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The oceans seemingly limitless,

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invoke in us a sense of awe and wonder
and also sometimes fear.

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They cover 70% of the surface
of our planet,

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and yet they are still
the least explored.

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Hidden beneath the waves
right beneath my feet,

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there are creatures
beyond our imagination.

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

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and shine the light on behaviours

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in ways that were impossible
just a generation ago.

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We've also recognized
an uncomfortable fact.

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The health of our ocean is under threat.

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They're changing at a faster rate
than ever before in human history.

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Never has there been a more crucial time

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to reveal what is going on
beneath the surface of the seas.

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In this first episode,

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we will journey across the globe
from the warm waters of the tropics

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to the coldest around the poles.

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To bring us a new understanding
of live beneath the waves.

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This is Blue Planet II.

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

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but not all.

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Bottlenose dolphins.

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They're extremely intelligent.

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And with this intelligence
comes playfulness.

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They surf.

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

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But to properly appreciate
their true character,

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you have to travel with them
into their world.

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

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For the youngsters,
there are things to be learned here.

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The adults lead a calf
to a particular bushlike coral

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called a Gorgonian.

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And here, the adults behave
rather strangely.

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They deliberately rub themselves
through the fronds.

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Their calf seems reluctant to do so.

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By watching his elders,

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he may be realizing
that this is something he ought to do.

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Gorgonia fronds, in fact,
are covered with a mucous

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that can have antiinflammatory
and antimicrobial properties.

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So maybe the adult dolphins
are doing this

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to protect themselves from infection.

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The dolphins' intimate knowledge
of the reef

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is spurring us to search
for new medicines here, too.

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Tropical coral reefs

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occupy only a tenth of one percent
of the ocean floor.

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But their shallow warm waters
and stable year round conditions,

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support some of the most crowded
and varied communities

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to be found anywhere in the oceans.

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

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One creature
on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

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is challenging our understanding
of fish intelligence.

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A tusk fish.

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And you can see why it gets its name.

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

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

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He's searching
for something special to eat

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amongst the coral and sand.

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Here's one.

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A small clam.

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

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He takes it all the way back

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to his special kitchen.

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A bowlshaped coral

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that has a particular bump on the inside
that he always uses.

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It's not easy if you have no hands.

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Whoops.

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There he goes again.

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But he's got great determination

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and surprising accuracy.

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At last.

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So here is a fish that uses tools.

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Some fish are much cleverer
than you might suppose.

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The density of the animals
on tropical reefs

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makes competition
inevitable and extreme.

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Not only for those that lived
within the reef,

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but for the birds that fly above them.

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During the dry season,

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over half a million terns

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crowd onto this remote atoll
in the Indian Ocean.

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Their chicks are still
in their dark, juvenile plumage.

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They vary in age.

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Whilst the more advanced chicks
take to the air,

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others aren't quite ready yet.

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Those just starting to learn to fly

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use the shallow lagoon
that occupies the centre of the atoll

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as their training ground.

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

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Giant trevallies.

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Usually, they're solitary hunters,

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but about 50 of them have come here
from neighbouring reefs

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attracted by this abundance
of potential prey.

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The fledglings stay out of the water
if they can,

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they even drink on the wing.

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If the trevally are to catch one now,

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they have to up their game.

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So there is a fish here that amazingly

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has a brain capable of calculating
the airspeed,

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altitude and trajectory of a bird.

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The time comes when every fledgling
has to take to the air

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and collect food for itself.

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Their parents lead them
to the training grounds.

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If they're to survive,

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they must learn quickly.

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After a month of practising
over the lagoon,

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the youngsters start to leave

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and take their chances
out over the open sea.

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

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As the sun warms their surface,
water evaporates.

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The vapour rises into the sky

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until it cools and condenses
into towering clouds.

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And they generate huge storms.

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The spin of the earth
deflects these storms

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north and south into cooler latitudes.

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As they travel across the sea,

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stormdriven winds create huge swells.

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When the swells reach shallower waters,

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they rise into gigantic waves.

