- 2 days ago
Florida is famous for its beaches, blue water and year-round sun, but it also has a surprising wild side. It is home to pine forests, coral reefs and the famous Everglades wetland, the largest sub-tropical wilderness in the US.
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AnimalsTranscript
00:16Florida, famed for its beaches, blue water, and year-round sun, but away from the crowds,
00:30Florida hides a wild-side, home to some iconic residents, every year they face the full forces
00:50of nature, and now the pressure is building, a rising human population,
01:00and a cast of animal invaders are threatening the natural order,
01:05while some are fighting hard to save it,
01:09the native wildlife is finding surprising ways to adapt,
01:15but can this corner of paradise continue to weather the growing storm,
01:20the native wildlife.
01:35Florida lies to the southeast of mainland America,
01:42it's almost in the tropics
01:45which means it's affected by both subtropical and tropical climates
01:58so while there's plenty of sunshine
02:02torrential rains pour down in the humid summer months
02:07and hurricanes rage across the land
02:16it's a dynamic mix
02:18but the millennium has supported a huge variety of wildlife
02:26and shaped unique habitats
02:35from pine forests in the north
02:43to the famous wetlands of the Everglades in the south
02:50and at its tip
02:51the coral reefs
02:53of the Florida Keys
03:03and now
03:04all life here is looking to the future
03:18it's early April
03:19the height of the dry season
03:22in the longleaf pine forests
03:29these native trees
03:31once covered most of the state
03:37but after years of logging
03:38just a fraction are left
03:41in the Apalachicola region
03:43of Florida's panhandle
03:51on the forest floor
03:53one of its most unassuming residents
03:55is out looking for food
04:03a gopher tortoise
04:10habitat like this
04:12is his paradise
04:18the open savannah beneath the trees
04:20makes it easy to move around and feed
04:35he takes his time
04:36to pick through his favourite herbs
04:38and succulent grasses
04:46but at this time of year
04:48the wiregrass is tinderbox dry
04:56and the weather can change
04:58in an instant
05:04Florida is the lightning capital
05:06of the United States
05:13over a million bolts strike each year
05:19and just one
05:21can ignite the parched landscape
05:31but this isn't
05:33the disaster that it looks
05:36this forest needs fire
05:38to survive
05:42the trees can take the heat
05:44as the flames clear the forest floor
05:47of unwanted scrub
05:55this allows new longleaf pine
05:57to germinate
05:58and grow without competition
06:04everything living here
06:06has to find a way
06:07to cope with the inferno
06:12including
06:13the gopher tortoise
06:21he uses his shovel-like feet
06:24to dig burrows
06:29these are a refuge from the flames
06:34and it's not just the tortoise
06:35that relies on them
06:38over 300 species use these tunnels
06:41to shelter from fire
06:43hurricanes
06:44and all the extremes
06:46Florida's climate can throw at them
06:51that's why
06:52the gopher tortoise
06:53is one of the most important animals
06:55that lives in these forests
07:04but a landscape that needs fire
07:06creates major conflict
07:08in a state with a growing human presence
07:14almost 900 people move here every day
07:18adding to a population of 20 million
07:24to protect homes
07:25lightning-striped fires
07:27must be put out immediately
07:37we can't have fires
07:38just moseying around the landscape
07:41there is people that would be in harm's way
07:44there are houses
07:45and people's livelihoods
07:47would be affected
07:50to keep longleaf forests alive
07:52here burns are man-made
07:55and carefully controlled
07:57by organizations
07:58like the Nature Conservancy
08:01fire needs to be addressed
08:04really anywhere
08:05through prescribed fire
08:08we have to manage the fire
08:10we have to keep it safe
08:12however we do our best
08:14to mimic
08:15what Mother Nature would have done
08:18with naturally ignited fires
08:22the idea of fire
08:25is an ecological disturbance
08:26but that really puts a negative spin on it
08:30this chaotic
08:32seemingly destructive force
08:35is Mother Nature's great rejuvenator
08:38by replicating nature
08:40Floridians are leading the way
08:43in fire management
08:44across the United States
08:48they've reduced the risk of wildfires
08:50and restored thousands of acres
08:53of longleaf pine
09:00a unique habitat
09:02that more than 900 species call home
09:10one of these
09:11is the endangered
09:13red cockaded woodpecker
09:19it nests almost exclusively
09:21in longleaf pine
09:23and where the trees vanish
09:25so did they
09:31thanks to fire restoration
09:32they're now making a comeback
09:44the mighty Apalachicola River
09:46runs through the heart
09:48of this longleaf stronghold
09:54it's one of 20 major rivers in the state
10:01they create the enchanting swamps
10:03and wetlands
10:04Florida is famous for
10:10trillions of litres of rain
10:12fall each year
10:16and even in the dry season
