F-ika | Search

Walking with Dinosaurs is a six-part documentary television miniseries that was produced by BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the United Kingdom, in 1999. The series was subsequently aired in North America on the Discovery Channel in 2000, with Branagh’s voice replaced with that of Avery Brooks. It is the first entry of the Walking with… series and used computer-generated imagery and animatronics to recreate the life of the Mesozoic, showing dinosaurs and their contemporaries in a way that previously had only been seen in feature films. The programme’s aim was to simulate the style of a nature documentary and therefore does not include “talking head” interviews. The series used palaeontologists such as Michael Benton, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., Peter Dodson, Peter Larson and James Farlow as advisors (their influence in the filming process can be seen in the documentary The Making of Walking with Dinosaurs).

Scientific inaccuracies:

Michael J. Benton, a consultant to the making of the series (and Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology at Bristol University), notes that a group of critics gleefully pointed out that birds and crocodiles, the closest living relatives of the dinosaurs, do not urinate; they shed waste chemicals as more solid uric acid. In the first episode of Walking with Dinosaurs, Postosuchus urinates copiously.

However, Benton notes that nobody can prove this was a real mistake: copious urination is the primitive state for tetrapods (seen in fish, amphibians, turtles, and mammals), and perhaps basal archosaurs did the same. He believes many other claims of “errors” identified in the first weeks fizzled out, as the critics had found points about which they disagreed, but they could not prove that their views were correct. Ornithocheirus was depicted as far larger than it actually was. In the book based on the series, it was claimed that several large bone fragments from the Santana Formation of Brazil possibly indicate that Ornithocheirus may have had a wingspan reaching almost 12 metres and a weight of a hundred kilogrammes, making it one of the largest known pterosaurs.However, these specimens have not been formally described. The largest definite Ornithocheirus specimens known measure 6 metres in wingspan. The specimens which the producers of the program used to justify such a large size estimate are currently undescribed, and are being studied by Dave Martill and David Unwin. Unwin stated that he does not believe this highest estimate is likely, and that the producers likely chose the highest possible estimate because it was more “spectacular.” However, no other Early Cretaceous pterosaurs reached its size. Similarly, Liopleurodon was depicted as being 25m long in the series, whereas the adult size known to have been reached by Liopleurodon is around 7m.

episodes:

01. New Blood

220 million years ago, Late Triassic (Arizona)
Filming location: New Caledonia

The episode follows a female Coelophysis as she tries to survive during the dry season in what will become the North American Southwest. The Coelophysis is shown stalking a herd of Placerias (a giant synapsid or mammal-like reptile), looking for weak members to prey upon. A male mammal-like cynodont is shown downstream, returning to his burrow from the river. A female rauisuchian Postosuchus (one of the largest carnivores alive in the Triassic) is shown attacking the Placerias herd, and bites one of the members, driving the rest of the herd to retreat and leave the wounded and weakened member of the group to the carnivore. Early pterosaurs called Peteinosaurus are depicted feeding on dragonflies and cooling themselves in what little water is present during the drought. Still searching for food, the Coelophysis are shown discovering the cynodont burrow (and are initially frightened away by the emerging male). Eventually, one young cynodont strays too close to the entrance and is eaten before the father can drive the predators away.

At night, the pair of cynodonts are shown eating their remaining young, then moving away, while during the day, the Coelophysis work to expose the nest. The female Postosuchus is later shown to have been wounded by Placerias’s tusks (the wound is on her left thigh), and after being unable to successfully hunt another member of the Placerias herd she is beaten out of her territory by a rival male Postosuchus. Wounded, sick and without a territory, the female dies and is eaten by a pack of Coelophysis. As the dry season continues however, food becomes scarce and extreme measures are taken by all animals. The Placerias herd embarks on a trek through parched wasteland in search of water and are not seen again, meanwhile the Coelophysis start killing and cannibalising their young. The cynodont also resorts to hunting baby Coelophysis during the night. Finally, the wet season comes, and the majority of the Coelophysis have survived (including the female), along with the cynodont pair, who have a new clutch of eggs. The episode ends with the arrival of a herd of the prosauropod Plateosaurus, foreshadowing the future dominance of the giant sauropods after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event.

