Archives for February 2014 | Nature Documentaries

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Invasive Lionfish of the Tropical Atlantic – Marine Ecology Expeditions – Lorenzo Mittiga (2012)

February 28, 2014 at 4:09 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Lionfish are popular aquarium fish native to the Indo-Pacific region. The lionfish invasion in the western Atlantic began in the mid 1980s off the southern coast of Florida, USA. From Florida, lionfish have spread in all possible directions. By 2000, individuals had been sighted off the coast of North Carolina and Bermuda. First lionfish were reported from the Bahamas in 2004, where they quickly dispersed throughout the archipelago by 2007. The range of lionfish has increased further southward. Lionfish now […]

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Pitcher Plants of Palawan – Stewart McPherson (2010)

February 26, 2014 at 3:18 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

The naturalist and explorer Stewart McPherson sets out to discover new species of pitcher plants on the Island of Palawan in the Philippines. Carnivorous plants have the most impressive adaptations that help them survive comfortably in low-nutrient environments. Most plants absorb nutrients through their root but carnivorous plants trap and digest various invertebrates to get nutrients. Even small frogs and mammals can become prey. McPherson previously discovered 5 new species of pitcher plants and photographed one that has trapped a […]

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First Life with David Attenborough – Arrival BBC (2010)

February 15, 2014 at 10:32 pm / BBC documentaries, Evolution, Video

BBC’s First Life is a marvelous encapsulation of life’s evolution in two episodes. Episode one “Arrival” covers major events until the Cambrian Explosion. If you are here because you want to know about the origins of life you may be slightly frustrated. The episode will briefly mention underwater hydrothermal vents as possible locations that life may have started and will mention about stromatolites which appeared in geological history around 3.5 billion years ago and that’s it. It will not talk […]

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Crows Mobbing a Bald Eagle – Kevin Ebi & Jennifer Owen (2011)

February 10, 2014 at 1:28 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Many of us might have witnessed this pre-emptive behavior but never had the chance or reflexes to record it. Kevin Ebi and Jennifer Owen successfully documented the predator deterrence behavior of crows. This observation is a part of a much larger project. Kevin has spent three nesting seasons with a pair of bald eagles nesting in Heritage Park, Kirkland, Washington and wrote a book. According to his account the video is from June 12, 2011. Two cameras were used to […]

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Catapulting Tentacles in a Sticky Carnivorous Plant – Siegfried R. H. Hartmeyer (2012)

February 8, 2014 at 9:37 pm / Short Observations, Video

Drosera glanduligera is a sundew (Droseraceae) from southwestern Australia growing in all kinds of soils. It supplements its diet with arthropods. It has evolved a sophisticated catapult mechanism to capture prey. The hairs found on the surfaces plants are called trichomes. Each trichome is a projection made out of one single cell. Trichomes are quite versatile structures. They can be tweaked to repel or capture water, reflect away or concentrate (focus) light on the photosynthetic cells. They can accumulate irritating […]

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