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The world's greatest wilderness,
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the open ocean.
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It covers over half
the surface of our planet.
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00:00:48,466 --> 00:00:50,551
Here, there is nowhere to hide
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00:00:51,636 --> 00:00:53,179
and little to eat.
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00:00:57,642 --> 00:01:01,145
It's the marine
equivalent of a desert.
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00:01:13,407 --> 00:01:17,245
And patrolling this desert,
spinner dolphins.
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They stick together.
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In a super pod, 5,000-strong.
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That maximises their chances
of finding something to eat.
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00:02:01,205 --> 00:02:02,873
Like all who live here,
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they must go to extraordinary lengths
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00:02:05,710 --> 00:02:09,046
to make their home in the big blue.
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00:02:32,570 --> 00:02:33,904
There are rare moments
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00:02:33,988 --> 00:02:37,491
when these empty seas
can explode with life.
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00:02:45,583 --> 00:02:49,337
Lanternfish off the Pacific Coast
of Costa Rica.
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00:02:50,254 --> 00:02:52,715
They're scarcely bigger than minnows.
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00:02:52,798 --> 00:02:54,592
But what they lack in size,
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they make up for in numbers.
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00:03:00,681 --> 00:03:03,976
They are one of the most
numerous fish anywhere.
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00:03:10,816 --> 00:03:13,694
Normally they only come
to the surface at night
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to feed on plankton.
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But this immense shoal
has risen during the day,
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almost certainly in order to spawn.
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For the dolphins,
this would be a bonanza.
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00:03:45,893 --> 00:03:50,481
They have located the shoal
using their echo-sounding calls.
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00:04:01,826 --> 00:04:04,078
But they
have to get to it quickly.
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00:04:09,250 --> 00:04:11,502
They are not the only hunters here.
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00:04:12,044 --> 00:04:15,506
Yellowfin tuna have also
detected the shoal.
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00:04:24,932 --> 00:04:28,269
And behind them,
with their two-metre wingspans,
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Mobula rays.
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00:04:39,864 --> 00:04:41,532
Now sailfish,
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one of the fastest fish in the sea,
have joined the chase.
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00:04:52,918 --> 00:04:56,464
The lanternfish may return
to the deep at any moment.
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00:05:03,387 --> 00:05:06,307
But now, the dolphins have got here.
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00:05:35,419 --> 00:05:39,089
They swim beneath the shoal,
pinning it to the surface
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00:05:39,256 --> 00:05:42,760
and forcing the lanternfish
to pack more closely together.
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00:05:50,100 --> 00:05:53,354
And now the sea begins to boil.
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00:06:02,863 --> 00:06:07,034
The tuna charge into
the shoal at over 40 miles an hour.
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00:06:38,190 --> 00:06:42,486
The slower swimming rays arrive at last.
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00:06:48,826 --> 00:06:50,828
With their immense mouths agape,
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00:06:50,911 --> 00:06:54,373
they scoop up the lanternfish
by the hundred.
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00:06:58,043 --> 00:07:01,589
The shoal has now
been largely dispersed,
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00:07:01,672 --> 00:07:04,508
and the sailfish pick off the survivors.
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00:07:07,344 --> 00:07:09,388
In just 15 minutes,
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00:07:10,848 --> 00:07:15,269
all that's left
is a silvery confetti of scales.
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00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:31,201
But here, such feasts
are only too infrequent.
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00:07:40,294 --> 00:07:43,964
Whilst the dolphins perform
great feats of endurance,
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00:07:44,089 --> 00:07:47,092
others are driven
to even greater extremes
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00:07:47,551 --> 00:07:50,763
to find food in this ocean desert.
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00:08:09,406 --> 00:08:11,575
A sleeping giant.
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00:08:16,413 --> 00:08:17,831
A sperm whale.
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00:08:25,589 --> 00:08:29,593
This family is resting
between bouts of feeding.
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00:08:36,809 --> 00:08:38,769
Who knows what the owners
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of the biggest brain
in the planet dream about.
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00:08:50,114 --> 00:08:51,949
One has a calf
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00:08:53,450 --> 00:08:57,830
It's about two weeks old, but still
dependent on its mother's milk.
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00:08:58,789 --> 00:09:00,541
It's hungry.
