‘Tiny World’ Recap: ‘Island’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the third episode of 'Tiny World'. 
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Thus far, the AppleTV+ series, Tiny World, has done a phenomenal job of teaching us some important lessons about the itty-bitty critters that populate this world. Such as how we are often unaware of their existence and that they lead incredibly unique lives. For some are able to roam free without a care in the world, while others struggle mightily to get by. Which is something that is outright determined by the environment that they live within. Which leaves one to wonder, as to whether or not there is a place on our planet, where tiny creatures are able to live together on a more level playing field, where both space and size are comparable to the inhabitants. Well as it turns out, there most certainly is and the next episode of this magnificent series, ‘Island’, was happy to show us exactly where that place is.

In fact, the Caribbean Islands are the perfect place for tiny creatures to thrive and live amongst their own. Simply because smaller animals can make the most use of the limited space available on an island and what's truly surprising, is that just about every small animal imaginable, lives in this tropical environment. To the point where there are even bitty avians on these islands, such as the supremely amazing, bee hummingbird. A miniscule bird that is indeed the size of a bee and what made them so unique and worth covering in this episode, is the sheer fact that we were able to see just how hard these little buggers have to work in order to survive. Because competition for food and resources are quite fierce on an island, and it takes aggressive energy and resources for birds like this to get by. 

But while that makes it seem as though this episode was going to offer up a lot of aggressive moments and posturing from tiny and cute little animals, that simply wasn’t the case. Because we also learned that community is a big deal when it comes island living. Something that the hermit crab was able to teach us. For these wee crustaceans actually go shell shopping with their brethren, so that everyone has the right shell on their backs, and it was just incredible to learn that crabs work together in this manner and to witness some of the sheer will and ingenuity that some island animals exhibit. Such as the tri-tri gobie. A fish that is happy to venture upstream in order to breed and the only obstacle it might run into when it comes to that plan, is that sometimes, there are rocks are in the way. But that’s oddly not a problem for this fish. Simply because, it actually knows how to climb rocks and can even scale a waterfall with its mouth and its fins, making this perhaps the toughest fish out there.

However, while it was quite amazing to see these little creatures find harmony and success and everything in between, this particular episode was also quick to remind us, that the world is a tough place, one where anything can happen… as evidenced by the challenges these animals faced in this tale. Because living in the middle of the ocean, means that tropical storms are going to head your way and hurricanes for that matter as well, and sadly, that puts these animals in harm’s way and often. Especially with storm season now becoming more active than ever. Which means that we were privy to some of the natural horrors these animals face, and it was downright heartbreaking to see them lose their young to a storm or be tossed about like leaves when the winds came bearing down. But despite the hardships they faced by way of mother nature, these creatures found a way to solider on.

For the crabs that got tossed further inland, dusted off their fancy new shells and made their way back toward the beach, regardless of how long it was going to take. And the bee hummingbird, which saw its chicks washed away in the storm, started over with a new nest and new eggs because that’s just what nature does. It picks up the pieces and moves forward and that is a wonderful way to end this particular tale. Because it leaves us safe in the knowledge that life will in fact, go on and thrive and well, in the end, this was just another impressive episode from this magnificent documentary. Because this series just continues to stun us with new sights and powerful lessons and thankfully this is merely the midpoint of our journey through the tiny world that lurks beneath our feet and it will be an utter delight to see what other kinds of wonders await us in the next episode of this documentary, one that takes us… down under.     

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