Episode
Natural World: Seals: Invaders of the Sea
Overview
Wildlife programme in which state-of-the-art camera techniques reveal the sophisticated underwater world of the seal - an animal capable of surviving in every ocean corner of the world.
Details
- Series
- Natural World
- Season
- Season 19
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 2001-01-28
Episode context
Seals: Invaders of the Sea is Episode 11 in Season 19 of Natural World. It aired on 2001-01-28.
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Episode 10: The Last Tusker
A colourful feature on Sri Lanka's elephant population, focusing on one of the last wild bulls. On this Buddhist island, elephants may be sacred, but they kill over people a year, and many are shot, survivors winding up in an elephant orphanage. Fifty years ago, there were ten thousand elephants and three million people on Sri Lanka; now there are two thousand elephants and 20 million people.
Episode 12: Killer Bees and Magic Trees
Austrian scientist Gerald Kastberger studies the aggressive giant honeybees of Assam, in particular their unexplained annual migration from the Himalayan foothills to specific trees scattered across the plains a hundred miles to the south - a distance which takes the bees three weeks to cover. Feared locally as much as the tiger, the bees attack en masse, and a hundred or more stings can kill.
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: Bower Birds: The Art of Seduction
David Attenborough travels to the remote highlands of New Guinea and the rainforests of Australia to explore the little-known world of the bower bird, a fascinating creature which flaunts its charms, steals for its own purposes and indulges in spiteful acts - all in the pursuit of the opposite sex
Episode 13: Hippo Beach
Insight into the bizarre behavioural habits of the African hippo, a creature which spends most of its lifetime in water but cannot swim, and eats mainly grass yet thinks nothing of challenging a lion for a share of its kill. Featuring action-packed footage of fearsome hippo bulls as they defend their territories
Episode 8: Seychelles: Jewels of a Lost Continent
The epic story of how giant tortoises, silver lizards, the coco de mer tree and other extraordinary species came to be stranded on the tiny islands of the Seychelles, far out in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The islands' wealth of wildlife all provide clues to the Seychelles' dramatic origins in the break-up of a primeval supercontinent.
Episode 14: Timeless Thames
This is a journey along the River Thames, England's most famous river, from its source to the sea. The Thames may seem tame today but it is still wild at heart and just waiting to reclaim its lost wildness, despite our best efforts to control it. The recent flooding throughout the British Isles illustrates just how close we live to the limits of nature. London is actually sinking faster than Venice and despite huge technological innovations, such as the Thames Barrier, we are losing the battle. This winter's flooding will make everyone rethink how we live alongside the Timeless Thames.
Episode 7: Madagascar: Land of Lemurs
Isolated from the rest of the world for hundreds of thousands of years, Madagascar has become a treasure trove of unique wildlife. This programme follows the lives of its charismatic lemurs that are to be found nowhere else in the world.
Episode 15: Coyote: the Ultimate Survivor?
Documentary on the coyote, cousin to the wolf and one of America's most charismatic animals. The film explores how this elusive and intelligent creature with a spine-chilling call remains an icon of the Wild West - revered by native Americans, yet hated by white ranchers - and tells its remarkable story of survival, from its stronghold in Yellowstone Park right into the heart of modern cities.
Episode 6: Killer Whales: Up Close and Personal
The intimate lives of a family of killer whales that hunt elephant seals and penguins off the storm-blasted Crozet Islands of Antarctica. French scientists study younger members of the group as they learn the complicated techniques involved in catching prey
Episode 16: Transylvania: Living with Predators
Andrew Sachs narrates a documentary focusing on the large predators which live alongside humans in the beautiful forests and mountains of Transylvania, where shepherds always have to be on their guard for hungry wolves and bears seeking an easy meal of lamb. The programme examines the current situation and asks how long the inhabitants of Transylvania can tolerate these dangerous carnivores
Episode 5: Big Red Roos
A red kangaroo mother and baby belong to one of the hardiest species of animal athletes - but as this documentary shows, even they must battle to survive in the vast and inhospitable Australian Outback. The daunting challenges posed by the landscape are dramatically depicted over the course of a year in the kangaroos' lives
Episode 17: Danube Delta: Europe Untamed
The delta of the river Danube is home to half a million wild geese, the greatest concentration of pelicans outside Africa, and the world's largest freshwater fish. Despite the previous efforts of communist regimes to drain the area, people still live and fish here in a way of life unchanged for centuries.