- 18 hours ago
The Australian outback is covered in pale spots, the work of wombats, a clearing in the endless green canopy of the Congo rainforest has been created by an incredible elephant gathering, and the twists and turns of the Amazon make a home for rehabilitated manatees.....
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:04From high in space, we can see the familiar shapes of countries and continents.
00:19But now, satellite images allow us to look closer.
00:30Revealing our planet as a patchwork of extraordinary landscapes.
00:41Created by natural forces.
00:52By animals.
01:00And by us.
01:05These patterns give an insight into the health of our planet.
01:13Behind every line and every pattern, there's a story.
01:34It's a story.
01:35It's a story.
01:39Around the world, tropical coastlines are fringed with coral reefs.
01:50At first glance, their shapes seem random.
02:02But a closer look reveals a pattern.
02:10Pale discs surrounding patches of dark coral.
02:16Using satellite images, scientists have now found these shapes on coral reefs across the globe.
02:33Understanding how they are formed offers a new insight into the health of our oceans.
02:45And the animals that call them home.
03:02For fish that live on coral reefs, there are different strategies for finding food.
03:11Some stay close to the reef, feeding from the coral itself.
03:17Some stay close to the reef, feeding from the coral itself.
03:24Others venture out to the surrounding seabed.
03:32But feeding in the open can be dangerous.
03:43Predators, like coral groupers, and sharks patrol the reef perimeter.
03:56So small fish only feed as far from the coral as is absolutely necessary.
04:07Staying within easy reach of safety.
04:20Over time, the seabed around each patch of coral is stripped of food.
04:30Creating rings of bare sand that scientists call grazing halos.
04:42They are a sign that both predator and prey populations are healthy.
04:50But where this pattern disappears, it may be a sign that predator numbers are falling.
04:59These halos now allow scientists to monitor the reef's delicate balance.
05:07From space.
05:14Satellite cameras can now look down on every part of our planet.
05:19Allowing us to explore Earth's most remote habitats.
05:28The Congo jungle in Central Africa
05:33This forest is home to thousands of animal species.
05:39But from space, it appears as little more than a blanket of green.
05:53Except, that is, if we look down over one remote corner.
06:03Satellite images reveal a strange shape.
06:12With dozens of trails leading in from the surrounding forest.
06:20This shape was created by the Congo's mightiest residents.
06:37They spend most of their lives hidden in the thick jungle.
06:45But travel hundreds of kilometers to gather here.
06:51Forest elephants.
07:06Locals call this place Zangabai.
07:15The village of elephants.
07:38Forest elephants.
07:40They spend most of their lives in small family groups.
07:47But here.
07:48Up to 150 individuals.
07:51Are drawn together.
07:53Every day.
07:59Their diet of tough leaves and jungle fruit is lacking in vital minerals.
08:08So generations of elephants have come to this one spot in the forest.
08:17Where deposits of sodium, potassium and calcium lie just below the surface.
08:28Using their tusks to dig at the soil.
08:31And their trunks to blow into the water.
08:38These elephants have excavated a network of boreholes.
08:46Allowing them to extract these minerals from underground.
09:03Over hundreds of years, the constant digging and movement of elephants has caused this clearing to grow.
09:16It's now more than 500 meters long.
09:21And clearly visible from space.
09:36For a young forest elephant, the first visit to the Bai is full of new experiences.
09:49While the adults drink effortlessly.
09:54The first visit to the Bai is full of new experiences.
09:55She's still getting to grips.
09:56With her trunk.
10:09Infants are raised by their mothers for up to four years.
10:17And learning how to drink from these wells is one of life's vital lessons.
10:29For a calf who spends most of her time with her mother.
10:35This is a rare opportunity to socialize.
10:50Relationships formed at this young age can last a lifetime.
11:04But while they play.
11:08Mothers must keep a close watch.
11:20Male forest elephants are also drawn here.
11:26This gathering is the ideal place to find a fertile female.
11:35To display their size and strength.
11:39Full elephants charge around the clearing.
11:54And if more than one male appears.
11:59Tensions run high.
12:21Young forest elephants have been killed here by charging males.
12:25According to the
12:43the safety of the forest.
12:49Her baby should be able to return to this clearing
12:52throughout its lifetime.
12:59But these elephants face an uncertain future.
13:08In the last 20 years, more than half of all the forest
13:11elephants in the world have been killed
13:14by poachers for their ivory.
13:21The cameras in space may be able to help.
13:28Scientists can now use satellite images
13:31to identify other clearings used by forest elephants.
13:37Protecting them from poachers,
13:41and preserving these unique gatherings.
13:58But you don't need to be as big as an elephant
14:00to make a mark visible from space.
14:07In South Australia, the outback is speckled
14:11with mysterious light patches,
14:17interlinked with narrow trails.
