I am Bear Grylls.
I've served with The British Special Forces.
I've climbed to the summit of Everest
and crossed the frozen waters of the Arctic.
Now, my challenge is to be marooned off an island
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Every year, thousands of people get into trouble in these seas.
I am going to show you the skills you need to survive.
I am flying over the Pacific Ocean,
63 million square miles of wild sea with over 30,000 islands,
many of which uninhabited.
It may look like paradise
but it can be deadly and the huge surfs,
unexpected currents
and man eating sharks make these seas
some of the most dangerous on Earth.
If you find yourself in the water,
you will need to know how to survive.
I'll be in the same situation as anyone
who gets in trouble at sea without a lifejacket.
All I have is a knife, the clothes I have got on and a camera crew.
My mission is to reach one of these islands
and then from there make it back to safety.
The wind seems to be...
To be guiding me in the right direction here.
Towards that island.
We are only about two miles away.
But my main concern is just the currents out here
whether they are going to let me reach the island or not.
Recently three children managed to survive
after their parents died when their yacht capsized.
After spending six days clinging to the upturned hull,
they were then forced to swim five miles
through shark infested waters to a deserted island.
They survived for a week by drinking rainwater
and eating berries before they were finally rescued.
If you are in the sea miles from land,
it's all about conserving your strength.
This is about long distance swimming and the most efficient way
is just to use sidestrokes and conserve my energy
for the surf that is going to be surrounding these islands.
The Pacific islands are notorious for their powerful surf.
And that poses another immediate problem,
how to get on to dry land.
The waves and currents are so strong,
it's difficult just getting onto the rocks.
These powerful rip currents are created
by the huge surf rebounding off the rocks.
150 swimmers drown in rip currents off U.S. waters each year
because they panic and try to swim against the current
and quickly become exhausted.
The best technique is to swim parallel to the coast
until you can't feel the pull of the current.
Then you'll be able to make it to shore.
Use breaststroke so you can keep your head above the water
and spot the best exit point.
I finally made it.
But I need water, food and shelter.
But first, I must explore the island to see
what natural resources are here.
But this part of the island is surrounded by cliffs.
I am an experienced climber
and there are certain basic techniques you can use here.
First, look for the best route with the most hand and footholds.
(BEAR GROANS)
Use your arms to guide you and your legs for the power.
Inexperienced climbers tire quickly
because they attempt to pull themselves up by their arms alone.
It looks like paradise.
But even in paradise,
you can't survive without food and water.
From this vantage point, I can see a beach.
It looks like it's sheltered from the wind.
And I can see palms, which may mean food.
So that's where I am heading.
But in terrain like this, you need to be careful.
The lush undergrowth could hide deep chasms in the rock.
Getting down into this valley it's just been looking impossible.
It just goes all the way around at these sheer rock faces.
But what I have found here is this banyan tree.
And you can see where the roots are growing down the side
of this rock face all the way down to the bottom.
And these roots can provide a way down.
(HEAVY BREATHING)
This is a nasty bit here.
And often this down climbing is much more technically difficult
than going up just because it's so hard to see
where you're putting your feet and your hands.
But the same rules apply.
You got to relax, take your time.
And not move until you are a 100 percent comfortable
with your hand and your footholds.
But I tell you what,
you can get it right a thousand times
and you only get it wrong once.
And...
What really matters here is keeping that three point
of contact always with the tree.
You do not want to be just hanging on one hand.
What's difficult about this is that where the,
where the roots have grown down,
all the rock on the actual cliff is really crumbly.
(HEAVY BEATH) (GROANS)
My arms are just burning.
Just running out of strength then.
But I am down and I am in the jungle.
I want to get to the beach that I saw earlier
but it's easy to get disorientated in this thick undergrowth.
Wow, look at this.
Look at this bamboo.
This is just amazing stuff.
Bamboo is so versatile.
It can be used for building shelters,
making spears and many other things vital in a survival situation.
