(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Nature's icons inspire wonder and awe.

(upbeat music) Some are skyscraper-high mountains, others deep valleys.

Some are bodies of water, others dry deserts.

Their iconic status is earned by their significance, be it geological, ecological or cultural.

They are places upon which our planet depends.

Places shaped by primordial forces.

The movement of earth, the explosion of fire, the weight of ice, the passage of water, and the sculpting of wind.

The result, is life.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (elephant trumpets) (upbeat music) (water splashing) To celebrate life on this planet, there is only one place to begin, Galapagos.

(upbeat music) The Galapagos lies in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

The nearest landmass is mainland Ecuador, over 900 kilometres to the East.

The archipelago straddles the equator, its islands scattered in both the Northern and southern hemispheres.

It's an isolated, misshapen place, where Mother Nature has bent every rule.

(soft music) And experimented with geology and ecology using every tool in her tool box.

(upbeat music) The Galapagos was born from fire.

The archipelago sits on a hot spot, where the earth's crust is thin and constantly melted from below.

(upbeat music) Volcanism has been continuous for tens of millions of years.

To this day, active volcanoes erupt regularly across the archipelago, and some islands are still being formed.

In turn, volcanism colours the earth.

Cliffs of black ash and red iron testify to this fiery history.

(upbeat music) Beaches are scarred by lava flow and littered with burnt boulders.

(upbeat music) In stark contrast, the waters are azure blue.

This water has had just as much influence on the life of Galapagos as fire and earth.

Tropical seas are typically nutrient-poor.

But the seas of the Galapagos are cooled by the Humboldt Current, which is nutrient-rich.

It enables these islands in the middle of nowhere, to be a beacon of life.

(ethereal music) The number of species living on the Galapagos is small, because it's a challenging environment.

Resources are limited so diversity is low.

(water splashing) Species evolved to suit a certain niche.

This made the archipelago a laboratory of evolution.

(bright music) Out of this laboratory came the blue footed booby.

The name derives from the Spanish word bobo, which means clown-like.

(bright music) Another notable bird is the Swallow Tail Gull, the only nocturnal gull in the world.

(upbeat music) Its large, night-adapted eyes enable it to capture fish and squid in the pitch-black ocean.

The Galapagos laboratory also spawned the world's only flightless cormorant.

A lack of land predators led to this bird developing non-functional wings.

Now they swim instead of fly to find food.

Hunting alongside them is the Galapagos penguin, the only species of penguin found North of the equator.

(upbeat music) Mother Nature's evolutionary experiments captured the attention of naturalist Charles Darwin, when he famously visited Galapagos in 1835.

Darwin collected many species here, including finches.

Their adaptations fascinated him and helped him to formulate his theory of natural selection, which underpins his ground-breaking book, "On the Origin of Species."

(upbeat music) This book completely changed how humanity understood the biological evolution of life.

(upbeat music) Another Galapagos animal that Darwin studied, was the giant tortoise.

(upbeat music) The archipelago once hosted around 15 distinct subspecies of tortoise, each adapted to suit a specific island.

(upbeat music) It's thought that all these tortoises originated from the same descendants, washed to the Galapagos from the mainland, millions of years ago.

Each subspecies adapted to have its own tell-tale shell.

This shell, named after the Spanish word for saddle, galapago, gives the islands their name.

(ethereal music) Sharing equal fame with the tortoise, is the marine iguana.

(upbeat music) According to most biologists, this is the most remarkable animal in the Galapagos.

It's the only lizard in the world that goes to sea to feed.

(upbeat music) Marine iguanas dine on aquatic algae, and make their pilgrimage daily.

(water splashing) (upbeat music) A special pigment in their blood enables them to store oxygen, and dive for an hour at a time.

(upbeat music) Like all reptiles, the marine iguana is cold blooded.

So when they've finished snacking, they need to warm up.

(upbeat music) To do this, they bunch together to benefit from the combined body temperature.

Up close they resemble dragons.

