- 5/16/2025
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00:00Our planet may be home to 30 million different kinds of animals and plants, each individual
00:28locked in its own lifelong fight for survival.
00:33Everywhere you look, on land or in the ocean, there are extraordinary examples of the lengths
00:38living things go to to stay alive.
00:45This is the coast of Florida.
00:50Here, strained scars on the seabed hint at one animal's remarkable strategy.
01:02These are bottlenose dolphins, one of the most intelligent animals on earth.
01:08Their prey is very elusive, fast-swimming fish.
01:14But the dolphins have invented a completely new way of hunting.
01:22By beating its tail down hard, this dolphin stirs up the shallow silt.
01:34And by swimming in a tight circle, it creates a ring of mushrooming mud around a shoal of
01:39fish.
02:00The contracting ring traps the fish just like a net.
02:04Panicked, the fish jump to escape.
02:08Right into the open mouths of the waking dolphins.
02:24Again and again, the lead dolphin creates a circle before they all line up with perfect timing.
02:37These dolphins are the only ones known to have developed this hunting behavior and it
03:03gives them an edge.
03:10This sort of advantage may mean the difference between life and death in the survival of
03:15the fittest.
03:22This series reveals the most spectacular and extraordinary strategies that animals and
03:29plants have developed to stay alive.
03:59For every creature, every day is full of challenges, all of which must be overcome somehow in order
04:14to survive.
04:21Kenya, famous for its big cats, the supreme hunters.
04:45Cheetahs specialize in hunting at speed.
04:49Though fast, they're fragile creatures built to sprint after small prey.
04:56They don't have the strength or weight of a lion to bring down larger animals.
05:03This male is different.
05:05He doesn't hunt alone.
05:07He's learnt that there is strength in numbers.
05:24But here, there are not just two, but three cheetahs.
05:29A band of brothers.
05:32They have changed their tactics and by doing so, have taken their prey by surprise.
05:43They have learnt that working together, they can bring down large prey.
05:52An ostrich, a bird that towers over a cheetah and is more than twice as heavy.
06:01It can't fly to escape danger, but it can lash out with a deadly kick.
06:08A female, unaware as yet of any danger.
06:19Even with three of them, this is still highly risky.
06:23If one gets injured, the other two couldn't hope to tackle such large prey.
06:36On the other hand, if they get it right, the rewards are huge.
06:49The male has spotted one of the brothers, but only one.
06:53It's not too worried.
07:07Then suddenly, there are three.
07:21The female is slower to realise the danger, and the cheetahs switch targets.
07:51It takes the combined effort and weight of all three brothers to bring down this powerful bird.
07:58Even now, the ostrich could land a fatal kick.
08:09So far, the brothers are winning.
08:11Ostriches have yet to find a way to foil such tactics.
08:18Other animals have also evolved surprising tactics to outmanoeuvre the enemy,
08:23not with brute strength, but with extraordinary weapons.
08:29Madagascar.
08:32A strange world where nothing is quite as it seems.
08:46To hunt here requires stealth and subterfuge.
08:52And living within the trees is a master of ambush.
08:57A praying mantis.
09:00Well camouflaged and lightning quick, these insects are highly efficient predators.
09:23But even they are outgunned.
09:33A chameleon.
09:36Its camouflage is exceptional because it can change its skin colour to match its surroundings.
09:49Its eyes move independently to spot prey.
09:58It creeps towards its victim until just in range.
10:07Then it unleashes a super weapon.
10:11Its tongue shoots out at 15 metres per second.
10:20And not only hits, but grasps its target.
10:40But few hunters are always successful.
10:43For them, a hunt is just one meal.
10:46For prey, the stakes are higher.
10:49It's life or death.
11:04As Antarctica moves from spring into summer, the inlets and bays, once choked with ice, become free.
11:17And animals move in to feed.
11:28These are crab-eater seals.
11:31They don't actually eat crabs, but krill, small shrimps that swarm in their billions in these waters.
11:50Resting on a large ice flow, these crab-eaters are safe.
12:06But as soon as they enter the water, they are on their guard.
12:11For good reason.
12:16Killer whales.
12:21Here in Antarctica, many killer whales prey only on fish.
