07x15 - Mini Heroes & Mighty Mouths

[bunniefuu]

♪ Wild Kratts.

Chris: Most of the planet is covered in water.

Over % of it.

We're here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

On the island of Maui.

Martin: It's us, the Kratt Brothers.

I'm Martin.

Chris: I'm Chris.

Here on land, we all know that the foundation of life

starts with plants.

The grasses,

the trees,

the bushes!

Martin: But what about out there?

What is the foundation of life in the water?

Chris: The answer?

Martin/Chris: Plankton.

Martin: These microscopic creatures - phytoplankton,

are mini plant-like creatures of the sea.

The basis of the marine food web.

Chris: So much sea life either eats the plankton directly,

or eats other animals that eat the plankton.

It all starts with plankton.

Right on up to the massive whales.

This is sea water,

and even though you can't see them,

there are tiny creatures in here.

Martin: To show you, we can use a filter

to separate the water,

from the tiny creatures in the water.

Chris: The water goes through the tiny holes

in the filter paper.

Martin: But the creatures - the plankton,

are too big to go through the holes.

And there they are.

Millions of them.

Plankton.

So important for life in the ocean.

They're the mini heroes of the sea.

Chris: Even a creature like this whale

knows the value of plankton.

Its mouth is a giant filter to collect them.

These are the mega mouths.

Chris: Imagine if we could explore the world

of the plankton, the mini heroes!

Martin: Imagine if we had the creature powers

of the filter feeders.

The mega mouths.

Martin/Chris: What if?

♪♪

♪ [show theme song]

♪ On adventure with the coolest creatures ♪

♪ From the oceans to the trees

♪ The Brothers Kratt are going places ♪

♪ you never get to see.

♪ Hanging with their creature friends ♪

♪ Get ready it's the hour

♪ We're gonna save some animals today with ♪

♪ Creature Power!

♪ Gonna go wild with Wild Kratts gonna go ♪

♪ wild wild Wild Kratts

♪ Gonna go wild with Wild Kratts ♪

♪ gonna go wild wild Wild

♪ Cheetah speed and lizard glide ♪

♪ Falcon flight and lion pride ♪

♪ Gonna go wild with Wild Kratts ♪

♪ Gonna go wild wild Wild Kratts Wild Kratts! ♪

♪ Gonna go wild with Wild Kratts ♪

♪ Gonna go wild wild Wild Kratts ♪

♪ Go wild wild Wild Kratts!

Chris: Mini Heroes and Mighty Mouths.

[water splashes]

[whirring]

Chris: Oh no, ya don't. This one's mine!

Martin: No way, Chris! Hand it over!

Chris: [chuckles] Gotta catch me first!

And that's not gonna happen.

Martin: [laughs]

Don't get too confident.

♪♪

[water splashes]

Chris: Huh?

Martin: Yes!

[catching grunt]

Thanks!

See ya!

Chris: Oh, you got lucky, bro!

Martin: Whoever gets to the Tortuga with it,

gets to open it!

♪♪

Martin: Chris?

Chris: Up here.

Hi!...Got it!

[struggling grunts]

Martin: Let go, Chris!

Chris: You let go!

[struggling grunts]

Martin/Chris: Whooooaaa!

Ugh!

Koki: What's that?

Aviva: Another care package from your Mom?

Martin/Chris: [gasp] Linzer cake!!

Jimmy Z: That'll go well with my pasta lunch.

I know Mama Kratt taught you brothers how to share.

♪♪

Chris: I get the bigger piece!

Martin: [chomp] Hm. Uh?!

No way, bro! That's mine!

Koki: [sighs] And you call yourselves nature guys?

Aviva: Yeah, you should know that when it comes to

food in nature, bigger

isn't always better.

Chris: Yeah, but that doesn't apply to Mom's Linzer cake.

[chomp]

Koki: Sometimes, little bits of food are the most important.

Chris: That's definitely true out here in the ocean.

All life in the ocean starts with the tiniest creatures.

Aviva: That's right.

In this tiny drop of water,

are the creatures that are the foundation

for the entire ocean food web.

Plankton!

And a teaspoon of seawater

can contain more than a million living organisms!

Jimmy Z: How does life start there?

How can those little things matter so much?

Koki: It is hard to believe.

