| [00:00.96] |
There is one plant castaway that needs no help in finding new land, |
| [00:05.79] |
a plant that has probably done more to change the fortunes of island life than any other, |
| [00:10.99] |
and one of the greatest long-distance travellers of all time |
| [00:14.29] |
The humble coconut |
| [00:17.73] |
Its seed is a compact survival capsule |
| [00:20.95] |
Buoyant and filled with food for germination, |
| [00:23.77] |
it can survive for up to two months at sea, |
| [00:26.69] |
long enough to float from one remote island to the next |
| [00:30.61] |
On arrival, |
| [00:32.13] |
it lays down roots into bare sand and taps into the reservoirs of underground freshwater |
| [00:37.98] |
Without coconuts, |
| [00:39.94] |
most of the tropical islands in the South Pacific would have remained uninhabitable for both animals and people |
| [00:46.75] |
There is one set of islands, however, that is so remote that even the coconut couldn't reach it |
