The Blue Planet 1x7

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The sun and moon move billions of tons of water with every turn of the tide. The strongest tides empty entire bays, smash trees on riverbanks, and strand sea creatures on suddenly dry land. Weaker tides control the movements of huge numbers of fish, coaxing stingrays though astounding underwater arches. And as the water recedes, the tide can create unbelievable landscapes - like a sparkling world of salt crystals inhabited only by tiny shrimp and bright pink flamingos.

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1. There is a force sufficiently powerful to move the oceans of this world

2. It is a force, not of this earth

3. The moon is large enough to generate gravity

4. and with sufficient force to pull on the earth,

5. two hundred and thirty thousand miles away

6. As the moon orbits the earth its gravity sweeps across the face of our planet

7. Its power drags a great bulge of oceanic water in its wake

8. - the rising tide

9. The River Amazon in Brazil

10. On some special days the gravitational forces

11. of the moon and the sun pull together - to extraordinary effect

12. A growing tidal wave from the ocean is being forced two hundred miles inland

13. This is a tidal bore

14. Fortunately tidal bores are rare,

15. but the moon does create strong tides out in the world's oceans,

16. on every day of the year

17. The Bay of Fundy, in Nova Scotia

18. The tides here are the largest in the world

19. and have a profound effect on marine life, creating a rich feeding ground

20. A feast that attracts some of the largest diners on the planet

21. Humpback whales

22. But they are not the biggest threat to the herring

23. These are finback whales

24. At seventy tonnes - the second largest animal on earth,

25. but so beautifully streamlined that it is the fastest of the great whales

26. This combination of speed and immense size

27. makes the finback a voracious hunter of schooling fish

28. The Bay of Fundy can attract so many fish, that during the summer,

29. as many as five hundred of these magnificent whales hunt here every day

30. The feeding is best where the tides run strongly

31. So the whales move further into the bay,

32. following tidal rips and searching for fish

33. Their movements are closely watched by flocks of Cory Shearwaters

34. As the whales dive down toward the fish

35. - more and more birds gather, anxious to pick up scraps

36. The flowing tide may provide a feast for the whales,

37. but before long it will turn

38. In just six hours, one hundred billion tonnes of water

39. will flow out of the bay

40. The sea level falling by as much as 15 metres

41. and exposing vast tracts of mud... and sand

42. At first sight a barren place, entirely devoid of life

43. In fact, the damp sand is packed with microscopic life

44. - the meiofauna, feeding in a sandy underworld,

45. quite unaffected by the departure of the sea

46. But life is not all roses in this miniature world

47. A sand bubbler crab - in Northern Australia - it hunts meiofauna

48. Just a centimetre across, the sand bubbler works at breakneck speed,

49. passing sand grains into its mouth,

50. filtering out all the meiofauna and kicking aside the waste

51. The crab will clean every grain of sand within a metre of its burrow

52. Endless practise for the best back heel in the Natural World

53. The crabs work fast because they can only sieve when the sand is damp

54. Remarkably, they work the entire surface of the beach

55. within just a couple of hours of the tide retreating

56. Then they simply return to their burrows and await the next tide

57. Underwater a falling tide is the cue for some bizarre activity

58. These slow moving clams use their muscular feet

59. to bury themselves under the sand

60. If they fail to get under cover,

61. the tide will leave them exposed to the air and they will perish

62. But once underground they can wait deep down in the sand,

63. safe beneath the beach

64. And not a moment too soon

65. June in Southeast Alaska and in just four hours

66. a vast sandy beach is exposed by the falling tide

67. The bears are hungry - at this time of year

68. the pickings on land are few and far between

69. But any food here has long since buried itself deep under the sand

70. To a hungry adult bear that is no barrier

71. - they smell the clams through the sand and simply dig them out

72. For such large animals, they show quite extraordinary dexterity

73. at opening the unfortunate shellfish

74. Cubs try their luck, too, none too successfully!

75. But for the adults the shellfish feast lasts as long as the tide remains out

76. Table Mountain in South Africa

77. Every day the retreating waves leave flotsam somewhere on the beach...

78. and this creature is scenting the currents for the odour of rotting fish

79. The tide carries the scent far into the surf zone

80. Responding to the smell, snails emerge from the sand

81. This is a race against the tide - the snails need to find their meal

82. before the tide leaves it beyond their reach

83. But snails are slow and the tides fall rapidly

84. These, however, are no ordinary snails

85. They can surf!

86. They ride the waves up the beach but all too soon

87. the tide leaves the fish beyond the surf zone

88. Without the sea there's a danger that the snails will lose the scent,

89. but as long as the sand remains damp they can still follow a faint trail to the food

