All language subtitles for Wild Australasia 3 Southern Seas

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Australia...
the land of sun, sea and surf...

lts golden shores are a magnet for
beach lovers and thrill seekers.

Millions flock to explore
the world's biggest coral reef.

But while the Great Barrier Reef
and Sydney Harbour

are the classic images of
the Australian way of life,

they're just the beginning.

Leave behind those playgrounds
of the crowded east coast,

and there's a much wilder
party going on out there.

This continent has a coastline

that stretches from the hot northern
tropics to the icy south.

And all around are seas with the
most astonishing variety of life.

But these waters are
challenging places to live...

...only the toughest survive...

catching a wave is the easy bit.

The seas around Australia are
as harsh as the land itself.

Only in very special places has
marine-life overcome the odds.

The Great Barrier Reef is
the one everyone knows,

but there's another coral extravaganza
on the other side of Australia.

Here, the land is a desert
and it hardly ever rains.

There are no rivers
flushing mud into the sea,

and so the water stays crystal clear.

lt's perfect for growing corals V
and all a stone's throw from the beach.

Sandwiched between the desert
shore and the open ocean,

Ningaloo Reef is 260
kilometres of coral oasis.

The outer reef wall encloses
a self-contained world.

Life thrives in the warmth
of the sheltered lagoon.

When conditions are this good

baby striped catfish gobble
like mad to get a head start.

But until they've grown up,
they roll around the reef together.

This way they look bigger and
scarier than they would on their own.

All the raw ingredients for life as
a catfish - or as anything else -

are trapped within the lagoon.

Until the Autumn storms...

when the nutrition-packed reef-water
spills out into the open sea.

For just a brief period

the lifeless waters outside
become a nourishing soup...

and dinner guests arrive out of the blue.

lt's a whale shark.

These giant ocean cruisers
make long treks,

because food is so hard to find out
in the clear tropical seas.

But they can be sure of getting
a spot of lunch round here.

Ningaloo is the only place in the world

where you can see them
feeding so close to shore.

Whale sharks aren't the only ones

who've marked this event
in their biological diary.

Vast shoals of sardines appear out of the
lndian Ocean to join Ningaloo's feast.

They're tailed by
predatory dog tooth tuna.

Sharks appear. They're usually loners.

But they'll gang up for a party like this.

Sharks and tuna work the shoals together,
like dogs rounding up sheep...

until they've pinned them against
the shore in one massive, tight slick.

The sardines look like easy meat,

but the slick is now a solid wall of fish.

lt's hard for the predators
to know where to start.

Every time the sharks plough in,

the little fish do their
parting-the-waves trick.

lt's a dazzling defence.

Tuna are like snipers; they pick off
fish from the edge of the huddle.

But it's hard for the sharks.

They can't get a grip on the vast,
darting shoal.

The bait-ball is squeezed tighter and
tighter and even the sharks can't miss.

Then more heavyweight diners show up.

The sardine shoal is now
virtually on the beach,

so surely out of reach
of a huge Brydes whale.

The sharks are finally making
a dent in the shoal,

but it's nothing to what these monstrous
whales can cram into their mouths.

When the food runs out,
the bounty hunters will drift away

and the sea around here
will return to hard times.

Australia's northwest coast
is pretty impoverished

and little fertile pockets
like Ningaloo are rare.

But there are other surprises.

Further south,
there's a giant inlet called Shark Bay.

lt's surrounded by desert,

and under a blazing sun,

seawater evaporates off quicker
than a boiling billycan.

ln the inner reaches of the bay

the concentrated water is twice
as salty as the sea.

And it doesn't get much tougher than that.

There's nothing in this brine
for these jellyfish to eat,

so they've come up with
a clever way to cope.

Their tissues contain
millions of plant cells

that convert sunlight directly into food.

These jellies are solar-powered.

And since few predators can cope
with living in this salty world,

they're unhassled and free
to just soak up the sun.

The shape of the coast has
created a natural harbour -

but on an Aussie scale.

lnside is a place like no other.

Meadows of sea-grass
ripple over the seabed -

these are the greatest underwater
prairies on the planet.

Grass can tough it out anywhere -
even in salty water.

ln fact, here it's perfect.

The bay is calm,
uniformly shallow, sunlit -

and the sandy bottom
is ideal for grass roots.

So it's sea grass all the way.

This lush, sunny grassland is
the foundation of all life here.

There's plenty of food for sea horses...

