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Who's that shrimp with the great right hook?
Where can a fur seal find fun in the sun?
What makes a beetle take aim and fire?
And how does a puffer fish earn the nickname...
...Tubby?
Well, the answers are coming at you!
So, hang on!
It's National Geographic's
Really Wild Animals!
Ha ha!
Secret weapons and great escapes!
Ah!
Shhh!
Subject in sight!
Ready!
Aim!
Gotcha! Ha ha!
Hey, gang! It's me, Spin!
Your worldwide spy!
Sneaking a peek at the weapons animals use to survive!
What?
Well...
It's a dog-eat-dog world!
Well...
Barg-eat-barg anyway!
Where critters munch their neighbours for breakfast...
...lunch...
...and dinner!
No wonder animals need weapons!
No! No! Not those kinds!
And according to confidential information...
...some of the coolest weapons...
...are secret!
I've got a secret
This is my protection
Watch for my alarm
I'll send out a warning
That I might cause you harm
Yeah, nature gave me my defence
I use it when I'm up against a foe
I've got a secret
Remember what you see's not always what you get
When may it first look innocent
Could really be a trap
I've got a secret
And I conceal it well
Just keep your distance
If you want to keep your head
Well, I'd cool a car with magic skies
But very clever at surprising you
I've got a secret
Question, if animals hide their secret weapons...
...how can we spy on them?
Answer!
We go undercover
Alright agents, open the file on...
...secret weapon number one
Laughing!
Also known as faking, fooling...
...or pretending to be something you're not
Help!
It's a monster in a headdress!
Actually, it's a harmless Australian frilled lizard...
...trying to look dangerous because he's not
He can't hurt anyone...
...unless they're offended by tasteless neckwear
He's a dude with attitude...
...but that's the only weapon he has
And if his bluffing doesn't work...
...he resorts to plan B
Climate tree!
Here's case number two in the bluffing file...
...the owl butterfly
When an animal wants to eat it...
...the butterfly looks danger in the eye...
...with fake eyes
It opens its wings and...
...look at that!
Eyespots make the butterfly...
...look like the head of a big ferocious owl
Wise disguise
Spies!
Grab a mask and fins!
Sources report that the ocean is flooded...
...with secret weapons
Hey!
Somebody tell the puffer fish to watch out!
That eel wants a meal!
Ah!
Too late
Wait!
She's activating secret weapon number two!
Changing shape!
Talk about a battle of the bulge!
She gulps water into her sack on her belly...
...and it stretches like a balloon
Now she's too big to fit in the eel's mouth!
Aha!
Saved by pigging out on water!
And she won't ever need to diet...
...the water weight gain is temporary
After her escape, she squirts out the water...
...and swims back down again
Next, we'll sneak back up on land...
...and spy on...
...P.U.!
The weapon your nose will know!
It's secret weapon number three!
Smell!
Skunks squirt a smelly spray...
...out of glands near their rear
They only spray when they're in serious danger...
...which might be soon if the cougar...
...doesn't leave their spotted skunk alone
So then, what's with the handstand?
Time out for the Skunk Olympics!
Actually, the handstand is a warning
It means if you leave me alone...
...I won't stink you up!
Got me and I'll let loose the juice!
The odor is odious!
Good thing this isn't smell-o-vision
OK, spies, let's fly to North America...
...to the palm-tree state of Florida
There, there!
On the leaf!
A hemisphorata beetle...
...with secret weapon number four!
Athlete's foot!
Er, their feet!
The strongest feet you'll ever meet!
They look like built-in sneakers...
...and their power stays hidden...
...until the beetle kicks it into gear
But he'd better do soon...
...or that hungry ant will eat him!
The beetle hunkers down...
...and grips the leaf with his feet
You could yank all day...
...but the beetle's gonna stay!
In 1983, scientists got curious...
...about the strength of hemisphorata's feet
So they put hemisphorata under the microscope
Whoa! His feet were brushed like bristles...
...that had sticky pads on the ends!
And there were 60,000 of them...
...all gripping!
And one of the ants gives up
You can fight a few secret weapons...
...but not 60,000!
60,000 feet!
That's a lot of tube socks!
And for beetles that don't have super feet...
...there's secret weapon number five!
The spurt that hurts!
Also known as sharpshooting gross-tasting...
...beetle juice!
Anyone who bugs this bombardier beetle...
...gets zapped with a hot pepper spray!
Just ask this frog
Wow! It's as hot as boiling water!
More peppery than ten-alarm chili!
The frog's tongue must feel like it's on fire!
Let's check the beetle cam...
...and see the hit in slow motion!
Hot stuff shoots out the beetle's rear!
Ah! Oh!
Yow! Yow!
It's a hotshot secret weapon!
Now, watch out, baby!
It's frog skin!
Frog skin?
Ah!
It comes in different styles...
...slick, moist and stretchy...
...or on toads which are in the same family...
...it can be oh so dry and bumpy!
Either way, it won't give you warts...
...as you may have heard...
...but it will protect its owner...
...in some very clever ways!
What secret weapon number six?
You're looking at it!
Frog skin!
Case in point, if it's beautiful, beware!
Brilliant dazzling skin can be poisonous!
These bright colors are a warning!
They mean...
...I look good...
...but eat me...
...and you're in for a nasty surprise!
So stay off my back!
Sleepover to the eastern coast of Africa...
...to the island of Madagascar...
...where the tomato frog's skin...
...has two tricks up its slippery sleeve.
First, it stretches to make the frog look bigger.
Hey, great imitation of the tomato that ate Chicago!
And if that won't scare off this snake...
...the frog's skin oozes out something that will.
Goofy glow that tastes awful...
...and makes things stick to it.
What a mess!
It actually glues the snake's jaws together...
...and they can stay that way for two days.
There!
Find that snake some mouthwash...
...and no more tomatoes.
Next, we'll spin our spyglass...
...to the northern coast of South America...
...where frog skin is at it again.
This time the suspect is a toad...
...lurking underwater...
...and her weapon...
...hmm, it seems to be full of holes.
But holy skin is just the kind of protection...
...surinam toads need...
...because it's a hideout for surinam babies.
You see, most frogs and toads start off like this...
...hatching in the water and becoming tadpoles.
But tadpoles don't have arms and legs yet...
...which means they're cute and squiggling.
But easy snack food for fish.
So when surinam toad eggs are laid...
...the mother makes sure they land on her back...
...then a spongy layer of skin grows around them.
When the eggs hatch the little critters...
...hide out in the little craters...
...until they've grown into tiny toads.
And out they pop and away they go...
...by mom who's tipping out the bag.
Alert! Alert! Alert!
Some animals don't use secret weapons...
...to protect themselves at all.
They use them to attack...
...to hunt...
...to clobber their opponent.
Xtree, xtree, mantis, clobbers, lobster.
Okay, all you shrimps, listen up.
Here are the basics.
Punch is one of the fastest movements...
...in the animal world.
It's strong enough to smash glass.
So use your claws like boxing gloves.
Snap them out. Slug it out.
Ba-da-bam, ba-da-boom.
And if somebody tries to steal your burrow...
...drive them off with body punches.
Batter them into defeat.
Or at least in detail.
Throw combinations.
Slow jabs. Fast hooks.
And jeepers, creepers.
Use your amazing peepers.
Your eyes are quick and crafty...
...and they help you win the fight.
They see in color.
They turn almost all the way around.
They're prize-fighting eyes.
And only mantis shrimp have got them.
So get out there and punch.
Uppercut. Gold on distance.
Of course, not everyone has a great right hook.
But there's more than one way...
...to knock out your opponent.
Just ask the Cone Snail.
He's searching for a little midnight snack.
