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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?
00:11I can tell you it's a big hole.
00:14This time on back roads, I'm heading west.
00:19Far west.
00:25To the most western point of Western Australia.
00:36Shark Bay is one of the world's true wilderness wonderlands, where desert meets sea.
00:45Tucked 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, one which will shape how history remembers their
01:19response to a growing challenge.
01:21So 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.
02:07It's where the pace slows.
02:10No traffic lights here.
02:12Just the odd emu to give way to.
02:17There's more to explore in town.
02:19But 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 da Guru.
02:38That's our word for Shark Bay, two bays.
02:42Letitia Weir grew up on these waters like generations of Molgana 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.
03:12We 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.
03:23Oh, I see it.
03:24Oh, 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.
03:38Yeah.
03:38What do you see when you go out?
03:41Oh, we can see multiple things.
03:45Dewgongs.
03:47Whales.
03:51Manta rays.
03:53Eagle rays.
03:57All different types of fish.
04:01Dolphins, of course.
04:04Starfish 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.
04:24Sometimes 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.
04:41I worked in the pearling industry, I was a fisherman, and I studied music and was an opera singer back
04:45in, um, 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.
05:00It's been a while, but I still love singing.
05:03Still love the ocean.
05:04I think you've called the dugongs in.
05:08They heard the song.
05:09And 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.
05:31You 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 Mulkana people eat.
05:49We call it Whittier Jalinew.
05:52It's the lungs of the ocean.
05:54It's the creator of the ecosystem.
05:56But 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.
06:40It 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.
07:01If 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.
07:33At low tide, volunteers gathered to pick these seagrass seedlings that wash up on surrounding beaches.
07:42What 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?
08:01Well, 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?
08:20Oh, 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,
08:32that create those environments for those lovely active actors to be doing things in.
08:38I'm going to use a big word.
08:40This is amphibolus.
08:42That's okay.
08:43I'm up for big words, Gary.
08:45Amphibolus produces a viviparous seedling,
08:50which means it has its own root system, its own leaf system,
08:55and it hooks onto things and you're basically creating a small, small habitat with a bag.
09:01It's really cool.
09:03So this is the plan.
09:06Replanting 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 and they came to us and said,
09:23we're concerned about the seagrass.
09:25Why is it important?
09:27It's the basis to the whole culture, the Mungana culture.
09:33So if the godfather of seagrass had a dream, what would it be?
09:38That the thousand 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, we're 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, there's a whole community of ocean gardeners ready to show me how.
10:18Ready?
10:19Ready?
10:20Yeah, go.
10:21Go, go, go, go.
10:28A local tour operator turned this old purling vessel into a seagrass saviour.
10:39Nice one, let's go team!
10:41Woo!
10:41You got it!
10:42Woo!
10:45I'm getting my sealings.
10:47Yeah, you smell the way it's going.
10:50At the helm is Liam Ridgely.
10:54His family from Emerald in Queensland once sailed into Shark Bay on a lap of Australia,
11:00liked it so much, they dropped anchor for good.
11:05Okay, ready, five.
11:07When the die-off happened, the water was black for about four or five years.
11:11It was very difficult to find marine life and 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.
11:23Ready?
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.
11:45Go!
11:47If even just 5% of those seedlings survive, you've created a massive seagrass mellock.
11:53Two, three...
11:55And like a farmer, do 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 because I wouldn't have the energy for it.
12:16I've been out here for 33 years working out here and this was the best place for dugongs
12:21to feed on the planet.
12:23Like, I've been here and 100 dugongs were on 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 and 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, still in the trial stage.
13:04But that hasn't stopped volunteers like Annette Ward, a schoolteacher from Perth, jumping in
13:11and giving it a go.
13:19Once we lay the bags down, it's almost like a landscape.
13:25We have starfish crawling on the set bags.
13:28We have fish, turtles chomping on some of the seagrass.
13:33So they certainly bring in their 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, but all of us.
13:49Even us scuba divers.
13:54I'm glad to be a part of it.
14:02It's impressive so many are willing to put their livelihoods on hold to help this environment.
14:11There's real power in the belief that every person can make a difference.
14:20Shark Bay's community has weathered many seasons.
14:25From Australia's first recorded European landing, to a pearling boom that drew Malay and Chinese
14:33migrants.
14:35Grazing and fishing kept the long timers going.
14:39And when the 1970s rolled around, a sailor named Tim came ashore and started making his
14:47own mark on the town.
14:49Denham's first restaurant has just been completed by Tim Hargraves with a cheap, but effective
14:55building material.
14:56They're obviously not very heavy.
14:59Nope.
15:00Amazing how heavy they can get.
15:05Now 87.
15:07Come on in.
15:08Tim's one of the oldest and most colourful residents of Shark Bay.
15:14Everyone said that if I wanted to understand Shark Bay, I 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 and I spent seven years wandering the face of this earth.
15:35I came over to Australia, Fremantle, wound up at Shark Bay and that's where our money ran
15:45out.
15:46Along for the ride was new wife, Maggie.
15:50I fell in love with her.
15:52I hadn't known her 24 hours and I 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, Tim's also creative, building 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, they're very easy because you can shape and cut with
16:26a minimum of difficulty.
16:31Buildings made from shells.
16:33Incredible.
16:36But the restaurant's still standing and it's gorgeous.
16:39Absolutely, yeah.
16:40Because I'm not really a builder, but 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, when you went to the local tip, you generally found something
17:02that would fit or make do or you could do something with.
17:06It was called the local supermarket.
17:12Tim told me earlier that it was a very quick proposal to you.
17:18Is that what happened?
17:20Well, actually, I was very attracted to him when I met him, but it was at least 10 days
17:27before he rang up to ask me out.
17:29So you weren't that quick, Tim.
17:32You took 10 days.
17:34Well, 10 days is pretty close.
17:37And so how long have you been married?
17:40Uh, 54 years.
17:42No, 55 years.
17:44Half a century.
17:46Oh, 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, 45km out of town, where trillions of tiny cockle shells stretch for more than
18:07100 kilometres.
18:10It's amazing to think this is what locals once used to build homes.
18:20To immerse myself in this place is to enter a world largely unspoiled.
18:28Where the Indian Ocean still reveals pristine waters and a richness that feels almost sacred.
18:41It feels to me like people here are pulled by a quiet calling to look after the natural world
19:04It's what first attracted relative newcomer, Ranger Jay, to Shark Bay.
19:14He and his family moved here in 2022.
19:18When you put your legs out, it's like easier to actually stand and then feet apart.
19:25Drawn by the sense of belonging and support they wanted for raising their kids.
19:30Oh, man.
19:32I can see this going really badly.
19:34Ah!
19:39Okay.
19:40I'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?
19:53It's kind of like having a pool in your backyard, but bigger.
19:57Coming to get you, Irene.
20:03Right.
20:04Coming here has been fantastic for us as a family.
20:07Spending 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.
20:34We used to live in Perth and I just felt like we weren't living enough.
20:39I was fairly consumed by work and like 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.
21:11I 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 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.
21:45And 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 and also, you know, melding with science.
22:15And also, I've got other pieces.
22:18So, obviously, there's the monkey mire dolphins and there's a part of it that I want to make sure it's
22:23a 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.
23:00Oh, good morning.
23:03So, 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.
23:14They've really made the effort to belong.
23:17And they're reaping the rewards.
23:19One, two, three, two!
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.
24:27This 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 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.
25:04So, 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.
25:17So, our people who have passed on, they are now stromatolites, the living rocks.
25:24I think that's why our salt water has healing powers.
25:30But just like the sea grass, the stromatolites too are bearing the quiet scars of a world growing warmer.
25:39We 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, so 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!
26:05A little visitor, yeah.
26:06This 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.
26:23It 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, 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, someone's going to be diving, you can tag along.
27:17And it's just a great place for everyone to enjoy.
27:46WHISTLE BLOWS
27:48beauty. It happened, it really happened. I can see why this place has an effect on
27:55people. But how do you leave room for those who've always called it home? We
28:00don't have that freedom anywhere else.
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