0:00:02 > 0:00:05Hello, I'm Chris Packham, and this is Nature's Top 40,
0:00:05 > 0:00:07the top 40 greatest wildlife spectacles
0:00:07 > 0:00:10that you can see here in the UK.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23Today, we're counting down from 12 to 9, but before we do that,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26here are a few of the things that we've seen so far.
0:00:26 > 0:00:32We put bat swarming into our charts at number 28.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36I can see the bats swirling right round the gable end of the house.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Look how social they are.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43For Mike Dilger, it was love at first bite.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46And could this be the best beach in Britain?
0:00:46 > 0:00:53No ice cream and deck chairs, just a stunning display of acrobatic dolphins.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Did you see that?
0:00:55 > 0:00:59This is the dolphin show that everybody really wanted to see.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03And sea eagles swept in at number 13.
0:01:03 > 0:01:05Oh, that's it, that fish!
0:01:05 > 0:01:08She's flying... Have you got her, can you see her?
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Oh, that's amazing! Brilliant bird.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Well, you might be asking, what on earth could be better than that in terms of a spectacle?
0:01:18 > 0:01:22Well, how about Britain's largest land mammal, locked in combat?
0:01:22 > 0:01:25A real clash of the titans, a matter of life and death.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28At number 12, rutting deer.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36Remember when you were young?
0:01:36 > 0:01:40The anticipation of a big event like Christmas or your birthday?
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Fast forward best part of 40 years,
0:01:47 > 0:01:51and the feeling is exactly, exactly the same.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55There's an air of nervousness, there's a tension in the pit of my stomach,
0:01:55 > 0:02:01because this is the middle of the deer rutting season...
0:02:01 > 0:02:03HE SNIFFS
0:02:03 > 0:02:08..and you could almost smell that tension in the air.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11The red deer rut is that short window in autumn
0:02:11 > 0:02:15when the stags battle it out for their chance to mate with the hinds.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19In the course of the next few hours, some of these creatures
0:02:19 > 0:02:22are going to turn themselves into living battering rams.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26There's gonna be pushing, shoving,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29a lot of bellowing, there could be some wallowing too.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33It's gonna be like Saturday afternoon wrestling when we were kids.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38Dickie Davies, World Of Sport, Giant Haystacks verses Big Daddy.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40The only thing missing is gonna be the gold spandex.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43It's gonna be a phenomenal show, and if I'm lucky,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45I'm gonna get a front row seat.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51All this testosterone-driven action is happening just ten miles
0:02:51 > 0:02:56from Manchester city centre, on the National Trust's Lyme Park estate.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59Who needs Old Trafford for excitement?
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Certainly not deer warden Emily.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08It's the primal force of nature, the desire to reproduce.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10It drives everything, doesn't it?
0:03:10 > 0:03:16Emily, take a look at this. There are a couple of animals on the right-hand side there.
0:03:16 > 0:03:21They're a bit older, aren't they? They've got they've got tines rather than just spikes.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24Yeah, they're going to be at least two or three years old.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Each year, they'll grow bigger and bigger antlers.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33They cast them every year, and have to regrow a new set every year.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35It's quite a major investment.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39It is, cos it's solid bone. It's thick all the way through.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43And you see with the bigger stags, the antlers are quite long.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45A good two to three foot long.
0:03:45 > 0:03:50That's a lot of material, so they've got to get that through their metabolism and build these things.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52It's a massive physiological investment.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Yeah, it totally amazes me, when they only eat grass, that they can put on all that new growth.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01And build their body size up, so that they're not going to eat for a month,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04so they can strop about, smell about and chase about.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07And this time of year, their necks have got a lot thicker.
0:04:07 > 0:04:09They put on more muscle in the neck
0:04:09 > 0:04:13so that they can carry the antlers and fight with them if they need to,
0:04:13 > 0:04:15so their necks get much bigger and thicker.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21There are 350 reds here, with about 50 stags.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25It's the kind of ratio that means that trouble is always brewing.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27Just listen, listen.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29STAGS GRUNT
0:04:29 > 0:04:33It's just angst, isn't it?
