Page 99 - BBC Wildlife - August 2017 UK

REVIEWS BROADCAST

Q&A WILD UK YouTube
channel), which
STREAM gives a flavour
of the day job of
Richard Vevers
Pavel Fomenko,
THE LATEST ON iPLAYER, head of the
Why don’t
NETFLIX AND BEYOND rare species
people know
conservation
about coral
If you missed it last month, unit in the
bleaching?
R
Most people there’s still a chance to enjoy Russian Far East;ussian Far East;
are very Dippy and the Whale (BBC or The Spider
disconnected from the ocean. iPlayer, available until 11 August) Surface (iPlaayer, available with Three Super Powers
They don’t understand what the story of the Natural until 8 Augustt), which reveals (BBC Earth YouTube channel),
coral is, let alone the complex History Museum’s project how a species once feared gloriously clear macro
process of bleaching. It’s also to remove the much-loved as a sea monster eventually footagefrom TheHunt
confusing – bright white coral diplodocus skeleton from the came to beunnderstood that depicts how a
can look rather spectacular, famous foyer and replace it asa highlyinntelligent, jumping spider can
particularly when it fluoresces with a blue whale (above) –a social creaturre knownfor hunt prey three
as it makes a last-ditch attempt breathtakingly complicated remarkable bbehaviour such times its size.
to produce sunscreen. People feat of engineering that aims as ‘adopting’ injured and
aren’t surewhatto makeof it. to engage visitors with a abandoned orphans. Learn all
about
Some tour operators even take new future of conservation. If it’sawildlife the orca.
guests to admire it! Sticking with cetaceans, take quick-fix you’re after, try
in the history and natural the beautiful, sombre
history of the orca with the and atmosphheric Life
What exactly is bleaching?
Coral has a symbiotic 2013 BBC Natural World filmd as a Tiger Prrotector
relationship with tiny algae Killer Whales: Beneath the in Russia (WWF
in its flesh, which it relies
on for food. When the ocean
gets too warm, the animal
Steppe EARLY BIRDSON
has a stress reaction and
mammoth
ejects these cells. It loses its bones can THE AIRWAVES
colour, leaving just thewhite tell us about Tweet of the Day
skeleton visible. It is still alive the past. RADIO BBC Radio Four
at this point, but will die if Weekdays throughout
August at 5:58am
conditions don’t improve.
The much-loved radio series
Tweet of the Day is in full flow,y
How long does it take?
It can occur in a matter of with offerings for August
weeks–Iwasshocked at the including Olympic rower Alex
speed of it. I went to American Gregory on the house sparrow
Samoa and sawavibrant, and white stork; BBC security
healthy reef ecosystem. When correspondent Frank Gardner
I returned a few months later on thegolden oriel and King
it was a wasteland.It looked as of Saxony bird-of-paradise; and
if it had been dead for years. SECRETS OF SKULLS ornithologist Tim Birkhead on
razorbills, ravens and puffins.
s: Stephan Rech/Imagebroker/FLPA B ue wha e:TheT rustees of the Natura H story Museum,London; orca: Espen Bergersen/naturep .com; Can coral be saved? Bone Stories from some, but these little
Pre-6am might induce groans
It’s very simple: we need to
RADIO BBC Radio Four Five parts, airing daily. Starts 14 August at 1.45pm
birding gems are surely worth
stick to the targets of the Paris
Evolutionary biologist and BBC Wildlife Q&A expert Ben
an occasional early start.
Agreement or there is no
Garrod is again talking all things osteo, with an intriguiuing
future for the reef ecosystem
Waketothe
new historical science series for Radio Four. The preseenter of
sound of
protect the reefs we know we
ance/A amy; razorb as we know it. We must also the BBC’s Secrets of Bones tells five anthropological dettective razorbills.
stories, each of which starts with a part – or parts – off a
can save. This is theaim of our
skeleton. These bony clues include the skull of Irish ‘ggiant’
50 Reefs initiative. The Coral
Charles Byrne (who grew to an eye-popping 233cm back in the
Triangle, for instance, is less
1780s), which is helping to diagnose modern-day gigaantism;
susceptible to bleaching than
mammoth: dpa p cture a the Galápagos, which has the beautifully preserved set of mammoth bones uncoovered
after a Norfolk storm that is providing a fascinating window
virtually lost all of its coral.
onto life 600,000 years ago; and the skull of a man-eaating
tiger that is challenging current ideas about the evoluttion
RICHARD VEVERS is CEO and
founder of The Ocean Agency.
August 2017 of human behaviour: were we the hunted, or the huntters? e