South Scrimshaw - An Alien Planet Nature Documentary with Weird Alien Whales that Will Make You Cry!

right now the corporation for Earth media is proud to present this educational program produced in conjunction with the frontier scientists engineers and artists of the Chrono 7 Expedition South scrimshaw is made possible through the support of viewers like you thank you [Music] hot sunlight shines through the veined membrane of an aquatic egg it was once carried in deeper cooler Waters of a more Northern latitude now it Bobs freely in a subtropical shallow [Music] the Consciousness Dawning inside is prodded Alert in discomfort is a male whale calf stirring with a newfound awareness of body this pod has held him for 17 months nurtured his development from a single fertilized cell now it can no longer support his life the inflow of nutrients and oxygenated blood has ceased a once comfortable cradle now pinches at his enlarged form pushed onto his own faculty a suffocating urge to thrash Wells up inside him yet he hesitates the [Music] powerful low frequency vibrates through his whole body with the certainty of deep imprinting the calf knows who is calling it is his mother she is on the other side he must join her [Music] shell containing him is now only a brittle husk swollen with waste material and straining at the seams clumsy first movements form the start of the calf's motor awareness the egg is evolved to rupture open along a central seam a few thin cartilage bands are all that retain him one more forceful effort and he will escape technically speaking the whale didn't hatch from an egg is something of a misnomer while there are known egg-laying mammals none of them are whales this whale species has a placental connection to the mother while developing birthing shell is the term currently favored in scientific journals when discussing this style of external womb the outer cartilage folds backwards shrinking the space inside and expelling the contents outwards creating pressure against the inner membrane until it finally pops [Music] the calf spills out into the open ocean The World Is A Rush of sensory stimulation the newborn is momentarily stunned limp [Music] to emit a dizzy flurry of Life plants and protists small scavengers eagerly Devour the cloud of waste plants unfurl and retract in almost animalistic locomotion foliage clings to the car from above he swims deeper to escape his mother's song reassures him once again but she is still nowhere inside sponges Wharf biters Crustaceans and corals dangle from the plants like ornaments something solid grabs From Below his descent is halted he's being lifted back towards the surface the calf breaches filling his lungs with their first breath of air this is the breeding ground of his species at the year's Peak this wide expanse fills with whales but today our car finds the surface empty except for a very odd clump of plants does not know what to make of it equally Disturbed and compelled he stares transfixed plants continue to tickle his body just below the water a resident waterbug examines him with equal skepticism sudden movement Atop The leafy Mass catches his eye it's all too frightening for the little one he Retreats back under the surface his overpowering instinct is to nurse but he cannot [Music] exhaustion mounts and fear seizes him he is lost [Music] and as if sensing his weakness tendrils begin to grasp at him a Vine lassos his fluke There Is No Escape in a final burst of strength the car fights thrashing tearing and uprooting his attackers a scent of blood enters the water his mother cries a pained song to soothe him the calf is hit with the sudden realization strange plants are not taking him away from his mother the strange plant Claude is his mother [Music] [Music] what evidence remained of this year's Brillo breeding season has long since been swept away this Sandbar has returned to its normal pristine state save for one unusual pile of rocks [Music] this is a stone dog somewhat like a hermit crab this animal lives in a portable shelter of foreign material grasps together a shell of scavenged of debris with its long Limbs and secrets and adhesive mucus to hold it fast Stone dogs mostly rely on ambushing prey from a camouflaged position right now this Stone dog here is not the hunter but the hunted it is a woefully obvious attempt to hide as the Predator stalking it possesses one of the sharpest mines in the ocean a quick check if the coast is clear it isn't [Music] our whale calf wants to play not eat but from the stone dog's perspective there's little difference since hatching our calf has been a healthy and energetic specimen despite his late birth no complications are detectable if anything his cognitive ability is showing Swift advancement he is very fond of holding his fluke above the water surface scattered showers are currently moving through the area the calf has been emerging frequently for visual inspections since the rain began he seems very interested in the weather above a long call reminds him not to stray too far illos have surprisingly Keen Vision above the water the calf is quickly able to spot his mother this is the farthest distance he has traveled from her it is more than twice that of yesterday was quite an adventure now reminded of his mother all this bravery seems to evaporate he is suddenly anxious to be at her side he will bring her any interesting objects discovered while exploring and boot it at her face his mother is trying to rest off another bout of nausea this play is a bit much but these discomforts are trivial to the bond between mother and child our neural interface even shows a measurable relief in her symptoms during these interactions the calf's Carefree play is training for future hunts and the essential skills of survival but it will be some time before he has to worry about earning meals on his own [Music] his mother's long prehensile utters reach