Exploring Lord Howe Island: What Lies Between Australia And New Zealand | TRACKS

paper was light gold in medieval times [Music] i want tobacco sugar [Music] that everything we thought we knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong [Music] there's a place full of species long believed extinct [Music] where creation made laws that only apply here [Music] a place teeming with species found nowhere else lord howe island is a unique microcosm a garden of eden a collection of botanical and zoological wonders an eden of the south pacific between australia and new zealand it rises from the deep thousands of meters down created by a whim of nature it is fragile and endangered only man can secure its future [Music] lord howe is a paradise with changeable weather the huge mass of mount gauer soars from the sea to a height of almost 900 meters it draws approaching storm clouds like a magnet 700 kilometers off the coast of new south wales the weather can change from one moment to the next storms come and go and sometimes stay clinging grimly to the rocks of the island [Music] even underwater they feel the swell wind and waves release huge forces even down here everything is moving the sea creatures seek shelter any fish that can finds a nook or cranny even 30 meters down the swell shifts the seabed only a few like this double header are still on the lookout for prey the storm seems undecided as to whether to break in full force suddenly the clouds part and the sun breaks through but the strong winds have damaged the white turn colony helpless the parent birds flutter over their nesting places this three-week-old chick is fighting for its life it might survive the four meter fall but on the ground its chances would be slim white turns do not build nests on the bare branches their eggs and young are at the mercy of the elements whenever there's a storm ian hutton is out in it nothing will keep him at home because he knows that his white terns his children need his help the birds of lord howe island are what gives ian's life meaning there why he left the comforts of life on the mainland 25 years ago the mother has returned with food for her young she watches the interfering stranger suspiciously but ian knows the parents won't reject the baby even though he has touched it the mother approaches carefully and as soon as the chick smells the fish it forgets its fear and the storm this chick is not the only victim the white turns only came to lord howe in the 1950s when the norfolk pines were planted the trees are their favorite nesting places why no one knows as every storm claims its victims seeking shelter fallen birds move further and further away from their parents knowing that the fallen baby birds will not survive unaided ian takes them to the wilson family to be looked after until they're ready to fly with great powers of persuasion empathy and infinite patience and above all with his books ian has succeeded in raising the islanders awareness of their unique animal and plant world for a long time nature's abundance was taken too much for granted on lord howe which is why ian fights to save every baby bird parents may come back or may not so rather than have a staff there brought it down here to camel and every year he raises about 10 of these little birds so these ones have been here about a month and we'll just add this one here for the lot and he'll be hands here every day and he should survive the weather is changing again the wind is now buffeting the island at more than 80 kilometers an hour birds that haven't found shelter must be careful within minutes the storm can blow up to cyclone force in the sea too the storm is raging a sea urchin is dislodged by the strong swell the double header picks up the tumbling movement if the urchin lands with its unprotected stomach facing upward it won't have a chance the double header isn't the only one interested but the more eel takes over only when the double headers more powerful jaws have broken the urchin open [Music] the brightly colored coral fish are scavengers they too want their share the double header becomes more aggressive and the more eel gives in [Music] in less than a minute it's all over all that remains is a hollowed-out skeleton the ever-hungry double-header moves on to the coral and algae an omnivore found only in the waters of lord howe island it is perfectly adapted to this tiny ecosystem [Music] the feast is soon over and so is the storm suddenly lord howe shows its other face paradise set on an ancient volcano [Applause] [Music] mount gower rises nearly 3 000 meters from the sea floor but it has been a loser in the struggle between wind and waves [Music] what you see today is only a fraction of what was once a huge island millions of years of erosion have reduced it to about a 40th of its original size all over the island strange rocker formations stand like wounded soldiers raising their twisted forms to the sky in the course of a few million years a brief moment in the history of the earth the huge massif of mount gawa disappeared but the disappearance of the massif left behind a unique habitat on the mountain plateau a fairytale forest a magic garden cut off from the earth's history over a hundred plant species are found only in this lonely forest the rare flightless woodhen survives only here and this is where twenty thousand providence petrols gather for their annual mating ritual as a world heritage site lord howe island enjoys unique protection just 400 islanders live here mostly descendants of the first five families who settled on the island 150 years ago and there are the tourists limited by agreement with unesco to a maximum of 400 per day both man and nature seem to have withdrawn from the outside world other rules apply here it's one of the few places in australia where children can still go to school barefoot the children also design the island's phone book