Our Oceans (2024) s01e03 Episode Script

[water rushing]
[thunder rolling]
[dramatic music playing]
[penguins squawking]
[Barack Obama] The Falkland Islands.
This exposed South Atlantic outpost
is blasted by relentless winds
and year-round waves.
They stir up nutrients,
stimulating algae to grow,
which turns the sea a rich Atlantic green.
[delicate, serene music playing]
Calm between storms doesn't last long.
So, if you live here, you take advantage
of any break in the weather.
[rollicking surf rock music playing]
Commerson's dolphins.
They love to surf.
Their team colors
are a form of camouflage,
breaking up the outlines of their bodies.
[surf rock trailing off]
These four-foot-long dolphins
never miss an opportunity to play.
And this serves a greater purpose,
keeping their big brains busy
and connecting them as a pod.
[echolocation chirrs]
[menacing music playing]
But they're not the only surfers here.
A sea lion.
[guttural bellowing]
He's the resident bull.
This is his break.
He'll chase off anyone he can.
But they're not intimidated by him.
[buoyant, rowdy music playing]
For the dolphins,
it seems like a chance to have more fun.
Today, it's a game of catch me if you can.
[exuberant chase music playing]
[sea lion honks]
And when the sea lion gives up the chase
[peculiar, inquisitive music playing]
they come out of hiding to find him.
Playing like this keeps them all
at the top of their game,
physically and mentally,
bonding them as a team.
[sweeping, uplifting music playing]
For many creatures
that live in the wild Atlantic,
teamwork is the key to survival.
[majestic music playing]
The global ocean current flows
from the Indian Ocean
into the South Atlantic,
the start of a 10,000-mile,
four-year journey north.
[wave roaring]
Through some of the roughest seas,
and biggest waves, on the planet.
Our voyage begins
at Africa's southern tip,
where the waters
of the Indian and Atlantic oceans collide.
[music intensifies]
A place known by ancient mariners
as the Cape of Storms.
Storms that create huge swells
that pummel the coasts.
[distorted whooshing]
[muffled turbulence]
Yet, beneath the fury,
there can be pockets of calm.
Dense forests of kelp
fringe the coastline.
They absorb the waves' energy,
taming this wild ocean.
[elegant, refined music playing]
And hidden within one forest glade is
the nesting ground
of a passionate gardener.
A sea bream,
busy tending his patch.
[zippy, upbeat music playing]
He's maintaining a well-polished rock,
free from weeds and sand,
designed to attract a female
to lay her eggs.
But he's got competition from other males.
To stand out from the crowd,
his plot must be perfect.
It's all about keeping up appearances
and removing anything
that might make it messy.
Hermit crab.
Seaweed.
[resounding thump]
Move along, shark.
This starfish has got to go
over the neighbor's fence.
[eccentric music playing]
Wasn't me.
Hmm.
His neighbor doesn't seem too pleased.
I believe you dropped this.
[mischievously confrontational
music playing]
Nope. All yours.
It's not every day you get
a courtside seat for starfish tennis.
This could go on forever.
But they've both made their point.
Time to ditch the starfish
and get back to work.
With his rock garden nicely polished
[thoughtful, elegant music playing]
and with egg-laden females
passing overhead,
he can, at last, put on a show.
He draws attention to his plot.
She likes what she sees.
And with a little encouragement,
she lays her eggs.
Now his sole focus is
to guard them until they hatch.
[muffled turbulence]
But conditions in the South Atlantic
are unpredictable,
and can deteriorate quickly
churning the water
and carrying the delicious scent of eggs
far beyond his kelpy glade
[chilling, alien music playing]
attracting a swarm
of hungry brittle stars.
[unsettling music intensifies]
No one fish can defend his patch
against an army.
It's time for neighbors
to put aside their differences.
They'll need to work together
to save their eggs.
[tense music playing]
Their squabbles are quickly forgotten
in the face of a greater threat.