him through the thorny Bramble the Milky nurses on his thick as yogurt carves subsist on this fat Rich diet for two years building up an insulating layer of blubber on of spongy tissue for other organisms to burrow into here we arrive at what truly makes a Brillo whale such a remarkable specimen for study symbiosis of unrivaled complexity and variety this female was initially selected for study due to her exquisitely beautiful exterior the mammal is almost totally concealed within the undulating Botanical mass in cross-section the distinction between whale and passenger is more visible [Applause] unlike the stone dog shown earlier this is not simply an external attachment of foreign material the Brillo whale has an intimate connection to thousands of other living creatures [Music] the whale chooses from among a variety of partner species [Music] and offers real estate within designated regions of its body and in a membrane draws the line between the welcome cohabitation space and the whale's vitals Arrangement raises several questions the first of which we will address what is the benefit of living on a whale to help us illustrate the principle we will be assisted by a sea bunny or sea bun to use its more common nickname while each species has its own unique adaptation to this Niche lifestyle we can create several broad categories of benefit such Evolution aims to harness [Music] moving through water takes energy it is far easier to travel great distance when someone else is doing the swimming simply hitching a ride can be greatly beneficial for example one species of crab only lives on Brillo whales every other generation and uses whale transportation to greatly expand its range unless one is the apex predator the threat of being eaten is an ever-present reality if one lives as a potential meal it is very important to be the least desirable most difficult of meals finding alliance with a giant beast and living under its protection creates a very effective deterrence it's always still possible to be eaten but Hunters now risk facing off with a leviathan some Partnerships are more proactive certain shark skates rays and scarps have formed hunting partnership with the brillos they help find and catch Quarry then share in the feast pack hunting allows the Brillo to take down larger and different sorts of prey the blood or waste of Brillo whales can also provide a source of nourishment this not offered freely obviously a Brillo whale cannot stand to be eaten alive an earth parallel is an oxpecker Bird on a rhinoceros a bird May drink a marginal amount of blood while it cleans off ticks it's a fair trade for the rhinoceros as the tick is the far greater threat so too will a Brillo whale expend blood in a beneficial relationship in several instances living on a Brillo has evolved into part of an organism's life cycle and the specific conditions regulated in a brillo's body are required for a new generation in some cases this goes even further with the biology of the two species becoming so enmeshed it is unclear where one ends and the other begins [Music] the rare our research team is very interested if these extreme cases represent a functioning system or the pathological eventuality to such complicated Arrangements yeah all of these Riders taking in small amounts adds up to a great expense for the host this prompts the obvious next question what does the whale stand to benefit from this Arrangement this is more complicated to respond to there seems to be as many answers as there are Brillo whales as there is spectacular variety among brillos for now let us approach the answer with specific examples from this mother the most prominent feature along her body is the wide variety of photosynthesizing organisms the whale is of course not an autotroph producing her own energy from sunlight but the specialized sea Flora pays rent by sharing some of their sugars into her blood when light is low Roots ferment and alcohol is also created as a byproduct certain plants near her head also act as fishing lures drawing food to her more while she may occasionally swim deeper a partially plant-subsidized life has locked her within the photic zone the upper aquatic layer where enough sunlight can sustain the leaves adult Brillo behavior and biology is often dramatically influenced by their symbiotic arrangement everything here we see a blood trilobite this is not an invited guest a long needle-like proboscis pushes down and Taps a vein drinking in great volume and offering nothing in return it is a true parasite this is a job for the Vellum worm Vellum worms fill their stomachs by grooming brillos of unwanted visitors it is currently hypothesized that Vellum worms distinguish the welcome from the attackers through smell and taste parasites have all been found to have elevated amounts of a bile-like Brillo waste inside them this mother Brillo also has to worry about creatures browsing her lovely plants herbivorous fish attempt frequent raids on the leafy Goods this one is alone and quite oblivious the Vellum worm packs a powerful punch for larger animals a neurotoxin-filled Barb is shot into the fish's heart it can only manage a faint muscle spasm before the Venom completes its work the Brillo whale strategy is called a symbiotic Garden it is an intentionally cultivated Arrangement and a precarious balance of mutual Reliance when successfully maintained the host becomes a morass of life it is usually defended from Attack it can sometimes acquire energy in novel ways and occasionally it is able to invade new Niche ecosystems the universal downside experienced by all brillos is that more complexity creates more points for failure an adult brillo's life is dominated by the struggle to groom a semblance of order into increasingly overgrown flanks to a simple calf these adult problems have yet to enter his mind today he has found his mother's leaves serve as fun streamers to