0:00:17.000,0:00:19.976
[Stories from the Sea]

0:00:21.198,0:00:26.174
[Fish Tale[br]My Secret Life as Plankton]

0:00:29.496,0:00:30.814
How did I get here?

0:00:32.506,0:00:35.557
Well, it's a stranger story[br]than you might think.

0:00:37.028,0:00:40.283
I came from a world of drifters,

0:00:40.307,0:00:42.886
a place few humans have ever seen.

0:00:43.979,0:00:45.585
The world of plankton.

0:00:47.491,0:00:52.158
I came from a batch of a million eggs,[br]and only a few of us survived.

0:00:55.092,0:00:58.732
When I became a larva,[br]I moved among other drifters.

0:00:59.472,0:01:04.125
["Plankton" comes from the Greek[br]"planktos" for wandering]

0:01:08.138,0:01:13.329
My fellow plankton came in all sizes,[br]from tiny algae and bacteria

0:01:13.353,0:01:15.843
to animals longer than a blue whale.

0:01:20.781,0:01:25.374
I shared my nursery[br]with other embryos and juveniles,

0:01:25.398,0:01:29.364
from clams and crabs[br]to sea urchins and anemones.

0:01:32.445,0:01:33.745
(High pitch sound)

0:01:33.769,0:01:37.040
We drifting animals[br]are called zooplankton.

0:01:38.567,0:01:43.045
The most common animals here[br]are copepods and krill.

0:01:43.069,0:01:44.069
(Buzzing)

0:01:46.332,0:01:48.299
You could search the world over,

0:01:48.323,0:01:52.090
but you'd never find a place[br]more diverse than my childhood home.

0:01:53.905,0:01:55.883
A teaspoon of seawater

0:01:55.907,0:01:58.771
can contain more[br]than a million living creatures.

0:02:01.920,0:02:04.914
It can be a pretty tough[br]existence, though.

0:02:04.938,0:02:09.080
Trillions are born here,[br]but only a few make it to adulthood.

0:02:14.048,0:02:16.637
He may be no larger than a pin head,

0:02:16.661,0:02:20.517
but this crab larva[br]is an arrow worm's worst nightmare.

0:02:22.229,0:02:24.980
(Bumping noises)

0:02:32.332,0:02:33.633
(Buzzing)

0:02:35.831,0:02:40.434
Epic battles between carnivores[br]like these are just one way to get food.

0:02:41.754,0:02:46.014
But the real powers[br]of this place come from phytoplankton.

0:02:47.361,0:02:48.567
Single-celled life

0:02:48.591,0:02:51.374
that transforms sunlight[br]and carbon dioxide

0:02:51.398,0:02:52.860
into edible gold.

0:03:00.462,0:03:04.608
Phytoplankton are the base[br]for the largest food web in the world.

0:03:06.983,0:03:08.621
During the night,

0:03:08.645,0:03:11.237
many animals like me[br]would rise up from the depths

0:03:11.261,0:03:14.136
to feed on this sun-powered feast.

0:03:15.056,0:03:16.681
(Maraca sound)

0:03:18.830,0:03:22.732
I was part of the largest daily[br]migration of life on Earth.

0:03:25.197,0:03:26.760
During the day,

0:03:26.784,0:03:30.927
I'd return to the darkness,[br]where I'd join my bizarre companions.

0:03:32.682,0:03:34.205
(High pitch buzz)

0:03:34.229,0:03:35.422
(Flapping noises)

0:03:35.446,0:03:38.560
Cannibals, like this[br]sea butterfly mollusk,

0:03:38.584,0:03:40.261
that eats its next of kin.

0:03:44.983,0:03:46.621
And comb jellies,

0:03:46.645,0:03:49.864
that beat cilia like rainbowed eyelashes.

0:03:55.907,0:03:58.752
Some of these snare[br]their prey with sticky tentacles,

0:03:59.834,0:04:03.192
while others just take[br]a bite out of their cousins.

0:04:05.245,0:04:06.729
And siphonophores

0:04:06.753,0:04:09.341
that catch prey with toxic fishing lures.

0:04:15.246,0:04:19.024
But my favorite would have[br]to be the crustacean Phronima.

0:04:20.276,0:04:23.568
Its monstrous looks inspired[br]the movie "Aliens."

0:04:25.215,0:04:28.052
It can catch tiny bits in its bristles,

0:04:28.076,0:04:30.765
but prefers larger prey like salps.

0:04:34.553,0:04:38.983
With two sets of eyes,[br]this female prowls the deeper water.

0:04:41.307,0:04:43.114
Prey in hand,

0:04:43.138,0:04:45.796
she performs one[br]of the strangest behaviors

0:04:45.820,0:04:47.558
in the entire animal kingdom.

0:04:50.908,0:04:53.298
With body parts from her victims,

0:04:53.322,0:04:56.914
she delicately assembles[br]a barrel-like home

0:04:56.938,0:05:00.651
feeding her young until they can drift off[br]and survive on their own.

0:05:04.722,0:05:09.861
Best of all, they make the perfect[br]snack for a small fish like me.

0:05:12.785,0:05:14.822
Here among the plankton,

0:05:14.846,0:05:18.421
the food web is so tangled and complex,

0:05:18.445,0:05:21.429
even scientists don't know who eats whom.

0:05:23.900,0:05:25.233
But I do.

0:05:28.938,0:05:31.794
At least now you know a bit of my story.

0:05:32.784,0:05:35.917
There's so much more to me[br]than just a tasty meal.