Dolphins have been a source of curiosity to humans and have appeared in our stories and myths for thousands of years. What is the link between our two species? Why do we seem to be so interested and curious about each other?
Scientists around the world are asking themselves the same questions. Over the decades the focus on dolphin research has changed from asking “how intelligent are dolphins?” to “how are dolphins intelligent?” and we look at research from the world's foremost dolphin experts for the answers.
2016 • Nature
For many endangered baby animals, the right zoo can mean hope for the entire species. Watch an endangered red panda cub get a warm welcome at Cornwall's Newquay Zoo, a rare baby macaque receive care from parents and keepers alike at the Dudley Zoological Gardens, and more.
S2E3 • Baby Animals • 2016 • Nature
Tells the story of life on earth in the course of one single day, narrated by Robert Redford and made by BBC Earth Films. This film features stunning visuals and scored a 100 per cent positive rating on the critical aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The family feature took three years to make, was filmed over 142 filming days in 22 countries and features 38 different species. It takes viewers up close and personal with a cast of unforgettable characters - a baby zebra desperate to cross a swollen river, a penguin who heroically undertakes a death-defying daily commute to feed his family, a family of sperm whales who like to snooze vertically, and a sloth on the hunt for love. 'As a storyteller and film-maker I often look to nature for sources of inspiration', said Robert Redford, narrator. 'In Earth: One Amazing Day, BBC Earth Films captured the natural world and its inhabitants using the perfect combination of storytelling and cutting-edge technology. The scenes and images are as inspirational as they are beautiful, and I was honoured to be a part of the film'. Told with humour, intimacy, emotion and a jaw-dropping sense of cinematic splendour, this film is a colourful, ultra-vivid family friendly adventure that spectacularly highlights how every day the natural world is filled with more unseen dramas and wonders than can possibly be imagined - until now.
2018 • Nature
Dr Helen Czerski examines the hottest natural phenomena on the planet - lightning. Bolts of lightning five times hotter than the surface of the sun strike our planet over 3 million times every day - and yet we still know little about this deadly force of nature. Now, specialist photography is revealing how lightning travels through the air, high-speed cameras are unlocking the secrets of upward lightning that's triggered by our urban landscapes, and scientific expeditions are capturing rare images of intense electrical discharges over 80 kilometres wide.
Part 3 • Dangerous Earth • 2016 • Nature
"Strange Parents" asks how we usually recognise animals as either male or female and how each sex normally plays a particular role in their own life cycle. However both hyenas and seahorses completely break the gender rules.
S2E9 • Natural Curiosities • Nature
On the eastern coast of Africa lies a subtropical realm of staggering beauty and diversity--a mangrove forest where saltwater meets fresh and a variety of secretive forest dwellers work feverishly to survive. Take a thrilling journey into this rarest of ecosystems, one that few get to witness.
1/8 • Waterworld Africa • 2017 • Nature
Professor Richard Fortey journeys high in the Rocky Mountains to explore a 520-million-year-old fossilised seabed containing bizarre and experimental lifeforms that have revolutionised our understanding about the beginnings of complex life. Among the amazing finds he uncovers are marine creatures with five eyes and a proboscis; filter-feeders shaped like tulips; worm-like scavengers covered in spikes but with no identifiable head or anus; and a metre-long predator resembling a giant shrimp.
1/3 • Fossil Wonderlands: Nature's Hidden Treasures • 2014 • Nature