And he's in the mood for seafood.
When the Cone Snail finds dinner...
...it deploys secret weapon number seven.
A poison-tipped harpoon.
The poison's on the inside and you can't see it...
...but the harpoon's sting is so strong...
...it could kill a person.
Look out! Behind you!
The harpoon's coming up fast.
There's the strike!
The poison paralyzes the fish, except for his gills...
...so it can still breathe, but it can't get away.
Now the Cone Snail can eat it live in one gulp.
Snack time.
Hey, didn't your mom teach you to chew your food?
Look, Spies, it's the shadow of a hunter...
...who keeps many secrets.
The snake.
You're the coolest thing on...
...uh, well, no feet.
You see, snakes don't have any feet...
...but they move incredibly well...
...by pushing their muscles against the ground.
And they don't have ears.
But hey, no problem.
The bones in their head sense vibration.
They do have noses, but they go on better.
They smell with their forked tongues, too.
Snakes have eyes, but frankly...
...some of them have eyesight that stinks.
And snakes who need glasses often have a secret.
Like this green tree python...
...who has special spy gear for hunting at night.
Here's how it works.
Warm-blooded animals give off heat.
And open pits near the snakes' eyes sense the heat.
Snakes track their food by following the heat.
This means heat.
Warm-blooded meal approaching.
Now!
Ah, warm and feathery.
Sometimes it pays to stay cool.
Check it out, snoops.
A cobra.
And I'd say, judging from the way she looks...
...she's hungry.
Prime red is on the menu tonight, but first, of course...
...the snake has to catch it.
Don't worry about the sleeping people.
The snake is only after the rat.
Now, where did it go?
There it is.
The cobra opens her hood and looks threatening.
She strikes!
Just one little bite...
...and not much of a fight.
Wait a minute, hold it.
That was too easy.
Why doesn't the rat fight back?
Let's look into that bite a little more closely.
Aha!
Just what I suspected.
Its secret weapon number eight.
Venom.
It isn't the bite itself...
...but what comes out of the fangs that kills.
Venom is wicked strong poison.
It shoots out of the snake's fangs...
...and paralyzes most of the rat's body...
...so he can't fight back or run away.
The snake then eats her meal in peace.
In one piece, that is.
Thanks you very much.
Hey, pal, where do you think you're going?
Uncle Spin wants you.
Join the Ant Brigade and be all you can be...
...along with millions of others.
Defend life and larva.
When you see the enemy, attack in a pack.
Then bring him back and have a snack.
Learn to be loyal.
Never abandon your fellow ant...
...even when your mushroom is bombed by raindrops.
Learn to be brave.
The Ant Brigade is never afraid.
Hang tough, hang together.
Build bridges with your body.
I don't know what I've been told.
Army ants are afraid of both.
Six legs, six legs!
So remember, troops...
...your secret weapon is teamwork.
Strength in numbers.
Always.
Hold on.
I'm picking up a message.
Humans are advised to stay away from animals' secret weapons.
But accidents do happen.
Say, for example, you chance upon a black widow spider.
Just like a snake has venom, a black widow does too.
So if she bites you, the venom speeds through the bloodstream.
A person's muscles freak out and cramp and hurt like crazy.
Being bitten by a black widow spider is serious business.
But there is a solution.
And though the black widow doesn't know it, she holds the secret to the cure.
It's a medicine called antivenin.
And it's made from the black widow's very own venom.
That's right, the same poison that can hurt you can help you.
But first, someone has to, uh, uh, filch some from the spider.
In the basement of this house...
...down these very steps...
...the Christensen family raises thousands of black widows to collect their venom.
And nobody seems the least bit afraid.
But how do the neighbors feel?
A couple of my friends do come down here, but most of them just, you know, just stay upstairs.
They only walk in the door.
The maggots turn them off more than anything.
Spiders don't really turn them off.
Just, it's the maggots that really get them.