(air whooshing) But instead of snorting fire from their nostrils, they expel salt, by sneezing.

(upbeat music) Getting hot under the collar is another way to warm up.

(upbeat music) In the breeding season from December to April, males wrestle over territory and females.

(upbeat music) Nodding is a warning.

(upbeat music) If that doesn't work, then it's an all-out brawl.

(upbeat music) Females stay out of the way by digging burrows in the sand, to lay their eggs.

The Galapagos consists of 18 main islands, and scores of islets and rocky outcrops.

In this volcanic landscape, the brightest splashes of colour are offered by bird-life.

(birds chirping) None more so than the Frigate.

Male frigates have red throat pouches which brighten in the breeding season.

A male uses it to attract the attention of a female.

With pouch at the ready, he sits in his chosen nest site and keeps an eye on the sky.

If he spots a female, he inflates the pouch and splays his wings, hoping to lure her in.

(soft music) Once bonded, the pair typically raise one chick together, and take turns foraging and feeding.

(soft music) Flamingos are also famous for their reddish hue.

They love brackish saltwater lagoons, and filter feed primarily on brine shrimp.

Their beaks and tongues are specially adapted for this unique upside-down eating method.

Whilst their colour is due to aquatic bacteria and beta carotene found in their food.

(birds chirping) A perfect example of you are what you eat.

Red rock crabs also burn bright on this blackened coast.

The crabs act like garbage collectors, eating whatever debris they find and playing a vital role maintaining a healthy environment.

They are super agile, able to run in all directions over any terrain.

(upbeat music) It earned them the nickname Sally Lightfoot after a Caribbean dancer.

(upbeat music) Pretty much nothing can catch them.

(upbeat music) (water splashing) Another slippery character is the sea lion.

(sea lion growling) (upbeat music) These Galapagos locals are found in the archipelago year-round.

(sea lion growling) A prime time is August, in the middle of their breeding season.

(sea lion growling) Shorelines are transformed into nurseries, full of pups and mums.

(upbeat music) (sea lion squealing) (upbeat music) With no natural predators and top-class protection, the sea lions enjoy a totally chilled out lifestyle.

You don't have to tell these guys to stop and sniff the roses, they do little else.

(sea lion growling) Because the Galapagos remained isolated for so long, its animals have no innate fear of humans.

(upbeat music) Tolerance of us and one another, is all part of the magic of this iconic place.

(upbeat music) Galapagos is a marine and biosphere reserve, and World Heritage Site.

In July, 2010, the World Heritage Committee reversed its listing as an endangered site, due to excellent conservation management.

Galapagos shows the world how vital it is to protect the laboratories of life, and keep them bubbling away.

(sea lion growling) Another place bursting with extraordinary life is Africa.

(sings in foreign language) It's a continent of superlatives.

The world's largest, tallest and fastest animals all come from here.

(sings in foreign language) All these animals are found in Africa's most famous park, the Serengeti.

(soft music) The Serengeti National Park is located in central Tanzania, and covers an area of 15,000 square kilometres.

(upbeat music) It's revered as one of the planet's greatest wilderness areas.

(upbeat music) Hundreds of species co-exist here.

(upbeat music) Herbivores include numerous types of antelope and gazelle.

(upbeat music) While carnivores include the elusive leopard.

There are over 500 bird species.

(birds chirping) From delicate song birds to the messy clean-up crew.

(vultures screaming) Vultures play a vital role dispatching carcasses that would otherwise rot and spread disease.

It's dirty work, but someone has to do it.

(vultures screaming) (upbeat music) The plant life of the Serengeti National Park, forms one of the oldest and scientifically significant ecosystems on earth.

Over 300 plant species are found in the park, some with ancient heritage.

(upbeat music) Many different habitats make up the Serengeti, from open grassland, to forests, woodlands and plains, dominated by Acacia and Sausage trees.

(upbeat music) These trees provide sustenance for vegetarians like Giraffes, who expertly pick out the leaves from the thorns.