play with she finally scolds him she is too unwell to tolerate any more rough housing he doesn't quite understand but he has other diversions primarily drinking more of her milk given the complexity of Brillo Anatomy even small health problems can swiftly spiral out of control this female experienced complications while giving birth there is the potential for the situation to worsen [Music] a thorned branch has become ingrown puncturing through both the layer of protective outer muscle and the cuticle barrier [Music] this had begun prior to carving but her contractions to extend the womb also caused the plant Shard to stab deeper [Music] the spikes are now in contact with her intestines fortunately there is no puncture yet the site is inflamed and white blood cells flood the area the immune system unmistakably identifies this as an injury we can witness her stiff reluctance to move and read a jolt in brain activity when she's jostled it must be greatly painful the greatest danger right now is a terror of the intestines which would certainly be fatal there is reason to Hope our scans also reveal that she has recovered from a similar injury in the past perhaps brillos regularly endure such ghastly wounds perhaps it was the safety of the Brillo herd which afforded her enough time to convalesce certainly her odds of survival will be boosted greatly if she is able to make the long swim back for now she is still well enough to care for her newborn though doing so must be exhausting [Music] judging by several physical indicators this is most likely her first car those brillos who manage their Gardens well can be extremely long-lived females can give birth as many as eight times if the calf survives one day he too might also cast his genes forward his own Minute fingerprint on the future's shape regardless of whatever metric of success we observe as of an outside species might apply his life will be led by the means it was forged in The Crucible of natural selection but for now a rare moment of shelter [Music] this is a simplified map of the local ocean topography the deep blue represents a fault line the planet Ary scar where two tectonic plates meet as with Earth this land is a moving crust atop a globe of molten metal planet-shaping force of subduction pushed ground up above the sea creating what is now named the chartreuse archipelago the island chain runs for about 870 kilometers drawing a ragged line away from the continent these names were given by an early survey team assessing the grounds for a harbor or research Outpost foreign the body of water created between the scrimshaw Islands is known as the phthalo bay the large Inlet is exactly what a Brillo whale breeding ground requires [Music] regarding Brillo carving the most important feature of the bay is the chemical composition and concentration of fungal spores for now we will limit our discussion to the choreography of the breeding ground everything three separate herds converged this year to give birth simultaneously the dots estimate their prior positions not all Willows make this Trek every year but many more whales assist besides parents pregnant whales move into the center where they maintain as much distance from one another as possible perhaps due to the unpredictable anatomy of their fellow brillos or a vulnerability in the skin of the newborns calves are kept segregated from all others for the first months of their life the remaining herd forms a blockade at the mouth of the bay while the pregnant whales deliver [Music] as weeks pass hunger and distraction start to erode focus on this task the amount of time that the herd can wait is finite when the time comes all leave together at once moving with the safety of their destination will be one of several coral reefs those unable to move on time must be abandoned the healthy cannot Hazard everyone's odds of survival for the sake of a few in firm our mother wounded as she is is one of several this year who befell this fate outside of that season the whales live elsewhere usually they are found at coral reefs and areas more productive with food brillos require a very high calorie diet [Music] We Now find our whales here at the border to the great bathys ocean [Music] it is a bright day in Early Autumn an unseasonable cold front chills the air foreign we find our mother bracing for the journey judging by her Mobility her health has much improved the delay is likely not related to her recovering wounds the distance between the thalo bay and the southern reef is inhabited by many large Predators many Brillo calves are taken in these Waters her loud songs are searching for another brillo's response she has been making these calls since before Dawn she does not want to make this journey alone the calf returns with a fresh lung full of oxygen [Music] and quickly Retreats back to the Bramble under his mother for once he does not need to be told to stay close [Music] undoubtedly he can also read the change in his mother's Behavior and the unfamiliar Place ahead is deeper and colder [Music] first a new Sound reaches them his mother startles they both listen it's another whale a Brillo whale and it is getting nearer our mother booms reply back the calf's Curious nature starts to show itself again he has yet to meet a Brillo besides his mother he spots something a large body begins to emerge from the hazy distance it continues to approach but the calf still can't quite understand what he's looking at the calf's Curiosity morphs into discomfort the closer it gets discomfort turns into outright alarm pleads to his mother in distress foreign she rebukes him in reply as if to say don't be rude to the new neighbors one cannot blame him for his confusion [Music] this Brillo whale's appearance was shaped to be deceptive [Music] it is a beautiful and ghastly example of mimicry the way the Jaws gently undulate is startlingly believable the Grim exterior is the