All language subtitles for America.the.Beautiful.2022.S01E04.1080p.WEB.h264-KOGi

Welcome to North America.

The most diverse
continent on Earth.

The only place where you can find
every landscape, from polar ice cap...

to baking desert, and
everything in between.

Whatever the neighborhood, there's
a hero who can make it a home.

Smart, tough,
brave, you name it.

They all have what
it takes to thrive...

in the wildest, most
beautiful continent on Earth.

Patchwork quilt of life

Wildness never dies

Beauty always thrives

Under these spacious skies

The American Southwest,
from Texas to California,

is a spectacular world
of desert and rock.

An arid wonderland where
water, when it comes,

shapes the land and the
lives of all that live here.

The Grand Canyon.

Three hundred miles long
and 6,000 feet deep.

An inaccessible place that's
pretty good at keeping secrets.

That's why the animal that rules this
world has been shrouded in mystery...

until now.

A mountain lion.

Filmed in the Grand Canyon
for the very first time.

Two hundred pounds of muscle.

He's on a quest to
keep out rivals...

and father the next generation
of big cats in his kingdom.

But his success, and
that of all life here,

will ultimately depend
on events 500 miles away,

where the Southwest desert
meets the Pacific Ocean.

It's springtime, and off the
coast of Baja California,

a new life is just beginning.

A baby gray whale.

Birthweight, a
healthy 2000 pounds.

This proud mom travelled
for months without food

to give birth in this
sheltered lagoon...

a safe haven from predators.

Now, she's building a bond with her son
and feeding him 50-percent-fat milk.

One problem, though. There's
no food here for Mom.

So she's about to lead her
calf, just eight weeks old,

on the longest mammal
migration on Earth.

But they're not alone.

Ninety-nine percent of the
world gray whale population

sets off from here each year,

to swim 6,000 miles back to
their Arctic feeding grounds.

The calf has been putting
on 200 pounds a day.

He's raring to go.

Only Mom knows the
challenges that lie ahead

as they journey the length of
our continent's West Coast.

This is truly America's whale.

All along this coastline,
the Pacific is a life-giver.

Off California, the sun's heat
draws water from the cold ocean...

creating a fog bank, which
blows inland on the sea breeze.

This coastline is bathed
in fog for 60 days a year,

providing much of the water
for the world's tallest trees.

Three-hundred-foot
coastal redwoods

drink the droplets
through their leaves.

The fog also supports
less-celebrated trees.

This oak is the storehouse for
a family of acorn woodpeckers.

They live to stash acorns.

All day, every day.

Almost to the point
of... obsession?

But 50,000 acorns stored
in the bark of one oak?

That's bound to attract thieves.

One woodpecker is
always on lookout.

Looks like a win
for the squirrels.

But the lookout's
called in backup.

By working together, they
keep their stash safe.

But not for long.

This thief has his
own power tools

to break into the family vault.

Even the most committed
teamwork is no defense

against a raider a
thousand times your size.

All that hard work,
undone in minutes.

These hoarding heroes don't let
a little setback get them down.

The new collection
begins straightaway.

The woodpeckers' oak is
watered by Pacific fog.

Travel away from the coast, and
that water supply evaporates.

A hundred and
fifty miles inland,

the Sierra Nevada Mountains
capture the Pacific clouds.

These mountains are a wall,
up to 14,000 feet high,

blocking water from
blowing further inland.

Beyond is the
ultimate desert world.

The hottest place on Earth.

Death Valley.

Here, the summer temperature
can reach 130 degrees.

Even in spring, it
can top a hundred.

So, how do you survive in this
land hardly ever reached by rain?

One tiny desert dweller has a solution
straight out of a science fiction movie.

Ten feet underground,

where it's an ideal
temperature year-round.

A bizarre insect society.

These are honeypot ants.

Some members of the species only
exist to store food for others.

The worker ants gather flower
nectar in times of plenty

and feed it to others,

who never leave the colony.

Their abdomens swell to the size
of a cherry with sweet nectar.

It's the colony's insurance
policy against hard times.

Now, the precious
honeypots are full

and kept clean by their comrades

to keep 'em healthy.

But in this corner of Death Valley,
the driest place in North America,

it hasn't rained all winter.

If this drought
goes on much longer,

these desert survivalists
will need a plan B.

Two hundred and fifty
miles further inland,

the Colorado River carves through
the high desert of Arizona

to form the Grand Canyon.

This spring morning brings
a first-ever glimpse

into the private life of the
Canyon's most elusive resident.

Our mountain lion is
on a mission to breed.

Like all male mountain
lions, he's a loner.

His scarred face shows he'll fight to
keep rival males out of his kingdom.

But his biggest battle
is finding a female.

There's only a handful in a hundred
square miles of this canyon,

so he can't rely on
a chance encounter.

He needs to advertise.

