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In a small corner of the Atlantic on Europe's farthest fringe are some of the most spectacular islands on Earth. Battered by storms and shrouded in mist are hidden worlds many believe spawn the legends of high Brazil and Atlantis. Magical kingdoms on the very edge of the abyss where nature still runs free. savage islands sought out by a handful of humans looking for God and refuge and by wild creatures in search of shelter and food. Through the storms of winter and the haze of summer, these isolated rocks are now vital sanctuaries for countless wild animals who must conquer four Atlantic seasons to survive.
This is one year in the life of Ireland's wild islands. Summer has come to Rathlin, the largest island of Ireland's northern coast. With over 40 shipwrecks on the surrounding seabed, it's no wonder it ended up with not one, but three lighouses. Lying between Ireland and Scotland, Rattland's critical location has given it immense strategic importance over the last 1,000 years. Away from the coast, the island has a sheltered, gentle personality. would head to the north side of Rattlin and it's a very different story.
Up here you'll find one of Ireland's most spectacular wildlife spectacles, the sea stacks and bird cliffs of Kebble. Rathlin is a beacon for seabirds from all over the North Atlantic. In spring, over a quarter of a million fly in to make it their home for the summer months. For there is one time in the year when these open ocean dwellers need dry land. Gilamoths come in huge numbers. Over 100,000 arrive every year. and their chicks face one of the most dangerous leaps of faith undertaken by any animal on the planet. The first 3 weeks of the youngster's lives are spent on these crowded ledges trying not to fall off. But then a day comes when mom's behavior
suddenly changes. She stops feeding her chick. And as it gets hungrier and hungrier, she tries to lure it to the edge. There's only one problem. The chicks can't fly. Though barely a month old, the youngsters know what's coming is a deadly serious business. The chick's mother keeps encouraging him to the edge. From the waves below, his father calls up to reassure him. But his troubles aren't over yet. After the biggest jump of his life, he must now swim for his life. Others land among the rocks below, unharmed, but not out of danger. Here, this chick is extremely vulnerable. She would make an easy meal for the gulls. From the water, her father calls,
desperate to make contact. Many chicks jump in the dark when there's less chance of being attacked by gulls. So all through these short summer nights, the jumping continues. But by late July, the cliffs are falling quiet. The last jumplings heading out for their very first winter at sea. During both world wars, these northern waters were critical shipping lanes between America and the allies in Europe. German Ubot lurked everywhere. Huge numbers of ships were lost as torpedoes and bad weather took their toll. The Lockari was a troop transport ship that sank in 1942 when she hit rocks off Rathlin.
Further west, HMS Audacious lies more than 60 meters down. She hit a German mine in 1914. These wrecks are a magnet for marine life. Coldfish, cat, shark, and lobster take every advantage of the countless nooks and crannies on offer. In death, the ships bring new life to these waters. Rathlin is believed to be the very first Irish island to be settled by humans. Scotland dominates the eastern horizon and the earliest pioneers crossed the 19 km to Rathlin. Some 8,000 years ago, Rattlin was the scene of the very first
Viking attack on Ireland in 795. And as their power over these waters grew, the Vikings used the island as a base to control the coasts of Britain and Ireland. But there were some forces on Rathan even the Vikings couldn't control. In Irish mythology, mists, caves, and lakes were gateways to the Celtic underworld. Through these portals, female spirits could enter our world and take the form of this animal, Superstitions apart, it's quite special to see these beautiful creatures on an island off an island off the far edge of Europe.
Birds can fly to Rathland, but creatures of the earth had to find another way. But maybe they're not creatures of this earth. In Irish mythology, witches turned into hairs so they could creep up on cows and steal their milk and butter. And stalking the cows in these fields is a very strange beast indeed. The golden hair of Rattlin. The very first golden hair was seen here in the 1970s. In the decades since, a tiny number have appeared year after year. Some jumble of genetics has given Rathlin a unique animal found nowhere else on the planet. For thousands of years, Ireland's Atlantic waters were famous for magical islands that would appear out of the evening mists. But no mortal soul could reach them.
