Episode 3 Animals with Cameras


Episode 3

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PURRING As a wildlife cameraman,

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I've travelled the world, trying to capture life's most intimate and

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dramatic moments.

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But wouldn't it be incredible if we could see the world

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from an animal's point of view?

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Well, in this series, that is exactly what we're going to do -

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with the help of the animals themselves.

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They're going to be the ones that are doing the filming.

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They're going to take us to places that a cameraman like me simply

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cannot go, and reveal a side of

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their lives like we have never seen before.

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UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

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Working with scientists,

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we're designing cameras small enough to take us into their hidden world

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for the first time.

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-We're heading in. Wow!

-Foraging for some pups.

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Our camera crew is one of the most diverse teams

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to ever film a wildlife series.

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From 30cm tall meerkats...

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..to 60mph cheetahs.

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From free-diving fur seals...

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..to nest-building chimps...

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our unconventional film crew are revealing surprising behaviour and

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giving us new insights into how they live their lives.

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-Wow!

-That's really cool.

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Instantly, you get a real chimp point of view.

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This is their world,

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their footage....

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-Whoa!

-Oh, wow!

-Groovy.

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..their story,

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and we're going to see it.. GROWLING

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..through their eyes.

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She's definitely got her game face on.

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In this programme, we'll reveal

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the secrets of three spectacular animals.

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In the mountains of Turkey,

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we'll find out what happens when bears come face-to-face.

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Oh! Oh, wow! Here's another bear!

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Look at that, look at that! GROWLING

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In France, we get to the heart of

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the ancient conflict between sheep...

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BARKING

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..and wolf.

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BARKING

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But my first expedition is far out at sea.

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We're setting sail from the Azores,

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a group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

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I've teamed up with Doctor Jorge Fontes,

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an expert on the sea life here.

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I'm travelling far out into the Atlantic Ocean.

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Mainland Europe is 850 miles in that direction.

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It's one of the wildest places on Earth,

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and I've come here to hopefully try and answer some very important

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questions about one of the world's most mysterious, majestic creatures.

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Devil rays are fish with wing-like

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fins that stretch to nearly four metres across.

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Jorge and his team have recently discovered that, every summer,

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the rays migrate thousands of miles to gather here.

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GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS

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It's one of the most dramatic animal spectacles on Earth.

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But Jorge has no idea why it takes place.

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The rays swim too fast and too deep for divers to follow, so his best

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chance of solving the mystery is one of our onboard cameras.

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This is one of our incredible camera systems,

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ready for deployment, and it's just attached to the harness.

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This is the bit that goes over the ray, kind of like a lasso,

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and you think, "How do you get it off?"

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Well, within eight hours in saltwater,

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this little magnesium bolt will

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erode and then that will snap

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and the whole system will float back up to the surface,

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and we get it back and we all rejoice.

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Now all we need is a ray.

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EVOCATIVE MUSIC PLAYS

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Now it's a race against time to get cameras on

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before the rays return to the depths.

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It's my first glimpse of these awesome creatures.

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There must be 40 devil rays in front of me.

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The rays can swim at 13mph.

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We couldn't get close enough carrying cumbersome scuba gear,

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so we're freediving.

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It means attaching the camera will

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have to be done on just one breath of air.

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Jorge makes it look easy.

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It was straight down there.

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Got it, got it first time.

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Woohoo!

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The rest of the team soon get more cameras on board.

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UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

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After a few hours, the cameras are back.

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Oh, wow!

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-And just swimming into the barracuda.

-Yeah.

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That's fantastic.

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It is a real devil ray point of view.

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It looks as if you're just another ray going with the group.

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GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS

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I think they're probably speeding very fast at this point.

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Yeah. The great thing is that the camera's not having any impact.

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This animal's keeping up with all the others, irrespective of

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the camera, so it's really unobtrusive.

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The cameras also give a clear view of the remora fish, which stick to

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the rays, hitching a ride and feeding on scraps.

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The rays are gathering at a sea mound -

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an underwater mountain that rises over 1,000 metres from the sea bed.

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The summit is just 30 metres from the surface.

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They've been just hovering and flying around

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the summit of the sea mount. It really attracts them.

