Island

VHS cover

*Island* is the fourth episode of the third season of *Eyewitness*. The topic of the episode is about the formation and characteristics of islands, the wildlife that occupies them and the role of islands in human history. The episode first aired on 6th October 1997.

Island is not based on a book title, and no Eyewitness book about the subject has been published since the episode aired.

## Episode

### Introductory sequence

A coconut falls out of a tree in which a mealy amazon parrot is perched. The coconut is shown from above landing in water and the shape of it changes into a circular green island plotted on a map, with seabirds flying above it. The screen then fades to white.

### Episode outline

Click here for the full transcript for Island.

Islands are places of mystery and tranquility. Some islands have animals and plants that exist nowhere else on Earth. An island is defined as a piece of land surrounded by water.

Some myths about islands are included next, including a Native American story of how a raven created islands to rest. A remote island provokes a profound sense of isolation. Many ocean-dwelling animals such as sea lions and seabirds rely on isolated islands to provide a safe place to breed. The perfect island for birds are uninhabited and undisturbed by others.

While an island may appear to float, they are firmly rooted to the Earth's crust. While Australia may appear to be an island, one that size is considered a continent. Instead, the largest island is considered to be Greenland. Many countries have, or consist entirely of, thousands of smaller islands. Around the world, one in every ten people lives on an island. While most islands are close to the continents, some appear in the middle of the ocean - these are islands formed from volcanic hotspots. Volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis all threaten islands, with the story of the destruction of Atlantis being used as an example.

Thousands of islands are in the tropics, and shape our perceptions of what an island should be. Many, however, are found in cold and uninviting parts of the world such as South Georgia. The most isolated island is Tristan da Cunha, but even this location has human inhabitants. More accessible islands fill up fast, such as Manhattan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Some islands exist for millions of years, while others come and go. Many coastal islands come into existence because of changes in sea level. Some areas only become islands when the tide comes in, like Holy Island. Islands can be eroded away by the waves, but the Maldives survive despite the extremely low profiles of these islands. The formation of Surtsey is shown, which is linked to the Norse fire giant Surtr. In ancient Egyptian myth the first dry land was an island, and all life arose there.

Birds are often the first arrivals on an island. Some subsequently lose the ability to fly, such as the kiwi. Birds may also carry plants to the island in their stomachs or feathers. Coconuts can make the journey unaided and serve many uses to island-dwelling people.

It takes stamina and luck for an animal to reach an island. Geckos may ride on driftwood. For all mammals apart from bats, the journey is extremely difficult. Coral islands are actually made from tiny animals. A coral atoll can look like a ring of smaller islands, but are actually formed by reefs growing on the rim of a sunken extinct volcano. The South Pacific islands made tempting homes for human colonists.

Perhaps the most remarkable island travellers were the Polynesians. They navigated through the South Pacific by reading ocean swells, the stars and observing the natural signs provided by animals. They colonised a triangle of ocean stretching from New Zealand to Hawaii and Easter Island. The allure of the South Sea islands and their people attracted artists from around the world. The Polynesians found cultural inspiration from the wildlife around them.

Some island species are ancient survivors that have had no need to change, such as the tuatara. Others evolve in isolation to become unique animals, such as megapode birds. The Galapagos Islands and their wildlife inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Other unique island wildlife shown in this section include the Tasmanian devil, Komodo dragon and the highly diverse wildlife of Madagascar. A unique island plant is the coco-de-mer, a Seychelles tree with the world's largest seeds.

An island can be a place we long to reach, or a place we long to leave. The native inhabitants of Easter Island completely deforested the island to move the famous giant stone heads into place and so were unable to build boats to escape. Isolated islands can also be home to people who have survived shipwrecks, while marooned sailors and mutineers can also set up home on islands. This section includes the real-life inspiration for the story of Robinson Crusoe.

