"(narrator) From the rough coastal seas to quiet inland backwaters, the islands of Ireland and Britain provide many a watery home." "On the west coast of Ireland, the otter's territory covers an area that includes freshwater lakes, rivers, estuaries and the seashore." "This stretch of seaweed-covered coastline has just become home to a female otter and her two cubs, who were born some distance from the shore." "She later carried them to this holt, or den, close to the water, and here she will teach them to fish." "This is probably the veryfirst outing from the holt for the two young cubs as they're only eight or nine weeks old and totally dependent upon their mother." "She in turn is very protective of them and always alert for any potential threats." "Seals are a threat to otters, and as a rule otters avoid them." "And even though this seal is more interested in sleeping at the moment, the otter won't take any chances." "Otters face other dangers too:" "The elements." "(thunder)" "When northwesterlywinds occur, storms can build up very quickly on this coast, and in all the noise and confusion cubs may lose contact with their mother." "If they become separated by too great a distance, the female may be unable to hear the cubs' high-pitched calls." "Casualties among young otter cubs can occur during such storms, and even when the female strives to keep in touch with her young their calls are not easily heard with all this wind and sea." "The female otter and her cubs were in this area just before the storm broke." "She now seems to be searching for something and has already crossed the sound twice- on her own." "There appears to be only one cub and there's no sign of the second." "Her search is apparently over, but she hasn't found her missing cub." "Just a short distance away from where the otter family were yesterday, a small cub lies dead in the seaweed." "There's little doubt this is the second cub that the female was anxiously searching for earlier in the day." "Herons are also a feature of the otter's scenery." "They have been nesting for generations in this lake close to the sea." "They normally nest in tall trees, but as there are none available here, the nests in this heronry are all in bushes and willows." "There's a continuous, clamorous noise of bill-clapping." "Youngsters of all ages are present at the same time in a heronry." "This large chick is busy preparing for the day when it can fly by energetically exercising its wings." "Some of the nests have very small nestlings." "They stimulate the parents to regurgitate food by grasping the adult's beak." "When the weather becomes too hot, older chicks cool off by holding their wings open and by a type of panting, which they do by fluttering their gular flap." "Otters are veryfamiliar with herons, who fish along the same stretch of shoreline." "Herons pose no threat to otters." "But nonetheless the female is wary of anything that moves along the shore, especially when she has her young cub in tow." "The otter female now only has one cub to look after." "In the wild, otters do sometimes abandon some of their cubs, so one is in fact quite common." "If the adult otter was on her own, she could travel under the seaweed." "But young cubs cannot negotiate masses of thick wrack, as this seaweed is called." "The heron is taking advantage of the small fish that become active along the shoreline as the tide ebbs and flows." "But the otter cub cannot fish yet and probably won't secure its first catch until it's about four to five months or older." "It seems to prefer to stay ashore while its mother forages in the shallows." "And the cub doesn't even seem to recognise a meal when it arrives." "The female will keep encouraging the cub by presenting catches to it." "Swimming lessons for a small otter cub are quite a tiring business and it's more interested in sleeping than swimming or looking at strange fish which jump all over the place." "Much of the cormorant's food is very similar to that of the otter and several of them fish in this area, sharing the otter's feeding territory." "Very young cubs are usually reluctant to take to the water, and the unwilling youngster has to be encouraged by its mother to enter the sea." "If this doesn't work, she'll carry him in." "The cub's swimming abilities are improving and it watches its mother by popping its head beneath the surface." "But it's unable to dive because of its natural buoyancy." "Early lessons consist of the cub watching its mother closely." "It learns about fishing techniques as the female roots around under stones and seaweed in shallow water." "The grey seal is a highly efficient angler." "Unlike seals, otters have no insulating blubber layer and have to consume relatively more food to generate sufficient heat to survive." "The otter cub will, in time, become an efficientfisher too." "And eventually the youngster does manage to penetrate deeper water as it follows its mother, but it can't yet dive for very long." "Learning to fish proficiently takes a long time." "Compared to other carnivores, otters have a protracted period of dependency on their mothers." "Cubs become independent anywhere between 10 and 16 months." "Not yet an expert diver, the cub spends much of its time playing on the surface, all the while watching and waiting for its mother to reappear." "Between play times, the cub continues to learn from the female." "Eventually, the young otter learns to make shallow dives." "But even surfacing is awkward at first." "Another part of the otter's territory is shared by several species of water birds, including several pairs of dabchicks." "A large heap of wet waterweeds gathered up from the bottom of the river serves as a nest for the dabchicks." "Loose material, used