and every islander's nickname is included everything has its own rhythm lord how time the island is a legend the mere mention of the name lord howe is enough to fill many australians with a yearning to go there but the limit on visitor numbers makes it an exclusive destination full of surprises many well-known species are found in unusual forms here above and below the surface here you enter a strange world the clownfish star of finding nemo is usually orange and white here there is a different species the lord how clownfish is black and white [Music] this looks like a perfectly normal coral reef but coral reefs are not usually found this far south it's too cold even so countless tropical species live among the strange structures that ring the island [Music] right next to the reef there are algae and sponges found only in cold water two different worlds are side by side [Music] several currents from the south pole and the equator ensure that two completely different habitats meet off lord howe tropical and cold waters [Music] the fish move between the two worlds [Music] species that normally never meet come face to face on the southernmost coral reef in the world [Music] the storm is not yet over but the work can't wait ian hutton takes ornithologist darren peck to mutton bird point nesting place of the mutton birds or sheer waters well hidden under the long grass on the cliff the chicks await the return of their parents darren is one of many researchers who keep coming back to study the island's unique bird life 38.7 ian's help is essential on their own strangers would take days to find the birds the chicks are weighed measured and checked three times a week their growth is monitored because shear water numbers are declining at the same time masked boobies are reproducing at a great rate even though this is muttonbird point the masked boobies now dominate its nesting the delicate balance has been upset ian was the first to study the behavior of the boobies he knows their partnership rituals which bolster a couple's lifelong relationship and he found out why the boobies are living in what was the mutton bird's home an apparently insignificant human action has destroyed the habitat of one of these species this native grass was growing all over muttonbird point until 1948 when somebody planted kaikuyu grass and that spread over most of the point which has benefited the mast boobie they can nest on it more densely but the poor shear waters that used to nest here they can't nest here anymore because the kaiku the introduced grass that chokes their burrows [Music] the elegant parents accompany the still awkward young boobies on their maiden flight an idyllic picture however the balance has been upset these problems are found all over lord howe wherever humans have carelessly intervened [Music] lord howe island was discovered in 1788 40 years later five families gradually settled here their persistence on their isolated island is amazing in the early decades they often went hungry to this day their descendants determined the island's fate and defended against newcomers [Music] until the mid 1970s there was little contact with the outside world they often had to wait weeks for the supply ship [Music] despite aircraft and telecommunications the fear of being cut off still lingers so the islanders have bought a cargo ship it comes every two weeks bringing food ordered by phone from supermarkets on the mainland from cement mixers to desks cars to pencils virtually everything on lord howe island comes on this ship but the construction of the new jetty changed the bay [Music] the wooden piles have attracted giant shoals of catfish shoals provide safety in numbers against predators and the jetty has brought plenty of predators too [Music] stingrays are attracted by waste from the jetty a catfish would be a tasty snack but there isn't much here today and the giant ray takes his leave [Music] most people don't notice the changes underwater who knows what shellfish seaweed or plankton have come to the island via the hull of the supply ship any contact with the outside world could lead to the collapse of the island's fragile ecosystem visitors above the water are much easier to identify in 1918 a stowaway came to lordau island [Music] over the side or in a crate it doesn't matter but nothing has been the same since [Music] within a few years nine bird species had disappeared humans played a part in it too they had no idea that the birds were just the first to leave the island forever [Music] the rats gorged themselves on the unprotected eggs and nestlings then they started attacking the flora [Music] their favorite food was the fruit of the kentia palm the failure to deal with the intruder became such a problem that the islander's livelihood was at stake dean hiscox is a fisherman diving instructor and national park ranger in the season he's also a kentia harvester the toughest job on the island but up to sixteen hundred dollars a day it's also the best paid but after three days of shining up and down trees ocher as he's known needs at least three days rest the kentia palm was once unique to the island and it's still vital to the island's economy from lord howe island the palm has gone to living rooms all over the world small kentia palms are popular pot plants if it weren't for the palm exports many islanders would have to leave it takes seven months for the seeds to germinate and nurseries have been set up to meet the demand annette thompson works in one under her supervision six hundred thousand seeds a year are planted here they are nurtured in special germ-free soil in the greenhouses protected from rats and other pests 90 percent of the seeds germinate but until then annette has to keep a constant eye on the tiny seeds when the seedlings are the right size to be shipped it has to be done quickly they arrive in greenhouses in europe and the united