Gathering Storm (2020) s01e04 Episode Script

1
RICK (off-screen): Outside, it is pretty
much flat calm, but by tomorrow,
it's not gonna be pretty.
MAN (over radio): A hurricane force storm
warning is in effect for the Bering Sea.
Extreme caution is
advised for all shipping.
Wind 55 knots, increasing to 70 knots.
Waves 33 feet, building
to 47 feet by 18:00.
MAN: Come on.
No, no, no, stop.
♪
RICK: This is our boat,
the Aleutian Lady.
She's been in our family since 1989.
Very strong, very stout, very trustworthy.
So, this is our beautiful little girl.
NARRATOR: Captain
Rick Shellford is a veteran fisherman,
working out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
As he prepares to head into the most
notoriously dangerous fishing
ground on earth,
Rick has been given a camera by
National Geographic to show us his story.
RICK (off-screen): My kids are
gonna get a kick out of this.
I don't even take selfies on my phone.
Let's try this out.
Hope it works. Here we go.
I am Captain Rick of the Aleutian Lady
and we are getting ready to go out and
fish the 2019 red king crab season.
I hope I don't make a fool out of myself.
So, all right, I will chat at
you here later and have a good day.
NARRATOR: The camera with Captain Rick is
one of 1,000 that National Geographic
placed with people who work
at sea for one typhoon season,
wherever storms might strike.
What Captain Rick doesn't know is that
soon he'll be heading into one of the
biggest and most powerful
storms in history.
(phone ringing).
MAN (off-screen): Good afternoon, COJ
Tops, JTWC, starting in the upper levels
in the northern hemisphere.
On the IR shot, we were
seeing some extra spinning.
NARRATOR: At Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
home port for the US Navy's Pacific fleet,
the Joint Typhoon Warning Center is
tracking a storm in the Western Pacific.
MAN (off-screen): This just came
in. All right. Forecast
CAITLIN: Wow. That has
increased significantly.
NARRATOR: Hurricane force storms in this
area are called typhoons.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is there
to alert US military assets if
one is considered a threat.
The new storm is still a long way
from land, but its behavior is troubling.
It's intensified far more
rapidly than expected.
Predicted to pass safely to the north of
Guam, it's heading west towards Asia.
The officer on duty is
Lieutenant Caitlin Fine.
MAN (off-screen): If this really
is rapidly intensifying
CAITLIN: Mm-hmm.
MAN (off-screen): Our next warning
will likely be more intense.
NARRATOR: Its terrifyingly rapid growth
has marked this typhoon as a special case,
and even inspired its name.
Hagibis,
a Filipino word meaning speed.
As they watch, the intensification
becomes even more explosive.
And it's just getting started.
CAITLIN (off-screen): We see rapid
intensification pretty frequently,
but this degree of rapid intensification
was really, really fast.
This is tropical storm Hagibis at 50 knots
on the 6th October at 06:00 Zulu,
and you can see that it's wrapping,
but it's not that well organized,
it's not that strong.
24 hours later,
at 06:00 on the 7th of
October, it is 150 knots
and then 160 knots and then 165 knots.
NARRATOR: Overnight, Hagibis
has undergone some of the
most rapid intensification ever seen.
Its maximum wind speeds have
increased by 100 miles per hour,
making Hagibis a category
five super typhoon.
The most powerful storm of
the year anywhere on earth.
At 950 miles across, it is one of the
largest typhoons ever recorded.
In a matter of days, this mega storm
could make landfall in East Asia.
Around the world, our cameras are with
forecasters as they battle to predict
where Hagibis will go next
and who lies in its path.
CAITLIN: So, just one day later and the
model shifted significantly from,
from this,
bigger spread, our model guidance shows a
straight northward path there,
at the end through 120 hours.
Then one day later,
model guidance has shifted,
showing a more pronounced
re-curve and landfall on Tokyo.
NARRATOR: The forecasts
are unanimous.
In less than three days' time,
Hagibis will make a direct hit
on Tokyo, Japan.
One of the most populated
regions on earth.
As Hagibis bears down on Japan,
vessels filming for National Geographic
must react fast to the news
it's headed their way.