Animals: Coelophysis · Cynodont · Placerias · Postosuchus · Peteinosaurus · Plateosaurus · Dragonfly · Lungfish · Lacewing

02. Time of the Titans

152 million years ago, Late Jurassic (Colorado)
Filming location: California State Parks, Chile, Tasmania, New Zealand

This episode follows the life of a young female herbivorous sauropod Diplodocus beginning at the moment when her mother lays a clutch of eggs at the edge of a conifer forest. Months later, some of the eggs hatch and the young sauropods are preyed upon by Ornitholestes. After hatching, the young female and her siblings retreat to the safety of the denser trees. As they grow, they face many dangers, including repeated predation by Ornitholestes and Allosaurus. Even the herbivorous Stegosaurus kills one of her siblings while swinging its tail. In parallel, adult herds of Diplodocus are depicted as titanic eating machines that use their massive weight to topple trees in order to get at the leaves of cycads in between trunks. The Diplodocus are also shown to host their own small mobile habitats that include damselflies, Anurognathus and dung beetles.

Close to adulthood, the group of five-year old Diplodocus grow to 13 meters and are nearly all killed by a huge forest fire. In the end only three, then two, survivors including the female make it onto the open plains, where they find a herd and safety. Years later, the protagonist female mates, but not long afterwards is attacked by a bull Allosaurus. She is saved when another Diplodocus strikes the allosaur with its tail. In the end it is commented that her kind will only get bigger. In the DVD release, most of the narration from the original broadcast is missing.

Animals: Diplodocus · Allosaurus · Ornitholestes · Stegosaurus · Brachiosaurus · Anurognathus · Dryosaurus · Dung Beetle · Damselfly · Ornithopod

03. Cruel Sea

149 million years ago, Late Jurassic (Oxfordshire)
Filming location: The Bahamas, New Caledonia

The opening portrays a Liopleurodon snatching a Eustreptospondylus from the land, but there is no evidence of this ever occurring (according to the producers, they were influenced by similar attacks by killer whales on land creatures, such as sea lions). Meanwhile, the ichthyosaur Ophthalmosaurus live-breeding ceremony is the main event taking place, as hundreds of Ophthalmosaurus arrive from the open ocean to give birth. In the midst of the birthing sharks and other predators, including the pliosaur Liopleurodon, are on the hunt, and when one mother has trouble giving birth, a pair of Hybodus sharks go after her, but are frightened off by a male Liopleurodon, which eats the front half of the Ophthalmosaurus, leaving the tail to sink down. Meanwhile a Eustreptospondylus swims to an island and discovers a turtle carcass that it must contend for with another Eustreptospondylus. Later during the night, a group of horseshoe crabs gather at the shore to lay their eggs, which attracts a flock of Rhamphorhynchus in the morning to eat the eggs. However two or three of the pterosaurs are caught and eaten by a Eustreptospondylus. While the Ophthalmosaurus juveniles are growing up, they are still hunted by Hybodus, which in turn, are prey for the Liopleurodon.

At one point, while the male Liopleurodon is hunting for prey, he is encountered by a female Liopleurodon. After biting one of her flippers, she retires from his territory. A typhoon then strikes the islands, and kills many animals, including several Rhamphorhynchus. The Liopleurodon is washed ashore and lays upon the beach, eventually suffocating under his own weight. The carcass then becomes the banquet of a group of hovering Eustreptospondylus. At the end of the episode, the juvenile Ophthalmosaurus that survived the storm and are now large enough to swim off to live and breed in the open sea.

