All language subtitles for Paradise.Islands3

Powerful forces make the islands
between Australia and Asia

among the biologically richest
on Earth.

One force
rules above all others,

its daily rhythm so powerful,
all life must adapt.

It turns rain forest trees
into towering giants,

and others
into stealthy killers.

Strange creatures hide
in its shadows,

while others bask
in its life-giving energy.

It's the awesome power
of the tropical sun.

Life here follows
a daily rhythm,

millions of years in the making.

A constant cycle
driven by a celestial force.

Families of gibbons declare
their ownership

of the treetops through song.

Sound travels farthest
in the still, cool air of dawn.

The song of the gibbon heralds

the most powerful force to rule
these ancient rain forests...

the tropical sun.

These islands stretch
along the equator...

...with the sun rising
at the same time every day.

Part of a timeless cycle.

The plants and animals
of the rain forest

depend on this one force
more than any other.

The trees, subjects of the sun,
need its energy to grow.

Already, billions of leaves
release water vapor

as they trap
its life-giving rays.

The sun will grow ever more
powerful as the day advances.

Beneath the canopy,

the early morning
is a busy time.

The sun's green realm
is so complex

that this young
Sumatran orangutan

will spend as many as nine years
learning from his mother,

the longest childhood of any
primate other than ourselves.

An important day of lessons
is just getting started.

Sumatran orangutans are the most
arboreal of the great apes.

This newborn will spend
his whole life in the treetops.

He'll need to learn
how to navigate safely.

Mom moves only one limb
at a time.

It gives her the balance to walk
the trickiest of tightropes.

Orangutans are unique
among primates

in the way they move
between trees.

Instead of jumping,
she takes her time,

using her weight to bridge gaps.

In their years together,
mom will teach him

all about life
beneath the sway of the sun...

...for theirs
is a complex world,

one filled with giants.

Here, a single family of trees
dominates,

and it has
for millions of years...

the dipterocarps.

There are hundreds of species,

and in places,
they dominate the canopy.

Like most trees,
the fight for life

begins in the forest's
dark depths.

As morning wears on,

sunlight penetrates the shadows,
but fleetingly.

Down here, plants have
only minutes each day

to extract what energy they can.

Young dipterocarps
play a waiting game.

They can survive many years
hardly growing,

waiting for a gap to open up
in the canopy

to give them
their moment in the sun.

These tall trees can stretch
more than 150 feet into the sky.

To outcompete other trees,
they put more of their efforts

into growing
their enormous trunks.

Dipterocarps are the tallest
tropical trees on Earth,

powered by competition
for the mighty sun.

The first branches appear
only toward the very top,

maximizing the exposure of
every leaf to the sun's energy.

Such is the battle for light

that the majority of life
is found up here in the canopy.

But to live
in a forest of giant trees,

animals require
extraordinary adaptations.

While hot-blooded mammals like
Sumatran orangutans rise early,

this reptile is spending
his morning basking in the sun.

This is the Draco lizard.

His dark skin helps absorb
more of the sun's energy.

But warming up has a downside.

He's a sitting target.

Paradise tree snakes
like to eat Draco lizards.

Time for a speedy exit.

The trouble is,
the crowns of the giant trees

all stand at different heights.

There can be huge gaps
between them.

It's easy
to get cornered up here.

But not for the Draco.

He can fly to safety...

...though the chase
doesn't end there.

In these forests,
even snakes fly.

Wildlife here have
brilliant ways of surviving

among the giant dipterocarps.

But they're not alone

when it comes
to clever survival tactics.

In the struggle
to compete for sunlight,

one rain forest plant has
evolved into a stealthy killer.

It begins life high among
the dipterocarp's branches.

But it needs more nutrients
than can be found here.

While most trees grow
toward the light,

this one reaches
into the darkness.

Its roots travel downward
more than 150 feet...

...a journey
that may take years.

Right now, there's
no obvious threat to the host.