TALATI: Good morning everyone.
TALATI: BW Shinano
at Kashima Port
Where you can see the seas
are not so bad at the moment
But the next two days' time it will
be very very bad weather here
and probably the port will be closed down
NARRATOR: Oil tanker the BW Shinano is
headed from Kashima, near Tokyo, to China,
but her planned route would put her on a
collision course with Hagibis.
Instead, Captain Talati makes the decision
to depart immediately and head north
and then west, to put the Japanese islands
between her and the typhoon.
Hagibis is now less than
24 hours from Japan.
REPORTER (off-screen): Japan
bracing as a powerful typhoon
is expected to make landfall
in the coming hours.
NARRATOR: Japan has issued its highest
possible level of warning,
with one third of its entire population
advised to evacuate
or move to a higher floor.
ERIC: Everybody is quite concerned with
the strength of what's about to hit us.
NARRATOR: Those that remain are racing to
board up their houses and businesses,
and the nation's many fishermen
are moving their boats
as far inland as they can.
ERIC (off-screen): The water in the river
is moving faster than normal
and apparently there's
gonna be huge storm surges, and
I'm a little curious to see
what effect it will have on this river.
Like is it gonna overflow?
NARRATOR: Shinano's detour into the Sea of
Japan means she is more than 400 miles
from the heart of Hagibis,
but still experiencing its effects.
TALATI: This is the
captain reporting
Overcast skies, strong winds, rough seas
This is the effect of storm Hagibis
NARRATOR: Had she not moved,
it could have been much worse.
As Hagibis meets cooler
water and hits land,
its winds de-intensify to the equivalent
of a category two hurricane.
But not enough to make Japan safe.
As it makes land fall, the super cell t
hunderstorms from inside the typhoon
spawn a violent tornado.
WOMAN: Oh no, is that lightning?
MAN: That's a tornado.
It's not good. Take cover
NARRATOR: Hagibis's large size and the
long time it's spent over open ocean
means it is carrying an unprecedented
volume of water, which falls as rain.
As its core crosses Japan's
main island of Honshu,
some areas receive three feet of rainfall
in just 24 hours.
Rivers burst their banks and
mud slides engulf houses.
Catastrophic flooding,
rather than high winds,
have become the killer in this typhoon.
Hagibis causes $15 billion
worth of damage,
and 98 people tragically lose their lives.
As Hagibis leaves behind a
broken Japan, forecasters fear
it may not be the end of
this rule breaking monster.
Thousands of miles away,
our cameras are with crab fishermen in the
Aleutian chain, waiting
to start their season.
But Hagibis is about to change everything.
RICK: It's gonna be a heck of a blow with
a lot of wind and a lot of waves.
NARRATOR: After devastating Japan,
typhoon Hagibis is mutating.
CAITLIN (off-screen): Having
made landfall in Tokyo,
we determined it was
extra tropical and then this
infra-red image here at 1000 Z,
on the 13th of October, you
can see all the convection is
displaced as it's being blown away by the
jet at the upper levels of the atmosphere.
NARRATOR: As it leaves
behind the warm waters that birthed it,
Hagibis is undergoing a transformation.
No longer drawing energy from the
heat of the tropical waters,
it is now powered by
the extreme difference in temperature,
where hot and cold air meet to
become an extra tropical cyclone.
Less organized, more chaotic
and much, much bigger.
CAITLIN: It's gonna head north east,
carried along by the jet
into the Bering Sea.
Certainly, you know, it's still moving on
with a lot of energy.
NARRATOR: In its extra-tropical form,
Hagibis has entered the jet stream and
is being catapulted north east,
directly towards the Aleutian Island chain
and the Bering sea, home of the
Alaskan King Crab Fleet.
OFFICIAL (off-screen): Good morning, we're
going to do a briefing at the lead desk,
thank you for your
attention to this matter.
NARRATOR: The Aleutians are
west of the Alaska Peninsula.
The National Weather Service in Anchorage
call an urgent briefing t
o issue warnings for
the fishing fleet that Hagibis is coming.
OFFICIAL: Let's take a quick look at
what's going on on satellite here,
and things are relatively
quiet out our windows but
out over the Bering things are
starting to take shape with the remnants
of Hagibis and so that is
kind of our forecast problem of the day.
