All language subtitles for david.attenboroughs.galapagos.s01e02.internal.720p.bluray.x264-shortbrehd.pl

In the vastness of the Pacific,
there's a place unlike any other.

Enchanted volcanic islands,
make a home to a remarkable

collection of animals and plants.

Here evolution is proceeding
at extraordinary speed.

Galapagos.

A place of wonders.

Millions of years ago, the islands
were colonized by a strange cast of characters.

But to settle in this harsh
unforgiving landscape,

those new arrivals had to
dramatically adapt their bodies.

Today, revelatory discoveries are still
being made about them.

And from their story, we can piece together
how Galapagos came to be

one of the most diverse
environments on our planets.

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It's perhaps surprising
that the Galapagos

should have become famous
for its biodiversity.

For the fact is, that living conditions here
are very tough.

On the Equator, the heat is intense.

There's very little water. Much of the land
is covered by bare volcanic rock.

And yet every species
that lives here

is descended from an ancestor from the continent,
that have taken on these conditions,

and won.

And the way which they did so,
is extraordinary.

Episode 2
ADAPTATION

The total land area of 16 islands
and rocky outcrops that make up Galapagos

is less than half that of Wales.

And yet for its size,
There are more unique species here

than anywhere else on earth.

Why should that be?

There are clues
hidden within the landscape.

This crescent-shaped strip of cliff

rising steeply from the Pacific Ocean,

is the island of Tortuga.

And like all the Galapagos islands,
it's a wonderful place to see wildlife.

Here and there
there's a sea lion.

And above that, nesting sea birds

Boobies and Galapagos Gulls.

But you only really appreciate
the true character of this island

from the air.

From here, it's clear that this is the last fragment
of an extinct volcano.

These curving cliffs are all that remains
of what was once

a completely circular crater.

And that is an indication of something very significant,

about all these islands.

They change with enormous rapidity.

The history of these islands
is very much the same.

Each is born on the bottom of the sea,

and rises up through the waters,
to emerge as a volcano.

This is a typical Galapagos island,
in its infancy.

But then after a million years of eruptions,

volcanic activity ceases.

Two million years
after its first appearance,

the island is approaching middle age.

It has a moist climate,
and is covered by forest.

It begins to sink
under its own weight of ash and lava.

It's battered by erosion,
and after 4 million years,

it's near the end of its existence.

Low-lying and arid,
with little rainfall,

it's surrounded by beaches of soft sand.

The waves and rain
continue to take their toll,

until all that is left
is a craggy outcrop of rock.

These islands, in geological terms,
are very short lived.

Today, there are islands in the Galapagos Archipelago
that illustrate every stage in this history.

The youngest, in the west,
are arid, black, and still breathing fire.

The oldest, in the east,
have long since ceased to erupt.

But each island provide its colonists
with a range of habitats.

And it is the youngest active islands
that pose the greatest problems

for any animals
that attempt to colonize them.

In the far west of the Archipelago
lies Fernandina.

This is the youngest of the Galapagos Islands.

It's forbiddingly desolate,
and inhospitable.

But one animal
has colonized its shoreline.

This creature is a specialist
at surviving in this harsh terrain.

And in adapting to this place,
it has become like no other animal on Earth.

Behold, the Marine Iguana.

The ancestors of these iguanas

almost certainly lived
in the jungles of Central America.

There, still today,
you can see iguanas

in the trees overhanging the rivers
nibbling leaves,

or on rafts of reeds.

Just occasionally,
some are swept out to sea.

And the vast majority of course,
die there.

But just a few, a long time ago,

were fortunate enough to be swept
by favorable currents out into the ocean,

and beached up here.

In their ancestral rainforest habitat,

iguanas are vegetarians.

Here, they browse on juicy leaves.

But the iguanas that first appeared in the
Galapagos, could find no such things.

So these iguanas, to survive,

had to eat the only kind of leaf
that was available.

Seaweed.

And to get the best of that,
they had to do something even more radical.

They had to swim.

They even learned to dive.

They acquired the ability to hold their breath
for up to an hour,

so that they could swim down
to a depth of 20 meters.

Their claws strengthened,

so they could cling to the rocks
on the seabed.

And under the water, they found
an endless supply of seaweed.

Which grew in abundance in
the nutrient rich currents

that flow around the islands

but that was not all

their snouts became flatter
to help them graze.

and their teeth became sharper
to grip the slippery seaweed

But cold water can be dangerous
for cold blooded reptiles

after a few minutes feeding at sea

the iguanas are seriously chilled
and in urgent need of a warm up

and their skin enables
them to get that

It is black

dark objects absorb heat

and each scale in the marine iguanas
skin is like a miniature solar panel

now all the marine iguana needs to do
to bring its body back up to temperature

is to bask in the hot equatorial
sun for an hour or two

But eating nothing but seaweed,
creates another problem.

Too much salt.

The Marine Iguanas dealt with that
in a avery particular way.

They evolved a special gland,
in their nose.

They simply sneeze the excess salt
from their blood.

These changes had to happen very quickly,
in evolutionary terms,

if the iguanas were to survive.

But here, conditions sometimes change,

and then even iguanas
struggle to keep up.

Every 3 to 7 years, the weather becomes
very extreme, and irregular.

It's a phenomenon called El-Ni�o.

And it can have a devastating effect
on wildlife.

Evolutionary biologist Maren Vitousek
has studied the effects of El-Ni�o

on the Galapagos Marine Iguanas.

She discovered that it decimates their food.

Marine Iguanas usually eat
red and green algae,

and that algae dies off completely
during El-Ni�o,

during strong El-Ni�os.

And is replaced by brown algae.

And Marine Iguanas aren't able to digest
the brown algae,

so they can eat it, but it sits in their stomach,
basically in a big lump.

Um, and so you can find iguanas
dead on the beach, of starvation,

with their stomachs full of this brown algae,
that they're just not able to digest.

The Marine Iguana is the worst affected
of all Galapagos animals

during an El-Ni�o.

As many as 90% of them can perish.

It's bad news for the iguanas,
but good news for scavengers.

And new research has shown that the iguanas

have evolved a special ability
that enables them to survive the famine.

They bodies shrink.

they lose not just fat and muscle

but bone.

the iguanas can actively reduce
their skeletons over just a few months

So we saw that the, that the largest animals
were decreasing their body length by as much as 20%.

And the magnitude of that means that it can't be simply
that they're changing their cartilage

or connected tissue,
or reserving muscles.

Those things together account
for about 10% of length.

So instead, 20% of shrinkage really indicates
that it's got to be the skeleton itself that's decreasing in length.

This amazing ability to reabsorb bone
in times of hardship, is unique to these reptiles.

It's the most recent discovery in understanding
how the Marine Iguanas manage to survive

on the coastlines of the youngest Galapagos islands.

But Iguanas were not alone in adapting
to these desolate volcanic shores

This is the lava heron

its well camouflaged

its grey feathers make it relativity
inconspicuous against the blackened lava rocks

so moving stealthy, it can
hunt very effectively

its favourite prey is the
sally lightfoot crab

whose striking red shell stands
out against the jet black lava

but the adults crabs have tough
shells and sharp pincers

and herons know better than
to attack a full grown one

juvenile crabs would be a much
more attractive prospect

but they have responded to
the landscape of Fernandina

they have black shells to make them
far less conspicuous to prowling herons

this time the lava heron will have
to make do with a really tiny snack

a sally lightfoot hatchling

On the shorelines of this infant
Galapagos island life is tough

habitats are limited

opportunities are scarce

but away from the coast, survival
is almost impossible

there its too dry and too hot
for most forms of life

but in time that will change

as the island ages, this hostile landscape
will become a little more welcoming

it will one day, support a rich forest

full of new places for animals to live

this change is driven
by the volcanic hotspot

which brought this
island into existence

the eruptions continue

95% of its final bulk will accumulate
in the next few hundred thousand years

by the time the eruptions have ceased

its grown so large that it has
acquired a new power

it has the ability to
create its own weather

Humid oceanic winds blowing over
across the Pacific

hit this mountain of lava,
and are so forced upwards

that cools them so that they can
no longer hold their load or moisture

and it condenses as mist and rain

and that allows plants to thrive

Santa Cruz in the centre of the
Archipelago

is typical of these middle aged islands

its slopes are covered by a
mantel of green

this might seem to be a forest
of giant trees

supporting a rich population of animals
of all kinds

but this being Galapagos
this forest is different

These plants are not true trees

Trees tend to have big seeds

and a few of those made it
across the oceans to the Galapagos

and certainly none up here
into the highlands

but smaller plants have
smaller seeds

some so small they can
float on the wind

and one member of the
dandelion family

made it up here

and without competition
from other trees

they grew big

this you could say is a forest
of giant dandelions

this very special kind of dandelion
is called Scalesia

its unique to the Galapagos
and flourishes on the high slopes

of Santa Cruz and other
middle aged islands

Its become the host for a whole
community that could not exist without it

because Scalesia performs a
conjuring trick

that gives life to the rest
of the forest

there�s no groundwater in these
thick volcanic soils

but the Scalesia trees are
tall enough to collect

moisture from the sky
from clouds and rain and mist

and that is sufficient to sustain
the whole community

of plants and animals

High in the canopy mist condenses on the
spindly criss cross branches of the Scalesia

water trickles down their
woody trunks

ferns root themselves in the damp
moss that clings to their bark

the moisture creates conditions where
spiders and other small creatures can live

And on the forest floor
pools appear

here dragon flies thrive, and
once again they belong to a

species that occurs nowhere else but here

but the Galapagos climate is changeable

and the mists sometimes dry up
leaving this delicate ecosystem

exposed to the burning equatorial heat

some trees however have evolved
a way of protecting themselves

this tree has developed a mutually beneficial
relationship with the lycon that grows on it

the lycon shields the tree from the sun

preventing it from getting scorched

and the tree provides the Lycon
with moisture and nutriment

but if the weather gets really sunny

then the Lycon shrivels and stops taking
nutriment and moisture from the tree

but at the same time still prevents it
from getting sunburned

and when the moisture returns,
the Lycon can grow back

So plant and Lycon make the best of
the two extremes of climate

Fresh water anywhere on land
creates opportunities

but on volcanic islands like Galapagos

it gets to some very strange places

Deep in the rocks under
the Scalesia forests

there is a network of hundreds
tunnels called lava tubes.

Here, the species-changing power
of Galapagos is still active.

For scientists like caver
Aaron Addison and biologist Steve Taylor,

these lava tubes are the Galapagos islands'
new frontier of discovery.

It is difficult to imagine, or indeed believe that
there are still such untouched areas within a place

that's so well known as the Galapagos
and so well studied.

But we do find those areas,
and those areas then lead us to new species

that are unknown to science because
they haven't been described by anyone else, ever.

Black volcanic rock still lies only
a few inches down beneath the forest trees

of Santa Cruz.

It erupted millions of years ago and flowed down
the sides of the interred volcano,

in rivers of molten red-hot lava.

As the surface of the lava cooled,
it solidified and formed

a rocky skin.

And when the eruption ceased,

the still liquid lava continued to flow away,
leaving behind these huge empty caverns.

And now, a constant trickle of life-giving water
drips down into the winding tunnels.

Steve Taylor is an expert
on underground life.

The subterranean world is full of surprises.

It's just really exciting, because
these animals are pale and eyeless,

There's no selective pressure
to maintain eyes in a cave so, they're blind.

And they often have elongated appendages

so they can either find prey,
or avoid prey.

This amblypygi,
half scorpion, half spider,

is a predator and a scavenger.

It might seem ungainly,
but it's well adapted to this black habitat.

Eyes are useless down here,

and it's become almost totally blind.

Instead, it feels its way through the cave,
with great skill and sensitivity.

Two of its eight legs are greater elongated,

and capable of extending
to twice the length of its body.

This millipede has lost all its color.

Why spend precious energy creating a pigment,

in a place where no-one can see it?

Spiders too haunt the lava tubes.

And just like the tortoises an iguanas,

these creatures have evolved
into many different species.

there are 90 of them all unique to the Galapagos

Spiders don�t just differ from island
to island

they do so dramatically even
within a single lava tube

some that have been here for a long time
are blind and feel their way thought the cave

a few have lost their eyes entirely

but living just centimeters from them
are more recent colonists

species that still retain their eyes

Such variety in such a small area
seems extraordinary,

but on the Galapagos,
it's almost common.

The huge number of different habitats

has made Santa Cruz
a center of biological diversity.

And as an island ages,
so it develops more habitats.

Now, it's entering its old age.

It's no longer growing.

Its sheer mass is to heavy
for the earth's crust to support.

It begins to sink under its own weight.

And now, the rainwater that has been falling
on it throughout its middle age,

begins to carve away its substance.

So the island becomes smaller,
drier, and flatter.

That is what has happened
to Espa�ola.

It's nearing 4 million years old.

Its forests have gone.

But it now has a different range of habitats.

Millions of years of erosion
have created beaches of soft sand.

And they suit some animals very well.

This is a natural bathing beach

for Galapagos sea lions.

They are just one of the very few mammal species
that are unique to the Galapagos.

And the beach of an aging island,
provides them with an excellent nursery.

Here, sea lion pups
can suckle in complete safety.

Though they can be a little irritating.

And in a protected cove,
close by the beach,

parents can teach their youngsters
to swim.

After a swimming lesson, the beach
is a perfect place to relax.

Sea lions seem to have an idyllic life.

But there is just one irritant.

Flies.

On the other islands,
with rocky coastlines,

sea lions have help
to keep the flies at bay.

Lava Lizards.

But on the sandy beaches of Espa�ola,

the Lava Lizards are nowhere to be seen.

They prefer the nearby rocks,
which are warmer.

So here they must deal with the
fly problem by themselves

Espa�ola's soft sand beaches are also
greatly valued by another species

The Waved Albatross

the islands provides an excellent nesting
ground for these huge seabirds

with a wing span of two and a half
meters, the Albatross is so big and heavy

that it has to get up to some
considerable ground speed

in order to take off

and that�s what the beach provides

As you might expect,
the species of Albatross that lives here

is slightly different than those found
in other parts of the world.

This wave-like patterns on its neck feathers distinguish it

from all other Albatross species.

All Albatrosses spend
most of their lives on the wind,

traveling across entire oceans.

Here on Espa�ola,
the Waved Albatrosses can nest.

The isolation of the Galapagos, and the protected
soft-shingled beaches of Espa�ola

make this aging island
an excellent breeding ground for them.

35 thousand settle here each year.

Waved Albatrosses are monogamous.

They mate for life.

But how do you find a new mate,
or recognize your old partner

in such a crowded colony?

You dance.

The whole performance can last for nearly an hour.

And it's repeated several times,
every day.

Sometimes, a potential rival
steps in to try his luck.

The female, in the middle,
dances with both enthusiastic males at the same time.

The reward for the victorious male is great.

A mate...

and an opportunity to pass on his genes.

The many habitats of Espa�ola,
and all aging Galapagos islands,

were created by the erosive power of sea,
and weather.

But, erosion can have only one final result...

destruction.

A Galapagos island
worn down by the waves and the weather,

eventually reaches the last stage of its existence.

After millions of years sustaining life,

all that remains of it above water
is a rocky, curving cliff.

Like Tortuga.

There are many relic islands like Tortuga in the Galapagos.

Devil's Crown, in the south of the Archipelago,

is even closer to disappearing altogether,
below the waves.

But even in its final days,

A Galapagos island provides a habitat for some.

It's rock has been turned by erosion into sediment,

and now that fertilizes the marine life
around its submerged remains.

A ring of coral, 2 meters wide,

encircles its dwindling stump.

So a whole new animal community develops.

Corals are at its center.

Thistle Worms hide inside them,

occasionally emerging to browse on passing morcins.

Fish find safety among their branches,

and some of these species, once again,

are unique to the Galapagos.

