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A volcano on the equator
in the Pacific Ocean;

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and on its very rim,
among the lava boulders life;

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a giant tortoise.

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Inside another, in its very throat,

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an iguana climbs down the walls to lay
its eggs on the floor of the crater.

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Yet this is one of
the most active volcanoes on earth.

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Closer to the coast, molten lava
spouts from yet another vent.

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And here, alongside a lava flow,
lives another iguana.

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Like creatures from some creation myth

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these reptiles manage, astonishingly,

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to live among the fires
that build the earth.

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The Galapagos Islands are home to
the only sea-going lizard in the world

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the marine iguana.

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In spite of the crashing surf,

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the iguanas manage to graze
on lush growths

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of marine algae that flourish around
the coasts.

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After an hour or so in the sea,

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these lizards have to come to land
to warm up again in the sun.

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Getting ashore is not always easy.

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This is the coast of Fernandina,

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the most westerly and the newest
of the Galapagos Islands

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and home to the biggest concentration
of marine iguanas.

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It's January,
the beginning of the hot season,

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the time for them to begin to breed.

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Big males roam aggressively through
the herd of females,

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establishing their breeding territories

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and that means battling with rivals.

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Shaking the head is a challenge
and one that has to be met.

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While the larger males were fighting,

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a subordinate has moved
in to mate with a female.

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The big male regularly surveys
his territory

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and he's spotted the trespasser.

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This cannot be allowed.

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He drags the female away

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and carries her off to the center
of his domain.

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Once the female receives his sperm,

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she will become unreceptive
and will not mate again this year.

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The intruder will have
to try again elsewhere.

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The iguanas congregate
in herds around the coastal areas

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where there is easy access to the sea
and the riches it contains.

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There are fifteen main islands
in the Galapagos archipelago.

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In contrast to the sea around them,

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they are largely barren and dominated
by craters and lava fields.

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All, over the last five million years,

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have been built by volcanoes erupting
from cracks in the earth's crust,

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deep below on the floor of the ocean,
a process that still continues today.

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Rivers of molten rock pour down
the volcano's flanks,

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lighting the equatorial night
with their glow.

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Nothing can stand in their path

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as they flow inexorably downhill
into the sea.

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When dawn comes,

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it reveals that the lava has run right
through a grove of palo santo trees,

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the home of a pair of Galapagos hawks
and a large colony of land iguanas.

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Some of the survivors are
making their escape

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across the cooling fringes of the lava

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but at the cost of scorching their feet.

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Others were not so lucky.

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On the coast, the lava created
more havoc among the wildlife.

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Birds lost their regular roosts
but they were able to fly to safety.

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Many of the marine iguanas, however,
were boiled alive in the sea.

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Only a few escaped and now
a completely new landscape faces them

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and the flightless cormorants.

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It's February. On a nearby beach,

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the female marine iguanas
are digging holes.

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Four weeks ago, they had mated
and now it's time to lay their eggs.

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Hawks have appeared
in the mangroves beside the beach.

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The arrival of the hawks
has not gone unnoticed.

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Out on the beach, the females are
exposed and exhausted from digging.

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It's time for them to leave.

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As the hawks take off,

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the female iguanas run for a place
where they'll be safe... the sea.

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The hawk may have tackled
too heavy a victim.

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The outcome is by no means
a foregone conclusion.

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The female will still have a chance
if only she can get to the water.

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And finally the hawk gives up
but the iguana is dead.

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The males, being bigger,

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are usually safe from attack
and have been basking

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in the sun before going into the water

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They have particularly long claws that
enable them to cling to the rocks

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and resist the pull of the swell
as they rip off the algae.

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Although these are air-breathing animals,

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they regularly remain underwater
for ten minutes at a time.

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But they seldom stay out
at sea for longer than an hour

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because they get chilled
and lose their energy.

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Little wrasse swim alongside them,

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gathering the small creatures disturbed
as the algae is pulled up.

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Schools of baitfish have appeared.

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They are pursued by sea-lions,

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descendant from immigrants
that came down

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from California in the distant past.

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Sea-lions, like iguanas,
are air breathers.

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But being mammals,
they generate their own body heat

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and so they're able to
spend long hours in the water.

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March and warmer waters flow down
from the north,

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raising the temperature of the sea.

