Death and Birth of An Island

The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa was just one phase in a continuing cycle of destruction and rebirth in the Sunda Strait. More than 1 million years ago, the volcano built up a cone-shaped mountain composed of alternating layers of volcanic rock, cinders and ash. The total height of this mountain was about 7000 ft (2100 m), some 1000 ft (300 m) of which was below sea level. Further activity (in AD 416, according to the Javanese Book of Kings) destroyed the top of the mountain, forming a caldera, or bowl-shaped depression. Portions of the caldera projected above sea level as the islands of Rakata, Rakata-kecil and Sertung. 

Over the years, three new cones were thrust into the air, these eventually merged into the single island that erupted in 1883. At the end of 1927, there was renewed activity on the seafloor on the line of the old cone which by January 1928 had created the small island of Anak Krakatau below sea level. Since then continued upheavals have pushed the island above sea level.

Long Trail

Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) decided to explore the Congo River when he heard of David Livingstone’s death in 1873. He had admired Dr Livingstone every since their famous meeting in the Congo in 1871, when Stanley, a correspondent for the New York Herald, had been commissioned to find missing Livingstone.

Stanley set off from the east coast with a party of 350 in November 1874. They went first to Lake Victoria, carrying a small, single-masted boat, the Lady Alice, in sections. Stanley circumnavigated both Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika in the boat, establishing that they had no outlets to the Congo River.

When the party reached Nyangwe on the Congo in October 1876, Stanley enlisted the help of Tippu Tip, an Arab slave trader, and set off northwards with a party of around 1000. Progress was slow and difficult, and the Arabs left in December after they had travelled 200 miles (320 km).

Stanley acquired some canoes and continued by the river and by land, on the way shooting rapids and fighting some 30 battles with local tribesmen. Only 114 of Stanley’s original party eventually reached the sea in August 1877.

Powerful But Gentle

Despite its fearsome appearance, the gharial (or gavial) - a crocodile found in the Indus River and in Indian Subcontinent - lives mainly on fish. Gharials are among the largest members of the crocodile family and have hardly changed in 200 million years. A male can weigh 200 kg and be 21 ft (6.4 m) long from its panhandle snout to its thick, scaly tail.

The gharial is found in clear, fast-flowing water. To catch fish, it snaps with its long, slender jaws (which are easier to clap together underwater than are broad jaws) and seizes small fish with its sharp teeth. Like many other crocodiles, gharials were hunted for their skins; this, along with habitat loss, brought them almost to extinction. Now they are an endangered species. 

Warrior Rites of Masai People

Adult Masai (Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania) living in traditional style, both warriors and women, are decked with massive earrings, colourful bead necklaces and bracelets of wrought-copper, and women also wear anklets. Warriors wear orange-red cloaks knotted at the shoulder and dye their tall, slim bodies with ochre clay and fat. Men and unmarried women wear their hair ochred and braided right up to the skull, but married women have their heads shaved and polished with red clay.

Every stage of life is marked by ritual. Naming ceremonies for infants, for example, and circumcision rites for older girls and boys. And once every 15 years at a full moon, the E unoto graduation ceremony for warriors takes place - the main one is at Mukulat in Tanzania. 

Warriors, some wearing lion's mane, ostrich-feather and leopard skin headdresses, gather for the four-day event, which includes traditional dancing and sacrificing bullocks, as well as ritual shaving of the head. The young men cannot marry until they become senior warriors.

Cheetahs - Built For Speed

Breathing deeply, the cheetah prepares her body for the chase. Head low, eyes focused on an impala, she slowly inches forward. In three seconds this streamlined, superfast cat is sprinting at 60 miles an hour (96 km/h), eyes locked, laserlike, on the fleeing impala.

The legendry Jamaican runner Usain Bolt is the world's fastest human. Bolt ran 200 meters in 19.19 seconds, about 23 miles an hour (37 km/h), but that's slow compared with the cheetah. Cheetahs can run about three times faster than Bolt. At top speed, a sprinting cheetah can reach 70 miles an hour (113 km/h). Next time you're in a car on the highway, imagine a cheetah racing alongside you. That will give you an idea of how fast this speedy cat can run. Several adaptations help cheetahs run so fast. A cheetah has longer legs than other cats. It also has a long extremely flexible spine. These features work together so a running cheetah can cover up to 23 feet (7 m) in one stride - about the length of five ten-year-olds lying head to feet in a row.

Most other cats run retract their claws when they're not using them. Cheetahs' claws stick out all the time, like dog's claws. Cheetahs use these strong, blunt claws like an athlete uses cleats on track shoes - to help push off and quickly build up speed. The large centre pad on the cheetah's foot is covered with long ridges that act like the treads on a car tire. A sprinting cheetah needs to be able to stop fast, too. It is able to spread its toes wide, and its toe pads are hard and pointed. This helps a cheetah turn quickly and brake suddenly. It can stop in a single stride from a speed of more than 20 miles an hour (32 km/h).

All of these body adaptations add up to extraordinary hunting abilities. A cheetah stalks up close to a herd of impalas, then streaks forward with lightning speed. As the herd bolts, the cat singles out one individual and follows its twists and turns precisely. As it closes in on its prey the cheetah strikes out with a forepaw, knocks the animal off its feet, and clamps its jaws over the prey's throat.

The dangerous birth of a humpback whale

Humpback whales, unlike highly sociable sperm whales, live in loose and ever-changing groups of about four to ten. However, the stablest and longest-lasting relationships are between a mother and her calf. They keep close to each other for up to a year. 

Usually, a humpback whale gives birth to a single calf, launched tail first. The short umbilical cord breaks as it is pulled taut, and instinctively the newborn calf towards the surface to take its first breath. The mother urges the youngster up, pushing with her snout or one of her flippers. These first seconds are crucial for the calf because until it has filled its lungs with air, its body is heavier than water and it is in danger of sinking and drowning.