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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