(upbeat music) Around 200,000 visitors converge on the Serengeti each year, mostly in search of wildlife.

It's easily found, sometimes right in the Tyre rut.

(pig snorting) (soft music) Other times, right in front of the windscreen.

(upbeat music) For wildebeest, the grass is always greener on the other side.

On the other side of the road and country.

And finding fresh grass fuels this.

The world's greatest land migration.

(upbeat music) Every year, more than one and a half million wildebeest run from the Serengeti plains to Kenya's Masai Mara and back again, a round trip of some 1,000 kilometres.

Other grazers join them, including zebra and antelope.

(upbeat music) All told, over 8 million hooves thunder across the Serengeti in a living chain.

(upbeat music) This wonder of earth, is triggered by water.

The animals literally chase the rain, and the sustenance it promises.

It's do or die.

Around a quarter of a million wildebeest perish during each migration, from exhaustion, hunger, thirst and predation.

(upbeat music) Tanzania experiences just four rainy months, with April and May the rainiest.

(raining) (thunder roars) (raining) Five rivers cut through the Serengeti National Park, fueled by these seasonal downpours.

(upbeat music) African animals of all shapes and sizes stick close to this water, and depend upon it.

(upbeat music) The stand-out water beast is the African Buffalo.

(upbeat music) It's known as black death or widow maker due to its dangerous nature.

The main thing to remember is never get between a buffalo and the river, they must drink every day to survive, and also love the water reeds and grasses.

(upbeat music) In the Serengeti, Buffalo are thriving, and can sometimes be found in herds of 1,000 or more.

(upbeat music) It takes a brave beast to cut a swathe through buffalo.

Brave, and big.

This is the world's largest land creature, the African Elephant.

Boss of the herd is the matriarch, often with youngsters afoot.

(birds chirping) (soft music) Bond between mother and calf, is one of the strongest in the natural world.

It starts with a long pregnancy of 22 months, and continues for years after birth.

(upbeat music) Even when nursing a young calf, the matriarch stays connected with older calves.

It's really just one big happy family.

(upbeat music) The name elephant originates from the Greek word elephas meaning ivory, it shows what they were most valued for, and poaching for their tusks has decimated the species.

(dramatic music) Thanks to decades of protection, over 7,000 elephants roam the Serengeti National Park, making it a rare good news story for the species.

(dramatic music) They are earth shakers and movers.

(dramatic music) Everything they do alters their environment, and they are sustained by their environment in all different ways.

(dramatic music) Elephants love to make the dirt fly.

Earth minerals supplement their diet, and dust is applied as sunscreen and insect repellent.

(dramatic music) African elephants can live for 70 years in the wild, and as adults they have no natural predators.

(dramatic music) But calves do.

(dramatic music) The lions of the Serengeti specialise in killing elephants, and target the young ones.

(dramatic music) A male lion is strong enough to bring one down on his own, but is famous for conserving energy unless absolutely necessary.

(dramatic music) (upbeat music) The name Serengeti is derived from the Masai word siringit meaning endless plains.

On these plains, even Africa's biggest and tallest are tiny.

(upbeat music) These weird and wonderful life-forms exist in a sort of time capsule here.

(upbeat music) Weather, flora and fauna has barely changed on the Serengeti for over a million years.

(upbeat music) This is a prehistoric place, where life has breathing room.

(upbeat music) As the Serengeti shows, given enough space life has no limits.

(upbeat music) And Africa's water equivalent is the Pacific Ocean.

It's the largest and deepest ocean on Earth.

It covers over 30% of the world's surface.

(water splashing) And is bigger than the landmasses of all the world's continents combined.

(upbeat music) Its average depth is 4,000 metres, but the infamous Mariana Trench reaches a depth of 11,000 metres.

That's over 2,000 metres deeper than Everest is high.

(ethereal music) On the surface, the Pacific is an idyllic, glittering playground.

(upbeat music) Most of the world's islands are found in this ocean.

(upbeat music) Over 25,000 of them.

