All language subtitles for Atlantic A Year In The Wild 03

(light music)

- [Narrator] 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.

(water splashing)

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.

(light music)

The Atlantic stretches from
the Antarctic to the Arctic.

From the Americas to Africa and Europe.

Where its ferocity is matched
by its richness and diversity.

(birds squawking)

Summer has arrived.

The ocean is at its warmest.

Migrants and residents gorge.

Youngsters must grow and learn

before taking their first
steps towards adulthood.

(light music)

In the Atlantic's far
north, summers are short.

Heaping pressure on the
animals that live there.

Iceland's most northerly
peninsula is Hornstrandir.

Rising 1500 feet from the Atlantic Ocean,

it's remote and wild.

(birds squawking)

Home to a pair of arctic foxes

and their two cubs who have
reached a critical point

in their short lives.

(wind whistling)
(light music)

Back in the spring, they
raised their five cubs

on a diet of sea birds

which they plundered from nests along some

of the Atlantic's tallest cliffs.

(wind whistling)

Now, with sea bird nesting
season over, food is scarce.

Mom is forced to travel further
and for longer to find food,

leaving dad to look after the cubs.

He's relocated to sea level where he picks

for bugs along the shoreline.

Only two of the five cubs remain,

their three siblings
having already moved on.

(light music)

They spend much of their time playing.

Seemingly unaware that they must soon

start out on their own.

(playful music)

One has learned the beach is a good place

to search for scraps
washed up by the waves.

(birds chirping)

This will become an important
source of food as he grows.

(cub squeaking)

The second cub is less resourceful

and cannot hide its
excitement when dad returns.

(light music)

A sea bird carcass is hungrily received.

But it can't rely on
handouts for much longer.

The adults will soon
reclaim this territory,

forcing the two youngsters
to find a place of their own.

(cub squeaking)

(leaves rustling)

Starting life alone is a
difficult and dangerous time

for many youngsters.

For some, it requires a
massive leap of faith.

(light music)

The island of Noss, just
east of mainland Shetland.

It's a very big day in a puffin colony.

The culmination of their breeding season.

(birds squawking)

Every summer, hundreds of young
puffins, called pufflings,

emerge from their underground burrows.

They take their first
look at the outside world

(birds squawking)

and the 600 foot cliffs
they're about to jump off.

(light music)

Back in the spring, the adults returned

from a winter at sea,

got reacquainted with
their lifelong partner,

and then renovated their nest.

(rustling)

Once mating is over,
they put all their energy

into raising a single chick.

(wings flapping)

Fishing trips are long and regular.

Diving down to 200 feet
to hunt fish and sand eels

which they carry home dozens at a time.

(whooshing)
(birds squawking)

Late July and the youngsters
are now old enough

to care for themselves,

so the adults abandon their nests

and suddenly feeding stops.

If the pufflings are to
eat, they must take their

very first flight from the
clifftops to the ocean below.

But there's another
danger; predatory gulls

are waiting for them to emerge.

(birds squawking)

The only way avoid them is
to jump in the dead of night.

(light dramatic music)

(rustling)

One by one, they appear.

(puffling chirping)

Warm up their flight muscles,

make a few final adjustments,

then take off into the inky blackness.

A life and death leap into the unknown.

(birds squawking)

The morning after, it's
obvious some didn't make it.

But the vast majority did.

One is still to jump.

(suspenseful music)

The longer it waits, the
greater the chance of predation.

(birds squawking)

A stumble, but is saved by a ledge.

It must get at least 1,000 feet out to sea

to be safe from the gulls.

(suspenseful music)

It steels itself, then leaps
to the safety of the ocean.

(light music)

(water splashing)

Puffling fledging is highly synchronized

and is over in a couple of days.

The clifftop that's been a
hive of activity since spring

suddenly falls silent

until next year.

Breeding season may be
over for the puffins,

but along the Atlantic coast,
it's still in full swing

from one of the world's most
remarkable ocean inhabitants.

(light music)

A male short-snouted seahorse waits

for his partner to return.

She is out patrolling her territory,

feeding as she goes, sucking
up microscopic creatures.

The tiny fins on her head
help her change direction.

The long fin on her
back pushes her forward.

Her eyes work independently;

one focuses on what she's about to eat

while the other searches
for her next meal.

(light dramatic music)

But she must also keep
an eye out for predators.

A large spider crab approaches.

(light dramatic music)

She changes color to blend
in with her surroundings.

Once the coast is clear, she moves off,

only to come across more crabs.

(dramatic music)

Forcing her to flee again.

