The six-part series surveys the natural history of the islands of the South Pacific region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand.

On 6 May 2009, BBC Worldwide released a short clip of big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom surfing in slow motion, high-definition footage as a preview of the series, attracting extremely positive reactions on YouTube.

The series was released by Discovery International in the USA under the title Wild Pacific, with narration provided by Mike Rowe.

The opening episode presents an overview of the natural history of the region, introducing some of the themes that are explored in more detail in later programmes.

Cold ocean currents flow all the way to the Galápagos Islands, 8000 miles away, enabling sea lions and penguins to survive on the equator.

On small islands such as Anuta, people have fostered strong communities and sustainable hunting, farming and fishing practices to make up for the limited availability of food.

The mass spawning of groupers on a Solomon Island reef releases millions of eggs, which drift on ocean currents to establish new populations.

Fruit bats were the only mammals to cross the ocean divide, but smaller animals were carried here by cyclones and jet stream winds.

Seabirds have made the crossing to French Polynesia, where their rich guano helped fertilise barbed seeds stuck to their feathers and turn barren coral atolls into fertile groves.

The 19th-century story of the Essex, with its whalemen stranded in their lifeboats after a sperm whale attack is used to illustrate the difficulty of surviving in the open ocean.

The currents that circle the South Pacific support huge shoals and an incredible variety of life, but much of the centre is an ocean desert.

The sea lions work together to divide shoals into smaller bait balls, and blow bubbles into the reef to scare fish out.

Pioneering species such as ōhia lehua colonise new land, putting roots down through the cracks into lava tubes where strange troglobites eke out their existence.

In the Galápagos Islands, penguins take advantage of the cool shade of lava tubes to raise their chicks, but predatory Sally Lightfoot crabs lie in wait in the shadows.

Underwater footage includes giant clams spawning, grey reef sharks hunting needlefish by night and a timelapse sequence of a Triton's trumpet engulfing a crown-of-thorns starfish.

In New Zealand, Fiordland crested penguins raise their chicks in the forests and short-tailed bats behave more like mice, hunting wetas on the ground.

Wild tuataras can still be found on Stephens Island, but the flightless wren was not so lucky – the last of its kind were killed by pet cats before it was declared a new species.

Commercial fishing vessels lay huge purse seine nets, large enough to catch 150 tonnes at a time.

Writing in The Guardian, Sam Wollaston said that it was "about beautiful South Pacific things, filmed amazingly," but criticised the "slightly irritating script" and called the show "perhaps a little unfocused.

")[11] The series was also nominated for a Royal Television Society Craft & Design Award for "Best Sound: Entertainment & Non-Drama" (Kate Hopkins, Tim Owens, Andrew Wilson).