All language subtitles for C78DFB0BD2B12974B584EF92CCAAEB4B_eng

MUSIC

The oceans, seemingly limitless,
invoking us a sense of awe

and wonder, and also sometimes
fear. They cover 70% of the

surface of our planet, and
yet they are still the least

explored. Hidden beneath the
waves, right beneath my feet,

there are creatures beyond our imagination.

MUSIC

With revolutionary technology, we
can enter new worlds... SCREAMS

..and shine a light on behaviours in ways
that were impossible just a generation ago.

We've also recognised an
uncomfortable fact. The health of

our oceans is under threat.
They're changing at a faster

rate than ever before in human history.

Never has there been a
more crucial time to reveal

what is going on beneath
the surface of the seas.

SCREAMS In this first
episode... ..we will journey

across the globe from the
warm waters of the tropics...

..to the coldest around the poles...

..to bring us a new understanding
of life beneath the waves.

SCREAMS This is Blue Planet 2.

SCREAMS The surface of the ocean conceals
the many creatures that live beneath.

But not all.

Bottlenose dolphins.

They are extremely intelligent.

And with this intelligence
comes playfulness.

They surf. And as far as we can tell,
they do so for the sheer joy of it. SCREAMS

SCREAMS

But to properly appreciate
their true character,

you have to travel with
them into their world.

A pod of bottlenose dolphins
is visiting a coral reef in the

Red Sea. For the youngsters,
there are things to be learned

here.

The adults lead a calf to a particular
bush-like coral called a gorgonian.

And here the adults
behave rather strangely.

They deliberately rub
themselves through the fronds.

SCREAMS Their calf
seems reluctant to do so.

SCREAMS By watching
his elders, he may be

realising that this is
something he ought to do.

Gorgonian fronds, in fact,
are covered with a mucus that

can have anti-inflammatory
and anti-microbial properties.

So maybe the adult dolphins are doing
this to protect themselves from infection.

The dolphins' intimate
knowledge of the reef is

spurring us to search for
new medicines here too.

Tropical coral reefs occupy
only a tenth of one percent of

the ocean floor. But their
shallow, warm waters and stable

year-round conditions support
some of the most crowded

and varied communities to be
found anywhere in the oceans.

And there are new discoveries
to be made on every one of them.

One creature on Australia's
Great Barrier Reef is

challenging our understanding
of fish intelligence. A

tuskfish. And you can
see why it gets its name.

He does something few would
have believed a fish could do.

Every morning, he travels
to the edge of the reef.

He's searching for something special to
eat amongst the coral rubble and sand.

Here's one. A small clam.

But how to crack it
open and get to the meat?

He takes it all the way
back to his special kitchen.

A bowl-shaped coral that has a particular
bump on the inside that he always uses.

It's not easy if you have no hands.

Oops. There he goes again.

But he's got great determination...

and surprising accuracy.

At last.

So here is a fish that
uses tools. Some fish

are much cleverer
than you might suppose.

The density of the animals
on tropical reefs makes

competition inevitable and
extreme. Not only for those that

live within the reefs, but for
the birds that fly above them.

During the dry season, over
half a million terns are caught

in the water. Terns crowd
onto this remote atoll in the

Indian Ocean.

Their chicks are still in
their dark juvenile plumage.

They vary in age.

Whilst the more advanced
chicks take to the air...

others aren't quite ready yet.

Those just starting to learn
to fly use the shallow lagoon

that occupies the centre
of the atoll as their training

ground. It's difficult for some
of them to stay aloft for long.

Giant trevallies.

Usually, they are solitary
hunters. But they are very smart.

But about 50 of them have come
here from neighbouring reefs,

attracted by this
abundance of potential prey.

The fledglings stay out of the water if
they can. They even drink on the wing.

If the trevallier to catch one
now, they have to up their game.

So there is a fish here that,
amazingly, has a brain and

a mind of its own. Capable
of calculating the airspeed,

altitude and trajectory of a bird.

The time comes when
every fledgling has to

take to the air and
collect food for itself.

Their parents lead them
to the training grounds.

If they are to survive,
they must learn quickly.

After a month of practising
over and over again, the

youngsters start to leave
and take their chances out over

the open sea.

The oceans hold 97% of all
the water in the world. As the

sun warms their surface, water
evaporates. The vapour rises

into the sky until it
cools and condenses into

towering clouds. And
they generate huge storms.

The spin of the earth deflects these storms
north and south into cooler latitudes.

As they travel across the sea,
storm-driven winds create huge swells.

When the swells reach shallower water, they
rise again. They rise into gigantic waves.

In its lifetime, a large
storm can release energy

that is the equivalent of
10,000 nuclear bombs. ...

These are the seasonal seas.

And when they warm in spring,
they can suddenly explode with life.

Mobular rays have gathered in
Mexico's Sea of Cortez in vast numbers.

Why do they leave?

Is it to tell others that they're here?

No one knows.

They feed mostly at
night, for that is when

vast swarms of plankton
rise from the depths.

