Earth’s Natural Wonders
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YEAR: 2015-??? | LENGTH: 2 seasons, 5 episodes (59 minutes each) | SOURCE: BBC
description:
Across our planet, there are a handful of places that truly astonish, like Mount Everest, the Grand Canyon and Victoria Falls. These wonders seem to have little in common other than – literally – taking your breath away. But they share one other thing: they pose extraordinary challenges for their inhabitants. This landmark series combines stunning photography and compelling human drama as it reveals twelve remarkable places. And it uncovers the stories of people fighting to survive – and even triumph – in earth’s natural wonders.
episodes:
season 1
01. Extreme Wonders
The first of two programmes in which cameras explore some of the most inhospitable places on the planet and the people who live there, including a team of Sherpa roping a route on Mount Everest’s notorious Khumbu Icefall and, on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, farmers fight pitched battles to save their crops from marauding elephants. In the Amazon rainforest, two boys undergo a rite of passage involving hundreds of ants with the most painful stings on Earth, and conservationists in the Grand Canyon try to ensure the survival of one of America’s few surviving condor chicks.
02. Vast Wonders
The second of two documentaries profiling some of the world’s most expansive – and inhospitable – landscapes, and the people who live there. A fisherman in Zambia faces off against crocodiles and risks being swept to his death as he tries to make a living above the imposing Victoria Falls, and in the Amazon, a giant fish offers salvation to a hungry family that calls the river home. A boy’s future hangs on the outcome of a single horse race in the vast grasslands of the Steppe, and in a European salt marsh, a young man duels with a savage bull in a centuries-old battle of wills.
season 2
01. Surviving the Extreme
Earth’s Natural Wonders are parts of the natural world that nature has carved on such a scale, that they beggar belief – vast mountain ranges, impenetrable rainforests and dazzling tropical islands. Places where nature is visible at its most primal, most powerful, and most extraordinarily beautiful. Survival for human beings can be an incredible challenge.
The Natural Wonders are epic in scale: often rugged, possessing an awe-inspiring beauty. But the factors that create these stunning landscapes, can also present enormous challenges for the people who call them home. The extremes of nature encountered in many of Earth’s natural wonders, can threaten human survival, or make human lives extraordinarily demanding. Yet human beings have devised remarkable ways to survive and even thrive in many of these places. Now these Natural Wonders are undergo all sorts of changes, and human survival techniques must also evolve
In the high Himalaya, yak-herder Thokmay Lowa and his small group steer his herd through one of the region’s extreme mountain passes. For several months of the year, these herders live isolated lives away from their families, before returning in spring to the summer pastures. Their journey is fraught with hazards, as the terrain they must cross is highly treacherous. With baby yaks being born later than usual this year, some are only a day old when they must tackle the pass.
In the Canadian Arctic, traditional Inuit communities still forage for much of their food. 63-year-old Minnie Nappaaluk and her granddaughter Eva embark on one of the most hazardous expeditions for food – the mussel harvest. Winters here are so extreme the surface of the sea freezes, and when the spring tides go out, the sea ice is suspended above the seabed. Just as Inuit women have done for centuries, Minnie and Eva cut a hole through the sea ice and venture below this shifting, dangerous ice-layer to collect their bounty.
Some Natural Wonders are threatened as never before – nowhere more so than the Brazilian Amazon. In the Mato Grosso, as a result of deforestation, the region’s microclimate has changed. Now fires rage out of control in the dry season. Not only do these destroy wild habitats – they also threaten the very existence of the indigenous peoples still living traditional lives in the rainforest. Now, one project aims to tackle these blazes by teaching indigenous peoples how to effectively fight the fires. It’s a daunting and dangerous task, but the continuance of their traditional way of life depends upon it.
In the blistering Australian Outback, cattle ranching requires a lot of space. The only way to efficiently round up the herds on these vast farms is through the use of helicopter cowboys like Chris Weyand. It’s a dangerous job – he must fly low and slowly over difficult terrain, and every year some pilots are killed. But thanks to the efforts of people like Chris, farming on this scale in the Outback is now possible.
Deep in the Siberian interior, survival is tough. But climate change is opening up a new niche for the human inhabitants of this region – mammoth tusk collection. The tusks have been locked in the Siberian Permafrost for thousands of years, but as the climate changes and the permafrost starts to melt more each summer, it is giving up this unexpected bounty. These tusks are made of ivory, and can sell for thousands of dollars. It is a controversial activity – conservationists argue that it encourages the ivory trade. But for now at least this is a legal pursuit.