(upbeat music) On any of these postcard-perfect islands, it's easy to understand why its name Pacific derives from the Spanish word for peaceful.

(upbeat music) But when it comes to life, the Pacific is anything but peaceful.

(upbeat music) This ocean supports wildlife galore.

(upbeat music) Wilderness gems are scattered across this mighty ocean.

Shining brightest is Palau, to its West is the Philippines.

To its South is Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

But Palau is hundreds of kilometres from all these places.

It literally sits in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by water.

(upbeat music) Palau consists of 340 islands.

The most famous are these mushroom-shaped creations called Rock Islands.

They're remnants of an ancient coral reef, which grew millions of years ago when sea level was some 250 metres higher.

Tectonic activity pushed the reef to the surface.

Exposed coral eroded, leaving chunks of limestone.

Wave action sculpts the base, while jungle stabilises the top, resulting in these distinct shapes.

(soft music) Most of Palau's islands are uninhabited, so the main life here is wildlife.

(soft music) In this tropical climate, where rainfall and humidity is high and temperatures stable, that life is abundant above, and below the surface.

(upbeat music) This is also because of a long, strong history in conservation.

(upbeat music) It began in 1956, with the protection of many of the islands.

And it hit a high point in 2009, when Palau created the world's first, shark sanctuary.

(upbeat music) The sanctuary is approximately 600,000 square kilometres of ocean, an area the size of France.

With commercial fishing banned, these waters offer a safe-house for 130 species of shark which are fighting extinction in the wider Pacific Ocean.

(soft music) The World Future Council cites Palau as a global leader in protecting marine ecosystems.

And it's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

(ethereal music) Even the scars of war are beautified here.

(upbeat music) During World War Two, Palau was caught in the crossfire between American and Japanese forces.

Air-strikes pummelling the area for months.

(plane engine roars) Downing planes and sinking dozens of ships.

(plane engine roars) Turning Palau into a watery graveyard.

(upbeat music) But nature quickly resurrected life after death.

Wreckage is now festooned with living reef, and a diver's delight.

(upbeat music) Soft corals decorate artillery and guns.

(upbeat music) Fish drift along decks.

(upbeat music) And everyday items used by soldiers, now rest in peace.

(upbeat music) In the shallows, there's even a chance to experience flying a fighter plane.

(upbeat music) Eco-tourism makes the most of humanity's darkest hours, and the natural and alien seamlessly co-exist in all sorts of ways in Palau.

(soft music) Another example is here on Eil Malk Island, in the famous Jellyfish Lake.

(upbeat music) Few creatures look as other-worldly as these glowing golden jellyfish.

(upbeat music) And they really are out of place in their jungle setting.

(soft music) Normally, jellyfish are adrift in the open ocean, but these ones get the best of both worlds.

(soft music) Their lake is connected to the outside ocean via fissures in the island's limestone.

Fresh ocean water enters and leaves on the tides.

(upbeat music) But the lake is isolated enough to create its own unique conditions, and the jellyfish have adapted.

They're substantially different from close relatives in other lagoons, and now appear to be their own subspecies.

They have no predators, so have lost their stinging cells.

(upbeat music) And whether they boom or bust, depends entirely on drought or rain and the lake's salinity.

(upbeat music) Zooxanthellae algae live in their tissues, and photosynthesize sunlight for energy.

This nourishes the host jellyfish in a symbiotic relationship.

The algae's need for sunlight drives the movement of the jellyfish.

Starting at sunrise, the jellyfish follow the arch of the sun from one side of the lake to the other.

(upbeat music) They move by pumping water through their bells, and rotate to expose their entire bodies to the light.

(upbeat music) Hundreds of thousands of jellyfish take part in this daily migration.

(upbeat music) Jellyfish Lake is around 12,000 years old.

It's a remnant of the last ice age, a basin filled by higher seas.

As glaciers receded and sea level dropped, the jellyfish were trapped.

(upbeat music) How they adapted would make Darwin proud.