Legendary High Brazil, an Irish Atlantis, which appeared only once every seven years. and Tier Nanog, the aisle of eternal youth. All were found out here on the edge of the great ocean. If there was one Irish island that spawned these legends, it would have to be Skeleig Michael. For millennia, most Europeans believed the earth was flat and the far southwest corner of Ireland was the very edge of civilization. Skeleig Michael stood on the frontier. its early Christian monastery, humanity's most extreme western outpost. With its beehive huts and chapels mostly intact, not too much has changed here in a thousand years.
The monks may be long gone, but the sightes and bird calls surrounding Skeleig's monastery are much as they've always been. As summer night envelops the rock, the skies above Skeleig come alive with a very unusual sound. One that must have kept many monks awake at night. Early legends said these cries were dead sailors returning to torment the living. But these are the calls of a creature that has traveled from the Antarctic Ocean in Brazil to rare its young and skeleig. Supreme flyers, sheer waters are hopeless on land. An easy prey for the giant gulls that patrol the island by day. [screaming] So this male has picked the very darkest night to return to the nest.
Somewhere in a monk cell, his mate and chick are patiently waiting for him. They call to each other in the darkness, helping to guide him home. For days, even weeks, they've been waiting for him to return with a belly full of fish for the chick. Sheer waters pair for life and the parents powerful bond brings them back year after year to raise their single chicken skeleig. Their youngster is very demanding and requires up to 70 days care before he can survive on his own. Mom is starving. She must head back to sea before the gulls come hunting in the first light of dawn.
1 and a half km to the east. Skeleig or little Skeleig hosts one of the largest ganut colonies in the world. Every year some 50,000 ganuts come here to nest and bring on the next generation. With their piercing stare and 2 m wingspan, they are the largest seabirds found in this part of the world. The Ganets spend the winter roaming the entire Atlantic until spring draws them back to this cathedral in the ocean. These Atlantic stretches of southwest Ireland are the most exposed of all Irish waters. Year round, the Gulf Stream brings warm water from the Caribbean, blessing Ireland with mild winters and buckets of rain.
One of the most beautiful fish in the sea. It's like all of the ocean's colors have been distilled into one animal. Blue shark are among the greatest ocean wanderers. Found all over the planet. They follow their prey, herring, mackerel, and squid, wherever it takes them. Apex predators at the top of the food chain. They are the most heavily fish shark on the planet. Hunted for their meat and the insane demand for shark fin soup. Their numbers are down 60% in just a few decades. But even out here in these heavily fish waters, there are some good news stories.
Summer off these southern islands bring in some of the most charismatic marine animals on Earth. After a century on the edge of extinction, humpac whales reappeared in Irish waters in 1999. Since then, these waters of Cork and Kerry have become a hot spot for these wonderful animals. They come here for the rich feeding. Bubble netting is a favorite trick. In remarkable displays of cooperation and intelligence, humpaxs blow rings of bubbles to trap the fish inside, which are then scooped up in giant mouthfuls. And what better way to round off a fine
feed than with a spot. lot of pecs slapping. Is this simply play or a message to a mate? We may never know. Always on the move, humpbacks can travel 8,000 km a year up and down the Atlantic. between rich fishing off Norway and their breeding grounds of Africa or the West Indies. Since their reappearance at the turn of the century, over 100 different humpacs have been reported passing through these waters. A remarkable comeback for an animal once thought doomed to extinction. But the good news isn't confined to the ocean. Recently, the skies of Cork and Kerry have become home to something else very special.
The largest aerial predator to hunt in these skies since the ice age. White dailed sea eagles. For the last 100 years, all of Ireland's eagles were gone, persecuted to extinction. But recently, a wonderful initiative has brought these magnificent birds back to Irish skies. Almost 150 chicks were gifted to Ireland by Norway, and slowly but surely, they're settling in. Critical to their success is breeding. The new arrivals raising families of their own. Garnish Island is tucked away at the back of Bantry Bay in West Cork. Here is a remarkable symbol of hope, a nest with some of the first sea eagles to be born in Ireland in more than a century.
