All language subtitles for Rivers of Life - 01x02 - The Amazon.WEB.h264-LiGATE.English.C.orig.Addic7ed.com

Narrator: One river
dwarfs all others.

The mightiest of them all.

Through it flows one fifth of
all the fresh water

on our planet.

It sustains the world's
largest rainforest.

It nurtures
the greatest diversity

of wildlife on earth...

And inspires
vibrant cultures.

It is a river so vast
that it defies belief.

It is the Amazon.

A river of extremes,

size...

Transformation,

and color.

Together they create
the secret worlds

and unexpected
opportunities for those

who make their home
in the legendary Amazon.

Earth's rivers of life make
extraordinary journeys,

carving through continents,

nurturing
great civilizations,

feeding and connecting
life across our world.

These rivers are the life-blood
of planet earth.

=====================

Narrator: The story of
the Amazon starts

with the single drop...

Among the glaciers
of the Peruvian andes.

Here, glacial melt water tumbles
down the mountainsides.

On lower slopes where
humid air from below

meets the cold mountain
atmosphere...

Cloud forests grow,
shrouded in mist.

Tiny plants create
hanging gardens

on the branches
of ancient trees...

Transforming water vapor
into sparkling droplets.

All around is the sound of
the Amazon coming to life...

The start of a 4,000-mile
journey to the sea.

The Amazon is made up of more
than a thousand tributaries

which gather water from across
tropical south America...

Flowing through 9 countries,

feeding into
one huge river

which runs east
across the Amazon basin

into the Atlantic ocean.

As it gathers water from such
an extreme and diverse region,

the Amazon's headwaters come in
many different shapes,

sizes, and colors.

Each has its
own distinct character.

One shallow and rocky remote
Amazon tributary in Brazil

provides an enticing opportunity
for a family

of one Amazon's largest
and rarest predators...

Giant river otters.

Adults are nearly
6 feet long.

This family is
exploring a new territory,

a 3-mile stretch of
the cristalino river

in the Amazon's far south.

Led by dad,
the family follow his calls

with a chorus that is unique
to their group.

This spot looks perfect,

rich in fish.

Now the parents can teach
their young how to hunt.

It's a testing time for
the most inexperienced cub.

Calling out a
stream of orders,

dad coordinates
the hunting party.

Fish can evade otters
in the deep waters.

The family's
best chance is to corral

the fish up
against the bank.

The youngster
has missed out.

Everyone seems to have a fish
but him.

And he's not happy about it.

Luckily, the family is generous
enough to share.

Not that dad
seems impressed.

It takes 3 years
for an otter cub

to master the complexities
of these rivers.

The remote headwaters
of the Amazon

have an unpredictable
and dangerous reputation.

Many call rapids like these
boat breakers.

And there are accounts
of intrepid explorers

disappearing without
a trace.

These upper reaches are home

to the Amazon's legendary
river monsters...

Like electric eels,

capable of generating
more than 500 volts...

Enormous pacus,

some weighing
up to 55 pounds...

And giant anacondas,

among the largest snakes
in the world.

Some of these Amazon headwaters
are so inaccessible,

They still hide mysteries which
are only now being discovered.

Beyond the bank of
one distant tributary,

the forest conceals
a rare treasure.

Branching off
the main river

is a pool of
crystal-clear water...

With dancing,
bubbling sand.

This is, in fact, a spring.

Rising from
deep underground,

the water is
filtered by the sand...

Leaving it as spotless
as an aquarium.

It's full of life,

and with such clean,
clear water,

it's a perfect nursery.

A young couple has come here
to raise a family.

A pair of cichlids
so new to science,

they don't even have a name.

The female finds a quiet spot
to lay her eggs.

The male follows her
to fertilize them

in an elegant
mating dance.

They will guard them
until they hatch.

When they finally do,
the young are unable to swim,

at least not until they
absorb the yolk sacks

which they're born with.

So for now, the parents
keep them safe

by hiding them under a leaf
and dutifully warning off

any would-be baby snatchers.

And like all young parents,
sleep is at a premium.

A few days later, these
baby fish can finally swim...

And like all toddlers,
are eager to explore.

Being a parent
is unrelenting,

especially when you have
a brood of over a hundred.

Cichlids form strong
bonds with their mates

and are as loyal
to their babies

as they are to each other.

But out here,
danger is never far away.

The different properties
of the clear water spring

and the main river channel,

which is stained dark
by rotting leaves...

Creates a bizarre underwater
phenomenon...

A water wall.

It's the perfect hiding place
for voracious mouths...

Freshwater Amazon barracuda

and a large wolf fish.

They lurk,
watching and waiting.

But the predators seem strangely
reluctant to enter the clear water,

for fear, perhaps,

of being spotted and
gobbled up themselves.

