Life is the result of Discovery’s collaboration with the BBC, known for Sir Richard Attenborough’s adventures with nature. Life’s patient cameramen spent months waiting for perhaps two hours of animal, insect, or plant activity. The result: lots of things in nature you’ve never seen before, but that you can fully appreciate now in slo-mo. If you’ve ever wondered how flying fish fly, why a Venus flytrap isn’t fooled by rain drops, how a lizard can walk on water, why tiny herring can dodge huge sailfish – Life shows you. The series also tells you what it was like to get those fantastic shots. One cameraman heard his pal shout, “Move!” and turned to see a Komodo dragon – and its mouth of shark-like, serrated teeth – at his shoulder. He moved.

We said hello to physicist Michio Kaku, who’s on Discovery’s Science Channel every Sunday night, answering science questions. And we hugged environmental reporter Andrew C. Revkin, whose blog about climate change is going up on The New York Times’ editorial page. Andy’s a wonderful bluegrass musician, and a star of our TalkingScience Cabaret. If you’re applying to college, think about Pace University. Andy’s designing a course there on global warming.

Back to Life: we promise your mouth will hang open at the gorgeous photography. Your heart will turn over as you wonder whether that ostrich can escape three cheetahs, how that crab-eating seal can outwit a pod of orcas (there are good reasons they’re known as killer whales, whether a baby ibex will outrun a fox, if a lonely young male hippo can defeat an old “warlord” and find a mate. You’ll love the music, especially during the sequence where dolphins off the Florida Keys demonstrate their clever way of catching fish – something no scientist or photographer had ever seen before. You’ll agree: the world we live in is more beautiful than and just as amazing as Avatar’s Pandora.

Until April 2009, most of my hands-on experience with marine life had been limited to scrubbing algae from the walls of my freshwater aquarium. Then one day I found myself onboard a NOAA ship, dissecting Atlantic cod, winter skates, and yellowtail flounder, and up to my elbows in fish slime – and I could not have been happier.

The Fisheries and Ecosystems Monitoring and Analysis Division (FEMAD), of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, has conducted bottom trawl surveys as part of NOAA since the 1960s. These surveys collect valuable information each fall and spring on fish populations, as well as meteorological and oceanographic data. I participated in April 2009 as a volunteer scientist on a 10-day cruise, just one leg of the 10-week survey.

To survey the populations of marine species, research vessels tow large fishing nets in specific locations off the northeast coast; the catch is dumped into a large bin (a hopper), and everything is sorted into buckets and baskets by species. Eventually, anything pulled aboard is weighed and measured individually. This quickly becomes a vast and thorough data set, because hundreds of fish and other marine species may be brought aboard in a single tow. In a 12-hour shift, the ship’s Chief Scientist will aim to complete between 5 to 10 tows. After only a 10-day cruise, that’s a lot of fish.

Although called a cruise, these trips are anything but a vacation. Survey ships are active twenty-four hours a day, with two teams of scientists working in 12-hour shifts. I was on the day shift, which means I worked from noon to midnight. Coordinating as a team to be efficient, the scientists must immediately identify each fish species carried along on a small conveyor belt, grab the slimy creatures, and separate them into buckets. It is both physically and intellectually demanding labor. The challenge is to think and move fast, and especially to take care when picking up the spinier species, with the conveyor belt continuously carrying more fish down the line, all the while standing on a rocking boat – for a long shift. After the fish were sorted, we weighed and measured each one at computer workstations in the wet lab. Depending on the research being conducted on each species, we also gathered additional information, including the individual’s sex, maturity, stomach contents, and the weight of some internal organs.

The information collected on these voyages contributes to an enormous data set on fish populations off the Northeast coast. NOAA scientists use this data to study a wide range of topics in regards to the sustainable management of marine resources, which I will discuss in a future post. Thanks for reading!