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But, suddenly, the rays start to head down.

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These rays can dive to 2,000 metres,

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one of the deepest diving of all animals.

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The descent is so fast, it puts the camera in a spin.

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-Whoa!

-This is...it's flipping.

-Yeah. It must be a huge speed.

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-Oh, the bottom...

-There's ocean floor there.

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Jorge knew that the rays dived deep.

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Now, for the first time, he can see why.

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-Amazing.

-This is amazing. This is...

-What I wanted to see.

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..very different from what we've seen so far.

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By the amount of light here, it looks like it's quite deep.

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Very close to the sea floor.

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These are unbelievably privileged views.

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Did you see how close that was?

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-Yeah.

-That was, like, inches from the top of that rock.

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I never expected...just going through this canyon,

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-why would they do this?

-Yeah.

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We think of devil rays as oceanic animals that just bask the surface,

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and here we see that that is not always the case.

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Apparently, they like to explore very close to the bottom,

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at the deep sea. That's very, very interesting, and it's a very new

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-look into their lives.

-Yeah.

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And, soon, we see one reason why the rays are gathering here.

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The camera shows hundreds of tiny floating animals - plankton -

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clouding the water.

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As the ray hits a patch of plankton,

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the long fins on its head unfurl and funnel food into its huge mouth.

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When it's finished feeding, the fins roll back up.

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Seamounts are rich in food,

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because deep ocean current full of nutrients

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swell upwards when they hit the sides of the mountain,

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driving huge blooms of plankton.

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Rays are one of the few animals able to take advantage of

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deep water prey.

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They'll even eat fish up to a few inches long.

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But it's cold in the depths.

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At 1,000 metres, it's just six degrees Celsius,

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so rays can't stay down for long.

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After a deep dive, they head quickly back up.

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You can see the surface.

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That's amazing. They're really shallow right now.

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Jorge thinks they're sunbathing.

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And here we spot something new to science.

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The rays seem to shiver, to help them warm up.

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The abundance of food draws in these rays

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but there are hundreds of seamounts around the Azores.

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Why do they all gather at just one or two?

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We need more footage to find the answer.

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But the conditions have deteriorated,

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and getting close to the rays is much tougher.

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A bit of a waiting game at the moment.

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We're waiting for the rays to come along, and there's absolutely

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nothing around at the moment.

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There is nothing easy about this whatsoever.

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HE GASPS

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Fortunately, by the next morning,

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the sun is back out and the seas have calmed.

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I think I'm ready to try and deploy one of the cameras myself.

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I feel as able as I'm going to be, so I'll give it a go.

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A group of rays is passing right under the boat.

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It's the best chance I'm going to get.

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I did it. Eventually HE LAUGHS

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Quite tricky.

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I managed to get the loop over one side and then the other,

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come back to the surface and breathe.

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That was great.

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-Well done.

-THEY CHEER AND LAUGH

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As my camera ray swims off, Jorge and the team are successful, too.

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Will we finally get a clue as to

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why the rays are here in such numbers?

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Whoa! Look at this lot coming in!

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That's fantastic.

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Soon we notice the gathering might not be as random as it first looked.

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The formation can be really close,

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almost like a jet fighter kind of formation.

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The rays appear to be taking advantage of each other's

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slipstream, to make swimming easier.

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But each ray also seems to have its own place in the group.

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So, this one has been lagging behind the first three, and it still is.

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-I wonder if there's some kind of hierarchy within these groups.

-Yeah.

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Jorge is wondering if the males might be competing over the females.

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We soon get a clue as to why.

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-A very pregnant female here.

-This thing is huge!

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-This looks like...

-A jumbo jet.

-A jumbo jet.

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We then realise that lots of the rays are pregnant.

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They each carry just one baby, known as a pup.

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Pregnancy lasts for around a year, with the pup nourished

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inside the mother with a form of milk.

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What we see next has never been filmed before.

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This unborn baby ray is doing its version of kicking.

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-Oh, wow!

-Oh, that's so cool!

-Wow!

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This suggests that the pups will soon be born.

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In most ray species,

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mating happens soon after birth, so could this seamount be where these

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rays gather to give birth and mate?

