All language subtitles for Equator 4 Reefs To Riches 2005 1080p

The sun...
giver of light and life,

shines most powerfully
at the Equator.

Here, it powers an extraordinarily
rich zone of life.

Briliant and bizarre species
from 3 continents...3 oceans.

More than a line on a map...
Equator is a powerful force of nature.

Much of the Equator traverses
deep empty ocean...

but in the shallow seas of Indonesia,

the tropical sun beats
down on the world's

greatest area of coral reefs.

Coral reefs,

created by the sun,

overflow with extraordinary life

These reefs of riches are home to over
2000 fish species

On a single dive,

283 different kinds of fish
were counted here...

this is a new world record.

Even within fish families,

there can be huge variety of
shape colour and occupations.

The wrasse family boasts 185 members...

ranging from imposing giants
to delicate cleaners.

The whole reef com munity
is so spectacular

that it is attracting
scientific attention,

and of all the groups,

most interest centres on corals.

The sheer variety
of corals is dazzling,

and confusing...

And understanding this diversity,

could change our
understanding of evolution.

Why does this marine
wonderland exist here,

among the islands of Indonesia?

The answer is that a unique set
of forces converge here...

The Equatorial sun powers
a network of ocean currents

flowing through the
thousands of islands

spread out between
Asia and Australia...

The main through-current is equivalent
to the flow of 100 Amazon Rivers...

But currents flow in all directions...

and where they intersect
at the western tip of New Guinea...

are found the richest
reefs in the world...

at a place called Raja Ampat...

The forest covered limestone
outcrops are largely untouched.

Currents
from many directions,

flow in deep channels
and wash the reefs

that fringe these islands.

The currents are constantly
bringing new arrivals

to settle on these
already crowded reefs.

This Hawksbill turtle has travelled
thousands of kilometres

on tropical currents to get here...

Most fish have come just as far...

from the coasts of Africa,

the Americas, and Japan,

all shuffled together,

all adding to the richness of life.

The canyons and overhangs are vital
shelter for schools of juvenile fish.

Some were spawned here;
others drifted in on currents...

Hiding away,
they can feed and grow,

safe from predators...

But the coral itself,
is also key to Rajah Ampats riches.

There are over
400 different corals here...

The best known are the branching types

called 'staghorn' or acropora.

Based on shape,
there are 350 Acroporas...

But by genetic analysis
there are only 170

So, how many are there?

And more importantly,

what exactly is a species?

Corals are helping answer
these puzzling questions.

Coral reefs can be huge,

vast...

yet, they are created by tiny
creatures called polyps...

Colonies of polyps build the reefs,
by secreting limestone...

Polyps are animals;

they use stinging tentacles
to snare food from the current

and draw it into their mouths.

Staghorns,

brain corals and plate corals
are the major reef builders,

but their impressive growth does
not just come from a diet of plankton

They also soak up
nutrients from fish...

any fish waste is recycled...

but even being an
ardent recycler

is not enough to explain
coral's tremendous growth

Their secret is solar power...

The sun gives corals the extra energy
to build massive reefs.

So, how do they do it?

They do it by forging a powerful
partnership with plants.

100s of millions of years ago...

corals and plants came together,

to harness sunlight,

thereby creating a
major biological alliance.

And that alliance is renewed
when free-swimming algae,

colonise the polyp's bodies.

Once swallowed,

the coral's gut somehow
recognises these little aliens...

and Instead of digesting them,

it wraps the algae in membranes
and absorbs then...

they're then moved
towards the polyps skin,

where there's light.

Its a partnership...

The polyp provides nitrogen
to the packaged algae,

now called zooxanthellae...

and they harness sunlight
to make sugars,

which helps their host
to build reefs...

But in the past,

algae have also helped
corals to survive...

Different algae work better
in different light

and temperature conditions...

And when conditions change,

corals will exchange algae

changing algae has helped reefs
survive coral bleaching,

sea level variation and climatic
upheaval, over milions of years

These tiny partners have created huge
limestone ramparts around the Equator,

as altars to the sun

Corals strive for maximum surface area
to capture maximum sunlight...

the result is remarkable
limestone sculptures...

