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.
Our planet’s continents are fringed with shallow seas. Rarely more than two hundred metres deep they lie on the continental shelves which may stretch sometimes for hundreds of miles before the sea floor drops into deep darker waters. All together they constitute a mere 8% of the world’s oceans, but they contain the vast majority of its marine life. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s1e9: Shallow Seas, BBC 2006
Reefs are the work of polyps – tiny colonial animals like minute sea anemones. ibid.
Pygmy sea-horses – the world’s smallest – less than two centimetres high. ibid.
An electric flash! No – the display of a file clam. ibid.
Western Australia – these vast aquatic grasslands stretch for fifteen hundred miles. ibid.
The Great White – the largest predatory fish on the planet. ibid.
Its [submersible] searchlights revealed a whole community of hitherto unknown animals … More of these astonishing eco-systems have now been discovered elsewhere. Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild II: Understanding the Natural World, BBC 2012
5The waters between Dover and Calais here are about forty metres deep. Which in sea terms is pretty shallow. That’s because this part of the seabed is just flooded land. Richard Hammond’s Journey to the Bottom of the Ocean BBC 2011
You gentlemen of England
Who live at home at ease,
How little do you think
On the dangers of the seas. Martin Parker, The Valiant Sailors
They cover two-thirds of our planet. They hold clues to the mysteries of our past. And they’re vital to our future survival. But the secrets of our oceans have remained largely undiscovered. Oceans: Sea of Cortez, BBC 2012
A unique corner of the Pacific Ocean – the Sea of Cortez. The Sea of Cortez is a rich fertile gulf. ibid.
This ocean paradise is under threat. ibid.
Across the world sharks are in decline. ibid.
The success of the Humboldt squid is having a radical effect on this eco-system. ibid.
Relatively little is known about Sperm whales. Sperm whales dive for up to forty minutes at a time. ibid.
The whales are socialising: this is a rare sight. ibid.
Male sperm whales have the largest brain of any animal that’s ever lived. ibid.
A vast body of wild, cold water. Oceans II: Southern Ocean
Parts of it are warming more than twice as fast as any other ocean. ibid.
Along the east coast of Tasmania the size and number of giant kelp beds has declined dramatically over the last ten years. ibid.
This coast and Antarctica were once joined together. ibid.
The team has seen the devastating effects of the warming waters here especially the kelp forests. ibid.
The Red Sea is technically an ocean because it was formed when the continents of Africans and Asia tore apart. Oceans III: Red Sea
Home to a spectacular array of species. ibid.
These tools show how our ancestors learned to exploit the Red Sea. ibid.
Coral is vital to the health of the ocean. ibid.
The team is about to explore the mighty Atlantic. This vast sea is the second largest of the world’s oceans. It dominates the Western hemisphere. Oceans IV: Atlantic Ocean
The purple cloud ... bacteria absorb the sunlight’s energy to photosynthesise. ibid.
The oldest life-form on Earth: stromatolites. ibid.
In this part of the ocean [Bahamas] the invader is the lionfish. ibid.
These waters are being changed by man. ibid.
Caves were sacred places and used for burial. ibid.
The Gulf Stream moves a hundred times as much water as all the rivers on Earth. ibid.
The future of the Atlantic is being shaped by man. The effects of large-scale commercial fishing are damaging this mighty ocean. ibid.
The third largest body of water on Earth – the Indian Ocean. More than 6,000 miles wide it covers 13% of the world’s surface. It’s home to 5,000 species of fish, many of them unique to this sea. But it’s an ocean on the edge. Oceans V: Indian Ocean
The largest population of Manta Rays in the world. ibid.
The largest of the ocean’s Rays – Mantas weight up to one and a half tons. ibid.
The destruction of over 22% of the reefs in the south-west Indian ocean alone. ibid.
One of its rarest animals: the Dugong. ibid.
44,000 miles of shoreline. Oceans VI: Indian Ocean – Coastal Waters
Coral reefs support a quarter of all fish species and help support the coastal people here. ibid.
Corals use chemical and biological warfare. ibid.
Coral grows at about one centimetre a year. ibid.
Coconut crabs begin life in the ocean before moving on shore. They weigh up to four kilograms and can have a legspan over a metre. ibid.
Seahorses: a few centimetres tall and perfectly camouflaged they are not easy to spot. ibid.
The whale-shark – the largest fish in the sea ... Whale-sharks can weigh up to thirty-five tons. ibid.
A hundred million visitors each year. Western civilisation developed around these shores, but now human activity is threatening to ruin this sea. Oceans VII: Mediterranean Sea
Sharks are crucial to the health of our oceans. ibid.
The Sixgill: one of the largest predatory sharks in the world. ibid.
The clearer the water the less plankton there is. ibid.
Pregnant and newborn Great Whites have been sighted. ibid.
Great Whites rarely attack humans. ibid.
Humankind is encroaching more and more on this sea. ibid.
One of the most hostile bodies of water on the planet – the icy wastes of the Arctic Ocean. The water temperature hovers around zero. Oceans VIII: Arctic Ocean
The smallest and shallowest of the five main oceans. ibid.
It’s heating up twice as fast as anywhere else on Earth. ibid.
The polar bear is the world’s largest terrestrial carnivore. ibid.
There are about thirty [Beluga whales] swimming around the boat. ibid.
I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea – whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are going back from whence we came. John F Kennedy, September 1962
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
‘By the long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?’ Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1798
‘God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends that plague thee thus! –