...and hiding places for
the small and inexperienced.

lt's the tiny animals
living around the stalks,

as much as the grass itself

that offer such a good living
to so many types of fish.

Some look bizarre.

The moth fish may seem over-designed,
in its armour plating,

but it has to careful of enemies.

One bite from a venomous
sea snake would be lethal.

But these are the real
monsters of Shark Bay.

And they've spawned
myths of giant proportions.

Once upon a time,
people thought they were mermaids.

But it must have taken a desperate
sailor to dream that one up.

They're actually Dugongs,
vegetarian sea-mammals,

and there are over 1 0,000
of them in Shark bay.

There might be even more

if it weren't for the tiger sharks
that give the bay its name.

Babies stick close to Mum.

They're sometimes called sea cows
because they graze for eight hours a day.

And they need a huge gut
to digest all that grass.

No wonder they look portly.

Like all mammals they have to take
a breath from time to time.

No worries in sea rarely
deeper than 1 0 metres.

Thanks to the meadows of sea-grass
they lead a sheltered and stately life.

Without the unusual shape of the coast,

Shark Bay would be a sandy wasteland;
much like the desert that surrounds it.

Up north there's another natural hot spot,

but forged from a very
different set of conditions.

Every year Australia's Top End is
battered by the tropical monsoon.

The weather is wild and
the currents are wicked.

The ocean is funnelled violently
through a bottleneck -

the shallow straits between Australia
and the islands of lndonesia.

The resulting tidal bulge is the
highest anywhere in the tropics...

and it really stirs things up.

At low tide,
the sea drops a massive 1 2 metres,

leaving the Top End of Australia as one
vast steamy plain of mud and mangrove.

The heavy monsoon rains have
another vitalising effect -

they flush out rich silt from the rivers,

and the coastal plains
get a thick layer of mud.

These muddy flats ooze with life...

and it's all desperate for cover
now the tide's gone out.

And here's why.

But with only six hours of feeding
time till the tide comes in again,

mudskippers, golden ghost crabs and
wading birds have to start in top gear.

They're all desperate to get
down to the water's edge,

where the receding tide
has exposed a slap up feast.

A million migrating birds
re-fuel by sifting the warm silt

for worms, snails and shellfish.

Some have travelled over
1 5 000 kilometres to feed here,

because these are the richest
tidal mud flats in the world.

But like a gold rush,
things can get lawless.

Sanderlings aren't above
a bit of daylight robbery.

But the villains of the beach...
are the seagulls.

On an exposed mud flat it's impossible
to keep your treasures to yourself.

This sand eel is quite a prize.

There's just no justice round here.

And with the returning tide the crab
has no time to make up for his loss.

While crabs can dig in
under the racing tide...

waders have to cosy-up
at the top of a shrinking beach.

At high tide the sea is brimming again,

and all you can see is a desert shore.

But a few hours later
the tide will recede,

the mudflats revealed,
and the action will start all over again.

Northern Australia sits under the tropics.

Like a massive generator
it drives the climate of the land

but it also has a powerful
effect on Australia's seas.

The Leeuwin current is a river
of warm water from the north

that pumps down the west coast working
its way into the cooler seas of the south.

lt brings a lick of tropical warmth,
but it doesn't bring any nutrients.

They've already been used up
by other marine life.

This warm, empty current snakes
into the Great Australian Bight -

the broad bay that arcs around
Australia's southern side.

These coastal seas
should be heaving with life -

as full of fish as the North Atlantic.

The cliffs should be screaming with
nesting sea birds. But they're not.

The Leeuwin current drives
a wedge of tepid water

between the coast and
the adjacent southern ocean.

As a result the sea's as
infertile as the land above.

Only extreme animals can live down here.

To find enough food
this Australian sea lion

has just returned from three days
of long dives along the coast.

By any seal standards that's a marathon...

...so on the last leg
she deserves an easy ride in.

She tells her pup she's back.
lt's desperate for a feed.

They can only live here because of the
unconventional way they bring up the pups.

These babies are huge!

Other young seals would have
been weaned long ago,

but Australian sea-lion pups suckle
for over a year and a half,

way longer than their relatives.

A good, fat start is the only way to go,
for a life in impoverished seas.

Even so Aussie sea lions
live for just 1 2 years.

lt's the shortest lifespan of any seal.

When the mothers go back out to sea,

the pups make the most of
their extended childhood.

