All language subtitles for PBS.Nature.S38E13.Cubas.Wild.Revolution.HDTV.1080p.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org.en

Cuba, the greatest
island in the Caribbean.

Today, Cuba has become

the Caribbean's
most precious natural Jewel.

Its vast forests
pulsate with life.

Crystalline waters
hide breathtaking coral reefs.

While much of the wild lands
and seas of the Caribbean

are dying,

Cuba's extraordinary history

has made it a true
wildlife wonderland.

Fully half of Cuba's animals
and plants

are found nowhere else
on earth...

From unique crocodiles
and snakes

to the smallest birds
and frogs on the planet.

There is nowhere
quite like Cuba.

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On the western edge
of the Atlantic ocean

is a very special place...

An island from another time.

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Seeking out its wild
and pristine shores...

ancient creatures still come
from the deep ocean.

A mother turtle,

hoping the island
will be as kind to her now

as when she first left it
more than 20 years ago.

In that time, she's roamed
thousands of miles

across the ocean until today,

when a miracle of navigation
has brought her back

to the beach of her birth.

She has come home to Cuba.

A green turtle's journey home

is one of the natural world's
great miracles.

As her mother did before her,

she has come home
to lay her eggs.

She is not built for land.

For her, nesting is a dangerous
and exhausting affair.

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No ordinary patch
of sand will do.

It must be damp and deep enough
to protect her eggs...

But far enough from high water
to prevent the sea

from flooding the nest.

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It's two hours of hard labor.

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Then she enters a trance.

Almost nothing
will stop her now.

Some 80 to 200 eggs

are the fruit of her
incredible journey home.

Her last act for her
unborn babies

is to gently cover the nest.

She will never see them again.

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Two months will pass
before her precious eggs hatch,

if the sands of her Cuban beach
continue to protect them.

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Green turtles are just
one of countless animals

that depend on Cuba for
wild space to live and breed.

That depend on Cuba for
wild space to live and breed.

In Cuba's southwest

lies a vast region of wild swamp
and forest...

zapata...

The largest
single protected area

in the entire Caribbean...

2,300 square miles
of biosphere reserve.

Zapata is home to creatures
found nowhere else.

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One of the most remarkable

is the very smallest bird
on earth...

The bee hummingbird.

Barely larger than the bee
it's named after,

almost everything about
this hummingbird is special.

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They can beat their tiny wingsan
incredible 80 times a second.

Their tiny size makes them
tasty prey for snakes, birds,

even spiders.

Nothing about the bee
hummingbird's life is easy.

They may visit over a thousand
flowers a day

on their eternal
quest for nectar.

The males are the show-offs
of the family...

Their dazzling head feathers

usually irresistible to
the less-colorful females.

But this lady's
showing no interest.

She has already mated.

For her, it's nesting time.

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What better material to make
a tiny bird's nest

than silk from a spider's web.

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In a final flourish,

she tiles the outside
with tiny scraps of lichen,

both camouflage
and water-proofing

against any tropical rain.

The whole nest is smaller
than a golf ball.

The mother will lay one or two
eggs the size of coffee beans.

And then all she can do is wait.

Three weeks must pass
before she'll know

if all is going to plan.

The very first human beings
only settled on Cuba

some 5,000 years ago.

They came across the sea...

A voyage from the mainland
of some 60 miles.

And their journey was rewarded

with a vast paradise island.

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Observing from the shore,

strange creatures
witnessed their arrival...

creatures that had been herefor
3 million years before them.

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These are Cuban rock iguanas.

Still found on small sections

of Cuba's mainland
and outer islands,

these iguanas can grow
almost 5 feet long.

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With few predators about,
stress seems an alien concept

for the masters
of this tropical shore.

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But then breeding
season arrives,

and life gets a lot
more interesting.

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The iguanas may have hardly
moved a muscle for a week,

but they can move fast

when their masculinity
is on the line.

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The dominant males
win the ladies

and mating is a less
than elegant affair.

- But the disruption is short-lived.
- But the disruption is short-lived.

Peace and Harmony soon return
to this patch of paradise.

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In zapata,
three weeks have passed

since the mother hummingbird
laid her tiny eggs.