to camouflage the eggs, is removed each time the dabchick returns to resume the work of incubating." "Although the otters are more interested in fishing, they're unwelcome guests around the reed beds, where the water birds regard them as a threat." "And in a matter of seconds, the dabchick covers up its eggs before disappearing out of sight." "As weeks pass into months, the female continues with her lessons for her cub." "Each day she teaches it to improve its swimming and diving skills and shows it the best methods to catch fish and the prime fishing areas in her core feeding patch." "The youngster is growing rapidly, but the female still keeps the larger fish for herself to fulfil her high energy demands." "The average life span of otters is little more than three years, although individuals can survive for 10 to 15 years or more." "The otter must work hard for its survival in what is a cold and unfriendly environment." "It's an animal really living on the edge." "The cub has not yet learned all the necessary survival skills and wants to play while its mother must continue to hunt for food." "It seems to regard playing as more fun than fishing." "But the cub has now learned how to spraint and does so when it comes ashore." "This scent-marking habit indicates to other otters that an individual is already fishing in a certain area." "This helps to prevent competition for resources." "Meanwhile, the dabchicks have hatched their eggs." "Unlike the otter, both parents share the work of rearing the brood." "The young dabchicks, like the baby otter, must also learn to dive." "A pair of mute swans is also rearing young." "The parents bring the cygnets from the main river to the smaller streams, where they feed on watercress and other aquatic plants." "Both male and female are very protective of their young." "(hisses)" "As the otter cub grows, the female brings it further afield, expanding its territory until it may stretch for several miles along the coastline." "Adog otter, distinguishable by his wide head, has been fishing in the female's territory for several days now." "It is spring and mating time for coastal otters." "The female has been fishing and working her way along the shoreline." "The cub, meanwhile, is becoming more and more independent and is well able to catch its own fish." "The dog otter has been fishing offshore and directly in front of the female." "The female is now attracted by the dog otter and she follows him along the shoreline." "Wild otters seem always to mate while in the water." "The cub, which is now fully grown at nearly one year old, is too busy to notice that its mother is moving further away." "The male and female have moved away out into the sound and the cub is now beginning to realise that it's on its own." "Its calls for its mother go unanswered." "It may be time for the female otter to mate again and she may now have decided to abandon her youngster altogether." "This is probably the first time for the cub to lose all contact with its mother." "But now she's so far away, she cannot even hear his calls." "(high-pitched squeaks)" "The time has finally come for this youngster to go it alone and establish its own home." "Further along Ireland's west coast is one of the strangest landscapes in Europe." "It's known as the Burren and it covers an area of about 240 square miles." "More than 300 million years ago, this region was covered by tropical seas teeming with life." "The earth shifted, and the muddy seabed rose to the surface and hardened, and the name Burren, from the Gaelic, literally means "a stony place"." "Stormy seas are a constant reminder of how the Burren was created:" "Water." "Below the tide, thousands of years of Atlantic wave action has carved the limestone into a network of depressions, ledges and hollows." "These mussels have adapted to living in the area's rough waters." "A larger-sized mussel would be washed off by stormy seas." "The rocks above water are bare, but down here the limestone is alive with marine plants and animals." "The rock face is festooned by dead man's fingers-a soft coral related to anemones." "The Cerianthus anemone can occur in a variety of colours." "Sea urchins are grazers, and they occur all along this coastline." "This harmless jellyfish's umbrella can measure up to three feet in diameter." "The umbrella's pulsating action drives the jellyfish along." "Here, reminders of the Burren's past lie all around in the imprints of long-extinct marine creatures." "The edge of the sea is certainly not the easiest place to set up home, but life can be just as tough on land." "On this cliff face where the falcon has nested, the full force of the cold easterly winds is chilling her and her eggs." "Though peregrine eggs have some resistance to freezing temperatures, there is a limit." "Asheltered nest can mean the difference between success and failure." "The peregrine has laid three eggs." "The female does most of the incubation." "She alone has a bare brood patch on her underside, vital for transferring her body heat to the developing eggs." "She will spend up to a month on incubation duty." "Her partner's task during this time is to keep her as well fed as possible." "She keeps a wary eye on the neighbours." "Reluctant to leave the nest, she calls to her mate for food." "But he has nothing for her yet and continues to hunt." "A peregrine's territory covers several square miles, encompassing a wide and varied landscape." "The peregrine is the master of the skies, the supreme avian hunter." "These cliffs are among the best peregrine nesting places and every possible site is occupied." "The chicks are about a week old." "At this age they still need constant brooding to keep warm." "The male brings a steady