The disturbance in the
water stimulates many of the

planktonic creatures to
luminesce. Only now do we have the

technology to record their faint glow.

The feasting rays swim
through them, creating

an extraordinary
ballet of life and death.

The richness of these waters
is based on microscopic plants,

phytoplankton, which bloom
on such a massive scale they

benefit us all.

They, together with seaweeds
and sea grasses, produce as

much oxygen as all the forests
and grassy plains on land.

Every spring off New Zealand, the
seasonal bounty draws in rare visitors.

False killer whales.

They are relatives of the orca, six
meters long and weighing over a ton.

They appear to be searching for dolphins.

And there are many in these coastal waters.

Here, bottlenose
dolphins stick together,

constantly chattering
with whistles and clicks.

Such a din carries some miles underwater.

The false killers have detected them.

Traveling at 10 knots, the
killers quickly close in on them.

But then something truly
extraordinary happens.

The dolphins turn as if
to greet their pursuers.

They seem to change their calls. Could it
be that they're attempting to communicate?

Scientists studying this
annual encounter now

think that individuals may
recognize one another.

Almost unbelievably, it seems that these
different species appear to be old friends.

Together, they're gathering as one
unified army, up to a thousand strong.

This formidable hunting
party now harvests

the riches that come
with New Zealand summer.

All across the higher latitudes, seasonal
seas flourish under the summer sun.

Here in Alaska, sea otters lounge in
the canopy of great submarine forests.

Giant kelp, the biggest
seaweed of all, is home to all

kinds of life. On the forest
floor, spiny sea urchins munch

through the kelp. Elsewhere, there
are continuously hungry sea cucumbers.

And in the tangled undergrowth,
wonderfully camouflaged sea dragons.

In the underwater forests of
northern Japan, the residents

of this sunken wreck are waiting
for the summer temperatures

to reach 16 degrees Celsius.

That, for some, is the time for mating.

A kind of giant wrasse called a kobodai.

This is a male.

And in female terms,
he's particularly handsome.

He's a meter long and weighs 15 kilos.

Much larger than the diminutive female.

And he is ready to breed.

He attempts to mate with her
and with any of the other dozen

or so females that live in his
territory. Whenever he gets

the chance.

But females from around 10 years
old take little notice of his advances.

This is because, when any
life is in danger, he is ready to

mate with any of the other 10
females. When a large female

reaches a critical body size, she
can begin a dramatic transformation.

Over just a few months,
particular enzymes inside her

body cease to work. And
male hormones start to circulate.

As time passes, her head
expands and her chin gets longer.

As she has changed into a he.

And with this comes a
change in temperament.

The old male who ruled all the
females here is challenged to a face off.

The more bulbous the head, the
more it intimidates an opponent.

The territory has a new ruler.

Only the largest females
transform themselves in this way.

But the change enables them
to have more mates, so they

will have many more
offspring carrying their genes.

But a new male can't afford
to be complacent. Inside

the body of every kobudai
female, there is a new male in

waiting.

The closer we travel towards the
poles, the colder the seas become.

Icebergs appear, huge slabs
that have broken away from

glaciers that are sliding into
the sea. And then the surface

starts to freeze.

While the lights of the
aurora play above, even in the

depths of midwinter, there
are a few places well north of

the Arctic Circle that are still open.

The fjords of northern Norway
remain ice free because a

giant current, the Gulf
Stream, flows up here from the

south, bringing warmth all
the way from the Caribbean.

And every winter, billions of
herring come here for shelter.

And following them,

walker.

There are up to a thousand
of them. It's possibly

the greatest gathering
of walker on the planet.

The herring may be
plentiful, but in these winding

fields, they're not always
easy to track down.

These particular walker, however,
are fish hunting specialists.

They work as a team, coordinating their
approach by calling loudly to one another.

They heard the herring
into tighter and tighter shoals.

They swim below them, trapping
them against the surface of the sea.

And now the walker
deploy their special weapon.

They beat their tails with
such force that the shock waves

stun the herring. And then
the senseless victims are easily

collected.

But all this underwater
noise attracts others.

Humpback whales. They
move in on the action.

They approach the shoal from
beneath and then lunge upwards.

Gathering up to a hundred kilos
of herring in a single mouthful.

The humpbacks are
competitive newcomers. They

only started coming here
within the last decade.

But these polar seas are so rich that there
appears to be enough food for everyone.

Nonetheless, few, if
any, of these riches

would be here were it
not for the Gulf Stream.

Ocean currents, in fact, are
crucial to the well-being of our planet.

They distribute the sun's heat
towards the poles all the way

from the equator. Maintaining
a climate favorable for life

almost everywhere.

From creating the weather to producing
oxygen, the seas keep our world healthy.

But there are now worrying
signs that conditions in the

oceans that have remained
relatively stable for millennia

are changing radically.

Nowhere is this more evident
than in the Arctic. Here in

the past 30 years, the extent
of the ice in summer has been

reduced by 40 percent. This
sudden warming, most likely a

consequence of human activity,
is having a profound impact

on its wildlife.

