In this hectic world so much seems
to pass us by.
(light music)
All around us dramas are playing out,
but often so fast we don't even see it.
Blink and you miss it.
But slowing down the action, a new world is revealed.
Little lizards become velociraptors,
Puffballs explode.
Falling leaves cause earthquakes.
(birds chirping)
Sit back and enjoy the action.
When animals court,
run,
fly, or fight.
(liquid sloshing)
There's no need to rush.
(birds chirping)
(light music)
(wings rustling)
Slow motion is the result of capturing
more frames per second.
More images, more detail.
When the footage is played back,
the detail of every second is unpacked.
It's a popular filming trick,
and the only way to reveal some of the faster actions
in the natural world.
Like the incredible wing beats of a hummingbird.
(light music)
These tiniest of birds can flap
an incredible 200 times per second.
If this one was to dash off in a straight line,
she could top 50 kilometers an hour.
Thanks to the unique flexibility of its shoulder joint,
the wings can move in a figure of eight.
Perfectly controlling airflow over its surface
and allowing the bird to hover motionless,
fly forwards, backwards,
and even upside down.
(light music) (bugs chirping)
It needs this incredible control for precision movement.
Hummingbirds feed by sinking their beaks
into the long flowers to lap up sap.
But no maneuvers are more delicate than this.
The nest is about the size of a half walnut shell.
The chick is barely bigger than a bumblebee,
and the whole thing is bobbing up and down,
suspended in the leaf.
And yet the female's lightning fast reactions
enable her to perfectly line up her bill
to pass nectar to her hungry chick without doing any damage.
(light dramatic music)
(water splashing)
Slowing down the action means we can marvel
at the tensile strength of water.
(light music) (water trickling)
(waves crashing)
(gulls cawing)
And watch it explode from thermal hot springs
like it's been detonated.
(rumbling)
(water bubbling)
(water splashing)
Terrifying globs of lava seem suspended in the air
as though in some giant horrifying lava lamp.
(rumbling) (lava spurting)
The everyday and ordinary become extraordinary.
(light music)
(water splashing)
(leaves rustling) (birds chirping)
(light dramatic music)
(thudding) (leaves rustling)
Things we all take for granted.
(thunder rumbling)
Dark clouds rolling in for warmer storms.
For humans, it means put your hood up
or get out of the rain.
The tiny droplets seem benign to us.
(rain pattering)
Little more than a soggy nuisance.
But on a tiny scale, these droplets can be devastating.
Slowed down, small animals can be seen to be battered
by the weather.
(thunder cracking)
A raindrop tsunami.
(light music)
It's at the tiny end of the scale
that viewing speed really makes a difference.
(light music) (leaves rustling)
Who'd think about the weight of a falling leaf?
But for the little creatures living on it,
whole cities of aphids,
it's the start of a devastating earthquake.
A trampoline for the tiny.
(light music) (bird squawking)
A jay, a colorful member of the crow family,
is scouting out an ant's nest.
But it's not looking for lunch.
Ants are social insects.
They work together to build their homes,
find food, and raise their young.
They also unite in defense of their colony.
(light dramatic music) (birds chirping)
They spot the marauder and rise as one.
To protect their home, the ants launch a chemical attack,
spraying a cocktail of formic acid into the air.
(light dramatic music) (acid spurting)
While it's toxic, it's exactly what the jay is looking for.
It's a natural fungicide and insecticide,
helping to rid the birds feathers
of any unwanted parasites or infections.
What's a battle for one is a beauty spa for the other.
(light music)
(birds chirping)
(soft music)
Insects are incredible creatures,
often overlooked and taken for granted.
Up close and slowed down, the mini marvels are revealed.
(wind rustling)
(thunder cracking)
(rain pattering)
Few things are more spectacular
than the jump of a grasshopper.
(light music)
(water splashing)
(thunder rumbling)
It's all thanks to a clever bit of physics.
The normally bent knee is holding
a big flexor muscle tightly, building up a store of energy,
like a coiled spring.
When the muscle is relaxed, the stored energy is released.
A cricket catapult.
(light music) (birds chirping)
When fighter jets take off,
it experiences nine g-force,
or nine times the force of gravity.
At the peak of its explosive launch,
a grasshopper hits a g-force of 20.
(fire rustling)
If humans had the equivalent spring loaded leaps,
we could clear a football field in a single hop.
And with wings, the grasshoppers' hop
can lead to fast flight.
Perfect for escaping danger.
(fire rustling)
(bird cawing)
They don't all fly.
Close cousins, European field crickets, can't fly.
They only weigh about as much as a paperclip,
but still have legs that can propel them
for 30 times the length of their bodies.