supply of wood pigeons." "On receipt, the female carefully cuts up the prey and passes it out to the nearest begging mouth." "The chicks can't eat unless she puts the food directly into their beaks." "The chicks grow rapidly on this high-protein diet." "They double their weight two days after hatching and reach full size in three to four weeks." "As all their food goes into growth, there's none available for maintaining body heat." "If it's cold, the mother is there to keep the chicks warm." "If it's hot, she's there to make shade." "The peregrine male is still out hunting." "It's been a very wet year and water is still pouring off the mountain." "The peregrine family is lucky to have such a sheltered ledge." "The chicks are two weeks old now, so she can leave them from time to time if suitable prey offers itself, such as a flock of pigeons passing right in front of her." "She flies high above the pigeons, almost stops in midair and then dives." "Aperegrine in a dive is one of the fastest birds in the world." "The chicks, mind you, have to wait for their dinner." "But they're used to waiting." "The reason for the wait is that their mother doesn't bring the pigeon directly to the nest." "She takes it first to what is known as a plucking post." "She pulls the breast feathers out carefully and, like anyone preparing a meal, takes a few bites while she's at it." "It's not always just feathers she pulls out either." "Often the wings come off too." "And while she works, the chicks must stay put." "The female needs to feed herself, and she can't really eat when she's on the nest- the chicks are too demanding for that." "Then at last, with a great swoop, she brings home the pigeon." "(chicks calling)" "But there's a problem." "There are raven fledglings nearby, and they can fly now, and the falcon doesn't trust them." "They may try to take food from her chicks or even attack the chicks themselves." "Near the peregrine there's a family of hen harriers at a similar stage of nesting." "This male hen harrier doesn't even land at his nest." "He just drops his catch and goes off hunting again." "The sibling fights that ensue can be vicious." "It's every chick for itself." "In years when there's a shortage of prey, weaker, smaller chicks can be so deprived of food by the actions of their larger, tougher brethren that they will eventually die." "This is common with some birds of prey." "It's instinctive behaviour in chicks and in lean years it has the effect of assuring that at least the larger chicks may survive, even though it's at the expense of their smaller, younger siblings." "It does mean, however, that these chicks, unlike the young peregrines, can spend a lot of time fighting each other." "Atemporary truce is restored on the mother's return." "The food is divided and the chicks feed." "Meanwhile, the male is out on the mountainside, intent on making another kill." "At some four weeks of age, the peregrine chick has lost most of its downy plumage and is now exercising its flight muscles." "This flapping also helps remove any lingering down." "In another week they should be flying, and, although flight is instinctive, they must ensure that all is in order." "There's a lot of territory to cover." "And shortly on the peregrine ledge, two chicks have flown." "There's only one youngster left and the time has come for that first-ever flight." "The male tries to entice it into the air." "At first he did so by carrying food out of reach." "Now he just seems to be demonstrating technique." "And finally, a successful takeoff." "The fledglings will spend most of the summer in this gorge, being fed and taught how to fly and to hunt." "When winter returns, the young peregrines will have flown to another mountain valley to establish their own territories." "In spring, the peregrine will return to these mountains, fighting for the best ledge and, weather permitting, hatching another clutch of chicks and resuming command of these skies." "Away from the mountains, another bird is busy raising its own brood." "The tiny granite island of Rockabill in Ireland is where Europe's most important colony of roseate terns sets up home each summer after a long annual voyage from Africa." "It's high summer on Rockabill, and the roseate nesting season is progressing." "Their eggs have hatched and the chicks are growing well." "They go from tiny balls of fluff to fully feathered birds in only four weeks." "Almost faster than the eye can see, the chicks snatch food." "Their appetite is insatiable and simply keeping up with it is a full-time task for the parents." "Just 10 or 11 weeks after the roseate terns arrive on Rockabill, the breeding season comes to an end." "It's been a good summer- kind weather, an abundance of food, and specially placed nesting boxes have ensured that the great majority of the eggs have produced strong and healthy fledglings." "They now vacate Rockabill for the neighbouring island of Maiden's Rock." "Here theywill roost between fishing trips until September, when the time comes for their journey back to Africa." "But the birds are not the only long-distance travellers." "Young salmon, called smolts, are preparing to leave their native rivers for the ocean." "At this stage their muscles have been honed by the currents in their native streams, and the little fish are at the peak of their fitness." "The smolts complete a journey ofwell over 600 miles downriver and have reached their ancestral ocean feeding zone in a little over four months." "At sea, they grow explosively- in the next 20 months they triple their length and their bodyweight increases 25-fold." "When spring approaches, the maturing salmon in the ocean, known as grilse, feel the primeval urge to gather in shoals and move