But they pay a price
for worshipping the sun...

they risk being choked
by other sun lovers...

A fine fuzz of seaweed grows
vigorously over the reefs surface.

Its only constant
grazing by reef fish

that prevent corals
from being smothered

They return the favour by
providing shelter and protection.

Staghorns offer the greatest protection

but get too close,

you risk being stung by polyps.

But the risk is worth I,

fish can venture out of
their coral abode to feed...

and then retreat in an instant.

The reef is much
ike an ancient city...

there is a maze of narrow lanes

and backstreets for
a sea snake to explore

A reef may be tens of thousands
of years old...

but corals never stop growing
and as they grow,

they compete for space
with their neighbours

using chemicals and stinging cells

the conflict between coral neighbours
gives the reef its maze like structure.

It creates a 3 dimensional
puzzle of gaps and crevices

that's more like a giant
sieve than solid wall...

Currents percolate
throughout the reef bringing

food and oxygen to every creature

Crevices are eagerly sought by
a myriad of shrimps and lobsters.

Tasty crustaceans need all
the protection they can find.

Many arrived here as tiny larvae

swept on currents from as
far away as east Africa.

Predators lurk in the rocky canyons...

stonefish are perfectly
camouflaged for ambush hunting...

But they have another tactic...

burial.

With so many crevice
dwellers it's inevitable

that many crevice predators
have evolved as well

The sea snake is hunting
for gobies and small eels.

The reef attracts open
water hunters too...

When cuttlefish hunt,

they flash,

its not certain why but perhaps the
rippling colours mesmerise small fish

They cruise the reef scanning with
sharp eyes that act like range finders

But not all tentacles are so mobile

This anemone waits for prey
to touch it's tentacles -

They're primed

and ready to stun

The tentacles draw the victim in
to a central mouth...

An anemone is a single polyp,
a giant relative of tiny coral polyps.

İn fact,

there are many other members of the
stinging coral family on the reef...

Soft corals can
create colonies

by cloning exact replicas
of themselves

Others have opted for branching forms,

mirroring the trees above them.

But instead of leaves,

gorgonian fans have tiny
polyps straining the current.

Their branches shelter juvenile fish...

Each elegant fan also hosts
beautifully hidden residents -

Gobys perfectly match their
fan's colour and form

But coral fans hide even more
remarkable masters of disguise.

There are at least 5 pygmy
sea horses living on this branch.

They are so specialised -
they live only on gorgonian fans...

Most fan species here host their own
matching species of pygmy seahorse;

many have been discovered
only recently.

The most recent,

is also the smallest

Hippocampus Denise
is 16 mm's head to tail,

making it one of the
smallest fish on the planet.

A new type of fan inevitably leads to a

new cast of creatures
evolving to live on it...

I's no wonder new species are
being found here all the time

Most pygmy species are
true stay-at-homes,

not just because they precisely
match their host fan,

but also because their eggs are
never sent away on the current.

Like all seahorses,

pygmy fathers carry eggs
and young in a pouch.

This male is heavily pregnant...

His young are active,

kicking against his pouch

They will soon swim away to
find the exact host fan they need...

the colour must match
no other kind will do

The best known and
most intimate host - fish bond

is that between
anemones and clownfish...

So, why don't clown fish
get stung by its tentacles?

A young fish approaching
a new anemone,

gently brushes against
the tentacles...

gradually anointing
itself with mucous...

after that,

it never gets stung

Of nearly 1000 anemone
species in the world,

just 10 are hosts to clownfish...

All 10 live in this region close
to Rajah Ampat

Anemones protect their clownfish,

but its a 2 way partnership...

the fish also protects its
host from predators...

and anemones are high on
the menu for butterfly fish...

Young anemones without resident
clowns are highly vulnerable.

Some like this bulb tentacle anemone
are totally reliant on clownfish

and cannot survive without them.

In fact, their tentacles only
become swollen and bulbous

when they have acquired clownfish...

Much about this relationship
remains a mystery

Anemones have a special system
for increasing their numbers...

they clone themselves

This vast waving field
of tentacles began

as one colonising anemone...

By dividing repeatedly -
it produced a host of replicas

Cloning can only make
identical copies...

but the great variety of life
on this sundrenched reef has arisen

by sexual reproduction...

and it is sex that brings
about change...

Clown fish breeding is unique.

On each anemone,

the biggest fish in the group
is always a female.

She is attended by several males..
and when she dies,

the senior male
changes sex within days

and then takes
over egg laying duties

All their embryos begin life as males.

A clown fish group
can spawn all year round...

because there are no seasons
to limit breeding at the Equator.

They lay a few hundred eggs and

constantly care for the
developing embryos...

they're totally dedicated parents...

unlike their neighbours

Out patroling a patch of broken coral
is a brightly coloured Mandarin fish.

He displays his colours and keenness to
mate ...hoping to attract a female.

When a female shows up,

the pair ngage in a brief
courtship of fanning fins.

This couple won't care
for their young...

their strategy is mass production

As they rise,

they release many thousands of eggs
and sperm to mix in the water

Mandarin fish give
their young a start in life...

but that's all they do.

The fertlised eggs are swept away
on currents to distant reefs...

some as far off as Japan.

Out on the reef edge,

are other mass spawning fish...

But they also attract egg eaters...

like Bonito.

The predators gorge themselves...

but the mass spawners will succeed.

Surgeon fish release milions of eggs
so that enough will survive

to drift across the ocean
and find a new reef...

Many reef creatures
are mass spawners...

but none are as
spectacular as corals...

Once a year,
around a full moon,

an event takes place
that is not only impressive,

it is changing ideas
about how species evolve

Corals cant move.

The only way that the opposite
sex can get together is mass spawning

On this one night,

many closely related species spawn
within 2 few hours of each other

Some corals produce eggs...

Others,

clouds of sperm.

There are even corals
that produce bundles of both.

As they float away,

bundles break apart mixing with
the spawn from thousands of others

Mass spawning is the only way corals
can fertilise each other.

And because it is sexual reproduction,

the offspring will be different
from their 'parents'...

and these differences are at the heart
of recent scientific discoveries

At the Equator,

the drive to breed is matched
only by the need to feed

The spawning attracts Manta rays
that filter the soup of eggs...

and not far behind are fusiliers

Eggs will only survive if they
can be rescued by ocean currents

that will take them
far away from the reef.

Of the huge variety of corals that
have spread around the equator,

the acropora or staghorns are the
most widespread and the most puzzling

Most of the corals
on this reef are acropora...

though you wouldn't know it...

Their shapes are hugely varied.

The most common is the branched
version called staghorn

that fish use
for protection and food...

but they can also spread their branches
into spectacular flattened plate forms

and exposed to waves they
are stocky and robust

In sheltered deep water
they grow long and slender,

reaching for the light

They all look very
different but all these

amazing forms are acropora.

Their appearance is so variable

that it is almost impossible

to define exactly
which species is which...

In fact, corals are deceptive...

it has been discovered
that they can interbreed.

Mass spawning makes
Interbreeding possible

because up to 30 related
corals will spawn together...

It happens when the sperm
from one species

fertlizes the egg of one that's
closely related...

If this happens,

a hybrid is produced.

But mass spawning gives corals plenty
of chances to create hybrids...

And they are a fast track way
to new species

Even if a hybrid begins to grow,

its chances of survival are slim.

Its at the mercy of the currents
and ocean predators.

If it stays alive,

it may drift vast distances...

and as it travels it grows into a
swimming larva called a planula.

If the planula finds a new reef,

it searches for a place to settle.

Finding a space,

it glues itself to the reef...

The tiny hybrid then begins to grow.

It has qualities from both its parents

and if these qualities suit
conditions on the new reef,

it will flourish,
founding a new species

A Hybrid makes an unusual
addition to a coral family tree.

As a coral family evolves,

each new branch represents
a new species diverging

and growing ever more
separate from its ancestors

But... whenever species interbreed,

the branches reconnect...

Those that rejoin are hybrids

And each new species is usually a coral

that's evolved after
drifting on currents

to a new home on a distant reef...

There have been times
in our planets past

when far flung corals have returned...

This occurred when
successive ice ages gripped the world.