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In its lifetime,
a large storm can release energy

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that is the equivalent
of 10,000 nuclear bombs.

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These are the seasonal seas.

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And when they warm in spring,

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they can suddenly explode with life.

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Mobula rays have gathered
in Mexico's Sea of Cortez

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in vast numbers.

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Why do they leap?

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Is it to tell others that they're here?

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No one knows.

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They feed mostly at night

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for that is when vast swarms
of plankton rise from the depths.

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The disturbance in the water stimulates
many of the planktonic creatures

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to luminesce.

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Only now do we have the technology
to record their faint glow.

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The feasting rays swim through them

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creating an extraordinary ballet
of life and death.

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The richness of these waters
is based on microscopic plants,

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phytoplankton,

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which bloom on such a massive scale
they benefit us all.

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They, together with seaweeds
and seagrasses,

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produce as much oxygen

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as all the forests
and grassy plains on land.

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Every spring off New Zealand,

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the seasonal bounty
draws in rare visitors.

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False killer whales.

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They're relatives of the orca,

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six metres long
and weighing over a tonne.

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They appear to be searching
for dolphins.

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And there are many
in these coastal waters.

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Here, bottlenose dolphins stick together

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constantly chattering
with whistles and clicks.

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Such a din carries for miles underwater.

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The false killers have detected them.

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Travelling at ten knots,
the killers quickly close in on them.

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But then,
something truly extraordinary happens.

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The dolphins turn

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as if to greet their pursuers.

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They seem to change their course.

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Could it be that they're attempting
to communicate?

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Scientists studying
this annual encounter,

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now think that individuals
may recognize one another.

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Almost unbelievably,
it seems that these different species

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appear to be old friends.

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Together they're gathering
as one unified army

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up to a thousand strong.

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This formidable hunting party
now harvests the riches

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that come with New Zealand's summer.

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All across the higher latitudes,

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seasonal seas flourish
under the summer sun.

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Here in Alaska,
sea otters lounge in the canopy

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of great submarine forests.

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Giant kelp, the biggest seaweed of all
is home to all kinds of life.

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On the forest floor, spiny
sea urchins munch through the kelp.

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Elsewhere there are continuously hungry
sea cucumbers.

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And in the tangled undergrowth,

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wonderfully camouflaged sea dragons.

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In the underwater forests
of northern Japan,

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the residents of this sunken wreck

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are waiting for the summer temperatures
to reach 16 degrees Celsius.

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That for some is the time for mating.

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A kind of giant wrasse called a Kobudai.

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This is a male.

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And in female terms,
he's particularly handsome.

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He's a metre long and weighs 15 kilos.

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Much larger than the diminutive female,

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and he is ready to breed.

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He attempts to mate with her

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and with any of the dozen or so females
that live in his territory,

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whenever he gets the chance.

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But females from around ten years old

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take little notice of his advances.

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This is because when any large female
reaches a critical body size,

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she can begin a dramatic transformation.

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Over just a few months,

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particular enzymes inside her body
cease to work,

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and male hormones start to circulate.

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As time passes,

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her head expands

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and her chin gets longer.

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A she has changed into a he.

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And with this comes a change
in temperament.

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The old male who rules
all the females here

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is challenged to a face off.

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The more bulbous the head,

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the more it intimidates an opponent.

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The territory has a new ruler.

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Only the largest females transform
themselves in this way.

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But the change enables them
to have more mates,

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so they will have many more offspring
carrying their genes.

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00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:42,640
But a new male can't afford
to be complacent.

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00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:48,680
Inside the body of every Kobudai female,

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there is a new male in waiting.

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

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00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:21,840
Icebergs appear.

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00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:24,640
Huge slabs that have broken away

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from glaciers that are sliding
into the sea.

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00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:32,120
And then the surface starts to freeze.

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00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:45,480
While the lights of the aurora
play above,

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00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:47,560
even in the depths of midwinter,

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00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:51,680
there are a few places
well north of the Arctic circle

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00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:53,240
that are still open.