10:19few rivers ever run completely dry
10:26they're home to some of Florida's most iconic animals
10:35and as you travel south
10:37and as you travel south
10:37these become ever more present
10:45this is Silver River
10:48in central Florida
10:56one of the largest freshwater springs
10:58in the United States
11:0390 million litres of water
11:05are forced up out of the ground
11:07every hour
11:12enriched with minerals from the earth
11:15the spring water is crystal clear
11:22it's a balmy 22 degrees celsius
11:24all year round
11:28which attracts one of the state's
11:30most magical animals
11:38a Florida manatee
11:45they spend most of their lives
11:47around the coast
11:52but can't survive
11:54in water below 20 degrees celsius
12:02so in winter
12:04they head inland
12:05to Florida springs
12:12here they graze for up to eight hours a day
12:15feasting freshwater grasses
12:23they were critically endangered
12:26partly because routes to warm waters like these
12:29were blocked by increasing development
12:37but in 2016
12:38thanks to efforts across the state
12:41their numbers exceeded the 8000 mark
12:47and they're becoming a common sight once again
13:05but this winter refuge
13:07doesn't just attract manatees
13:19resident and migratory birds come here
13:22to rear their young
13:27and as April unfolds
13:29the riverbanks become a nursery ground
13:38parents must be on their guard
13:45as danger is never far away
14:01this moorhen has seven young chicks
14:11and they're all eager to explore
14:22but they don't realize the peril they're in
14:46these baby alligators
14:48are last year's hatchlings
14:52and at eight months old
14:54they're already expert ambush predators
15:00while animals here are finding their feet
15:03elsewhere
15:04others
15:06closer to the tropics
15:08are turning to courtship
15:15to the far south
15:17lies the state's most iconic landscape
15:21the everglades
15:25a two million acre wetland
15:27on florida's southern tip
15:34this is the largest subtropical wilderness in the united states
15:44it can hold an estimated four trillion liters of water
15:50and it's brimming with life
15:54including one of the most endangered mammals in the usa
15:59the florida panther
16:04hundreds of marshland species live here all year round
16:12alongside the greatest congregation of alligators in the state
16:28while thousands of visiting birds nest in the treetops during winter and spring
16:39it's called a wetland
16:43but in fact this is a giant slow-moving sheet of water
16:49earning it the name
16:50the river of grass
16:58in late spring
16:59water levels are at their lowest
17:01and there's a strange sound in the air
17:19male alligators are bellowing
17:39to find each other
17:41in this vast expanse of water
17:45they vibrate their larynx
17:46to let out deep growls
17:55low frequency sounds
17:58inaudible to human hearing
17:59make the water dance
18:09it tells other alligators
18:10how big and strong they are
18:15and can be heard
18:17over a mile away
18:23the sound wards off competitors
18:30and hopefully
18:31attracts a mate
18:39females can be quick to respond
18:50but they're not always quick to pick a partner
19:02they lead males on a merry dance
19:05before finally deciding
19:07he's the one
19:14the wooing can last for days
19:19with couples mating multiple times
19:33before going their separate ways
19:39the males might partner again
19:44but females now turn their attention to building a nest
19:52in just a month's time
19:54it needs to be ready for their eggs
20:05alligators are so successful in florida
20:08alligators are so successful in florida
20:08they're found almost everywhere there's water
20:13but it wasn't always this way
20:21reviled and misunderstood
20:23by the 1960s they'd been hunted to near extinction
20:36realizing they could lose their most iconic native animal
20:40state wildlife agencies took action
20:46hunting was banned
20:48and re-education programs established
20:52floridians brought alligators back from the brink
20:54an epic wildlife success story
21:01but now they're under serious threat again
21:11in the last century 65% of this wetland has been drained for human use
21:19and more than 8 million people rely on the everglades for their drinking water
21:27but the latest problem for indigenous wildlife
21:30is non-native residents moving in
21:38florida's climate means exotic animals thrive here
21:46green iguanas
21:51lionfish
21:54cane toads
21:58there are now more than 500 non-native species plaguing the state
22:06and with the everglades bordered by miami
22:10a city of almost half a million people
22:15this is a hot spot for unwanted exotic pets
22:24perhaps the most destructive
22:28is the burmese python
22:36originally from the jungles and marshes of southeast asia
22:44the everglades
22:45the everglades is now estimated to be home to a staggering 100,000 of these invasive reptiles
22:55they're one of the largest snakes in the world
23:00and they'll eat almost anything
23:05including alligators
23:08with few natural predators
23:11these invaders are almost unstoppable force
23:26but people are fighting back
