All language subtitles for Cuba Wild Island of the Caribbean BBC Natural World 2005 720p HDTV EN Sub_Subtitles01.ENG

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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:26,200 Cuba is a tropical paradise, but it's a paradise full of surprises. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,200 Beyond the cities lives a wild mysterious island 3 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:37,320 teeming with uniquely Cuban animals. 4 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,360 Each bizarre creature is a story of triumph against staggering odds. 5 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,800 How did they get here? And how have they survived? 6 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,400 Cuba holds many mysteries that are only now being revealed. 7 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,480 It's a story that stretches back in time, 8 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,080 beyond the period of human settlement. 9 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,520 It's a tale of titanic forces, 10 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,160 ocean currents, wild storms and an amazing island ark. 11 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,320 Cuba has a long history, from 1492 when Columbus landed, 12 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,840 through the Spanish colonial period 13 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:37,840 that created so much of old Havana, 14 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,000 to modern times of revolution, 15 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,480 Communism and the rule of Fidel Castro. 16 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,400 Millions of tourists are drawn to Cuba each year 17 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:03,560 by the attractions of music, cigars and tobacco. 18 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:08,560 But beyond the fields, the cities and the beaches lies a wild Cuba - 19 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:13,080 a little known world with a much longer but equally colourful 20 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:14,600 and fascinating history. 21 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,320 We can see part of that history alive and well 22 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:21,440 in the tropical seas that surround Cuba. 23 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,000 The coral reefs teem with fish. 24 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,600 They can claim to be the best in the Caribbean, and this, in part, 25 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:34,600 is due to Cuba's recent past. 26 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,400 For since the revolution, in 1959, 27 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:40,080 these seas have had little fishing pressure. 28 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:47,120 This reef may look much the same now as it did thousands of years ago. 29 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,160 And now, as then, there are predators searching for an opportunity. 30 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,680 The top predator is the Caribbean reef shark. 31 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,520 The seas around Cuba are spectacular - 32 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,720 in their clarity and the profusion of life they support. 33 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:15,040 But the sharks and the coral fishes are not exclusively Cuban, 34 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:18,200 for they can be found elsewhere in the Caribbean. 35 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:23,840 If you want to see uniquely Cuban wildlife, 36 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,960 you need to look back to the land and to understand the nature of Cuba 37 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,400 you must go back in time. 38 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:35,440 Cuba's wild history stretches back millions of years. 39 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,720 During the last Ice Age, much of the world's water was locked up as ice 40 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:41,600 and so the sea level was lower. 41 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,000 Cuba was a bigger and broader island. 42 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,560 What are shallow seas today were then lush freshwater swamps. 43 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:07,640 These swamps covered much of Cuba, the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands 44 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,160 and must have been home to millions of mosquitoes 45 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,440 and to a variety of other creatures, 46 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,200 including this... 47 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:18,960 the Cuban hutia. 48 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,880 These large rodents 49 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:31,880 can still be found today, along with the mosquitoes. 50 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:42,280 They tend to stick to the pockets of high ground avoiding the water... 51 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:45,960 ..and for good reason. 52 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:49,720 There's another creature that lives in the swamp - 53 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:51,440 Cuban crocodile. 54 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,320 This crocodile can grow to nearly 13 feet, and weigh 280 pounds. 55 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,480 It has the reputation of being the most aggressive crocodile 56 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:08,640 in the world. 57 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,800 The Cuban crocodile evolved here about two million years ago 58 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:23,200 and it evolved alongside the hutia. 59 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:28,080 Occasionally hutias have to venture out to reach better feeding. 60 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:31,600 They're neither the most elegant nor efficient of swimmers. 61 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,960 The commotion alerts the crocodiles. 62 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,080 Now it's a matter of time, 63 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,600 will the hutia reach dry land before the crocodiles reach it? 64 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:20,000 The crocodile evolved to hunt hutias and not just in the water. 65 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,920 The hutia may appear safe when feeding in the trees, 66 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,200 but appearances can be deceptive. 