Advancing ice sheets froze polar seas,

causing global sea levels
to fall as much as 120 meters

In Southern Asia falling
sea levels connected islands,

closing ocean channels

Increasingly powerful ocean currents
rushed through the remaining gaps,

sending corals great distances...

and bringing others back
from far flung reefs...

When the ice melted
and sea levels rose,

the currents weakened and corals
stayed closer to home.

Over millennia,

this process repeated many times...

On a grand scale,

the pulse of the ice ages is mirrored
in the coral family tree...

strong currents caused
isolated corals

to return and merge again
into fewer species

During ice ages,

reefs were dominated
by just a few corals...

But right now,

sea levels are high...

that means corals remain isolated

and they are hybridizing into
more new coral species...

and that is what we see today
at Rajah Ampat.

Corals are helping redefine exactly
what is a species...

and that means,

understanding staghorns
has got a whole lot simpler

All species that hybridise
with each other,

are now united as 'super species'.

This means that what were hundreds
of different staghorns

are now linked in networks
of around 20 superspecies.

But this is just the beginning...

here at the Equator,

there may be many more hybrids and more
“super-species” awaiting discovery.

Could these networks also
be found among reef fish?

Many fish families are
so large and diverse -

anything's possible.

The wrasse family ranges from giant
predators like the humphead wrasse...

to tiny cleaner wrasses
that pick parasites

from the gills and
scales of their clients

Fish wanting to be cleaned,

drift passively with fins lowered,

to signal they are ready...

Some Cleaners are juvenile wrasses

that give up cleaning when
they grow too large.

But there are many other jobs among
the 185 species in this family.

Rock moving wrasses...

turn over broken coral
to feed on small animals...

They are trailed by a
yellow checkerboard wrasse

which specialises in
claiming their leftovers.

A juvenile rock-mover
looks nothing like its parents.

In the wrasse world changing shape
and colour as you grow

is quite normal...

So is changing sex -

Among wrasses,

its always females that become males.

This is a mature male crecent wrasse.

He's blue now,

but a year ago he was a green female.

Appearances can be deceptive,

there could be hybrids
and super species

hidden amongst the wrasse family,

but proving it will be no easy task.

When giant mantas
come to the reef edge,

adult crescent wrasses
hurry out to meet them

These giants,

up to 6 meters across,

gather here to be
cleaned of parasites...

But the current
is exceptionally strong...

And some of the cleaning gang have

difficulty catching
up with their clients.

I's most unusual to
see fully grown wrasse

reverting to the cleaning
role of their youth,

but a giant manta loaded
with tasty parasites

is an exceptionally large opportunity.

Back on the reef,

other specialist groups include
the guild of the pointy-mouths...

with tweezer-shaped jaws designed
to probe crevices and nip coral polyps

Butterfly fish,

moorish idols and banner fish

all make their living
in this special way...

But on the reef it pays to be adaptable

Many of these pointy mouths lead
double lives - beyond the reef.

Out, over the reef edge,
cliffs drop vertically,

over 1000 meters...

There's an explosion of life here,

as sunlit waters of 29 degrees
mix with upwelling, nutrient rich,

cold waters...

Out here,

butterfly fish dine on plankton
swept up in the water column

The upwelling brings
more than plankton...

it also brings mysterious
giants from the deep

Sunfish rise up from feeding
grounds far below,

to warm up and digest their food...

The huge fish are crawling
with copepods.

Parasites that feed on blood and mucous

and make their hosts
very uncomfortable...

but banner fish swim out from the reef
to relieve them of their burden.

The 3 metre sunfish hovers,
as if in a trance,

while more banner fish arrive
for a parasite banquet...

The cleaners pointed mouths
are as sharp as forceps.

Eventually,

the sunfish has had enough

of the painful skin
treatment and departs.

One group of fish have an enormous
impact on the reef itself...

and far beyond it too.

Parroffish,
with their powerful biting beaks...

are coral predators.

They grind up the coral skeletons
with bony tooth plates in their throat,

to extract nutrients
from polyps and algae...

but all the ground up coral
has to go somewhere.

Parrotfish convert coral into sand.

'Bleekers' parrot
fish travel in schools,

filing the water with
the sound of chomping

and a blizzard
of sandy waste...

Huge bumphead parrotfish are
the most prolific sand makers...

their beaks are
powerful enough to attack

massive porites corals
leaving deep scars...

Bumpheads can even
sheer off the arms of staghorn corals.

Each one chews
a cubic meter of coral a year...

and most of it becomes sand

The entire group of sand
makers could smother the reefs.

But most sand is swept away by currents

It accumulates
where there are eddies,

to form the shimmering islands
that the Equator is famous for

So parrotfish create new places

for long distance travellers
to rest and breed...

They also create a completely
new underwater world

Juvenile Striped catfish
seek food among the sand grains...

They're protected
by venomous spines...

vital defence
when feeding in the open

Out here,

the most diverse group
of fish are the gobies...

The signal goby also sifts
for tiny creatures...

It has evolved eye spots
on its dorsal fin...

the same distance apart
as the eyes of larger predators.

The open sand has
few hiding places,

so the mural goby
has to dig to conceal itself...

it works hard...

but all the movement
attracts a predator

The wobbegong shark,

waits for the goby to
let its guard down...

just for a moment.

One way to defeat predators
is to find an ally

Shrimps are tireless diggers...

but they have poor eyesight...

whereas gobies have excellent eyesight
and can warn the shrimps when to hide

The hornheaded
sea snake is persistent,

but eventually it must
surface to breathe.

White sands aren't the only sandy
environment beyond the reef..

The region is dotted
with volcanoes

With such powerful
volcanic forces at work,

the coastline and seabed have
undergone turbulent upheavals

Over the last 50 million years,

the seabed has been twisted
and torn by shifting tectonic plates...

but during all these convulsions,

there were always safe havens
for corals in shallow sun lit,

waters in the Equatorial Indo-pacific.

When volcanoes erupt,

reefs are often destroyed by lava
or smothered in black sand

But in the tropics,

the clean slate never
stays clean for long.

Mantis shrimps are early arrivals
from nearby reefs...

this one cradles an egg bundle...

It isn't long before
a new generation

of mantis shrimps
sets up home out here.

Over generations,

they could become new forms
and new species

There are 34 species of mantis shrimp
around Raja Ampat,

there might soon be one more.

An emperor shrimp arrives as a
hitch hiker on a sea cucumber.

The shrimp picks spare food from
the sea cucumbers feather mouth

Both animals are unpleasant to eat
so they are safe out on the bare sand.

Strange new species of burrowing fish
are being uncovered all the time...

some recent arrivals
aren't camouflaged

to match the black sand.

Out here, just as on the reef,

camouflage is the most obvious way
of adapting to the new environment

A black anemone has evolved here

and of course there are matching
coloured clownfish

Clownfish lay their eggs
on a hard surface.

Out here,
Saddleback clowns push a shell

under the anemone as
an egg laying platform.

They work hard to
keep their eggs free of silt

Trickery is rife on the black sand

Anglerfish use a lure...

which is a modified dorsal fin,

to attract fish to their last meal

Many anglerfish are
impressive sponge mimics...

(pause) until a yawn
gives the game away...

This one has evolved
to match volcanic rock...

but the same species looks
just like a yellow sponge.

With all this variation
within one species,

its near impossible to
work out who is related to whom.

But once they settle,

anglerfish camouflage is perfect...

and the trap is set...

Some use the opposite strategy -

bold colors warn to stay
away from nasty spines

Raja Ampat's molluscs are famous
for their bright colours

Sea slugs have no protective shells

yet are not bothered by predators
because they are very toxic

They absorb poisons from sponges,

hydroids and other animals.

There are more sea slugs
in this region than anywhere else

and most advertise their toxicity
with outrageous displays.

Such bold warning
colours are so successful

that others have borrowed the idea...

Yellow striped fish,
known as 'sweellips'...

are commonly seen
hovering above the reef...

But their juveniles
couldn't be more different...

they mimic the colours

and even the swimming
style of sea slugs

Juvenile sweetlips
are not poisonous at all,

it is just trickery.

This outlandish scorpion fish
is a weed imitator...

its weedy fins break up its outline,

making it unrecognisable
as a predator...

Once again in species rich Raja Ampat,

a winning adaptation leads to
a whole array of other scorpion fish

and lionfish evolving variations
on the weedy theme.

