:00:18. > :00:25.It's Friday, it's 8.30, which means you're in for a treat of autumnal
:00:25. > :00:35.wildlife. We have prer grin falcons, fiesty foxes. And we're be bringing
:00:35. > :01:15.
:01:15. > :01:24.you the best of British wildlife. In 1969, Hal David and Burt
:01:24. > :01:29.Bacharach wrote Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head. And they were
:01:29. > :01:34.right. Welcome to the wetland! And wildlife Centre.
:01:34. > :01:38.There are lots of birds here and they have a fabulous cafe, with top
:01:38. > :01:43.carrot cake! It's been a very busy week here at
:01:43. > :01:47.Slimbridge, lots of action and new arrivals. Including some more
:01:47. > :01:52.Bewick's swans. They may be late, but they've started to fly in. Just
:01:52. > :01:56.how many have arrived and which characters? We'll be giving you an
:01:56. > :02:01.update later on. We'll also catch up with the family of foxes that we
:02:01. > :02:06.first met back in the summer, in Springwatch. What has been going on
:02:07. > :02:10.in their incident-filled lives? It's a regular soap opera.
:02:10. > :02:17.you're regular viewers, you'll know we like to have a guest presenter
:02:17. > :02:24.on board for the programmes. And this week, we have one of the best
:02:24. > :02:31.birders, the one and only Iolo Williams. But instead of sending
:02:31. > :02:36.him out after birds, we've sent him out after something much bigger.
:02:36. > :02:41.And the whales show us how rich our waters are around the coastlines.
:02:41. > :02:47.So we're going to focus on the glories of our seas in autumn. The
:02:47. > :02:57.United Kingdom has 8,000 meals of coastline and a fantastic diversity
:02:57. > :02:57.
:02:57. > :03:01.of marine life. Drk-8,000 miles. 28 species of
:03:01. > :03:06.marine mammals and hundreds of beautiful invertebrates. But you
:03:06. > :03:11.don't have to go underwater to see signs of it. It's a great time of
:03:11. > :03:21.year for a walk along the shoreline. The autumn storms throw up all
:03:21. > :03:28.
:03:28. > :03:35.sorts of treasure. This is a This is also the time of year when
:03:35. > :03:40.some animals choose to give birth. Grey seal pups are apreering on the
:03:40. > :03:46.beaches in ever- increasing - appearing on the beaches in ever-
:03:46. > :03:50.increasing numbers. Meanwhile, the breeding season for our fabulous
:03:50. > :03:56.sea birds has finished so now is the time to take stock of how
:03:56. > :04:02.successful the season has been. The many birds, the season to see
:04:02. > :04:07.them here in the UK is just getting started. Now is the time that many
:04:07. > :04:12.waders come to Britain, and compared to where they've come from,
:04:12. > :04:17.it's actually quite warm. We're lucky, aren't we? Our coast
:04:17. > :04:24.is absolutely fantastic. In Europe, we have so much more coastline than
:04:24. > :04:32.any other country. That's why it's so important for migratory birds.
:04:32. > :04:42.Now, we're giving you a tricky quiz tonight. It's a sound. I've never
:04:42. > :04:48.
:04:48. > :04:52.heard anything like it. CROAK-LIKE NOISE SKOPS
:04:52. > :04:59.-We'll give you clues as we go through the programme, but if you
:04:59. > :05:03.have any ideas, do get in contact. As it's a marine show, do get in
:05:03. > :05:12.touch with your questions. We'd love to hear from you. You know
:05:12. > :05:17.what I've got in my hand? A graphic. A chart! Fantastic. I have a
:05:17. > :05:25.graphic representation. Let's start with the basics of marine life.
:05:25. > :05:34.This was taken on Monday by the Met Office. This shows water
:05:34. > :05:44.temperatures. Here we are, and we have pale green around the United
:05:44. > :05:45.
:05:45. > :05:52.Kingdom, but on the same latitude, in Labrador, it's blue. Here we are
:05:52. > :05:57.12 to 13 degrees, water temperature, but water temperature over here at
:05:57. > :06:03.the same latitude is four degrees. And what makes the UK unique in
:06:03. > :06:09.terms of its marine environment is that our seas very rarely freeze.
:06:09. > :06:16.Water temperature is controlled by all sorts of things, salinity, but
:06:16. > :06:22.the warm current. It comes up here and branches and some goes around
:06:22. > :06:26.the top of Scotland, but some combs down and round here. And it's
:06:26. > :06:33.fundamently important tot life in our seas. And the autumn winds have
:06:33. > :06:37.a profound effect on what goes on in the seas. The winds churn up the
:06:37. > :06:46.waves and cause currents on the sea beds. And that releases nutrients
:06:46. > :06:54.which are picked up by the smallest creatures in the sea, the plankton.
:06:54. > :06:58.This time of year, the seas become immensely rich. Which has a knock-
:06:59. > :07:03.on effect, because the plankton are the base of the food chain, and if
:07:03. > :07:11.you have tonnes of it in the water, you can have lots of other
:07:11. > :07:18.creatures. One that literally scholes to our shores is the
:07:18. > :07:25.herring. We get incredible scholes. Sometimes we've looked at these
:07:25. > :07:29.things and you can get scholes which fill 4.8 cubic kilometres.