67 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:38,120 The crocodiles have a fine sense of smell 68 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,560 and pick up the scent of a hutia carried on the tropical air. 69 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:51,640 Swimming slowly upwind, 70 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,640 they home in on the isolated tree from over a mile away. 71 00:07:00,400 --> 00:07:04,240 The hutia is six feet up the tree. 72 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,800 But this crocodile has a way of reaching its goal. 73 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,160 The hutia has no way of escape. 74 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,120 The crocodiles have all the time in the world 75 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,880 to improve their high-jump performance. 76 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,680 The leaping crocodiles evolved on Cuba 77 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,000 in the swamps that covered vast areas during the ice age. 78 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,680 But the swamps were not always that large. 79 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:12,440 As the sea level changed, 80 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:15,720 some wetlands would have been transformed into forests. 81 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:20,000 Today, the dry forest is the home of many of the birds of Cuba 82 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:21,960 like the Cuban parrot. 83 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:28,600 Birds must have flown to Cuba over a period of millions of years. 84 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,160 The more recent colonists, like the turkey vulture, 85 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,080 have remained the same as birds on the American continents. 86 00:08:37,680 --> 00:08:41,560 Other more ancient arrivals evolved into Caribbean birds 87 00:08:41,560 --> 00:08:44,360 found on several of the islands. 88 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:57,040 But some birds are wholly Cuban, found nowhere else on Earth. 89 00:08:57,520 --> 00:09:02,560 Their ancestors, typically woodland birds, were ideal pioneers. 90 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,640 They were strong flyers, able to reach the island. 91 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,560 But once there, they stayed put in the forests. 92 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:15,080 Over time, these birds changed into uniquely Cuban creatures, 93 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:19,320 like the national bird - the Cuban trogon. 94 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:31,280 Over many generations, the birds adapted to their island home, 95 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,440 the process of evolution moulding them to their surroundings. 96 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,120 There were new plants and animals to feed on 97 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,080 and new patterns of weather to cope with. 98 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,400 The climate has an important influence on animals. 99 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:51,080 Cuba has distinct wet and dry seasons. 100 00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:55,640 Many of the birds evolved to breed with the onset of the summer rains. 101 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,600 THUNDER CRASHES 102 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:26,000 The heavy rains stimulate not only the birds. 103 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,880 This event triggers a wildlife spectacle that begins below - 104 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:31,360 on the forest floor. 105 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,840 The trees grow straight out of the rock. 106 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,040 This is an old coral reef, exposed by the changing levels 107 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:44,680 of the sea and land. 108 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,080 These crabs evolved about four million years ago. 109 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:11,200 They're true land creatures, but they still breathe using gills 110 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:15,680 like their marine ancestors, so they dehydrate easily. 111 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:20,560 They time their emergence to the high humidity brought by the rains. 112 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,920 The males leave the rocky-floored forest and dig a shelter 113 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,240 in the soft soil closer to the coast. 114 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,960 Here they wait for the females. 115 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,080 The land crabs can range in colour 116 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:41,080 from dark red to bright yellow, but they're all the same species. 117 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,120 Some males mate in the shelter. 118 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:55,240 Other males mate beside their tunnels, 119 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:57,960 fending off other interested parties. 120 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,720 The male's embrace may look gentle, 121 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,480 but with claws there's a limit to tenderness. 122 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:18,320 Once the sperm is transferred, the crabs separate 123 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,880 and the males and females make their way back into the forest. 124 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:32,680 After a few weeks, the females reappear 125 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,200 carrying their ripe eggs in a pouch. 126 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,640 Again the numbers grow as the crabs move once more out of the forest. 127 00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,280 They're headed for the sea, their ancestral home. 128 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,440 The urge to spawn is so great that nothing stops the migration. 129 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,880 The crabs climb walls and cross paths. 130 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,480 They even walk through the grounds of hotels. 131 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:07,000 Their journey may be as long as six miles and can take several days. 132 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,320 They need to find shelter during the hottest part of the day 133 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:12,560 if they're not to die of dehydration. 134 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:20,680 Trees provide natural cover. 135 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,920 But today the crabs can also enjoy the benefits and luxuries provided 136 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:30,760 by tourist hotels. 137 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,960 They swarm up the windows and crawl under the shutters 138 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,240 to avoid the hot ground and direct sun. 139 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:59,120 They're quite prepared to share a room with human guests, 140 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,880 especially if there's air conditioning at night. 