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00:09:03,794 --> 00:09:07,840
It communicates with
its mother using a pattern of clicks.
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00:09:14,638 --> 00:09:17,141
But its mother slumbers on.
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00:09:23,355 --> 00:09:26,275
The calf, covered in suckerfish,
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of which it can't yet rid itself,
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00:09:28,485 --> 00:09:30,028
has to be patient.
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00:09:57,556 --> 00:10:00,601
Sleep over, and refreshed,
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the whales move on.
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00:10:05,606 --> 00:10:09,276
Sperm whales don't wait for their prey
to rise to the surface.
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00:10:10,110 --> 00:10:13,530
They swim down
into the depths to find it.
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00:10:19,203 --> 00:10:21,538
They take a series of heavy breaths...
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00:10:25,417 --> 00:10:27,795
...to saturate their blood with oxygen.
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00:10:29,922 --> 00:10:33,050
Then, down they go.
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00:10:41,308 --> 00:10:45,395
This entire family
dives together in search of squid.
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00:10:53,904 --> 00:10:57,574
The mother will push her body
to the limits of her endurance,
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00:10:57,741 --> 00:11:00,953
and already it's hard for her calf
to keep up with her.
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00:11:12,589 --> 00:11:15,968
The calf sticks to its mother
as closely as it can
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00:11:18,303 --> 00:11:19,930
touching her frequently
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00:11:22,474 --> 00:11:24,434
as if for reassurance.
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00:11:38,365 --> 00:11:40,450
But 300 metres down,
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00:11:41,285 --> 00:11:44,454
it seems the calf
can't hold its breath any longer.
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00:12:10,230 --> 00:12:14,735
In their early years,
calves are forced to sit out the hunt.
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00:12:20,198 --> 00:12:22,659
The adults continue their dive.
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00:12:36,340 --> 00:12:38,675
The mother changes her calls
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into a series of louder
and more rapid clicks.
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00:12:48,894 --> 00:12:53,190
She's now using sonar
to hunt down shoals of squid.
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00:13:02,282 --> 00:13:05,494
At 800 metres, a burst of clicks.
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00:13:14,544 --> 00:13:16,713
Then, silence.
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00:13:19,257 --> 00:13:20,759
She's made a catch.
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00:13:27,474 --> 00:13:30,435
The hunters could be away
foras much as an hour.
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00:13:46,410 --> 00:13:49,287
Finally, the mother
returns from the deep
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00:13:49,413 --> 00:13:51,248
with a stomach full of squid.
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00:14:11,268 --> 00:14:12,811
After a long wait,
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00:14:13,645 --> 00:14:16,773
this hungry calf can take some milk.
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00:14:22,946 --> 00:14:26,116
It's one of the richest
produced by any mammal.
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00:14:27,617 --> 00:14:31,288
And the calf guzzles
a bathful of it a day.
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00:14:48,138 --> 00:14:53,351
It may be six years before a calf
masters the art of deep diving
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00:14:54,478 --> 00:14:57,689
and is able to find food for itself
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00:15:14,831 --> 00:15:20,003
The emptiness of the big blue
is what makes life so hard for hunters.
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00:15:26,593 --> 00:15:28,553
But it's this emptiness
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00:15:28,678 --> 00:15:32,182
that makes it
comparatively safe for prey.
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00:15:41,358 --> 00:15:45,028
A baby turtle, hatched just days ago,
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00:15:45,195 --> 00:15:48,865
is leaving the crowded,
dangerous waters of the coast,
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00:15:48,949 --> 00:15:51,701
and heading for the open ocean.
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00:15:58,750 --> 00:16:01,920
Only recently have we
begun to solve the mystery
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00:16:02,045 --> 00:16:06,550
of where baby turtles disappear to
in their early years.
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00:16:15,392 --> 00:16:18,895
To start with, they fill
their little stomachs with plankton.
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00:16:19,229 --> 00:16:22,232
But soon, they need
something more substantial.
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00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,174
Hundreds of miles offshore,
in every ocean,
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00:16:47,257 --> 00:16:50,260
there are communities
of young castaways.
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00:16:59,603 --> 00:17:03,106
So, anything
that floats attracts them.
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00:17:11,031 --> 00:17:12,282
A log.