23:28the sea
23:35burmese pythons came here in the seventies from the pet trade
23:40and they can get to be 18 to 20 feet long
23:44people didn't know what to do with them
23:45so they came out here and let them go
23:48once established
23:50the pythons rapidly started breeding
23:53they've been eating their way through the everglades national park
23:57literally 98 percent of the mammals have been eaten by these burmese pythons
24:03they're eating deer they're eating alligators
24:05we brought them here we need to take them out
24:08and that's what i'm here to do
24:11paid contractors patrol the levees around the everglades day and night
24:19all the pythons create a problem here
24:21everything from a small python that comes out 26 inches
24:24up to anything over 10 feet that's breeding
24:30after about 14 feet they're monsters
24:32you know they're they're monster snakes
24:36the females can lay over a hundred eggs a year
24:41so getting on top of this problem is a daunting task
24:47stop stop for a second
24:57grabbing a big constrictor like that is an experience
25:02you definitely have to go in grab it with both hands make sure you know what you're doing
25:07you don't want it to wrap around your neck
25:09they can kill you
25:10you definitely want to have backup
25:19in the first two years of the removal program
25:2325 teams
25:27took out almost 2 000 adult snakes
25:32but there's much more to be done
25:35the war that we're fighting is bigger than the battle that we're winning
25:39you're not doing your pet a favor by letting them go out here in the wild
25:44you think you know here be free have fun
25:47it doesn't work that way
25:50the introduction of these snakes has caused unimaginable damage to florida's natural ecosystems
26:03so the pythons have to be humanely destroyed
26:08i love these burmese python they're they're really a fascinating creature
26:11it's just that they don't belong here
26:13it's just that they don't belong here
26:13we brought them in we need to take them out
26:26humans have had a big impact right across the state
26:33the dry season is peak holiday time
26:38when the weather is calm
26:47tourism brings a hundred million people to florida's shores each year
26:53putting even more pressure on this fragile land
27:00but it also accounts for 10 percent of the state's economy
27:07and its natural environments are very much part of the draw
27:19one of its biggest attractions lies at the southernmost tip of the state
27:26the florida keys
27:29an archipelago of more than 1700 islands
27:36stretching south toward the tropics
27:43they're strung together by bridges
27:48and carpeted in mangrove trees
27:55a tropical paradise for marine life
28:02and people alike
28:09beneath the waves lies the florida reef tract
28:18it's the third largest barrier reef in the world
28:24and the only one in north america
28:34but space here is at a premium
28:43with rising sea levels
28:47and increasingly powerful storms
28:52life in the keys is precarious
28:57and it doesn't take much to tip it over the edge
29:14in 2017
29:15urma
29:17a massive category 4 hurricane
29:19swept in from the atlantic
29:25with catastrophic effect
29:32it stripped mangrove trees bare
29:42and contaminated fresh water
29:44across the lower keys
29:49six months on the damage is still visible
29:59residents feared one of the keys most precious species had been lost
30:07yet remarkably it's holding on
30:15these are key deer
30:19a tiny subspecies of white-tailed deer
30:22found only on these islands
30:29at just 70 centimeters tall
30:31they're a third smaller than their mainland cousins
30:40almost a thousand of these miniatures live across a cluster of islands to the south of the keys
30:51they may be small
30:52but these canny little deer are survivors
31:00picking through plastic and hurricane debris
31:04to make the most of washed up seagrass
31:15they'll even venture into open water
31:17to reach their most important food
31:22the mangrove trees
31:33the mangrove trees
31:34but life is still uncertain here
31:39with their drinking water full of salt
31:43and many of their feeding grounds destroyed
31:48the key deer are now seeking refuge in urban areas
32:09unfazed by people
32:12they're making themselves at home
32:22some residents provide fresh drinking water
32:35but this reliance on humans
32:37it's far from ideal
32:48it brings them closer to roads
33:00and in fact hurricanes are not their greatest threat
33:05its collisions with cars
33:17in late spring
33:18these deer make the most of the calm weather
33:22saving energy for the turbulent months ahead
33:29all too soon
33:30things are going to change
33:39June marks the arrival of summer
33:49trade winds blow in from the southeast Atlantic
33:54bringing a continuous stream of warm moist air
34:02hurricanes are now possible at any time
34:08every day as temperatures rise
34:12humidity builds and competes with cooler air
34:15high up in the atmosphere
34:18and every afternoon
34:20and every afternoon
34:20like clockwork
34:21the clouds dump their contents
34:31the wet season has begun