141 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,440 The next morning, the swarm is on the move 142 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,880 on the last part of their journey. 143 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,160 How the crabs know where the coast is, and in which direction to move, 144 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,760 is a mystery. 145 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,120 The final part is the toughest. 146 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,440 The sharp pinnacles of an old coral reef are like 147 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,640 miniature mountains for the crabs. 148 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:43,960 In the cool of the morning, the crabs finally reach their goal. 149 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,720 They can only spawn when the sea is calm, for otherwise they'd risk 150 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,400 being washed off the rocks and swept out to sea. 151 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,320 These are land crabs and they cannot survive in the sea. 152 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,160 They shake their precious cargo of eggs into the sea. 153 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:12,000 This is their last connection with their ancestral home. 154 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:15,240 The eggs hatch immediately 155 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:18,920 and the next generation starts its life in the Caribbean Sea. 156 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,760 The sea becomes a soup of crab larvae 157 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:05,440 and the bounty does not go unnoticed. Mullet suck in the eggs. 158 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,760 But they have no real impact - the numbers are overwhelming. 159 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,680 For a few weeks, the coastline of the infamous Bay of Pigs 160 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:17,120 is awash with billions of baby crabs. 161 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,920 Wave after wave arrive at the coast to spawn. 162 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:29,600 Every day, new crabs shed their eggs into the Bay of Pigs. 163 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:41,480 Once each female's pouch is empty, she heads back to the forest. 164 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,840 It's on the return journey that the crabs face their greatest danger. 165 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,560 There are millions of them in this one small area of Cuba. 166 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:56,520 This annual spectacle has taken place every year for aeons. 167 00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,440 Evolution has hard wired it into the crabs' brains. 168 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,800 They know how to find the sea and how to avoid dying from heat 169 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,880 and loss of water. 170 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,440 But evolution could not prepare them for the modern world. 171 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,880 They have no way to deal with traffic. 172 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,080 HORN TOOTS 173 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:22,840 Tourist taxis give the crabs a chance to escape to safety. 174 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,760 But other traffic is less considerate. 175 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:33,520 Instinct tells the crabs that shade offers shelter. 176 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:37,880 The result is carnage. 177 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,880 TYRES CRUNCH 178 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,960 Nothing in their four-million-year history could prepare them 179 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:53,240 for Russian trucks. 180 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:08,320 The dead ones attract other crabs for an easy meal. 181 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:16,440 But for many, it's their last. 182 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:45,480 The walking wounded and survivors head for the side of the road 183 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,320 and the safety of the verge and the dry forest beyond. 184 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:53,360 They'll not venture out of the forest again until the rains return. 185 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,560 Living in the same forest is a bird whose ancestors may have arrived 186 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,360 on Cuba around the time of the crabs. 187 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,400 The bee hummingbird. 188 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,440 It's the smallest bird in the world - two inches long. 189 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,400 That makes it the same size as a dragonfly. 190 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,960 The male weighs only a five hundredth of an ounce. 191 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,760 This is half the weight of a penny. 192 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,120 Yet, despite their size, the birds are very aggressive. 193 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:31,120 Each male defending its territory with song and flashes of iridescence. 194 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:40,360 If this fails, the males fly up over 300 feet 195 00:19:40,360 --> 00:19:44,000 and then power dive down on their opponent. 196 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:57,600 The males display all day, using large amounts of energy. 197 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,640 When they power dive, they reach speeds of over 90 mph. 198 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:11,120 The wings beat 200 times per second and the heart rate 199 00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:16,080 is a staggering 1,000 beats per minute. 200 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,520 The male's display not only drives off intruders, 201 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:22,200 it also attracts females. 202 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,760 Like the male, she has huge energy needs. 203 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:30,080 Whilst incubating, she reduces her body temperature to decrease the time 204 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:32,680 she must leave the eggs unguarded. 205 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,680 WINGS REVERBERATE 206 00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:52,440 These smallest of birds live on an energy knife-edge. 207 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:54,280 A lowered body temperature 208 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,920 means less need for food and so the female can return to her nest sooner. 