Blue Monkeys are not noticeably blue, although the lack of fur on their faces can often give them a bluish appearance. They have a “unimale” social system, which means that usually Blue Monkey communities consist of numerous females and a single male. During breeding season, however, the number of males in a community is more variable, since several males may enter a group and compete for mating opportunities. In the course of competition, the resident male may be ousted, while a new, incoming male may go so far as to rip an infant sired by another male from the nursing female, and kill it. Some effort is made by surrounding females to protect both mother and child from their attacker, but in the end, the new male, both bigger and stronger, wins. When the mother’s reproductive ability “kicks in,” said Dr. Cords, she mates with the male that killed her child. What prompts this aggression on the part of the incoming male? Dr. Cords sees it as a reproductive strategy to “open up the resource base” for the male’s offspring, reinforcing Darwin’s notion of evolution through sexual selection. How does Dr. Cords explain the occasional consumption of the infant by the male? “Seen through cold-blooded biological lenses,” said Dr. Cords, “you’re getting a big packet of protein.” Blue Monkey females may have a counter- strategy against infanticide, Dr. Cords, explained, by mating with multiple males, even at times when conception isn’t possible. This practice casts into question the paternity of an infant, making less likely the risk of a male attacking and killing what may be his own offspring.

Reports of infanticide in various species, such as primates and rodents, are relatively recent, said Dr. Cords, dating back only about thirty years. Initially, many scientists viewed such behavior as aberrant and maladaptive, (Darwin himself refused to believe that the instincts of the lower animals were sufficiently perverse to lead to the regular practice of infanticide) but it is in fact widespread, said Dr. Cords, and jives with Darwin’s theory of adaptation.
Dr. Cords’ presentation was part of Columbia University’s Café Science series, which lately has been commemorating the two hundredth anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “The Origin of Species.” We were given a remarkable- and yes, pretty unsavory glimpse of the goings on of our closest living relatives.

California Sea Lions are perhaps the most social marine animals in the sea. These creatures live in groups called harems, which consist of the dominant male (the bull) who is in charge of the females (the cows). California Sea Lions eat mostly fish, squid, and octopus. Sea lions are mammals so they breathe air and blow bubbles through their nose when they’re underwater. They can reduce their heart rate when they dive into the water to conserve oxygen.

California Sea Lions are famous for their intelligence, playfulness, and barking. They range from chocolate brown (males) to golden brown (females). They can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. They have dog-like faces and resemble seals. What sets sea lions apart from seals is that sea lions have tiny flaps over their ears.

The California Sea Lion is found on the North American Coast. They also can be found from Vancouver Island, British Colombia, down to the southern tip of Baja California in Mexico. Their population is growing steadily. Protection in the twentieth century allowed the sea lion population to increase after extensive hunting for their skin and oil in the nineteenth century. Seal lions mainly breed offshore. Females give birth to one pup a year. These baby sea lions reach adult size by age nine and can live up to their thirties.

Sea Lions love jumping out of the water, presumably to speed up their swimming. They produce loud roars, hence the name sea lion, and are adapted for movement on land and water. You’ll be amazed at how agile and flexible the Central Park Zoo’s sea lions can be. I watched one bend her neck back so far she almost touched her spine.

White Tailed Deer

White Tailed Deer are herbivores. Their stomachs only allow them to digest a varied diet like leaves, twigs, fruit, and nuts. Young deer are called fawns. Their tails wag when they sense danger.

Zebras

Each zebra’s stripes are unique, like fingerprints. They are social animals that spend a lot of time in herds. They eat grass and groom one another. A zebra’s family will come to its defense if it is attacked.

Baboons

Baboons are some of the world’s largest monkeys. They eat fruit, grasses, seeds, and roots, but also have a taste for meat. Males generally show physical power to dominate opponents.

Giraffes

Giraffes are the world’s tallest mammals. They only need to drink water once every few days because they get most of their water from the plants they eat. Female giraffes give birth standing up, so the young are born falling five feet to the ground.

Vervet Monkeys

Vervet monkeys eat and sleep in trees. Grooming is very important. They spend several hours picking dirt off their coats. They rarely drink water.

Grants Gazelle

Grants gazelles are found on open grass that is not very high. Their diets change according to season. They are a potential source of protein for humans. The closest relationships these animals form are between a mother and her most recent offspring.

Elephants

Elephant are the largest land animals on Earth. Their ears give off heat to help keep them cool. The females go through 22 months of pregnancy and at birth the young weigh 200 pounds.

Hyenas

Hyenas eat other predators’ leftovers. They live in much of Africa, and throughout Arabia and India. They are closely related to cats and groups of hyenas are run by the females.

Water Buffaloes

Water buffaloes have been domesticated for more than 5,000 years because of their strength and survival skills. They spend most of their day submerged in muddy waters of tropical forests. They are endangered and live in only a few protected areas.

Lions

Lions are the only cats that live in groups. These groups are called prides. Female lions do most of the hunting.

