Sitting in a blue sea, below an azure sky and under a baking subtropical sun there sits an ancient archipelago, the geology of these islands going back 2.8 billion years. This is Dampier.

There are so many different habitats in the vicinity of Dampier that scientists have flocked there. Throughout the world humans and wildlife are coming into conflict as human settlements expand and compete for land and resources. Dampier provides the unique opportunity to catalogue the wildlife of the region and then monitor how it changes to cope with increasing pressures from its ever-growing port. Whatever they reveal might provide useful information that can be used to protect native species, not just here, but all over the world.

The scientists are beginning to realize that nature is not so much an entity but a process that constantly seeks to maintain an environmental balance. If we can learn to understand this process we can take care not to over burden the environment and try to reach equilibrium where we can learn to live in harmony with the natural world.

Amongst the most striking scenes which punctuate this documentary filmed for four years in New Caledonia, is the sequence of the planets greatest animal, a weakened blue whale, attacked and cleaned up by hordes of sharks from the surface down to the abyss.

Meet the adorable Annabelle, a rare and beautiful macaque. No ordinary monkey, Anabelle belongs to one of the most talented and adaptable primate groups on the planet. As well as being the first primates in space and the first monkeys to be genetically engineered, these "wise monkeys" are also intelligent, resourceful travelers with a strong sense of family. But the same characteristics that make macaques so lovable and so seemingly "human" also make them ideal subjects for scientific studies. Should they be left in the wild, or should humans continue their detailed research on macaques? Either way, the more we learn about macaques, the more we learn about ourselves.

Each year the red crabs of Christmas Island leave the safety of the forest and migrate to the ocean to mate and lay eggs. Waves of red cover roads and paths in a sea of crawling legs and shells, yet their biggest danger is not the trucks in their way. Crazy Yellow Ants, animal invaders, eat them alive. This is a battle of survival as an indigenous species fights against the newcomers.