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Angst, anger, frustration.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39Cor.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41I tell you what.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45If you were to come here on a misty day, just as it was getting light...
0:04:45 > 0:04:50They're so loud. It's more like Jurassic Park than Lyme Park, isn't it?
0:04:50 > 0:04:53STAGS GRUNT
0:04:53 > 0:04:57But it's the violence that makes the rut such a spectacle.
0:04:57 > 0:05:01So, let the contest begin.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Couple of those smaller stags,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07and there's a third one just joined in there.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10There's a little bit of a rumpus going on down there.
0:05:10 > 0:05:11Two of the animals started,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15they had their heads down with a bit of shoving, and a third animal joined in.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Kind of spoiled it, I think.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23The third animal probably put pay to the full-blown pushing-shoving game.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28That animal's panting a bit as well,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32so even that little tussle took the wind out of its sails.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34Now here they are, look.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38They've locked back in, and this is a classic conflict.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42You can see the antlers are designed to lock together, those tines.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46Jam them together so that they're facing head-to-head,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48and it becomes push and shove.
0:05:48 > 0:05:49At the moment, they're circling.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Presumably one of them wants the high ground,
0:05:52 > 0:05:54because then it can use its body weight,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57just like that, look, to push the other one down.
0:05:57 > 0:05:58And down it goes!
0:06:00 > 0:06:05And look at them - they're both pacing sideways trying to get the high ground.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07And that's it.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Oh, no, one look back and that's the price of looking back.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14They immediately re-locked.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19And the one on the left... Oh, no, they're spinning round.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24These animals are really evenly matched.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Quite how they're gonna decide...
0:06:29 > 0:06:31Oh, there we are.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36That's it. Well, one got the advantage, got the high ground, pushed the other one.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38He's probably got a bit too tired, he's run off,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41and then, obviously, the victor chases him off
0:06:41 > 0:06:45to enforce the fact that he's won that contest,
0:06:45 > 0:06:50and the supplicant has to skulk off in the grass.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54That was a top view, and in open country too, which is nice.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58They disappeared behind the grass a little bit, but we had fantastic views.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Amazing. And in the British countryside,
0:07:00 > 0:07:04there's not, there's not a bigger battle, is there, really?
0:07:04 > 0:07:07No, these are huge animals. They're big, heavy stags.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11They've lost a bit of weight because they've been spending a lot of time
0:07:11 > 0:07:13fighting or chasing the hinds around and not eating,
0:07:13 > 0:07:20but even in this slightly thinner state, the pure power of those huge stags fighting...
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Britain's biggest mammal, and a pushing and shoving contest like that,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27I mean, outside of, you know, killing things,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32this is the most violent spectacle that you can probably get, you know.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Amazing. Really, really...
0:07:34 > 0:07:36Really, really impressive.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Now, I don't think that anyone can dispute
0:07:40 > 0:07:46that that was undeniably one of the UK's greatest wildlife spectacles. Superb.
0:07:48 > 0:07:53Moving on to a spectacle which I think is going to disappoint some of you,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57simply because it hasn't made it into the top ten.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59It's just been nudged out, and here's my take on it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03You've got these birds, OK. In ones and twos, they're sort of brown,
0:08:03 > 0:08:07they're not too exotic, not too flamboyant, they honk about a bit.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10But when you get a whole gaggle of them together,
0:08:10 > 0:08:13they become a truly fantastic spectacle.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16At number 11, it's flocks of winter geese.
0:08:29 > 0:08:34The spectacle of pink-footed goose is all about one thing -
0:08:34 > 0:08:35numbers.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47North Norfolk, winter headquarters of the pink-footed goose.
0:08:47 > 0:08:53100,000, or half the world's population, come right here.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56They migrate from Iceland, roosting nightly across The Wash,
0:08:56 > 0:09:03before staging a mass movement inland at first light to feed.
0:09:03 > 0:09:04Oh, I can see good numbers now.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06There there's a big group coming up now.