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Evaporation from
the ocean surface increases

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and clouds build up above the islands.

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Soon there will be rain.

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All the inhabitants of the Galapagos

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seem to appreciate the refreshment
that it brings.

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For the land iguanas,
inland from the coast,

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it brings the rare chance of a drink.

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Isabela, the largest of the islands,
has had rain for several weeks

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and pools have formed on the floor
of its central volcano, Alcedo.

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The giant tortoises take in gallons

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and store it in their bladders
as a reserve for the droughts ahead.

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The hawks are beginning their
courtship flights.

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The tortoises too, after feasting
on the newly sprung grass,

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will soon begin their mating.

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The males are all somewhat bigger
than their mates,

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but this one has picked a particularly
diminutive partner.

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A young hawk seems baffled
by these heaving boulders.

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It's trick and
apparently exhausting business

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and the groans of the males
carry for miles,

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echoing around the crater.

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Alcedo is only one of six large
volcanoes on the island of Isabela.

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Each has its own population
of tortoises that,

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being separated by barren fields of lava

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have in isolation, evolved their own
individual characters.

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Fernandian, west of Isabela,

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once had tortoises too
but none survive there today.

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It is, however,
a stronghold of the marine iguanas

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and the eggs they laid on the beach,

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warmed by the sun, are now hatching.

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For the great blue heron,
this is a good time.

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For the hatchlings, there is hundred
metres of open sand to cross

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before they reach the safety
of the water.

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Herons are not the only enemy
they have to face.

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Galapagos snakes don't kill
their victims with venom...

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they squeeze them to death.

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But first they have to catch them.

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In order to reach the sea,

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some young iguanas must first cross
an old lava flow.

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The snakes know this

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and several of them are there,
waiting in ambush.

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The snake can unhinge its lower jaw

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and engulf prey that is stouter
than itself.

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Death comes to the young iguana
from suffocation.

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Some iguanas find safety in deep
cracks that have formed in the lava.

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That crack was just not narrow enough.

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The ancestral iguanas are thought
to have arrived in the Galapagos

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as involuntary passengers
from South American,

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on floating vegetation,
several million years ago,

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and while one branch of their
descendants stayed beside the sea,

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another took to the hills.

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In patches of vegetation
on the lower slopes of Fernandina

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the land iguanas are now gathering
to breed.

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Each male has dug a number of burrows
and the females come to inspect them.

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Her nod, however,

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is an aggressive 'no'
rather than a submissive 'yes'.

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But he persists.

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Now she seems almost indifferent to him.

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She allows a mockingbird to clean her

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by picking off dead bits
of her skin-which it then eats.

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She makes a meal from one of
the plants growing on the male's land.

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He's beginning to lose patience.

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This is not the place to mate.

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It's better to take her to the center
of his territory,

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where he is least likely
to be interrupted.

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His contribution to the partnership
is almost finished.

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When they separate he'll stay here
and wait for another female to turn up.

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But her labours are only just beginning,

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For now she sets off on
a quite extraordinary journey.

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She starts to ascend the flanks
of Fernandina

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going up to towards the crater.

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She'll have to climb up to fifteen
hundred metres above sea level

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and the journey to the top will take
her ten days... or more.

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Close to the rim of the crater,
steam spouts from fumaroles

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and this keeps the ash warm and moist

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the perfect place though
that town to inherit eggs.

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She follows a well-worn path up
to the nesting ground.

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Hundred have already been this way
in the last week or so.

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Suitable ground is limited and much
of it already occupied.

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She spots an area that seems vacant...

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but it's not.

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There seems to be no room for her here

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The sun is beginning to set.

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At this altitude,
the nights can be very cold

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and that's bad for a reptile

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She has to find shelter.

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A small cave just the place.

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Others are already inside,
but nonetheless she's allowed in.

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The temperature begins
to fall dangerously.

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But steam, percolating from below,
keeps the dormitory snugly warm.

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In the cool morning air,
steam swirls upwards,

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Heated from the magma chambers below.

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But the nesting ground
is fully occupied.

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She and other late comers
have to move on.

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There's only one place to go now

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over the lip of the crater
and down into it

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Fernandina crater I immense.

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Eruptions emptied
the lava chamber deep below

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and the top of the mountain collapsed,
forming this huge caldera.