209 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:17,400 The male guards his patch of forest not for the benefit of the female, 210 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,160 but for his own. 211 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:27,520 For the territory holds his most precious resource - flowers. 212 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:35,480 He may sip from as many as 2,000 flowers a day to obtain 213 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,320 the nectar he needs to fuel his energetic lifestyle. 214 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:56,160 The bee hummingbird is a miniature specialist, feeding on small flowers 215 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,800 that insects normally visit. 216 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:02,040 The reason is the ancestors of the bee hummingbird 217 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:04,960 did not have Cuba to themselves. 218 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,640 They shared the island with another hummingbird 219 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,000 and today there are still two species. 220 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,080 The Cuban Emerald is over twice the size of the bee hummingbird, 221 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:16,240 but still smaller than a chickadee. 222 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:23,240 The Cuban Emerald, 223 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:28,120 like the smaller bee hummingbird, is found nowhere else on Earth. 224 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:33,080 The two hummingbirds evolved on Cuba and, by becoming different in size, 225 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:35,120 avoided competing with each other. 226 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:08,000 Being bigger, the Cuban Emerald is more of a generalist 227 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,440 and feeds from a wider range of blossoms. 228 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,200 They include this curiously shaped flower. 229 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,840 But this blossom is not designed for hummingbirds. 230 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,800 The birds are really plundering nectar 231 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:34,960 destined for another creature, one that only appears after sunset, 232 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,880 and then only on the darkest of nights. 233 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,920 These creatures shun light and can only be recorded 234 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,480 by infra-red or black light. 235 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:52,520 Nectar-feeding bats fly as far as 50 miles in search of food. 236 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,040 They first detect flowering trees by scent. 237 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:57,840 After the initial approach, 238 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,320 the bats then use their powers of echolocation. 239 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,240 The flower's shape reflects a narrow beam of ultra-sound 240 00:24:10,240 --> 00:24:12,720 back to the bats, guiding them to the nectar. 241 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,840 The bats extract the nectar in less than a second. 242 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,800 Nectar is a rich source of energy and the bats quickly fill their stomachs 243 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,320 and then return to their cave. 244 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,320 Here, the nectar feeding bats are not alone, 245 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:40,160 for there are over 30 species found on Cuba. 246 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,000 Like the birds, the different kinds of bats 247 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,480 arrived over many millions of years. 248 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,920 Many of the secrets of Cuba's bats have been discovered 249 00:24:52,920 --> 00:24:54,840 by Professor Gilberto Silva. 250 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,960 He's studied them for over 50 years. 251 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:04,320 Cuba is largely composed of limestone and is riddled with caves. 252 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:09,360 There's a higher density of caves in Cuba than any other place on Earth. 253 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:14,880 This particular cave is the home to a rather special bat. 254 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,280 Years ago, when Gilberto first entered its sleeping chamber, 255 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:19,960 he nearly died - 256 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:23,120 there was so little oxygen to breathe. 257 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:26,320 How the bats survive in their anoxic chamber 258 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,520 remains one of Cuba's mysteries. 259 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:37,160 Nowadays, Gilberto waits outside for the bats to come to him. 260 00:25:37,240 --> 00:25:41,400 Like the nectar bats they will not fly in light. 261 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:45,240 Gilberto captures them using the sound of their wings alone. 262 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,680 Only when safely in the hand, can he use a lamp. 263 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:02,720 The butterfly bat has that very Cuban characteristic of being small. 264 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,240 In fact, it can claim to be the smallest bat in the world. 265 00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:12,160 Like the diminutive hummingbird, this tiny bat can only be found on Cuba. 266 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,360 Other species of bats crowd larger caverns. 267 00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:26,240 The combined body heat of hundreds of thousands of them 268 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,320 raises the temperature to over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. 269 00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:34,280 The urine-soaked floor ensures the chamber is very humid. 270 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:36,640 Perfect for bats... 271 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:41,040 and purgatory for anyone other than a dedicated bat scientist. 272 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,880 Cuba is home to millions of bats. 273 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:55,600 And with so many bats, it's no surprise that there's a predator. 274 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,240 The cave boa. 275 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:08,360 These snakes have a special technique for catching their prey. 276 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:12,680 In the pitch dark, the draft of a wing beat stimulates them to strike. 