NARRATOR: In under 48 hours,
Hagibis will enter the Bering Sea
bringing with it waves
in excess of 40 feet
right where the crab
boats will be fishing.
The weather service issue urgent warnings
to the fleet, to change their departure
plans and avoid the Bering Sea.
The vessels carrying our cameras must make
a choice their lives could depend on.
To ride out the storm
at sea and risk being rolled by a wave.
Or to crowd into the port where winds
could smash their boats together.
CAPTAIN: Security call Kari Marie outbound,
east channel, searching for opposing
traffic, channel 16,
channel nine Kari Marie.
With the possibility of 40 to 50
foot seas, 70 knot winds, it's just,
it's not worth the risk.
NARRATOR: With just 12 hours before Hagibis
strikes, the Kari Marie and dozens of other
crab boats will take
shelter in Dutch Harbor.
CAPTAIN: We're in.
Tight squeeze, but we got it.
RICK (off-screen): So this is us
getting the boat ready for
really bad weather in Dutch Harbor.
We don't want to part any lines, we don't
want to break free, we want to stay secure,
safe so we can sleep at night, not get
woken up at 3:00am to fix the tie up job.
NARRATOR: With so many
vessels now in port,
one boat coming loose in the typhoon
could destroy half the fleet.
RICK (off-screen): Whoa.
MAN: Right there.
Is that good?
RICK (off-screen): You're even.
We pull the lines even so they pull at the
same time and get tight at the same time,
then it's twice as strong.
NARRATOR: The king crab
season opens tomorrow.
Under normal circumstances, boats would
race to be first onto the best crab grounds,
saving time and money.
But the 40 foot waves predicted from
Hagibis could sink a crab boat at sea.
The Pinnacle is using her time
in port to pre-bait her pots.
MARK (off-screen): Yeah, there's
a bunch of us crabbers here
waiting for this to pass through,
so we're just doing a little pre-bait.
Normally we do this on the way up to the
grounds but it's going to be kinda rough
on the way up, so the guys
are doing it there and down.
A few scoops of herring and some squid.
NARRATOR: Hagibis is
now within 500 miles of Dutch Harbor.
RICK (off-screen): Outside, it
is pretty much flat calm,
the calm before the
storm, beautiful evening.
Crew's able to work
still out on deck, doing their gear work.
Not much wind at all but by
tomorrow, it's not going to be pretty.
MAN (off-screen): Heave line
one. Heave line one.
MAN (off-screen): Hold line two,
hold line two.
WOMAN: Hold line two, on.
NARRATOR: The US Coast Guard
has a specialist asset in the Bering sea.
A powerful ex-salvage
cutter, The Alex Haley.
BENJAMIN (off-screen): One of the big
challenges with this particular super typhoon is
the way that it's going across the
entire Bering and Gulf of Alaska.
As we look at the Bering Sea, this
whole region is going to be affected
by super typhoon Hagibis.
NARRATOR: To provide cover for
any crab boats that opted to
weather the storm at sea,
Commander Golightly needs to
move his vessel towards the storm.
BENJAMIN: Search and rescue is always a mission
for the coast guard and up there with the
fishing fleet, a $6.4 billion industry, we're
there to help protect that fishing fleet
NARRATOR: Hagibis is less
than eight hours away.
BENJAMIN: Dutch
Harbor is here.
Most of this storm is going to
be really pretty nasty in this area.
I'm going to go around the
corner here to Beaver Inlet
and basically position the ship in there.
The fishing fleet, as they go up and operate,
are primarily going to probably be maybe up
in this area, when they're
looking for the crabs.
And so if we needed to, we can get out and get
up to try and help them but we're gonna have
to bang into some pretty
heavy seas to get there.
ZOGBY: 31.
WOMAN (off-screen): Line one
ready to go back over.
MAN (off-screen): Alright.
ZOGBY (off-screen): 32. Roger.
NARRATOR: The Alex Haley needs
to move now in order to be in position
to protect herself and the fishing fleet.
The 40 foot waves
expected from Hagibis could overwhelm her
if she was caught in the open.