Uh, maggots, little fly larvae are the gourmet food the Christensen's feed the spiders.
Ugh, I prefer broccoli myself.
Getting the black widow's venom is, as you can imagine, very hard.
They have to make the spider go to sleep, then give it a small electric shock.
This jolts the spider into producing a tiny drop of venom, which they catch as it drips from her fangs.
So you see, the black widow herself becomes a secret weapon...
...against her own secret weapon.
Well, 007's mission accomplished.
The secret weapons of the animal kingdom are secret no more.
From fattening up...
...to squirting...
...biting...
...and refusing to let go.
Animals have amazing secrets that help them survive.
You got to stay alert, be quick on your feet, or you might get fooled by the one you want to eat.
Can't pick up a beetle with sticky shoes, and gooey-looey fills your mouth with ooze.
When a snack swells up too big for lunch, and that shrimp dinner gives you a punch.
Yeah, the unexpected lies in wait by the time you figure it out too late.
Another trick of the trade.
That's how the game is played.
Just another trick of the trade.
Trick of the trade.
You better watch your back, you gotta watch your front, or you might get something that you didn't really want.
One against a million, or one against three.
Unfair advantage, no apology.
Imitation eyes, or wearing disguises, it ain't easy, life's full of surprises.
What do you do in this combat zone?
Got to use some secret weapons of your own.
Another trick of the trade.
Somebody just got sprayed.
Just another trick of the trade.
Trick of the trade, yeah.
Got poison, you can sting them or bite them.
Got cars, you can scratch them or fight them.
If you can sense their body heat, well, sneak up at night for a bite to eat.
Trick of the trade.
And if your enemy's trying to get you, well, puff up and bluff them.
You betcha.
Another trick of the trade.
You got that right.
Just another trick of the trade.
We'll use what we're given to keep on living.
Another trick of the trade.
Trick of the trade.
So that's a scoop on secret weapons.
And here's another secret.
If you're looking for some of the craziest, kookiest, weirdest, most wonderful animals in the world,
hold on, they're coming at you.
Hey gang, it's me, Spin, your twirling tour guide.
Here to take you to some of the most magical places on Earth.
Islands.
From Maui to Madagascar, Guam to the Galapagos, you'll find islands all around me.
An island can be big as a small continent or as small as a big rock.
But all islands have one thing in common.
They're completely surrounded by water, which means they've been isolated or separated from the rest of the world.
Many for millions of years.
Over time, island animals have developed their own ways of doing things, which may seem, well, a little different.
But hey, what would you be like if you lived alone on a little piece of land way out in the ocean?
Strange as they may seem, island animals have become experts at living in some of the weirdest, wackiest, most wonderful places on Earth.
Island life is special, just a little strange. Through the years of living here, we've changed.
Some of us grow larger, some of us slow down. That's what happens when you hang around.
It's a different way of getting by. Welcome to the islands.
Island life is easy for raising families. We don't have a lot of enemies.
Ooh, it sure gets crowded all along the sand. Everybody wants a piece of land.
If you swim or if you fly, jump on by the islands.
Geographically disconnected, that's why we're so well protected.
The ocean's good for hunting, the islands good for rest. Find that special mate to share your nest.
Our world is unique, come take a peek. You may never say goodbye. Welcome to the islands.
Let's sail to Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean. Millions of years ago, Madagascar broke off and drifted away from the coast of Africa.
Today it's full of animals you won't find anywhere else on Earth, so don't even bother looking.
Some of Madagascar's most famous residents are these guys, the lemurs.
There are 30 different species, all kinds of lemurs, and nearly all of them live right here on Madagascar.
My vote for the lemurs that run circles around the rest, the ring-tailed lemurs.
Hmm, I wonder how ring-tailed lemurs got their name. Oh, yes.
Ring-tailed living groups called troops. Those ringy tails help each lemur keep in touch with his troop, and they warn rival lemurs to keep away from his territory.
Other lemurs have their own ways of staking out their turf, like the safakas, who get their name from their distinctive hiccups.
They don't have fancy tails to wave around, so safakas use that hiccup call to let other lemurs know they're on safaka territory.
But say you're a safaka and you've got to step away for a bit, how do you protect your part of the forest?
You stink it up with your own special smell.
Safakas have scent glands on their wrists, their neck, and even their, their, um, well, you get the idea.
That smells a signal to other lemurs that they're on this guy's turf, and they'd better shove off.
Down on the ground, the ring-tails are smelling it up for a different reason.
Ring-tailed males rub scent on their tails before a fight, better known as a stink fight.
Once their tails are good and stinky, these guys shake them like crazy at each other, and after just one whiff, phew, we've got a winner.
So, what's the big stink about? A lovely lady lemur.
In the lemur language of love, it's the smelliest guy who gets the girl.
All this love stuff can lead to just one thing, little lemurs.
Like human babies, young lemurs spend a lot of time hanging around mom,
but soon they're off to explore and practice leaping through Madagascar's forests.
Better take a lesson from a pro.
For lemurs, leaping's not just for the trees, it's also a great way to get around on the ground.
See you later, lemur.
Well, that's all for Madagascar, so let's... Whoa!
Oh yes, that sticky tongue reminds me I am forgetting somebody.
Meet Madagascar's chameleons.
More than half of all chameleon species live right here.
These lizards are wizards at sneaking up on their favorite snacks, bugs.
Chameleon feet are specially shaped to clamp onto thin tree branches,
and a gripping prehensile tail helps them hang on.
Most of the time.
Each eye moves independently, which lets chameleons look in two different directions at the same time.
Once those eyes lock in on a target, it's goodbye bug. Whoa!
Here's a chameleon's coolest feature, a sticky tongue that can be as long as his body
and stays bunched up inside his mouth, just waiting for a buggy breakfast to plunder by.
Swish! Chameleons two, bugs zero.
And now, on to our next island.
Lurking deep in the mysterious briny island waters,
to all who witness its wrath.
Crawling from the deep to consume everything in its path, you must fear the hideous monster from the deep.
Run, don't walk to a theater near you to see the scaly, slimy monster with teeth of steel and a heart of pure evil.
Tearing everything in its path into shreds for its own twisted pleasure.
Stop! Stop! No, no! This is totally untrue.
These guys aren't monsters at all.
Naturally, they're some of the nicest visits you'll ever meet.
Say hi to the marine iguanas of the Galapagos.
Among the world's islands, the Galapagos are some of the most famous,
mostly due to the work of a scientist named Charles Darwin.
Way back in 1835, Darwin discovered that many animals had changed or adapted
to make the most of their island home, like the iguanas.
In time, all the iguanas on the Galapagos lived on land,
where they ate prickly pear, cactus, and other plants.
But some iguanas found food in a different place.
They developed a taste for seafood.
Uh, seaweed, to be exact.
Over time, they became two different kinds or species of iguana.
The land iguana and the marine iguana.
Darwin called this process evolution.
A revolutionary idea!
Islands like the Galapagos are unique places,
each with its own special mix of plants and animals.
Scientists call this an ecosystem,
a place where every living thing depends on each other for survival.
Check it out!
It's the amazing ecosystem!
While other systems give you miles of pipes or piles of files,
the amazing ecosystem gives you everything you'll need
to live a well-balanced life in the splendor of nature.
You'll get land, plant, water, and ideal weather conditions.
You'll also get an assortment of animal life,
from insects to reptiles to, yes, even mammals.
The amazing ecosystem is available in hundreds of different models,
like tropical paradise, desert dunes, and the ever-popular tundra.
Act now and we'll include a unique island ecosystem
available nowhere else on Earth.
But hurry, pristine all-natural ecosystems are going fast.
