Original subtitles

With its tropical beaches, sunshine, sand, and sea,

thousands of people flock to the Caribbean each year in search of paradise.

But the Caribbean has a hidden wild side.

Its islands are forged by cataclysmic forces.

And they bear the brunt of the most violent storms on earth.

Island life makes specialists and opportunists,

seafarers, and castaways.

From the most fragile hummingbird

to ocean giants that have visited these shores

since the time of the dinosaurs.

Born of volcanoes, battered by hurricanes,

this is the wild side of paradise.

Between the continents of North and South America

lies a tropical paradise.

The Caribbean, an archipelago of over 7,000 islands

and reefs lying within the crystal clear waters

of the Caribbean Sea.

From just a few meters wide to hundreds of km across,

every island is different, and each has its own unique wildlife.

From the tropical forests

to the reefs beneath the waves,

the Caribbean hides a secret treasure trove of life.

Trinidad is the southern most island in the Caribbean.

In Trinidad's northeast corner, the Caribbean Sea

meets the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Legends of hidden treasure have long drawn travelers

to these islands from across the Atlantic.

But some of nature's greatest seafarers have been visiting

the Caribbean shores far longer.

At night, Trinidad's beaches play host to creatures

that have been around since dinosaurs walked the earth.

It's April, and the start of the nesting season

for leatherback turtles.

Each year, female leatherbacks return to the Caribbean

from thousands of km away, across the open ocean.

They return to lay their eggs on the very same beaches

where their own lives began.

Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles on earth,

growing up to two meters long

and weighing up to 1,000 kilos.

The female uses her massive flippers

to dig a huge pit in the sand.

She excavates a deep nest

into which she lays nearly 100 eggs.

The temperature of the nest will determine the sex of the hatchlings.

If it's higher than 30° C,

the hatchlings will be females.

Cooler nests produce males.

The smaller eggs are yolkless and sterile.

They're designed to collapse over time

to make extra room when the babies come to hatch.

Finally, the nest is filled with sand,

leaving a large disturbed area

to make detection by predators difficult.

Nesting can take up to three hours.

The exertion involved is obvious.

A few meters away, she begins digging another giant sand angel.

This is a decoy nest to further confound predators.

She's not alone.

Trinidad's beaches have the densest population of nesting leatherbacks in the world.

At the peak of the season, space is in short supply.

Up to 500 turtles may visit a single beach

in just one night.

Leatherbacks coming ashore to nest

collide with those intent on returning to the sea.

The scrum for space inevitably results in turtles digging up each others' eggs.

Sunrise can catch latecomers unawares.

The short time the females spend nesting on the Caribbean's beaches

offers a rare glimpse into the lives of these secretive sea turtles.

Dawn brings opportunistic scavengers.

They've learned that at this time of year,

the beach brings rich pickings.

For the eggs left exposed in the scramble for nesting space, there's no hope.

Trinidad's vultures thrive on this seasonal windfall of turtle eggs.

Youngsters learn about the whereabouts of food from more experienced birds.

Even though there's plenty of eggs to go 'round,

squabbles are common.

But the vultures aren't all bad news.

Left to rot, these eggs would putrefy in the sand

and pose a risk to the eggs still incubating in their nests.

By getting rid of the waste eggs,

the vultures are helping to keep the beach clean.

Heading north from Trinidad,

a chain of small islands known as the Winward and Leeward isles,

marks the eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea.

These islands are on the border between two tectonic plates,

and this was once a region of intense seismic activity.

There are currently 17 active volcanoes in the Caribbean,

including one submerged beneath the sea.

The island of Dominica was forged from volcanoes

just 26 million years ago,

making it the youngest island in the Caribbean.

Less than 50 km long, with its volcanic peaks

towering 1,500 meters above the sea, its a vertical island.

Despite its small size, Dominica has nine active volcanoes,

the highest concentration found anywhere in the world.

There's not been a major eruption for centuries,

but there's plenty of volcanic activity bubbling below the surface.

Dominica's Boiling Lake is a huge flooded fumarole.

The water can reach temperatures of more than 90° C

as sulfur dioxide and hydrochloric acid are released

from the lava trapped in the volcano below.

