Up here, there are fewer predators to eat their eggs and fry. |
只因上游很少有捕食鱼卵 和鱼苗的掠食者 |
A grizzly bear. |
一只灰熊 |
From famine to feast - |
它已经很久没有打牙祭了 |
he's spoilt for choice. |
早就盼着这个机会 |
This Canadian bear is very special - |
这只加拿大熊很特别 |
he's learnt to dive for his dinner. |
它学会了潜水捕猎 |
But catching salmon in deep water is not that easy |
但要想在深水中捕获鲑鱼可不太容易 |
and the cubs have lots to learn. |
熊崽们还要很多东西要学 |
The annual arrival of spawning salmon |
鲑鱼每年都会到河里产卵 |
brings huge quantities of food into these high rivers that normally struggle to support much life. |
于是这些平常只能勉强维持众多动物生计的 高山河流终于有了提供饕餮大餐的机会 |
Although relatively lifeless, the power of the upland rivers to shape the landscape |
尽管高山河流的生物量相对较少它们却有能力改变地形 |
is greater than any other stage in a river's life. |
在河流扮演的角色中 这才是最主要的 |
Driven by gravity, they're the most erosive forces on the planet. |
它们借助地心引力成为地球上最大的侵蚀力量 |
For the past 5 million years |
在过去的500万年中 |
Arizona's Colorado river has eaten away at the desert's sandstone |
亚利桑那州的科罗拉多河 冲走了大量沙石 |
to create a gigantic canyon. |
形成一个巨大深邃的峡谷 |
It's over a mile deep |
它的深度超过1英里 |
and at its widest it's 17 miles across. |
最宽的地方达17英里 |
The Grand Canyon. |
这就是大峡谷 |
This river has cut the world's longest canyon system - |
这条河冲蚀出了世界上最长的峡谷系 |
a 1,000 mile scar clearly visible from space. |
在太空中也能清楚地看到 这条长达1000英里的沟壑 |
As rivers leave the mountains behind, |
河流离开山区之后 |
they gradually warm and begin to support more life. |
河水渐渐变暖 养育的动物也多了起来 |
Indian rivers are home to the world's most social otter - |
印度河里住着世界上最具社会性的水獭 |
smooth-coated otters form family groups up to 17 strong. |
印度水獭的一个家族可多达17名成员 |
Group rubbing not only refreshes their coats, |
集体“按摩”不仅能清洁它们的皮毛 |
but strengthens social bonds. |
也能增强群体内部团结 |
When it comes to fishing |
当它们去捕鱼时 |
there is real strength in numbers. |
群体合作能保证它们屡战屡胜 |
Fishing practice begins when the cubs are four months old. |
小水獭在4个月大时就开始学习捕鱼 |
Only the adults have the speed and agility needed to make a catch. |
只有成年水獭才具备 捕鱼所需的速度和灵巧 |
Adults share their catches with their squabbling cubs. |
成年水獭把“战利品”与幼崽一起分享小家伙们立刻抢成一团 |
Most otters are solitary, |
大部分水獭都是独自生活 |
but these rich warm waters can support large family groups |
但是这些富饶温暖的水域 足以养活大型家族 |
and even bigger predators. |
甚至更大的掠食动物 |
Mugger crocodiles, four metres long, could easily take a single otter. |
4米长的恒河鳄 能轻松捕获一只落单的水獭 |
But, confident in their gangs, |
不过集合起来的水獭颇有胆量 |
the otters will actively harass these great reptiles. |
反而会主动骚扰这些大块头的爬行动物 |
Team play wins the day. |
群体作战通常会取得胜利 |
The Mara river, snaking across the plains of East Africa. |
马拉河蜿蜒地穿过东非平原 |
As the land flattens out |
由于地势平坦 |
rivers slow down and lose their destructive power. |
河水流速变慢 没有了原来的破坏力 |
Now they are carrying heavy loads of sediment |
河流中带着大量的泥沙 |
that stains their waters brown. |
水变得很浑浊 |
Lines of wildebeest are on their march. |
一队队的角马正在迁徙途中 |
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Each year nearly two million animals migrate across the Serengeti plains |
每年都会有将近200万只角马 横越塞伦盖蒂平原 |
in search of fresh green pastures. |
去寻找新鲜草场 |
For these thirsty herds |
对于这群饥渴难耐的角马来说 |
the rivers are not only a vital source of drinking water, |
河流不仅是唯一能解渴的重要水源 |
but also dangerous obstacles. |
也是充满危险的关隘 |
This is one of the largest concentrations of Nile crocodiles in Africa, |
这里是非洲一处最大的尼罗鳄聚集地 |
giants that grow over five metres long. |
这些大怪物能长到5米多长 |
From memory, the wildebeest are coming |
鳄鱼凭着记忆得知 角马已经来了 |
and gather in anticipation. |
不出所料 它们纷纷下水 |
