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The Americas_10of11_Patagonia
Culture Express
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2 days ago
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00:01
This is the Americas.
00:04
An extraordinary journey across Earth's great supercontinent.
00:09
The widest variety of life on the planet.
00:15
The untold story of a unique wonder.
00:22
This time on the Americas.
00:30
Patagonia.
00:37
Patagonia is an untamed wilderness at the far south of the world.
00:48
From ancient mystical forests.
00:52
And sky-high ice worlds.
00:57
To the bountiful coast.
01:01
This is a world of both rugged beauty.
01:06
And.
01:08
Dramatic change.
01:13
Here.
01:15
All life.
01:17
Must do battle.
01:19
At the very end of the supercontinent.
01:36
Patagonia straddles both Chile in the west.
01:39
And Argentina to the east.
01:42
Its most southerly point lies only 600 miles from Antarctica.
01:49
A place where three great oceans collide.
01:52
Here.
01:58
The island of Los Estados.
02:00
Is a vital refuge.
02:06
For the world's most devoted parents.
02:11
Rockhopper penguins.
02:13
Every spring over a quarter of a million come ashore.
02:25
All hoping to raise a family.
02:29
Couples pair for life.
02:30
And return to the same nest.
02:31
Year after year.
02:36
They take turns caring for their chicks.
02:37
And today, dad is on duty.
02:38
His chick is just a few days old.
02:47
And it's hungry.
02:48
But there is no food here.
02:53
The chick must wait for mom to return with a meal.
02:59
His chick is just a few days old, and it's hungry.
03:08
But there is no food here.
03:13
The chick must wait for mom to return with a meal.
03:24
And she is on her way.
03:29
But getting ashore means risking her life.
03:51
On this jagged coast, there is no easy landing.
03:56
He is a man's fish.
03:59
Over to your country.
04:00
And they have no fish.
04:08
Hollering me using water.
04:09
Now obviously can be째.
04:11
But he thinks so.
04:11
At this moment, COMMANDMUNALE WHISTLE.
04:13
It is just Pisces.
04:15
Looks like she made it.
04:34
A sea lion.
04:42
A penguin predator.
05:12
There is no match for a mother's determination.
05:34
To get home, however, there's still a mountain to climb, literally.
05:47
And with a belly full of krill, it's slow going.
05:55
One wrong step and it's back to square one.
06:14
But mom's not called a rock hopper penguin for nothing.
06:23
Strong claws and a sharp beak are put to good use.
06:35
Now, she just needs to find her partner.
06:43
One somewhere amongst hundreds of thousands of penguins.
06:56
Her partner's unique call helps guide her to him.
07:03
Reunited.
07:24
And at last, it's dinnertime.
07:34
Only the courageous can raise a family down here.
07:45
And tomorrow, they must do it all again.
08:10
From Cape Horn, Patagonia's towering rocky backbone runs north for over a thousand miles.
08:17
The weather is ferocious and unpredictable.
08:30
It can seem like all four seasons in one day.
08:38
Life here is as hard as it gets.
09:01
This is a female puma known as Pataka.
09:11
She's an experienced hunter.
09:17
But since the sudden arrival of snow, it's been difficult for her to make a kill.
09:24
A guanaco could feed her for a week.
09:42
But to succeed, she will need to get close.
09:49
In the snow, she's lost her camouflage.
09:56
So she must use whatever cover she can find.
10:14
Now, speed is her only hope.
10:30
But in this deep snow, she is no match for the guanaco.
10:55
She'll go hungry today.
11:05
And so will her cubs.
11:10
At just four months old, they are entirely dependent on mom.
11:35
They need a change in their fortunes.
11:42
And in these mountains, change is never far away.
12:00
When she gaze, the snow disappears.
12:10
Now, Pataka has her camouflage back.
12:15
And her speed.
12:25
She must get a firm grip on the neck.
12:32
If she gets it wrong, a single kick could be favored.
12:40
It's now been a week since Pataka and her cubs last year.
12:42
It's now been a week since Pataka and her cubs last year.
12:46
It's now been a week since Pataka and her cubs last eight.
13:10
On the wind.
13:20
A scent.
13:23
A carcass.
13:27
A carcass.
13:30
But it belongs to someone else.
13:44
This conflict with another puma could be deadly.
13:51
Pataka is taking a huge risk.
13:59
Pataka and her daughter of Anna, I'm not sure of the potent.
14:15
But this is no stranger.
14:18
It's Pataka's older sister.
14:24
to her two larger cubs.
14:32
And she seems happy to share.
