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An eastern myth says that a sea turtle
carries the universe on its shell

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And no universe could be more colorful
and diverse than this

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The warm sea around the islands of Indonesia

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Indonesia seas have been a cradle
for the evolution of marine life

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Even by the flamboyant standards of the tropics

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This variety and profusion are exceptional

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This turtle's universe is truly
an underwater wonderland

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The fertility of these waters is no myth

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Lying in the heart of Indonesia
is the tiny Spice island of Banda

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In 1988, after sleeping almost a century
Banda's volcano woke into violent life

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Lava cascaded down the mountain

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scorching and smothering everything in its path

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Underwater the island's fringing reef
was totally destroyed

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crushed and scalded under tons of sterile rock

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Ten years on, the volcano's still scarred
by the lava that flow down its northern slope

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On land, the lava is still barren of life

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no plants have found a foothold

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but underwater, it's a very different story

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In just a few years, the corals have returned

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completely covering the rocks
that bury the older reef

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The speed of this rebirth has been astonishing

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The new reef has even more kinds of coral
than the old

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with the corals come fish

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and all the other animals that
depend on the coral for their livelihood

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For all of them, the destruction
of the old reef was an opportunity

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a wiping clean of the slate and a new beginning

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That so many different creatures
took advantage so fast

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is a sign of the richness of Indonesia seas

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The Indonesian archipelago
has over 17000 islands

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stretching 5000km along the equator

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at the crossroads between
the Indian and Pacific Oceans

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Almost every island is an opportunity
for the growth of coral reefs

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These reefs are the rainforests of the ocean

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and are one reason why Indonesia seas
are so fertile

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At the reef's edge,
underwater cliffs plunge into the deep

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As far down as the sunlight reaches,

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these island walls are crusted with
a vibrant profusion of living things

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In the darkness of the deep below,
life is sparse

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but most of Indonesia seas are shallow

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often shallow enough for light to reach the seabed

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Even islands that don't break the surface
can rise high enough into the sunshine
to support coral reefs

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Oasis of life in what would otherwise
be an ocean desert

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These seamounts attract wanderers,
like the turtle

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Here it can rest from the burden
of carrying the universe

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and with the help from the fish,
even lose a little weight from its shell

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parasites and encrusting algae

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Some fish make their whole living like this

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cleaning others of parasites

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Seamounts are often a rendezvous for these
specialized cleaner fish and their clients

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A shoal of yellow-backed fusiliers
have come to be cleaned

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though the tiny, black and white cleaner wrasse
will have its work cut out with an army like this

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The variety of life in these seas is extraordinary

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but just as striking is the sheer abundance

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For most fish, coral reefs such as at-home

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For bumphead parrotfish, they are food

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Their teeth are fused into a beak,
ideal for biting off chunks of living coral
and encrusting algae

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They sometimes use the bump on their head
to ram corals and break them up

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They can weigh 55k, so they pack quite a punch

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The hard parts of the coral are ground up
and passed through the fish's gut,
coming out the other end as sand

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The reef may be scarred by the grazing

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but the corals grow fast in these sunlit waters

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For cuttlefish, Indonesia's reefs
are both a hunting ground

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and a safe place to lay their eggs

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they hide them in deep crevices in the coral

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These extraordinary creatures
are the comedians of the sea

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Their skin has thousands
of tiny sacs of pigment

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which can expand and contract to give an
almost instantaneous change of color

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You can tell when a female has just laid an egg

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she turns white perhaps a signal
to her attendant male

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After they're laid, the eggs absorb water
and expand

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that wages them firmly into the coral
and makes them hard to dislodge

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but new-laid eggs are still loose

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so they are vulnerable to long-nosed predators

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like butterfly fish

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Reefs are a place to feed and a place to breed

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They can also be a place to hide

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Little fish escape the attentions of larger hunters
by sheltering in nooks and crannies

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too tight for pursuers to enter

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Bigger fish must devise other means of defense

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they gather in huge shoals
hundreds even thousands

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when hunters like tuna attack them
there'll be safety in numbers

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It's hard for a predator
to pick a target in this crowd

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Even if a hunter does single one out,
the twists and turns of the shoal

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distract the pursuer

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There's another hunter on the reef

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but this one's slower and more cunning

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While tuna rely on speed

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the cuttlefish hunts by stealth

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The reason for those shimmering changes
in pattern isn't known

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It could be camouflage against
a wave ripple background

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or perhaps they mesmerize and distract the prey

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Whatever their effect,

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this is a hunter that seldom
misses its target

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It seizes its prey with a pair of modified tentacles

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Its strike is one of the fastest
movements in the animal kingdom

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When hunting is over

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the cuttlefish changes its dinner dress

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The bumphead parrotfish have ended their meal too

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They've ground coral into fine sand

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Parrotfish can be major contributors
to the buildup of sand

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Sand provides a home for garden eels

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These sinuous fish are plankton eaters

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They rely on ocean currents to bring them food

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but they keep their tails firmly
anchored in the sand

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ready to retreat into their burrows
if danger threatens

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With so many pairs of eyes on watch,
any hunter would have to be very fast

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or very well-camouflaged

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A flounder would eat an eel

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but first it has to catch it

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On these scattered islands,

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people reap harvest from both land and sea

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Many believe that bounty flows
from the Goddess of the sea - Nyale

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especially on the island of Sumba

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The object of this extraordinary
mock battle is to shed blood

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an honor to the Goddess and
atonement for the past year's misdeeds

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These days these spears are blunted

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but in years gone by
many warriors would be killed

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The battle takes place each February
just after the full moon

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Nyale was the daughter of the king of the moon

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She gave her life so
the people of the earth would have food

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and now that promise is fulfilled

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Nyale worms

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for believers they're the body of Nyale

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coming to shore to give fertility to the land

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to scientists, they are the reproductive
segments of a marine worm

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Whatever the explanation,
local people find them good to eat

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but the worm's orgy of spawning will soon be over

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so the race is on to catch as many as they can

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The adult worms live hidden in holes in the reef

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And one night after the full moon

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their tail ends break off and
wriggle to the surface

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There they shed eggs and sperm by the million

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The seeds for nyale's return in the years ahead

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This may not look appetizing,
but to the local people, it's a delicacy

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Nyale's gift will be taken home

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and fried

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Nyale comes just once a year

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and the beaches are soon deserted

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but other creatures are more frequent visitors

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Baby turtles

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newly hatched from eggs buried in the sand

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In Indonesia, turtles breed all year round

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As soon as they emerge, these bite-sized morsels
dash for the safety of the water

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The beach is a dangerous place

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especially on one island

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The Komodo dragon

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the largest lizard in the world

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These 3m giants

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are scavengers and hunters

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though much of their diet is carrion

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they will kill quite large animals

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even people

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The dragons live only on Komodo

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and a handful of islands nearby

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They are good swimmers

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but perhaps the strong currents
between the islands

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limit their spread

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Through a unique accident of geography

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these deep narrow channels

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are some of the most treacherous waters
in Indonesia

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The Indonesian archipelago
separates 2 great oceans

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The waters of the Pacific
are piled up by the trade winds

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so they're a foot higher than the Indian ocean
and there's a strong southerly flow

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As it forces its way between the islands

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it creates some of the fastest currents in the world

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For creatures of the reef

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these currents are both a challenge
and an opportunity

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They have to be securely anchored
if they are not to be swept away

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but the flow water brings
a steady stream of food

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The tiny particles of plankton

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are snared by filter feeders

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Each has its own way of trapping them

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seemingly more flamboyant and
ingenious than the last

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These are Christmas tree worms

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Filter feeders operate in all sorts of ways

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some colorful, some elegant,
some down right bizarre

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Sea squirts are simple sacs
with holes at the end

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A sea cucumber spreads a net
of feathery tentacles

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each in turn transfers trapped
food particles to its central mouth

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A porcelain crab combs the current

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with claws fringed with delicate hairs

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But all these filter feeders
have one thing in common

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they rely on flowing water
to bring them food

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Powerful surface currents

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have effects far beyond
their immediate surroundings

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they draw colder water up from the deep

