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NARRATOR: PearIs in the Indian Ocean.

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This is how we perceive
these islands, the Maldives.

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They shine brightIy in shades of white
and green in the azure bIue, gIittering sea.

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MereIy a smaII section
can be seen from the air,

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as, for the most part,
they are hidden beneath the surface.

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Unbelievable coral reefs
cIose to the Equator.

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Sustained and shaped by strong currents,
rich in oxygen,

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carrying huge pIankton swarms.

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A richIy Iaid tabIe.
No wonder that there are so many diners.

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A paradise, albeit with problems.

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Multitudes of tourists arrive annually.

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New islands are exploited
and new problems created

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time and again.

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We want to tell you
about this fairytale underwater world.

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Those who don't know it
cannot love it and protect it.

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But it's in need of help.

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We want to observe it and ask ourselves,

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"What do we have to do
with this naturaI miracIe?

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"And how can we preserve it?"

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Sea anemones.

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GentIy cIinging to the rock.

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Flower animals, but animals nonetheless.

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Swaying, as if in the wind,
with their tentacIes in the ocean current.

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They've found the ideal
spot to do a little hunting.

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They slowly crawl further
using their basal disc.

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lf they approve of the location,
they anchor themselves to the rock.

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ShouId there be sand and pebbIes,
they entrench themselves.

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Crevices are aIso quite popuIar.

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Very private.

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But they are dangerous flowers!
Their nematocysts emit poison.

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Which can be IethaI. Within seconds.

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Nonetheless, they do have friends.
CIown fish.

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A small group of them lives in
almost every anemone.

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An adult couple, monogamous for years,
and some youngsters.

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They keep the home clean and tidy.

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The anemone is kept free of sand and algae.

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They defend the home, too.

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They feel safe between the nettles!
With good reason.

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Sometimes a trifle cocky.

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Then, they even attack predatory fish!

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But woe betide them
should they swim too far away.

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It couId be their Iast excursion.

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They are small and aggressive.

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The butterfly fish, that eats anemones,

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steers cIear of them
should they be inhabited.

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Our cameraman, too,
has become acquainted with their little teeth.

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And they can change their sex!

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lf the principle female dies or is eaten,
the male simply changes into a female.

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In turn, she becomes the boss.

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The next maIe in Iine
automatically becomes her lover.

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Born hermaphrodites.

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When the need arises,
they simply morph into the opposite sex,

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including all functions.

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The anemone has obviously caught a fish
and then contracted to digest.

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The twobar anemonefish, not this one here,

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often spends the night in
his anemone's stomach!

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Without being digested.
Due to its protective barrier.

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How wonderfully golden he gleams,

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when observed from close quarters,
the MaIdives anemone fish.

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Here, in the foreground,
the small, black and yellow fish.

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What would he tell us if he could speak?

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What does he think about?

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He can't say,
"You divers almost trip over me. Watch it!

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"I am a CIark's anemone fish.

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"l am just three-years-old,
but a real grown-up.

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"We can reach the ripe old age of five.

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"We siphon plankton out of the water
directly above our anemone.

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"A few weeks ago, l was still a male.

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"Our highest-ranked cousin
was nabbed by a sea bass.

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"l acquired the resulting vacancy.

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"How cleverly organised nature can be!

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"This here is my flat-sharing community.

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"lt's common practise here,

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"a couple lives together
and the little ones there,

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"they look for their own anemone
once they are old enough to do so.

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"Or move up the Iine, if and when required."

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These corals,

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all remains of tiny animals.

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Polyps.

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They continually leave their skeletons,
their chaIk husks behind.

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Since time immemoriaI.

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The next in Iine buiId their homes on them.

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This causes the reef to grow,
always facing the sun.

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Because of the algae.

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They live in symbiosis with the polyps.

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And they need the sunlight.

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Huh!

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The masked porcupinefish.

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He comes by here quite often,
mostly at dusk.

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He can still see well because of his big eyes.

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He's after crustaceans, sea snails, mussels.

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Every now and again,
he bites off a chunk of coral,

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as long as it's not too thick.
With his dentures it's no wonder!

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And he can inflate himself into a large ball!
When a shark happens by, for example.

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Then his sharp spikes automatically rise
and virtually stab the shark's mouth.

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He then prefers to leave.

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Hmm.

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Looks empty, the shell of a tiger cowrie.

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There were a Iot of them here once.

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These are gorgonians. Also corals.

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What shapes they have!

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They stay put in the middle of currents,
these gorgonians.

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The polyps attempt
to catch as much as they can.

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And these here are feather stars.

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They've set up home on the gorgonian,
rent free.

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SoIdierfish. Having a nap.

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Their faces to the wall,
as if they've been naughty.

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Strange.

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These here don't bite.
They are yellowhead snappers.

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They are nosey.

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All they eat is plankton.

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Their offspring look completely different,
black and white, with spots.

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They have longer fins, too.

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They disguise themselves, so that the adult
males don't see them as competitors.

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That would probably drive them away.
Probably.

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Angelfish.

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Always alone, this blue-faced angelfish.

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Perhaps he hasn't found a girlfriend yet.

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This one here is a close relative,
the royal angelfish.

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Not much love lost between the pair of them.

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They like the same food, though,
sponges, tunicates.

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They tend to squabble then at the buffet.

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At the rear of its tail,
the black dot, that's an eye stain.

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Angelfish use them as camouflage.

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Other species have one, too.

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lt's supposed to irritate predators,
to distract them from their real eyes.

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Some butterfly fish even have
a black eye-patch as a disguise.

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All camouflage.

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Recesses everywhere. All populated.

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Reefs make great hiding places!

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And there's food here, too,

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as well as a kindergarten
for other inhabitants of the ocean.

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It's a whoIe worId!

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As rich in species as a tropical rainforest.

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Powerful forefeet propel the body forward
rhythmically.

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They can be incredibly fast
when danger lurks.

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They haven't got a chance
against the shark, though.

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Unfortunately he is their sole natural enemy.

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He can crack open their armour with his jaws.

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ln fact, opening the
stomachs of caught tiger sharks

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mostly reveals the remains of turtles.

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These turtles live exclusively in water.

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But the eggs, they lay these in the sand.

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On Iand. RoughIy every three years.

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On the beach,
where they once hatched themselves.

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How do they find it again?

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Ocean currents, the earth's magnetic fieId,
angle of light incidence...

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Anything that helps.

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Boffins attach transmitters to their armour
to monitor their movements,

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hoping to solve the puzzle.

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Once they have Iaid their eggs on Iand,
they are totally exhausted.

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But the females mate again soon afterwards.

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After 10 to 15 days.
Up to six clutches of eggs during a season.

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Each of these with 20 to 200 eggs.

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Thus, during their entire lifespan,
they can lay as many as 3,000!

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Sounds Iike quite a Iot, but, caution,
danger lurks everywhere!

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The clutches can be trampled on or dug out.

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And then, the baby turtles,
onlyjust hatched, six centimetres long,

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on their hasty trek
through the sand to the sea,

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gulls, frigate birds, herons, lizards.
Even foxes.

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And things are not much better
in the water either,

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where sharks, morays,
octopuses and other predator fish lurk.

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Easy pickings, the little ones.

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Very few survive the first days.

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Once they have grown up,
like these ones here,

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there are only two enemies left,

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sharks and humans.

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Green turtIes have to be carefuI
not to end up on restaurant menus.

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And tortoiseshell is made into jewellery.

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And the oiI is beIieved to
heal lung disorders.

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And now they are under threat.

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Trade may well be prohibited,
but it still hasn't been stopped.

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Here, this is where they belong!

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An endangered species.

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Beaches they need
on which to lay their eggs,

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cater increasingly to tourism.

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Or they end up as by-catch in the nets
or the long lines of fishermen.

