you you're genuinely concerned these could be extinct in 10 years 10 years time
16:35you're looking at how the numbers are going down now it's totally possible
16:47volunteers from san cob a seabird rescue group had set up a local center to feed the underweight chicks
16:54Vanessa Strauss was running the operation at this age they need to have a really round belly you can
17:02see that he's got a you know he's got a hollow belly so he doesn't have any muscle around his
17:07chest
17:07he doesn't have any fat you can just see from him that he hasn't been fed in a while
17:11it's dehydrated he's not feeding strong so you're becoming the mum and dad basically
17:16yep absolutely each and every penguin that we can save is essential for the survival of the species
17:25look at the size of this little penguin paradise here
17:33after six weeks of intensive care here at sang cob headquarters the chicks are given training in
17:39essential penguin skills been given a towel okay what are we using this for this is a little exercise
17:48program penguin wrangling it's a roundup really they need to get fit ready to swim far out at sea to
17:57find
17:57their own food come on come on they're really not gonna go in oh there we go yes there you
18:09go
18:12Vanessa has resorted to a more direct approach no you can't come back there are 18 penguin species in
18:23the world and 11 are in serious population decline what a wonderful sight when their swimming lessons
18:31are complete these penguins will be ready to return to the ocean hopefully strong enough to survive and
18:37to breed it was time for me to continue my Indian Ocean journey it was a drive of three hours
19:00along the
19:00coast towards the wild and windswept Cape Aguilas which is actually even further south than the Cape of Good Hope
19:13I've reached the most southerly tip of Africa it's very rugged along here look at the rocks ever since the
19:24late 1400s when European explorers made it around the Cape from the Atlantic round to the relative calm
19:31of the Indian Ocean this coastline has always had a fearsome reputation and even now with all our modern
19:39navigation aids some ships don't make it 500 years ago the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama left the
19:52southern Atlantic Ocean sailed around the Cape and passed here on the first epic sea voyage from Europe
19:58to India travelers and traders followed in his wake and there are believed to be at least 200 shipwrecks
20:08along this coastline known as the graveyard of ships I followed their route along the coast to South Africa's
20:16third largest city Durban the beaches around Durban are a holiday makers paradise hundreds of thousands of
20:33people come here from across the world to surf and swim money from tourism is crucial to many countries
20:40around the Indian Ocean but often there are conflicts between the tourism industry and those who want to
20:45protect the ocean ecosystem particularly in Durban where the water just off the beaches can hide some
20:51very unwelcome visitors now this is a site it's basically a collection of jaws of from the species
21:05which we commonly catch and what would this one on the end be it's like the biggest one this is
21:11well
21:11these these are these are all white sharks here and they have by far the most impressive teeth this
21:16is a great white great white yes and you can look at that in there some rated teeth I mean
21:23just perfect
21:24for swiftly biting and chopping away at a lump of flesh Durban spends millions of pounds defending its
21:32tourists from shark attacks Jeremy Cliff of the Natal sharks board took me out to see his first line of
21:39defence a system of shark nets introduced after a series of attacks in the 1950s which killed seven
21:46people many people think that the nets are a physical barrier and we put them up but the sharks stay
21:54on the outside and we quite happily swim on the inside well it's not like that at all the nets
21:59don't extend
22:00from the surface to the seabed and the nets are only 300 meters long so it's not excluding sharks from
22:07the
22:08area that's right it's it's what it's it's it's killing some of them yes it's designed to catch and
22:15kill the danger of sharks yes there are 15 miles of nets along Durban's beaches but they don't just
22:23kill sharks if these nets are designed to catch sharks presumably they're catching other creatures as
22:32yes unfortunately that's the major that's the major drawback of shark nets is that they don't just
22:38select or target the three dangerous species they take sharks which pose very little threat to humans
22:44we also catch rays and turtles and dolphins
22:50far from being just a protective barrier shark nets around the world actually kill thousands of marine
22:56creatures every year they also reinforce the idea that only a sea free of sharks is safe water back
23:05at the shot board headquarters there's a cold store and piled up with dead sharks and other animals they've
23:10caught it was a shocking sight and Jeremy wasn't keen for us to film it but outside he showed me
23:17one shot
23:18the next had caught a juvenile great white one of the world's rarest sharks you know just under two
23:27meters in length our measurements we exclude the tail we measure up to up to there okay that's up to
23:33six
23:33meters long the great white shark is the largest predatory fish on the planet since there's a little
23:39bit of a conflict really perhaps dare I say even within you as a marine biologist it must be tough
23:46to do
23:46this oh sure most definitely I mean the last thing we want to do is see is see dead white
23:51sharks like
23:52this but unfortunately we've got a job to do tourism is very important for this part of the world and
23:58we've seen historically what a huge negative impact shark attack has had it does seem a little bit some
24:06of a tragic end for such a incredible beast I don't know I feel my feelings slightly conflicted about
24:14it because I fear it and I really do respect it as well I think that's the important thing Simon
24:21is
24:21is is to try and and change this predominant attitude of fear towards one of us respect I could
24:33understand Jeremy's dilemma shark attacks are actually incredibly rare but such as the fear
24:38they inspire tourist results will do almost anything to prevent them I traveled a few miles outside
24:52Durban to meet a woman who's on a mission to change our views on this most infamous creature of the
24:57deep
25:03people don't have anything for shops it is the most terrible terrible sad thing that they are to be
25:09revered Gail Addison is a big shot fan so much so she regularly takes her family along to swim with
25:15them do you know that I take my little eight-year-old and she comes swimming with us with the
25:18shops we're
25:19very specific about when we put her in the water and how she goes in the water with us and
25:22it's the same
25:23with divers and some people might think that's a bit mad to put your eight-year-old in the water
25:28do
25:28you know what she's growing up with it she's growing up something since she was one-year-old
25:33which is so Gail thinks Durban shark nets need to be removed and that we need to change our view
25:39of sharks because far from being a menace sharks are crucial to the health of our oceans why are they
25:45the most important fish in the sea because the apex predators and unfortunately that means that
25:50they're not used to being hunted they don't maybe not mean to have natural predators they are the top
25:54of the food chain so they keep everything else underneath them balanced and healthy so it controls
25:59the ecosystem really that's exactly what it does it keeps it balanced and without their balance
26:04everything starts crumbling it's not just her family that Gail takes swimming with sharks she also
26:12takes visitors out diving with the most feared of predators I'm a fairly new diver and it has been
26:21suggested that I should get into the water with you and maybe meet one or two very small tiddly
26:27sharks that don't like chomping on humans what what are the what's the level of risk it sounds
26:34quite a scary idea to me it's scary because for all your life you've grown up thinking that if you
26:39got
26:39into shark-infested waters you're gonna get eaten and that's not the truth I want to go out there
26:44and show you the truth it's a bust on this so it was time to face my fears and get
26:52up close and
26:53personal with this apex predator I haven't dived very much in truth so that adds to my general nervousness
27:18gail promised me she's never lost a customer before I had a moment for second thoughts it was time to
27:24take the plunge this was actually my first scuba dive out in the open sea immediately we plunged into
27:46another world
28:00gail led me to a shallow cave where she hoped we'd be able to get close to sharks
28:09we got into position and waited
28:15and suddenly there they were ragged toothed sharks
28:26two meters long and armed with a terrifying mouthful of teeth
28:39but straight away it was obvious we weren't on the menu
28:50it was exhilarating to be so close to such magnificent creatures
29:21gail we saw sharks
29:35and we weren't really that interested we were just a sort of obstruction a curious obstruction
29:41that they needed to get past but at no time did I feel well threatened by them really
29:48it was an experience I'll never forget but so long as we all keep thinking sharks are the
30:06villains of the ocean gail is going to have an uphill struggle encouraging people to protect
30:10the ocean I like the sea I'm quite happy to be back here
30:18well done
30:19terra firma less of the terra and more of the firma I say
30:23I love it
30:32as well as a thriving tourist industry Durban has one of the great ports of the Indian Ocean
30:39every year more than 4,000 ships from around the world carry 75 million tons of cargo in
30:45and out of this harbor