14:40
Pumas have long been considered solitary,
14:43
but rarely seen encounters like these
14:46
reveal that they are far more social than we once thought.
14:49
Pitaka's cubs aren't sure what to make of their cousins just yet.
14:59
But there is a lesson to be learned here.
15:06
A family that shares can provide a lifeline
15:11
in Patagonia's hostile mountains.
15:19
Mountains that have been carved by a colossal force.
15:26
Glaciers.
15:28
Monsters on the move.
15:30
This is San Rafael.
15:31
And for a glacier, this one moves fast.
15:33
This is San Rafael.
15:37
And for a glacier, this one moves fast.
15:47
It travels more than six miles.
15:50
And for a glacier, this one moves fast.
15:54
It travels more than 60 feet a day.
16:09
Millions of tons of ice break away.
16:13
Some slabs are the size of a skyscraper.
16:33
Glaciers are so powerful, they can cut through solid rock.
16:38
And they've sliced Patagonia's coast into over 40,000 islands.
16:52
Creating isolated, lost worlds.
16:55
Patagonia's west coast is cloaked in ancient forests.
17:09
It's a strange legacy of the Jurassic.
17:22
And there are certainly strange creatures here.
17:35
Found nowhere else on earth.
17:43
Perhaps the most bizarre
17:45
is the Chilean stag beetle.
17:53
These aren't antlers.
17:55
They are, in fact, giant jaws.
18:02
The bigger they are,
18:04
the greater his chances of winning a mate.
18:07
But first, he has to find one.
18:16
Microscopic hairs can detect the scent of a female.
18:21
And it seems there is one.
18:24
All the way up here.
18:29
Three, two, one.
18:34
We have liftoff.
18:37
These beetles are known as flying deer.
18:48
You can see why.
18:53
And it's hard to gain any altitude.
18:55
Looks like he's got to do it the hard way.
19:11
It's a hundred feet to the top.
19:14
The equivalent of your eye trying to scale the Empire State Building
19:19
twice over.
19:37
Finally, there she is.
19:40
But he's not the only one attracted by her scent.
19:54
A rival.
19:57
It's time to put these jaws into action.
19:59
And it seems his opponent has the upper hand.
20:19
Has his rival got it in the bag?
20:21
Not yet.
20:44
We have a winner.
20:45
But it could be short-lived.
20:52
A female is a magnet for dozens of males.
21:01
Time to get back into the ring.
21:04
It's win or go home.
21:11
It's win or go home.
21:12
It's win or go home.
21:13
It's win or you are too?
21:14
It's win or go home.
21:16
It's win or go home.
21:38
After all that...
21:39
He just has to summon up the energy to reach her.
21:58
Mating complete, she now needs to lay her eggs
22:04
on the forest floor and he can help her get there.
22:09
It turns out these jaws aren't just for fighting.
22:31
Journeying east, mountains strip the clouds of moisture.
22:36
Creating a stark, arid heart.
22:50
This is the Patagonian Steppe.
22:52
Stretching 260,000 square miles.
23:06
It is nearly the size of Texas.
23:10
There is so little shelter from the elements
23:15
that many here seek sanctuary underground.
23:18
But some are way too big for that.
23:32
A Darwin's Rhea.
23:45
South America's answer to the ostrich.
23:49
Three feet tall, it's one of the largest birds in the world.
24:01
And this supersized male is father to a supersized family.
24:06
Most birds share parenting duties.
24:16
But with Rhea's, things are different.
24:23
After laying the eggs, the females leave.
24:28
So, it's up to dad to raise the family alone.
24:38
And he's not the only one out here.
24:40
All across the plains, dedicated dads are on duty,
24:46
around the clock.
24:55
For 40 days and 40 nights, they barely move.
24:59
By late spring, dad's efforts have been rewarded.
25:24
14 healthy chicks.
25:42
Now, the real work begins.
25:46
It will be six months before his chicks are independent.
25:51
And they have a lot to learn.
25:55
Like what's good to eat.
26:00
And how to keep well-groomed.
26:11
But the most important lesson is to stick together.
26:16
Out here, it's easy to get lost.
26:25
And keen-eyed hawks would soon grab a lone chick.
26:34
This neighbor has only three chicks left.
26:37
And for our dad, it's a warning.
26:38
Keep your family close.
26:39
Keep your family close.
26:40
Keep your family close.
26:42
Keep your family close.
26:44
Keep your family close.
26:45
Keep your family close.
26:49
Keep your family close.
26:50
Keep your family close.
26:55
Keep your family close.
26:58
our dad, it's a warning.
27:04
Keep your family close.
27:28
What is that?
