Caribbean: The Wild Side of Paradise - Wildest Islands - Go Wild

[Music] with its tropical beaches Sunshine Sand and Sea thousands of people flock to the Caribbean each year in search of paradise but the Caribbean has a hidden Wild Side its islands are forged by cataclysmic forces [Music] and they bear the brunt of the most violent storms on Earth island life makes Specialists and opportunists seafarers and Castaways from the most fragile hummingbird to Ocean Giants that have visited these Shores since the time of the dinosaurs born of volcanoes battered by hurricanes this is the wild side of paradise [Music] thank you foreign [Music] between the continents of North and South America lies a Tropical Paradise the Caribbean an archipelago of over 7 000 islands and reefs lying within the crystal clear waters of the Caribbean Sea from just a few meters wide to hundreds of kilometers across every island is different and each has its own unique wildlife [Music] a tropical forests to the reefs beneath the waves the Caribbean hides a secret treasure Trove of life [Music] Trinidad is the southernmost island in the Caribbean in Trinidad's northeast corner the Caribbean Sea meets the Rough Waters of the Atlantic Ocean [Music] Legends of hidden treasure of long-drawn travelers to these islands from across the Atlantic but some of Nature's greatest seafarers have been visiting the Caribbean Shores far longer [Music] at night Trinidad's beaches play host to creatures that have been around since dinosaurs walk the earth yeah it's April and the start of the nesting season for leatherback turtles each year female leatherbacks return to the Caribbean from thousands of kilometers away across the open ocean they returned to lay their eggs on the very same beaches where their own lives began leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles on Earth growing up to two meters long and weighing up to a thousand kilos the female uses her massive flippers to dig a huge pit in the sand she excavates a deep Nest into which She lays nearly a hundred eggs the temperature of the nest will determine the sex of the hatchlings [Music] it's higher than 30 degrees Celsius the hatchlings will be females cooler nests produce males the smaller eggs are yolkless and sterile they're designed to collapse over time to make extra room when the babies come to hatch [Music] [Applause] finally The Nest is filled with sand leaving a large Disturbed area to make detection by Predators difficult take up to three hours [Music] the exertion involved is obvious a few meters away she begins digging another giant sand angel this is a decoy Nest to further confound predators not alone Trinidad's beaches have the densest population of nesting leatherbacks in the world at the peak of the season space is in short supply up to 500 Turtles may visit a single beach in just one night [Music] leatherbacks coming ashore to Nest collide with those intent on returning to the Sea the scrum for space inevitably results in Turtles digging up each other's eggs [Music] foreign [Music] the short time the females spend nesting on the Caribbean's beaches offers a rare glimpse into the lives of these secretive sea turtles Dawn brings opportunistic scavengers they've learned that at this time of year the beach brings Rich pickings for the eggs left exposed in the Scramble for nesting space there's no hope Trinidad's vultures thrive on this seasonal windfall of turtle eggs [Music] youngsters learn the whereabouts of food from more experienced Birds oh [Music] even though there's plenty of eggs to go around squabbles are common but the vultures aren't all bad news left to rot these eggs would putrefy in the sand and pose a risk to the eggs still incubating in their nests by getting rid of the waste eggs the vultures are helping to keep the beach clean heading north from Trinidad a chain of small Islands known as the windward and Leeward Isles marks the Eastern edge of the Caribbean Sea these islands are on the border between two tectonic plates and this was once a region of intense seismic activity there are currently 17 active volcanoes in the Caribbean including one submerged Beneath the Sea [Music] [Applause] the island of Dominica was forged from volcanoes just 26 million years ago making it the youngest island in the Caribbean [Music] less than 50 kilometers long with its volcanic Peaks towering 1500 meters above the sea it's a vertical Island despite its small size Dominica has nine active volcanoes the highest concentration found anywhere in the world there's not been a major eruption for centuries but there's plenty of volcanic activity bubbling below the surface [Music] dominica's boiling lake is a huge flooded funeral [Music] the water can reach temperatures of more than 90 degrees Celsius a sulfur dioxide and hydrochloric acid are