30:51I'd arranged to hitch a ride up the East African coast on a container ship bound for Mozambique
30:56and out of this harbor
30:59I feel quite excited I've never done this before
31:11hello how are you
31:13right thanks
31:15I was boarding the Italian owned Jolly Bianco 200 meters long and 27,000 tons
31:26right let's get me the captain
31:30look at this
31:34I'm not sure we're all going to fit in here
31:37the ship was huge but it didn't seem designed to carry passengers
31:45ok so this is how I'm going to travel to Mozambique
31:49I think I'm going to take a flight
31:56oh goodness me
31:58ok let's get serious
32:00we're meeting the captain
32:04I found Captain Francesco Venicori
32:07up on the bridge overseeing the loading of cargo
32:11where did you come from before here
32:13the voyage started in Genoa
32:16is our home port Italy
32:18right
32:18ok
32:19then Marseille
32:20Naples
32:21Aqaba
32:22Jeddah
32:23Dar es Salaam
32:25Mombasa
32:26Durban
32:26then Maputo
32:28and then our way back to Italy
32:35loading the Jolly Bianco took all night
32:42and then early the next morning we were ready to hit the high seas
32:48but to navigate the busy exit from Durban Harbor
32:51we needed a specialist pilot
32:56so that's how to arrive
32:59there are so many ships
33:01plying the Indian Ocean
33:02and using this port
33:03that pilots are winched from ship to ship
33:05steady 039 please
33:08steady
33:09ok
33:14it all looked a bit technical
33:15so I kept well out of the way
33:30we were finally on our way to Maputo
33:32Mozambique's capital
33:34300 miles up the East African coast
33:39there's been trade across the Indian Ocean for thousands of years
33:43long before the world's other great oceans were navigated
33:46merchants from China, Arabia and India traded across these waters
33:50the Indian Ocean is once again becoming the most important seaway in the world
33:551 million ships a year and more than half of all shipping container traffic passes through it
34:00the sea lanes of the Indian Ocean are crisscrossed by oil tankers from the Middle East
34:05and ships carrying consumer goods from China
34:09wow
34:10whole canyon of containers
34:13there were 600 shipping containers on the Jolly Bianco
34:18but what on earth's in all these giant boxes
34:22on this ship
34:23is the stuff of life
34:25sugar, hides, paper, foodstuff, tiles, paint, roof tiles, fruit juices, anthracite, mining equipment, milk powder, tin plate, ethyl alcohol, canned
34:33food, cotton lint, ceramics, lube oils, steel, seeds, tobacco, ingots, rubber, picked hides, electrical accessories, and other large mining vehicles,
34:42etc.
34:44it's basically anything and everything
34:46oh
34:47a whole car park as well
34:51the deck below was also packed
34:55that should be about 270 cars and trucks
35:01oh my goodness look at this
35:05this is absolutely incredible
35:09this shipment of South African armoured personnel carriers was being taken up the coast to Sudan for the United Nations
35:15mission in Darfur
35:17it was a stark reminder we were about to enter a troubled region
35:23this is enough to equip an entire army or a peacekeeping force
35:30but as trade across the Indian Ocean grows
35:33ships face a deadly threat from the age-old enemy of merchants and sailors
35:39pirates
35:39pirates
35:47the captain's charts show dozens of attacks by Somali pirates around this stretch of the ocean just in the previous
35:53two months
35:55the jolly Bianco was heading for some of the most dangerous waters on earth
35:59all the India
36:00practically all the Indian Ocean
36:02and you have to take your ship
36:06through those waters
36:07in the middle
36:07in the middle
36:09it must be frightening
36:12of course yes
36:14it's a serious problem
36:1730 years ago when I started to do this job
36:20pirates are what do you see in the movie
36:24what you read in some books
36:26no you know
36:28no ship is safe from attack
36:33some of the tactics that they use against the pirates are quite simple
36:36as you can see they've got razor wire here
36:39and that's along both sides of the ship
36:42and it's really meant to discourage anybody from getting on board
36:46they also put cardboard over the windows
36:49so that there's not light emitting at night
36:52and that means the pirates can't see them as they pass at night
36:57the pirates don't come and attack
37:00simple
37:01but effective
37:04I was getting off the ship before they would enter the danger zone
37:08I will be facing the perils of Somalia and the Horn of Africa later in my journey
37:16I had another night on board before we reached Maputo
37:21the following day we arrived in the Mozambican capital
37:39Maputo is home to almost 2 million people
37:42on the day we arrived most of them seem to be on the beach
37:49so busy today
37:50yes it is
37:54I'd be travelling through Mozambique with my guide
37:56a conservationist called Carlos Mocuacua
38:00it's amazing the change you will see through the trip up north from here
38:07in what way?
