“Shallow Seas” is a documentary film produced by Planet Earth for BBC that explores the interaction of aquatic species with their respective environments. The shallow seas cover 8% of the oceans representing hundreds of miles before the sea floor reaches the darkness. Nevertheless, it accounts for a great abundance of marine life.
The documentary begins with the humpback whales as they arrive at the equator. Here the calf finds the perfect environment to be nurtured and strengthened because of the warm waters with few predators. During the five months of growth, the mother relies on fat storage for survival because these waters are deficient in nutrients. The feeding grounds are at the Poles where the mother and calf will soon migrate.
Another amazing aquatic animals, the coral reefs inhabit the shallow seas. …show more content…
Along the coast of Queensland, Australia, corals spread over 1000 miles to form the iconic Great Barrier Reef that is visible from space. However, the greatest marine species diversity can be found in Indonesia because it lies at the cross between the Indian and Pacific Ocean. There, corals thrive by building a mutualistic relationship with algae, which grow in the tissue of the polyps. Seahorses find refuge in corals by blending in to protect themselves from predators. The venomous banded sea snakes display an interesting behavior. They formed an alliance with the yellow goatfish, which benefits both hunters and leaves their prey hopeless.
Moreover, the Western Australian shallows shelter the largest aquatic herbivore, the dugong that grazes the underwater meadow of seagrasses. In the same waters, the bottlenose dolphins mastered a new hunting technique that allows them to catch fish a few centimeters offshore by stomping their tails and using momentum to hydroplane the water. Another inhabitant of the temperate shallows is the krill, which is the most abundant animal by weight of the
The documentary begins with the humpback whales as they arrive at the equator. Here the calf finds the perfect environment to be nurtured and strengthened because of the warm waters with few predators. During the five months of growth, the mother relies on fat storage for survival because these waters are deficient in nutrients. The feeding grounds are at the Poles where the mother and calf will soon migrate.
Another amazing aquatic animals, the coral reefs inhabit the shallow seas. …show more content…
Along the coast of Queensland, Australia, corals spread over 1000 miles to form the iconic Great Barrier Reef that is visible from space. However, the greatest marine species diversity can be found in Indonesia because it lies at the cross between the Indian and Pacific Ocean. There, corals thrive by building a mutualistic relationship with algae, which grow in the tissue of the polyps. Seahorses find refuge in corals by blending in to protect themselves from predators. The venomous banded sea snakes display an interesting behavior. They formed an alliance with the yellow goatfish, which benefits both hunters and leaves their prey hopeless.
Moreover, the Western Australian shallows shelter the largest aquatic herbivore, the dugong that grazes the underwater meadow of seagrasses. In the same waters, the bottlenose dolphins mastered a new hunting technique that allows them to catch fish a few centimeters offshore by stomping their tails and using momentum to hydroplane the water. Another inhabitant of the temperate shallows is the krill, which is the most abundant animal by weight of the