0:09:06 > 0:09:12There's a big flock just taken off, actually. So get ready. Hopefully, they'll come our way.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15I'm not alone for this coastal fly-in at Snettisham.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19The RSPB's Paul is here, monitoring pink-foot numbers.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21Here they come.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It's happening. Look at that behind us.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26That is pretty incredible.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30That is absolutely flippin' lovely.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32Why they fly sometimes in this V formation,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35cos sometimes it looks like a little string of pearls,
0:09:35 > 0:09:39but often you're getting a very pronounced V - what's the point of that?
0:09:39 > 0:09:41When they're coming down from Iceland,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43the front bird, the lead bird, tends to be an adult.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45It's always an adult, for two reasons.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48One is that they're the ones that know where they're going,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51so they're leading all the juveniles.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54They're showing the birds, the young birds, how to get here.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58Also what it is, the front bird also takes all of the wind
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and the birds behind are in the slip stream, so they get a bit of a help.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03If we could follow them all the way,
0:10:03 > 0:10:07the front bird will switch to the back and another bird will take the lead.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12That will have all the buffeting for however long, and then they'll swap over.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16So it's an energy saving thing as well as a sat nav, I suppose, for the juveniles.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It's like someone's taken a massive big pen
0:10:19 > 0:10:22and just scribbled random lines all over the sky,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26but the lovely thing as well is the lines are constantly changing shape.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30They are. I suppose it's avian graffiti, if you like.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34What a great phrase, avian graffiti! I love it.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38And the geese keep coming, coming and coming.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Come on, then, have a go.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Right in front of us now, how many birds?
0:10:43 > 0:10:49Oh, probably 7,000 to 8,000 birds here coming up, and there's another big group behind as well.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51A couple of thousand as well.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55So I'd have said in this shot, in this view that we've got here, 10,000 birds.
0:10:55 > 0:10:5610,000 birds.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- I'd have said. - Right above our heads.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00I feel like I'm paying homage
0:11:00 > 0:11:02to the pink-footed goose.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05After the end of today, I might go back to Bristol
0:11:05 > 0:11:06with a sore neck,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08cos I'm just doing this the whole time!
0:11:08 > 0:11:12If you live in Norfolk, you're used to looking up, so it's no problem for me.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14Wow!
0:11:18 > 0:11:23The geese head inland to gorge themselves on what's left of the sugar beet crop.
0:11:23 > 0:11:30The remaining roots and tops of the plant provide a high energy boost the geese just can't resist.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Find the sugar beet fields and you'll find the birds.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40There's an aerial display to enjoy too - as they fly in to feed,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44they spill air from their wings, or whiffle, to land.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56Superb.
0:11:56 > 0:11:57We've hit the jackpot.
0:11:57 > 0:12:06And there is a massive flock of 7,000, 8,000 minimum.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Some of them are feeding away, some of them resting.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11Such a sociable animal.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15On its own, they're not that much to look at, to be honest.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18Obviously pink feet, cos it's called a pink-footed goose.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22It's got a little pink bill and a really dark-coloured head.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26I actually think the name is pretty poor.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Surely pinked-footed geese
0:12:28 > 0:12:30should be called chocolate-headed geese
0:12:30 > 0:12:32because that brown head is so distinctive.
0:12:32 > 0:12:37Before 1975, pink-foots were a rare sight here.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41As sugar beet production exploded, so did geese numbers.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44All this thanks to a simple root vegetable.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46Woah, look,
0:12:46 > 0:12:48someone's flushed them.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53Oh, hear the wings. And they've all started calling en masse.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55Oh, that is brilliant.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58GEESE HONK
0:13:00 > 0:13:05Listen to the noise. Absolutely brilliant.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Look at that for a spectacle.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11They've gone en masse.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16That is a sight and sound of winter in Norfolk.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19That is as good as it gets, superb.