Animals: Ophthalmosaurus · Liopleurodon · Eustreptospondylus · Cryptoclidus · Rhamphorhynchus · Hybodus · Ammonite · Leptolepis · Horseshoe Crab · Squid · Bark Beetle · Turtle · Jellyfish · Fish · Coral

04. Giant of the Skies

127 million years ago, Early Cretaceous (Brazil)
Filming location: New Zealand, Tasmania

The story begins with a male Ornithocheirus (pterosaur) dead on a beach. It then goes back six months to Brazil, where the Ornithocheirus, resting among a colony of breeding Tapejara (pterosaur) flies off for Cantabria where he too must mate. He flies past a migrating column of Iguanodon and a Polacanthus (all herbivorous dinosaurs). He reaches the southern tip of North America, where he is forced to shelter from a storm. To pass the time, he grooms himself, ridding his body of Saurophthirus fleas while his snout begins to show color changes. He then sets off across the Atlantic (which was then only 300 kilometres wide) and after a whole day on the wing, reaches the westernmost of the European islands. He does not rest there however, as a pack of Utahraptor are hunting Iguanodon. He flies to the outskirts of a forest to rest, but is driven away by Iberomesornis birds. Flying on, he reaches Cantabria, but due to the delays and his exhaustion he cannot reach the centre of the many grounded male Ornithocheirus, and consequently he does not mate. After hours under the sun trying to attract a mate, and worn out by his travels and advanced age, Ornithocheirus dies from exhaustion. In the end, a young Ornithocheirus is seen feeding on his carcass.

Animals: Ornithocheirus · Utahraptor · North American Iguanodon (now known as Dakotadon) · Iguanodon · Tapejara (now known as Tupandactylus) · Polacanthus · Iberomesornis · Pteranodon · Plesiopleurodon · Saurophthirus · Pterosaur · Fish · Wasp

05. Spirits of the Ice Forest

106 million years ago, Middle Cretaceous (Antarctica)
Filming location: New Zealand

A few hundred kilometres from the South Pole, a clan of herbivorous Leaellynasaura are seen emerging to activity after months of total darkness. Now with the coming of spring, the members of the clan are shown feeding on the fresh plant growth and building nests so they can lay their eggs. A male amphibian Koolasuchus has also woken up from hibernation and heads to a river where he will stay during the summer. Out on the rocky river banks, migrating herds of herbivorous Muttaburrasaurus have arrived to feed on the fresh vegetation and lay their eggs. By summer, many of the Leaellynasaura clan’s eggs have been eaten, but those of the matriarch hatch successfully. A male polar Allosaur is shown hunting the Leaellynasaura and Muttaburrasaurus, but fails and must resort to scavenging, refusing to share the carcass with a female Allosaur. The Leaellynasaura clan continues to prepare for the winter, as well as raising the young that have now grown.

When autumn arrives, the Muttaburrasaurus herd begins head back north, and the Koolasuchus leaves the river to find a pool in the forest to hibernate through the winter. However, during the migration some Muttaburrasaurus become lost in the forest and create a ruckus in the process of trying to get back to the herd. In the confusion, the male Allosaur manages to catch and kill the matriarch of the clan, while only one of the hatchlings survives the year. After the last day passes in a matter of minutes, winter descends, and the forest becomes almost completely darkened. The Leaellynasaura clan is able to stay active, using their large eyes to help them forage for food. During this time, the clan and other fauna use various methods of dealing with the cold, including suspended animation, hibernation or using group body temperature to maintain heat. Finally, spring returns, and two Leaellynasaura males challenge one another for the right to mate, and after a short confrontation, the clan establishes a dominant pair once again. In the end it is accepted that the shifting of the continents will soon pull the landmass closer to the South Pole, and that the forests, and all these dinosaurs will soon disappear.