ZOGBY: We are, as you can see by the bulldog,
we are the bulldog of the Bering Sea,
that's what we've nicknamed ourselves
and we're pretty proud about that.
NARRATOR: On route to her new location,
the Alex Haley has a chance to practice the
helicopter maneuvers required to
undertake search and rescue in a storm.
(radio chatter).
BENJAMIN: Winds over 30 to 35
knots, seas over eight to 10 feet,
my ability to launch a helicopter
are significantly degraded.
So, we're constantly training
and trying to build in that expertise.
PATRICK: Alaska warning
point, Anchorage weather.
Good afternoon sir, we've issued, or
correction, we've upgraded our high wind watch
to a high wind warning for zone 195.
We're looking at winds of 55 to
65 with gusts to 75 miles an hour.
Roger that, Anchorage weather clear.
NARRATOR: At the National
Weather Service in Anchorage,
the forecast is rapidly updated.
Hagibis is moving further north, but
it's grown so huge it's pulling in another
storm and steering it
towards the Aleutians.
PATRICK (off-screen): Up here in the
infrared imagery we can see Hagibis.
And this is our next storm
moving into the Bering.
NARRATOR: When two
large storms come within 1,000 miles,
they can begin to circle one another.
This rare phenomenon can alter the
tracks of both storms in a way that's
dangerously unpredictable.
As it approaches the Bering Sea, Hagibis has
sucked in a second major storm system from
Russia, and sent it spinning
in a completely new direction.
PATRICK (off-screen): You can see the circulation
center of Hagibis starting to move ashore
along the Siberian coast,
and it's helping funnel down
some colder air from Siberia and
then with this storm starting
to get really wrapped up.
That's helping pull the
dry air in even more.
That swathe of hurricane force winds will
continue to track across the southern Bering.
NARRATOR: Due to the power of Hagibis, the
second storm, which would have passed safely
over the western Aleutians, is now
heading directly towards the crab fleet.
PATRICK (off-screen): They lucked out
and missed the worst conditions yesterday,
that's not going to be the
case with this storm,
it's going to come right across them.
NARRATOR: For one
hurricane season,
National Geographic gave 1,000 cameras to
fishing boats and ships working
in the world's stormiest seas.
Right now, some of those vessels are in
the path of the biggest storm of the year.
One of our cameras is riding
with the Ardmore Dauntless,
a 52,000 ton tanker
carrying canola oil from
Portland, Oregon to South Korea.
As she approaches the Aleutians, she's
been caught up in the fallout from the
collision of Hagibis with
other storms in the area.
Captain Isaac is faced by
bad weather on all sides.
ISAAC: This is a weather fax
we have received now and
It is covering almost the
entire Pacific region
So there is no option of altering
and getting away from this system
We are expecting the wave heights
to be hitting around 6 to 7 meters
And as per our company policy we have
to avoid the waves of more than 5 meters
NARRATOR: The Dauntless is
designed to cope with waves up to 16 feet.
It's now facing a swell
of more than 22 feet.
But her course across
the Pacific is now set.
One of the world's busiest shipping
lanes passes right through the Bering sea.
The Great Circle Route,
connecting the USA with Asia.
PATRICK: The Great Circle route is
essentially like a highway on water,
where you're gonna just have
a lot of marine traffic
and you get one of these systems coming
through there with significant winds and waves,
it poses an inherent
hazard to not only the vessels themselves
but the crews on board.
NARRATOR: As she travels further
west, the waves striking the Dauntless
are getting bigger.
ISAAC: The safety of
the crew is paramount
Watch out for the high waves that
are going to hit us from the beam
NARRATOR: A ship being
hit by waves from the side, or its beam,
is vulnerable to taking
on water and even sinking.
ISAAC: We'll be passing south
of the Aleutian Islands.
And we have extremely
bad weather conditions
In the entire Pacific region now
NARRATOR: The Dauntless is now 250
miles south of the Aleutian island chain,
and the ocean is becoming
ever more turbulent.
ISAAC: We are expecting
wave heights to hit almost 7 to 8 meters.
Winds to go to 40 to 50 knots.