released from the lava trapped in the volcano below the Caribbean's explosive past has left these islands with a unique Legacy of life foreign volcanic soils are extremely fertile fed by plentiful rainfall over the mountains just about any will take root and all these flowers provide food for some of the Caribbean's fastest Movers [Music] hummingbirds hungry for nectar hummingbirds have no sense of smell they're retracted by the colorful appearance of the flowers [Music] these tiny dynamos have the fastest metabolism of any animals on Earth their hearts average 500 beats a minute and their wings can beat up to 80 times in a second to fuel this Superfast flying they must eat up to three times their body weight every single day [Music] standing less than 10 centimeters tall the antillion crested hummingbird is one of the Caribbean's smallest only males bear the distinctive Mohawk of feathers that gives these birds their name females have a more discreet appearance which helps keep them safe whilst raising their young the chicks need extra protein and are fed a regurgitated mixture of nectar and insects thank you on this Rich diet they grow rapidly The Nest is crafted almost entirely from spider's silk making it elastic so it stretches as the chicks grow bigger just two weeks after hatching these chicks are almost ready to leave the nest the Caribbean's hummingbirds have developed a very special relationship with one particular type of plant heliconia plants are found across the Caribbean islands each island has its own different species and all rely on hummingbirds to spread their pollen while feeding on nectar hummingbirds transfer pollen from flower to flower allowing the plants to reproduce [Music] but on a small island there's no room for competition and the relationship between heliconias and hummingbirds goes one step further in most cases the size and shape of the flower matches exactly the beak of the hummingbird that spreads its pollen each bird has exclusive feeding rights to a particular species of heliconia so there's less competition for food both beaks and flowers have co-evolved to be a perfect fit [Music] the fertile soils of the Caribbean's volcanic islands are good for people too [Music] The Original Caribbean Islanders came from the South American mainland traveling by canoe they began settling on the more mountainous volcanic islands four thousand years ago the new settlers were used to life in the vast forests of South America where there'd been an abundance of big animals to hunt [Music] the small islands of the Eastern Caribbean have no large indigenous mammals the sea proved too big a barrier for them with little to hunt on land the first Islanders turned their attention Back to the Sea over the years they became experts at fishing and foraging just like the Caribbean's wildlife its first people had to adapt to life on an island the Caribbean's volcanic past plays another crucial role the mountains are so tall they create their own weather as moist air from the sea rises above the Peaks it forms clouds and with the clouds comes the rain [Music] some areas of Dominica receive over 700 centimeters of rain each year [Music] rain brings a plentiful supply of fresh water vital for an island to sustain both human and animal life [Music] foreign flows down the Island's many waterfalls to the coast feeding nutrients into the Caribbean Sea even here there are signs of volcanic activity with submerged fumaroles venting gases through cracks in the sea floor these warm nutrient-rich Waters create the ideal conditions for one of the Caribbean's richest Treasures coral reefs over 800 different species of fish and many more Crustaceans and invertebrates live in the coral reefs many of the fish that find shelter and protection in the Caribbean's reefs are found nowhere else on Earth but the reefs can be dangerous too over the centuries thousands of ships have founded in the Caribbean's treacherous currents and ferocious storms in 1867 the Rhone a Royal Male steamer was driven aground on the reef at Black Point Rock just off the British Virgin Islands the rhones sank to the bottom in seconds claiming the lives of over 100 people more than a century later the ship has a new lease of life [Music] corals have colonized its rosting Hull making it hard to tell where the reef ends and the Rome begins okay [Music] some fish even entrust the safety of their future Offspring to the remains of the ship these purple patches are actually the eggs of the sergeant major fish after the female has laid as many as 200 000 eggs she departs leaving the males the cell protector he will guard the nest until the eggs hatch just six days after being fertilized it's not just year-round residents like the sergeant major fish that rely on the Caribbean Sea as a place to raise their young in the far