02. Surviving with Animals
In many of the earth’s natural wonders there is an abundance of animals. These can be a devastating threat to the people who live there, or they can provide a means of survival, but often at a high price.
In the coastal salt marshes of northern Australia’s Arnhem Land, Indigenous Australians still go hunting for the eggs of one of the world’s most aggressive predators – the saltwater crocodile. Following a hunting ban their numbers are recovering well, and the local rangers, like Greg Wilson, are licensed to take a quota of eggs to supply the region’s commercial crocodile farms. Despite their ancient hunting skills, this remains a dangerous job – a croc could always be lurking nearby, protecting its nest.
The Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia is a frozen environment stretching deep into the Arctic Circle. Known to local nomadic peoples as the edge of the world, temperatures can reach minus 50 degrees Celsius or lower in the depths of winter. Very few animals can live here, but one that can is the reindeer. Adapted to survive on a diet of lichen, the reindeer in turn enable people to survive. For thousands of years the Nenets people have survived by following these herds, in a symbiotic relationship that benefits both people and animals. For 65-year-old reindeer herder Medko Serotetto the journey is becoming harder than ever, as climate change makes weather patterns increasingly unpredictable.
Vanuatu is an island paradise in the south Pacific, but life here isn’t perhaps as idyllic as it appears. Overfishing has reduced fish stocks, making food harder to come by for the indigenous islanders like 45-year-old Nigasau. The islanders are dependent on fish for their food, as there is little arable land or wildlife on the islands, but the catch is falling further with every year that goes by. Nigasau’s 15-year-old son Misakofi is learning his trade as a fisherman and faces his greatest test – freediving at night to catch highly prized lobster. All around the world, as animal populations decline, life is becoming tougher for the indigenous people who depend on them.
In other parts of the world, it is living space that is in short supply. For countless years, elephants of north east India have migrated around the forests in the Himalayan foothills and lived in the plains of Assam. The growth of Assam’s famed tea plantations has led to an influx of workers, some of whom have made their homes on the ancient elephant migration routes. Conflict is hard to avoid, especially when the elephants are drawn to the villages by the smells of food and palm toddy. The elephants themselves are a protected species, and it is illegal to harm them, but survival for them too is becoming ever harder.
03. Surviving Against the Odds
In some of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders, people push themselves to the limit in order to survive. For the people who call these extraordinary places home, survival requires skill, ingenuity and bravery.
In Brazil, the Kamayura people of the Xingu Indigenous Park believe they must appease the spirits if they are to remain in good health. Fail to make the spirit happy, and ill health could follow. At one key festival, an offering is made to a ‘bird spirit’. The villagers must dance to please him. The longer and harder the dance, the happier the spirit will be. To make the festival a success, it is down to Perri and his family to organise a massive fishing expedition. The villagers must catch basketloads of fish to sustain the warrior in their hours of dancing. But catching the fish means venturing into the nearby lake, also home to caiman, electric eels and piranha.
In Ethiopia, belief in a higher power leads villagers in the Tigray region to climb a huge, vertiginous mountainside to reach their church. They believe it’s vital and beneficial for their children to be baptised here, despite the obvious dangers. Just 40 days after giving birth, Ngisti must climb 400 metres to have her new son Dawit baptised.
Laos is one of the most fertile places on earth. Despite this, life is dangerous for the rice farmers in this beautiful country. During the Vietnam War, the United States dropped an estimated 270 million bombs on this small country and approximately 80 million of them failed to explode, remaining in the ground to this day. Every year, 300 people are killed or injured by them. A group of bomb-disposal experts, led by 35-year-old Lumngen, clear fields for a new school. It is painstaking work, and a job that comes with obvious risks.
In the North Atlantic, between Scotland, Iceland and Norway, lie the Faroe Islands. Once a year, islanders on one island, Skuvoy, scale the sheer-sided cliffs to obtain a traditional delicacy, fulmar eggs. The birds nest hundreds of feet up the cliffs, and islanders reach them using traditional climbing equipment, including woollen slippers and harnesses. It’s a death-defying feat, all for the sake of a traditional delicacy.
In Switzerland, millions of people come to the Alps every year, and take risks for nothing more than pleasure. The hikers, climbers and skiers who come here are drawn by the mountains, but many of them are injured or killed in the pursuit of fun. The programme joins the Zermatt air rescue team on their helicopters as they patrol the area and attempt to save lives.
