Original subtitles

[bird squawks]

[cub growls]

[narrator] Welcome to The Americas.

[epic orchestral music playing]

An extraordinary journey...

[gushes]

...across Earth's great super continent.

[blasts]

[faint squawk]

From the northern reaches of Canada...

through the breathtaking landscapes of the United States.

[thunder crashes]

[horses neighing]

South to the iconic Amazon rainforest...

and the very tip...

- [grunts] ...-...of Patagonia.

Capturing the widest variety of life on the planet.

[epic music continues]

Five years in the making,

with 180 separate expeditions.

Revealing new discoveries...

[cracks]

...only found here.

For the first time...

experience the strength...

the heart...

- the hope. - [calf bleats]

The untold story...

of our home.

[epic orchestral music playing]

[epic orchestral music continues]

Tonight on The Americas...

The Atlantic Coast.

A world of wonder.

[snorts]

[neighing]

Where enchanted seas...

meet fairy-tale forests.

And life finds a home amongst the bright lights...

- [siren blaring] - ...of a new world.

Although over 100 million people live on America's East Coast,

this is also where you find

200,000 square miles of historic forest.

And where the Carolinas' vast coastal plains

slip beneath the waves.

Reemerging as the ever-shifting sands of the Outer Banks.

These islands are home to surprising castaways.

[birds calling]

[horse snorting]

Wild horses.

They live a perilous life,

braving tides and strong currents.

[snorting]

Legend has it their ancestors were marooned here

when the ships of conquistadors were wrecked on these shores.

But one stallion is doing very well here.

[dramatic music playing]

He rules this part of the island,

carpeted in lush meadows.

And at its heart lies the key to his success.

A fresh water spring.

[huffing]

Controlling this vital supply gives him power.

For a decade, he's defended the well and his family...

from other stallions.

He bears the scars to prove it.

But at 15 years old, the stallion may be past his prime.

Losing one big fight...

[snorting]

...could mean the end of his reign.

[birds calling]

That fight looks to be on the cards.

[bee buzzing]

Because it's breeding season.

He can smell that one of his mares is ready to mate.

To heighten his senses,

he curls his lips, in what's known as the Flehmen response.

But other stallions have noticed too.

Including...

his arch rival.

[suspenseful music playing]

This intruder may have dainty white feet,

but he's 500 pounds

of testosterone-fueled attitude.

[snorting]

[dramatic music playing]

The aging stallion must rise to the challenge.

Like prize fighters,

they size each other up.

Stamping.

And posturing.

The intruder is younger and bigger,

but the wily old stallion has years of combat experience.

A stamp of his foot says,

"Bring it on."

[intense music playing]

[both neighing]

[intense music continues]

The old stallion skillfully dodges flying hooves.

[neighing]

He takes one ferocious kick to the chest

but rears up to avoid the knockout blow.

That...

was the challenger's best shot.

And it wasn't enough.

The stallion runs the intruder off his land.

[panting]

Victory for the veteran means he can stay with his family.

And his place on these unique islands is secure,

for now.

But here, danger is never far away.

Out to sea, Atlantic waters are deadly.

Both above

and below.

In the waters just off the coast of North Carolina,

this sand tiger is heading to a shark rendezvous.

Ten feet long with teeth to die for,

this female certainly looks the part.

But she is about to reveal a very different side to her nature.

Sand tiger sharks are surprisingly sociable.

Every summer, hundreds assemble here.

But the purpose of these extraordinary gatherings

is still a mystery to scientists.

They happen in a place of eerie beauty

known as "the graveyard of the Atlantic."

More than 2000 ships have met their end on this coastline,

from Spanish galleons and pirate ships

to merchant vessels sunk in World War II.

These rusting hulks create new habitats,

swiftly colonized by many creatures.

Including vast shoals of scad.

[lively music playing]

[rumbling]

But these little fish have a big problem.

They're on the menu.

For jacks.

30-pound high-speed hunters.

And not just one of them.

[tense music playing]

The scad must seek safety.

And they find it somewhere extraordinary.

With...

the sharks.

[calm music playing]

The scad use the sand tigers as bodyguards.

Each shark finds itself cloaked in a shimmering veil of tiny scad.

[calm music continues]

It's a remarkable relationship

and one rarely filmed.

A hidden wonder

where the human world and the natural world meet.

Journey 200 miles up the Atlantic Coast,

and you'll discover the largest estuary in the U.S.,

Chesapeake Bay.

Where 150 rivers meet the sea.

It's here that this true American icon

is forced to meet its greatest challenge head-on.

- [gentle music playing] - [birds chirping]

Winding through Maryland and Virginia,

the streams and rivers that feed Chesapeake Bay

are a haven for wildlife.

[loud honking]

But they are also among North America's busiest waterways.

