Journey of Life - Seas of Life 1
Steve travels back 3.8 billion years to when life began. Journeying round the oceans, he explores life's first laboratory and discovers how the incredible variety of sea creatures arose, from the first microbes to hagfish and dolphins.
Our world is a remarkable place, the only known living planet. We share the earth with millions of different kinds of plants and animals. Where did they all come from?
For a few days each year, this remote beach on the edge of the Pacific Ocean can shed some light on the answer. Dawn reveals an epic struggle, one that's been going on since the time of the dinosaurs. It’s a battle fought by all living things.
Only the individuals that are best suited to the world in which they live have a chance of surviving. It’s what we know as survival of the fittest. And at no point in these babies’ lives is this more critical than when they leave the nest. Hungry predators are waiting.
Although they may look the same, each baby is different from the next. The tiniest variation in size and shape can determine who lives and who dies. Some are weak, others strong. Anything that boosts the baby’s chances of surviving, such as a sturdier shell or longer flippers will be passed on to its young in its genes. And over time, these inherited changes can lead to the evolution of a new species.
These babies are the genetic veterans of a battle for survival that’s been going on since the first turtles evolved.
Here only a few make it to the water's edge. This is natural selection-the way life evolves and it’s been shaping new kinds of creatures throughout the whole of life’s great journey.
Every living thing on the planet today is the survivor of an unbroken chain of events spanning nearly 4 billion years |