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Treaties or laws have done little to help.

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Their numbers are dwindling,
aIso on the MaIdives.

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Thoughtlessly thrown into the water.

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lt swims like a living being.

182
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A jellyfish, perhaps.

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Not a danger for the green turtle,
who is a vegetarian after all.

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But the hawksbiII turtIe
could easily mistake it for his favourite meal,

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and perish miserably!

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Bannerfish.
Back and forth and back and forth.

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A zooplankton diet.

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Large shoals like this
occur only during the day.

189
00:27:33,193 --> 00:27:38,072
At night, they are loners
and seek sheIter between the coraIs.

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They doze after lunch.

191
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Almost motionless, all together.

192
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SeemingIy obIivious to any danger.

193
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Sometimes they swim into the deep,
to 200 metres.

194
00:27:56,091 --> 00:27:59,260
The locals refer to them as "Little angels".

195
00:27:59,762 --> 00:28:04,432
They throw them back into the water
if they catch them inadvertently.

196
00:28:09,563 --> 00:28:13,941
Those, there at the back,
they've got big eyes.

197
00:28:14,777 --> 00:28:20,698
Not a bad idea, especially when one is
nocturnal, like these soldierfish.

198
00:28:21,617 --> 00:28:24,744
They doze the whole day long here.

199
00:28:24,953 --> 00:28:28,915
They can even make noises
by contracting their muscles.

200
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Warning signals,
but aIso a form of communication.

201
00:28:37,674 --> 00:28:41,135
Here at the front, yellowfin surgeonfish.

202
00:28:41,678 --> 00:28:43,388
An apt name.

203
00:28:43,472 --> 00:28:48,518
Derived from the two scalpel-like blades,
which they carry on their tail root.

204
00:28:49,478 --> 00:28:54,482
lt is a weapon they use against predator fish,
but also against rivals.

205
00:28:55,484 --> 00:28:58,236
Fishermen are quite wary of them, too.

206
00:29:54,084 --> 00:29:56,043
A clown triggerfish.

207
00:29:59,548 --> 00:30:03,259
He uses his tailfin only when in a hurry.

208
00:30:03,886 --> 00:30:07,305
Otherwise, his dorsal
and anaI fins are sufficient.

209
00:30:08,432 --> 00:30:12,268
With them, he can also swim
diagonally and vertically.

210
00:30:13,228 --> 00:30:16,898
He simply opens and lowers
the first dorsal fin ray

211
00:30:16,982 --> 00:30:20,693
and enables the second to snap
into place and back again.

212
00:30:21,987 --> 00:30:24,197
These movements are even audibIe.

213
00:30:25,574 --> 00:30:28,576
This trigger mechanism gave him his name.

214
00:30:31,955 --> 00:30:34,707
And he can make other noises, too.

215
00:30:34,917 --> 00:30:39,670
He can grate his teeth and
play a nifty drum solo on his swim bladder.

216
00:30:51,266 --> 00:30:56,020
He feeds on the vegetation here
and from the tops of coral polyps.

217
00:30:56,772 --> 00:31:01,359
A loner, peacefully doing his rounds
across the coraI reef.

218
00:31:02,361 --> 00:31:05,863
That is,
unless he has built a nest for his offspring,

219
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which he defends aggressively.

220
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He is even prone to attack
far too large enemies.

221
00:31:13,622 --> 00:31:17,625
There are also plenty of divers
who have made his acquaintance in this way.

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Such vivid coIouring! StrikingIy prominent!

223
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lt's a warning to all predator fish,
"l'm poisonous!" He is, too.

224
00:31:37,479 --> 00:31:42,900
ShouId he be attacked anyway,
he has two thorns on both sides of his tail,

225
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razor sharp.

226
00:31:45,571 --> 00:31:48,155
Normally, these remain hidden.

227
00:31:48,574 --> 00:31:50,408
But when things get serious,

228
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he can use them to wedge himself
between rocks and in recesses,

229
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making it impossible to get him out.