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No-one knows when it will explode again.

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00:27:56,207 --> 00:28:00,166
The walls of the crater have not yet
stabilized after the last eruption

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and are continually collapsing.

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She and her companions start on
what seems to be a suicidal journey.

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They descend into the crater.

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The crater floor is almost
a kilometer below.

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00:28:28,339 --> 00:28:31,968
The walls are steep and
dangerously unstable.

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The slightest disturbance can
send tons of rocks hurtling downwards

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00:28:41,453 --> 00:28:45,617
and each year the iguanas have
to find new paths down.

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00:29:04,943 --> 00:29:09,312
Many of the migrants are killed
each year but still they come.

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At last they reach the crater floor.

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00:29:56,828 --> 00:29:58,955
Ash lies thickly here.

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00:29:59,097 --> 00:30:02,089
In some areas steam
from below keeps it warm

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and there, just below the surface,

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it's a constant 30 degrees centigrade
the perfect temperature

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to incubate iguana eggs.

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There is more room down here.

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00:30:17,549 --> 00:30:19,881
But any attempt to dig in a place

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that might disturb
the eggs already been buried there

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will lead to violence.
She must be cautious.

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00:31:20,578 --> 00:31:23,206
A place of her own at last.

215
00:31:25,750 --> 00:31:29,345
Even after all this,
there is no certainty of success.

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00:31:29,487 --> 00:31:33,116
Some years, an eruption
will destroy all the eggs...

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00:31:33,258 --> 00:31:35,590
nor are the females' labours yet over.

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00:31:35,727 --> 00:31:37,957
They still have to climb out
of the crater

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and trek ten kilometers down
the volcano back to their home grounds.

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July brings relief from the hot season

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00:31:53,411 --> 00:31:58,508
Trade winds from the southeast drive
cool air up the sides of the volcano

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and the moisture they carry condenses
into low-lying fog.

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This is the garua.

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For the next six months,

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these mists will be the only source
of moisture on the islands.

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00:32:18,937 --> 00:32:24,341
Twenty-five kilometers to the east
of Fernandina lies the Alcedo volcano.

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00:32:27,245 --> 00:32:30,806
There, the arrival of the garua
is the signal for the tortoises

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00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:36,387
in the crater to climb up to the rim
and collect the liquid the mists bring.

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00:32:54,005 --> 00:32:56,667
There are several kinds of birds up here.

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A finch collects ticks
from the tortoises,

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just as mockingbirds pick skin
from the iguanas.

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00:33:08,853 --> 00:33:13,313
And tortoises invite them to do so
by adopting a special posture

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so that the birds can reach
every possible part of their skin.

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00:33:23,401 --> 00:33:26,564
Tortoises, after all,
can't scratch themselves,

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neither can they clean their nostrils,

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00:33:28,773 --> 00:33:32,038
so this arrangement suits both parties

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In the western part of the archipelago

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the garua sweeps around the slopes of
Fernandian and over the lava fields,

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00:33:50,261 --> 00:33:53,594
blocking out the sun for
several hours each morning.

240
00:33:59,070 --> 00:34:01,129
As the mists burn off,

241
00:34:02,140 --> 00:34:06,702
the marine iguanas begin their
daily trip down the beach to the sea.

242
00:34:27,632 --> 00:34:28,929
At this time of the year,

243
00:34:29,067 --> 00:34:32,127
cool currents sweep in
from the coast of South American,

244
00:34:32,270 --> 00:34:36,366
a thousand kilometers away to the east
and cold rich waters

245
00:34:36,507 --> 00:34:39,203
from the central Pacific often well up
from the depths,

246
00:34:39,343 --> 00:34:42,437
producing lush growths of marine algae

247
00:34:48,252 --> 00:34:50,948
The algae grow with phenomenal speed.

248
00:34:51,089 --> 00:34:52,147
And they need to,

249
00:34:52,290 --> 00:34:57,592
for along this stretch of coast live
tens of thousands of marine iguanas.

250
00:35:04,335 --> 00:35:06,530
The hatchlings are now three months old

251
00:35:06,671 --> 00:35:10,664
and they feed on the algae exposed
on the rocks at low tide.

252
00:35:26,124 --> 00:35:29,992
Sea-lion pups of around the same age
don't go out to sea either.

