Held Hostage by a Humpback • 2019 • episode "S1E3" • Nature's Strangest Mysteries: Solved

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A look at why a humpback whale would hold a diver hostage, how a colony of 1.5 million animals hide from the world in plain sight, and how a surprising stash of acorns could disrupt a whole town.

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Nature's Strangest Mysteries: Solved • 2019 • 24 episodes •

Sparkly Spider

A look at what would dare take on the ocean's deadliest predator, why a spider lights up like a Christmas tree, and why a wild animal begins to deliver unwanted newspapers like a paperboy.

2019 • Nature

Skyscraper Raccoon

Skyscraper Raccoon

A look at why a raccoon would scale a 25-story skyscraper, why one mother duck would have a super-sized flock of 76 ducklings, and what would motivate a bird to feed a school of fish.

2019 • Nature

Held Hostage by a Humpback

Held Hostage by a Humpback

A look at why a humpback whale would hold a diver hostage, how a colony of 1.5 million animals hide from the world in plain sight, and how a surprising stash of acorns could disrupt a whole town.

2019 • Nature

Aflocalypse Now

Aflocalypse Now

A look at why a skunk would do a handstand, why 5,000 birds fell from the sky in Arkansas, and what would make a frog flash like a lighthouse.

2019 • Nature

Unscrambling Eggs

Unscrambling Eggs

A look at if fish really can predict earthquakes and why eggs are egg shaped.

2019 • Nature

Zombie Spider

A look at the possibility that zombie spiders are real and why would a pod of beluga whales adopt a unicorn of the sea.

2019 • Nature

Octopus Houdini

Octopus Houdini

A look at how a bird could sing without using its voice and how an octopus could simply disappear from his aquarium tank.

2019 • Nature

Critter Culprit

Critter Culprit

A look at what could make an animal vanish into thin air, what could cause the sea to take on an eerie glow, and what event would bring killer whales together in huge numbers.

2019 • Nature

Animal Vandals

A look at what animals are breaking into thousands of cars every year, how ants form a ten-foot bridge using only their bodies, and why did the fish cross the road.

2019 • Nature

Crow Crime Scene

Crow Crime Scene

A look at how spiders covered a town in webs overnight and why a lake in South America is the lightning capital of the world.

2019 • Nature

Big Cat Screaming Match

Big Cat Screaming Match

Is it possible that a snake could exist totally undetected? What has brought this big cat fight to ear piercing decibels? Why is this lone dolphin getting muddy?

2019 • Nature

Snowboarding Crow

Snowboarding Crow

How did a moose get stuck in an apple tree? Why is a crow snowboarding on a jam jar lid? Is Yellowstone's super volcano about to erupt?

2019 • Nature

Cuddly Shark

A look at what would cause a ferocious tiger shark to cuddle up with a diver and why pigs are swimming in the Caribbean; and what mysterious blobs have washed up by the thousands on the shores of Oregon.

2019 • Nature

Disco Spider

A look at why some spiders disco dance; a mysterious creature is preying on Europe's sheep; a whole town is engulfed by bubbling foam.

2019 • Nature

Stripless Zebra

Stripless Zebra

A look at why goats risk life and limb to climb an almost vertical dam wall; a zebra has no stripes; a school of fish swarm a diver.

2019 • Nature

Scorpion Night Lights

Scorpion Night Lights

A look at why a leopard let its dinner escape; an ominous dark mass looming over an Icelandic lake; some scorpions glow in the dark.

2019 • Nature

Unicorn of the Sea

Unicorn of the Sea

Narwhals are the unicorns of the sea, but what is the point of those tusks? What could swallow 50-foot trees in seconds? What animal has changed the face of Yellowstone?

2019 • Nature

Rattleless Rattlesnake

Rattleless Rattlesnake

Where would you go to find an enchanted underwater forest? How come some Mexican rattlesnakes have lost their rattle? And why does an Indian elephant look like its smoking cigarettes?

2019 • Nature

Octopus Throwdown

Octopus Throwdown

A look at why a seal throw an octopus at a kayaker; why a moth is drinking from the eye of a bird in the Amazon jungle and what surprising creature has been leaping out of the Irish Sea.

2019 • Nature

Alligator Bodyguards

Alligator Bodyguards

A look at how a dung beetle standing on its head can roll a ball in a straight line; if egrets ever regret hanging out next to hungry alligators; and what ghostly creature was caught on camera 3000 feet below the ocean's surface.

2019 • Nature

Bug Mathematician

Bug Mathematician

A look at how bats avoid bumping into each other at night; why a bottlenose dolphin seeks out the help of a scuba diver; are cicadas expert mathematicians.

