A volcanic island off the coast of Japan.
Nishinoshima has continued its
mysterious eruption for more than two years.
Never has man witnessed a newly formed island
grow this large in such a short time anywhere on Earth.
What is really happening on this island?
In 2015, Japanese broadcaster NHK
launched an extensive scientific
observation project of Nishinoshima
to try and find out the answers.
The eruption began in November 2014
and over the next 18 months,
the island has grown to over two kilometers in diameter.
With near constant eruptions,
the volcanic island is too dangerous
for researchers to explore.
So, the research was conducted by
the most advanced remote controlled
helicopter, drones and other state
of the art unmanned research vehicles.
They succeeded in capturing incredible images
of the volcanic island producing continuous
flows of lava from the unending eruptions.
The team also used a risky and unproven method
to collect lava rock from the surface.
Some scientists believe that what's happening
on Nishinoshima is an example of how
the continents were created on primitive Earth.
The rocks the team collect on the island
may actually verify that.
This is the story of the scientists,
engineers and researchers who tackled
the Nishinoshima Project with passion and ingenuity
to tell the story of this scientific phenomenon
and reveal the mysteries of this amazing island.
Approximately 1,000 kilometers south
of the main Japanese island of Honshu lays Nishinoshima.
A solitary island in the middle of the
vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
Currently the four kilometer radius zone
around the island is off limits to all humans.
The zone is necessary as the volcano
continues to eject rocks and the danger
of additional underwater eruptions.
Seas are rough year round and the island
is not easily approached by boat.
So, an unmanned plane was selected
to conduct the first phase of the research.
The team will deploy and unmanned plane to Nishinoshima
from the nearest inhabited island.
It will travel a remarkable distance
for a small unmanned plane.
It will take photographs over the island
to create a detailed map of Nishinoshima
in preparation for the actual expedition.
Three hours after take off, it's back.
The Nishinoshima terrain had been captured
down to the smallest detail.
The unmanned plane took over 400 photos of Nishinoshima.
From the multiple images of one location,
taken from many angles, the engineers can
calculate the height and come up with a
three dimensional map of the terrain.
It's accurate down to a scale of 50 centimeters.
At the end of June 2014,
the Survey Project officially begins.
Remote controlled helicopters, drones
and other unmanned research vehicles
are amast on Yokohama Pier.
These are all the latest in unmanned vehicle technology
that will be used to get as close to Nishinoshima
as possible and make observations.
The ship sets sail for Nishinoshima.
It will take 50 hours nonstop by boat.
The investigative team consists of engineers
from the world's leading private sector tech companies.
For 12 days, they will share this cramped space
aboard ship during the survey.
Using the three dimensional map created
from the photos from the unmanned plane,
they strategize about the best route to approach the island.
There were also many scientists on the project.
One of them is geologist Yoshihiko Tamura.
He believes that Nishinoshima
could be the key to unlock one of the most
puzzling mysteries of Earth's history.
Perhaps Nishinoshima suddenly erupting underwater
and still expanding is recreating
how continents were formed on this planet.
Earth as we know it formed four
and a half billion years ago.
It was initially molten due constant volcanic activity.
Eventually, the outer layer of the planet
cooled to form a solid crust when
water began accumulating in the atmosphere.
As the surface continually reshaped itself,
over hundreds of millions of years,
continents formed and broke apart.
The Earth's crust is constantly changing
and plate material is always being created and destroyed.
As the plates move and change,
so do the continents and oceans.
A survey of Nishinoshima is possible
only for the several weeks between
the end of the rainy season and the typhoon season.
As the ship approaches Nishinoshima,
they see that they've reached the island
just as the rainy season is ending as planned.
They have arrived at the perimeters of the restricted zone.
The closest they will get to
the island during this expedition.
Preparations are underway as soon as they arrive.
They have a very small window to accomplish a lot.
First, the unmanned helicopter.
The team will attempt to film Nishinoshima
at very close range.
Four engineers will collaborate
to fly the unmanned helicopter.
This is the first time they will attempt
to take off from a floating ship.
The initial problem is the ships tilt when it sways.
The unmanned helicopter cannot take off unless it's level.
They develop this special platform.
The movement of the platform matches the horizon.
The computer analyzes the rhythm of the waves.
The platform adjusts to always be horizontal with the waves.
A 4k ultra high definition camera is installed in the front.
The wind sock speed is clocked at eight meters per hour.
If the helicopter is caught by a gust
at the moment of take off, it could be dashed
into one of the swaying ship's structures.
The pilot will have to take into account
both the sway of the ship and the wind speed.
Once the helicopter leaves the ship,
they switch to radio waves for
long distance remote control.
From here on, the unmanned helicopter
will be operated long distance from inside the ship.
This is how long distance remote operation works.