The crocodile's jaws snap tight like a steel trap - |
鳄鱼的巨口像捕兽铗一般紧咬住猎物 |
once they have a hold, they never let go. |
一旦被它逮住 猎物再无逃脱的机会 |
It took over an hour to drown this full-grown bull. |
它得花上一个多小时 才能淹死这只成年公角马 |
To surprise their prey |
为了突袭猎物 |
crocodiles must strike with lightning speed. |
鳄鱼必须以闪电般的速度出击 |
Here, only the narrowest line separates life from death. |
在这里 生与死只有一线之隔 |
Most rivers drain into the sea, |
大部分河流都汇入大海 |
but some end their journey in vast lakes. |
可有些河流的终点却是大型湖泊 |
Worldwide lakes hold twenty times more fresh water than all the rivers. |
全球湖泊淡水储量比江河多20倍 |
The East African Rift Valley holds three of the world's largest: |
东非大裂谷内有着3个世界上最大的淡水湖 |
Malawi, Tanganyika, and Victoria. |
马拉维湖、坦噶尼喀湖 以及维多利亚湖 |
Lake Malawi, the smallest of the three, |
马拉维湖是这3个湖泊中最小的 |
is still bigger than Wales. |
却仍比威尔士还要大 |
Its tropical waters teem with more fish species than any other lake. |
生活在这个热带湖泊里的鱼类 比其它湖泊都要丰富 |
There are 850 different cichlids alone, |
这里有850多种不同的慈鲷 |
all of which evolved from just one single ancestor isolated here thousands of years ago. |
它们都是从一个数千年前 即被隔绝在此的祖先进化而来的 |
These two-metre wide craters are fish-made. |
这些2米宽的土丘是鱼儿们的杰作 |
Fastidiously maintained by the males, these bowls are courtship arenas. |
雄鱼一丝不苟地维护着坑巢因为这里正是求爱的场所 |
Cichlids are caring parents. |
慈鲷是尽心尽职的父母 |
Brooding young in the mouth is a very effective way of protecting them. |
它们将鱼苗含在嘴里这是一种保护它们的有效方法 |
This lake can be a dangerous place. |
马拉维湖也是个危机四伏的地方 |
After dark, predatory dolphin fish emerge from their daytime lairs among the rocks. |
到了晚上 掠食性的长颌鱼纷纷 游出它们白天潜伏的石缝 |
Like packs of sharks, they're on the prowl for sleeping cichlids. |
它们像是一群鲨鱼一边游一边寻找熟睡中的慈鲷 |
In the darkness these electric fish hunt |
这些鱼用电在黑暗中捕猎 |
by detecting distortions in the electric field they create around their bodies. |
它们在身体周围形成电场并感知其变化 |
Any cichlid that trenches out will be snapped up. |
一旦慈鲷切入电场立刻就会成为捕食的对象 |
The floor of Lake Malawi drops 700 metres into an abyss. |
马拉维湖底是一个深达700多米的深渊 |
Here, in this dead zone the larvae of lake fly midges hide out away from predators. |
这个死亡地带成了 幽蚊幼虫躲避天敌的庇护所 |
In the rainy season they balloon up to the surface |
每到雨季 它们便充气浮上水面 |
and undergo a magical transformation. |
然后经历一场不可思议的变化 |
At dawn the first adult midges start to break out. |
黎明时分 第一只成蚊破蛹而出 |
Soon, millions upon millions of newly hatched lake flies are taking to the wing. |
不久 成百上千万只新羽化的幽蚊 全都扇动着翅膀飞到空中 |
Early explorers told tales of lakes that smoked, as if on fire. |
早期探险家看到这种湖面上“冒烟”的情景还以为是湖底着了火 |
But these spiralling columns hundreds if metres high |
这些高达数百米的螺旋型“烟”柱 |
are mating flies. |
其实是正在交配的幽蚊 |
Once the flies have mated, |
幽蚊完成交配之后 |
they will all drop to the water surface, |
便会一起落到水面 |
release their eggs and die. |
产下卵 然后死去 |
Malawi may look like an inland sea, |
马拉维湖看起来像大海一样辽阔 |
but it's dwarfed by the world's largest lake - |
但它远比不上世界上最大的湖泊 |
Baikal in Eastern Siberia. |
东西伯利亚的贝加尔湖 |
400 miles long and over a mile deep, Baikal contains one fifth of all the fresh water found in our planet's lakes and rivers. |
贝加尔湖长400英里 深度超过1英里其中淡水储量占到了全球江河湖泊淡水总量的1/5 |
For five months of the year it's sealed by an ice sheet over a metre thick. |
每年中总有5个月湖面被1米厚的冰层覆盖 |
Baikal is the oldest lake in the world |
贝加尔湖是世界上最古老的湖泊 |
and, despite the harsh conditions, life flourishes here in isolation. |
尽管生存条件恶劣生命仍在这个与世隔绝的地方得到了兴盛 |
80 percent of its species are found nowhere else on Earth, |
湖里80%的物种 在地球上其它地方都不存在 |
including the world's only fresh water seal. |
包括世界上唯一的淡水海豹 |