All language subtitles for Planet Earth III Wonders Of Nature

We have explored almost
every corner of our planet,

and it's easy to imagine that
there's nothing left to discover.

But the natural world
can still surprise us...

with astonishing, wild places...

remarkable spectacles...

and breathtaking animal dramas.

In this programme, we celebrate
highlights from Planet Earth III.

We travel across the globe,

from hidden forests...

and turbulent coasts...

through vast,
unexplored deserts.

We will also see in
this changing world

how animals are adapting
to new challenges.

This is Planet Earth III.

This is the most ancient
desert on the planet.

The Namib, in Southwest Africa.

It is one of the
hottest places on earth.

Yet this male ostrich
and his mate...

have come here to
start a family.

Few predators venture out
during the heat of the day.

But such safety
comes at a price.

Out in the open, the
newly hatched chicks

are exposed to the
crushing heat of the sun.

But not all of the
brood have hatched.

Until they do, the
family will stay here.

The adults take it in
turns to protect the brood.

So, whilst the female
takes a well-earned break,

the male takes over for
the most testing shift.

He gently rolls the
unhatched eggs...

calling to the
young within them.

He doesn't want to
leave anyone behind.

The temperature continues to rise
by five degrees Celsius every hour.

CHICK CHIRPS

He protects the chicks
that have emerged...

shading them with his own body.

At the end of another
gruelling day in the sun...

he's lost almost all his energy.

But he must resist
the urge to rest.

The cool of the night
brings some relief,

but now, predators
are out and about.

JACKAL BARKS

JACKAL MOANS

It's going to be a long night.

Dawn brings a surprise.

Three additions to the family...

to greet the returning female.

But there's a problem.

The chicks won't survive another
day in these temperatures.

Yet the male is
reluctant to leave.

Some of the eggs have
still not hatched.

But time has run out.

They must depart.

Just a few minutes too late.

CHICK CHIRPS

Alone and without the
protection of its parents,

this hatchling's
chances are slim.

CHICK CHIRPS

CHIRPING CONTINUES

OSTRICH CHIRPS

CHIRPING CONTINUES

BOTH CHIRP

These ostrich have
overcome a battle

with the deadly
power of the sun.

But its intensity can
also be life-giving.

Here in the shallow
seas of North America,

the sun fuels the growth

of an underwater forest.

Giant kelp.

One of the fastest-growing
organisms on the planet.

It can increase its length
by up to two feet a day...

and eventually reach the
height of a 12-storey building.

These forests are nurseries
for young horn sharks.

As the sun begins to set, they
leave their daytime shelter...

and set off into the heart of
the kelp forest to find food.

Barely half a metre long,

this little shark is
extremely vulnerable.

There are monsters here.

A giant sea bass

weighing over 200kg...

and wolf eels with big teeth

that can crush little
red sea urchins.

But the biggest danger
comes from other sharks.

Hound sharks...

and huge broadnose sevengills.

In this forest, it pays
to keep a low profile.

An angel shark.

One of the most deadly
sharks in the kelp forest

and certainly the
best camouflaged.

An angel shark will
lie in wait for days.

But this one

has already attracted
too much attention.

It's not welcome here.

Now the coast is clear.

But angel sharks hunt
around the clock.

Openings for breathing
called spiracles

blow out sand that
helps cover its body.

The trap is set.

Staying close to the seabed

is a good way to
avoid most predators.

Faster than the blink of an eye.

But it's not over yet.

Horn sharks have
a secret weapon.

Sharp spikes keep them very
much off the menu for most...

so this young horn shark
can continue hunting...

safe from attack.

From kelp forests...

to rainforests,

animals must develop remarkable
strategies in order to survive.

This is a tree hopper.

Here in the Amazon,

there are hundreds of
different species of them...

and they come in an
extraordinary variety of shapes.

HOPPER HUMS

But they also communicate...

in a remarkable way.

HOPPERS CHIRP

Most of these calls
we can only hear

by using special microphones.

Each tree hopper species
has its own repertoire...

HOPPER HOOTS

HOPPER RUMBLES

HOPPER COOS

and every sound...

OVERLAPPING CALLS CONTINUE

has its own
particular meaning...

whether it is to
attract a mate...

HOPPER BUZZES

share information about food...

or warn each other about
the arrival of predators.

HOPPER CHIRPS

This tree hopper mother uses sounds
to communicate with her young...

encouraging them
to stay together...

so that she can protect them...

for there are plenty here waiting
to eat young tree hoppers.

Ants - on the hunt.

Tree hoppers know how
to defend themselves.

But not all threats are
so easily dealt with.

An assassin bug.

Armed with piercing mouth parts

and sticky front legs.

Capable of literally sucking the
life out of her entire brood.

She uses her body to block
the assassin's path...

but she can't guard them all.

She needs help from
friends in high places.

BEES BUZZ

Bees.

They're very aggressive.

MUSIC: Ride Of The
Valkyries by Richard Wagner

This is more than the
assassin bargained for.

Mission accomplished.

Her brood are safe...

and the bees claim a reward.

A little tickle on a
tree hopper's back...

and the hopper excretes some of
its partly digested plant sap...

which we call, rather
flatteringly, honeydew.

A sweet reward for
protecting them.

In the Amazon, it
pays to work together.

On the open grasslands
of Africa...

where many eyes
watch for danger...

hunters are driven to new
heights to gain the advantage.

This leopardess,
believe it or not,

is ready to hunt at
a moment's notice.

She is one of the
few special leopards

that have learnt to
hide in the tree tops

and wait for their
prey to come to them.

Without making a sound,

she gets into position.

Not this time.

And now her presence
is known to all.

BABOON BARKS

But leopards will go to
astonishing lengths to succeed...

and some are more
daring than others.

This leopard climbs
up to a branch

nine metres above the ground.

She's higher than the roof
of a two-storey house.

Leopards have killed themselves
jumping from these heights.

To succeed on these
equatorial grasslands,

you must be adaptable...

and sometimes brave.

Here in southern Africa,

the lives of animals are driven
by huge seasonal changes.

Every year, over 5,000
square miles of grassland

are transformed by water.

The Okavango in flood...

attracts millions of animals.

And for some,

now is the perfect
time to raise a family.

A lily-trotter.

EGGSHELL CRACKS

And he is a father on duty.

TROTTER CHIRPS LOUDLY

He has not just one...

but four newly-hatched chicks.

They won't be able to fly
for another six weeks...

CHICK CHIRPS

so, until then,

he alone is their protector.

Walking on water is
not straightforward...

so he must show them how
to be a lily-trotter.

The floodwaters make the
perfect training ground.

And in two weeks...

his chicks not only
double in size...

they grow in confidence.

But this is a dangerous
place to stray.

HE CHIRPS

He sounds the alarm

and his chicks instantly freeze.

They can't yet fly to safety.

But there is one thing he
can do to protect them...

TROTTER SQUAWKS

and it's risky.

Get close enough to distract...

and hopefully divert
the crocodile.

SQUAWKING CONTINUES

Mission accomplished.

HE CHIRPS LOUDLY

He signals the all-clear...

CHICK CHIRPS

but one chick is missing.

HE CHIRPS LOUDLY

His calls...

go unanswered.

HE CHIRPS LOUDLY

CHICK CHIRPS

A little bedraggled,
but alive and well.

This chick just
hadn't heard his call.

And when danger threatens,

it's always better to
be safe than sorry.

He's brought his chicks
- all four of them -

to the verge of independence.

The early stages of any animal's
life are their most vulnerable...

and in the treacherous
coastal waters

of South Africa's
Robberg Peninsula,

Cape fur seals face an
unexpected challenge.

SEALS BARK AND GRUNT

This pup was born
into a crowded world.

But now, at nearly a year old,

he can escape to the water.

There is no question

as to where this pup belongs.

In the water,

he's fast and agile...

and he needs to be.

The rolling surf conceals
life-threatening dangers.

The great white shark.

This young pup has had
a very lucky escape.

SEALS BARK AND GRUNT

Here on Africa's southern coast,

seals risk their lives every
time they set out to eat.