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00:17:12,657 --> 00:17:15,493
It may have been
at sea for several years,
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00:17:15,619 --> 00:17:19,122
and it has already become
the centre of a small community.
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00:17:21,333 --> 00:17:23,793
Young pufferfish are here
for the same reason.
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00:17:30,008 --> 00:17:33,345
A floating log
is just the kind of refuge
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00:17:33,470 --> 00:17:35,639
this young turtle has been looking for.
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00:17:37,140 --> 00:17:40,435
Here, there's not only seaweed
on which to graze,
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00:17:40,518 --> 00:17:42,062
but barnacles.
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00:17:55,659 --> 00:17:58,495
But it's important to stay undercover.
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00:18:05,001 --> 00:18:08,838
A young ocean-going
silky shark is here too.
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00:18:28,233 --> 00:18:30,777
It's learning what tastes good,
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00:18:34,906 --> 00:18:36,199
and what doesn't.
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00:18:56,761 --> 00:18:59,180
We now know
that many young turtles
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stay in such places for several years
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00:19:03,059 --> 00:19:04,477
until adulthood.
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00:19:17,907 --> 00:19:22,620
Even if it means facing
the full force of the high seas.
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00:19:30,670 --> 00:19:33,840
The sun, beating down
on the deep blue,
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00:19:34,257 --> 00:19:37,677
warms the surface waters
so that they evaporate.
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00:19:45,435 --> 00:19:49,022
As the vapour rises,
it condenses into clouds.
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00:19:51,441 --> 00:19:55,445
They rapidly build into
gigantic burgeoning towers,
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00:19:56,154 --> 00:19:59,366
which eventually
generate violent storms,
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00:19:59,449 --> 00:20:02,118
some a thousand miles across.
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00:20:18,635 --> 00:20:22,305
Hurricane force winds
sweep across the open ocean,
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00:20:22,972 --> 00:20:26,851
building waves
that could rise to 30 metres tall.
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00:20:41,241 --> 00:20:44,828
Out here, ships have been
known to sink without trace.
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00:20:59,509 --> 00:21:02,554
One hundred
and thirty million containers
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00:21:02,679 --> 00:21:05,598
are shipped across
the oceans every year.
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00:21:07,684 --> 00:21:12,355
And on average, four of them
fall into the sea every day.
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00:21:27,537 --> 00:21:29,497
In 1992,
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00:21:29,581 --> 00:21:34,043
a few were lost that contained
a consignment of bath toys,
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00:21:39,883 --> 00:21:44,721
including 7,000
plastic ducks like these.
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00:21:56,608 --> 00:22:00,904
They started their travels
a thousand miles off Alaska.
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00:22:04,449 --> 00:22:07,494
Some drifted
right across the Pacific Ocean,
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00:22:07,577 --> 00:22:09,662
and reached Australia.
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00:22:16,419 --> 00:22:18,296
Others were carried north,
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00:22:18,421 --> 00:22:22,091
and landed on shores
between Russia and Alaska.
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00:22:24,302 --> 00:22:27,430
They even found their way
into the high Arctic.
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00:22:42,153 --> 00:22:46,157
One duck,
having been at sea for 15years,
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00:22:46,282 --> 00:22:48,326
and crossing three oceans,
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00:22:48,451 --> 00:22:52,163
eventually landed
on the west coast of Scotland.
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00:22:59,963 --> 00:23:02,590
Their travels vividly illustrate
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00:23:02,674 --> 00:23:06,261
how a network of currents
connects all our oceans
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00:23:06,344 --> 00:23:09,973
into one gigantic circulatory system.
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00:23:25,363 --> 00:23:28,032
Many of the inhabitants of the big blue
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00:23:28,157 --> 00:23:32,412
rely on these currents
to carry them to feeding grounds.
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00:23:48,052 --> 00:23:49,762
The blue shark.
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00:23:55,184 --> 00:23:58,479
It travels over 5,000 miles a year,
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00:23:58,563 --> 00:24:00,189
riding on the currents,
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00:24:00,273 --> 00:24:03,526
supported by its broad wing-shaped fins.
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00:24:09,365 --> 00:24:12,702
This one may not
have eaten for two months.