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It's a good year,

and two healthy chicks
have hatched.

Blind and helpless at birth,
the chicks grow explosively,

doubling their weight
in just four days.

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Bee hummingbirds are so scarce

and their tiny nests
so hard to find

that this is a scene rarely,
if ever, filmed before.

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18 days after hatching,

the chicks have already grown
their flight feathers.

In just a couple of days, they
will leave the nest for good

and, with luck,
live up to seven years.

A whole new chapter in the story
of the world's smallest bird.

The first humans who settled
on Cuba were the taino.

For 5,000 years, they lived by
the shore and in these forests

with little impact
on the natural world

that supplied all their needs.

But barely 50 years after
Europeans arrived,

the taino had all
but disappeared.

An entire culture wiped out in
a storm of slavery and disease.

Today, few traces survive,

- but still with us is the name
- but still with us is the name

They gave their
beautiful island...

Cuba,
a faint echo of a lost people.

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Today nearly 12 million
human beings live on Cuba,

over 2 million
in the capital of havana.

Barely 90 miles from Florida,
havana could be

on a different planet
to its north American neighbor.

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Founded in 1519, havana's old
city feels like a time tunnel.

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Today's Cubans are a diverse mix
of backgrounds and cultures...

European, African, taino.

The slave trade
had a huge impact.

1 million people torn
from their west African homes

and thrown across the island.

African influences
are everywhere.

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The slave ships didn't only
bring humans to Cuba.

Hiding aboard were stowaways

who jumped ashore
at every opportunity.

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A long way from Ghana
and Liberia,

tropical house geckos
stalk havana's city streets.

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In recent times,
the geckos have started

to move out of the cities

and across the Cuban
countryside,

yet another stage
in a remarkable journey

from their African forest homes.

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Today a whole new fleet
of vessels

sails into havana's
legendary harbor...

cruise ships by the hundreds,

and soon,
passengers by the millions.

Desperate for foreign currency,

Cuba's opening her doors
to the outside world.

So mass tourism is one of
the greatest challenges

now facing Cuba
and its natural world.

It's now early April, and
Cuba's wet season has begun.

Here near the bay of pigs
on the south coast,

an army is gathering.

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In one of nature's
great migrations,

red land crabs are on the move.

And many carry
a precious cargo...

Up to 80,000 eggs apiece
that need water to survive...

Salt water.

The mother's mission
is to get to the sea.

That can be 4 1/2 miles away...

A journey fraught with danger.

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Millions of years of evolution
has equipped the crabs

to survive
in the forests at night.

But roads and traffic are
an entirely different matter.

Their journey becomes a dance
with death.

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Even mortally wounded,

deep instincts drive
the crabs on.

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- Despite their losses,
most crabs make it through

- despite their losses,
most crabs make it through

And press on
with their journey to the sea.

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Now on the final stretch, they
can smell the salt in the air.

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Though surrounded by ocean,
these red crabs have evolved

to live almost entirely on land.

But there is one deep link
to their ancient past.

They must deliver
their eggs to the sea.

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Once the mother
feels salt water,

she releases her eggs inwhat
seems like a frenzy of joy.

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The mother's arrival here
is timed to meet high tides

and hopefully calm water,

for they must be very careful.

Though born in these waters,
they are land crabs now.

But many take a step too far.

While making sure to release
their precious young,

these mothers will never make it
back to their forest home.

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The deep waters off Cuba

are home to some of the greatest
shark numbers in the Caribbean.

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An ancient perfect design,

sharks have patrolled these seas

little changed
for more than 50 million years.

Little changed
for more than 50 million years.

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And this is their last great
refuge in the entire Caribbean.

Jardines de la reina...
The gardens of the queen.

Lying off Cuba's Southern coast,

the gardens are a marine
wonderland.

More than 90 miles of islands,
coral reefs,

and mangrove swamps form
one of the greatest

barrier-reef systems on earth.

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Travel beneath the surface here
and you travel back in time,

to when the earth's seas
were pristine.

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In the gardens of the queen,
you find corals

that survive almost nowhere else
in the Caribbean...

Rich stands of elkhorn,

one of the very first to die
under the impact of humans.