NARRATOR: The Dauntless is now
facing waves up to 30 feet.
Bering Sea mariners know
this shipping route
has ended in disaster in the past.
In 2004 the merchant
ship Selendang Ayu was caught in a storm
attempting this passage
between the USA and Asia.
She ran aground and
started to break apart.
The vessel that came to her rescue
was US coast guard cutter Alex Haley.
BENJAMIN (off-screen): If you end up
in the water, it's minutes of survival and
even with a dry suit and
proper gear, it's a few hours.
RESCUE CREW: We're dead
centre on the ship in about 30 seconds
US COAST GUARD: Ok. Roger that.
NARRATOR: They were able to
rescue 20 of the crew members.
But ship, cargo, and
six mariners were lost.
BENJAMIN (off-screen): Lessons from the Selendang
Ayu are always in the back of your mind,
just kind of showing that
this could happen again.
RICK: Good morning.
Probably look like hell.
Didn't sleep well.
Hurricane Hagibis has come
to Dutch Harbor in force.
RICK: It is nasty
NARRATOR: Super typhoon
Hagibis, the largest and
most destructive storm on
earth so far this year,
has caused chaos in the Bering Sea,
sucking in a second major storm system,
and hurling it right towards the king
crab fleet hiding out in Dutch Harbor.
RICK: We keep blowing out our buoys because
we're surging into the boat next to us,
so we got to keep adding buoys so
we don't smash into the other boat.
But it is gnarly.
There was recorded winds this
morning of 97 miles an hour
and it is just a butt kicker.
NARRATOR: A few hundred miles to the south,
the oil tanker Dauntless has reached the
halfway point between the USA and Asia.
Her route has taken her directly
into storms south of the Aleutians.
This far north, storms bring
not only high winds and waves,
but also ice, snow and freezing waters.
Dauntless is dangerously exposed.
ISAAC: I'm expecting the temperatures
to be dropping to -2 to -3 almost
And that'll be sub-zero
And we are to ensure all our
lines are properly drained
This is a snow storm coming now.
NARRATOR: Extreme cold temperatures
can ruin her cargo of canola oil.
They can also
freeze firefighting and lifeboat rigs,
rendering life-saving equipment
useless, right when it's needed most.
Dauntless still has ten days and 2,000 miles
in front of her before she reaches safety.
MAN (off-screen):
How was it back there?
MAN: It was very
windy and very cold.
MAN: Pretty nautical
this morning.
MAN: Yeah the wind is
howling pretty good.
We're looking at about
There goes my hat
NARRATOR: The transit of Hagibis
through the Bering Sea has forced the
Dutch Harbor fishermen
to miss the start of the king crab season.
Having paid out for fuel, bait and
food, they need to fill their quotas with
the best crab if they're
going to make a profit.
MIKE: The faster we get this done,
the faster I get to go home to my family,
my wife, three kids.
MARK: Just waiting for this wind to die
down here for going on three days now,
I guess, so anyway I think
we're about ready to take off.
NARRATOR: But the sea is
dangerously unsettled.
The effect of Hagibis,
followed by the second storm it attracted,
is that major waves are
now expected in the Bering.
RICK: We are
chaining our stack down
When you get movement
and the pots are swaying back and forth
It creates more of a roll
And if we have a loose
stack and we're rolling
Really hard like we
will be when we get out
There's a chance that
the boat could roll over
NARRATOR: Capsizing is the biggest killer
of Bering Sea fishermen and the reason
this is the most dangerous job in America.
MOORE: It can get pretty nasty
out there so we try and do
everything we can, ahead
of time, at the dock here,
to make sure it's stable and secure.
RICK: Oh watch yourself.
Tight?
MAN: Yep
NARRATOR: With the pots secure,
they head out into the freezing Bering
for the overnight journey
to their fishing grounds.
They are about to find out what
Hagibis has done to the Bering.
RICK (off-screen): So the weather
started to pick up even more.
We're getting gusts up to
45, seas up to 16 feet.
So, we are going to jog tonight and
try and get some sleep with the boat
moving and slamming around.
Not looking forward to it.
It's going to be brutal.
So, alright, I'm going to bed.
