The Project

Ocean Geopolitics and the sixth continent*

A careful examination of the world map confirms the importance of the maritime area, which corresponds to 71% of the earth’s surface. 50% of this area is occupied by the Pacific, 23% by the Atlantic and 20% by the Indian Ocean.

Of more than 180 countries which are UN members, a few more than 30 countries do not hold natural boundaries with the oceans, which they strive to achieve.

Such is the case of Bolivia, which during the war with Chile in 1883 lost the Port of Antofagasta and still today claims legal possession. Another example is Iraq, whose strategic objective in the wars against Iran and Kuwait was accessing the Persian Gulf.

Both countries acknowledge that their economies strongly depend on the oceans, be it because three quarters of the world trade depend on marine transportation, or because they must ensure access to their many resources.

30% of the worldwide oil consumption is obtained through maritime exploration, 20% of natural gas and 50% of tungsten, not to mention fishing as well as the unexplored nickel and cobalt reserves, estimated at 10 times greater than terrestrial.

Notwithstanding, despite the richness of the oceans, it is on the coast that is more sensitive. The point where the earth and the sea merge is an extremely vulnerable, productive zone which is constantly evolving. It is responsible for half of the global biological production, and it supplies 90% of the maritime exploitable resources.

* ( data from “Le Sixieme Continent – Geopolitique des Oceans”, by Pierre Papon – publisher: Odile Jacob)

 

The Endless Sea Project

Objective:
Travel over the Brazilian coast aboard a sailboat while creating TV programs, radio bulletins and reports for a site.

Duration:
12 months

Motives:
For the first time, our coast will be shown to the media from the sea’s rather than the earth’s point of view.

This approach will enable the viewer to familiarize with a reality which is not always shown on TV, since our islands are rarely filmed, and our beaches and bays are viewed from the continent’s optics, whose takes show scarce green areas amongst buildings, avenues and huge tourist resorts.

One can reach the most remote sites on the coast by boat and get to places where access by the continent is unfeasible, and which preserve their original geographic, flora and fauna features.

What might the Brazilian coast look like at the time of discovery?
The series of programs aims at highlighting the historic process of the Brazilian coast, by comparing, whenever possible, our first navigators and travelers’ reports and descriptions to today’s reality, focusing on problems caused by coastal occupation such as deforestation, our great population density (over 50% of the world’s population lives on the coast), real estate constraints, pollution, etc.

Pero Vaz de Caminha’s letter describing the southern coast of Bahia , Jean de Lery’s report on the Guanabara Bay, Hans Staden’s detailed description of the São Paulo coast, or excerpts of Jose de Anchieta’s letters mentioning the beaches in Espirito Santo represent a small portion of the 16th Century reports that will be recalled. Several other reports will be used, including 17th , 18th and 19th century travel logbooks.

Culturally speaking, which of the coast’s genuine features have remained untouched?
Registers of the coast’s rich cultural marine diversity will take up a considerable portion of the programs.

From the nautical point of view, this tradition lies in the building techniques of vessels still being used such as regular or dugout canoes, cutters, barges, rafts, etc, all of them real icons in danger of extinction.

When onshore, there will be special emphasis on folk parties and events such as “Fandango” – a party that still takes place in the southeast . Interviews with oral tradition representatives such as “contadores de causos” ( word-of-mouth popular story tellers), “caiçara” (seacoast dwellers) community leaders, naval artisans, artcraft artists, fisherman, etc., will also take place.

In addition, the architecture of Portuguese built fortresses, of sugar mills and churches built close to the sea, and of the lighthouses – some of which date from the Second Empire period – will be treated as equally important themes in the programs.

Geographic Accidents
The most important islands will be visited: Abrolhos ,in the south of Bahia, Fernando de Noronha, on the Pernambuco shore, Santa Catarina in the southeast, Trindade, the farthest one off the coast, situated 600 miles off the Espirito Santo shore, besides all the islands off the São Paulo coast such as Bom Abrigo, Queimada Grande, Alcatrazes, Montão de Trigo, Ilha Bela, Vitória, etc.

But that is not all. Major estuaries, sea cliffs, dunes and bays will also be explored.

Ecosystems
Mangrove areas, sand banks, littoral lagoons, the Atlantic forest, the cilia forest and atolls are some of the ecosystems which will be visited and described with the help of a specialist.

The issue of applied technology
This is another issue unknown by the mainstream media which will be tackled.
A common example is fishing, which underwent incredible growth in the twentieth century due to technical advancements such as the invention of sonars, which can now detect deep-sea fish shoals, or the advanced fishing boat building techniques culminating in the factory ships of our times.

When it comes to orientation, we’ve gone from sextants to the revolutionary GPS – Global Position System – which utilizes 26 satellites simultaneously, allowing for safe voyages of few feet bias in relation to the position of the ship 24 hours a day.

Deep sea exploration boasts robots reaching depths never touched before, used not only in archeological sites but also to identify new ore beds.

The first optical cable was installed in the Atlantic in 1888. Up until 1999, 265.000 kilometers had been installed. Optical cables allow the transmission of information from one site to another, responding to a technological phenomenon in which information technology has undergone unprecedented development.

The National and International Legislation:
The UN convention on Sea Rights was signed in 1982 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and was enforced in 1994. It has bold objectives: establish norms for the international ocean zones, maritime territorial borders, navigation rights, economic jurisdiction, resource exploration rights and management and protection of the maritime environment. The Convention was only held and ratified, since our knowledge on sea life, despite being greatly developed, is still incipient, and has only recently changed the belief that our sea resources were inexhaustible. Today, due to overexploitation, the scientific community acknowledges that such resources are seriously threatened.

This, along with the national legislation, is one more issue to be tackled by the program.

The TV program:
Weekly 25-minute-long episodes will be presented by João Lara Mesquita and journalist Paulina Chamorro. João Lara Mesquita will be in charge of the overall coordination and content of the programs.

Recording and editing will be accounted for by VTF , a production agency owned by Fernando Sampaio, a TV director. Rui Viotti Filho will be doing the final editing. Takes will be by Fernando Sampaio Barros and Rodrigo Cartegiano, and Adriana Cerdeira will be respond for the program’s production.

A specialist will be invited to join the crew in order to give support to the main theme of each unpublished chapter. Among them we’ll have environmentalists, biologists, professors, architects, historians, specialists in popular folk culture, geographers etc.

The environment, the shore geography, the “caiçaras”, the boats and their crews will become characters according to the each program’s focused theme, all of them in constant interaction with viewers and listeners.