Animals: Koolasuchus · Leaellynasaura · Polar Allosaur· Muttaburrasaurus · Steropodon[note 1] · Giant Weta · Tuatara · Unidentified Pterosaur · Giant Mosquito

06. Death of a Dynasty

65.5 million years ago, Late Cretaceous (Montana)
Filming location: Chile, New Zealand

This episode starts months before the extinction of the dinosaurs. The last dinosaurs are depicted living under intense environmental stress due to excessive volcanism. Many of the dinosaurs species still in existence are the largest and most developed of their respective generas, including Ankylosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, and Tyrannosaurus rex. The story focuses on a female Tyrannosaurus who abandons her nest, the eggs rendered infertile due to volcanic poisoning. Her calls for a mate are answered by a smaller male who has kills a young Triceratops to appease her. Later, after repeated copulation, she eventually drives him off. The mother fasts for an extended period as she tends to her nest, dealing with raids by dromaeosaurs and marsupial Didelphodons. As the female tends to her vigil, the hadrosaur Anatotitan herds wander from islands of vegetation among fields of volcanic ash, while Torosaurus males rut for the right to mate and lose their young to attacking packs of dromaeosaurs.

Meanwhile, the mother Tyrannosaurus sees only three of her twelve eggs hatch and brings down an Anatotitan to feed herself and her brood. While defending her two surviving offspring several days later, the mother tyrannosaur is fatally injured by an Ankylosaurus who swings its clubbed tail and cracks her femur and ruptures internal organs. The chicks remain next to the carcass of their mother the next morning until they, and the rest of the non-avian dinosaurs in this region, are killed when an asteroid slams into the Earth, a catastrophe that triggers the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. A short final sequence shows the present-day Earth, dominated by large mammals, but still populated with numerous forms of dinosaurs: the birds.

Animals: Anatotitan (now known as Edmontosaurus annectens) · Ankylosaurus · Deinosuchus · Didelphodon · Dinilysia · Dromaeosaurus · Quetzalcoatlus · Torosaurus · Tyrannosaurus · Triceratops (carcass) · Unidentified ornithopods

07/08. The Ballad of Big Al

The Ballad of Big Al (distributed as Allosaurus: a Walking with Dinosaurs Special) is a combination biography-sequel for Walking with Dinosaurs . It focuses on an Allosaurus (Allosaurus fragilis) named Big Al and his constant struggle to survive in a world filled with danger. The special begins at the University of Wyoming, showing the bones of a sauropod followed by an Allosaurus named Big Al. After the ghost of Big Al wanders the museum for a bit, the film then travels back in time to 145 Mya showing a nest containing some eggs. Al and his siblings hatch and are helped out of the nest by their mother. She brings them to a river bank and the hatchlings start to hunt for insects. When the mother leaves the hatchlings temporarily, a year-old Allosaurus comes and kills one of them (fortunately, Al isn’t the victim).

Al is then shown at two years old. He is trying to hunt a flock of Dryosaurus. He hasn’t yet learned how to ambush so he fails to kill one of the swifter, smaller dinosaurs. Later, he snatches a lizard from a branch. Al comes across a dead Stegosaurus and an Allosaurus waiting for death in a pit of sticky mud. Meanwhile, a female Allosaurus, attracted to the Stegosaurus carcass, also gets stuck. She struggles to free herself, but fails. Al luckily avoids the same fate as he had learnt to avoid carrion. The trapped Allosaurus pair are stuck forever and die, their corpses left to Anurognathus. Five years pass, and a herd of Diplodocus are migrating across the prehistoric salt lake. Al is joined by several other Allosaurus and they attempt to bring a weak member of the herd down. Once the herd leaves the sick Diplodocus, the Allosaurs gather. Al is struck down by the neck of the Diplodocus. The pack wait for a few hours until the Diplodocus is brought down by heat exhaustion and his illness. Though they feed, within the hour an adult female Allosaurus scavenges the kill. A year passes by, and Al is shown drinking at a pond. His prescense however makes others around the pond nervous and the smell of blood he brings with him puts off a pair of Stegosaurus who were attempting to mate. Away from the pond, he discovers the scent of a female Allosaurus. She is not interested, but the inexperienced Al gets too close. She finally injures his right arm, deforms his right claw, and breaks his ribs, though Al is lucky enough to escape with his life. Later the dry season comes, and Al is attempting to hunt a flock of Dryosaurus. Whilst ambushing them, he trips on a log and badly breaks something in his right foot. As the dry season turns to a drought, Al’s limp from the fall gets worse and his right middle toe -which he broke in the fall- has become badly infected. Soon, unable to hunt, he dies in a dried-up riverbed, where two hatchling Allosaurus are hunting for bugs and come across his emaciated carcass. He is said not to have reached full size, dying as a mature adolescent and his fossilisation preserved even his injuries including the healed ribs and the infection on the toe.