I mean on land the foundation of the food chain are plants.

And trees are big, not tiny like that.

Martin: Less talk, more action.

Deploy miniaturizer!

[humming/buzzing]

♪♪

The best way to really see the importance of plankton,

is to get out there and see it for ourselves.

Chris: Now you're talkin' brother.

Martin/Chris: Miniaturize...

to plankton size!

Koki: Whoa. I can hardly see them.

Aviva: Yeah.

Good luck!

Martin: Thanks!

Martin: Woo hoo! Chris: Ha-ha-haaa!

Chris: To the plankton!

Martin: Whoa, we are pretty tiny

in this vast ocean.

Chris: Only about the size of a sesame seed on a hamburger bun.

Martin: Chris! Up ahead!

[chuckles] We've arrived.

A world of plankton.

Chris: Technically a bloom.

But good analogy.

It's bustling with ny microscopic life.

Martin: Whoa! Excuse me. Sorry!

Chris: Pardon me.

A city without any traffic signs.

Martin: And lots of unusual characters.

That's a cool one!

Chris: Oh, I like that one.

All different life forms.

But all part of the general term plankton

which comes from the Greek word 'planktos',

meaning wanderer or dr*fter.

Martin: Yup. They just drift with the ocean currents.

Too small to really swim wherever they want to.

Chris: Check it out.

We're entering a huge mass of phytoplankton.

They're the plant-like plankton.

Martin: And in the ocean, these creatures,

tiny phytoplankton,

so small most people don't even know they exist,

are the base of the food web.

Koki: Wow! On land we have plants

at the base of the food web.

They're the primary producers, making energy from the sun.

Aviva: While in the ocean, there's phytoplankton.

They're also primary producers and just like plants,

they make energy from the sun.

Jimmy Z: So plants and phytoplankton

can make their own energy? Chris: That's right!

These tiny creatures are the start of the largest

food web in the world.

Martin: Whoa! A copepod.

It's devouring the phytoplankton!

Chris: That is one weird alien-looking dude.

Martin: A copepod is a type of zooplankton.

There are thousands of different kinds.

That one.

Chris: That one.

Martin: And that one.

Chris: They eat the phytoplankton.

Koki: Ah-ha.

So in the food web of the ocean,

phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton.

Aviva: It's like how on land,

grass and plants are eaten by insects,

or deer, or elephants, or monkeys.

Koki: And in the ocean, it's thousands of species

of zooplankton that are primary consumers.

Jimmy Z: Wow! I didn't realize

so much important stuff happens

with such tiny little life forms in the ocean.

Martin: Oh yeah, plankton are like superheroes of the sea.

All the life starts with them.

Chris: Oh, and here's a special kind of plankton, called krill.

They're little shrimp-like creatures.

Martin: Hey, they're heading down.

Krill and other plankton like to head up to the surface

of the water during the night,

and then head down a little deeper during the day.

Chris: Because there are so many of these little plankton,

it's the largest daily migration on Earth!

Martin: And we're in the middle of it.

There must be millions of them all moving together and...

uh oh!

Chris: A humpback whale!

They eat plankton, especially krill.

Martin: What?! Get us out of here, Chris!

Swim away! Swim awaaaayyy!

Let's give it all we got! Chris: Full turbo!

[humming/buzzing]

Martin: miles per hour!

Oh great!

Chris: Martin! It's upon us!

Martin: C'mon, Chris. Get out of here!

Turbo ejector!

Chris: What?! Way to stick together, bro!

Martin: Whoa!

Martin/Chris: Aaahhh!

Aviva/Koki: Oh no!!!

Aviva: I go a go after them!

Koki: You...versus a whale the size of a school bus?!

Aviva: To the Kratt Brother Rescue!

[water splashes]

♪♪

Chris! Martin!

Can you read me?

Oh, this is going to be like finding a single drop of water

in this huge ocean!

Wow! You really are a beautiful creature.

And you eat almost nothing but tiny plankton?!

Koki: Well, maybe a couple Kratt brothers too.

Jimmy Z: But why does such a big creature eat such small things?

Koki: It's the food web, Jimmy.

The lower you eat on the food web,

the more energy the food item packs.

And the whale is able to catch so many

of these little creatures in a single mouthful.

Jimmy Z: So the whale just eats lots of them?

