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In the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa,

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Bushmen enter a state of trance.

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Fire and hypnotic dancing create an altered state

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where nature's rules are turned upside down.

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(Chanting)

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0ur ancient ancestors, while in trance,
attempted to contact animal spirits.

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This was their way of harnessing
the forces of nature.

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Bushmen still use this altered state

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to forge a bond with the animals
they rely on for survival.

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Through deep trance,
they believe they can transform into animals.

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We have lost this close bond

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but still share our lives with animals.

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This sometimes leads to close encounters
of a supernatural kind.

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0n this journey, we explore our influence
on the unseen powers of animals.

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( # Country on radio )

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The dog has been with us
since we were hunters.

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It can still surprise us with its powers.

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Whisky was the travelling companion
of an Australian truck driver

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until a refreshment stop
turned into a disaster.

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Whenever his owner took a break,
Whisky took off on his own adventures.

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In each new environment,
his senses are bombarded.

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There are so many smells to be
savoured, each with a different meaning.

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This time, Whisky became too engrossed
to notice the passage of time.

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(Whistle )

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Like most dogs, even he can turn a deaf ear.

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(Whistle )

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After many hours,
Whisky´s owner became desperate.

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His job depended on completing
the journey on time.

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(Whistle )

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His only hope was that Whisky
would eventually be found.

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(Horn )

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(Barking)

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If Whisky was to be reunited
with his owner,

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his hidden powers would have to guide him
nearly 4,000 kilometres

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- to his home in Melbourne.
- (Whimpers )

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The fly had shared our lives
for longer than the dog.

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It too has unseen powers.

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In its world, familiar objects like flowers
take on unfamiliar hues.

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The petals glow with ultraviolet light
invisible to us.

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The fly is attracted to anything
that reflects ultraviolet,

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such as the skin of fruit.

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The Venus flytrap exploits this interest,

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enticing the fly with UV reflections.

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Stronger sources of ultraviolet
can override this fatal attraction.

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A fluorescent flytrap hums with ultraviolet,

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confusing flies into thinking
they´ve found daylight.

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There´s little that nature hasn´t
already invented.

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A similar trap made from
ultraviolet reflecting strands

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is woven into the web of this orb spider.

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The spider simply has to wait
and let the lure do its work.

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Flies face an obstacle course
of ultraviolet death traps.

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Few escape.

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Plants are more sensitive than we think.

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We unknowingly send out
signals to them as well.

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When we use artificial scents to cover our own,

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we broadcast a secret message.

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Many scents contain methyl jasmonate,

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a chemical used by plants to signal
they´re being attacked by insects.

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Even our natural odours
communicate in hidden ways.

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To a dog, the smell between our toes
resembles that of a bitch in season.

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As we eradicate our own odours,

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we replace them with scents
that mimic those of animals and plants.

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When plants receive a whiff
of methyl jasmonate,

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they increase the poisons in their leaves
to fight imaginary insects.

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If we continue to bombard
the plant with scent,

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the toxins increase
until the leaves reach overload.

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( # Country on radio )

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Back in Australia,
Whisky´s heightened sense of smell

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helps him on his way home.

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The scent trail left by the truck can
be detected by Whisky even after a day.

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His nose is a million times
more sensitive than our own.

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Tuned mainly to animal scents,

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it can recognise the odour
from a single flake of human skin.

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To maintain a set course,
he uses the sun as a guide.

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His body clock compensates
for the sun´s changing position

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and prevents him straying.

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He also has an in-built magnetic compass.

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This told him the general direction
of home the moment he set off.

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If he maintains this course,

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he will eventually reach
the outskirts of Melbourne,

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providing nothing gets in his way.

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In Florida, alligators also receive
our hidden messages.

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And they react by challenging us to a contest.

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In the mating season,
alligators produce ultra low calls

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pitched below our hearing range.

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(Engine revs )

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Males use these infrasonic roars
to establish their status.

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(Tyres screech)

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Cars transmit similar low-frequency sounds

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and provoke alligators to a duel.

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(Engine-like rumble )

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Water dances in tune
with the infrasonic waves

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as the alligators rise to the challenge.