states within 48 hours either to be sold or to be further grown every inch of storage space is used they are packed quickly and efficiently it's only when the plane leaves that lord how time takes over again the rhythm of nature never stops on mount eliza the red-tailed tropic birds are starting their courtship flights [Music] the male's mating ritual includes circling soaring and maneuvering in front of his chosen female in order to keep her interest he has to do it over and over again because thousands of rivals are waiting for their chance to attract the females [Music] tropic birds breed in greater numbers on lord howe than anywhere else yet it's still hard for ian to get a photo the nests are hidden in inaccessible niches in the cliffs the larger the chicks are the more aggressively they beg for food the birds so elegant when they fly are clumsy when they walk the walk from the nest is a balancing act every view on lord howe island is of a different bird territory every bird species has its own territory but they all compete for food that is where specialization comes in [Music] at low tide when parts of the sea floor are exposed the beach teems with small agile birds there's plenty of food here the ruddy turnstones have evolved their own feeding techniques and are very successful [Music] other birds are less skillful but they may still find some leftovers or they might steal from a careless relative it has been difficult for the human residents too since lord howe island was declared a world heritage site many children will have no future on the island the strict rules mean that no new houses may be built ruby anna and nathan will probably have to leave ian is fighting for these children he often goes to the reef with them at low tide he wants to help them understand what conservation means and make them enthusiastic about it look what's there baby small one by touching and feeling things the children learn to understand the natural wonders of their island home [Music] ian is pleased to see how happy the children are when they touch a sea urchin starfish or sea cucumber twelve-year-old ruby is full of enthusiasm ian is glad to answer all the curious questions yet he himself is a victim of the restrictive conditions he has no permanent home and this may mean that as a newcomer he will have to leave the island even after 25 years [Music] the sea hare is a kind of sea slug one of many species around the islands lacking a shell it relies on camouflage for protection the spanish dancer a 20 centimeter sea snail has another strategy it feeds on poisonous seaweed [Music] it is itself immune to the poison but deters predators by storing it in its body [Music] even its eggs are poisonous so they can be exposed to the current without protection other species protect their eggs devotedly the reef ocean perch constantly swims around them creating a current that maximizes their oxygen supply [Music] it isn't easy for the corals to survive in the world's southernmost reef not only do they face storms and cold currents but also their worst enemy has followed them here from warmer waters the crown of thorns starfish creeps from coral to coral when it comes to a polyp its stomach puffs out through its mouth covers the polyp and begins to eat it alive all it leaves behind is the bleached limestone skeleton of the victim [Music] large numbers of crown of thorns starfish have been turning up in recent years is this also because of human activity above and beneath the water the flowers also provide plenty of puzzles for scientists at first sight lord howe is a sea of flowers but there are drawbacks most of the flowers are introduced varieties that are driving the native flowers out ian hutton is fighting on this front too the island has 348 human residents and about 220 introduced species of those 17 are weeds that spread rapidly crowding out all the other plants ian mobilizes tourists for his campaigns they sacrifice their holiday for this paradise at the end of the earth and it is working the flora and fauna on the tiny islands around lord howe have not been affected the islands are still a refuge for rare and exotic creatures the black lord howe cockroach was perfectly adapted until the island was invaded by rats and humans over time it had lost its wings and its legs evolved into stumps its body shape became rounder and more solid in contrast to that of its unpopular relative the domestic cockroach with no predators it had no need to run away well camouflaged the lord howe gecko awaits its prey he isn't interested in cockroaches he'll find smaller tastier insects in the undergrowth the most famous creature lives on the archipelago's remotest and most spectacular island balls pyramid [Music] it stands 551 metres above the sea it was thought there was nothing on it but a few stunted tea trees but under these bushes scientists found the well-preserved skin of an insect that was believed extinct decades ago curious the men climbed higher and at the next bush a relic from the age of the dinosaurs came towards them as if waiting to be discovered a bizarre stick insect almost 15 centimeters long [Music] this could only happen on lord howe just 24 of the insects were found scientists captured two breeding pairs and began an elaborate breeding program although no one knew what the insect ate or when it mated their numbers have now almost trebled [Music] and the scientists can now tell the male from the female ball's pyramid must be the loneliest spot in australia it is where the warm and cold ocean currents meet [Music] food is plentiful and not just for the plankton eating manta rays almost 6 metres long many sharks are also attracted by the shoals of small fish that feed on the plankton the sharks are always on the prowl small fish gather in elegant formations seeking refuge in the crowd [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's only a matter of