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The Greek Islands in the very south of Europe.
Raised from the Mediterranean
by volcanoes, water and wind.
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Millions of years of evolution have given
the island's animals and plants found nowhere else on earth.
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Every island is its own world,
both above and below the surface.
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(gulls cawing)
Carpets of sea grass cover the sea bed of the Peloponnese.
There's a creature here that could come
from another universe.
Eight arms, two tentacles, an undulating skirt,
and giant far-seeing eyes.
Sepia officinalis, the cuttlefish.
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Special cells in his skin change color
and pattern in a split second.
He can match his background perfectly.
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Those eyes are extremely sharp.
His sensitive arms have a multitude of uses,
mimicking the sea grass, communicating,
acting as bait to attract prey.
When a victim is spotted, he raises two arms,
making space for the pair of tentacles
that shoot out of his maw.
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The same technique won't work with a crab.
It could simply slice off his arms.
So, the cuttlefish sneaks up from behind
and envelops his prey.
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Keeping well clear of the claws.
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He cracks the carapace and stuns the crab
with his toxic saliva.
After eating it, he leaves the chitin body shell behind.
The west coast of the Peloponnese is home to an animal
with very similar characteristics.
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It's found in this bay.
The African chameleon was most likely brought here
by ancient Greek traders.
A small population has survived to this day.
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The color of its skin shows if it's scared,
happy, angry, or stressed.
Relaxed and perfectly camouflaged,
it slips between the twigs.
A bush cricket has made a kill.
This mini predator mainly targets other cricket species.
(crickets chirping) (light music continues)
The chameleon has extremely sharp eyesight.
It can spot prey far away.
His independently swiveling eyes
give him nearly 360 degree vision.
(bugs trilling)
He's catapulting tongue isn't sticky.
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It creates a tiny vacuum cup on impact.
(bugs chirping)
His small sharp teeth crush the prey,
but won't dismember it.
The catch is always swallowed whole.
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300 kilometers to the south, griffon vultures
circle above Crete's craggy coastline.
This is where the African Continental Plate
slides under the Aegean Plate,
creating Europe's most southerly high mountain range.
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From the coastline, the peaks and gorges
of the Lefka Ori Mountains rise into the interior.
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The Samaria Gorge is the deepest point.
This is the home of the kri-kris.
The brown and white stripe is typical
of these Cretan wild goats.
Powerful status symbols mark out the dominant males,
the great curved horns
and the long dark beards.
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In fact, they're descended from domesticated goats
brought here 8,000 years ago.
In the wilderness, the kri-kris evolved back
into their original form, perfectly adapted
to their harsh surroundings.
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(water splashing)
The nanny goats and their kids live way upstream,
hidden in the valley far from the bucks.
(kri-kris bleating)
Their only contact is in the mating season.
The brook running through the gorge
gives them a constant water supply
enough for their quiet lives.
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The kids can run over the rocks within minutes of birth.
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(kri-kris bleating)
The nannies reach down for the juicy herbs
between the rocks.
The kids will soon learn to do it for themselves.
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In spring, the swollen stream is flanked by oleander bushes.
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This magnificent display is protected by the toxins
in its flowers and leaves.
Only the oleander hawk-moth caterpillar is impervious.
There are two kinds in Crete.
One is bright green,
and the other, bright orange.
The caterpillars store the poison in their tissues,
making them unappetizing prey.
(bugs trilling) (light music)
Their weight increases a thousand fold in just three weeks,
leaving them plump and well-fed.
In a cool cave close by lives a giant Balkan green lizard.
Up to 50 centimeters long, this nimble hunter
has a taste for caterpillars.
But the caterpillar has a surprise in store.
Dipping its head forward,
it displays it's two warning eye spots.
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The effect is immediate.
The lizard beats a hasty retreat.
But it's still hungry,
and a caterpillar caught unaware has no defense.
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But it may do nothing for the lizard's digestion.
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The difference in temperature between the valley
and the peaks in the Samaria Gorge
makes for powerful thermals.
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Ideal for griffin vultures on the lookout for carrion.
(birds chirping)
Scanning the ground for food and the sky for other vultures.
When one finds a carcass,
within minutes dozens gather overhead.
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A raven got there first.
A sign for the vultures that it's safe to land.
In the air, they're masterly gliders, not so on the ground.
Once they've landed they'll need a good run-up
to get airborne again.