14:25The work of an unlikely architect.
14:36He's a southern, hairy-nosed wombat.
14:45A marsupial only found in this part of Australia.
14:51the eye to look to see the flowers.
14:54Amazing.
14:57Exposing the thinner fur of his belly
14:59helps to keep him cool
15:00as he waits for the midday heat to pass.
15:12The living room is hot.
15:22It's springtime, and with each passing day, temperatures are steadily rising.
15:31In just a few weeks, it could be close to 50 degrees Celsius.
15:41Wrapped in a thick fur coat, this heat could be deadly, but the Wombat has a solution.
15:57With sharp claws and short, powerful limbs, he's built for digging.
16:21It's 15 degrees cooler below ground, a hiding place from the worst of the summer sun.
16:33But high temperatures aren't the only threat Wombats face.
16:37Habitat loss and the impact of invasive species caused Wombat numbers to plummet in the early
16:4520th century.
16:49But now, using satellite images to locate their burrows, scientists can see they're bouncing
16:59back.
17:03With around 1 million southern hairy-nosed Wombats now living in this corner of Australia.
17:23In South America, vast areas are covered with lush, green, tropical forest.
17:34But on the coast of northeast Brazil, the forest is interrupted by a very different landscape.
17:52Vegetation is being swallowed up by sand, washed up by the ocean and blown inland over thousands
18:07of years.
18:11A field of sand dunes covering more than 800 square kilometers.
18:21The Lensois Marahenses.
18:28The surface of the scorched sand can reach 80 degrees Celsius.
18:37To survive here, you have to be made of tough stuff.
18:47A paninga turtle.
18:51She's left the surrounding forest behind.
18:55And is making her way into the heart of this desert.
19:08Walking for days beneath the burning sun.
19:22Each step on the soft sand, sapping away her precious energy.
19:33Without food and water, she won't survive for long.
19:43But she's made this journey for a reason.
19:54It's the wet season.
20:05And in these dunes, the rain changes everything.
20:27Only from space can we see the scale of the transformation.
20:35Once a year, rainwater floods the desert.
20:48Forming thousands of freshwater lagoons.
21:05Beneath the sand, a layer of solid rock stops rainwater escaping.
21:18Creating a landscape like nowhere else on earth.
21:30And that's just what she came for.
21:47As the lagoons grow, fish make their way into the pools from surrounding rivers.
21:59They'll keep her fed for weeks.
22:09But this water won't last forever.
22:14In the tropical sun, these lagoons will soon evaporate.
22:29Dozens of desert species now race to make the most of the life-giving water.
22:38Even after the sun has set.
22:57A tiny, four-eyed frog.
23:02He's been lying dormant in the cool sand.
23:09But the rains have triggered the breeding season.
23:16And there are thousands just like him.
23:24In other parts of the world, frogs migrate for kilometers to reach their breeding pools.
23:31But here, the water has come to them.
23:41Around the lagoons, grasses have sprung up, creating sheltered spots for breeding.
23:56And it's not only four-eyed frogs who come here.
24:04Seven different species of frogs and toads are all hoping to breed.
24:21It's a struggle to make yourself heard about the noise.
24:34Eventually, the four-eyed frogs find each other.
24:43Each pair may produce more than a thousand eggs.
24:52An explosion of new life.
24:58And just in time...
25:12When the rains ease, the lagoons begin to disappear.
25:21And sand reclaims this corner of Brazil.
25:34Around the world, the forces of nature create mysterious and intriguing patterns visible only from space.
25:48Star-like shapes in the Sahara Desert are sand dunes whipped up by the wind.
26:00In West Africa, a ring of concentric circles.
26:06Formed by magma forcing its way through the Earth's crust.
26:15And in Iran's salt desert, these abstract swirls are the remains of an ancient ocean.
26:25Sculpted by the wind over millions of years.
26:39In the Amazon rainforest, hundreds of rivers wind through the jungle.
26:55Sculpted by the Earth's crust.
26:56Alongside them are strange arcs and horseshoe shapes.
27:09Satellite images, taken over 30 years, reveal how these patterns are formed.
27:24As the water forges a path through the jungle.
27:28Bends in the river are cut off.
27:31And left behind.
27:45Creating isolated oxbow lakes.
27:53Like El Dorado Lake in northern Peru.
28:01A special place for wildlife and for local people.
28:24Elvira is nine years old.
28:31She and her friends live in a small village close to the Oxbow Lake.
28:39They're fascinated by animals.
28:45And their favorite is perhaps the most elusive.
28:49The Amazonian manatee.
28:55Manatees spend their lives hidden in the murky water of jungle rivers.
29:07Surfacing only briefly to take a breath.
29:11Or to feed on floating plants.
29:19In many parts of the Amazon, manatees are hunted for their meat.
29:24And their numbers are declining.
