1 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:04,720 Earth's great rivers... 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:07,880 ..from source to sea... 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:11,440 ..make extraordinary journeys. 4 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:20,320 Carving through continents... 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,600 ..nurturing ancient civilisations... 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,560 ..feeding and connecting life across our world. 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,760 From the mountains and deserts of the Nile... 8 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,480 ..to the cities and mysterious swamps of the Mississippi... 9 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,200 ..and the steaming waters and secret worlds of the tropical Amazon. 10 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:04,360 Great rivers are the lifeblood of Planet Earth. 11 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,560 The massive, muddy Mississippi. 12 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,560 The heart and soul of America's Deep South. 13 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:41,640 The river has inspired writers and musicians for generations. 14 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,720 It's the familiar face of the Mississippi, 15 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:48,480 known the world over. 16 00:01:56,800 --> 00:02:01,080 Yet this is, in fact, just the last stretch of a truly 17 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:02,680 vast river system. 18 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,120 The Mississippi is an enormous network of waterways. 19 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,840 It reaches into 31 states, 20 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:20,400 gathering water from nearly half of the USA. 21 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,720 From unexpected beginnings in remote mountain streams, 22 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,280 winding tributaries sweep across open prairie. 23 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:42,720 Hundreds of rivers, coming together as one... 24 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:50,440 ..linking animals and people across thousands of miles. 25 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,040 Nothing connects and unites the states of America 26 00:02:58,040 --> 00:02:59,480 like the Mississippi River. 27 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,760 Most of the Mississippi's water comes from across a 1,500 mile 28 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,600 wide swathe of the northern United States, 29 00:03:16,600 --> 00:03:18,560 bordered by mountains. 30 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:30,880 The Mississippi's longest tributary begins here, 31 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:32,760 in the north-west, 32 00:03:32,760 --> 00:03:39,360 amongst the towering Rockies of Wyoming, over 3,500 miles upstream. 33 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,160 Winter here can last for five months. 34 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,280 Right now, billions of tonnes of water are trapped 35 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:01,480 as ice and snow. 36 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,760 In summer, this is a fast-flowing torrent. 37 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:23,400 But, for now, the otters and other animals who depend on it must search 38 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,080 for holes in the ice to allow them to fish. 39 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:42,040 But some choose to come to the Rockies to experience 40 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:44,880 the frozen headwaters of the Mississippi. 41 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:53,160 For climbers, there is no greater challenge than scaling a sheer 42 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:54,840 wall of ice. 43 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,080 You're basically chasing a hidden treasure... 44 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:04,520 ..that somebody told you was up in the hills. 45 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,280 And every once in a while, you actually get to find it. 46 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,200 For Aaron Mulkey, one of the most experienced ice climbers 47 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,440 in the world, winter is his favourite time of year. 48 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,960 Here, the Mississippi is suspended in the form 49 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:34,320 of towering, frozen waterfalls. 50 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,800 These provide some of the best ice climbing in the whole of the USA. 51 00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,040 I don't think people ever really imagine these things 52 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:53,360 would ever freeze. 53 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:58,960 100, 200 foot, massive, 54 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,000 just a spectacular chunk of ice. 55 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,600 And sort of crazy to think that, you know, when you're chopping away, 56 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:14,000 ice climbing at these things, 57 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,600 that that water may end up in the Gulf of Mexico at some point. 58 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,920 Every one of these frozen waterfalls is unique. 59 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,520 They never form the same way twice. 60 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:28,960 These waterfalls are very much alive, you know. 61 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,360 You're watching them with the little trickle of water. 62 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:35,680 They're constantly moving and shifting. 63 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,960 You can hear the ice crack and sometimes shift. 64 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:47,440 Some of those noises are OK. 65 00:06:49,240 --> 00:06:51,320 Some of them are much more concerning. 66 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:00,760 ICE SHATTERS 67 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:02,080 Ice! 68 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:10,600 Ice climbing is pretty unique. 69 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,960 You know, if you go rock climbing, it's there, it's always 70 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,760 going to be there, but ice is there one day and gone tomorrow. 71 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:37,200 For now, though, this whole landscape is frozen. 