Michael McKinnon 1992 | 52 minutes

When Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the tragic loss of human life was compounded by a deliberate and massive sabotage of the environment. What had been called the "mother of all battles" was ultimately waged against the mother of all - the earth herself. "Tides of War" presents the rich and varied marine life of the Gulf, the delicate beauty of the desert and with the outbreak of war, follows the escalating catastrophe from the first oil slick to the capping of the last burning oil well. We reveal the relentless passage of the slicks along hundreds of miles of coastline, as they destroy the most productive habitats of the sea, turning the tidal shallows into a wasteland. Rescuers struggle to save thousands of polluted birds and to clean the beaches before the turtles return to their ancient breeding sites. Hundreds of burning wells flood the desert with ever expanding lakes of oil and create a vast wall of smoke and soot, confounding millions of migrating birds and blocking their traditional pathways along the Gulf. As the fire fighting teams confront the disaster we follow Kuwaiti Petroleum engineer, Sarah Akbar, and her colleagues as they battle to control the burning wells. No one can be sure how much of the desert will bloom again, whether the delicately poised ecology of the Gulf has been permanently disturbed, or when the bitter legacy of the Tides of War will be washed away. Main Species: Sea Snake, Mudskipper, Mangroves, Salt Marshes, Cuttlefish, Turtles, Houbara Bustard, Cormorants, Grebes, White Heron, Tern Locations: Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain