Amazing Ocean (2012)

[bunniefuu]

The ocean is everything.

It covers seven-tenths of the Earth.

Its breath is pure and healthy.

There is an immense desert

where a man is never alone,

where he can feel
how the lives of all tremble inside of him.

The sea is just a container

for all the tremendous,
supernatural things that exist in it.

"It is not only movement and love,

but the living infinity."

So wrote Jules Verne, about years ago,

in his classic adventure story
, Leagues Under the Sea.

And his words are as true today
as they were back then.

Anyone who has ever looked down
on a great ocean

has probably been impressed
by the sheer size of it.

A size which seems to stretch on
almost forever.

Whether it is the smooth, blue surface
of the water,

or the rough, towering waves
as they break and crash,

the sea is always breathtaking.

But then, if you look below the surface,

you will discover
a totally new and fascinating world.

It is a world full of life, colour and variety,

full of fabulous, almost fairytale,
creatures and landscapes.

It is little wonder that the sea
and its inhabitants

have provided us with so much inspiration
for so many stories.

Take these little guys for example.

Do they seem familiar?

Perhaps in the way they are sometimes
mischievous and sometimes timid,

hiding between these sea anemones.

Of course, these are the stars of
the wonderful animated film Finding Nemo,

which turned clown fish

into world-famous movie actors.

In the film,

Nemo's father goes on a long
and perilous journey to find his lost son.

But in real life,

clown fish try to avoid
leaving the symbiosis they share

with the sea anemone.

Sea anemones are protected
by the clown fish and butterfly fish.

And these fish are, in turn,
some of the few fish

that are resistant to the poison arms
of the sea anemones.

And the sea anemones protect our little Nemo

from all the other predators.

Fascinating, isn't it?

Just as the anemone
provides a home for the clown fish,

the whole sea and the coral reefs

offer a home to a vast multitude
of sea dwellers.

The corals can be as big as cities,

in which very different sea creatures
have gathered to live side by side.

And yet, there are some animals
which live all by themselves,

and others that only feel good
when they are on the move in huge swarms.

Let's take a look at some schools of fish
as they go about their business.

Here we see a large swarm
of striped grunters,

also known as pigfish.

Elegantly and skilfully,
swarm fish swim in the same direction

and in near perfect formation.

It is almost as if they are being directed
by a mysterious internal instinct.

Also, to be part of a big swarm
makes sense to a small fish

because it is always dangerous
under the water

and you have to be constantly on your guard

as you are likely to have
many pairs of eyes on you at any one time.

Because every individual
is surrounded by its own co-species,

the swarm builds its own protection.

Even a large predator will think twice

before attacking such a huge,
threatening-looking swarm.

And if he should attack,

the chances of survival for any one
individual in the protection of a swarm

are not too bad.

There are habitual swarm fish
that swim together all their lives,

but there are also opportunist swarm fish

which only pull together during an attack,
or in times of danger.

It can also happen
that very different types of fish

will build a swarm.

These swarms show even more vividly
the great patterns and colours of the fish.

Here, you can truly see

the overwhelming power
and beauty of nature.

There are so many different species of fish,

that sometimes it is hard to find
an appropriate name for all of them.

For this one, however,
the choice was pretty easy.

The parrot fish owes its name
to its striking similarity to the colourful bird.

They are not only just as colourful
as their feathered namesake,

but their numerous teeth
are arranged in a way

that resembles a parrot-like beak.

This tooth construction enables them

to rasp algae from coral
and other rocky substrates.

They are even able to grind up coral rock,
which they ingest during feeding.

After they digest the rock,
they excrete it as sand,

helping to create small islands
and sandy beaches.

One parrot fish can produce
kilograms of sand each year.

This special feature of the parrot fish
is a valuable contribution to our ecosystem

as it saves the coral reefs
from being overgrown with seaweed.

The parrot fish also has a very good friend,
the trumpet fish.

They both like to swim together
through the reef.

As they swim, the trumpet fish likes to eat
whatever the parrot fish stirs up

and does not want to eat alone.

Outside of mealtimes, however,
trumpet fish can often be found alone.

They like to hang upside down in the water
and float a little.

Also, they often seek
the proximity of coral branches

in order to camouflage themselves,
which all works out pretty well.

They search for an environment
that looks just like they do.

They swim slowly,

or lie motionless like a floating stick,

swaying back and forth
with the wave action of the water.

When it comes to camouflage and disguise,

the octopus is clearly in a different league.

What this animal can do
is nothing short of unbelievable.

They simply adapt to their surroundings,
whatever they may happen to be.

Take a look at how
these quick-change artists

can play us for a fool.

By simply changing their colours,

they can hide anywhere they want to,
in plain sight.

Here we see a damselfish
interacting with an octopus.

This is an excellent example

of the damselfish's general compatibility
with other fish and invertebrates.

However, the colourful damselfish
doesn't protect itself with camouflage.

They find protection from predators

amongst the stinging branches
of the anemones.

The damselfish can be found
in all the seven seas.

The average size of damsels
is around two inches,

but they can reach over inches in length.

Damselfish even cultivate
red filamentous algae.

Garibaldi and damselfish are the only fish

currently known to engage
in farming or cultivating.

That might be why damselfish are very settled

and never leave their territory.

Young damselfish are often very colourful.

Brilliantly hued in blues,
greens, violets, reds and browns.

But with age,
they lose their colourful appearance

and all full-grown damselfish
look more or less the same.

Sea turtles do not breathe
through gills like fish,

they need air like humans do.

That's because they are descendants
of the land-dwelling turtles

that moved into the oceans
about million years ago.

Even today, they still deposit
their eggs on land

and the little babies that hatch
go right back into the water

as fast as they can.

Sadly, the sea turtle
is an endangered species.

The threat that endangers them is humans,

who hunt them for their meat, their eggs,
and their shells.

The shells are considered
to be a lucky charm in Asia.

It seems to me that a live sea turtle itself
should be considered a lucky charm

because every time I see one
my heart rejoices.

That's how beautiful and graceful they are.

Now, most of us humans
are trying to protect the sea turtles,

and there have already been
some notable successes along the way.

All sea turtles are officially
under species protection.

Trading sea turtle products
has been forbidden.

It is also forbidden to capture or k*ll them.

All around the planet,
organisations and animal rights activists

are trying to protect these animals

by sealing off breeding areas,
or by building new breeding stations.

We humans have a real responsibility
for the sea dwellers of this world.

We should not treat this lightly.

Jacques Cousteau,
one of the greatest explorers

and a very passionate diver,

once put it this way.

"Underwater."

"In this paradise, humans are merely guests,
and they should behave that way."

Jellyfish have adapted themselves
very well for life in this underwater paradise.

All jellyfish sting their prey,

but this isn't always done intentionally,

as even the slightest contact

will trigger their automatic
response mechanism

to protect themselves
by stinging any potential predator.

Don't they look incredibly graceful
as they float around?

And speaking of graceful,
squids are excellent swimmers.

They are extremely active
and they seem to do quite well

when it comes to adapting
to the changing environment around them.

More than different types of squid
have been identified around the world.

The size of a squid can vary
depending on the species.

Some of them are only inches long,

while others are more than feet in length.

The heaviest squid ever found
weighed more than , pounds.

Maybe that's the reason for many old stories

that depict them as monsters
living in the deep.

Corals can only be found in the ocean,

especially around the Tropical Belt.

There are soft corals, and stony corals.

The stony corals form skeletons
by storing limestone,

which leads to the formation of
coral banks or coral reefs.

These skeletons often look like tree twigs,

and the tips of those twigs
are often covered with colourful polyps.

These polyps have a wide spectrum
of colours

which make the corals look like
underwater flowering plants.

Corals have existed for million years.

Like most deep-sea marine creatures,
corals are filter feeders,

which means that they get their nourishment
through micro-plankton

which contains nutrients
as well as trace elements

which the coral absorbs by filtering them
through the ocean current.

The corals are endangered
in many parts of the world,

and yet they only have two real enemies.

Global warming,
which influences the algal growth

and as a result,

algae can then produce toxic substances
that are harmful to corals,

and humans who break them
when they are industrial fishing

or even only diving on vacation.

A coral typically takes
hundreds of years to fully grow,

which is why we should be careful
whenever we pay them a visit.

This will ensure that not only we,
but the generations that come after us,

can fully enjoy the wonderful play of colours

and the exciting hustle and bustle
that corals play host to.

Encountering a ray is a terrific experience.

Nothing compares to the graceful
and weightless swimming

of this marvellous fish.

The ray has its mouth on its underside

and it loves to search through the sand
looking for food.

When a ray swims through the reef
it almost looks like it is flying.

One species of ray is even named after a bird.

The eagle ray.

Rays can grow to be really large.

The eagle ray, for example,
can reach a wingspan of over eight feet.

But you can certainly find
bigger and tougher creatures

in the depths of the ocean.

Despite their size,

or rather because of their enormous size,

the sea cows, or manatees,
are very pleasant cohabitants of the oceans.

They are very relaxed and curious.

Because they are mammals,
they must surface to breathe air.

They are good swimmers
in spite of their weight,

and are never on their own.

In the past, sailors who saw manatees

often mistook them for mythical mermaids
because of their tails.

An easy mistake to make,
as you can well imagine

that the sudden and unexpected flash
of a manatee tail at sea

would be quite a shock
to the extremely superstitious sailors of old.

Sea lions can live in the water,
but they can also live on land.

While they are very lazy and slow on land,

they make up for it
with their staggering skills underwater.

They are as fast as rockets.

They are agile, they perform somersaults,

and are simply amazing.

Look at just how much fun
a sea lion can have

in its cool and watery playground.

And if you have ever seen
dolphins underwater,

you will know that they too rank
among the very best swimmers,

and that they also like to joke around
once in a while.

They simply love to swim
inside streams and currents.

And, of course, they definitely enjoy
being on the move with their dolphin friends.

Compared to the dolphin,

the blowfish is more of a loner,

a very beautiful loner and also very cunning.

If a blowfish feels threatened,

it simply inflates itself with water
and blows itself up to twice its normal size.

This defence method has successfully
thrown several opponents off track.

However, the blowfish does not have
a large number of enemies,

and most of them are aware
that its skin surface

is protected by a nasty poison

and this doesn't exactly make the blowfish
a very desirable prey.

Characterised by a bony, box-like shell,

the trunkfish, or boxfish,
has a very similar technique to protect itself.

It secretes a colourless toxin from glands
on its skin when touched.

There are about species of trunkfish,

including the cowfish,
the blue and the grey boxfish,

and as we can see here,
the spotted trunkfish.

Trunkfish are small.

The largest species growing
to about inches.

They are colourful fish with bright patterns
of blue, red, white and black.

Some species are even capable of
changing their colour.

Fish have often been
a source of inspiration to us,

and as a result they have been given
beautiful and extraordinary names.

Such as the French marine angelfish,

which are some of
the most alluring of all fish.

Life in the coral reef is wild and it's thrilling.

It is a never-ending spectacle

and its biological diversity
and wondrous forms and colours

continue to startle and fascinate us.

Slow and stately,
the angelfish moves at a leisurely pace

amongst the coral heads
and overhanging plate corals

in search of food.

There are around
different species of angelfish

that inhabit the waters of
the Southern Hemisphere.

They can grow up to inches

and generally have
very brightly coloured markings,

but the exact colours
depend on the species of angelfish.

These remarkable goatfish
have two barbels extending from the chin.

These are used to probe the sand for food

such as worms, brittle stars,
crustaceans and small fish.

The sand tilefish are remarkable, too.

These fish are simply tireless in their search
through the sand

and can dig up whole landscapes.

They never seem to grow weary
of digging their holes in the sand.

Here are some more angelfish.

They are aptly named,

and they are best known
for their vivacious colour display

and their intricate patterns,

which are known to change significantly
as they grow old.

Their bodies have a flat disc-like form

that allows them to slip between
rocky outcroppings and reef crevices.

They are omnivores.

That is, they usually eat
both animals and plants.

With a little luck,
deep down at the far end of the reef

you might find the enormous tarpons.

At over six feet long,

they look most impressive and almost lordly.

They inhabit tropical waters
from Florida to South America.

Perhaps the most unique
internal feature of the tarpon

is the modified swim bladder.

This allows the tarpon to take oxygen
directly from the atmosphere

and thus increases its tolerance of
oxygen-poor waters.

The lion-fish is truly wonderful,

and its diverse feathering

makes it a coveted addition
to show-aquariums.

In fact, the lion-fish originally came from
the waters of the Pacific Ocean,

between Malaysia and Japan,

its habitat being lagoons and outer reefs.

Since the end of the th century,

the lion-fish has been sighted
in the west part of the North Atlantic Ocean,

from the coast of Florida
up to North Carolina.

Set free by aquarists,

the lion-fish now has no natural enemies

and breeds too strongly and too fast.

Often, and without meaning to,

humans interfere with ecosystems
they do not completely understand

and misfortunes are bound to occur,

and sadly things might never go back
to their natural order.

Watching manta rays as they swim
is an extraordinary experience.

Often they appear in pods,

which is the term for when
several fish swim together,

and they like to visit cleaning stations.

Including the tail, manta rays
can range from to feet long.

Their wide heads have slightly movable
and rounded fins on both sides.

These fins help them to direct plankton
into their mouths.

And there is no need to be afraid
of their long tail,

because it never carries a poisonous sting.

Mantas are very calm creatures

and completely harmless to humans.

This has been a truly fantastic journey.

A journey all the way through the reefs
of our amazing oceans,

and I hope that it has brought you
many unforgettable wonders to savour.

Perhaps Jacques Cousteau put it best
when he said,

"The sea, once it casts its spell,

holds one in its net of wonder forever."