38:09the beach will be more beautiful
38:13less people
38:13and very beautiful water
38:22we headed north along the Indian Ocean coast towards Inhambana
38:26a long day's drive from the capital
38:29we've got a few more hours on the road though haven't we?
38:32maybe 3 more hours
38:333 more hours
38:35ok
38:37hopefully we're going to get there during daylight
38:47but Mozambique isn't famed for its roads
38:51we're stuck in the sand
38:55let's let some air out
38:57it turned into a long night
39:00give it a try
39:00ok
39:08but eventually we limped our way towards our beds for the night
39:17bach makumba oba
39:19bach makumba oba
39:21bach makumba oba
39:23bach makumba oba
39:23bach makumba oba
39:24bach makumba oba
39:25bach makumba oba
39:27bach makumba
39:327.35 on a Wednesday morning
39:35standing on a remote beach in Mozambique
39:39such a thing of beauty
39:44it's a Mozambican writer who said
39:46Mozambique is like a veranda onto the Indian Ocean
39:54it's absolutely stunning here
40:05Carlos had brought me to a village near where he grew up
40:08he wanted me to meet some fishermen who specialize in a very particular catch
40:18it's a tiny boat eh?
40:20yeah
40:24the leader of the group was a young man called Nelson
40:28they're going
40:39we followed Nelson and his crew to where they laid baited lines the previous night
40:48they're pulling now the line
40:49yeah
40:50to see if they got any catch
40:59yeah
40:59I think they've got something
41:14yeah, you can see
41:16yeah, you can see
41:20you can see
41:22nothing
41:23wow
41:23wow
41:24wow
41:24wow
41:24wow
41:24wow
41:24wow
41:25wow
41:25oh my good lord
41:28wow
41:29wow
41:29wow
41:29it's a massive shark eh?
41:31it's huge isn't it?
41:37sharks have to keep moving in order to breathe
41:41trapped on their line for hours
41:43this adult female shark had drowned
41:50rolling around in the surf
41:51the magnificent shark became a pathetic and upsetting sight
41:58wow
41:59wow
41:59wow
42:02look at that
42:04but I realized I was witnessing one of the great catastrophes of not just the Indian Ocean
42:09but our global seas
42:11as the men went to work on their catch
42:17Nelson and his men fish for sharks for one specific reason
42:22to harvest one of the most valuable fish products on earth
42:28they're not interested in the meat on this creature
42:31they're just interested in the fins
42:39Nelson, how much money will you get for the fins?
43:02do you know who buys the shark fins?
43:05do you know who, what's done with them eventually?
43:07the fins?
43:11in fact the fins are usually shipped across the Indian Ocean
43:15and onto China
43:16where the almost tasteless cartilage is put into soup
43:20what's particularly obscene about this situation
43:24is that
43:26the entire trade in sharks globally
43:28which results in the deaths of millions of sharks every year
43:32is to feed
43:33or provide fins
43:35for shark fin soup
43:38a Chinese delicacy meant to
43:40symbolize
43:41show wealth
43:42the wealth of the person who is consuming it
43:47just like the abalone I saw being poached in South African waters
43:51sharks have become victims of the economic growth of China
43:54where delicacies that used to be available to just a few
43:58people who are now in huge demand
44:00more than 100 million sharks are being killed each year
44:03mostly for shark fin soup
44:06there are now thought to be just a few thousand great white sharks
44:09left on the planet
44:10our oceans face a catastrophe
44:15my whole view on sharks
44:16has completely changed in the last couple of weeks
44:20I've gone from being fearful of them
44:23to fearful for them
44:25they are an apex predator
44:27they keep a lid
44:28on all other marine life in our seas
44:31in our oceans
44:33and we are annihilating them
44:35we are wiping them out
44:37and in doing so
44:38we are threatening the entire marine ecosystem
44:42because sharks
44:44are the most important fish in the sea
44:52even with a small boat
44:53people to fishermen here can catch hundreds of sharks each year
44:57but the real damage to shark numbers is done further out to sea
45:00where industrial fishing fleets from Asia and Europe catch millions
45:04slicing off the fins and often chucking the body back into the water
45:09sometimes while the shark is still alive
45:18villagers here are fishing to survive
45:20but Carlos is still keen to educate them about the need to protect the Indian Ocean
45:26he runs a conservation and education program among the fishing communities along the coast
45:32first step is to lay on a kickabout to attract youngsters to listen to his message
45:42as a
45:44a
45:44a
45:45a
45:46a
45:47a
45:50a
46:06We need it and we are going to stay without fish.
