Over half a mile down at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico they came to what appeared to be an underwater lake ... Hundreds of thousands of mussels ... Rich oasis of life totally independent of the sun’s energy. ibid.
These seas thousands of miles from nearest land are the most sterile on our planet. David Attenborough, The Blue Planet s1e3: Open Ocean
Striped Marlin – voracious predators that can grow to three metres long. They hunt mainly in daylight. ibid.
Juvenile tuna join in the feeding frenzy. ibid.
Manta Ray – immense – five metres across. ibid.
When sail-fish become excited they change colour. ibid.
Predators and prey are locked in a deadly three-dimensional contest of hide and seek played out over immense distances. ibid.
The oceans are full of such wanderers riding the currents and doing their best to avoid enemies. ibid.
The heaviest bony fish in the sea: sun-fish. ibid.
The frozen seas are worlds unto themselves. Beneath their ceiling of ice, they have an eerie almost magical stillness. David Attenborough, The Blue Planet s1e4: Frozen Seas
The presence of bears affects the behaviour of almost all the animals here big and small. ibid.
Hooded seals also breed on pack-ice. ibid.
In late June and July narwhals arrive. ibid.
Antarctica ... This is the coldest, windiest place in the world. ibid.
Emperor Penguins: they endure the full force of the Antarctic storms. ibid.
The majestic humpback whales are also summer visitors. ibid.
There are some seas where fish swarm in millions. And plankton blossoms in vast clouds. The sheer quantity of life here is unmatched anywhere in the oceans. These are the most productive seas on Earth. They are the seasonal seas. David Attenborough, The Blue Planet s1e5: Seasonal Seas
The seasonal seas border the temperate parts of the world where conditions change through the year. ibid.
Jellyfish: they may appear to be delicate as well as beautiful but they are deadly hunters. ibid.
Californian sea otters gather in the kelp forest. ibid.
There are birds which can dive. ibid.
A male leafy sea dragon ... He is carrying his partner’s eggs around with him. ibid.
A population of some 500 killer whales that specialise in hunting north Atlantic herring. ibid.
Coral reefs: they may seem like underwater paradise but they are perpetual battlegrounds for space. Even the corals have to fight for it. David Attenborough: The Blue Planet s1e6: Coral Seas
Corals provide the foundations of which the entire reef communities lies. ibid.
Coral reefs can be home to astounding numbers of fish. ibid.
This extraordinary complex maze is built layer upon layer by millions and millions of individual animals – polyps. ibid.
A single reef can extend for many miles. ibid.
Coral reefs are only found in the clear warm shallow waters of the tropics. Sunlight is vital to them. ibid.
Crown of Thorns Starfish – poisonous, invincible eating machines. ibid.
Humphead parrotfish – nearly a metre and a half in length; their jaws are so powerful they can bite through rock. ibid.
Other species of coral are both male and female. ibid.
There is a force sufficiently powerful to move the oceans of this world. It is a force not of this Earth. The moon is large enough to generate gravity and with sufficient force to pull on the Earth. David Attenborough: The Blue Planet s1e7: Tidal Seas
Amazon: a growing tidal wave from the ocean is being forced 200 miles inland. This is a tidal bore. ibid.
Finback whales ... During the summer as many as five hundred of these magnificent whales hunt here every day. ibid.
These are no ordinary snails – they can surf. ibid.
The more equatorial the location the lower the tide. ibid.
The coast. The frontier between land and sea. This is the most dynamic of all the ocean habitats. The challenge here is to survive change. Extreme change. David Attenborough: The Blue Planet s1e8: Coasts
The marine iguana of the Galapagos are the world’s only sea-going lizards. Seaweed is all they eat. ibid.
Frigatebirds display and exchange nesting material. ibid.
Remarkably, all the world’s sea turtles return year on year to just a few traditional breeding sites. ibid.
95% of the world’s sea birds nest together. ibid.
For the [killer] whales, the hunting season is a short one. ibid.
The oceans seemingly limitless invoke in us a sense of awe and wonder and also sometimes fear. They cover 70% of the surface of our planet and yet they are still the least explored. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e1, BBC 2017
The health of our oceans is under threat: they are changing at a faster rate than ever before in human history. ibid.
Bottlenosed dolphins: they are extremely intelligent. And with this intelligence comes playfulness. They surf – and as far as we can tell they do so for the sheer joy of it. ibid.
Tropical coral reefs occupy only a tenth of 1% of the ocean floor, but their shallow warm waters and stable year-round conditions support some of the most crowded and varied communities to be found anywhere in the oceans. ibid.
So here is a fish that uses tools. ibid.
These are the season seas, and when they warm in spring they can suddenly explode with life. ibid.
Orca: up to a thousand of them ... fish-hunting specialists. They work as a team. ibid.
Humpback whales: they move in on the action. They approach the shoal from beneath and then lunge upwards gathering up to 100 kgs of herring in a single mouthful. ibid.
Antarctica: the coldest, the harshest and the most remote continent on Earth. No human being has ever descended into the depths that surround it. Until now. David Attenborough, Blue Planet s2e2: The Deep
We find life here in unimaginable abundance … In the deep sea there is more life than anywhere else on Earth. ibid.
A fish with a transparent head filled with jelly so that it can look up through its skull. ibid.
Alien-like creatures produce dazzling displays of light. ibid.
As far down as three and a half miles there are more species of coral in the deep than on shallow tropical reefs. ibid.
The ethereal snailfish: at five miles down this is the deepest living fish so far discovered. ibid.
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.