work of an important symbiotic partner Weaver lobe these prodigious Builders turn their colonies into terrifying scarecrows by spinning and sculpting Osama [Music] osoma is a long chain polymer found in great abundance here it is totally novel to our researchers when soft it is similar in texture to a neoprene diving suit through a curing process it can be hardened to various levels in its stiffest state it resembles the chitin shell of a beetle a second documentary team is currently compiling all of the latest discoveries until then we hope our simple introduction to this material suffices water is channeled through the layered construction swelling and emptying various Pockets creating animal-like Locomotion our Resident Evil lobe expert insists that the beastly facade before us here should have taken many decades to complete it also seems unlikely that it was built from scratch on the whale's back perhaps if Weaver lobes are able to relocate such structures an established colony was simply carried on to the brillo's back [Music] such a fearsome appearance does much to ward off Predators the Reversed head may also help to confuse prey we do not know why she was left behind but this Brillo is a valuable addition to the ocean Crossing she too is a mother looking to deliver her child to safety it seems that all Brillo calves are quite shy around new acquaintances our calf growls to himself scoldings are unlikely to budge his unwelcoming attitude nor will the surprise of additional friends the calf was so distracted by what was in front of him [Music] that he failed to notice what was swimming up from behind she's something like a faceless Stone Golem the exterior is more bizarre than menacing it might serve as some kind of armor but our crew is at a loss to describe it on first sight like our Brillo mother this whale may also have some kind of internal injury she is only able to produce short abrupt honks instead of complex songs she is also a mother regardless of what benefit her exterior provides her presence alone will help contribute to a safe Crossing flanked by these strangers our calf seems very disturbed new experiences may be uncomfortable now but they will lead him to understand the Brillo way foreign with a shove of her branches it is unlikely that more companions will show up and there is no time left to delay [Music] all following her lead the six whales head out into the ocean to find their lost herd [Music] the Pod is now 57 kilometers from the Great Southern Reef this is the final leg of their journey and their path crosses over a wide Abyssal Trench Aaron Wales set the pace at a rigorous six kilometers an hour they swim in a typical defensive formation though with only three adults it is not possible to fully encircle the youths the Trek has been arduous for our little calf but he has endured it with admirable stoicism slowing down is not an option he is able to sense this himself something large has been following the whales it first appeared in the early afternoon and has maintained the same steady distance ever since hours passed and the Mysterious animal failed to approach or make any concerning moves the calf sphere of the unknown was slowly overtaken Again by interest in his new Brillo companions the Stony skinned mother whale and her calf now swim to his Left Flank this calf was whining earlier but seems to have calmed [Music] the Stoney mother's outer surface has slowly morphed shape throughout the day greatly reducing in size it is as if the exterior nodules are deflating what mechanism triggers this change or how they shrink we do not know overall she is slightly more streamlined in form than earlier perhaps she can intentionally contract her shell for extra Mobility our calf doesn't know what to make of her either below him swim the mimic mother whale and her calf along with one of our semi-autonomous light drones swimming upside down is the most uncomfortable spot for a Brillo and the mimic mother refused to take her turn until minutes ago her stubbornness may not be entirely unreasonable while upside down her disguise as a wide jawed monster appears to fall apart the illusion of a toothy Beast is currently broken our calf gets a reassuring hum from his mother it always seems to quell his unease he is safe within her nest of thorns let's focus on swimming but it's hard to ignore that ominous thing in the distance this is a penumbra shark it is the fastest marine animal on the planet for the penumbra six kilometers an hour is a leisurely Pace it could comfortably stalk the whale's days on end an apex Hunter patient with experience it will preserve all possible energy for an opportune strike very much like a sailfish penumbra sharks have a large dorsal fin along their back this is kept retracted until the moment of attack several flicks of the tale it vanishes from sight Panic overtakes the whales and the defensive formation immediately breaks apart our calf looks down the mimic mother has abandoned her post nothing stands between our calf and the open Abyss below the fight-or-flight reaction is as intense as it is instantaneous a full threat alarm floods from the hypothalamus shooting through every nerve and chemical pathway adrenaline pumps into the blood the perception of time dilates details of the world suddenly stand out with Vivid intensity even in this low light two rows of white teeth are searingly clear the calf finds his own fins now move in slow motion too sea water suddenly feels solid suspending him in place wrapped In Harm's Way he can only watch the events unfold until a tremble runs through the Thorns surrounding him the mother's branches are held under tension and can be released with the force of a catapult flexes chord snap and in an instant the calf is swaddled in protective barbs and makeshift Spears the shark senses the change and shifts the attack Direction to the stonemother's calf [Music] who is exposed