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00:24:19,751 --> 00:24:23,379
But the currents can carry
promising traces of fatty oils
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00:24:23,463 --> 00:24:25,340
from many miles away
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00:24:25,423 --> 00:24:27,800
and will lead it to its next meal.
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00:24:35,808 --> 00:24:39,604
After days of travel,
the smell of food gets stronger.
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A dead whale,
recently struck by a ship.
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00:25:10,426 --> 00:25:13,304
This could be a real feast,
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00:25:13,429 --> 00:25:15,598
but the blue shark must be cautious.
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00:25:26,192 --> 00:25:28,111
Great white sharks,
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ten times heavier than the blue,
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00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:39,789
are highly possessive
around a whale carcass.
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00:26:07,483 --> 00:26:11,529
Great whites are eager
to feed on energy-rich whale blubber,
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00:26:12,071 --> 00:26:15,241
which we now know
forms a major part of their diet.
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00:26:28,171 --> 00:26:30,381
Once the great white has had its fill,
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00:26:30,506 --> 00:26:33,009
smaller sharks, like the blue shark,
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00:26:33,342 --> 00:26:35,845
tackle what's left of the carcass.
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00:26:46,022 --> 00:26:49,484
As the oils from this dead whale
spread more widely,
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00:26:49,567 --> 00:26:52,278
more and more blue sharks appear.
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00:27:14,592 --> 00:27:18,471
Within days, the carcass
will be stripped of its blubber.
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00:27:27,647 --> 00:27:30,900
Then, no longer kept buoyant by its oil,
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00:27:31,317 --> 00:27:35,154
it will sink into the depths below.
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00:27:38,407 --> 00:27:41,911
The blue, with its reserves
of fat replenished,
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00:27:41,994 --> 00:27:45,832
can now survive
for another two months without eating.
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00:28:10,106 --> 00:28:14,151
Over half of all animals
in the open ocean
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00:28:14,277 --> 00:28:16,445
drift in currents.
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00:28:25,329 --> 00:28:28,416
Jellyfish cross entire oceans
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00:28:28,499 --> 00:28:32,712
feeding on whatever happens
to tangle with their tentacles.
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00:28:37,300 --> 00:28:40,970
Some can grow to a metre,
even two metres across.
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00:28:43,014 --> 00:28:45,266
And when, by lucky chance,
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00:28:45,349 --> 00:28:49,270
they encounter
a patch of sea rich in plankton,
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00:28:49,353 --> 00:28:51,480
their numbers explode.
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00:29:36,275 --> 00:29:39,195
It's such a successful strategy,
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00:29:39,278 --> 00:29:43,741
that jellies are one of the most
common lifeforms on the planet.
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00:29:53,876 --> 00:29:55,670
But among the jellies,
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00:29:55,753 --> 00:29:57,713
and looking somewhat like them,
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00:29:58,130 --> 00:30:01,592
is a rather more complex
and sinister creature.
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00:30:06,889 --> 00:30:09,392
The Portuguese man o' war.
195
00:30:15,064 --> 00:30:18,150
It floats with the help
of a gas-filled bladder,
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00:30:19,110 --> 00:30:21,612
propped by a vertical membrane.
197
00:30:23,406 --> 00:30:25,533
With that serving as a sail,
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00:30:25,616 --> 00:30:28,744
it maintains a steady course
through the waves.
199
00:30:53,853 --> 00:30:56,564
Long threads trail behind it,
200
00:30:56,647 --> 00:30:59,358
some as much as 30 metres long.
201
00:31:03,946 --> 00:31:07,825
Each is armed with
many thousands of stinging cells.
202
00:31:09,785 --> 00:31:12,163
A single tentacle could kill a fish,
203
00:31:12,288 --> 00:31:14,790
or, in rare cases, a human.
204
00:31:20,212 --> 00:31:22,548
But among its lethal tentacles,
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00:31:23,174 --> 00:31:25,134
lurks a man o' war fish
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00:31:25,968 --> 00:31:28,554
that feeds by nibbling them.
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00:31:34,393 --> 00:31:38,314
Whilst this fish
has some resistance to the stings,
208
00:31:38,481 --> 00:31:40,983
it must still be extremely careful.
209
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,364
Most other fish are not so lucky.
