Original subtitles

All life as we know it evolved under the same moon.

She's a constant but changeable force.

As she waxes and wanes...

...so do the fates of animals across our planet.

Just months old,

all this baby elephant has known is Botswana's punishing dry season.

Born on the move,

he must follow his family on their search for scattered food

and lifesaving water.

Keeping up is a struggle...

...but falling behind would be worse.

The lions that haunt the routes to waterholes here

are known elephant killers.

90% of their hunts take place after dark.

No night on Earth is ever the same.

The Moon changes everything.

Our Moon shapes life on Earth in extraordinary ways.

Creating the swelling tides...

...dictating the length of day...

...summoning the seasons.

She can light the way to love...

...reveal hidden pathways...

...bring times of plenty

...or strip away chances of survival.

The moon's unmistakable face has looked down on Earth

for billions of years...

but how she looks to life on our planet changes.

She doesn't make her own light.

She borrows it from the Sun.

Once a month, the Moon's orbit takes her between the Sun and Earth.

Backlit, she reflects no light our way.

This dark new-Moon phase starts the lunar cycle.

As she orbits our planet,

the Moon's angle to the Sun changes.

Until two weeks later,

she sits on the opposite side of Earth to the Sun.

At full moon,

she appears fully bathed in light.

These monthly phases are like clockwork.

So reliable,

they can be predicted thousands of years in advance.

But her constantly shifting cycle of light

fuels the drama between hunter and hunted.

In Botswana,

there's no rest for the baby elephant.

His family ate today,

but they desperately need water.

The cool of night helps them cover more ground.

But nights in the wild, away from artificial light,

can be profoundly dark.

Lions are night stalkers,

with eyes more sensitive to low light than elephants.

They rely on the dark to kill.

But tonight,

the Moon phase is in this baby's favour.

The light of a full moon is 400,000 times dimmer than the Sun.

But for 12 hours,

she will be the brightest object in his night sky.

And the barren landscape acts as a reflector,

enhancing her glow.

The lions have their eyes on the baby.

He's small, vulnerable,

a prime target.

But under a full moon,

the calf's family have no problem seeing the lions.

Better than squinting into midday sun,

moonlight is easier for them.

It would need the whole pride to take on just one adult elephant.

There's no chance against a dozen watchful bodyguards.

Lions can go two weeks without food.

They can wait for darker phases.

As long as he's with his family,

the baby is protected.

The moonlight helps him find his way on uneven ground.

But for each of his mother's steps,

he must take six.

His mother drops to his pace.

But her decision means they leave the safety of their family.

Even at full moon,

it's a chance an opportunistic hyena can't pass up.

The calf's mother can keep an eye on a single hyena.

If he calls his clan, the power will shift.

The elephants must find their family.

Distant low frequency rumbles

are the sound of safety, guiding them.

They're close.

His mother can smell water.

Tonight, the Moon is on the calf's side.

She will be in the sky until dawn...

...shedding light on potential predators.

For many animals, moonlight can be a lifeline at night.

For some, it can tip the balance between survival

and starvation.

In Brazil,

the buds of this apple cactus have taken nearly

a whole lunar cycle to mature.

They've been waiting for a moonlit night just like this.

With this grand opening timed to the brightest phases,

the blooms mirror the Moon,

reflecting maximum borrowed light.

Like neon signs on an all-night diner,

they're designed to attract one very hungry customer.

The first flight of this Manduca hawkmoth

will be the most important of his life.

Freshly emerged from his pupa,

he must eat tonight to survive.

The apple cactus flowers have deep wells of sugary nectar.

But this pop-up diner is here for one night only.

With dawn, the flowers will wither and die.

Rapid movements warm the moth's flight muscles.

But each beat burns precious energy.

There's no time to lose.

His search isn't random.

He keeps the Moon in the same spot in his field of vision.

It helps him stay straight so he doesn't go in circles.

It's the most efficient way to cover ground.

But wait! There's another moon!

Brighter. Closer.

His reserves are running low.

But his desire to keep this false moon in his line of sight...

...sends him in dizzying circles.

Our need to light up the shadows

creates problems for nocturnal animals.

A simple switch...

...can release them from its seduction.

He has to hurry.

It's nearly last orders.

His eyes are primed to see contrast.

