Granite cliffs conceal pristine shores.
Coastal redwoods echo rich, undersea forests.
This majestic slice of California remains a frontier.
It may be the greatest meeting of land and sea on Earth.
But...its beauty is savage.
Ruthless waves hide endless battles.
Gentle meadows spawn tawny predators.
The most sublime sunsets are born from fire.
Survival requires sacrifice.
Life and death share the heartbeat...
of Big Sur.
Carved between San Francisco and Los Angeles,
the "Big South" beckons.
Its magic stretches just 90 miles long and 20 miles wide.
The San Andreas Fault creates natural obstacles to civilization.
Big Sur is flanked by the Santa Lucia Mountains--
and the Pacific Ocean.
Just offshore is the largest submarine canyon in North America.
Sea otters are the protectors of this undersea Mecca.
Otters avoid land, but the rocky coast is mobbed
with up to five species of seals and sea lions.
Two miles inland, coastal redwoods hide cougars...
and newly hatched condor chicks.
East of the sequoias, Big Sur stretches into meadows and oak woodlands.
Each unique address could be a postcard.
But Big Sur's lifeblood is turbulent.
Dramas unfold in every niche.
The coastline is at centerstage.
The stars are Big Sur's iconic sea otters.
These champion surfers belong to the weasel family.
This pup is still too buoyant to dive for food.
[pup squeaking]
His mother blows air into his fur that renders him unsinkable.
[squeaking]
He's helpless until she returns.
Fortunately, his cry is a unique beacon for his location.
[squeaking]
For now, this pup is secure.
When his mother mates again, he'll be on his own.
[sea lions barking]
All-male colonies of sea lions give personal space new meaning.
[snarling]
Shy harbor seals choose sheltered coves to give birth.
Food for nursing mothers is always close by.
Newborns have only weeks
before they must compete for the ocean's banquet.
Such bounty is a magnet for many species.
The beaches of Big Sur attract transients, too.
Cougars have the largest range
of any mammal in the Western Hemisphere...
besides man.
This opportunistic cat looks for an unlucky bird
or a gift from the sea.
Beyond the surf is an underwaterjungle.
Giant kelp supports a dynamic, chilly, theater.
Each marine tree might grow up to a foot per day.
Gas bladders pull the stalks towards surface sunlight.
Instead of roots that extend into earth,
kelp has "anchors" called holdfasts that grip onto rocky substrates.
Sea urchins prey upon the kelp itself.
Tooth-like plates surround an urchin's mouth
on the bottom of its shell.
Urchins attack the stalk, eating through the stem.
These starfish relatives can destroy entire kelp forests.
But even the sharpest urchin spines are poor defense
against rock-wielding otters.
In Big Sur, sea otters keep urchin numbers at bay--
which allows underwater forests to flourish.
[otter groaning]
Their influence on the ecosystem
earns them the title of keystone species.
Big Sur attracts many unique creatures.
California condors rely on an aerial view.
Until recently, only a handful of these Pleistocene relics
were still alive on Earth.
Big Sur now boasts about 80 ofthe huge scavengers.
Every adult bird wears a number and a GPS device
so that scientists can monitor their lives.
Condors mate for life-- but they don't build nests.
The same ledge or hole is used every two years,
for a single egg.
This is some of the first footage captured inside a wild nest.
The camera was placed by biologists
who hope to discover which condors make good parents--and why.
But, while condors are devoted to their families,
they largely depend upon humans for their food.
The species will never fully recover unless they learn to find their own.
[snorts]
The new chick has many challenges ahead.
As days pass, the sun burns through mist and fog.
It seems tranquil.
[cougar meows]
But serenity in Big Sur is an illusion.
Big Sur's beauty cloaks the harsh demands of survival.
Some creatures use weapons.
Others issue warnings.
[sea lions barking]
All must ensure their future by mastering the region's natural cycles.
The collision ofthe sea's cool temperature and warmer land creates condensation.
A blanket of fog often shrouds the coast.
When the mist reaches the interior,
it's the key to life for the tallest living things on Earth.
Coastal redwoods are a separate species,
and less massive than inland trees.
Big Sur's redwoods harvest thousands of gallons of water every foggy morning.
These enchanted forests protect creatures that need wet conditions.
Banana slugs graze the forest floor.
They help the redwoods
by eating small plants that might compete forwater.
The slugs have a defense strategy in lieu of a shell:
their slime contains chemicals that taste terrible.
The top predator here has no interest in banana slugs.
Cougars are the largest cats that purr...
[purring]
and they can leap over a bus...
[cougar meows]
...the long way.
They are solitary and like the privacy found in redwood glens.
[meow]
The trees can only offer sanctuary if they're intact.
Forest fires are a threat.
This tree was almost destroyed.
The condor nest inside survived only through efforts by scientists.
In six months, the chick may fly,
but he'll stay with the family for another eighteen months.
His parents must leave their tree to search for food.
[condors grunting]
As scavengers, they eat only carrion, but they're not dirty.
Decaying flesh won't stick to their bald heads.
Ultraviolet rays kill bacteria on their feathers.
Even so, numbers remain low, and individual birds are fragile.
[grunts]
Ventana Wildlife Society puts out meat at feeding sites.
Unfortunately, California condors need a wider variety of food.
In the prehistoric past, coastal condors thrived
by eating dead marine mammals.
For over a century, whaling and hunting
meant few carcasses washed ashore here.
