'South Pacific' Recap: 'Ocean of Volcanoes'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Over the past few weeks, we’ve been taken on quite the incredible tour of the South Pacific, thanks to BBC America. And during this time, we’ve come to discover the richness of life that just so happens to permeate this remote and beautiful place, and we’ve learned how that life arrived in such a difficult place and how it’s learned how to beat the odds in order to survive and we’ve also come to discover, just how vast and far reaching this part of our world truly is and one would think, that at this point, we’ve learned just about everything there is to learn about this magical region. But, there is still more for this series to uncover, and for proof, look no further than last night’s episode, ‘Ocean of Volcanoes’.
 
Because it is important to know exactly what brought this beautiful chain of islands to life and really, the source of all of this incredible majesty lies deep beneath the sea and it just so happens to be mentioned in the title of this tale; volcanoes. After all, in order for land to exist out here, it had to be built from something and years upon years of volcanic activity is what slowly brought these islands to fruition and wouldn’t you know it? Some of the volcanoes of the South Pacific continue to function in this day and age and a few of them are working to build new islands in the middle of the sea, while others, like those found in Hawaii, are working to change the landscape.
 
In fact, this episode gave us some solid insight into Hawaiian volcanic activity since the volcanoes that built those islands are still erupting and are actually helping to continue to grow Hawaii and while it would seem at first that no life could thrive in such desolate rock, as always, nature figures out a solution and it was supremely cool to see that there is indeed life, surviving inside of this rock, by way of the lava tubes that these volcanoes create. From strange insects, to penguins and other birds, they all find ways to either use the tubes for shelter, or the heat from these conduits to the core, to survive and it never ceases to amaze me to discover how versatile life on our world truly is.
 
But of the many fascinating facts this documentary brought to my attention, the one that fascinated me the most, was how now dormant volcanoes can help to support life. Because many of these titans are slowly sinking into the sea thanks to their sheer size, and as they do so, their fallen slopes help to create majestic lagoons that now are home to magnificent coral reefs where species thrive and function and if anything, this part of the story gave me some serious pause, since it spoke volumes to the proverbial circle of life, and how everything on this planet happens to be interconnected and it’s quite amazing how so much beauty has come forth from mountains that in essence are feared for their ability to destroy when they unleash their fury…
 
If anything, this was just another beautiful chapter in this powerful documentary and well, of the many incredible tales that this series has brought our way, this one managed to utterly captivate me, since I’ve always had a soft spot for volcanoes in my heart, because I used to study and read up on them in my youth, but I digress. Because what matters more here is that volcanoes were presented as an important part of the eco-system in this tale, rather than something to be completely and utterly feared and everything in this episode stayed true to South Pacific’s proud tradition of celebrating the wonder and majesty of this incredible part of our world. Until next time. 

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