72 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:48,800 But no matter how cold it gets, a few streams here in the Rockies 73 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,280 throw the local wildlife a year-round lifeline. 74 00:08:08,320 --> 00:08:12,920 Yellowstone National Park's steaming geysers spew out boiling water 75 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:15,280 into the middle of this icebound wilderness... 76 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,960 ..keeping precious streams flowing through the snow. 77 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:40,600 The Madison River, 78 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,240 a remote tributary of the Mississippi. 79 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:49,720 Despite the air sometimes dropping to 40 below, 80 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:52,200 the river never freezes over. 81 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,480 Winter is especially hard for Yellowstone's coyotes, 82 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,880 endlessly searching for something to eat. 83 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,600 A few have learned that this particular river 84 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,320 holds a potential meal. 85 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:26,560 Fishing doesn't come naturally to coyotes. 86 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,600 But it's a skill this female is determined to master. 87 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:51,200 The wetter she gets, 88 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,120 the greater the risk of hypothermia. 89 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:05,240 But after four hours of enduring the bitter cold 90 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:06,920 and catching nothing... 91 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,320 Finally, a half-metre-long rainbow trout. 92 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,880 She's one of the only coyotes in the world who's learned 93 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:40,400 to fish this way. 94 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,480 And it's only possible thanks to the steaming waters 95 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:48,760 of this unique Mississippi headwater. 96 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,480 All across the frozen north, the season starts to change. 97 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:14,520 In the mountains, the spring melt sometimes doesn't happen 98 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:16,200 until as late as June. 99 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,400 Slowly, the temperatures rise... 100 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:27,360 ..and the thaw begins. 101 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:41,240 The headwaters of the Mississippi are finally unleashed. 102 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,040 Billions of tonnes of water are on the move. 103 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,000 They can engulf everything in their path. 104 00:12:36,640 --> 00:12:42,240 This dramatic transformation marks the annual reawakening of life 105 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:43,920 across the Mississippi. 106 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,680 Nowhere is this more true than in the Appalachian Mountains, 107 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:58,720 1,500 miles east of the Rockies, 108 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,640 on the other side of the continent. 109 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,320 Here, in Tennessee and Virginia, 110 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:13,640 upland streams are a haven for an incredible variety of life. 111 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:22,840 Hellbenders, a rare species of salamander that can grow 112 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,720 to over 60 centimetres long. 113 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,760 Huge shoals of fish, 114 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,000 like these buffalo suckers, 115 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:36,320 mass to spawn. 116 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:40,960 While on the river beds, 117 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,600 chub build stony nests to protect their eggs. 118 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:58,360 But one group of animals has come up with an astonishing way 119 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,560 of giving their young the best possible start. 120 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:07,760 Freshwater mussels. 121 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:13,520 During the breeding season, part of the mantle which runs 122 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,480 along the edges of their shell is unfurled. 123 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:25,840 It begins to resemble a small fish swimming in the current. 124 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:32,000 A small fish that larger fish might want to eat. 125 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:39,880 Hidden inside these lures are sacs containing thousands 126 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:41,480 of tiny mussel larvae. 127 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,880 To disperse and find a new home, 128 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:58,240 the larvae need to latch onto the gills of a large fish. 129 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,560 For this to happen, the adult mussels need to trick 130 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,440 a fish into biting their lure. 131 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,880 The larvae clamp on and begin to suck nutrients from 132 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:42,280 the fish's blood. 133 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,400 They will hitch a ride on the fish's gills for a few weeks 134 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,400 before finally dropping off. 135 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,840 The fish unwittingly spread the young mussels 136 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:57,120 up and down the river bed. 137 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:04,160 Surely, one of the most extraordinary parenting strategies 138 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:05,440 on Earth. 139 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:14,800 The rising waters of spring provide opportunities for many river 140 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:16,920 creatures right across the north. 141 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,880 But, for others, the spring melt is not so welcome. 142 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:36,080 Beavers are found throughout the Mississippi Basin. 