12:26But these whales are different.
12:28They specialize in hunting seals.
12:45This seal, swimming to open water, is unaware of the danger heading his way.
12:54Until now.
13:00He's in real trouble.
13:02There is no escape, unless he can hide behind this small piece of floating ice.
13:30He's been spotted and surrounded.
13:46Now, agility is his only chance.
13:49He tries for his life, staying as close as he can to the iceberg.
14:06And the whales tighten the circle, going for the kill.
14:35But hunters don't always get their own way.
14:44In the end, the seal's determination and skill, using the ice for protection, kept him just out of reach.
14:54And the whales move on.
15:02Recently, it's been observed that killer whales are much more successful when hunting other types of seals.
15:09Crab-eaters like this put up too much of a fight.
15:27For creatures living in the open ocean, there is nowhere to hide from predators.
15:33But there is safety in numbers.
16:01Flying fish, however, has evolved a different escape tactic.
16:09To leave the water completely, take to the air and fly.
16:19After a huge effort to get airborne, flying fish can glide 200 metres or so to escape the predators chasing them.
16:49Not all animals are hunters.
17:15Many are vegetarians.
17:18But the battle between animals and plants can also be intense.
17:26Boa Vista, central Brazil.
17:31This valley is peppered with strangely pitted rocks.
17:45These are not natural formations, but the legacy of a long struggle between one animal and one plant.
17:57Brown-tufted capuchins, highly intelligent monkeys.
18:03They spend their nights in the safety of caves, emerging each morning to find food.
18:14Down in the valley is a particular favourite, a nut palm.
18:20The palms produce huge seeds, but they have very strong shells that protect them against attack from hungry animals.
18:36For the capuchins, this is a war of attrition.
18:44They check which seed is the ripest and the battle commences.
18:55The first job is to tear the tough, fibrous husk from the nut.
19:05He doesn't try to crack the nut straight away, but drops it to the ground.
19:11He's learnt that a nut should be given a week or so drying in the sun.
19:16These are ones he prepared earlier.
19:19He taps them to see if they're ready.
19:33This huge, flat rock is his anvil.
19:49And this is a hammer.
19:53It's made of a different and much harder rock than the anvil.
20:01Now something extraordinary happens.
20:16The capuchins' use of these stone tools requires an exceptional level of intelligence, planning and dexterity.
20:38The nut finally cracks and exposes a rich, oily kernel.
20:50Youngsters watch and imitate the adults, just as human toddlers do.
20:56If they are to become independent, they must learn to crack their own nuts.
21:07But the learning process is long, with many frustrations.
21:15They learn early on that to do a job properly, you need the right tool.
21:31It could take eight years for a capuchin to master this art and overcome the palm's formidable defences.
21:49But some plants have turned the tables and feed on animals.
21:59This is a highly sophisticated trap.
22:03The bait? Sugary nectar around the rim of the disc.
22:09The triggers? Fine hairs, two of which have to be touched within 20 seconds of each other.
22:25The victim? A fly, which finds the colour and nectar irresistible.
22:39One.
22:53Two.
23:02When triggered, the trap snaps shut so fast that the fly is imprisoned.
23:17The Venus flytrap now slowly digests its victim.
23:37Life's challenges are more than just finding food.
23:41In every animal's life, there comes a time when its mind turns to breeding.
23:48One creature's approach is mind-boggling.
23:55Malaysia.
24:11This strange insect has been lying dormant on the forest floor.
24:41Once safe in the trees, these males hide among the leaves and begin an extraordinary transformation.
24:55One that will make the difference between fathering offspring or not.
25:03He begins by gulping in air bubbles, forcing them up into his head.
25:10He then pumps the bubbles into the stalks, supporting his eyes just like blowing up a balloon.
25:24And this is what earns these creatures their name.
25:28The stalk-eyed fly.
25:45A few final adjustments to straighten out any remaining creases, and he's ready for action.
25:58They may look unwieldy, but eyes on stalks improve not only his ability to spot predators, but they are key when it comes to winning females.
26:17In the evening, both males and females gather, and the males begin to size one another up eyeball to eyeball.
26:26Having the widest eye span puts you at the top of the pecking order.
