In Photos: Africa - Cape: Episode 4

The east Agulhas ocean current and west Benguela current off the cape of Southern Africa collide to initiate an explosion of life.

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Baby Green Turtle

A baby green turtle sees the world for the very first time. The challenge of breaking out of her shell and digging her way free of the sand is nothing compared to the journey she’ll face to get to the sea; predators flock to the beach – hoping to make a meal of her.
Springbok

A springbok, true to its name, springs or ‘pronks’ in an exuberant display. There are many theories as to why springbok behave in this way but none have quite explained it. The Africa crew filmed these elegant creatures seemingly ‘dancing for joy’ in super slow motion following a rare rain shower.
African Penguins

African, or ‘jackass’ penguins earned their name from the braying sound they use to greet one another. This pair have a lifelong association, returning to the same island every year to try and raise their chicks in spite of the African heat. The Africa crew had to return to film for a second year, after all the nests were abandoned during a heat wave in 2010.
Monkey Beetle

A male monkey beetle, in Namaqualand, gorges on the pollen of a vivid pink vygies bloom before beginning a day of courtship. He’ll need all his energy to fight off his rivals in love. These beetles time their emergence to coincide with the flowering of the Namaqua ‘desert garden’ in South Africa.
African Penguins

An African penguin relishes the cool of a rain shower on Africa’s southern tip. These birds, perhaps better known from icy climes, nest on a few small islands every year on Africa’s Cape. There are no trees to shade their eggs from the intense sun and so the adults must risk death to provide shade themselves.
Green Turtle

A baby green turtle is the last to emerge from her nest deep within the sand. She instinctively knows she must follow her brothers and sisters, heading for the sea, but she knows nothing of the dangers ahead of her.
Springboks

A springbok 'pronks' - an extraordinarily athletic leap into the air. Springbok are southern Africa’s desert survivors, continually roaming across the bone dry land in search of rain and fresh grass. The Africa crew filmed these elegant creatures seemingly ‘dancing for joy’ in super slow motion following a rare rain shower.
Table Mountain

Table Mountain shrouded beneath the billowing ‘Table Cloth’. This icon of the continent overlooks Africa’s southernmost tip, the Cape of Good Hope, where the cold Atlantic Ocean meets the warm Indian Ocean to create these clouds over Table Mountain. But the interaction between these two great oceans does more than just create cloud, it shapes the whole of Africa’s southern Cape.
Bazaruto Archipelago

An aerial view of the Bazaruto Archipelago, the combination of blue skies, clear water and white sand may look like paradise but beneath the surface are violent undersea currents, the oceanic equivalent of sandstorms, continually carving the submarine dunescape.
Mozambique Inselbergs

An aerial view of one of many granite inselbergs in Mozambique. These monuments are shrouded on the lower slopes by trees, that combined, make up the largest tract of rainforest anywhere in southern Africa. The Africa crew joined only the second expedition to this area and were the first to film it from the air.
Great White Shark

A great white shark grips the floating, rotting carcass of a Bryde’s whale. A once-in-a-decade feast off Cape Town that the Africa crew had only dared to hope they might film. Once news of the carcass arrived, the team had to scramble to get there in time, before the dozens of huge sharks finished it off.