CHILDREN CHATTERING AND LAUGHING
NARRATOR: A boy comes running up, and he asks:
"What exactly is the ocean?
What is the sea?"
You could hit him with a lot of statistics and Latin names.
But the answer isn't something you'll find in a book.
To really know what the ocean is, you have to see it for yourself.
You have to hear it
and taste it.
You have to feel its power.
To really know the ocean,
you have to live it.
The ocean is vast,
and most of us only ever experience a small part of it.
One point of view, like that of a marine iguana
gliding through the water off the coast of the Galapagos Islands.
Born of a miraculous mixture of matter and energy,
the ocean is an ancient place.
But it is more than just a place.
In a very real sense, the ocean is alive.
In fact, it was already brimming with life for billions of years
before ancestors of the horseshoe crab first crept up on the beach.
All manner of creatures followed,
gazing toward the heavens with prehistoric eyes.
Then, in the span of one lifetime,
as the human race reached for the stars,
it seems like all of nature got out of whack.
[ROCKET ENGINES BLASTING]
As hard as we try, as long and as far as we look,
no one's ever spotted an ocean like ours out in space.
But we have discovered new galaxies
right here where we least expected, within our ocean.
Get deep enough and close enough inside a drop of water,
the larva of a sea urchin is like an asteroid,
and a crustacean egg
resembles some exotic and uncharted planet.
In the beating of a newborn heart, a world begins.
lf you take a step back, it's easy to see how life itself began:
in a pulse of water
and a splash of sunlight and color.
A little at a time,
new forms of life came rippling through the waters of the world,
spreading and multiplying,
adapting and evolving.
As far as the eye can see,
north and south and east and west,
the ocean smiles at the sky.
Barely scratch the surface
and you will find charging herds in a breathless chase
near the coast of South Africa.
When it's all over,
the dolphins, the birds, the sharks and the whales have had their fill,
but plenty of sardines survive, so life can go on.
When explorers crossed oceans in search of a new world,
they hardly knew what wondrous events were taking place
so close below them.
Below their hulls, Mobula rays went soaring
through the very currents that bore their ships along.
As the wind rippled through their sails overhead,
how could they imagine the unseen silk scarves
rippling through the water below?
The exquisite blanket octopus.
How could they imagine the beauty and grace of the ocean's bounty?
A few short centuries ago,
huge territories were the domain of marine animals.
The ocean belonged to them.
[BARKING]
Sea lions basked in the sun on pristine beaches.
And ever since, the ocean has continued to feed us,
body and soul,
the source of our greatest stories and legends.
Humpback whales sleep peacefully,
side by side and upside down
in their crystal-clear waters.
[WHALES CALLING]
Massive and majestic, they glide along the ocean floor
without disturbing a single grain of sand.
One generation follows the next.
And each mother gently nudges her baby to the surface,
helping him along on his way to breathe.
Merely knowing these creatures exist
isn't enough to tell the stories of their lives.
For that, you've got to get a little closer
and stay a little longer.
You've got to see them jump and turn and swim,
hear them breathe and move.
A sea lion's life is as much about playing as it is about hunting.
A cormorant may be looking for lunch,
but chasing a porcupine puffer fish is all about fun.
Time creeps slowly by on a lazy afternoon,
and the Sally Lightfoot crab tiptoes past the sea lions.
[SQUEALING]
South African fur seal on their way back from the hunt.
The great white shark knows their habits well.
On the beaches of South America,
a select group of orcas have developed a method
for hunting young sea lion.
The blue whale,
half a block long and weighing in at 120 tons,
gobbles healthy helpings of a tiny shrimp-like creature called krill.
On a clear night,
as the ocean draws her secrets close,
the moonlight dances on the waves
and filters down to the coral reef.
Already the crab is on the prowl.
Some peep out from behind their shells to check if the coast is clear.
Others have found a hiding place to settle in for the night.
Sound actually carries farther and faster underwater.
Every crackle and click is registered and understood.
The first flap of a baby shark's fins.
The brush of sand as a moray eel slides along the ocean floor.
Some go scuttling about.
Others seek cover.
A hermit crab who has put on a little weight
needs more spacious accommodations.
Some dine.
Some try to blend into the landscape.
Some stake out their territory.
Busy taking out the trash, the mantis shrimp keeps a sharp lookout.
He doesn't take kindly to trespassers.
So if he finds one,
look out.
Meanwhile, a sea slug called the Spanish dancer
cuts a swath through Australian waters like a whirl of a flamenco skirt.
For many creatures on this planet, life began in the sea.
Some have returned to the sea.
The dugong's ancestors lived on land.
Now he grazes in underwater pastures.
And the plants and flowers and grass he eats
once grew on dry land as well.
The green turtle, too, returned to the sea.
Of course, every once in a while, they have to come up for air.
From the sea to the shores, and back to the sea.
Sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach.
Hatched by night, baby sea turtles can make it to the water, no problem.
But born in broad daylight, it's a different story.
One in a thousand may reach the sea, enough for the species to carry on.
Baby turtles don't make much of a meal for frigatebirds,
so they share an entrée with the sailfish.
There is more than sharing going on in the ocean.
Some species depend on one another.
Immune to the paralyzing venom of the sea anemone,
clownfish hide in her tentacles.
Down here, it's like nature has given everything a try.
Every color,
every way of life,
every shape.
Now, the venomous stonefish isn't very fast or agile.
But patience and disguise make him a fearsome predator.
The lionfish goes still and silent when he's hungry.
Both make fast food of damselfish.
Big fish eat little fish,
but not always, and not everywhere.