26:34The eye stalks are not weapons, they're measuring sticks, used to gauge how big, and so how strong, a male is.
26:42But there's trouble if two top males have exactly the same eye width.
26:47Then the contest descends into a brawl.
27:02Defeated.
27:05The winner. He now has the right to mate with all the females nearby.
27:17The rather gentlemanly way stalk-eyed flies settle their differences over females is not the only way.
27:24Some animals are much more violent.
27:27It's the dry season in Zambia.
27:32The lagoons are either baked dry, or the mud is so thick, animals get stuck, with fatal consequences.
27:43This male hippo has been living in one small lagoon, but as it dries, it's turning into a death trap.
27:52Understandably, the females that once shared it with him have all left.
27:59Even if he wants to, he can't stay much longer.
28:04He needs water to keep cool, and females to mate with.
28:13And this is where they all are.
28:16Almost all the hippos in the area are now in what is left of the Luangwa River, because it's the last place where there's still deep water.
28:27This bend is controlled by an all-powerful male.
28:31Since the drought, many more females have joined his herd.
28:45They are happy to live cheek by jowl, but any male who comes here in the hope of mating must first defeat the overlord.
29:03The wandering male arrives and has a decision to make.
29:07Submit, or fight.
30:03Victory for the overlord.
30:23His domination of his channel in the river remains, and with it, mating rights with the females.
30:38The loser is alive, but is an outcast.
30:41He retreats to another part of the river, where it's so shallow that no females will follow.
30:50His chance to father offspring is over for now.
30:59For some animals, the challenges of breeding are not about fighting, but about courtship.
31:09Among birds, displays, songs and rituals can reach extraordinary levels of complexity and beauty.
31:23During spring on the freshwater lakes of Oregon, grebes join together to renew their partnership.
31:45The ceremony starts with a series of graceful duets in which one partner echoes the actions of the other.
31:59But the real test comes now.
32:03Only the strongest and the most faithful are prepared to join together for the final exultant dance.
33:04Those animals which have young now face a whole new set of challenges to protect and nurture their offspring.
33:16In the cold waters of the northern Pacific Ocean, there lives a giant.
33:28A giant Pacific octopus at over four meters long.
33:37She is hunting, not for prey, but for a den, somewhere to settle down and hide.
33:54Her den has to be just right.
33:58She's going to live here for the rest of her life.
34:05She's carrying fertilized eggs.
34:08And now, happy and settled, she lays them.
34:14One hundred thousand of them.
34:23Over the next six months, she carefully tends her precious brood.
34:31She caresses them with her arms to keep them free of algae and properly supplied with oxygen.
34:40This is her first and only brood.
34:44And so she takes great care of them.
34:47While she's guarding her eggs, she doesn't leave the den.
34:51Not once.
34:53Unable to feed, she's starving.
34:58Her last act of devotion is to blow water over the eggs to help them hatch.
35:20Young, fully developed octopus pop out.
35:29Though only a few will survive to adulthood, she's given them the best chance she can.
35:39After her long and lonely vigil, she is dead.
35:45Surely this sacrifice must make her one of nature's most devoted mothers.
36:00Here, 30 meters beneath the Costa Rican forest canopy,
36:04another dedicated mother ensures that her young also have the best possible start in life.
36:17This tiny strawberry poison arrow frog, only the size of a fingernail, is guarding her fertilized eggs.
36:28Whilst the eggs and tadpoles are developing, she and her mate keep watch,
36:33making sure that they are safe from predators.
36:37But they can't stay here forever. The leaf litter is drying out and tadpoles need water.
36:44She must do something, and fast.
36:55She needs to move them, and so encourages one tadpole to climb on her back.
37:01She now begins an epic journey.
37:04But it's not to a pond, as you might expect.
37:08She is looking for something very particular.
37:12The journey takes her across the forest floor to the foot of a tall tree, and then she starts to climb.
37:34For such a little frog, it is a marathon ascent.
37:39A human mother climbing the Empire State Building with a child on her back.
37:47She's looking for a plant, a bromeliad, growing on the tree.
37:57It holds a pool of water at its center, the perfect nursery pool for a developing tadpole.