[plucky, hopeful music growing]
[music swells, trails off]
Only by banding together
can they defend their eggs
against the brittle star invasion.
[shimmering, wondrous music playing]
This busy little bream's work
is almost done.
Because just two weeks later,
the day has finally come
for his babies to hatch.
They'll be carried away
on the great current,
to settle in the many kelp forests
that define this restless coastline.
[wind rushing]
The wildest weather
in the whole South Atlantic is found
where the winds are strongest
on the other side of the ocean.
South America's Cape Horn.
Storms here are relentless,
and it's getting even wilder.
With the growing climate crisis,
winds are intensifying year after year.
[winds whistling]
It takes special skills to hunt
in Patagonia's increasingly rough seas.
Orca are the top predators here.
[foreboding music playing]
There is nothing they won't take on.
Even a full-grown elephant seal
[rumbly braying]
is no match.
But adult elephant seals
only come to this coastline to breed.
To stay here year-round,
the orca must find other prey.
[echolocation squeaks]
Their pod is led by Grandma.
She's almost 50 years old,
and has spent her life
mastering this coast.
Now her eye turns to the beaches
where young seals and sea lions haul out
when the sea is too rough.
[colony braying]
Despite the risk
of big waves leaving them stranded,
these orca must take a chance
and hunt on the beach.
[music intensifies]
[seal colony clamoring]
If she gets stuck, she could die.
[braying]
Very few orca families
are known to hunt like this.
It's a technique she learned
from her mother, and must now pass on.
Grandma needs somewhere
to teach them in safety,
so they don't become stranded.
As their instructor, she guides
her young team to a very special place.
A sheltered lagoon,
safe from the dangers of the waves.
[gentle, pensive music playing]
This beach-hunting academy
is a place for her latest recruits
[rousing, spirited music playing]
to raise hell.
[adventurous music rising]
[slick electric guitar riff playing]
[burst of echolocation]
[music intensifies]
[music trails off]
[seal bleats]
The students have
all the confidence of youth.
But, lucky for this pup,
they still have lots to learn.
[quirky music playing]
Their instructor leads the way.
"Follow me."
Picking the right beach is essential.
The first lesson today?
Angle of attack.
If the slope is too shallow,
they run aground
and fall short of their target.
Because it's so dangerous,
beginners are encouraged
to have a wingman,
someone to help them if they get stuck.
Time for lesson number two.
Stealth.
Grandma runs fin-hiding drills.
[echolocation squeaks]
They need to learn to patrol in formation
while keeping their dorsal fins submerged.
But they also have to be quiet.
[bubbles burbling]
Best hold your breath.
Time for a full-blown demonstration.
[quirky music continuing]
The aim?
Poke that seal.
[seal bleats]
To advance, the recruits must put
all their lessons into practice
which proves just how tricky
this actually is.
Too slow.
[bleats]
[huffs loudly through blowhole]
Too loud.
[cheeky music playing]
Nice speed, but wrong target.
They're making progress,
remembering their lessons
and learning from their mistakes.
But they'll still need expert guidance.
Grandma sets up the perfect strike.
She'll call it in
with the nod of her head.
[intense music building]
It's the closest this student has come,
and a big step towards graduation.
[spirited, rousing music playing]
Training for such a dangerous mission
can take seven years.
[echolocation trilling]
No other predator takes so long
to earn their stripes.
A set of skills so complex
that it's only possible
thanks to years of teamwork,
and the wisdom of Grandma.
Towards the equator,
the winds drop
and the waves become smaller
as the great current flows northwards,
where, under the oppressive heat,
the ocean's wild character
appears to mellow.
[lilting, serene music playing]
And the Brazilian coastline gives way
to forests of salt-tolerant trees.
[effusive birdsong]
Mangroves.
One of the current's greatest hitchhikers.
They evolved in Southeast Asia,
and by riding the current have spread
throughout the tropics.