One group of people who sought out isolated islands in the 1700s were pirates, looking for places to hide their plunder. While Long John Silver is the most famous pirate, real-life pirates were just as colourful. Pirates who patrolled the Caribbean are explored, including the female pirates Mary Read and Anne Bonny. The deserved fearsome reputations of pirates are also included in this section.

The threat of piracy was outweighed by the chance to make a fortune. Islands can provide great wealth, from spices and bird guano to whaling and mineral prospecting. The culture shock of South Sea islanders when outsiders and their belongings arrived is described, as is the creation of cargo cults.

Islands have had many other uses. Monastic societies have been set up on islands where people in search of the contemplative life go, while others have been used for nuclear weapons testing.

Throughout history, isolated islands have been used as prisons. Perhaps the most famous prison island is Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay, while well-known people to have been imprisoned on islands include Napoleon and Nelson Mandela. More inviting islands can be purchased as exclusive real-estate deals. The purchase of Manhattan Island in 1626 is mentioned here.

While red land crabs on Christmas Island can be a nuisance to the human residents, humans are far more likely to put pressure on wildlife. People bringing domestic animals and pests can wipe out island species that are poorly-adapted to predators, such as the dodo. On Ascension Island, seabirds are forced to nest on offshore crags because of a swarm of feral cats while a cat is also implicated in the extinction of the Stephen Island wren, the only known flightless songbird.

An island can be a lifesaver. One of the NASA emergency landing locations for the space shuttle is Easter Island. The disappearance of Amelia Earhart during an attempt to fly around the world in 1937 is included in this section.

The creation of artificial islands is shown. Japan is the world leader in creating islands, with one supporting an entire airport. Perhaps the most famous artificial island is Venice.

Islanders and their visitors have been sending messages in bottles for centuries. It’s a practice as mysterious as islands themselves. Will the message ever find its way, like an ancient seafarer, to another island and if it does where on Earth will that island be? With at least half a million islands scattered across the planet, and new ones always in the making, the possibilities are endless.

## Animal species filmed for the programme

### Studio footage

* Southern mealy amazon, *Amazona farinosa*
* Goeldi’s monkey, *Callimico goeldii*
* Brown rat, *Rattus norvegicus*
* Catalina macaw, *Ara ararauna × Ara macao*
* Black-and-white ruffed lemur, *Varecia variegata*
* California sea lion, *Zalophus californianus*
* Domestic goose, *Anser anser*
* Ribbon snake, *Thamnophis saurita*
* Domestic sheep, *Ovis aries*
* Domestic chicken, *Gallus domesticus*
* Domestic cat, *Felis catus*
* Blue land crab, *Discoplax hirtipes*

### Stock footage

* Christmas Island red crab, *Gecarcoidea natalis*
* Common raven, *Corvus corax*
* Southern sea lion, *Otaria flavescens*
* Killer whale, *Orcinus orca*
* Imperial shag, *Leucocarbo atriceps*
* Southern rockhopper penguin, *Eudyptes chrysocome*
* Atlantic puffin, *Fratercula arctica*
* North Island brown kiwi, *Apteryx mantelli*
* I’iwi, *Drepanis coccinea*
* Land hermit crab, Coenobitidae
* Mourning gecko, *Lepidodactylus lugubris*
* Flying fox, *Pteropus sp*.
* Yellow tang, *Zebrasoma flavescens*
* Striped dolphin, *Stenella coeruleoalba*
* Magnificent frigatebird, *Fregata magnificens*
* Red-tailed tropicbird, *Phaethon rubricauda*
* Tuatara, *Sphenodon punctatus*
* Masked shining parrot, *Prosopeia personata*
* Collared lory, *Vini solitaria*
* Micronesian megapode, *Megapodius laperouse*
* Blue-footed booby, *Sula nebouxii*
* Galapagos giant tortoise, *Chelonoidis niger*
* Marine iguana, *Amblyrhynchus cristatus*
* Tasmanian devil, *Sarcophilus harrisii*
* Parson’s chameleon, *Calumma parsonii*
* Verreaux’s sifaka, *Propithecus verreauxi*
* Indri, *Indri indri*
* Komodo dragon, *Varanus komodoensis*
* White-footed sportive lemur, *Lepilemur leucopus*
* Gray mouse lemur, *Microcebus murinus*
* Guanay cormorant, *Leucocarbo bougainvilliorum*
* Masked booby, *Sula dactylatra*
* Ascension frigatebird, *Fregata aquila*
* Brown booby, *Sula leucogaster*

