'South Pacific' Recap: 'Fragile Paradise'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Over the past six weeks, we have come to discover wonders thanks to BBC America’s magnificent documentary, South Pacific. Because this remote part of our world has been put on display like never before in this tale, allowing for us to learn more about the people in this part of the world, the life that mankind has brought its perfect shores and how said life has learned to survive and thrive against seemingly impossible odds. Yet, as is the case with all good things, our journey through this paradise has finally come to its end, since last night’s episode of this beautiful saga, also served as the series finale, closing out this story in thoughtful fashion.
 
Because it’s important to remember that this sliver of the ocean, is as delicate as any other part of Planet Earth and ‘Fragile Paradise’ spent the hour showing us some of the dangers inherent to the South Pacific’s future, and of course, what mankind can do to potentially stave off an ecological disaster in this majestic place. Obviously, the first and major threat that could harm the wonder of this chain of islands is climate change. For the rising seas will force all kinds of changes and disrupt life for many of the human beings that call this region home. In fact, the show made a point to highlight the island of Tuvalu, a place that 12,000 people call home. And if climate change cannot be altered, the rising seas will make this island uninhabitable and force these people to relocate.
 
In addition to making life difficult for humans out there, climate change will also cause trouble for marine life as well, since some species of creatures that serve as food, that so many other species depend upon will disappear, and the impact of something like that will be grave indeed. Yet, while combating that matter will take more time, one thing that can be done in the here in the and now, is ensuring that there is balance in the South Pacific, something that humans can help with greatly. Because our status atop the food chain has forced our boats into this region to fish its rich waters and the more we take, the more we tax this environment to produce, and it simply cannot keep up with our consumption rate, putting more wildlife in danger.
 
However, while it seems as though this particular finale was full of gloom and doom, it offered hope for this part of the world by showing us how some humans are doing their part to preserve the wonder of the South Pacific and Fiji is leading the way. For there are people on this particular island, who are working to help Coral Reefs survive by planting and growing their own reefs and then transplanting these healthy bits of that reef to damaged ones in order to keep those important parts of the ocean thriving and they are also doing their part to de-mystify the shark as a whole by showing people how important these creatures are to the food chain and what majestic creatures they actually are. And most importantly, there are fisherman who are finding better ways to catch fish, with methods that keep the population healthy. 
 
If anything, this finale simply serves as a reminder that we are all in it together when it comes to planet Earth, and mankind has to help in keeping the ecosystems we depend upon thriving and I truly appreciated the fact that this episode reminded us of the fact that we can achieve wonders when we put our minds to it, since we managed to save the Humpback Whale years ago by making their survival a focus, and if we apply ourselves here, the South Pacific can maintain its majesty. Either way, what a magnificent documentary this turned out to be, I simply learned so much about the South Pacific and while I’m a little sad that this documentary has come to its end, I cannot wait to see what other wonders about our world BBC America is ready to reveal to us in the weeks to come.  

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