Creating vast tracts of tidal forest
like here, in the Amazon.
The world's longest stretch of mangroves.
It opens up feeding grounds
to one intrepid fish.
[bright, quirky music playing]
A four-eyed fish
with an appetite for adventure.
She and her team of explorers are eager
to get into the forest.
But it's low tide,
and they're stuck at the coast.
The equatorial sun makes the shallows
too hot for most fish.
As the tide turns
and the water floods in,
they're off.
[rousing, adventurous music playing]
They don't just swim.
They can skip.
[keening, ominous music playing]
It's safer to stick together.
It's a very different world in here.
In these mangroves,
their unique eyesight comes in handy.
Despite their name,
four-eyed fish only have two,
but with a remarkable split
across the pupil,
allowing them to keep half an eye
on any dangers lurking below,
and the other half peeled
for opportunities above.
[shimmering harp glissando]
[rhythmic pecking]
In this forest, you don't know
where your next meal is gonna come from.
Termites.
Mmm, delicious.
They might be tasty,
but there's an even bigger prize waiting
for those who are adventurous enough
to follow the tide
to the furthest extent
of the ocean's reach,
over a mile from where this small fish
began her jungle adventure,
in search of a hidden delicacy
only accessible twice a day.
These mangrove crabs must reverse
into the seawater to refresh their gills.
She only has minutes
before the tide will start dropping.
[tense music playing]
[frantic, whimsical music playing]
Got one!
The ultimate reward
for going where few fish dare.
All too soon, the tide turns,
and the expedition team
must retreat to the coast,
or risk being left high and dry
in the baking heat.
[sweeping, serene music playing]
Just as the Atlantic influences
life in the Amazon,
the largest river in the world has
its own effect on the ocean.
Delivering over a million tons
of leaf litter
and rich river sediment every day,
transporting precious
rainforest nutrients,
swept along by the current,
2,000 miles up the coast of Brazil.
Delivering them
to the jewel of the Atlantic Ocean
[vibrant calypso music playing]
the Caribbean Sea.
We're drawn here to enjoy
its beauty and its warm waters.
Soft corals thrive in the enriched current
around the island of Bonaire.
It's not easy to get noticed
in this coral carnival.
And when breeding time comes around,
you need to stand out from the crowd.
[music trails off]
One bright spark waits until dark
for his chance to shine.
He's not alone.
[shimmering tones crackle]
[delicate, wondrous music playing]
This magical light show is
the synchronized mating display
of one of Bonaire's
smallest reef residents.
A tiny crustacean called an ostracod.
Each one smaller than a grain of rice.
Yet, by mixing two highly reactive
chemicals inside his body,
a male can create chains of light
bright enough to guide a female
to where he is waiting.
The males swarm together,
taking turns switching their lights on.
Collaborating like this
allows each of them
to hold back some chemicals
for emergencies.
And they'll need 'em.
[dark, foreboding music playing]
Cardinalfish are inch-long
plankton predators that come out at night.
But ostracods are armed
with a secret weapon.
[shimmering tones crackle]
The chemicals taste foul.
So, the fish spits them out
as fast as it can.
And, to make matters worse,
now the cardinalfish glow in the dark
becoming an easy target
for a nocturnal killer
that stalks these reefs.
[menacing music building]
The lionfish.
Lionfish are an invasive species
accidentally brought by humans
from the Pacific Ocean 40 years ago.
With no natural enemies,
their population has
spiraled out of control,
wiping out countless small reef fish.
But they aren't the only pressure
humans have put on these reefs.
The climate crisis is
causing the Caribbean to heat up.
Over the last 40 years,
a rise of just one degree
has threatened the survival
of these temperature-sensitive reefs.
It's been enough to turn this shallow sea
into a simmering pressure cooker.
To make matters worse,
this cooker is ready to blow.