277 00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:41,400 The caves that are home to the snakes and bats 278 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:43,640 were formed by underground rivers. 279 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:50,080 Over millions of years, as the level of land and sea fluctuated, 280 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:52,560 these rivers found new courses. 281 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:56,800 New caves were created and old ones drowned. 282 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:00,360 The result is that water filled caverns are scattered throughout 283 00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:02,920 the limestone landscape of the dry forest. 284 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,560 Some connect with the sea and have salt water. 285 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:15,200 Here, surrounded by forest, reef fish can feed on fruit. 286 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,440 These caverns reveal their past to divers. 287 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:40,040 Their chambers are decorated with stalactites and stalagmites 288 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,960 that could only have formed when the cave was full of air. 289 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:59,880 The water is crystal clear, filtered by its journey through the limestone 290 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,200 and light can penetrate deep into the cavern. 291 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,560 But beyond the limits of daylight 292 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,520 is a world into which only specialised cave divers may venture. 293 00:29:27,840 --> 00:29:32,840 The divers always explore as a team, for this is dangerous work. 294 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,160 This Cuban cave diving group 295 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,720 has been exploring and mapping this dark world for many years. 296 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,680 These inner recesses of the Cuban underworld hold their own secrets - 297 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:10,200 the remains of a human that fell in long ago. 298 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,640 But there's life here too - 299 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:37,520 over 500 yards from the surface, beyond the narrowest of passageways. 300 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,600 The life this deep in the cave has evolved 301 00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:05,760 to live in perpetual darkness. 302 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,160 The light of the diver's torch may be the first 303 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:13,160 that this fish has ever experienced. 304 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:14,960 And it doesn't like it. 305 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,320 The fish's scientific name is lucifuga - 306 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,240 the animal that flees from light. 307 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,720 And that's most appropriate. 308 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:34,800 Little is known about these unique Cuban cave dwellers, 309 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:38,440 for they're rarely visited and shun light. 310 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,840 It's thought they evolved from fish that lived in the depths of the sea. 311 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:44,840 That dark world 312 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:48,920 may well have prepared their ancestors for life in these caverns. 313 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:53,240 Here, they slowly lost their eyesight and the pigment in their skin - 314 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:57,120 becoming mysterious ghost-like creatures. 315 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:07,640 It should surprise no-one that fish arrived on Cuba by swimming, 316 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:08,960 but 12 million years ago 317 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:11,760 a less obvious candidate arrived by the same means. 318 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:21,840 The ancestors of this lizard, the rock iguana, crossed the sea 319 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:26,600 from Central or South America - a distance of 125 miles or more. 320 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:35,200 Though they look incongruous, the iguanas are actually good swimmers 321 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:40,240 and when they tire, they can inflate their chests and float like corks 322 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:42,560 whilst they take a break. 323 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:50,440 By a combination of hitching lifts on floating vegetation, drifting 324 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:54,760 and swimming, a few iguanas found their way to the shores of Cuba. 325 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,440 Those that did, became the founders of a dynasty. 326 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:22,400 No competitors and lots of space - 327 00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,000 Cuba must have seemed a paradise. 328 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,600 A paradise, that is, apart from the flies. 329 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:30,480 FLIES BUZZ 330 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:50,480 The large flies accompany the iguanas and drink the fluid in their eyes. 331 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:53,360 Like most creatures that arrive on islands - 332 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:56,440 but unlike the bee hummingbird and the butterfly bat - 333 00:33:56,440 --> 00:33:59,000 the iguanas grew large. 334 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:04,000 An adult male can be five feet long and weigh as much as 20 pounds. 335 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,800 Despite their fierce appearance and impressive size, 336 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,600 rock iguanas are, for the most part, peaceful vegetarians. 337 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,960 The iguanas arrived on Cuba before the crocodiles 338 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:28,880 and many of the birds, bats and fish. 339 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:32,000 But another kind of lizard had colonised Cuba 340 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,560 long before the iguanas. 341 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,320 They were carried to these shores 342 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:41,360 on rafts of floating vegetation, as long ago as 30 million years. 343 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,880 At that time the sea level was changing rapidly 344 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,160 turning mountain ranges into islands. 345 00:34:51,160 --> 00:34:54,560 And isolated on each island, new species 346 00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,840 of these small Anolis lizards evolved. 