#Dinosaurs #fossil #fossils #Prehistory

trom

2012-10-22 20:22:32

The Blue Planet

Favorite
trailer

magnet
YEAR: 2001 | LENGTH: 8 parts (30 minutes each) | SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA
description:
The Blue Planet is a BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 12 September 2001. Described as “the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world’s oceans”, each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of marine life. The underwater photography included creatures and behaviour that had previously never been filmed.
episodes:
01. The Blue Planet
Broadcast 12 September 2001, the first episode looks at how ocean life is regulated around the globe by currents and the varying position of the sun. Near a Pacific seamount, there is a large concentration of marine animals because when the current makes contact with the submerged rock, it forces upwardsplankton and other organisms. This in turn attracts other fish to the area that are higher up the food chain, like tuna, and those that are higher still, such as silky sharks. Off South Africa, a similar situation occurs every June when sardines migrate and are pursued by a caravan of various predators. The South Atlantic waters are the roughest, and storms also churn up nutrients to the surface. These feeding grounds have led to the world’s largest albatross breeding colony, on Steeple Jason Island, west of theFalklands. Phytoplankton forms the basis of all sea life, and every night some 1,000 million tonnes of creatures ascend from the deep to search for food. Lunar phases can also have a bearing on events and the mass arrival of Ridley sea turtles on a Costa Rican beach is shown. Herring initiate the most productive food chain, providing sustenance for humpback whales, and Steller’s and California sea lions. In addition, their eggs are nutrition for many, both above and in the sea. Along the coast of California, a migrating gray whale and her calf are targeted by a pod of orcas, who hunt down and kill the calf. Meanwhile another gray whale carcass has sunk to the bottom of the deep sea. Hagfish, a sleeper shark, and other scavengers arrive to feast on the carcass. A year and a half later the carcass is striped to the bone. This episode won an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Cinematography for Non-Fiction Programming”. George Fenton’s work in this episode won another Emmy for “Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)”. This episode was broadcast in the United States with the title “Ocean World”.
02. The Deep
Broadcast 19 September 2001, the next programme explores the unknown depths of the ocean. Over 60% of the sea is more than a mile deep and it forms the planet’s most mysterious habitat. A sperm whale descends 1,000 metres to look for food and is followed. On the way down, a number of unusual creatures are witnessed, such as transparent squid and jellies, whose photophores give pulsating displays of colour. In such dark places, both being able to see (or sense movement) and the means of quick concealment are equally desirable. To that end, some use bioluminescence as a means of detecting food or evading predators. A descent to the very bottom of the ocean — some 4,000 metres — reveals life even at such cold temperatures, much of it new to science. It is dominated byechinoderms that sweep the sea bed; however, there are occasional large hunters, such as chimaera. In addition, sixgill sharks can grow up to eight metres in length and have remained unchanged for 150 million years. They are described as “living fossils” and relatively little is known about them. As the continental slope flattens out it joins the abyssal plain, which can form huge trenches. At seven miles, the deepest is the Mariana trench, and fish have been found there right down to the very bottom. Attenborough remarks that more is known about the surface of the moon. Species captured on film for the first time include the Dumbo octopus and the hairy anglerfish. This episode was nominated for two Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing and Outstanding Sound Mixing in the non-fiction category. It was also nominated for a BAFTA TV award for Best Innovation.
03. Open Ocean
