Natures Great Events S01E06 720p HDTV x264-SFM

Series : Nature's Great Events

Title : The Great Feast

Episode Number : S01E06

Genre : Documentary

iMDB URL : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1380596/

Air Date : 03/18/2009 (HD Broadcast)

DVD Rel Date : n/a

SFM Rel Date : 03/19/2009

Ripped By : SFM

Source : High Definition

Video Format : x264 (in matroska container)

Video Resolution : 1280x720 (25 fps)

Video Bitrate : 2 Pass @ 2802 kb/s AVG

Audio Bitrate : AC3 5.1 @ 384 kb/s AVG

Sample Rate : 48 kHz

Length : 49 MiN 02 SECS

Size : 1.09 GB (1,172,823,474 bytes)

MD5 Sum : a864ada1e57d44f16a308dfa235d7811

Packs : 24 x 50MB









. . ..: EPiSODE SUMMARY :.. . .



The Sixth in a new series about the most dramatic

wildlife spectacles on our planet.



Every summer in the seas off Alaska humpback whales,

sea lions and killer whales depend on an explosion of

plant life, the plankton bloom. It tranforms these seas

into the richest on Earth. But will these animals

survive to enjoy the great feast?



The summer sun sparks the growth of phytoplankton,

microscopic floating plants which can bloom in such

vast numbers that they eclipse even the Amazon

rainforest in sheer abundance of plant life. Remarkably

it is these minute plants that are the basis of all

life here.



But both whales and sea lions have obstacles to

overcome before they can enjoy the feast. Humpback

whales migrate 3,000 miles from Hawaii, and during

their three-month voyage lose a third of their body

weight. In a heart-rending scene a mother sea lion

loses her pup in a violent summer storm, while another

dramatic sequence shows a group of killer whales

working together to kill a huge male sea lion.



In late summer the plankton bloom is at its height.

Vast shoals of herring gather to feed on it, diving

birds round the fish up into a bait ball and then a

humpback whale roars in to scoop up the entire ball of

herring in one huge mouthful.



When a dozen whales work together they employ the

ultimate method of co-operative fishing - bubble net

feeding. One whale blows a ring of bubbles to engulf

the fish and then they charge in as one. Filmed from

the surface, underwater and, for the first time, from

the air, we reveal how these giant hunters can catch a

tonne of fish every day.