0:13:26 > 0:13:32Geese, richly deserving their place in our list there, especially with that super-sexy whiffling.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35I wish I could whiffle. I can whistle but I just can't whiffle.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37Still, enough of that nonsense.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40We're three-quarters of the way through our top 40 now,
0:13:40 > 0:13:44so let's have a recap as what made it into the charts between 20 and 11.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46What cheeky little chappies.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48At 20 - puffins.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52Going for gold - autumn colour at 19.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Moving up to 18, how I love those orchids.
0:13:57 > 0:14:03And we had a whale of a time at number 17.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07Courtship made our charts at number 16 with weed-waving grebes.
0:14:09 > 0:14:15And at 15, a truly awesome dolphin display.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19Landing heavy blows at 14, we had boxing hares.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Whilst sweeping sea eagles flew in at 13.
0:14:24 > 0:14:26GRUNTING
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Roaring in at 12, rutting deer.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33And Britain's greatest gaggle -
0:14:33 > 0:14:36winter geese got us going at number 11.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42The UK has any number of iconic species -
0:14:42 > 0:14:46the deer that we've just seen, for example, or there's otters,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50wild cats, pine martens, dormice, but when it comes to birds,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54there's one species that's always amongst everyone's favourite -
0:14:54 > 0:14:56the barn owl. Look at it, it's an absolute stunner.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01I think people like them because they've got a relatively human face,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04they've got this dish on the front with a beak that looks like a nose.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07While sat on my fist here, they're undeniably beautiful.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10To see them at their best, you need to see them in action.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13Number ten, hunting barn owls.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Five species of owl live wild in the UK.
0:15:21 > 0:15:28The classic hoot belongs to the tawny owl,
0:15:28 > 0:15:31but the most spectacular is the barn owl.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36It used to be known as the screech owl, after its call.
0:15:36 > 0:15:40The name changed when humans built barns. The owls moved in
0:15:40 > 0:15:45to feed on the rodents eating the grain.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49But this is a spectacle that we almost lost.
0:15:49 > 0:15:56In the 1930s, the barn owl population started to fall,
0:15:56 > 0:16:00by more than two thirds in 50 years.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05Barn owls love this long, rough grass for hunting.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Unfortunately, intensive farming has destroyed a lot of
0:16:08 > 0:16:13this kind of habitat, and that led to a drastic decline in numbers.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Now, that situation has improved to some extent, but there is
0:16:17 > 0:16:23another problem - a lack of places for these birds to nest.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Nest sites have been lost to elm disease and barn conversions
0:16:27 > 0:16:30and without a nest, they won't breed.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34Now they're back, and I'm meeting the man who helped save them.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40In the 1980's, Colin Sawyer set up the barn owl conservation network.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43We built nest boxes all the way along the river networks,
0:16:43 > 0:16:48from Yorkshire to Sussex, and the barn owls are nesting in those
0:16:48 > 0:16:51quite happily now, so we think the population's now going
0:16:51 > 0:16:52to start to increase.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55So really, Colin, it's partly thanks to you
0:16:55 > 0:16:58that we have so many more barn owls than we did.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02Well, we've got 2,000 nest boxes up and 70% are occupied.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05So it's really good news. But we've got the support
0:17:05 > 0:17:09of a huge team of volunteers as well throughout the UK.
0:17:18 > 0:17:19See any chicks?
0:17:19 > 0:17:23- I can, two healthy-looking chicks. - Oh, look at that!
0:17:23 > 0:17:26But the wind's ruffling their down, so I'll keep them close to me
0:17:26 > 0:17:29and then protect them from the wind.
0:17:30 > 0:17:36They tend to hunt at night and also early evening and in the morning,
0:17:36 > 0:17:39but their eyes aren't as good as you would expect.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42Their eyesight is good, better than ours, but not good enough
0:17:42 > 0:17:44to pick up the minute detail of voles in grass,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47hidden under the grass, litter and so forth.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49They need their ears to do that.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54The interesting thing about their ears is they're at different heights.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57The sound arriving at each ear's a slightly different time
0:17:57 > 0:18:00and a different frequency, so they can orientate their head
0:18:00 > 0:18:02in the position to the way the sound's coming,
0:18:02 > 0:18:04so they're very well designed.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07And the other thing about them is their face.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10This disc here that helps to funnel the sound in.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14Funnels the sound in, cos the ear openings are just behind the eyes.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21Their soft feathers make barn owls silent in flight,
0:18:21 > 0:18:28so they can hear clearly and don't scare off prey, which is vital.
