Ultimate Swarms Page #4

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there's not much time to fly about

and look for a mate.

So, by all heading to

the nearest bright light,

you improve your chances

of finding a partner.

And just as I was about to give up

hope

of getting to see this

incredible event in action,

there's some promising news.

I've just had a phone

call from a boat yard up here.

This looks like the marina,

so I hope I'm in the right place.

Oh! Oh-ho!

Mayflies, flying.

Look, there's one on the window.

Whoa, this is more like it.

Whoa! Look at this!

'We've caught the very beginnings

of a swarm.'

These guys will have left the river

late last night last night,

looking for a landing spot

where they can go through one

final transformation.

This is incredible.

This is the emergence of an adult

mayfly from the sub-adult,

and this is a process that has been

going on for 300 million years.

This is incredible to watch.

Now, it's still got to get

the end of its abdomen out,

and it's got to draw out

those long tails.

And this exact process

is being repeated

hundreds of millions of times.

In a few hours' time,

all the new adults will

rise into the air in a huge swarm.

The mayfly have spent their entire

lives in the mud,

waiting for this brief

and all-important moment.

By evening, the sky fills

with millions of them,

in an intense breeding frenzy.

Being part of the swarm is a once

in a lifetime event for the mayfly.

But other insects have to deal with

a whole life in amongst the swarm.

But then working together

efficiently, is vital.

Ant colonies are completely

dependent on keeping the supplies

coming in thick and fast.

With millions of hungry

mouths to feed,

any delay could be a disaster.

So, they avoid a crisis by following

a surprising highway code.

To go as fast as possible,

the ants have learned to slow down.

That means no boy racers

and no overtaking.

And what works for the ants

also works for us.

Twice a day, our roads have to cope

with millions of people

all trying to be at the right

place at the right time.

Designing our transport networks

to cope is a huge challenge.

So, now, our road planners

are starting to pick up

a few tips from the ants.

By restricting each and every car

to around 50 miles an hour,

actually makes the journey faster.

And although it might not

seem like it,

reducing the number of lanes

and banning overtaking makes things

even more efficient.

And now several car companies are

taking this a step further

by looking into technology

that keeps cars

close behind each other

and at a constant speed...

..just like the travelling ants.

That is just weird.

These super-smart cars have sensors

that read their speed

and distance from the vehicle

in front.

I'm not touching the brake at all.

All you have to do is hold the wheel

and, if that car in front stops,

the brakes are applied

automatically...

bringing me to a halt.

I have to say,

it really makes you very nervous.

It's a very unsettling feeling

not to be in control of the car,

as it were.

Stopping here - oh.

Oh. Oh.

Oh.

HE LAUGHS:

I didn't touch the brake.

Oh, my goodness.

These cars are so clever that even

when the car in front brakes

unexpectedly,

the car has everything under

control.

Ah!

Oh!

Oh!

Ah!

Let me just get my breath back now.

HE SIGHS:

That was unbelievable.

I'm not sure I'm quite

ready for a car with swarm powers

but it's a genius idea.

And with almost 40 million

vehicles on UK roads,

technology like this could be

the answer to keeping traffic

flowing with ant-like precision.

But while some swarms are helping us

overcome problems,

others are just adding to them.

In America, there's an unseen swarm

that has silently invaded

and is slowly taking over.

In the last 40 years,

it's spread into 23 states

and yet remains largely

hidden from view.

The American government has spend

over $150m trying to control it.

It's a swarm that

I have never experienced before

and one that is not without

considerable risk.

For my chance to meet this swarm,

I'm heading to Bath, Illinois,

in the American Midwest.

And it seems I'm not the only one

here to meet this highly

destructive swarm.

There was a couple of guys that got

black eyes that got hit in the face

with no protection, and they're

walking around here today.

They got a big, old shiner.

That looks painful.

It was.

This one was the first hit yesterday

and one on this eye.

And you're back for more.

Back for more. This is dangerous.

Yeah. We've been coming eight years.

This is the first time we've ever

got hurt, though.

People say they eat them

but, as nasty as they look,

I ain't touching them.

Just what have I let myself in for?

To find out, the Illinois Natural

History Team is going to get me

face-to-face with the problem.

Today, we're going to use

a technique called electrofishing,

and we're going to put anywhere from

4,500 to 5,000 volts into the water.

Well,

this is the calm before the swarm.

I have no idea what's going to

happen.

Wow!

This is crazy!

Argh!

That is unbelievable.

Oh!

This is what I'm here for,

the Asian silver carp,

a fish with a unique panic reflex,

causing it to leap out of the water.

There are literally

thousands of these carp.

Arg!

This is absolute insanity.

Whether it's a predator,

a boat or our electric current,

a reflex response spreads

through the swarm,

setting off a chain

reaction of leaping fish.

It's a vital way of measuring

just how many

fish are lurking down there.

At the moment, the best guess

is 2,500 carp per mile of river

but the numbers are still growing.

And as carp numbers are going up,

the amount of other

wildlife is going down.

I've never seen

so much fish in my life.

Oh!

This is a swarm out of control

and ecologically dangerous.

Getting rid of it isn't going to be

easy, but the battle is on.

The big concern is that the carp

are only 50 miles away

from the great lakes of America.

If they continue to spread

in that direction,

they could devastate

a $4bn fishing industry.

The US government have been

spending $150m in the last two years

just to control this species.

Everybody all right?

I got one on the backside.

Unbelievable.

So far, they've tried everything

from poison to electric barriers,

but nothing seems to be able

to stop the carp.

So, the locals have decided to take

matters into their own hands.

This fishing tournament

is their chance to fight back.

We're now in the middle of this

fishing chaos.

There's about 50 boats here. There's

some more boats coming towards us.

Whoa! That hit him right on the

head, that.

Carnage!

Oh, jeez!

HE LAUGHS:

I'm hanging on.

But why have the carp got

out of control?

Ooh!

They eat algae and because they eat

so much of it,

they are basically eating all

of the food

that the fish here would normally

eat.

The carp can eat up to

a third of their body weight a day.

Their ferocious appetite has

pretty much emptied

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