Broadcast 26 September 2001, the third installment focuses on life in the “marine deserts”: seas that are furthest from land. Such waters contain the swiftest and most powerful of ocean hunters. A feeding frenzy is shown, as striped marlin, tuna and a Sei whale pick off a shoal of sardines until all within it have been consumed. Manta rays also gather to eat the eggs of spawning surgeonfish. Accumulations of plankton correspond to ocean ‘boundaries’ and consequently, schools of fish seek them out. This in turn attracts predators, and a sailfish is filmed on the attack. The only escape for smaller fish is to put as much distance between them and their pursuers as possible. Bluefin tuna are able to heat their bodies and so can hunt in colder conditions than the others of their species. Off the coast of New Zealand, an undersea volcano has formed an island and the nearby currents sweep many kinds of creatures to it, again creating huge feeding grounds. Another Pacific seamount is surrounded by hammerhead sharks, but not to seek food: they are there to allow other fish to clean them of parasites. However, others that are on the lookout for prey arrive in vast numbers. A large pod of common dolphins is too big to feed all at once and so splits up into smaller expeditions. One of these ends up near the Azores with a shoal of mackerel in its sights, but they have to compete for their quarry with an attendant flock of shearwaters and a group of adult yellowfin tuna.
04. Frozen Seas
Broadcast 4 October 2001, the next episode compares oceanic life in the Arctic and Antarctica. The winter in these regions brings temperatures of minus 50°C and frozen seas that create the biggest challenge. However, there are polynyas in the Arctic, which are free of ice owing to the pressure of currents on either side, and such places do provide refuge for some species, like the walrus and thebowhead whale. A pod of belugas is shown: their movements are limited to a single hole in the ice — therefore putting them at risk of attack from polar bears. Everything changes with the arrival of summer, when melting ice brings a variety of migratory visitors. At the other end of the planet, in the Antarctic, winter is even more harsh, but emperor penguins and Weddell seals stay throughout. Under the sea ice,krill shrink in size and revert to their juvenile form in order to save energy. Chinstrap penguins overwinter to the north, beyond the ice, but return during the spring to breed. Having managed to get ashore, they have to walk a great distance to find a nest site, and the most favoured is Zavodovski Island, an active volcano whose warmth keeps ice from forming. Further south, as the sea ice breaks up, humpback and minke whales appear, their target the abundant krill. The leopard seal is the Antarctic’s top predator. It is most effective underwater, and emperor penguins propel themselves at speed through its territory. Nonetheless, it almost invariably makes a kill.
05. Seasonal Seas
Broadcast 10 October 2001, this programme surveys the effects of the seasons on the world’s temperate seas — the most productive on Earth. Sable Island near Nova Scotia boasts the largest colony of grey seals, which breed there when the weather is at its worst. The pups remain marooned for weeks until the spring, when they are strong enough to swim. Spring also heralds the bloom of phytoplankton: it provides food for copepods, and they in turn are prey to jellyfish, which assemble in vast, million-strong swarms. On the Californian coast, giant kelp also flourishes and by summer, grows at the rate of a metre a day. It provides a sanctuary for shoals of fish and sea otters, the latter anchoring themselves to the seaweed when resting and keeping its grazers in check by eating them. Late summer in Alaska sees Pacific salmon heading inshore to breed. However, the level of their favoured river is too low and they are forced to wait in the open sea, where they fall prey to a salmon shark. The early autumn near Vancouver Island, and the temperature drops slowly. There, the last of the year’s baby herring become the focus for a feeding frenzy by diving auks and murres, and marauding rockfish. Pacific white-sided dolphins also inhabit these waters and, when not hunting nocturnally, socialise during the day. As winter arrives in the north, adult herring seek shelter but are hunted by orca, which club the fish with their tails to subdue them by creating waves of pressure.
06. Coral Seas