253
00:35:30,128 --> 00:35:34,087
They stay in the shallows,
playing boisterously with one another.

254
00:35:37,735 --> 00:35:39,293
And no only with one another.

255
00:35:39,437 --> 00:35:43,771
For them, an iguana seems
to be yet another toy.

256
00:36:26,817 --> 00:36:30,685
By early afternoon, most of
the iguanas have finished grazing

257
00:36:30,821 --> 00:36:32,880
and are sunbathing to get
the heat they need

258
00:36:33,024 --> 00:36:35,822
to be able to digest their meals.

259
00:36:43,434 --> 00:36:47,097
Some of the hatchlings stay together
on their own patch of the beach,

260
00:36:47,238 --> 00:36:49,729
but others mingle with the adults.

261
00:36:50,374 --> 00:36:53,172
And that is the safer place to be.

262
00:36:56,180 --> 00:36:58,910
The hawk won't tackle
a full-grown male iguana

263
00:36:59,050 --> 00:37:01,018
it's too big and powerful.

264
00:37:01,152 --> 00:37:04,519
A young hatchling, however,
is a different matter.

265
00:37:52,703 --> 00:37:57,902
A young reptile dies...
and a young bird is kept alive,

266
00:37:58,042 --> 00:38:02,308
for this is also the time
that the Galapagos hawk breeds.

267
00:38:13,624 --> 00:38:15,455
There are two chicks in the nest.

268
00:38:15,593 --> 00:38:17,754
The bigger one is always fed first.

269
00:38:17,895 --> 00:38:21,854
Only when it is satisfied
will the smaller one get any food.

270
00:38:21,999 --> 00:38:24,559
But this year has been a good one
for the iguanas,

271
00:38:24,702 --> 00:38:27,830
so there's plenty of food
for both chicks.

272
00:38:33,978 --> 00:38:38,210
Back on the coast,
the sea-lions too are giving birth.

273
00:38:51,228 --> 00:38:53,628
The mother tears away
the birth membranes

274
00:38:53,764 --> 00:38:57,131
so that her baby can get its
first breath of air.

275
00:39:04,408 --> 00:39:08,674
As it breathes, so it calls
and that is vitally important,

276
00:39:08,813 --> 00:39:12,214
for the two must learn to recognize
the sound of one another's voices

277
00:39:12,350 --> 00:39:15,786
and so be able to find one another
in days to come.

278
00:39:22,793 --> 00:39:25,887
The sea-lion's afterbirth
is high grade protein

279
00:39:26,030 --> 00:39:29,557
and both crabs and iguanas
are quick to claim it.

280
00:39:36,941 --> 00:39:39,569
The rich up welling nutrients along
the coast

281
00:39:39,710 --> 00:39:43,146
stimulate the boobies
to begin their courtship.

282
00:39:48,052 --> 00:39:52,250
A blue-footed boody needs to show
its mate that it has blue feet

283
00:39:52,390 --> 00:39:54,790
and is not any other kind of boody,

284
00:39:54,925 --> 00:39:59,055
and their courtship dances certainly
make that quite clear.

285
00:40:10,374 --> 00:40:12,137
In some areas the boobies are breeding

286
00:40:12,276 --> 00:40:15,302
where the marine iguanas traditionally
spend the night

287
00:40:15,446 --> 00:40:18,210
and the reptiles have to run
a gauntlet of beaks

288
00:40:18,349 --> 00:40:20,283
to get to their dormitories.

289
00:40:44,375 --> 00:40:46,741
As the iguanas settle down to sleep,

290
00:40:46,877 --> 00:40:50,210
they continually spurt liquid
from their noses.

291
00:40:53,651 --> 00:40:56,779
This is a salty fluid that drains
into their nostrils

292
00:40:56,921 --> 00:41:00,322
from special glands that excrete
the salt they take in

293
00:41:00,458 --> 00:41:02,551
with their meals of sea-weed.

294
00:41:06,297 --> 00:41:08,060
The sun begins to sink,

295
00:41:08,199 --> 00:41:12,863
the day cools and the iguanas cluster
together to keep warm.

296
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:20,370
During the night, the garua rolls in
across the summit of Fernandina.