46:10Do you understand? Because the fish that we eat...
46:13Carlos is trying to persuade people not to make their livelihood
46:17by killing the spectacular marine life found in the Indian Ocean.
46:21He wants them to find other ways of protecting and profiting from the sea.
46:28You've never seen white people on the beach,
46:34because they are beautiful and we have the sun.
46:40But to be here you have to sleep in a place,
46:43to buy cigarettes and cigarettes.
46:46We also have to benefit from tourism.
46:51What is the music?
46:59Then at the end of his tour,
47:00Carlos makes sure the music gets pumped up loud.
47:08These are just the people he needs to be talking to.
47:11I'm standing here and I can actually smell fish.
47:15These are fisher people.
47:17If they are not fishermen, they are the fishermen of the future.
47:20Getting this message across to them now is absolutely vital.
47:25Even if it is with the help of a dancing competition.
47:28Sonia Antonio.
47:35Oh, my dear.
47:36You have to put the fish in the head of people.
47:38Go to France and continue.
47:44Mozambique is one of the poorest countries around the Indian Ocean.
47:47And its tourist industry is very underdeveloped.
47:53But it wasn't always like this.
47:56200 miles further up the coast in Mozambique's second city, Beira.
48:00I'd heard I'd find a relic of tourism from another era.
48:08Oh, my goodness.
48:10There it is.
48:13The Grand Hotel Beira.
48:23Bearers Oceanside Grand Hotel was built in the 1950s when the country was still a Portuguese colony.
48:28It had several hundred rooms, a huge swimming pool and a cinema.
48:33And it was billed as the grandest hotel in Africa.
48:37So, look at this.
48:39It's quite a sight.
48:41This is how it was in the 1960s.
48:44It looks amazing.
48:50But then Mozambique's brutal war for independence drove the rich tourists away.
48:55And the hotel fell into immediate decline.
49:01So, this would have been the drive up to the hotel.
49:06Yeah.
49:09Mangori Felisberto offered to show me around.
49:12Yeah, this was the main entrance.
49:15Then the reception was somewhere here.
49:19Wow.
49:21This is amazing.
49:22Absolutely amazing.
49:25Look, and to the left and to the right, you have these grand staircases that sweep upwards.
49:34And there's this amazing sort of atrium here.
49:39It still has a very grand feel about it.
49:47The hotel may have been abandoned by tourists, but it was clearly far from empty.
49:54In fact, the rooms have become somewhat overcrowded.
50:02How many people, how many people live here?
50:08About 3,500.
50:133,500 people live here now?
50:16Yeah.
50:22A long civil war followed independence from Portugal.
50:26And the hotel became a refugee camp for thousands of Mozambicans.
50:30Since then, poverty has driven many more to find shelter here.
50:45This used to be, this was a swimming pool.
50:49There's a man doing his washing, his laundry, in what's left of the swimming pool.
51:01There's little in the way of sanitation, and all the residents share one water pump.
51:10Although the conditions within the hotel are pretty bad, this is still very much a community.
51:16It's like a town within a town, really.
51:20And there are committees to organise various aspects of life here.
51:30The hotel's residents have even set up a system of local government with elected leaders.
51:36Simon, very nice to meet you, sir.
51:39I met João Gonzalo, who's the mayor of the hotel.
51:43How do you keep order and prevent fights breaking out in a community packed into such a relatively small building?
51:56If there are problems, the organisers have a meeting, and then we have a meeting with all the residents.