Wildebeest

Wildebeest travel in herds and are active day and night. The young learn to walk within minutes of their birth.

Hippos

Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers to keep their bodies cool against the sun. Soon after birth they join groups called schools to provide protection against crocodiles, lions, and hyenas.

Ostrich

Ostrich are the world’s largest birds. They cannot fly but are very strong runners. Their eyes are the largest of any land mammal, almost two inches wide. Their kicks can kill a human or potential predator like a lion, because of their sharp claws.

Jackal

Jackals are native to southeastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. Scavengers like hyenas, jackals are territorial and mark and defend their territory.

Thompson’s Gazelle

Thompson’s gazelle can reach a speed of up to 40 mile an hours. They are found in Africa and Asia. There are 19 different species.

Photos by Danielle Dana, captions by Betty Diop and Rosalee Washington

Does buying endless products that you don't really need actually make you happy? Do we only crave objects because of clever marketing? Wild Talk speaks to writer Alistair McIntosh about what it will take to make the world's economy truly green and how ordinary people will have to change their values to make the dream come true. To listen,

click here.

This month more than 25,000 people will converge on Istanbul in Turkey to discuss the world's water issues. Big business, developers, conservationists and governments will gather in an attempt to place water high on the international agenda. Mark Smith, Head of IUCN's Water Programme, talks to Wild Talk about whether this will happen and explains the importance of water in the climate change debate. To listen,

click here.

Wild Talk paid a visit to the Geneva Motor Show this month to see just how committed car companies are to the green movement. With more and more electric cars on display, it's clear that every brand wants to get in on the act. Wild Talk speaks to technical experts who talk us through some of the cars on offer, customers who are keen to buy them, and a new company which is planning to set up a grid for charging electric cars using only renewable energy sources.

Clive Tesar, Head of Communications at WWF's Arctic Network initiative, talks to Wild Talk about the upcoming Catlin Arctic Survey, an expedition from Northern Canada to the Arctic that will measure the thickness of the sea ice. He explains how this will help scientists make models of the rate at which the sea ice is melting and explains the implications for all creatures, both great and small, that live in the Arctic. To listen,

click here.

The oceans are home to some of our most fascinating creatures, as well as those most at risk of extinction. Photographer Juergen Freund has spent the last 14 years taking underwater images of many threatened marine species, particularly in waters off the Philippines and Australia where he lives. Through his award-winning photography he hopes to shed some light on the majesty and the plight of ocean dwelling organisms. He speaks to Wild Talk about three of his pictures. To listen and see the pictures, click here

Portrait of a Minke Whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) 2008 IUCN Red List status: Least Concern	Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) caught by hunters in the Philippines 2008 IUCN Red List status: Vulnerable
Chambered Nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) in Red Whip Coral

Deep sea explorer Sylvia Earle has led more than 50 expeditions and clocked up some 6,000 hours underwater. A dedicated champion of the deep ocean, Wild Talk catches up with her over the phone from her home in California, to ask how she felt when she won the 2009 TED prize. Sylvia discusses the dire situation planet ocean is in and speaks of her hope that we still have time to turn the situation around. To listen,

click here.

Will the world finally agree this year on how to combat climate change? All hopes are pinned on the United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December, which should come up with an agreement to succeed the Kyoto protocol that runs out in 2012. Wild Talk speaks to IUCN's Climate Change Officer, Ninni Ikkala, about the challenges ahead and what IUCN is doing to help keep negotiations on track. To listen,

click here.

Looking for the Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) in Switzerland's Jura mountains is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Although they were re-introduced to the country in the 1970s, there are only about 100 alive today. Wild Talk took to the hills with wildlife biologist Fridolin Zimmermann to check the camera traps set up in the Jura to monitor the population. To listen,

click here.

More than just lynx

The camera traps are so sensitive that the slightest movement sets them off. The traps in the Jura mountains capture a lot more than just lynx photos. The photos below are just a small example of the types of creatures caught in the spotlight so far.

Alpine Ibex (Capra ibex). Photo: Kora	Blue Tit (Parus caeruleus). Photo: Kora
Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus). Photo: Kora	Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx). Photo: Kora
Family of badgers (Meles meles). Photo: Kora	Northern Chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). Photo: Kora
Red Fox (vulpes vulpes). Photo: Kora	Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus). Photo: Kora
Western Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus). Photo: Kora	Wild Boar (Sus scrofa). Photo: Kora
Wild Cat (Felis silvestris). Photo: Kora