Like the Galapagos, the lake is another laboratory of evolution.

Pulsing with life.

(soft music) The richness of life on our planet has a distinct pattern.

(upbeat music) In very simple terms, the closer to the equator, the greater the biodiversity.

(upbeat music) The closer to the poles, the more diminished.

Scientifically, this is a known phenomenon called the Latitudinal Diversity Gradient.

(upbeat music) It's thought rainfall in the tropics is the main driver of life.

Species blossom, compete for space and diversify.

(upbeat music) (water flowing) (upbeat music) Straddling this tropical belt, with a wildlife biodiversity the envy of the world, is the Indonesian Archipelago.

(upbeat music) The archipelago lies off South East Asia in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

It consists of 17,500 islands, with a total area of 1.9 million square kilometres.

(upbeat music) That's almost 8 times bigger than the UK, and spanning a distance greater than the width of North America.

(upbeat music) This makes Indonesia the world's largest island country.

(upbeat music) Geologically, the archipelago is one of the most unusual areas in the world.

It lies on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

(volcano expulsion) A major juncture in the Earth's tectonic plates where volcanic and seismic activity is high.

Evidence of fire is everywhere.

But all the icon makers have been busy here.

Coupled with fire, the uplift of earth has resulted in a fertile, dramatic landscape which sustains one of the world's richest floral habitats.

(birds chirping) (upbeat music) Water and wind have also played their part, carving ancient limestone into spectacular coastlines and caves.

(upbeat music) And the coming and going of Ice Ages influenced the migration and evolution of both animals and people.

(upbeat music) For millennia, the archipelago has been a nexus for people of mainland Asia and across Oceania.

It's a melting pot of more than 300 different ethnic groups.

Almost 700 distinct languages, and a mix of both major and indigenous religions.

As far as human life goes, the Indonesian Archipelago is booming.

(motorcycle engine roars) With a population of over 276 million, it is one of the most densely populated places on earth.

(upbeat music) (motorcycle engine roars) But, despite the press of humanity, wild life abounds here.

Around 7,000 islands are still uninhabited, and the warm monsoonal climate makes the archipelago a cauldron of biodiversity.

(upbeat music) Some islands even have their own star animals.

One is legendary.

(upbeat music) The Komodo Dragon.

(upbeat music) This is the world's largest lizard.

It can grow to a length of 3 metres and weigh around 70 kilos.

(upbeat music) It's endemic to Indonesia with Komodo Island its stronghold.

The same elemental forces which created iconic Indonesia created this living monster.

Its lineage is ancient, going back some 20 million years.

It's thought the species we see today actually originated in Australia around 3 million years ago.

(upbeat music) Reptilian megafauna were once common throughout Australasia.

But by the end of the last Ice Age, only a few species like the Komodo remained, scattered on isolated islands.

(upbeat music) Feasting on everything from birds to mammals to carrion, the Komodo Dragon rose in fame to become an apex predator.

(upbeat music) It's even killed a few humans.

(dramatic music) (birds chirping) Meanwhile, the star species of Borneo is much more peace-loving.

It hides out in the thick jungle as best it can.

(birds chirping) When spotted, it's quite an eye sore.

(upbeat music) The Proboscis Monkey is Indonesia's Pinocchio, famous for the male's usually long nose.

This nose can exceed 10 centimetres and is thought to be visually attractive to females, and also magnifies vocalisations.

(upbeat music) The Proboscis monkey is only found on this island, and is classified as endangered.

(upbeat music) Its survival can only be assured in places like this.

Labuk Bay Monkey Sanctuary.

The sanctuary is 400 acres of precious forest, spared whilst the rest was felled for a palm oil plantation.

(upbeat music) It's just enough room to offer a semi wild existence for its 150 monkeys, and keep them in good health.

(upbeat music) (birds chirping) It's also a safe place to raise the next generation.

(upbeat music) (birds chirping) (monkeys chattering) Sharing the same uncertain fate, is the Orangutan.