To thrive here takes a particular kind of attitude.

A bald eagle,

the Atlantic Coast's great success story.

In the 1970s, there were no eagles on this stretch of river.

But thanks to protection

and the banning of harmful pesticides,

and now there are more than 300 breeding pairs.

Their numbers are soaring.

[uplifting music playing]

With a seven-foot wingspan

and eyesight five times better than ours,

this female looks the perfect predator.

But for a bird that likes to hunt fish,

she has one major flaw.

She's not built to take off from water.

For all her power, fishing is not easy.

Missed again.

For most of the year, she can do well enough.

But in the spring, everything changes.

[suspenseful music playing]

Ospreys arrive.

Birds of prey supremely adapted to just one thing...

fishing.

[dramatic music playing]

[splashes]

In March each year, 20,000 ospreys migrate here from the south.

They stay for the summer to raise their chicks.

[chirping]

Now they're in the eagle's territory.

Ospreys can hit the water...

[splashes]

...at 70 miles an hour.

Their long legs stretch down to grab fish

three feet below the surface.

Equipped with waterproof feathers, take-off is no problem for them.

[chirping]

They're taking...

a lot of her fish.

Outclassed on home turf.

[crying]

It's time to impose a fish tax.

[dramatic music playing]

Bald eagles have some powers that ospreys can't match.

Audacity.

Persistence.

And sheer strength.

[dramatic music playing]

[osprey squealing]

[splashes]

Daylight robbery.

A quick barrel roll.

[calling]

And it's time for her to collect.

North America's

comeback queen.

[languid music playing]

Flourishing on this most crowded coast.

Almost a third of Americans make the Atlantic Coast home.

The towns and cities we build

have been the biggest force of change here.

Where animals can sometimes find themselves in an alien world.

But here in the suburbs...

[insects chirping]

...there are aliens living among us.

[eerie music playing]

This peaceful corner of Maryland

is about to be invaded.

On a sleepy Maryland street,

something is stirring.

[eerie music playing]

And it is not alone.

This male and thousands of others

have spent 17 years

deep underground.

They're called periodical cicadas,

and each is on a critical mission

to secure the next generation.

But things here have changed.

Seventeen years earlier, George W Bush was in the White House.

No one had heard of a smart phone,

and many suburban developments

were still plots of woodland.

Instinct drives the swarm to climb.

Many fall at the first hurdle.

But this male has found a good spot.

A tall tree.

The ideal place

to make a dramatic transformation.

[eerie music continues]

[rustling]

Breaking free from the husk of his old body,

he unfurls new wings.

And his adult form is revealed.

Around him, the others change, too...

ahead of the next stage of the mission.

It might seem a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

[dog barks]

...but the human residents wake to an audio onslaught.

[cicadas buzzing loudly]

The volume can exceed 96 decibels.

It's like a rock concert in your front yard

with cicadas on vocals.

[loud buzzing continues]

But for the cicadas, this isn't a horror story.

[gentle music playing]

It's a romance.

And the language of love

is music bug style.

With many males for every female,

it isn't straightforward.

Mm, perhaps three's a crowd.

[soft music playing]

Maybe she's the one.

It's time for a cicada serenade.

[buzzing]

Vibrating his body like a tiny violin.

Dee waits for a special signal from her.

[loud buzzing]

And there it is.

A snap of her wings that shows his charms

have won her over.

After 17 years of waiting,

a brief encounter is all it takes to fertilize her 500 eggs.

For the males, adult life is very short.

After just a month,

it's all over.

Now their bodies will nourish the soil for the next generation.

While above, the female lays her precious eggs.

A few weeks later, the young will drop to the ground

and burrow deep into the earth.

When they emerge in 17 years' time,

who knows what they'll find?

To keep up with the pace of the modern world,

animals have to be versatile.

Meet one of the most adaptable in all the Americas.

She can think and feel her way through any challenge.

Getting a drink out of a water-filled tree hole?

No problem.

But she'll need all her wits about her

because this raccoon doesn't live in the woods.

[cars honking]

- She's a New Yorker. - [siren wails]

["Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys playing]

New York City...

Home to eight million people.

[man] Come on...

? Ooh, New York... ?

[narrator] But even here, the wildlife finds a way.

Making the most of 20,000 acres of parks and gardens...

is one of the cleverest animals in the Americas.

[upbeat music playing]

A raccoon.

Country raccoons are nocturnal.

But here, they emerge in the daytime as well,

so they must be wary

of people, dogs and cars.

Be kinda street-smart.

This female needs to take extra care.

She's a mom.

The wall provides high-rise living for her growing family.

[kits chirping]

These kits are four months old,

and they share their home with an older brother.

He's getting ready to leave home for good.

But raccoons aren't the only ones with a taste for city living.