A coastal lagoon -

out of the reach of predatory sharks -

is a safe place to try life in the water.

These Aussie sea lions depend
on their mothers for years.

But they're not being pampered V
they have to prepare for life on the edge.

As adults they'll make
record-breaking dives

just to get enough to eat,

so they need this time
to develop stamina too.

But it looks like they have
a bit of fun along the way.

ln these barren waters it's hard
for anything to make a living.

So what could possibly attract
an animal the size of a whale?

She's come here to have a baby.

The warmth of the Leeuwin current

has created a lovely
whale-sized birthing pool.

Southern Right whales spend most
of the year in the sub-Antarctic,

but the water's too cold and wild
down there for a vulnerable baby.

They come to the protected bays of the
Australian Bight to rear their calves.

But this is one hungry baby and it needs
mother's milk to build up its strength.

Breast-feeding is demanding -
the baby could suck its mother dry.

So what is she doing for food?

She sorted that out months ago...

by fattening up
in the rich southern ocean.

Over the summer she ate her way
through two tonnes of krill a day.

lt gave her enough energy to swim
2000 kilometres to Australia,

give birth, produce
thousands of litres of milk

and then guide her calf back
to the sub-Antarctic.

All without taking another bite.

Most animals, such as the Giant
Cuttlefish, don't venture such distances.

But they have to find food
in these impoverished waters.

Their favourite prey
is thin on the ground,

so they live and hunt alone.

First they mesmerise their victim...

...then they take aim.

lt must be like looking down
the barrel of a gun.

They're deadly accurate...
but not so hot in reverse.

Cuttlefish only get together
in the autumn.

The Great Australian Bight
has rocky reefs,

which are vital in the breeding season.

And cuttles gather in their
thousands to size each other up.

Giant cuttlefish are
the biggest of their kind.

Males can grow over a metre long

and they're the ones
that command centre stage.

There's lots of showing off.

These flashy signals sort
the men from the boys.

Holding ground is everything.

This big male wants to control
a certain spot on the reef.

lt's where the females
will come to lay their eggs.

Other males try to muscle-in.

These upstarts don't seem
to be getting the message,

so the defending male throws
his weight around a bit.

The females are much daintier

but they always search
for the biggest male.

He usually holds the key
to the best egg chamber.

After all the bravado,
he shows his tender side.

That's the romance out of the way,
now it's back to guard duty.

Rivals never give up,

and the big male wants to make sure
those are HlS babies under that rock!

To the east of here,
life in the sea goes up a gear.

The warm Leeuwin current
is running out of steam.

And the cold Southern Ocean
is beginning to take charge.

This force from the south has
chiselled out huge limestone stacks -

the Twelve Apostles stand as
if in reverence to the power of the sea.

Here, off the southeast
corner of Australia,

these colder seas also start
to shape life beneath the waves.

lt's chilly,

but it's paradise compared
to the waters of the Bight.

lt's as if the hand brake has finally
been taken off and life can really motor.

There are over a thousand
different types of kelp alone.

Forests of Giant Kelp grow at
top speed in these ideal conditions.

The Southern Ocean pumps
in all the basic ingredients.

With a good dose of sunlight,
and the plentiful nutrients

that you get in cool waters -

these seaweed-trees can shoot up
half a metre a day.

Sometimes they reach 50 metres -

taller than most of the trees on land.

But it isn't just the luxuriant growth

that makes this corner
of the ocean so special.

lt's the remoteness.

lt's been remote for so long,

that most of the plants and animals
are found nowhere else on earth.

Even by Australian standards

this weedy sea dragon
looks out of this world.

Like the kangaroos and koalas on land,

the animals in the sea have been caught up
in their own evolutionary bubble.

Gliding through the seaweed
on its peculiar fins it proves

that not all dragons are myths.

The curious little handfish
would rather walk than swim.

lt uses its strange fins
to stroll along the sea floor,

saving tail power for
when it's really needed.

The leafy sea dragon has
a dress code all its own.

lt's modelled itself
on the local seaweeds.

These dragons are nearly
half a metre long -

but they easily go un-noticed.

This outrageous fashion statement
is the perfect camouflage.

And these are not your
typical Aussie males.

With sea dragons,
it's the fathers that carry the eggs.

He makes quite sure that
the offspring don't drift off.

lt's crucial -

they must hatch out, and grow up,

against this same matching background.

They'd stick out like
a sore thumb anywhere else,

so they're trapped forever
in this corner of Australia.