347 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:05,280 Today, there are around 55 different species 348 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:08,120 of these fiercely territorial creatures. 349 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:17,800 Some species are adapted to life on the rocky forest floor. 350 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:20,760 Others live on sedges and grasses. 351 00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:26,160 Many dispute for space on the bushes and low trees. 352 00:35:26,160 --> 00:35:29,400 They all have a dewlap, but have evolved 353 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:31,680 different ways of showing it off. 354 00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:01,120 There are even anoles in the tops of tallest palms, like this blue anole. 355 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,960 The story of the anoles is a clear example of an ancestral animal 356 00:36:13,960 --> 00:36:18,680 evolving into many different species to fill all the different habitats. 357 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,000 The anoles have had 30 million years to evolve 358 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:29,040 into a huge array of species, each carving a niche for itself on Cuba. 359 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,600 But there were animals on Cuba before the anoles arrived. 360 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:35,960 One possible ancient Cuban 361 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:40,120 can be found in the woods that clothe these steep limestone mountains. 362 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:46,560 The Cuban tody is diminutive. 363 00:36:46,560 --> 00:36:49,400 There are only five species of tody in the world - 364 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,720 all found on Caribbean islands - 365 00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:55,760 and the Cuban tody is the most colourful of them all. 366 00:36:55,760 --> 00:36:58,840 TODY CHEEPS GENTLY 367 00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:05,440 Todies defend a tiny patch of forest. 368 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,280 They're real stay-at-homes, rarely leaving their territory 369 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:12,080 and never leaving the shelter of the forest. 370 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,400 They feed by snatching insects off leaves, 371 00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:19,640 flying no more than a few yards on short rounded wings. 372 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:24,040 Is it conceivable that this tiny bundle of feathers could have flown 373 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,480 125 miles across the sea to Cuba? 374 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,640 Well, the tody may not have moved to Cuba. 375 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:35,240 Cuba may have travelled to the tody. 376 00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:36,800 Millions of years ago, 377 00:37:36,800 --> 00:37:41,080 before Panama existed, Cuba was much closer to the continent. 378 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:44,080 At that time, the tody could easily have fluttered 379 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,240 the short distance from America. 380 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:53,720 In Cuba's remote rainforests live other creatures 381 00:37:53,720 --> 00:37:55,920 that can claim to be ancient Cubans. 382 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,720 Their ancestors joining the island before the tody. 383 00:38:02,240 --> 00:38:05,440 This is an Eleutherodactylus frog. 384 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,800 It is one of over 60 species. 385 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:12,640 Like the Anolis lizards, they've carved up Cuba. 386 00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:17,240 Some live on the forest floor, others along the streams. 387 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:21,400 There are even Eleutherodactylus frogs 388 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,840 in the treetops, living amongst the air plants. 389 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:28,080 You could argue that the todies may have flown to Cuba 390 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,880 and that these small frogs may have survived 391 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:33,080 a long sea journey aboard a raft. 392 00:38:33,080 --> 00:38:35,440 But scientific evidence suggests 393 00:38:35,440 --> 00:38:40,440 that they were early pioneers that hopped aboard 70 million years ago. 394 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,160 They have one big advantage as pioneers. 395 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,680 Their tadpoles don't need fresh water. 396 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,720 In less than 20 days, the embryo transforms 397 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:58,720 from a few cells to a miniature adult inside its transparent sphere. 398 00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:13,480 This remarkable adaptation allowed the frogs to live far from water. 399 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:15,960 These small frogs emerged from their eggs 400 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:20,480 to colonise Cuba, from the treetops to the forest floor. 401 00:39:23,560 --> 00:39:28,600 Luis Diaz is the Cuban authority on Eleutherodactylus frogs. 402 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,040 He and his colleagues have discovered new species 403 00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:33,720 in the last few years. 404 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:38,760 The most remarkable of these was found as recently as 1996. 405 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,880 They live in the leaf litter on the rainforest floor. 406 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:46,400 To find them, you have to kick up a bit of a fuss. 407 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:04,080 The creature has a very Cuban distinction. 408 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:08,120 In a family of small frogs, it is the smallest. 409 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:13,160 In fact, it's the smallest four-legged creature in the world. 410 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,040 This is an adult. 411 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:21,880 It's a third of an inch long. 412 00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:24,240 The frog fits comfortably on a thumbnail. 413 00:40:33,760 --> 00:40:38,760 At this size, a female can only produce one egg. 414 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:43,200 These frogs may have reached the limits of miniaturisation. 415 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:54,760 Cuba's journey didn't start 70 million years ago 416 00:40:54,760 --> 00:40:56,480 when the frogs joined. 417 00:40:56,480 --> 00:40:59,600 It was on the move before then. 418 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:04,600 Going back in time, Cuba was not in the Caribbean, but the Pacific. 