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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Lance Milbrand

Aired August 31, 2003 - 09:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Could you survive on a deserted tropical island? One man tried it for 41 days, and his adventure is now a National Geographic documentary. We'll talk to him when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
Unless we'll talk to him right now.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: It might remind you of that reality TV series "Survivor," but in this case, the drama lasted 41 days on a deserted atoll in the eastern Pacific.

COLLINS: The survivor is Lance Milbrand; he is joining us right now from San Diego.

Lance, thank you very much for being with us. We know you've been back in the country for three months, but tell us, what's it like to be a real life castaway, and why did you decide to go and do this?

LANCE MILBRAND, LIVED ON DESERTED ISLAND FOR 41 DAYS: Well, good morning, Heidi and John.

Being a real life castaway, you have to really plan your day, because you have so many things going on. You have to think about water, and what you're going to eat that day. And I decided to go do this because it was a really big challenge.

VAUSE: It was more than a challenge, though; it was also a chance to make what looks like a pretty good film.

MILBRAND: Yes, you're right. It was -- it was a film that required lot of study out in the environment. I had to figure out how all the animals connected together. And to be isolated like that for a long period of time, it really helped me work.

COLLINS: What's your background? Obviously, you were doing some of this for scientific reasons, on top of the personal challenge to you.

MILBRAND: Well, I -- I've always been a filmmaker, oh, God, probably for the last 15 years, working in natural history. And I pitched this story over and over to Geographic and they finally said yes, we're going to show it on the "Ultimate Explorer," which is really great. But I also had a couple of goals when I went to the island. Not only make a film, but to plot a new map for National Geographic Maps.

VAUSE: What was the toughest part about being alone for such a long period of time?

MILBRAND: I think the toughest part was the isolation of not seeing people from day to day, but also catching enough water to drink because the water is so important to your body. And I allotted about a gallon and a half per day, and I needed about three gallons per day because it's just really hot down there.

VAUSE: So you came up quite short.

MILBRAND: Yes.

COLLINS: And something else that you came up short on sometimes was food, is that right?

MILBRAND: Well, yes, I did some gathering for lobsters along the coast. But for the most part I brought a lot of supplies because I had to keep my energy up to continue making the film and the map.

VAUSE: And I was going to say, security was a pretty big issue. There were some thieves that would pop in. I think we want to have a look at something that happened on the island.

MILBRAND: Well, yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILBRAND: Not you. Not you. Yes. Hey! What do you think you're doing, mister? Where are you going my fork? Give it back. Give it back. No, hey, don't go down that hole! Holy smokes!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And the crab ran away with the fork? Did you have to battle this quite a bit?

MILBRAND: Well, what was funny was the crabs would try and eat anything they could put in their mouth. I mean anything, so if I was stirring some food on the campfire and put the fork down, the crab would come grab it and run away with it. So I had to really keep an eye on things.

VAUSE: And the other issue, Lance, you said the island, this atoll, was strewn with rubbish as well as rats. Do you know where the rubbish came from?

MILBRAND: Well, that's a good question. The islands are about 700 miles off the coast. So where does all these plastic floating items come from? I'm not sure. There are a lot of shoes, bottles, oil cans. It was really pretty discouraging. The only bright side was there were a lot of children's toys, and the birds tended to pick up little army men and incorporate them in their nests. So that was kind of fun.

VAUSE: And what of the rats? You discovered the island was infested with rats? You weren't expecting that? MILBRAND: Well, not to the large numbers of rats they have. They would visit my camp every night, and they would screech and crawl over things and leave their droppings. I think they came ashore in the last couple of shipwrecks that washed right along the reef. Big liner boats have probably deposited rats, and I think that's going to be a big problem in the future.

COLLINS: So, Lance, overall, what are your feelings about what you have done now? You talk about the map, you talk about, and we've seen a little bit of the incredible video that you've gotten from this for the documentary. When you look back over it, is there anything you would have done differently, or would you do this again?

MILBRAND: Well, I feel really honored to be able to have done this for National Geographic and the "Ultimate Explorer." It is a place that very few people have ever been to, or even heard of. And what I hoped to do was kind of preserve it for the future because you need little places, little pockets like this for wildlife around the world. And certainly, I'd do it again and I look forward to being dropped off in some other remote place.

COLLINS: Careful what you wish for.

VAUSE: Yes.