:07:29. > :07:34.Three billion fish moving around in a dense mass. And they're always
:07:34. > :07:39.listening out for predators. didn't know we had so many herrings
:07:39. > :07:45.left They are one of the fish doing well. Now, the herrings and all
:07:45. > :07:51.that marine life attracts lots of other fish, some of them - not fish,
:07:51. > :07:57.I've done it wrong, other animals into the seas around our shores and
:07:57. > :08:03.some are gigantic, epic creatures that I had no idea were here. And
:08:03. > :08:07.this week's guest presenter, Iolo Williams, has set sail to find out
:08:07. > :08:11.more. I've been watching wildlife across
:08:11. > :08:17.Britain for far longer than I care to remember, so it's not often that
:08:17. > :08:21.I'm asked to track down an animal that I've never before seen in the
:08:21. > :08:27.British Isles, but this week, on Autumnwatch that's exactly what
:08:27. > :08:34.I'll be doing. This is a fin whale. After the blue whale it's the
:08:34. > :08:40.second-largest animal on the planet. They're found in every ocean on
:08:40. > :08:49.Earth and to my surprise, I've been told a real hotspot to watch them
:08:49. > :08:55.is off southern Ireland. Helping me track them down is Padraig from the
:08:55. > :08:59.Irish wildlife research Centre. We have hundreds of miles of ocean out
:08:59. > :09:04.here, how do you pinpoint where to find the whales? It's a great
:09:04. > :09:08.challenge. We're in the right place and at the right time of the year.
:09:08. > :09:17.November is the peak period. We need to make sure we have good
:09:17. > :09:23.coverage on the four corners of the boat and the first tail- - tale-
:09:23. > :09:30.tail sign will an big blow, to indicate the fin Wales in the area.
:09:31. > :09:38.The blow is the steamy air that shoots away from the whale when it
:09:38. > :09:45.exhails its lungs. And another clue is the common
:09:45. > :09:52.dolphin. They're often associated with the fin whales, because they
:09:52. > :09:58.eat the same prey. Within a few minutes we found them circling the
:09:58. > :10:02.boat. Hello, boys!
:10:02. > :10:07.One minute we've got half a dozen common dolphins, and the next
:10:07. > :10:11.minute, the sea is boiling with them. There's a good eight, nine,
:10:12. > :10:18.ten here, and another dozen or so out there.
:10:18. > :10:24.The dolphins come to the boat to ride the bow wave created by the
:10:24. > :10:28.hull in the water. They surf along the water at great speed and it's
:10:28. > :10:32.thought it saves them energy. Although I find it hard to believe
:10:32. > :10:37.that they don't just do this for fun!
:10:37. > :10:42.With so many dolphins about, there must be plenty of fish, the same
:10:42. > :10:49.prey that the fin whales will be looking for. And sure enough, word
:10:49. > :10:53.has come that the whales are close by. We have the spoter on the boat
:10:54. > :11:00.telling us there are whales nearby. Oh, look, two!
:11:01. > :11:07.Look at the size of it! The dark colour and the fin is
:11:07. > :11:13.about two-thirds of the way. See the fin coming now, about two-
:11:13. > :11:17.thirds of the way down the back. What an experience! No sooner do
:11:17. > :11:23.the whales surface than they disappear again to hunt. Whilst the
:11:23. > :11:29.team watches for their return, Padraig has brought along a section
:11:29. > :11:35.of the whale's mouth to explain how they catch their prey.
:11:35. > :11:41.These hang from the top jaw and when the whale feeds it uses its
:11:41. > :11:47.tongue. And the tongue pushes out all the water. So the water comes
:11:47. > :11:54.out through this curtain and through these plates, and the whale
:11:54. > :12:00.uses his enormous tongue to lick the moustache clean, and takes up
:12:00. > :12:06.all the good stuff. It allows the animal to prey on
:12:06. > :12:12.lots and lots of small animals. After a 12 minute wait we get our
:12:12. > :12:19.second sighting. We're just going to park up and let the whales come
:12:19. > :12:21.to us, nice and gentle. Look at that. Huge, huge animals. They look
:12:22. > :12:28.about 25m long and they just keep coming.
:12:28. > :12:32.And there's the fin. Being so close to the whales gives
:12:32. > :12:36.Padraig a chance to photograph the animals. Each one has a uniquely
:12:36. > :12:46.marked fin so the pictures allow him to build up a catalogue of
:12:46. > :12:50.
:12:50. > :12:56.You could see the shape of the head then when he came up. They're right
:12:56. > :13:04.by the boat. To date, Padraig has identified 67 different whales,
:13:04. > :13:08.many of which return every year. His work proves that these waters
:13:08. > :13:13.are vitally important for large numbers of the animals and it
:13:13. > :13:18.should help to keep them protected well into the future. 20m away from
:13:18. > :13:28.the second-biggest animal that has ever lived on this planet! You
:13:28. > :13:28.
:13:28. > :13:34.ever lived on this planet! You cannot beat that!
:13:34. > :13:39.I'm not easily given to envy, but that was phenomenal. It was. When I
:13:39. > :13:45.was stood on that boat, bright sunshine, and flat-calm seas, and
:13:45. > :13:50.fin whales emerging all around me. Have you never seen them before?
:13:50. > :13:56.have once, but not in UK waters. I knew they came to UK waters, off
:13:56. > :14:00.the Irish coast, but not in those numbers. We were there for a day-
:14:00. > :14:05.and-a-half and we must have seen about 30. And they were enormous.
:14:05. > :14:11.About 22m long. The thing is, you were looking at them on the surface,
:14:11. > :14:21.to get a good idea of their form, you need to see them underwater?
:14:21. > :14:23.
:14:23. > :14:28.You do. They're enormous ys huge things. A 15 tonne head. They're
:14:28. > :14:34.incredible mammals. Three times the length of a double-decker bus,
:14:34. > :14:39.apparently. When it emerges it nerver ends. More of it comes up
:14:39. > :14:42.and then the fin and then more comes up. It's never-ending. I have
:14:42. > :14:50.a chart here to give an idea of scale.
:14:51. > :14:56.Here is the fin whale, and the humpedback, and some of the smaller
:14:56. > :15:01.species. And this is you. It's a good job you stayed on the boat.