Perhaps this is another
“super species”

waiting to be discovered.

The most astonishing mimics take
on the appearance of dead leaves

waving in the current...

something no predator
would look at.

Even the wrasse family
have a leaf mimic,

with a modified fin that
looks like a stalk.

But the presence of leaf
imitators means leaves...

and the proximity of another
great tropical habitat...

mangroves.

The leaves fertilise
a vast coastal food web

that draws many fish in
to the murky estuaries and rivers.

The Indo-pacific is mangrove
capital of the world...

Under the equator's oppressive heat,

over 50 species of mangrove trees

colonise the border
between land and sea

They dominate the tropical coastline

where ever conditions
are too silty for corals.

Its been recently discovered
that mangroves have hybrid forms,

so perhaps there is a super
species in their family tree as well?

This murky word is the realm
of a very successful goby...

Mudskippers are fish out of water,

absorbing oxygen through moisture
trapped around their gills

When the tide drops,

it slides on the mudflats
and sucks up algae...

Its an endless food source,

but how does this little fish avoid
being griled under the equatorial sun?

Now the goby digging skills
are put to good use

A mudskipper excavates
a swimming pool

large enough to keep itself
moist for hours...

until the tide allows it to return
to the shade of the trees.

But Rajah Ampat has mangroves
that are special...

Here they grow in waters
that are clear, mud is absent.

To find mangroves growing side by side

with soft and hard corals on clear
shallow reefs is most unusual.

Familiar characters of
the reef like clownfish,

cleaner wrasses and crescent wrasses...

live alongside mangrove dwellers
ike halfbeaks and archer fish...

its very strange

But then Rajah Ampat is
at a unique crossroads

where marine lives
from the coral reef,

mangroves,

coral sand and volcanic
sand all meets and mingle

Strange new evolutionary relationships
are bound to unfold here...

To take better advantage
of the currents,

soft corals even perch
on mangrove roots.

But in the darkest tangle
of the mangroves,

there are no sun loving corals

Here are found a family of fish,

so amazingly adaptable,

they have matched virtually every
environment Raja Ampat has to offer...

Inside the mangroves
each cardinal

fish species schools
at different levels

Brown at the bottom...

and orbicular cardinals
near the surface.

Cardinal fish are mouth brooders...

the fathers constantly
turn the eggs in their mouths,

until they are ready to be spat out...

ike these young.

Their early lives are spent
close to their parents...

and they will never travel far
from the mangroves

Back in the sunlight,

pyjama cardinals have specialized

to shelter in the arms
of staghorn corals.

...Because they too
are mouth brooders,

their eggs are never
set adrift on currents

The male's care,

keeps their young close to home...

and closely adapted
to life among the staghorns

Just below the mangroves
and coral gardens,

cardinal fish have adapted to living
with a surprising partner...

Out on the sand there are urchins...

and living between their venomous
spines are frost-finned cardinal fish

They travel everywhere
the urchin travels.

Its a good stategy...

Straying from cover is always perilous!

The most specialized of
all are the Bangaii cardinalfish.

They are the ultimate stay-at homes,

found only around Bangaii island...

They compete with clownfish
for an unoccupied anemone,

but the larger clowns
soon expel them...

and the cardinals are
driven away from cover...

and into the path of a stonefish.

Its all about survival
of the fittest!

And the cardinal fish family
are real survivors...

there are now 109 different species

Cardinal fish have been shaped
by predation and competition...

and larger forces like changing
cimate and sea level

All of the new species have
arisen through natural selection

Ideas of Evolution by
'natural selection'

go back more than 150 years

to when Charles Darwin
and Alfred Wallace

studied the wealth of
ife around the Equator...

and scientists at the Equator
are still refining those ideas.

The latest notion that some
creatures interbreed,

hybridise and exist in networks or
“super species”

is another bold step forwards...

Rajah Ampat is right at the cross roads
of current flow and of gene flow

around the equatorial
oceans of the world.

Of all the places to observe
and study evolution in action,

Raja Ampat's sun
drenched reefs of riches

are the perfect biological laboratory

Who knows what may be discovered
here in the future?