In a far corner of the south-east lies the coral triangle. A cluster of the richest coral reefs in the world. Undersea cities crammed full of life. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e3: Coral Reefs
A cuttlefish – it specialises in hunting crabs. But a large crab is a dangerous quarry – it has powerful claws. The cuttlefish however has a remarkable talent – its skin contains millions of pigment cells with which it can create ever changing colours and patterns. ibid.
Coral colonies can continue to grow for centuries, possibly millennia. And they can build structures that can reach as high as a house. ibid.
The world’s greatest wilderness – the open ocean. It covers over half the surface of our planet. Here there is nowhere to hide and little to eat. It’s the marine equivalent of a desert. And patrolling this desert – spinner dolphins. They stick together in a super-pod 5,000 strong. That maximises their chances of finding something to eat. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e4: Big Blue
Sperm whale … the biggest brain on the planet … Down they go … She’s now using sonar to hunt down shoals of squid. ibid.
Jellies are one of the most common life-forms on the planet … The Portuguese Man o War: long threads trail behind it, some as much as thirty metres long: each is armed with many thousands of stinging cells. ibid.
In the far north after three dark months of winter a world is waiting for a trigger: the sunshine of spring. Starfish are the first to respond. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e5: Green Seas
These green seas are some of the most productive but fiercely competitive waters in all the oceans. ibid.
A torpedo ray capable of stunning its victim with 45 volts of electricity. ibid.
The most deadly assassin in the green sea: the zebra mantis shrimp. ibid.
Costa Rica: All along the beach in a spectacle that has remained unchanged for millions of years mother sea turtles emerge from the ocean in their hundreds of thousands. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e6: Coasts
Coasts are the most swiftly changing of all ocean habitats because of the tides. ibid.
Many puffins now find it hard to get enough food for their chicks. ibid.
The oceans are under threat now as never before in human history. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e7: Our Blue Planet
Is time running out? Many people believe our oceans have reached a crisis point. ibid.
The open ocean – it covers more than half the surface of our planet. Yet for the most part it is a watery desert ... Hunters here spend their lives in a constant search. David Attenborough, The Hunt IV: Hunger at Sea (Oceans), BBC 2015
The largest hunter of them all – the Blue Whale. Weighing two hundred tons and thirty metres long these are the biggest animals ever to have lived. ibid.
They are flying fish ... With a good wind they can glide for hundreds of metres. ibid.
Lantern fish – they are the most numerous fish on the planet. ibid.
The albatross have the longest wingspan of any bird. ibid.
On rare occasions the oceans do glow. Attenborough’s Life that Glows, BBC 2017
These lights are made by captives which are farmed in special organs below the eyes of flashlight fish. ibid.
As the human population nears seven billion so our oceans are struggling to cope. David Attenborough, Horizon: The Death of our Oceans? BBC 2010
Called the Census of Marine Life, its goal has been to compile the most comprehensive list to date of life in our oceans. From the largest of mammals to the tiniest of microbes. What this Census amounts to is a completely new biography of the largest habitats on Earth. ibid.
To date the Coral Reef Project has identified more than a thousand likely new species. ibid.
Many species have reached the point of collapse ... If present trends continue, commercial fishing as we know it will have collapsed by the year 2050. ibid.
One by-product of this increased CO2 in our oceans is that they are becoming more acidic. ibid.
But more concerning is the possibility that ocean noise might be affecting a much wider cross-section of marine life. ibid.
But the Census has also given us a glimpse of the future in which many species and habitats could end up disappearing, some before we’ve even had the chance to discover them. ibid.
Much of our planet still remains unexplored. For most of it is covered by water. Every journey below the surface can reveal something extraordinary. More than a thousand new species are discovered here every year. The ocean is home to 80% of all animal life on Planet Earth. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s3e2: Ocean
A predatory lionfish on the hunt from shrimp and small fish. With so many places for its prey to hide, the lionfish has to be patient. ibid.
One of the shallow seas’ most extraordinary predators, the clown frog fish. ibid.
These fish are no easy meal: they are flying fish. ibid.
Tens of thousands of [Mobula] rays in a single shoal. ibid.
A glass squid. Completely transparent. Apart from its eyes and stomach. ibid.
Pearl octopus: This is the largest known gathering of octopus in the world … all here to lay their eggs. ibid.
The influence of these vents extends far beyond these chimneys. ibid.
The floor of the ocean is home to exotic heat-loving organisms clustered round undersea volcanic rifts. The molten rock below creates steam vents and boiling ... hydrothermal systems of cracks and fissures in the Earth’s crusts. The heat-loving organisms thrive on these extreme conditions. Horizon: Life is Impossible, BBC 1993
Streeter argues that these heat-loving autotrophic organisms feeding on carbon dioxide from the vents are a strong pointer to the nature of the origin of Life. ibid.
Forty million live and work along the east coast of the United States. Yet this entire population unknowingly lives under threat of a sudden catastrophe. Scientists have now found evidence that one day a colossal wave will devastate the coast of America ... A mega-tsunami. Horizon: Mega-Tsunami, Wave of Destruction, BBC 2000
Even the biggest earthquakes can only lift the sea floor about ten metres which creates a wave of the same height. That’s about as big as a normal tsunami gets. ibid.
For a mega-tsunami to be created a large amount of rock must be falling fast enough so that when it hits the water it releases a single pulse of energy in the form of a wave. Crucially, the size of the wave will be directly related to the size of the landslide. ibid.
Mega-tsunamis are able to cross whole oceans. ibid.
Mega-tsunamis on the other hand move the entire body of the ocean right down to the seabed several kilometres below. ibid.
They are so rare scientists cannot be sure what the precursors will be. But of all the large volcanic islands around the world one in particular shows disturbing signs of instability. If this island collapses, it will create a mega-tsunami that will race across the Atlantic and hit the east coast of the United States ... The island of La Palma. ibid.
There is something out at sea terrorising the world’s shipping. It can strike out of the blue with devastating consequences. This is the story of a wave that is sinking ships around the world. A killer that defies all scientific understanding. And that no ship is designed to withstand. Horizon: Freak Wave, BBC 2002
The freak or rogue wave is one of the great myths of the sea. Mariners talk of a single breaking wave the size of a tower block that can rear up out of nowhere. It’s not a tsunami or tidal wave. It’s not caused by earthquakes or giant landslides. No-one knows where it comes from or why it happens. ibid.
On New Year’s Day 1995 a storm was brewing in the North Sea. The Draupner oil rig was a hundred miles out in the harshest of weather. Suddenly out of the blue came a wave so high and so steep scientists had thought it was impossible. ibid.
When the waves had to fight the current they grew massive; the current pushed against them driving them so high and steep a monster would rear up. ibid.
The Caledonian Star was lucky. Her engines were still working. The crew boarded up the windows, and eventually the ship crawled back to port ... The Caledonian Star and the Breman were fortunate to survive. But their experiences challenged everything known about freak waves. ibid.
If Osborne is right, here is the reason why rogue waves occur in the deep ocean. It isn’t to do with strange local conditions. It’s because waves start to behave in a bizarre non-linear fashion. For some reason they become unstable and start sucking up energy from waves around them. ibid.
And so we went to war. The Atlantic is a very big ocean and in winter weather the finest hiding place in the world. The Cruel Sea 1952 starring Jack Hawkins & Donald Sinden & Denholm Elliott & John Stratton & Stanley Baker & Liam Redmond & Bruce Seton & Meredith Edwards & Virginia McKenna & June Thorburn & Megs Jenkins et al, director Charles Frend, captain’s commentary
When the oceans get warmer that causes stronger storms. Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, 2006
As the water temperature increases the wind velocity increases and the moisture content increases. ibid.
I didn’t grow up in the ocean. George W Bush