:15:02. > :15:07.gives an idea of the scale. They are the second-biggest animal that
:15:07. > :15:17.has ever lived.. There was lots of food there, did you see them
:15:17. > :15:21.feeding? We saw this amazing thing called lunge feeding. That's the
:15:21. > :15:26.schole of herring. That schole was three kilometres long. Three
:15:26. > :15:34.kilometres! And it was herring from sea floor right up to the top. And
:15:34. > :15:42.here we are, it thrusts itself up into the centre of the schole and
:15:42. > :15:46.opens its mouth. 70 cubic metres of fish in one go. And it has a huge,
:15:46. > :15:54.extended belly. It was absolutely incredible. We were surrounded by
:15:54. > :16:02.them. Goodness me. And they're not the only whales that do the lunge
:16:03. > :16:09.feeding, minkes, and humpbacked do it as well. Yes, these are some
:16:09. > :16:15.minke whales lunge feeding as well. What's interesting, when you go
:16:15. > :16:22.looking for whales, you find sea birds and dolphins feeding as well.
:16:22. > :16:27.Often it's gannets, gulls and dolphins picking up the fish that
:16:28. > :16:32.have been stunned by the whales and left behind. They always say if you
:16:32. > :16:37.want to find whales or dolphins, look for the gannets. A lot of
:16:37. > :16:41.people will be surprised that they are so close to the UK coast, but
:16:42. > :16:47.what do we know about them? Are they well-known? Well, I'm quite
:16:47. > :16:51.sad. Yes, they might be the second- biggest animal on earth, but very
:16:51. > :16:58.little is known about them. But whilst I was in Ireland, I was in
:16:58. > :17:03.the company of one of the best whale experts who is carrying out
:17:03. > :17:07.research as we speak. Simon wants to build up a picture of where the
:17:07. > :17:14.fin whales visiting the Irish shores are coming from and going to.
:17:14. > :17:18.The best way for him to do this is to get DNA samples. If he can find
:17:18. > :17:24.a DNA match from fin whales that have spwn sampled elsewhere in the
:17:24. > :17:32.world, it is a clue as to which populations these animals belong to.
:17:32. > :17:41.He gets the samples by firing an arrow into the whale's skin. This
:17:41. > :17:48.is like a little corerer, and it's fired into the blubber of the whale,
:17:48. > :17:53.and it take as small amount. About a centimetre. The biggest trouble
:17:53. > :18:01.is actually hitting the whales. They move at 25 knots, which is
:18:01. > :18:06.fast, and more often than not the arrow misses. But on this attempt,
:18:06. > :18:13.there is success. With an average of only three samples a year, this
:18:13. > :18:18.piece of blubber and skin is very valuable. One of only 28 samples
:18:18. > :18:24.recovered over an eight-year period. It is wrapped up, free of
:18:24. > :18:30.contamination and sent to a lab in Holland for analysis. How important
:18:30. > :18:38.is this research? I think it's critical. I still find it amazing
:18:38. > :18:44.that we're only three or four miles off the coast and we're so close to
:18:44. > :18:48.the biggest animal. It's a project we should keep a close eye on to
:18:48. > :18:53.learn more about these magnificent whales that we know so little B And
:18:53. > :19:00.that, Chris, is ground-breaking research. Hopefully, before too
:19:00. > :19:05.long, we'll have an idea, not only of sex, but what they're eating and
:19:05. > :19:12.where they come from and where they're going to, to help us
:19:12. > :19:17.preserve these whales. And we have other species in British water?
:19:17. > :19:26.killer whales, humpbacked whales, minke whales, and recently there
:19:26. > :19:31.was a dwarf sperm whale seen off the coast of Wales. And they are
:19:31. > :19:36.actually quite accessible, because if you're on a ferry crossing,
:19:37. > :19:43.especially one I was on, across the Bay of Biscay, you see loads of
:19:43. > :19:49.these animals. You do. But you only have to go over to Ireland and
:19:49. > :19:53.you'll see them. You're enthusiasm means I've almost forgiven you.
:19:54. > :19:58.Stick around because we'll see you later in the programme. All
:19:58. > :20:07.afternoon, I've been trying to think of a clever link, but I
:20:07. > :20:17.haven't come up with one, the best I can think of is that baby swans
:20:17. > :20:24.grow into the most attractive birds we have, don't they Michaela.
:20:25. > :20:31.swans are here in their numbers at Slimbridge, and we're talking about
:20:31. > :20:37.Bewick's, and they should be arriving in their hundreds here.
:20:37. > :20:43.These swans behind us are mute swans. They are resident birds here
:20:43. > :20:50.at Slimbridge, so there are often many on the lake. Their beaks are
:20:50. > :20:58.orange, whereas the Bewick's are yellow. So, how many turned up? I
:20:58. > :21:06.came to Slimbridge yesterday, which my Britain clars to find out.
:21:06. > :21:10.-- binoculars to find out. Julie, it was looking a bit thin for
:21:11. > :21:16.Bewick's last week, but now it's looking good. Yes, a lot have
:21:17. > :21:25.suddenly turned up. You've been studying them for years, which have
:21:25. > :21:33.turned up? Yesterday, Ridler turned up. He's 20 years old and he's been
:21:33. > :21:38.visiting Slimbridge since 1991. And Winky turned up, but sadly without
:21:39. > :21:44.his mate, Tinky. With all the new arrivals jostling for position on
:21:44. > :21:50.the lake, things can get heated. As Winky no longer has a mate, it
:21:50. > :21:54.looks like he might be slipping down the pecking order. We featured
:21:54. > :22:00.Dario last week as the first arrival, how he is getting on now?
:22:00. > :22:05.He's doing well. He was making the most of the food whilst there
:22:05. > :22:09.weren't many birds here. Now, Dario will be slipping down the pecking
:22:09. > :22:16.order as more arrive. As a single bird he'll slip down. It's the
:22:16. > :22:21.families that pull the weight on the pond. Do you have favourites?
:22:21. > :22:28.I'm particularly hoping that one swan will come back this winter.