But well-armed stingrays
are braver.

Using their
natural camouflage...

They can set an ambush...

From where they
might vacuum up

the cichlid family
in one fell swoop.

Their fate depends on
the vigilance of their parents.

Dad spots something...

And defends his brood.

The stingray
is sent packing.

These dedicated
and brave parents

will have to be
ever-watchful...

Shepherding their young
until one day

they are old enough
and bold enough

to face the perils of the main
channel for themselves.

The upper Amazon hides many
strange and secret worlds

teeming with life,

but there is one remote
river in Peru

where the waters are
seemingly barren.

As dawn breaks, an ethereal
apparition appears,

wisps of steam snaking
across the canopy...

Revealing below, a boiling
Amazon tributary.

Only recently mapped,

it is now known to be one of

the largest stretches of thermal
river anywhere on the planet.

At a temperature of
nearly 200 degrees,

any fish unlucky enough
to stray into these waters

would be instantly
cooked alive.

Hot bedrock from deep
within the earth's crust

lies unusually close
to the surface here,

so this water is
heated and purified,

which is why this stretch of
river is so special.

Narrator: One of 400 tribes
indigenous to the Amazon,

the ashaninka people
have been visiting

the boiling river
for generations

and revere it for
its healing properties.

Juan flores
is their shaman.

Shaman: For me the waters hace a power
and a great healing spirit.

I came here when I was ill
I became stronger, calmer.

The water healed me.

Narrator: Juan and his
family have developed

a deep connection with
this precious place.

They've learned that by taking
plants from the surrounding forests

and mixing them with this
ultra-pure and super-heated water,

they can make medicine.

Well, the steam spirit
works with the plants.

Te great water healer is in harmony
with the spirit of the panets.

Narrator: Many medicines
used today across the world

have their origins
in rainforests,

yet less than a tenth
of Amazon's plants

have been studied
by modern science.

The rest remain a mystery,

known only to
the local healers.

This extraordinary river simmers
for the next 4 miles

before it tumbles away from
the last of the foothills,

down to the plains of
the Amazon basin below.

Here, the tributaries
join together

and the lowland rivers
begin to swell...

Surging faster and deeper.

The strength of the currents
erodes the soft riverbanks.

But even from
destruction like this,

the Amazon creates unexpected
opportunity.

Hidden treasure...

Which attracts
green-winged macaws,

who flock together on
the newly-exposed banks.

They have come to eat fresh
Clay, which might seem strange,

but there is
a very good reason.

This particular Clay is
naturally rich in salt,

an essential
dietary supplement.

Far from the ocean
and leached away

by the Amazon's
high rainfall,

salt is hard to find here.

So the macaws bicker
over the best deposits,

creating one of the Amazon's loudest
and most colorful spectacles.

Leaving the very last
foothills behind them,

the lowland rivers
then set off

out across the vast plain
of the Amazon basin.

Ultimately, they
all join together

to create one gigantic
muddy river channel.

Close to the Peruvian
city of iquitos

is where some say the Amazon
truly begins.

Here, ocean-going ships can sail
nearly 2,500 miles inland.

Almost halfway through
its journey to the sea,

the Amazon meets its most
distinctive and imposing tributary,

the inky black rio
negro in Brazil.

The negro is
stained dark by tannins

from decayed forest leaves,

which also make it acidic.

Where the two
rivers collide,

they create one of the most
extraordinary river spectacles

anywhere in the world.

In contrast to the negro,

the Amazon's water looks
like chocolate milk,

heavy with sediments
washed down from the andes.

The properties
of the two are so different,

the line between them can
remain visible for 90 miles.

And it's here
at this great confluence

where the Amazon sustains its
greatest city...

Manaus.

With a population of over
two million people,

this city made its fortune
in the 19th century

from the riches of the river
and surrounding rainforest.

Rubber, gold, and minerals.

The thriving markets of manaus
depend on a constant supply

of exotic foods.

For the last century,

this flamboyant city has
built a reputation

as the Paris of
the tropics,

dominated by
an extravagant opera house.

The people of manaus
depend on local farmers

like edmar Fernandez de lira,

who grow crops on
the fertile muddy banks

of the Amazon just
outside the city.

Fernandez: We have
been living for 35 years.

All the families here farm
vegetables and spring greens.

Picking cabbage
leaves and hoeing...

...this is our life.

Narrator: These are
the good times for edmar,

but he must work all
the daylight hours he can.

When it's harvest time we have
to start at 5 am in the fields.

Narrator: Here, the Amazon's
banks are very productive.

Once a week for
8 months of the year,

Edmar carries nearly a ton of
leaves down to the waiting boat.

Edmar: At 5 pm the boat arrives
to pick up the cabbage

to sell it in the market.

Narrator: But time is
running out.

