By Nicole Yi, POPSUGAR
Just in case you forgot how amazing Mother Nature truly is, BBC America's Planet Earth: Blue Planet II is here to remind you. The Emmy-winning Planet Earth franchise premiered on Jan. 20 and will continue to air every Saturday for a total of eight episodes. Production for this season spanned over four years and included filming on every continent and across every ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Antarctic.
[post_ads]Not only did the Blue Planet II crew capture incredible footage of species beyond our imagination, but producer Orla Doherty and her team were also the first humans ever to dive 3,280 feet into the Antarctic in a submersible. Another noteworthy moment included filming creatures seven miles down into the ocean — a point we never knew life was possible.
See photos from this season that will take your breath away.
"Here, turtles are serviced by blennies and surgeonfish who rid them of algal growth, parasites and dead skin. In return, these fish receive a nutritious meal."
"Short-finned pilot whales, in the Atlantic Ocean, are highly sociable with strong family bonds. As a result, they are rarely seen alone."
"The false killer whale is actually a type of large dolphin, mainly found in the open ocean. They are a highly effective predator that have been seen harassing other dolphins and whales, but uniquely off New Zealand they have formed long-lasting bonds with the bottlenose dolphin."
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A feather star dancing in the Antarctic Sound.
"These invertebrates attach themselves to the seabed or to another benthic invertebrate, such as a sponge. They use their long arms to filter particles from the water column. But they can also lift off the seafloor and swim, with the grace of a ballerina, to a new anchorage."
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"When a female kobudai reaches a certain size and age, she can undergo a remarkable transformation — turning from a female into a male! Once the change has occurred the new male competes with other males for the right to mate with females."
"The bond between mother and calf is very strong, reinforced by vocal communication and their strong sense of smell."
"The venomous Portuguese man-of-war is not a jellyfish but a siphonophore, a colonial animal made up of specialized individuals working together. It is also known as 'floating terror' as it sails with the wind, trailing tentacles that can deliver a vicious sting — painful to humans but paralyzing for fish."
"Females live in 'nursery schools,' bringing up their calves together in a team effort."
"Ochre seastars are the main predators of limpets in rockpools. But the limpets are known to fight back."
"While attempting the first-ever manned submersible dive to a depth of 1,000 meters, the team were able to document temperature changes that are happening here."
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"Strict management of the herring fishery in Norway has saved it from complete collapse. The herring numbers are now so numerous, they have drawn in huge numbers of humpback whales and are thought to sustain perhaps the largest gatherings of orca anywhere in the world."
"Elevated sea temperatures can cause corals to bleach white and potentially die. While filming for the series, the Great Barrier Reef suffered the worst bleaching event on record — approximately two thirds of shallow water corals on the reef were affected."
"Purple urchins cluster in kelp forests off the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa."
"The meadows are comprised of many species including the seagrass Amphibolis Antarctica. They support great populations of seagrass grazers, such as the green turtle and the manatee as well as their predator, the tiger shark."
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"A submersible hovers above the edge of a brine pool, a hyper-saline lake 650-meters deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Its waters are toxic to almost anything that strays into it. Yet, paradoxically, its shores support a dense carpet of life."
"Humpback whales have only recently been observed coming into the fjords in Northern Norway to feed on vast shoals of herring. They use their enormous mouths to lunge through schools of fish filtering out the water with large baleen plates (brush-like teeth)."
"Surfing may be a form of play in bottlenose dolphins, which is important in developing social and cognitive skills."
"Sperm whales frequently carry passengers on their bodies — suckerfish called remora that attach themselves to the whale with a suction plate on the top of their head."
"They are adept at hunting within the kelp fronds and sometimes appear to hunt in packs."
"These crabs are the favorite food of moray eels and octopuses, which wait in ambush for them."
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"The crew named the fish 'Percy the Persistent,' because it took him an hour to break open a clamshell, so he could eat its contents."
"These top predators gather in a shallow lagoon to predate fledgling birds as they learn to fly — even leaping out of the water to catch them as they fly overhead."
"A vast, deep canyon at the head of the bay is the source of great upwellings of nutrients for seasonal phytoplankton blooms. They, in turn, feed macroplankton, which become food for the shoaling fish. This is what attracts the whales."
Just in case you forgot how amazing Mother Nature truly is, BBC America's Planet Earth: Blue Planet II is here to remind you. The Emmy-winning Planet Earth franchise premiered on Jan. 20 and will continue to air every Saturday for a total of eight episodes. Production for this season spanned over four years and included filming on every continent and across every ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Antarctic.
[post_ads]Not only did the Blue Planet II crew capture incredible footage of species beyond our imagination, but producer Orla Doherty and her team were also the first humans ever to dive 3,280 feet into the Antarctic in a submersible. Another noteworthy moment included filming creatures seven miles down into the ocean — a point we never knew life was possible.
See photos from this season that will take your breath away.
1
Green turtles in Sipadan, Borneo, competing for a spot at a cleaning station.
2
Short-finned pilot whales traveling as a pod in the Atlantic Ocean.
3
A bottlenose dolphin traveling with false killer whales off the coast of the North Island in New Zealand.
4
A feather star dancing in the Antarctic Sound.
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Two male kobudai fighting in Japan.
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A walrus mother and calf resting on an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean in Svalbard.
7
Portuguese man-of-war swimming at dawn.
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A pod of female sperm whales.
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Ochre seastars on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
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The scientific research vessel M/V Alucia in Antarctica.
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A humpback whale feeding on herring.
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A bleached section of Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
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Purple urchins showing off in South Africa.
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Seagrass meadows in Shark Bay, Australia.
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15
A hyper-saline lake deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
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A humpback whale in the fjords of the Atlantic Ocean in Northern Norway.
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Bottlenose dolphins surfing off the Wild Coast in South Africa.
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A sperm whale in the Indian Ocean.
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A sevengill shark hunting in a South African kelp forest.
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A Sally lightfoot crab in Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.
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21
An orange dotted tuskfish in Australia.
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Giant trevally patrolling an atoll in the Indian Ocean.
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Humpback whales feeding as a pod off the coast of Monterey, CA.
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