Vicious Beauties - The Secret World of the Jellyfish | Free Documentary Nature

jellyfish at the mere mention of the name most of us imagined shapeless rubbery and even disgusting creatures in any case there's something we do not wish to touch it isn't until we see them underwater that they transform into graceful beings in the course of evolution jellyfish have developed unbelievably clever skills and have conquered every habitat in our oceans to protect themselves they've developed weapons that can also become dangerous to humans most jellyfish are not a threatened species and the large family of jellyfish this box jellyfish is the most dangerous closely followed by this siphonophore the Portuguese man-of-war for most of us the word jellyfish evokes negative feelings the term medusa's is more appropriate and it gives it the feel of a mysterious and dangerous beauty [Music] this is doctor Gerhardt yams one of the most knowledgeable experts on the doozers he will be introducing us to the unusual life cycle of these animals a beach in ekend further on the baltic coast numerous aurelius have been washed ashore touching no problem or really is do not sting for these two young boys the jellyfish are a welcome change from their boring Sun Tanning monotony Gerhardt yarns on the creation and development of Medusa's demised medicine most people feel disgusted by these animals but in reality they are smooth soft and what's even more interesting their history goes back 500 million years during this time they have developed the most fascinating shapes and most interesting lifestyle they live both in deep sea and here on the Baltic coast if we ignore for a moment the massive influx is of Medusa's on the coast of the North Sea and Baltic Sea from time to time the oceans are not necessarily packed with Medusa's even if these images make it look that way [Music] we're to Medusa's come from how and where do they reproduce the life cycle of jellyfish or Medusa's is characterized by a shift from one generation to the next and by a change between the sessile and the free swimming States these are really as have separate males and females but their young are quite unique the female distributes tiny larvae in the water and they then attach themselves to anything suitable these tiny eight-armed discs which are trying to free themselves from a sessile polyp with all their might are tiny mud users but before they get to this point about 14 days have passed and this polyp originally looked quite different recording this process requires sophisticated technology and filming techniques the arms documents the individual stages with an endo camera in his laboratory at the Zoological Institute of Hamburg University the original Medusa larvae have produced a polyp which bears no relation to Medusa's at all by the way the sole purpose of this polyp is to catch food not until the polyp colony has reached an optimum state of nutrition can the separation process begin the polyps have changed completely and now look like little fir cones the separation process of the tiny reducers is called a strobe elation which comes from the Greek for fir cone these tiny discs will later develop into large Medusa's but only around 1% of them will survive the rest will become prey [Music] these tiny mod users are already perfectly equipped between the tiny arms they have a number of different sensory organs with which they can see taste and also control their position in the water the gelatinous animals consist of 98% water the life cycle of a Medusa can be from 1 to 30 years depending on the species during this time they can grow up to 200 times their initial size but there are also others that like to feed on plankton basking sharks for example [Music] just like the aurelius these 10 meter long sharks prefer animal plankton that they filter through their giant gills the aurelius are also part of the menu of the basking sharks the more the better the Sharks have competition the lion's mane Medusa has long stinging tentacles and it has already stored a bunch of prey aurelius it's doubtful whether this lion's mane would even be digestible by the Sharks many Medusa researchers consider this to be the most beautiful of all jellyfish the crowned Medusa there's no doubt that researching this creature is one of the most expensive projects in marine zoology this Medusa lives in great depths [Music] in order to find these crown jewels of all marine research subjects we have to travel to Norway 25 kilometers north of Bergen to the lure of fraud how can must be a Norwegian research vessel famous for spectacular discoveries an ROV is being launched in the waters of the lure fjord it's a sophisticated remote operated vehicle equipped with cameras lights and collection bins seeing through the eyes of the underwater robot the ROV will dive to several hundred meters this whole exercise has one objective to find Perry Phillip Perry filler which is the latin name