143 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:41,880 They build dams to create a watery moat around their homes, 144 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:45,320 which protects them from predators that could attack from the land. 145 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,120 Inside their homes, known as lodges, 146 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,720 adults and their kits stay safe and warm. 147 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,080 But their peace is about to be shattered. 148 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,520 The beavers can hear there's a problem. 149 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,120 Researchers have found that the sound of running water 150 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:24,320 is something that beavers are simply unable to ignore. 151 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:32,400 The sound means their precious dams are in danger of being swept away 152 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:34,120 by the swelling streams. 153 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,400 Their moats could drain away, 154 00:17:41,400 --> 00:17:45,600 leaving their lodges high and dry and at risk from predators. 155 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:07,720 The beavers must gnaw, drag and pack as much fresh material 156 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:10,640 into the dams as they can, 157 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,520 to try and staunch the flow. 158 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,360 Beavers spend their whole lives trying to block the river. 159 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,000 But in the end, 160 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,080 the river always wins. 161 00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,000 Humans have also tried to control the powerful waters 162 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,800 of the Mississippi's tributaries. 163 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,440 Building dams like these in the foothills of the Rockies. 164 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,920 Many are used to store meltwater for irrigation 165 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:22,520 in the dry summer months. 166 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:33,560 But not even these 100 metre high walls can entirely contain 167 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,240 the Mississippi's water on its journey downstream. 168 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,800 Damming rivers disrupts their natural flow. 169 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:08,840 But here, Marsh Lake in Minnesota, nearly 1,000 miles downstream 170 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,680 from the Rockies, it's created an unexpected opportunity for some. 171 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,400 American white pelicans. 172 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:35,040 They arrive here each spring on three metre wingspans. 173 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:45,360 Some of them have flown over 2,000 miles just to get here. 174 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,120 Their nests are protected from predators by the surrounding waters. 175 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,800 22,000 of them cram onto the islands. 176 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:19,360 As a sign that they're ready to breed, both males and females 177 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:23,000 grow a special horn on their bills, 178 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,960 which drops off after their eggs have been laid. 179 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,880 But Marsh Lake's dam offers more than protection. 180 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,880 It forces migrating fish to pass through a narrow gap, 181 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,400 concentrating them all in one place. 182 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,920 And pelicans are famed for their appetite. 183 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,840 Some of the carp funnelled across the dam can be over a metre long. 184 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,800 But when one pelican finds more suitably sized fish... 185 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,560 ..it's the cue for them all to pile in. 186 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,040 MUSIC: The Barber of Seville Overture by Rossini 187 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:26,280 The bonanza provides a welcome meal for the hungry chicks. 188 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:33,000 After their young have fledged, 189 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:34,800 these pelicans will leave. 190 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:41,960 They'll fly towards the main channel of the Mississippi River, 191 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,560 using it to help navigate on their long journey south. 192 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,760 As they leave its wild, upper reaches, the Mississippi's 193 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:03,760 tributaries begin to funnel into the main channel. 194 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,840 Here, around 2,000 miles from the river's mouth, 195 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:16,000 the Mississippi passes into the farming heartland of the USA. 196 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,960 92% of America's agricultural exports are produced 197 00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:26,400 within the Mississippi Basin. 198 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:34,880 States like Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, growing everything 199 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,600 from grain to soybeans to cranberries. 200 00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:43,040 Wisconsin produces over half the world's cranberries. 201 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:48,560 Historically, this industry relied on the Mississippi's water. 202 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,560 When the fruit is ripe, the fields are deliberately flooded. 203 00:24:56,960 --> 00:24:59,360 The cranberries float to the top, 204 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:03,840 ready to be skimmed off the surface and exported across the globe. 205 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,360 The central stretch of the Mississippi helps to feed 206 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:22,680 the entire nation and is a fertile home for wildlife, too. 207 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,200 Each year, around the 4th of July, 208 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:30,480 tiny insects put on an amazing show. 209 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:35,160 Mayflies. 