All language subtitles for Walking with Dinosaurs s01e03 Cruel Sea.eng

The most fearsome predator
of the Jurassic

is watching his prey

Peering through the water,

the carnivore
fixes on his unwary victim,

waiting for the perfect moment
to strike

Under these azure waters
lies the future continent of Europe,

but now,
in the late Jurassic period,

all that exists here
are a few scattered islands

The break-up of the old continents

has pushed up the ocean floor
and raised sea levels,

flooding the lowlands
and creating vast shallow seas

Here, dinosaurs do NOT rule

Instead, giant marine reptiles
have evolved,

perfectly adapted to life
in these beautiful waters

All of them are air-breathers,
like this eight-tonne Cryptoclidus

On the land,
they are cumbersome hulks,

but in water, they are transformed

All sea reptiles once lived on land,

but 75 million years ago,

their ancestors took to the water

and their legs became flippers

They share this shallow sea

with other strange Jurassic
creatures, like the ammonites,

that snare small prey
with their tentacles

These rich, sunlit waters

are on the northern edge
of the ancient Tethys Ocean -

the sea that separates
the Earth's two continents,

one in the north
and one in the south

Once a year, they are the stage

for a remarkable natural drama

It starts with
a single pregnant Ophthalmosaurus,

followed by hundreds more
of her kind

All are gathering here
from deeper water to give birth

These are the oldest
of marine reptiles

and most completely adapted
to aquatic life,

with streamlined fish-like bodies

Most other marine reptiles,

like Cryptoclidus,
use all four flippers

to chase the blizzards of fish
through the water

Flapping like underwater wings,
the flippers can be used separately

to give them huge manoeuvrability,

or together,
for sudden bursts of speed

This unique method of locomotion

is destined to disappear
from the ocean

at the end of the age
of the dinosaurs

The animals
on the small islands above

also depend on the sea's bounty
for their survival

Among the jagged rocks
live a colony of flying reptiles

These sea pterosaurs
are called Rhamphorhynchus

They have evolved a way
of catching fish

without getting their wings wet

Their beaks skim through the water,

grabbing anything in their path

The teeth of these flying reptiles
may look bizarre,

but they are ideal for snatching
slippery fish from the water

However, swallowing their catch
is a different matter

(Harsh squawking)

(Low growling)

The Ophthalmosaurus
are starting to give birth

Most sea reptiles lay eggs on land,
but not Ophthalmosaurus

They give birth to live young

This frees them from the need
to crawl out of the water,

and has allowed them to evolve
their fish-like shapes

A female has two to five pups,

but since they are air-breathers,

the young must be born tail first,

or they would drown
before they escaped from the mother

The newborn pups
have just a few seconds

to reach the surface
and take their first breath

As soon as they are born,
the pups are vulnerable

These waters are full of predators

Even adult Ophthalmosaurus
will eat the offspring of others

to increase the chance of survival
for their own pups

The only real safety
is amongst the crags of coral

Birth is a dangerous time
for the mothers, too

This female is trying desperately

to expel her unborn offspring

Fighting for air,
she stays near the surface

Her struggles are a lure to sharks

These predators have acute hearing,

and the sound of splashing
betrays an animal in distress

As perfectly evolved
killing machines,

sharks patrolled the oceans

long before
marine reptiles appeared

After 20 minutes,
her exertions are exhausting her

She is having
to breathe more frequently

The sharks start to move in closer

Suddenly, something lurking
in the gloom scatters the sharks

Liopleurodon - at 150 tonnes,

it is the largest
and most powerful carnivore

ever to live on the planet

This male measures
a colossal 25 metres,

and is big even for his kind

His size means he is probably
over 100 years old

He, too, detected the mother's
distress from a distance

Liopleurodon
has a directional sense of smell-

two chambers in his nose

work in the same way
as a pair of ears -

pinpointing the source of a smell-

a sophisticated tracking device,

steering the largest
carnivorous jaws ever known

Each one of Liopleurodon's four
flippers is over three metres long,

giving him enough power

to guide his huge bulk effortlessly
through the water

By now,
the coral reefs around the islands

are full of baby Ophthalmosaurus

This intricate network of caves
is their refuge,

a safe haven from which they can
start to learn about their world

Baby Ophthalmosaurus
have prominent teeth,

allowing them to cope
with the tough prey

they find among the coral

But this little male
has yet to learn

that ammonite shells
are too tough for him

Above the sea,
food is less plentiful

A lonely dinosaur has been forced
to swim between the islands

in search of a meal

With huge marine predators
in the water,

this is a dangerous journey

Large dinosaurs are rare here,

and at five metres
from nose to tail,

Eustreptospondylus is the biggest

They are primarily scavengers,

combing the beaches
for dead animals,

but on such small islands,

they are always under pressure
to find more carrion

But another scavenger
has got here first

This Eustreptospondylus

is picking the last rotten strips
of flesh off a dead turtle

But even these decaying remains

are enough to trigger
a confrontation

(Growling)