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00:32:32,993 --> 00:32:37,038
This is some school. Blue-striped snappers...

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00:32:37,706 --> 00:32:41,959
CouId comprise severaI thousand,
a congregation like this.

232
00:32:42,711 --> 00:32:46,964
They hang out in the same place,
as they are not active swimmers.

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00:32:48,133 --> 00:32:54,430
Remarkably large teeth.
They feed on small fish and crustaceans.

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00:32:58,393 --> 00:33:03,898
And here, in the centre of things,
a humpnose big-eye bream.

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00:33:04,608 --> 00:33:07,652
They are very sociable and like to mix.

236
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Snappers. There are many species.

237
00:34:04,292 --> 00:34:09,755
Little is known about how they propagate
apart from the blue striped snappers.

238
00:34:10,382 --> 00:34:14,719
We know from them,
that courtship rituals take place at dusk.

239
00:34:15,554 --> 00:34:18,472
The male gently nudges the female's tummy.

240
00:34:19,099 --> 00:34:25,229
She then spiraIs up to the water surface
and dispenses the eggs into the open water.

241
00:34:26,314 --> 00:34:29,066
These are numerous and very tiny.

242
00:34:29,484 --> 00:34:34,822
Spread over a wide area, the young fish
hatch within the space of a few days.

243
00:34:58,847 --> 00:35:01,348
As if they were a living carpet.

244
00:35:05,979 --> 00:35:09,356
Unbelievable. A Napoleon wrasse.

245
00:35:09,733 --> 00:35:12,526
A cooI customer. A Ioner.

246
00:35:13,278 --> 00:35:17,490
He can measure more than two metres
and weigh up to 200 kilos.

247
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:21,577
He prefers spending the night
in caves or wrecks.

248
00:35:22,287 --> 00:35:28,250
ln the mornings, he swims along the reef
in search of fish, crustaceans.

249
00:35:29,044 --> 00:35:31,712
ls known to polish off
the odd poisonous fish.

250
00:35:32,422 --> 00:35:38,511
Rarely seen, sadly. Perhaps a little
too placid and always stays put.

251
00:35:38,929 --> 00:35:40,429
Easy to hunt down.

252
00:35:45,644 --> 00:35:48,062
These small anthias swim belly-up.

253
00:35:48,855 --> 00:35:53,067
They'll have you know that the
cave ceiling is actually the cave floor.

254
00:36:18,385 --> 00:36:20,344
A blackspotted puffer.

255
00:36:28,270 --> 00:36:33,357
Here, in the foreground, feather stars,
echinoderms.

256
00:36:34,276 --> 00:36:37,736
They thrive on
anything that gets caught on the feathers.

257
00:36:45,620 --> 00:36:49,039
They are totally devoid of bones,
these puffer fish.

258
00:36:49,833 --> 00:36:53,002
Just two bone plates
in their upper and lowerjaws.

259
00:36:53,837 --> 00:37:00,467
Which they use to effortlessly crack open
hard shells, snails, mussels and crustaceans.

260
00:37:05,223 --> 00:37:07,308
They also have no gill covers.

261
00:37:07,726 --> 00:37:11,854
There is a gill opening
in front of each of the pectoral fins.

262
00:37:12,230 --> 00:37:16,442
They can pump water into their
stomach sacks until they resemble a ball.

263
00:37:17,402 --> 00:37:20,905
Predatory fish
then have a hard time swallowing them.

264
00:37:32,918 --> 00:37:35,961
The way they look at you, with their big eyes!

265
00:37:37,172 --> 00:37:41,258
When you approach them,
they make one or two attempts to flee.

266
00:37:41,968 --> 00:37:47,514
Then, they give up and swallow water until
they are so round that they can hardly swim.

267
00:37:48,767 --> 00:37:50,351
When the danger has passed

268
00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:54,480
they discharge the water
and disappear into the depths

269
00:37:54,689 --> 00:37:58,025
by wagging their little fins
as fast as they can.

270
00:38:43,905 --> 00:38:48,742
A starry pufferfish.
ln a bit of a rush by his standards.

271
00:39:21,359 --> 00:39:25,988
The reef's kindergarten.
CountIess young fish.

272
00:39:26,072 --> 00:39:30,617
Here, they are always able to keep
out of harm's way in the small caves.

273
00:39:45,967 --> 00:39:47,760
A midnight snapper.

274
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:04,610
Dangerous predators.
Morays, surrounded by tiny cleaner fish.

275
00:40:05,445 --> 00:40:06,904
Very brave.

276
00:40:07,197 --> 00:40:10,783
Meticulously, they scrub even the gills.

277
00:40:11,242 --> 00:40:14,995
And the sharpest of teeth
are brushed to maximum whiteness.

278
00:41:20,103 --> 00:41:21,812
No scaIes.

279
00:41:22,105 --> 00:41:25,816
Armour made of bone plates,
firmly connected.

280
00:41:27,068 --> 00:41:30,070
The odd way he moves, this trunkfish,

281
00:41:30,738 --> 00:41:35,075
uncertain, like an elderly lady
in a heavy costume.

282
00:41:35,952 --> 00:41:40,789
But when threatened,
he secretes slime, poisonous slime.

283
00:41:41,416 --> 00:41:45,919
This even endangers him
when practised in narrow caves.

284
00:42:17,035 --> 00:42:20,996
These OrientaI sweetIips
are particularly flamboyant.

285
00:42:21,956 --> 00:42:25,584
Frequently encountered,
nocturnaI carnivores.

286
00:42:27,170 --> 00:42:29,129
As soon as it's dark,

287
00:42:29,214 --> 00:42:33,967
they're off on their search for mussels,
worms and crustaceans.

288
00:42:35,553 --> 00:42:40,390
ln the daytime, theyjust hang around, rigid,

289
00:42:40,516 --> 00:42:43,477
in small groups of five to 10 fish.

290
00:42:44,354 --> 00:42:47,940
ln shallow depths, protected by corals.

291
00:42:49,317 --> 00:42:51,276
And always in the current.

292
00:43:09,837 --> 00:43:14,633
lt's more peaceful here in the cave.
Perhaps they are just chilling.

293
00:43:47,959 --> 00:43:53,505
The current is stronger here. The OrientaI
sweetlips have to swim against it.

294
00:44:02,807 --> 00:44:05,350
They can make grunting sounds
with their moIars.

295
00:44:10,398 --> 00:44:15,652
Their offspring look entirely different.
Yellow-black-brown speckled.

296
00:44:15,945 --> 00:44:19,406
This is, of course,
the best camouflage here on the reef.

297
00:44:19,657 --> 00:44:21,450
And they certainly need it.

298
00:46:51,017 --> 00:46:53,101
Yet another shoaI.

299
00:46:54,228 --> 00:46:55,770
Humpback snappers.

300
00:46:57,273 --> 00:46:59,441
All swimming in unison.

301
00:47:01,068 --> 00:47:03,612
But who notifies them of the right direction?

302
00:47:49,367 --> 00:47:53,495
No place for individuality,
which diminishes in the crowd.

303
00:47:54,664 --> 00:47:57,791
Movement and order.

304
00:49:25,046 --> 00:49:27,213
Richly overgrown.

305
00:49:27,548 --> 00:49:33,386
White gorgonians,
and behind them, black corals.

306
00:49:33,888 --> 00:49:38,266
A subterranean forest
made entirely of animals.

307
00:51:31,839 --> 00:51:35,884
SadIy, our time down here
is coming to an end.

308
00:51:36,844 --> 00:51:40,847
Beneath us, a manta glides by majestically.

309
00:51:42,266 --> 00:51:48,396
And we take our Ieave of this wonderfuI
and indeed wondrous worId.