210 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:43,520 Their nymphs have lived on the riverbed for up to two years, 211 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:48,880 slowly maturing, preparing to sprout wings and take to the air together. 212 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:59,840 Millions emerge simultaneously, in swarms so big, they can be seen 213 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:01,080 on weather radar. 214 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,800 But their independence from the river is short lived. 215 00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:14,160 They emerge simply to mate, 216 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:18,120 after which the females must return to lay their eggs. 217 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:31,640 Just two days after they first appeared, 218 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:35,760 the final, spectacular stage of their life will be over. 219 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,840 Mayflies have risen from the river since long before people 220 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:45,920 settled here. 221 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:52,000 But those that emerge today are surrounded by the modern face 222 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,480 of the Mississippi. 223 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:02,360 This central stretch is the steepest section of the main river channel. 224 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,320 To keep the waters deep enough for transport, 225 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:14,000 giant locks and dams have been built right across it. 226 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,680 What was once a wild, rushing river 227 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:21,680 has become a huge, sluggish canal. 228 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:38,000 Today, an endless stream of massive barges move millions of tonnes 229 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,000 of the nation's produce up and down the length 230 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:42,240 of the country. 231 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:53,080 Whole communities live and rely 232 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,960 on the industrialised Mississippi, 233 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:58,680 including captain John Hill Gardner. 234 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,000 All these people are dependent on the river for their livelihood. 235 00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,000 We all have a living and it gives us a living. 236 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,560 The hours are long. The work's hard. 237 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:18,600 When you come back, 238 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:21,200 it's like you're coming back to your home. 239 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,640 It's just a way of life. 240 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:28,720 Fed by trade on the river, 241 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:32,360 bustling cities have grown up all along its banks. 242 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,960 Halfway down the Mississippi, St Louis was built where the longest 243 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,920 of the river's tributaries, the Missouri, joins the main channel. 244 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,600 Grain is trucked here from across the central USA, 245 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:06,440 destined for the rest of the world. 246 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:13,720 On the river, tugboat captains wrangle huge, empty barges. 247 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:27,080 A single barge can carry 1,500 tonnes of grain or soy. 248 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:33,920 Once loading is finished, 249 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,040 the barges are shuffled together in giant flotillas. 250 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:45,000 Each one can cover the area of four football pitches 251 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,200 and be over 350 metres long. 252 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:56,720 Thanks to the river's help, the whole flotilla can be pushed 253 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:00,960 by a single boat, hauling as much cargo in one journey 254 00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:04,360 as over 2,500 trucks. 255 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,800 A boat trip down the Mississippi is nearly 2,000 miles long. 256 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,600 It can take two weeks and requires concentration, 257 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,720 experience and stamina. 258 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:35,520 We work out here in a nonstop operation. 259 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,400 It goes 24/7, 365 days a year. 260 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:43,720 We work six hours on, six hours off, 261 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:45,320 for a month at a time. 262 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:49,920 Searchlights guide the boats along the river. 263 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,320 Steering these giants through the locks becomes even 264 00:30:57,320 --> 00:30:58,640 trickier at night. 265 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,120 Five hours and 59 minutes of sheer boredom, then you've got 60 seconds 266 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,480 of sheer terror, because you come down on a bridge or something 267 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:11,040 like that, you're not quite shaped up for it, 268 00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:13,120 hoping you get through with your bad spot. 269 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:23,960 The equivalent of 49 million truckloads of goods are transported 270 00:31:23,960 --> 00:31:26,000 on the Mississippi every year. 271 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,120 It's become a vast and hectic motorway, 272 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:54,800 bringing cargo from across the country and carrying it south 273 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:55,840 to the coast. 274 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,880 As the river reaches the last 1,000 miles of its journey, 275 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:15,920 its character changes. 276 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:22,920 It widens, slows and begins to flow through a vast natural flood plain. 