Koki: Two tons of them a day!

That's even better than eating a few big fish.

Aviva: But what's not better

is eating a few Kratt brothers!

Martin!! Chris!!

Please tell me they're not in there.

Chris: Wah!! Aaaah!

This is like a thousand whirlpools.

Whoa!

Agh! Hey guys.

Everyone okay?

Where are we?

Amphisub, lights on.

Whoa. It's like a dark cavern with giant walls.

I'm trapped!

I gotta find a way out!

[water splashes]

Oh, a red island?

Gotta check that out.

Aviva: Chris!...Martin!

Kratt brothers!

Chris: I'm in here! Aviva!

Wait a second! That's not an island...

That's a whale tongue!

I'm inside a whale! [loud splash]

Nooo!

[water splashes]

Aviva: Uh-oh! Water is flowing

through the keratin plates called baleen.

She's filtering the water!

Chris: Oh no!

The water is rushing through the baleen.

But we plankton are too big to fit through the slits,

so we get stuck!

Jimmy Z: It's not good, Chris getting stuck in that whale!

But now I get it.

Baleen works just like my pasta strainer.

When I pour in the water and macaroni,

the water goes through the holes.

But the larger pasta can't fit through the holes

and gets filtered out.

So I'm a filter feeder too!

Chris: We're all stuck!

There must be millions of plankton here.

We're small, but if you're a whale and collect them all

in one gulp using a filter,

you can get a whole mouthful!

Aviva: Chris! The next step for the whale

is to swallow the plankton!

Chris: Oh no! This last swoosh is gonna pull us in!

Deploy grappling hooks.

Agh!

[ka-ch*nk]

I hope it holds.

Ah! [effort/struggle]

[water splashing]

Yes! It held.

Aviva, I'm okay.

[loud water splash]

Aviva: Great! You avoided being filter food of a whale.

Koki: We finally got a bead on Martin.

He's heading southwest.

Must still be drifting with the plankton.

Martin: Whoooaaaa!

I'm not sure how we avoided that whale,

but I'm glad we did.

Ah! No! Whoa!

Whoa! The amphipod is eating that little plankton.

[gasps]

Did you see that? Hey!

Everyone's after these poor little plankton!

Uah! Uh!

[incoming call beep] Koki: Martin, can you read me?

Martin: Oh Koki, you found me! And just in time.

There are a lot of things after us plankton, you know.

Shrimp, crabs, anchovies,

other fish, I mean... Koki: Yup.

All those and a whole lot more! Even whales.

Jimmy Z: It's Plankton Power!

Everybody wants to eat plankton power!

Martin: You can say that again!!

Even coral polyps,

the creatures that make up an entire coral reef

eat plankton.

See those feathery extensions?

That's what catches plankton who float by.

It's incredible!

Plankton are the basis of life

for the entire coral reef system too.

Uh-oh! Manta ray!

[gasps] Please don't close your mouth.

Please don't close your mouth.

Ugh! Ah!

They're filter feeders too.

Manta's love scooping up plankton with this giant mouth.

Oooo! A parasitic copepod.

Most copepod float with plankton.

But this one is parasitic.

It attaches to mantas and sharks

and feeds on the skin of the manta.

Now that's what I call turning the tables.

Woo...just passing through, cleaner wrasse.

They pick parasites off of sharks and manta rays.

The mantas hold totally still for them,

like I do at the dentist.

Every bit gets a thorough cleaning.

Aviva: That's amazing!

Martin: Ooo.

It got the copepod.

He didn't last long.

Ugh, that's the life of plankton.

Aviva: That's it!

I need to be a whale dentist!

Hang tight, Chris.

I'm getting you out of there!

Okay, nice big old whale.

Open that giant mouth of yours.

That's it.

Let's just get a good look at your baleen.

[swoosh]

[whirring]

[gasps] There you are!

Whale dentist to the Kratt Brother rescue!

Gotcha!

Chris: Woo hoo! I'm free.

Thanks Aviva!

Martin: Mayday! Mayday!

I've got a whole lotta big problems here!

The mantas!

It's a whole group of mantas!

I drifted right into a manta ray feeding frenzy.

Aviva: Hang on Martin!

We're on our way.

Chris: We need a new plan to get Martin

before those mantas do. Fast!

Aviva: Okay, Koki, the baleen prototype is almost finished.

Can you check the width of the opening one more time?

♪♪

Koki: About half and inch wide. That's perfect!

Aviva: So anything wider than that

will get trapped by the baleen.

Including Martin.

Jimmy Z: We'll scoop Martin out like pasta.

My special Kratt Brothers pasta that is!

Aviva: Perfect!

Then we're all set to lock in this baleen prototype

to the suit design. Ready to print disc!

[printer humming/buzzing]

[printer whirring]

If you can't beat the filter feeders, join 'em!

[disc swishes, bangs]

♪♪

Chris: Insert humpback whale Creature Power disc!

[water splashes]

Touch humpback whale.

And activate Humpback Whale Power!

♪♪

♪♪

Whoa! I'm a humpback whale!

Are you ready for a filter feeding creature rescue?

Aviva/Koki/Jimmy Z: Let's do it! Yeah!

Aviva: With whale power!

[water splashes]

Chris: Wow!

It's amazing to think that the biggest creature on the planet

eats some of the very smallest.

Aviva: I know, right?

But I'm loving this way of getting around the ocean.

Chris: Okay, baleen ready for filter feeding.

I just hope we get Martin in time.

Aviva: Chris! There's the manta feeding frenzy!

And whales have joined in too!

We have to find Martin.

Martin: Whoa!!...Oh!!

Okay, plankton pals, we've got a bad situation here.

Whoaaa!

We're surrounded by filter mouths!

A filter feeder like that whale will scoop up

two million of us every day!

Incredible!

Koki: Okay, Martin. They're coming to rescue you.

But with you being so small, I can't pinpoint your location.

Martin: I'm right here next to Victor, Betsy, and PJ.

Koki: Okay...well...

that doesn't help at all.

They're going to filter you outta there.

Just make sure the right filter mouth scoops you up.

Martin: Uh, we don't have much control of that, remember?

Koki: Good luck!

Martin: Look out!

Chris: Oh hey...excuse me.

I'm looking for one specific plankton amongst billions.

It's my brother. Light hair.

Talks a lot. Have you seen him?

Oh no, you don't.

I gotta find him first!

Aviva: That's right Chris, scoop up as much krill as you can.

Chris: My mouth is so full!

Now I know what it's like to filter

over million gallons of water a day.

Aviva: Woo hoo!

Chris: Heading for the surface!

[water splashes]

Aviva: Start filtering.

Chris: Ready? Engaging filters!

Aviva: [gasps] It's working!

The water is coming out, but the plankton isn't.

Chris: Yes, but now I have a mouthful of plankton.

I gotta set them free!

Aviva: Ok, but is Martin in there?

Chris: How would I know?

Aviva: Martin, are you in there?

Hmm, I don't think he is.

Chris: I'm releasing the plankton.

Oh! You're free.

OK, the filtering is working.

We just gotta keep looking for Martin.

Gotta hurry!

Those whales are making quick work of these plankton.

Martin: Uh-oh. It's just a matter of time

before I get scooped up by one of those filter mouths.

Koki: Another close call Martin.

They're trying to find you.

You gotta hang on a little longer.

Look out behind you!

Martin: Aaaaah!!!!!

Koki: Whoa. That's such a cool mouth!

Martin: Yeah, and no baleen.

Aviva: But how are they filter feeders without baleen?

Martin: They have a different filter system

that doesn't use baleen.

It uses their gills.

Koki: That's really cool. So filtering is super important

that different animals have come up with

different ways of doing it.

Like flamingos, whale sharks, coral polyps and sponges.

They all use filters.

Martin: Yeah, slightly different systems,

but there are filters all over nature

if you look closely enough.

Aaah!!!!

Whoa!!

Ah!...Whoa!!

And I'm going to get a real close look,

if they don't hurry!

Aviva: So a krill is about

half an inch at its widest,

and Martin's amphisub is wider than that.

Start filtering!

[splashing]

Chris: Was Martin in that scoop?

Aviva: Oh, no Martin!

Get another scoop!

[water splashes]

We're coming for you, Martin!

Martin: Over here! This way!

Do you think he sees us?

Koki: Not a chance.

So we'll need to guide him in.

Martin: Okay, left.

Tell him...turn left!