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These upwellings are
the powerhouses of the ocean

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they're rich in nutrients

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the decayed remains of organisms
long dead and sunk to the bottom

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They support massive blooms of plankton

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the minute plants and animals
on which all other marine life

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ultimately depends

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Because they have so many upwellings

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Indonesia's tropical seas

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are some of the most productive on earth

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The plankton may be tiny

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but some of the creatures they support

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are huge

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Manta rays,

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they have a wingspan of 3m

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but they live entirely on plankton combed
from the water that passes through their gills

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Like so many of the fixed creatures of the reef

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they are filter feeders

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but they create their own current as they fly

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Shallow seas support coral and the life
that depends on it

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Away from the reefs and islands,
the open ocean would be a desert

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were it not for the upwellings
that enrich its deep blue water

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These seas are so fertile that ocean wanderers

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like turtles can breed all year round

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they never have to go far
from their nesting beaches

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This one's a male

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distinguished by his long tail

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He's searching for a mate

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Now that he's found her
he'll try to hang on

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until they've mated

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but he may not have things all his own way

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Another male tries to dislodge him

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The challenger is defeated

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Here in the open ocean

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giants can appear out of the blue

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The largest fish in the world

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the whale shark

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12m long, it's like a living reef

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a shelter for shoals of smaller fish
that shadow it on its travels

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The whale shark's mouth is so wide

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it could swallow a man whole

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yet like the manta ray,
this massive creature lives

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entirely on plankton

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it filters water through its gills

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For thousands of years the ocean
has played a vital part

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in feeding Indonesia's peoples

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One group of people live literally on the sea

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This village on stilts is home
to the Baga - the sea gypsies

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The Baga were the hunter-gathers of the ocean

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until recently they lived entirely on boats

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wandering throughout the archipelago

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Now most of them are settled

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but they haven't lost their links with the sea

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Even today, their lives
are closely entwined with the ocean

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A child's pet for instance

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is most likely to be a frigate bird

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The Baga villages are built over coral reefs

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and the sea still provides almost all their food

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From an early age,
children learn how to make a living

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from these tropical waters

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Settling in villages may
have increased the pressure on the reefs

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but the Baga still respect the sea

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Elsewhere in Indonesia

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the close links between people and
their natural world have been broken

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Fishing methods are often far more destructive

251
00:31:55,209 --> 00:31:58,762
they use dynamite, even cyanide

252
00:32:01,990 --> 00:32:05,705
Tradition still permeates all aspects of Baga life

253
00:32:10,340 --> 00:32:13,215
Young women still whiten their faces
with rice flour

254
00:32:13,315 --> 00:32:16,531
as a screen against the fierce tropical sun

255
00:32:24,413 --> 00:32:27,254
For children this is a carefree life

256
00:33:01,710 --> 00:33:04,355
But the children's world is changing fast

257
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:13,040
Their parents and grandparents
gave up nomadic existence

258
00:33:13,140 --> 00:33:14,564
for settled villages

259
00:33:17,541 --> 00:33:20,145
if the younger generation can't find a living here

260
00:33:20,146 --> 00:33:22,143
they may be tempted on to the land

261
00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:27,970
severing the final links between the Baga
and the ocean that was once their home

262
00:33:43,683 --> 00:33:46,578
With so many islands
Indonesia has a longer coastline

263
00:33:46,678 --> 00:33:49,556
than almost any other country on earth

264
00:33:56,312 --> 00:33:57,885
There's every kind of shore

265
00:33:58,624 --> 00:33:59,706
from steep cliffs

266
00:33:59,806 --> 00:34:01,911
to flat sandy beaches

267
00:34:03,930 --> 00:34:06,413
each with its own distinct marine life

268
00:34:08,192 --> 00:34:10,606
Muddy shallows are ideal for mangrove forest

269
00:34:10,706 --> 00:34:15,044
Indonesia has some of the greatest
expanses of mangrove on the planet

270
00:34:16,677 --> 00:34:18,618
These different coastlines are one more reason

271
00:34:18,718 --> 00:34:21,577
for the richness of Indonesia's marine world

272
00:34:21,677 --> 00:34:24,090
and nowhere is that variety greater

273
00:34:24,190 --> 00:34:27,058
than round the island of Sulawesi

274
00:34:31,486 --> 00:34:34,412
Lombok strait, on the northern tip of Sulawesi.

