Epic Ocean Animal Battles Love Nature
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00 Monsters of the deep, the stuff of myth and legend.
00:05 They are supreme killers.
00:12 Over the last 50 years,
00:18 there have been 53 fatal shark attacks
00:21 in Australian waters.
00:26 But usually, these so-called man-eaters
00:29 prefer prey of a different flavor.
00:33 Hammerhead sharks hunt stingrays.
00:38 Tiger sharks attack and kill turtles,
00:44 and even other sharks.
00:47 But there is a giant amongst their number
00:50 with a taste for warm-blooded victims.
00:54 It's the largest of all flesh-eating sharks,
00:57 the great white,
01:01 one of the most feared predators on Earth.
01:05 But it is not human flesh
01:06 that whets this monster's appetite.
01:09 Inhabiting the colder coastline of Southern Australia,
01:14 fur seals make for tempting appetizers.
01:17 While sea lions are the main course,
01:21 the colonies here make up a significant part
01:24 of the great white's diet.
01:25 This alpha male sea lion watches over a group of females
01:32 and their pups.
01:33 On land, they appear cumbersome and clumsy.
01:39 But once they enter the water,
01:48 it quickly becomes apparent that they are in their element.
01:53 Sea lions are fast, agile, and elegant swimmers.
01:59 Their streamlined bodies enable them
02:03 to efficiently chase down prey species
02:06 like crustaceans and cuttlefish.
02:08 But the sea lions aren't the only marine predators
02:14 to prowl the chilly waters of the great Southern Ocean.
02:19 And all this activity does not go unnoticed.
02:23 A nightmare of the deep approaches.
02:29 Great white sharks can detect the scent of prey species
02:38 from great distances.
02:40 For this 15-foot-long monster,
02:44 the sea lion hunting ground is a smorgasbord.
02:48 Busy with their own hunt,
02:50 the adult sea lions are oblivious to the approaching threat.
02:55 And the great white seizes the opportunity
02:58 to target one of the pups.
03:00 Weighing around one ton,
03:07 it breaches the water's surface at over 30 miles an hour.
03:16 Returning to the beach,
03:18 the adult sea lions have one less mouth to feed.
03:22 Even the most attentive of parents
03:26 have little hope of defending
03:28 against such an overwhelming force of nature.
03:31 The common octopus.
03:35 He's on the hunt for unsuspecting prey.
03:39 (gentle music)
03:41 In this environment, the octopus is a lethal predator.
03:50 Regarded as one of the most intelligent
03:57 of all invertebrates,
03:59 he's mastered the art of life on the rocky shore.
04:08 Examining every nook and cranny,
04:11 he can move freely between the zones
04:13 that make up this turbulent, changeable world.
04:17 Armed with eight dexterous tentacles
04:21 lined with powerful suckers,
04:23 he poses a huge threat
04:25 to his smaller invertebrate neighbors.
04:28 While most of his mollusk relatives
04:35 have developed hardy shells
04:37 to protect them in this environment,
04:39 the octopus has traded this security
04:43 for the ultimate mobility and agility.
04:46 Without a skeleton,
04:50 this octopus's arms can go more or less anywhere.
05:03 He avoids getting tangled
05:05 thanks to a special chemical produced by his skin,
05:09 which sends a message to his suckers,
05:11 preventing them from clinging onto any part of his body.
05:15 Just as well if he's going to snare his favorite meal,
05:24 a meaty crab.
05:25 The octopus's agility protects it against the sun and air.
05:33 It can keep itself moist
05:35 simply by sliding into the nearest pool.
05:38 As long as his gills are moist,
05:43 he can spend extended periods out of the water.
05:46 He is a master of camouflage,
05:53 thanks to his skin.
06:00 This skin is made of many fine layers,
06:04 each packed with specialized cells
06:07 that can change color or texture.
06:09 Even more remarkable,
06:14 the skin itself can sense changes in light and shade,
06:19 thanks to light-sensitive cells.
06:21 Coupled with the octopus's large
06:25 and highly sophisticated eyes,
06:28 this helps the animal create exactly the right palette
06:32 of colors and textures to disappear.
06:35 Soon, that complex cloak of invisibility will pay off.
06:43 The rising tide is sweeping over the platforms
06:50 and reclaiming rock pools,
06:52 opening the windows of opportunity
06:58 for the lurking predators.
07:00 The octopus has struck.
07:16 The crab's fierce pincers are now rendered useless
07:21 by the octopus's suckers.
07:27 Disarmed and immobilized,
07:30 the crab will not escape from this death grip.
07:33 With a minimum of fuss,
07:40 the octopus gets to work on killing its victim.
07:44 It doesn't take long.
07:47 Under the folds of its body and legs,
07:52 its sharp beak is scraping through the underside
07:54 of the crab's shell.
07:56 (ominous music)
07:58 The shell, pulled in half and eaten clean,
08:17 is carefully pushed to one side.
08:23 At last, all that's left are disembodied remains
08:27 and a very satisfied octopus.
08:29 The peacock mantis shrimp.
08:37 Otherworldly in appearance,
08:42 there's more to this odd creature than meets the eye.
08:45 It's a formidable predator.
08:51 (ominous music)
08:54 Its bizarre appearance is the result
08:56 of 80 million years of evolution.
09:00 With an appendage for every occasion,
09:04 the peacock mantis shrimp is the Swiss army knife
09:08 of the marine world.
09:09 Five pairs of legs for feeding.
09:19 Three pairs of legs for walking.
09:22 Two pairs of antennae for reception.
09:26 10 gills for breathing.
09:29 Two eye stalks bearing an extraordinary pair
09:35 of compound eyes.
09:37 And even a set of windscreen wipers.
09:41 But of its 34 appendages,
09:45 it's those club-shaped limbs at the fore
09:48 that make it a true killer.
09:51 At just six inches, he punches well above his weight.
10:01 His hunting strategy is one of brute force.
10:08 Understandable when prey species include
10:13 the well-armed and well-armored.
10:17 Not to mention, well-camouflaged.
10:20 But camouflage is of little use
10:26 when hunted by a peacock mantis shrimp.
10:28 His eyes are amongst the most complex in the animal kingdom.
10:35 While human eyes have just three color photoreceptors,
10:41 he has 12, with the capacity to see far beyond
10:46 the human visible spectrum.
10:48 Very little escapes his attention.
10:51 While the crab's defenses are formidable,
10:58 this seasoned brawler treats them with contempt.
11:02 He's more than a little territorial
11:06 and knows exactly who's moving through his patch.
11:09 Especially those of the tasty variety.
11:15 (dramatic music)
11:17 Unaware of the mantis shrimp's presence,
11:20 the crab strays close.
11:22 Too close.
11:25 With the velocity of a .22 caliber bullet,
11:33 the mantis shrimp's strike is the fastest
11:38 in the animal kingdom.
11:44 The assault is so fast that friction
11:47 makes the surrounding water boil.
11:49 The devastating punch knocks limbs off the victim
12:03 and delivers a quick death.
12:05 With built-in cutlery at his disposal,
12:09 his home-delivered crab meat meal is ready to eat.
12:14 (upbeat music)
12:17 (upbeat music)
12:19 Get closer to nature right here on YouTube.