All language subtitles for Nature.S44E04.Jaguar.Beach.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

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There's a story unfolding on
the west coast of Costa Rica --

a story both ancient
and new...

a tale of two creatures
from opposite worlds,

each on a comeback from
their own devastating declines.

One is the sea turtle,

the global ocean traveler.

The other, a magnificent cat --

the top predators
in Central America.

The return
of an endangered forest

will bring them together

in an uncommon clash
of land and sea --

a surprising encounter
of a rare predator

and a most unusual prey.

How will their fates play out

when they finally meet on
one special crescent of sand...

called Jaguar Beach?

Off the shore
of Central America,

in the shallows of the Pacific,
an ancient ritual is underway.

After more than a decade at sea,

an olive ridley sea turtle nears
the end of her long migration.

Guided by the Earth's
magnetic field,

she has navigated
thousands of kilometers,

seeking out the very beach
where she was born.

This secluded crescent of sand

has long provided a refuge

for one of the world's
most beloved creatures...

and is home
to a wild coastal community.

Shorebirds flock to its shallows
to feed...

under the pterodactyl
silhouettes

of magnificent frigatebirds.

American crocodiles slip out
of their swampy lagoons

for an occasional
saltwater splash.

Rising up from the beach
is one of the last habitats

of its kind on Earth --

a tropical forest
that's dry for half the year.

Restored as a national park

after it had been clearcut
for agriculture,

its tangled woodlands sprawl

nearly 500 square kilometers

across Costa Rica's
mountainous west.

The forest stretches
all the way to the ocean's edge,

where its mangrove tendrils
filter freshwater from salt.

The hardy trees provide a home
for over 250 species of birds.

Yellow-naped parrots
nest in the heights.

Orange-fronted parakeets
feast on its floral buffet.

They share the canopy
with gymnastic spider monkeys...

...and howlers.

And in the understory,

lumbering Baird's tapirs
forage for fallen fruit.

The unusual forest opens
onto a pristine strip of sand --

one of only a few in the world

where olive ridley sea turtles
nest en masse.

For nearly two decades,
biologist Luis Fonseca

has been trekking
to this remote alcove

to monitor nesting sea turtles.

But after five years
on the beach,

he arrived one morning
to a shock --

signs in the sand that he
and the turtles were not alone.

The first tracks were
no aberration.

He soon saw more evidence

that one of the most formidable
predators in the Americas

was making a comeback
in the dry forest.

The return of an apex predator

was bound to send ripples
through the ecosystem...

...so Luis decided to expand his
research to include the jaguars.

Hoping to learn what impact
they would have on the turtles,

he set up hundreds
of camera traps

to capture their movements
and behavior.

And then he waited...

for the turtles
to emerge from the sea.

For years at a time,
olive ridley sea turtles

live a solitary, nomadic life
at sea.

Their world is one
of mighty behemoths

and lively schools of dolphins.

Then, every year or two,

a primeval instinct
draws them home to these shores.

Male turtles -- identifiable
by their longer tails --

rarely return to land
after hatching.

But during nesting season,

these ancient mariners patrol
the shallows looking for mates.

Seduction begins with
a tender but clunky embrace.

The male uses long claws
on his front flippers

to hook onto the female's shell.

The courtship is quick,

but the coupling can last
for several hours.

The female does most
of the work,

constantly pushing
to the surface

so they both can breathe.

For these two ocean wanderers
and their species,

it's a fleeting
but critical connection.

Weeks later,
the female drags herself

from the comfort
of her weightless, watery world.

With her 50-kilogram frame
and short flippers,

she's far more graceful at sea
than ashore.

But she's determined to find
a good spot for her nest.

Then, she starts to carve
out a deep, protective cavity.

As she digs,

another mother-to-be
emerges from the surf,

carrying her own precious cargo.

In a few months,

this sliver of beach will
draw thousands of sea turtles

for a mass nesting event.

But for now,

she and the other female seem
to have it all to themselves.

Within the forest, the area's
dominant male jaguar --

named Alonzo by Luis --

sets off on a midnight hunt.

On the beach,
the first female turtle

puts the final touches
on her nest.

Her eggs are now hidden, but
she is still very much exposed.

No stalking, no pouncing.

Just a quick and easy bite
to the back of the head.

Back in the mangroves,
Alonzo settles down to his meal.

His powerful jaws make quick
work of the turtle's hard shell.

The jaguar has the most
powerful bite of any big cat.

His jaws work just
as well on the shell

as they do
on other animals' skulls.

His tongue isn't just
for tasting.

It's lined
with back-facing barbs

that may aid
with stripping flesh from bone.

With Alonzo otherwise occupied,

the other nesting female is
still hard at work.

Around a hundred eggs tumble
into the nest.

Soft, leathery shells cushion
their fall.

In her final maternal act,
she carefully conceals them.

Then, she returns
to her ocean world,

never to know what becomes
of her clutch.

Her eggs must now survive
the next 45 days --

hidden in the sand on a beach

where everyone is looking
for their next meal.

Back in the mangroves,

the turtle will feed Alonzo
for two days.

