All language subtitles for Australia The Wild Continent

This is a story

30 million years in the making.

(thunder rumbles and cracks)

(man sings)

A story of isolation,

adaptation, and ingenious evolution.

(rain patters)

Set in a land sculpted
by the forces of nature

and deep time.

It's a story of
extraordinary creatures

that thrive in the
harshest environments,

where millions of years of isolation

has produced animals unlike
anywhere else on Earth.

It's a love story, too.

One that's been told for countless
generations across this land

by people who have cared
for it for over 50,000 years.

A land where vast areas remain wild,

and every landscape
has a story to tell.

This is a continental odyssey

in search of the hidden stories

that make this biological Ark unique.

This is Australia,

the wild continent.

(water splashes)

Like all continents,
Australia is a huge landmass,

slowly moving across the globe,

driven by forces beneath
the Earth's crust.

♪ (soothing, pensive music)

She's currently heading north
at around seven centimetres a year,

carrying hundreds of thousands
of species with her.

The sheer isolation of this
biological Ark through deep time

has led to the evolution
of some unique adaptations.

(birds chirp)

To understand where these
incredible creatures came from,

we need to travel back in time

and 4,000 kilometres south

to Antarctica,

where it all began.

The frozen continent of Antarctica

sits over the South Pole,

making it the coldest place on Earth.

And it's become a haven for some
pretty unique marine creatures.

(animals call)

The cold, nutrient-rich ocean

and continuous sunshine
in the summer months

drives enormous productivity.

♪ (orchestral music crescendos)

Sustaining a huge
variety of marine mammals.

(whales squeak)

(whale bellowing)

(music fades to silence)

Inland, however, life is long gone.

On average,

the entire landmass of Antarctica

is covered by 2 kilometres of ice.

♪ (gentle piano)

But it hasn't always been this way.

Many millions of years ago,

Australia was connected
to Antarctica.

Back then,

Earth was a much warmer place.

It was so warm

that Antarctica was
covered in rainforest.

(animals call)
(water sloshes)

This was the
supercontinent of Gondwana,

home to dinosaurs,

reptiles, and just
a few early mammals.

Over tens of millions of years,

the supercontinent began
to break into huge chunks.

South America, Africa, and India

went their separate ways.

Around 33 million years ago,

the last piece split from Antarctica,

forming a new continent,

Australia.

As the new landmass drifted slowly
northward into warmer latitudes,

it carried with it a
precious biological cargo

of Gondwanan flora and fauna.

Now totally isolated,

these plants and animals

evolved to fill every niche
that became available

on their new home,

creating the unique
array of Aussie animals

we know and love today.

(birds chirp)

While the landlocked
animals of Australia

embarked on their
evolutionary journey,

the creatures of the ocean
remained free to roam.

Today, the migratory paths of whales

continue to connect Australia
with her frozen continental cousin.

Every year, thousands of these ocean
giants visit the Nullarbor coastline

on the Southern edge of Australia.

And every year,
for tens of thousands of years,

they have been greeted with song
and ceremony by the Mirning people

who live in the
Great Australian Bight.

(man vocalises)

Bunna Lawrie is a whale songman
Elder of the Mirning tribe.

(vocalising continues)

(vocalising continues)

(man speaks in Mirniny)

That means we're home
together in our beautiful home,

sea home, sea coast home.

For more than 65,000 years,

our people were
protectors and guardians.

We are family to that sea,
and we are family to that whale.

The Mirning believe the land
here was made by Jeedara,

a giant white whale

sent from the stars by
the great Creator Spirit

to make the land and sea,

and teach the creatures
how to care for country.

Very special place right here.

It's the Whale Tail,
which is a dreaming place.

This is the start of the song line,

The Journey of Jeedara,
the Great Giant Whale

who came in the Dreamtime.

That rock there that was pushed out
through this giant big, big tail.

Left that there for his two
companions, friends,

Yaum and Mininya,
the great two big sea eagles

so that they could be the
guardian of that place

and watch over that place.

(chuckling) Beautiful.

(speaking Mirniny)
That means it's

incredibly, really big
and beautiful.

Bunna's people lived off
the bounty of the sea,

a resource they shared
with a huge variety of animals.

The ocean is rich in this
remote corner of the planet,

and the Mirning people have
been caring for these creatures

for generations.

Their law and customs
place the environment

at the centre of their culture.

For more than 65,000 years,
our people have done really well

with the abundance of resources.

Marine life that lives in the sea
also share that food with us.

We care for it.
We don't abuse our culture.

We treat it like it's our family,

and that's why we
still have it today.

We give take and share
this beautiful country.

Very special.

It's there for our children's future
to continue to keep that wisdom

and that knowledge.
It's important to have that

because one day,

if you haven't got that wisdom
and knowledge for survival or

custodianship,
man will live a lonely life.

I wouldn't change this for anything.

I wouldn't change a thing
because I like it the way it is.

According to the Ancestors,
Jeedara, the great white whale,

created the Nullarbor Cliffs,
coastlines, and islands,

pushing his way
through water and rock.

♪ (meditative music)

And that creation story

is mirrored in the Western scientific
understanding of this landscape.