277 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,840 Massive, meandering detours and shifting sandbanks mark 278 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,720 the beginning of the lower Mississippi, as it enters 279 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,080 the Deep South. 280 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:46,800 River guide John Ruskey has paddled this iconic section 281 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,080 of the Mississippi for over 35 years. 282 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:56,240 When we flow out of the cities and civilisation, 283 00:32:56,240 --> 00:32:59,000 the land immediately becomes wild. 284 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,680 The place where the big water meets the big forest, 285 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:07,360 underneath the big sky. 286 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:14,720 Because the landscape here is so flat, when the river is swollen 287 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,400 by heavy rain or spring meltwater, 288 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,400 it regularly bursts its natural banks. 289 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:29,400 Over time, this flooding has helped create a vast labyrinth 290 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,160 of interconnected backwaters, lakes and swamps. 291 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,800 When you leave the main channel of the Mississippi and paddle into 292 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:48,600 the cypress swamps, it's like entering a whole new world. 293 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:56,520 You get this feeling that the river is getting lost as it meanders 294 00:33:56,520 --> 00:34:01,200 into the belly of some mysterious, giant wilderness. 295 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:08,640 The Atchafalaya. 296 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:13,400 The largest swamp in the USA. 297 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,880 Over 2,000 square miles. 298 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:24,200 Much is flooded forest. 299 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:29,680 Huge swamp cypress trees, draped in Spanish moss. 300 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,840 Historically, the river just flooded everywhere across this, 301 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:40,240 at times, 100-mile-wide flood plain, and all these nutrients 302 00:34:40,240 --> 00:34:42,840 that the river's carrying from the Rocky Mountains 303 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,200 to the Appalachia are all concentrated, 304 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:51,400 and as a result, these hardwood forests became the richest forests 305 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:52,840 in North America. 306 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:01,080 Here, in the waterlogged south, 307 00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:06,120 beavers worry less about fast flowing torrents washing dams away 308 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:10,080 and more about predators hiding beneath the surface. 309 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:22,800 The swamps are also home to a vast array of other wildlife. 310 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:27,680 Egrets. 311 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:30,240 Herons. 312 00:35:33,080 --> 00:35:34,760 And roseate spoonbills. 313 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,120 White ibis and anole lizards. 314 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,000 The swamp remains a haven for wildlife. 315 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:55,440 It is one of the few remaining wild places that's as wild as parts 316 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:57,520 of Alaska or the Rocky Mountains. 317 00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:05,560 In early autumn, the swamp echoes with the endearing squeaks 318 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:10,240 of the young of one of its most famous and most feared predators. 319 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:16,240 Baby alligators... 320 00:36:16,240 --> 00:36:18,280 SQUEAKING 321 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:24,240 ..only recently hatched from their eggs. 322 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,440 Despite only being around 15 centimetres long, 323 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,040 they're already equipped to take on anything that they can wrap 324 00:36:34,040 --> 00:36:35,360 their jaws around. 325 00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:42,160 But, at this size, they can easily become a meal themselves. 326 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:59,480 Many around here would snap up a baby gator, 327 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,800 including great egrets, up to a metre tall. 328 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,560 But everyone must keep an eye out for Mum. 329 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:32,360 Nearly three metres long, she lies in wait, listening 330 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,400 to her baby's squeaks, 331 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,920 ready to attack anything that comes too close. 332 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:45,320 The youngsters can bask in safety, under her protective gaze. 333 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:57,360 The Atchafalaya is just a fragment of what was once a much larger 334 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,160 network of Mississippi swamps, 335 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:03,960 originally five times the size they are today. 336 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:11,240 Over the last 150 years, much of the fertile flood plain 337 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:15,920 has been cleared and drained to make way for farms and cities. 338 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:32,960 New Orleans, the final big city before the river meets the sea. 339 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,320 Originally, all this was swamp. 340 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,640 And today, parts of the city are over seven metres 341 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:51,720 below the river's highest water level. 342 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:02,560 It's become a never-ending battle to hold the river back. 343 00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,480 1,600 miles of levees have been constructed, 344 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:16,880 hemming in 80% of the lower Mississippi, yet the flood defences 345 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,880 have been repeatedly breached by the stubborn river. 