towards home:" "The river." "The fish that avoid the seals and the anglers at sea have a further barrier to face on the lower river- the ancient salmon traps, used for decades by the owners of fisheries to capture a share of the rich harvest of fresh-run salmon." "Once inside the iron trap there's little chance of escape." "Luckily, this grilse chooses to swim through the open side of the barrier which, according to law, must always be left free." "The rains have come and, in combination with a high tide, the salmon forge ahead upstream." "The first giant weir on the river proves a difficult obstacle to the migrating grilse." "They hover about, testing the force of the current." "Finally, with every ounce of innate cunning they can muster, they bob and weave using the flow of the river to overcome even the most severe torrents." "Over the next 12 weeks, the grilse continue to forge their way upstream." "The heat of the summer warms the water and subdues the activity of the migrating fish." "The salmon have now darkened in colour and merge with their river background." "The sunny days of summer are a busy time for insects-but not for the salmon." "Their attention is now keenlyfocused on conserving their vital energy store." "No more ostentatious dashing about on the surface." "Subdued, they lie almost dormant in a soft, dark backwater away from the strong rush of the parent river." "The salmon, lying in deep pools during the warm days of summer, wait for a change in the weather." "As the seasons change, the first flush of cold, early winter rainwater goads the fish into action and they begin moving upriver." "The flood of fresh water creates a frenzy of renewed activity among the salmon." "Some of the fish make several attempts at the falls before they finally succeed." "Tenacity, courage and blind determination are to be seen in every massive leap of these maturing salmon." "The first of the male salmon has reached the spawning grounds and is impatiently searching for a mate." "Male hormone levels are reaching a peak and males vie aggressively for the prime spawning sites." "As the female salmon arrive they're quickly joined by a succession of potential mates." "All are scratching about, testing the gravel to assess its depth and using their ventral fins to test the flow of fresh water through the gravel, which will ensure a constant oxygen supply for the eggs." "The female salmon actively moves about, digging shallow depressions in the gravel and testing the bed of the stream for a consistent draw of water." "The male sometimes uses his kype, or beak, festooned with razor-sharp teeth, to force the female off what he considers an unsuitable nest site." "Dusk is now fast approaching and a site has been chosen and agreed." "Using great flapping movements of her tail, she excavates a depression some six to twelve inches deep in the gravel." "Notice the little salmon." "It's a young but sexually mature male, and he dives deep under the female to also fertilise the eggs." "The female extrudes a stream of orange eggs into the egg nest." "The male simultaneously releases a cloud ofwhite milt, which drifts downstream and covers the eggs." "As the eggs are released, the young male is closer to them and his milt has a proportionally greater chance of fertilising the ova." "Even when the adults have finished spawning, he stays deep in the nest and only bolts to safety when showered with gravel by the adult female as she quickly covers her brood." "We now know that up to 70% of the salmon ova in any given nest are fertilised by young males and that up to seven of these tiny salmon may participate in any one spawning." "The nest is now complete, and abandoned by the two exhausted parents." "Throughout the winter it will lie undisturbed." "This is how the salmon's life begins- as one egg among4,000 in the nest of loose gravel high in the rushing mountain streams." "But not all nests are well-constructed." "Some are laid on shallow gravel, which is easily disturbed by the pounding effects of powerful late-winter floods." "The nest is torn apart and the delicate eggs are ruptured and irreparably damaged by the razor-sharp gravel." "The predators quickly gather." "Eagerly they set to work, scratching, digging and poking for one of nature's most succulent treasures- a rich salmon egg." "There are eels and caddis and, in richer waters, the tenacious freshwater crayfish." "Those eggs that survive the ravages of the winter floods develop into alevins- small, tadpole-like creatures with their nutrient-rich egg sac still attached." "Having reached this stage, the tiny salmon become increasingly active and, as the yolk sac is absorbed, make ever-increasing efforts to reach the surface of the nest." "Within months of emergence, the young salmon have become strong feeding fry, and at this stage they're known as parr." "By the end of its first summer, our young salmon parr has developed the characteristic thumb markings along its flank, the long, elegant fins and the strongly forked tail so typical of the adult salmon." "The young salmon must also learn that attack can come from above or below." "The blue flash of the kingfisher must be avoided at all cost." "The kingfisher takes a variety of small fish and it has no hesitation in taking salmon parr whenever they're available." "Kingfishers can eat their own weight of fish per day." "By the time the parr are two years of age, they've reached a length of five inches and major physiological changes are taking place." "Their flanks become silver, their fins etched in black, and they begin to feel discomfort in their gills." "The parr find it increasingly difficult to settle in their territories and they move downstream looking for relieffrom these