:22:28. > :22:35.She's called Winterling. And she is 28. If she comes back, she'll equal
:22:35. > :22:40.the record for the oldest Bewick's swan on record if she comes back.
:22:40. > :22:44.So fingers crossed That was fascinating. And that last bit of
:22:45. > :22:48.behaviour that we saw, I don't think those swans were being
:22:48. > :22:52.aggressive, I think it was pair bonding. I think you're right.
:22:52. > :22:57.Because they have to get all that bonding and pairing up here,
:22:57. > :23:02.because by the time they fly back to the Arctic to do the breeding
:23:02. > :23:10.there isn't time, the Arctic summer is so short, they have to get on
:23:10. > :23:17.with the pairing up here. And it's beautiful to watch. So what are the
:23:17. > :23:23.numbers? Last night, seven turned numbers? Last night, seven turned
:23:23. > :23:33.up and that's the first family. There are two adults that have come
:23:33. > :23:35.
:23:35. > :23:45.with five cygnets. Eye and one of the adult's ancestors have been
:23:45. > :23:47.
:23:47. > :23:51.coming to Slimbridge since the 196s. And now, winterling could come back
:23:51. > :23:58.and she would be 28 years old. But they're doing well, because that
:23:58. > :24:08.was a fantastic family that returned. And next Friday we're
:24:08. > :24:08.
:24:08. > :24:13.going to have Swancam. So you can watch them! Swancam. Yes.
:24:13. > :24:19.There are so many birds around here, which will act as a magnet for
:24:19. > :24:26.predators. One of the guys here, James, set up a camera on a low
:24:26. > :24:36.perch to see if he could get any footage of a spectacular predator.
:24:36. > :24:37.
:24:37. > :24:43.There it is, a peregrin falcon. The fastest living creature.
:24:43. > :24:48.And not only did our cameraman get this fabulous shot, but in
:24:48. > :24:54.beautiful light! Yes, hard to measure, but possibly exceeding 200
:24:55. > :24:58.miles an hour when they go off for their prey. That was brilliant.
:24:58. > :25:03.our cameraman, Lindsey, got the peregrin doing a bit of hunting.
:25:03. > :25:09.Let's look at that. You can see it's highlighted there.
:25:09. > :25:14.And it's chasing gulls on the beach on the estuary. Very hard for the
:25:14. > :25:18.peregrin here. It would much rather catch the birds higher off the
:25:18. > :25:21.water. It's an aerial predator. It doesn't like to take them off the
:25:22. > :25:26.water, because it's dangerous and it could end up in the water.
:25:26. > :25:30.the gulls are flocking together. Safety in numbers. I guess their
:25:30. > :25:34.best strategy would be to go down and sit on the water, if they can.
:25:34. > :25:38.Which they're doing there. And now they're following the predator.
:25:38. > :25:45.This is interesting. Often they follow the predator. They want to
:25:45. > :25:51.keep their eyes on the biver, because if they can't see it, they
:25:51. > :25:58.don't know what it's up to. Some peregrins, they have different
:25:58. > :26:03.characters. Some are lazy and go after small birds, but some will go
:26:03. > :26:13.after whopping great prey. They're all individuals. An update on the
:26:13. > :26:15.
:26:15. > :26:20.quiz. Yes, I think it's hard. freckle says is it orcas? Wrong.
:26:20. > :26:25.And another says it could be a corncrake. None of those are right
:26:25. > :26:30.yet. Let's give a clue. Whatever it is, you'll see in the programme
:26:30. > :26:35.today. Good clue. And also, maybe the bubbles you heard in the sound
:26:35. > :26:40.clue, that's another one. Here at Slimbridge we enjoy watching birds
:26:40. > :26:44.in great numbers and when you see them in large numbers, it's easy to
:26:44. > :26:54.forget they face a lot of threats. Chris has been out and about
:26:54. > :26:59.
:26:59. > :27:03.finding out about some of them. At this time of year, our sea birds
:27:03. > :27:07.have finished breeding and many have headed far out to sea. But
:27:07. > :27:13.this gives our scientists a chance to assess what sort of breeding
:27:13. > :27:16.season they've had and in 2011 it's been mixed. Razorbills and
:27:16. > :27:20.guillemots have done well in England and Wales and on the north-
:27:20. > :27:27.east side of Scotland, but on the western side of Scotland and up in
:27:27. > :27:32.the islands, they have not fared as well. The Orkneys have had a
:27:32. > :27:38.particularly bad season for nearly all of the sea birds. Kittiwakes
:27:38. > :27:42.were badly hit. In some places no chicks were raised at all. So why
:27:42. > :27:46.is this happening? It's complicated. Sometimes breeding success or
:27:46. > :27:52.failure can just be down to a bad storm striking at the wrong time.
:27:52. > :27:55.But there are other factors at work too. Warming sea temperatures and
:27:55. > :28:01.changing fishing picturess probably change the availability of prey.
:28:01. > :28:06.One thing is for sure, sea birds need protection more than ever. But
:28:06. > :28:10.it's not just governments that need to act. Now, one thing we could all
:28:10. > :28:15.do to look after our sea birds a little better, in fact, all marine
:28:15. > :28:20.life, is to be more careful with all of our litter. I've collected
:28:20. > :28:26.this in the last ten minutes on this very remote Hebredian beach.
:28:26. > :28:30.And look at the tile I've got here. Plastic of all kinds, milk bottles,
:28:30. > :28:35.juice bottles and this nylon cord, which is particularly dangerous. A
:28:35. > :28:40.couple of weeks ago, we went out with a team from the RSPB to see
:28:40. > :28:46.just how damaging this stuff can be for wildlifement
:28:46. > :28:52.It's 15th October and a boat load of dedicated bird lovers is leaving
:28:52. > :28:57.the west coast of Wales to travel out to a colony of our largest and
:28:57. > :29:02.most spectacular sea birds. Northern gannets, these are the
:29:02. > :29:08.missiles of the SeaWorld, diving deep to catch their fish. About
:29:08. > :29:13.two-thirds of the population of gannets come to breed off rocky
:29:13. > :29:19.islands off our coasts packing together in large numbers. They
:29:19. > :29:24.breed and then fledge in the early autumn. The RSPB team have dome
:29:24. > :29:28.Grassholm Island, the third largest colony in the UK, with 30,000 pairs
:29:28. > :29:34.of gannets. By mid-October, all of the chicks should have left the
:29:34. > :29:41.nest but some have not been able to go, because of a man-made problem.