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They spend most of their lives spread out in the open ocean,

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so gathering to mate makes sense,

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and the food-rich seamount is ideal for heavily pregnant mothers

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and newborns.

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More evidence is needed to confirm whether this is the reason

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for the gathering. EVOCATIVE MUSIC PLAYS

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But our cameras have given Jorge a remarkable new insight

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into these animals' lives.

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It's really a privilege to be able to have the perspective

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of what a devil ray sees.

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This is something that I would think impossible just a few years ago,

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and, so, I'm really happy and really excited to be able to have this

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perspective and be able to use this tool to learn more about this

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mysterious species.

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Time to prepare for our next mission.

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UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

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I've come to north-east Turkey...

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..in search of an animal I've never seen before...

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..the Eurasian brown bear.

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They're extinct through much of Europe.

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Here, the forest is teeming with them,

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but they're incredibly shy, making them hard to study.

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Cagan Sekercioglu has been working on these

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bears for ten years,

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but his longest-ever sighting lasted just three minutes.

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And that's where our cameras can help.

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-How close do you think the nearest bear is to us?

-Right now?

-Yeah.

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-Within a mile?

-Oh, God, easily. Half a mile.

-Really?

-Yeah. Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

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I mean, the numbers we have are among the highest densities

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-on the planet.

-Wow! Yeah.

-They're everywhere.

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And, what, is there a single aim?

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What do you want to find out from these bears?

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Well, a big goal was to find out how they manage to survive in this

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relatively small forest.

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I would love to see how they interact.

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Are they tolerant of each other?

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-Is there a lot of fighting going on?

-Yeah.

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This forest is small and hemmed in by people on all sides.

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So, how do so many bears survive here?

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What do they eat? Where do they sleep?

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And what happens when they meet each other?

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We're hoping our cameras will unlock the secret of these elusive animals.

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Onboard camera expert Chris Watts has been hard at work.

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He's added cameras to the radio collars that Cagan uses to track

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bears for his ongoing study.

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For several days,

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Cagan's team have been trying to catch and collar bears,

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and I've been hoping to see them in action.

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We've just got some very exciting news.

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The team are not far from our base, and they say that they have captured

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a big bear - a bear big enough to take our camera.

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Here we go.

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WHISPERS: It is one huge bear!

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This bear has already been tranquillised.

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BEARS GROANS SOFTLY

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While the vet checks it's healthy,

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the scientists take measurements and fit the radio collar

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with our camera attached.

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We're ecstatic!

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It's in prime condition,

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so it's a perfect candidate for an animal cam.

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I can't wait to see what we get on film.

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The bear quickly comes round and disappears into the forest.

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The camera will automatically drop off after a couple of days.

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We've got footage in...

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..from a four-year-old female, which Cagan has called Siha.

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There it is.

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-The angle is great.

-It is.

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-It's just enough of the bear to know that it's still there.

-Yeah.

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-Ah, it's a complete bear's eye view of the world.

-Yeah.

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-Is that...? Oh, yeah.

-Having a proper drink.

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It's drinking water, yeah. Wow!

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The camera itself has to go through everything the bear goes through,

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so, walking down into gullies,

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climbing up trees, going into the water...

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The camera reveals that this forest is rich in bear food.

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She eats a wide range of nutritious plants,

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and turns over rocks to reach insects underneath.

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After her meal, she's walking into a cave.

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Cagan didn't know that these bears use caves in the summertime.

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Most brown bears only use caves in winter to hibernate.

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They don't need a big space. They don't need this huge cave.

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You know, you'd be surprised how little space they need.

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The presence of lots of caves is another reason why

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this is a good bear habitat. BEAR SNIFFS AND SNUFFLES

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After a quick rest,

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she steps back out into the night and straight into danger.

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-Just right there.

-Yeah.

-As if it just appears from nowhere.

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Yeah. So, the road, basically,

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it's called an Interstate highway, and this traffic is very fast.

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Siha is walking down a dangerous road.

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But, before long, we discover why.

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She's on the lookout for rubbish thrown from passing cars.

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This is worrying for Cagan.

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If bears develop a taste for rubbish,

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they can become dependent on it.

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He says that's already happening at a place on the edge of the forest.