The Caribbean's explosive past has left these islands

with a unique legacy of life.

Volcanic soils are extremely fertile,

fed by plentiful rainfall over the mountains.

Just about anything will take root,

and all these flowers provide food for some of the Caribbean's fastest movers,

hummingbirds.

Hungry for nectar, hummingbirds have no sense of smell.

They're attracted by the colorful appearance of the flowers.

These tiny dynamos have the fastest metabolism

of any animals on earth.

Their hearts average 500 beats a minute,

and their wings can beat up to 80 times in a second.

To fuel this super fast flying, they must eat

up to three times their body weight every single day.

Standing less than 10 centimeters tall,

the Antillean crested hummingbird is one of the Caribbean's smallest.

Only males bear the distinctive mohawk of feathers

that gives these birds their name.

Females have a more discreet appearance,

which helps keep them safe whilst raising their young.

The chicks need extra protein

and are fed a regurgitated mixture of nectar and insects.

On this rich diet, they grow rapidly.

The nest is crafted almost entirely from spider silk,

making it elastic so it stretches as the chicks grow bigger.

Just two weeks after hatching, these chicks

are almost ready to leave the nest.

The Caribbean's hummingbirds have developed a very special relationship

with one particular type of plant.

Heliconia plants are found across the Caribbean islands.

Each island has its own different species,

and all rely on hummingbirds to spread their pollen.

While feeding on nectar,

hummingbirds transfer pollen from flower to flower,

allowing the plants to reproduce.

But on a small island,

there's no room for competition,

and the relationship between heliconias and hummingbirds goes one step further.

In most cases, the size and shape of the flower

matches exactly the beak of the hummingbird

that spreads its pollen.

Each bird has exclusive feeding rights to a particular species of heliconia

so there's less competition for food.

Both beaks and flowers have co-evolved

to be a perfect fit.

The fertile soils of the Caribbean's volcanic islands

are good for people, too.

The original Caribbean islanders

came from the South American mainland.

Traveling by canoe, they began settling

on the more mountainous volcanic islands

around 4,000 years ago.

The new settlers were used to life in the vast forests of South America,

where there'd been an abundance of big animals to hunt.

The small islands of the Eastern Caribbean

have no large indigenous mammals.

The sea proved too big a barrier for them.

With little to hunt on land,

the first islanders turned their attention back to the sea.

Over the years, they became experts

at fishing and foraging.

Just like the Caribbean's wildlife,

its first people had to adapt to life on an island.

The Caribbean's volcanic past plays another crucial role.

The mountains are so tall, they create their own weather.

As moist air from the sea rises above the peaks,

it forms clouds, and with the clouds comes the rain.

Some areas of Dominica receive over 700 cm of rain each year.

Rain brings a plentiful supply of fresh water,

vital for an island to sustain both human

and animal life.

Fresh water flows down the island's many waterfalls for the coast,

feeding nutrients into the Caribbean Sea.

Even here, there are signs of volcanic activity,

with submerged fumaroles venting gases

through cracks in the sea floor.

These warm, nutrient-rich waters

create the ideal conditions

for one of the Caribbean's richest treasures, its coral reefs.

Over 800 different species of fish

and many more crustaceans and invertebrates live in the coral reefs.

Many of the fish that find shelter or protection

in the Caribbean's reefs are found nowhere else on earth.

But the reefs can be dangerous, too.

Over the centuries, thousands of ships

have foundered in the Caribbean's treacherous currents

and ferocious storms.

In 1867, the Rhone, a Royal Mail steamer,

was driven aground on the reef at Black Point Rock,

just off the British Virgin Islands.

The Rhone sank to the bottom in seconds,

claiming the lives of over 100 people.

More than a century later, the ship has a new lease of life.

Corals have colonized its rusting hull,

making it hard to tell where the reef ends

and the Rhone begins.

Some fish even entrust the safety of their future offspring to the remains of the ship.

These purple patches are actually the eggs

of the sergeant major fish.

After the female has laid as many as 200,000 eggs,

she departs, leaving the male as the sole protector.

He will guard the nest until the eggs hatch,

just six days after being fertilized.

It's not just year-round residents like the sergeant major fish

that rely on the Caribbean Sea as a place to raise their young.

In the far north of the Caribbean is a shallow area of sea

sitting on a huge limestone shelf

known as the Silver Bank.

A Spanish galleon sank here in the 17th century,

and a horde of silver treasure was lost to the sea,

which is how the Silver Bank got its name.

Nowadays, these waters shelter treasures of a wilder kind.

The Silver Bank is a vast carving pool for humpback whales.

The bond between the humpback mother and calf

is extremely strong.

Parent and child are inseparable as the mother teaches her calf to swim and dive.

Each year between December and April,

around 3,000 humpbacks pass through the Silver Bank.

As summer approaches, the whales return to their feeding grounds,

thousands of kilometers away in the cold North Atlantic.

The Caribbean's role as a nursery

is vital for the survival of these great ocean voyagers.

Virtually all the Caribbean islands

have coral reefs on their shores.

But there's one island whose coastal waters have almost no reefs at all, Trinidad.

Trinidad lies so close to South America

that silt from the Orinoco River

makes the sea surrounding it too muddy for coral to grow.

But coral reefs have played a part in the making of the island itself.

Mount Tamana in Trinidad's high land heart

was once an ancient coral reef.

Thousands of years ago, the reef was pushed up

to over 300 meters above sea level

by powerful volcanic forces.

Today, the ancient reef forms a massive network

of limestone caves.

Beyond the reach of daylight,

the caves are teeming with over 1 million bats.

Eleven different species lurk in the dark of the Tamana caves,

and many have intriguing names.

The spear-nosed bat and the funnel-eared bat

roost alongside naked-backed, leaf-nosed,

mouse-eared, and tailless bats.

The floor of the bat cave is piled high with all kinds of bat droppings,

and this guano supports a surprisingly diverse

community all of its own.

It's an unglamorous location, but for cave cockroaches,

the copious amounts of guano

provide an endless supply of food.

Most of these cockroaches will spend their whole lives buried in bat droppings.

The roaches are a source of food for other animals in the cave, like the whip scorpion.

Despite its name and appearance,

it's actually a type of spider.

In the weak sunlight that reaches the cave's entrance,

seeds excreted by the bats commonly sprout

in the nutrient-rich guano.

The lack of light makes the seedlings fragile,

the stems growing long in a bid for the sun.

Above ground, the forest surrounding the caves

is rich in flowers, fruit, and insects.

Each evening, as daylight fades,

the bats emerge to feed.

Some travel from deep within the labyrinth of tunnels

and passageways up to 300 meters underground.

With so many bats leaving through one small entrance,

the mass exodus takes more than an hour.

Trinidad's tropical forests are also home

to some rather less gothic residents.

A male golden-headed manakin

trying to attract a mate.

In the branches of a tree, the male birds

share a communal display site known as the lek.

Each male competes for female attention

by dancing on their own personal perch.

The slightest movement can trigger a display.

Even a passing agouti.

Elsewhere in the forest, a group of male white-bearded manakins

are also intent on courtship.

With their more down-to-earth appearance,

these manakins base their lek on the forest floor.

Keen to impress, each bird works hard

to keep its own private court clear of debris and fallen leaves.

White-bearded manakins have their own unique display.

They raise their chin feathers to make a beard,

which is how they got their name.

The loud snapping noises are made

as they strike their wings together behind their backs.

Eventually, the commotion has the desired effect,

the arrival of a female.

Despite her rather dull appearance,

she provokes a frenzy of activity from the males

as each competes for her attention.

The female will only mate when she's ready,

and this time, the males have failed to impress.

As summer approaches, the sun-drenched islands of the Caribbean

become an altogether darker place.

From June to November,

these islands are in the firing line of the most ferocious storms on earth.

Most hurricanes begin life as tropical storms

off the coast of West Africa.

They roar across the Atlantic, sucking up heat

from the warmth of the water,

and growing in intensity.

The islands of the Caribbean are the first land masses these hurricanes encounter.

If the winds that drive them reach 120 km/h,

the storms rank as fully fledged hurricanes.

Even with the best forecasting,

no one can predict when a hurricane will strike.

The hurricanes bring waves up to 20 meters high.

Lobsters are especially vulnerable in a storm.

Being crushed by stones or loose corals

is a real possibility.

As the hurricane draws in, the water temperature drops

and its salinity increases.

Sensing these changes, lobsters from across the reef take flight.

They march in single file, conserving energy by following in each others' slipstreams.

Each year, the lobsters undertake this migration

to pass the stormy season in the safety of deeper waters.

A particularly violent hurricane

can destroy the reef itself.

Fragile corals are uprooted

and smashed at the powerful churning water.

Within hours, thousands of years of growth are undone,

and an entire ecosystem lies devastated.

But reefs can recover, and corals grow fast.

The destruction wrought by hurricanes is not irreversible.

Many Caribbean islands have their own living, growing defense against hurricanes,

mangrove forests.

With one foot on the shore and one in the sea,

the mangrove forms a natural breakwater.

The tangle of roots reduces the power of big waves

and storm surges, protecting the shore behind.

Caroni Swamp lies on Trinidad's west coast.

As the tides rise, the mangrove is inundated

with seawater twice a day.

Few plants can cope with such salty conditions.

Many Caribbean mangroves have only three or four different species of tree.

Yet the trees create a habitat

that shelters a rich and unique ecosystem.

The constant rise and fall of the tides

presents both opportunities and challenges

to the animals that live in the mangrove.

When the tide is out, four-eyed fish sometimes beach themselves

on the exposed mud flats to catch insects.

As the tide rises, the fish feed on tiny crustaceans on the surface.

This surface dwelling lifestyle leaves them vulnerable

to attack from above and below.

Spectacled caiman patrol Caroni's waters.

And fish-eating birds are here in abundance.

The four-eyed fish are well equipped to keep watch.

Despite their name, they actually have just two eyes,

each of which is split in half.

Each eye has two pupils, one for focusing above the surface,

the other for focusing underwater.

These unique eyes are essential

for avoiding Caroni's predators.

Sometimes even four eyes aren't enough.

At low tide, the swamp's thick, glutenous mud

is a rich source of food for Caroni's crab population.

Each teaspoon of mud contains around 10 million bacteria,

and this bacteria supports a wealth of tiny animal life.

Fiddler crabs use their one small claw for the vital task

of collecting this microscopic food from the mud.

With just one hand, it's a time consuming process.

Their big claw is reserved for waving

in a display designed to attract a mate.

Fiddlers also wave to defend their burrows from rival crabs.

Having an escape hole is vital.

There are predators around.

When the tide is out, scarlet ibis probe the mud

in search of fiddler crabs and other crustaceans.

It's this diet of red shellfish, rich in carotene,

that gives the ibis their vivid color.

Young birds are born gray,

and it takes about two years before they've eaten enough crabs to turn red.

Dipping the crabs in the water before swallowing them

helps rinse off some of the mud.

The ibis forage together with other water birds,

like egrets, herons, and plovers.

Having a larger group helps stir up the silt,

making it easier to catch prey.

And with caiman lurking nearby,

there is safety in numbers.

Every evening at dusk, the ibis return in great flocks

to tiny islands within the mangrove.

They gather in their hundreds to roost for the night.

Originally these birds were immigrants from the mainland,

with South America lying just 11 km

from Trinidad's western shores.

At its peak, Trinidad's population of scarlet ibis

can number more than 15,000.

It's now recognized as the island's national bird.

The ibis are not the only South American import on the island.

Trinidad was only separated from the mainland around 12,000 years ago,

when sea levels rose at the end of the last Ice Age.

As a result, it's home to South American mammals

that are found nowhere else in the Caribbean.

The silky anteater is the world's smallest anteater,

only slightly larger than the human hand.

Though tiny, these anteaters can eat up to 5,000 ants every night.

During the day, the ants have little to fear.

Silky anteaters are nocturnal,

and in the heat of the sun, sleeping takes precedence.

There are larger South American imports on Trinidad, too.

The island is home to a troupe of white-throated capuchin monkeys.

Capuchins are found across most of South America

and are known for being particularly resourceful.

But life on a Caribbean island requires

its own special strategies.

Trinidad's capuchins have found that the island's coconut palm trees

are a rich source of food.

Dead leaves and branches harbor all kinds of insects and grubs.

Having a prehensile tail to hang on with

means that both hands are kept free for eating and foraging.

Trinidad's capuchins have learned

to make the most of the rise and fall of the tides.

At low tide, freshwater conches are left exposed,

sitting targets for an opportunistic monkey.

The conch is encased in a rock-solid shell,

but the capuchins have found a way to access the meat inside.

Lying so close to South America,

Trinidad has its own unique legacy of mainland life.

For those islands further away, the Caribbean Sea has proved a bigger barrier.

But some animals have succeeded in becoming island hoppers.

For land bound animals, the Caribbean's hurricane season

can offer opportunities for travel.

Strong winds frequently uproot trees.

So after a storm, there's lots of vegetation drifting in the sea.

These makeshift rafts are one way in which reptiles like the iguana

have been able to spread from island to island.

The Lesser Antillean iguana has successfully colonized

many of the Eastern Caribbean islands.

On Dominica, a population of around 10,000

lives in the low-lying forests on the coast.

Iguanas follow a strict hierarchy, which is color-coded.

Dominant males turn dark gray

with pale blue scales on the side of their heads.

Females, along with juveniles, are bright green all over.

Iguanas can live for up to 25 years,

but with age, the ability to change color is lost.

April brings the mating season,

and the females dig burrows in which to lay their eggs.

Each dominant male defends a small territory

with up to seven nesting females.

Rivals are deterred from interfering with the high reign

with a display of aggressive head bobbing.

Choosing a sunny nesting site is essential.

After digging a burrow and laying up to 18 eggs,

the female plays no further role in the care of her offspring.

For the next three months, the incubation of the eggs

will rely entirely on solar power.

Even buried a meter underground, iguana eggs are vulnerable.

Dominican ground lizards, or abolo as they're known locally,

are found only on this island.

When the iguanas are nesting,

ground lizards stay close, patrolling untended nests

in search of eggs.

Lots of eggs fall foul of scavengers,

but many more survive.

By June, those that have survived

are ready to hatch.

Iguanas are a Caribbean success story.

They've turned the devastation brought by hurricanes to their advantage,

using it to colonize islands that would otherwise be completely out of reach.

Some species have turned island hopping into an art form.

Coconuts are relative newcomers to the Caribbean.

Originally from Southeast Asia, they only arrived around 500 years ago.

These palms are perfectly designed

to deal with the Caribbean's frequent hurricanes.

Up to 4,000 roots spread laterally under the sand,

giving the palm a firm anchor to withstand winds of over 150 km/h.

And strong winds facilitate their travels, too.

Hurricanes help dislodge their seeds,

which are cast adrift on the ocean currents.

Coconuts are especially buoyant

and can float for months on end without sinking.

When they eventually wash ashore,

a new island is colonized.

In just 500 years, coconuts have spread

to virtually every island in the Caribbean.

By early July, the leatherback turtle eggs

are ready to hatch.

It's time for the young turtles to leave the safety of their nests on the Caribbean's beaches.

The hatchlings emerge in perfect synchrony.

Safety in numbers is their best chance at reaching the sea.

Over the next decade, the youngsters will increase in size

maybe 10,000 times.

Even at this young age, the leatherback can propel itself through the water

with an efficiency no other turtle can match.

Once they take to the sea, the leatherbacks will remain

in the mysterious depths of the open ocean

for most of their lives.

Only the female turtles will ever return

to the Caribbean's beaches.

Once they're fully grown, they will come ashore to lay their eggs,

just as their ancestors have done for the last 100 million years.

The islands of the Caribbean have been forged by nature's most cataclysmic forces.

Lying in the heart of Hurricane Alley,

they must withstand the most ferocious storms on earth.

Yet these islands are home to a secret and spectacular variety of wildlife.

From wily opportunists

to specialists,

the Caribbean protects those that live life in the fast lane

and attracts seafarers from near and far.

Though the pirates are long gone,

the wild treasures of the Caribbean remain.