"Lost in the immensity of the Pacific ... surrounded by a coral reef only 3 km ..." "Clipperton Island seems harmless at first." "Marked by a unique volcanic elevation ... your ground ring can hardly be seen at sea level." "Surrounded by seas, the island offers no refuge ... only traps." "However, in its arid coast, some life could be fixed." "Numerous birds have chosen to make their nests." "Flocks of crabs became the most tenacious residents of the island." "In this dark world, they are kings and butchers." "Its function is simple:" "Survival." "The man came and went, leaving traces of its turbulent silent presence." "Living witnesses still speak of abandonment, terror and violent death." "He beat both us." "He beat both us." "Separated by cataclysms do mar ... the lagoon has become a unique laboratory for the study of adaptation." "Remote, desolate ..." "Clipperton continues with stage, in which the species ..." "They represent the eternal drama of life and death." "The ODYSSEY OF JACQUES COUSTEAU" "Dedicated To those who Struggle to Preserve Life on Planet" "For the rich and restless ..." "Hotels Pacific Coast of Mexico offer languid retreat." "In swimming pools, bars and boutiques in Manzanillo ... any tourist can find relief from stress ... and forget the world." "Clipperton Island" "A 1.080 km a sudeste do México..." "Clipperton Island is also a world apart." "Its shape is suggestive of zero." "It does not offer any luxury." "Clipperton:" "THE ISLAND THAT TIME FORGOT" "Inaccessible by sea ..." "Clipperton is also usually difficult to access by air." "To provide quick access to Captain Cousteau ... and scientific staff of three countries ... an airstrip was improvised on coral soil ... impassive domain booby." "On landing the Canadian plane ..." "Cousteau is received by peers, Sumian, Delemotte, Delcouter ... e o Dr. Pierre Niaussat... who led studies on geology and Clipperton life systems." "Now that the pond was isolated from the sea ... the island does not offer suitable anchorage." "So the boat with the supplies should stay away from the coast ... as tons of material and even people ..." "They are brought to the island by helicopter." "Although there are two small palm trees on the island ... descendants of coconut trees planted nearly a century ago ... almost everything has to be brought to the gravel arid." "Generator, food, medical equipment ... and a tractor for the transport of scientific equipment." "Fuel and water must be stored ... for the French, Canadian and American joint mission." "Observed by the natives ... boobies-of-red-legged crabs and ... the new intruders explore their small world." "They are not the first." "On the island, came conquistadors, pirates and whalers Yankees." "In its narrow perimeter ... the remains of shipwrecks are found ... guano trafficking ... and military missions that have left there supply depots ... and even a French camp." "Now French, the island had its disputed domain by Mexico ... that, in 1908, sent a garrison under the command of Captain Arnaud ... accompanied by his young bride." "Just six years later ... during the First World War and the revolution in Mexico ..." "Arnaud rejected an offer of evacuation of an American ship." "Today, Mexico ... the son of Arnaud, Ramón ... and the maid of the family, Alta Gracia, 19 years old at the time ... recall the fateful decision." "Captain Arnaud did not want to leave his post." "I said the food was running out." "The son of the captain, Ramón, speaks of the abandonment of three years ... the ship with supplies that never arrived." "There were 15 deaths ... and others were slowly dying." "People's health deteriorated ... and the few remedies over." "The Mexican garrison has long been forgotten ... and the rock of the lonely lighthouse is brand ... the suffering of the survivors." "The treacherous sea that surrounded them ... today attack the coast." "To this day, when passing by the surf with Zodiac ... the Cousteau team finds it difficult ... because of the geography of the island." "As the crown of a submerged volcano ... the coral reef is a continuation of the island ... a thin shell against which the waves break endlessly ... generally preventing the passage of small boats." "Only after passing the surf ... where underwater flanks of the island are lower ... é Cousteau, Delemotte, L'Enfant Delcouter e ... can safely navigate." "A uns cem metros dali..." "Clipperton is a battlefield for the few species that remain." "Here, dolphins frolic." "A streak going, unhurried ... imposing and sure of himself." "In these waters, life is abundant." "The flat bottom and cold offers little shelter from predators." "An endless procession of marine species passes." "Tropical fish of all kinds, large schools of xaréus ..." "Here and there we see a trumpet." "Large clumps of moray eels brigonas ..." "Sometimes, two or three coexisting per square meter." "A school of yellow fish Japanese pioneers ... for a small shark pass." "Around us appear more sharks." "Difficult to approach ... they arch their backs in a characteristic movement ... as a warning to keep us away from its perimeter." "The hundreds, hammerhead sharks pass above us with aplomb." "Fleeing desperately to the surface ... shoals of small