Original subtitles

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The monsoon.

(thunder)

The greatest weather system on earth.

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(thunder)

Giver of life and the destroyer.

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Shaping magical lands, from the himalaya to australia.

Its impact felt by giants...

The exquisite...

And the bizarre.

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This is the story of the monsoon at its most extreme.

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Each year, from cambodia to india,

The hot months of summer herald a life-changing deluge.

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The rains bring great danger...

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And enormous opportunity.

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(thunder)

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There's a mystical world

Where tree roots reach across the sky.

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A twisted landscape holding its breath

In anticipation of the coming storm.

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Beneath the surface a giant stirs.

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She must act while there's still time.

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She's a frog-faced softshell turtle.

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Her eggs must develop in dry sand

Before the monsoon turns her world upside down.

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This is the "mother of water," the mekong river.

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It's April in cambodia,

And the first rains are yet to arrive.

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After two months incubating in the sand,

The baby softshell turtles are ready to emerge.

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Their goal is to reach water,

But first they have a desert to cross.

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(frogs croaking)

Baby shells are just rubbery skin, light and flexible.

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Their flattened shape will be key to their survival.

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These turtles will spend their lives hidden in the sand.

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Here, they are ready

For anything the monsoon will throw at them.

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(birds calling)

Everyone seems restless.

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Cormorants are waiting to nest on a nearby lake.

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But most of the lakebed is dry.

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This village sits where the lake should be.

It's a fishing village, with no fish.

(chickens clucking)

(dog barking)

Cambodians depend on freshwater fish

More than any other nation on earth.

So they need the rains to flood this land.

(children laughing)

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For kids like thom, the world revolves

Around an annual wonder of nature.

The summer deluge and the gifts of the mother river.

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(dog barking)

The mekong flows south from the himalaya

For over 2,500 miles...

Feeding six countries across southeast asia.

(thunder)

It's may in thailand.

The monsoon begins with a whisper on the wind.

A pre-monsoon shower.

(thunder)

Not yet the full deluge,

But enough to spark a little magic in the forest.

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(screeching)

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It's been bone dry for months.

So for these young assamese macaques,

This is a new experience.

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(screeching)

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(screeching)

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But their parents know

The rains deliver something much more enticing.

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If only they could find it.

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A water snail! Delicious!

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These snails survived the drought under rocks,

Locked away in their shells.

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But getting to the meat is a bit tricky.

So the monkeys pocket them in their cheek pouches

To be pried open later.

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As spring turns to summer, warm air rises over the land,

Sucking in moist monsoon winds from the indian ocean.

Storm clouds form at sea.

In india, the southern state of kerala

Is where they strike first.

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It's June.

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The long wait is over.

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This is the indian monsoon.

Heavy, unceasing rain.

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Rainfall is usually measured in inches.

But during the monsoon

Three feet can fall in just one day.

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(sheep bleating)

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Clouds roll in.

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Wave after wave.

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Even if the fierce sun breaks through,

The dampness never dries.

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For four long months, the deluge overwhelms the land.

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Transforming the lives of everyone and everything.

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Like the great hindu god shiva, southeast asia's monsoon

Can be a destroyer, bringing chaos and destruction.

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But like shiva,

The monsoon also brings rebirth and new life.

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The challenge for all is not only to survive the monsoon,

But to grasp every opportunity it offers.

Puddles and pools are forming everywhere.

Perfect for frogs...

And toads.

(croaking)

For this female indian common toad,

The first rains mean she can breed at last.

And she must hurry, for it's a one-day event.

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A suitor waits.

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In fact, there's a whole crowd of them.

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Prompted by the monsoon rains,

The males have all turned yellow

For this one special day.

They may dress to impress,

But they don't waste time with niceties.

(croaking)

You might think the color

Would help tell the girls from the boys,

But it doesn't seem to make any difference.

(croaking)

They better sort themselves out quickly.

(croaking)

(croaking)

The first tadpoles to hatch will have a crucial head start

In the race to grow before the waters recede again.

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Just two weeks after the first rains,

Another creature emerges from the monsoon pools.

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Having grown up as an aquatic larva,

The adult mosquito is water repellent.

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Her mission is also to reproduce.

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(buzzing)

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But it's a dangerous new world for one so small.

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Raindrops can reach speeds of almost 20 miles an hour.

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For a mosquito, it could be like getting hit by a bus.

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But scientific research has recently revealed

How mosquitoes flying in the monsoon cheat death.