north of the Caribbean there's a shallow area of sea sitting on a huge Limestone shelf known as the Silver Bank a Spanish Galleon sank here in the 17th century and a horde of silver Treasure was lost to the Sea which is how the silver bank got its name [Music] nowadays these water sheltered Treasures of a Wilder kind the silver bank is a vast carving pool for humpback whales [Music] the bond between the humpback mother and calf is extremely strong [Music] foreign and child are inseparable as the mother teaches her calf to swim and dive [Music] each year between December and April around 3 000 humpbacks passed through the silver Bank as summer approaches the whales return to their feeding grounds thousands of kilometers away in the cold North Atlantic [Music] the Caribbean's role as a nursery is vital for the survival of these great ocean voyages virtually all the Caribbean islands have coral reefs on their Shores but there's one Island Coastal Waters have almost no reefs at all Trinidad Trinidad lies so close to South America that silt from The Orinoco River makes the Seas surrounding it too muddy for Coral to grow [Music] coral reefs have played a part in the making of the island itself mount tamana in Trinidad's Highland heart was once an ancient coral reef thousands of years ago The Reef was pushed up to over 300 meters above sea level by powerful volcanic forces today the ancient Reef forms a massive network of limestone caves beyond the reach of daylight the caves are teeming with over 1 million bats [Music] 11 different species lurk in the dark of the tamana caves and many have intriguing names to be a nosed bat and the funnelier bat Roost alongside naked backed leaf-nosed Mouse eared and tailless bats the floor of the bat cave is piled high with all kinds of backdroppings and this guano supports a surprisingly diverse Community all of its own [Music] it's an unglamorous location but for cave cockroaches the copious amounts of guano provide an endless supply of food [Music] most of these cockroaches will spend their whole lives buried in backdroppings [Music] the roaches are a source of food for other animals in the cave like the whip scorpion [Music] despite its name and appearance it's actually a type of spider [Music] in the weak sunlight that reaches the Cave's entrance seeds excreted by the bats commonly sprout in the nutrient-rich guano the lack of light makes the seedlings fragile the stems growing long in a bid for the Sun above ground the forests surrounding the caves is rich in flowers fruit and insects each evening as daylight fades the bats emerge to feed some travel from deep within the Labyrinth tunnels and passageways up to 300 meters Underground [Music] but so many bats leaving through one small entrance the mass Exodus takes more than an hour [Music] Trinidad's tropical forests are also home to some rather less Gothic residents a male golden-headed mannequin trying to attract a mate [Music] the branches of a tree the male birds share a communal display site known as the lek [Music] each male competes for female attention by dancing on their own personal perch [Music] slightest movement can trigger a display [Music] even a passing aguti [Music] elsewhere in the forest a group of male white-bearded mannequins are also intent on courtship we're there more down-to-earth appearance these mannequins base their leg on the forest floor [Music] Keen to impress each bird works hard to keep its own private Court clear of debris and fallen leaves [Music] white bearded mannequins have their own unique display to [Music] they raise their chin feathers to make a beard which is how they got their name the loud snapping noises are made as they strike their wings together behind their backs [Music] eventually the commotion has the desired effect the arrival of a female [Music] despite her rather dull appearance she provokes a frenzy of activity from the males as each competes for her attention the female will only mate when she's ready and this time the males have failed to impress as summer approaches the sun-drenched islands of the Caribbean become an altogether darker place from June to November these islands are in the firing line of the most ferocious storms on Earth most hurricanes begin life as tropical storms off the coast of West Africa we roar across the Atlantic sucking up heat from the warmth of the water and growing in intensity the islands of the Caribbean are the first landmasses these hurricanes encounter if the winds that drive them Reach 120 kilometers per hour the storms rank as fully fledged hurricanes even with the best forecasting no one could predict when a hurricane will strike the Hurricanes bring waves up to 20 meters high lobsters are especially vulnerable in a storm being crushed by stones or loose corals is a real possibility [Music] as the