52:03We sit down and resolve the issue.
52:08We have a head of social affairs who resolve social issues.
52:14We have a group who looks after hygiene.
52:19And we have a security group who keep guard at night to keep out intruders.
52:33Mozambique has suffered terribly in recent decades.
52:35It's still desperately poor.
52:37But here, people are doing what they do, even in the face of adversity.
52:41They're getting on with life.
52:50It was time for me to leave the African mainland.
52:53From the Maldives to Mauritius, the Indian Ocean is home to the most famous holiday islands on Earth.
53:01My first taste of island paradise on this journey was to be exotic and mysterious Zanzibar, off the coast of
53:08Tanzania.
53:19My goodness, look at this.
53:22This is what I think of when I imagine tropical beauty and the Indian Ocean.
53:36For tourists seeking warm seas and white beaches, the island of Zanzibar is a huge draw.
53:55For centuries, Zanzibar was a major centre of commerce in the Indian Ocean, connecting East Africa and the rest of
54:02the world.
54:09Merchants travelled here from far and wide to trade in spices and ivory.
54:21Everywhere here you see the influence of the traders who've been drawn to Zanzibar over the centuries.
54:28There's elements of Portugal, of the Phoenicians, of the Assyrians, of people from Oman and the Arabian Peninsula and, of
54:37course, Black Africa as well.
54:38This is really a melting pot for the entire Indian Ocean.
54:46But Zanzibar has a darker past as well.
54:50It was also the centre of the Indian Ocean slave trade.
54:55Dealers sent expeditions deep into Eastern Africa to kidnap men, women and children.
55:01But they brought here to sell on to the countries of Arabia and India.
55:06A church now stands on the site of the former slave market.
55:14Oh my goodness.
55:24Oh my goodness.
55:25Oh my good God.
55:29So these are the cells where slaves were held.
55:37So apparently in this room, it's not really much of a room is it, but this is where women and
55:45children would have been kept.
55:48So anything up to 70 would have been crammed in here.
55:53It's quite difficult to breathe in here even now and it's stiflingly hot.
56:00What this must have been like with dozens of terrified human beings in, I just cannot, I can't even begin
56:06to imagine.
56:07It's an awful, awful place.
56:12Britain abolished the slave trade in 1807.
56:15But decades later the Sultan here in Zanzibar was still refusing to end the slave industry.
56:21So the Royal Navy threatened to bombard the city to force him to close the slave market.
56:27Britain saw Zanzibar as crucial to its dominance of the Indian Ocean.
56:31They threatened another bombardment in 1896 when the Sultan's nephew tried to seize power from their ally.
56:38The Brits said to him, clear out, we don't want you here.
56:41And they gave him an ultimatum and said, if you're not out by 9am, we're going to turn up and
56:44start a war basically.
56:46The deadline passed and the bombardment began.
56:54Within just a couple of minutes of the bombardment starting, the palace here was ablaze.
56:59And within about 40 minutes, the Sultan's nephew had fled.
57:05It's officially recorded as the shortest war in history.
57:12The islands of the Indian Ocean have always been tempting targets for world powers.
57:18Strategically placed to control the vital trade routes.
57:24It was something I was looking forward to exploring on the next stages of my trip.
57:35This is the end of the first leg of my journey.
57:38It's been an amazing trip so far and I feel I've learned a huge amount, particularly about sharks.
57:44But I've got a lot further to go and a lot more to discover about the Indian Ocean.
57:52Next time I explore the extraordinary Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles.
57:58If you're going to try and imagine paradise, that's it.
58:04I meet the armed forces defending paradise from pirates.
58:09It's the 21st century and you're going after pirates in the Indian Ocean.
58:14And get a unique taste of the Indian Ocean.
58:18Bad.
58:19Yeah, bad. Vampires and all of that. Bad.
58:28Off to Italy all this week here on BBC HD at half past six.
58:32We go on duty with the emergency and public services in Venice 24-7.
58:37We don't see you.
58:40Have a significant deal.
58:43We've got lots of Gladys, friends.
58:44No, no.
58:49Don't move.
58:50Bye, Bryce.
58:51Bye, Bryce.
58:51Bye, Bryce.
58:53Bye, guys.
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