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The Blue Planet - Tidal Seas
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A huge tidal wave, sweeps 200 miles inland up the River Amazon. It's an event that only happens on key days each month, when the moon and sun combine their gravitational pull to maximum effect. The force of the wave shatters immense rainforest trees.
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Discover how life has adapted to the demands of living in tidal waters.
What's on in the next programme?
Preview Making Waves and find out how the amazing footage was filmed.
You can download RealPlayer for free here.
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As the moon orbits the Earth its gravitational pull causes the sea level all over the world to rise and fall. In the Bay of Fundy, Canada, two billion tonnes of water flow in and out each day - more than all the rivers on Earth combined. Five hundred finback whales come here to gorge on the rich herring pickings.
Believe it or not, the best 'back-heel' in the world belongs to a tiny sand bubbler crab. These beach-dwelling Aussies convert an entire beach into minute footballs as they work at breakneck speed to filter food out of sand grains. They religiously practise their skills every day as the tide goes out. And in South Africa the world's fastest snail surfs the waves on its big foot, hunting for food on the falling tide. Raccoons in British Columbia also have a passion for seafood. Twice a month the moon pulls with maximum force, making the sea level rise and fall even further than normal. And when the sea is as far out as possible, a female raccoon passes on a few tips in crab cracking to her youngsters.
On Christmas Island, land crabs time their annual migration to November and December nights when the tides are weak. They need weak tides for good reason - they must spawn in the sea and they are land crabs. They can't breathe or swim underwater, so they wait for weak tides to get into the water to shed their eggs - that way they're less likely to drown.
Off Florida, a small group of bottlenose dolphins have a cunning plan. As they work their way inland they are forcing mullet to leap right into their waiting mouths. One animal peels off from the group and swims rapidly in a circle, stirring up the mud and driving the fish towards the other dolphins that have lined up in a row. The fish leap out of the water at just the wrong moment and the dolphins feast until the tide retreats.
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