And I am going to take some with me.
Wow, look at this.
And the risk I took climbing down definitely worth it.
This is going to be perfect.
And it is a thousand times more sheltered than where I came ashore.
It is going to be a good place for a base.
But also, I should be able to fish here as well.
Now, the question is can I find water?
There are over 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean.
And many of those are uninhabited.
Being stranded on an island like this,
chances are someone is looking for you.
So to make sure you can be seen by a rescue party,
you need to build what's called a signal fire.
I want this fire to be as big as possible
but also as flammable as possible
so it will burn really fast and really bright.
And I want to start it just in this big pile
of dead pine, pine needles to act as like tinder.
And then...
So I use these big dead coconut branches
and build like a tripod around this tinder bundle.
The signal fire will not be lit now.
It will be standing by in case I see a boat or an aircraft.
And then what I've also got here
are some really green ones
and if I just lay these around it,
these will...
Act not only to waterproof it
and keep this whole signal fire dry
but it will also smoke.
And if something comes over in the day,
I'm going to need that smoke.
But I do need to start another fire now
which I will need to keep burning constantly
so I can light my signal fire at any time.
To light the fire,
I am going to use a technique called the fire plough.
It is widely used in the Pacific islands.
Hibiscus, which grows throughout Polynesia,
is a perfect wood to use for the base and plough
because it has a very low moisture content.
And it is not healthy
but the sweat that drips off my nose into it.
I've had that happen twice now.
I have to start again.
So I'm trying to drip the sweat to the left.
Come on. You are almost there.
By creating enough friction between the wooden handle and the groove,
you can work up a coal that can then be used to light
a coconut tinder bundle.
Okay, look. That ambers going now and if we just tip this
into this tinder bundle.
And we should have flames.
There we go.
We've got fire.
Staying warm here is not the problem
but the sun is punishing.
And prolonged exposure to the wind and rain can sap your health.
So I'm going to build a simple shelter.
Hibiscus is such a useful tree.
And it's common near the shoreline of Pacific islands.
You can spot it by its heart shaped leaves.
Its smooth bark is also excellent for lashing material.
Normally, I would build a shelter right back in the shade.
But really for me the priority out here is that
I'm visible from the air, anything flying over, any rescues.
What I am going to do is latch these on
with more of this barked fibre.
As a first layer, use dried palm leaves.
They are plentiful and I don't waste too much energy finding them.
And on top, fresh leaves that are more waterproof.
Survival is as much about the mind as it is the body.
And sometimes it is just a simple thing like taking a dip
to lift your spirits.
Often the reason that islands like this are uninhabited
is that there is no ready supply of drinking water.
And my best way of finding a drink is to get to these coconuts.
And the ones I want are up there.
But the only problem is that's probably about 35 or 40 feet up.
And getting them is not going to be easy.
There is a technique for climbing these trees.
Always keep pressure on the trunk
with the balls of your feet and toes.
And as you go up,
alternate moving your hands and your feet.
One thing you really need is strong inner thighs.
And if you are good at riding horses,
you are going to be good at this.
But my thighs are burning. I am only halfway up.
Coconuts may be a lifesaver in this castaway situation.
But they are also killers.
People die every year from coconuts falling on their heads.
And an average size nut weighing two pounds can hit the ground
with the force of one metric tonne.
These are the ones I'm after.
It's these green ones that are the younger coconuts.
And they contain much more water than the older ones
that are lying around on the beach, the brown ones.
Also these green ones are much more nutrient rich.
But the way I am going to get it off is just to keep twisting them.
And they should go any minute.
Here she comes.
And there she goes.
Awesome.
But coming down these trees is much harder and more painful
than you might think.
I'll tell you what.
This is not the sort of thing you want to do as a bloke.
There we go.
Coconuts are rich in potassium,
which your body loses when it sweats.
That is beautiful.
It also holds vitamin C and carbohydrate.
So it's a good source of energy.
