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In a remote corner of Southeast Asia lies the Coral Triangle. A cluster of the richest coral reefs in the world. As in any crowded metropolis, there is a fierce struggle for space, But the reef is also a place full of opportunity. She specializes in crab hunting. However, the cuttlefish has an extraordinary talent Its skin contains millions of pigment cells, with which it can create ever-changing colors and patterns
cuttlefish may be smart, but a shark is bigger. New goal, but the same exciting technique For those who manage to settle in these bustling underwater cities, the rewards can be great. Nomadic ant. It may look like a tangle of a million individuals, but make no mistake. The colony acts as one unit. A superorganism with a sensory system of 2 million antennae. A skeleton created from the living bodies of workers. A defense system of soldier ants, ready to act at any hint of danger. A
digestive system that processes piles of food deep inside. Even a coordinated system for disposing of all waste. These are insects that, thanks to teamwork, exceed individual sizes. Every day she sends a silent squad into the forest in search of food. It does not use scouts like other ants. Instead, a huge search party is advancing into untouched territory. They spread out on a 10-meter front, combing the forest floor. To find prey, ants must first touch it. The irony is that this most successful hide-and-seek player in the forest is almost completely blind. As long as the animal remains still, it is safe.
In a matter of seconds, the prey is pinned to the ground. In a matter of minutes, she is torn apart at the joints. The more the prey resists, the more active the ants become. All along the raid front, prey of all sizes are being driven from their hiding places. Even wasps have to leave their homes when the ants come. It travels over 8,000 km per year, swimming downstream, supported by its broad wing-like fins. But currents can carry promising traces of fatty oils for many kilometers and will lead him to his next meal. After many days of traveling, the smell of food becomes stronger. A dead whale that was recently hit by a ship.
This could be a real feast, but the blue shark has to be careful. Great whites seek to feast on energy-rich whale blubber. Which, as we now know, makes up a significant part of their diet. When the great white is full, smaller sharks , such as the blue shark, take on what's left of the carcass. As the oil from this dead whale spreads further, more and more blue sharks appear. Within a few days, the carcass will be completely free of fat. Then, no longer buoyant due to the lack of fat, it will sink to a depth
The blue shark, having replenished its fat reserves, can now live for another 2 months without food. The giant cuttlefish, the largest of all cuttlefish, Now that the Australian summer is coming to an end, they have one last task to complete. But in this one bay, over 100,000 males compete for the incoming females Among them is a giant, a real Goliath. It probably weighs about 10 kilograms. Stripes of color run across his skin. This is how cuttlefish communicate.
This smaller male could not possibly challenge him. Next to Goliath and under his protection is a female who has just mated with him. It seems the little male has no chance. The female now displays a white stripe along the side closest to Goliath. This is a clear signal that she no longer wants to mate with him. This is just the encouragement the little male needs. It mutes its colors and retracts its tentacles. It's just the right size to mimic a female.
The little male now displays a white stripe, just like a real female, to deter his courtship. By mating with multiple partners, a female provides the greatest genetic diversity for her offspring. The cunning male walks away, his last business completed. So, even among giant cuttlefish, it seems that it's Namib Desert, one of the most open places on Earth. When the sun rises high, everyone takes cover from the extreme heat. While others are hiding, their day is just beginning. ants' long legs lift their bodies above the surface, where it is 10° cooler. But if they stop, they will fry They need to move, or they will suffer the fate of their prey-creatures that have collapsed from heatstroke.
Buried too deep, but it's a good place to cool off. Foraging decisions must be quick. Too big. Back to the nest before they die too. Each of these strange cone-shaped pits is a death trap Here lie antlion larvae, tiny ambush predators with poisonous jaws. Some ants manage to escape, but the ant lion has other tricks. By throwing sand into the air, he creates an avalanche. In this cone of death, the walls are so steep that the sand slips out from under the ants' feet.
When grains of sand fall from the sky, escape seems almost impossible. Phew. Hunting is only possible for 3 hours at low tide, when the muddy shoals are exposed. Razor-sharp oysters cover a significant portion of the shore. Going ashore here can be deadly Hunters need to find a stretch of coastline with the right slope. Too shallow-and they risk running aground. Too steep-and they won't be able to force their prey out of the water.
Working as a team, dolphins surround the fish, driving it to shore. Attacking in perfect synchrony, dolphins create a wave. She carries their prey to muddy shallows. Other fish-eating animals take advantage of their boldness. Herons and gulls follow every hunt. To be the first to reach the fish, dolphins throw themselves high onto the shore. But if they go too far, they risk getting stuck. To prevent fish from slipping between them, dolphins lie on one side. But it comes at a price. Every time they grab a fish, they also grab a mouthful of slime.
Over time, these teeth wear down to the point that older dolphins can no longer hunt like this and have to find other ways to catch fish. The power of the waves creates majestic fortresses, like these rocks in the Arctic, home to tens of thousands of seabirds. The cliff slopes are only accessible from the air and have many secluded corners for those who can get there. But to feed, seabirds still have to master the ocean world around them. He is a fisherman and a father. Both share the burden of raising their one-week-old chick, a puffin, which must be fed five times a day. When fish are scarce, puffins are forced to fly into the
open sea for distances of up to 50 km to reach rich fishing grounds. Once there, they are immersed in another world. Good fishing spots are hard to find, and they have competition. Like puffins, their wings are short and adapted for diving. Puffins can hold their breath for more than a minute and dive to a depth of up to 40 m. After a grueling journey of almost 100 km, these dead ends were almost over. The long, pointed wings of skuas make them faster and more maneuverable. Safely home after a three-hour journey. But where fish numbers are declining, many puffins struggle to get enough food for their chicks. In today's changing seas, being a successful
stepparent is becoming increasingly difficult. Northern Australia has the highest tides in the tropics, exposing vast stretches of coastline. And here lives a truly unusual species-the octopus. Octopuses are marine animals. They live and breathe underwater. During low tide, most octopuses remain locked in their rocky pools. This is the only species specifically adapted to travel over land. It clings to itself using hundreds of tiny suction cups covering its tentacles.
Hunting for crabs, he moves from puddle to puddle. rocky pool may seem like a safe haven, but an octopus's suction cups allow it to move as stealthily in the water as it does on land. Nowhere is safe when this octopus is around.