For now, he has eaten his fill.

But he's not the
only one dining tonight.

As he takes a break,

hungry scavengers move in
from the shadows.

The scent penetrates the forest.

A resourceful opossum
is in luck.

He's so taken by his windfall,

he fails to notice that someone
has come back for seconds.

The jaguar's
leftovers will nourish

a whole forest community.

But Luis is concerned
for the turtles,

because olive ridleys are
in decline around the world.

How will the growing
jaguar population affect

the vulnerable turtles
staging their own comeback

here on this critical beach?

Luis hopes his camera traps
can offer some clues.

The cameras reveal a secret
no one expected --

constant traffic of jaguars

moving between
the dry forest and the beach.

What was once a sanctuary
for Luis's nesting sea turtles

has become a favorite hunting
ground for a forest predator.

It's an amazing comeback story
for the big cats.

During the 1950s and '60s,

Costa Rica's northwestern coast
was stripped of its trees --

replaced by
a patchwork of cattle ranches.

Jaguars and other forest animals
all but disappeared.

Then, in 1971,

Costa Rica created
Santa Rosa National Park

and let nature rebuild
the forest.

New growth stretched
across the province,

eventually connecting the coast
to an inland jaguar habitat.

One by one,

the cats followed the lure
of the resurrected forest.

They found their way
deeper into the park,

expanding their territory...

all the way to the beach.

To monitor the effects
of this surge of predators,

Luis assembled a small team
with a passion for jaguars...

and the patience and fortitude
to work in extreme isolation.

These elusive animals are
what drew Carolina Perez

from her home in Italy
to this rugged coastal outpost,

several hours' drive

and a mountain hike
from the nearest town.

With only a flashlight
and a bag of batteries,

she monitors
the project's cameras.

They have captured
some fascinating consequences

of the jaguars' return.

Even pumas --
top predators themselves --

have altered their behavior.

They've become more active
during the day

to avoid the new rulers
of the night.

And they're not
above jaguar leftovers

if it means a free meal.

The team's cameras are offering
other revelations as well.

Normally, a single male jaguar

needs 130 square kilometers
of territory to himself.

Here, an abundance of turtles
keeps competition for food low,

and these
intensely solitary cats live

in much closer proximity.

This gives Luis's cameras
an unprecedented view

into their social lives.

Luis has recorded
jaguars mating...

wrestling...

and even carting off
an ill-fated dolphin.

The project identifies
the individual cats

by their rosettes --
the spots on their fur.

Each jaguar's pattern is as
unique as a human fingerprint.

In the last 10 years,
Luis's team has documented

and named around 40
individual jaguars.

And they're capturing not just
behaviors, but personalities.

Alonzo, the 12-year-old
dominant male,

asserts his right
to any female --

or food -- on the beach.

Amanda, highly territorial, she
seems to be the dominant female.

And Jorge, a young tough
on the cusp of adulthood.

He's been gravitating
towards the females in heat.

Tonight,
Jorge is on the prowl...

heading to the beach
in search of an easy meal.

And he's well-equipped
to spot one.

His eyes are backed
with a mirror-like tissue

that reflects light
into his retinas

and gives all cats
their famous night vision.

Tonight, he finds no turtles,

but something
for other appetites.

It's Amanda,
enjoying her own turtle catch.

Jorge is eager to put his
adolescent prowess to the test.

In this rare peek
into jaguar courtship,

Jorge and Amanda take playful
breaks between couplings.

But the interlude is cut short
when Alonzo arrives.

Jorge beats a hasty retreat.

Still outranked by Alonzo,

he'll have to settle for
a fleeting tryst.

For now, he heads back to
the forest to wait out the heat.

Early April.

At the peak of dry season,
the sun bakes the canopy.

As streams dry up,
tensions rise.

A trip to one of the few
remaining watering holes

now means risking a run-in
with a thirsty predator.

A family of white-faced
capuchin monkeys shelters

high in the canopy.

But the heat is unrelenting,
and while mom naps,

a young capuchin takes his
brother on a daring mission...

...to drink from a small seep
in the ground.

Bees have beaten them to it.

He endures the thirsty swarm
for a few precious drops.

His brother isn't quite
convinced it's worth it.

The sun beats down
across the park.

From the forest to the beach,
life slows to a crawl.

Even offshore,
the coastal breeze offers

little relief to a colony
of magnificent frigate birds.

A young mom-to-be
languishes in the heat,

shielding her single egg
from the relentless sun.

She'll remain on the nest
for the next eight weeks,

leaving only for brief spells
to find food and water.

Inside the forest, Amanda
is also looking for water.

But Luis's cameras
catch someone else on the hunt.

Jorge is more interested in
a private moment than a drink.

Amanda puts on a half-hearted
show of resistance.

The coupling takes
less than a minute.

Fast work, but jaguars
can mate dozens of times a day.

In between mating,
the couple takes a stroll.

Using scent glands
in his cheeks,

Jorge lays his claim
to this swath of forest.

It seems the young upstart has
stepped out of Alonzo's shadow.

Late May --

the beginning of the wet season
in the dry forest.