The white petals are like a beacon.

With a proboscis twice his body length...

...he is the only animal who can reach the nectar deep in the flower.

To get enough energy to survive,

he'll visit more than 20 flowers tonight.

And he doesn't dine and dash...

...he pays his bill...

...through pollination.

But this moth will only live for a single lunar month.

He'll seize every opportunity...

the moonlight gives him.

Even at her brightest,

moonlight is too dim for human eyes to see much detail...

...and the night seems monochrome to us.

But there is more to moonlight than meets our eyes.

When it passes through water in the air...

a lunar rainbow forms.

Every moonbeam holds all wavelengths of sunlight...

...not just visible colours

but also hidden wavelengths beyond human vision,

including ultraviolet.

It's the hidden UV in lunar light...

...that's thought to help one creature find food.

This hungry Malaysian colugo has an urgent supply run to make.

She's eating for two.

Her two-month-old isn't weaned yet.

It takes a lot of calories to make milk.

Luckily, her huge eyes are so sensitive,

it's thought she can see in the moonlight what most mammals can't...

...colour.

When UV in moonlight is absorbed by some animals and plants...

...the energy is released as a faint visible glow.

Revealed with specialist cameras,

this phenomenon of fluorescence can come in a variety of colours.

Its purpose is still a mystery.

For a carnivorous pitcher plant...

...it could be a lure for unsuspecting victims.

While the colugo is thought to be looking for the blue glow...

...of juicy, fresh shoots.

The moonlight will help her see the young leaves.

But they're high in exposed canopies where it isn't safe to sleep.

She'll have to cross the forest to get them.

Her baby better hold on tight. He's going with her.

The 15-metre climb will be worth the effort.

It gives her the height she needs to reveal another secret.

Her forward-facing eyes give her excellent depth perception.

While a membrane of skin from wrist to ankle acts as a wing suit.

She can glide up to 100 metres through the dark

and never miss her mark.

With maximum distance travelled in seconds...

...she can spend more of her night eating.

And since her eyes can take advantage of all moonlight has to offer...

she can continue late night feeds

even as the Moon enters its darkest phases.

The Moon is celebrated as a symbol of the night.

But in reality,

moonrise isn't synchronised with sunset.

Each phase is in the sky for 12 hours out of every 24.

A full moon happens to rise with sunset...

...but as she cycles towards a new moon...

...she rises later and later until she starts to overlap with day...

...and is seen less at night.

In Botswana,

the nights have got darker in the days approaching new moon.

The baby elephant's family can only go three days without water.

Dehydration is most dangerous for him and his nursing mother.

But each waterhole visit close to new moon comes with increased risk.

The waning crescent rose in the early hours

and is barely brighter than starlight.

The baby's full moon advantage has gone.

The darker the night, the bolder lions get.

Thankfully, the sun is rising.

The family has quenched their thirst...

...but with no food here

and the hungry lions sticking close to the water...

...it's time to leave.

Thanks to the lions,

a waning moon means danger for the baby.

But for elephants elsewhere,

darker-moon phases bring opportunity.

This lush Tanzanian forest is full of food.

An adult bull can eat

over one hundred kilograms of plant life a day.

But he knows there's something sweeter.

Fields of carbohydrate-rich wheat

would give him the ultimate energy boost.

When sharing space with humans,

waning moon phases become friend to this elephant.

When there's no moonlight...

...humans need artificial light

and thermal cameras to see.

Crop raids can double during the darkest Moon phases.

This bull knows humans will be less able to spot him.

He can't see much,

but led by a nose better than any blood hound,

he can smell the wheat tantalisingly close.

With the Moon still to rise...

...the night is as dark as it gets.

If he can just keep quiet.

Now.

His cushioned footpads act as shock absorbers.

He can move without noise.

All that's in his way now is a single wire.

But this is no ordinary fence.

Suspended every ten metres along its seven-kilometre length are hives,

full of African honeybees.

If one bee stings the elephant,

a pheromone will call the whole hive to attack.

The bull isn't just testing the fence,

he's testing the bees' patience.

And if the buzzing increases,

it will raise the alarm.

Bees can't see in the dark,

but they CAN detect heat.

The hottest areas are the thin skin around the elephant's eyes.

This bull has met African honeybees before.

