SHOBE SURFS • PORTRAIT. Shobe visits the only surf club on the Bangladeshi coast where even girls are allowed to suf. Surfing is more than a sport for the 13 year old girl from the slum. It is her ticket to a better world. While Shobe's family expects her to marry soon and even tries to send her off to Oman for working, her surf instructor Rashed shows her a different way to leave poverty behind. Shobe wants to use this chance but there is always someone ready to put obstacles in her way. Only when she is riding waves Shobe can forget her fears and sorrows and be a teenager for a little while. But this gives her the strength to stay focussed on her big dream.
THE DEEP MED • DIVING EXPEDITION. Marine biologist and photographer Laurent Ballesta embarks on a diving mission to document the fascinating and little-explored ecosystem at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Because he wants to avoid the time-consuming decompression process associated with diving to great depths, he and three other researchers move into a pressurized capsule measuring just under five square meters for 28 days. During the course of the expedition, the capsule is submerged at various locations off the French Mediterranean coast. The divers can only exit the capsule when its underwater, but what they discover there makes up for the effort. In 'The Deep Med', we drift along with them through the gardens of coral reef, see the common squid mating, and watch peacock feather worms fish for plankton.
COLD WATER THERAPY • SURF EXPEDITION. Three surfers—Remy, Josh, and Jake—have had enough of the crowded surf spots of their Australian homeland. Their search for empty waves takes them to the other side of the world—to Alaska, in the middle of a frozen winter. There they rely on the experience of an old sea captain who knows the area like the back of his hand and has been leading surfing guests to the best spots for years with his fishing boat Milo. Surrounded by snow-covered mountains, glaciers, and ice floes, the adventure of a lifetime begins for the three sun-kissed surfers. With snowstorms, seasickness, and cold feet, many new challenges await, yet Remy, Josh, and Jake can't wait to jump into the icy water.
INTO THE ICE • ENVIRONMENT. What will happen if our Earth continues to warm? How fast will sea levels rise as glaciers melt? For decades, scientists have been trying to model and predict the effects of climate change. The equation is complex, and to solve it, we need even more data. That's why glaciologist Alun Hubbard is embarking on an expedition into the ice. He wants to know how the meltwater from our glaciers affects climate models. There are many theories but nothing definitive—yet. Alun Hubbard is hoping to elicit the answers from the ice, with measurements not just on the surface of the glacier but also inside it. In his search for evidence and data, he boldly abseils into the glacier's depths.