346 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:24,400 Each time, people have rebuilt the barriers, 347 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,320 taller and stronger. 348 00:39:34,040 --> 00:39:38,960 And where the water can't be held back, people have simply built 349 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:40,280 over the top of it. 350 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:48,280 The three longest bridges in the USA have been constructed 351 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:50,440 above these Mississippi wetlands. 352 00:39:56,640 --> 00:40:01,240 Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, nearly 24 miles long, 353 00:40:01,240 --> 00:40:02,800 the biggest of them all. 354 00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:08,000 It leads across a vast, swampy lagoon into the centre 355 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,200 of New Orleans. 356 00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:17,760 Down here, a 16-mile stretch of the river has been turned 357 00:40:17,760 --> 00:40:21,040 into the largest port in the Western Hemisphere. 358 00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:36,080 The cargo carried on the barges is transferred to huge 359 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:37,400 ocean-going ships. 360 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:47,720 The massive vessels steam through the final hundred miles 361 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:52,920 of wetlands on their way out to sea and around the world. 362 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,880 This is the last stage of the Mississippi's long journey. 363 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:13,160 A marshy delta of islands, channels and beaches which form 364 00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:16,720 the final boundary between the land and the ocean. 365 00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:28,400 It covers an area of over 11,000 square miles and is a rich fishing 366 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:33,240 ground - a draw for both people and wildlife. 367 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:48,840 White pelicans, many the same individuals that bred at the other 368 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,440 end of the Mississippi, have migrated here to take advantage 369 00:41:52,440 --> 00:41:55,600 of the subtropical climate of the Gulf of Mexico. 370 00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:05,480 Reddish egrets - a southern wetland specialist. 371 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,960 Once pushed to the brink of extinction for their crest feathers, 372 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,360 they are now making a comeback. 373 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:20,240 In the muddy waters, 374 00:42:20,240 --> 00:42:22,560 small fish can be hard to spot. 375 00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:29,440 When an egret does manage to find one, it doesn't let 376 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:30,680 it out of its sight. 377 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,520 SWAMP BLUES MUSIC 378 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:01,760 That one's got away. 379 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:26,200 All the dashing around was worth it in the end. 380 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:40,560 This entire landscape was formed by the Mississippi, 381 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,360 which picked up soil from across America 382 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,120 and deposited it here. 383 00:43:50,240 --> 00:43:53,800 But it's now at risk of disappearing beneath the waves. 384 00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:03,480 To tell the story of these wetlands, local photographer 385 00:44:03,480 --> 00:44:08,040 and conservationist Ben Depp learned to paramotor. 386 00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:16,520 The landscape is totally flat, 387 00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:21,040 and the only way to get perspective is to go up in the air. 388 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:58,120 This whole landscape, hundreds of miles of wetlands, 389 00:44:58,120 --> 00:45:00,040 were created from the Mississippi River. 390 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:07,880 This land is dirt from a soybean field in Iowa and a cornfield 391 00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:13,920 in Ohio, a mountainside in Montana, and it's an incredible thought 392 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,280 that that sediment is being carried all the way down the Mississippi 393 00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:21,120 River and is washing into wetlands here and building new land. 394 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:31,560 These coastal wetlands may be huge, 395 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:36,880 but what people have done to the Mississippi has had effects 396 00:45:36,880 --> 00:45:38,840 that few could have foreseen. 397 00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:47,960 The landscape here is naturally in a state of change. 398 00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:53,480 The river spreads and slows, depositing sediment, 399 00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:54,800 which builds new land. 400 00:45:57,040 --> 00:45:59,800 The ocean currents then try to wash it away. 401 00:46:03,080 --> 00:46:07,320 Historically, the Mississippi has always won this contest, 402 00:46:07,320 --> 00:46:09,800 gradually forming this, 403 00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:12,400 one of the largest deltas in the world. 404 00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:29,680 But the balance between sedimentation and erosion 405 00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:30,920 has been changed. 406 00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:42,840 The flood defences that line the lower Mississippi mean 407 00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:45,120 that the river can no longer 408 00:46:45,120 --> 00:46:49,200 spread out to rebuild the wetlands, 409 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:54,360 and land is now being lost at the rate of a football pitch every hour. 410 00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:58,560 Everywhere you look, 411 00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:00,960 you can see what we've done to this landscape. 412 00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:07,440 I think we didn't understand what we were doing, 413 00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:11,800 and now we understand that we've really messed up 414 00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:13,960 those natural systems. 415 00:47:15,040 --> 00:47:16,240 Over the last 80 years, 416 00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:20,360 we've lost 2,000 square miles of land. 417 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:37,680 Coastal wetlands help protect cities like New Orleans from storm surges 418 00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:39,200 caused by hurricanes. 