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Coral reefs pulsate with life.

A single reef can hide
4,000 different kinds

of plants and animals...

The richest single community
of life on earth.

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Sharks thrive on the rich
marine life of the gardens.

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The world's seas once teemed

with these most successful
of all ocean predators.

In the last 50 years,
more than 90%

have been killed
by human beings.

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Today the Caribbean
is in mortal danger,

and it may lose all its living
coral in less than 30 years.

The gardens of the queen
is an orchestra of life

in an ocean
slowly falling silent.

So vital is Cuba to the wildlife
of the region,

it's been called the biological
superpower of the Caribbean.

A fifth of the entire island

is under some form
of government protection.

The results
are there to be seen...

Ancient swamps and forests

bursting with wildlife,
unique wildlife.

Whatever way evolution has gone
to work on Cuba,

it has produced some
very strange animals indeed.

Meet the monte iberia eleuth...

One of the smallest frogs
in the world.

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It shares that distinction

with cousins from Brazil
to new Guinea.

But which one wins the title
for tiniest of all

is hard to decide
as so few have been found.

Less than half an inch long
when fully grown,

it's not easy living
in a world of giants.

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Unknown to science
until just over 20 years ago,

the eleuth is critically
endangered

and found in just two tiny areas
of Cuba.

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These pint-size amphibians
patrol the rainforest floor,

forever on the lookout
for danger.

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But she does have
some survival tricks.

Her skin is poisonous

and foul-tasting
to most predators.

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And like so many others,
from wasps to caterpillars,

her black and yellow colors
signal would-be predators

to stay away.

This tiny snack carries
a health warning!

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Cuba's great forests
once provided sanctuary

for fidel Castro
and his revolutionaries.

Today they're a refuge for vast
numbers of the island's

native plants and animals.

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Some 26 different types of bats
make their home in Cuba,

seven found nowhere else
on the planet.

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These are Cuban flower bats.

During the day, Cuban flower
bats roost in deep caves.

At dusk, they head out
in vast numbers

to feed in
the surrounding forests.

Their cave home
has only one exit,

and this busy bat highway
presents an opportunity.

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Cuban boas.

Up to a dozen snakes gather
around this cave entrance.

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It is pitch black,

though both do have some
special sensory powers

which they bring
to this game of life.

The snakes have heat receptors

which can detect
an oncoming bat,

while the bats' lives depend
on their famous echolocation.

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Some snakes seem to coordinate
their hunting positions,

spacing themselves out
to maximize

their chances of a kill.

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Nervous and hungry, the bats
make a dash for the exit

and hope for the best.

And hope for the best.

But sooner or later,
someone's luck runs out.

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Once caught, the bats know
that this is the end.

Few put up any fight.

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The snakes finish off the bats
with their powerful embrace,

killing them in seconds.

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Fortunately for the bat colony,

the snakes don't need much food
to keep them happy.

One or two bats can satisfy
this snake for a week or more.

Although harmless to humans,

the boas are still hunted
and harassed in Cuba.

Now officially endangered,

their future is anything
but assured...

Even on Cuba's green island.

Cuba's particular history
has been a major factor

in helping preserve
the island's natural world.

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After fidel Castro seized power
in 1959,

conservation grew to become
a government priority.

And at the same time,
development has been limited.

Communist, and struggling
under a U.S. embargo,

Cuba's had few friends

to help finance its industry
and agriculture.

Today, most Cubans
still live very simply,

consuming a fraction
of the resources

used by an average
American or European.

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All of this has meant
less pressure

on Cuba's wild animals
and wild places.

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Cuba is woodpecker heaven.

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Finding a good tree often means

sharing with
troublesome cousins.

Here two species
are close neighbors...

A west Indian and a Cuban
green woodpecker.

The green woodpecker nest
has chicks inside,

and their neighbor
from upstairs is trouble.

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West Indian woodpeckers
are known to kill other chicks

and take over their nests.

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Luckily these chicks are nowbig
enough to defend themselves.

The west Indian resigns herself
to building her own nest.

The neighbors will just
have to put up

with the noise
of construction...

and the debris.

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On the lower floor of the tree,

the three green
woodpecker chicks

are getting close to the day
they will leave home.