0:18:28 > 0:18:33A family of five needs about 30 voles or mice every day.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48- What is it about barn owls that you love?- I don't know, really.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51I think, first and foremost, it was seeing them disappear
0:18:51 > 0:18:55in my own county and thinking, "We'd better get these birds back,"
0:18:55 > 0:18:59and then seeing their unbelievable beauty once they're back.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Coming to each box every year, we do probably a thousand boxes,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06but every year, when I open that door, it's a privilege to see them.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10And I think it's just their beauty, really. So difficult to explain.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12The best times to see them
0:19:12 > 0:19:16are the last two hours before sunset or after dawn,
0:19:16 > 0:19:21and between May and August, they hunt more to feed the chicks.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24They're reluctant to hunt in the rain, so after a wet night,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28they may well be out in daylight, as they'll be desperate for food.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31They have this interesting flight pattern,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34this beautiful, moth-like flight,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37just floating across the tops of the grassland,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41then very low down, listening all the time and then suddenly stopping,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43almost hovering momentarily,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46and then cartwheeling down into the grassland for prey.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48It's just a wonderful spectacle.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54What an absolutely stunning bird,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59and one which has benefited from proactive, practical conservation
0:19:59 > 0:20:04in the countryside. You put up nest boxes, and you increase their wild population.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07If you'd like to get involved in conservation,
0:20:07 > 0:20:10why not take a look at our Breathing Places campaign?
0:20:10 > 0:20:13You can do so by looking at the website -
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Next up is a truly awesome, awesome experience.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Getting in the water, and coming face to face with a behemoth -
0:20:29 > 0:20:33a sea monster - just off the coast of the UK.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36At number 9, it's swimming with basking sharks.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45I've arrived here, in Penzance,
0:20:45 > 0:20:49on my search for a truly awesome fish.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53They've been known to grow up to 36 feet in length, and weigh seven tonnes -
0:20:53 > 0:20:57that's as long and as heavy as this bus.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And to find these gentle giants,
0:21:01 > 0:21:04I have got to head out to sea.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06# One, two, three, four! #
0:21:16 > 0:21:20The seas around Cornwall are great for wildlife,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22and home to creatures like the compass jellyfish,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26its brown lines resembling the radii of a compass.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30And the weird-looking sunfish.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34No-one knows why they come to the surface and swim in this way.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46But I'm after an altogether bigger fish.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48It might be the size of a bus,
0:21:48 > 0:21:52but they can still be difficult to find. I'm scanning the horizon
0:21:52 > 0:21:56for that tell-tale fin breaking the surface of the water.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58And there it is...
0:22:00 > 0:22:04THAT is a big fin, and it belongs to a big shark.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08In fact, it's the second-biggest fish in the world.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12The biggest is the whale shark. That is a basking shark.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14It's the first time I've ever seen one.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19A fantastic view. It's absolutely huge, and you could see
0:22:19 > 0:22:22its giant mouth.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25What it's doing is sucking water through there.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26It needs to filter
0:22:26 > 0:22:30as much as an Olympic-size swimming pool every hour,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33to get the nutrients it needs.
0:22:34 > 0:22:39These sharks are distantly related to the infamous great white.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42They're called basking sharks because, years ago,
0:22:42 > 0:22:47fisherman saw them close to the surface, and though they were sunbathing. They're not, of course.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50But our shores remain one of the best places to see them.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59And this is why the basking sharks are here.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03It's zooplankton. They're tiny, shrimp-like creatures,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07thousands and thousands of them. It's amazing to think
0:23:07 > 0:23:12that something so small is food for something so big.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15So, this is a pint of Basking Shark Best!