90. Once there they tuck in with macabre relish

91. Good things come to those who wait!

92. Before long the heat of the sun forces them

93. to retreat into the sand to await the return of the next tide

94. February in Britain

95. The falling tide is eagerly awaited by these knot

96. As the water retreats countless small invertebrates

97. are seeking shelter under the mud

98. And with good reason

99. Waders are specialists at probing in the mud,

100. their wide variety of beak shapes designed

101. for reaching different invertebrate dinners

102. Keys that unlock the safety of the tidal flats

103. But within a few hours the tide will turn again

104. Soon the waders are out of their depth

105. and the creatures of the mud are safe once more

106. Underwater incoming tides can create a strong current

107. And flounder are experts at hitching a tidal lift

108. They are shaped rather like a kite - a perfect design for gliding on the tide

109. In Newfoundland on the East Coast of Canada,

110. large numbers of flounder ride the currents up into the shallows

111. They have come to hunt invertebrates that will emerge now that the water is back

112. The pickings in the shallows can be very good

113. The activity has not gone unnoticed

114. But Ospreys can't dive deeply

115. As long as the water is more than a meter deep, the found then will be safe

116. Going too far inshore can be a risky business

117. This fish buries itself completely in the sand at any sign of danger

118. But when the tide floods in again, as long as the coast is clear

119. - these sand lancet will re-emerge

120. After a wait of six hours under the sand, they are desperate for food and,

121. unlike flounder, they head out to sea

122. They are looking for shallow open water,

123. where the tidal currents will concentrate their food - plankton

124. In their untold thousand they stream toward the best feeding grounds

125. Where they simply pick up tiny planktonic creatures from the water

126. But, if they swim too far off-shore in search of food,

127. they risk running into large predators that live out in deeper water

128. Dogfish - small sharks

129. The sand lancet have strayed out of their safe depth

130. The effect of the turning tide can be totally different on a rocky shore

131. Here on the coast of Vancouver Island in Canada the sun bakes the exposed rock

132. It's virtually impossible to dig underground when the sea retreats,

133. so these mussels and barnacles are fully exposed to the heat of the sun

134. - literally cooking in their own shells

135. And the seaweed simply dry to a crisp

136. It can be a wait of many hours before the water returns

137. Throughout each month the size and strength of the tide changes

138. The biggest tides of all happen

139. when the gravities of the sun and moon pull in unison

140. That happens immediately after the new moon...

141. and again after the full moon

142. These are called the spring tides

143. They reveal vast tracts of sea bed that would normally be covered

144. For these racoons it's a chance to look for a seafood feast

145. A mother ventures forth with her kits

146. With the spring tide, they've come further down the beach

147. than smaller tides would normally allow

148. Searching with their extraordinarily sensitive paws

149. - they look for suitable prey

150. With the extreme low tide they could find something special

151. And what could be better than a red rock crab

152. That is, if it weren't for the risk of a painful pinch

153. With large crabs there's no substitute for experience

154. - the mother makes an expert's catch

155. But the kits learn fast!

156. And for those that don't - begging is always worth a try!

157. All too soon the returning tide will cover the racoon's table

158. For all the invertebrates it is a welcome relief,

159. but in rough weather they are exposed to the worst of the waves

160. Even when there are no waves - the incoming tide

161. can create considerable forces underwater

162. The gaps between these small islands on

163. the East coast of Vancouver Island channel the tidal flow

164. As the tide keeps rising, gradually the water flows

165. faster and soon these giant thirty metre

166. long bull kelp plants bend to the current

167. They are sufficiently flexible to cope without too much damage,

168. but there are some spots where the currents are especially powerful

169. This is the Nakwakto Rapids

170. At the turn of the tide, water from almost seven hundred miles

171. of coastal fjords will have to empty through a gap

172. of less than half a mile wide

173. Within a few minutes the current is already picking up speed,

174. until water roars by at over seventeen miles per hour

175. Tidal currents are not always a damaging force

176. - here in the Poor Knight Islands of New Zealand,

177. weak tides run through rock arches,

178. making an ideal resting place for stingrays

179. These rays congregate here in huge numbers every March

180. - they've come to breed

181. The arches funnel the current, which the rays can ride

182. with a minimum of effort, so saving energy

183. Nearby, out in open water, a school of two spotted desmoiselle fish

184. are feeding on plankton and the current

185. is perfect for sweeping their food past them

186. Once the current starts to weaken,

187. there is insufficient food to warrant the risks of swimming

188. about out here in the open

189. So the desmoiselles head off to find shelter en-masse

190. Safety is in numbers

191. More and more desmoiselles pour towards the cave entrances

192. that riddle the Poor Knight's islands

193. Safe at last - inside the cave

194. they are far less exposed to attack from predators

195. Thousands of desmoiselles and blue mao mao wait for the return of the current,

196. when once again they will head out into the open to feed

197. The moon's gravitational pull is weaker nearer to the earth's equator,

198. so the more equatorial the location, the smaller the tides

199. And out here in the Caribbean Sea the tidal movements are slight

200. Even so, they are sufficient to push free swimming plankton in their path

201. These are thimble jellyfish

202. They swim towards the sunlight and invisible boundaries

203. formed by the tidal motion help to herd them together,

204. until they gather in immense swarms

205. They put the tropical sunshine to good use

206. - their brown colour comes from algae that

207. live inside the jellyfish's bodies and photosynthesise energy from the sun

208. In open water they are fairly safe,

209. but the tide is sweeping the whole swarm gently towards the Bahamas,

210. where hungry mouths are waiting

211. Although the sea level does not change much

212. - the tides are still pushing an enormous volume of water

213. from the ocean through the small gaps between the island cays

214. Underwater the tidal currents race past soft corals

215. And on over the sandy banks themselves...

216. It is an immense area of coral sand that is only just submerged at high tide

217. This incoming tide is bringing in a fresh supply of oceanic plankton

218. and razorfish gather at the best spots to catch the pick of the microscopic feast

