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I'm enjoying the Indian Ocean series but have to say I was so disappointed in Simon's visit to Zanzibar. After thirty five minutes in South Africa and fifteen minutes in Mozambique, we only had a quick trip through Stonetown lasting no more than eight minutes! I waited for Zanzibar and the coverage was so short.

Is it acceptable for you to point out which countries have and are invading the Somali waters? It would be interesting to tell all the history behind the reaction of these fishermen. Many European nations have used and abused what was never theirs. Your own Britain was at the forefront of these abuses during several centuries. The culprits include Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, etc. Please be so good to print the whole truth? Thank you.

Whole truth, Paddy? Fascinating. I think you should look up internation water and territorial water and specifically the laws surrounding them. You talk about several centuries, yet, for example, territorial water wasn't really defined until 1982. Hardly centuries at play there. And if you don't mean territorial water, then what do you mean? International waters? The fact that there is no government there (Somalia) and the fact that illegal acts there also comes to play. The international laws say that if a ship is involved in an illegal act (e.g., piracy), then any country can excercise jurisdiction. Otherwise, even for territorial water, you are allowed to pass through as military or civilian as innocent passage, that is to say: 'Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal State.'
And since the pirates themselves some times go out of their territorial waters, and since they also don't follow the laws, who are they to complain or say anything? Convicts, if anything.

So while its valid it would be interesting to know the whole story of everything (impossible though really, if you think about it: hence the old game with different names, one being 'telephone'), it's also equally important that that what I pointed out is too, because abuse isn't always abuse. Laws in one country may not be relevant in another, or they have different definitions, and so on (and since Somalia has no government, well, they can't really complain about laws, can they? Not rationally, anyway).

I was also surprised at how little was shown of Zanzibar but even more disappointed that the Comores were not included in the series, given the unique customs and history of the islands. The wedding rituals and matriarchal society would have been worth a mention.

Hello, I just watched the episode 3: Kenya and the Horn of Africa. W/ rgds to plastics left on the beach, Simon said that there isn't anybody who knows what to do with them. Pls watch the following video clip on YouTube. There is a guy in Japan who invented a machine that reverts plastics back to oil. Maybe this would be a way forward to recycle plastics?

Thank you Ö÷²¥´óÐã for an amazing programme.
Simon Reeve has made this very informative and at times very sad. I have traveled extensively around this ocean and have seen it change mostly for worse!
Just spent a month in the Seychelles where the people are trying to keep the islands as natural as possible.
My I suggest that Simon does a documentary about the over fishing by factory ships in the area. The local fisherman I talked to are alarmed at the diminishing Tuna stocks. Tinned tuna is a massive factor and also an awefull product. Lets highlight this type of fishing, the vast majority of the British public have no idea about factory fishing in the Oceans or the devastation they cause.

Hi there,
I just watched episode three and I can't find any links to any of the aid organisations shown in the episode. Is there any way we can find out more about what they do, and how we could support them through donations or other aid?
Thanks!

Hello, As with post number 7 I would be very keen to have details of the charity organisations which featured in episode three. It was the charitable work with the children taking them to the coast that was organised by Sandra(?) ,the Welsh lady, that I would like to support. Thanks!

Please support the petition to protect the Tana River Delta from agricultural expansion and upset the delicate natural balance and wreak havoc on the ecosystem........

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- I see that the helpful URL link in comment 9 has been removed... is there any way we can find out about these groups or is this just impossible?
I am at a loss to understand why the Ö÷²¥´óÐã would make such great informative programming and then leave viewers with no further information about giving aid and support.

I have just spent 4 years cruising the Indian ocean and have visited most of the countries. The biggest concern was the litter, In Indonesia and Thailand the plastic bottles are knee deep in places. There seems to be no understanding of how to deal with the problem. On the near pristine islands off eastern Australia I saw floating rubbish that had apparently originated in Indonesia. In the Maldives most of the atolls have rubbish dumps like the one in the program. Some of our aid to these countries should be directed at reducing the impact of plastic bags and bottles. The people need education and leadership. Many of them live hand to mouth but there is no justification in throwing rubbish into the sea.

I have just watched the news clip of 'Apocalyptic' floating island of waste in the Maldives, and I am heart broken at the wanton neglect of one of the planets most beautiful but fragile ecosystems, and I now ask myself how many other places suffer the same neglect, and what sort of example and legacy are we leaving for our future generations, surely there is an international body set up to protect such habitats

Suddenly the Maldives is no longer no1 on my bucket list. Shocked is an understatement!

The garbage island was created during the rule of Gayoom- who is a recipient of the Global 500 environment award- and continued like that during the last 3 years when Nasheed- another man who even held an underwater cabinet meeting to prove his green credentials and about whom there is a movie called the Island President. This state of affairs will continue so long as the so-called advanced countries keep on praising leaders who are not praiseworthy.