But once the roots penetrate
the soil, everything changes.

Fueled by water
and nutrients from the ground,

the roots thicken.

The plant sends down
more and more roots.

Wherever they touch,
they fuse together.

By now, the dipterocarp's fate
is sealed.

It's in the grip
of a strangler fig.

Over the years,
the roots choke the host.

Outcompeted and unable to grow,
the giant is defeated.

This will be its tomb.

Years later,
a few shards of rotting wood

are the only clues that
a huge tree once stood here.

The strangler,
supported by its own roots,

stands over the dipterocarp's
decaying remains...

...a victor in the eternal
struggle for the sun's energy.

A fruiting fig tree draws in
animals from across the forest.

All who come to dine here

will provide a vital service
for the strangler

by helping spread its seed
through the canopy.

A single tree produces as much
as a half a million fruits...

...yet so many animals
visit the banquet

that the tree can be stripped
bare within a week or two.

Making the most
of this food source

is a crucial lesson
for any young orangutan.

But this morning, the chance
to feed is coming to an end.

It's approaching midday.

In the exposed high canopy,

the temperature is already
well over 85 degrees.

The sun is beginning
to overwhelm.

As it grows stronger, the trees
risk losing too much water.

They begin to shut down.

Now directly overhead,

the all-powerful sun beats down
on the ancient rain forest.

Its subjects must protect
themselves from its might.

With the sun directly overhead

and bearing down mercilessly
on the rain forest,

activity comes to a stop.

Orangutans head below the canopy
in search of relief.

They retreat to their nests
to wait out the heat.

The day's lessons
are now on hold.

Everyone needs to conserve
their energy during these hours,

including the area's
biggest male.

Despite the conditions,

one female
is still up and about.

She seems interested
in the male.

Orangutans are
largely solitary animals.

And encounters like this one
are rare.

The male seems to have
only one thing on his mind...

that's keeping cool.

The sun draws up so much water

that as afternoon arrives,
clouds form.

They build and build,

till they burst.

Four inches of rain
can fall in just two hours.

One remarkable plant
turns rainfall to its advantage.

Gracilis is a carnivore
that preys on insects.

It lures victims with nectar,

offered on the underside
of its lid.

It's an easy meal
for a hungry ant,

but those who visit
risk their lives.

There's enough grip to hang on,
but only just.

It takes one direct hit.

There's no escape.

The ant will slowly dissolve.

Gracilis turn downpours
into an advantage,

but others are at their best
when the rains subside.

Sun bears sit out the heaviest
of a rain forest deluge.

When the cooler
afternoon hours arrive,

they are at their most active.

This female works hard
to find her favorite insects.

It takes all her strength to rip
open a fallen dipterocarp.

But there are
rich rewards inside.

The afternoon rains
lower the temperature,

giving sun bears
a chance to feed.

For others, all this water
presents a unique challenge.

As streams swell
across the rain forest,

a miniature world
springs to life.

In the late afternoon,
male rock frogs begin to gather.

They are here
to compete for a mate.

The trouble is, being this tiny

makes it hard to be heard
above a waterfall...

...so rock frogs vary
the duration, pitch, and volume

of their calls.

A decent effort, but this much
noise requires drastic action.

By varying their calls
and waving to each other,

they have a unique solution

to life as a tiny frog
in a noisy world.

The males are here
hoping to attract a mate...

...though her arrival
can push things over the edge.

Despite a sophisticated
means of communication,

it quickly descends
into a wrestling match.

Species here have come up
with all sorts of solutions

to deal with the regular rains.

It's part
of an ancient daily pattern,

driven by the tropical sun.

Over millions of years,

its energy has created
a realm like no other,

all because it rules with
such extraordinary consistency.

The islands stretch
from Australia to Asia,

along the equator.

Day length changes very little.

Some of these forests experience

the least seasonal change
of any habitat on Earth,

which poses a unique problem.

The trees have no predictable
cues to time their breeding.