(crickets chirping)
During their breeding season,
they sing by rubbing their small wings together.
Covered in a series of tooth-like bumps,
they grate against each other, making the sound.
Only the males sing and they stand in the entrances
to their borrows to do so.
Their home acting like a resonating chamber,
amplifying the sound.
They have different songs.
Some are to attract females,
but others are war cries aimed at driving off competition.
It doesn't always work. (light dramatic music)
Slow motion reveals the most minute clash of the titans.
(dramatic music)
(suspenseful music)
The speed of a cricket's leap can save it from many dangers,
unless a rival distracts it.
(dramatic music)
Speed is useful for escape, but predators can be fast, too.
(light music) (birds chirping)
Like crickets, lizards are cold-blooded.
If it's a chilly morning,
they will not be performing at their best,
but once they have spent a few hours basking in the sun,
they're turbocharged.
Many lizards can run at 40 kilometers per hour,
not bad for such tiny legs.
But faster than a speeding bullet,
there's one superhero of the reptile world
that can only be appreciated in slow-mo.
(light music)
The fastest tongue in the west.
The quickdraw chameleon.
The chameleon can lock onto its target
thanks to eyes mounted on turrets of flesh
that can be rotated independently of each other.
It can perfectly triangulate the prey's location.
The tongue can stretch two and a half times
the lizard's body length, so it can shoot at 10 paces,
far enough back to avoid spooking prey.
Like a sock scrunched up over a foot,
its tongue rests over a smooth bone
in the floor of the mouth until it's needed.
It's full of collagen-based muscle segments
that are elastic and can store energy.
Ever squeezed a slippery watermelon seed
between your fingers?
When the tongue's muscles contract, they do the same.
Shooting the tongue from its bony support.
It can reach 100 kilometers per hour in 100th of a second,
faster than a jet plane.
The tip of the tongue has saliva on it
that is 400 times thicker than a human's.
It's like sticky honey,
holding onto the bug while muscles reel the tongue back in.
(light music)
Speed and attack is vital to predators.
A split second delay in the strike
can result in going hungry.
Slow motion reveals the perfect timing of most reptiles,
like the thorny devil.
(light music) (bugs chirping)
(birds chirping) (light dramatic music)
Many reptiles appear sluggish and lethargic,
not moving much.
But when they need to, they are capable of terrifying speed.
(suspenseful music)
Nile crocodiles can remain motionless for hours on end.
It's the perfect way to save energy.
Blending in with the murky water,
crocs can lie in wait until prey comes to them.
(water splashing)
Crocodiles have the most powerful bone-crushing
bite force on the planet.
(water splashing) (light dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Timing is everything.
They can't allow movement to give the game away too soon.
(dramatic music) (water splashing)
Crocodiles can lunge at more than 40 kilometers per hour.
A powerful body and muscular tail propel the attack.
(dramatic music) (water splashing)
Slow motion lets us marvel at an impact
that we'd miss in the blink of an eye.
(water splashing)
Slowing down the footage also reveals some dramatic escapes.
(birds chirping)
(light music)
Crocodiles aren't able to generate heat in their bodies,
but birds and mammals are,
meaning their high energy activities
can be hard to keep up with.
(birds chirping)
Thanks to their fast metabolism, birds are speedy movers.
It's during their courtship that slow motion
reveals the best of birds.
(light music) (birds chirping)
(water rushing) (birds squawking)
(loons calling)
The Slavonian grebe is another specialist.
(light music)
It's barely able to walk.
Over the eons its legs have evolved,
migrating further back on its body,
devoted entirely to making it a powerful swimmer
that can dive for food.
(water splashing)
The grebes of monogamous
and take the dating game very seriously.
They don't appreciate intruders
trying to muscle in on their partners.
(dramatic music) (water splashing)
(light music)
But once they get some alone time, they dance.
To cement a strong bond to get them through arduous
child-rearing, the pair test their commitment
through synchronized ballet.
(light music) (water bubbling)
They fetch pond weed, a colorful prop,
and mimic each other's head turns.
When they paddle the legs at the back of their bodies
they almost appear to walk on water.
They perform the penguin dance.
(water splashing)
Not all birds pair up so harmoniously.
While some form close partnerships,
others seek harems.
A male black grouse will play no part in chick rearing.
(bird squawking)
It just wants to mate with as many females as possible
and will leave them to bring up his kids.
But the girls are choosy.
For a male to win the right to mate with her,
he'll have to prove his worth.
(light dramatic music)
The male selects an arena, known as a lek,
where he can strut his stuff.
Other males will show up, too.
They are trying to prove to the girls that they have
the best voices, best plumage,
and best stamina to keep it up.
(dramatic music)
Some individuals are evenly matched
and take the competition to the next level.
