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The coastline of Brazil is one of
the most spectacular in the world.
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Yet most of us have only heard
only of Copacabana beach.
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But Brazil's Atlantic coast
is much more than a strip
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of sun drenched sand.
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There are strange sculpted dunes,
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remote rocky isles,
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and unique tropical reefs.
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The shallow seas hold a wealth of wildlife.
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Humpback whales prowling
octopus and moray eels,
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deadly snakes, and spinner dolphins.
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00:00:52,082 --> 00:00:55,749
All live along Brazil's extraordinary coast.
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Brazil's coast stretches nearly 7500 kilometers.
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From tempered southern seas to the tropics.
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It's lined with wild rocky shores,
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and tropical paradise beaches.
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The waters here attract many visitors.
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Far out to sea, humpback whales are heading north
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towards Brazil's coast.
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The whales are on an urgent mission.
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They left their Antarctic feeding
grounds three weeks ago,
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00:02:36,330 --> 00:02:40,206
and they've been swimming nonstop ever since.
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The whales have reached
Brazil's southern most waters,
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but it will be another week before they arrive
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at their final destination.
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These southern Brazilian shores
are pounded by wild weather.
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The waves churn out the sand.
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00:03:19,322 --> 00:03:23,489
And a chill wind, called the
Minuano sculpts the landscape.
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Every year the wind and waves combine to create
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a large futile lagoon just in land of the beach.
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Huge flocks of birds
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take advantage of the abundant
food in these waters.
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Many have flown thousands of kilometers
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from North America to feed here.
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Sandpipers need the lagoons to
build up their fat reserves
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before their long journey home,
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as do the rare Hudsonian Godwits.
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They use their longer bills to
probe deeper into the sand.
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The migrants mingle with the residents.
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The flamingos are filter
feeders, stirring up the mud
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with their feed before sifting
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the murky water for nutrients.
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The lagoon is so rich in food that
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the flamingos never have to leave.
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This is the only place in
Brazil where they can be see
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all year round.
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00:05:13,620 --> 00:05:16,195
But by April,
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the summer visitors are ready to leave
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for their breeding grounds.
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Some as far away as the high arctic.
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The Godwits will fly nonstop at an astonishing
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9000 kilometers, fueled by the food of the lagoon.
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On their journey, they pass the well named
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magnificent frigatebird.
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A true master of the coastal waters,
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it soars effortlessly on it's two meter long wings
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as it searches for food.
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It feeds on fish without wetting it's feet.
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In fact, strangely for a seabird,
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it doesn't have waterproof feathers.
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A landing in the sea could be fatal.
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They are amazing agile flyers,
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but for all their elegance,
they're not above piracy,
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trying to steal an easy meal from each other.
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Magnificent frigatebirds
are found along the entire
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7500 kilometers of the Brazilian coastline.
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And they nest on many of the islands.
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But not this idyllic looking island.
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A mere 32 kilometers from the
mainland, Queimada Grande
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lies just below the tropic of Capricorn.
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Yet, no one lives on this island.
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In fact, the Brazilian navy forbids visitors.
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And with good reason.
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The island is the home of this
snake, the golden lance head.
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It's one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
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And the island is literally covered in snakes.
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00:08:18,823 --> 00:08:22,998
No one has been brave, or
foolish enough to count them,
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but estimates suggest their as many as 4000 snakes
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on this small island.
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Another assessment calculated there is one snake
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for every square meter.
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The golden lance head's
closest relative is a snake
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that preys on mammals, but
there are no mammals here,
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so the snakes have taken to
the trees to hunt birds;
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no easy task.
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This part of the coast
suffers frequent rainstorms.
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00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,673
And when showers sweep in from the sea,
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the birds dive under the canopy of the forest
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looking for shelter.
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The snakes are waiting.
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They wriggle the tails, trying to fool the birds
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that there's a juicy grub to eat.
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The golden lance head senses
prey by heat detectors
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in pits on its head.
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00:09:57,951 --> 00:10:02,118
In the cool of the rain, the
warm birds are easier to find.
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00:10:09,868 --> 00:10:13,485
The golden lance head's venom
is five times more potent
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than that of it's mainland relative.
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The snake needs to quickly kill a bird
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for if a bitten bird manages to fly off,
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it will never be found.
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00:10:33,321 --> 00:10:36,202
But the birds that live on
the island all year round,
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know to avoid the snakes.
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It turns out the snakes hardly ever catch
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these savvy residents.
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They rely almost completely on naive birds,
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occasional visitors to the island.
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The snakes go months without food.
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Queimada Grande offers no
welcome to the frigatebirds.
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00:11:34,019 --> 00:11:38,834
A safer island is one rightly
famed for it's seabirds.
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110 kilometers north, or 10 hours on the wing
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from snake island, lies Atol das Rocas.
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The frigatebirds share this island
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with nesting brown boobies.
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Brown booby parents take turns
to look after the babies,
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and to hunt for fish.
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The isolated islands are safe from predators,
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but they suffer the same unpredictable weather as
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Queimada Grande.
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Boobies nest throughout the
year, so there are chicks
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of all ages and all suffering in the rain.
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The cold rain transforms the island into
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a bleak, drenched rock.
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For the naked youngster, unable to regulate
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it's temperature, the rainstorm
poses a real threat.
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The parent needs to shelter the chick
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from the torrential downpour.
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00:12:57,511 --> 00:13:00,568
The birds that bred earlier
have a much older chick,
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more able to weather the storm.
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00:13:10,770 --> 00:13:14,187
And a good meal will boost it's reserves.
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00:13:18,234 --> 00:13:22,426
Although the parent takes some persuading.
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The younger chick is succumbing to the wet.
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00:13:43,853 --> 00:13:46,603
The mother seems to ignore the baby,
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but the chick may now be so cold and weak
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that it no longer prompts a instinctive response
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from the parent.
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00:13:55,836 --> 00:13:57,772
The unpredictable weather makes choosing
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a time to breed a gamble.
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There will always be winners and losers.
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But boobies are long lived birds.
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Maybe next time her chick
will escape the downpours.
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00:14:16,946 --> 00:14:20,683
The brown boobies and
frigatebirds of Atol das Rocas
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range of huge expanses of the coast.
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They fly effortlessly over the
migrating humpback whales.
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They are still steadily swimming
at five kilometers an hour.
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00:14:40,954 --> 00:14:45,121
But in a few days, their
marathon journey will be over.
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00:14:49,138 --> 00:14:52,081
The Brazilian coast is very varied,
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and in sheltered stretches
mangroves and mud dominate.
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The prop roots of the red
mango tree trap and hold mud,
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which becomes a resource for
a host of small creatures.
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The most obvious of which is the fiddler crab.
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00:15:15,828 --> 00:15:18,914
It's the males that want to be noticed.
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Their oversized claw is used as a signal
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to ward off other males,
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and to attract more sensibly attired females.
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The crabs biological clocks tell them to return
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to the safety of their burrows
before the tide returns.
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After a journey of more than 4000 kilometers,
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the whales have finally arrived.
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The Abrolhos Bank, over 70 kilometers offshore.
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The whales have not come here to feed.
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In fact, they haven't eaten since
they left Antarctic waters
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and will not feed again until they return
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in three months time.
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They're living off fat reserves.
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They've come here to mate.
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And the males waste no time, chasing females
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and displaying to each other.
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Humpbacks are the most
acrobatic of the big whales,
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and they are big, over 12 meters long
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and weighing 30 tons.
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Sand travels well in water, so beneath the surface
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these displays must be hard to ignore.
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The warm shallow waters here
are perfect for corals,
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and the Abrolhos Bank is the
largest and most important
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coral reef in the South Atlantic.
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The reef here is unique for it has corals
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found only in Brazil.
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As these corals grow, they
form strange formations.
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These are ancient species that have survived
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only here in Brazil, isolated from the nearest
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coral reefs in the Caribbean.
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The Abrolhos reef provides a home
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for a large number of fishes.
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Shoals patrol the open water above the reef.
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Other smaller fish use the many nooks and crannies
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to hide from the bigger fish.
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The reef operates day and night,
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while many fish sleep, the
corals are still active.
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It's now that they put out their tentacles
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and trap the many tiny creatures of the plankton.
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With fewer veracious fish
around, it's a safer time
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for corals, and for crayfish.
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The corals thrive here in the
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24 degree Celsius shallow waters.
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And it's precisely these conditions that have
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drawn the humpback whales thousands of kilometers
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from their feeding grounds.
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Warm shallow water makes the ideal nursery
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for young humpback whales.
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Dwarfed by another a newborn
humpback is still a big baby,
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over 4 meters long at birth
and weighing nearly two tons.
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Despite it's huge size, the whale infant
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is vulnerable like any other baby
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and needs the support of its mother.
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00:21:38,621 --> 00:21:41,180
The baby whale has very little insulating blubber,
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and so the warm water is crucial
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as is the shelter as it learns to swim.
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The baby will spend the first year
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of its life with its mother.
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In that time the young whale has a lot
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to learn about humpback life.
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But there's still time to play and frolic.
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The baby grows rapidly.
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That's not so surprising when
its mothers milk is 50% fat,
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and the baby suckles frequently,
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consuming over 45 kilos of milk a day.
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Mother whales are very attentive,
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often supporting their babies
when they surface to breathe.
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00:23:47,238 --> 00:23:51,847
It's not just the whales that
use the Abrolhos as a nursery.
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00:23:51,848 --> 00:23:53,876
The islands are important for the
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magnificent frigatebirds as well.
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This is one of their main breeding colonies.
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The males compete for females in a curious manner,
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inflating their chests and appearing like
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00:24:18,772 --> 00:24:22,939
large animated balloons.
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00:24:34,448 --> 00:24:37,646
The females survey the males from above,
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picking their partners whilst on the wing.
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00:24:42,866 --> 00:24:45,853
The larger the sack, and nosier the call,
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the more attractive the male seems to be.
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00:25:12,161 --> 00:25:15,856
The chicks will not fly for 22 weeks.
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00:25:15,857 --> 00:25:18,704
For the first part of that extended infancy,
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both parents feed the chick.
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But after about 10 weeks, the male departs,
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leaving the female to do all the work.
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00:25:32,789 --> 00:25:37,558
She stays and cares for her
chick for another nine months,
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even after it's able to fly.
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00:25:40,598 --> 00:25:44,765
It is the longest period of
parental care of all birds.
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Frigatebirds are wonderfully adapted to
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their aerial way of life.
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They can stay in the air for
several days and nights,
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and may even sleep on the wing.
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00:26:12,385 --> 00:26:16,552
In this manner they traverse huge expanses of sea.
242
00:26:24,793 --> 00:26:28,960
Which is how they reach Arquipelago
de Fernando de Noronha.
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Over 2000 kilometers away,
in the tropical Atlantic.
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00:26:39,576 --> 00:26:42,493
The islands are remote, and rugged.
245
00:26:45,864 --> 00:26:48,663
The few animals that have been marooned here,
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00:26:48,664 --> 00:26:52,831
over millions of years, developed
special ways of coping.
247
00:26:56,943 --> 00:27:00,686
This skink is only found on Noronha.
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00:27:00,687 --> 00:27:04,510
Its ancestors drifted across the Atlantic,
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not from South America, but Africa.
250
00:27:08,575 --> 00:27:12,742
They were typical little
lizards and fed on insects.
251
00:27:13,588 --> 00:27:16,838
But the Noronha skink has broader diet.
252
00:27:20,277 --> 00:27:23,536
In order to survive on the
island, it has found food
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in an unusual place.
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00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,984
The lizards objective is the large flowers,
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over nine meters up the tree.
256
00:27:38,926 --> 00:27:43,675
There are termites to eat,
but the skink ignores them,
257
00:27:43,676 --> 00:27:46,363
preferring a drink of sap before
258
00:27:46,364 --> 00:27:48,908
it continues it's long journey.
259
00:28:17,498 --> 00:28:21,222
The skink drinks the nectar, and as it does,
260
00:28:21,223 --> 00:28:23,056
it's dabbed in pollen.
261
00:28:25,223 --> 00:28:27,436
The lizards, along with the local doves
262
00:28:27,437 --> 00:28:30,520
are the main pollinators of the tree.
263
00:28:36,243 --> 00:28:38,915
These are the kind of strange relationships
264
00:28:38,916 --> 00:28:41,499
that develop on remote islands.
265
00:28:47,686 --> 00:28:51,142
Noronha is home to a pod of spinner dolphins.
266
00:29:27,059 --> 00:29:29,971
They return to a shelter of a bay each morning,
267
00:29:29,972 --> 00:29:34,139
after spending the night hunting
in the open Atlantic Ocean.
268
00:29:44,669 --> 00:29:47,690
Here they rest and get some sleep,
269
00:29:47,691 --> 00:29:50,795
but sleeping dolphins don't stop.
270
00:29:50,796 --> 00:29:54,811
They have to keep swimming and breathing.
271
00:29:59,996 --> 00:30:03,039
The dolphins are not totally unconscious,
272
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:07,916
only parts of their brains are
switched off at any one time.
273
00:30:17,060 --> 00:30:19,891
They stay in small groups, in this way,
274
00:30:19,892 --> 00:30:22,838
they're all with some dolphins half awake
275
00:30:22,839 --> 00:30:25,256
with one eye open for danger.
276
00:30:29,855 --> 00:30:33,519
The dolphins are relatively immune from the tides,
277
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,990
but the lives of creatures of the rocky shoreline
278
00:30:36,991 --> 00:30:40,816
are dominated by the pull of the moon.
279
00:31:05,885 --> 00:31:10,286
At low tide, huge waves batter the shoreline.
280
00:31:12,894 --> 00:31:15,894
It looks like nothing could survive.
281
00:31:25,182 --> 00:31:28,062
But this crab does more than survive,
282
00:31:28,063 --> 00:31:30,730
it thrives amongst the breakers.
283
00:31:32,813 --> 00:31:36,313
The crab has the odd name sally lightfoot.
284
00:31:37,421 --> 00:31:40,476
Its streamlined body and strong legs
285
00:31:40,477 --> 00:31:43,144
help it hold tight to the rocks.
286
00:31:44,541 --> 00:31:47,664
It risks the surf to feed on the seaweed
287
00:31:47,665 --> 00:31:49,998
that is exposed at low tide.
288
00:32:08,961 --> 00:32:12,626
When the tide turns and the water rises,
289
00:32:12,627 --> 00:32:16,450
the crabs retreat, preferring to stay on land
290
00:32:16,451 --> 00:32:20,118
than risk predators coming in with the tide.
291
00:32:31,215 --> 00:32:33,950
They wait out the high tide, safe and dry,
292
00:32:33,951 --> 00:32:35,701
above the water line.
293
00:32:43,086 --> 00:32:46,464
Then as the tide retreats, the
crabs make their way back
294
00:32:46,465 --> 00:32:49,548
to the waters edge and their seaweed.
295
00:32:52,222 --> 00:32:56,492
But the tidal journey is more
hazardous than it looks,
296
00:32:56,493 --> 00:33:00,686
for these rock pools are the home of monsters.
297
00:33:07,911 --> 00:33:11,411
The crabs have to cross the killing pools.
298
00:33:12,536 --> 00:33:15,786
They have no choice if they are to eat.
299
00:33:21,022 --> 00:33:24,093
The octopus even leaves the water and walks
300
00:33:24,094 --> 00:33:27,630
over the rocks to reach the pools.
301
00:33:35,911 --> 00:33:40,137
The crabs make the journey with every tide
302
00:33:40,138 --> 00:33:43,050
so the killers know their routes.
303
00:33:46,442 --> 00:33:50,609
A moray eel slithers over the
rocks to reach the pools.
304
00:33:54,490 --> 00:33:56,409
The octopus hunts by stealth,
305
00:33:56,410 --> 00:33:59,993
using it's incredible powers of camouflage.
306
00:34:01,393 --> 00:34:05,729
The eel seeks out a place from which to ambush.
307
00:34:16,497 --> 00:34:19,644
The crabs cross as quickly
as possible, even walking on
308
00:34:19,645 --> 00:34:23,812
water in their attempt to
avoid the waiting killers.
309
00:34:26,567 --> 00:34:30,734
The moray eel lies in wait at
a well used crossing point.
310
00:34:34,382 --> 00:34:38,382
But the crabs are called lightfoot for a reason.
311
00:34:52,369 --> 00:34:54,952
The monsters patience pays off.
312
00:35:18,198 --> 00:35:21,145
The surviving crabs reach the banks of seaweed
313
00:35:21,146 --> 00:35:24,146
and get to eat and live another day,
314
00:35:25,702 --> 00:35:28,550
but tomorrow the tides will return,
315
00:35:28,551 --> 00:35:31,884
and with them, so will the sea monsters.
316
00:35:37,207 --> 00:35:40,630
When the tide is high, the
octopus leaves the rock pools
317
00:35:40,631 --> 00:35:42,964
and slips into deeper water.
318
00:35:48,739 --> 00:35:52,906
It is a shape shifter, able
to imitate rock and weed.
319
00:36:06,179 --> 00:36:09,012
And even the color of nearby fish.
320
00:36:10,755 --> 00:36:14,050
The octopus gains protection fish,
321
00:36:14,051 --> 00:36:18,563
the fish follow it in hope of sharing a kill.
322
00:36:24,563 --> 00:36:27,586
By late morning, the dolphins are rested
323
00:36:27,587 --> 00:36:29,504
and they begin to play.
324
00:36:38,489 --> 00:36:42,656
Dolphins are highly intelligent
and social animals.
325
00:36:44,863 --> 00:36:49,694
One of the favored games is
pass the sargassum weed.
326
00:37:13,112 --> 00:37:17,223
This game way be a way of
improving the coordination
327
00:37:17,224 --> 00:37:20,050
of the young dolphins, and perfecting the skills
328
00:37:20,051 --> 00:37:22,384
needed to hunt successfully.
329
00:37:42,967 --> 00:37:46,902
This is a time too for adult
dolphins to chase about
330
00:37:46,903 --> 00:37:50,820
and indulge in a lot of touching and caressing.
331
00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:56,710
Several males will consort with a female.
332
00:37:56,711 --> 00:38:00,628
The male swimming upside down to mate with her.
333
00:38:03,655 --> 00:38:05,917
The female can avoid unwanted interest
334
00:38:05,918 --> 00:38:09,168
by out swimming the accompanying males.
335
00:38:10,606 --> 00:38:14,064
But often she chooses to stay and mate,
336
00:38:14,065 --> 00:38:16,815
and with several of her consorts.
337
00:38:40,852 --> 00:38:44,068
Below the playful dolphins, a ray is searching for
338
00:38:44,069 --> 00:38:47,402
shrimps, crabs, and fish that hide
339
00:38:47,403 --> 00:38:50,153
in amongst the rocks and seaweed.
340
00:38:52,834 --> 00:38:56,533
It's often joined in its
hunting trips by a companion,
341
00:38:56,534 --> 00:38:57,701
a yellow jack.
342
00:39:01,874 --> 00:39:05,541
The rays electrical sense detects something.
343
00:39:06,758 --> 00:39:10,055
The jack hangs on in anticipation
that the ray will stir up
344
00:39:10,056 --> 00:39:12,556
something for it to pounce on.
345
00:39:19,651 --> 00:39:23,818
It makes for an easier life
than hunting for yourself,
346
00:39:26,179 --> 00:39:30,179
but this time, there are no scraps for the jack.
347
00:39:37,634 --> 00:39:41,840
A haunting reminder of how
wild and remote Noronha is
348
00:39:41,841 --> 00:39:45,091
are the shipwrecks found just offshore.
349
00:39:48,722 --> 00:39:52,236
The Ipiranga was a Brazilian navy ship.
350
00:40:01,790 --> 00:40:04,605
It's become a surrogate reef and home
351
00:40:04,606 --> 00:40:06,939
to a wide community of fish.
352
00:40:18,341 --> 00:40:21,591
Snappers and groupers patrol the decks.
353
00:40:35,635 --> 00:40:38,162
In shallower water, lies an older wreck.
354
00:40:38,163 --> 00:40:40,746
A Greek ship that sank in 1929.
355
00:40:53,281 --> 00:40:56,906
Shoals of glassy sweepers now use it as
356
00:40:56,907 --> 00:40:58,990
a secure cave to hide in.
357
00:41:05,407 --> 00:41:08,234
They feed at night and will only come out
358
00:41:08,235 --> 00:41:11,035
under cover of darkness.
359
00:41:17,513 --> 00:41:21,034
Small mouth grunts are also nighttime feeders,
360
00:41:21,035 --> 00:41:25,739
staying in tight shoals for
protection during the day.
361
00:41:38,252 --> 00:41:41,085
Noronha has its own unique wrasse.
362
00:41:43,741 --> 00:41:48,076
They act as cleaners, picking
parasites off larger fish
363
00:41:48,077 --> 00:41:52,077
just like their cousins on reefs the world over.
364
00:41:55,101 --> 00:41:57,340
But the Noronha wrasse has had to adapt
365
00:41:57,341 --> 00:42:00,174
to life on these isolated islands.
366
00:42:01,838 --> 00:42:05,102
They shadow big fish, hoping they will frighten
367
00:42:05,103 --> 00:42:07,603
small prey for them to snatch.
368
00:42:09,072 --> 00:42:12,334
They also follow the many parrot fish found here,
369
00:42:12,335 --> 00:42:17,072
picking up the crumbs for the bigger fishes table.
370
00:42:29,031 --> 00:42:32,376
The Noronha wrasse is a jack of all trades.
371
00:42:32,377 --> 00:42:36,139
Much more flexible than its specialist relatives,
372
00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:39,753
a necessity on these remote islands.
373
00:42:44,232 --> 00:42:48,472
The spinner dolphins hunt in the
evening and into the night,
374
00:42:48,473 --> 00:42:53,353
and so by the afternoon they
start getting more active.
375
00:43:04,169 --> 00:43:06,616
It is this spectacular spinning that
376
00:43:06,617 --> 00:43:09,284
gives these dolphins their name.
377
00:43:29,889 --> 00:43:33,413
The reasons for the spectacular
leaps is not known.
378
00:43:36,881 --> 00:43:40,464
It may be showing off, a courtship display,
379
00:43:41,676 --> 00:43:46,099
removing parasites, perhaps a mix of all three.
380
00:43:50,963 --> 00:43:55,331
These dolphins home is the sea around Noronha,
381
00:43:55,332 --> 00:43:59,499
but the great ocean wanderers
range even further north.
382
00:44:03,322 --> 00:44:07,641
Here the Brazilian coast turns west and transforms
383
00:44:07,642 --> 00:44:10,809
into the most extraordinary landscape.
384
00:44:12,494 --> 00:44:16,089
Lencois Maranhenses lies just two degrees south
385
00:44:16,090 --> 00:44:17,340
of the equator.
386
00:44:20,062 --> 00:44:24,229
It is one of the largest
expanses of dunes in the world.
387
00:44:26,043 --> 00:44:30,210
Almost 1500 square kilometers
of dazzling white sand.
388
00:44:33,240 --> 00:44:36,907
Away from the coast, it looks like a desert.
389
00:44:39,297 --> 00:44:42,964
Yet even here, animals try to make a living.
390
00:44:45,451 --> 00:44:48,952
An armadillo searches the sand, hoping to pick up
391
00:44:48,953 --> 00:44:51,953
the scent of a scorpion or a spider.
392
00:44:55,531 --> 00:44:58,509
It has an acute sense of smell and detect food
393
00:44:58,510 --> 00:45:00,760
20 centimeters underground.
394
00:45:02,268 --> 00:45:05,483
But these dunes offer nothing.
395
00:45:11,148 --> 00:45:14,330
With little prospect of food, the armadillo digs
396
00:45:14,331 --> 00:45:17,748
a shelter from the fierce equatorial sun.
397
00:45:23,981 --> 00:45:27,481
But this strange place is not a wasteland,
398
00:45:28,859 --> 00:45:33,026
for seven times as much rain
falls here as in a desert.
399
00:45:37,817 --> 00:45:41,567
And the armadillo has the scent of more rain.
400
00:46:34,586 --> 00:46:38,714
The storms brings about a transformation.
401
00:47:23,259 --> 00:47:26,234
The landscape changes miraculously,
402
00:47:26,235 --> 00:47:28,735
and creatures start to appear.
403
00:47:37,290 --> 00:47:40,506
Is it the moisture trickling down through the sand
404
00:47:40,507 --> 00:47:42,170
that awakens them?
405
00:47:42,171 --> 00:47:43,338
We don't know.
406
00:47:47,802 --> 00:47:51,969
But somehow the terrapin
knows it's time to emerge.
407
00:47:57,408 --> 00:48:00,530
Oddball creatures surface from the sand,
408
00:48:00,531 --> 00:48:04,698
where they have remained for
months since the last rains.
409
00:48:12,838 --> 00:48:15,755
They strike out in search of water.
410
00:48:23,798 --> 00:48:25,465
But it's a long way.
411
00:49:01,219 --> 00:49:05,386
Eventually the toad and the
terrapin reach the pools.
412
00:49:12,349 --> 00:49:15,932
But what can these new pools possibly hold?
413
00:49:26,090 --> 00:49:30,146
Amazingly, there are insects and even fish
414
00:49:30,147 --> 00:49:34,314
thriving in ponds that
weren't here a few days ago.
415
00:49:39,184 --> 00:49:40,934
How is this possible?
416
00:49:42,944 --> 00:49:46,271
Did birds transfer the eggs here?
417
00:49:46,272 --> 00:49:49,272
Do the eggs lie dormant in the sand?
418
00:49:52,975 --> 00:49:56,892
How most creatures get here is still a mystery.
419
00:50:00,589 --> 00:50:04,044
Whatever the truth, the magical arrival of life
420
00:50:04,045 --> 00:50:08,845
to these dunes is one of the wonders of the world.
421
00:50:13,936 --> 00:50:17,948
All the creatures have only a few months to feed
422
00:50:17,949 --> 00:50:21,788
before the tropical sun evaporates the pools
423
00:50:21,789 --> 00:50:25,539
and Lencois returns to its desert like state.
424
00:50:49,817 --> 00:50:52,920
By the time the pools vanish, the humpback whales
425
00:50:52,921 --> 00:50:56,584
will have set off back down the Brazilian coast
426
00:50:56,585 --> 00:50:58,502
heading for Antarctica.
427
00:51:02,297 --> 00:51:06,041
The baby will continue to suckle for the duration
428
00:51:06,042 --> 00:51:09,306
of the whole journey, but the mother will not feed
429
00:51:09,307 --> 00:51:12,106
until she arrives in Antarctic waters,
430
00:51:12,107 --> 00:51:14,690
five months since she last ate.
431
00:51:21,140 --> 00:51:24,433
The coast of Brazil is full of strange animals,
432
00:51:24,434 --> 00:51:27,617
many are visitors or wanderers,
433
00:51:27,618 --> 00:51:31,785
but all depend on the clean
waters and riches of the seas.
34952
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