(buzzing)

They are so water-repellent

That most raindrops simply fly off them.

(buzzing)

A direct hit looks fatal.

(thud)

But the insect is so light and flexible

That she can absorb the impact

And shake off the drop as though nothing happened.

(buzzing)

Insects multiply.

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(snort)

For many they are the monsoon's curse.

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Female mosquitoes need blood to grow their eggs.

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Cases of malaria increase by ten times during the monsoon.

(buzzing)

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The season brings dangers, but also wonders.

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That's the magic of the monsoon.

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Indian wolves wait for the monsoon's bounty.

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(whimpering)

This female gave birth in winter,

And the pups must soon be weaned.

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She is staking their lives on the monsoon

To bring them fresh meat.

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(howling)

(bleating)

Sheep and goats are the staple diet of most indian wolves.

And they go where the grass is greenest.

(whistling)

(bleating)

A journey where old india meets new.

(bleating)

(bleating)

(horn honking)

(bleating)

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Mahendra leads his livestock and his extended family

On a never-ending quest for fresh pasture.

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They've been on the move for eight months.

Now with rain on the way,

They're heading for their homeland.

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The striped hyena is

The indian wolf's main competitor

And will chase a wolf from a carcass.

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(cub mewing)

This female needs to hunt and make a kill.

Otherwise she and her cubs will die.

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Mahendra and his family are home at last,

Just ahead of india's monsoon rains.

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The deluge will soon turn this barren land green again.

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The only protection the sheep will have is a flimsy net.

And it must be up before sundown.

(bleating)

Guard dogs have nail-studded collars

For their own protection.

(howling)

It's at night that the predators will come.

(dog barking)

When the light fades,

A thermal camera reveals what the naked eye can't see.

Warm bodies glow white.

(dogs barking)

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The net is not secure.

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Hyenas!

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(bleating)

Their scent drifts on the wind.

(barking)

The dogs have been bred to be fearless.

(howling)

And the hyenas can't afford to risk injury.

(dogs barking)

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Wolves!

(bleating)

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(dogs barking)

(bleating)

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(dogs barking)

A wolf bit through the top rope of the net.

(dogs barking)

(bleating)

But it doesn't shake mahendra.

It's a small price to pay

For the bounty he hopes the monsoon will bring.

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By the end of July, all of india,

From the coast to the himalaya,

Is transformed by a cloak of green.

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(thunder)

This is rudyard kipling country.

The jungle book in all its splendor.

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Baloo, the sloth bear,

Knows the rains will bring tasty termites.

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Colonel hathi and the troop have eked out a living

On leaves, twigs and bark.

But now fresh grass means they can roam far and wide.

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For shere khan the monsoon is a double-edged sword.

Chital deer no longer gather at waterholes

Where they can be easily ambushed.

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But the fresh growth nurtures a new generation of prey.

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The chital team up with langur monkeys.

The deer's noses and the langurs' eyes

Signal potential threats.

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(barks)

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Danger and opportunity are everywhere,

And both increase as the monsoon rains continue.

(thunder)

At their peak, more than 17 million tons of water

Falls on the subcontinent every minute.

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Rivers across southern asia are swollen with monsoon rains.

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It's what all life along the mekong have been waiting for.

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The flow of the mother river has increased 400%.

Her influence is colossal.

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She's created a whole new habitat,

A flooded forest, where fish swim.

Now they can feed and grow fat.

But it's never safe to hang out for too long.

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The softshell turtle can strike faster than a cobra.

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Downstream, the monsoon kicks off

An extraordinary phenomenon.

The mekong is met by the river sap,

Which flows from a large lake.

(rooster crows)

The river's natural flow is from west to east,

Into the mekong.

But the mekong becomes so swollen with monsoon rain

That it pushes water uphill, back up the sap river.

The river's flow has reversed,

Taking with it many thousands of fish.

The fish head for a lake called tonlé sap.

It balloons to six times its former size...

A vast inland sea.

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Thom's world is now transformed.

(dog barking)

The only way to reach his village is by boat.

(people talking)

Nurses paddle to their patients,

And traders sell their wares from door to door.

(motor chugging)

There's no dry land to grow vegetables.

And they keep their pigs in floating sties.

(grunting)

But they can trade fish and shrimp from the lake

For other goods.

So thom and his dad go fishing every day.

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The lake is huge...

And full of millions of fish.

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They swam in from the mekong and are now in fish paradise.

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In these warm, rich waters,

Young fish rapidly grow to maturity...

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...Amid the drowned trees.

That is, if they're not snatched up

By hungry predators above.

(squawking)

But a much graver danger is approaching.

The monsoon is about to deliver a devastating blow.

In india's kaziranga national park,

The rains have been unusually heavy this year.

The brahmaputra river has burst her banks, flooding the plains.

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The park is disappearing fast.

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Elephants must escape.

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Small creatures are flushed from the undergrowth.

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But they have nowhere else to go.

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The floods show no mercy.

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The park is now under 16 feet of water,

Too deep even for elephants.

Their only choice is to head for the hills.

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Not even water buffalo can survive in this much water.

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Solid ground.

But this is no place for elephants.

(vehicles passing)

Many have died making this crossing.

(vehicles passing)

(horn honking)

Hog deer are nimble.

But the elephants must wait.

(horn blowing)

(vehicle passing)

(growling)

(grumbling)

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It's still a long way to the hills,

And the herd is now outside the protection of the park.

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Thousands of people have to leave their homes.

It's a national disaster.

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Everywhere people and animals

Are fleeing the rising waters of the monsoon.

And when their paths cross, neither is safe.

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A lone bull elephant is desperate for dry land.

(banging)

But the villagers are afraid

For their houses and their lives.

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(banging)

He'll have to seek sanctuary elsewhere.

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Finally, the hills.

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(trumpeting)

They've all survived.

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(grumbling)

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For this youngster it's been a dramatic awakening

To the terrifying power of the monsoon.

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As fast as they rise, the floods recede.

It's a good time for scavengers.

Griffon vultures have found a dead rhino.

The stench is overpowering.

But this tiger has sniffed out an opportunity.

Why waste energy hunting

When such a feast is here for the taking?

(flies buzzing)

He has strong jaws and a strong stomach.

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Though it can be devastating, the monsoon is also a provider.

And it is about to make its greatest gift.

As the waters of india's brahmaputra river recede,

They leave everything coated in fine silt.

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It's like a sprinkling of magic dust,

Creating fertility and new life.

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The elephant grasses in kaziranga national park

Now reach more than 15 feet tall.

(growling)

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Downstream, in bangladesh, monsoon floods cover the land.

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But the brahmaputra joins the ganges

To create some of the most fertile soils on earth.

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In some places the silt is more than half a mile deep.

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By October the days are shortening,

Cool air arrives, and the rains cease.

In cambodia, tonlé sap lake is emptying again,

And fishermen face six months of drought.

(birds chirping)

Tola has been fishing on the river sap

Every day for the past few months.

But it's so large now fish have plenty of places to hide out,

Leaving fishermen empty-handed.

Tola has a family to feed through the dry months ahead.

So the catch is preserved by making prahok,

A kind of fish paste.

It helps, but it won't be enough.

(rooster crows)

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The monsoon has a final parting gift

For those with the ingenuity to grasp it.

Falling water levels trigger a mass migration.

Millions of fish flee down the sap river

From the shrinking lake.

The challenge is how to catch them.

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Enormous nets are built for this one fleeting event.

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Tola signed up to join one of the fishing crews.

But with many channels,

No one knows when or where the fish will run.

Each crew gambles on one channel or another.

(engine chugging)

Tola hopes he's joined the right team.

(engine chugging)

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They're about to bring up their first haul.

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Will it be feast or famine?

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A ton of fish.

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And every hour another ton is swept into the net.

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In all, over 30,000 tons of fish are hauled

From the sap river yearly.

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It's the peak catch in the mekong,

The biggest freshwater fishery in the world.

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It's so important for cambodia

That their word for fish is also the word for money.

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For tola and his family,

The monsoon has finally delivered.

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The rains that were blown in from the ocean five months ago

Finish their journey back to where they started.

The waters of the brahmaputra

Flow into the largest river delta on earth.

Plumes of sediment wash hundreds of miles out to sea,

Where they seed one final monsoon bonanza.

(whoosh)

Sperm whales,

The largest-toothed predators in the world.

They eat squid and fish...

Prey fattened by the nutrient-rich waters

Brought by the monsoon.

(whoosh)

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(squeaking)

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But even sperm whales are dwarfed

By the largest animal that's ever lived.

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This is the blue whale.

And the only place on earth they can be seen year-round

Is here, in the waters around sri lanka.

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Waters that are fertile thanks to the monsoon,

The destroyer and giver of life,

From tiny mosquitoes to the giants of the deep.

Captioned by side door media services

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