Patagonia Deadly Pole to Pole

My name's Steve Backshall...

..and this is Deadly Pole To Pole.

Oh!

From the top of the world to the bottom.

Whoa!

Deadly places, deadly adventures,

and deadly animals!

And you're coming with me,

every step of the way!

Argh!

This is Patagonia, it's a land with a whole range of habitats,

from scrubby grasslands like this

to ice fields, glaciers and mountains.

But we've come to the coast

because somewhere out there is a beast

that's going to make all of this travelling well worthwhile.

Right at the bottom of South America,

Patagonia is shared between

Chile and Argentina.

It's one of our last stops

before we begin the long sail to Antarctica.

Patagonia's vast size is easily matched by

its wild reputation.

It's home to some stunning animals, including puma...

..condors, penguins and whales.

But at the bottom of a continent and at the end of the world,

we're focusing on a creature

that could be the deadliest of all!

We're hoping to witness a spectacle few have been lucky enough to see.

Oh, whoa!

Orca come here to hunt sea lions.

Two top marine mammal predators going head-to-head.

It's early morning and my first step is to meet one of the combatants.

The seas off Patagonia's coast

are some of the most bountiful in the world.

There's an incredible amount of life here. And because of that,

there are also some phenomenal predators.

We're here today to try and find one of the most dynamic,

the Southern or Patagonian sea lion.

Out of the water, sea lions are cumbersome, lumbering,

awkward animals.

But underwater, streamlined shape and ultra-sensitive whiskers

make sea lions fantastic fish-finding torpedoes.

They're submarine contortionists,

able to twist and turn

to outmanoeuvre fish prey.

But they certainly don't sound deadly.

SEA LIONS BLEAT

Listen to that!

These sea lions are really vocal.

At the moment, there's a cacophony of sounds coming our way.

From the deep, rich bellows of the males, to all the young pups,

which kind of sound like lambs.

It's almost like listening to a spring meadow back home in England.

Our next task is to get into the water and swim in close to them.

Because they're very inquisitive animals,

hopefully, they should come over and want to check us out.

Our only problem at the moment

is that it's been raining quite heavily recently

and the visibility in the water is very, very low.

So, we're probably not going to see these sea lions

until they're right up on us.

They can be very, very big, they've got lots of

sharp, long teeth. It can be quite an intimidating prospect.

No sooner have we got in the water

than all of these youngsters

have come in to check us out.

The secret to attracting the attention of a sea lion

is to do something that looks fun,

that looks like it could be play.

Now, these animals could be with their mothers,

taking milk for as much as a year.

This means that they don't have to be so worried about hunting,

about going out to catch fish, and they have lots and lots of time

for just checking out the world around them.

For just finding out what might be fun to eat,

or what might be fun to play with.

But mammals can only afford to play when their bellies are full of food,

which means they must have successful parent providers.

Right now, they can rely on mother's milk,

but the swimming skills they learn now

will be the killer moves of the future.

And they're going to need to stay well ahead of the game

if they're going to stay alive in seas stalked by killer whales.

They're so graceful in the way they move, like ballet dancers.

Now, these are sea lions, they're very different from seals

in their body plan, so they have long fore-flippers

which they can use to swim through the water,

but they also use twisting movements of their body as well.

Drive themselves along with their rear-flippers.

For the fully grown adults up on the shoreline at the moment,

it's a whole different story.

The males are much, much bigger than the females.

That's not just about catching prey,

but about being able to fight off other males,

to give them the best chance of having

lots and lots of girlfriends.

Sometimes, you can't see them,

but you can feel them as they power past you.

As they swim, they create a wake in the water

and you can really feel it,

they're so powerful.

They do also, though, sense that very same wake made by fish

as they swim past in very low light,

and the way they do that is using their whiskers.

So these youngsters behind us,

you can see that moustache of whiskers

pouring off the upper lip.

Every single one of those whiskers connects to nerve cells,

as many as 1,500 nerve endings per whisker.

That could be ten times more than a cat,

which means they're much, much more sensitive.

Those whiskers can sense things

that are moving around on the sea bed.

They could even detect the wake that's left behind

by a fish that's long since gone,

and those are its main means of hunting in dark waters,

or waters with very low visibility.

They have enormous, huge,

big dark eyes that suck in the light,

even in very low light conditions,

at night, or very poor visibility, they can still see their prey.

They're a sensory dream machine.

Nothing escapes their attention.

With all of those senses on display,

its sleek, streamlined,

torpedo-like body,

and not to mention those teeth...

..this is a true sea lion.

There's no doubt that the Patagonian sea lion is definitely deadly!

Streamlined for sub-aquatic speed.

Sensitive whiskers detect prey

even in murky conditions.

And lion-like teeth

for grabbing and tearing.

The Patagonian sea lion.

Patagonia's seas are full of fish, endless food.