for the crowned Medusa 1000 watt xenon spotlights brighten up even the dark ice-cold waters of the lure afjord the descent has started this is the control room the ROV is being completely controlled from here this acrylic tube which is attached to the robot is part of a vacuum pump the scientists want to try and catch pari filler but it's not that easy the skill of the ROV operator is crucial these mysterious Medusa's live great depths around a thousand meters out in the open ocean but now a scores of them have entered the Norwegian Fjord and are destroying all life there they don't feed on fish but on their larvae these Medusa's are reported to reach the biblical age of 30 years ROV operator as Gerstein lund is a master in handling this heavy machine he switches the spotlights off pari filler appears as a grand firework with lights flashing everywhere it possesses the ability of bioluminescence a characteristic known in numerous deep-sea creatures lights on as of yet we don't know exactly why this jellyfish is red but yarns can answer what the bioluminescent signals mean the only explanation we can find for these lighting effects is that there are defense against predators and a form of camouflage in this exceedingly dark deep habitat if a predator touches the Medusa it reacts spontaneously with a bright sudden yellow flash of lights which might frighten off the enemy if that doesn't work and the enemy touches it again the Medusa contracts convulsively while at the same time sending out myriads of tiny brightly luminescent particles which diffuses the outline of the jellyfish and makes it undetectable just after midnight in the control this is the time when parry filler ventures into shallower waters the chances are in our favor the first Medusa disappear has up in the suction tube it's possible to catch them in Nets but they will be dead before they got to the surface 5 a.m. the robot is brought back on board marine research is expensive which is why researchers work around the clock the ROV went to 300 meters and the team is excited to see the living specimens at this point nobody has an explanation for this mass invasion into certain fjords 12 life Perri filament users have come on board expedition leader of Bam stead is pleased each of the members of this international crew wants one of the specimens for their own research Gerhard yems is one of the lucky ones but he can't spend too long examining it in the lights the red pigment is rapidly converting it begins to dissolve the medusa making holes in its bell the animal dies very quickly a surprise this crab is eating the gelatinous outer skin of the Medusa a jellyfish paradise in its own right sits in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean around the Azores our destination is the island of pico in the west of the archipelago the Azores are of volcanic origin this group of islands is part of the mid-atlantic ridge the geological spreading zone that pulls Europe and Africa further apart from America climate and weather are determined by the Gulf Stream which bathes the Azores in tropical warm water from the Gulf of Mexico the ocean around the archipelago is teeming with many marine mammals and large fish like no other place in the world between the months of March and April 24 different whale species appear around Pico looking for plankton which is in great abundance during that time dolphins don't only hunt for fish but also squid which sometimes come up to the surface in large numbers but these dolphins are just playing pilot whales also love squid an adult pilot whale can grow up to eight meters and feed on about 50 kilograms of squid per day or more accurately per night these sunfish are also interested in softer food they love to feed on all kinds of jellyfish the beach on Pico also offers great opportunities for jellyfish commissars these netted dog well the type of sea snail feed on the most dangerous ocean inhabitants in the world the snail moves quickly it has no problems with the deadly tentacles this Portuguese man-of-war is not a true jellyfish but a colony of polyps it drifts through the world's oceans with a gas filled float each polyp has a specific task assigned to it they would not be able to survive on their own a loggerhead turtle poses real danger to siphonophores they will not only feed on the harmless moon jellies but also the poisonous polyp colonies it seems possible to fill up on one of these marine jello puddings a giant whale shark also takes advantage of the large abundance of food off the coast of Pico [Music] the largest fish in the ocean that can grow up to 14 meters and filters small fish like sardines and anchovies and plankton out of the water with its large mouth this friendly giant is not dangerous to people a mobula Manta also picks up a bite of sardines otherwise it too feeds on plankton especially younger ones love to school the rolled-up skin flaps seem like little horns and give these