time until the sharks attack and hunters are waiting near the surface as well [Music] the strong currents have created a complex system of underwater caverns huge labyrinths where the sea has created a new habitat [Music] some creatures never leave these caves others hide in holes and only venture out to mate or to feed at night [Music] when the sun sets the stick insect on ball's pyramid appears on the only bush that can survive on the storm buffeted rocks it only eats the leaves of this bush and of course this is a special variety of tea tree that only grows in the lord howe archipelago marine creatures have developed all sorts of strategies to protect themselves at night but things are a little different on lord howe the parrotfish usually spins itself a cocoon of mucus to keep its predator the black tip shark from getting its scent but there are no black tips here so the parrotfish can sleep unprotected other creatures are extremely careful this decorator crab covers itself in such a coating of algae and sponges it is almost undetectable if it goes elsewhere it has to change its camouflage at night a false move can be fatal many hunters are on the lookout [Music] the lionfish spreads its poisonous spines while it waits to snap up its prey [Music] the trumpet fish floats like a leaf for hours waiting for the right moment [Music] the frog fish is perfectly camouflaged a poor swimmer it melts into its surroundings [Music] then it crawls along the seabed on fins like tiny feet [Music] then it attacks so quickly that its victim doesn't notice a thing [Music] but something unusual is happening on this march night a new cry pierces the darkness at twilight the first providence petrols land on the mount gawa plateau they have flown tens of thousands of kilometers this is their only nesting place in the world right away they start building their nests the weather on lord howe forces them to only nesting places on small hills are safe the frequent rain regularly floods the caves lower down and would endanger the cheeks [Music] once cleaned the nest is defended against all comers even if there's not yet any mate of course the arrival of the providence petrols has not gone unnoticed down at the foot of mount gawa the birds cries fill the air many have already flown around the mountain in the early evening ian hutton has been waiting for this for months at first light he sets out on the four hour climb up mount guard he passes the norfolk pines and the white turn colony more peaceful in the calm weather than it was on his last visit pairs of birds spend the night huddled together for warmth there's not much room in the trees and the birds are very conscious of one another's territory ian believes that couples sleep on the same spot on the same branch year after year the mating season lasts until spring lord howe is now a paradise for the white turn a species increasingly endangered worldwide there are now more than 200 breeding pairs and all of them have to find shelter in the few norfolk pines like this one white terns are quite willing to take advantage of any finds on the beach but usually they catch and eat their prey on the wing far out over the sea the rest of the colony is still setting out for the daily hunt after half an hour ian reaches the woods at the base of mount gawa almost straight away he hears a sound unique to lord howe island a step a breaking branch and the wood hen is alert unlike most birds the wood hen reacts to a disturbance by defending its territory even against ian the greater the noise the more determined the wood hen becomes like so many island birds the wood hen has lost the ability to fly a bird that doesn't fly doesn't have to eat so much a sensible strategy in an environment without predators but it also made them an easy catch for the first settlers for whom the wood hens were a delicacy the settlers cats dogs and pigs made short work of the eggs and chicks barely 30 birds survived all of them on the mount gawa plateau then came the world's most successful reproduction program first three pairs were bred in captivity the eggs were hatched and the fledglings were released rangers laid poisoned rat traps to protect the eggs and chicks now there are almost 300 birds and they are carefully monitored every autumn the rangers set out with huge nets and special whistles that imitate the territorial call of the wood hen they are counting the wood hen stocks [Applause] the wood hens are used to it but that doesn't mean they like it they've grown shy so when they're suddenly surrounded things have to go very quickly the birds are weighed in air permeable coarse-grained linen bags the rangers catch every bird at least once a year a database analyzes every change in size and weight no matter how small the rangers use a system of different colored bands to tell whether when and where a bird has been caught before there is probably no animal species in the world whose behavior has been analyzed as much as that of the wood hen but that is why the program has been so successful the birds have now spread all over the island things are looking good for the wood hen the symbol of the island's unique natural world at least one would think so but once the biological balance has been upset the problems just don't stop there's now a new problem this is a rail a relative of the wood hen it's the same size but a lot more agile and was introduced by man while it's not an enemy it does compete for exactly the same resources chick's only one or two days old he's still got the egg tooth on there that'll drop after after a couple of days this is one of the birds that's benefited from the move to get rid of cats off lordhow island when cats are removed these birds were able to increase all through the settlement area and other birds have too but this is probably the most notable of the birds on lord howe that has increased since cats have gone