(soft music) (birds chirping) Once widespread throughout the forests of Asia, this famous primate is now found on just two islands.

Borneo and Sumatra.

(soft music) (birds chirping) The Orangutan's name translates to person of the forest.

(soft music) (birds chirping) But like the Proboscis Monkey, it relies heavily on protected sanctuaries to keep a tenuous hold on survival.

(upbeat music) (birds chirping) This is the most famous animal of Indonesia's Archipelago, and one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.

(upbeat music) (birds chirping) They share over 97% of our genes, and are highly intelligent.

(upbeat music) (birds chirping) Orangutans are unique lifeforms.

The only Great Ape in Southeast Asia and the only one found outside of Africa.

(birds chirping) (upbeat music) All life began in the ocean around 4 billion years ago.

(upbeat music) Since that time, life has continued to spawn here.

(upbeat music) And one of the oceans most important nurseries, are coral reefs.

(upbeat music) Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the mother of all coral reefs.

This is the world's largest coral reef system, stretching over 2,300 kilometres and covering an area of more than 344,000 square kilometres.

(upbeat music) Layer by layer, over millions of years, the reef has grown to become the largest living structure on the planet and the only one visible from outer space.

(upbeat music) The Great Barrier Reef consists of 3,000 individual reefs.

(upbeat music) Over 600 islands.

(upbeat music) And 300 coral cays.

(upbeat music) It's a vast matrix of life, which has the smallest of beginnings, corals.

(upbeat music) Corals are ancient beings, which have inhabited Planet Earth for over 500 million years.

(upbeat music) Some species are fast growing and resemble branches, such as the aptly named staghorn corals.

Meanwhile, brain corals are slow growing and can live for hundreds of years.

Others are hungry for the sun, and spread outwards to form plates and fans.

(upbeat music) These different species then jostle for light and space, and intermingle to become the reef.

(upbeat music) The Great Barrier Reef is part of a vast World Heritage Listed area.

(plane engine roars) 70 million football fields would fit inside its marine park.

(upbeat music) (plane engine roars) A quarter of all known marine species spend part of their life cycle on a reef.

(upbeat music) They range from the cryptic.

(upbeat music) To the charismatic.

(upbeat music) Over 1,600 fish species live on the Great Barrier Reef.

(upbeat music) Each fish species depends on the reef in different ways, for shelter, habitat and food.

(upbeat music) Herbivores like wrasse, actually chew on coral to extract the algae for nutrition.

(upbeat music) And then pooh out the sand.

(water flowing) This sand accumulates into the famous picture-perfect white beaches, which in turn creates habitat for other creatures, including more than 200 bird species.

(upbeat music) For most, the life of the Great Barrier Reef appears never-ending, but that's an illusion.

(soft music) The increase of water temperature due to climate change, causes coral to bleach more often and die.

(upbeat music) Scientists predict that by around 2040 our beloved icon will be lifeless.

(water flowing) (soft music) Sea turtles offer hope.

(water splashing) They are earth's living dinosaurs, unchanged for over 100 million years.

(bright music) To see turtles on the Great Barrier Reef, is a reminder of the resilience of life on earth.

Evolving and adapting, despite the greatest of odds.

(upbeat music) Over millions of years, corals have been destroyed and reborn countless times.

(upbeat music) So if this history is anything to go by, the Great Barrier Reef may yet rise again.

(water splashing) As the fate of the Great Barrier Reef reminds us, Planet Earth is in constant flux.

It has already experienced five mass extinction events, during which 70 to 95% of all life was extinguished.

(upbeat music) Scientists say we are now entering our sixth mass extinction event.

This time it's not caused by earth's elemental forces.

Instead, by human-kind.

(upbeat music) But human-kind is but a blip on the geological timeline.

The icons of earth, fire, ice, water and wind, precede us by thousands, sometimes millions of years.

And will continue to be created in perpetuity, beyond our control, beyond our imagination.

(upbeat music) Such is the way, for the World's Greatest Icons of Nature.

(water flowing) (upbeat music)