Nature Documentary 15 Blue Planet

Because of the vastness of the ocean, even the largest animals that have ever lived on this planet are small.

The blue whale is a giant in the ocean, with a length of 30 meters and a weight of more than 200 tons. It is much bigger than the biggest dinosaur. Its tongue is as heavy as an elephant and its heart is as big as a car. Some blood vessels of blue whales are so wide that some of us can even swim in them.

The tail fin of a blue whale in the ocean is as wide as the wing of a small plane. The streamlined shape of the blue whale is nearly perfect, which enables it to sail at a speed of 20 nautical miles. It is one of the fastest animals in the ocean.

As the largest animal in the ocean, its food is one of the smallest creatures in the ocean-krill, a crustacean with a length of only a few centimeters. Krill will gather in the shallows and dye the seawater red. A blue whale can eat 40 million krill a day. Apart from knowing the huge size of the blue whale, we can say that we know very little about it, and its migration route is still a mystery. We have no idea.

As we all know, our planet is a blue planet, and 70% of the earth's surface is covered with water. The Pacific Ocean alone covers half the earth. Even if you fly across the Pacific Ocean, you should fly continuously 12 hours. You can only see a small piece of land except the sea.

This new story will completely uncover the natural history of our ocean planet, from the familiar land to the mysterious ocean abyss.

As far as capacity is concerned, the ocean occupies 97% of the earth's living quarters, and the number of organisms bred in the ocean far exceeds that of terrestrial organisms, but the distribution of organisms in the ocean is uneven, which is determined by the nutrient-rich ocean current direction and sunshine intensity. In this part, we will see how these two forces interact from coral reef waters to polar wasteland, thus controlling the distribution of life in the ocean.

The power of the ocean controls our planet and has a far-reaching impact on global weather. Water evaporates from the ocean and becomes clouds, which can form storms and finally land on the earth. The waves beating on the coast are the most powerful proof of the power of the ocean. Waves form far away from the ocean, where even a gentle breeze can cause ripples, which will gradually become waves.

In the open sea, without obstacles from land, this small storm will eventually become a huge wave. It won't begin to weaken until it reaches shallow water. When the waves approach the land, the water below will slow down because of contact with the land, but the water below will still move at a high speed, so the waves begin to roll up and down and finally form a big wave.

The ocean is constantly flowing, and huge ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream, keep seawater circulating on the earth. These ocean currents are the main determinants of the distribution of organisms and nutrients in the ocean, and they have much greater influence than other factors.

An island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is actually the top of a mountain. It rose abruptly from the bottom of several thousand meters, and the nearest land was 300 miles away. Isolated undersea mountains like this create an oasis on the sea, which makes life flourish in the endless Wang Yang. However, without the factors of deep ocean currents, many creatures swimming on the island would not appear here at all.

Deep in the seabed, ocean currents collide with the side of the island, bringing up rich nutrients in the deep sea. The turbulent ocean currents attract rich life. Most of the fish here have lived here for a long time. They eat plankton, that is, plants and animals suspended in seawater. They thrive because of the nutrients brought by ocean currents at the bottom of the sea. These plankton also attract guests from the vast sea-tuna.

Animals that feed on plankton are easy to catch. These activities attract other bigger predators-sharks, hundreds of sharks. White-eyed mako sharks are generally ocean-going cruise species, but in the submarine mountains of the eastern Pacific Ocean, such as Coco Island, Mapello Island and Galapagos Islands, they attract groups of white-eyed mako sharks, and the number is even close to 500. White-eyed mako sharks are particularly good at catching damage.

Hammerhead sharks often gather in the ocean, thus forming the largest shark group in the ocean. Sometimes thousands of them swim around a submarine mountain at the same time, but food is not the reason why they are here. They came here for other reasons.

Some local creatures can provide cleaning services for hammerhead sharks, which is why they come here in droves, not far from Wan Li. After the last El Nino year, the ocean temperature rose abnormally, causing many sharks to suffer from mold infection, and the number of hammerhead sharks coming to Haidishan reached a record.

(Parts 15A: Blue Whale, Down the Mountain-Paradise for Fish)

Mother Earth, the home of the same life.

Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility.

Love animals, you and I walk together.