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00:01This is The Americas.
00:04An extraordinary journey across Earth's great supercontinent.
00:10The widest variety of life on the planet.
00:15The untold story of a unique wonderland.
00:23This time on The Americas.
00:30The Gulf Coast.
00:38A dazzling water world.
00:43With hidden depths.
00:47Set on America's most dynamic coastline.
00:51To master a world caught between water and land takes determination and courage.
01:05From America's widest river to unfathomable swamps.
01:12Here, survival is truly sink or swim.
01:25The Gulf Coast is where the American South meets the sea.
01:40It's defined by water.
01:42Florida is home to the greatest subtropical wetland in the U.S.
01:49And the 1,200 mile coastline runs all the way to Texas.
01:55At its heart is the largest swamp in America.
02:02The Atchafalaya.
02:04More than a million acres of southern Louisiana.
02:16Louisiana.
02:27It's spectacular.
02:30The labyrinth of countless sloughs and volumes.
02:35Where magical stories unfold.
02:38This old split oak tree hides one of the swamp's most surprising inhabitants.
02:54A Louisiana black bear.
02:57Scientists have been tracking her.
03:05And know she spent winter in this den.
03:08Now, the seasonal flood means she's surrounded by water up to five feet deep.
03:21She hasn't eaten for more than three months.
03:28With all this water, finding food will mean getting wet.
03:36But that's the least of her worries.
03:51Three-month-old twins, still pretty unsteady on their feet.
03:57She wants them to stay put.
04:05While she goes to find food.
04:18And mother knows best.
04:20The closest dry land where she can find enough food may be over a mile away.
04:31Through this flooded maze.
04:36Over the winter, she's lost a third of her body weight.
04:40Producing fat rich milk to feed her cubs.
04:43And they're still hungry.
04:53She will have to eat fast.
04:55And hurry home.
05:00Born in the sanctuary of the tree house.
05:03The little cubs have only ever glimpsed the outside world.
05:06Playing out on the porch by themselves is risky.
05:07They've never seen water before.
05:08They've never seen water before.
05:09They've never seen water before.
05:10They've never seen water before.
05:11They've never seen water before.
05:12They've never seen water before.
05:16They've never seen water before.
05:17They've never seen water before.
05:21They've never seen water.
05:22They've never seen water before.
05:24They've never seen water before.
05:28They've never seen water.
05:29They've never seen water before.
05:30They've never seen water before.
05:31They've never seen water before.
05:47Mom's out there.
05:48Somewhere.
05:49Somewhere.
05:55Unfortunately, some bear cubs just don't understand the dangers of exploring on their own.
06:19That water is cold.
06:49I.
06:50Maybe.
06:51A cub this young does not have the strength to keep swimming for more than a few minutes.
07:12Cubs do drown in these swamps.
07:19It's mom.
07:33Black bears don't always get it right.
07:44There's no sign of life.
07:49Or is there?
08:09He's cold and shaken, but very much alive.
08:14Mom's got his back.
08:33To pass Swamp Survival 101, listen to your mother.
08:40The waterways of the Gulf Coast are mysterious places, where you can get truly lost.
08:55But you'll certainly never be alone.
09:00Because here in the South, where there's fresh water, there are gators.
09:09Hunted almost to extinction, American alligators are now protected and have bounced back big time.
09:25Today, there are more than 4 million, and Southerners have learned to share the gator's world.
09:35Alligators have barely changed for millennia.
09:46So we might have thought we knew all there is to know about them.
09:51But here, in southern Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp, scientists have spotted some surprising new behavior.
09:59These hatchlings are just a few weeks old, eight inches to mom's eight feet.
10:15At this size, there are more prey than predator.
10:31A great blue heron can swallow a baby gator whole.
10:35But not when mom's around.
11:01She's more than just a bodyguard.
11:03She's giving them a head start.
11:09The best way to stay safe from predators is to grow too big to be eaten.
11:17To do that, hatchlings need to become expert hunters.
11:24And it seems mom knows just how to help.
11:33Stirring up the water, she brings bugs and beetles to the surface.
11:49So, they're easier to catch.
11:51This is known as facilitated foraging, and was first described by scientists in 2022.
12:02It's like having their own private diner, where they can hone their ambush skills.
12:17Or at least try to.
12:20Alligator ancestors rubbed shoulders with dinosaurs.
12:39Who knows what other secrets they're keeping in the swamps of the Gulf Coast.
12:49All these wetlands depend on one thing.
13:00Rain.
13:00The Gulf Coast is home to four of the five rainiest states in the U.S.
13:15Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and perhaps surprisingly, Florida.
13:22A state where an average of 150 billion gallons of rain falls every day.
13:35Almost a third of that seeps into the ground.
13:42Beginning a journey that's been made for millions of years.
13:50Rainwater is naturally acidic.
13:52And drop by drop, century by century, it eats through limestone bedrock.
14:03Tiny cracks eventually widen.
14:09Into caves.
14:17This is the Floridan Aquifer.