Other residents are more cosmopolitan -

they're not so tied to this strange place.

ln fact some make every effort
to get their offspring out of here.

And the ocean currents will help.

After sundown a female lobster
sets out across the reef.

Under her tail is a precious
cargo of tiny larvae.

She's looking for the highest point
on the reef to send them on their way.

The top spot is always the most popular.

But once all the females
are in position they wait.

There are fewer predators around
in the hour before dawn.

So only then do they cast off their brood.

The water's more turbulent up
here at the top of the reef...

so it's hard to hold a handstand!

With this odd and elegant
way of giving birth,

lobsters have colonised the oceans.

The lucky ones get sucked into
the powerful Southern Ocean Current.

lt only clips the corner of Australia -

so its effects largely
pass the country by.

But it hits New Zealand square on,

so there its impact is stronger.

New Zealand and Australia
used to be joined together.

But they drifted apart
millions of years ago,

and now their seas are very different.

The waters around New Zealand

are topped up by nutrients
washed from this fertile land.

So they're richer and support more life.

Like this massive colony of gannets.

Each summer 8,000 pairs
will raise a family here.

And it's all based on the fabulous
fisheries of pilchards,

anchovies and jack mackerel
in the surrounding sea.

They have to pinpoint the catch.

But once they get their bearings,
each hit is a bull's-eye.

Gannets slice into the water
at 1 50 kilometres an hour -

which means they can score fish
ten metres below the surface.

lf the fish go deeper, the gannets just
wait for the arrival of the backup squad.

Common dolphins harass
the sardines from below,

pinning them up against the surface.

And that puts them back into gannet-range.

Although these numbers are impressive,
gannets are citizens of the world.

After all, you can see the same
spectacle in British waters.

But New Zealand has been sitting out
on its own for a very long time.

And it has some wildlife wonders
that are truly unique.

Hector's dolphins are only found
around the New Zealand coast.

They're also tiny.

At just over a metre long they're
the miniatures of the dolphin world.

They spend all their lives in
the shallow water near the beach.

Further out they'd be a mere snack
for a shark or killer whale.

But they don't need to go anywhere.

The bountiful southern ocean brings a
total lifestyle package right to the door.

The huge swell is a reminder

that New Zealand's southern tip is
in the firing line of the coldest,

wildest ocean in the world.

lt's one of the most
fertile seas on earth,

but sea birds can't breed out here -
they need land.

The Snares islands are
the last specks of rock

connected to the Australian
continental shelf.

Sure ground in the midst
of a full-throttle ocean.

ln the great sweep of open sea
between Australia and Antarctica,

Snares Crested Penguins
have no shortage of food.

lt's dry land that's at a premium.

Every summer

the waters around these isolated
islands swarm with penguins.

They're gathering to get
the next generation underway.

The Snares lslands are
the only rocks around

where these birds can raise their young.

Twice a day the adults have to return
to the nests to feed their chicks,

and they have to run
the gauntlet of pirates.

Fifty metres out, the returning
penguins raft together on the surface,

until sheer numbers give them the
confidence to make a dive for shore.

ln the melee, head-ons can't be avoided.

Under the water, penguins are
just too nippy for Hookers sea lions.

This one's probably on the lookout
for a weak or injured bird.

Fit penguins have no trouble covering
the last stretch of open water.

Landing is trickier.

But these birds are fearless.

Snares Penguins have to be sure-footed.

Their twice-daily commute
includes a sheer wall of granite.

Penguins may not be
the most elegant climbers

but with their low centre of gravity,
strong claws and sheer doggedness,

they get there in the end.

At the top there's the rush-hour traffic
and muddy forest trails to negotiate...

Then they have to pinpoint the calls
of their own out of the colonial din.

Only then can mum and dad
bring home the bacon...

or in this case regurgitated squid.

Two months and two tired parents later,
the chicks are ready for the sea.

The journey begins enthusiastically,
as they all head for the water.

But it takes a while to find your feet.

Maybe it's better to give it
just a few more minutes...

Snares Penguins are just one
of the many resilient animals

that have risen above the challenges
in these southern seas.

These tough little birds have
to overcome one more obstacle.

Getting into the water is a triumph
of substance over style!

Desert waters, tricky currents
and sheer isolation

have all helped shape the diversity
of marine life down under.

These are waters filled with
surprises and delights.

Hardship has simply brought out
the best in the strange Southern Seas.

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