and helpless our calf momentarily loses Consciousness but the barbed Vines around him act as a net his mother whisks him away with her as our calf comes to again he finds an awful scent filling the water he looks back to see what happened to his travel companion the site horrifies it is the reality of predation from the perspective of the prey because of his mother our calf is the Survivor and not the cautionary example for others to learn from less than 20 kilometers remain until the reef and the safety of their Brillo herd the mimic mother races ahead leaving the weaker whales to their fate the stone mother lags behind her movements are confused she is still in a State of Shock over the death of her child our calf struggles to follow it is much harder to swim outside of a larger Wales slipstream and his mother is falling far behind again he races back to be by her side the calf has been running ahead of her sight and then returning the back and forth seemed to coax his mother a little further each time but now her strength has failed [Music] he cannot even lift her fins in response her Old Wounds were opened by the physical exertion to save her child's life she will not recover [Music] he whistles The Familiar call to play [Music] there is no more response [Music] she has finally slipped from consciousness thank you she cannot remain with her calf any longer he continues to press for a reaction [Music] desperation compounds the grief at this age carves are completely dependent on a mother's milk and protection [Music] there's nowhere to go the calf remains at her side the research team Witnesses the mother's final pulses of electrical activity fade and extinguish [Music] there is a long pause two researchers start a heated discussion on the ethics of intervention but before any consensus is reached the argument is interrupted by a low Rumble over the hydrophone the stone mother never left the area she watches our car from a distance a new day begins to Dawn over the coral reef Brillo whales start to stir from slumber together the stone mother and our calf have arrived safely though physically and emotionally depleted neither has found any sleep the calf Gorges on milk famished from the previous day's ordeal this adoption in the wild may be extraordinary to witness happen but acts of apparent generosity have not been an uncommon sight to anyone following this intensely social species the stone mother's exterior appears to now be fully deflated we can see a more familiar shape underneath it's the outline of a young female whale quite small in size for an adult specimen she has saved our car from certain death perhaps our calf is helping her continue on too [Music] the young whale finally slumbers it's good that he takes the moment to recover while he can eat the rest in the morning he will awaken to an overwhelming new world [Laughter] the miracle of brillos is not that other creatures can live inside the whales this sort of arrangement is not uncommon you the viewing audience have countless residence inside your own body an adult human is composed of approximately 30 trillion cells an estimated additional 39 trillion microbial cells bacteria viruses and fungi live on and in the average person's body Medical Science has long understood the importance of the microorganisms within us and the role they play in good health interplanetary travel has elevated This research to the Forefront of Medicine are a soup of microorganisms that earth-raised animals have never encountered before to the globe hopping human the radical change of biome is first felt in the gut known as planetary dysbiosis arrival sickness or simply the drags all of well-born humans experience an immobilizing nausea soon after entering the new atmosphere even with the year-long acclimation program one undergoes in low orbit the drags cannot be eliminated a rival procedure for all travelers includes a period of convalescence at Mercy star Hospital dysbiosis symptoms last anywhere from 14 days to six weeks the worst documented cases persisted for over a year and required intensive care [Music] Ed limnologist and Ranger first class Maria ukuchiro her 25-day recovery is documented as routine [Music] message to Kronos Earth Branch Cadets RFC ukichiro warns the initial headaches are too intense to get up and go to the bathroom in the beginning you'll mostly suffer on a bedpan when food isn't coming up or out you're forcing down a prescribed diet heavy in probiotics [Music] forcing the doctors require you to eat certain amounts every day no matter how nauseated it makes you don't think that the kind nurses will let you skip meals either your spoon or their tube only thing you get to decide [Music] the cuisine here is dominated by fermented and preserved foods you can blame the past shortage of Home Refrigeration state of the grid whatever [Music] point is when you inevitably smell yogurt or sauerkraut later you'll feel violently ill and want to die every off-worlder goes through that you'll get over it see you soon rookies [Music] the miracle of Brillo Wales is their ability to pick and choose their occupants our whale will now begin this process of selection providing a backdrop for the next chapter is another amazing marine animal whose colorful Anatomy can construct whole ecosystems our Earth audience will find it a familiar species it is the reef building Coral bikini fish gently picks away Along a mountainous path of calcium carbonate exoskeletons it's her daily prowl for food and something tasty has her attention Clump bite-sized greebles are entrenched in the nooks below will take her quite a bit of work to pry them out as the bikili calculates the best approach of attack her preparations are interrupted she joins the other fish fleeing for their lives a higher cast of the food chain steals the scene it's a spotted Barnacle claw one powerful yank extracts the entire Colony hiding below Willow whale groans with dissatisfaction this they will continue browsing for something more substantial our whale watches the drama unfold from a safe distance somewhat perplexed [Music] in the six years since we last rejoined him the Great Reef has not run short of new surprises from near and far one can hear the calls of unknown brillos bounding off these cavernous walls at least he still has someone familiar to rely on his adoptive mother is usually out of sight but never too away she has changed quite a great deal since we last saw her perhaps in response to the penumbra shark attack she has undergone a zealous application of eye spots to her figure while not as outwardly apparent our young whale's body has undergone an even more radical change his skin layers and immune system have fully developed and are ready to host other species this Dermatological puberty is the Crossroad he must decide what sort of Brillo he will become how does a young whale make such a crucial decision the choices are overwhelming the combinations are infinite and mistakes are fatal one way to ensure future success is to replicate past success Brillo youths find a welcoming adult and attempt to Fashion themselves in their likeness the older whale assists with offerings of sea seed lava and other materials needed to begin the garden the younger whale remains close for the years after learning new behavior from the adult not every option available to a young male is desirable this old timer is welcoming but our whale is visibly uncomfortable it isn't hard to imagine why but on the other hand another young Brillo might happily accept this body plan or preference realistically there are far too many influences to chart but from our limited data there is one factor that stands out we estimate that half of brillos choose to replicate their own mothers our whale displays this preference towards his biological mother these ribbon plants are the same variety she once wore our calf returns here every day but it is no use this Brillo whale is deceased nothing but a cleaned skeleton remains beneath the foliage while it is interesting that the garden can partially survive on none of it can be transferred without the living adult to help [Music] our whale must find comfort in the familiar scent and touch however time spent on what he cannot have is time wasted waiting too long to start a garden could bring other health complications he will have to move on our whale goes on a search for another plant-based Brillo [Music] for reasons unknown such brillos are conspicuously absent this season it seems as if anything resembling his mother has migrated elsewhere one single exception is discovered and he is a spectacular example of aquatic foliage the Shaggy coat is as full and beautiful as the late mothers but not all brillos are welcoming day after day he tries to draw the adult into play and receives the cold shoulder the adult flatly refuses to acknowledge his existence this male has Tunnel Vision on the single purpose of mating babysitting is not on the agenda [Music] we watch an attempt to woo a female fail pitifully she is clearly put off by his little sidekick [Music] tugging roughly on his leaves the days of pent-up agitation are suddenly unloaded our whale is chased off at the point of a skewer [Music] it may feel like a painful sacrifice but a plant body is not an option there's a dizzying amount of other choices remaining and one of them will have to do another morning dawns the nocturnal animals have returned to Slumber and the Frantic energy of diurnal animals resumes for our researchers every day following the whale is a journey into an Uncharted wilderness only a small fraction of the species here have been recorded and there is so much inexplicable Behavior to document recent discoveries have centered on the varieties of coral present The Reef itself is now understood to be a multi-layered structure the Great Southern reef is a fringing reef the inhabitants can be categorized into three zones based on depth the unique character of the Southern reef is owed to the Spire Coral which lives across all three of these zones Spire Coral can survive at the lowest depths where it faces little competition once fixed to Solid Ground Spire Coral stack atop one another upwards towards the sunlight that will fuel more productive respiration shallow water corals soon find these raised platform and perch themselves upon it foreign this is not a Cooperative relationship the Spire Coral is eventually smothered and dies under accumulated weight the structural Integrity is lost and the spire shatters collapse back down to lower depths living Spire Coral can again re-emerge and the cycle repeats unendingly this constant tossing and turning creates a porous and dynamic landscape veined with small tunnels and dotted with caves thousands of small animals make this Subterranean environment their niche for example saltwater tadpoles spend their early life stages hidden underground until they can emerge above as a fearsome predator relative to their size that is progress and knowledge March forward through tireless work and we often share in our young whales bewilderment who is this what is on his head what is going on we do not know our whale runs away and we simply follow one afternoon it seems our young whales persistent searching has been rewarded a loud song Heralds him from the distance Brillo Hunting Party returns their High Spirits means that all had a good kill the group's leader is calling to our whale our youth remains in place but allows the adult to approach his whales are sophisticated pack Hunters a chopper are stupid but friendly shark totally accepts the brillos as their own silky costume is minimally invasive and provides maximum returns and it's a plant this successful symbiosis strategy is limited only by the pac's willingness to share it with others an open invitation from the