A meter of rain falls in
just the first three weeks.

The forest springs to life.

In the next five months,

over 90% of the year's rain
will fall.

Long-dry riverbeds
begin to flow --

a wave of relief
for the parched forest.

A slow greening
spreads across the hills,

transforming Santa Rosa
into a coastal oasis.

Capuchins feast on nuts
and ripe berries.

A woodpecker chick gets
her food delivered

right to the nest.

And as the forest begins
to stir,

the promise of new life
also arrives by sea.

Late summer.

August winds bring an air
of anticipation.

Beyond the break,

female olive ridley sea turtles
begin to assemble.

They're one
of only two turtle species

that gather in a synchronized
mass nesting event --

an arribada --
Spanish for "arrival."

The first few females
converge offshore.

Soon, hundreds arrive.

The shallows fill
with a constellation of turtles.

They're all waiting for
a mysterious signal

humans have yet to decipher...

...a cue that the time is right
to head ashore.

Over the next few months,

thousands will pour forth
from the ocean --

an armada of mothers, bringing
the next generation to the sand.

It's one of the natural world's

timeless
and spectacular sights...

a ritual of renewal

that may date back
to the age of the dinosaurs.

The beach becomes
a sea of churning sand.

In a single season,

this small crescent --
just over a kilometer long --

will be filled with
up to seven million eggs.

But on Jaguar Beach,

a successful hatch
is far from guaranteed.

As the arribada subsides,
Carolina gets to work.

These 45 days mark a dangerous
period for the baby turtles.

As they incubate in the sand,

relentless predators
stalk them from above.

On most nesting beaches,

wild dogs, foxes and coyotes --

so-called mesopredators --

plunder nests
for the protein-packed eggs.

Using the tools
of shoestring science,

Carolina is trying to track

how many of these nests
will be raided.

The bottles make it easy to see
if a nest has been disturbed.

During recent arribadas,

the bottles have helped them
document an encouraging trend

that they believe is tied
to the return of the jaguars.

It seems the jaguars
are keeping

smaller predators
off the beach --

inadvertently protecting
the turtles' eggs.

As Carolina works,

she's constantly aware of the
jaguars' presence in the dark.

Carolina isn't the only one
patrolling the night.

Amanda has caught wind
of a late-night snack.

It's easy pickings
on Jaguar Beach...

...and from
the size of her belly,

it looks like Amanda
is eating for two.

But Amanda
won't be the only mom

whose success is tied
to the turtles.

About a kilometer offshore,

the frigatebird colony
is noisier than usual.

Across their island outpost,

hundreds of downy hatchlings
begin to stir.

The first-time mother awakens to
her hungry and persistent chick.

For their first five months,

frigatebird chicks
depend entirely

on their mothers for food.

Chicks that don't get fed...
don't last long.

Mom has to hunt...

and fast.

But she knows exactly
where to go.

The last month and a half have
been quiet on the beach --

since the end of the arribada.

But today,
something is different.

The sand begins to shift.

The beach erupts with new life.

For the hatchlings,

digging their way to the surface
is just the beginning.

It's a long way to the water...

and there's a gauntlet
to be run.

For a creature
only five centimeters long,

almost everything
is an obstacle.

A fallen branch blocks the path.

At last,
she's on the open beach.

But here,
the dangers multiply.

The young frigatebird mother
swoops in right on time.

One by one, hatchlings
are carried off into the sky.

A spiny-tailed iguana launches
an aggressive ground attack.

Even the crustaceans close in.

Ghost crabs are
surprisingly strong.

Another hatchling looks
destined for a similar fate.

With a survivor's determination,
she fends off the attack.

She races for the ocean.

One final close call...

...and then...

the finish line.

She plunges
into a salty marine world,

where she'll spend years
before returning to this beach.

She'll swim out
past the rocky retreat,

where the frigatebird mom
can now feed her chick

a magnificent meal.

Only one in a thousand
of these baby turtles

will survive to adulthood.

But Luis believes
these hatchlings got

some surprising help

from the forest predator
that takes their mothers

but safeguards their nests.

Luis's team has found
that jaguars kill less than 1%

of the beach's nesting mothers.

And by warding off threats
to the eggs,

the predator has become
the protector.

On the island,

the frigatebird chicks
continue to gorge

on the hatchling bounty...

...and in the forest,

Amanda is caught on camera
doing something strange.

She tears off
bite-sized portions

from her latest turtle catch.

A few days later, Luis's cameras
provide an adorable explanation.

Amanda with her
curious new cubs.

For the next two years,

Amanda will teach her cubs
how to survive...

...and guide them
through the dry forest

that helped bring her species
back to this special beach.

The rebirth
of Santa Rosa's forest

and the resurrection
of its magnificent top predator

has restored
an ancient relationship.

The renewed partnership
has healed the connection

between
vastly different worlds...

...from the forest...

to the air...

to the deep ocean...

...to the beach where the lives
of all their inhabitants

intertwine...

...where two creatures reunite

as they were
for thousands of years...

predator, prey --

unlikely allies
in each other's survival...