There are fish-operated grooming stations under the sea
with patient customers and busy cleaners.
As tempting as it may be,
it's never a good idea to swallow your dental hygienist.
Some need a whole team
for a full-body scrub.
Sweetlips just needs a touchup.
The ribbon eel can come unraveled.
The cuttlefish is a master of illusion.
After the magic show,
time for a garden eel and a razorfish ballet.
Like soldiers marching into battle,
spider-crab battalions face off in Australia's Melbourne Bay.
There's a time to dance, a time to fight.
There is also a season for travel.
Humpbacks set out on their long journey
to their summer feeding grounds near the polar regions.
The blue whale, the largest animal in the history of the world,
is on the move as well.
The ocean sunfish is a vagabond
who doesn't mind a few horse mackerel tagging along for company.
The blue shark's passenger is a stowaway.
Sperm whales gather in families.
When the males grow up,
they leave their mothers and travel on their own.
A cloud of shad rides in the wake of a whale shark
as he roams the open ocean
for as long as they can stay away from his mouth.
The yellowfin tuna can make some serious time,
speeding through the ocean from east to west and west to east.
Dolphins are more acrobatic.
They race, feed, leap and play, seemingly all at once.
Hang on tight. It's gonna be quite a ride.
As the sun sets over Costa Rican waters, the dolphins are still living it up.
All that strength and energy depend on a healthy, thriving and resilient ocean.
One good sign of health for our oceans is the mere existence of older fish,
like this Asian sheepshead wrasse in the China Sea.
To wear that mask of wisdom,
you have to survive in unspoiled waters for a very long time.
Of course, if you've seen one elderly Asian sheepshead wrasse,
you've seen them all.
There are still unspoiled places
where the sea is wild and clean.
There are places where every strange face tells a story,
with some unexpected twists.
There are places where winged dragons really do exist.
The leafy sea dragon lives his whole life
in the same patch of water at the same depth.
Try to move him and he'll die.
There are places where aliens gather, no makeup or costumes needed.
When it comes to more practical matters like using tools,
the sea otter is front and center.
They use rocks to crack open shells and get at the tender morsel inside
while soaking up the rays in Monterey Bay.
The sea provides not only food and shelter, but wide-open spaces.
So every community is free to swim
just as far as their flippers or feet or fins will take them.
Alaskan feeding grounds still await our weary travelers.
A few orcas live here all year round.
After thousands of miles, the humpbacks finally arrive.
Here, the fishing is good, and there's plenty of room to live large.
They make bubbles in the water to form a fishing net.
When everything's ready, a cry rings out,
and it's time for the feast.
Human nets are not made of bubbles.
The great bluefin tuna of the Mediterranean
is now in danger of extinction.
Through overfishing and bottom trawling,
staggering numbers of unwanted creatures
get caught and killed.
Bycatch.
Throwbacks.
Discards.
Travelers who will never reach their destination.
Though in the space of one human lifetime
countless species have been threatened,
the ocean fights on.
And anyone who knows the sea will tell you of her power.
The human race reached for the stars and paused to look back
at the ocean's blue waters from outer space.
We watch her now all the time.
We see how she moves and we take her temperature.
And when she hurts, we can measure her pain.
Using satellite imagery,
you can see how pollution runs out of rivers,
penetrating like veins into the deep,
spewing poison all around.
We have littered the ocean with hundreds of millions of tons of trash,
human objects which challenge each creature
to find a new way or a new place to survive.
Human indifference is surely the ocean's greatest threat.
Yet even now, at opposite poles of the Earth,
animals thrive in the icy wild.
The leopard seal still reigns supreme in the Antarctic.
Penguins still waddle over the frosty landscape,
searching for a break in the ice.
They still fly gracefully through the freezing waters.
Though as figure skaters, they leave something to be desired.
This is the ocean too,
where flightless birds soar under a blanket of ice.
Here, the mother seal still coaxes her child
into the water for the first time.
Parenting takes a lot of patience.
Near the North Pole, another seemingly untouched Arctic vista
where all kinds of creatures depend on the sea for nourishment.
lf dragons really do exist,
this is where you'll find the narwhal,
unicorn of the sea.
[WHALES CALLING]
Beluga whales vocalize,
each expressing himself with his own sound.
The story of the ocean is one of fierce and natural struggle for survival,
but also surely one of tenderness.
With rising temperatures,
massive sections of ice floe are melting away.
Arctic waters will soon be open to commercial navigation.
What will become of those who live there?
The animals themselves cannot stand up for their survival.
The cries of endangered species will remain unheard.
Yet never has the will to protect them been so strong.
More and more, people all over the globe slip into that weightless world,
crossing into a universe of wonder and mystery.
A magical world where even the tiniest of creatures
may shed some new light on how our universe came to be.
They roam through dense forests, flourishing in the depths.
They look and listen,
searching for answers to age-old questions,
discovering brand-new mysteries instead.
They marvel at a world where giants can fly.
A world where our greatest fears may prove unfounded.
Where the most gruesome face may just hide a smile.
Where presumed enemies could turn out to be harmless neighbors,
even companions for an afternoon swim.
Now you've met them.
Now you know them,
not as mere specimens or concepts or lessons,
but as living beings who share a fragile planet with us.
Every breath we take and every drop we drink
depends on a healthy ocean.
Now her life depends on us.
So instead of asking "What exactly is the ocean?"
maybe we should be asking:
"Who exactly are we?"
[DEMI LOVATO AND JOE JONAS "MAKE A WAVE" PLAYING]
[WATER BUBBLING]
[WHALES SINGING]