Instead, they have to rely
on infrequent droughts.

It could be every few years
or once a decade,

but drought triggers the trees
to reproduce.

The dipterocarps
lead the charge,

each tree dropping
thousands of winged seeds.

And ready to sweep the ground
clean of seeds

are these forest denizens.

Bearded pigs love the seeds
of the dipterocarp trees.

During the glut, most seeds
are eaten or destroyed.

But by dropping so many at once,
the giant trees ensure

that at least some escape
the pigs' hungry jaws.

All animals
have to take advantage

of these predictable times
of plenty.

And it's not
just the dipterocarps.

Many trees here bear fruit
only every few years.

Orangutans aren't limited

to scooping a meal
off the forest floor.

They're equipped
to go straight to the source.

In the years spent with mom,

a youngster learns
where to find fruit

before setting out on his own.

It's a unique paradox
of some of these rain forests

that despite
the abundance of life,

there are long spells
when fruit is scarce.

Mother knows only too well

that she can't rely
on fruit alone to get by.

Hidden in the treetops
is a rich supply of ants.

You just need to know
where to find them.

To thrive in these forests

is all about learning
what to eat, where, and when.

Today's lessons
will soon be over.

The subjects of the sun must
prepare for the coming night...

...for there is
another realm here.

It's one where creatures
hide away from the sun's power

and have evolved
to live shrouded in darkness.

The transition is marked
by an extraordinary sound.

Right on cue, the call
of the 6 o'clock cicada.

Night here is
a shadowing sanctuary of freaks.

Fungi glow with a soft light

to lure insects
that will disperse their spores.

With just the light of the moon
to see by,

one denizen of the darkness
undergoes a bizarre change...

Deinopsis.

Her two large eyes
are truly astonishing.

Right now they're changing.

Cells inside them build to form

an extremely
light-sensitive membrane,

essential to the way she hunts.

Her web is unlike any other,

a Velcro-like net
built to snare passing prey.

Preparations complete,
she waits.

She binds her quarry in silk

before slowly
sucking the life from it.

When dawn returns,

the membrane inside her eyes
will be re-absorbed,

a feat she repeats night
after night after night.

Deinopsis isn't the only creature

whose bizarre eyes allow it to
thrive in this world of shadows.

The tangled roots
of the strangler fig

are home
to a carnivorous hunter.

Each of the tarsier's
sensitive eyes

is the same size and weight
as its brain,

so large, they can't move.

But the tarsier can rotate
its head 180 degrees.

And its huge ears
can move independently.

The tarsier is built to detect

the smallest movement
in the dark.

Higher up
in this world of shadows,

an even more bizarre creature
inhabits the rain forest canopy.

Like the paradise tree snake
and Draco,

the colugo's life is dictated
by the giant trees.

To avoid climbing
up and down their trunks,

it glides across the forest.

The underside of
its gliding membrane has no fur,

which reduces drag.

A cloak stretching
from the shoulders to the tail,

even between its fingertips...

...makes it as large
as physically possible.

Gliding from tree to tree
saves a lot of time.

Colugos search out
young leaves and flowers.

A freakish cast inhabits
this world without sunlight,

each with their own
extraordinary adaptations.

But they, too,
abide by the sun's rule.

As dawn approaches,
they retreat to the shadows.

The colugo depends on
its mottled fur for camouflage.

A distant call
proclaims the coming day.

And as it does at the same time

every morning
here in the tropics,

the sun returns to rule
over the ancient rain forests.

The islands
between Australia and Asia

are among the biologically
richest on Earth.

Erupting volcanoes
drive the evolution

of the beautiful
and the bizarre.

Along the shores and in the sea,

the moon holds sway
over a mysterious world.

And in its forests,
the sun's daily rule

sustains an astonishing
profusion of life.

Nature's most powerful forces...
the earth, sun, and moon...

make this a place like no other.

Forged over millions of years,
these ancient islands

are home to some of
the greatest assemblage of life

on the planet.