hurricane draws in the water temperature drops and its salinity increases sensing these changes lobsters from across the reef take flight [Music] they March in single file conserving energy by following in each other's slipstreams [Music] thank you each year the lobsters undertake this migration to pass the stormy season in the safety of deeper waters [Music] a particularly violent hurricane can destroy the reef itself fragile corals are uprooted and smashed in the powerful churning water within hours thousands of years of growth are undone and an entire ecosystem lies devastated [Music] but reefs can recover and corals grow first the destruction wrought by hurricanes is not irreversible thank you [Music] many Caribbean islands have their own living growing defense against hurricanes Mangrove forests with one foot on the shore and one in the sea The Mangrove forms a natural Breakwater the tangle of roots reduces the power of big waves and Storm surges protecting the shore behind caroni swamp lies on Trinidad's West Coast as the tides rise The Mangrove is inundated with sea water twice a day few plants can cope with such salty conditions many Caribbean mangroves have only three or four different species of tree yet the trees create a habitat that shelters a rich and unique ecosystem [Music] the constant rise and fall of the tides presents both opportunities and challenges to the animals that live in the mangrove When the tide is out four-eyed fish sometimes Beach themselves on the exposed mud flats to catch insects [Music] as The Tide Rises the fish feed on Tiny Crustaceans on the surface this surface dwelling lifestyle leaves them vulnerable to attack from above and below yeah spectacled Cayman Patrol coronis Waters and fish-eating birds are here in abundance the four-eyed fish are well equipped to keep watch despite their name they actually have just two eyes Each of which is split in half each eye has two pupils one for focusing above the surface the other for focusing on the water these unique eyes are essential for avoiding coroni's predators sometimes even four eyes aren't enough at low tide the swamps thick glutinous mud is a rich source of food for coroni's crab population each teaspoon of mud contains around 10 million bacteria and this bacteria supports a wealth of tiny animal life fiddler crabs use their one small claw for the vital task of collecting this microscopic food from the mud with just one hand it's a time consuming process their big claw is reserved for waving in a display designed to attract a mate Fiddler's also wave to defend their Burrows from rival crabs [Music] having an escape hole is vital there are predators around When the tide is out Scarlett Ibis probed the modern search of fiddler crabs and other crustaceans thank you it's this diet of red shellfish rich in carotene that gives the Ibis their vivid color [Music] young birds are born Gray and it takes about two years before they've eaten enough crabs to turn red [Music] crabs in the water before swallowing them helps rinse off some of the mud the Ibis forage together with other water Birds like egrets herons and plovers having a larger group helps stir up the silt making it easier to catch prey laughs and with Cayman lurking nearby there is safety in numbers every evening at dusk the Ibis return in great flocks to Tiny Islands within the mangroves they gather in their hundreds to roost for the night originally these birds were immigrants from the mainland with South America lying just 11 kilometers from Trinidad's Western Shores at its peak Trinidad's population of Scarlet Ibis can number more than fifteen thousand it's now recognized as the Island's national bird the Ibis are not the only South American Import on the island oh Trinidad was only separated from the mainland around 12 000 years ago when sea levels Rose at the end of the last ice age as a result it's home to South American mammals that are found nowhere else in the Caribbean silky and Tita is the world's smallest anteater only slightly larger than the human hand though tiny these anteaters can eat up to 5 000 ants every night [Music] during the day the ants have little to fear silky anteaters are nocturnal and In The Heat Of The Sun sleeping takes precedence there are larger South American Imports on Trinidad too the island is home to a troop of white-throated capuchin monkeys capuchins are found across most of South America and are known for being particularly resourceful but life on a Caribbean Island requires its own special strategies Trinidad's capuchins have found that the Island's kokorite palm trees are a rich source of food foreign Dead Leaves and branches Harbor all kinds of insects and grubs having a prehensile tail to hang on with means that both hands are kept free for eating and foraging [Music] Trinidad's cappuccins have