The Amazing Ecosystem by Spinco.
Next, let's travel to Tasmania,
an island off the southern coast of Australia.
This is rough country and it takes one tough cookie to survive here.
Meet Tasmania's most notorious native, the Tasmanian devil.
Ew! Breath mint?
Even though the devil is no larger than your average house cat,
she's still the toughest animal in Tasmania.
And she's one mean meat eater.
Devils will eat just about anything they can get those teeth on.
So Tasmania's itty-bitty quolls stay out of their way.
Which is just fine for this devil mom.
She's heading for a den while her young grow in her pouch.
You see, Tasmanian devils are marsupials.
What's a marsupial?
The following is a test of the marsupial broadcast system.
Warning signs that you may be a marsupial are
Your mother has a pouch that you like to hang out in.
You have hair on your body and a fondness for milk.
You live in Australia or Tasmania.
And your friends call you quoll, kangaroo, or even wombat.
In the event that you are an actual marsupial,
please crawl into the nearest pouch and await further instructions.
Thank you.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program.
Meanwhile, after spending about four months in their mother's pouch,
two brand new devils are ready to enter the world.
Oh, so young and already so crabby.
Well, if these little devils are going to grow up to be Tasmania's tough guys,
they've got to start right away.
This echidna presents them with their first big problem.
And it's a prickly one.
I've heard echidnas make a nice meal if you can just get your mouth near them.
Eggs are a bit easier.
In any way, Tasmanian devils aren't picky eaters.
But don't invite them to dinner.
They talk with their mouth full, they don't take turns,
and they eat like, well, like Tasmanian devils.
A taz can consume up to one-third of his own weight at one sitting.
That's like your dad eating fifty steaks for dinner.
Devils will devour far skin and even bones.
There's no doggy bag needed when a taz leaves the table.
And now it's time for the swigging new dance show that has all the kids
tapping their feet and wiggling in their seats.
It's the Big Bird Bopperama.
Hey, kids, it's Big Ben, and you're watching the Big Bird Bopperama.
This week we have a special treat for all you fine-peathered fans out there,
the marvelous moves of Island Birds.
Act number one, the Birds of Paradise dancers from Papua, New Guinea.
Lady Birds of Paradise flip when their fellas flutter those fabulous feathers.
Fantastic!
Act number two is flown in all the way from the Crozet Islands.
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Albatross doing the albatross.
These crazy kids spend months alone hunting out at sea,
and when they finally get together, they do a special dance
they've been rehearsing for years.
Let's give the happy couple a hand!
Finally, act number three from the Galapagos Islands, the blue-footed booby.
He doesn't need fancy footwork to get a girl because he's already got fancy feet.
Hey, Mr. Booby, shuffle those big blue feet of yours.
Well, that's all for the Big Bird Bopperama show.
Tune in next week for those nutty, crazy, mixed-up Birds of New Zealand.
Whoa!
You'll find birds on almost every island,
but some of the strangest are here by Australia, on the islands of New Zealand.
Take New Zealand's White Island.
It's the tip of a vast volcano where vents spew steam that can reach 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yowch!
So why is White Island home to this goofy group of gannets?
You'd think all these steam vents would cook this guy's goose.
Well, he and his gannet gang are smart enough to stay away from the hottest steam,
while making a safe home on an island no one else will go near.
Next time you're looking for a place to take a sauna, go ask a gannet.
Ah, I think I'll take a little steam bath myself.
Whoa! What happened to the heat?
I've landed in the Southern Alps, a snowy mountain range on New Zealand's South Island.
Looks like a penguin paradise, right?
Wrong!
In New Zealand, this is a place for parrots.
Around the world, parrots live in the hot tropics,
but New Zealand's Kia has adapted just fine to life in the ice and snow.
The Kia's big feet are great snowshoes,
and that curved beak makes a handy ice pick when climbing up snowy slopes.