275
00:34:35,391 --> 00:34:38,280
This region has been a centre
for the evolution of marine life

276
00:34:40,301 --> 00:34:42,087
Its scattered reefs and sandy seabed

277
00:34:42,273 --> 00:34:46,426
are a kaleidoscope of
improbable shapes and colors

278
00:35:09,271 --> 00:35:13,083
Here, hunters and hunted
run an evolutionary arms race

279
00:35:13,084 --> 00:35:17,506
developing ever more unlikely ways
of warning and deceiving

280
00:35:20,291 --> 00:35:22,582
Deceit starts with simple camouflage

281
00:35:23,179 --> 00:35:26,058
hunk flounders are easy enough
to see when they are swimming

282
00:35:27,574 --> 00:35:29,304
but what about the one that didn't move

283
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,802
The flounders are master of disguise

284
00:35:34,902 --> 00:35:39,287
they can change both the color
and texture of its skin in an instant

285
00:36:01,099 --> 00:36:04,062
Some animals disguise themselves
as other species

286
00:36:04,883 --> 00:36:08,565
This looks like a sponge but in fact,
it's a predatory frogfish

287
00:36:12,374 --> 00:36:15,340
And this could be its prey - a pipe fish

288
00:36:19,128 --> 00:36:21,581
but a pipe fish looks like part of a feather star

289
00:36:22,481 --> 00:36:24,549
so long as it stays within its waving arms

290
00:36:25,449 --> 00:36:26,770
it's almost invisible

291
00:36:36,370 --> 00:36:38,449
Pipe fish are related to sea horses

292
00:36:38,549 --> 00:36:43,292
and like them, it's the males that
carry the eggs in a special brood pouch

293
00:36:52,443 --> 00:36:55,604
The trumpet fish hides
in the fronds of a sea fan

294
00:36:58,839 --> 00:37:01,065
but what it may not see is the pygmy seahorse

295
00:37:01,165 --> 00:37:02,416
that lives there too

296
00:37:05,245 --> 00:37:07,727
These tiny fish are no longer
than a finger nail

297
00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:10,975
they mimic every detail of their background

298
00:37:14,282 --> 00:37:16,343
Rather than just looking like other species

299
00:37:17,257 --> 00:37:20,706
some animals enlist other creatures'
defenses for their own protection

300
00:37:22,508 --> 00:37:23,869
The Coleman shrimp

301
00:37:23,969 --> 00:37:26,800
lives safe along the venomous spines
of a sea urchin

302
00:37:27,404 --> 00:37:31,482
with its hard outer shell
there's no risk of being stung

303
00:37:37,177 --> 00:37:39,612
To survive in a stinging tentacles of anemones

304
00:37:39,712 --> 00:37:42,532
these clown fish have to take extra precautions

305
00:37:43,395 --> 00:37:46,175
They steal chemical from the anemone
and rub it on to their skin

306
00:37:46,275 --> 00:37:48,584
so it doesn't recognize them as prey

307
00:37:49,403 --> 00:37:53,219
They can live safely in what would be lethal
surroundings for other fish

308
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:00,823
In most tropical seas

309
00:38:00,923 --> 00:38:03,505
clown fish have enemies to themselves

310
00:38:04,387 --> 00:38:07,070
but here in Indonesia, all sorts of other fish

311
00:38:07,170 --> 00:38:08,900
are developing the same immunity

312
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:11,296
Cardinal fish for instance

313
00:38:12,482 --> 00:38:14,646
and hogfish

314
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:18,212
it's beginning to get crowded

315
00:38:21,714 --> 00:38:23,357
This is evolution in progress

316
00:38:23,457 --> 00:38:26,470
from here, the habit could spread
right across the ocean

317
00:38:30,524 --> 00:38:31,395
In Lombok Strait

318
00:38:31,495 --> 00:38:35,586
everything that makes Indonesia's ocean
so rich comes together

