24 Hours on Earth

The sun.

It creates the daily rhythm

for life on Earth.

A player in almost every drama

that unfolds across our planet.

Hour by hour,

its exact position is critical.

For some, it brings moments

of enormous opportunity.

For others, it can spell disaster.

All over the world,

animals' lives are governed

by the sun's journey

through the sky.

How they respond can make

the difference between success

and failure,

life or death.

This is just an ordinary day

on our extraordinary planet.

It's dawn.

The sun hasn't arrived yet,

but its power will soon be felt,

and the world is waking.

HOOTING:

The day starts with a love song.

HOOTING:

HOOTING:

Lar gibbons.

With each note, they renew their bond

after the long night,

and remind other gibbons that

this patch of forest is theirs.

They've discovered that the hour

before sunrise is the perfect time

for their duet...

HOOTING:

..because sound travels furthest

in cool air.

And at dawn, a warm layer

sits above the cool air,

reflecting and amplifying every note.

It's the best time of the day

to be heard,

and the gibbons aren't the only ones

making the most of it.

BIRD SQUAWKS:

BIRDS CALL:

All over the planet, nature's

dawn chorus heralds the moment

the world's been waiting for.

SCREECHING:

PENGUINS TRUMPE Our star,

a burning giant,

reappears above the horizon.

Its rays, travelling at over

180,000 miles per second...

..flick the switch

and the world is flooded with light.

This meerkat family is up early

to greet the sunrise.

THEY CHIRRUP:

It's not high enough

to warm them up just yet...

..and they're finding it

difficult to get going.

But unbeknown to them,

the early light

is having an extraordinary effect

inside their bodies.

Sunlight triggers the brain

to shut off drowsy hormones,

replacing them with

waves of energising ones,

kick-starting their metabolism

and preparing them for the day ahead.

Suddenly, they're wide awake.

Time to find breakfast.

All over the world, the rising sun

is making its presence felt,

forcing animals into action.

For the last eight months,

South Africa's rocky shoreline

has been a nursery

for this young Cape fur seal.

He, too, is hungry,

but the need to fuel his body

is about to get him into trouble.

Each morning, with the rising sun,

the current moving past the mouth

of the bay brings rich pickings.

But with opportunity comes danger.

A killer patrols these waters...

..waiting for inexperienced pups

to take the plunge.

The older seals know

the great whites are out there,

but by midday, the biggest

fish shoals will be out of range.

The seals must leave now.

The pups' best chance is to

fall in with a convoy of adults.

Experienced seals

are notoriously hard to catch.

But in the first two hours

of the day,

the great white has a better chance,

thanks to an ally.

The sun itself.

The early-morning light

is strong enough

to silhouette the pup from below.

But the slanting rays

can't penetrate the depths.

The shark can see the pup,

but the pup can't see the shark.

This time, the pup is just small

and speedy enough to slip through

the shark's jaws.

Away from the coastline, he's safe.

And as the sun rises higher,

illuminating the shadowy depths,

the shark's

window of opportunity closes.

At least, until tomorrow.

As the sun climbs higher in the sky,

its character is changing.

For the first time in the day,

it's not just sensed as light,

but as radiant heat.

BIRDS CHIRP:

Clusters of Monarch butterflies

huddle close together

against the chilly Mexican night.

Up until now, the morning has been

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