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One more thing, all countries have waste dumps. The shocking pictures of the Maldives say more about our stereotypical views of so called "paradise" islands than our views of what is actually happening to our planet, especially the oceans.

I congratulate Simon on bringing situations such as the rubbish dumping on the Maldives to attention, but.... shouldn't he really have been wearing protective equipment....?

After pointing to drums leaking who knows what, he comments something like "I can stand the dust, but this... this is just toxic." Yet carries on standing there, just breathing it in, with only a loose scarf for "protection". Is that really sensible? We could still have been shown the pictures (via a telephoto lens), but why risk one's health?

Doesn't the Ö÷²¥´óÐã have any Health & Safety standards? Or is the reality that some on-camera exaggeration was being employed........?

I think we should watch and enjoy the programme there are few of them on television today, I think exploring every aspect of what is wrong with the program. For the record I think it gives great insightm, for someone who has not visited the Indian ocean.

I'm really enjoying the show,I think what Simon has brilliantly done in showing us both sides of paradise should inspire us to do whatever we can to help preserve these beautiful locations for future generations,of us westerners to enjoy and the local populations to live sustainable lives.Surely the EU should put an end to European factory ships raping the oceans.I will never buy tinned tuna again!

As a regular visitor to the Maldives I felt your coverage of the problems of waste management were somewhat misleading. The "waste island" is not a hidden sore and that is at least supported by your acknowledgement that the Maldivian government in no way restricted your access. As you were obviously operating outside of the normal tourist trail you may not be aware of how the island (unmissable for the journey from Male airport to any resort - via air or water) is actively pointed out by the resorts and a lot of the staff. This is to educate visitors to encourage them to take their rubbish home with them. In many resorts there are write-ups in the rooms explaining that the Maldives do not currently have the resources available for recycling and to take our rubbish (sun tan lotion bottles and the like) home to our own countries where the facilities exist. What was shown in the Maldives is no different to rubbish dumps the world over. If I drop a water bottle in my bin at work rather than take it home and recycle exactly the same will happen as if I did it in the Maldives.

We actively choose to visit the Maldives exactly because of their awareness of environmental issues and preservation of their reefs via tourism rather than other forms of exploitation. Additionally as a regular visitor I'll bet you had to go a long way to film that portion of dead reef. That also does not reflect my own experience nor other regular visitors I talk to (I've personally experienced the massively fast regeneration of a number of reefs damaged after the tsunami). Visit often for a period of time and you might find a different world to that portrayed in your snapshot.

Fascinated to find the story on Brendan Grimshaw. He was editor of the Tanganyika Standard, now the Daily News (of Tanzania) around Tanganyika's independence time, 1961. I was resident there then and only finally left a few years ago. His island looks fantastic - perhaps he could do with some company? Or am I the 500th enquirer on those lines? Anyway, best wishes to him from another ex-Dar resident.

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I watched the Maldives episode and its spurred me to look at the other episodes on i-player. It really seems as if the series should have been called Paradise Lost. More thoughts here:

I too would like links to the lady Fatima? who worked with the young men in Somaliland, we would like to support her work as our charity at school next year. Help please?

Re the episode about where the world's ships go to die, in Chittagong... Mark Knopfler wrote a very moving song about this subject: "So Far from the Clyde". Not a dry eye in the house!

id really enjoyed the series until it went to sri lanka and went all political by stating some unconfirmed allegations about war crimes as some established facts,. please do some research before you make statements about discrimination and war crime allegations..

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Fantastic series, really well written, Simon Reeve is a great presenter and did an incredible job of highlighting the environmental issues that surround the beautiful Indian Ocean. However was puzzled if covering the Virtue Police in Indonesia was really relevant to the series? The soundbite reference to 'Shariya Law' and covering courting teenagers was altogether negative and was irrelevant to the overall picture of environmental issues and impact of human neglect and plundering this beautiful part of the world.

I am struggling to understand how policing a boy and girl courting on the beach had any relevance to the rest of the series. This is yet another negative, sensationalistic slant on Islam and Islamic Law and life portrayed by the Ö÷²¥´óÐã which serves no purpose. Ö÷²¥´óÐã please try to consider your moderate muslims who pay their license fee and do not wish to be subject to negative representation either in this country or abroad.

I thought the last episode dealt with the issues gratuitously and left a view Simon Reeves is lightweight. The Western Australian portion was made to appear that there was a universal grab at resources - without the balances of the enormous efforts being undertaken to deal with the obvious environmental issues. It suited his desire to be dramatic but was unbalanced. This way of portraying issues as simply resolvable if only we follow the good guys, rather than complex with all parties trying hard to made it work - lost the programme credibility.

I have enjoyed these series. Sad to hear that Brandon Grimshaw has passed away in the Seychelles.