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So, I've come to investigate at a local dump.

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Oh, we've got a bear right here with a cub!

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Wow! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop. DOGS BARK

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Mother bear with a cub. That is a big bear!

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To get a better look,

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I'm using a thermal camera which detects the bear's body heat.

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Oh, wow, look at that!

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My goodness!

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Brown bears are normally solitary, yet here they tolerate each other,

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because there's so much food.

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It's quite something to see so many of them in one place.

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But it's not healthy for them to be feeding on our rubbish.

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bears digging in rubbish that is still alight.

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It's raking through the coals!

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There are bears eating plastic...

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..chewing on metal wires.

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This is not a pretty sight.

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I'm told that there are plans to close this dump down,

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but the scientists are worried that that could cause another problem.

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If they get rid of this, this dump overnight, that food

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source has gone, and what that's going to leave

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is a lot of hungry bears.

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These dump feeders will be pushed out into the forest, but is there

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room for any more bears out there?

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Too many bears could lead to conflict and stress.

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We're hoping that more footage will help us find out

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how much the forest bears are interacting.

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Right, off we go.

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Cagan's continuing to collar bears, and I've been giving him a hand.

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My goodness, that's a big old head.

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Should be good. I'm really excited to see what we get.

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Yeah, me too.

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-He just needs to keep the camera clean.

-Yeah.

-LAUGHTER

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Our next footage is from a young adult male that Cagan

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has named Farouk.

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Oh, look at that beautiful morning light!

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Look at that.

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You can see the rain has caused a problem with the condensation.

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Well, May is the wettest month.

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I mean, you can still follow the behaviour pretty well.

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-Hey, is he feeding?

-You can actually see the water beater backlit,

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-so maybe that.

-Yeah, he is, yeah. He's licking the dew.

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-Wow!

-Just drinking water, licking the dew off the grass, yeah.

0:28:350:28:38

Sticking out that big tongue as he walks along,

0:28:380:28:40

-just getting some nice, fresh water.

-Wow!

0:28:400:28:42

But Farouk's peaceful morning doesn't last long.

0:28:430:28:47

-Oh!

-Oh, wow!

-Oh, wow! There's another bear!

0:28:470:28:51

Farouk is being confronted, probably by another male. GROWLING AND SNARLING

0:28:510:28:56

Oh, look at that!

0:28:560:28:57

-Oh, man!

-HEAVY THUDDING

0:28:590:29:02

After standing up to swipe at each other, Farouk continues to growl.

0:29:020:29:06

The other bear slowly retreats.

0:29:120:29:15

Bites aren't unusual amongst male bears, but, in a crowded forest,

0:29:170:29:22

they may be more common and the risk of injury much higher.

0:29:220:29:27

As he lies down to recover, we see that Farouk is bleeding.

0:29:300:29:34

He's broken his claw. That'll be painful,

0:29:390:29:43

but the claw will drop off and grow back eventually.

0:29:430:29:46

This time, he got off lightly.

0:29:480:29:50

But, just when it looked like Farouk was in the clear,

0:29:530:29:56

he spots another bear approaching.

0:29:560:29:59

OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS

0:29:590:30:02

He makes a run for it.

0:30:070:30:09

He's being chased.

0:30:180:30:20

Running on an injured claw, the chase goes on for an exhausting

0:30:300:30:33

45 minutes before the pursuer finally gives up.

0:30:330:30:37

Farouk climbs to high ground and checks all around

0:30:430:30:46

before he can eventually relax.

0:30:460:30:49

The camera has shown how high bear numbers are,

0:30:510:30:55

and how that can make life hard.

0:30:550:30:57

And that's not the end of Farouk's excitement for the day.

0:31:020:31:06

Oh! Oh, wow!

0:31:060:31:08

There's another bear! Holy cow, look at that!

0:31:080:31:11

The other bear's not acting aggressively towards him.

0:31:140:31:17

-No, no.

-That's really interesting.

0:31:170:31:19

He's relaxed. He's sitting down.

0:31:190:31:22

No, they...they know each other.

0:31:220:31:24

It appears that this is Farouk's partner.