(water bubbling)

Seahorses pair for life,
and unlike any other animal,

it's the male that carries and
gives birth to their young.

They breed throughout the summer,

giving birth to multiple broods.

(light music)

They're reunited.

He puffs up his empty
brood pouch to show her

he's ready to mate, and they dance.

(light dramatic music)

Courtship will continue
until they eventually mate.

He will then give birth to live
young in about three weeks.

(birds squawking)

Courtship displays take on many guises.

Unlike the seahorse dance,
the world's strongest beetles

attract their mate by
parading, bulking up,

even giving presence.

Donana National Park, southwest Spain.

(light music)

A vast wilderness of dunes,
woods, and marshland.

Supporting a rich and
diverse array of wildlife.

(birds squawking)
(light music)

Including rare Retuerta horses

which once roamed across
much of this region

but now only exist here.

(horse neighing)

Their existence provides food for one

of the dune's most
industrious little residents;

dung beetles.

Nature's recyclists.

(light music)

They love poo.

They eat it, live in it,
even lay their eggs in it.

But first, they have to find
it, move it, and hide it.

A male dung beetles scans
the air with his antenna.

Once he locates a dung pile, he moves in,

(rustling)

cuts off a manageable chunk,

then carries it off.

This is what he needs
to win himself a mate.

Head down and bum up, he
rolls it in a straight line

away from the dung pile.

Using the sun to help him navigate.

Knocked off track by the terrain,

he quickly checks his bearings

before heading off again.

(light dramatic music)

But another male catches
a whiff and wants some.

(dramatic music)

A judo roll finishes off the aggressor.

Finally, he attracts a female.

She trails a few paces behind.

Even hitching a ride.

Once he finds a good
place to bury it, he digs.

She waits patiently.

When the home is about the
right size, she moves in.

He follows.

Safely hidden away, they feed and mate.

Then move on to do it all over again.

(light music)

(bird squawking)

This coastline is strategically important

to millions of migratory birds.

A place to refuel when flying
between Europe and Africa.

(birds squawking)

But for some, this is
also the journey's end.

(light music)

(birds squawking)

Every year, greater flamingos
arrive from northwest Africa

to feed and raise their next generation.

At four feet tall, they're
the world's tallest flamingo.

They feed on shrimps,
snails, crabs, and small fish

which they stir up with their feet.

Pigments in their food give them

their distinctive pink plumage.

They're feeding for themselves
and their offspring,

which they leave in a creche
at the center of the salt pan.

They group tightly together,

the smallest pushed to the outer edge.

With many parents away,
they're vulnerable to attack

from predatory gulls waiting for

the perfect moment to strike.

(birds squawking)

Once it spots a small one at

the edge of the crowd it attacks.

(light dramatic music)

The creche descends into chaos.

With its parents away
feeding, it is powerless.

The assault is brief, but violent.

The gull has learned that repeated strikes

tire the chick out.

(birds squawking)

Eventually, it collapses
with exhaustion and dies.

For the flamingos, losses are unavoidable,

but the flock thrives and remains strong.

(light music)

The North Atlantic continues warming up.

(birds squawking)

The gannets that returned in the spring

now have chicks to care for.

They'll not fly the nest
for another six weeks.

(water splashing)

So their parents still
have plenty of work to do.

(birds squawking)

Under the surface, in the coastal waters,

shark and ray eggs laid amongst

the weed and rocks, are growing.

The babies will soon force their way out

and head off to start life on their own.

(light music)

Summer migrants are
now reaping the rewards

of their long journeys.

(light music)

The shallow waters of the island of Tiree

in the Inner Hebrides is the destination

of dozens of basking sharks.

(light music)

No one really knows where they come from,

or return to, in the autumn.

They're here to feast on
small fish and invertebrates

which they filter from the water.

Driven by their massively powerful tails,

these 30 foot long sharks graze,

their three-foot-wide mouths gaping,

straining up to 2,000
tons of water every hour.

Tiny creatures trapped by
their gills are then swallowed.

(light music)

They're not indiscriminate feeders,

but actively search
for water rich in food,

then simply swim through their next meal.

The U.K. plays host to
40 species of shark.

Basking sharks are the largest,

but the most numerous large sharks

are found off the Cornish coast.

As the ocean warms to 14 degrees celsius,

blue sharks arrive.

Some having traveled 4,000 miles.

Their streamlined bodies
and long pectoral fins

help them conserve energy while they swim.

Big eyes give them away
as visual predators,

but they're also scavengers
and their excellent sense

of smell helps them detect
food many miles away.

