now on bbc news, the travel show. i m reece parkinson and i m on a journey across the caribbean. in this programme, i m heading to the bahamas. it s considered one of the most beautiful places in the world, with dazzling marine life, breathtaking coral reefs and stunning white sands. renowned as a magnet for billionaires, bankers and beach lovers, it attracted nearly ten million tourists to its shores last year. but it s also an island nation, on the front line of climate change. whoa! it was the beacon of hope that we needed when the lighthouse came on because everybody knew, at that point, that there is hope. rising sea levels and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are affecting everyday life here, so i m leaving the sunbeds behind to find out first hand how the people who live here are trying to save this stunning paradise. i never thought i would be doing that. i m starting myjourney in sweetings cay, a small, sun washed slice of the bahamas. ..where the ocean is
renowned as a magnet for billionaires, bankers and beach lovers, it attracted nearly ten million tourists to its shores last year. but it s also an island nation, on the front line of climate change. whoa! it was the beacon of hope that we needed when the lighthouse came on because everybody knew, at that point, that there is hope. rising sea levels and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns are affecting everyday life here, so i m leaving the sunbeds behind to find out first hand how the people who live here are trying to save this stunning paradise. i m starting my journey in sweetings cay, a small, sun washed slice of the bahamas. ..where the ocean is as much a place of work as it is for enjoyment. shervin tate has been a fisherman here all his life. how are you doing, man? how are you, sir? good to meet you. - welcome to the bahamas! thank you very much! here, localfishermen dive, notjust for a day s catch, but to preserve a way of life passed down through generation
i never thought i would be doing that. i m starting myjourney in sweetings cay, a small, sun washed slice of the bahamas. ..where the ocean is as much a place of work as it is for enjoyment. shervin tate has been a fisherman here all his life. how are you doing, man? how are you, sir? good to meet you. welcome to the bahamas! thank you very much! here, localfishermen dive, notjust for a day s catch, but to preserve a way of life passed down through generations. they collect lobster, fish, but most of all, conch. conch, man, i want to tell you, any time you taste it, you got to try it again. it s really one of those local dishes that the bahamian people really love. it s like our national dish. the queen conch is a sea snail. it grows on the bottom of the ocean in its shell, eating plants and algae. it s been caught here for at least 1,000 years. so, shervin, talk to me about the history of this area and the fishing industry. oh, so sweetings cay really is a fishing village wh
we don t really have answers what went wrong. a question to gabe, because in the end, i don t want to be so crass about this, the island has to prepare for the next hurricane. hurricanes aren t going away. hurricanes are getting stronger. they re coming with more frequency. gabe, as you talk to people on the island, do they have any sense that if another hurricane were to hit any time soon they would be better prepared for this one? reporter: no, they wouldn t. the simple answer here. a lot of officials here readily admit if yore category 5 or 5 storm were to hit puerto rico there would be utter devastation. we ve spoken with some power officials here from the local power authority prepa and they say the grid is better than before hurricane maria, but many people here on the ground simply don t believe that. so as you mentioned, power had just been restored here. the infrastructure is very vulnerable here and there is a great fear if another hurricane were to hit, hurricane season