27:40
It's a distress call from a chick.
27:50
But not one of his.
27:58
That's no problem for this super dad.
28:13
Male Rias have such strong paternal instinct
28:16
that if they find any lost chick, they will adopt it.
28:22
On the spot.
28:23
And when you already have 14,
28:30
well, what's another one?
28:45
The summer in the Patagonian steppe
28:48
brings ferocious westerly winds.
28:53
Gusts of over 70 miles per hour scour the land,
29:05
triggering events so large
29:08
they can be seen from space.
29:14
Dust storms.
29:17
They rage for hundreds of miles.
29:20
Until they reach Patagonia's Atlantic coast.
29:30
Millions of tons of iron-rich dust are swept into the ocean,
29:35
flooding it with nutrients.
29:37
and fueling life on an astonishing scale.
29:49
And fueling life on an astonishing scale.
29:50
and fueling life on an astonishing scale.
29:52
The inside of the ocean
29:55
and the other sea.
29:58
nice
30:00
Why are you causing this?
30:04
Zzzz
30:05
These rich seas
30:06
attract giants.
30:08
Weighing over 4 tons,
30:11
these are the largest seals on earth.
30:15
on earth fully grown bulls are the size of a pickup truck
30:23
but it's their colossal trunk-like nose that has earned them their name
30:31
elephant seals
30:32
60 000 gather on the remote shores of peninsula valdez to breed
30:51
but only the most dominant bulls have the right to mate
31:02
the undefeated heavyweight champion
31:15
the beach master
31:21
for two months he's guarded his harem from rivals
31:27
and not surprisingly he's exhausted
31:32
got it
31:38
but he can never really rest
31:44
a contender is trying his luck with one of the females
31:57
the beach master sounds a warning
32:03
his huge nose amplifies the sound to 130 decibels
32:07
it's as loud as a jackhammer
32:16
but it's not enough to deter his opponent
32:26
time for this beach master
32:28
to throw his weight around
32:41
both bulls stand 10 feet tall
32:56
both bulls stand 10 feet tall
32:58
and are armed with razor sharp teeth
33:10
the beach master is paying the price for enduring months of fighting
33:19
he's flagging
33:28
he's flagging
33:32
defeat would mean
33:33
losing everything
33:52
one final push
33:54
...forces his opponent back out to sea.
34:13
He's the winner today.
34:17
But there are deadlier challenges on the way.
34:24
Patagonia's Atlantic coast draws the ocean's smartest predator, orca.
34:39
Here, they have learned to do something hardly ever seen.
34:54
To hunt seals on dry land.
34:59
Along this coast, this orca is one of only 16 known to hunt this way.
35:08
Scientists have named her Jasmine.
35:13
She is the matriarch responsible for a family of growing adolescents, and now a grandchild as well.
35:39
The teenagers need to start earning their keep.
35:49
But Patagonia's exposed coast is no place for a beginner.
35:57
Luckily, Jasmine knows the perfect training ground.
36:10
Coleta Valdez, a lagoon protected from the open ocean by vast sandbanks.
36:24
Here, the water is calm, and there is plenty of prey.
36:43
The orca students might be eager to get started.
37:00
The orca students might be eager to get started.
37:06
But no one is quite sure what to do.
37:10
They need to learn the trick, how to actually reach the seals.
37:26
So that is today's first lesson.
37:33
After Jasmine's supervision, the students launch themselves onto shore.
37:44
Each time, edging a little higher.
37:54
If you get it wrong, then you can end up stuck.
38:03
Jasmine knows just what to do and comes to the rescue.
38:18
Next, target practice.
38:36
Now to try the real thing.
38:40
Close.
39:01
Not close enough.
39:08
There is just one more skill to master.
39:16
How to conceal that giant dorsal fin and learn the art of disappearing.
39:28
Turning on her side, Jasmine demonstrates just how.
39:49
Every hunt needs an element of surprise.
40:03
The youngsters will still need plenty more practice.
40:21
But Jasmine is passing her knowledge onto the next generation.
40:37
And for now, it's time to celebrate.
40:46
For all life in Patagonia, conquering the elements can unlock the riches of this bountiful land.
40:55
The last great wilderness in the Americas.
41:07
The last great wilderness.
41:29
Transcription by CastingWords
NATURE SERIES
41:51
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The Art of Australia_3of3_Beyond Australia
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The Art of Australia_2of3_Coming of Age
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The Art of Australia_1of3_Strangers in a StrangeLand
Culture Express
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The Etruscans Ancestors of Ancient Rome
Culture Express
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Delphi The Bellybutton of the Ancient World
Culture Express
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