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YEAR: 2010 | LENGTH: 6 parts (60 minutes each) | SOURCE: WIKIPEDIAdescription:
South Pacific (Wild Pacific in the US) is a British nature documentaryseries from the BBC Natural History Unit, which began airing on BBC Twoon 10 May 2009. The six-part series surveys the natural history of the islands of the South Pacific region, including many of the coral atolls and New Zealand. It was filmed entirely in high-definition. South Pacific was co-produced by the Discovery Channel and the series producer was Huw Cordey. It is narrated by Benedict Cumberbatch. Filming took place over 18 months in a variety of remote locations around the Pacific including: Anuta (Solomon Islands), Banks Islands, French Frigate Shoals,Papua New Guinea, Palmyra, Kingman Reef, Tuvalu, Palau, Caroline Islands, Tuamotus and Tanna Island in Vanuatu.episodes:
01. Ocean of Islands
The opening episode presents an overview of the natural history of the region, introducing some of the themes that are explored in more detail in later programmes. The South Pacific covers a vast area, and less than 1% is land, ranging from the Hawaiian Islands north of the equator to New Zealand in the south. On Macquarie Island, the most southerly outpost before Antarctica, springtime sees the arrival of huge numbers of elephant seals. Aerial footage shows the entire world population of royal penguins, which nest here in a single colony. Cold ocean currents flow all the way to the Galápagos Islands, 8000 miles away, enabling sea lions and penguins to survive on the equator. Isolation has enabled the region’s wildlife to evolve in unusual ways. OnMetoma, robber crabs, the world’s largest terrestrial invertebrates, are filmed massing at night to feed on coconuts. On Hawaii, the most isolated archipelago of all, the caterpillars have turned carnivorous. There is an incredible diversity of human cultures and customs too, despitecolonisation taking place relatively recently. The men of Pentecost Island leap from timber scaffold towers with only a vine tied to their ankles to break their falls. On small islands such as Anuta, people have fostered strong communities and sustainable hunting, farming and fishing practices to make up for the limited availability of food. The story of Easter Island, where a whole civilization brought about their own downfall through over-exploitation of their resources, is a lesson from history.
02. Castaways
The second instalment looks at how plants, animals and humans colonised even the most remote islands. Most pioneers came from the west, with New Guinea acting as the launch pad. The saltwater crocodile is one species which managed to swim the 60-mile crossing to the next island group, the Solomons. The mass spawning of groupers on a Solomon Island reef releases millions of eggs, which drift on ocean currents to establish new populations. The activity allows grey reef sharks to snatch a few distracted groupers. Few animals made it to Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, 1000 miles further east. Fruit bats were the only mammals to cross the ocean divide, but smaller animals were carried herebycyclones and jet stream winds. In the absence of ground predators, invertebrates have reached monstrous proportions. Fijian crested iguanas are thought to have floated here on rafts of vegetation. Seabirds have made the crossing to French Polynesia, where their rich guano helped fertilise barbed seeds stuck to their feathers and turn barrencoralatolls into fertile groves. One plant needs no such help. Coconuts can survive drifting for two months at sea and lay roots into bare sand. Before the arrival of humans, fewer than 500 species colonised Hawaii in 30 million years. Once established, they evolved into countless new varieties. The story of human colonisation is no less remarkable. The ancestors of modern Polynesians, most probably Lapitas of Southeast Asia, arrived in Fiji 3,500 years ago and Hawaii 2,000 years ago
03. Endless Blue
The third programme begins in the tropics, where a white sperm whale calf stays close to its mother. The 19th century story of the Essex, with itswhalemen stranded in their lifeboats after a sperm whale attack is used to illustrate the difficulty of surviving in the open ocean. The currents which circle the South Pacific support huge shoals and an incredible variety of life, but much of the centre is an ocean desert. Nutrients are trapped at depth by thethermocline, making the windless surface clear but barren. Life can be tough for large predators. Some, including short-finned pilot whales, can dive to great depths to hunt squid. Others, like rare oceanic whitetip sharks, track the whales hoping for scraps or a chance to seize a young calf. The waters around the Galápagos teem with life thanks to the cool, nutrient-rich Antarctic current. Underwater footage showspenguins, manta rays and sea lions feeding. The sea lions work together to divide shoals into smaller bait balls, and blow bubbles into the reef to scare fish out. Seabirds are great ocean wanderers, but all must return to land to breed. On French Frigate Shoals, frigatebirds take sooty tern chicks from their nests, whilst offshore a dozen tiger sharks snatch any unfortunate black-footed albatross chicks that get their maiden flight wrong. Dusky dolphins and bull sperm whales are filmed in the waters off New Zealand, where an exhausted whale beached in a shallow bay is guided back out to sea by rescue boats.