219. Although there is plenty here for these small fish to eat,

220. gathering in one place makes it easy for their predators to find them

221. A nurse shark is little threat

222. But this sound heralds a quite different danger

223. A bottlenose dolphin

224. It's using its sonar to locate razor fish beneath the sand

225. Once it finds a suitable target it simply digs out its prey

226. The buried fish have no defence against this attack

227. They will simply have to wait and hope they aren't found out

228. This dolphin appears to have a razor fish craving - well, she is pregnant

229. Success, at last

230. The incoming tide sweeps on towards America,

231. flooding across vast flat plains of seagrass

232. They are so shallow that, at low tide,

233. all large fish are forced to retreat into deep water channels

234. Like these nurse sharks... and these stingrays

235. Both predators hunt crustaceans on the seagrass beds,

236. but until the flooding tide brings enough water for them to swim in,

237. they will have to wait

238. So for now this tulip snail it appears safe

239. to patrol the shallows in search of a meal

240. But is it?

241. This I s a rather bigger kind of snail

242. At five kilogrammes in weight, the giant horse conch

243. has little to fear from any shark... and it has a taste for tulip snail

244. Sensing the approaching danger - the snail flees

245. But in a world of snail paces - the conch is something of a Ferrari

246. It calls for desperate measures

247. Exhausted by the effort of its last ditch attempt,

248. the tulip snail is slowly gunned down

249. The tide still has to rise for another hour before the big predators can feed

250. But out on the flats the scent of dying snail wafts away on the tide

251. It's a scent that these hermit crabs are particularly partial to

252. It's vital that the crabs have the best possible protection

253. from the heavy teeth of the waiting sharks and rays

254. For that they need the shell with a perfect fit

255. Today there is new real estate on offer

256. - and competition in this housing market is fierce

257. The action becomes even more desperate

258. when the shell of the devoured snail is ready for release

259. This crab simply can't wait any longer

260. But it's a decidedly risky acquisition

261. The risk paid off handsomely - the new shell is both lighter

262. and stronger than the old home and it's not a moment too soon

263. because the tide is flowing in strongly, flooding the plains

264. At last, the predators are free to start their foraging

265. Both the stingrays and sharks have a highly developed electrical sense

266. which they use to search for buried invertebrates

267. - they can sense minute movements beneath the sand

268. Finding a promising signal, this ray digs out its meal,

269. an unprotected hermit crab would have no chance

270. Within a few hours the tide ebbs out once more,

271. and all the predators are forced to leave

272. They will have to wait until the next high tide

273. before making another feeding foray

274. At certain times of the year called the equinox,

275. spring tides are exceptionally large and rise even higher than normal

276. Now predators can reach the very shallowest fringes of the seagrass flats

277. These two metre long tarpon are heading further inshore still

278. They are heading for the mangroves

279. These flooded forests cover huge areas of the coastal shallows

280. Extraordinarily, the roots of the mangrove trees

281. can live in salt water and they make a perfect nursery for small fish

282. Silversides and snapper find sanctuary in the maze of roots

283. - big predators seldom find a way in here

284. And now the tide is falling once more

