When humans are born, our first tasks include opening our eyes and trusting our instinct to breathe. For iguanas, those first tasks might involve evading death.
This harsh truth has come to light in a new teaser clip for Planet Earth II, the BBC’s upcoming sequel to its legendary documentary series narrated by Sir David Attenborough. It features one of the most amazing documentary shots ever: a hatchling iguana dodging death on what appears to be an island full of snakes.
The scene is not unlike a season-defining fight from Game of Thrones (see: "Battle of the Bastards"). It’s more dramatic than anything pulled from Shonda Rhimes’s vault of twists. It’s got excitement, tension, a hold-your-breath action sequence, and suspense all wrapped into a two-minute sequence. Its ending must be seen to be believed.
It’s the best thing you will see on the internet today.
As with any Planet Earth installment, myriad questions arise after watching the spectacular scene. To wit: Where is this island full of snakes, and why have we not yet purged it with fire and flame? Why don’t these iguanas just try to live somewhere else? If iguanas must start evading death straight from the cradle, what are we going to do when they decide to unify and revolt against humans? What happens if the iguanas decide to leave the snake island and move to the Hamptons?
For many of us, those are questions whose answers we hope to never learn. But if you’re dying for more details, you’ll likely have to wait. While Planet Earth II premiered its first episode, "Islands," over the weekend in the UK, it won’t debut in the US until it hits BBC America on February 20.
That leaves us a lot of time to relish this snake island clip over and over again.