For the parents,
it's still a non-stop battle

to keep them fed and happy.

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Finally, the chicks are ready

for the biggest step
of their lives.

One needs a little persuasion.

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- The parents will continue
to feed the chicks webvtt

00:00:00.000 - the parents will
continue to feed the chicks

Until they're strong enough
to fend for themselves.

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Cuba was born
in a warm tropical sea.

Three quarters of the island
is limestone,

formed from the skeletons
of sea creatures

settling as fine sands
on the seabed.

Millions of years of pressure
and upheaval

created the rock that forms
most of the island today.

Limestone creates its
very own wonderland.

As rain and water
dissolves it over time,

it riddles the island
with caves,

both above and below water.

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This is a cenote,

a vertical cave
of collapsed limestone.

Many are hundreds of feet deep.

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Over the eons, these peculiar
places have become home

to some very unusual creatures.

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And in Cuba, this is
perhaps the most bizarre.

A primitive gar fish known
as a manjuari.

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A true living fossil, manjuarihave
an extraordinary ability...

They can breathe air.

If their water becomes stagnant
and oxygen runs low,

they can gulp air
from the surface to survive.

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Manjuari give a unique insight

into how many millions
of years ago,

the very first fish
evolved to leave the sea

and survive on land...

And survive on land...

A critical step in the evolution
of life on earth.

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Cuba has its very own species
of crocodile

found nowhere else,
and they like to eat hutia,

one of only two native
land mammals

found anywhere on the island.

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In the crocodile world,
the Cubans are regarded

as being especially
intelligent and inquisitive.

Beside their needle-sharp teeth,
mobility is their other weapon.

Cuban crocodiles
are extremely agile

and can sprint
at almost 10 miles an hour.

Come breeding season,
the males go into action.

Today, Cuba's unique crocodiles
are in trouble.

Perhaps 3,000 survive
in the wild.

As sea levels rise,
larger American crocodiles

- are invading the freshwater swamps
- are invading the freshwater swamps

And interbreeding
with the Cuban females

threatening to wipe out
the Cuban species.

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With so few of their kind left,

every successful mating
is a cause for celebration.

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They won't be independent
for several months,

but straight out of the egg,
Cuban crocodile babies

display the agility
and resilience

that has kept their kind alive
for so many million years.

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Let's hope these survivors
are a new beginning

and not one of
the final chapters

in the story
of the Cuban crocodile.

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Cuba now stands at a crossroads.

For decades, the outside world
has been kept largely at bay.

And for most Cubans, the paceof
life has changed very little.

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But Cuba's systems
are struggling.

There is now huge pressure
for Cuba to develop...

More industry...

More agriculture...

More tourists.

Will her glorious wild lands
and wild creatures

pay the ultimate price?

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Under the sands of cayo largo,

hundreds of new lives
are stirring.

Their time has come.

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Two months have passed

since the mother green turtle
laid her eggs.

As the first babies
break through,

the eggs deep down
hatch frantically

so they're not left behind.

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Though this baby turtle
has never opened her eyes

before now,
powerful instincts propel her

towards the sound
and smell of the sea.

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From the moment she left
the warm embrace of the nest,

she must fend entirely
for herself.

For this new world
is not a friendly one.

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On the very first journey
of her life,

there's a good chance she will
not even make it to the water.

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This time, another hatchling
has paid the price.

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Less than 1 in 1,000 baby
turtles reach adulthood.

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Their best defense
are other turtles.

That's why they hatch and break
for the ocean together.

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She's made it to the sea,

but there are
countless challenges ahead.

In shallow water,
she's easy prey

and must get to deep water

- where she has some chance of surviving.
- Where she has some chance of surviving.

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If her luck holds,
she will wander the open ocean,

traveling thousands of miles
over many years...

Until 20 years from now,

a mysterious switch
will make her turn

and head back to Cuba
to lay her own eggs.

The question is,

will her home beach
still be there

and will Cuba welcome her
with the same clean sands

enjoyed by her ancestors for
so many generations before her?

Only time will tell.

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To learn more about what you've
seen on this "nature" program,

visit pbs.Org.

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