210
00:32:09,512 --> 00:32:12,598
A tentacle has caught
this one, and reels it in.
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00:32:24,693 --> 00:32:26,862
It's already paralysed.
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00:32:31,784 --> 00:32:34,453
Specialised muscular tentacles
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00:32:34,537 --> 00:32:38,040
transfer the victim to others
that digest the catch,
214
00:32:38,874 --> 00:32:41,544
liquefying it with powerful chemicals.
215
00:32:48,717 --> 00:32:51,053
Eventually all that is left
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00:32:54,098 --> 00:32:56,058
is a scaly husk.
217
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:06,402
This voracious man o' war
218
00:33:06,485 --> 00:33:10,489
may collect over a hundred
small fish in a day.
219
00:33:34,763 --> 00:33:39,018
For the most part,
the big blue seems featureless.
220
00:33:41,687 --> 00:33:45,983
A place where the winds blow,
uninterrupted by land.
221
00:33:50,654 --> 00:33:52,573
But beneath the surface,
222
00:33:52,656 --> 00:33:56,285
there are long
mountain ranges, deep trenches,
223
00:33:56,827 --> 00:33:59,246
and isolated volcanic peaks
224
00:33:59,330 --> 00:34:02,708
that make it far more varied
than the human eye can see.
225
00:34:09,882 --> 00:34:13,219
We're only just discovering
in any detail
226
00:34:13,302 --> 00:34:16,972
how the inhabitants
of the big blue exploit that.
227
00:34:26,982 --> 00:34:29,568
A lonely whale shark
228
00:34:30,069 --> 00:34:31,820
on a specia journey.
229
00:34:37,701 --> 00:34:40,871
She is as long as a small aircraft,
230
00:34:41,205 --> 00:34:44,166
and she weighs over 20 tonnes.
231
00:34:48,045 --> 00:34:51,340
Like many sharks, she does not lay eggs,
232
00:34:51,423 --> 00:34:53,425
but gives birth to live young.
233
00:35:09,900 --> 00:35:12,486
She carries up to 300 of them
234
00:35:12,569 --> 00:35:14,238
in her swollen belly.
235
00:35:21,287 --> 00:35:23,872
She may be the biggest fish in the sea,
236
00:35:24,206 --> 00:35:28,627
but the place where whale sharks
give birth has not yet been found.
237
00:35:35,467 --> 00:35:39,805
Today, however, we may be a step
closer to solving this mystery.
238
00:35:42,391 --> 00:35:45,185
We have known
that great numbers of whale sharks,
239
00:35:45,269 --> 00:35:47,104
at certain times of the year,
240
00:35:47,229 --> 00:35:50,399
appear around the Galápagos Islands.
241
00:35:51,984 --> 00:35:55,112
Here they assemble around a tiny islet
242
00:35:55,237 --> 00:35:58,949
that rises abruptly
from particularly deep water.
243
00:36:02,953 --> 00:36:05,748
It's known as Darwin Island.
244
00:36:14,757 --> 00:36:18,761
Here, swirling currents
bring out nutrients from the deep,
245
00:36:18,844 --> 00:36:20,804
so enriching these waters
246
00:36:20,929 --> 00:36:23,724
that they attract
great concentrations of fish
247
00:36:23,807 --> 00:36:25,809
from far and wide.
248
00:36:34,610 --> 00:36:38,614
Thousands of hammerhead sharks
also assemble here.
249
00:36:41,867 --> 00:36:44,286
They are nearly all female.
250
00:36:52,002 --> 00:36:55,381
They, too, it seems,
have come here to breed.
251
00:37:03,472 --> 00:37:07,476
The whale shark receives
an extraordinary welcome.
252
00:37:28,330 --> 00:37:32,000
Silky sharks,
themselves three metres long,
253
00:37:32,334 --> 00:37:34,420
bounce against her rough skin,
254
00:37:37,548 --> 00:37:41,051
perhaps to scrape off
any parasites they might have.
255
00:37:46,348 --> 00:37:50,185
These sharks could be a danger
to any newly-born young.
256
00:37:54,064 --> 00:37:56,358
So, perhaps to avoid them,
257
00:37:57,609 --> 00:37:59,611
the whale shark dives
258
00:38:02,948 --> 00:38:06,410
down to around 600 metres.