419 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:46,960 As the wetlands disappear, 420 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,440 hurricane damage becomes much worse inland. 421 00:47:52,160 --> 00:47:56,400 We need to change our perspective, and we need to prioritise 422 00:47:56,400 --> 00:47:59,520 these things that are going to help us continue living here long term. 423 00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:09,840 Now, work is taking place to reverse this massive land loss. 424 00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:13,960 Sediment is being pumped and diverted to replenish the marshes, 425 00:48:13,960 --> 00:48:18,360 and sand is being dredged from the ocean to rebuild protective 426 00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:19,680 barrier islands. 427 00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:26,080 It's a constant battle against tide and wind, 428 00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:30,560 but already over 55 square miles of land have been restored 429 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:34,080 or protected, and much more is planned. 430 00:48:38,960 --> 00:48:42,160 Down here, at the end of the river's journey, 431 00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:46,400 people are now forced to spend billions trying to do what the river 432 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:49,600 once did entirely by itself. 433 00:48:57,760 --> 00:49:01,520 Throughout the Mississippi's enormous reach, stretching 434 00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:04,800 the length of this huge country, 435 00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:07,720 animals rely on its natural riches. 436 00:49:11,720 --> 00:49:16,400 And for centuries, people have exploited its vast scale 437 00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:21,520 to connect, enrich and unite the states of America. 438 00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:28,200 The river is, and always has been, 439 00:49:28,200 --> 00:49:31,320 a powerful and untameable giant. 440 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:39,160 The massive, muddy Mississippi 441 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:42,400 remains the lifeblood of this nation. 442 00:49:56,120 --> 00:49:59,760 The huge Mississippi Basin encompasses a vast range 443 00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:04,520 of habitats, from frozen mountains to subtropical marshes. 444 00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:09,480 But it was here, in the swamps of Louisiana, 445 00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:13,040 that cameraman Doug Gardner was most excited about filming. 446 00:50:14,000 --> 00:50:16,720 I was born in South Carolina and raised in the heart 447 00:50:16,720 --> 00:50:19,600 of the swamps, and pretty much I'm a swamp rat. 448 00:50:19,600 --> 00:50:22,360 But, you know what, I don't apologise for it, 449 00:50:22,360 --> 00:50:24,200 it's the place that I absolutely love. 450 00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:27,720 Generally, people think of a swamp as a nasty, 451 00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:32,200 dirty place, and, for me, I see it as one of the most special 452 00:50:32,200 --> 00:50:34,520 ecosystems that our planet has to offer. 453 00:50:35,880 --> 00:50:40,400 The Atchafalaya is the biggest swamp in North America. 454 00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:43,680 Doug is here to find baby alligators, but getting 455 00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:46,480 past their enormous mother won't be easy. 456 00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:50,400 I think alligators are amazing animals, 457 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:54,280 and I'd never had a chance to actually film a mother 458 00:50:54,280 --> 00:50:57,680 with babies, so I was really excited about getting out here. 459 00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:05,200 Louisiana has the largest alligator population in North America - 460 00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:07,600 nearly 2 million of them. 461 00:51:07,600 --> 00:51:11,080 But actually finding them in this flooded labyrinth 462 00:51:11,080 --> 00:51:12,320 is not easy. 463 00:51:15,720 --> 00:51:19,120 I'm pretty used to working in swamps, but I wasn't expecting 464 00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:22,600 the Louisiana swamp mud to be as deep as it is. 465 00:51:22,600 --> 00:51:25,240 Getting my steps in today! 466 00:51:25,240 --> 00:51:27,400 The only difference is that one of these steps equals 467 00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:28,880 about 400 regular steps. 468 00:51:29,880 --> 00:51:32,600 I don't want to put my foot in an alligator's mouth, 469 00:51:32,600 --> 00:51:34,640 cos often they will just lie on the bottom. 470 00:51:34,640 --> 00:51:36,640 One of the main things, you've got to keep moving. 471 00:51:36,640 --> 00:51:37,760 You can't just say, 472 00:51:37,760 --> 00:51:40,680 "Oh, I'm freaking out because I'm bogging down." 473 00:51:40,680 --> 00:51:43,800 If you stand still, you're going to sink even deeper. 474 00:51:45,560 --> 00:51:48,880 A lot of times, you use sticks to get around. 475 00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:52,960 One thing about this mud, it absolutely stinks. 476 00:51:54,880 --> 00:51:57,960 It's such a vast area, and we had a lot of ground to cover. 477 00:51:57,960 --> 00:51:59,000 It was tough going. 478 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,960 Rather than struggling through the quagmire, 479 00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:06,800 Doug opts for a more comfortable form of transportation. 480 00:52:13,920 --> 00:52:17,200 The deeper we ventured into the swamp, the thicker the vegetation 481 00:52:17,200 --> 00:52:18,960 got, and to be honest with you, 482 00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:21,600 my eyes really started to play tricks on me at that point. 483 00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:24,920 There, there! No, that's a frog. 484 00:52:27,840 --> 00:52:33,400 But then a sign - the telltale calls of baby alligators. 485 00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:35,440 SQUEAKING 486 00:52:35,440 --> 00:52:37,600 We can hear them, but I can't... 487 00:52:37,600 --> 00:52:40,000 I can't pinpoint them yet. 488 00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,480 They're so well camouflaged. 489 00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:50,960 I was about to quit for the day, and I heard all this commotion 490 00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:53,080 behind me, and I really wasn't prepared for what I was 491 00:52:53,080 --> 00:52:55,040 about to see. 492 00:52:55,040 --> 00:52:58,640 Mother alligators will attack anything that gets close 493 00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:02,440 to their brood - even another gator. 