34:39dousing Florida in 60% of its annual rainfall
34:42in just four months
34:58the rain restores battered mangroves
35:05fire scarred forests
35:12and fills the Everglades to their brim
35:20with an average of 1.5 meters of rainfall each year
35:25the Everglades is now the wettest place in Florida
35:31and suddenly there's a lot more water on the move
35:52but there's a problem
35:57highway 41
36:01built in the 1920s
36:04before people realize the Everglades
36:06was a moving sheet of water
36:09this road intersects the vast wetland
36:12east to west
36:14and inadvertently stops the flow
36:20in the summer
36:21the north side of the road
36:24is far fuller than the south
36:28it's thought that disruption to water levels like this
36:31is responsible for the disappearance of 90%
36:35of the area's wading birds
36:40now in an attempt to restore the balance
36:42giant pumps shift billions of litres of water
36:46north to south
36:51and raised bridges allow the water to flow naturally once more
37:00essential to animals like alligators
37:03that call this wilderness home
37:13tucked away amongst the sawgrass
37:16alligator nests have been incubating eggs for two months now
37:26they're built around the roots of small trees
37:30which anchor them as water levels rise
37:37a female guards each one
37:40patiently waiting for her young to emerge
37:46and by August
37:48the first babies have hatched
37:57at just a week old
37:59they're perfectly camouflaged
38:10bright yellow stripes
38:11make them invisible
38:12amongst the dried grasses
38:14the nest is built around
38:21at this age
38:22they spend their days close together
38:24in groups called pods
38:30under the gaze of their watchful mother
38:38at just 20 centimeters long
38:40they're defenseless
38:44an easy meal for a passing bird
38:46or hungry male alligator
38:58and they're still alive
38:58but when darkness falls
39:00these hatchlings show a different side
39:07with fewer predators around
39:09the youngsters take on a new confidence
39:19they break away from their pods
39:21and set out alone
39:26and while they might look cute
39:29even at this tender age
39:31they already have the instinct
39:33to hunt
39:50their mother will protect them
39:52but she won't feed them
39:55so they have to get the hang of it
40:05fast
40:05at this age
40:06they hunt almost constantly
40:07through the night
40:18pouncing on their prey
40:19of tiny insects and fish
40:22with not quite expert precision just yet
40:33they'll perfect these skills over the next year
40:37until they're big enough to go it alone
40:50as the wet season continues
40:52winds pick up
40:57and more humid weather is blown in from the Atlantic
41:04storms are building far out in the ocean
41:15still recovering from last season's onslaught
41:20residents of the Florida Keys
41:22batten down the hatches
41:30but powerful storms don't just impact the land
41:37they disrupt life beneath the waves too
41:43Florida's barrier reef is a vital natural defense
41:49it rises up from the ocean floor
41:51and bears the brunt of storm surges as they roll in
42:00absorbing the impact before it hits the ocean
42:15its land
42:15historically these storms sheared off pieces of coral
42:18that would reattach elsewhere
42:21creating a healthier reef
42:28but now the reef doesn't have enough time to recover
42:31between storms
42:36and along with pressures like pollution
42:39bleaching
42:40and ocean acidification
42:44it's in trouble
42:51so scientists are stepping in
42:55if Florida lost the Florida reef track completely
42:59it's likely that we would see a place like Florida Keys
43:02completely washed away
43:05the coral restoration foundation
43:07is leading the way in saving reefs around the world
43:15the main corals that we worked with are stag corn and elk corn
43:19and the reason why we started there is those are the dominant corals that were found in Florida
43:25they've actually lost about 97% of their populations
43:30so we've really focused our efforts into growing thousands upon thousands of these corals in a nursery setting
43:38they've developed a pioneering system
43:43by suspending coral fragments in the water column
43:46they give them 360 degrees of food and sunlight
43:53this speeds up growth and produces new coral to restore the reef
43:59so we'll actually harvest them when they're ready from the nursery
44:04and then we'll attach them directly onto the reef substrate in a process that we call out planting
44:12once we have a clean area or clean limestone
44:15we then use this two-part marine epoxy
44:18and we attach that epoxy to the reef
44:22and then we gently press the coral directly into that epoxy
44:27the fragments fuse with the exposed limestone
44:31forming new growth
44:35the team grows a genetically diverse mix
44:40in the hope that at least some will withstand the different pressures the reef is under
44:50the same
44:51they've planted more than 70,000 fragments in the past decade
44:55it's now widely understood that active intervention is a necessity
45:00we're past the tipping point where they could recover naturally