And it's not surprising
that the Polynesians call this the tree of life.
I know of one of the survivors of the 2005 Tsunami
who was rescued from a desert island.
And he had actually survived for 25 days living just on coconuts.
And it shows just what a life saver these can actually be.
Earlier this year,
two sailors survived for a week on an island after their boat sank.
After clinging to floating debris for a night,
they washed up on a deserted island which had no freshwater.
They survived on coconuts
and shellfish until they were rescued seven days later
when their makeshift flag was seen by an aircraft.
But what if rescue doesn't come?
It's day two on the island.
And if you're in this situation, food is now your next priority.
I am going to try my luck in the ocean.
First I will need to make a spear.
This bamboo pole is a start.
To stop the bamboo from splitting,
I need to use some more hibiscus bark to lash around it.
Get that in. Get in.
Now, I split the head of the bamboo.
And just ease that down.
So that I can carve four very sharp points.
The sharper I make these,
the easier it's going to be to try and catch a fish of some sort.
It will also come in handy if I need to defend myself
as these waters are also hunting grounds for sharks.
This is getting pretty sharp now.
And...
That is really about as good a spear as I can make for fishing.
There's plenty of fish if I can only catch them.
But there are risks.
Some fish are poisonous.
Others can attack.
So keep your hands away from any dark nooks and crannies
because vicious moray eels will attack whatever comes into view.
And don't try eating them either.
Moray eel can cause ciguatera,
the most common form of marine food poisoning in the U.S.
I can only hold my breath for a couple of minutes
before I have to resurface.
Of all the mammals,
humans have the smallest breath holding capacity.
But I've got to keep going.
And it would give me such a boost to get a proper meal inside me.
That turtle would make a tasty dish.
But in the late 1970's they were placed on the endangered list
so I would only think of eating it if I was absolutely desperate.
We're running out of puffs down there.
But I am definitely managing to hold my breath for longer now
than when I first started.
And that's what I need to do,
just slowly increase the time.
But meeting a shark is not what I expected here.
Luckily this is a sandbar shark,
one of the least aggressive species around here.
But he is a reminder that there could be others around
so it's time to get out of the water fast.
But I am not giving up.
In any survival situation,
you've just got to keep on trying.
And if that doesn't work then come up with a new plan.
I'm gonna try a traditional technique
that's used by Pacific islanders.
I am looking for a plant that can be used to poison fish.
The tuber plant is common throughout the Pacific.
It has distinctive oval leaves and is found near coastlines.
The poison is in the roots.
You want to use only fresh small roots as they are the most toxic.
Fish often get trapped in little rock pools like this in low tide.
And what I am doing here is just crushing up this tuber root
to get the oils out of it.
And this is so cool.
What you do is really mash it
and then just shake all of this into this water.
Within minutes,
any fish caught by this should float to the surface.
The plant and root system contains rotenone,
a natural toxin used for centuries by indigenous people
for harvesting fish.
And the poison has no affect on human beings.
So the fish are safe to eat.
Cool, well that's eight so that's dinner.
Now, I have actually caught these fish,
I need to cook them.
And what I am going to do is bake them in what is called a imu
and that is a traditional Hawaiian rock oven.
And this is something I've always wanted to do.
But I've just never normally had the time to spend to do it properly.
And what you do, first of all, just dig a pit like this.
So I am going to use my giant nose tweezers
that I made earlier which are quite cool.
And I can just pick some of these rocks up.
Place them in here and these are now really hot.
And it is these that are going to slow bake the fish
once I've wrapped them up.
And these rocks will stay hot for hours and hours and hours.
And sand is a really good insulator.
What I'm going to do to these fish is to wrap them
in these tea tree leaves.
And these tea tree leaves are really important
actually to Polynesian people.
They are known for their medicinal qualities,
anti ageing always good.
But more importantly,
they are going to make it taste nice and keep all the moisture.
And this is going to be the very centre
of what is really the ultimate steamer.