494 00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:03,800 I just grabbed the nearest camera 495 00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:05,920 and started filming the best I could. 496 00:53:07,560 --> 00:53:11,800 The mother alligator has got another, small alligator 497 00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:12,840 in her mouth. 498 00:53:12,840 --> 00:53:15,200 She's just... She's trying to eat it. 499 00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:18,440 Trying to get this, sorry about the shake, there's a leg. 500 00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:21,200 Even though the alligator was smaller than the mother, 501 00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:24,840 it was still quite big enough to pose a threat to the babies. 502 00:53:26,200 --> 00:53:27,640 There you go. 503 00:53:31,240 --> 00:53:34,440 You know, a lot of times, I forget just how unpredictable 504 00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:35,480 nature can be. 505 00:53:39,160 --> 00:53:43,440 The babies must be nearby, but with the light fading fast 506 00:53:43,440 --> 00:53:47,320 and a two-hour boat ride back, Doug can't hang around. 507 00:53:56,880 --> 00:53:57,960 Nope. 508 00:54:01,040 --> 00:54:04,080 After a long day of searching and trudging through the swamp, 509 00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:06,600 the last thing I want to do is break down in the middle of nowhere. 510 00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:10,800 The motor has overheated. 511 00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:15,360 The water where we broke down really wasn't that deep, 512 00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:18,840 but considering what I'd just witnessed 30 minutes earlier, 513 00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:21,560 I wasn't about to get in the water and push. 514 00:54:21,560 --> 00:54:24,760 So, Doug's only real choice was to stay on board 515 00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:26,600 and paddle instead. 516 00:54:26,600 --> 00:54:31,480 We have seen quite a few alligators as soon as the sun went down, 517 00:54:31,480 --> 00:54:32,880 so that's a little unnerving. 518 00:54:36,160 --> 00:54:38,040 I hear things in the water all around me. 519 00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:42,960 And then, a light in the distance. 520 00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:47,000 You know, there's this code when you're out on the water. 521 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:49,480 If you see somebody that needs help, you stop and help them, 522 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:52,360 because one day - I assure you - you're going to need help. 523 00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:54,480 Any way you can pull us up there to the landing? Yeah. 524 00:54:54,480 --> 00:54:55,800 All right, man, appreciate it. 525 00:55:01,640 --> 00:55:03,400 I'm feeling quite relieved now. 526 00:55:05,400 --> 00:55:06,880 Hey, thanks, bud, have a goodnight. 527 00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:09,320 It's always an adventure. 528 00:55:09,320 --> 00:55:13,480 Something was bound to happen today, because it is Friday the 13th. 529 00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:16,040 And a black cat ran in front of me at the hotel, 530 00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:18,080 so that's double jinxing. 531 00:55:22,480 --> 00:55:27,080 A new day, and Doug decides to return to the same spot 532 00:55:27,080 --> 00:55:28,800 where he heard the baby alligators. 533 00:55:31,600 --> 00:55:34,400 Already, things are looking up. 534 00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:35,640 I see a fresh slide, 535 00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:38,480 it looks like she has been going up the bank. 536 00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:44,000 Now, gators like to bask in the sun on the banks until their body warms 537 00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:46,280 up, and then they'll just slide into the water. 538 00:55:46,280 --> 00:55:49,040 And that slide looked very fresh to me. 539 00:55:49,040 --> 00:55:52,520 And what I was hoping was that, if I could spot her, 540 00:55:52,520 --> 00:55:56,040 then maybe she would lead me to her babies. 541 00:55:57,160 --> 00:56:00,400 Doug is confident that mum is nearby 542 00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:04,520 so takes position at what he hopes is a safe distance. 543 00:56:04,520 --> 00:56:09,880 I don't know that she is in there, but I'm hoping she is. 544 00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:11,960 I know the babies are back there, cos I can hear 'em. 545 00:56:13,520 --> 00:56:17,960 I've done everything I can to try to alleviate 546 00:56:17,960 --> 00:56:21,200 all the odds, being attacked by an alligator, and I think 547 00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:24,760 that this log will give me some protection if a gator came up at me 548 00:56:24,760 --> 00:56:25,960 and lunged out of the water. 549 00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:30,760 But you're not going to go anywhere real fast in waders and in mud. 550 00:56:37,320 --> 00:56:39,160 OK, I see momma, here's momma right here. 551 00:56:40,560 --> 00:56:43,360 Finally, I spotted the mother coming across the canal, 552 00:56:43,360 --> 00:56:45,560 and she looked like she was coming straight at me. 553 00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:55,760 But, thankfully, you know, I wasn't close enough to her young 554 00:56:55,760 --> 00:56:57,440 that she considered me a threat, 555 00:56:57,440 --> 00:56:59,080 so she just turned around and went back. 556 00:57:04,200 --> 00:57:06,160 I could feel her eyes on me all the time. 557 00:57:22,320 --> 00:57:23,680 I think I see where they are. 558 00:57:27,160 --> 00:57:29,760 As if by magic, she just led me right to them, 559 00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:32,000 right where she had been hiding them all along, 560 00:57:32,000 --> 00:57:35,920 and now I see why they were so hard to find, because they are so well 561 00:57:35,920 --> 00:57:40,240 camouflaged, they blend into everything in their surroundings. 562 00:57:42,640 --> 00:57:45,760 Despite everything the swamp has thrown at him, 563 00:57:45,760 --> 00:57:50,240 Doug can finally capture an intimate view of these tiny predators. 564 00:57:55,560 --> 00:57:57,200 You've got to look careful. 565 00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:00,920 They have black, brown and yellow on them, 566 00:58:00,920 --> 00:58:03,320 and everything out here has the same colours. 567 00:58:09,440 --> 00:58:13,760 These babies will grow up in one of the most mysterious and exotic 568 00:58:13,760 --> 00:58:17,720 regions found anywhere in the USA. 569 00:58:19,560 --> 00:58:22,400 The Atchafalaya is just teeming with wildlife, 570 00:58:22,400 --> 00:58:24,560 and it's full of surprises. 571 00:58:27,640 --> 00:58:29,560 And, you know, that's the reason I love it here, 572 00:58:29,560 --> 00:58:32,240 that's the reason I'll keep coming back here time and time again.