leader is a golden opportunity something isn't right our whale is fixated on the chopper it is a tragedy that either eight sharks of any kind he flees over the weeks we observe our subject whale becoming increasingly distressed it's critical he suppress unpleasant feelings and adopt a symbiosis plan a Brillo whale cannot survive unplanted he can perceive himself failing to integrate of course but the building internal agitation is not a force that will help him adapt better Autumn draws to a close several new varieties of Brillo begin to arrive from colder latitudes these are mostly Hunter archetypes who can live a life less dependent on the Reef's concentrated bounty a camouflaged whale waits for prey to swim near refers to skin coloration that can rapidly shift to match a changing environment these octopus have linked their tentacle nerve endings together allowing them to network visual information between all bodies color change is omnidirectional instant and accurate the swiftness and precision of these changes exceeds any Earth octopus ability they are not the only example of animals here possessing very Advanced Skin chromatophores researchers hope to understand why they have evolved in more sophisticated fashion than their Earth counterparts while this documentary is restricted to its limited mandate we believe in good faith that the following question is unavoidable and must now be answered why would a species on another planet have an earth counterpart convergent evolution was the obvious first hypothesis the phenomenon where different species can evolve similar features when faced with the same evolutionary pressure for example we can find similarities in the wings of unrelated flying vertebrates similar problems craft similar Solutions while this obviously still holds true it is not the answer to our question this lizard looks like an earth chameleon this whale looks like an earth whale because they share a recent common ancestor with Earth animals the true answer is directed panspermia [Music] it is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it so Aristotle advised us in that high-minded Spirit we can look back at Francis Crick as one of biology's fearless thinkers he is best known for his work with James Watson uncovering the structure of DNA more than a century ago this earned them and Maurice Wilkins the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1962 he was also uncomfortably acknowledged by 20th century colleagues as a proponent of directed panspermia that a deliberate extraterrestrial origin to life on Earth should be taken into serious consideration while crick's hypothesis fails to match our current best understanding is unorthodox thinking landed him closer to the truth than any of his contemporaries could have believed life on Earth originated on Earth abiogenesis took place in deep sea hydrothermal vents approximately 3.7 billion years ago recent history has revealed that three other planets also sustain life Arya Gaz and Earth 2 are affectionately referred to as sister planets of Earth due to their similarities but it may be more accurate to call them Earth children foreign they were Barren until intentionally planted from Earth's highly evolved genetic stock isolated across light years of space the forces of evolution then wrought Divergent results along a different but always familiar timeline all three bloomed into wonderful new Cradles of complex life [Music] this brief summary does not do justice to the incomprehensibly convoluted and ongoing work of planetary curation but suffice to say even the professionals struggle to grasp a simplified understanding [Music] foreign this kind of strategy requires a good deal of patience our whale sensing the hunter swims wide the camo whale politely hails him other Brillo whales aren't the target of his trap our whale replies with mistrust and leaves something is wrong our whales once irrepressible Curiosity has grown increasingly muted even wonders like bioluminescence provokes no reaction [Music] these Lamplighter fish are practicing their jousting in preparation for the annual mating competition the event is soon it's only a one night Affair and they will all die immediately afterwards we think it would be quite the enriching spectacle but the fish seem to be of no interest on board our ship Mission command signals concern that this whale is running too Divergent from average development the warning is not taken lightly as changing to a new study Brillo comes with severe consequences when a gene pool is too small there is no way for a population to discard deleterious mutations without sexual recombination Offspring will have at least as much mutation as their parents the errors simply accumulate Muller's ratchet describes a process of irreversible decline where each generation is one notch less fit than before can all the higher intelligence or wisdom of the universe provide salvation if one's very genetic code is winding down to destruction the Kronos project is a late hour rewrite of a complex genome it is an attempt to engineer a viable escape from an Extinction vortex humans still a robust and healthy animal are conscripted to provide a variety of Labor which our forebearers have grown too in feebled and small in number to handle themselves of course we do not do this work without our own motivations the fruits of this labor could change how we understand illness and aging but that final objective to fundamentally decouple Our Fate from natural machinations and assert the reins of technology is still widely contested in contrast to other human enclaves the constitution of Arya proudly allows this debate to take place in open forums it is the morning after this ominous conversation that something seems to change our Brillo finally begins to break bad habits this unknown youth has snagged a Lamplighter and presents it now to our whale perhaps he was enthused to