14:22One of the least explored places in America.
14:33Divers risk their lives to uncover its secrets.
14:37It's like a giant Swiss cheese.
14:45It's like a giant Swiss cheese of flooded passageways.
14:47It channels fresh water underneath the whole of Florida.
14:59It channels fresh water underneath the whole of Florida and as far as Mississippi and South Carolina.
15:03And yet on the surface, you'd never know it was there.
15:11Almost all the water that people use in the Sunshine State comes from this precious reservoir.
15:16Right beneath their feet.
15:17Right beneath their feet.
15:18Some caves may be a thousand feet deep.
15:19Some caves may be a thousand feet deep.
15:24Without our lights, there's absolute darkness.
15:37But life finds a way.
15:53But life finds a way.
16:00A Georgia blind salamander.
16:16The size of your pinky.
16:27In a world that never sees sun, skin needs no protective pigment.
16:33There's no point in having eyes.
16:38There's no point in having eyes.
16:42Instead, sensory pits on its snout detect the slightest movement.
16:50The worm will be safe only if it stays still.
17:08The worm will be safe only if it stays still.
17:16Oh well.
17:17What a life.
17:23Where the aquifer caves are close to the surface,
17:38water flows out.
17:48Into more than a thousand crystal clear springs.
17:55At a temperature close to 72 degrees Fahrenheit all year round.
18:05In the winter months, these places are vital for the survival of one of Florida's strangest but most loved animals.
18:18In the winter months, there's a lot of people who share an ancestor with elephants.
18:28In the winter months, there's a lot of people who share an ancestor with a manatee.
18:34They're huge.
18:36They can be the size of your couch.
18:38But they barely have an ounce of insulating fat.
18:44So the warmth of Florida's springs is a lifeline.
19:00Seasonal get-togethers are a welcome chance to socialize.
19:04A game of touch tag is simply too good to miss.
19:17Scientists called this behavior cavorting.
19:23Rarely filmed, these males are, in fact, honing their social skills and practicing courtship moves.
19:33There's still a lot to understand about manatee friendships.
19:45But perhaps these are bonds that will last a lifetime.
19:55Manatees can live more than half a century and return to the same springs year after year.
20:03Safe harbors, crucial for their survival.
20:12As water flows southwards in Florida, the line between land and water continues to blur.
20:21Stating in these flat lowlands, one of America's great natural wonders, the Everglades.
20:34A shallow sheet of water that is, in fact, a slow-moving river, the widest in America.
20:50There's little to break the horizon but sawgrass, which gives it the rather more romantic name, the River of Grass.
21:03Home to over a thousand types of animals.
21:18In places, water creeps along at just two feet an hour.
21:26You could say life moves at a snail's pace.
21:35But this is no ordinary snail.
21:44The Florida apple snail is the largest native freshwater snail in America.
21:53The size of a golf ball.
22:05She's expecting a brood of babies.
22:08But there's one obstacle.
22:11Apple snails must lay their eggs out of water so they'll be out of reach of hungry fish.
22:21And that means going up.
22:28But climbing to the surface puts her life at risk.
22:34But trolling the skies is an apple snail's nemesis.
22:53Many have already fallen victim.
23:11This carnage is the signature of a remarkable and deadly bird of prey.
23:18With a lethal speciality.
23:20An Everglade snail kite.
23:33These endangered birds rely on one thing as prey.
23:41Apple snails.
23:43Each bird can eat more than a dozen snails a day.
24:00The curve of the kite's bill perfectly matches the spiral of the shell.
24:16The tool evolved for shucking snails.
24:25And that's bad news if you're an apple snail that needs to lay eggs.
24:35A kite can spot a snail just under the water's surface from 30 feet up.
24:55Apple snails do have an escape plan.
25:05Apple snails do have an escape plan.
25:18Back to square one.
25:25Apple snails do have an escape plan.
25:26But kites don't hunt after dark.
25:27So, Nightfall gives an opportunity.
25:32Every vegetable engineد is steeped for search to finish the 4th jaar.
25:44She's climbing a blade of sawgrass.
25:54The tiny barbs will help protect her brood.
26:01She's in position.
26:03It's now or never.
26:07Before sunrise, she must lay dozens of eggs.
26:14Time-lapse photography reveals this wonder of nature.
26:24Dawn.
26:31Just a few more to go.
26:50Last one.
26:57Mission accomplished.
27:07In a couple of weeks, the eggs are ready to hatch.
27:12Independent from the get-go, a new generation of apple snails
27:19will grow up in the mighty Everglades until it is their turn to face the kites.
27:32The vast river of grass eventually makes its way towards Florida's Gulf Coast.
27:42Where seawater mixes with the river's freshwater, mangrove trees thrive.
27:54Forming the biggest mangrove forest in North America, larger than New York City.
28:04It straddles land and water, a network of exquisite tiny islands.
28:14Most are uninhabited, but not all.
28:25When there's an opportunity to live in paradise, who wouldn't jump at the chance?