animals a demon light look which is why they're also referred to as devil fish underwater the Azores consist mainly of holes just like a Swiss cheese countless caves go all through the lava rock which offers great habitats for many marine creatures during our first dive if we encounter Pelageya nach Toluca commonly referred to as the move stinger it won't light up unless touched or during the night the Pelagian octi luka can leave very painful injuries these jellies are often the scourge of beachgoers [Music] we don't know why this school of jelous stays in the cave maybe they drifted in here or are they seeking cover from the rough seas the next day the animals leave the netherworld of peek again and whoever doesn't make it out in time will fall prey to these bristle worms that are lurking around waiting for jellies to get caught they love this jello like ocean inhabitant we're going deeper into the cave and find thousands of cave shrimp they avoid light at all cost here they're being hassled by a PHY seed hake [Music] in this light it becomes clear how fragile these shrimp are their long antennae allow them to find their way in this dark environment and they feel safest in large numbers the more members they have in their group the safer it is for each of them this Pelagian octi luca is a successful hunter and several small crustaceans have fallen prey to the jellies appendages the nerve poison has an immediate effect [Music] directly under the surface myriads of many mud users are drifting by either towards death or adulthood many of them will end in the bellies of loggerhead turtles [Music] is it a jelly chain no it's a colony of Sayle Asya they're not jellyfish but astonishingly are more closely related to vertebrates even us Pelagian octi luca is also looking for plankton just like leaf a li a CA but this lion's mane is relatively harmless in comparison with this Portuguese man-of-war these jellies can't dive but they can sail and cover thousands of kilometers this way but that's also a weakness as they often drift ashore it catches its prey with its deadly weapons immediately below the ocean's surface the sail is both a drawback and an advantage a school of fish can be reached quickly and it carries an armada of stinging appendages which can be extended up to 10 metres the Portuguese man-of-war will fire off whole batteries of stinging cells at its victims it's clearly visible that the Medusa stockpiles food which is essential because there are often days where the hunt yields nothing at all the poison injected into the Portuguese man-of-war victims can be compared to a powerful snake venom dramatic accidents with bathers are frequent [Music] this girl is in great danger the Medusa react automatically to physical contact and fires off highly poisonous tentacles in capsules at its prey medical help is urgently required this character is not bothered at all by deadly venom it gobbles it up it needs it Glaucus atlanticus is a small sea snail and a champion venom eater it actually reuses the jellyfish venom for its own protection storing the venom in its dorsal appendages the more venom the man-of-war fires off the better but they also have enemies apart from the Glaucus atlanticus there are fish and turtles that feed on these jellies storms the biggest threat for siphonophores once they're stranded and our martyr of snails will soon be there to feed on them hardly anyone is as well-informed about these poisonous savers as Gerhart yarns that's the term siphonophore or colonial jelly implies a number of the engines the colony consists of members that contribute the floats angel and polyps as well as the ones that fulfill all the other functions necessary for survival these animals have to develop very powerful venom as they can't pursue their prey they can only drift on the wind that fills their sail these colonial jellies are not only found in the Atlantic they can also drift into the Mediterranean Sea the Sun plays a vital role in the life of these jellies and is crucial for their existence reason enough to go and check out a place where we will find an abundance of sunshine the waters around the archipelago of Palau in the South Sea pulao is part of Micronesia in the southern pacific ocean this island group is a volcanic origin and surrounded by massive coral atolls [Music] only 11 that the 357 islands are inhabited our destination is the island of metric R which has a saltwater lake completely isolated from the waters of the adjacent Lagoon this is the lake and it holds a secret [Music] it's a prime example of evolution hundreds of thousands of Rises stone jellyfish live here of which none has ever seen the ocean plankton is missing in this lake so they live off sunshine inside the body of these jellyfish are thousands of single-cell algae these algae make use of the sunlight to generate glucose via photosynthesis a remarkable cooperation between jellies and algae which is the result of a