259
00:38:33,228 --> 00:38:36,732
And there, she may release her young.
260
00:38:39,234 --> 00:38:40,611
In these great depths,
261
00:38:40,736 --> 00:38:44,323
away from the predators
that hunt in the waters above,
262
00:38:44,406 --> 00:38:46,408
and with abundant food,
263
00:38:46,742 --> 00:38:50,496
her babies could grow
and eventually disperse.
264
00:39:01,340 --> 00:39:03,008
No one, it is true,
265
00:39:03,091 --> 00:39:07,095
has ever seen young ones
in these little-visited depths.
266
00:39:12,935 --> 00:39:16,355
But the fact that hundreds
of expectant whale sharks
267
00:39:16,438 --> 00:39:18,190
come here every year,
268
00:39:19,316 --> 00:39:22,653
is strong evidence that somewhere here
269
00:39:22,778 --> 00:39:27,449
lies the nursery
of the biggest fish in the sea.
270
00:39:54,685 --> 00:39:58,564
There are almost 30,000 sizeable islands
271
00:39:58,647 --> 00:40:00,983
scattered across the world's oceans.
272
00:40:04,653 --> 00:40:07,531
One of them is South Georgia.
273
00:40:11,702 --> 00:40:14,746
An ideal place for those ocean-dwellers
274
00:40:14,830 --> 00:40:18,500
who are compelled to land
in order to breed.
275
00:40:22,170 --> 00:40:24,256
The wandering albatross.
276
00:40:34,433 --> 00:40:38,395
It may spend as much
as a year continuously at sea,
277
00:40:42,190 --> 00:40:44,067
searching for food,
278
00:40:44,192 --> 00:40:48,071
gliding on wings that are
three and a half metres across.
279
00:40:48,864 --> 00:40:51,408
The biggest of any living bird.
280
00:41:05,213 --> 00:41:07,549
The entire world population
281
00:41:07,633 --> 00:41:12,054
of 16,000 wanderers
nest on South Georgia
282
00:41:12,471 --> 00:41:15,932
and half a dozen or so
of the other smaller islands
283
00:41:16,058 --> 00:41:18,060
that lie in the Southern Ocean.
284
00:41:23,231 --> 00:41:24,483
It's spring.
285
00:41:24,566 --> 00:41:28,737
And this bird is returning
to the nest site it has always used.
286
00:41:39,581 --> 00:41:42,417
Its lifelong partner is already here.
287
00:41:52,177 --> 00:41:53,470
In South Georgia,
288
00:41:53,595 --> 00:41:56,932
individual birds have been
studied for their entire lives
289
00:41:58,308 --> 00:42:01,520
revealing that older pairs
in their late thirties
290
00:42:01,603 --> 00:42:03,730
will go to extraordinary lengths
291
00:42:03,814 --> 00:42:07,192
to give their young
the best possible start in life.
292
00:42:28,046 --> 00:42:30,799
This chick is now several weeks old,
293
00:42:31,717 --> 00:42:34,344
but still has its warm, downy coat.
294
00:42:48,817 --> 00:42:53,655
The chick will need a regular
supply of regurgitated fish and squid.
295
00:43:16,762 --> 00:43:19,723
With food so scarce in the open ocean,
296
00:43:19,848 --> 00:43:24,144
both parents may have to scour
thousands of square miles
297
00:43:24,227 --> 00:43:27,063
Just to provide enough for one meal.
298
00:43:51,379 --> 00:43:55,926
Ageing parents struggle on
all through the Antarctic winter,
299
00:43:56,051 --> 00:43:59,888
to raise a chick that is big,
strong and healthy.
300
00:44:19,991 --> 00:44:22,994
After some 130 days,
301
00:44:23,078 --> 00:44:27,290
the youngster begins to replace
its down with flight feathers.
302
00:44:45,642 --> 00:44:49,396
Finally, nine months
after their egg was laid,
303
00:44:49,479 --> 00:44:51,857
this chick is ready to leave.
304
00:45:16,006 --> 00:45:19,301
Of all the chicks
they've reared in recent years,
305
00:45:20,218 --> 00:45:24,222
such a favoured chick
will have the best chance of survival.
