The Bay – Life on the Edge is a stunning documentary in three acts.

 

Initially we follow the development of our planet Earth…the most beautiful and biodiverse world in our solar system and way beyond. Rapidly the focus is drawn to Byron bay on the most easterly point of Australia… the most isolated inhabited continent on Earth.

 

Here we explore the spectacular wild community that has been living here at the convergence of the tropical and temperate zones for thousands of years. We see how ancient dramatic climate changes have determined the very nature of the bay.

 

We intimately follow the lives of the wild creatures that live in the bay and others that pass through the bay on their epic migrations from Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef.

 

In act two we show the epic migration of our own human species out of Africa to the bay in three waves. The first around 70,000 years ago, the second wave out of Africa via Europe only slightly more than two hundred years ago and recent multicultural migrations. The impact of our human history on the bays wild community and surrounding environment is discussed in detail, using fascinating archival footage and photographs to illustrate our story.

 

In act three we clearly see that our species, like everything else on the planet is constantly evolving. In hindsight a lot of what we have done has been unwise and based  on short term gain and at times basically just to survive.  It is time for us to live up to our self titled name of Homo sapiens… wise human. We are clever… of that there is no doubt but to survive we now have to rethink our relationship to nature. New ways of environmentally sustainable living within natural systems are explored. We look to find a way forward that will provide a healthy future for the coming generations of our own species and for the multitude of other species with whom we share this beautiful planet. Our choices now will determine the future of all life on Earth.