catastrophe [Music] at some point in its history during a volcanic eruption this lake became isolated from the ocean all that was left were the Medusa's thanks to their asexual reproduction thousands of new generations have developed since as long as they're drifting in the open water these mud users have no natural predators but down at the bottom of the lake there are an M&E attached to old tree branches that act as the health police they use their tentacles to catch the weaker and older Medusa's we are leaving the warm waters of the South Pacific and moving on to colder waters off the west coast of Canada our destination is Hurst Island in the Vancouver Strait of Vancouver Island [Music] the vessel chillon is cruising off Saanich inlet on board our biologists from Victoria Vancouver Island is a haven for nature large colonies of seals inhabit the numerous surrounding islands the proximity of the mainland is deceptive the water here is no less than 70 metres deep the area the divers are interested in is an unusual reef in 50 meters the waters around Vancouver Island are cold and rich in nutrients an absolute paradise for Medusa's the diversity of comb jellies is noticeable in their gelatinous transparent bodies drifting through the dark green water an encounter of an unusual kind this is not a Medusa but a hooded sea snail it's on the lookout for a new location a habitat with strong currents where it can find plankton and the search does not take long it shovels large quantities of anything edible into its enormous mouths this patent reminds us immediately of a compass compass jellyfish are probably the classic image we have of what a jellyfish should look like it would definitely win a beauty contest going deeper and deeper now at 30 meters the lion's mane or hairy stinger has a thousand tentacles under its Bell and grows up to two meters in diameter the large Bell is divided into eight segments scars are visible probably from swimming crabs that nibbled on the jellyfish although the lion's mane has a powerful sting and its tentacles are always ready to catch prey there are some fish that seek shelter in between the tentacles during their adolescent stage in this case it's a group of young Cod that are skillfully avoiding the stinging tentacles the team continues their descent following the lion's mane [Music] a wolf eel shows its teeth this encounter is harmless the animal is only interested in our camera [Music] wolf eels are ground dwellers they do not have a swim bladder and only snake their way through the water for short distances it's nice to have an experienced hand as one gets to know one another [Music] this chimera floats elegantly through the water it's related to raise this wolf eel is especially friendly it shows off its tender side because it can easily crack shells and likes to feed on lobster the eel enjoys the warmth of the divers exposed hands at a depth of 48 meters we reach the generis reef these are not cold water corals their enormous glass sponges with a skeleton consisting of millions of silica needles there are only a few places in the world where these glass sponges are found at a relatively shallow depth they're mostly found in deeper habitats at about a thousand metres this red cone jelly - usually lives at greater depth a been focused on also joins the party they're no less beautiful than the glass sponges comb jellies are the neon advertising signs of the oceans the iridescent light effect is generated by fine hairs the presence of the glass sponges and jellyfish is evidence of a powerful tidal current at this depth transporting large amounts of nutrients its beauty can hardly be surpassed but the Barrow II is a dangerous predator as we shall soon see we have ascended into shallower areas and discovered something unusual despite its formidable weapons a lion's mane jelly has become caught in a hopeless situation [Music] these two lions mains are in for a similar fate the way down is a dangerous one there are plenty of daily anemones waiting to feed this one has not yet picked up it's Sunday lunch at the moment it has a fairly frugal lifestyle living off copepods in the plankton by pulling them towards its mouth with its tentacles [Music] this neighbor is more successful the Medusa is desperately trying to escape the tentacles of its predator but the jealous fate has been sealed after several hours only the leftovers of the lion's mane jelly are protruding from the greedy mouth of the daily our anemone not far away several sea lions have appeared this bull is watching over its harem fairly relaxed and at a distance his females are comfortably stretched out on the exposed sand bank they have no interest in the countless fish surrounding them they're ready to take a nap a relaxing back massage or just lounging pleasant alternatives to lying around on land in full Sun it's nice and cool in the shallow water near the beach the chief is also enjoying himself his ladies are