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The fjords of northern Norway
remain ice free

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because a giant current,
the Gulf Stream,

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flows up here from the south

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00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,160
bringing warmth all the way
from the Caribbean.

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00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:21,520
And every winter,

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00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,960
billions of herring
come here for shelter.

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00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:30,600
And following them...

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00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:34,360
Orca.

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00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:48,680
There are up to a thousand of them.

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00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:54,680
It's possibly the greatest gathering
of orca on the planet.

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The herring maybe plentiful
but in these winding fjords

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they're not always easy to track down.

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00:36:15,920 --> 00:36:18,200
These particular orca, however,

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are fish hunting specialists.

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00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:31,320
They work as a team,

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00:36:31,440 --> 00:36:35,920
coordinating their approach
by calling loudly to one another.

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00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,640
They herd the herring
into tighter and tighter shoals.

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00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:01,160
They swim below them,

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00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:03,720
trapping them against
the surface of the sea.

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00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:16,320
And now the orca deploy
their special weapon.

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00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:24,560
They beat their tails with such force,

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00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:27,480
that the shock waves stun the herring.

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00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:34,240
And then the senseless victims
are easily collected.

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00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:12,080
But all this underwater noise
attracts others.

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00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:21,640
Humpback whales.

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00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:25,680
They move in on the action.

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00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:37,960
They approach the shoal from beneath
and then lunge upwards,

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00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:48,680
gathering up to a hundred kilos
of herring in a single mouthful.

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00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,360
The humpbacks are comparative newcomers.

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00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,640
They only started coming here
within the last decade.

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00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,600
But these polars seas are so rich

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00:39:28,720 --> 00:39:31,520
that there appears to be enough food
for everyone.

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00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,000
Nonetheless, few if any of these riches

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would be here were it not
for the Gulf Stream.

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00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:14,280
Ocean currents, in fact, are crucial
to the well being of our planet.

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They distribute the sun's heat
towards the poles

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00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:24,080
all the way from the equator,

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00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:31,000
maintaining a climate favourable
for life almost everywhere.

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From creating the weather
to producing oxygen,

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the seas keep our world healthy.

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But there are now worrying signs

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that conditions in the oceans

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00:40:56,960 --> 00:40:59,760
that have remained relatively stable
for millennia

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are changing radically.

264
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:07,360
Nowhere is this more evident
than in the Arctic.

265
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,560
Here in the past 30 years,

266
00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:16,280
the extent of the ice in summer
has been reduced by 40%.

267
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,120
This sudden warming,

268
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,080
most likely a consequence
of human activity,

269
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:26,160
is having a profound impact
on its wildlife.

270
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:37,000
Walruses are among those
that are seriously affected.

271
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Every adult female
needs to find a safe place

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where her 80kilo pup can rest.

273
00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:57,840
The sea ice is retreating

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00:41:57,920 --> 00:42:00,560
from much
of the walrus' traditional range,

275
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:03,920
so they now have
to haul out on dry land.

276
00:42:09,240 --> 00:42:12,680
But a herd of hundreds
of quarrelsome mothers,

277
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some weighing almost a tonne,
is not an ideal nursery.

278
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:29,760
Walruses on land stick together
for good reason.

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Polar bears.

280
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,000
A full grown male walrus is gigantic,

281
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too big for even a polar bear to tackle.

282
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:49,200
So the bear is looking
for a walrus baby.

283
00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:58,560
The scent of the bear
spreads alarm through the colony.

284
00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:08,320
The walruses retreat into the sea.

285
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:29,840
The bear knows it won't be able
to catch them there.

286
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:42,480
But she too has young ones to feed.

287
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,680
What is a mother to do?

288
00:44:02,720 --> 00:44:05,560
A mother walrus still needs
to find a place

289
00:44:05,680 --> 00:44:07,280
where her young can rest.

290
00:44:14,960 --> 00:44:17,200
A melting iceberg might do,

291
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,640
but she is not the first
to find this one.

292
00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:32,040
Suitable places are already taken.

293
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:07,960
Other mothers don't want to share.