29:33Elvira has never laid eyes on a manatee.
29:48But that's all about to change.
30:00The Oxbow Lake has all the benefits of a river.
30:08But its isolated waters are still and safe.
30:21Perfect for manatees in need of a second chance.
30:52For Elvira, it's a beautiful place.
30:55It's an opportunity to finally come face-to-face with her favorite animal.
31:12This manatee is one of a lucky few.
31:19They were rescued from illegal captivity and rehabilitated by an international team of experts.
31:29They're now fitting well enough to be released.
31:40Radio tags will allow their progress to be monitored.
31:47As they start their new life in the safety of the Oxbow Lake.
32:16The twists and turns that lead to Oxbow Lakes are typical of slow-dictures.
32:23There are several jungle rivers meandering over flat ground.
32:38But across the globe, each river has its own unique character.
32:50In Egypt, the river Nile brings life to the desert, creating a ribbon of green.
33:08At the base of the Himalaya, the Brahmaputra River pulls in water from hundreds of streams pouring out of the
33:17mountains, creating a complex channel 10 kilometers wide.
33:29In the USA, the movement of Utah's Green River has carved out deep canyons over millions of years.
33:45In eastern China, five major rivers converge to form a body of fresh water so huge that the only way
33:58to see it in its entirety is from space.
34:07Poyang Lake
34:13This is no ordinary lake.
34:20Each year, when the dry season arrives, it begins to shrink.
34:33Within three months, it almost totally disappears, leaving behind huge areas of nutrient-rich mud.
34:58And hundreds of shallow freshwater pools.
35:13This transformation is the queue for one of the greatest migrations on our planet.
35:27Half a million birds flock here from all across Asia.
35:39But none have traveled further than the critically endangered Siberian cranes.
35:47This is the end of a month-long journey from northern Russia, almost 5,000 kilometers away.
36:05They've come for a unique feeding opportunity.
36:17The falling water has revealed the nutritious roots of aquatic plants.
36:26The cranes gorge themselves after their long journey.
36:32And they aren't interested in sharing.
36:40Among the many families are two parents with their five-month-old offspring.
36:53He successfully completed his first migration.
36:58But 5,000 kilometers is a long way to fly on young wings.
37:08He begs for food.
37:14But his mother ignores him.
37:22It's every bird for themself.
37:30And from space, it's clear to see why.
37:34As the dry season progresses, the pools shrink.
37:40Increasing competition for the best feeding spots.
37:49A rival has strayed onto the family's patch.
37:57This cannot go unchallenged.
38:11Farther squares up to the intruder.
38:18Neither is willing to back down.
38:35Their claws are razor sharp.
38:4515 centimeter long beaks become weapons.
38:48To be right.
38:50Or to be close by middle-to-early.
39:17I've been
39:17No.
39:17over at Germany. your00
39:18is over不能 from us to the limits.
39:27The intruder is seen off.
39:43But the youngster still hasn't been able to get a meal.
39:51There's only one thing for it.
40:00He finally works out how to feed for himself.
40:07The whole family can now fuel up for the return journey to Siberia.
40:20After four months, the rivers that flow into Poyang begin to rise again.
40:32And the cranes start the long flight home.
40:38An epic journey.
40:42Triggered by a remarkable transformation.
40:57The coming and going of water makes for some of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth.
41:11Rivers arriving at the coast deposit vast quantities of sediment.
41:22Creating deltas that reach out into the ocean.
41:30In northern Russia, the Lina River forks into thousands of separate channels.
41:41And in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River Delta spans 10,000 square kilometers.
41:55But the largest delta in the world lies in the Bay of Bengal.
42:00In the Gulf of Bengal, this maze of waterways is the Sundarbans.
42:07Twice a day, it's transformed by the tide.
42:15Blue to brown as the tide falls, exposing the mud below.
42:34Blue to brown as the river.
42:35Silt from river water is trapped by mangrove roots, creating a habitat like no other.
42:46A home for timid cheetle deer, troops of macaques,
42:56Elusive Bengal tigers, and over three million people.
43:10Boban and his son, Hridoi, live in the north of the Sundarbans.
43:31Boban is a fisherman.
43:34He's teaching his son the family trade.
43:42But they won't be fishing with lines or poles.
43:49Instead, they'll be using 10 smooth-coated otters.
44:01The people here have been fishing together with otters since the sixth century.
44:07Wild otter populations are declining in the Sundarbans.
44:11This specially bred captive population could be crucial for the survival of the species.
44:20And they're extremely precious to their owners.
44:37But they can only fish at very precise times of the day.
44:42They have to wait for the tide.
44:51While it's high, thousands of tiny inlets criss-cross through the mangrove forest.
45:01Water dominates the landscape, giving fish plenty of places to hide.
45:09But from space, we can watch the tide turn.