297
00:41:24,215 --> 00:41:26,740
At dawn, mist clings to the coast

298
00:41:26,884 --> 00:41:29,978
because of the continued presence
of cold water.

299
00:41:30,488 --> 00:41:34,083
It's signal for the penguins
to gather and court.

300
00:41:45,269 --> 00:41:49,330
Like the blue-foots, penguins
only breed when food is plentiful...

301
00:41:51,609 --> 00:41:53,372
and it has arrived.

302
00:41:54,745 --> 00:41:59,444
The rich waters along the coast have
attracted huge swarms of baitfish.

303
00:42:02,286 --> 00:42:05,050
Penguins love baitfish.

304
00:42:20,504 --> 00:42:24,031
One of their tactics is to drive
a shoal into shallow water

305
00:42:24,174 --> 00:42:26,972
where there's less room
for the fish to manoeuvre.

306
00:42:34,785 --> 00:42:38,881
Forced near the surface,
others can dive in from above.

307
00:42:43,527 --> 00:42:45,051
Pelicans.

308
00:43:32,343 --> 00:43:35,335
Once the pelicans have drained
the water from their pouches,

309
00:43:35,479 --> 00:43:38,073
they can lift their beaks
and swallow their catch

310
00:43:38,215 --> 00:43:40,877
without being pestered by penguins.

311
00:43:41,652 --> 00:43:44,348
But now there are others to trouble them

312
00:43:44,488 --> 00:43:46,285
Noddy terns.

313
00:44:08,579 --> 00:44:11,673
The blue-foots can fish
much farther out to sea.

314
00:44:11,815 --> 00:44:14,784
They often detect the presence
of a shoal near the surface

315
00:44:14,918 --> 00:44:17,318
by the activities of dolphins...

316
00:44:18,055 --> 00:44:20,319
who are searching for the same thing.

317
00:44:45,115 --> 00:44:48,380
The sea-lions also follow dolphins.

318
00:45:08,405 --> 00:45:11,806
And when at last the prize is discovered,

319
00:45:12,776 --> 00:45:15,267
There's a frenzy of feeding.

320
00:45:15,746 --> 00:45:18,681
Harried from below by dolphins
and sea-lions,

321
00:45:18,816 --> 00:45:23,810
the shoal rises towards the surface
and gives the blue-foots their chance.

322
00:46:09,733 --> 00:46:10,825
Back on the cliffs,

323
00:46:10,968 --> 00:46:15,098
the young blue-foots are exercising
the wings they've not yet used

324
00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:18,037
and playing with the marine iguanas.

325
00:46:29,686 --> 00:46:32,018
Such activities all help to develop

326
00:46:32,156 --> 00:46:34,420
the young boobies' skillsof manipulation

327
00:46:34,558 --> 00:46:36,822
and build up their wing muscles
in preparation

328
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:40,418
for the time when they too
will need to catch fish.

329
00:46:53,310 --> 00:46:56,837
The hawk chicks, well nourished
on their diet of young iguanas

330
00:46:56,980 --> 00:47:00,279
are now two months old
and almost ready to fly

331
00:47:00,417 --> 00:47:04,080
eager, doubtless,
to go and find food for themselves.

332
00:47:13,664 --> 00:47:17,964
Last year's broods of hawks gather
from all around the island

333
00:47:18,101 --> 00:47:23,368
and demonstrate their competence in
the air above the summit of Fernandina.

334
00:47:43,560 --> 00:47:47,155
They're keeping a sharp eye on
the floor of the crater below,

335
00:47:47,297 --> 00:47:51,529
for their biggest feast of the year
is about to begin.

336
00:48:00,844 --> 00:48:03,608
It's now October, a hundred days since

337
00:48:03,747 --> 00:48:07,183
the female land iguanas
were here laying their eggs.

338
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:11,620
Those should now be on
the verge of hatching.

339
00:48:24,902 --> 00:48:28,201
All the hawks are aware
of what is about to happen

340
00:48:28,338 --> 00:48:32,536
and all are determined
to claim their share.

341
00:48:33,644 --> 00:48:36,636
The first of the hatchlings emerges.

342
00:48:37,814 --> 00:48:39,714
Though totally inexperienced,

343
00:48:39,850 --> 00:48:43,718
they obviously sense the danger posed
by the hawks.