Millions of years ago,
these dry plains

were the floor
of a shallow ocean.

Organisms like gastropods,
coral, and plankton

lived and died
here in their billions.

Their calcium carbonate
shells and skeletons

settling on the bottom of the ocean.

Over aeons, these remains formed

into the largest continual
piece of limestone in the world.

This limestone slab covers an
enormous 200,000 square kilometres.

Some local Aboriginal language
groups call this region Ngurie

or the waterless plains.

Every now and then,
the dry expanse is punctured,

revealing an incredible underworld.

A team of divers are preparing
to explore the secrets

hidden beneath the surface.

(light chatter)

The flow of rain and
groundwater over millions of years

has slowly eroded the limestone,

forming a labyrinth of
caves and passageways.

The water that carved these caves

is still working its way
through the limestone,

flowing far beneath the surface.

Around 400 metres in,

a subterranean lake is revealed.

From here, the divers will set
out with specialised equipment

to explore the flooded tunnels.

They lay a line as they travel

to make sure they can find
their way out of the labyrinth.

There is no room for error.

If you lose your line,
your bearings, or your light,

you are probably not coming out.

♪ (ambiguous music)

Groundwater is a
precious resource on Earth,

making up around 99%
of Earth's liquid fresh water

and sustaining billions
of people and ecosystems.

And it's especially
important in Australia

as it flows beneath some
of the driest deserts

on the driest inhabited
continent on Earth.

(soulful vocalising)

These days, more than two-thirds
of the Australian continent is arid.

But for most of Australia's history,

this land was covered
with Gondwana's great forest.

As Australia drifted north
into the desert latitudes,

it began to dry out.

But even the best adapted desert
dwellers need water to survive.

(vocalising continues)

Groundwater springs
and temporary water holes

are havens for life across
Australia's arid interior.

Huge flocks of budgerigar parrots

fly hundreds of kilometres
from water hole to water hole

as they search for green pasture.

Red kangaroos hop vast distances

in search of water.

Hopping allows
kangaroos and wallabies

to expend less
energy over long distances.

This adaptation has helped them
to thrive in nearly every habitat

on the Australian continent.

Even on in a rugged desert
peaks of Adnyamathanha country

in South Australia.

The yellow-footed rock wallaby

is Australia's equivalent
to mountain goats,

able to hop four
metres in a single bound.

These social creatures
live in large family groups,

and they love the treacherous terrain

as it keeps most of
their predators at bay.

But there is one predator
that is hard to escape.

The wedge-tailed eagle is
Australia's largest bird of prey.

The wallaby's are safe
in the shadows,

but as soon as they step out
into the sun, a chase is on.

♪ (dark, driving music)

Wedge-tailed eagles
have extraordinary eyesight,

but the wallabies are quick

and perfectly camouflaged
against the rock face.

Now you see her...

Now you don't.

As Australia continued its slow
drift away from the South Pole,

the northern reaches of the
continent entered the tropics,

where high temperatures
and monsoonal summers

created an evolutionary hotspot.

An explosion of biodiversity

sheltered by ancient geology

and surrounded by one of the
wildest tropical coastlines on Earth.

The Kimberley Coast is
a rarity on our planet,

a thousand kilometres of unspoiled
beaches and sandstone canyons.

♪ (inspiring music)

The rugged terrain, treacherous
navigation, and huge tides

have kept the modern world out.

And those same tides drive
immense productivity in the ocean.

(eagle squeals)

(inspiring music fades)

In the sea country of the
Dambimangari people,

the tides that drive the ecosystem

also transform the seascape.

For a few days each month,
the pool of the full moon

draws the ocean away,
causing a 32-foot tidal swing.

♪ (music builds)

And one of the most spectacular
natural events on Earth begins.

The rise of Montgomery Reef.

More than 300 square kilometres
of living reef emerges from the sea.

But the magic of Montgomery
Reef has only just begun.

For this is the birthplace of giants.

Every year,

tens of thousands of whales
make the long trip from Antarctica

to socialise, mate,

and give birth in this
marine wonderland,

making this the biggest nursery

for the largest humpback whale
population on the planet.

This mum will spend a few months
in these warm tropical waters,

building her calf's strength with
hundreds of litres of milk a day.

As the summer approaches,

mum and calf will
leave Montgomery Reef

and begin their
7,000-kilometre journey back

to the frozen feeding
grounds of Antarctica.

Just after the whales leave,
something in the air

begins to change.

(thunder rumbles)

The tropical north of
Australia is a place of extremes.

It has a monsoonal climate that
ranges from bone dry through the

winter to torrential rain in the wet.

(man vocalises)

The annual deluge has
sculpted the ancient rocks.

Low-lying areas flood,
creating huge wetlands.

The hot, steamy conditions
drive plant growth,

kickstarting an
ecosystem like no other.

(cacophony of animal calls)

Insect populations boom,

creating food for
thousands of creatures,

including the highly
specialised jacana.

It uses giant toes to
spread its weight

over floating vegetation,

a perfect adaptation to
life on the lily pads.