[storms raging forcefully]
Increasing heat means the most violent
hurricanes are becoming more frequent,
just as heat stress weakens the coral,
making them more fragile.
They can't withstand
this combination of rising temperatures
and increasingly devastating storms,
which so far has led to the tragic loss
of 80% of the Caribbean's coral.
[tense music playing]
For many, losing the reef
means losing their home.
[somber tone ringing]
For those that can swim their way
out of trouble, there is an escape route.
The great current is squeezed out
through a narrow gap,
the Straits of Florida,
that act like a nozzle on a hose,
forcing the current to flow
with 30 times the power
of all the earth's rivers combined.
Now known as the Gulf Stream,
it's the ocean's fastest current,
spreading heat across the North Atlantic.
Taking just a month to flow
from Florida all the way to New York.
Where its warm waters fuel
vast plankton blooms,
which feed huge shoals of species
that had once been overfished
to the brink of extinction.
Menhaden.
But now, with improved fishery management,
they are bouncing back.
[stately, sweeping music playing]
Even here, off Long Island, New York.
[birds cawing]
Where they need to stick tightly together,
because the warmer current now brings
packs of Caribbean sharks
further north than ever before.
[dark, menacing music playing]
But despite their numbers,
menhaden are not easy to catch.
[spirited, determined music playing]
They have lightning-fast reactions
and their scales are highly reflective.
Together, they create a mirror-ball effect
that dazzles predators,
bringing a new spectacle
to within yards of our beaches.
[music trails off]
Flowing strongly from North America,
the current widens,
spreading heat across the ocean.
One branch heads toward Northern Europe.
And the other runs east,
on a course that takes it
to a chain of tiny islands.
The Azores.
[sweeping, majestic music playing]
Home to the highest peak
of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
Rising more than 27,000 feet
from the ocean floor,
straight into the path
of the global ocean current.
Causing deep-sea nutrients
to well up to the surface.
Providing rich feeding grounds
for any creature that can reach
this mid-ocean outpost.
[tranquil music playing]
The warming current has
recently opened up the Azores
to this newcomer from the coast of Africa.
[imposing, mysterious music playing]
A whale shark.
Fifty feet long
and weighing over 20 tons.
The biggest fish alive today.
In the last 15 years,
the water has warmed enough for them
to become frequent visitors.
[eerie, shimmering music playing]
She'd eat these little snipefish
if she could,
but in this three-dimensional space,
they can easily out-maneuver her.
Their safest place is above her.
Keeping her close
while avoiding that mouth.
This team of little fish
might have escaped for now,
but you don't get to be the biggest fish
in the sea without a trick of your own.
She has the largest inner ear
of any animal,
giving her extraordinary hearing.
And she now turns that sense
to her advantage
by homing in on the rumbling sounds
of a distant commotion.
[low, distant rumbling]
This school of fish is being demolished
by giant bluefin tuna
weighing up to 1,500 pounds.
The size and speed of a racehorse.
But she's not here for the bluefin.
She's here for the smaller tuna
that hang around the edge.
Albacore, bigeye and skipjack.
At under two feet long,
they're out-competed by the bluefin.
So, they're still hungry,
and always on the lookout
for a new opportunity.
Just what she needs.
They know that joining forces
with a whale shark
can lead to the biggest feast of all.
She detects another disturbance
and leads her tuna team to intercept.
[dramatic music building]
As they close in,
the small tuna charge ahead
and attack.
The little fish
immediately descend on her,
looking for refuge.
But this time,
the tuna won't let them find it.
They drive the smaller fish up,
trying to trap them against the surface.
She holds back while the tuna corral them
tighter and tighter together.
[dramatic music intensifying]
Creating an immense, twisting fishnado.
[frenzied squawking]
Pinned against the surface,
the tuna can now pick them off
one at a time.
And this is what she's been waiting for.
Thanks to her roundup crew,
she can finally eat her fill,
swallowing hundreds with each mouthful.