306
00:45:27,225 --> 00:45:29,853
But it will also be their last.
307
00:45:33,189 --> 00:45:37,193
Elderly parents never recover
from their exertions.
308
00:45:38,820 --> 00:45:40,822
They will soon leave this island,
309
00:45:41,323 --> 00:45:43,074
never to be seen again.
310
00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:04,137
Surviving in the open ocean
311
00:46:04,220 --> 00:46:06,556
has always tested animals to the limit.
312
00:46:08,850 --> 00:46:12,270
But today, they face a new,
additional threat.
313
00:46:19,027 --> 00:46:20,195
Plastic.
314
00:46:23,698 --> 00:46:25,700
Just over a hundred years ago,
315
00:46:25,784 --> 00:46:28,536
we invented a wonderful new material
316
00:46:28,620 --> 00:46:31,873
that could be moulded
into all kinds of shapes.
317
00:46:31,957 --> 00:46:34,084
And we took great trouble to ensure
318
00:46:34,209 --> 00:46:37,379
that it was hard-wearing, waterproof,
319
00:46:37,462 --> 00:46:39,381
and virtually indestructible.
320
00:46:41,383 --> 00:46:43,301
Now, every year,
321
00:46:43,385 --> 00:46:47,722
we dump around eight million
tonnes of it into the sea.
322
00:46:50,642 --> 00:46:56,064
Here, it entangles and drowns
vast numbers of marine creatures.
323
00:47:02,654 --> 00:47:06,992
But it has even more widespread
and far-reaching consequences.
324
00:47:15,750 --> 00:47:19,254
A pod of short-finned pilot whales.
325
00:47:28,930 --> 00:47:31,141
They live together in,
what are perhaps,
326
00:47:31,266 --> 00:47:35,145
the most closely-knit of families
in the whole ocean.
327
00:47:42,944 --> 00:47:47,782
Today, in the Atlantic waters
off Europe, as elsewhere,
328
00:47:48,116 --> 00:47:51,119
they have to share
the ocean with plastic.
329
00:48:02,172 --> 00:48:05,967
A mother is holding
her new-born young.
330
00:48:09,846 --> 00:48:11,222
It's dead.
331
00:48:22,525 --> 00:48:25,653
She is reluctant to let it go
332
00:48:25,737 --> 00:48:28,823
and has been carrying
it around for many days.
333
00:48:51,179 --> 00:48:55,058
As plastic breaks down,
it combines with other pollutants
334
00:48:55,183 --> 00:48:59,187
that are consumed
by vast numbers of marine creatures.
335
00:49:10,281 --> 00:49:12,951
In top predators like these,
336
00:49:13,034 --> 00:49:16,538
the toxic chemicals
can build up to lethal levels.
337
00:49:27,382 --> 00:49:30,385
It's possible her calf
may have been poisoned
338
00:49:30,718 --> 00:49:33,221
by her own contaminated milk.
339
00:49:39,394 --> 00:49:42,564
Pilot whales have big brains.
340
00:49:42,647 --> 00:49:45,733
They can certainly experience emotions.
341
00:49:48,778 --> 00:49:51,364
Judging from
the behaviour of the adults,
342
00:49:51,447 --> 00:49:55,577
the loss of the infant
has affected the entire family.
343
00:50:04,085 --> 00:50:08,298
Unless the flow of plastics
into the world's oceans is reduced,
344
00:50:09,424 --> 00:50:14,304
marine life will be poisoned by them
for many centuries to come.
345
00:50:22,312 --> 00:50:24,772
The creatures
that live in the big blue
346
00:50:24,856 --> 00:50:29,152
are, perhaps, more remote
than any animals on the planet.
347
00:50:32,822 --> 00:50:35,408
But not remote enough, it seems,
348
00:50:35,491 --> 00:50:40,455
to escape the effects of what
we are doing to their world.
349
00:50:55,303 --> 00:50:59,557
Next time, we journey
into the bountiful green sea.
350
00:51:03,561 --> 00:51:05,563
These are enchanted worlds,
351
00:51:05,647 --> 00:51:07,941
home to strange creatures...
352
00:51:12,820 --> 00:51:15,949
...where only the most ingenious
will triumph.
27822
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