One Ocean

In The Birth of an Ocean we travel back to ancient time, telling the story of the ocean’s turbulent beginnings, and its successive incarnations. It’s a journey that introduces the enormity of the ocean over space and time – at four billion years old the ocean is nearly as old as the planet itself.

In our second episode, Footprints in the Sand, we take measure of humanity’s impact on the sea since we first settled along its coasts over 150,000 years ago. We travel to the Mediterranean Sea with local Spanish fishermen in search of the magnificent bluefin tuna, the most prized fish in the ocean. It’s also one of the most overfished. As fishermen try to maintain their centuries-old method of fishing, conservation scientists are desperate to find hard evidence to support their side in the heated debate over quotas.

Episode Three of our series reveals the Mysteries of the Deep and takes us to the most beguiling parts of the sea, the very depths that we know so little about. As we improve our technological prowess, we are venturing deeper and deeper into the planet’s last frontier. What scientists are discovering is beyond our wildest imaginings.

In our final episode, The Changing Sea, we discover that the ocean is sending us clear signals. Off the rugged and beautiful coast of British Columbia we meet scientists and fishermen who are shocked at the recent arrival of a voracious new creature – the Humboldt squid. This monster-sized squid native to the equatorial waters of Mexico has moved north and ushered in a cascade of changes to the ecosystem. Their arrival is part of a disturbing pattern that is emerging with species movement being tracked around the world.