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A dominant male comes forward to check out the surroundings.
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Meanwhile, more and more vultures gather.
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For the raven, it's time to go.
There's plenty to eat, but still, fights break out.
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It's all about hierarchy.
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Griffin vultures are perfectly built to take advantage
of every opportunity.
Their digestive juices destroy the bacteria in decaying meat
that would poison other species.
(birds squawking) (flies buzzing)
They spread their wings, seeped in the cadavers juices,
to dry them.
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And the stench attracts flies.
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They get a quick brush off from the vultures.
To the flies, the carcass is not just food,
but a nursery for their maggots.
(flies buzzing)
When the newborn fly away,
they leave nothing but bare bones and fur.
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It certainly looks like carrion.
Smells like it, too.
But it isn't.
The common Dracunculus, or dragon arum,
mimics both the look and the smell of a decaying corpse.
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Hungry flies wander over its surface looking for food,
sometimes landing in the middle
where they're coated with pollen.
Once the flies realize they've been tricked,
they fly away with the pollen still on onboard.
(flies buzzing)
(crickets chirping) (light music)
Bright yellow genista turns the bare planes
into a sea of flowers.
Spring on the Greek Islands.
Bees pollinate rocket.
And move on to the violet poppy anemones.
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The sirocco blows in from the south,
carrying warmth across the Mediterranean from Africa.
On the way, it encounters the island of Milos.
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(birds chirping)
And it brings with it the first migrating birds.
They've flown over a thousand kilometers
without eating or drinking.
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A flock of western yellow wagtails is mounding.
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A Sardinian warbler takes its first sustenance.
The common redstart is more concerned with the state
of its plumage.
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Milos is not the most hospitable place.
It's an active volcano.
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Toxic gases emerging from lava craters
leaves them fringed with sulfur crystals.
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This whole island was created by massive volcanic eruptions
more than a million years ago.
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Inland, there's a tiny stream close to drying out.
There may be no more rain till autumn.
(birds chirping) (light dramatic music)
(water splashing) (bugs trilling)
The migrating birds desperately need these last pools
of fresh water.
(birds chirping)
(water splashing)
But a dip can also be a relaxing game.
(water splashing) (bugs trilling)
Unless you're being watched.
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The Milos viper has learned to hunt these migrating birds.
Spring is the only time of year
it can catch them at these shrinking pools.
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(birds chirping)
Good hunting grounds are few and far between.
A red Milos viper is approaching.
(bugs trilling)
Both colors are found only on this and neighboring islands.
(birds chirping)
The gray viper withdraws with its prey.
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Back at the pool, the alarm is sounded.
The danger is critical.
(bird squawks)
A wood warbler gets the message and leaves
as soon as it arrives.
A Sardinian warbler also takes note the threat.
(bird squawks) (ominous music)
The red viper takes up its position.
(water splashing) (ominous music)
But not every bird understands
the alarm call of another species.
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As its partner looks on from a rock,
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the female collared flycatcher is caught.
(water splashing) (light dramatic music)
(flies buzzing)
Milos is an island of the elements
raised in fire, destroyed by water.
The fragile coastline gradually worn away
by the battering of the waves.
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Long ago, a coastal cave collapsed,
throwing light on a dark world.
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A place where rocks have slowed the current
and allowed sand to collect has become a trap for small fry.
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A stargazer is hunting here.
He hunts all day, half sunk in the sand.
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He's fast, even slowed down.
So fast the other fish notice nothing.
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Fields of Neptune grass grow in the shallows.
Many are genetically identical clones,
huge single organisms up to eight kilometers across.
The biggest started 80,000 years ago as a pea-sized seed,
that makes them some of the oldest
living organisms on earth.
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Another predator looks at the edge of the sea grass.
The octopus.
The appearance of the intelligent cephalopod
spreads fear and terror.
It seeks out small fish and crabs on the seabed.
For once, the rainbow wrass can outwit
the eight-limbed predator
by disappearing into the sand.
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(bugs trilling)
Back on land, a male chameleon is a loner
in a clearly defined territory.
If another male enters his domain, conflict is inevitable.
The adversaries flatten their bodies
to make themselves look larger.
They turn dark and threatening.
If that doesn't work, they try the gaping jaw.
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If neither gives way and the conflict escalates,
they rear into the threat position, forelegs in the air.
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The fight is short.
The loser quits the field.
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Giving the victor time to prepare for the mating season.
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Down below, pairing off has already begun.
Three well camouflaged cuttlefish lie on the ocean floor.
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The two males want to mate with a female lying beneath them.
It can get violent.
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In the mating season especially,
cuttlefish sport their zebra stripes.
A male claiming a female won't budge,
but the rival won't give up either.
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Finally, the rival sees red.
Or black.
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Both eject ink.
Until the loser flees with a parting shot.
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Now the mating dance commences.
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At first, the female shrugs him off.
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Matching outfits have no effect.
Finally, at the edge of the sea grass, 16 arms entwine.
Hidden from sight, the male passes his sperm packet
to the female.
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(bugs trilling) (birds chirping)
This may seem to be a tender embrace of the female.
In fact, the male is grasping her as tight as he can.
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For an act that may be over in a few seconds.
The male tries to hold on.
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But she shakes him off.
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It's high summer.
The temperatures peak at over 40 degrees.
There's been no rain for months.
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The parched land seems lifeless.
Animals and plants alike scarcely move.
In the early hours, snails climb to the top of bushes
and grasses to escape the baking earth.
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They withdraw into their shells, close the lid, and rest.
At the top of the stalks there's always a cool breeze.
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(water splashing)
On the island of Rhodes there's another way to keep cool.
Millions of moths hanging scarcely visible
on the rock faces and the trunks of oriental sweetgum trees.
The Jersey tiger is a member of the tiger moth family.
It spends the hot summer months in this shaded valley
with its constant source of water.
(water trickling) (light music)
Resting through the summer,
estivation is like hibernation in the room months.
There's little food for the moths in high summer
so they enter a state in which they do
as little as possible.
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This small lizard is no danger to the tiger moths.
They're too big for him to eat.
But just by running around he's a problem.
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A wren doesn't eat moths either,
but disturbing their rest drains them of energy reserves.
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A hardun comes on the scene.
At 40 centimeters, this lizard is a real threat.
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For him, summer is the season of plenty.
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Some Jersey tigers fly straight into his jaws.
His hunger is soon sated.
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(water splashing)
Peace returns to the rock face
and the moths are safe again.
But the hardun can't relax.
There's an intruder, a rival, who must be confronted.
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Without a fight, both use pushups to demonstrate
their strength and stamina,
thus avoiding a dangerous territorial battle.
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Somehow the intruder knows it's defeated
and departs.
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Winner takes all.
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At the end of the summer, as the days become cooler,
the tigers leave the valley in the thousands.
Next year, a new generation will return.
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(waves crashing)
In central Europe, winter is the season without flowers.
In Greece, it's the summer.
There is an exception to the rule.
Sea daffodils.
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As the sun sets, they're heady scent draws nocturnal moths.
Each flower opens for a single night.
The convolvulus hawk-moth follows its long proboscis
deep into the flower to reach the nectar.
Sea daffodil and moth depend entirely on one another.
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(crickets chirping)
In the remote Chameleon Bay the night shift begins.
The Mediterranean scorpion is hunting in the dunes.
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A sand boa leaves its lair.
The baby chameleon has spent 11 months in its egg
deep below the surface.
It can only hatch at night.
In the daytime the sand would be too hot.
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It feels its way onto a grass stalk.
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That it can climb to get away
from the predators on the ground.
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More and more mini chameleons leave the sandy nest
and start the long climb upwards.
They're reaching for the full moon.
Two centimeters long, each weighs one gram.
The sand boa hunts in the cool hours.
The scorpion is also searching for food.
Up there, the chameleons are safe.
They keep on climbing till there's no more stalk.
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The scorpion must find a different prey.
A flick of the tail, and it's all over
for the Mediterranean cricket.
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The chameleons must stay on their stalks till morning.
The boa will go without.
It can't face the August sun.
With the dawn, it disappears into the sand.
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Out over the sea between Crete and the Greek mainland
is an island risen and craggy.
Antikythera's 22 square kilometers are almost uninhibited.
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But in late summer,
the island is taken over by Eleonora's Falcons.
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These lean raptors measure about 40 centimeters
from head to tail.
The females are usually bigger than the males.
(birds squawking)
In the breeding season, up to 1200 pairs
spread across Antikythera.
It's the raptors' biggest colony.
