compared to our friends in the animal
kingdom we humans have things pretty
easy after all our food comes
conveniently packaged and is readily
available within miles of our cozy homes
plus we rarely have to come to blows
when securing ourselves a reliable mate
in fact most of us will face less peril
in our entire lives than one species of
Galapagos iguana encountered in the
first few minutes of there's the first
episode of planet Earth - which aired in
the United Kingdom on November 6 2016
highlighted the plight of the baby
marine iguanas this follow-up series
came a full decade after the original
show and was welcomed by wildlife
aficionados and Sir David Attenborough
fans alike in fact there's been much
anticipation surrounding the new series
for starters each episode of the
documentary was shot in ultra-high
definition the ambitious project also
filmed in 40 countries across the globe
and never-before-seen footage of animals
in their natural environment the epic
scale and ambition of this series is
second to none BBC executive producer
Mike guttin teased it will be a truly
immersive experience providing audiences
with a unique perspective of the most
extraordinary places and animals on our
planet suffice to say planet Earth to
look to surpass the success of its
emmy-winning forerunner so with that
said it's perhaps unsurprising that 9.2
million eager viewers settled down to
watch the first episode most people
expected a visual feast and gripping
insights into the scale and beauty of
our world however it's probably fair to
say that many weren't expecting the
whole show to be stolen by a group of
newborn iguanas in fact the shocking
footage even led Attenborough to claim
that he hadn't seen anything like it in
his 60-year career the scene in question
took place on Fernandina Island the
third biggest island in the Galapagos
Islands in his commentary 90 year old
Attenborough explained how wildlife find
the active volcanic island hard to live
on due to its lack of foliage but he
added the island is home to one of these
strangest of reptiles
see going iguanas viewers learned that
marine iguanas have been able to thrive
on the island because they can feed on
the abundance of plants on the seafloor
in fact the animals can hold their
breath for 30 minutes while they die for
food amazingly there are 7,000 of the
iguanas on Fernandina and they're a
fundamental part of the islands
ecosystem the documentary then turned
its attention to the formative moments
in a marine iguanas life and the
gripping footage had people cowering on
the edge of their seats some viewers
even described it as the stuff of
nightmares the scene follows baby marine
iguanas as they hatch from their eggs
and emerge from the sand for the first
time they must join the adults at the
edge of the sea but their journey will
be a dangerous one Attenborough warned
in his narration then without warning a
solitary snake follows one tiny iguana
as it makes its way across the land all
at once though a whole clan of hungry
serpents joins the single snake but what
began as a slow pace talk soon descends
into a full-on chase as the tiny iguana
and its kin raced to get off the lunch
menu fortunately despite the speedy
snakes being incredibly fast some babies
are able to outrun their predators
ultimately however some of the snakes
catch a meal and as all the iguanas
hatched together in the month of June
any snake that missed its food just has
to wait a little bit longer for another
chance
this is the best feeding opportunity
they'll get all year and burrow
explained gruesomely the extraordinary
footage shows the snakes ambushing their
prey in the rocks and then squeezing the
life from their tiny bodies it's clear
that the other hatchlings emerging from
the sand are soon fully aware of the
hazardous journey they face one iguana
for instance makes a run for it as a
group of snakes devours its kin
thankfully the little hatchling makes it
to safety in the heart-stopping footage
however the next iguana is glued to the
spot as the snakes sniff around nearby a
snakes eyes aren't very good but they
can detect movement so if the hatchling
keeps its nerve it may just avoid
detection and burrow revealed however
one sneaky snake spots the iguana and
gets tantalizingly close to its tail
the baby Sprint's for its life toward
the shore but dozens of snakes follow in
hot pursuit soon then the gang of snakes
have the Iguana surrounded and in their
deadly grip but just as the snakes start
to constrict in unison the Iguana
miraculously manages to escape the
dramatic chase resumes the Iguana
scurries up the rocks to the nearby
beach and snake after snake crows
themselves in it snapping their fangs as
they go on more than one occasion it
appears that the lizard luck is up
however it leaps from surface to surface
until it finally reaches the safety of
the open beach and moreau described the
feat as a near miraculous escape and the
presenter wasn't the only one that the
scene impressed and horrified in equal
measure on reddit many hailed the scene
as the greatest TV moment ever meanwhile
another viewer added the snakes coming
out of the rocks was like something
straight out of a horror movie British
TV critic Gerardo Donovan agreed this
was thrillingly and with no exaggeration
the stuff of nightmares
he said rarely has any real-life footage
made my heart jump so hard in my chest
as during this sublimely edited
five-minute sequence which may prompt
many an anxiety dream in years to come
even the episodes producer Elizabeth
white said her heart was in her mouth
during the incredible scenes it's like
something from a horror film she said I
don't have a phobia of snakes but I
spent half the shoot with my hands in
front of my eyes willing the poor
hatchlings to escape thankfully some did
make it to the sea moreover an
electrifying hans zimmer score made the
original footage even more thrilling the
editors had also cut the sequence like a
Hollywood blockbuster really amping up
the drama unsurprisingly then it's since
been widely agreed that the result was
utterly gripping from start to finish
the exhilarating scene just goes to show
why many consider Sir David Attenborough
a legend through his excellent shows the
broadcaster allows us to explore the
wonder of our world and helps us to
understand more about earth and its
inhabitants
hopefully at murrow's legacy will also
help preserve the planet for generations
to come
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