COLLINS: Lance Milbrand, thank you very much for being with us. Atoll is where he was, for 41 days.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired August 31, 2003 - 09:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Could you survive on a deserted tropical island? One man tried it for 41 days, and his adventure is now a National Geographic documentary. We'll talk to him when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
Unless we'll talk to him right now.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: It might remind you of that reality TV series "Survivor," but in this case, the drama lasted 41 days on a deserted atoll in the eastern Pacific.

COLLINS: The survivor is Lance Milbrand; he is joining us right now from San Diego.

Lance, thank you very much for being with us. We know you've been back in the country for three months, but tell us, what's it like to be a real life castaway, and why did you decide to go and do this?

LANCE MILBRAND, LIVED ON DESERTED ISLAND FOR 41 DAYS: Well, good morning, Heidi and John.

Being a real life castaway, you have to really plan your day, because you have so many things going on. You have to think about water, and what you're going to eat that day. And I decided to go do this because it was a really big challenge.

VAUSE: It was more than a challenge, though; it was also a chance to make what looks like a pretty good film.

MILBRAND: Yes, you're right. It was -- it was a film that required lot of study out in the environment. I had to figure out how all the animals connected together. And to be isolated like that for a long period of time, it really helped me work.

COLLINS: What's your background? Obviously, you were doing some of this for scientific reasons, on top of the personal challenge to you.

MILBRAND: Well, I -- I've always been a filmmaker, oh, God, probably for the last 15 years, working in natural history. And I pitched this story over and over to Geographic and they finally said yes, we're going to show it on the "Ultimate Explorer," which is really great. But I also had a couple of goals when I went to the island. Not only make a film, but to plot a new map for National Geographic Maps.

VAUSE: What was the toughest part about being alone for such a long period of time?

MILBRAND: I think the toughest part was the isolation of not seeing people from day to day, but also catching enough water to drink because the water is so important to your body. And I allotted about a gallon and a half per day, and I needed about three gallons per day because it's just really hot down there.

VAUSE: So you came up quite short.

MILBRAND: Yes.

COLLINS: And something else that you came up short on sometimes was food, is that right?

MILBRAND: Well, yes, I did some gathering for lobsters along the coast. But for the most part I brought a lot of supplies because I had to keep my energy up to continue making the film and the map.

VAUSE: And I was going to say, security was a pretty big issue. There were some thieves that would pop in. I think we want to have a look at something that happened on the island.

MILBRAND: Well, yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILBRAND: Not you. Not you. Yes. Hey! What do you think you're doing, mister? Where are you going my fork? Give it back. Give it back. No, hey, don't go down that hole! Holy smokes!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And the crab ran away with the fork? Did you have to battle this quite a bit?

MILBRAND: Well, what was funny was the crabs would try and eat anything they could put in their mouth. I mean anything, so if I was stirring some food on the campfire and put the fork down, the crab would come grab it and run away with it. So I had to really keep an eye on things.

VAUSE: And the other issue, Lance, you said the island, this atoll, was strewn with rubbish as well as rats. Do you know where the rubbish came from?

MILBRAND: Well, that's a good question. The islands are about 700 miles off the coast. So where does all these plastic floating items come from? I'm not sure. There are a lot of shoes, bottles, oil cans. It was really pretty discouraging. The only bright side was there were a lot of children's toys, and the birds tended to pick up little army men and incorporate them in their nests. So that was kind of fun.

VAUSE: And what of the rats? You discovered the island was infested with rats? You weren't expecting that? MILBRAND: Well, not to the large numbers of rats they have. They would visit my camp every night, and they would screech and crawl over things and leave their droppings. I think they came ashore in the last couple of shipwrecks that washed right along the reef. Big liner boats have probably deposited rats, and I think that's going to be a big problem in the future.

COLLINS: So, Lance, overall, what are your feelings about what you have done now? You talk about the map, you talk about, and we've seen a little bit of the incredible video that you've gotten from this for the documentary. When you look back over it, is there anything you would have done differently, or would you do this again?

MILBRAND: Well, I feel really honored to be able to have done this for National Geographic and the "Ultimate Explorer." It is a place that very few people have ever been to, or even heard of. And what I hoped to do was kind of preserve it for the future because you need little places, little pockets like this for wildlife around the world. And certainly, I'd do it again and I look forward to being dropped off in some other remote place.

COLLINS: Careful what you wish for.

VAUSE: Yes.

COLLINS: Lance Milbrand, thank you very much for being with us. Atoll is where he was, for 41 days.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com