Original subtitles

The Atlantic - immense, hostile and brutal.

The world's second largest ocean,

so vast,

it generates weather.

An irresistible power

that shapes lands

with its unstoppable force.

To survive in the world's wildest ocean

takes tenacity and strength.

This is the story

of birth

and death,

struggle

and survival.

Where the Atlantic meets Europe...

where the land meets the sea...

this is A Year In The Wild.

WAVES ROAR

In the Atlantic's far north,

it's autumn.

WIND WHISTLES, LEAVES RUSTLE

The season of gales.

Cooling temperatures.

And driving rain.

When animals must either prepare to face winter head-on

or leave.

BIRDS CHIRPING

For some, this is also the season to find a partner

and start the next generation.

But further south,

seasons fluctuate less

and autumn is yet to arrive.

But even here,

animals must search far and wide

to find food.

The Atlantic stretches from pole to pole.

It's almost 3,000 miles at its widest

and 27,000 feet at its deepest.

A wild expanse of endless blue...

..much of it lacking in nutrients and life.

But running along its length lie a chain of submerged volcanoes.

In a few places, these peaks break the surface,

forming island chains like the Azores.

Situated 1,000 miles west of mainland Portugal...

..the Azores rise 6,000 feet

from the ocean floor.

Nutrients tumble down from the land...

and well up from the deep...

creating an oasis for marine life.

Common...

spotted...

and bottlenose dolphins gather...

..to hunt the super-abundance of prey.

Sensing an attack...

a school of fish bunch tightly together.

As each one tries to hide away at the centre,

they form a bait ball.

This leaves the fewest number of fish exposed to predators.

Flashes of light also disorientate...

..making it tricky for the dolphins to pick off individuals.

But they have learned that by rushing in...

they can split the bait ball,

then strike...

until they've had their fill.

These waters are also home to giants.

Late September is sperm whale-calving season in the Azores.

A calf sticks close to its mother.

It's only weeks old,

but already weighs nearly a tonne.

It has an insatiable appetite,

drinking 350 pints of milk

every day.

They're joined by a family member

to help with a spot of baby-sitting.

Mum must feed regularly

if she is to produce enough milk

to satisfy her hungry youngster.

But her quarry, squid,

live thousands of feet deep.

Dives can take an hour or more.

The calf is not able to hold its breath that long,

so must wait at the surface.

Protection by an adult is a must

as it reinforces the family bond,

but also helps to keep it safe.

Killer whales are known to follow groups of sperm whales

to prey on vulnerable new-born.

Like all youngsters, it's curious about its surroundings...

..but never strays far from its minder...

..and keeps tabs on its mother's movements

by eavesdropping on her hunting clicks

deep below.

CLICKING SOUNDS

If it's a male, he'll stay around for the next four years

before heading out on his own.

If it's a female, she will stick close to her family for life.

DISTANT BIRD CRIES

In the Atlantic's north, autumn advances.

Temperatures tumble and days get shorter...

triggering one of Britain's greatest natural spectacles,

the red deer rut...

when stags fight for the right to mate.

The Isle of Rum on Scotland's west coast

is home to the world's most studied population of wild deer.

A seven-year-old stag has gathered himself a harem of 20 hinds.

STAG ROARS

This draws in stags from miles around,

including this nine-year-old.

He may be an antler down,

but he's determined to breed.

But is he a match for the dominant stag?

Autumn on Scotland's Isle of Rum.

Cooler, shorter days have kick-started the red deer rut...

when stags battle to secure a mate.

LOW BELLOWING SOUND

A seven-year-old roars to warn rivals to keep away.

He has spent the last month

gathering a harem of hinds.

If he is to keep them,

he must be prepared to battle...

possibly to the death.

For the last six months, Rum has been relatively peaceful.

Calves were born in the spring.

Stags grazed in bachelor herds...

and grew new sets of antlers.

But now, charged with testosterone,

tensions are running high.

BELLOWING

ROARING

If the dominant stag is to defend his hinds,

he must be on high alert.

He won't eat for a month...

STAG ROARS

..and may lose a fifth of his body weight.

The need to breed is strong.

All are desperate to pass their genes on to the next generation.

Rivals are ready to challenge his supremacy.

Each adversary is quickly driven away.

STAG ROARS

But while his back is turned,

the stag with only one antler makes a move.

He's big and determined.

STAG ROARS

Fights can be fatal.

BELLOWING

So, the dominant stag starts by roaring.

STAG ROARS

This lets his opponent know

he's big and ready to battle.

ROARING

Having only one antler puts him at a huge disadvantage.

ROARING

So, he retreats.

He's older and more experienced,

and knows that if he bides his time,

another opportunity will arise.

STRONG WIND BLOWING

Autumn storms lash the British and Irish Atlantic coasts.

50-foot-high waves,

each weighing a thousand tonnes,

sculpt the shoreline.

Temperatures continue to fall.

A clear signal to millions of migrants

that it's time to head south.

BIRDS CRY

And the Atlantic coast becomes a fly way.

Every year, around half a million pink-footed and barnacle geese

leave Greenland and Siberia

to overwinter in the UK.

Many head to the Scottish island of Islay...

..where they gather to rest along its shoreline.

SQUAWKING

They also fly inland...

..to graze

and eat grain dropped during the autumn harvest.

But perhaps the greatest migration of all

is undertaken by a creature weighing less than a gram.

It starts with a remarkable transformation.

Minute eggs laid on the underside of leaves...

hatch into tiny caterpillars.

They gorge and fatten quickly.

Once fully grown,

they suspend themselves,

then pupate into a chrysalis.

On the outside, they appear to be sleeping.

But inside, the caterpillar is busy dissolving itself...

..before re-forming...

..to emerge as a painted lady butterfly.

Its brain may only be the size of a pinhead,

but somehow it knows

it must leave for warmer climes.

It quickly takes on fuel...

..then, without any guidance,

starts an extraordinary journey.

It climbs to an altitude of 3,000 feet

where it picks up strong winds...

which push it south at 30 miles per hour

along the Atlantic coast

towards North Africa...

where its offspring will undergo the same transformation...

then make the return journey next year.

In the deep waters off the Azores,

a family of sperm whales is coming together.

Some have travelled hundreds of miles

to join a mysterious gathering.

In the deep, open ocean off the Azores...

..the sperm whale mother is joined by her extended family.

Her calf rests at the centre of the embrace.

Some may be meeting the new arrival for the very first time.

CLICKING AND SQUEAKING SOUNDS

Rubbing and chatting cements their bond.

Sperm whales have one of the most complex languages in the animal kingdom...

CLICKING AND SQUEAKING

..which they pass on to their next generations

in much the same way that humans do.

CLICKING AND SQUEAKING

Each extended family have their own distinct dialect

which helps them keep in touch when out of sight.

It's thought that they can even communicate across oceans.

Peaking at 230 decibels,

they make the loudest natural sound on Earth...

RAPID CLICKING

..the same volume as a launching rocket.

Reaching up to 60 feet long

and weighing 90,000 pounds,

these leviathans of the deep are the largest predators to have ever lived.

Diving a mile below the surface,

they hunt alongside one of the Azores' most secretive visitors.

Every year,

propelled by their ten-foot wings...

..hundreds of mobula rays migrate from across the Atlantic

to feed off the Azores.

They plunge into the icy waters of the deep

to prey on small fish

at depths that would crush a submarine.

After each hunting trip, they return to the surface to bask,

heating up ahead of their next deep dive.

Stuck fast, suckerfish hitch a ride...

..letting them travel huge distances effortlessly.

They feed on scraps dropped by the ray,

pick parasites off the ray's body...

and graze on their excrement.

They're also free swimmers

and will jump between rays.

Though some quickly get homesick.

Once the mobulas have warmed up...

they head back into the twilight zone,

their suckerfish stuck fast.

In the North Atlantic,

days are getting shorter by 20 minutes a week...

..reducing foraging time for one diminutive autumn visitor.

After a long, cold night,

the sunrise stirs a sanderling from its slumber.

It's only just flown in from Siberia

and has a busy day ahead.

CHIRPING

Sanderlings are adapted to live between the high and low tideline.

