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Every year over a million wilderbeasts assemble in this particular corner of the Serengeti to feed on grass specially rich in calcium and phosphorus, essential minerals for the pregnant females. In just 3 weeks, half a million calves are born on these ashri plains. That's 24,000 a day. A thousand an hour. Calves stand up within a few minutes of being born, though some need a little more time to find their feet. But a mother won't let her calf suckle until it's mastered a few physical skills, walking, trotting, Wilderbeast calves must run if they're to stay alive. For these planes also support the greatest assembly of hunters on the planet.
Each species has its own special hunting technique, but all have the same aim to make the most of this brief super abundance of life. Only one in 10 wilderbeast calves will survive to adulthood. But that is enough to maintain the million strong herd of wilderbeast and the planet's highest density of predators. The only lizard in the world that gets its food from the sea. The seaweed on which he totally relies only grows in abundance here because of the nutrients brought by the Cromwell current.
Once in the water, he has just 30 minutes to find food. Any longer than that and his muscles will seize up and he'll drown. For like most reptiles, he can't handle the cold. Chilly water isn't a problem for a warm-blooded corrant. She can swim in it all day, but can only hold her breath for a few minutes. He on the other hand completes his whole halfhour trip on one single breath. His flat face and sharp teeth make him an efficient seaweed cropping machine. But with the clock ticking, he must eat fast.
The corrant, having caught its fish, goes back to the surface. One last mouthful, and it's also time for the iguana to head for home. But to stop his muscles from seizing up in the cold water, he must get back quickly. So he could do without the attentions of an inquisitive seal. Dry land is now just 30 m away. But the biggest hurdle is still to come. The surging water now fights against him. He's out, but he stayed in the cold so long that he's lost his strength. Northern Australia has the highest tides in the tropics, which expose vast areas of shoreline. And here lives a truly extraordinary species of octopus.
Octopuses are marine animals. They live and breathe underwater. At low tide, most octopuses will be imprisoned in their rocky pools. It's the only one specially adapted to walk on land. It pulls itself along using the hundreds of tiny suckers that line its arms. Hunting for crabs, it walks from pool to pool. but the octopus's suckers enable it to move just as stealthily in Water as out of it.
Nowhere is safe when this octopus is around. Blacktip reef sharks. They are bigger and more powerful than Tvali, but not as fast or as agile. The hardy heads are well aware of them, but so long as they stay just out of reach, they have little to fear. But now the sharks and the Tbali join forces. Together they enter the shallows, each looking for a chance to attack. The Trali make the first move and the hardy heads take refuge again in the waves. And this is what the sharks have been waiting for.
Surging forwards, they chase the hardy heads out of the water, beating themselves in a daring bid to hoover up their prey. The hardy heads that escape the sharks swim back out to deeper water, but into the mouths of the trapali. Now the receding waves help to pull the sharks back into deeper water. In the chaos, the seabirds get their chance. It's a feeding frenzy in only 10 cm of water. The Namib Desert, one of the most exposed places on Earth. As the sun climbs high, everybody takes cover from the extreme heat.
Everybody except the hot rod ant. As others take refuge, their day is just beginning. the sand can reach a scorching 70 centrade. The ants long legs raise their bodies above the surface where it's 10° cooler. They must keep moving or risk the same fate as their quarry. The creatures that have collapsed from heat stroke. Too deeply buried but a good place to cool off. Foraging decisions must be fast. Too big. Each of these strange cone- shaped pits is a death trap Here lie ant lion lavi, tiny ambush predators with venomfilled pincers.
Some ants manage to escape, but the ant lion has other tricks. Flinging sand into the air, it creates an avalanche. In this cone of death, the walls are so angled that the sand slips beneath the ant's feet. As boulders rain from the sky, escape seems almost impossible. Phew. Hunting is only possible for 3 hours around low tide when the mud banks are exposed. Razor sharp oysters cover much of the shore. Beaching here could be lethal. The hunters need to find a stretch of shoreline with just the right slope. Too level and the dolphins risk stranding.
Too steep and they can't force their prey from the water. Working as a team, the dolphins surround the fish, driving them towards the shore. in perfect synchrony, the dolphins create a bow wave. It carries their prey onto the muddy banks. Other fish eaters profit from their daring. To get to the fish first, the dolphins drive themselves high up the bank. But if they go too far, they risk stranding. To prevent fish escaping between them, the dolphins all beat themselves on the same side. Always the right. But this has a cost. Each time they grab a fish, they also take in a mouthful of mud.
The grit gradually wears down their teeth, In time, these teeth get so worn down that older dolphins can no longer hunt like this and must find other ways to catch fish. In a far corner of Southeast Asia lies the Coral Triangle, a cluster of the richest coral reefs in the world. As in any crowded metropolis, there is fierce rivalry for space, and for a partner. But the reef is also a place full of opportunity. The cuttlefish, however, has a remarkable talent. Its skin contains millions of pigment cells with which it can create ever changing colors and patterns.
A cuttlefish may be clever, but a shark is bigger A new target, but the same memeing technique. For those that manage to establish themselves in these bustling undersea cities, there can be great rewards. Unfortunately for this young mother and cub, So she leads her cub upstream away from the competition. But there's a reason they have this place to themselves. But the inexperienced mother coaches him straight back in. desperation to feed overrides her urge to protect her hub. Finally, the ravenous cub gets a first taste of salmon. And wave power creates towering fortresses like these cliffs in the Arctic, home to tens of thousands of breeding seabirds.
The faces of the cliffs are accessible only from the air and have plenty of nooks and crannies for those that can get there. But to feed, seabirds must still master the ocean world beyond He's a fisherman and a father. Both share the burden of raising their weak old chick, their puffling, who needs five square meals a day. When fish stocks are low, puffins must fly as much as 50 kilometers out to sea to reach the good fishing grounds. Once there, they plunge into another world. Good fishing spots are hard to come by and they have company. Gilimots. Like the puffin, their wings are short and good for diving.
Puffins can hold their breath for over a minute and dive as deep as 40 m. After an exhausting round trip of almost 100 kilometers, this puffins nearly made it. All around. Returning parents are being robbed. The skewer's long racked wings make them faster. are and more maneuverable. But where fish numbers are in decline, many puffins now find it hard to get enough food for their chicks. In the changing seasons of today, it can be even harder to be a successful puffin parent. This may look like a ball of a million individuals, but make no mistake.
The colony acts as one. A super organism with a sensory system of 2 million antenni. A skeleton made from the living bodies of workers. A defense system of soldier ants. ready to act at any sign of danger. A digestive system processing piles of food deep inside. Even a coordinated system for dealing with all the waste. These are insects that by working together transcend individual size.
The colony can search the entire jungle and flush out its wildlife. Each day it sends out a silent probe into the forest in quest of food. Instead, a vast search party pushes into virgin territory, They spread out along a 10-me front, sweeping across the forest floor. To find prey, the ants must first touch it. The irony is that this, the most successful hideandsek player in the forest, is almost completely blind. It distinguishes the living only by their movement. As long as an animal remains still, it is safe. But the slightest twitch will give it away.
Within minutes, it's torn apart at its joints. The more the prey struggles, the more the ants engage. Right across the raid front, prey of all sizes are driven from their hiding places. Even wasps must abandon their homes when the ants arrive. Everything alive in the path of the raiders, overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