because there are still too few wood hens the rails are winning the race to breed they breed faster and they've adapted better to humans as yet no one knows how to stop them ian can't miss the chance to photograph this spider after 25 years of research he's still surprised at the diversity of species on the island after an hour and a half ian reaches the so-called lower road the track along this 400 meter basiled wall carved out by the wind and waves since a recent landslide the track has been marked with ropes the rock is slippery clouds and mists appear constantly the extreme humidity at the top of mount gawa makes climbing unpleasant but is essential for the unique plant life the only ecosystem similar to this one is on the slopes of mountains in east africa at the top of five streams no more than a few hundred meters apart for ian it's just a few steps from one creek to the next but for some of the creatures in them they are barriers they can never cross under the water it's like another planet each stream is an isolated microcosm [Music] each stream has its own species of snail [Music] they will never meet their neighbors in the next pool [Music] another water animal has evolved in its own way the caddisflies move between worlds only their larvae live underwater they leave the water to mate they have now spread all over the mountain the larvae live on the leaves that drop from the primeval forest shrimp have ended up here too another lord howe puzzle the freshwater shrimp live in the not very extensive waters of the streams no one knows how they got here eels have made their way up here as well they work their way up the mountain streams from the sea if necessary they can even cover short distances on land up here 600 meters above sea level they face no predators and there is an unlimited supply of food after climbing for three hours ian has a clear view of the summit and of the gathering petrols every hour there are more this is a crucial point in the climb a vertical rock face 20 meters high for many intruders it is an insuperable obstacle no feral pig could climb this natural barrier this unique natural world was saved from the omnivores by a whim of nature the rocky barrier almost 700 meters above sea level provides the last view of the island before the entrance to the high plateau here the terrain is suddenly flatter ian has reached the first of the four plateau levels the further he goes the more the vegetation changes [Music] the number of endemic species increases with every meter of height [Music] forty percent of the plant varieties on the plateau only grow here on an area the size of 35 football fields [Music] if these plants were dug up and taken down to sea level they would die in a few days they have survived in the humidity for thousands of years each with its own strategies [Music] this fern has two different kinds of leaf the broad ones photosynthesize sugar and starch to feed the plant the narrow ones are for reproduction this yellow fork fern is one of the oldest plants on earth it was around long before our ferns and the dinosaurs took over the world ian has found just 40 specimens since 1980. he now records gps data for every new discovery so that he can monitor their growth [Music] on this plateau there's a great deal for the plant lover every time he comes here ian is captivated by its beauty he even forgets his actual goal the providence petrols in the magic world of the peak it's easy to forget about time and objectives [Music] only the cheeky karawangs distract him until he discovers the next treasure [Music] this is one of the beautiful mosses on the top of mount gower it's 105 my species up here because of the cloud forest with constant high humidity and this group of mosses the dorsania group they're amongst the tallest mosses in the world it certainly is the largest mossy on northern ireland many of the plants found in such abundance up here are endangered [Applause] the small mountain palm only grows here it was almost extinct because its fruit was a favorite with rats which ate the seeds before they ripened so much rat poison is now used on the plateau that the palm can reproduce once more for the first time in almost a hundred years the screeching is getting louder in the afternoon the providence petrols return from their sea hunt from their thicket hideouts they express their indignation of the presence of a human interlocutor ian makes calls of his own [Music] the noise makes the petrols inquisitive they aren't at all fearful ian's first calls bring them out to investigate [Music] more and more birds come out and a unique spectacle begins [Music] providence petrols are very aggressive they fight for every inch of territory more than 20 000 of them will live on this small plateau for the next few months and they'll attack whenever they hear a noise [Music] sometimes ian thinks he hears a different crime a special pitch or that he sees other plumage colors then he follows the birds to their burrow ignoring the snapping beaks and fights his way through the undergrowth he is looking for the legendary kerman deck another species of petrol that was killed off by rats years ago could there be a few left despite all the studies have some survived somewhere in the masses of other species ian dreams of rediscovering them it would be another chapter in his book of natural wonders on lord howe island [Music] you

Channel: TRACKS

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Rating: 4.8838172 out of 5

Keywords: TRACKS, tracks travel channel, tracks travel, Documentary movies - topic, full documentary, travel documentary, culture documentary, Wildlife, Bird watching, lord howe island, exploring, discovering, discovery, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Fish, Ocean, ocean wildlife documentary

Id: Ql1udbK7230

Length: 52min 8sec (3128 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021