0:31:270:31:30

JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS

0:31:300:31:33

He may have been staying close to this female for weeks,

0:31:330:31:35

waiting for her to be ready to mate.

0:31:350:31:38

But she makes it clear... GROWLING

0:31:450:31:48

..she's not ready just yet.

0:31:480:31:50

Farouk has had a very busy day,

0:31:560:31:59

and we've seen how stressful that can be.

0:31:590:32:01

From what the cameras have shown him, Cagan thinks this

0:32:110:32:14

small patch of forest can't sustain many more bears.

0:32:140:32:17

If you were to close the dump overnight,

0:32:220:32:25

there's going to be trouble pretty quick on its heels.

0:32:250:32:28

And it has to be done, not just by closing the garbage dump, but also

0:32:280:32:32

by creating better quality habitat

0:32:320:32:35

with more natural food and more connectivity.

0:32:350:32:38

Cagan's hoping he can use this footage to gain support for a plan

0:32:400:32:44

to increase the size of the forest by planting 10 million trees.

0:32:440:32:47

Then, if the dump closes,

0:32:500:32:52

there will still be plenty of space and food for these threatened bears.

0:32:520:32:57

In another wild corner of Europe,

0:33:120:33:14

another Animals With Cameras team is starting a new adventure.

0:33:140:33:18

We've come to the hills of southern France...

0:33:200:33:22

..to see if we can help scientists protect one of Europe's most

0:33:230:33:26

controversial carnivores...

0:33:260:33:28

..the wolf.

0:33:310:33:32

Wolves were hunted to extinction in France less than a century ago, but

0:33:350:33:40

in the '90s they started to cross over the border from Italy. BARKING

0:33:400:33:43

Their numbers have been slowly growing ever since,

0:33:450:33:49

and there are now thought to be over 400 wolves

0:33:490:33:52

living in the French countryside.

0:33:520:33:55

This good news for wolf conservation is bad news for some farmers.

0:33:550:33:59

Thousands of sheep roam these hills, and, every night,

0:34:020:34:06

an age-old conflict plays out.

0:34:060:34:09

ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC PLAYS

0:34:160:34:18

In the dark, wolves venture out to hunt...

0:34:210:34:24

..and sheep are often in their sights.

0:34:270:34:30

This flock can't sense the danger they're in

0:34:350:34:38

until it's too late.

0:34:380:34:41

SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS

0:34:410:34:44

A sheep stands no chance against a hungry adult wolf.

0:34:490:34:54

BELLS RING

0:35:010:35:04

Farmers blame wolves for the deaths of thousands of sheep every year.

0:35:050:35:10

Some shoot wolves, even though they're legally protected.

0:35:100:35:14

Wolf biologist Jean-Marc Landry

0:35:180:35:20

wants to find a solution to this problem.

0:35:200:35:22

The presence of the wolf in France brings a lot of conflicts.

0:35:240:35:28

You have extremes. Some people are pro and some are against.

0:35:280:35:33

What we try is to be in the middle, to show a new way of coexistence.

0:35:330:35:37

Jean-Marc thinks one answer is to give the flocks their very own

0:35:390:35:43

security guards - a team of dogs.

0:35:430:35:46

DOG BARKS

0:35:510:35:54

These guardian dogs live with the sheep all their lives

0:35:540:35:57

and have a strong bond with them.

0:35:570:35:59

Using dogs in this way is an old idea.

0:36:080:36:10

But not everyone thinks it's effective.

0:36:130:36:15

Jean-Marc wants to convince people that it is and reveal

0:36:180:36:22

how the dogs operate.

0:36:220:36:24

But most wolf attacks are after dark.

0:36:260:36:30

Can our night-vision collar cams

0:36:320:36:34

take us to the heart of the conflict?

0:36:340:36:37

For us, for my team, it's very, very exciting.

0:36:420:36:45

Our goal now is to observe the interaction from the dogs,

0:36:450:36:49

to be able to observe how the dog will chase off the wolf.

0:36:490:36:52

Jean-Marc also hopes that the cameras could reveal if some dogs

0:36:560:37:00

make better guardians than others.

0:37:000:37:02

It's very important with these dogs that they are able to fight wolves,

0:37:040:37:07

but they are very nice with people, and we need such a dog.

