#BLUE PLANET THE SEAS OF LIFE FULL#

An extraordinary species of clownfish has made a home in an anemone away from the reef. But there is safe accommodation for some out here in these sandy suburbs. The bobbit, a giant carnivorous worm, buries deep in the sand in order to ambush unsuspecting prey. This makes it a dangerous place, especially at night when predators patrol in search of prey caught in the open. However, away from the protective structures of the reef there is nowhere to hide. On the sheltered side of the reef there are sand flats which provide rich feeding grounds. In the Maldives, on the biggest tides, one particular coral lagoon becomes so flooded with plankton that it attracts hundreds of manta rays. In the Bahamas, the rush of the water creates a truly strange phenomenon - a whirlpool. These ramparts protect the city from the ocean waves, but twice a day the walls are covered by the incoming tide. On the outer side, facing the open ocean, is the drop-off. These dolphins play by balancing corals and sponges on their nose and in doing so build important life skills.Įvery reef has a sharply defined boundary. For the youngsters, the reef is their playground.

In the desert sands of Egypt, coral reefs thrive in the shallows of the Red Sea, providing bottlenose dolphins with a place to rest. Some animals come to reefs for rest and relaxation. She must wait for her opportunity to sneak back in. As she approaches the station, she is joined by more of her fellow turtles and is pushed out by the queue-jumping males. At dawn, one of the reef's most charismatic inhabitants, the green turtle, heads off to be cleaned at a special health spa. As these polyps grow and die they lay the limestone foundation for civilisations and superstructures so large that they can be seen from space.Ĭoral reef cities never sleep, they are constantly noisy worlds where a chorus of submarine song rings out from their many inhabitants. Filmed with super macro time-lapse, we bring them to life and reveal their hidden worlds. While they might appear to be nothing more than rocky substrate, each coral is in fact made up of hundreds to thousands of tiny, living coral creatures called polyps. On the Great Barrier Reef a remarkable grouper uses sign language, dubbed the headstand signal, to reach out to an entirely different creature, a reef octopus, to flush small fish out of their hiding holes and into the groupers waiting mouth. The broadclub cuttlefish has found its place by using a hypnotic display that apparently mesmerises its prey, causing it to let down its defences. For those that manage to establish themselves, there can be great rewards.

#BLUE PLANET THE SEAS OF LIFE FULL#

There is fierce rivalry for space, for food and for a partner, but the reef is also a place full of opportunity. They are complex, infinitely varied structures providing all kinds of homes for their many residents. Their reefs occupy less than one tenth of one per cent of the ocean floor, yet they are home to a quarter of all known marine species. Corals build themselves homes of limestone in the warm, clear, shallow seas of the tropics.

Blue planet the seas of life