physiological changes." "The parr in their silver sea-suits have now become salmon smolts and nature is preparing them for life at sea, in a far saltier environment." "These changes force the smolts ever downstream." "As the smolts move into the estuary, they're joined by dozens, hundreds, and finally thousands of other smolts gathered from every stream and rivulet." "As the flashing silver tide of small fish approaches the sea it attracts the attention of a wide range of predators, including the ever-vigilant heron." "The changes in their bodies which enable the smolt to survive in salt water cause them some discomfort, and they jump and skitter across the water." "The merganser is also attracted by the movements of the fish." "As many as 40% of the young salmon survive and return to the rivers to breed, so completing their extraordinary life cycle." "Later in the year, another of the ocean's creatures turns its thoughts towards breeding and returning to familiar territory." "It's September and, cruising the inlets of Beg Inish in Ireland, a pregnant female seal looks for a certain beach." "Finally she finds the beach she came to last year, as have others." "She even goes to the exact spot where last year's pup was born." "This pup, a female, is just a few hours old, and mother is never far away." "The pup wakes up for the first time." "For her, there is just one priority:" "Food." "The mother, recognising her pup's call, is quick to respond." "Seal's milk is richer than almost any other mammal's milk." "All the mother's months at sea have been spent fattening up." "She now begins to transfer that fat through her milk to her pup." "Feeding at five-or six-hourly intervals, the pup's rate of growth is phenomenal, with her gaining up to four pounds a day." "There's a real sense of urgency because in only about three weeks the pup will be on its own." "The bull, in the meantime, can only wait." "By defending this beach, he also claims the six or seven females on it and, before the season is over, will attempt to mate with them all." "Early attempts are rebuffed." "At sea, seals are more or less solitary animals." "It's only on land that they form colonies." "This enforced proximity during the breeding season causes a tense atmosphere between the adults." "In just over a week, this young female has almost doubled her weight." "She continues to suckle in earnest." "As the days go by, the pup gains more and more confidence and she begins to familiarise herself with the world of water." "The mothers take advantage of any quiet interlude to feed their pups." "The young female has discovered the joy of underwater swimming." "In the cove below where she was born, the pup continues to explore." "Mother and pup can easily become separated in the water, especially in rough weather, so it's essential that the mother keeps a watchful eye on her pup." "It's almost three weeks now since the mothers gave birth." "The young are spending more time away from them." "The day when the pups will be fully independent is drawing near." "Sharing the waters around the British Isles and Ireland with the seal is the bottlenose dolphin." "This is an accomplished navigator, and one that can grow to a length of over 12 feet." "This area of coastline is home to over a hundred bottlenose dolphins." "They mostly travel in small groups." "(thunder)" "As autumn progresses, at last the moment the bulls have been waiting for arrives:" "The females are now in season." "Asingle mating can take as much as half an hour." "For the dominant male this could be a problem, as lower-ranking bachelors could sneak in and mate with other members of his harem." "There are almost as many male grey seals as females." "So for every bull that claims six mates, there are five bulls with no mates at all." "Bachelors hang around in the shallows on the off chance of finding an available female." "After mating, the female's relationship with her pup changes rapidly." "The pup calls to her mother, but there's no response." "The pup is now on her own but for a while remains near the beach where she was born." "For her first real adventure, she swims around to the other side of the island where there's a comfortable, easy-to-reach shore." "Other newly weaned pups have had the same idea." "All they've known so far is life in the colony." "But this will soon end." "Drawn by hunger, the young female finally heads out to sea." "After several months exploring the coast, she arrives at another group of islands." "It's spring now, and flocks of geese and ducks prepare to leave for the Far North." "The seals gather here not to breed, but to moult, sheltering from the wild seas and basking in the occasional spring sunshine." "The young female comes ashore after her initial months exploring the coast." "It's effectively her first day in the world of adult seals." "She won't stay long:" "She doesn't need to moult until next spring." "The group the young female lands among are mainly older seals, too tired at the moment to take another plunge." "Many show scars from life in an ocean also occupied by sharks, killer whales and fishing boats." "This female has a fishing-net necklace she'll never be able to lose." "Although their coats are tough, seals can be badly injured in fights and their wounds can become infected." "People on the Irish coast once thought seals were fellow humans." "They understood only too well how hard life at sea could be." "The young female knows that too now as she's back at sea, fattening up and preparing for the day when she too will breed." "Despite the harsh realities, here in the landscapes of the British Isles and Ireland are some of the most ingenious, adaptable and stunning creatures- the creatures of our winds and waves."