Koki: Got it. Go left.

Martin is to your left. Aviva: Thanks!

Chris: Turning left.

Koki: Left again.

Aviva: Got it!

Martin: Okay, now straight. Straight ahead!

Koki: Keep going.

On course for rescue!

Martin: It was great traveling with you pal.

Oh no. Incoming filter mouth to the right!!

Aviva: Hurry Chris!

That whale is heading straight towards him too!

Chris: Full speed ahead!

Koki: This is going to be close!

Martin will either be saved...

Martin: [gulps] Or I'll be lunch.

[gasps]

Aah!!

Yikes!!

Ah!

[loud water crash]

Koki: [gasps]

Chris: Ow...

Sorry! You okay?

Aviva: He's fine.

But which one of you got Martin?

Chris: Check my baleen!

[water splashes]

Aviva: Martin? Are you in here?

Martin: Nice filtering bro.

You got me!

Aviva: Found you.

Hurray!! We did it!

A filter feeding rescue.

Let's get you back to the Tortuga and normal size.

Martin: The sooner, the better!

Woohoo! That's a creature mission accomplished!

We got an insider's view of life as a plankton.

Jimmy Z: I didn't even know they existed!

Chris: And yet they're so important to our planet.

They're the foundation of life in the ocean.

Koki: Virtually the entire food web of the ocean

starts with plankton. And builds out from there.

The phytoplankton make food from sunlight like plants do.

Aviva: And the zooplankton eat the phytoplankton.

Martin: And then just about everyone eats plankton -

other plankton, fish, crabs, coral...

Chris: All the way up to the giant filter feeders,

like manta rays and humpback whales.

Jimmy Z: Anyone hungry for some Kratt Brothers pasta?

I made a big batch!

Delicious.

Here try some.

Whaaa!

Whooooaaaa!

[splash] Aviva: Oh no! It's ruined!

Chris: Not for me!

I still have filter feeding power!

[water splashes]

Delicious!

The Chris ones are better though.

Martin: [laughs] No way bro!

Hey, you better rescue those mini Martins.

[laughs]

Martin: So what do you get when you cross

plankton with a rocket launch?

Martin/Chris: PACE.

Martin: A really cool NASA project. Chris: C'mon!

Here at NASA, scientists have been using new tools

to understand our oceans.

This is our friend, Jeremy.

He's an oceanographer from NASA.

So Jeremy, what's this PACE project all about?

Jeremy: Thank you for asking and welcome to NASA.

Just a couple of months ago,

we launched a rocket into space

that deployed a satellite called PACE,

and its job is to look at the ocean

and give us new information about phytoplankton.

Martin: So how do you learn about creatures

that live in the ocean, with a satellite in outer space?

Jeremy: Only with the vantage point of space,

can you see our whole globe every day.

And this is what PACE produces

that is exactly what your eyes would see

if you were floating above the atmosphere.

But by looking at combinations of colors,

you can create maps that look like this.

Each of these three different colors

represents a different phytoplankton community.

So the green, the blue and the purple.

But notice this. If you're looking here,

you don't see any real features in the water.

When you look at the transformation

that you can do with the satellite, suddenly

one particular community stands out

that you just can't see over here with your naked eye.

Martin: And it's those different kinds of plankton

that we're going to be looking at next.

Chris: This is our friend Ivona.

She's an oceanographer here at NASA

and she studies the plankton up close

to combine it with information the satellite's getting.

What are you doing here?

Ivona: So I'm actually running a sample

using a robotic microscope,

so it allows me to see the images of all these different

types of phytoplankton that we see in the ocean.

Martin: Yeah! Chris: All those phytoplankton

are in this sample of water right here?

Ivona: Exactly. If we take a teeny tiny drop of this water

you're gonna find hundreds of different types

of phytoplankton in there.

Chris: Amazing. Martin: Wow.

Chris: Why is it so important to study plankton?

Ivona: First, they feed the whole oceanic realm.

Chris: Oh yeah, and they produce % of the world's oxygen.

Martin: And they take in carbon, which helps stabilize

the planet's climate.

Chris: Plankton, the mini heroes of the ocean!

Keep on creature adventuring!

Martin: We'll see you on the creature trail!

♪ [show theme music]

♪♪♪

♪♪♪