fish are faced with another predator:" "The boobies." "Even the boobies must face a multitude of frigates ... that try to steal your fish." "Aqueles que as despistam..." "Soon desincumbem fishing, feeding the ravenous young." "But even as the cubs eat ... another presence waiting their turn." "Red Crab immediately take advantage of any carelessness." "He, too, must fight off his rivals in this feast." "But in the food chain from the sea to the water and the land ... there is another link." "In Clipperton, the morays patrol the coast to feed ... and sometimes venture inland ... to reach their prey." "The circle closed." "The sea that fed the bird, which fed the crab ... once again it was reimbursed ... and he took what was her right." "Since the discovery of the island by Spanish conquistadors ..." "Visitors were surprised ... with huge flocks of birds Clipperton ... flying as a track on the island." "Are terns, boobies and depending on the season, frigates ... that other, steal their prey." "By tacit agreement, each species has well-defined land rights ... zones, each of which makes its nest." "Although thousands of eggs spread by coral ... each bird is always yours." "So rigidly programmed by instinct ... often try to shock a damaged egg." "Birds can fly, but it's the crab that reigns on the floor." "Smaller than a hand ... and heat sensitive ... they avoid the sun ... digging holes and underground galleries ... or taking refuge under leaves, debris ... or anything that offers some protection." "Regardless of privacy, form true living walls." "Numerous as to be described as a vast red carpet ... the crabs eat everything that is soft and defenseless." "His life is an endless search for food." "With the sunset, they become active." "Determined to make friends ..." "Cousteau plays hide and seek with one." "But the crab realize that the fingers can be edible." "This crab is more successful and runs off with the egg of a booby." "Generally, the booby lays two eggs per year ... delicacy much harassed by crabs." "They say that sometimes he gives an egg ... and a gentlemen's agreement ... obtains immunity to the second." "Fortunately, the egg broke when being dragged across the coral." "When this happens, the cancer becomes the adoptive father ... patiently waiting ovo or crashing ... and then eat the puppy." "The merciless law of natural selection on the island ... there is no escape." "Weak die and the strong survive only." "Because the eggs of the booby hatch with several days apart ... the first puppy is the strongest ... and often expelled the youngest in the impartial mother look." "Insistent as hunger, crabs advance." "Moved the abandoned puppies ..." "Jacques Ertaud, the Cousteau team, decides to experiment." "He tells Cousteau who wants to put the youngest cub ... certainly put to death ... in a nest with only one egg ... to see if the other mother will adopt." "Finding a nest ..." "Ertaud takes booby of the way ..." "Carefully put the puppy in the nest ... and hold or result." "After much hesitation ... the booby finally accepted the new family member." "Protected by the new mother's plumage, the pup confident waiting for food." "Elsewhere, a crab gun siege ... boldly testing the patience of the nest guardians." "In the company of its ... he approaches the chick and egg ... protected by the mother's body." "Nervous, the female gets up, exposing the puppy." "Immediately, the crabs move forward and attack." "But this time, the usual does not." "The puppy's parents counter-attack." "Or the shell of crabs resist the rapid advances ... the powerful beak of boobies." "The accurate nozzle booby found a weak spot ... and the crab pays the attack on the nest with tweezers." "This crab, also badly injured ... simply opts for surgery ... and amputate his own tweezers." "It will regenerate in the next cycles." "The voracious appetite of crabs does not make distinctions ... victimizing friends and enemies." "But despite cannibals ... they observe the rules of their kind ... and do not attack their peers." "Feeding without stopping ... crabs devastated vegetation of the island ... except for a few trees." "They eat what they can cut and lead to mouth." "But this gloomy battlefield ... they have the important role of butchers." "Clean by crabs ... bones booby dissolve ... recycled by sun and rain." "In this austere economy, nothing is wasted." "Day after day, scientists study the volcanic origins of the atoll ... its marine biology constantly changing ... and the limitations that his hostile environment ... imposes on living beings that sustains." "In makeshift laboratories from Old French camp ... biologist, René Taxit shows the Cousteau samples of fresh and salt water." "They reveal that while harbor few species ... the lagoon is much richer in plankton than the sea." "Showing a dead piece of coral ... geologist, Bourrouilh says Cousteau that, because of the abrupt transition ... a saline ... the lagoon provides us a unique opportunity ... to study the impact of freshwater in what was once a rich coral reef." "Visible from the air as a stain, the lagoon is a deep hole." "Perhaps the vent of a submerged volcano ... which has long aroused the curiosity of scientists." "Cousteau goes to the diving