1 00:00:01,594 --> 00:00:05,255 The open plains of the asphalt jungle. 2 00:00:05,255 --> 00:00:08,625 Home to many creatures, great and small. 3 00:00:08,625 --> 00:00:13,263 And the pupping ground for one the most clever and illustrious creatures, 4 00:00:13,263 --> 00:00:16,300 the Plastic Bag. 5 00:00:16,300 --> 00:00:21,104 Today we explore the cycle of life for this curious creature, the plastic bag 6 00:00:21,104 --> 00:00:26,652 on its migration to its home, the Pacific ocean. 7 00:00:26,652 --> 00:00:31,370 Once released into the wild, the plastic bag is unsure of itself. 8 00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:36,954 It falters at first, but soon, with some help from the wind, 9 00:00:36,954 --> 00:00:39,703 the bag will be airborne! 10 00:00:39,780 --> 00:00:45,388 This flight will be the first in its long journey towards it's final destination: 11 00:00:45,450 --> 00:00:50,774 the Garbage Patch in heart of the Pacific Ocean. 12 00:00:50,871 --> 00:00:53,250 Using the wind to guide it, 13 00:00:53,290 --> 00:00:56,557 the plastic bag moves across the city, through the air. 14 00:00:57,657 --> 00:00:59,571 A city park. 15 00:00:59,663 --> 00:01:04,061 This park may, at first, seem like an idyllic place for the plastic bag, 16 00:01:04,153 --> 00:01:07,568 but danger lurks around every corner. 17 00:01:07,568 --> 00:01:10,070 Here it will encounter many enemies, 18 00:01:10,070 --> 00:01:11,887 including one of the MOST dangerous... 19 00:01:12,041 --> 00:01:14,596 Park Services! 20 00:01:18,750 --> 00:01:24,219 Poor little fellow. Looks like HIS journey ends here. 21 00:01:25,508 --> 00:01:30,465 Meanwhile, our little bag has encountered one of nature's most deadly killers... 22 00:01:30,465 --> 00:01:32,472 the Teacup Yorkie. 23 00:01:32,472 --> 00:01:37,286 Once the Yorkie has locked onto his victim, there is very little hope of survival. 24 00:01:37,286 --> 00:01:40,300 But using it's superior size and deft manouvering, 25 00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:47,721 our bag manages to escape the Yorkie's talons and flee for its life. 26 00:01:50,490 --> 00:01:53,762 Over the course of its miraculous migration, 27 00:01:53,872 --> 00:01:56,784 the plastic bag will cover VAST distances, 28 00:01:56,784 --> 00:02:02,001 through neighborhoods, across parks, and down city streets. 29 00:02:02,581 --> 00:02:06,293 It is now nightfall and our highly advanced Night Vision Cameras 30 00:02:06,293 --> 00:02:10,297 have managed to capture, for the FIRST TIME in history, 31 00:02:10,297 --> 00:02:12,841 a plastic bag in pitch black. 32 00:02:13,241 --> 00:02:16,495 PHENOMENAL! 33 00:02:16,495 --> 00:02:23,602 The vast cement rivers of California, home to literally dozens of animals. 34 00:02:24,467 --> 00:02:27,981 Many plastic bags will not make it out of here, 35 00:02:27,981 --> 00:02:30,901 the reeds and branches will see to that. 36 00:02:33,132 --> 00:02:37,247 As at home in water as it is on land or in the air, 37 00:02:37,416 --> 00:02:43,246 the bag's natural buoyancy makes it an excellent swimmer. 38 00:02:48,031 --> 00:02:49,195 It's close now... 39 00:02:49,287 --> 00:02:51,864 and it can feel it! 40 00:02:53,387 --> 00:02:59,361 At last the bag has reached the gateway to the open sea. 41 00:03:00,823 --> 00:03:04,838 Careful to avoid the mouths of hungry sea-life that feed on the helpless plastic, 42 00:03:04,858 --> 00:03:12,462 the bag will travel 100s of miles, to join the thriving community of plastic known as 43 00:03:12,462 --> 00:03:15,863 the GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH. 44 00:03:15,863 --> 00:03:18,895 The Garbage Patch is a veritable plastic oasis, 45 00:03:18,956 --> 00:03:23,291 where millions of tons of plastic garbage remain entrapped by the currents. 46 00:03:23,557 --> 00:03:25,411 It is said to be twice the size of Texas, 47 00:03:25,711 --> 00:03:28,489 never actually biodegrading, 48 00:03:28,489 --> 00:03:33,226 Here the plastic bag can live indefinitely, peacefully, coexisting with 49 00:03:33,411 --> 00:03:36,343 billions of other petroleum species, 50 00:03:36,524 --> 00:03:39,643 before breaking into ever tinier plastic pieces, 51 00:03:39,643 --> 00:03:45,214 thus completing the plastic cycle of life.