285. The water starts losing what little oxygen it contained

286. and quickly becomes stagnant

287. Most predators have abandoned the mangroves,

288. but these tarpon are still here trapped by the falling tide

289. The dissolved oxygen is fast running out,

290. but they have a vital survival technique...

291. they can breathe air

292. Pumped up with fresh oxygen they can easily out

293. manoeuvre the dozy silversides

294. The tide has turned again

295. And this is no ordinary tide

296. Since it is the equinox - the tide is rising fast

297. but now out to sea a hurricane is on its way, forcing the tide yet higher

298. The passing storm leaves large areas of the coast flooded by the sea...

299. and the low lying islands like the Bahamas

300. are even more prone to storm flooding

301. The sun's power here is immense

302. As the tide recedes and the remaining flood water evaporates

303. - a remarkable transformation takes place...

304. The mud is coated with a magical world of salt

305. Any remaining water is extremely salty - very few creatures can survive here...

306. except these brine shrimp

307. And on the water's edge, brine flies

308. Both are the favourite food of an extraordinary animal

309. The Caribbean Flamingo

310. Remarkably, they actually seek out such briny places

311. - they are the best spots for them to find their food

312. And they also provide the protection the flamingos need to raise their young

313. Nesting sites like this are surrounded by corrosive brine

314. It's a formidable barrier to any predators seeking to dine on flamingo chicks

315. The Flamingo takes the precaution of building next

316. Just in case of further flatting

317. Strangely, it's actually the power of the storm tides

318. that gives the flamingos both their food

319. and a perfect habitat in which to breed

320. The breeding of many animals in the ocean

321. is closely co-ordinated with the tidal cycles

322. A half moon in November. It is the time for small tides.

323. Christmas Island in the Pacific

324. Strange happenings are afoot

325. It is one of only a few nights each year

326. when female Christmas Island crabs risk heading down towards the sea

327. Around the island they number in tens of thousands

328. and all of them are laden with hundreds of eggs

329. They have to shed them into the ocean if the eggs are to develop into baby crabs

330. But these are land crabs and they can neither swim nor breathe underwater

331. There is a great risk of drowning,

332. which is why they pick the smallest tides of the month

333. - to minimise the danger

334. The eggs will develop far offshore and in exactly

335. one month's time a great swarm of baby crabs will return,

336. again choosing the perfect tide

337. Whether it's the daily or monthly cycle,

338. tides are the rhythm of the ocean - its pulsing clock

339. For every tide brings opportunity to marine life somewhere in the world

340. Now a spring tide is flooding the shallows and hunters are on the prowl

341. A small group of bottlenose dolphin are working their way

342. inshore to start a quite extraordinary hunting campaign

343. After one successful pass the dolphin move off to start again

344. One animal peels off from the group and swims rapidly in a circle,

345. stirring up the mud and driving the mullet towards the other waiting dolphins

346. It's a remarkable team effort and it is extremely effective

347. The dolphin will feed like this for as long as the tide grants

348. them access to the shallows

349. Eventually the falling tide will force the dolphin to leave the flats

350. and the mullet will be safe once more - until the next high tide

351. Because in the ocean every turn of the tide spells

352. the difference between life and death, somewhere