Monster Island

Subtitles by explosiveskull

You're gonna owe me one, Cherise.

Looks like a dead end here.

Let's pack it up.

Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait.

What's that?

12 o'clock.

We've got active fumaroles

and volcanic debris on the sea floor.

Ford was right.

Take us forward 20 degrees.

Ford's live right now.

How would you categorize putting 500-ton machines

on the seabed, digging and tearing up the sea bottom,

obliterating everything in their path

to obtain a small amount of minerals and metals?

It's not a small amount.

What about the sea life?

From what I understand, the metals you seek

are found on volcanic sea mounts and hydrothermal vents,

hot spots for hundreds of life forms,

many of which are completely new to science

and exist nowhere else,

life forms that may vanish before we even identify

what they are if your mining is allowed to go forward.

On the contrary, we're ideally situated

to allow for the discovery of new life forms.

Take us over that ridge.

Your detractors say you are planning to tear apart

unique marine environments that exist nowhere else.

If mankind is to continue using technology

- like we have today... - Keep going.

...we have to find new sources of raw materials.

- Ocean mining is the answer. - Keep going.

Look at that.

Polymetallic nodules, hundreds of them.

Not all nodules contain manganese.

Ones on volcanoes do.

Let's do what we came here for.

Collect a sample.

We only have permission to survey.

Come on. You know what Ford would say.

"Rather ask for forgiveness than for permission."

But we're not him.

Riley, you know the next step

will be to collect a sample, okay?

And permitting is gonna take weeks!

I mean, why go through all that if this claim is a dud?

Let's dig! Let's bring up some of that nugget!

The fines would be a lot less than what it would cost

to bring us back out here.

Why can I never say no to you?

Yes!

Now I can show you what this digger can do.

Here we go.

That's the motherlode.

Riley?

What is that?

Experts agree that this part of the ocean

needs to be left alone.

We've lost contact.

Today, we're inviting viewers to our remote operating facility

to take a look at the ocean floor

in a way that's never been done before.

Follow me.

There you have it.

Iconoclastic billionaire, Billy Ford, going his own way

as his legions of fans and detractors will agree.

Love him or hate him, he's pushed boundaries on land.

Now he's doing it in the ocean.

- I'm still on the call. - Of course.

So this kind of mining, it can be done remotely?

That's right.

Our machines are tethered to surface buoys

and linked by our satellite,

technology pioneered here at Benthic Prospecting.

Our operation represents the future

and not just here on earth.

Benthic Prospecting are gonna be in the vanguard

of those expecting these materials

to safeguard our future. Let me show you.

It only takes a team of two to run one of our machines.

The rest is fully automated.

Now, Cherise, why don't you load up one

of the live feeds from our deep digger?

Uh, sir...

Now there's gonna be about a one minute delay.

But given the fact this machine's over a mile deep,

it's a great achievement to get a feed from one of our relays.

- Sir? - Yeah?

We don't have the video feed.

So I can see. James, you on this?

When are we gonna get that feed back online?

Mr. Ford, sir, it's Riley.

Can we speak to you for a second?

These cameras go down all the time.

It's just one of the hazards of working near volcanic rifts.

We're currently surveying a newly discovered volcanic area.

- Isn't that right, Cherise? - Yes, sir.

Sir, we have a problem.

A very big problem.

Uh, we have a slight glitch here, Susan.

Let's reconvene this conversation.

And when we come back,

we're gonna have something really big for you.

I take full responsibility for going into the caldera.

No. It was me. I take full responsibility.

- I pushed the issue. - But I went along with it.

Yeah, but you didn't want to.

You didn't exactly put a gun to my head.

Don't give me any ideas, Riley.

- Ooh. - Cherise!

Riley, you're new, but, Cherise,

you've been with me from the beginning.

You're both too valuable to me to be sitting around

playing blame games.

My mom always told me you can't make an omelet

without breaking a few eggs.

Of course, her omelets didn't set me back quite so much.

Tell you what.

Depending on what we find, you can pay me back in installments.

That's a joke, Riley.

We'll salvage it.

Prepare for departure.

We're heading out for the trench.

Billionaire mining magnate, Billy Ford,

and his Benthic Prospecting Company

deal with a major setback as their premier

deep sea mining robot, the Deep Digger, goes offline.

This 500-ton and billion dollar robot was apparently surveying

an unexplored region of the Pacific when it vanished.

International environmental authorities,

including the ISA, are looking into his operations.

And experts indicate this could be a death blow

for Benthic Prospecting and its dreams of mining the deep.

Ah, mon ami. Ca va?

Listen. We have this woman here.

I tried chasing her away, but she has these official papers.

What type of papers, good papers?

Billy, it's not a bad thing we an extra woman on the vessel.

Thanks, Captain.

Good luck.

Mr. Ford, Sarah Murray, marine observer

from the International Seabed Authority.

Our office put in a call?

- We've been preoccupied. - I see.

My job is, by government mandate,

to ensure that environmental regulations are

upheld on any maritime mining expedition.

This isn't a mining expedition.

According to your ship's manifest,

you are on a salvage operation of a deep mining R.O.V.

in international waters.

Listen, we need to leave.

Get your office to call mine and we can set up an appointment

to discuss future Benthic Prospecting operations.

Mr. Ford, I am authorized to inform you that,

by refusing a government observer,

you and your company are subject to fines.

We'll pay the fine.

Fines and/or government impoundment of your vessel

and equipment,

not to mention any future applications

will be heavily scrutinized.

I see that you have a permit for geological survey

and your mining permit is still under review.

Correct.

Your cooperation with the ISA

is one of the conditions of the permit.

And this includes an onboard environmental observer.

Like I said, this isn't a mining expedition!

One last thing. I'm curious.

How did you identify the Kermadec Trench

as a source for mining?

All right, answer me this.

As a member of the ISA, can you tell me who else,

what companies, nations, other interested parties,

might have been looking at claims on that area

of the sea floor?

I can do that.

Well, in that case, welcome to Benthic Prospecting.

I can assure you my team follow all maritime rules.

We're groundbreakers, not lawbreakers, Miss Murray.

Ms.

Well, according to our records, your company is

the only one who's applied for a permit to survey that area.

It's kind of off the radar.

I'm curious.

What brought you into this field?

Marine environmental observer?

Can't be the pay.

Unfortunately, not.

Frankly, there weren't a ton of jobs

for a graduate with a degree in geomythology

that didn't involve sitting at a desk.

Do you know what that is?

It's a wooden platform with four legs, isn't it?

You put things on it.

Very funny, Mr. Ford.

I know.