His scent mark will
last for weeks...

a message to any passing females

that this eligible bachelor
is looking for love.

For others in the West, finding a
mate is the least of their worries.

Over 20 million
free-tailed bats,

one of the largest gatherings
of mammals on Earth,

flock to this sheltered Texas cave
each spring to mate and have pups.

These baby bats have
to grow up fast.

Tonight, at just a month old,

this little guy will fly up to a
hundred miles in search of food...

on his very first flight.

As evening falls, the
bats start to leave.

They'll get more time to
feed by heading out early...

but leaving their sanctuary
in daylight is a gamble.

There's danger from above.

A Swainson's hawk.

And even greater
danger from below.

Cactus spines snag the
inexperienced pups...

making them an easy target.

Coachwhip snakes.

Their large eyes mark them
out as visual hunters.

Non-venomous, they rely on
dagger-sharp teeth to catch their prey.

And if a bat makes a run for it,

it stands no chance against the
fastest snake in North America.

Despite the danger, every bat
has to head out sometime...

or starve.

What a time to take
your first-ever flight.

His only chance is
to climb quickly

to somewhere he can re-launch.

Sometimes, you just
need a bit of luck.

This young bat's cleared
the most dangerous hurdle

on his path to adulthood.

Tonight, he and the rest of his
colony will devour 250 tons of insects

in the Southwest skies.

Back in the Pacific, the clock is
ticking for the gray whale mom and calf.

They're averaging three miles an hour
on their journey up the West Coast

to the summer feeding grounds.

The beaches of Los Angeles are
an eye-opener for a baby whale.

If he can memorize
landmarks like this,

it will help him navigate

when he's old enough to make
this migration on his own.

No time to hang out, though.

Mom knows it's still a long way,
4,000 miles to the Alaskan Arctic.

Next stop, a wonder
of the American West.

A forest of giant kelp,
growing up to 18 inches a day,

fueled by the California sun.

This is the ocean equivalent
of a tropical rainforest...

full of life at every level.

Sea otters take it
easy in the kelp beds.

Moms can even get daycare
here, from the kelp.

Wrapped up in weed, this
youngster won't drift away.

And Mom can go free diving.

She can hold her breath
for up to eight minutes

while she hunts on the seabed.

Her favorite spot is the
surf zone, near the shore,

where the waves churn up nutrients,
feeding beds of shellfish.

The otters thrive on this
protein-rich superfood.

There's plenty for everyone, if
you can hold on to your catch.

The ocean supplies all
the otters' needs...

even rocks from the seafloor
to smash open mussels.

Many sea otters spend
their entire lives at sea,

where the year-round riches are
in stark contrast to the land.

In the desert, the scorching
summer is just weeks away.

And somebody's in a
hurry to raise a family.

A Costa's hummingbird, the
hardest-working mom in America.

She's on a mission, at
2,000 wingbeats a minute,

collecting dried grass and
spiderwebs to build a nest.

She has just five weeks to raise a brood,
and she needs just one more ingredient...

that only a male can provide.

The mom's short on time, but
she's still really picky.

He sticks out his
throat feathers.

He's throwing some great shapes.

But she's still not sure this
thumb-sized heartthrob is the one.

He'll have to pull out
his very best move.

He climbs to a hundred feet...

then dives at 60 miles per hour.

Whistling tail feathers are
the soundtrack to his show.

That dive...

That face...

Now she's sure.

After the briefest
of encounters,

the mom soon has eggs to lay.

And now, the real
hard work begins.

In the sweltering heat,
she's soon visiting

up to 2,000 flowers a
day to feed her brood.

Twins. Twice the work.

Each chick started out just half
the weight of a dollar bill.

She feeds them up on a protein
shake of insects and nectar.

In just 21 days, they're ten times
heavier than when they hatched...

and ready to take their
very first flight.

Supermom has done it...

and just before the
summer heat hits.

Soon, they'll have to leave for
the coast, where it's cooler.

Our gray whales have traveled
another 300 miles since leaving L.A.

The mom now hasn't
eaten for six months.

She's lost a fourth
of her body weight

while feeding her calf
six gallons of milk a day.

She needs to reach the
feeding grounds ASAP.

And now, she faces a choice.

Does she save energy and take
a shortcut across Monterey Bay,

a dangerous 25-mile
stretch of open water,

or keep on hugging
the shoreline?

She puts the safety of
her calf above her hunger

and stays inshore, hidden
in the kelp forest.

Another less experienced mom

chooses to take her calf
straight across the bay.

The wrong call. Orcas.

This pod comes here at
this time every year

to hunt gray whale calves.

The older orcas teach the
young ones how to hunt.

First, they ram the calf
at 30 miles per hour.

When the gray whale mom tries to
lead her wounded youngster to safety

in the kelp forest,

other orcas block their path.

Working together, they drive
their prey back to deep water,

and separate the
calf from its mother.