## Stock footage sources

Nomads of the Wind (1994)

* The Faraway Heaven - Dolphins, Polynesian dancing, tropicbird flying backwards
* Crossroads of the Pacific - Masked shining-parrot, collared lory

Wildlife on One: Kingdom of the Crabs (1988) – Christmas Island red crabs

The Trials of Life: Hunting and Escaping (1990) – Puffins

Life on Earth: The Rise of the Mammals (1979) – Tasmanian devil

## Credits

* Director - Jack Weber
* Writer - Anne MacLeod
* Music - Guy Dagul
* Graphics Director - Morgan Almeida
* Graphic Design - Martyn Wilson and Steve Cope
* Camera - Nick Squires and Martin Bobbin
* Set Design and Visual Effects - Chris Reynolds and Andy David
* Research - Inge Samuels and Lynn Barry
* Production Co-ordinator - Maryrose Upjohn
* Production Team - Louisa Bowman, Clare O'Donovan, Nikki Weston and Jackie Byrne
* Unit Manager - Jackie Williamson
* 3-D Animation - Michael Lawson
* Videotape Editors - John O'Connor and Andy Attwell
* Dubbing Mixer - Chris Graver and Kian Wong
* With thanks to:
	+ Yomiuri Television
	+ University of Sydney
	+ Western Canada Aviation Museum

## Making this programme

The production of Mountain is only shown in The Making of Eyewitness 3 – Worlds. For this episode, the crew brought in over 100 sand bags and several tonnes of sand to create the indoor island. Special precautions were made to ensure water and electronics were kept separate. The palm tree had a plastic trunk and real imported leaves. The fifteen-metre-wide pool took the best part of the day to fill with water. By the time Long John Silver arrived on set, the pool was ready. The camera was mounted onto a crane called a jib. To complete the opening, a seemingly simple trick effect had to be engineered. The coconut had to fall at a specific point to be caught on camera. It was attached to a small electronic device that released the coconut at the push of a button.

## Home media releases

Island has only ever been released on VHS. None of the three different DVD releases included this episode.

**Writing staff**: Anne MacLeod • Ben Southwell • Ben Steiner • Brian Meehl • David Hanson • David Stafford • David Helton • George Bloom • Lynette Singer • Mike Tomlinson • Paul Thomas • Stan Cullimore
**Directors**: Gavin Maxwell • Justine Kershaw • David Hutt • Andrew Jackson • Justin Hardy • Ludo Graham • Jerry Foulkes • Derek Hall • Sanjida O'Connell • Caius Julyan • Bonni Cohen • Leanne Pooley • Edwina Vardey • Alexandra Beazley • Sam Hodgkin • Karen Walsh • Jack Weber • Richard Simkin • Alex Hearle • Brian Cummins • Ben Southwell
**Composers**: Guy Michelmore (season one) • Guy Dagul (seasons two and three)

**Season One**: Cat • Fish • Horse • Dog • Jungle • Bird • Amphibian • Insect • Shark • Elephant • Reptile • Dinosaur • Skeleton
**Season Two**: Desert • Tree • Ape • Mammal • Butterfly and Moth • Volcano • Rock and Mineral • Seashore • Pond and River • Weather • Arctic and Antarctic • Prehistoric Life • Shell
**Season Three**: Flight • Bear • Sight • **Island** • Survival • Mountain • Monster • Human Machine - Plant • Ocean • Planets • Life • Natural Disasters