Earth: One Amazing Day Page #3

If getting safely into the water

was difficult, getting out is even harder.

[penguins chatter]

Tiny claws help them to get whatever

grip he can on the rough water.

The father now has

a two mile walk to his family.

And a stomach loaded

with food, doesn't help.

[mass penguin chatter]

This is the largest

penguin colony on Earth.

But, as he makes the same

journey every other day,

he should be able

to do it with his eyes closed.

[penguin grunts]

At least, most of the time.

Like any commute,

it can get a little congested.

And sometimes, it can be hard

to remember where you parked your kids.

The mother is still waiting,

the chicks are now desperate.

In the midst of all this deafening chorus,

he can recognise her particular cry.

[penguin calling]

She is, literally, one in a million.

[Penguins greeting]

A head bob, is the penguin's way

of saying, "Welcome home."

Both chicks will get a meal.

A happy end to the toughest

commute on Earth.

[birdsong]

Mid-afternoon

in the rainforests of Ecuador.

The air steams in the heat.

Here, the Sun and plants conspire

to create their own unique weather.

And is the same practically every day.

This afternoon,

that's going to help one of its smallest

and most beautiful inhabitants

in a surprising way.

The racket-tailed hummingbird

is about the size of your thumb.

It takes a lot of energy

to look this graceful.

[wings fluttering]

That means it's living

in a perpetual state of near starvation.

In fact, its metabolism is so fast,

it needs to fuel up on nectar,

over a thousand times a day.

It can't stop feeding for a moment.

All day is a race against time.

The racket-tail isn't the only one

hunting for nectar in the forest flowers.

[buzzing]

Bees are too,

and they don't like to share.

[loud buzzing]

A single bee sting,

close to the bird's heart, could be fatal.

[buzzing continues]

[wings fluttering]

But time, is on the racket-tail's side.

[rumbling]

Rain is about to intervene.

[PODDNG]

The heat of the afternoon sun,

has built massive thunder clouds.

And when they can no longer

hold their burden, they break.

[thunder rumbling]

[exaggerated splash]

Above the canopy, the rain is torrential.

Under the shelter of layers of leaves,

the deluge is reduced to drips.

A raindrop as big as its head,

may not be much fun for a hummingbird.

[buzzing]

But it's altogether too much, for a bee.

-[water whistles, thuds]

-[buzzing slows, dies]

The race to eat, continues.

All over the world, tiny creatures

are on a mission to stock up before night.

In a European meadow, there's a great

deal of food hidden in the plants.

For those who can reach it.

[squeaking]

[sniffling]

As the day begins to fade,

this tiny harvest mouse,

must gather as much fuel as possible.

[mouse tale whipping]

Her best chance for a good dinner,

are the seeds and fruit,

at the tips of the tallest stalks.

[stalk creaking]

But, it's the most dangerous part,

of her tiny world.

[stalk creaking]

[whooshing]

A barn owl, is a night-time hunter.

[stalk creaking]

[stalk whooshing]

But this one has woken early.

And hungry.

[whistling, thud]

[wings fluttering]

The world at ground-level is bewildering

for a mouse used to the high life.

But she can read the pattern

of the stems overhead, like a map.

Which is just as well,

because back home...

she's needed.

[squeaking]

The light is dying.

[bird trilling]

But new life is being born.

[water splashes softly]

A mayfly emerges.

It will live for just this day.

Or less, if it doesn't move fast enough.

[thud, water splashes]

-[wings flapping]

-[thud]

When life is as perilous as this...

nature finds safety in numbers.

This hatch, on the Tisza River in Hungary,

is one of the world's

great wildlife spectacles.

[wings fluttering softly]

Having spent three years

as nymphs in the river,

up to five million of these

remarkable insects emerge together,

on just this stretch of water alone.

They'll never feed.

They don't even have mouths.

Instead, as soon as they hatch,

they begin a vast glittering mating dance.

Every day on Earth is amazing.

But surely the mayfly's day,

is one of the most amazing of all.

By nightfall, they will have met,

mated, laid their eggs, and died.

The future entrusted

to the next generation.

Their entire adult life will be spent

in just a few hours of a single day.

Day, is now spinning swiftly,

towards night.

[low grumble]

The Sun slips, ever lower in the sky.

It is a time of great beauty...

and grave danger.

[bird chattering]

In the cool evening shadows,

is the best time to be a predator,

and the worst time to be prey.

[zebras whinnying]

For a zebra and her foal, this

is the most dangerous time of the day.

A cheetah has his eye on the foal.

[dramatic music playing]

[zebra calling]

[zebras whining]

[dramatic music continues]

[foal whinnying]

- Sometimes a mother's love...

-[Zebra whinnies]

can be a match for almost anything.

[zebra snorts]

As the day fades,

the shadow world is taking over.

[animals calling]

In the Changzhou mountains,

in Southwest China,

the world is turning its face

away from its nurturing star,

towards the chilly emptiness of space.

Here, white-headed langurs

are taking their last meal of the day.

They're amongst

the rarest creatures on Earth.

Rarer, even than the giant panda.

But when daylight disappears,

this is no place to linger.

-[ominous rumbling]

-[langur calling]

-[langur calling]

-[branches rustling]

They are obeying an ancient

and overpowering instinct.

[langurs squeaking]

With the lengthening of the shadows,

they scramble for height and refuge.

The route is precarious.

It's not unknown for a langur to fall,

or baby be dropped.

Yet, despite the risks,

the langurs never stay out after dark.

[langurs whining]

[baby langur crying]

Even the babies feel it,

and know to fear it.

Night is coming.

The world no longer belongs to them.

[soft rumbling]

It belongs to another set of players.

The creatures of darkness.

[thunder rumbles]

-[bat wings flapping]

-[thunder rumbles]

[owls hooting softly]

[low growl]

[low, distant howl]

The night can turn a friend

into a deadly foe.

During the day,

whitetip sharks are content

to cruise gently around the reef alone.

But when night comes,

they're transformed

into hunters working in packs.

In the gloom,

the shark's eyesight is poor.

But they can smell

potential prey from far off.

And they have another advantage.

A sixth sense, that can pick up

the tiny electrical signals

from the heartbeat of a frightened fish.

And track it down.

Even the deepest shadow,

is no hiding place.

[rocks shifting]

[fins flapping]

Darkness is not just

a time for nightmares.

But also for dreams and wonders.

[insect pattering]

[plants creaking]

Energy stored

from the sunlight is recycled.

And the world lights up again.

Some creatures use their lights for love.

For this male click beetle,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes