Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00 (dramatic music)
00:02 The Mako is the fastest shark in the ocean.
00:07 Its streamlined shape and textured skin
00:11 minimize water resistance,
00:12 while a powerful vertical tail produces maximum thrust.
00:27 It's basically a torpedo with teeth.
00:31 But a top speed of more than 40 miles per hour
00:37 comes at a high price.
00:40 The Mako must hunt and consume seven pounds
00:45 of high energy food a day.
00:46 That's like an Olympic sprinter
00:49 devouring 28 quarter pounder burgers.
00:55 The Mako spots a shoal of juvenile tuna up ahead.
00:58 This is one of the fastest fish in the sea,
01:03 but the Mako can only sustain its high speed
01:06 in short bursts.
01:07 To avoid spooking the shoal, the shark swims deeper.
01:12 Its darker top side allowing it to blend in from above.
01:22 Once in position, the Mako turns on the speed,
01:25 hitting its mark with full force.
01:31 Tuna is high in protein and low in fat.
01:43 To ensure the Mako consumes enough calories,
01:50 the hunt must begin again.
01:52 (dramatic music)
01:55 While the Mako is one of the fastest predators in the water,
02:00 on land, it's the cheetah
02:06 with a top speed of 60 miles an hour.
02:11 But that's not the only record the cheetah holds.
02:14 They have the best kill rate of all the big cats in Africa.
02:20 (dramatic music)
02:23 But it turns out the secret of the cheetah's success
02:30 isn't speed alone.
02:31 This female cheetah is resting up
02:36 for the explosive burst of speed she'll need
02:39 to capture her next meal.
02:40 Ensuring a successful kill is all the more important
02:50 because she's not alone.
02:52 She has a trio of one-year-old cubs to feed.
02:58 So she needs to hunt every day.
03:04 Just one of these Thompson's gazelles
03:11 would provide a family feast,
03:13 but their sprint speed is almost a match for the cheetah's.
03:20 To improve the odds, she gets as close as possible
03:22 to her prey before launching her attack.
03:26 It takes less than three seconds
03:32 to reach her top speed of 60 miles per hour.
03:35 Fast enough to catch the gazelle in a straight line sprint.
03:42 But the fleeing gazelle zigzags.
03:46 It doesn't phase the cheetah.
03:49 She's designed for speed and agility.
03:53 Non-retractable claws and rigid paw pads
03:55 give much needed traction,
03:57 while her tail acts like a rudder,
04:00 steering her around the sharp turns.
04:02 But the real secret to the cheetah's maneuverability
04:06 is braking power.
04:07 New analysis reveals that it can decelerate
04:13 by an incredible eight miles per hour in a single stride.
04:17 (dramatic music)
04:19 So the female cheetah can change direction in an instant,
04:22 keeping her locked on target like a heat-seeking missile.
04:29 Like 60% of all cheetah hunts, this one ends with a kill.
04:45 The cheetah may be the fastest
04:47 and most agile creature on land,
04:49 but for the ultimate in speed and maneuverability,
04:55 there's one undisputed champion,
04:57 and it's in the air, the peregrine falcon.
05:01 The peregrine has evolved to catch birds on the wing.
05:06 It must lock onto, track, and strike its prey
05:10 at speeds of up to 240 miles per hour.
05:14 (bird squawking)
05:15 Faster than a bullet train.
05:17 This raptor has another superpower,
05:22 incredible long-distance vision,
05:24 allowing it to pinpoint prey from a mile away,
05:29 the length of 17 football fields.
05:32 A peregrine needs to make two kills a day.
05:37 It spots a potential meal.
05:40 (upbeat music)
05:43 A fleeing pigeon can top 50 miles per hour.
05:48 Snatching such fast-moving prey out of the air
05:53 is a huge challenge.
05:54 Once in position above its target,
06:04 the peregrine enters its dive.
06:09 It was thought the blistering speed
06:12 of the peregrine's final dive delivered maximum surprise,
06:16 but lacked accuracy.
06:17 But scientific analysis has revealed the exact opposite.
06:25 The sheer aerodynamic force
06:29 that the falcon picks up in the dive
06:31 makes its every move more accurate,
06:33 like a racing car accelerating into a turn.
06:37 The peregrine falcon is a guided missile that rarely misses.
06:41 The force of the strike can be so great,
06:47 it kills the prey outright.
06:48 So remarkable is the peregrine's airborne agility
06:55 that aerospace engineers are trying to unlock its secrets
06:58 for new aircraft design.
07:00 Like the barn owl with its silent wings,
07:06 there is much we can learn from these aerobatic hunters.
07:09 Over millions of years,
07:17 predators have perfected countless ways
07:20 to trick, ambush, and overcome their prey.
07:24 The drive to hunt has spawned remarkable behaviors.
07:29 Killer compounds.
07:37 Cooperative strategies.
07:39 And design adaptations so smart,
07:43 they're inspiring human technology.
07:45 Necessity is the mother of invention.
07:49 And when it comes to killing,
07:52 the animal kingdom has it all.
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