Kia's mate for life,
which means these guys have lots of practice working as a team to bring up their chicks.
Mum's job is to stay in the nest with the new chicks,
so it's up to Dad to hunt up grubs and bring the goodies home.
Dad baths up some lunch to Mum, and Mum passes it on to the kids.
That's called the bath chain!
The chicks have a special slot that Mum's beak fits right into.
After four months in the nest, our frisky Kia chicks step out for the first time,
and they immediately start looking for food that isn't bird bath.
But you don't know what makes a good meal until you do some taste testing.
Rocks? No!
Flowers? Well...
Berries! Now that's more like it.
And breakfast is served!
But wait, what about the penguins?
If they're not up here in the snow, where are they?
They're scrambling ashore on a patch of penguin paradise, the Snares Islands.
Other penguins might think ice is nice,
but these guys would rather summer in the Snares' lush forests.
It's a safe sheltered place to raise the chicks and meet up with your penguin pals.
But after several months ashore, they're back to the Pacific Ocean's icy waters,
where they spend the rest of the year filling up on fish.
Islands like the Snares sure get crowded in the summer months.
Better check out the beach report!
Time for the really wild island radio beach report brought to you by Sand.
If it's on the beach and it's in your shorts, it's gotta be sand!
Hey, let's go up to Bob Beachcomber in the shore copter.
Bob Beachcomber here, hovering over the Juan Fernandez Islands.
It's day one of the summer season, and the traffic is bumper to bumper and flipper to flipper.
We're talking intense migration, so if you're a Juan Fernandez fur seal,
consider using an alternate route.
Beachfront parking is jam-packed, and hey, what's that? A bender bender?
There's always one bully on the beach. Watch the fur, fellas!
But most everyone else is having fun soaking up the surf and sun, small fry included.
As usual, a new summer means a new crop of pups born right here on the beach.
Careful, Mom, that's a baby, not a beach ball!
Well, that's the view from up here in the air. This is Bob Beachcomber. Over to you, Spin.
There's an awful lot of coming and going on islands.
Visits by seagoing animals like fur seals are part of the natural cycle of life here.
But some islands have been invaded by animals that were never meant to be there at all.
Remember the Galapagos? Well, a long time ago, people brought goats to the island.
The goats ate the grass and other plants that the native animals need to survive.
Now, these tortoises have nearly disappeared.
It's the same sad story on other islands, where invaders like rats are taking away native animals' food and homes.
But there are people working hard to save island ecosystems.
Some are replanting precious forests, while others are getting rid of uninvited invaders.
And on some islands around the world, there are brand new ecosystems being born.
This is New York City, one of the busiest places on Earth.
Doesn't look like a good home for island animals, does it? Well, look again.
In the middle of New York's harbor, birds like these herons have begun to make a home.
They weren't here a few years ago, but when people cleaned up the polluted harbor,
the birds found a new place to nest, with plenty of food for their growing chicks.
Now people are keeping a close eye on the progress of the new island inhabitants.
They may be surrounded by the big city, but on these little pieces of land, they've found a little bit of paradise.
Hey, all across the Earth, see the spots of green among the blue. What does it mean to stand alone, to live life on your own?
It's a world within a world, a solitary wonder, a self-contained community, an island is a world within a world.
Yeah, yeah, feel the soft breeze, watch the water glisten beneath the sun.
So many different faces appear, you'll only find them here.
It's a world within a world, a solitary wonder, a self-contained community, an island is a world within a world.
Don't upset it, let it be. Don't upset it, let it be. Don't upset it, it's already paradise.
It's a world within a world, a solitary wonder, a self-contained community, an island is a world within a world.
Well, gang, I hope you've had fun on our island adventure.
But there are lots more really wild animals all across this wonderful world of ours.
So be sure to join me on our next adventure. Until then, this is your pal, Spin.
Spin ya later.
Spin ya later.
Spin ya later.