0:37:070:37:11

This is stealing my sausages!

0:37:130:37:16

HE SPEAKS IN FRENCH

0:37:160:37:20

The cameras give an immediate insight into life amongst the flock.

0:37:240:37:28

The dogs are a mixture of traditional mountain dog breeds.

0:37:320:37:36

They don't herd the sheep,

0:37:440:37:46

they just travel as part of the flock.

0:37:460:37:48

They're not trained to protect the sheep.

0:37:570:38:00

They should do it instinctively.

0:38:000:38:02

But, if a wolf attacks, are the dogs

0:38:050:38:08

really attached enough to the sheep to put THEIR lives on the line?

0:38:080:38:12

HOWLING

0:38:180:38:20

The collar cams have switched into night-vision mode.

0:38:250:38:28

We can see exactly what each dog is doing.

0:38:280:38:31

And our human camera team are in night-vision mode, too.

0:38:350:38:39

They're looking out for any wolves approaching over the hillsides.

0:38:390:38:43

It's midsummer, and the sheep are

0:39:010:39:02

more active at night when it's cooler.

0:39:020:39:05

The flock is moving in search of fresh grazing,

0:39:080:39:11

and the dogs go with them.

0:39:110:39:13

The onboard cameras reveal something unexpected.

0:39:200:39:23

Different dogs are taking up

0:39:300:39:32

different positions around the flock.

0:39:320:39:34

SHEEP BLEAT

0:39:420:39:45

Some of the dogs stay right in the middle...

0:39:450:39:47

..while others prefer to hang out around the edge.

0:39:560:39:59

What role will these different dogs play when wolves attack?

0:40:070:40:10

OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS

0:40:100:40:13

There's plenty of other prey out here for wolves -

0:40:350:40:37

rabbits and deer -

0:40:370:40:40

but these vast flocks of sheep are a tempting target.

0:40:400:40:44

A wolf begins to creep close...

0:40:570:40:59

..and it's one of the dogs on the edge of the flock

0:41:030:41:06

that's the first to sense danger.

0:41:060:41:09

BARKING

0:41:090:41:11

This wolf thinks better of attacking.

0:41:130:41:16

Jean-Marc thinks that these outlying dogs play a vital role as sentries.

0:41:200:41:25

BARKING

0:41:250:41:28

Barking alone can be enough to see off a single wolf

0:41:290:41:33

attempting a sneaky attack.

0:41:330:41:35

OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS

0:41:350:41:37

BARKING

0:41:370:41:39

But what will happen if a whole pack of wolves attacks?

0:41:420:41:46

It's three o'clock in the morning.

0:41:550:41:57

Out on the hillside, the dogs in the centre of the flock look relaxed...

0:42:010:42:05

BARKING

0:42:120:42:14

..while the others are pacing around the edge.

0:42:150:42:18

OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYS

0:42:180:42:20

They seem nervous.

0:42:300:42:32

There's something out there.

0:42:320:42:34

La! La, la! The wolf is there.

0:42:390:42:42

A group of wolves is heading straight for the flock.

0:42:460:42:50

SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS

0:42:500:42:52

BARKING The alarm goes off...

0:42:570:43:01

..and other dogs rise to the challenge.

0:43:070:43:11

One from the middle charges out to help see off the attack.

0:43:110:43:14

The leading wolf flees.

0:43:160:43:19

BARKING

0:43:310:43:34

Now all four wolves are in retreat.

0:43:370:43:40

It's a great result for Jean-Marc.

0:43:450:43:48

We have seen the dogs chasing the wolves off, so it's very successful,

0:43:500:43:54

-and no sheep were killed, so I'm very happy again.

-HE LAUGHS

0:43:540:43:59

GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS

0:43:590:44:01

Our collar cams have shown Jean-Marc the importance of selecting a good

0:44:030:44:07

mix of dogs.

0:44:070:44:08

We have different personalities in dogs, and this is just amazing,

0:44:100:44:14

yeah. We have some dogs who are, you know, they are very strong, they are

0:44:140:44:19

bold, and they will go and they will run after the wolf.