294
00:45:12,760 --> 00:45:16,240
They, too, need a patch of ice
where they can protect their young.

295
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:27,160
A desperate mother has no choice
but to barge her way in.

296
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:53,200
So this time everyone loses.

297
00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:21,480
Finding the right place
on these melting shores

298
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:24,480
gets harder and harder.

299
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:04,840
Solving these problems together
helps create a bond so strong

300
00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:09,600
that the mother will stay in contact
with her young for the rest of her life.

301
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:24,800
But who knows now
what their future will be.

302
00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,920
As we understand more
about the complexity

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00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:44,400
of the lives of sea creatures,

304
00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:49,840
so we begin to appreciate
the fragility of their home.

305
00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:53,360
Our blue planet.

306
00:48:29,200 --> 00:48:32,760
Blue Planet II has been
four years in the making.

307
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:38,120
The teams have explored every ocean,

308
00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:41,120
seeking extraordinary untold stories,

309
00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:42,880
many new to science.

310
00:48:49,720 --> 00:48:53,760
Bringing a new understanding
of life beneath the waves.

311
00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:08,680
The latest diving technology
producing no bubbles or noise

312
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:12,560
has allowed our teams
longer and closer encounters.

313
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,760
To explore our final frontier,
the deep,

314
00:49:22,840 --> 00:49:26,240
we have spent a thousand hours
in submersibles

315
00:49:26,360 --> 00:49:29,040
over half a mile below the surface.

316
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:35,400
Innovative new camera technology

317
00:49:35,480 --> 00:49:39,160
makes it possible to film moments
never seen before.

318
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:46,920
Lowlight cameras capture magical events
almost invisible to the naked eye.

319
00:49:58,000 --> 00:50:01,200
Probe cameras
give a completely fresh perspective

320
00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:03,760
into the lives of tiny creatures.

321
00:50:04,120 --> 00:50:06,040
Here he comes, here he comes.

322
00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:11,280
While suction cameras take us
on a giant's eye view of the ocean.

323
00:50:18,280 --> 00:50:22,520
But the sea is an unpredictable
and dangerous place to work.

324
00:50:27,240 --> 00:50:31,640
Nowhere more so than the so called
wild coast of South Africa.

325
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:37,320
Home to surfing dolphins.

326
00:50:42,920 --> 00:50:47,280
The team's mission here
is to ride alongside the dolphins

327
00:50:47,360 --> 00:50:51,880
and record their surfing behaviour
in closer detail than ever before.

328
00:50:55,280 --> 00:50:57,440
These are treacherous seas,

329
00:50:57,560 --> 00:51:01,960
so the film crew enlists local
professional surfers to guide them.

330
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:15,160
But this year, the waves are bigger
than anyone had anticipated.

331
00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:21,080
A daunting prospect for surf cameraman,
Chris Bryan.

332
00:51:22,600 --> 00:51:25,440
Yeah, I'm feeling pretty nervous,
the...

333
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:27,160
It's a big swell out there.

334
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:30,960
Really big swell.
Like there's 20foot waves out there,

335
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:35,600
and, um, yeah this will probably be
the biggest seas I've ever been out in.

336
00:51:36,280 --> 00:51:38,560
No risks, no reward, I guess.

337
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:42,120
Chris has a highspeed camera

338
00:51:42,200 --> 00:51:45,680
to shoot super slow motion action
in the waves.

339
00:51:50,560 --> 00:51:54,960
The challenge is to get as close
to the waveriding dolphins as possible.

340
00:51:57,960 --> 00:52:01,920
The good news is that the dolphins
have been spotted on the horizon.

341
00:52:07,160 --> 00:52:10,880
Um, they said this was gonna be
the biggest swell of the year and...

342
00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:13,400
Hey, I've never seen anything like this.

343
00:52:13,480 --> 00:52:16,280
This is much bigger
that I'd possibly imagined.

344
00:52:23,200 --> 00:52:24,520
In these waves,

345
00:52:24,600 --> 00:52:28,480
the only way to get out to the dolphins
is with a jet ski.