:29:41. > :29:46.We estimate that there's around 20 tonnes of plastic on the island.
:29:46. > :29:52.About four hundred to 500 grams per nest on average. Some say, "Why
:29:52. > :29:58.don't you clear it away" but the nests are interwoven with it, it
:29:58. > :30:03.would be an impossible task. for the baby gannets, it's much
:30:03. > :30:07.more than an eyesore. We're too late getting to this one. Look at
:30:07. > :30:12.the plastic around the leg. This is one of this year's youngsters.
:30:12. > :30:16.These birds sit on the nest for 90 days, and as they grow they're
:30:16. > :30:21.turning all the time and it twists around the leg and this one has
:30:21. > :30:24.starved to death. The team has only been able to come ashore now that
:30:24. > :30:32.most of the adult birds have left and their job is to set free as
:30:32. > :30:36.many of the remaining trapped birds as they possibly K
:30:36. > :30:46.This season, they successfully freed 27 birds, although in some
:30:46. > :30:57.
:30:57. > :31:01.It's an animal welfare issue now. It's a man-made issue and we come
:31:01. > :31:06.here to prevent these birds starving to death. It happens to
:31:06. > :31:16.the adults as well. Not as many, but we do find it. He's not very
:31:16. > :31:18.
:31:18. > :31:22.grateful for it, but there you go! I don't know about you, but that
:31:22. > :31:28.was harrowing. You could feel the pain of those little birds. I think
:31:28. > :31:33.it's really shocking to see how much damage our rubbish does to the
:31:33. > :31:39.birds. That's a sobering thought. You've seen that first-hand,
:31:39. > :31:45.because you've been to grassome. Yes, I worked with the RSPB and one
:31:45. > :31:50.of my jobs was to go and stay with these birds. And it breaks your
:31:50. > :31:56.heart. The parents have put so much effort in that one chick, three
:31:56. > :32:01.months before it fries off, and it's caught by the legs and unless
:32:01. > :32:06.we go there and free it, it dies. But when you go there, you come
:32:06. > :32:10.away with a sense that you've achieved something. You've done
:32:10. > :32:15.something successful. You've let the birds go and they could live a
:32:15. > :32:20.long life. But it's so sad that eight miles off shore they're not
:32:20. > :32:27.immune to man's pollution. I think you've made a point there,
:32:27. > :32:32.sometimes we feel so helpless. But we're not going to focus on what
:32:32. > :32:37.man does, but it's simple what we can do to help. You go to the beach
:32:37. > :32:42.with a bag and pick the rubbish up. They do have beach clean-up days
:32:42. > :32:47.and I went with my son. And we went with a bin liner and filled it
:32:47. > :32:53.within half an hour. But you don't have to wait for an official day,
:32:53. > :32:58.you can go for a walk with the kids or the daughter, and pick up the
:32:58. > :33:03.liter I It's no point moaning about it, empower yourself to make a
:33:03. > :33:12.it, empower yourself to make a difference.
:33:12. > :33:17.Iolo, you're a diver. You must have dived with loads of animals,
:33:17. > :33:22.including seals, but have you ever seen them mating? Well, yes, I've
:33:22. > :33:26.seen them mating is shallow water, but look at this wonderful footage,
:33:26. > :33:30.seals mating underwater. Something seals mating underwater. Something
:33:30. > :33:36.I've never seen beforement At this time of year, grey seal
:33:36. > :33:41.pups are being born around our coasts. Males fight for the chance
:33:41. > :33:48.to mate. Usely copulation is a very torrid
:33:48. > :33:52.affair. But we've been sent this, by underwater cameraman, Ben.
:33:52. > :33:57.You can see the male and the female in the kelp there. One or two
:33:57. > :34:01.females in the background. Now I've been watching grey seals for
:34:01. > :34:11.decades and I've never seen anything like this before. They
:34:11. > :34:18.emerge out of the kelp into mid- water. And the male grasps the
:34:18. > :34:25.water, and gently caresses her. Usely they force themselves upon
:34:25. > :34:31.the female. But here, they grasp together. Using the flippers. And
:34:31. > :34:36.successful mating takes place. And of course he won't just mate with
:34:36. > :34:43.this one female, he'll have a harem of anything up to six, seven or
:34:43. > :34:49.eight, maybe even ten females. And then gentle biting there. She's had
:34:49. > :34:54.enough, and he'll go off and look for other females. Amazing footage
:34:54. > :34:59.there, and they did mate there. It wasn't clear there. They did mate.
:34:59. > :35:05.And I've never seen anything quite like that before. I've always
:35:06. > :35:13.watched it from land. They were incredibly gentle. Usually the male
:35:13. > :35:19.gives such a rough time, but he was very tender there. Now, watching
:35:20. > :35:25.underwater is incedsable, but you have to be - incredible, but you
:35:26. > :35:30.have to be careful, and respect the fact that they're wild animals.
:35:30. > :35:34.go down very gently and don't interfere with the seals, because,
:35:34. > :35:40.please, they have a nasty bite. Leave them well alone.