She's made the most
of the new opportunities
in today's fast-changing Atlantic.
From the Azores,
the bluefin tuna follow the warm current
to their breeding grounds
in a secluded sea.
The Mediterranean,
where its once fish-filled waters
now look very different.
[foreboding music playing]
Fish farms.
Over the last two centuries,
we have changed parts of the Mediterranean
beyond recognition.
Like many places across our oceans,
industrial technology has allowed us
to reach further and delve deeper
than ever before,
fishing beyond what's sustainable.
We now increasingly raise
schooling fish in farms,
turning their natural team-living
to our advantage,
like the sea bass and sea bream
inside these nets.
[somber music playing]
Depleted wild fish populations
have driven a family
of hungry bottlenose dolphins here.
Outside the nets, wild fish seek out
the company of the captive shoals,
as they feel safer together.
But it provides the dolphins
with an easy meal.
[echolocation trilling]
Little of the great current flows through
the enclosed waters of the Mediterranean.
So it heats more than the open ocean,
leading to greater evaporation
and a saltier sea.
Even these farmed fish
will struggle to grow
in waters that are
increasingly hostile to life.
Is this a glimpse of the future
for all our oceans?
And if so, is this the future we want?
For the fish
for their hunters
and for ourselves.
Temperatures aren't just rising
in the Mediterranean.
Over its four-year journey,
traveling the length of the Atlantic,
the great current has accumulated
a vast amount of heat,
carrying enough warmth to create
a milder climate across Northern Europe,
raising temperatures
by up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
[intense, overwhelming music playing]
Out at sea, this fuels extreme weather.
Today, conditions in the North Atlantic
are becoming wilder.
And surviving winter on the open ocean
is getting harder.
[intense music trailing off]
[somber, pensive music playing]
Here in Iceland, increasingly wild
conditions are enough to test
one of the strongest relationships
in the entire Atlantic.
[lilting, serene music playing]
This puffin is waiting
for his lifelong partner.
[cawing]
His one true love.
He is just one of 100,000
waiting for their mates to return home
after eight months apart.
His partner is still far out at sea,
hunting and building up her strength
for the nesting season.
So, he better get their burrow ready.
[cheeky music playing]
For male puffins,
the first chore is
a little spring cleaning.
They only have one chick a year,
so everything must be just right.
A few soft furnishings
and he's ready to show off his work.
[soft, pensive music playing]
But she's nowhere to be seen.
He just needs to be patient.
In the ten years they've been together,
she's never let him down.
But this devoted puffin
can't just sit around.
[wind rushing]
After all that home building,
he's earned some time off.
[gentle, eccentric music playing]
And it looks fun.
Especially when the wind picks up.
[eccentric music building]
All around him,
happy couples are reuniting,
but there's still no sign
of his special someone.
[thunder rumbles]
[plaintive yawp]
Until recently, puffin pairs would return
within days of each other.
But depleted fish stocks
and worsening winter storms
make fishing harder.
And his mate won't leave
the fishing grounds
until she's ready to produce an egg.
Some females no longer return home at all.
[delicate, enchanting music playing]
Finally!
[caws]
After eight long months apart.
[knowing yawp]
[sweet, cheery music playing]
Surely one of the Atlantic's
most faithful partnerships.
[caws]
Now, onto the important business
of making a puffling.
For these puffins, and for all life
in the increasingly wild North Atlantic,
the warming ocean
presents huge challenges.
But, beyond our gaze,
nature is responding.
Fish are on the move,
in search of a new home.
Surviving populations of cod,
capelin,
and tuna
are swimming further northwards,
moving with the global ocean current
towards the fastest-changing ocean of all.
Next, the current surges
into the Arctic Ocean.
[stirring, adventurous music playing]
Bringing with it warm water,
which is thinning the ice
and opening up
this once-impenetrable ocean.
To stay alive,
everyone here must go to new extremes.
[quirky outro music playing]