28:34In just 60 years, Marco Island has gone from near wilderness to a city of almost 20,000.
28:49Here, yards are irrigated all year round.
29:02So grass is green and luscious.
29:10Almost everyone has the perfect lawn.
29:14Or almost perfect.
29:19Holes are appearing everywhere.
29:22A sign that someone surprising has moved into the neighborhood.
29:35The immaculate lawns have been invaded by something people have fallen in love with, burrowing
29:48owls.
29:53This little guy lives right in the middle of suburbia.
30:02He's only the size of a soda bottle.
30:06He needs short grass, so he has a clear view of his surroundings.
30:15These little owls originally lived on prairies, where bison kept the grass close-cropped.
30:21Here, we do that job, making it the ideal place to build a home.
30:40He's putting the finishing touches on an eight-foot burrow.
30:54But this is the easy bit.
31:00Finding a mate to share it with him is going to be tricky.
31:07He seems to be late to the party.
31:11There are 250 pairs here, so there are couples everywhere.
31:20Some even have chicks.
31:26He needs to find a date.
31:32Hooting and bobbing mark his territory and signal his relationship status.
31:47Single owl, not too tall, would like to meet female for eggs, chicks, and a lifetime of happiness.
31:59But the course of true love never did run smooth.
32:06Day and night, he puts himself out there, sleepless in suburbia.
32:22Day and night, he puts himself out there, sleepless in suburbia.
32:33But try as he might, he's not got a hoot in return.
33:00Day and night, his chances of raising a family this year are not looking good.
33:07Day and night, his chances of raising a family this year are not looking good.
33:15Day and night, he's just too late.
33:25Day and night, he's just too late.
33:28Day and night, his chances of raising a family this year is good.
33:30Day and night, his chances of losing a child who'sند.
33:32Day and night, his chances of drawing a gaining a法 and reducing a sidenote foot politically often attaining the
33:55Well, that seems promising.
34:02Time to introduce himself properly.
34:12The next three months will be all about getting to know one another as they raise their brood.
34:19Good luck, the first of many they'll have in this neighborhood.
34:29But as anyone living along this coastline knows, paradise comes at a cost.
34:40Ten hurricanes have hit the Gulf Coast in just five years, and they're becoming increasingly
34:47ferocious.
34:51Protecting the mainland from storm surges are dozens of barrier islands, natural offshore
35:00shock absorbers.
35:04But as the climate heats, the Gulf Coast is facing the highest predicted sea level rise
35:10in the United States.
35:15Many of our barrier islands could vanish in as little as a human lifetime.
35:22Nowhere else in North America is the balance between land and water so uncertain.
35:35Padre Island stretches for more than a hundred miles from Corpus Christi in Texas almost to
35:43the Rio Grande.
35:45The longest barrier island in the world.
35:53It protects the South Texas mainland.
35:56And with it, one of the most endangered mammals in the whole United States.
36:04An animal so rare that just one big hurricane could wipe it out here.
36:14Few of us will ever catch a glimpse of it.
36:24But it's a real American beauty.
36:35An ocelot.
36:44Usually found in South America.
36:48Here in the United States, fewer than a hundred of these secretive cats survive.
37:01After decades of hunting and habitat loss, these pockets of thorn scrub are their last US outpost.
37:22Hidden cameras give us a rare opportunity to step into their little known world.
37:27At night, this mom brings her kittens out of their hiding place in the brush.
37:41A chance for them to play and burn off energy.
37:49They're small and agile enough to move easily through the thorn scrub.
37:55Even fully grown, ocelots are only twice the size of a house cat.
38:06Mom's busy trying to find food.
38:11Now, the kittens are more interested in jumping on each other.
38:17But it's good practice for pouncing on prey.
38:24They're curious about everything.
38:34Monsters with domestic cats, scent glands in their cheeks leave a unique tag as they nuzzle.
38:43A messaging service that will help them carve out their own territories.
38:50Mom's hunt has been successful.
39:01She's caught a wood rat.
39:05But her kittens will have to work for dinner.
39:11It's a tad underdone.
39:17Handing over live prey is an essential way to train her young how to hunt.
39:25A skill they'll need to make it on their own.
39:38This little family is crucial to the future of American ocelots.
39:50Their world is a fragile one.
39:54Their space, precious.
39:58But these cats have some unexpected guardians.
40:06They live on a working ranch where they're granted the space they need by ranchers who
40:14value wildlife as much as turning a profit.
40:24The future of all our wild neighbors depends on a willingness to protect their homes.
40:36And in the dynamic environment of the Gulf Coast, that means preserving the delicate balance
40:43between land and water so life can continue to thrive in this, the most wonderful water world
40:54in the Americas.
40:55The American ocelots of the Americas.
40:57The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:02The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:03The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:04The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:05The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:06The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:07The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:08The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:09The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:10The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:11The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:12The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:13The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:14The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:15The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:16The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:17The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:18The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:19The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:20The American ocelots of the Americas.
41:21The American ocelots of the Americas.
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