Standing only seven inches high,

they're one of the smallest waders on the beach.

But they're also one of the fastest.

A vital asset when it comes to dodging the incoming waves.

They chase the tide as it rises and falls...

..picking off tiny crabs,

sand hoppers

and worms,

which they detect with their super-sensitive bills.

They scour the beach until nightfall...

..then find a safe place to sleep,

their hunger satisfied by the ebb and flow of the Atlantic.

BIRDS CRY

Autumn tightens its grip.

Broad-leaf trees sense the loss of light.

To save energy, they start to drop their leaves.

Having spent the summer producing food for the trees,

they now die...

..fall to the ground

and nourish the soil.

But this year, in the forests on Sweden's Eriksberg Peninsula...

autumn is late.

Warmer-than-average temperatures are delaying the fall,

heaping pressure on a wild boar family.

The dominant sow roots through the leaf litter

for insects, fungi and seeds.

GRUNTING

Acorns are her favourite.

A nutritious, fatty treat

that will help her survive the long, cold Scandinavian winter.

But this year, the acorns,

like the leaves, have been slow to fall.

SQUAWKING

GRUNTING

She has age and experience on her side

and knows where to find food.

But it means leaving the safety of the forest.

BIRDS CRY

Brown bears and lynx also live in Sweden's coastal forests.

Both will prey on wild boar.

But wolves are her biggest threat.

She needs to eat,

but venturing into the open

in daylight could be fatal.

Autumn is late in Sweden's Atlantic coastal forests.

Acorns still hang in the trees,

well out of reach of a wild boar family.

Food is abundant along the shoreline,

but to get it means breaking cover,

a dangerous option with wolves on the prowl.

HOWLING

So, they wait for the cover of darkness.

One by one, they make their way on to the beach...

..where they can feed on windfall acorns,

mussels

and scraps washed in by the tide.

They're joined by this year's youngsters.

Called squeakers, they're only six months old...

..and would make a tasty snack for a hungry wolf,

so they stick close to the family group.

GRUNTING AND SQUEAKING

All are nervous and jumpy.

The matriarch keeps them in check...

whilst also stealing the richest pickings.

As morning returns, she leads them back

into the safety of the forest...

where they forage and wait for the autumn bounty to fall.

As winter draws ever closer,

activity around the Atlantic slows.

Under the surface,

many fish leave the shallow coastal waters and head deep.

Predators must work harder to find food.

And prey must keep hidden

if it's to avoid becoming someone's supper.

Being transparent helps this shrimp avoid detection.

But being only one inch long means it has lots of predators.

So, it lives amongst the deadly tentacles of a snakelock anemone.

Each tip contains enough venom to kill a small fish,

but somehow, the shrimp is immune,

letting it graze in relative safety.

To avoid predators,

this two-inch-long bobtail squid

restricts its activity to night-time.

It sticks close to the sea floor...

..and changes colour to blend in.

But this is bobtail squid breeding season.

It must get out and about if it's to find itself a mate.

Two come together.

Flirtation is brief...

..before they head off for some privacy.

Eggs are laid under a rock.

As night draws to a close,

it hides itself away.

Extra camouflage is held in place

by its sticky skin.

BIRDS CRY

On the Isle of Rum,

the red deer rut is coming to a head.

The dominant stag still has control of his territory

and his hinds.

Challengers are coming thick and fast.

STAGS ROAR

They scrape up vegetation

to make their antlers look bigger.

They posture and strut side by side.

If all this fails to impress,

there's only one thing left to do.

And that's to fight.

GRUNTING

GRUNTING

BELLOWING

While they battle,

the stag with the single antler takes his chance...

..and makes his move.

STAG ROARS

And they mate.

STAG ROARS

Perhaps hinds are not only attracted by a stag's size and strength,

but are also drawn by his experience and perseverance.

Surviving a year in the world's wildest ocean

takes determination...

adaptation...

and cunning.

But along with hardship and suffering,

the Atlantic also brings food,

warmth...

and opportunity.

BIRDS CRY

Every year, parents risk everything to raise their offspring.

Now it's their turn

to survive a year in the wild Atlantic.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media