Coastal paradise is showcased in Living Edens: Big Sur – California’s Wild Coast, a special presentation of NATURE.

California is the land of Disney, Hollywood, and freeway traffic jams. But on a much grander scale, it’s also the land of natural marvels, including a coastal paradise where wildlife and flora thrive in an unspoiled environment. This magnificent region is explored in intimate detail in Living Edens: Big Sur.

On the 100-mile stretch of coastland south of the Monterey Peninsula, the filmmaker, Bruce Reitherman, reveals a variety of wildlife that has found refuge and hope here, including such rare and endangered birds as the California condor and the peregrine falcon. The return of the condor to Big Sur testifies to the success of one of the most ambitious captive breeding programs in history.

Ocean mammals too have found a hospitable haven in Big Sur. Thousands of elephant seals come ashore each winter, the females to give birth and the males to battle for the right to father the next generation. Sea otters are filmed using rocks as anvils to pry a rich meal from even the most resistant of mussels.

Inland, Big Sur encompasses forests of majestic ancient redwoods and oak woodlands, home to the acorn woodpecker, which is sustained through the winter by the oak tree’s nut-like fruit.

Online content for Living Edens: Big Sur – California’s Wild Coast was originally posted November 2002.