And what I'm going to do then is tie one end together.
And that is ready to go into the oven.
And what I do...
Is use some of these...
Leaves here just to line the bottom of the oven.
Put the bundle in there,
more leaves on the top and then basically leave it.
And this in about an hour should be ready.
I can't wait.
While that's cooking,
I'm going to extract some oil from coconut flesh
that will protect me against the sun and saltwater.
And what I'm going to try and do is then crush it
and get the oil out of it.
I am never going to get it looking as smooth as like sun cream
but I just want to crush it enough so the oil seeps out of it.
And it is this oil that I am going to use just to protect me
against all the saltwater, chafing and the sun.
And then all I will need to do is get a little bit of it,
rub it in my hands and then rub it onto my skin like this.
And you see the oil coming off.
And that's going to give me good protection.
My fish should now be cooked.
There we are.
And I can see just the little fish eyes have popped out.
So I don't know if you can...
I will pull one of them out.
The fish eyes have popped out
and that's a sign that they are ready.
But these you can just eat whole.
And this is going to be good.
You could stay on a island like this, indefinitely.
But throughout history.
Marooned sailors have often risked it all for a chance to make it home.
Tomorrow, I'm going to try something,
I've always wanted to do.
Attempt to build a raft and head out to sea.
I've put myself in the position for someone stranded on an island
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
I have shelter and I found food.
I could now wait for weeks to be rescued
but if your Island runs out of food and water,
you will only survive if you can leave.
And this is how I'm gonna do.
The ancient Polynesians used to travel hundreds of miles in canoes.
That kind of look like this.
These dug out canoes.
But when they wanted to go further afield,
what they did was add like an outrigger,
so it would look like this and this added stability to the craft
but I haven't got the time or the tools to build
this sort of elaborate canoe.
But what I have got here is fantastic resources
masses of bamboo and masses of lashings
And what I can do is build like a, like a catamaran,
a twin hold version of this.
That's much less sophisticated, but it's got the stability
and I can use that to get me off this island.
Bamboo has been chosen by seafarers for thousands of years
for strength and buoyancy.
There are air pockets in between the section joints of the plant
and even tiny air chambers in the wood itself.
To fell one of these bamboos,
I'm going to need to build a fire under the base of it just
because there is no way I would be able to hack through this.
With my knife alone, it would take me forever.
But before I do that,
I've got to pierce one of these chambers just
because these bamboos are in sealed compartments full of air.
And if I didn't do that when I started the fire,
the air would heat up and it could explode out.
So I need to try and get the point of my knife
or a bit of my knife just through it to release that pressure.
And this stuff is just so tough.
But I think, yeah I can see,
I am just through the outer bit
and that should have released the pressure.
So now to build the fire and I have carried an ember
from my campfire just in this coconut husk and it's still going.
Yeah, okay, that's still a light.
And I can use just any of this...
Dead stuff here.
It almost died on me then.
I can't face walking a half a mile all the way back through
that jungle to get another ember.
Awesome.
I'm gonna lash it all together.
With the bark of the hibiscus tree.
This simple catamaran like design will give the rock more stability
and give me room for provisions.
I just can't wait to get this thing in the water.
The deck has to be strong and flexible enough
to withstand the papal, swells and waves.
And lift me above the water.
Keeping me as dry as possible.
And because the raft will be so heavy.
I'm building it on bamboo rollers to make the task of getting
into the water easier.
Now, I need a sail.
Without that, any trip will be at the mercy of the currents.
This is the one part of this whole raft.
That is a complete unknown to me, I'm trying to make a sail
and this is something I've never done before.
If I'm honest, I don't know whether this is just gonna work or not.
I'm going to interweave these Palm leaves to make the sail.
Then build a timber frame to support it.
Bracing the whole structure.
Maybe that will cross the bottom.
A few of these and then lash all of that together.
It just might work but I don't know whether it's going to stand up
to the rigors of whatever the Pacific has out there.
I decided to find out
what the conditions are like further out to sea and they are not good.
There's no way I'm gonna be able to get off this island.
Until these trade winds ease a bit. I mean just look at this.
It's just this frothy cauldron of white water.
And it's so intimidating to look at it's just as far as the eye can see.
Any raft will struggle at seas like this,
I'm going to have to wait for the winds to ease,
then I spot something In the water, a bottle.
This could be a lifesaver.
If I can somehow manage to get this bottle
it can make all the difference to me
but getting down there is not going to be easy.
Waves, like this can be lethal.
Recently a family was swept off a shelf like this by huge wave
whilst watching the surf.
The couple drowned but the water pushed their 11 year old son
onto the Rocks where he was rescued by lifeguards.
Waves usually have a regular pattern to them.
They come in sets of seven and get bigger throughout the set.
So if I'm patient enough and watch the patterns,
I can avoid the biggest waves.
The bottle is floated into some calmer waters.
I'm gonna take my chance.
This bottle can store precious water.
But now it's time to head back to the shelter side of the island
to put the finishing touches to my raft.
In the open seas,
I'll need to be able to control the raft
so I make a simple oar out of hibiscus.
I am threading it together with a fibre for strength.
This will also act as my rudder.
It's hard, slow work,
but it is worth getting right.
I just do not want to be at the mercy of the currents.
My sail is also beginning to take shape now.
Weaving is one of these things you just can't hurry.
And it's so nice just to actually have the time to sit quietly.
The sun has gone down. The fire is going.
And I can slowly weave this all together.
But it's definitely beginning to feel now
that this could work as a sail.
And it's almost as if every weave that I am doing
is another step closer to home.
Once I leave, I could meet every stranded sailor's worst fear,
sharks.
That one just knocked under the raft.
The next morning, it's raining.
But that's good news for me.
A perfect way to have a fresh shower with all this saltwater on me.
That's much nicer than the salt.
(THUNDER RAINING)
When it is raining like this,
I really want to try and make use of it and see
if I can collect some water.
And the best way of doing this,
just, I've just found an old bit of coconut bark.
And if I place that on the sand like this with one of these big leaves,
the rain will collect on here, funnel down this and into this.
And this could be full.
When it's raining like this, just in a few minutes.
Now that's going to be a nice cup of fresh water.
In this heat,
you should drink at least a pint of water everyday.
My bottle will only give me five days supply.
That's hard work.
But it's in and that's my sail
and it's also going to be my sun shade when I am out on it.
That looks awesome.
And I've got to make sure now I've got all the provisions
that I need because I will tell you what,
once this baby launches, it's so heavy,
there is no way I would ever get it back on this beach.
And I've got to have everything I need
for whatever the Pacific is going to throw at me.
As well as water,
I'm taking more coconut oil for protection
and sand to polish my knife.
If I see any ships,
I'll use it as a signal reflector.
For me, this is so exciting.
And I will never forget these days.
But I just pray now with my whole heart and soul
that this thing works.
It's a moment of truth.
And if you are not completely confident
that your raft will survive,
ditch it and swim back to the shore.
But this Polynesian design seems to be stable.
Well, I'm off and the winds are much lower than they have been
for the last few days.
I've just been keeping an eye on them.
And these trade winds have definitely died.
And this is the weather window I've been waiting for.
And I just hope this weather stays until I can get going a bit.
Rough seas will severely weaken my raft
and I hope this calm spell will last.
But at the moment,
the first problem of being out here is the sun.
It's so hot here.
And this sail is giving me a little bit of shade.
But my main problem at the moment is the amount of saltwater spray
I am just getting over me.
And I can feel my skin getting really just dry from it.
And this is what I brought this coconut oil for.
And this is the time to be putting it on
to stop getting all this rubbing from the saltwater.
The best way of keeping cool though in this heat
is just every few hours dive in and have a dip.
But you always want to make sure you have got a leash on
because there are an awful lot of storeys of lone survivors
getting separated from their rafts.