It's an unusually hot spell in early summer. The chicks must sit out the heat waiting for their parents' return. Their father was also born in Ireland and so is the first Irish eagle to sire his own offspring in more than 100 years. A hugely important milestone in the unfolding story of Ireland's greatest eagles. Summer is now in full swing on Ireland's Atlantic Islands. Like a giant beached whale, Clare Island sits at the entrance of Clue Bay, shielding the inshore waters from the worst of the Atlantic storms.
1,600 people scraped a living here just before the great Irish famine of the mid-9th century. Today just 160 people live on Clare Island and most of it is boglands and bare mountain. But Ireland's islands once looked very different indeed. Almost all of Clare Island was once covered in native forest from the seashore to the highest peak. Clues to this lost world can still be found if you know where to look. When these trees were alive, wolves and bears roamed a very different Ireland. 7,500 years old, these skeletons are Scots pine trees. exumed from the bogs as islanders dug for turf to heat their homes.
The natural history of Ireland is a history of deforestation by humans. Many of her islands are becoming wastelands shorn of anything wild. But in one secluded valley, Clare Island hides something truly remarkable. Perhaps the last echo of original native woodland in Ireland's western islands. In summer, a journey into Laswood is a journey back in time to the murmur of native trees and bird song that was once everywhere. Celandine, blue bells and woods. All survivors from the ancient woodlands that ran freed Ireland from coast to coast. No one really knows the full story of this mysterious little forest.
Very few land predators make it to Ireland's islands, but Clare Island is home to one of the most mysterious and ferocious. Ireland's smallest mammal, the pygmy shrew. Barely 5 cm long and six grams in weight, these tiny hunters stalk the forest floor and never rest. They'll attack any prey they think they can overcome. But sometimes they bite off more than they can chew. After hitting home with its razor sharp pincers, this earwig is one of the lucky ones.
Pygmy shrews have such a high metabolic rate, they must feed every 2 hours or they'll starve to death. Life for a pygmy shrew is short and busy. They must make the most of this brief Atlantic summer. halfway down Ireland's west coast is the ancient Gaelic territory of Konamara, a barren kingdom of bog, rock and water and mountains. Konamara is world famous for its landscape and its countless deserted islands. These low-lying outposts are a vital refuge for one of Ireland's most iconic birds, The sound of summer on Ireland's west coast. Though their song may be all around you,
they're almost impossible to see. For they are tiny birds and rise high in the sky before they pour their hearts out. But like so many in this day and age, skyllocks are having a terrible time. The long grass and dunes on these western shores are in retreat from overg grazing and climate change. And skyllocks need that long grass to hide their nests. Ground nests are extremely vulnerable and there is no shortage of predators about. Black back gulls always looking for an easy meal.
Skyllocks take all kinds of precautions to not give their nest location away. They fly all around to make sure the coast is clear and then land a distance from the nest before cautiously creeping the final stage. Most of the time, the chicks know that keeping quiet is crucial for survival. When food arrives, caution is thrown to the wind. Just south of Konamara lies perhaps the most famous of all the archipelos off the west coast of Ireland, the Aaron Islands.
Three huge reefs of limestone known the world over for their cultural heritage and amazing baron beauty. In Moore is the largest of the three islands and home to one of the most spectacular ancient monuments in Europe. Dun Angus. Angus' fort. A clifftop fort built over 3,000 years ago. Facing the vast Atlantic and the setting sun, Dunangis really seems like the fort at the edge of the world. The story of Aaron is very much the story of rock. And one of the most impressive features of the islands are their dry stone walls.
Over 1,600 km of these stone walls crisscross three islands. Every wall has a story. Every stone placed by hand over thousands of years. The early settlers didn't take long to clear the dense woodland that once covered the islands. With the trees gone, the Atlantic winds swept away the soil, leaving these vast sheets of bare limestone. The island farmers were left with two choices. Give up farming or work wonders. and work wonders they did. Over many centuries they set about creating new fields of earth with brand new soil.