Their plan has worked.
Now they drown the calf.

It's a cruel lesson,

but this young mother will have
other calves in years to come.

For our more experienced mom,
sticking to the American coast

has saved her calf's life.

They've passed the
most dangerous test

on their journey to Alaska...

and they're getting out of the West just
as the toughest time of year begins.

Summer.

Sun beating on the bare rock turns
the Grand Canyon into an oven.

Our mountain lion
seeks out the shade.

Still no sign of a female...

so he posts a new message
on the big cat dating site.

Then he waits for evening...

when the Canyon
animals get active.

Deer are his favorite food...

though he's not fussy.

He knows every inch of his
150-square-mile kingdom.

The Canyon rim is a
favorite hunting ground

for this stealth hunter.

With night vision nearly ten
times better than a human's.

He's returning to a kill
he's made a few nights back.

He can eat 40 pounds
of meat in a day,

but it could still take him a
week to chow down a whole elk.

His belly's full. He goes
to sleep off his meal.

And while the cat's
away... thieves move in.

Most mountain lion kills
get raided by black bears,

just one of many that benefit
from the lion's leftovers.

The King of the Canyon is
both predator and provider.

July in Death Valley.

There's been no rain
now for six months.

Through the drought, the honeypot
ants have gradually drained

all the nectar they'd
stored in their nestmates.

So with nothing left to eat,

the workers are setting
out on a raiding party.

They must be quick. By
the middle of the day,

the surface can hit 200 degrees.

That's hot enough to
cook an ant in seconds.

They find a rival
from another colony.

They size her up and follow
her scent back to her nest.

Here, they find ants
still full of nectar,

black from food found on
tree roots deep underground.

Buried treasure
worth fighting over.

The starving invaders eat
some honeypots on the spot.

Others, they capture and drag
back to their home colony.

The raiders will have
to get home fast,

because a force of nature
is building nearby.

The thundercloud collapses

into a monster dust
storm known as a haboob.

Most ants make it back just before
the 60-mile-an-hour wall of sand

takes out any
stragglers in its path.

The entrance to
the nest is buried,

but the stolen honeypots will ensure
the colony's survival... for now.

By late summer, the heat and drought
across the West are almost unbearable.

Even clouds don't signify rain.

These are pyrocumulus,
fire clouds,

formed by soot particles rising
high into the sky above wildfires.

They can climb up to seven miles
high, the edge of the stratosphere.

Hotter summer temperatures,
caused by climate change,

are making wildfire season
increasingly extreme across the West.

The residents of Los Angeles are all
too familiar with these infernos.

Homes and wildlife habitat are regularly
destroyed, right up to the city limits.

But there's an
oasis in Tinseltown.

Griffith Park, right in
the heart of Hollywood.

Protected from fires, these well-watered
lawns are a haven for wildlife.

And after dark, this
park really comes alive.

There's prey... and predators.

Bobcat... coyote...

and one A-list star with
an amazing backstory.

When he found himself homeless,

this intrepid hero made a 50-mile
trek along the Santa Monica Mountains.

He crossed the busiest
freeway in the U.S...

right into the
heart of the city.

Meet P-22, the world's
most famous mountain lion.

As there's so much prey in this
park, he thrives in a territory

just five percent the size
of his Grand Canyon cousins'.

His radio collar sends
scientists his location.

In the small hours, he leaves the
park and prowls the city streets.

If it's a mate he's
after, he's out of luck.

There's next to no chance
another mountain lion

will ever emulate
his amazing journey.

But he can find something in the
city that's in very short supply.

Water.

In the heat of the summer, a broken
water pipe can be a lifeline.

But for those across the parched
West without a water supply,

hope is finally on the horizon.

In late summer, the winds
shift over the Pacific Ocean,

blowing rain clouds
hundreds of miles inland.

This is the beginnings of one of the
most powerful weather systems in America.

The American monsoon.

For three months, torrential
downpours drench the Southwest.

These storms can drop two
inches of rain in an hour,

rejuvenating the barren deserts.

This region can get up to
half its annual rainfall

in this late-summer monsoon.

The rain from the distant ocean

is the secret to life
in America's deserts.

All the way to the
top of the food chain.

A new mountain lion
in the Grand Canyon.

Not the scarred-face male...

but a female.

After the recent rain, she can
travel outside of her usual range,

safe in the knowledge that there'll
be drinking water to be found.

This first-ever look

into the lives of the Grand
Canyon's mountain lions

shows that big cats are still thriving
in this iconic American wilderness.

A source of hope for the future.

This female is on
her own, no cubs.

So, quite likely, she's in
season, looking for a mate.

She's found the scent marks
of the scarred-faced male...

her first introduction
to a potential partner.

And following on, just an
hour later, is the male.

He'll soon achieve his goal,

another generation of big
cats in his kingdom...

true heroes of the
great American West.