platform ... mounted just above the volcano's crater." "There, with Delemotte and Sumian he prepares to descend ... the vent." "For diving, Cousteau brought special equipment." "Predicting difficult conditions ... he designed a rectangular cone ... full of clear water and put it in front of the camera lens ... to be able to shoot in and rummaged through troubled waters." "For diving ..." "Cousteau, Jacques Bernard Delemotte Delcouter e ..." "They put aside their usual wetsuits ... to wear long johns waterproof ... and a mask." "The preparations, Bernard falls into the water." "Now is the time to Delcouter and Cousteau." "And the journey begins." "Above, for a moment, we see a rectangle of light ... the window through which we pass from one element to another." "Now it is gone." "Test my camera ... and the cone that protects the lens cloudy water around us." "I see a great shape ahead." "I think recognize Bernard." "It makes a signal and later the lights indicate the entrance of the crater ... covered by vegetation." "At this depth, there is still life." "Slowly, we continue the descent along the heavy cable ..." "Our only point of reference in the growing darkness." "Gradually, the nature of the world around seems to change ... both in temperature and in chemical composition." "It now seems made of glycerin." "A 180 m, the lights reveal what appears to be the bottom." "But in fact, it is a dense layer of 1.20 m ... accumulated plant debris, a thick network ... in which everything that falls from the surface gets stuck." "Through it, Delcouter disappears ... and, for a moment, all we see are the bubbles ... of his breathing apparatus." "Comes our turn to pass through the layer." "All around us, floating clumps of matter." "Strange constellations ... in a space in which we were familiar ceased to exist." "It seems to be in a world of dreams ... ghostly and immaterial." "The cable is the only thing that connects us to reality." "Suddenly, we see a rise." "Any movement raises our particle clouds ... waste than ever had life." "Go deeper." "Submerged in desolation ... the water temperature appears to rise again ... burning our hands through the gloves." "We collect samples, hoping to find out ... chemical changes that occurred at each level." "Now, almost 300 meters ... crossed over a suspended layer ... and enter into a silent chaos in which fractured matter around us ... felt, rather than seen." "Gradually we enter in complete darkness." "With our feet duck finally touch the bottom." "Before, only our hands were scalded by water." "Now, despite our clothes and masks, our eyes burn." "Tears trickle down, blurring our vision." "The pain is unbearable." "I signal to return." "Now, I know that's not the heat that burns us ... but the hydrogen sulfide ... toxic product of rotting vegetation ... after they consumed all the oxygen." "We entered the death zone ... where nothing can survive." "Blind and burned, we began to climb that seems endless." "We rush ... to escape this hell ... but still, we should observe the rules of diving ... and return to the surface at the designated point." "Slowly, one hand after the other ..." "We go through the various layers toward clearer waters." "We see the light passing through the platform of the rectangle." "She no longer is a window to heaven ... but salvation itself." "When they come to the surface ..." "Delcouter lava, quickly, facial chemical." "But it was Delemotte who else was hit." "Hydrogen sulfide penetrated the mask ... and he can not open his eyes." "Cousteau remove a máscara e os cilindros de ar." "He's not well." "Despite the great discomfort ..." "Divers on the descent vent ..." "Cousteau said the shipment was worth it." "As a souvenir of the trip ..." "They brought a piece of coral dead for examination." "Later, free scalding liquid ..." "Cousteau and his colleagues describe how wept ... when the sulfide penetrated his masks." "Even the air tanks went from yellow to olive green." "But most of the hostile deep, crabs multiply." "Here, they leave their eggs, they eat algae ... and absorb essential moisture to the hair on the legs and body." "With nightfall, the birds return to the mainland ... looking for the quiet nest." "But the crabs agree." "A monstrous, crawling army crawl the island for food." "Like other species ... the crabs are destined to ephemeral victories ... subject to a design against which nothing can." "Ramón Arnaud, former commander of the child ... this same design provided an unexpected trip." "He says goodbye to daughter and woman in Manzanillo ... and prepares to return to the island has not seen for more than six decades." "In hours, Ramon travels a distance that once seemed impossible ... but in his memory, he covered more than a thousand times." ""My land," says Ramón." "Around him, the ground circle that is their home ground." "The boobies, the waves and the large rock are there, but there is something wrong." "With Cousteau ..." "Ramón through the coconut trees that had saved him ... and 10 others from death by scurvy." "Leaving the grove, Ramon tries in vain to lie ... find the old reality." "For a few moments, the past seems illusion." "It looks for something familiar, a milestone, anything." "But there is nothing