NARRATOR: All across the Pacific,
ships are filming for National Geographic
as they feel the fallout from Hagibis.
MAN (off-screen): Captain sir, officer of
the watch, given the increased sea state,
spray and relative
winds increasing to 55 knots over the deck
I've placed the upper
decks out of bounds sir.
Aye sir.
NARRATOR: The Canadian Navy vessel
HMCS Ottawa is heading home from Hawaii to
British Columbia after a long
tour in the western Pacific
enforcing sanctions on North Korea.
CREW MEMBER: Wind
ships, you're 045.
NARRATOR: But her route has her on
a collision course with the shock waves
of the Aleutian storms.
BARLOW: Okay, what
you got this morning?
JACKLIN (off-screen):
Lots of weather sir.
Here's some of the systems
that are affecting us.
There's this low-pressure system
just in the Aleutians and it's got that
very tight pressure gradients
with the strong winds,
pushing a lot of seas towards us.
NARRATOR: To get home on time, they have
no choice but to push through the waves.
The closer they get to home,
the worse the conditions will get.
BARLOW (off-screen): We've sort of
got one route to get us home on time,
so we'll be going through
some of that weather.
So we're looking at upwards of six meters,
possibly more for seas as we transit home.
NARRATOR: Navy frigates
are huge and heavy.
Instead of being thrown up and down on top
of the swell, their size allows them to
punch through waves coming
straight at the bow.
But carrying out routine work always
becomes much more challenging in heavy seas.
JACKLIN (off-screen): Here we have service
analysis impacts, basically just strong winds
and projected four to five meter seas.
It could still build from now but
still severe impact on operations,
not really good for launching
the boats or anything.
Any questions, sir?
BARLOW: No.
Okay, thanks.
JACKLIN (off-screen): Thank you.
CREW MEMBER (off-screen): A
systems engage. A systems shoot.
MAN (over radio): Roger.
(gunfire).
CREW MEMBER (off-screen): I
think they were a little short.
CREW MEMBER 2:
They were, for sure.
NARRATOR: For an active warship,
the building seas offer a chance to
practice range accuracy
in rough conditions.
If they have to do this for real,
it won't be in perfect weather.
(gunfire).
CREW MEMBER: Ceasefire.
Right, range here complete.
MAN (off-screen): Roger,
right range complete.
NARRATOR: In the Aleutians, Captain Rick
has finally been able to start fishing
RICK (off-screen): It is so
amazing to be off the dock.
We have been tied up way too long,
so it's time to play and have some fun.
Every time I leave the dock it's exciting.
It's a new adventure, it's part of my blood,
it's part of my soul, is being out at sea.
NARRATOR: They are fishing 170
miles northeast of Dutch Harbor.
But super typhoon Hagibis has brought
havoc across the entire Bering Sea,
churning out giant waves
and wind still gusting at hurricane force.
MOORE: My name's
Moore, I'm chief engineer
We are king crab fishing
in nasty weather.
It's probably blowing about
45 right now 20ft seas
It's a real trick for the
captain to drive up on the gear
Very critical he gets it close to the boat
So the guy on the rail
can throw the hook out and retrieve it
NARRATOR: After capsizing,
falling overboard is the
most common cause of
death for crab fishermen.
Accidents on the deck also
account for a high number of fatalities.
MOORE: Ok, I'm gonna walk
around here and do some work
Coiling the line
That's Bullet who throws the hook
He's been here eight years
That's Noah.
Noah has been here six years
Right now he's running hydraulic controls
Very important that he does it right
People could lose hands and lives
NARRATOR: The passage of the
typhoon has caused an unexpected problem.
Warmer water swept in from the
tropics with the storm can cause king crab
to shift hundreds of miles
making them harder to find.
The Aleutian Lady is turning up a lot of
undersized crab which must be thrown back.
If she can't make up for lost time
now, the risks will have been for nothing.
NARRATOR: The Ardmore Dauntless
has been pushing through
20 foot waves for over a week.
Drawing on his experience, Captain Isaac
orients the Dauntless to avoid taking
waves side on and steers
a more sheltered route
in the lee of the Kuril Islands.