0:44:190:44:23

And you have also those who are very shy and they are afraid by

0:44:230:44:26

everything, you know, so we are observing now a team of dogs,

0:44:260:44:29

how they are working. And, of course, if a dog is a little afraid,

0:44:290:44:33

he will bark and maybe give the alarm.

0:44:330:44:36

So, in a pack of dogs now,

0:44:380:44:39

you need different personalities, not only one.

0:44:390:44:42

Jean-Marc shows the shepherds his evidence of what a good job the

0:44:460:44:50

guardian dogs can do.

0:44:500:44:51

These shepherds seem to be on board.

0:45:140:45:17

With the use of guardian dogs, perhaps it will be possible for

0:45:320:45:36

wolves and sheep to coexist in the hills of southern France.

0:45:360:45:41

In this series, we travelled the world, from deserts to jungles

0:46:020:46:08

to oceans... UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

0:46:080:46:10

..helping scientists make ground-breaking discoveries.

0:46:130:46:17

With the use of new camera technologies,

0:46:200:46:22

we have been able to increase our understanding and knowledge of the

0:46:220:46:26

most fantastic, most amazing wild animals,

0:46:260:46:29

and we've revealed a side of their lives that has previously been a

0:46:290:46:33

complete mystery.

0:46:330:46:35

We captured the very first images of day-old meerkats,

0:46:350:46:38

-deep underground. Wow!

-Foraging for some pups.

0:46:380:46:43

We discovered how seals track down their prey, far out at sea.

0:46:430:46:48

-Look, dolphins! Oh, wow!

-They're playful.

-Oh, wow, wow!

0:46:480:46:51

And revealed how young cheetahs develop their hunting skills.

0:46:530:46:57

-Oh, so close!

-Big fall!

-Oh, my goodness me!

0:46:590:47:03

It's been the animals that have taken us into their world...

0:47:030:47:07

and hopefully what they've shown us will help to better protect them in

0:47:090:47:14

the future.

0:47:140:47:15

MID TEMPO BLUES MUSIC PLAYS

0:47:250:47:27

In this episode, our biggest tech challenge was designing a camera for

0:47:310:47:35

one of the deepest diving animals on Earth.

0:47:350:47:38

Our first inspiration came from the remora fish,

0:47:440:47:47

which stick to the devil rays.

0:47:470:47:49

The work began in a shed in Devon.

0:47:510:47:55

Camera engineers Jonathan Watts and Marcus Shirley tested their idea on

0:47:550:47:59

a skate from the fishmonger.

0:47:590:48:01

We're going to try putting suction cups on a piece of fish to see what

0:48:030:48:06

the adhesion is like. Rays are, by their nature, quite slippery.

0:48:060:48:11

They're not the sort of thing that you necessarily would be able to

0:48:110:48:14

stick something to, so this is, this is something else.

0:48:140:48:16

Oh, yeah, that's sticking reasonably well.

0:48:180:48:21

But the rays would be in seawater...

0:48:220:48:24

and with water and salt added, the suckers didn't stick.

0:48:300:48:34

So Marcus came up with a new plan.

0:48:360:48:38

So we have been told that some scientists have used peanut butter

0:48:400:48:44

successfully on rays before.

0:48:440:48:47

-OK, there you go.

-Lovely. Right, here we go. In it goes.

0:48:470:48:53

You know what? That's not bad. I wouldn't say it was perfect.

0:48:530:48:58

I think the legend may be true, may have something in it.

0:48:580:49:02

-Next stop, real Mobula ray.

-Yeah, I think so.

0:49:020:49:05

The team join the scientists in the Azores,

0:49:070:49:10

armed with their newly built sucker cam and the tub of peanut butter.

0:49:100:49:14

-It's always nice to have some energy food on board!

-LAUGHTER

0:49:160:49:19

No-one told Gonzalo that that was used on dead fish before!

0:49:210:49:26

Good stuff.

0:49:260:49:27

FUNKY MUSIC PLAYS

0:49:270:49:30

But despite the encouraging lab test, the suction power of the

0:49:450:49:48

humble peanut was no match for the thick slime on the ray's back.

0:49:480:49:53

Enter plan B...

0:50:050:50:06

The Towcam - a revolutionary new design.