They'd be a paradise for seals, if it wasn't for one thing.

An eight-tonne predator that's prepared to do anything

to hunt them down, even following them onto dry land.

We have a two-hour drive each to our destination,

on what's known as the Valdez Peninsula.

It's an incredibly special place for wildlife.

In fact, so special that it's been declared

a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

At the moment, we're surrounded by

scrubby vegetation, it's almost desert,

but we're heading to the coast because there,

catching its prey in a totally unique

and completely unbelievable way, is a predator that is

truly as deadly as it gets.

It is the orca, or killer whale.

Top of the table for intelligence, invention,

communication and co-operation,

orca have no equal in the world's waters.

Around the globe, they've shown they can improvise...

..stunning fish with their tail flukes.

Washing seals off ice floes,

using their bow waves.

And here, on the Peninsula Valdez,

they've gone one better. They use the deep water channels

between the shallow reefs to launch surprise attacks.

We set up camp at one of those deep water hunting spots,

known as the attack channel.

All we need now is Deadly luck.

We've given ourselves five days to film this spectacle,

others have spent weeks here

and seen nothing.

Nearby, a tough sign that this battle

is already under way.

There's no doubt that this animal

was killed by an orca,

probably last night.

We had a full moon last night,

so there would have been

plenty enough light here.

And here, you see, there's a big hole there,

where an orca's tooth has gone in,

and here, as well.

Yep, this sea lion met its end

at the teeth of the orca of Patagonia.

So, this place is absolutely perfect for us, as well as for the orca,

because they're going to be channelled into this one area.

There's no way they can hunt to either side of us.

We can sit here, we can watch, and we can wait.

This is very much going to be a waiting game.

The orca need the tides to be just right to launch an attack.

If the tide's too low,

they risk stranding themselves up on the sands.

We'll wait from early morning till last light.

You can see that the sea lions on land

are really cumbersome in the way that they move.

They're not very fast, and even when

they're right down there in the surf zone

at the edge of the waves, they're very, very vulnerable.

These are prime pickings for our orca.

Everyone's on tenterhooks. Just the idea that any second,

that black shape could break the surface.

Yes, I've got one!

I've got one, I can see one.

I can see an orca coming in this direction.

I don't believe it.

They're heading our way.

Wow!

The time of day could not be better.

The tide is exactly right.

The depth in the water in the channel in front of us is perfect.

There are several young sea lion pups

right up at the water's edge.

Everything is in place.

The orca make formation

at the mouth of the attack channel.

Look, look at that!

Right in the shallows.

This is all about precision timing now.

If the sea lions are too close to the shore

and the orca charge in,

they risk beaching themselves up on the sand,

and that could be the end for them.

They have to decide whether they risk

taking a meal, or risk their own lives.

There are several young pups crossing over

through the attack channel

and the orca are in wait.

Then...

they launch!

Oh, that was so close!

And the killer whale's almost beached itself completely

up on the sands.

That was a very lucky escape.

Life and death here is just balanced on a knife-edge.

The sea lions need the water,

they need to head out there

to learn how to swim,

learn how to hunt,

and the orca have to feed

in order to feed themselves

and their calves.

That was perilously close.

That was all we saw in three days

sat in the damp sands.

Two days left to see the real deal.

But right now, the tide's too low.

The orcas have returned to the deep.

It's the perfect opportunity

to explore the sand dunes behind the beach.

While our main target here is definitely the orca,

it would be crazy to come to Patagonia

and not at least try and find

some of the other fantastic wild animals that live here.

I have one more in mind, it's a very curious little critter

that is some way between a JCB and a Sherman tank,

only much, much smaller.

There's a curious set of tracks here.

All down this sandy bank,

there are lots of areas

where something has been digging away.

Something quite powerful,

and it's going right into this sand here.

Possibly in search for food.

That's quite fresh, actually.

All of the earth that has been tunnelled out from there

is still damp, damper than the dry earth around it.

So that's probably happened this afternoon.

This is the car park

around the main ranger station

near to where the orca are often seen.

Tourists come through here

and quite often, they'll leave their rubbish around,

and that obviously attracts in animals,

so this is actually a perfect place.

And one of those is a little armoured machine.

Oh, wow!

Just under that bush, look.

It's a hairy armadillo.

You can see where the name comes from.

Great, long hairs

bristling off its armoured body.

That armour is composed of keratin,

the same material

that our fingernails are made of,

but it forms a really tough coating that protects the body.

You can see how much this animal

is driven by its sense of smell.

As it's moving along, it's snuffling away,

drawing in smells

from the world around it,

just trying to find out if there's anything good here to eat.

It's really strange to see one out

in the middle of the day like this,

and so bold as well.

Normally, armadillos are nocturnal

and quite shy animals.

This one here clearly is very used to people

and has no problem with being out

in the middle of the day.

Armadillos are predators,

they mostly dig around using those powerful front claws...

