Deep-sea dumbo octopusquote:
Episode 11: Ocean Deep
The final episode of the epic Planet Earth ventures into the largest of all habitats - the ocean. From the surface to the distant abyss, it encompasses 90% of all the living space on our planet. Its depths plunge to over 11 kilometres down and it hides over 30,000 immense volcanic mountains, some taller by far, than Mount Everest. Much of this vastness is a virtual desert but the creatures that do live here include the most bizarre, most powerful, and most charismatic of all: not for nothing, is it the home of the greatest animal ever to have existed, the blue whale, twice the size of the largest known dinosaurs. So, from the sinister vampire squid from hell glowering in the depths, to the scintillating attacks of one hundred sabre billed sailfish speeding at the surface, explore the alien world of the open ocean in the safety of your living room.
Life goes to extraordinary lengths to survive this immense realm. A 30 tonne whale shark gorges on a school of fish and the unique overhead heli-gimbal camera reveals common dolphins rocketing at more than 30km an hour. Descending into the abyss, deep sea octopus fly with wings and vampire squid use bioluminescence to create an extraordinary colour display. The first ever time-lapse footage taken from 2,000m down captures eels, crabs and giant isopods eating a carcass, completely consuming it within three hours.
Vanavond 22.00 uur BBC1 en BBC HD. Herhaling: zaterdag 16 december 20.00 uur BBC2.