0:50:080:50:11

Jorge tested the camera in the harbour.

0:50:210:50:24

By the way that it's moving underwater, it looks quite stable.

0:50:300:50:34

I'm very confident that we'll be happy with the quality of the

0:50:340:50:37

footage from these tests.

0:50:370:50:38

But the rays can dive to more than 1,000m.

0:50:390:50:43

Jorge had to be sure that the camera would work at these crushing depths.

0:50:430:50:47

So now we're going to test how it behaves at depth.

0:50:540:50:58

OK, moment of truth.

0:51:000:51:02

A diving weight pulled the Towcam down.

0:51:060:51:08

By 150 metres, the light was starting to fade.

0:51:150:51:18

-That's it, OK.

-HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

0:51:200:51:23

The camera reached the end of Jorge's line and it was still

0:51:280:51:31

working. But had the foam housing survived the pressure?

0:51:310:51:36

I can see some white.

0:51:400:51:43

Well, structurally, it seems OK.

0:51:450:51:48

So we just have to check if it still floats as we expect.

0:51:490:51:53

It's negative.

0:51:570:51:59

Unfortunately, it looks like the

0:51:590:52:02

foam took, indeed, a lot of water in.

0:52:020:52:04

If we deploy this, it will just go down to the bottom after it's

0:52:040:52:08

released from the animal and this

0:52:080:52:10

would cause us to lose all the system.

0:52:100:52:12

We needed much tougher foam.

0:52:140:52:17

FUNKY MUSIC PLAYS One month later, and Towcam Mark II was ready to make its debut.

0:52:200:52:25

We just got the new system,

0:52:280:52:29

rebuilt these in the right foam, the right material.

0:52:290:52:33

Hopefully this one will behave as we expect in terms of flotation and

0:52:330:52:37

resistance to pressure.

0:52:370:52:39

After another depth test...

0:52:400:52:43

Yes. It's floating. It is still OK.

0:52:430:52:46

..Towcam II was ready for action.

0:52:470:52:49

But it's a 24-hour boat ride out to the devil rays,

0:52:530:52:57

so first we wanted to test the camera on an animal closer to port.

0:52:570:53:01

So we come here to the sheltered north shore, and

0:53:070:53:09

hopefully we'll be able to attract a couple of blue sharks,

0:53:090:53:12

and deploy our cameras, just to see how they look when they're being

0:53:120:53:16

towed by an actual animal.

0:53:160:53:17

Jorge's team used fish scraps to entice the sharks.

0:53:200:53:23

Yeah! Yeah!

0:53:340:53:36

Blue sharks can grow to nearly four metres.

0:53:440:53:47

Jorge has been studying them in the Azores for years,

0:53:510:53:55

and he knew that they could comfortably tow a camera.

0:53:550:53:57

He slipped a noose over the shark's nose with the Towcam attached.

0:54:020:54:07

Ooh!

0:54:100:54:12

-Yes! Oh! Yeah!

-Well done.

0:54:140:54:18

This, I believe, the first camera on a blue shark, ever.

0:54:180:54:21

The camera would detach after eight hours.

0:54:240:54:27

But it's good. Perfect position. Yes! Woo! Yeah.

0:54:300:54:36

UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS

0:54:380:54:41

It was time to hand filming duties over to our shark.

0:54:410:54:44

-Look at that! Oh!

-Oh!

-He's going fast.

0:55:080:55:12

Oh, very good.

0:55:120:55:14

There's a lot more movement on the shark than on the camera.

0:55:140:55:17

It's actually...it's perfect.

0:55:170:55:19

Success. The camera captured a steady, clear shot.

0:55:220:55:26

A very nice perspective of the pilot fish, just taking advantage of the

0:55:300:55:33

wake of the shark, so saving energy.

0:55:330:55:36

It's very amazing. Look at that.

0:55:380:55:40

I'm very, very happy with these first results.

0:55:420:55:45

We can only hope that this new tool opens a new frontier.

0:55:450:55:49

Now, confident in our camera,

0:55:520:55:56

we could finally enter the devil ray's underwater world.

0:55:560:56:00

EVOCATIVE MUSIC PLAYS

0:56:000:56:03

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