:35:40. > :35:44.sometimes they don't leave you alone, as they didn't to me in
:35:44. > :35:47.Scilly Isles. Now, you may remember back in
:35:47. > :35:51.Springwatch, back in the summer, we were featuring a very special
:35:51. > :35:56.family of foxes. Let's remind ourselves about the Springwatch
:35:56. > :36:01.foxes. They were actually down in a
:36:01. > :36:07.landfill site, Pitsea, in Essex. And there was a very high density
:36:07. > :36:12.of them. There was so much food around, it there were foxes
:36:12. > :36:19.everywhere. Here is the vixen, and she had four cubs, three males and
:36:19. > :36:23.one female. And because they were so used to humans, we got very
:36:23. > :36:29.privileged views into their secret lives. Sweet little foxes! But it
:36:29. > :36:36.turned out that she was kind of a single parent. There was no dog fox
:36:36. > :36:42.apparently around there. She was trying to bring those cubs up all
:36:42. > :36:50.on her own. But then a male did turn up. And she seemed happy about
:36:51. > :36:54.it, but things didn't go well with the cubs. This is Judge, who got a
:36:54. > :37:00.nasty bite from that male. So we had to try to find out what
:37:00. > :37:06.happened next. Would Judge be OK? So we went back to Pitsea to try to
:37:06. > :37:10.catch up with the storyment It's business as usual, here at
:37:10. > :37:20.Pitsea. This is one of the biggest landfill sites in the whole country
:37:20. > :37:29.
:37:29. > :37:39.and that is what supports the large There were certainly lots of foxes
:37:39. > :37:44.around, but where is jap junior, our injured cub? There me is, a bit
:37:44. > :37:51.battle scarred around his ears, but the wound on his forehead has
:37:51. > :37:58.healed well. He's a youngster with an inquisitive streak. He's always
:37:58. > :38:05.investigating things he finds on the tip.
:38:05. > :38:09.Of the four cubs, Junior is the only one still looking for his
:38:09. > :38:15.mum's attention. His brothers and sister are hanging back in the
:38:16. > :38:22.bushes, perhaps, because the new adult male that injured Junior is
:38:22. > :38:25.still very much around. Junior is often out in the open so he's an
:38:25. > :38:30.easy target. This new male is trying to establish himself in the
:38:30. > :38:36.area, so he'll have a good chance of breeding next season. And the
:38:36. > :38:46.Springwatch family's mum seems quite happy to have him around.
:38:46. > :38:46.
:38:46. > :38:52.They're even picking blackberries together!
:38:52. > :38:56.This is the new male scent marking, a clear sign that he's feeling at
:38:56. > :39:01.home here, and the mum goes right in and marks in the same place. Any
:39:01. > :39:09.other foxes in the area will definitely know they have
:39:09. > :39:14.competition. Raggedy- eared Junior has learnt from watching the others
:39:14. > :39:20.that blackberries are good to eat. But what will the presence of the
:39:21. > :39:26.new male mean for him and his brothers and sisters. He's not
:39:26. > :39:30.their biological father, so perhaps he sees them as competition.
:39:30. > :39:35.Fox cubs, especially male ones, do usually leave the territory where
:39:35. > :39:41.they are born towards the ends of the year, and with this level of
:39:41. > :39:45.harassment it looks like Junior and the others might be pushed out
:39:46. > :39:50.sooner rather than later. But can the new Springwatch family male
:39:50. > :39:56.stay as top fox in the area? When there's a standoff with another
:39:56. > :40:02.adult male it looks like things are about to get serious.
:40:02. > :40:08.Fascinating to see that out in the open, Chris. It is a rare treat.
:40:08. > :40:14.Beautiful animals as well. I know they have a mixed reputation with
:40:14. > :40:19.some people, but for me, they hold a torch to the tiger. You look
:40:19. > :40:25.better without the hat. Out there it was useful!
:40:25. > :40:30.But we did see a lot of complicated aggressive interactions. Yes, let's
:40:30. > :40:35.go back to the step-father and the cub. Look at this posture, where
:40:35. > :40:40.the tail has been brought round underneath it, and the head is
:40:40. > :40:44.going round. Now, a sub missive fox will get the head lower and lower
:40:44. > :40:50.and lower. I've seen them put their head on the ground and rub their
:40:50. > :40:56.chin on the ground. They can't get lower than that. And they're
:40:56. > :41:00.offering the other animal the back of the neck to bite. He didn't look
:41:01. > :41:06.totally convinced by his submissive behaviour. He was keeping an eye
:41:06. > :41:13.all the way through. But I think the other adult knew. They don't
:41:13. > :41:17.want to fight. They'll give as many signals as they can. The golden
:41:17. > :41:22.rule is don't cry wolf, don't pretend to be something you're not,
:41:22. > :41:28.because you could get injured. That's interesting, because another
:41:28. > :41:35.big male came along and they did face up to each other. Look at that,
:41:35. > :41:40.fabulous. Look at the ears back, that's another submissive sign. And
:41:40. > :41:45.when I've seen some go for each over, they start with the ears down
:41:45. > :41:51.and as soon as they decide who is top fox, the ears will come up.
:41:51. > :41:58.This is unusual, because typically, if they're having these
:41:58. > :42:04.altercations it's under deep cover, in bram - brambles, not in the open.
:42:04. > :42:09.But it could be because this is such a big site they are outs in
:42:09. > :42:13.the open. In fact, that did not stop there, it did progress to
:42:13. > :42:18.something far more dramatic, so we'll show you that next week, and
:42:18. > :42:23.there is a lot more to come. As well as a punch-up. Now, Michaela
:42:23. > :42:30.is out in the pouring rain. It has been noted, boys, that you've left
:42:30. > :42:34.me in the rain! Today we've been focusing on marine life and one of
:42:34. > :42:41.the major issues facing our marine life is the fishing industry. There
:42:41. > :42:51.are many neem this country who rely on fishing for their - many people
:42:51. > :42:52.
:42:52. > :42:56.in this country who rely on fishing for their livelihood. So, how can
:42:56. > :43:04.we preserve the future of one of our many fascinating marine
:43:04. > :43:10.creatures? The lobster. It's a remarkable
:43:10. > :43:16.animal. Ten legs, three stomachs, one with teeth. Its blood is blue.