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These two week old chicks will be completely dependent
on their parents for some time to come.
(birds squawking)
The biggest chick gets first grabs at everything.
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(wings flapping)
It's no coincidence they were born so late in the year,
it's timed for the arrival of their food source.
The songbirds flying to winter quarters in Africa.
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Antikythera is a staging post on the long southern crossing.
(waves crashing) (light dramatic music)
The high altitude hunt starts in the early morning
when the north wind blows, the meltemi.
That's when the prey fly over,
getting extra speed from the tailwind.
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At first, only the male goes out hunting,
but as the chicks grow, both parents take their turn.
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In the mating season and through the breeding season too,
falcon pairs bond by a spectacular aerobatics.
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(birds squawking)
But now hunting comes first
and the young are never satisfied.
Another songbird is consumed.
(birds squawking) (light dramatic music)
Once in a while, a chick gets a cricket.
The rest of the year the falcons' main diet is insects.
(birds squawking) (light dramatic music)
By late morning with the chicks provided for,
the parents can look after themselves.
Off they go to the island spa.
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The only fresh water on the island is the perfect place
for a spot of preening.
(water splashing)
The chicks are fine on their own.
The birds themselves are the only predators,
there are no others to fear.
No wonder the falcons seem so carefree.
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Plumage grooming comes a clear second to pleasure.
But their carefree days will soon be over.
Once the chicks have fledged,
their parents will take them on their first epic migration
to their wintering grounds on Madagascar.
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(birds squawking)
(bugs trilling)
One month after her last year's brood hatched,
the newly pregnant chameleon is searching
for the right place to dig her nest.
Her new brood will grow inside the eggs for 11 months.
(bugs trilling) (sand rustling)
She starts digging in the early morning.
She'll dig down up to 50 centimeters.
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She'll keep digging all day and far into the night.
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Her turquoise and yellow coloring
tell other chameleons she's not available for mating.
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After laying the eggs, she starts to cover them.
That'll take her till morning.
(sand rustling) (light music continues)
As the exhaustive chameleon leaves the nest,
her tail mimics the surrounding blades of grass.
Perhaps it's camouflage to protect the site
of her nest from predators.
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(waves crashing) (light dramatic music)
The settled weather is over.
Wild winds batter the islands.
(waves crashing) (light dramatic music)
To the north, the moisture-laden air has cooled.
(thunder rumbling)
The sea is still warm.
(thunder rumbling)
(waves crashing)
The different pressures produce powerful winds.
Energy released in violent storms.
(thunder rumbling) (waves crashing)
(rain pattering)
The earth can't absorb the heavy rainfall.
Sudden torrents rush towards the sea.
(water trickling) (light dramatic music)
(thunder rumbling)
On Crete too, temperatures plummet.
In the Lefka Ori Mountains, winter is on its way.
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The changing seasons are felt in the sea.
(light music) (water bubbling)
The colder water is a signal to the female cuttlefish.
She's already chosen the right place to lay her eggs,
washed by the current, but protected from the swell.
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She lays her eggs in stages, black, the size of grapes,
and attaches them to Neptune grass.
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As the eggs emerge, they're fertilized by the male's sperm
she's been carrying, and then dyed by her ink.
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This is the last act of her life.
She'll die soon after her last eggs are laid.
After around 60 days, the embryo is fully formed.
The egg has gradually become translucent.
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The membrane is now so thin the tiny cephalopod
can break through it.
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Half a centimeter long,
it's a perfect miniature of its parents.
From the moment of birth, it can change shape and color.
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But you have to learn how to hunt.
And it can be painful when you tackle a pebble by mistake.
Once the tentacles are fine tuned,
the pursuit of tiny crustaceans can commence.
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And soon the cuttlefish will be braving
the open waters of the Mediterranean.
(light music) (waves crashing)
Crete's highest peaks are already dusted white.
Even this far south it snows early in the winter.
The summits of Lefka Ori will be cloaked
in snow for many months.
(wind whistling) (light music)
But just a few kilometers away on the coast,
the Cretan date palms stay green throughout the year.
(birds chirping) (light music continues)
Winter shading into the tropics.
(birds squawking)
In this oasis, the alpine swifts take
a last sip of fresh water.
Before they, too, cross the saltwater Mediterranean.
(light dramatic music) (birds chirping)
(water splashing)
The last travelers to leave the Greek Islands behind them.
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