Generation after generation, island families carried up sand and seaweed from the coast to build up a new organic soil. Protected by countless kilometers of walls they built around their new fields. Today, these Aaron meadows support a remarkable array of plants. Over 500 different kinds of native species are found here. And now in high summer, they're a magnet for insects. Something else extraordinary is going on out here in the Atlantic. These fields have become sanctuaries for plants that are usually found high up in the Alps or Arctic, mountain havens and spring gents. And in the same crack in
the limestone can be plants usually found in Mediterranean clims, rock rows or bloody cranes spill. Aaron's farmers let their cattle into the fields late in the growing season, allowing the wild plants time to flower and seed. A remarkable balancing act between farming and nature. The Aaron Islands fractured moonscape creates wonderful hideaways for one of Ireland's most unusual creatures. A pioneer that somehow made the crossing from mainland Europe to Ireland and then made the last jump to the Aaron Islands.
The viperous lizard. The viperous lizard is Ireland's only native reptile. And this female is carrying a precious cargo. Almost all other reptiles on the planet lay eggs. But that would be a dangerous strategy for a coldblooded creature in this cold Atlantic kingdom. These lizard mothers give birth to live young and look completely deflated after delivery. The youngsters are now all on their own.
Their mother will have nothing more to do with them. With summer in full swing, they have three months to grow their strength and build up reserves before the gales of autumn signal the changing season. Summer is peak tourist season for the smallest of the Aaron Islands, Inishir. But in recent times, Inishir has been in the headlines because of one very unusual visitor. A bottl-nose dolphin who returns to these waters year after year. It's a lone female, Dusty. So called because the singer Dusty Springfield had her ashes scattered off the Clare coast. And this dolphin appears soon after.
Highly sociable creatures, it's very unusual for dolphins to live a solitary life like this. Did she fall out with the leaders of her pod? Or perhaps some personality quirk means she doesn't need the company of friends and family. Whatever the reason, Dusty brings a unique presence to these clear Atlantic waters. All along Ireland's west coast are the signs that summer is on the way. The puffins are leaving, heading back out into the Atlantic for the winter ahead. It's now late August, and the cliffs are falling silent.
Autumn is coming to Ireland's islands. Lying off the southwest corner of Ireland, the Blascat Islands were one of the last outposts of an ancient Gaelic culture. Home until 70 years ago to a community of native Irish speakers whose language and stories were among the last whispers from a fast fading world. Those people are gone now. And today, the Great Blood has become home to one of Ireland's most impressive wildlife spectacles.
Like a scene from Antarctica, more than a thousand gray seals come ashore for shelter and to meet other members of their kind. The seals spend most of their lives at sea, but a couple of times in the year need to find dry land to mate, give birth, and to mol. Gray seals have two layers of fur, which they must shed every year. It's a hugely uncomfortable business, especially when short flippers can't quite reach all the itchy spots. And come breeding time, when the tide fills, the big males are forced closer
and closer together. The biggest of all, the beach masters are on a mission to dominate the beach and control all access to the females. But there's always the ocean to escape to. Gray seals are great travelers. Many of these animals will have come from as far as Scotland or northern France. Once on the verge of extinction, gray seals were the very first mammals protected by government legislation in 1914. But 100 years of care and conservation has given birth to this great wildlife gathering unfolding in late summer on the beach of the great Blascad Island.
It's now early September and south of the Aaron Islands, something truly extraordinary is happening. Basking sharks cruise the west coast of Ireland in spring and summer. They usually appear in ones and twos with their mouths wide open feeding on plankton. But in the last 7 years, something very different has been discovered. a huge gathering of basking sharks only ever seen a handful of times before. Dozens and dozens of these gentle giants gathering for a few days in late August to early September. This is the only place on Earth where this is being seen.
The sharks appearing in such large numbers forming these remarkable concentric circles. Scientists studying this exceptional gathering have found that there seems to be an equal number of males and females and have likened it to be a kind of speed dating event for the basking shark world. All the indications are that this is a critical breeding behavior, especially important when there are so few of these giants left on the planet. One estimate puts their number in the Atlantic as low as 10,000 individuals. So, the hundreds of sharks in these gatherings are a very significant chunk of the global population.
There's a traditional saying in the Irish language, kosher le as gentle as a basking shark. Once hunted to the very edge of extinction, hopefully these gatherings of gentle giants will keep returning to these Atlantic waters, opening a whole new chapter in the cycle of life of Ireland's wild islands.