04. Ocean of Volcanoes
The fourth instalment opens with rare footage of Kavachi, an underseavolcano, erupting. The South Pacific islands are typically volcanic in origin, and those of Hawaii are among the youngest. Kilauea’s rivers of lava flow directly into the sea, where they cool rapidly and release steam explosively. Pioneering species such as ōhia lehua colonise new land, putting roots down through the cracks into subterranean lava tubes where strange troglobites eke out their existence. In the Galápagos Islands, penguins take advantage of the cool shade of lava tubes to raise their chicks, but predatory Sally Lightfoot crabs lie in wait in the shadows. On the Solomons, megapodes bury their eggs in the warm ash of an active volcano, a natural incubator. Aerial photography ofMaunaKea, the Society Islands, Bora Bora and Rangiroa shows how erosion changes the character of volcanic islands over time. Eventually they sink back into the sea, leaving behind coral atolls and sheltered lagoons. Channels between ocean and lagoon attract feeding manta rays. The region’s coral reefs are the richest in the world-–the pristine Kingman Reef, a sunken volcano, has over 200 kinds of coral alone. Underwater footage includes giant clams spawning, grey reef sharks hunting needlefish by night andatimelapse sequence of a Triton’s trumpet engulfing a crown-of-thorns starfish. Reef fish are also agents of erosion-–thebumphead parrotfish chews through coral and excretes it as sand. The final scene shows huge swarms of jellyfish in themarine lakes of Palau, the jewel of Micronesia.
05. Strange Islands
The fifth programme looks at the unusual animal life of the South Pacific. Species have evolved new behaviour to take advantage of ecological niches. On New Guinea, kangaroos such as the dingiso have become arboreal, taking the place of monkeys. The lack of predators on the ground has resulted in more flightless birds than anywhere else on Earth, including the kagu from New Caledonia. The Solomon Islands are home to the monkey-tailed skink, the largest of its kind. Unlike any of its relatives, it has a prehensile tail, forms social bonds and has turned vegetarian. The differing bill shapes of Hawaii’shoneycreepers are used to illustrate how one colonising species can evolve into many specialists. In New Zealand, Fiordland crested penguins raise their chicks in the forests and short-tailed bats behave more like mice, hunting wetas on the ground. The fate of some New Zealand animals illustrates the fragility of island life. The kakapo, once a successful and abundant herbivore, was defenceless against Māori hunters and introduced predators. There are now 70 millionAustralian possums in New Zealand’s forests, where they out-compete native wildlife. Controlling introduced species is a huge problem across the South Pacific. Wild tuataras can still be found on Stephens Island, but the flightless wren was not so lucky – the last of its kind were killed by pet cats before it was declared a new species. The collapse of the Rapanuicivilization on Easter Island shows that human beings are not immune to this precarious existence.
06. Fragile Paradise
The final episode focuses on the environmental problems facing the South Pacific. Climate change threatens many islands, because they are low-lying and could be engulfed by rising seas. On Tuvalu, seawater bubbles up through the ground at high tides, making evacuation a realistic possibility. Oceans absorb half of all atmospheric CO2, but this turns them acidic, preventing sea creatures from building calciferous shells. The most immediate threat is overfishing. Reef damage by boats and tourism affects fish populations, but coral gardeners in Fiji have a solution. They harvest and grow corals artificially, then transplant them back to damaged reefs. Different fishing methods are compared, from sustainable pole and line fishingpractised by Solomon Islanders to long-line fishing, which has endangered albatross populations across the region. Commercial fishing vessels lay huge purse seine nets, large enough to catch 150 tonnes at a time. Cameras follow the action inside the net as a haul of yellowfin and skipjack tuna are brought to the surface. Greenpeace’s flagship Esperanzapatrols the high seas, unprotected pockets of ocean where fishing is unregulated. Less than 1% of the Pacific is protected, and yet up to 90% of its large predatory fish may have been lost already. A Fijian community reef is proof that protection could yet work. Tourism benefits from divers prepared to pay for close encounters with bull and tiger sharks, and fishermen benefit from increased stocks. An international conservation effort also helped save humpback whales, as numbers have recovered since the whaling ban.SIMILAR TITLES:
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