[suspenseful music playing]

A red tailed hawk,

and it has its sights set

on the kits.

[chirping]

Mom is alert to any sign of trouble.

[suspenseful music intensifies]

Come on, come on. Back inside.

With that hawk nearby,

she needs to stick around.

[bird squawking]

There may be safety in numbers,

but this is becoming a tight squeeze.

And something's gotta give.

But it's best to wait for nightfall.

This city may never sleep.

But luckily,

hawks do.

It's a chance for the eldest kit

to bid farewell to the family.

[sniffing]

[gentle music playing]

As Mom watches him go,

he's tentative at first.

He's on his own now.

She must stay with her younger kits.

But soon, he's free soloing with ease.

[upbeat lively music playing]

His supersensitive paws help him find the safest footholds.

[sniffing]

And they're not bad for shucking snails, either.

But alone on the parapet, he needs to keep on his toes.

[siren blaring]

Yeah. Nice move.

[car engines whine]

He seems ready to face the city on his own.

In fact, there's evidence that an urban upbringing

makes raccoons better at problem-solving.

[leisurely music playing]

He's gonna be just fine.

[siren echoes]

[insects chirping]

[mellow music playing]

Away from the magical bright lights of New York

is a different fairytale world.

Deep in the Appalachian woods,

for a few bewitching summer nights,

fireflies take the stage.

Males flash

to attract females.

The chemical light they produce

is one of the most energy efficient on Earth.

[lively music playing]

For the fireflies,

flashing in synchrony increases their impact.

For us, it's pure wonder.

[joyful music playing]

Forests cover 65 percent of the Atlantic Coast.

In one corner of Tennessee, there are so many trees,

they seem to create smoke.

In fact, it's a unique fog.

This is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

And here, one black bear mom

is having trouble with some very hungry cubs.

[cub whines]

[bird squawking]

It's late summer in the Smoky Mountains,

the national park with the greatest biodiversity in America.

[buzzing]

The huge range of trees and plants

provides a varied menu for this mother bear

and her six-month-old cubs.

With winter just a few months away,

they need to pile on the pounds.

And there's one food that will help them get there.

Cherries.

[sniffing]

They're high in fats and protein,

so it's crucial the cubs make the most of them.

But someone beat them to it.

A trespasser.

An adult male.

And what's worse,

males sometimes kill cubs.

[brays]

[tense music playing]

He's no match

for a protective mom.

[suspenseful music playing]

[huffs]

Now the family can focus on getting those cherries.

[grunts]

[lively music playing]

The tasty fruits are not easy to reach.

Especially if you're a cub.

Mom's got a workaround.

[snaps]

Her cubs, though, don't yet have the strength...

or the skill.

But they do appear to be fearless.

This is going out on a limb.

At just 30 pounds, the cubs are light enough

to climb to the ends of branches.

But a fall from this height could be fatal.

They've got the hang of it.

And these calorie-packed cherries

will help the cubs to gain the weight they'll need

to survive the coming winter.

[bright music playing]

The Smokies are a magical place,

and as America's most visited national park,

they bring that magic to millions.

Heading north,

the ancient Appalachians formed the backbone

of the Atlantic Coast.

Eventually, their weathered peaks

reached New England.

Two hundred years ago, the woods here were cleared for agriculture.

But when many farmers headed west,

the forest made a spectacular return.

And now there are six and a half billion trees.

In the heart of Massachusetts stands a queen of the woods.

A red oak tree,

known here as Triple Oak.

[soothing music playing]

She has weathered 130 years of change.

Right now, she faces the inevitable turn of the seasons.

Throughout the long days of summer.

her leaves captured the sun's energy,

using green chlorophyll to produce the sugar she needs to thrive and grow,

and the oxygen we need to breathe.

But winter is coming.

The shorter days mean there won't be enough sunlight to power her leaves.

So Triple Oak must do something remarkable.

She withdraws her chlorophyll.

As the green pigment is extracted,

all the other colors are revealed.

[upbeat music playing]

For a few short weeks,

Triple Oak wears a gown of burnished gold.

[birds chirping]

But her work isn't finished.

In winter storms,

a tree in full leaf catches the wind like a ship in full sail.

She could be uprooted

so her leaves must go.

Triple Oak creates a layer of cells that seal the leaf off from its twig.

Denied the tree's life support, the leaf dies...

[crackles]

...and is cast aside.

Triple Oak then heals the scar.

[bird squawks]

A process she repeats 200,000 times.

[spirited music playing]

Across New England,

countless oaks, maples, beech and birch all follow suit.

[spirited music continues]

A spectacle so vast,

it can be seen from space.

New England in the fall is one

of planet Earth's greatest natural wonders.

[spirited music continues]

And it happens on our very own doorstep,

on America's spellbinding Atlantic Coast.

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