These are some of
the last crops edmar

will be able to
sell for months.

He must prepare himself
for huge change.

Every year in November,

the tropical wet season
sweeps in.

6 months of rainstorms
inject trillions of gallons

of water into the Amazon
river system...

Transforming it.

Whole sections of forest are
washed clean by flash floods.

Small creatures from
the forest floor

have their world turned
upside down.

In the mid Amazon, stretches
of river can quadruple in width

and rise by 30 feet.

The port of manaus is built
with a huge harbor wall

to help withstand
the change.

But beyond the city,
it's a different story.

Edmar's farm is submerged.

But because he has prepared,

he just shifts his attention
to his stilt garden.

For the next 4 months,
the only vegetables

to grow on his farm will be
those above the flood.

But when the river
does recede,

it will deposit a fresh
layer of sediment

which will fertilize
a new season of planting.

The high waters leave behind

just what the riverside
farmers need.

But the floods
are getting worse,

and living here comes
with huge challenges.

Edmar: Here in our village almost everyone
has already lost a house.

It's a great trouble to us

that our houses are destroyed,
just to rebuild them again.

Narrator: In recent years,
the Amazon has faced

more extreme weather events...

Drier dry seasons...

And even wetter
wet seasons.

Within the last two decades,

rainfall has become so intense
that the floods

have been the highest
since records began.

Edmar: The community wants to move.

People are tired of suffering
our energy is draning away.

It's becoming unbearable.

Narrator: The river
that provided so abundantly

for edmar and his family

is now threatening to destroy
their way of life.

It's hard to say
what the future holds

for many of the Amazon's
river people.

Although for nature,

the extreme scale of
these annual floods

brings incredible
opportunities.

Vast tracts of land become
completely submerged,

creating the Amazon's
legendary flooded forests.

Nearly 200,000 square miles of
rainforest becomes inundated...

A new home for
countless fish that shoal

among the branches where
birds once flew.

The Amazon has
over 3,000 species of fish.

Many breed in the flooded
forests during high water.

And hot on their tails
come the Amazon's

most revered and
mysterious creatures.

Pink river dolphins,

known locally as botos,

the largest river dolphins
in the world.

Thousands of
miles from the ocean,

the Amazon is
their only home.

A flooded forest might seem an
impenetrable world for a dolphin.

Here, the floodwater is stained
reddish brown.

Sunken branches create
an obstacle course,

but botos have the equipment
to navigate this dark maze.

Like their ocean cousins,

their domed forehead,
the melon,

allows botos to scan their
surroundings using sonar.

They can navigate every
drowned treetop

with absolute precision

and have little problem
locating their prey.

And if that's not enough,

botos have another tool
unique to their species.

They are the only adult dolphins
with whiskers.

These help pinpoint
exactly where their prey is,

no matter how it
twists and turns.

The Amazon's flooded
forests have existed

for at least
8 million years...

Creating an extreme world
so special and unique,

It's the home of some of the
most bizarre birds on earth...

Hoatzins...

Whose unusual lifestyle
sets them apart.

For a start, they feed almost
exclusively on leaves,

a diet which has
an unfortunate

and gassy effect
on their digestion,

leading to their nickname,
stink birds.

During the flood season,

certain riverside plants burst
into a flush of new growth.

It's the time for
hoatzins to breed.

But the new leaves attract
spider monkeys, too.

Some monkeys can be a threat

and often eat eggs
they find.

Hoatzins only safety is in
the most inaccessible branches

close to the surface
of the river...

Safe from the reach
of greedy monkeys,

but now in danger from
the floodwater.

Even near the end of the
Amazon's wet season in may,

sudden, intense storms

can bring over 3 inches
of rain in a day...

Drowning any
nests built too low

and bringing others in reach
of river predators...

Like the black caiman.

To make the situation
even worse,

hoatzin chicks are
curious and a little clumsy.

Fortunately, they're
not totally helpless...

Because they're born with
a piece of climbing equipment

very few birds possess...

Claws on their wings.

So even this
little infant can climb

back up to safety.

At the rainy season's peak,
nearly 300,000 square miles

of the Amazon's flood plain
are submerged.

Under this colossal
weight of water,

the earth's crust can
sink by 3 inches.

The floodwaters can remain high
for 3 months,

before they finally drain away
down into the lower Amazon

in northeastern Brazil.

Here in alter do chao,

riverbanks can be
nearly 15 miles apart,

literally over the horizon.

Stretches of the lower Amazon
look more like a sea,

and on its shore there
are some spectacular beaches.

This region is often called
the Caribbean of the Amazon...

Even though it's still over
300 miles from the ocean.

Every year,
crowds of river people,

the ribeirinhos,
gather here

for a seasonal celebration
of the river.

As the party preparations
begin in the town,

sandro branco
and his grandfather

enjoy a moment of quiet
before the fiesta.