2019 • Nature

Elephants in the Room

Elephants in the Room

A look at why a herd of wild elephants check into the same hotel every year and what is causing giant bubble rings off the coast of Portland, Maine.

2019 • Nature

Giggling Rats

A look at which animals get the giggles; what would cause the sea lions of San Francisco to mysteriously swim away all at once, manta rays that synchronize swim.

2019 • Nature

Hot Cheetah

A look at what causes a pair of giraffes to turn white; why are millions of birds creating crazy patterns; why would the world's fastest land animal give up the hunt.

2019 • Nature

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Cauldron of Life

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The journey begins on the Galapagos' west side at the youngest and most volcanically active islands in the archipelago, Isabela and Fernandina, which are home to a richly diverse wildlife scene. Here, Liz and the team journey into the clouds above Wolf, the tallest volcano in the Galapagos, where they join a group of biologists hunting for the elusive pink iguana, which teeters on the edge of extinction. But how and why did it come to live on the top of a volcano? Back on the research vessel, Liz boards Alucia's Triton submersible to descend a kilometre into the ocean abyss in search of a new species hiding in the darkness. Liz also travels to one of the most remote locations in the Galapagos, Alcedo Volcano, in search of the largest population of giant tortoises. Plagued by drought in recent months, scientists are keen to find out how this prehistoric species has fared. Finally, Liz helps out with a groundbreaking science experiment to x-ray marine iguanas that have so far stunned the scientific community with a new mutation. As with all life on these remote islands, the key to survival is adaptation.

S1E1 • Galapagos with Liz Bonnin • 2017 • Nature

Life Around the Dead Sea

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What the Judean Desert lacks in size, it makes up for in extreme features: it's home to the lowest sea in the world, dazzling salt formations, and an array of plant and animal life. Watch the Arabian leopard, striped hyena, and other fascinating and resourceful creatures thrive against a backdrop of sun and sand.

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Meet the Meerkats

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In their vast and unforgiving home of the Namib Desert, meerkats rely on their companions to watch their backs. Only together can they find the strength and resources to defeat the odds stacked against them. One young female is forced from her group after a brutal attack.

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Human

Today Earth is a human world, home to eight billion people and counting. Humans now have a greater effect in shaping Earth’s surface than many natural processes. In this episode, Chris Packham explores how dramatic twists in Earth’s story enabled humans to go from being part of nature to controlling it, and what we can learn from this epic tale before it’s too late. The story begins 66 million years ago with the catastrophic impact of the asteroid that wiped out the (Non-avian) dinosaurs. From the ashes of the desolation that followed, a new animal family rose to power. This was adaptable and inventive enough to emerge out of the harsh new world – the mammals. It began with a distant ancestor that shared many traits of the much maligned, but evolutionarily brilliant, rat. Due to a series of extreme geological and climatic events, mammals evolved into early primates feasting in the newly formed tropical rainforests, and then to early humans travelling vast distances between forests in places like East Africa’s Rift Valley. Earth’s story is a saga spanning 4.5 billion years, but it’s only in the last 11,000 years - with the rise of farming - that our species has started to dramatically impact our planet and its ecosystems. The human chapter of Earth’s story might end in disaster, but Chris is keen to argue for a different ending, where all of humanity’s achievements to date “…were just our dress rehearsals, because in the very near future our species will need to reach the zenith of its achievements and… all humanity will have to learn to put our Earth first.”

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Snowball

In Snowball, Chris Packham tells the story of the astonishing moment in Earth’s distant past, when almost the entire planet froze – a glistening ‘Snowball Earth’ in the dark void of space. With ice wrapped around the planet to the equator, the chances of life surviving hang in the balance. Earth’s terrifying journey into the deep freeze started with fire, not ice. 800 million years ago, long before the age of the dinosaurs, before there was even animal life, the giant supercontinent Rodinia broke up. Earth’s vast powerful tectonic forces ripped the land apart, kicking off a series of events that resulted in huge amounts of carbon dioxide being sucked from the atmosphere and sending global temperatures plummeting. This plunge into the deep freeze couldn’t have come at a worse time. The very first forms of complex life - the ancestors to the amazing life we see around us today - were evolving but, as the planet froze to the equator, it looked like their days were numbered. Happily, Chris discovers that after 50 million years locked in ice, volcanic eruptions drove a great thaw. Life broke free from the ice and soon made a giant leap, from the microscopic, to the first animals big enough to see and touch.

S1E2 • Earth: One Planet, Many Lives • 2023 • Nature

Rise of Exlies

After the murder of one of its own, the Makulu Pack of wild dogs looks to a new leader for salvation; the Western Pride is exiled to the fringes of the kingdom as it fights to protect its cubs; the marauding hyena clan commits the cruelest of acts.

S3E3 • Savage Kingdom • 2019 • Nature