346
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:31,800
It's gonna be enough
of a challenge for them

347
00:52:31,880 --> 00:52:33,360
to just kind of weave their way out.

348
00:52:58,000 --> 00:53:01,080
At last,
the driver's detailed knowledge

349
00:53:01,160 --> 00:53:03,600
gets them safely
through the massive breakers,

350
00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:08,880
but the dolphins are nowhere to be seen.

351
00:53:12,240 --> 00:53:15,440
Leaving the crew to face
the hairraising task

352
00:53:15,520 --> 00:53:17,040
of getting back to shore.

353
00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:33,320
Keep going, keep going!

354
00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:44,520
Whoa!

355
00:53:48,120 --> 00:53:49,640
How was that?

356
00:53:49,720 --> 00:53:51,520
That was pretty wild, yeah.

357
00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:54,360
The wave actually hit
the back of the sled,

358
00:53:54,760 --> 00:53:57,176
and I was like, "Go, go.
Get out of here, guys. Get out of here."

359
00:53:57,200 --> 00:53:58,760
Heard a big bump and almost bounced off

360
00:53:58,800 --> 00:54:01,880
trying to hold the camera
and, um, just rode out of there,

361
00:54:01,960 --> 00:54:03,400
but, yeah, it was hectic.

362
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:06,640
Just another day at the office.

363
00:54:11,760 --> 00:54:15,680
The next day brings
a sudden change in conditions.

364
00:54:19,960 --> 00:54:21,720
Plenty of dolphins...

365
00:54:22,520 --> 00:54:24,080
but a calmer sea.

366
00:54:24,840 --> 00:54:27,800
We've got a complete lack
of any wave at all.

367
00:54:29,200 --> 00:54:31,200
Look out, look out, look out.

368
00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:36,960
As so often in the ocean,

369
00:54:37,040 --> 00:54:38,960
if you know you're in the right place,

370
00:54:39,040 --> 00:54:42,400
you just need the patience
to wait for the perfect moment.

371
00:54:49,880 --> 00:54:52,960
A week later and a storm
is once again brewing

372
00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:57,280
off the wild coast and surf is building.

373
00:54:57,720 --> 00:54:59,080
Feel like a nervous excitement.

374
00:54:59,160 --> 00:55:03,280
The conditions are absolutely perfect.
It's what we've been waiting for.

375
00:55:04,520 --> 00:55:06,640
And the dolphins seem to know it.

376
00:55:08,480 --> 00:55:11,560
But Chris is struggling
to get a steady shot.

377
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:16,760
Look at that.

378
00:55:17,880 --> 00:55:19,920
Hello, gentleman. This is tricky.

379
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:23,880
Little tricky no the jet ski,
just trying to get the right angle.

380
00:55:24,000 --> 00:55:25,376
So, I'm gonna have a go on the zodiac

381
00:55:25,400 --> 00:55:27,400
and hopefully have better luck
on that one.

382
00:55:39,360 --> 00:55:42,360
The inflatable boat
gives Chris a larger,

383
00:55:42,440 --> 00:55:44,680
more stable filming platform.

384
00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:52,520
At last, he's in exactly the right place
at exactly the right time.

385
00:55:57,800 --> 00:55:59,920
And the results are spectacular.

386
00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:03,080
That's amazing!

387
00:56:11,320 --> 00:56:12,800
Mission accomplished.

388
00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:22,720
And this intimate footage
is now available

389
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:25,640
as part of wider scientific studies.

390
00:56:29,400 --> 00:56:32,120
Supporting evidence that dolphins surf

391
00:56:32,240 --> 00:56:35,600
to strengthen friendships,
develop social skills

392
00:56:35,680 --> 00:56:39,360
and for the sheer exhilaration of it.

393
00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:51,240
Next time.

394
00:56:52,440 --> 00:56:53,800
The deep.

395
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:57,800
A world richer
than we ever though possible,

396
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:00,640
where creatures thrive,

397
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:05,840
in the most extreme conditions on earth.