344
00:48:48,959 --> 00:48:51,951
The eggs in each clutch hatch
almost simultaneously

345
00:48:52,095 --> 00:48:53,960
and the youngsters will stand
a better chance

346
00:48:54,097 --> 00:48:56,463
if they all run for cover together.

347
00:49:16,086 --> 00:49:18,953
One decides to make a break for it.

348
00:49:38,742 --> 00:49:42,473
The others see that the attention
of the hawks has been diverted.

349
00:49:55,859 --> 00:49:58,054
It's hot work, waiting around.

350
00:49:58,195 --> 00:50:01,221
The ash is now 50 degrees centigrade.

351
00:50:26,289 --> 00:50:30,817
There are just too many talons around
to escape them all.

352
00:51:09,299 --> 00:51:12,268
Once they reach the crater wall,
there is more cover.

353
00:51:12,402 --> 00:51:14,802
But the hawks can still outwit them.

354
00:51:20,444 --> 00:51:22,344
They are only six inches long;

355
00:51:22,479 --> 00:51:26,142
they have not yet fed and are
dependant for their energy entirely

356
00:51:26,283 --> 00:51:29,116
on the little yolk that remains
in their belly;

357
00:51:29,252 --> 00:51:33,518
And they still have to climb
a crater wall a thousand metres high.

358
00:51:56,913 --> 00:51:59,746
The rim of the crater at last.

359
00:51:59,883 --> 00:52:02,875
But this is only a brief triumph.

360
00:52:04,221 --> 00:52:08,385
Neither the journey nor its dangers
are over yet.

361
00:52:11,895 --> 00:52:15,524
A short distance below is
the steaming fumarole and nesting area

362
00:52:15,665 --> 00:52:17,758
which their mothers passed
three months earlier

363
00:52:17,901 --> 00:52:20,062
on their way into the caldera.

364
00:52:24,574 --> 00:52:27,907
Up to a dozen snakes have gathered here.

365
00:52:28,745 --> 00:52:32,112
Some slither into the burrows
where the females had laid their eggs,

366
00:52:32,249 --> 00:52:35,275
listening for the vibrations made
by hatching iguanas

367
00:52:35,418 --> 00:52:38,581
as they dig their way up to the surface.

368
00:53:06,116 --> 00:53:10,519
The hatchlings can outrun the snakes
if they get a reasonable start.

369
00:53:28,939 --> 00:53:31,407
But the snakes are everywhere.

370
00:53:42,953 --> 00:53:44,887
There are few that make their escape

371
00:53:45,021 --> 00:53:47,387
climb up a plant or a boulder every now

372
00:53:47,524 --> 00:53:50,084
and then to get a better view
of the way a head

373
00:53:50,227 --> 00:53:52,923
there is a long way to go get

374
00:53:56,633 --> 00:54:00,535
Their final destination is
the vegetated slopes of the volcano,

375
00:54:00,604 --> 00:54:03,266
Thirteen hundred metres below.

376
00:54:07,644 --> 00:54:09,578
Down on the coast, their cousins,

377
00:54:09,713 --> 00:54:12,773
the young marine iguanas,
are now six months old

378
00:54:12,916 --> 00:54:17,285
and increasingly confident
as they graze among the waves.

379
00:54:27,797 --> 00:54:30,322
It will be several years yet
before they're big enough

380
00:54:30,467 --> 00:54:34,699
and strong enough to join their
parents cropping on the sea floor.

381
00:54:39,776 --> 00:54:43,872
The reptiles of the Galapagos live in
an isolated world.

382
00:54:44,514 --> 00:54:46,539
But it's no island paradise.

383
00:54:46,683 --> 00:54:50,210
They're surrounded at all times
by danger from the land,

384
00:54:50,353 --> 00:54:52,412
the sea and the sky.

385
00:54:55,492 --> 00:54:59,895
The very rocks they live on
regularly split apart and erupt fire.

386
00:55:00,030 --> 00:55:03,796
But it's these very perils and
privations that have changed

387
00:55:03,933 --> 00:55:06,527
and refined these species
to such a degree

388
00:55:06,670 --> 00:55:10,731
that today there are no other
creatures anywhere else in the world

389
00:55:10,874 --> 00:55:14,571
like the dragons of the Galapagos.