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BBC's 'The Blue Planet': Open Ocean
A void. Endless blue stretches in every direction. The sea bed is a staggering eight kilometers down and the nearest land is 500 kilometers away. There is nothing save the burning sun above and the blackened abyss below. How, then, does life exist in the open ocean? This Saturday, BBC’s “The Blue Planet” explores this most challenging of all the ocean’s habitats, where survival rests on knowing where to look and how to get there without using too much energy. 
In the open ocean, any manner of floating flotsam is a huge fillip to the survival chances of both plankton and small fish. Flying fish locate flotsam by sound and then use it to spawn on. Larval trigger fish grow up under the shelter of drifting debris. A floating giant kelp becomes an oasis and a cleaning station, where a group of giant sunfish visits to get parasites picked off by half moon fish. Even more bizarrely, the sunfish present their sides at the surface, actually encouraging a seagull to come and peck parasitic worms from their bodies! Perhaps the best solution for oceanic life is to be large and powerful enough to travel wherever you please. Dolphins use their group skills to increase their chances of locating food. In the Azores, Corey’s shearwaters come in their millions every year, waiting for dolphins. Gliding effortlessly across the ocean, they watch for signs that the dolphins are feeding; then the elegant shearwater can dive several meters below the ocean surface to catch the mackerel it needs to feed its chicks. Oceanic predators do not always head to the same area each year. Oceanic conditions change day by day, so today’s feeding hotspot may not be any good again for years to come. As quickly as they form, the ideal hunting conditions can melt away. The survival odds rest on those predators who can efficiently move on, covering the countless miles at a low energy rate before finding yet another suitable feeding area. But not all journeys are in search of food – the other imperative for survival is successful breeding. In the Mediterranean coast of Spain, several hundred short-finned pilot whales gather to breed. Intelligent, warm-blooded and with a large energy store of blubber, the whales can take time off from hunting to compete socially. It is a mammalian luxury that guarantees that only the most successful individuals will breed, ensuring that these toothed whales can continue to evolve to match the challenges of life in the open ocean. Narrated in Filipino by award-winning documentarist Kara David, BBC’s “The Blue Planet: Open Ocean” airs this Saturday, September 15 on GMA News TV Channel 11.
In the open ocean, any manner of floating flotsam is a huge fillip to the survival chances of both plankton and small fish. Flying fish locate flotsam by sound and then use it to spawn on. Larval trigger fish grow up under the shelter of drifting debris. A floating giant kelp becomes an oasis and a cleaning station, where a group of giant sunfish visits to get parasites picked off by half moon fish. Even more bizarrely, the sunfish present their sides at the surface, actually encouraging a seagull to come and peck parasitic worms from their bodies! Perhaps the best solution for oceanic life is to be large and powerful enough to travel wherever you please. Dolphins use their group skills to increase their chances of locating food. In the Azores, Corey’s shearwaters come in their millions every year, waiting for dolphins. Gliding effortlessly across the ocean, they watch for signs that the dolphins are feeding; then the elegant shearwater can dive several meters below the ocean surface to catch the mackerel it needs to feed its chicks. Oceanic predators do not always head to the same area each year. Oceanic conditions change day by day, so today’s feeding hotspot may not be any good again for years to come. As quickly as they form, the ideal hunting conditions can melt away. The survival odds rest on those predators who can efficiently move on, covering the countless miles at a low energy rate before finding yet another suitable feeding area. But not all journeys are in search of food – the other imperative for survival is successful breeding. In the Mediterranean coast of Spain, several hundred short-finned pilot whales gather to breed. Intelligent, warm-blooded and with a large energy store of blubber, the whales can take time off from hunting to compete socially. It is a mammalian luxury that guarantees that only the most successful individuals will breed, ensuring that these toothed whales can continue to evolve to match the challenges of life in the open ocean. Narrated in Filipino by award-winning documentarist Kara David, BBC’s “The Blue Planet: Open Ocean” airs this Saturday, September 15 on GMA News TV Channel 11.