First, they will indicate on Nishinoshima's
three dimensional map, the position where the
unmanned helicopter is headed.
When the helicopter gets that instruction,
it will autonomously head to that position.
Seven minutes after take off,
the entire island comes into view.
The two kilometer wide, newly formed land is getting closer.
They approach with extreme caution at low altitude.
Waves his the lava causing steam to rise.
The rocks appear to be very hot.
This is the exact location where the island is expanding.
They maneuver the helicopter inland, towards the crater.
Suddenly, the helicopter's in trouble.
The temperature of the engine's
water coolant is rising rapidly.
This could be fatal for the helicopter.
They check the surface with a thermograph camera
that converts temperature to color.
The red hue indicatees it's over 400 degrees centigrade.
The unmanned helicopter flying over the lava
was being cooked by the heat.
The copter is sent upwind in an attempt
to cool the engine with the oncoming wind.
A potential crisis is averted
and the helicopter continues towards the crater.
Being mindful of the change in temperature,
bit by bit, the copter is maneuvered into a position
to get a clear view of interior of the crater.
Some of the rocks being ejected are three meters long.
The cinder cone was created by
the accumulation of these rocks.
The mountain is now higher the 140 meters.
After the 80 minute flight, the unmanned
copter has returned to the ship.
Just as dangerous, is the landing.
Success.
Now, the team will use a drone
to make detailed observations
of how Nishinoshima is growing.
The drone will approach Nishinoshima
at an even lower altitude and take high resolution photos.
By taking photos of the same location
every few days, the team hopes to record
how Nishinoshima is gradually evolving.
Using the 1,000 photos taken by the drone,
a three dimensional map with even greater details,
accurate down to five centimeters, was created.
Even the cracks on the surface
of the lava flow are visible.
The drone was used to record changes
to the southern end of the island in particular.
The increased lava flow in the
four days of observation is in red.
It shows clearly that the lava is flowing into the sea
and growing along the coastline.
The flow is 240 meters long and six meters thick.
These daily flows of lava accumulate
and in a month, the island coastline has expanded this much.
It's not only volcanologists who are interested
in the effects of Nishinoshima's prolonged eruption.
This is Nishinoshima before the eruption.
The island was lush and over 2,000 birds
lived in this bird's paradise.
Among them, was the very rare Masked Booby.
Their only known breeding ground
in the last 10 years was on Nishinoshima.
This island was a vital breeding ground for the birds.
An eruption occurred right next to the old Nishinoshima
and the flowing lava covered the island.
Only a tiny portion of the old island still remains.
What has happened to the breeding ground
on the old Nishinoshima?
A special fix point camera array
will be used for the survey.
Cameras facing four directions
will record a 360 degree view for 24 hours.
Three days after the apparatus was installed,
operations to retrieve it began.
The helicopter arrives at Nishinoshima.
From there, they have to lower the wire
and try hook the camera.
It's like fishing from the top of a 10 story building.
The final maneuver will be up to the pilot.
One mistake and the camera with the
precious footage falls into the sea.
Everything will depend on when the camera is released.
I almost lost it.
This is when the camera
was first placed on the island.
It shows the scenery in four directions.
When the images are connected,
it forms a 360 degree panoramic image.
A smoking volcano, the black lava rocks are so close.
Birds, lots of them.
Too many to count have remained on the island.
An adult Masked Booby has managed to survive.
The old Nishinoshima was the only known
breeding ground of the Masked Booby for the last 10 years.
That's not all.
The camera had captured conclusive proof.
The footage reveals young birds.
Birds that were born on this island, this spring.
The birds had continued to breed on this island.
They count at least nine young Masked Boobies.
But, with the shrubs gone, the birds
are having a hard time finding material for their nests.
They're resorting to picking up feathers
other birds drop to build their nests.
Of course, the eruption was a disaster and a disruption.
But, even in the face of calamity,
they had the toughness to go on living
right next to a lava flow.
When the sun sets, a completely
different Nishinoshima becomes visible.
A red glow of molten lava, not visible during the daytime,
obscured by the sun's brightness, now comes into view.
The unmanned helicopter will be deployed on a night flight.
During the day, the pilot can see the horizon
and can tell how much the boat is swaying.
But at night, when the horizon invisible,
he can't tell if the ship is swaying
or even if the helicopter is moving.
To make it just the slightest bit easier,
the ship's crew will assist with a search light.
Since the rotating blades are especially hard to see,
the search light is set so as to make them more visible.
Nishinoshima at night is lit up by the glow of the lava
as though from the light of many distant towns.
The magma has risen, almost to the top of the crater.
Coloring the volcanic plume crimson,
making it look like it's on fire.
The glowing lava flows into the sea.
Unbeknownst to man, nature has been
putting on this spectacular show night after night.
There's just one mission remaining.
It will be the first ever attempt to collect
lava rock from a still erupting Nishinoshima.