Broadcast 17 October 2001, the next instalment is about coral reefs, which are so crowded that they play host to a perpetual battle for space, even among the coral itself. It starts life as a larva that becomes a polyp. Having multiplied, it hardens into a limestone skeleton and grows to form a reef. As the community flourishes, animals develop relationships with one another and such a place can feature a huge variety of ocean life. Although corals feed nocturnally on plankton, sunlight] is vital because even though they are animals, each contains millions of single-celled algae. This in turn is the favoured sustenance of the humphead parrotfish, whose jaws are so powerful that it erodes much of the reef into fine sand. Algae also grows on the top of the reef and a battle for grazing rights between shoals ofpowder blue and convict tangs is shown, the former being initially overwhelmed by the latter’s weight of numbers before regaining the upper hand. The night-time hunting of a marbled ray alerts other predators and a group of whitetip reef sharks moves in, from which few are safe. Several breeding strategies are examined, including the acrobatic habits of brown surgeonfish and the colourful courtship of the flamboyant cuttlefish. Humpback whales are visitors to the reef and males establish their seniority by the loudness and strength of their song. Being fixed to the seabed, corals must synchronise their reproduction with lunar phases and the rising spring temperatures.
07. Tidal Seas
Broadcast 24 October 2001, the penultimate episode deals with marine life that is structured around the rising and falling tides. These are caused by the gravitational pull of the orbiting moon, but in some locations, this can also combine with the power of the sun to create a tidal bore. The world’s largest tides are to be found in the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia and therefore it is a rich feeding ground. A school offinback whales is closely shadowed by a flock of Cory’s shearwaters. However, they only have a limited time to feed before low tide, when they must retreat and other creatures appear. Elsewhere, some of the latter include sand bubbler crabs, bears (which feed on shellfish) and a snail species that can ‘surf’. The extreme spring tides allow opportunists to forage further, and raccoons are shown tackling a red rock crab. Some larger fish that hunt on the seabed, such as nurse sharks and stingrays, are forced to sit and wait until there is sufficient water in which to swim. A giant horse conch is shown devouring a tulip snail, and hermit crabs battle over its vacant shell. The varying water levels are no obstacle to tarpon: they can breathe air. This enables them to inhabit stagnant areas and hunt in them. The autumn equinox combines with a hurricane off the Bahamas to create a much higher tide than is usual, flooding large parts of the coast. When the sea recedes, it leaves behindsalt: food for brine shrimps and the perfect habitat in which flamingos can breed.
08. Coasts
Broadcast 31 October 2001, the final programme examines the world’s coastal environments, “the most dynamic of all ocean habitats”. The perils of living in such places are highlighted by Marine Iguanas on the Galápagos Islands, whose diet of seaweed is quickly grabbed between crashing breakers. Many shores provide sites in which to breed or lay eggs. Apart from birds, turtles are among other major species to do so, and the mass emergence of flatbacks on Crab Island in Australia is reduced by predatory herons, pelicans and other hunters. Each year, four million seabirds, comprising fourteen species, return to the island of Talan in eastern Russia to nest. By ensuring that all their chicks eventually leave at the same time, they lessen the impact of predators. The rough seas of the Southern Ocean play host to penguins, and a group of them is shown being pursued by an aggressive bull sea lion. The planet’s coldest seas are in Antarctica, and on South Georgia each spring, thousands of Southern elephant seals arrive to breed. A pair of males is shown fighting a bloody battle to control a harem of females. In Patagonia, the social nature of sea lions is shown as they establish colonies, each of them several hundred strong. While in some respects it is an ideal location for the growing young, high tide brings danger for the colony as a pod of orcas habitually goes on the attack. Having snatched a victim, the predator returns to the open ocean to ‘play’ with it.
SIMILAR TITLES:

Blue Planet 2 Frozen Planet South Pacific Planet Dinosaur Seven Worlds, One Planet Walking with Dinosaurs
#nature #ocean #water

television series
^{Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)}