38:08In slides her youngster.
38:18But this is only one of six tadpoles.
38:21She must rush back down to rescue the others.
38:30One by one she collects them and carries each to its own bromeliad.
38:58But there is another problem.
39:00The little pools contain no food.
39:06So she has to provide it.
39:09She lays an unfertilized egg in each pool for her tadpoles to eat.
39:21Then she leaves.
39:29But one egg won't sustain a growing tadpole for long, so she has to return every few days with another egg.
39:43Over the next two weeks, she can climb almost half a mile, tending her young.
39:50An astonishing feat for such a tiny creature.
40:03While she's busy delivering eggs, the tadpole grows legs and its tail begins to disappear.
40:12Then one day it leaves its bromeliad nursery forever and climbs out into the forest.
40:24Whilst its mother has a well-deserved rest.
40:32Birds are also diligent parents.
40:35Over their lifetime, they invest huge effort in just a few young.
40:44But there is only so much a parent can do.
40:51All along the Antarctic Peninsula, both male and female chinstrap penguins have been commuting daily from the open ocean to collect food for their chicks.
41:10Mouthfuls of krill caught many miles away at sea are regurgitated.
41:24But one day, the chicks wait in vain for food. Their parents do not return.
41:32The chicks now face life on their own. This is the toughest time in an animal's life.
41:38And some are not going to make it.
41:47Over the next few days, driven by hunger, the chicks make their way down to the shore.
41:55Instinct tells them they have to head out to sea.
42:02Built to withstand the cold, they have already accumulated a layer of fat and their outer feathers act as a waterproof shield.
42:12But they still have to learn to swim.
42:39The polar sea is challenging enough, but with a change in the wind, a slick of broken ice has choked the bay.
42:52For any penguin, this ice presents a real problem.
42:58But for the chicks, it's a disaster.
43:06They must get through this barrier to the open water if they are to feed.
43:16One, perhaps hungrier or braver than the rest, leads the way and tries skittering over the top while the others watch.
43:27The ice is hard to swim through and progress is painfully slow.
43:54A leopard seal.
44:02This chick never had the chance to learn how to avoid the seal.
44:06Its end is inevitable.
44:33The leopard seal efficiently flays the chick, tearing off a small piece with each throw.
44:44Others take their chance.
45:15But the leopard seal is now ready for its next victim.
45:44It's a lottery, and the lucky chicks make it out to open water.
45:56There is still an element of chance in life which an individual can do little about.
46:27In the end, overcoming life's challenges, whether finding enough to eat or outwitting your predators, is only significant if life's final challenge can be met.
46:47From a tiny frog dedicating weeks to her few cherished tadpoles, to an orangutan who spends eight years bringing up her baby,
46:57individual animals strive to reach this one ultimate goal.
47:02To pass on their genes and to ensure the survival of the next generation.
47:11Ultimately, in nature, that is what life is all about.
47:41During the three years it took to film life, our camera crews visited every continent on Earth,
48:09but the most challenging was Antarctica.
48:16Here, filming was only possible with the help of an extraordinary range of people and organisations.
48:23An Air Force jet delivering supplies to McMurdo Research Station ferried one of our crews to the Ross Ice Shelf.
48:39And on the other side of the continent, a team sailed for five days across the Drake Passage to reach the Antarctic Peninsula.
48:50Once there, a small crew was put ashore on Deception Island to spend a month camping on the edge of a penguin colony.
48:59Two people and 200,000 penguins.
49:10Another team joined scientists drilling through the ice to explore the beautiful and bizarre world below.
49:37But the hardest and most ambitious shoot involved four film crews, a celebrated French yachtsman and the Ministry of Defence.
49:51The teams had a two-month window to film Antarctica's two top predators in action.
49:59We knew that one could be found prowling the coast of Rosenthal Island, waiting for young penguins to take their first plunge.
50:08And the man to take us there was Jérôme Pensé.
50:11He skippered the first yacht to sail south of the Antarctic Circle and has been back every year for the past 35.
50:18He knows Antarctic sailing like no one else.
50:23His yacht, the Golden Fleece, is not an icebreaker, but Jérôme has his own unique way of getting through.