Scientists believe that Nishinoshima offers
a chance of a lifetime to discover
one of the oldest mysteries of Earth.
Approximately four billion years ago,
primitive Earth was totally covered by the sea.
There weren't any continents.
What was the genesis of the Earth's land masses,
the creation of the continents?
That remains one of the greatest mysteries
in the history of our Earth.
That is why Nishinoshima's exponential
growth is so intriguing to scientists.
Did islands like these grow to form
the first continent on Earth?
To prove the voracity of this hypothesis,
it's necessary to collect and analyze
the lava rocks from Nishinoshima.
The rocks from volcanic islands
and continents have very different properties.
Normally rocks erupting from volcanic
islands are heavy and dense.
Landmass created from heavy rock will sink over time
and will not become a continent.
On the other hand, continents are made of light,
less dense rocks and will not sink,
even over hundreds of millions of years.
They can also grow and expand.
Even though Nishinoshima is an island,
it may be ejecting light rocks
that could create a continent.
In an attempt to prove this, a never before mission
to collect rocks using an unmanned helicopter was planned.
Using the city of Tokyo as a comparison.
This is exactly how difficult this mission is.
They will attempt to fly an unmanned helicopter
using long distance remote control,
a distance of four kilometers.
Since a gust of wind can suddenly cause
an unmanned helicopter to drop.
It can't fly below the height of 30 meters from the surface.
Imagine that a collection device suspended
with a wire more than 30 meters long,
must pick up a golf ball sized lava rock
in the middle of a city.
And all this must be accomplished remotely from the ship.
It is indeed a hail Mary play.
It took several months of study
to come up with the best method.
First, they try a method using adhesive tape and a bag.
But, when replicating conditions in flight
and exposed to the wind, the stones fall off.
They switch to a stronger adhesive used
in mouse traps but it didn't work either.
After much trial and error, they came
up with this final version.
It's designed to sweep fragments of
lava rock into the device with a rotating brush.
The largest rock the device can collect is five centimeters.
Then, they're faced with another complication.
Nishinoshima is in the direct path
of a category nine typhoon.
Time was running out, the mission has
to be completed before the sea becomes stormy.
Now, for the take off.
They're operating in an area where
the waves have crushed the lava rocks into small pieces.
The unmanned helicopter hovers at a height
of 30 meters, that's equivalent to a 10 story building.
They're relying on the helicopter's camera
to find the lava rock and check how the collection is going.
They look closely to find an appropriate
lava rock of about five centimeters.
They have only 20 minutes on the island.
When the collection device begins to rise,
a large lava rock falls out of the bottom.
They depart, not sure if they have anything at all.
And, they may not have time before the typhoon to go again.
It's all on the pilot's shoulders now.
If he misjudges the timing to detach
the device, it may fall into the sea.
Excitement and anticipation build on the deck.
As they examine the collection drawer,
it appears that they have only recovered
a small amount of material.
But, the brushes reveal some major pieces of volcanic rocks.
These are just formed Nishinoshima lava rocks
that no one else in the world has
ever seen or laid their hands on.
Analysis has begun on the lava rock.
Is the Nishinoshima lava rock the
heavy rock like other volcanoes?
Or is the continent building light rock?
After many tests, the results are in.
It is what they had hoped, Andesite.
Andesite is the light rock that forms
the foundation of continents.
This demonstrates that Nishinoshima
is a very rare volcanic island that
ejects the kind of lava rock that can build continents.
But, why has Nishinoshima been ejecting
the ingredients of light rocks
and why has the eruption continued for such a long time?
From previous investigations,
we know that unlike other volcanoes,
Nishinoshima has a unique geological structure beneath it.
Where the Earth's crust is relatively thin
and the mantel layer is very close to the Earth's surface.
The lava from the mantel, located so near
the Earth's surface, has light rock creating properties.
They hypothesise that on top of primitive Earth's core,
there once existed an ancient ocean of thick, soupy magma.
When the magma cooled and the sea appeared,
the mantel layer was still close to the Earth's crust.
Eruptions were easily caused all over Earth
and the volcanic activities in this period
vigorously produced the light rocks.
These light rocks eventually came together
and developed into large land masses.
Nishinoshima continues to change, minute by minute.
Even after the expedition came to a close.
In August of 2015, there was a large scale
collapse of the crater and the slope
of the mountain turned yellow.
Scientists believe this caused
the sudden release of a large volume of sulfur gas.
In November, the explosion became more violent.
The volcano began to eject huge
rocks of over 10 meters in size.
Overcoming many difficulties and obstacles,
the engineers, researchers and scientists
took on the challenge of investigating an erupting volcano.
Because of their dedication and ingenuity,
we may be witnessing today what
happened on Earth in ancient times
on the island of Nishinoshima.