Walruses are among those
that are seriously affected.

Every adult female needs to find a
safe place where her 80 -kilo pup can rest.

The sea ice is retreating
from much of the walruses'

traditional range, so they now
have to haul out on dry land.

But a herd of hundreds of
quarrelsome mothers, some

weighing almost a ton,
is not an ideal nursery.

Walruses on land stick together
for good reason. Polar bears.

A full-grown male walrus
is gigantic, too big for even a

polar bear to tackle. So the
bear is looking for a walrus

baby.

The scent of the bear spreads
along through the colony.

The walruses retreat into the sea.

The bear knows it won't
be able to catch them there.

But she, too, has young ones to feed.

What is a mother to do?

The mother walrus still needs to
find a place where her young can rest.

A melting iceberg might do, but
she is not the first to find this one.

Suitable places are already taken.

The mother walrus is looking for
a place where her young can rest.

Other mothers don't want to share.

They, too, need a patch of ice
where they can protect their young.

A desperate mother has no
choice but to barge her way in.

So this time, everyone loses.

Finding the right place on
these melting shores gets harder

and harder. The mother walrus
is looking for a place where

she can

rest.

Solving these problems
together helps create a bond so

strong that the mother will
stay in contact with her young

for the rest of her life.

But who knows now
what their future will be?

As we understand more about
the complexity of the lives of

sea creatures, so we begin
to appreciate the fragility of

their home, our blue planet.

Blue Planet 2 has been four
years in the making. The teams

have explored every ocean,
seeking extraordinary untold

stories, many new to science,

bringing a new understanding
of life beneath the waves.

The latest diving technology,
producing no bubbles or

noise, has allowed our teams
longer and closer encounters.

To explore our final frontier,
the deep, we have spent a

thousand hours in submersibles
over half a mile below the

surface.

Innovative new camera technology makes it
possible to film moments never seen before.

Low-light cameras capture magical
events almost invisible to the naked eye.

We don't see anything.
We're filming in

total absolute darkness.
We're totally blind.

Probe cameras give a completely
fresh perspective into the

lives of tiny creatures, while
suction cameras take us on a

giant's eye view of the ocean.

But the sea is an unpredictable
and dangerous place to work,

nowhere more so than the
so-called wild coast of South Africa,

home to surfing dolphins.

The team's mission here is
to ride alongside the dolphins

and record their surfing
behavior in closer detail than ever

before.

These are treacherous
seas, so the film crew

enlist local professional
surfers to guide them.

But this year, the waves
are bigger than anyone had

anticipated. A daunting
prospect for surf cameraman Chris

Bryan. Yeah, I'm feeling
pretty nervous. It's a big swell

out there. Really big swell,
like there's 20-foot waves out

there. Yeah, this will probably
be the biggest seas I think

I've ever been out in. No
risk, no reward, I guess. Chris

has a high-speed camera to shoot
super slow-motion action in the waves.

The challenge is to get as close to
the wave-riding dolphins as possible.

The good news is that the dolphins
have been spotted on the horizon.

They said this was going
to be the biggest swell of the

year, and hey, I've never
seen anything like this. This is

much bigger than I'd possibly imagined.

In these waves, the only way
to get out the dolphins is with

a jet ski. There's going to
be enough of a challenge for

them just to kind of weave their way out.

At last, the driver's
detailed knowledge gets

them safety through
the massive breakers.

But the dolphins are nowhere to be seen,

leaving the crew to face the
hair-raising task of getting back to shore.

That was pretty wild, yeah.
The wave actually hit the back

of the sled, and I was like,
go, go, get out of here, Jase,

get out of here. I hit a big
bump and almost bounced off

trying to hold the camera,
and Jase rode out of there, but

yeah, it was hectic. Just
another day at the office.

The next day brings a
sudden change in conditions.

Plenty of dolphins, but a
calmer sea. But the complete

lack of any wave at all.
Look out, look out, look out.

As so often in the ocean, if
you know you're in the right

place, you just need the
patience to wait for the perfect

moment.

A week later, and a storm
is once again brewing off the

wild coast, and surf is
building. Kind of like a nervous

excitement. The conditions
are absolutely perfect. This is

completely what we've been
waiting for. And the dolphins

seem to know it. But Chris is
struggling to get a steady shot.

Hey. Hi, gentlemen. A
little tricky on the jet ski, just

trying to get the right angle,
so I'm going to have a go on

the Zodiac and hopefully
have better luck on that one.

The inflatable boat gives Chris a
larger, more stable filming platform.

At last, he's in exactly the right
place at exactly the right time.

And the results are
spectacular. That's amazing!

Mission accomplished.

And this intimate footage is now available
as part of wider scientific studies.

Supporting evidence that
dolphins surf to strengthen

friendships, develop social
skills, and for the sheer

exhilaration of it.

Next time, the deep. A world
richer than we ever thought

possible. Where creatures
thrive in the most extreme

conditions on Earth.

Thanks for watching! Thanks for watching!