Neither will risk an injury

and in the end,
it is the loudest roar that wins

(Fierce roar)

The only food supply here that is
not from the sea is the insects

Bark beetles infest the trees here

They represent
a tantalising feast of protein

just under the surface

This tempts a young Rhamphorhynchus
to probe for insect larvae,

but this is not really a job
his beak is evolved to cope with

Now two weeks old,

the young Ophthalmosaurus
are growing fast on a seafood diet,

but they are still at risk

especially from shark attack

A head of coral provides
a temporary refuge for this pup

His pursuer has a deadly advantage -

he does not have to return
to the surface to breathe

and has only to wait
until the pup needs air

But the little reptile
has one thing on his side

speed

Safe
until he needs to breathe again

Having a lungful of air

presents marine reptiles
with a buoyancy problem

Cryptoclidus has found one solution

He is not searching for food
in the sand

He is after pebbles and grit

Sieving off the fine grains,

he retains the larger stones
in his stomach for ballast,

which weighs him down and
counteracts the air in his lungs

The land represents safety
for the Cryptoclidus -

they have come up
onto the rock ledges to rest,

and also to be out of reach
of Liopleurodon

Darkness does not bring peace
in the restless sea

Billions of microscopic creatures

rise up from the depths
as the light fails,

and shoals of fish
surge into life to pursue them

Ophthalmosaurus adults
are masters of hunting at night

Most have left for deeper waters,

but a few remain to take advantage
of the plenty here

With their enormous
light-sensitive eyes,

they pick out squid in the gloom

Their long toothless snouts
are streamlined weapons,

making it easy for them
to snap up fast-moving prey

With the approaching full moon,

strange-looking visitors

gather on the shoreline
in their thousands

These are horseshoe crabs -
ancient creatures

who originated 150 million years
before the Jurassic

On a high tide,
the females struggle up the beach

and each lay as many as 18,000 eggs,

which the males
compete to fertilise

This strategy has served them well

since before the dinosaurs appeared,

and will do so for at least
another 150 million years to come

Early morning, and the horseshoe
crabs cause a feeding frenzy

Every year, the Rhamphorhynchus
come to this beach

to gather up the eggs,

while the last few crabs
struggle back into the water

The nutritious eggs
are an easy meal for these reptiles

But nature seldom offers anything
free of risk

(Low growling)

(Squawking)

A month later

Tiny horseshoe crabs start
to work their way out of the eggs

The high tide that brought
the females up the beach

now sweeps their offspring
back into the sea

For the pups, their secure life
around the reef

is coming to an end

In a few weeks,
they'll be big enough

for life in the open oceans

The first signs are when,
like adults,

they show the skills
to hunt fish in open waters

This is not without risk

The sharks are still a danger

One day, these will be the
most feared predators in the sea,

but in these Jurassic waters,

they themselves are prey

The Liopleurodon
is an expert at ambush

He takes one giant gulp of air,

then descends to hide in the depths

There, he can hold his breath
for over an hour

And Liopleurodon is a shark-eater

Unexpectedly, a female Liopleurodon
arrives on the scene

This, the bull will not tolerate

Liopleurodon
are fiercely territorial

and confrontations
almost always end in violence

The female
is forced to leave the area

Her flipper has been badly ripped

by the male's tusk-like teeth,

attracting sharks
that follow her trail of blood

It is four months
since the pups were born

and they're ready to leave,

but they are facing
one of the greatest hazards

of this cruel sea

These islands are regularly ravaged

by violent tropical storms
that are strong enough

to tear up the shallow sea beds,
smash corals

and kill thousands
of marine animals

The storm has had its victims

It was not just these
delicate-boned Rhamphorhynchus

that were broken
in the 100-mph winds

the old Liopleurodon,
disorientated in the murky waters,

has ended up
stranded on an island beach

As the beachcombers start to gather,
they are wary

While the giant is still alive,

his enormous jaws are lethal

But they can afford
to bide their time

The carnivore's own 150-tonne body

is slowly suffocating him

The Liopleurodon's life
has now ebbed away

The mightiest carnivore
the world has ever seen

is no more than a banquet

for a group of lucky scavengers

The Jurassic is a golden period
for giant marine reptiles

It will be another 90 million years

before they vanish from the oceans,

along with the extinction
of the dinosaurs on land

Most of the Ophthalmosaurus pups
have survived the storm

and now face life in the open sea

One day, the females will return,
and when they do,

they will be carrying
the next generation

Marine reptiles were one of
the glories of this ancient time -

even though turtles
are the only ones left today

Another group of reptiles shared the
dinosaurs' world - the pterosaurs

As we shall see in the next episode,
they were just as spectacular

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