(wings flapping)
Feathers fly in a grouse joust.
(light dramatic music)
Once a winner's announced,
the male will claim his prize,
and the females will prepare for their duties
as single moms.
(birds squawking) (light dramatic music)
Many birds work together to help raise their young.
Endlessly ferrying food back to the nest.
(bird squawking)
Activity that can draw unwanted attention.
The superb fairy wrens dash in and out
as quickly as they can,
but kookaburras are eagle-eyed.
They're the biggest members of the kingfisher family,
sharing the lightening fast dives
and spear-like beaks of their cousins.
(light dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Thankfully, a beetle caught its eye.
(birds chirping)
Top predators in the outback,
kookaburras can eat just about any small creature.
(light dramatic music)
Like all kingfishers, it has many unique features.
Slow motion reveals bizarre toes.
They are syndactyl, with the second
and third toes fused together.
Only kingfishers and hornbills have toes like this
and no one is sure why.
The kookaburra has a large brain
with a lot of emphasis on its depth perception.
(dramatic music)
When it's ready to fly,
it will drop rather than launch itself from the branch.
(water splashing)
It not only has great binocular vision,
but can even compensate for
the refractive properties of water.
Still perfectly judging the distance to submerge prey.
Its pointed bill parts the surface to grab its prey,
a yabby, or Australian crayfish.
(light dramatic music) (water splashing)
The whole thing happens so quickly
that it can get airborne again before it gets waterlogged.
Yabbies fight back,
but kookaburras have powerful necks,
enabling them to use ingenuity and brute force
to disarm their prey.
(rustling) (light dramatic music)
With the kookaburra well fed,
the wren chicks are safe for now.
(light dramatic music)
Eventually, all birds must leave the nest.
Some wait until they can fly,
but others don't have that luxury.
Even if their nest is six meters up.
Ducks like to get their young to water as soon as possible.
(light music)
But goldeneyes nest in tree cavities.
Long before they grow wings,
the ducklings must get airborne and hope for the best.
(rustling)
Fortunately, their young, soft bones and dense fluff
make them quite bouncy.
(light music)
(leaves rustling)
And they can follow mom.
(water trickling)
Being on the water puts the young birds at risk.
(light dramatic music)
(light music)
But most predators here are after fish.
The osprey is a supreme fisher.
Its wings sweep back to maximize speed in its plunge.
As it prepares to hit the water, its nostrils close.
Its talons swing forward to strike,
toes spread so that two face forwards
and two back to grasp fish.
(water splashing) (light dramatic music)
Spiny scales on its feet improve its grip.
The osprey is the only raptor to oil its feathers,
making it waterproof.
It just has to shake off the excess water
as it gets airborne.
And to improve its aerodynamics,
it points the fish head first
while it flies back to its perch.
(birds chirping) (light dramatic music)
(light music)
Sea eagles use a similar technique.
They tend to only grab prey close to the surface.
Sweeping it up with powerful talons.
(light dramatic music)
With wings that could hug a sofa,
the eagle easily gets back into the air.
(water splashing)
(gulls cawing)
But although eagles seem pretty good at providing
for themselves, they're not willing to share.
(wind whistling)
In winter, eagles of different species
gather near open water where they have a good chance
of finding food.
Competition is tough.
One golden eagle isn't doing the catching himself,
he's watching others.
He's planning grand theft.
(dramatic music)
(birds chirping)
Slowing things down reveals that powerful wings
can deliver a thump.
(dramatic music)
Their beaks look menacing, but eagles save them for feeding.
Their main weapons are their powerful talons.
(birds squawking) (wind whistling)
(light dramatic music)
Even when food is plentiful, eagles can be feisty.
(birds squawking)
(wings flapping)
(wind whistling)
(crows cawing)
There's enough food on this winter killed deer carcass
to feed a flock of birds,
but the sea eagles don't want competition.
Especially from the crows.
Eventually the cocky birds push their luck.
(crows cawing)
One is added to the menu.
(eagle squawking)
(crows cawing)
(light dramatic music)
Birds are not the only creatures who have mastered the air.
(light music) (bugs trilling)
(wings flapping) (bats screeching)
(playful music)
While birds have fused and reduced finger bones
to support their feathers,
bats have long bony fingers linked
by a thin membrane of skin.
95% of a bat's body surface is its wings.
(light dramatic music)
Nearly 2000 species range from bumblebee to eagle-sized.
Masters of the night sky,
they might top speeds of 160 kilometers per hour
and cover 400 kilometers a night.
Some are agile enough to catch insects on the wing,
others, the giants, fly from plant to plant
to eat flowers and fruit.
The smaller insect eaters use echolocation like dolphins.
They call out and listen to returning echoes.
