| [00:00.89] | Baikal is the oldest lake in the world and, |
| [00:04.23] | despite the harsh conditions, |
| [00:06.36] | life flourishes here in isolation. |
| [00:11.33] | 80% of its species are found nowhere else on earth, |
| [00:15.09] | including the world's only fresh water seal. |
| [00:18.51] | With this seal |
| [00:21.48] | and its marine-like forests of sponges Baikal |
| [00:25.27] | seems more like an ocean than a lake. |
| [00:29.86] | There are shrimp-like crustaceans - |
| [00:32.63] | giant amphipods - as large as mice. |
| [00:36.72] | They are the key scavengers in this lake. |
| [00:40.50] | The water here is just too cold for the bacteria |
| [00:43.39] | that normally decompose the dead. |
| [00:47.72] | Most rivers do not end in lakes |
| [00:51.12] | but continue their journey to the sea. |
| [00:54.59] | The planet's indisputable super-river is the Amazon. |
| [01:00.55] | It carries as much water as |
| [01:03.17] | the next top-ten biggest rivers combined. |
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