Powerful ocean currents
attract huge shoals of fish.

But in recent years,

this stretch has attracted increased
numbers of great whites, too.

The great whites
are shrewd hunters

and use whatever
cover is available.

This shark won't need to
eat for another few days...

SEAGULLS CAW

but he's not alone.

These usually solitary hunters

are gathering in
unprecedented numbers...

a dozen at a time.

The seals are nimble...

but great whites are patient...

and have explosive
acceleration...

hitting top speed with just
five swipes of their tails.

Cornered, the seals keep
close to the jagged cliffs.

They're trapped.

But as the great whites
move in for the kill...

the seals do
something astonishing.

Together...

they turn on their enemy.

As more join, the mob grows...

in both number and confidence.

The tables are turning.

By sheer force of
numbers, these fur seals

drive the world's most
notorious predator...

back out to sea.

These seals have
found a remarkable way

to meet the demands
of life in the wild.

But many animals must now
rise to a new challenge...

living alongside us...

and few have managed to
exploit this more brazenly

than this troop of
long-tailed macaques in Bali.

They have everything
they could want for...

and that is thanks to us.

The troop heads for a building
in the centre of their territory.

Uluwatu Temple.

MACAQUE CHITTERS

Tourists come here
every day in crowds...

so the temple grounds are
full of opportunities...

if you know where to look.

TOURIST GASPS

There is a constant
supply of hats...

and sunglasses...

and, if you've mastered
the element of surprise...

it's easy to get them.

CELL CAMERA CLICKS

But this harvest
is not for eating.

It's for bargaining.

Seems like a fair trade.

But there are greater
rewards to be had

for those who know
how to get them...

PHONE CAMERAS CLICK

and this old male
appears to be doing...

very well.

He and the other
elders in this troop

have both experience
and knowledge.

They've been working the
temple for over ten years,

and now concentrate
on the big stuff...

things that human beings
just can't do without.

TOURIST GASPS

No-one wants to walk
home with just one shoe.

MACAQUE CHITTERS

And these old boys can't wait to
get their hands on the latest tech.

TOURIST GASPS

They've worked out that
we simply can't survive

without our phones...

or our wallets.

MACAQUE SCREECHES

TOURIST GASPS

The older males understand something
the youngsters have yet to learn...

the art of the deal.

A banana?

How dare you?

MACAQUE SCREECHES

A bar of chocolate?

That's better.

The real skill is
in the negotiations.

The macaques are playing
us at our own game.

They demand...

whatever they want.

A lucky few are able to succeed

in a human world...

but our impact now extends to
even the most remote corners

of the planet.

Raine Island.

One of the planet's most
important breeding sites...

for one particularly
precious species...

the green turtle.

On a few special
nights each year,

as many as 20,000
females come ashore here.

Their instinct to
nest is strong...

and many haul themselves far
inland in search of nesting space.

In a single night,

they may lay as many
as two million eggs.

Dawn.

This exhausted
female has nested,

but now she faces a
long return journey

through the dunes to the sea.

As the sun rises...

she's at risk of
being baked alive.

Every inch she travels
is gruelling...

and the ebbing tide has
exposed a rocky reef.

It has already
claimed many lives...

other females overcome
by heat and exhaustion.

Her temperature is rising.

She has to keep going.

SHE EXHALES

As many as 2,000 female turtles

may die here each year.

SHE GRUNTS

TIDE APPROACHES

But the coast is
always changing...

and the turning tide

may yet save her.

Half of all the green
turtles in the Pacific

come here to nest,

as they have done for at
least a thousand years.

But for how much longer?

If sea levels rise as predicted,

within the next 30 years,

Raine Island will disappear
beneath the waves.

We have reached a crucial
time in our planet's history.

Life faces many challenges...

but the natural world is
remarkably resilient...

and many great wonders
still remain...

The question is...

for how much longer?

Habitat Explorer brings animals
and their habitats to life.

Explore this free interactive
and make origami animals.

Go to...

and follow the link to
the Open University.

Or to order a free
printed version,

visit the website or call
the numbers on the screen.

MUSIC: Pompeii by Bastille