This father is looking after
his freshly hatched young,

teaching them where
and how to find food.

They have a lot to learn.

Below the lilies, lie hungry fish
who would love a bite-sized snack.

Plenty of crocodiles
also prowl these wetlands

on the hunt for
their next meal.

When dad senses danger,

he calls the young in.

Hidden under his wings,
they stand perfectly still.

♪ (mysterious music)

When the threat passes,

the little ones continue
their search for tasty bugs.

As Australia drifted
into warmer latitudes,

the ocean off the Northeast Coast

reached the perfect temperature
for the growth of coral,

paving the way for the formation

of Australia's most
famous natural wonder.

The World Heritage
listed Great Barrier Reef.

The largest living structure
on the planet,

stretching 2,300 kilometres,

covering an area the size of the UK.

This huge coral reef network

supports the greatest
concentration of life on the planet.

Over 400 coral species
and 1,500 fish species.

Billions of creatures make their
homes in this coral metropolis,

including some toothy ones.

And thousands of people come
to immerse themselves

in this marine
wonderland every year.

But there is another
coral reef in Australia,

one that is much harder to visit.

Off the island of Tasmania,
in Australia's Southeast,

a team of expert divers have just
set out to explore a deep reef.

Cinematographers
John Shaw and Damien Siviero,

hope to dive over 100 metres in depth

to capture images of a rarely
seen ecological community.

As they descend, the sunlight
from the surface begins to fade.

They are now in a deep
decompression dive.

Their bodies are oversaturated
with gas under pressure.

By 70 metres,

the sunlight is almost gone.

We descended down and we
were going through darkness.

The school of fish then
separates and parts,

and it just reveals
this mass of colour.

You just see the colour
of sponges and gorgonians

and black coral trees.
It really was amazing.

You think that the ocean
would just be dark and dingy

and there would be
nothing down there,

but it was absolutely
teeming with life.

Some of the growth on this deep reef
could be thousands of years old.

Corals and sponges, similar to
the ones found on this reef,

have been found growing
6km below the surface.

There may be as many
deep sea coral species

as tropical shallow water species,

yet we know virtually
nothing about these ecosystems.

It's a great reminder

that there is still so much
to explore and learn

about our incredible planet.

Back on the Tasmanian coastline,
the rocks also have a story to tell.

These columnna basalts

are the result of
huge amounts of magma

that rose up from the depths
as the supercontinent of Gondwana

began to break up
180 million years ago.

♪ (soaring strings)

Magma from the event filled the
voids forming along fault lines

that would eventually
separate the great landmasses

in the Southern hemisphere.

Rocks like these can now be found

many thousands of kilometres
apart in South America,

Antarctica, and South Africa.

Monuments to deep time,
the stunning legacy

of drifting continents.

The greatest tribute to
deep time on our planet

is, of course, the huge diversity
of life that surrounds us.

And few places on Earth
have a biological legacy

as old as the World Heritage
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.

(man vocalises)
♪ (didgeridoo plays)

These are the last surviving
pieces of the great forests

that once covered over 50%
of the Earth's surface.

Living relics from the dinosaur era.

The oldest surviving
forests on Earth.

Remnants of the
Great Gondwana Forests

can be found in isolated pockets

along 2,000 kilometres
of Australia's East Coast.

This fragment of the forest is the
land of the Gumbaynggirr people

who have been custodians of
this ancient rainforest

for tens of thousands of years.

Today, Gumbaynggirr
Elder Michael Jarrett

carries the legacy of his people.

(man sings)

For countless generations,

young Gumbaynggirr men
left home for years to learn

the ecology of the forests and the
laws that governed her protection.

That song that I just sang

is a song to greet them young
men back into our clan again.

All the way around
the Gumbaynggirr Nation,

they would be
learning stories, the songs

and the sacred
places of their land.

Their education system

passed on knowledge that
would allow them to conserve

and care for their land.

The web of life here

has taken hundreds of
millions of years to evolve,

and the Gumbaynggirr
people understood

how interconnected all this life is.

When the sun is coming
through over there on that root,

that's giving life to that root and
to the moss that's on that root.

And those birds,
they come down for a bath

and they come down
for a drink of water.

These creatures,
they have all got a part to play.

We should be in awe
and appreciate everything

that Mother Nature
put in place for us.

The Gumbaynggirr people believe that
every creature has a role to play.

From koalas in the canopy

to insects in the undergrowth.

Together, we are forces of nature.

But alone, we cannot survive.

♪ (reflective music)

The Gumbaynggirr people believed
they had to keep life going.

Not only keep it going,
but make it better.

The way that they did this
was respect the autonomy

of everything that's on the planet

and not threaten
anything that's on this planet

so that everything
has a right to be where it is.

They truly believe that
everything was connected.

What we do here, we affect the
whole universe, the whole creation.

The Australian continent,

with its precious cargo
of unique flora and fauna,

has been cared for by its
first people for millennia.

Their respect for the natural
world has preserved a heritage

that stretches back
more than 30 million years.

We all have a role to play
in caring for our planet,

and together we can all look
after this great biological Ark.

♪♪

♪♪