419 00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:14,920 Could any animals have lived on Cuba 420 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,280 as it moved through the Pacific Ocean? 421 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:22,160 For part of that journey Cuba itself may have been submerged. 422 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:26,560 So the seas are the most likely place to look for an animal whose ancestors 423 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:31,560 may have prowled the rocky shoreline of Cuba around 80 million years ago. 424 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:39,000 The Goliath grouper lives in rocky canyons and caves. 425 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,480 Today, it can be found in both the Caribbean and Pacific, 426 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:47,560 so its ancestor might have patrolled Cuban Pacific waters long ago. 427 00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:53,240 It ventures out at night onto the sandy plains of the sea floor. 428 00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:57,880 It has an epicurean's taste for lobster, but a glutton's appetite. 429 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:05,520 This Goliath grouper weighs 440 pounds 430 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:10,120 and so a four pound spiny lobster is just a bite-sized snack. 431 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:25,120 A grouper this large can consume many lobsters in a night. 432 00:42:30,840 --> 00:42:35,880 All big groupers are females, as the males change sex as they grow. 433 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:50,720 The mouth on a six foot long female is over a foot and half across. 434 00:43:00,680 --> 00:43:04,560 Plenty of room for another lobster. 435 00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:22,200 The ancestral Goliath grouper may have lived in Cuban waters 436 00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,240 millions of years ago, 437 00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:28,520 but could the ancestors of any Cuban land animals have lived there? 438 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:32,480 We can never be sure, but a bird might have. 439 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:36,640 Flamingos are strong flyers and have an ancient heritage. 440 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:40,320 There are fossils from over 50 million years ago. 441 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:42,680 Ancestral flamingos could have colonised 442 00:43:42,680 --> 00:43:44,840 the muddy shores of an ancient Cuba, 443 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,200 in the periods when it was above the sea. 444 00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:57,400 Today, Cuba is home to the largest colony 445 00:43:57,400 --> 00:43:59,520 of Caribbean flamingos in the world. 446 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,160 Over 100,000 birds. 447 00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:06,800 They nest close together in a remote part of the coast. 448 00:44:06,800 --> 00:44:10,520 FLAMINGOS BICKER 449 00:44:11,800 --> 00:44:13,440 They seem to need the company 450 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:17,560 of other flamingos, but still bicker over space. 451 00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:30,200 The rich thick mud is a great benefit to the flamingos. 452 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:34,400 It stops predators from approaching the colony and it provides 453 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:36,760 the raw material for the nests. 454 00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:41,440 But it also clogs the feathers of the nesting birds. 455 00:44:54,040 --> 00:44:57,920 The nesting flamingos have a strict daily routine. 456 00:44:57,920 --> 00:45:01,800 They sit during the heat of the day to protect the eggs 457 00:45:01,800 --> 00:45:03,800 from the tropical sun. 458 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:10,280 Then, as the day cools, they gather into groups and fly 459 00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:12,720 to the nearest fresh water to drink and bathe. 460 00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,880 This could be an image from the distant past. 461 00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:36,880 A daily routine that may have taken place millions of years ago. 462 00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:58,160 If there were land animals on Cuba over 80 million years ago, 463 00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:02,880 they may well have been flamingos, though we may never know for certain. 464 00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:09,720 But no land animal could lay claim to the title of the oldest Cuban. 465 00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:11,560 That must go to a creature 466 00:46:11,560 --> 00:46:14,000 that could have visited primordial Cuba. 467 00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,080 When it was still being created 468 00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:20,480 by the forces of the Earth, over 600 miles out, in the Pacific. 469 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:29,280 Cuba then would have been a raw, new island with little vegetation. 470 00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,240 But its remoteness and lack of land animals 471 00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:42,720 would have suited this possible first wild Cuban. 472 00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:47,120 For it would have required only a sandy beach. 473 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:52,800 Cuba was born 100 million years ago, 474 00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:56,880 but there would have been turtles then, as there are today. 475 00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:00,600 For these marine reptiles have a most ancient lineage. 476 00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:11,320 Female turtles only come ashore to lay their eggs. 477 00:47:11,320 --> 00:47:13,480 Dry land is not their world 478 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:15,760 and they're clumsy and uncomfortable here. 479 00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:27,960 The whole visit takes little more than an hour. 480 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,880 And then the turtle returns to its world - 481 00:47:30,880 --> 00:47:32,520 the sea. 482 00:47:32,520 --> 00:47:34,840 But a brief visit just like this 483 00:47:34,840 --> 00:47:39,440 may have been the very first life on Cuba. 484 00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:50,800 The story of wild Cuba runs for 100 million years. 485 00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:54,400 In that time, as the island moved from the Pacific to the Caribbean, 486 00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,320 many creatures have arrived on its shores. 487 00:47:57,320 --> 00:48:02,320 Today, their descendents live alongside more familiar Cuban icons. 488 00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:09,120 But it is these unique creatures 489 00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:13,200 that make Cuba the wild island of the Caribbean. 42841

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