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Alligators face further unnatural competition.

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(Engine hums )

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Air boats create an even greater challenge

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from the sound of their propellers.

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(Engine-like rumble )

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But there is a challenger
that beats all others.

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(Engine-like rumble )

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The space shuttle´s infrasonic roar
covers 80,000 square kilometres.

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(Growl)

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Every male tries his hardest,
but in this contest, there is only one winner.

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Infrasound carries further than any other sound,

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even across oceans.

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Whales have calls that can span
these astonishing distances.

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The song of the humpback
is the most complex in the animal world.

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(High-pitched whale song)

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Like humans, they even use rhyme,

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a technique we also use
to remember complex songs.

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They also make low frequency calls
that carry for a thousand kilometres.

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At depth, variations of temperature
and pressure form a channel

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like a voice tube that can transmit
their infrasound even further.

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It might even reach a whale
on the other side of the ocean.

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In this way, a pod of whales
separated by a thousands of kilometres

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would be able to keep in touch.

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(Sonar pinging)

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The navy uses the same channel
to transmit secretly to submarines,

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inadvertently jamming the signals of whales.

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Shipping generates more noise pollution.

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This low frequency din has increased tenfold
in the last 30 years.

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The navy also uses low frequency sonar
to track submarines,

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affecting every whale
within a thousand square kilometres.

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Mothers with calves react
as if a predator is near.

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They head inshore, keeping
between the calf and the open sea.

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At least one case of stranding
has been linked to military tests

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of low frequency tracking sonar.

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In this nuclear age, other secret tests
can be detected by animals.

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A Paris street pigeon, like many birds,

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can perceive infrasound pitched
far lower than that heard by whales.

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The deeper the infrasound,
the further it travels.

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In 1995, when France detonated
a nuclear device in the south Pacific,

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its effects reverberated
around the world.

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(Explosion )

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A sound wave radiated from Muraroa atoll
at infrasonic frequencies.

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Travelling at the speed of sound,

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the sonic wave covered
1,200 kilometres in the first hour.

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Paris is on the opposite side of the world.

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11 hours after detonation,
the infrasound arrived.

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The pigeons may even have uttered
an infrasonic call of alarm.

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The human population heard nothing.

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(Siren )

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(Grasshoppers whirring)

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A lost dog considers humans
as part of his extended pack

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and seeks them out.

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His senses are the same
as those of his ancestor, the wolf.

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He investigates with his heightened
sense of smell.

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Dogs have been credited
with many supernatural powers

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but those concerning smell
are given the greatest credence.

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Dogs are sensitive to slight changes
in odour associated with epilepsy

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and can be trained to warn sufferers
of an oncoming attack.

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A dog can detect skin cancers by smell.

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It can be trained to discern
the characteristic odour

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of these malignant skin cells
and help with a doctor´s diagnosis.

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Dogs also possess the power to heal.

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Their companionship
creates a feeling of wellbeing

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that speeds recovery
and can even lessen the risk of heart attacks.

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The strength of this bond of companionship

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drives Whisky to continue his search.

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A close encounter with hippos may
explain another aspect of animal healing.

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The skin of a hippo is surprisingly vulnerable.

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Immersed in water and subject
to cuts and infections,

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the hippos need help to keep their skin
in good condition.

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They take their treatment lying down.

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They share the water with skin care specialists.

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Using a sucker-like action,

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black labio fish give the hippos
a full-body makeover,

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gaining a free meal in the process.

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A more familiar mammal has discovered
the benefits of being groomed by fish.

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This spa in Kangal, Turkey,
encloses a natural volcanic spring.

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What happens here
has baffled the medical world.

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Sufferers of the skin complaint psoriasis
come here to be cured by fish.

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Known locally as doctor fish, they have
a particular passion for human skin.

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Three different species of fish are involved.

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Some make the skin bleed,

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others are reputed to produce a fluid
that speeds the healing process.

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There are strong parallels with the hippos.

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Here, the fish tend the cuts
inflicted in fights.