:43:16. > :43:22.It can live for 50 years, maybe 100 years. And some scientists think
:43:22. > :43:27.that if they are not disturbed they can live indefinitely.
:43:27. > :43:37.4 But of course, they are disturbed. Because lobsters are at the heart
:43:37. > :43:39.
:43:39. > :43:44.of a thriving fishing industry. In the late 1980s and early '90s,
:43:44. > :43:54.the fishery around Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly saw a declining
:43:54. > :44:00.catch, despite an increased fishing effort. A by law was passed that
:44:00. > :44:06.prevented fishermen from catching a lobster below a certain size, but
:44:06. > :44:11.it hasn't stopped there. Don has run a lobster breeding project for
:44:11. > :44:16.the past six years, with the key objective to increase numbers. This
:44:17. > :44:24.is the starting point of the process. What's the first step?
:44:24. > :44:29.get pregnant, or egg- bearing females from the fishermen.
:44:29. > :44:35.Normally we get them in just before they are ready to hatch. And this
:44:35. > :44:39.one, the eggs are just about to hatch. Can we have a look? Yes,
:44:39. > :44:48.they're attached to these feathery structures under the tail. And
:44:48. > :44:53.they'll hatch over the next week or two. Into what? Into lava. Which
:44:53. > :44:58.float around in the surface layers of the sea. And they're very
:44:58. > :45:04.vulnerable to predation. So we're taking them through that vulnerable
:45:04. > :45:08.stage in life, where they can be eaten by sardines, and mackerel,
:45:08. > :45:15.and taking them through to a less vulnerable stage. So in the wild,
:45:15. > :45:22.how many of the eggs would survive to the lava stage? It's difficult
:45:22. > :45:27.to quantify, but something like 0.006% survival. Very, very low.
:45:27. > :45:37.Many more survive here. Once they've gone through the lava stage,
:45:37. > :45:45.
:45:45. > :45:52.what do they turn into? Juveniles. The hatchry has juveniles ranging
:45:52. > :46:00.from just hatched to one to two days, like this one. He's sensing
:46:00. > :46:04.things all the time. Yes, they have taste buds on their antenna.
:46:04. > :46:11.what stage do you think about releasing them? How big do they
:46:11. > :46:17.have to get? We've been releasing them at a variety of ages. Some are
:46:17. > :46:24.released a little older than this. That's tiny. And this sort of size.
:46:24. > :46:27.What we'd like to do is release all of our juveniles at this sort of
:46:27. > :46:33.stage. Research indicates that once the juveniles are released back
:46:33. > :46:39.into the sea they stand a 50% to 80% chance of survival. So this
:46:39. > :46:44.work may become an important part in preserving the lobster's future.
:46:44. > :46:49.About 30 years ago in Norway and many other Scandinavian countries,
:46:49. > :46:56.lobster numbers crashed and they never recovered. But hopefully the
:46:56. > :47:00.work going on here in Cornwall will help its future.
:47:00. > :47:05.What a fascinate be animal. And it's great to see a project where
:47:05. > :47:10.fishermen see the need to put something back into the ocean.
:47:10. > :47:17.it's hard for me, a committed vegetarian to talk about lobsters.
:47:17. > :47:24.But it is great. That research sproj ongoing work. Very hard. What
:47:24. > :47:31.do - that research project is ongoing work. It's very hard,
:47:31. > :47:37.because what do you feed the tiny lobster. And they use people going
:47:37. > :47:45.out on a pleasure dive to put them back into the water. But that
:47:45. > :47:55.lobster film leads us nicely into the quiz reveal. Was that a set-up?
:47:55. > :47:55.
:47:55. > :48:00.Amazingly, lots of you have got it right. Carol, a purple centipede
:48:00. > :48:07.and Adam and others all got the right answer. You're right. Thanks
:48:07. > :48:16.for giving it away. It's a lobster. They make that noise by rubbing
:48:16. > :48:22.hard pads on their antenna against their scales to day tract a meat.
:48:22. > :48:26.Now, what has happened to the three osprey we've been following on
:48:26. > :48:34.their migration to West Africa? We haven't really caught up with
:48:34. > :48:39.them for a while. So last week, we sent Roy to West Africa. He went to
:48:39. > :48:48.Senegal. And told us it was heaving with osprey. They're all fishing.
:48:48. > :48:56.He thinks he probably saw one of them, but he's not sure. So we'll
:48:56. > :49:03.give you the final update of our three ospreys next week. Let's hope
:49:03. > :49:08.they've all survived. It wasn't looking good for one of them last
:49:08. > :49:14.week, was it. Now, I'm glad to be in the studio
:49:14. > :49:19.now because of the rain outside. It is still mild at the moment. But
:49:19. > :49:23.what does the weather have in store for us. John, what will it be
:49:23. > :49:32.doing? In the short term, it is going to
:49:32. > :49:39.stop raining, but not before the end of the show.
:49:39. > :49:43.This rain should clear through by tomorrow. This belt, some of it is
:49:43. > :49:53.heavy, will continue through to the east coast but clear away from the
:49:53. > :49:53.
:49:54. > :49:58.east by morning time. And yet again not cold. Saturday is going to an
:49:58. > :50:05.lovely day. Any showers across western areas will fade away and
:50:05. > :50:09.nearly all of us can look forward to a dry, bright and mild day.
:50:09. > :50:16.Tomorrow, temperatures should get up into the mid-teens. Sunday, more
:50:16. > :50:20.of the same. It will start cloudy along the eastern coast, but once
:50:20. > :50:25.more, the sunshine should come out and the temperatures should climb.
:50:25. > :50:33.It will be a good weekend. Very, very mild, John. Last week, you
:50:33. > :50:38.promised cold weather over Russia, which we were hoping would organise
:50:38. > :50:46.some migration. What happened? the cold weather stayed over Russia.