(light music)

A dead dolphin floating
off the Cornish coast

draws in the sharks.

(light dramatic music)

Shaking their heads
helps them slice through

the dolphin's thick leathery skin.

The 10-foot-long adults dominate.

Smaller youngsters nip into
grab a bite when they can.

(water sloshing)

(suspenseful music)

200 pound dolphin is
stripped of flesh in no time

and the sharks move on
to scavenge elsewhere.

On Scotland's Isle of Sky
the two white tailed eagle

chicks have fed well.

(light music)

They've outgrown their nest
and are ready to move on.

(whooshing)

Back in the spring, their
parents fished well.

(water splashing)

(birds chirping)

The chicks grew quickly.

(whooshing)

(birds chirping)

Now, mid-summer, food deliveries
are starting to dry up.

A gentle hint to the youngsters

that it's time to leave home.

The larger one warms up its flight muscles

in preparation for its maiden flight.

This is a dangerous time.

The sea loch lies 100 feet below.

The mountainside is
covered in thick forest.

Get take off wrong, and its
first flight could be its last.

(birds chirping)

(suspenseful music)

Suddenly
(bright music)

it's off.

It's very first flight.

Looking on, it's sibling is now alone.

There's no time to waste.

Flapping and jumping help with confidence.

(wings flapping)
(leaves rustling)

(birds chirping)

(light dramatic music)

And suddenly, it's off, too.

(birds squawking)

Their parents continue to bring them fish

using an old eagle nest
as a feeding platform.

(birds squawking)

The family will stay together
for another two months

until the youngsters learn
to fish for themselves.

Then they'll head out on their own,

nomadic at first, before they
find themselves a territory

and grow to become tenacious top predators

just like their parents.

For some, the transition
from youngster to adult

takes just a few minutes.

(light music)

Every year off the
Cornish and Welsh coasts,

spiny spider crabs leave the deep

and head towards the shore.

Just one or two at first,
then numbers soon increase.

They're on a life-changing mission.

Some have walked 100 miles to get here,

covered in seaweed which
they stick to themselves

to help with camouflage.

They're all adolescent
crabs around two years old.

In just two days they'll turn into adults.

But before that, a remarkable
transformation must happen.

(light music)

Spider crabs have a tough shell which

they must shed before they can grow.

They crack open and start to emerge.

It takes 15 minutes to carefully

extract themselves, legs and all.

More keep arriving, crashing
into those in mid-molt.

Once out, they're soft and exposed.

It takes two days for
their shell to harden.

During that time, they're
vulnerable to predators.

Gathering in such huge numbers
offers them some safety.

But they'll even eat each other.

One hasn't emerged fully
and is cannibalized.

Vital fuel ahead of their
long journey back to the deep.

The only sign of their
remarkable migration;

cast shells strewn along the shoreline.

(birds squawking)

Late August.

(light music)

Summer is drawing to a close.

(waves crashing)

But the Irish-Atlantic
has one last spectacle.

The ocean is at its warmest.

Plankton blooms, drawing
in huge schools of herring,

which in turn, attract predators.

Two miles off Ireland's Kerry Coast,

around the Blasket Islands,

gannets fish to feed their chicks.

(water splashing)

Common dolphins race in.

(birds squawking)

To fish alongside one of the
world's largest predators.

(light dramatic music)
(water spraying)

Humpback whales.

The Irish-Atlantic is
home to a small number

of humpbacks all year round.

But their numbers peak
in summer and autumn

as migrants arrive.

Turning this part of the Atlantic

into a major feeding ground.

They hunt by bubble netting.

(light dramatic music)

Once they find a school
of fish, one drops deep,

swims in a circle,

and blows bubbles from its blowhole.

(water bubbling)

This creates a curtain which
the fish won't swim through.

Two humpbacks have developed a
unique type of bubble netting

not seen anywhere else in the world.

While one makes a circle of bubbles,

the second remains at the surface

blocking the fish's escape route.

The first whale swims up, mouth open,

and devours hundreds of fish.

(water splashing)

They then swap over
roles so that they both

get a turn to feed.

They're the only two humpbacks
known to feed like this

and proves that whales
can be incredibly creative

when it comes to securing a meal.

(birds squawking)

The dolphins join them,
picking off the fish

that the whales missed.

(water splashing)
(gulls cawing)

For all the animals living in and around

the North Atlantic coast,

life is about to become
a race as autumn arrives.

Next time, the season of plenty gives way

to the season of change.

When animals must either
migrate or prepare

for winter's onslaught.

But for some, autumn is
also the time of courtship

(howling)

and birth.

(light music)