WEBVTT

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California's north-central
coast is famous for
its natural splendor.

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Here, on the very edge of
the North American continent,

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steep cliffs meet the
vast Pacific Ocean.

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Only 50 miles northwest of
San Francisco's famous Golden
Gate Bridge, yet light years

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away from the hustle and bustle
of the human world, lies a
magical underwater island

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few people have ever heard of.

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It's sensory overload.

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I've never seen so much color,
I didn't know where to look.

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Pinks, purples, oranges,
even blues and greens,
it's just mind blowing.

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Every single square inch
of reef is covered by
some sort of invertebrate.

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In some places you've got
sponges growing on top of
corals on top of anemones.

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There was the biggest school
of fish that I've ever seen.

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Anywhere.

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It's truly amazing.

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This is the Cordell Bank
- an underwater oasis that
is an ecological Eden.

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It is a shallow bank
located at the edge of
the continental shelf.

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Cordell Bank is the
seabird capital of the
northern hemisphere.

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Seabirders come from
all over the world.

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Europe, Asia, Africa,
just to do pelagic seabird
trips out to Cordell Bank.

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It's been documented that
whales and seabirds will migrate
from thousands of miles away

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to feed at Cordell
Bank because the ocean
there is so productive.

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We receive birds from New
Zealand, turtles from Indonesia,
albatross from Hawaii, they

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all come here to feed.

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Something's got to be right
for all of these birds,
these whales, to come here.

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What makes this unique
location so special?

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And what is done to research
and protect this place?