Sandro Father: So my son...

how are you feeling
today about the competition?

I'm feeling very anxious because...

we have been rehearsing a lot and I really
want to take this weight off my shoulder.

Narrator: Sandro is
right to be nervous,

as alter de chao stages
one of the most colorful

and surprising river
carnivals in all Brazil,

and this year sandro
is the leading man.

Sandro: The seduction
scene is much more difficult,

for I have to lift
the girl and carry her

letting her fall or messing up the
choreography not being synchronized.

So that scene is the scene
I'm most worried about.

Narrator: Sandro is
the star of the show,

playing the pink boto,

a legendary creature
for these river people.

The local legend is that on
the night of the full moon,

the boto dolphin turns into
a handsome and seductive man

with a hat and a white suit.

Once on land, his challenge is
to seduce young women.

Despite the pressure...

The dance has been a success.

Sandro: Being a boto is not easy,

you have to be the dancer,
the seducer it's a lot of preparation.

Narrator: Sandro is
the third generation

of boto dancers
in his family,

but he's facing stiff
competition.

The next wave of talent
is hot on his heels.

I am really excited,
I just loved it. A lot!

Narrator: This is a celebration
that has been

going on for
hundreds of years...

Revealing how the life
of this great river

and the lives of millions
that live along its banks

are inextricably intertwined.

On the coast of Brazil,

more than 4,000 miles
from its source,

the Amazon river
finally reaches its mouth.

It's here that just
a few times a year

the largest and perhaps
most dangerous

monster of the Amazon
shows its face.

Local people: There was a guy
who had a boat on a beach

near to where the Pororoca would come past

but the Pororoca swept
the boat over the man.

He was killed

Narrator: The pororoca
is so large,

it is heard before
it is seen.

The very name itself means
giant roar.

Pororoca!

We move inside.

We make sure we're
nowhere near the water.

Narrator: On a full moon,

the tide from the
Atlantic is so strong

that its water surges into
the Amazon river channel,

temporarily reversing the flow
of the greatest river on earth...

Creating one of the most
impressive tidal bores in the world.

Local People: The Pororoca is a living force.

The water is alive.

Narrator: But the beast
is not feared by everyone.

Local People: The Pororoca changed my life.

The perfect wave in
totally unexpected place

with a very great
power and force thas is monstrous.

Narrator: For sergenio Laos,

the pororoca brings a truly
unique opportunity

to surf the Amazon.

Local People: People say that I'm crazy

surfing the Amazon in the jungle

with such powerful water
but I'm love with it all here.

Narrator: When the pororoca
eventually subsides,

the Amazon completes the final
leg of its journey...

In the Atlantic ocean.

Here the Amazon spreads out
as a vast cloud of muddy water,

which can cover an area of
seabed the size of Texas.

Until recently, it's been
very difficult to find exactly

what lies and lives beneath.

But today, the very
latest technology

and the most advanced
submarines are allowing

scientists to explore
this hidden world.

On a dive 300 miles
from the Amazon's mouth,

the expedition is revealing
that the river's nutrients

are fertilizing
the ocean's waters,

creating a bloom of plankton.

It's hard to imagine that there
would be life under this murk.

As the dive continues
below the plume,

chief scientist Rodrigo
moura and pilot Alan Scott

discover something
extraordinary.

Scott: Wow, I've ever
seen anything like this before.

Never.

Narrator: A massive reef of
strange, rock-like algae...

Oh, look.

Jacks.

Look at the size
of these guys.

Narrator: Exploding with
rich and varied marine life.

Moura: Angelfish heaven.

Narrator: Under the dense plume
of the fertile river water,

it turns out there's
a hidden world...

An enormous reef more than
600 miles long.

Instead of coral,
the unique properties

of the Amazon have created
a garden of giant sponges.

Some of the sponges are
more than 3 feet across

and a thousand years old,

all feeding on nutrients
which the Amazon has collected

on its incredible journey.

For the scientific world,
this is totally unexpected.

Moura: You don't
see this every day, huh?

No, not every day.
This is special.

Narrator: No other river
on earth is known

to have the power to shape
such an extraordinary ecosystem

out in the ocean.

Every dive is now
rewriting textbooks.

A river of this scale
has great extremes,

from tiny drops
in icy mountains

to the greatest annual
flood on earth.

From crystal clear pools

to gigantic plankton blooms,

the extraordinary power and
strength of the mighty Amazon

creates incredible
challenges

and fantastic opportunities
for all who call

this great river their home.

On the next rivers
of life, the Mississippi,

a vast river system

that gathers water
for nearly half of the us,

from icy beginnings in
remote mountain streams,

to the steaming swamps
of the deep south,

nothing connects
and unites America

like the Mississippi river.

===============