share his catch and our whale happened to be closest Brillo interactions can be opaque but these two have clearly hit it off for once our whale does not withdraw he is proactively engaging instead of passively responding it's a much welcome scene but it begs the question what changed what external factors could have contributed to a more outgoing posture did our cameras miss a life-changing event does this stranger seem less threatening than all the others it is true that our whale having been born outside the herd has consistently lacked peer contact his own age young brillos cannot transmit Garden organisms between each other so the interaction here probably feels less fraught than it might with an adult who could permanently dose him with life-altering symbiosis we hypothesize that juvenile Brillo Association is a necessary prior step to adult interaction regardless of how correct this assertion is it successfully buys our study additional time the two whales spend the rest of the day playing and are still chasing fish together when we leave them [Music] night Falls but our whale is not asleep GPS coordinates show he's swimming somewhere as his aberrant behavior is still under scrutiny the team moves to investigate a spotlight is aimed overboard we discover more than just our whale [Music] we cut the power to avoid further disturbance it's so clear whether brillos are headed [Applause] the first glimmers of action appear in the near distance the night of the Lamplighter fish has begun the ocean starts to flash brilliantly as males battle for the attention of females the weak are pierced open spilling bioluminescence into the water they shine with complete indifference to Predators attacking known as Predator satiation there are simply too many to all be eaten [Music] his belly full of glowing fish bits our whale watches the show reach its climax it seems like he'll be up all night with the others [Music] confident in his safety we recall our camera drones to finish their scheduled recharge by blocking wave activity the Barrier Reef creates a wide Lagoon behind it the Placid water stretches for several kilometers before being overtaken by a mangrove forest parts are so shallow that they become exposed to air at low tide at high tide other areas are deep enough for a Troublesome young whale to get lost in his friends weren't adventurous enough to follow him today and for good reason as our whale realizes once the water level starts to drop again there's no time to play with the locals the outgoing sea water feeds to several deep channels whisk through the trenches our whale rides the rip current to safety with no control over where it's taking him after a lengthy ride is spat out far from where he began this is the end of the Great Reef it's exposed and dangerous territory but our whale can't help himself from having a look around there's a sudden realization that he's being watched something is stirring within the cave behind him it's another Brillo whale our whale approaches but there is no friendly greeting this isolated loner is an exile from The Herd [Music] banishment is reserved for excessive violence against fellow brillos most likely it was a mating joust that escalated to fatal combat a deteriorated mental state from years of isolation is what has made him truly dangerous our Brillo can understand that a noiseless approach signals an attack he whistles another greeting [Music] it's met with an oppressive silence [Music] the crown of a shark's jaw attests to this whale's staggering strength lies inside the Crow's Nest atop his hardened armor [Music] the vorpix octopus wakes when it senses a kill is imminent he serves the role of a hunting partner who swims in advance usually it latches over the eyes of prey and attacks with its serrated beak [Music] but when prayer so pitifully weak he prefers to spectate our whale is far from being scared he's experiencing a whole other emotion he knows this was unexpected abandoning caution the calf sings and plays like he's found a new friend for a nuzzle and the harsh exterior cracks [Music] how long has it been since the old-timer experienced any warmth of companionship maybe having a little Apprentice killer won't be so bad he grunts struggling to remember a song that isn't also a threat [Music] this isn't the scene of Bloodshed that the octopus wanted [Music] it seems he's witnessed this cycle once before as he knows what must be done [Music] this animal is meaning it expresses no evidence of biological aging it's one of the only long-lived cephalopods that has not been curled our researchers suspect this octopus to be at least four centuries old encephalopods who survive so long possess a devious intelligence foreign [Music] presents our whale with a living piece of the armor plating a quick feel for the soft spot and the deed is done when the young whale wakes up the implant will already have sprouted roots to hold firmly fixed in his skin with this major Milestone now documented the mobile lab departs and will not rejoin the whale again until his adulthood plants will continue to transmit information about his physical development for a 20-year remote observation period this also ends the documentary team's access to the whale and concludes the first phase of our project for us raw data is far less compelling than first-hand observation of his body being reconstructed 20 years is a long time for impatient humans to wait when we do meet our whale again it is hard to guess now what we might find all the changes he experiences over two decades will be witnessed in a single moment it should be nothing short of a complete metamorphosis this concludes South scrimshaw part 1. please keep designated channels open for the transmission of part 2. 0 doctor

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Id: PHT07mIIgEk

Length: 72min 28sec (4348 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 10 2023