:50:46. > :50:52.Look at the dark blue colours, that is where the winter is arriving.
:50:52. > :50:58.And unusually across much of Scandinavia and Europe temperatures
:50:58. > :51:03.are higher than they should be. So the migrating birds are not
:51:03. > :51:12.encouraged by the mild weather. Closer to home, we're not going to
:51:12. > :51:20.get the cold air in the near future, that's for sure, but we will get
:51:20. > :51:24.some easterly winds, so there will be some migration. I'll be here
:51:24. > :51:31.next week to see if there is a change, but in the near week, not
:51:31. > :51:36.much changing. Now, I got the prediction wrong
:51:36. > :51:43.last week. We thought the cold weather would push the water foul
:51:43. > :51:48.over here, but only a few Bewick's swans have got here to Slimbridge.
:51:48. > :51:58.And we thought there might be pigeons to the east side of the
:51:58. > :51:59.
:51:59. > :52:03.country, by this week, but I was wrong again. I also said the
:52:03. > :52:08.Woodcock wouldn't arrive either. But I was wrong about that as well.
:52:08. > :52:14.Some have arrived in the east of England and one in Scotland was
:52:14. > :52:18.found in a lady's wardrobe. Actually I just made that up,
:52:18. > :52:25.because I couldn't think about anything interesting to say about
:52:25. > :52:32.that lonely Woodcock. We had lots of waxwings last year,
:52:32. > :52:36.and some have arrived this year. That's super. All of this migration,
:52:36. > :52:40.I think what is happening at the moment, the weather isn't hard
:52:40. > :52:45.enough to push these birds over. So the fidgety ones are moving over
:52:45. > :52:53.any way and coming to the UK. If you're at the coast it's a good
:52:53. > :52:58.place to spot them, but if you are in the middle of the North Sea,
:52:58. > :53:03.that's an equally good place to spot them. They are on container
:53:04. > :53:13.ships which have been converted into oil rigs. We have this
:53:14. > :53:18.
:53:18. > :53:25.Lenny Simpson has worked on oil rigs for 29 years but his passion
:53:25. > :53:31.is birds. I've been a bird watching, really,
:53:31. > :53:37.since I was a child. A seven or eight-year-old when I got my first
:53:37. > :53:43.pair of binoculars. Working out here we work three weeks on and
:53:43. > :53:47.three weeks off, on rota. So it can be a long time away from your
:53:47. > :53:53.friends and family, but watching the birds helps me get through long
:53:53. > :54:00.hours on board. There are sea birds to watch all year, but autumn is
:54:00. > :54:03.Lenny's favourite time of year, because many migrating birds from
:54:03. > :54:09.the mainland of Northern Europe stop off to rest on the rig on
:54:09. > :54:15.their way to the UK. I've seen about 170 species of birds. Many
:54:15. > :54:22.are common, but quite a few are rare. Early arrivals this year
:54:22. > :54:30.included Blackcap and wheat ear. But he's also seen some hunting the
:54:30. > :54:37.smaller birds. The peregrins have taken some of the other species.
:54:37. > :54:42.You find feathers and bits of birds lying everywhere. A peregrin falcon
:54:42. > :54:52.is a fantastic sighting, but this is his top sighting so far this
:54:52. > :54:52.
:54:52. > :54:58.year. A short-eared owl. He stayed and rested for a few days before
:54:58. > :55:08.continuing on to the UK where he'll spend the winter. What a fabulous
:55:08. > :55:14.
:55:14. > :55:23.sight 120 miles from land. members of the bird club that I
:55:23. > :55:28.belong to will probably never meet up, because we all work in
:55:28. > :55:31.different areas. The members of the oil rig bird club have been
:55:31. > :55:37.recorded all the species over the years and Lenny has been
:55:37. > :55:47.responsible for one or two records himself. Up until now I've put in
:55:47. > :55:50.
:55:50. > :55:56.16,000 records. So a few over the years!
:55:56. > :56:03.Clearly a great place to go birding, but not one we all have access to.
:56:03. > :56:12.But he's given us an update. 23 species in one day, including a
:56:13. > :56:18.Woodcock. He had a bat for a week hanging under the helipad. Three
:56:18. > :56:23.short-eared owls at the same time and a Merlin chasing redwings.
:56:24. > :56:28.That's a real variety. It's astonishing. Pretty good.
:56:28. > :56:33.Thank you very much. Very curious thing, when I was down looking at
:56:33. > :56:38.the lobsters in Cornwall, I noticed something extraordinary I'd never
:56:38. > :56:47.seen before. Lots of little turn stones running around in amongst
:56:47. > :56:52.people's feet. I've nerve seen that, just acting like scavengers. Just
:56:52. > :56:59.eating anything they could get their teeth into. They are strange
:56:59. > :57:05.little birds. I remember in the 1980s, being a subscriber of
:57:05. > :57:14.British Birds, the journal. There was a writer, Mr King who always
:57:14. > :57:21.wrote in little notes about turn Stones eating strange things, the
:57:21. > :57:29.first one was eating human excrement. And the next was picking
:57:29. > :57:38.at a condom. And another was turn Stones picking at a human corpse.
:57:38. > :57:45.Check it out. It just shows how they take advantage of things.
:57:45. > :57:55.Have you got a question? A quick question. How do barnacles get
:57:55. > :57:56.
:57:56. > :58:02.attached to whales' skin. Sometimes they form clocities and the
:58:02. > :58:08.barnacles attach to these lumps on the head. We're running out of time.
:58:09. > :58:13.Coming up next week, an old friend of Springwatch comes back to act as
:58:13. > :58:20.an urban correspondent for us. And we'll look deeper still into the
:58:20. > :58:27.lives of the Pitsea foxes. And Roy Davies will be giving our final