BBC The Blue Planet Disc 3: Coral Seas (2002)

Index

Corals are protected by a hard, limestone skeleton, but bumphead parrot fish bite straight through rock and coral with their powerful jaws. These fish erode the coral and the material they swallow comes out the other end as fine sand. On a single reef they can produce tonnes of sand every year. This soft sand forms beautiful tropical white beaches and eventually creates tropical islands!

A sinister crown of thorns starfish slides on to a coral, spreads its stomach over the polyps and digests them whole. The only protection a coral can hope for is a small crab which takes up residence in the coral's branches and uses its pincers to nip the starfish to see it off.

Night on the reef is a tough time. Moray eels slither around the corals hunting by smell. Whitetip sharks use their electrical sense to trace any movement in the sleeping fish. Feeding frenzies disturb the otherwise eerie calm of the reef.

An entire reef can be destroyed by one big storm: hundreds of years of growth wiped out in a few hours. But out at sea, new life continues to develop and, in time, coral larvae return to colonise the rubble and a new reef grows on the wasteland.

Peter's DVD rating: Breathtaking scenes in this episode includes coral polyps fighting, a Snapping Shrimp colony living in a sponge and fighting off a Polychete Worm. the mating rituals of several species, and the spawning of corals. This is nature documentary at its best.

1:50	Coral larva spawns and grows into colony	3:30	Christmas Tree Worm lives within the coral	4:10	Grouper? and Hawksbill Turtle? cleaned by Cleaner Wrasse
4:55	Whale Sharks feed on plankton	5:30	Coral polyp structure: limestone skeleton	6:55	Inside corals are Algae ("plants"), amount of sunlight regulated by pigments seen in UV light
9:00	Butterflyfish eat coral	9:15	Coral polyps emerge at night by extending tentacles to feed	10:10	Coral polyps fight by digesting rivals
11:40	Crown-of-Thorns Starfish attacks corals, defended by Sangogani Crab? , which eats mucous from the coral	13:25	Humphead Parrotfish eat coral, excrete sand to form beaches	15:25	Sooty Tern?s nest on island
16:40	Jacks prey on shoals of Silversides	17:55	Snapping Shrimp? queen in a colony (like bees) hiding in sponge	19:00	Polychete Worm attacks Snapping Shrimp
20:40	Red-mouthed Grouper? preys on Dartfish	21:15	Red-mouthed Grouper fights Lionfish for territory	22:25	Harlequin Shrimp attack Seastar by flipping it on its back
23:45	Powder Blue Tang feed on Green Algae, and try to chase sway Convict Tangs	26:15	Basket Star crawls out at night to feed	27:40	Mottled Ray uses electroreceptors to hunt in the sand at night
28:50	Oceanic Whitetip Shark also hunt by electroreceptors	31:40	Brown Surgeon Fish mating ritual in the Red Sea	33:10	Fusiliers feed on eggs
32:55	Banded Pipefish courtship dance	36:45	Flamboyant Cuttlefish mating	38:00	Humpback Whale males sing to attract females
40:00	Coral spawning by temperature and tide	43:20	Atlantic Lobster?s migrate to deeper water during stormy season (Caribbeans)	45:05	Reef destruction from storm

1:50 Coral	3:30 Christmas Tree Worm	4:10 Grouper?
4:10 Hawksbill Turtle?	4:10 Cleaner Wrasse	4:55 Whale Sharks
6:55 pigments seen in UV light	9:00 Butterflyfish	9:15 Coral polyps emerge at night
10:10 Coral polyps fight	11:40 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish	11:40 Sangogani Crab?
13:25 Humphead Parrotfish	15:25 Sooty Tern?s	16:40 Jacks
16:40 Silversides	17:55 Snapping Shrimp? queen	19:00 Polychete Worm
20:40 Red-mouthed Grouper?	20:40 Dartfish	21:15 Lionfish
22:25 Harlequin Shrimp	22:25 Seastar	23:45 Powder Blue Tang
23:45 Convict Tangs	26:15 Basket Star	27:40 Mottled Ray
28:50 Oceanic Whitetip Shark	31:40 Brown Surgeon Fish	33:10 Fusiliers
32:55 Banded Pipefish	32:55 courtship dance	36:45 Flamboyant Cuttlefish
38:00 Humpback Whale	40:00 Coral spawning	43:20 Atlantic Lobster?s
45:05 Reef destruction from storm

Index	Dec 25, 2005	Peter Chen