An elephant never forgets the pain of being stung.

The alarm system is working.

He can smell the guards coming.

It's a clever plan to raid on a dark phase...

but despite his stealth,

this bull has met his match.

As the lunar cycle continues,

the Moon will rise later and later each night until,

once a month, she doesn't rise at night at all.

A new moon is a daytime moon.

She rises and sets with the Sun.

As they travel across the sky,

the Moon is normally hidden in the Sun's glare.

From Earth, she's too faint to be seen.

But today's new moon...

...is about to make her presence known...

...over Mexican mountains...

...across American prairielands...

...and all the way to the lakes of Canada

thanks to a quirk in the way she moves.

The Moon's orbit is tilted,

which means she changes course each day.

If her path is at just the right angle...

...she'll eclipse the Sun.

Even though the Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon,

thanks to a cosmic coincidence,

the Moon is 400 times closer to Earth.

If they align exactly,

they'll be a perfect fit.

During a total solar eclipse...

the Moon can throw her shadow across the Earth

at over 2,400 kilometres per hour.

For a brief moment,

the Moon turns day to night.

It's an event that can be predicted to the second.

But because the Moon keeps moving on her changing path...

...this precise combination won't repeat here...

for over 500 years.

The eclipse is a dramatic demonstration

of the Moon's relationship with the Earth and Sun.

The same relationship that drives her phases

and powers another rhythm vital to life.

The Moon's mass is just one 1% of Earth's,

but her gravity is strong enough to pull the oceans towards her.

As Earth spins,

life across the planet...

...sees the twice daily ebb and flow...

of tides.

Over billions of years,

these moon powered-tides have shifted sediments,

broken down rocks...

...carved coastlines...

...and shaped unique behaviours across the globe.

On this small Thai island,

the Moon has set the table for a young long-tailed macaque

and her family.

Daily low tides expose protein-rich seafood.

Sea snails are a great starter...

...but come in protective packaging.

Luckily, the Moon has brought the macaque a solution.

In her hands,

rocks shaped by millennia of tides can become stone tools.

Fewer than 1% of animals have the brains to use tools.

Passed from family member to family member,

it's a skill that has to be learned.

The small snails make a dent in the macaque's hunger.

But rock oysters would be the ultimate delicacy.

Just one is worth 20 sea snails.

Unfortunately,

oysters have evolved shells so strong...

...they inspired bullet-proof glass.

They can withstand simple smashing.

To get this main course,

she'll need to learn from a master.

This alpha male is so good,

he has a fan club.

If the female watches closely,

she can learn his secrets.

The tides have ground some rocks into a point.

She needs a stone that will focus her force

and cause more damage.

With the tide turning,

her ingenuity pays off.

And now, she can perfect her new skills...

...with each daily low tide.

Other diners...

have to wait for when the lunar tides are at their strongest.

Twice a month,

when the Moon is either new or full,

her gravity combines with the Sun's...

...amplifying the raw power of the tides.

When the force of these Moon-powered spring tides

comes up against monsoon ocean currents...

...they create a suction pump that pulls all manner

of alien-like creatures from the deep.

Comb jellies can gulp ten times their weight a day,

swallowing anything in their path.

And the deadly fishing lines of sea gooseberries are ideal

for catching the smallest and most important animals in the sea.

Microscopic zooplankton...

...copepods...

...crab larvae...

...mysid shrimp...

...they're the ultimate seafood cocktail

and the basis of ocean food chains.

Their natural instinct is to sink back to the depths.

But before they can,

the tide sweeps the plankton-rich waters

into the dead end of The Maldives' Hanifaru Bay.

The increase in plankton creates an all-you-can-eat buffet

for one of the largest fish in the ocean.

A reef manta ray.

His balletic moves have a purpose.

They give him multiple hits at the plankton soup...

...while specialised fins funnel the food into his mouth.

Thanks to the Moon-driven spring tides,

there's plenty to go around.

Within minutes, hundreds more arrive.

It's the greatest gathering of reef mantas...

...on Earth.

With the largest brain of any fish...

...the mantas have learned to work together.

Coordinated circular moves create a vortex,

trapping the plankton in the middle.

It means the mantas can eat more...

...before the tide changes again...

...and sweeps what's left...

...back out to sea.