learned to make the most of the rise and fall of the tides [Music] at low tide freshwater conscious are left exposed sitting targets for an opportunistic monkey The Conch is encased in a rock-solid shell but the capuchins have found a way to access the meat inside [Music] lying so close to South America Trinidad has its own unique Legacy at Mainland life for those islands further away the Caribbean Sea has proved a bigger barrier but some animals have succeeded in becoming Island hoppers for land-bound Animals the Caribbean's hurricane season can offer opportunities for travel strong winds frequently uproot trees so after a storm there's lots of vegetation drifting in the sea these makeshift rafts are one way in which reptiles like the Iguana have been able to spread from Ireland to Ireland [Music] the Lesser antillion iguana has successfully colonized many of the Eastern Caribbean Islands on Dominica a population of around ten thousand lives in the low-lying forest on the coast [Music] iguanas follow a strict hierarchy which is color-coded dominant males turn dark gray with pale blue scales on the side of their heads females along with juveniles are bright green all over [Music] iguanas can live for up to 25 years but with age the ability to change color is lost April brings the mating season and the females dig burrows in which to lay their eggs [Music] each dominant male defends a small territory with up to seven nesting females Rivals are deterred from interfering with the Harem with a display of aggressive head bobbing [Music] [Music] choosing a sunny nesting site is essential [Music] foreign [Music] laying up to 18 eggs the female plays no further role in the care of her offspring for the next three months the incubation of the eggs will rely entirely on solar power even buried a meter Underground iguana eggs are vulnerable [Music] Dominique and ground lizards or abolo as they're known locally are found only on this island [Music] when the iguanas are nesting ground lizards stay close patrolling untended nests in search of eggs [Music] foreign [Music] lots of eggs fall foul of scavengers but many more survive by June those that have survived are ready to hatch [Music] iguanas are a Caribbean success story they've turned the devastation wrought by hurricanes to their advantage using it to colonize islands that would otherwise be completely out of reach oh some species have turned island hopping into an art form [Music] coconuts a relative newcomers to the Caribbean [Music] originally from Southeast Asia they only arrived around 500 years ago [Music] these Palms are perfectly designed to deal with the Caribbean's frequent hurricanes up to 4 000 Roots spread laterally under the sand giving the Palm a firm anchor to withstand Winds of over 150 kilometers per hour and strong winds facilitate their travels too hurricanes help dislodge their seats which are cast adrift on the ocean currents coconuts are especially buoyant and can float for months on end without sinking when they eventually wash ashore a new island that's colonized in just 500 years coconuts have spread to virtually every island in the Caribbean by early July the leatherback turtle eggs are ready to hatch [Music] it's time for the young Turtles to leave the safety of their nests on the Caribbean's beaches [Music] the hatchlings emerge in perfect synchrony safety and numbers is their best chance of reaching the sea over the next decade the youngsters will increase in size nearly 10 000 times even at this young age the leatherback can Propel itself through the water with an efficiency no other Turtle can match once they take to the Sea the leatherbacks will remain in the mysterious depths of the open ocean for most of their lives only the female turtles will ever return to the Caribbean's beaches once they're fully grown they become assured to lay their eggs just as their ancestors have done for the last 100 million years [Music] the islands of the Caribbean have been forged by Nature's Most cataclysmic forces [Music] lying in the heart of Hurricane Alley they must withstand the most ferocious storms on Earth yet these islands are home to a secret inspect to kill a variety of Wildlife from Wily opportunists to specialists the Caribbean protects those that live life in the first Lane and attract seafarers from near and far [Music] though the Pirates are long gone the wild Treasures of the Caribbean remain [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah foreign [Music]

Channel: Go Wild

Views: 190,056

Keywords: orf universum, documentary, blue chip, natural history, secrets of nature, planet earth, wildlife, free documentary, watch full documentary, nature films, wildlife films, go wild, nature, natura

Id: 4PD-tQbZQOg

Length: 52min 3sec (3123 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 11 2023