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In the sea, cleaner fish tend sharks
and other large fish in a similar way.

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In the spa, the fish dermatologists
only eat tissue damaged by psoriasis,

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leaving the healthy skin untouched.

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After three weeks of fish therapy,

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it´s claimed that sufferers
are freed from their skin complaint.

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0ther creatures have gained a growing
reputation for healing powers.

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Dolphins are reputed to help sufferers

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of a wide range of physical
and mental illnesses.

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Throughout the world, dolphin therapy
is a growing business.

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It´s claimed that encounters boost
infection-fighting T-cells,

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benefiting people with cancer or AIDS.

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In these meetings, endorphins,
the brain´s natural opiates, also increase.

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People with Down´s syndrome and autism
seem to find remarkable benefits.

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A possible explanation involves
the dolphin´s sonar.

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This can penetrate tissue
like an ultrasound scan.

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The sonar has the power
to resonate a fish´s bladder,

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causing it to become
disorientated and easy to catch.

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(Squeaking)

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The ultrasonic beam also penetrates
human tissue

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and the dolphins seem to show
an interest in anything abnormal,

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such as artificial pins and cancers.

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(Clicking)

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The concentrated sonic beam may also heal.

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Physiotherapists use ultrasound.

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It´s been shown to cause minute
positive changes to damaged cells.

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A dolphin´s sonar is actually
four times more powerful.

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Many scientists still believe that
the dolphin´s health-giving powers

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simply stem from the feeling of wellbeing

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that comes from meeting
this charismatic animal.

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Whatever the truth,
close encounters with animals

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are definitely good for the health.

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Even meeting this fearsome creature may not be
a life-threatening experience.

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This man has established
a strange bond with sharks

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and they seem fascinated by him.

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00:22:33,247 --> 00:22:36,876
The man wears a chain mail suit,
but it´s only a precaution.

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The sharks never show aggression.

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They come here to be stroked.

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Like an affectionate dog,
the sharks appear to be seeking attention.

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And all of them want a turn.

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Even stranger,
sharks normally have to keep moving

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in order to pass oxygen over their gills.

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Perhaps they´re attracted by weak electric
currents from the chain mail suit.

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It´s more likely
that the sharks react to stroking

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as though being groomed by a fish.

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They enter a similar hypnotic state
when fish tend their skins.

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and are remarkably compliant
in this condition.

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Encounters like these show us

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a different side of a normally feared creature.

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Perhaps we should re-evaluate
our opinion of them.

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Understand an animal´s supernatural powers
and anything seems possible.

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00:24:58,287 --> 00:25:01,404
This man understands
the hidden language of bees.

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Coated from head to toe with 100,000 insects,

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he has them under his spell.

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He wears no protection.

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Such is his control, he can emerge from
the experience without a single sting.

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His secret lies with pheromones
used by the queen and worker bees.

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By applying his own secret combination
of their scents to his body,

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he subdues the insects
and causes them to cluster.

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A suit of bees weighs 20 kilos
and creates its own heat.

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It can´t be worn for long.

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In Australia, a more traditional bond
with animals

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has survived an incredible test.

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Whisky´s unerring sense of direction

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has taken him to the outskirts
of his home town,

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after a journey of six months
and 3,800 kilometres,

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he´s now close to his destination.

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His smell world becomes
increasingly familiar.

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50 million skin cells are shed from
the human body every day,

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leaving a paper chase of scents
that a dog can follow.

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From this barrage of smells,
he seeks the familiar traces left by his owner.

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Familiar smells are quickly overmarked,

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and visual landmarks
add to those recognised by smell.

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Not all incredible journeys
can be explained by senses alone.

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There are still unseen powers
that lie beyond our understanding.

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A close encounter with
the hidden powers of animals

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can be one of the most
supernatural experiences on earth.

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0ur understanding of animals
was once a purely supernatural one.

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Today, it´s science
that reveals nature´s unseen powers.

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Although we can never return
to our original bond with nature,

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our growing knowledge
can bring us closer once again.

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Mysteries still remain.

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Harness the truly supernatural
powers of animals

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and who knows what the future may bring?