..to get a horde of beetle larvae and worms.

It could be eggs or hatchlings

of ground-nesting birds.

But round here, the armadillos have been spotted going one further.

They have been seen catching, killing and eating penguin chicks.

Certainly, with that stout body,

they have ample force and power to become a killing machine.

And with that, this tiny tank is off.

You see, once they get moving, they can really motor.

Kind of like a little clockwork toy,

you just wind them up and off they go.

One of the armadillo's greatest abilities is digging.

The claws are almost like spades.

And while some species of armadillo can lock themselves up in a ball,

others can dig so fast

that they can escape an enemy

purely by digging down into the soil.

Not sure what he's looking for down here.

If he's digging to try and find food,

or if he's going down into a burrow,

where he's going to stay until the evening.

He's starting to dig.

When they get going,

nothing can stop them.

They're really good at breathing

when they're covered in soil.

They can lower their heart rate,

so they don't need much oxygen.

It means they can bury themselves and still stay alive.

He has gone.

Look at that, my goodness,

that's extraordinary.

There was almost no hole there a few minutes ago.

It was only about that deep.

And he's just gone...

And he's gone.

Incredible.

But not for long. They're an irrepressible bundle of energy.

The large hairy armadillo,

nature's tiny tank,

earth-moving machine,

and around here,

on this Patagonian peninsular,

surprisingly deadly.

Oversized curved digging claws,

a highly-specialised underground breathing system,

and sensitive snuffling nose

for sniffing out bugs and grubs.

It's an armour-plated mighty muncher.

Next day, and after sunrise,

we're back in position, cameras poised.

The orca are so intelligent.

They can be patient,

they can bide their time, they can wait for the perfect opportunity.

These animals have to eat about 4% of their body weight every day,

but that's probably only one small sea lion pup.

Far better to wait until they have the perfect opportunity to pounce.

Yes, yes, I see them. I see them!

Ah, yes, amazing! Amazing!

We see the orca coming in from a distance,

given away by their scything black dorsal fins,

with sea lion pups playing in the surf.

It's a chilling sight.

They're right in close to shore.

Very, very close to shore.

It looks as if they might make

their first attack

about 300 or 400 metres

further down the beach from us.

There are lots and lots of sea lion pups in close to the edge,

and I've seen one dorsal fin disappearing underwater.

It's a little bit too far away for us,

but if it happens, it's still going to be out of this world.

It's got one, it's got one.

No! No, no, no, no.

Moved back.

Success.

We thought we'd missed the action,

but it turns out to be just beginning.

All of a sudden, we have high drama.

There's a sea lion that looks like

it's been dragged out to sea.

It's probably about 50 metres

off from the shore, and it's leaping

and jumping to try and get away from the orca.

But its chances are very, very slim.

There are at least four animals around it now.

Coming up to the surface,

just leaping, bobbing and weaving

to try and evade its larger,

less movable captors.

But they just won't let it get back to shore.

You see all of the orca coursing around it,

with their dorsal fins breaking the surface.

It looks like the largest female

is slapping it with its tail flukes,

just trying to knock the sea lion unconscious.

It's the dark side of nature.

But the orca young have to feed too,

and this is a chance for them to learn the skills

that will allow them to become

the ocean's top predator.

Oh!

This is why orca are one of the deadliest predators on the planet.

They are so ruthless,

they just will not give up.

Oh, whoa!

An orca just caught it with its tail,

threw it completely out of the water.

That must surely be it now.

The orca are not done.

They slip below the surface and move to stage two.

The next place, the only place that they could attack

is right in front of us.

They're heading straight for

our beach and the attack channel.

The stage is set.

This could not be more perfect

for them.

OK, everyone is switched on.

If this happens,

it will happen really quickly.

It's the most extraordinary experience, watching

this epic, life-and-death battle

play itself out in front of us.

Kind of puts the hairs up on the back of your neck.

The orca turn off all their communication,

going into silent stealth mode.

So close, so close!

The orca beached itself

right up on the sands.

But it was going for an adult sea lion

and it just managed to escape.

That was it, that was the moment we've been waiting for.

The incredible surge

of force and power...

..driving an animal that's many,

many tonnes right up onto the beach.

But also, I guess it's all the more thrilling

for the fact that that sea lion

managed to hold its own,

it managed to escape with its life.

As the young sea lion pups scamper up the beach,

having escaped with their lives

by a matter of millimetres,

I have to say that that was worth

travelling halfway around the world for.

And despite the fact that this time, the orca came up empty-handed

and didn't manage to find a meal,

there is surely nobody on the planet

who can doubt that the killer whale is deadly.

And those are some seriously lucky

sea lions.

These highly intelligent...

..enormously powerful...

..pack-hunting wolves of the sea...

..have to be one of the most

deadly animals on the planet.

Join me next time for some more

decidedly devilish deadly delights.