319
00:38:36,528 --> 00:38:37,520
a varied coastline

320
00:38:37,620 --> 00:38:40,550
shallow seas warmed by a tropical sun

321
00:38:41,059 --> 00:38:43,183
fertile upwellings from the deep

322
00:38:50,096 --> 00:38:51,915
There's a greater variety of life here

323
00:38:52,015 --> 00:38:54,460
than almost anywhere else in Indonesia

324
00:38:55,255 --> 00:38:58,640
It's enhanced by animals that
come and go with the seasons

325
00:38:59,468 --> 00:39:00,691
Squid come here to mate

326
00:39:00,791 --> 00:39:03,773
but first they must take their partners

327
00:39:03,873 --> 00:39:06,377
in an elegant dance of courtship

328
00:39:47,274 --> 00:39:49,459
The arms race between predators and prey

329
00:39:49,559 --> 00:39:53,083
reaches a peak on Lombok Strait's
open expanses of sand

330
00:39:53,638 --> 00:39:55,948
Out here, there is nowhere to hide

331
00:39:56,878 --> 00:40:00,200
often the best defense is to pretend
to be something else

332
00:40:02,434 --> 00:40:03,940
Not an inedible dead leaf

333
00:40:04,866 --> 00:40:06,219
but a young batfish

334
00:40:10,756 --> 00:40:13,477
It's almost indistinguishable
from the real thing

335
00:40:20,866 --> 00:40:24,548
That movement in the background
isn't a squid swimming past an anemone

336
00:40:25,218 --> 00:40:27,361
but a frogfish flaunting a lure

337
00:40:32,475 --> 00:40:34,995
Predators too use mimicry to deceive

338
00:40:35,712 --> 00:40:37,296
Sooner or later a curious fish

339
00:40:37,396 --> 00:40:40,438
will swim within reach of those waiting jaws

340
00:40:43,132 --> 00:40:45,058
but these aren't taking the bait

341
00:40:49,449 --> 00:40:52,330
Everything about the frogfish is peculiar

342
00:40:53,263 --> 00:40:55,927
rather than swim, it walks

343
00:41:05,141 --> 00:41:06,654
The frogfish is bizarre

344
00:41:07,719 --> 00:41:10,076
but there's another mimic
even more extraordinary

345
00:41:11,064 --> 00:41:14,478
It's only just been discovered
and it's truly amazing

346
00:41:33,460 --> 00:41:35,051
The mimic octopus

347
00:41:35,660 --> 00:41:37,482
It's a masterly quirk change artist

348
00:41:38,245 --> 00:41:40,936
altering not just its shape
but even its behavior

349
00:41:41,569 --> 00:41:44,787
to impersonate a whole range
of other creatures

350
00:41:47,561 --> 00:41:48,378
If danger threatens

351
00:41:50,898 --> 00:41:53,369
a menacing color change is no problem

352
00:42:08,295 --> 00:42:09,748
Time to move on

353
00:42:10,414 --> 00:42:12,616
so it alters its shape to imitate a flounder

354
00:42:13,477 --> 00:42:16,707
flattening its body and
matching the color of the sand

355
00:42:20,484 --> 00:42:22,582
It undulates low across the bottom

356
00:42:23,210 --> 00:42:24,751
just like a real flounder

357
00:42:43,672 --> 00:42:46,185
Most octopus are very vulnerable
in open water

358
00:42:46,285 --> 00:42:48,814
usually they hide amongst rocks or corals

359
00:42:48,815 --> 00:42:53,007
And if they have to flee,
they dart away behind a cloud of ink

360
00:42:53,107 --> 00:42:56,712
but this mimic has another trick
up its sleeve

361
00:43:02,739 --> 00:43:04,831
It alters both shape and behavior

362
00:43:04,931 --> 00:43:07,904
to impersonate a fish that swims
well above the bottom

363
00:43:08,862 --> 00:43:10,120
a lionfish

364
00:43:13,493 --> 00:43:15,477
Lionfish's fins are tipped with venom

365
00:43:15,577 --> 00:43:17,977
so predators learn to avoid them

366
00:43:18,709 --> 00:43:22,305
by its deceit the octopus
shares that protection