content and there's no other male in sight it's evening in Saanich inland experts in this region know that this is the most beautiful time of the day as darkness falls the great feast will begin plankton will start to rise from great depths to the surface innumerable tiny Aurelius hunt microscopically small creatures in the darkness of the night the large moon jelly is also take part in the feast [Music] this little Cuba's Owen has an edge over others during the hunt it has perfected the skill of jetting backwards for a jellyfish that's incredibly fast whether armored users there are also Thalia Jie every single animal in this chain is hungry not every visitor on this nighttime feast is interested in the smaller creatures this sea gooseberry is in the process of eating a relative very rarely seen [Music] the night in Saanich Inlet ends with a tremendous fireworks show cone jealous of unimaginable shapes have taken over the nighttime stage while feeding on plankton every change in direction produces a glowing stream of bright lights like the colorful displays at a Christmas market to find another curiosity in the Medusa family we travel to a remote area of Indonesia Raja Ampat in northwestern West Papua this archipelago consists of around 1,500 islands of which only very few are inhabited [Music] the few people who live here don't have a major influence on the environment yet at least but Raja Ampat has become well known [Music] with his outrigger boat this fisherman slowly glides over a natural treasure which is not found in many other places in the world more than 500 different coral species have settled here and the clear waters of Raja Ampat this lush soft coral colony catches plankton with its many tentacles these bat fish enjoy the current one of the 1,300 different fish species in the archipelago masters of camouflage - ghost pipefish distant relatives of sea horses imitate algae moving back and forth in the current also a master of blending in a carpet shark only easy to spot when it swims [Music] mantas also treasure the rich abundance of food that the island paradise has to offer the giant rays are on the lookout for cleaner fish but currently their cleaning personnel are busy elsewhere and then finally we find the curious misfits that we are searching for upside down jellyfish it looks like gelatinous cauliflower but is the underside of a jellyfish that has its mouth upward towards the sunlight the tentacles contain important algae upside down jellies are stuck to the ocean floor with their Bell and pump plankton rich water towards their tentacles they are not good swimmers and they will only swim if absolutely necessary here in the dense mangrove forests of Raja Ampat we are looking for the nursery of these peculiar jellyfish without a guide it will be impossible to find our way back out of this maze of canals bays and twists and turns the upside-down jellies are born right here protected by the mangrove roots a mat of polyps this is where baby jellyfish bud off from their polyps [Music] the colony assess our polyps we'll soon see a chain reaction once one polymer begins to bud others soon follow these jellyfish have two ways of gathering food either they wave their tentacles around to draw plankton in towards their mouths or they make use of the single-celled algae that live inside the jellyfish and generate energy for them from the sunlight while some are simply peculiar others are very dangerous on our search for one of the most feared jellies we are traveling to the northeastern coast of Australia in Townsville we're hoping to learn the latest research regarding the infamous box jelly also called the sea wasp we're meeting up with gerhard yarns again who is here to find out more about this highly poisonous jellyfish the arms has spent hundreds of hours at the microscope researching the secrets of this jellyfish he was one of the first to document the entire lifecycle of this most dangerous of all Medusa's jellyfish have sensory cells whose internal workings can only be examined with a microscope one of these organs is the eye of which the deadly sea wasp has several and this is what a deadly sea wasp looks like it's one of the most venomous creatures in the ocean contact with this tentacles causes death within a short period of time unless there is medical help close by from October to May all the beaches here and to the north are closed swimming and bathing is only permitted in the areas that are completely enclosed here they call this little monster the box jelly white-skinned people are at greatest risk people with darker skin or the local aborigines are better off they're less likely to come into contact with a box jelly the following pictures will explain why the eyes of the deadly Medusa are a key factor they're hardly visible embedded in special sensory niches [Music] only if magnified 50 to 100 times are they identifiable as eyes [Music] in the murky water the body of the white girl is hardly noticeable but the dark-skinned body is much easier to see the Medusa is able to detect these different levels of contrast for the Box jelly this does not appear to be prey and it changes course [Music] it will not have to wait long for prey though this fish has come along just in time but why are there so many deadly sea wasps here at this time of year the reason is their life cycle by October the growing with juicers have reached a size that is already very dangerous for swimmers in the following May this generation of jellyfish will die off a lab in Cannes Jamie Seymour is a biologist and knows that deadly box jelly like no other for many years the scientists has been studying these beautiful monsters the Box jelly lives on fish and therefore needs very powerful venom he wants to show us under the microscope the full range of weapons available in this Medusa's arsenal along the arms we see lateral ridges which contain masses of tightly arranged nematocysts four to five thousand of them the stings on the legs of the young girl would have caused death if she had not been treated immediately the ugly scars will remain for life the Australia's themselves know full well what the warnings mean careless tourists who stray outside the fenced off bathing areas are usually the ones that put themselves in danger but then there are others who are not afraid of the risks this is Jamie Seymour staff protected by neoprene suits they're trying to gather as much information as possible about the life and habits of the Box jelly however it's difficult and dangerous to observe these deadly jellyfish in their murky habitat which is why the scientists have to catch enough specimens for their research catching them is not particularly difficult because box jellies are usually found close to the surface the arms can't complain about not having enough jellies [Music] back to the u.s. again this time to the East Coast off Cape Hatteras in North Carolina the c-word Johnson one of the research vessels of Harbor branch the renowned oceanographic institution is anchored off the Cape where the Gulf Stream leaves the u.s. continent and heads towards Europe we're going to search for the mysterious and lesser-known deep-sea jellyfish with the Johnson ceiling submarine pilot Phil Santos has his own routine in handling this sophisticated high-tech system the Johnson ceiling can dive down to 1200 meters during our descent the first wondrous creature appears probably a comb jelly which is part of the family of siphonophores a better way Phil Santos prepares the low-light camera in order to observe a unique deep-sea phenomenon lights out and it begins at this depth underneath the gulfstream weather warm and cold water currents begin to mix we find a sparkly world in this darkness many animals have their own lights they possess different forms of bioluminescence the viperfish can also create light this lonely predator can switch on up to 1500 biological light bulbs the gel is light is cold light during this highly efficient biochemical process no energy is lost to the creation of warmth the ability to create light serves the fish in many different ways one could be communication with fellow species members it could help to lure prey towards the fish and also to recognize either Friend or Foe every species has its own rhythms and patterns may be also used as a deterrent spooky and beautiful at the same time a deep-sea squid goes on the defensive and also a deep-sea octopus surprised by the submarine this squid emits white ink many cephalopods down here have very large eyes with its large visual organs this glass squid can detect the smallest sources of light a crucial skill in this realm of darkness the animal looks as though it's made of glass it's completely transparent except for a little bit of pigmentation around the arms and the black eyes it allows us to look inside the body of this creature [Music] it's a world of curiosities here in the depths of Cape Hatteras where the Gulf Stream stirs things up and so the jellyfish drifts through the oceans beautiful and mysterious at the same time the famous Tiffany doula was so fascinated by their beauty and shape that he referred to them as the elves of the ocean [Music] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary - Nature

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Keywords: Documentary, Documentaries, adventure, animals, nature, Jellyfish, beautiful and mysterious, deep sea, vicious beauties jellyfish, mysterious jellyfish, jellyfish attack, elves of the ocean, lion mane jellyfish, immortal jellyfish, glowing jellyfish, box jellyfish attack, sea wasp, portuguese man-of-war, moon jellyfish, octopus, medusae jellyfish, ocean inhabitants, periphylla, Free Documentary, Free Documentary Nature, Nature Documentary, Ocean Documentary, Ocean, Sea Life

Id: bAz3aIfD80k

Length: 44min 3sec (2643 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 01 2019