else." "The houses of his childhood ... strong and shaggy figure of his mother ... and the boy who was now a distant stranger." "Do you remember your father?" "Ramón says he only remembers ... that it was big and tall ..." "He had a mustache and a helmet with a great eagle ... and dressed in German or Austrian style." "Another distant memory is threatening the sea ... always associated with the parent." "He scours the beach, trying to remember 1915 ... when his life and that of everyone else on the island ..." "He changed forever." "My father died there, as the ship passed." "He and three men died there." "We lived in the small house." "My father had finished eating and my sister was playing." "Suddenly, she went into the house, shouting, "Daddy, a ship"." "He went and saw him." "He shouted..." ""Cardona, Ira, Rodriguez, a ship!" "Come on!"" "They took the small boat and left." "Near the flagpole ... my mother saw them through the telescope." "The ship had no flag." "She stood there, staring." "The boat was going to and fro in the waves ... until they could no longer control it, or the oars broke." "My mother told us to cry." "It was a tragedy." "We were very thrilled." "We all cried." "Within hours, there was a big storm ... flooding the island with huge waves." "Now, with only one man ..." "Alvarez, the keeper of the lighthouse ..." "Madame Arnaud-nine women and children ..." "They took shelter under the floor of the house ... fearing that the wind yanked." "When the storm has passed ..." "Madame Arnaud gave birth to her fourth and last child." "Stunned, the group began a struggle that would last two years." "But, stone ... would a new and unexpected threat." "Taking up arms, the keeper of the lighthouse subdued the survivors." "Brutally demanded submission of women ... raping and shooting at the mother and daughter refused." "Stating that no woman would leave the island alive ..." "Alvarez told their potential victims." "Tirzah, who complied, but vowed to death ..." "Rosalia, 13, Alta Gracia, the first victim ... and Madame Alicia Arnaud, who would be his last lover." "Ramón mind that in July 1917 ... the keeper of the lighthouse was the big house and told Madame Arnaud ..." ""You will live with me."" "She did not answer, because Alvarez was armed." "It was then that Tirsa said: "It's time."" "The dawn of July 18, 1917 was not very different from others." "The birds were beginning to hunt." "Soon would come the heat of the day." "At 11 am, Madame Arnaud, Tirsa and young Ramón ..." "They went to the home of the lighthouse keeper." "Ramon tells the Cousteau what happened." "The first house was here and the other here." "Alvarez was sitting by the door ... and we were on that side." "My mother was here." "Tirsa was standing by the window, facing there." "She turned from the window and when he got close to Alvarez ... he raised his head and said, "What are you doing here?" "Go mind your own business "." "Tirsa went to the corner to close the trunk." "She had left a hammer there and came back to pick it up." "My mother told her to go ahead." "Tirsa hit with the hammer as well." "Twice." "He fell." "My mother pushed me away." "I entered the house." "He was still standing." "He took an ax and went after my mother." "My mother grabbed and held." "She screamed for me to go to the other side ... pick up a can of gasoline to set fire on Alvarez." "I ran, but when I got there, I saw the ship ... o Yorktown." "Tirsa came back and asked me what was going on." "I said, "A ship, a ship"." ""What will happen?"" "Looking for German enemies ... astonished, the crew of Yorktown ... only found women who had just killed a man ... and children wearing ragged clothes ... to which poverty and hunger seemed very normal." "It was eleven survivors of a prolonged catastrophe." "The ordeal of them and early childhood Ramon had ended." "Today, these events are part of a distant past ... little remembered by two survivors ..." "Ramon and his former nanny, Alta Gracia." "Before returning from his visit to the past ..." "Ramón Arnaud leaves a memory ... a symbol of peace for the father who knew so little." "A cross in the sunny silence ... marks the presence of man on the island." "In our last ride ..." "Ertaud and I feel more a rusty evidence ... the brief intrusion and ill-fated man." "In this austere and tiny world ... only crabs and some birds survive." "Other creatures, including humans, have no place here." "But ironically ... the man is reducing the diversity of species on the planet." "It is creating a world where only the strongest survive ... a hostile world even to himself ... outra Clipperton." "But the remote and sad place ... the waves brought a ball with which no child shall play." "Nearby, we find other objects on the alien shore ... both familiar and enigmatic time." "A boat." "A toy soldier." "Disassembled dolls." "Fragments of human existence." "Until ammunition not used ... saved from a shipwreck and later abandoned." "This cosmic theater of the absurd ... perhaps only the crabs to survive." "But it does not." "In this world of rigor and ordeal, they thrive or die." "Desincumbidos thinking ... to feel compassion, love or hate ... they are not myths, songs to sing ... and not will play with dolls."