Coasts

S1, E1: A cat shark out hunting, guillemots fearlessly jumping from the cliffs of Helgoland, the birth of a snow-white baby seal: the 2,400km of German coastlines are home to a unique diversity of species. Over thousands of years, the slow current of the North Sea has allowed silt to accumulate and form the unique world of the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. Nowhere else in the world does such a landscape exist that, thanks to the tides, is in a constant state of change. On the Baltic Sea, it’s above all the Bodden that are unique. They form a chain of shallow bodies of water connected to the sea by narrow channels. Here in the brackish water, only specialists can survive. The North Sea coast is famed for its extensive mud flats, the Halligen islands which are often submerged in winter and endless sandy beaches and dykes. Seals sun themselves on sandbanks and regenerate after the rigours of hunting. Plum in the middle of the North Sea, the cliffs of Helgoland are a paradise for seabirds like gannets, black-legged kittiwakes and guillemots. For the grey seals, the mating season begins in winter and with it fearsome battles between rival males. The largest bulls weigh in at 300kg and are the biggest mammals in Germany. Hunted mercilessly by fishermen competing for the same fish, for many years the seals had disappeared from Germany’s coasts. Now they’re under protection and are slowly returning. North and Baltic Seas have retained their original character. The Baltic has Darss, Rügen and Usedom, three of the most beautiful holiday destinations in the country and with the whitest beaches. In autumn, red deer stags stamp majestically along the sand against the foamy backdrop of the Baltic. Peregrine falcons, too, have made coast and islands their home.