ORF-E 
English
3 x 45 min / 3 x 52 min
Worldwide except for Germany and France

Golden beaches, waving palms and rum – the perfect Caribbean paradise? But these islands in the Gulf of Mexico can’t be summed up in a few words. Just consider how they were born: Trinidad drifted from the Venezuelan mainland, Barbados rose on a crust of live corals, St. Lucia was born in the explosion of volcanoes. Cuba and Hispaniola’s salt lakes, pine forests and 3,000-metre snowy peaks are just as ‘Caribbean’ as the mangrove swamps and reefs, or the whales and mantatees that live in the azure waters. Here caves are home to hundreds of thousands of bats that echolocate nectar in flowers whose shape has evolved perfectly to reflect their sonar – at least, that’s if the bats are not picked off in pitch darkness by heat-seeking snakes. Some birds and even mammals echolocate here, too. Crocodiles run on two legs picking off birds from the trees, four-eyed fish fly from predators; other fish beat up one of their own, so it gets eaten, and they can escape. Spiders throw their webs like nets. The Tyra, a carnivore, is the nearest thing to a Caribbean big cat; but its 30cm tongue betrays its taste for the sweet nectar only it can reach. Strangest of all is the Solenodon, a mammal built for survival with poisonous fangs, teats on its rear and a ball-and-socket joint in its nose to help it dig for succulent roots. Life is lived fast and in a delicate balance. Humans may need to redress that balance, for instance by teaching deadly sharks to hunt the introduced lionfish, currently threatening to take over Caribbean waters. Cutting edge technology reveals the wonders of a region that is beautiful, bizarre and full of energy – the real Caribbean!

第一部分，天堂的壮观之举。从海龟被虎鲨诱捕的开场片段中，我们可以清楚地看到，任何动物、猎人或猎物——无论是在水面上还是水下——如果没有生存策略，都无法生存。
第二部分，当火山从海底喷发时，它形成陡峭的丛林山谷和黑色的沙滩，并创造出深海的裂缝，吸引了许多独特的生命到这里，抹香鲸群就非常喜欢，它们永远不会离开。
第三部分，加勒比珊瑚海岸和岛屿，由活着的和曾经活着的生物组成，现在是许多生物的迷宫。每年，在令人惊叹的珊瑚产卵时，“动物之花”重新在珊瑚礁上定殖。在加勒比海的内陆地区，有着传奇的绿咬鹃的云林也同样神奇，但森林砍伐带来的水土流失，是珊瑚礁现在面临的最大挑战。

Award : Galathea – Festival International du monde marin (2020): Bronze Medal – Documentary (won)