The reef teems with life.

but the presence of warm water corals
here in the Galapagos seas

is something of a surprise

because Penguins that need cold
water live here too

so how can tropical corals and
penguins coexist?

the Galapagos islands have one
more trick up their sleeve

the Archipelago lies at the confluence
of several deep ocean currents

and that creates a bizarre
mixture of marine habitats

the sub antarctic Humbolt current
flows around the islands

and chills the water just enough
for the penguins to survive

the corals can't grow in such cold water

but they can go in a state of semi
hibernation for short periods

When warm water from central
America is dominant

the temperature rises by about
7 degrees

not the corals can grow

and the Penguins can find refuge
in the few remaining pockets of cold water

in the coves and bays that still remain

So even in the last stages of its life,
a Galapagos island can support

a rich animal community.

But remarkably, even this
is not the end of the story.

Because even when an island
has totally disappeared beneath the waves,

it continues to influence life
in the surrounding seas.

The remains of ancient Galapagos islands

stretch for hundreds of miles
across the Pacific seabed.

These were once volcanoes life Fernandina,

vegetated mountains like Santa Cruz,

and low lying nurseries like Espa�ola.

Today, those environments are long gone.

But the remnants of the islands,
under the sea,

are still key in the lives of one of the oceans
most magnificent inhabitants.

Up to 12 meters long,
it's the largest fish in the world.

The Whale Shark.

Whale Sharks come to the Galapagos
in large numbers,

at the same time, every year.

But why they do so is a mystery.

Marine biologists, Alex Hearn and
Jonathan Green,

have spent the last 5 years
trying to solve the puzzle.

If you think about how Galapagos is formed
and how the currents work,

The most productive water is actually out west.

So you would've thought that
if Whale Sharks were coming here to feed,

they'd be out in the west of the Archipelago,
and they're not, they're up north.

So why are they coming here?
It's clearly not to feed.

And what we found out recently is
that it's mainly large pregnant females.

Are they coming here to give birth?

This may be the pupping ground
for Whale Sharks.

I'm slightly skeptical.
I think we would've seen juveniles, and we don't.

So, that brings backs the question.

Well if they're not pupping here, and
if they're not feeding here, why are they coming?

To understand the Whale Sharks'
migratory patterns,

Hearn and Green attach satellite tags

to the sharks they encounter.

This enables them to track their movements.

And it's revealing
some extraordinary new facts.

First, the sharks swim open-mouthed through
the rich waters off the west coast of South America.

Then they continue their journey westwards,
to the Galapagos.

But they only spend a few days at a time
in the islands' waters,

before continuing westwards,
out into the open ocean.

Nobody has yet proved
why the Whale Sharks do this,

but Alex Hearn has begun
to formulate some ideas.

I think there are two possibilities.

Firstly, they may be using Galapagos
as a way point,

which directs them towards
their pupping grounds.

The other option is that Galapagos
may be providing a service for them along the way,

and that service may be cleaning,
because we do see a lot of cleaning behavior from the reef fish.

Or it may be
a combination of the two.

The long line of submerged Galapagos islands

could play a central role in
the Whale Sharks' extraordinary journey.

It might be that they serve as signposts,
by which the sharks navigate.

If you start looking at where they're going,
especially the tracks that we have,

along those ridges, and then up to the next ridge,
and then back down again,

it certainly seems that they're associating with those ridges,
for one reason or another.

And that could be geomagnetism, or it could also be
something to do with the biology of the water column above those ridges.

But certainly, something is going on.

From their birth to their death,
the islands have acted like

evolutionary pressure cookers.

From the youngest islands like Fernandina,

the middle-aged ones like Santa Cruz,

and the old islands like Espa�ola,

they're extremely varied,
with contrasted conditions.

Deserts, rainforests, and polar waters,
crowded together in a very small area.

These huge variations have created
a wide range of opportunities for the few animals

that have managed to reach here.

As they colonized...

so they adapted.

And consequently, flourished.

That explains many of the oddities
of the inhabitants of these islands.

Including that most fundamental phenomenon of all,

the appearance of new species.

The giant tortoise is
the very emblem of the Galapagos,

and in their hayday, there were
hundreds of thousands of them.

Not only that, there were
15 different species

each in its own locality.

But why should there be so many species
within such a com-positively restricted area?

In the next program, we'll look
at the deep geological forces,

that can make a single species
produce many

and turn the Galapagos
into this wonderland.

`�.��.����`��._.� ] ( Subs by Team Cliff ) [ `�.��.����`��._.�`

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