45:05so the point of a restoration program is to produce the abundance of corals
45:10and the diversity of corals and the diversity of corals that these reefs need to be able to keep up
45:15with their changing environments
45:23While people work to restore these fragile landscapes
45:30above the waves, the turbulent weather continues to build
45:49September and October are when hurricanes are most likely to hit
45:56so before they do
45:58the last of the springtime visitors must depart
46:09swallow-tailed kites have been here since March
46:17two-thirds of the North American population come to Florida each year to breed
46:26courting
46:28feeding
46:30drinking
46:32and even bathing on the wing
46:38the feet of these extraordinary birds almost never touch the ground
47:03they're about to make the 5,000-mile journey to their winter feeding lands in South America
47:12and thousands of birds come together to prepare
47:15and thousands of birds come together to prepare
47:20as they store up energy for the flight
47:23it's vital they aren't disturbed
47:26so they gather in remote roosts
47:30far from people
47:38after a morning birth
47:40after a morning birth
47:42the kites preen their feathers
47:44to keep them in condition for the long journey to come
48:04they appear to sense atmospheric changes as hurricanes begin to approach
48:18but far from avoiding these storms
48:22researchers suggest the birds capitalize on their headwinds
48:29and when the time is right
48:32they take flight
48:57hundreds
48:58even thousands
49:00soar above roosts at this time of year
49:11the journey south can take up to four months
49:19and there's time for one last feed
49:24now the birds head straight to a landscape created by us
49:32agricultural pasture is alive with insects
49:44and this is where their forked tail comes in
49:52able to rotate almost 90 degrees
49:57they use it like a rudder
49:58they use it like a rudder
49:59they use it like a rudder
50:23they use it like a rudder
50:24they use it like a rudder
50:25if the birds aren't far along
50:25and increase their headwind
50:26they lift up to the jerk
50:27of their vaccinated
50:31the bird until the sea and then they get used as pan
50:53Once they've had their fill, it's finally time to leave.
51:10Their roosts are left eerily empty.
51:18The Miccosukee tribe of Florida call them the leaders of the hurricanes.
51:25As they vanish, the storms roll in.
51:35They've been forming thousands of miles away, far out in the Atlantic.
51:46Summer temperatures have warmed the ocean surface, and as warm air rises from the water,
51:54it lifts moisture with it, creating giant stacks of cloud.
52:08As more air is sucked in below, winds begin to spiral inward, and a vortex is formed.
52:23The storm gathers pace and power with every mile.
52:29And when its winds reach 74 miles per hour, it becomes an unstoppable force.
52:44A hurricane is unleashed.
52:49The warmest waters create a path for these monster storms to follow.
52:54This is Hurricane Alley, and it brings many of them barreling straight into Florida.
53:10This state has experienced more direct hits by hurricanes than anywhere else in North America.
53:19And they're getting stronger.
53:26Research suggests human-induced climate change is the driving force.
53:34Our oceans are the hottest they've been since records began.
53:39And this energy makes hurricanes more powerful than ever before.
53:53When Hurricane Michael struck in 2018, it was one of the most powerful storms to ever make landfall in Florida.
54:01And it was one of the most powerful storms in Florida.
54:31It was 55 miles per hour.
54:38It flattened entire towns.
54:44And ravaged the landscape.
55:01The longleaf pine forests in Apalachicola were hit by the full force of the storm.
55:13Yet, remarkably, not only do these trees cope with fire, they can survive hurricanes too.
55:29Where non-native species have snapped and fallen, the longleaf pine's supple trunks have bent with the winds.
55:41Young growth has also survived.
55:54And the animals here have weathered the storm too.
56:01The gopher tortoises' burrows have once more provided shelter for hundreds of forest species.
56:16This is where native Florida comes into its own.
56:22Its plants and animals have evolved to cope with the harshest forces of nature.
56:36As the rains recede and hurricanes blow over, in the face of the growing pressures, life goes on.
56:55Male key deer battle for the right to father the next generation.
57:04Alligators prepare to slow down and disappear for the cooler months of winter.
57:12And the people of Florida continue to pioneer new ways to help this state's native landscapes.
57:25Putting them in a better place to cope with an uncertain future.
57:36With their help, for now, the animals and landscapes are holding on.
57:43Riding the storm in this rapidly changing corner of paradise.
57:57Sir David Attenborough talks climate change and potential solutions with Liz Bonin.
58:02What planet are we on on BBC Sounds?
58:05And he follows five extraordinary animal families struggling to survive.
58:09Dynasties streaming now on iPlan.