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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?