It means they can safely fly at night
and don't rely on their eyes.
They can navigate around a cave in the dark.
(bats screeching) (light dramatic music)
Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly,
though there are others that try.
(bugs chirping) (light dramatic music)
Sugar gliders look a lot like flying squirrels
and they travel in the same way,
but they're Australian marsupials.
(dramatic music)
Elastic and stretchable flaps of skin on their sides,
running all the way to their ankles and wrists,
turn them into squirrel-shaped kites.
They can glide 50 meters at a time from tree to tree.
They can't flap, and so always head downhill.
Mammals have a multitude of ways of moving
and some have to be seen in slow motion to be believed.
(bugs chirping) (light music)
The red kangaroo.
At 70 kilometers per hour, it's hard to make out details,
though, it's clear these two meter giants hop.
But slow it down and you reveal spectacular engineering.
The kangaroos have long feet.
They're kickboards.
Huge, stretchy tendons run from their ankles
along the back of the legs.
These are the key to the kangaroo cruising.
For most mammals, going fast means working muscles hard,
taking more frequent strides.
But when kangaroos wants to go flat out,
they don't take more strides, they lengthen each one.
One bound can cover nine meters.
And it's because they're using their tendons like springs.
If you compress a spring and then release it,
it will ping back up.
That's because as it's compressed it stores energy.
Kangaroos' tendons do the same.
The more they are stretched and compressed,
the more energy they have to unleash for the next stride.
(light dramatic music)
The counterweight tail helps stabilize and steer,
but it also bounces up and down, generating momentum.
(insects chirping)
(light dramatic music)
It pumps the animal's body cavity,
inflating and deflating its lungs.
It doesn't even need to breathe.
And unlike other mammals, its oxygen and energy consumption
barely go up at top speeds,
making it perhaps the most energy
efficient way of traveling.
It also makes kangaroos and their cousins
pretty good fighters.
(birds chirping) (light music)
Boulders don't stop rock wallabies
from a good kickboxing fight.
(dramatic music)
Parkour at its best.
Being able to run fast is good for escaping danger,
but also, if you are the danger.
(light dramatic music) (insects chirping)
Predators unleash their explosive power in different ways.
(birds chirping)
Some adopts the stalk and pounce.
(upbeat music)
The serval is one of the smaller members of the cat family,
but as a predator, it's also one of the most effective.
Having proportionately the longest legs for any cat
helps the serval to see over long grass.
It stalks silently on padded feet,
trying to get closer to its favorite feathered prey.
(light dramatic music)
Fast and flighty prey is a challenge.
22 muscles can independently rotate its massive ears
to help it lock on to its target.
Once in position, those long legs propel it
three meters into the air.
(light dramatic music)
The bird didn't see it coming.
(light dramatic music)
Half of all attacks result in success,
making the serval one of the most efficient killer cats.
(birds chirping)
Though it's the predators that run down their prey
that really offer the visual feast.
(grass rustling)
It might not be as energy efficient as the serval,
but the cheetah has a similar success rate.
Its technique couldn't be more different.
(suspenseful music) (grass rustling)
(dramatic music)
It's over in seconds.
Slow it down and understand the action.
The cheetah can do naught to 103 seconds.
Few cars could keep up.
In fact, its speed can top out at 120 kilometers per hour,
but it can only sustain this for a few hundred meters.
Any further and it overheats.
So before it risks a run, it must stalk closely to its prey.
(light dramatic music)
It needs to avoid having to run for more than a minute.
(dramatic music)
Then it hits the turbo button.
(grass rustling)
The hips and shoulders can swing as a flexible spine arches
up and down, lengthening its leap.
With legs bunched tight,
and then flexed as wide as they'll go,
the cats can take eight meter strides.
(light dramatic music) (grass rustling)
Cheetahs' claws don't retract like other cats,
and their presence helps to grip the ground at high speed.
The long tail's a rudder,
maintaining balance on quick turns.
(dramatic music)
The cheetahs' ribcage is deep with supersized heart,
liver, and lungs ensuring a good supply of oxygenated blood.
(light dramatic music)
When they get within range, the hooked claw,
like a lethal thumb, is swung out to trip its victim.
And it's killed with a bite to the throat.
(light dramatic music)
After a hard workout like this,
a cheetah must seek shade to cool off.
Its hunting technique burns a lot of calories.
But unlike the serval, it secured a large meal,
and won't need to hunt again for days.
(light dramatic music)
We seem to rush through life.
(bugs chirping) (water splashing)
It might take technology to slow down
the detail in some actions,
(water splashing)
but it would do us all good to slow down sometimes
and appreciate the world around us.
You might be surprised by what you see.
Yes!
(light music)