National Geographic: Great Migrations

20101127:
It's been a while since I've watched a nature documentary. Today I was studying with this documentary playing in the background; it was great! I should have tried studying with nature documentaries in the background sooner. Occasionally I can look up and see something amazing, but then go right back to studying. It's almost like the visual equivalent of classical music. In particular, the documentary doesn't demand my attention (the same way a story-based movie would), and the ambient noise can be soothing. I suppose that's why I watched March of the Penguins the other day.

Moments That Caught My Attention:
1) Mother zebra chases baby cheetah away.
2) Elephant seals fighting. Blood spill. Poke in the eye. Man... that's brutal.
3) Walrus swimming lesson.

Note: I started watching the first episode "Born to Move" at midnight, but fell asleep partway through. The four episodes were "Born to Move," "Need to Breed," "Race to Survive," and "Feast or Famine." Though I didn't exactly notice the themes.

[20101127][20190504 Edit]

20230217:
Today I finished the fifth episode of the series ("Science of Great Migrations"), and I went on to watch the sixth episode ("Rhythm of Life"), which was an unnarrated episode which features scenes (many if not all which were already shown in previous episodes) and various music.*

*According to the Wikipedia article, there are actually seven episodes. The fifth and sixth episodes above on Disney+ are listed as the sixth and seventh episodes on the Wikipedia page. The fifth episode on the Wikipedia page is titled "Behind the Scenes" and doesn't appear to be available on Disney+.
S1E1 Born to Move
Hehe. The music makes the zebra chasing the baby cheetah very dramatic
Five out of six.
Month long
Whoa. "However they can" (eating another crab)
The monarch butterflies!
"Males pluck females from trees like reluctant flowers. And they mate."
Multigenerational migration. WTF. What's the purpose of such a migration if it takes so long. I suppose it would help distribute resources. [Oh, the migration is seasonal, so as a species, the monarchs travel from Mexico, to the north, and back. But individual generations are only responsible for a part of the trip.]
Hehe. The crocodiles gathering waiting for the migrating wildebeests has me thinking of how humans gather for yearly events such as Black Friday.
2000 times!
"Many will drown in their frenzy to launch their eggs seaward."
100,000 eggs!!!
"Sizing up the competition. In more ways than one..." Literally a dick-measuring contest.
Is it literally in their genes?
Baby crabs versus crazy ants
1=20230117

S1E2 Need to Breed
"He is 3.5 metric tons of raw, sexual aggression."
30 year bond... wow.
Wow. That's brutal (the wounds)
What is the motivation? [the narrator soon says, the need to pass on one's legacy... but how is the encoded in the animal. as an adult human, there's my desire to pass on my legacy that is at odds with my desire for self-preservation. I suppose the young male is also more interested in living and does not make any attempt to mate. whereas the two males that have at it have somehow judged themselves at being worthy]
Hmm. What would the evolution that led to bats look like? [while I was searching for more of a sequence of animals between some ancestor rodent and the modern day bat, this Wikipedia article gives a partial answer][This article is more the angle I was looking for, and so apparently there are mostly just theories]
Lol. WTF. A structure mostly made of ants...
Do ants have a hive mind? [various search results say yes, and liken the collection of ants to a human brain, where each individual ant is a neuron and the signal between ants are pheromones (the equivalent of electrical signals between neurons)]
What makes it so that the striated caracara (Johnny rook) doesn't attack an adult?
What is the expected life expectancy of a colony?
Urine...
How simple. Raise the young for a while, and then leave them.
Wow. Possibly 10 years until returning to shore
1=20230125

S1E3 Race to Survive
Yikes. Crazy bloodshot eyes.
Watching the pronghorn, I felt like expanding my thoughts regarding the living Earth. Animals migrations are no doubt amazing, but can be likened to blood passing through the body. That is, it seems natural to view the animals as being alive and the ones making the trip. However, one can instead view the Earth as being alive with natural pathways which its inhabitants must follow. That was a great sound as the pronghorn escaped the fence.
Poor foal. Doesn't understand the situation. (Certainly there's some dramatization imparted by the narrator, but it's still sad)
Huh. One of them had a third tooth.
What do walruses primarily use their tusks for? ["Walruses use their tusks to haul themselves out of the water and onto the sea ice. Their tusks are also used for keeping breathing holes open in the ice, fighting with other walruses, and for defence against predators" "The main role of the tusks, however, is a social one. Walruses use them in their herd for dominance and mating displays."]
Huh. The scavengers would be offended. "The father herds his son away from the awful spectacle"
1=20230126

S1E4 Feast or Famine
Two years in the womb (elephant)
Why does it just have a bite taken out of it. Why wouldn't the shark be able to completely feast on the entire elephant seal?
I was thinking if the entire seal will be eaten or not. But I recall that uneaten pieces will float to the bottom of the ocean where other creatures will feed on the remains
Interesting. What distinguishes two distinct species, the Golden Jellyfish and the algae growing on them, versus being one?
The elephant honor the dead newborn.
Is there a reasons the elephant families would join up and travel together?
1=20230130

S1E5 Science of Great Migrations
1a: I'm not sure I understand. Why do they have to find the butterflies by plane, only to later go out and look by car.
1a: Ooo. I love it. Superorganism
1a: Wow. That's amazing. The randomness making it harder for the lion to find them.
1a=20230131,1b=20230217


Watched 20101127 (Netflix, Instant)
Watched 20230117 (Disney+)
National Geographic: Great Migration (2010)

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