Now seals and whales are abundant again.
Scientists hope the condors can catch up.
The entire Eastern Pacific gray whale population
migrates through Big Sur twice per year.
Baby whales are kept on the mother's shore side,
to protect them from sharks.
Today grays and humpbacks
plunder Big Sur's rich, food-laden seas.
California's Central Coast is the pathway
between Arctic summer feeding grounds
and tropical breeding areas for many species.
[sea lion barking]
This seal pup has nearly made it through the first critical weeks.
He may stay here-- or move elsewhere.
Big Sur's tribe of otters enjoys permanent residency.
Our obsession with their pelts in the 1700's
nearly wiped out the species.
A small raft in Big Sur escaped the fur trade,
and every otter alive here today is descended from those few survivors.
Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal.
In a single inch, otters have more hairs
than found on an entire human head.
They look cuddly...
but both males and females are fierce.
Some call them "kelp grizzlies."
Mating takes place year round and can be violent.
This male holds his partner by her nose
to combat the surf and potential rejection.
[sea lion barking]
Renewal takes many forms along the coast.
One death enables the cycle of life to continue.
[gulls squawking]
Despite Big Sur's merciless nature, most species are stable.
The jury is still out on California condors.
Condors rely on keen vision to locate food.
Other scavengers use their acute sense of smell.
Turkey vultures can detect gas released at the beginning of decay--
from miles away.
While the condors fight extinction, turkey vulture numbers are stable.
To survive in the wild, California condors must see their meal...
then beat the vultures to the table.
Part of Big Sur's evolutionary tale is surviving extreme change.
Plants and animals of tide pools straddle two different homes.
Residents are tough and delicate at the same time.
Anemones fold their tentacles into their bodies,
which prevents them from drying out when exposed to the air.
Twice per day life is submerged...
and then exposed.
Perhaps this extreme inter-tidal environment
is where sea life first came to land.
Big Sur's marine animals live in rare proximity to terrestrial creatures.
This diverse range of habitats, so close together,
exists nowhere else in the world.
East of the sea lies the redwood belt and Big Sur's savannah.
Geological barriers have made it difficult for reptiles to move here.
But a few snakes thrive.
[rattling]
Rattlesnakes have pits near their nostrils
that sense temperature change within a fraction of a degree.
Their forked tongues act as a directional guide.
Rubber boas are rarely seen, as they prefer to live underground.
When threatened, they roll into a ball and use their tail as a decoy.
Birds of prey aren't limited by mountains.
Juvenile red-tailed hawks rarely survive their first two years.
Many die in crash landings while learning to fly.
This young female is healthy and able to hunt.
She spots activity from the height of one mile
with vision eight times more powerful than a human's.
Coyote families prowl Big Sur's meadows.
Supremely adaptable,
coyote mothers use den sites vacated by other animals.
These pups are only a few weeks old,
but are already wired for independence.
Coyotes must be wily.
Cougars, hawks and turkey vultures can snatch small pups.
The vultures are even more aggressive with carrion.
Their large nostrils pick up the smallest scent particles.
Today, Big Sur's condors have failed to spot a natural meal...
but the turkey vultures feast.
During summer, coastal fog increases...
and the sea ripens with potential.
The otter pup bravely tries for his own food.
His tastes are inherited from his mother.
He still needs to learn how to keep his catch.
Most of this season's seal pups already face the world alone.
Along with sea lions,
they now venture farther out to sea and into danger.
Throughout Big Sur, summer brings peril.
Lightning strikes and arson easily ignite dry grass and chaparral.
Embers can quickly blow into a full-fledged inferno.
The smallest are the first to die from heat and smoke.
Without long legs or strong wings, there's no escape.
Cougars won't return until it's safe.
Once a fire runs its course, life resumes.
Some plants depend upon fire to reproduce.
Seeds lie dormant until extreme heat melts their outer coating.
It took millions of years for California's native plants
to adapt to natural fire cycles.
In less than a century, humans have altered the pace so much
that plants struggle to keep up.
Most of Big Sur's natives adapt to changing demands--
but California condors might die out.
The new condor chick is out of the nest,
but still depends on his parents for food.
He will need all that Big Sur can provide
to live for 50 years.
The otter pup is about to be on his own:
in less than six months, his mother will have a new baby.
By now, young seals are completely independent.
Survivors grow stronger every day.
[sea lion barking]
There are many casualties within the sea lion community.
Sometimes sharks only wound their targets.
Despite grave injuries, this male won't give up.
Some of his comrades already decompose among the rocks.
Without fog, the condors are finally able to see potential food.
They spy the perfect meal.
Dominant birds eat first
and take the choicest parts of a carcass.
A condor's beak can pierce the toughest hide.
This is the first footage captured by a film crew
of California condors feeding in the wild.
They don't allow a turkey vulture intruder to share.
This triumph for the prehistoric birds could be their turning point.
It's a healthy start for the young condor chick.
[condors grunting]
Big Sur is never predictable.
Sea otters nearly vanished from the ocean.
Today, under protected status, thousands play here again.
The Central Coast was bereft of great whales for decades.
Now large numbers pass through Big Sur and Monterey Bay.
This is a merciless place-- but residents are stubborn.
Tragedy constantly occurs--
but close by, victory celebrates.
It's impossible to predict what tomorrow might bring.
In secret and savage Big Sur,
the bold and the bravest will survive.
Subtitle by AdySim