50:32He shunts one flow against another to clear a way through, like playing marbles.
50:38Jérôme, once he gets his teeth into a situation, he doesn't like to let it go, so maybe we'll be here for a few hours yet.
50:47Jérôme is determined to get through this channel.
50:51We have to push about hundreds and hundreds of tonnes, maybe a thousand tonnes for a big flow or more.
50:59It's a poor little boat, you have to push.
51:05Some marbles are just too big.
51:12For now, Jérôme is foiled and has to moor for the night.
51:17For him, tying up to 100,000 tonnes of ice is just another day at the office.
51:31Progress is slow, but they need to get to Rosenthal before the penguins leave.
51:38They make it through and the penguins are still there.
51:43Chinstrap penguin chicks fledge at a particular time of year.
51:48The crew knew this would draw leopard seals like a magnet.
51:54Leopard seals are giants among their kind, they have teeth bigger than a lion
51:59and a mouth that can open nearly 180 degrees.
52:03How close can Doug get?
52:06But this seal, very.
52:24He loses interest in his reflection and goes back to his penguins.
52:35They're eating penguins.
52:48That was very exciting.
52:50He was a super seal.
52:53Super seal gave me lots of action nice and close.
52:56But I must admit, you do have to feel sorry for the penguin.
52:59Just doesn't stand a chance.
53:02The team knew where to find leopard seals,
53:04but finding the other top predator was going to be another matter entirely.
53:11Very little is known about Antarctic killer whales.
53:14Time to bring in reinforcements.
53:19HMS Endurance.
53:22The Royal Navy's ice patrol ship.
53:26How will it do?
53:30She surveys Antarctic waters and the crew see changes every year.
53:35The latest chart of this area, we are now six miles inside an ice shelf,
53:41which just goes to show how much retrition of this ice shelf
53:45has occurred over the past five or six years.
53:50Would you get complications of catabatic winds...
53:52Series producer Martha Holmes and cameraman David Bailey
53:55were on board to find and film the killer whales from the air.
54:00Endurance carries two Lynx helicopters
54:03used to assist the British Antarctic Survey and the Hydrographic Office.
54:08On this trip, some time on one of the helicopters
54:11is assigned to the life team.
54:20No one has succeeded in filming killer whales
54:23hunting off the Antarctic peninsula before.
54:27Our two teams have just a few days when they can film together.
54:39At water level, the Golden Fleece has exciting news.
54:42They've found killer whales which look as though they could be hunting.
54:46NAV 435, NAV 435, this is Golden Fleece, Golden Fleece, over.
54:53We're on order, this could be it, over.
54:56Copy that, we're on our way.
54:59It's getting really windy, we'll be pretty lucky to sail through this.
55:05We're getting a good tie though.
55:17NAV 435, this is Golden Fleece, we have lost sight of the orca.
55:26It's a wrecked line with that iceberg now.
55:29Between us and the iceberg, about 100 metres to the side of it.
55:35From the air, the helicopter team can follow the killer whales
55:38more easily than the boat team.
55:41NAV 435, this is Golden Fleece, over.
55:44Golden Fleece, go copy, out.
55:51By working together, the helicopter and yacht
55:54are able to keep track of the whales in the rough sea.
55:58They're four now actually, yeah, four and four actually.
56:02A change in the weather gives a chance to film at last.
56:07They've gone further up this way. If we follow them, that's good.
56:15But will they hunt?
56:17OK, they come close.
56:20Yeah, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
56:23it's a good 12, easy.
56:27Doug has spotted a crappie to seal near some ice.
56:31But have the killer whales seen it?
56:35No, just keep nosing in this way, it's fine.
56:44They have.
56:48Some good action.
56:51Can you go closer?
57:15It's over, that's it, they've got him.
57:21It's still there.
57:27For a wildlife cameraman, there are always surprises.
57:34It has taken two months, but they've succeeded,
57:37thanks to the help of the crew.
57:40It has taken two months, but they've succeeded,
57:43thanks to extraordinary collaboration
57:46from an entire ship's company to a lone skipper.
57:50Collaborations like this would be the foundation
57:53of the whole three years filming across the world.
58:11For more information, visit www.nasa.gov
58:15NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
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