The Moon's tidal power is an unstoppable force...

...that also helps set another rhythm...

so familiar,

almost all living things abide by it.

Over billions of years,

the tides created drag on the Earth,

slowing it so it turns only once every 24 hours.

And with that spin comes the inevitable change

from day into night.

Botswana's dry season has taken its toll.

On the brink of dehydration,

the baby and his family risk a visit to the waterhole,

on the darkest night of the month.

Tonight, no Moon will rise.

They can't see well,

but they know there's danger in the dark.

The lions have waited two hungry weeks for this moonless night.

Reflective tissues behind their retinas

amplify even the faintest starlight.

The baby is in their sights.

But a single whiff of lion...

...shifts the elephants into defence mode.

Without moonlight,

the baby relies on scent and touch to stick close.

The hungry lions have lost the element of surprise.

If stalking doesn't work,

a charge might split the group.

The baby is protected by a wall of angry females.

Throwing sand and fanning ears

makes the already massive elephants appear even more intimidating.

But he isn't the only youngster near the waterhole tonight.

This four-year-old male is older,

but he isn't wiser.

Testing his growing independence,

he's wandered away from HIS family.

His mother hears his frantic calls.

The mother can smell and hear the lions on all sides

but can't pinpoint them.

The pride has darkness in their favour.

But this young male is no morsel.

He weighs eight times an adult lion...

...and one blow from his mother could be fatal.

If the lions don't seize this chance,

the new moon will pass

and their fortunes will shift again.

The mother couldn't protect her son alone.

But the pride finally has a chance to eat.

The baby has survived this new moon phase

and learned a crucial lesson.

There's power in family.

The passing of the new moon marks the start of a new lunar cycle.

If the baby makes it through his first year,

he may live to be 80

and see close to 1,000 more.

The Moon plays a pivotal role in the survival of any creature

who relies on the timing,

tides and light that come with her everchanging phases.

In filming lunar-linked elephant behaviour in Tanzania,

the Moon team collaborated with a unique community-run project

that's solving a centuries-old conflict.

The land here is part of an ancient elephant migration route.

A long time ago, this is a forest.

So the elephant remember that,

"This was our territory."

We're supposed to live with them.

What is important is to live with elephant peacefully.

Elephants are very important because

of their ecological contribution first.

When they break the big trees,

they bring some fertiliser on the ground to bring other plants

so that the ecology is balanced.

But a single elephant can wipe out a farmer’s entire year's work

and life savings.

District wildlife officer Lengai

manages all human-wildlife conflict in the area.

We understand that movements of elephant is very important...

...but we have also a number of people killed by the elephants,

their crop raided...

...the infrastructures are destroyed,

so it's a huge conflict.

The anger created helps fuel another conflict.

Tanzania lost 60% of its elephants to a recent poaching epidemic.

NGO Wild Survivors helps address these issues

by empowering local communities to be part of the solution.

Today, we are installing a beehive fence.

We are actually finishing the two kilometres

that remain from Kitete village.

Hundreds of white boxes along the fence

will house a surprising natural elephant deterrent...

honey bees.

When there was no fence,

the elephants normally moved freely from the forest into the farms

every night.

And now, the community is going to be helped

because, I believe, the frequency of elephants coming into the farms

is going to reduce.

With the extension,

the fence will reach over seven kilometres

and protect two villages.

It's cheap, simple for the farmers to maintain,

and above all, it's successful.

John Massay was born in Upper Kitete

and now monitors fence activity for Wild Survivors.

Through camera traps, we can count the frequence of elephant.

The frequence of elephant before the fence is 754 per year.

After the fence, there's only 63.

There is no conflict after the fence.

A 92% decrease in human-elephant interactions

is not the only benefit of the fence.

It's like the bees are acting on my behalf.

They are doing my job, so I'm happy about it.

Apart from deterring the elephant,

these bee hives brought huge connection

between the conservation and the local community.

If I begin with the pollination role of bees,

they increase even harvest for the farmers.

They also pollinate forest, they increase the forest cover,

so everything is just important, the bees and the elephants.

And that's not all.

Honey from the hives is changing women's lives.

We have farmers who are not experiencing crop raids frequently.

People are living in harmony with elephants

and are benefiting from bee products. The community is at peace.

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