 |
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME INFO |
|
|
|
|
|
Mark Carwardine examines the lives of creatures who make their homes in extreme environments, and discovers the tricks they have evolvedÌýin order to survive. |
|
|
|
|
LISTEN AGAIN 30 min |
|
|
|
|
PRESENTER |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ìý |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME DETAILS |
|
|
|
 |
|
Like a Fish out of Water
Extreme environments may be perceived as being in very hot or very cold lands, but some are within the mildest of climates. Temperate countries can have their own challenges too. Life can be very interesting when you’re living at altitude, at depth or in a toxic environment.
Seaweed on the rocky shore has to cope with the drying effects of the baking sun in the summer. Yet it also gets drenched and submerged in very salty water twice a day, every day. On top of that it’s pummelled and pulled by the waves. Fortunatley it has the necessary adaptations to cope with all those fluctuations in its daily living conditions.
Human beings cannot live without oxygen. We become very aware very quickly if deprived of it and yet from mountain top to ocean floor, there’s a wide variety of creatures almost doing without it.
The programme will explore how the real experts deal with what we think of as a "tough life". Turtles for example, don’t take a breath for months on end and one unique cephalopod has its own onboard scuba tank to cope with lack of oxygen. Finally, Mark will be looking at fish which have lungs, and organisms that live in solutions which would effectively strip paint.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