0:23:15 > 0:23:18And this one is on me, guys!
0:23:21 > 0:23:24The gallons of water they take in
0:23:24 > 0:23:28pass out through their large gills, while tiny hair-like instruments
0:23:28 > 0:23:31inside the mouth sift out the plankton.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35Between April and September
0:23:35 > 0:23:38is the best time to look for basking sharks. They're rarely seen in winter
0:23:38 > 0:23:42and people once thought they hibernated on the ocean floor.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45In fact, they stay around our coasts all year,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49but in winter, plankton remain below the surface, and so do the sharks.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53Of course, it's people seeing fins like that
0:23:53 > 0:23:57that give us our great white shark scare stories every summer,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00but it is just basking sharks.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02Now, it looks like there's two or three sharks there.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05There's actually only one behind me at the moment.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10What you're seeing is the big dorsal fin on the back, then, behind it, the smaller tail fin.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15And people sometimes think they've seen two sharks - one following each other.
0:24:15 > 0:24:20It's actually one big basking shark and it's the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin
0:24:20 > 0:24:23that gives you an idea as to the size of the beast!
0:24:26 > 0:24:31There's two over there. There's a fin right there and one up ahead!
0:24:31 > 0:24:35I mean, we're surrounded by basking sharks!
0:24:39 > 0:24:40Wow!
0:24:40 > 0:24:44It's right here! It's just swam straight past the boat!
0:24:46 > 0:24:49That was coming right at us!
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Look at this - it's like shark's fin soup out here!
0:24:53 > 0:24:56They've all congregated together and that must be
0:24:56 > 0:24:59because there's a particularly rich patch of plankton
0:24:59 > 0:25:03and what they'll do is they'll move in zigzags or circle round it,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06hoovering up as much of that plankton as they can.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14You know, you would think it doesn't get any better than this.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17But believe me, it does.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29Now, this is the opportunity of a lifetime!
0:25:29 > 0:25:32And I for one am not going to waste it.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34I've got myself all kitted up,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38and I'm gonna get in the water and go swimming with those sharks.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Now, I'm not gonna approach them.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44I'm gonna roll off the side of the boat and wait for them to come to me.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58'Only when you're swimming with them
0:25:58 > 0:26:02'can you appreciate just how massive they are.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11'Considering their size, it's surprising how little we know
0:26:11 > 0:26:13'about these amazing creatures.'
0:26:32 > 0:26:34Well, I must say...
0:26:34 > 0:26:37they are far more elegant than I am.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40That was just extraordinary!
0:26:40 > 0:26:43They... They look like some prehistoric creatures!
0:26:43 > 0:26:46And it really is quite terrifying,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49because you've got this mix of emotions going.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52You know, your head's saying, "It's harmless, it's harmless."
0:26:52 > 0:26:57But your heart's pounding, going, "It's a shark, it's a big shark!"
0:26:57 > 0:27:02But what a privilege to be able to swim with a creature like that
0:27:02 > 0:27:04right off the UK coast!
0:27:07 > 0:27:11'Thankfully, these magnificent animals are no longer hunted here.
0:27:11 > 0:27:16'But in our busy waters, they are at risk from collisions with boats.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21'For me, the experience of swimming with sharks was awe-inspiring
0:27:21 > 0:27:26'and these creatures will always remain in my top five.'
0:27:39 > 0:27:43What about that? What about that? I can't imagine
0:27:43 > 0:27:48there's any naturalist out there that wouldn't try and want to have that experience for themselves.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52I've tried it. I jumped in, but the water was like a thick pea soup.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55I couldn't see a basking shark six inches in front of my face.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59But having seen that, I just wanna get wet again straight away.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04What a show, though - thousands of geese, beautiful barn owls, the basking sharks
0:28:04 > 0:28:09and, of course, we got into a rut with a load of noisy old deers.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Join us again next time, though, because I promise you,
0:28:12 > 0:28:14the countdown gets even better.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:27 > 0:28:29E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk