Oceans (2009)
BBC Two
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Documentary Description
Oceans cover two-thirds of the surface of our planet. The seas, which are vital to survival, have remained an enduring part of our human story. In June 2007 the Oceans team began a series of underwater scientific expeditions to build a global picture of our seas. Their search for answers took them on an voyage of discovery to the Arctic, Southern and Indian Oceans, the Atlantic, the Red Sea, the Sea of Cortez and the Mediterranean. Explorer Paul Rose led the team of intrepid adventurers, including environmentalist Philippe Cousteau (grandson of Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau), maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue and marine biologist and oceanographer Tooni Mahto.
The team ventured into some of the planet's most challenging environments and with the help of scientists and dive teams, they descended beneath frozen Arctic ice-sheets, dived into mysterious black holes in the Bahamas and plunged into the dark water with the fearsome Humboldt squid. The results are shown in this eight part series on BBC Two, which seeks to provide a better understanding of the state of our oceans today, their role in the past, present and future and their significance in global terms. Paul Rose documents just a few of the scientific observations his team made in this BBC News feature.
Oceans was filmed over one year, only allowing a few weeks for each film trip, a tight schedule in film terms. Changeable weather, unpredictable nature and strong sea currents presented daily challenges for the team, including a close encounter with a polar bear.
What lies below the frozen Arctic ice-sheets? Or in the black holes under the Caribbean Sea? The oceans are Earth's single most important feature. They shape our climate, our culture, our future. Yet we know more about the surface of Mars than we do about Earth's watery depths.
Explorer Paul Rose leads a team of ocean experts in a series of global science expeditions. With him, maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue investigates our past and our relationship with the sea, exploring shipwrecks and lost civilisations; marine biologist and Oceanographer Tooni Mahto seeks the extraordinary life in our oceans today; and environmentalist Philippe Cousteau Jr looks to the future of our oceans and charts the way they're changing. Filmed in High Definition in some of the most beautiful, diverse and threatened seas on our planet, the team travels across the world to the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Sea of Cortez, the Arctic Ocean and the Mediterranean, to dive the depths of the world's seas and oceans. The planet's seas are changing fast and Oceans builds up a timely global picture of our planet's most magnificent and vital asset.
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