After 18 consecutive stormy days,
Captain Isaac delivers her safely
to her destination in South Korea,
a little late but with
crew and cargo intact.
ISAAC: We reduced our speed
And we took waves on the safest side
And we are at finally the
next destination, very safe
And that is always a relief to do so
NARRATOR: Deep in the Bering Sea,
Captain Rick is hauling his crab pots.
Hampered by the storm, his first 108 pots
have caught only 78 crab.
MAN: Nothing. No crab
RICK: If I mess up and
I don't find the crab, it's just like man,
I failed my guys, I failed my crew.
It's such a huge responsibility.
MOORE: My hands hurt really bad
Everything on this boat is hard
I'm cold, wet, tired, worn out
RICK (off-screen): You've got to pick it
up and always know that there is tomorrow.
I mean you really never know
whether half mile away, one mile away,
you're going to have the motherload
and you just have to keep on going.
♪
MOORE: This is a big one, he
probably weighs ten pounds.
I thought we were getting $9 a pound
for this, so this guy's worth almost $100.
There's the crab in the tank.
Tank's full.
There's probably 70,000 pounds in there.
RICK (off-screen): You've just always got
to stay positive, 'cause you don't know
what the next day's gonna be,
what the next string's gonna be,
what the next pot's gonna be.
And lo and behold, I think
we nailed it right on 'em.
NARRATOR: HMCS Ottawa is taking a
direct line home through the shock waves
of the Alaskan storm systems.
JACKLIN: We're a war ship, we can't
let a little bad weather stop us from
getting to where we want to go.
Wooh, it's like going through a car wash!
NARRATOR: Taking waves on the
bow is the safest strategy but will burn
up to 20% more fuel and it
won't be a comfortable ride.
JACKLIN: It just makes life a little
bit harder for people getting out of bed,
walking down the flats, that's
what we call the hallways in the ship,
or even just standing in a shower and
trying not to bounce off the sides of the
shower as you're
trying to rinse the soap out of your eyes,
as you're bouncing back and forth.
We're just going to stay
in a similar sea state to this
for the next few days.
NARRATOR: In the Bering Sea, Captain
Mark Casto and the crew of the Pinnacle
are still fishing in
treacherous conditions.
MARK: It's 12:37 in the
afternoon, pretty good storm.
STEVEN: Steven
Jamieson, Pinnacle.
It's a little breezy out, so we'll try to
take you out there and see what happens.
NARRATOR: Veteran fishermen like Steven
know all too well the risks of the job.
Constantly stormy weather
in the Bering increases the risk of swells
interacting to form freak giant waves.
MARK: Heads up. We got a hell
of a roller coming there.
NARRATOR: Once the crabs are removed,
the pots have to be stacked and tied down
so the boat can move to the next location.
On the Pinnacle, it's Steven's
job to secure them
so they don't risk rolling the boat over.
MAN: Bay 26
MAN: Roger.
NARRATOR: To balance on the top of the
rolling stack, with no harness and only a
life jacket for protection, is
to take your life in your hands.
Falling into the freezing water
would mean almost certain death.
After five days of fishing in
the shadow of typhoon Hagibis,
the Aleutian Lady is about to
make dock with her cargo of crab.
RICK: It was a bear getting in here,
a wind was blowing us off the dock,
but we got in and I'm going
to take a walk around and
show you what we accomplished
the past five days.
Hey Bullet, grab a big one.
That's the baby.
There we go, both you guys hold them up.
Big old spiders.
BULLET: Sea spiders.
NARRATOR: The Aleutian Lady
was the most successful boat that went out
as Hagibis passed over the Bering.
Hagibis finally dissipated over Eastern
Siberia as it approached the Arctic Circle.
It will go down in history as a record
breaker, for its flood damage in Japan.
PATRICK (off-screen): Hagibis
went from tropical storm strength to a
category five typhoon
in less than a 24-hour period.
NARRATOR: The most costly
typhoon of all time.
Its impact felt thousands of
miles from its tropical birthplace,
threatening lives
and livelihoods across the Pacific.
In a world of accelerating change,
as storms become more
powerful and less predictable,
Hagibis was a warning,
summoned from the deepest
and largest ocean on earth.