45:18Water is replaced with mud.
45:27And at the very lowest tide, fish are forced into the few remaining stretches of water.
45:36And the otters get to work.
45:53Their sensitive whiskers detect the movement of fish.
46:04And they flush them towards the nets.
46:13Young otters swim freely.
46:16They're supposed to be learning from the adults.
46:19But it's easy to get distracted.
46:21They're starting to help me with the birds.
46:25That's what we're doing now.
46:28We're just trying to help my animals.
46:28There's no way to climb up here.
46:30There's no way to climb up here.
46:34There's no way to do it.
46:35There's no way to catch them.
46:37There's no way to be able to climb up for them.
46:39But the other whales of the catchingly,
46:41We don't think that it's always a very unlikely thing.
46:44There's no way to be a very reasonable thing for them.
46:49And they're finding that they're fishing here for me.
46:51to twice as many fish as using nets alone.
47:02And they take their cut.
47:09Ten otters can eat eight kilos of fish every day.
47:19But it's getting harder for fishermen here to make a living.
47:25Large-scale fishing and pollution from growing industry
47:30are decimating the fish stocks in the Sundarbans.
47:37From over 200, this is now just one of eight boats
47:42keeping this ancient skill alive.
47:52The tide turns, and the fishermen follow the water home.
48:05Humans have always found ways to survive
48:09alongside our planet's natural landscapes.
48:17But around 10,000 years ago,
48:20we began to create patterns of our very own.
48:30Alongside nature's chaotic curves,
48:32more ordered shapes appeared.
48:42Designed with great precision
48:47to help us feed ourselves.
48:54At first, farming could only take place
48:57alongside natural water sources.
49:02But now, even in the driest desert,
49:06crops are being grown.
49:14And one shape has come to dominate.
49:22By using rotating sprinklers,
49:25farmers can water a circular field
49:27more easily than any other shape.
49:39In the American Midwest,
49:42these irrigation circles stretch for hundreds of kilometers.
49:52Intensive farming like this
49:54can force out wildlife.
49:58But no matter how tightly circles are packed together,
50:04there'll always be gaps left between them.
50:11In Missouri, farmers are encouraged
50:14to keep these spaces wild,
50:18creating pockets of habitat for animals.
50:25Like the bobwhite quail.
50:29On the edge of this circle,
50:32just enough space has been left
50:34for quail to raise their chicks.
50:43With hungry new mouths to feed,
50:46families are always on the move
50:48in search of food.
50:56Young chicks are inquisitive,
50:59keen to explore their new world.
51:05But in the thick undergrowth,
51:08parents can find it difficult
51:09to keep an eye on all of them.
51:25And there are others here,
51:28looking for a meal.
51:33Kestrels have their own young to feed.
51:59Mothers know the best thing to do
52:01is hunker down and stay still.
52:11But a lone chick's instinct
52:13is to keep running.
52:32She's inside the circle of crops.
52:37She's inside the circle of crops.
52:39An alien world.
52:48Row upon row of soybeans,
52:52arranged in a circle
52:53almost a kilometer wide.
53:01There's nothing to eat,
53:04and in the height of summer,
53:06nothing to drink.
53:10Dry conditions are bad for the crops, too.
53:15But here in Missouri,
53:17they have a solution for that.
53:25Millions of gallons of water
53:27pumped from deep underground
53:34and piped along a rotating arm
53:37300 meters long.
53:44A lifesaver for the crops,
53:48but potentially deadly
53:49for a quail chick.
53:52I love the plant.
54:37Life beside industrial farming comes with dangers, but each small patch of wild habitat can
54:50be an important oasis for animals.
55:06There are now 125,000 circular fields in the USA.
55:14Who knows what dramas may be unfolding in the spaces left between them.
55:27Human agriculture now covers more than one-third of the Earth's land surface.
55:42Add to that the space taken up by our homes and our industries, and humanity's impact
55:49can now be seen on more than half of the planet's land.
55:58For millions of years, natural forces have shaped Earth's surface.
56:06But now, it is undoubtedly us who will decide what our home will look like in the future.
56:22Next time, the view from space reveals our blue planet as a kaleidoscope of incredible colors.
56:36Vast turquoise swirls in the ocean trigger the planet's biggest feeding frenzy.
56:44Billions of flowers turn a Chinese landscape bright yellow.
56:51And a lake in East Africa is transformed by the pink of thousands of flamingos.
57:00Each color has its own remarkable secrets to reveal.
57:11Each other one we have seen in near Hamishiki passing her,
57:14the vast majority of probableנ specifications should be brought to yellow stars,
57:14because as the sun remember the sky looks like she has minerals Quakersome and city fleas,
57:18because the sky sits here while it isFP.
57:19In this direction, Tukimi posymus babies and dogs,
Comments