367
00:43:28,017 --> 00:43:32,926
Back on the sand, and it's being pestered
by an aggressive damselfish

368
00:43:37,646 --> 00:43:39,329
so it imitates something else

369
00:43:40,653 --> 00:43:41,762
a sea snake

370
00:43:42,671 --> 00:43:45,749
Sea snakes are amongst
the most poisonous animals on earth

371
00:43:45,849 --> 00:43:48,562
They use their venom to immobilize their prey

372
00:43:49,285 --> 00:43:51,977
small fishes like damselfish

373
00:43:56,900 --> 00:43:57,885
If all else fails,

374
00:43:57,985 --> 00:44:01,704
the mimic octopus can always retreat
down its hole

375
00:44:09,271 --> 00:44:13,369
When the ancestors of today's Indonesians
created the legend of the sea turtle

376
00:44:14,199 --> 00:44:18,880
they could have had no inkling of
the true wonders of the marine universe
that lay all around them

377
00:44:19,804 --> 00:44:21,503
hidden beneath the waves

378
00:44:28,592 --> 00:44:32,689
Only now are we even beginning to
understand this remarkable world

379
00:44:33,830 --> 00:44:34,942
and with each new discovery

380
00:44:35,605 --> 00:44:38,969
the reality becomes yet more
extraordinary than the myth

381
00:45:01,448 --> 00:45:04,356
Indonesia never ceases to amaze

382
00:45:05,430 --> 00:45:08,647
It has it all, from the tiny to the huge

383
00:45:09,738 --> 00:45:12,866
Not far offshore within sight of
Sulawesi's volcanos

384
00:45:13,535 --> 00:45:16,673
there's a resident population
of sperm whales

385
00:45:22,401 --> 00:45:25,031
Sperm whales may seem
out of place in the tropics

386
00:45:25,916 --> 00:45:28,611
yet they are not as far from cold water
as you might think

387
00:45:29,494 --> 00:45:31,880
all they have to do is dive

388
00:45:34,977 --> 00:45:37,382
They feed on squid
in the ocean trenches offshore

389
00:45:37,482 --> 00:45:39,574
up to 1000m down

390
00:45:40,558 --> 00:45:44,216
In the darkness of the deep,
it's as cold as any polar sea

391
00:46:08,338 --> 00:46:10,321
They live in family groups of about a dozen

392
00:46:10,421 --> 00:46:12,302
mostly females and young

393
00:46:13,222 --> 00:46:17,184
But each May they're joined by wandering
bulls that swim up from the Antarctic

394
00:46:17,281 --> 00:46:19,447
to search for a mate

395
00:46:33,586 --> 00:46:36,848
The water rings with the bulls' calls
of courtship

396
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:15,506
For the whales this is a brief encounter

397
00:47:16,261 --> 00:47:19,004
In just a few weeks the sea will fall silent again

398
00:47:19,689 --> 00:47:23,195
and the bows return to the ice-strewn
waters of the Antarctic

399
00:47:30,534 --> 00:47:34,235
In Indonesia, the forces of nature have combined

400
00:47:34,335 --> 00:47:37,327
to produce an underwater wonderland

401
00:47:44,990 --> 00:47:46,776
But if the sea is full of surprises,

402
00:47:47,672 --> 00:47:49,743
so too is the land

403
00:47:53,786 --> 00:47:58,123
Indonesia's islands are stepping stones
between Asia and Australia

404
00:47:58,794 --> 00:48:01,772
They were settled by the castaways
of 2 continents

405
00:48:05,185 --> 00:48:07,616
Monkeys like these often forage on the shore

406
00:48:08,543 --> 00:48:10,756
but their true home is the forest

407
00:48:11,746 --> 00:48:13,726
It's where we'll go on in next program

408
00:48:14,637 --> 00:48:19,065
the green jungle that clothes
the islands of Indonesia

409
00:48:20,066 --> 00:48:35,066
Transcription by Andrew and Hattie
www.mvgroup.org