But there is something in the water and I have got to get out quick.
I should have double checked before jumping in.
I will tell you I am lucky to be out of that water.
And normally the sharks are on the surface,
so you can see their dorsal fins.
But these ones are deep
and I had no idea they were anywhere near when I got in.
Whenever you're swimming off a raft,
you always want to keep your clothes and your shoes on.
And statistically,
whenever people have been in the sea in groups,
it's the unclothed ones that are often attacked first.
This is because sharks can confuse a flickering sunlight
on the skin for fish.
Wow, look at this fellow. Look. Whoa.
And these tiger sharks have the most damaging bite of any shark
in the sea.
Look at this guy.
And if you are in the water of being attacked,
the best thing you can do is yell,
slap the water and punch it on the nose
or go for the gills as those are the most sensitive bits of a shark.
And it's just the scene people stranded at sea most fear.
And it's so hard to keep calm.
I've built a raft and left the island to show you
how to survive at sea.
But now I am facing a situation faced by many marooned sailors.
That one just knocked under the raft.
I wish these bloody things would go away now.
Look, look, look!
Woah!
Great white's aside,
the tiger shark is responsible
for more recorded human deaths than any other shark.
Holy smoke. This is not good.
But soon they get bored of me and leave.
It makes me wonder how people have survived being adrift
for week after week in these vast oceans.
It takes will power and resolve, simply to keep your hopes alive.
This is why it's so important to keep yourself busy
and do all you can to find more water and food.
Time for a bit of fishing.
And I've got a fishhook made from,
one of the fishbones of the fish I caught on the island
a little bit of bait.
A line made out of the hibiscus fibre
and then a bit of bamboo for the rod.
Fingers crossed I catch something.
And then just settle back
and see what we get.
Hey, I've got something here.
Hey.
Wow, look at this thing.
This is actually a little surgeonfish.
These are quite nasty, little brutes.
And you can see why. Look at these. Look.
These are razor sharp all the way down here.
That little knife-like thing there
and another blade looking thing there.
And these are so sharp.
These could cut a vein easily if you picked it up wrong.
And what I am going to do
is open it up
and...
You can see the spine of it actually here.
And what I want is to get the fluid out of that.
Not much but it's better than nothing.
One of the most incredible sea survival stories
I've ever heard is of a couple called the Baileys,
husband and wife, who were hit by a whale in their yacht.
And they ended up in their life raft
for something like well over a hundred days.
And they lived off just turtle, raw turtle, seabirds and fish.
And they, all they had was like,
you know, a few safety pins and their bare hands.
And they were eventually rescued by a little fishing boat.
But they, their clothes were like, you know, literally rotted on them.
And they had terrible sunburn and sores all over them.
But they were alive.
It is over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
But with the reflection of the sun on the water,
it feels like even more.
And without shade,
I am now risking sunstroke.
The Pacific is a vast ocean.
But it also has busy shipping lanes.
However, these ships probably won't see you,
unless you can draw their attention first.
There is a boat. Probably about four or five miles away
and I'm just seeing the top of it
when it stops dipping in and out of the chops.
But it's definitely a boat.
I'm just going to use this knife just in a bit of sand
just to brighten it up and use this to signal with.
And signalling like this,
you can be seen up to about 10 miles away really well.
And there is actually...
A guy who was rescued
from over a 100 miles away just from using a reflector like this.
And all you do...
Is get your V of your finger
and then glint this in the sun.
Put it on the object and just bring it in and out of view.
And pray like anything that there is someone on deck watching.
They are definitely, they are definitely down there.
Even though this might look idyllic,
it has been much harsher than I ever imagined.
And I've gained definitely an understanding of just
how unforgiving the sea can be.
But also how heroic some of the people are who have survived it.
And it is almost like one of those places you can't appreciate it
until you have actually experienced it.
But for me, it is definitely time to go home.
Subtitle Caption by ZestCorp