WEBVTT

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[Stories from the Sea]

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[Fish Tale
My Secret Life as Plankton]

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How did I get here?

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Well, it's a stranger story
than you might think.

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I came from a world of drifters,

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a place few humans have ever seen.

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The world of plankton.

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I came from a batch of a million eggs,
and only a few of us survived.

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When I became a larva,
I moved among other drifters.

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["Plankton" comes from the Greek
"planktos" for wandering]

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My fellow plankton came in all sizes,
from tiny algae and bacteria

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to animals longer than a blue whale.

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I shared my nursery
with other embryos and juveniles,

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from clams and crabs
to sea urchins and anemones.

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(High pitch sound)

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We drifting animals
are called zooplankton.

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The most common animals here
are copepods and krill.

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(Buzzing)

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You could search the world over,

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but you'd never find a place
more diverse than my childhood home.

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A teaspoon of seawater

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can contain more
than a million living creatures.

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It can be a pretty tough
existence, though.

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Trillions are born here,
but only a few make it to adulthood.

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He may be no larger than a pin head,

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but this crab larva
is an arrow worm's worst nightmare.

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(Bumping noises)

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(Buzzing)

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Epic battles between carnivores
like these are just one way to get food.

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But the real powers
of this place come from phytoplankton.

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Single-celled life

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that transforms sunlight
and carbon dioxide

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into edible gold.

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Phytoplankton are the base
for the largest food web in the world.

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During the night,

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many animals like me
would rise up from the depths

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to feed on this sun-powered feast.

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(Maraca sound)

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I was part of the largest daily
migration of life on Earth.

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During the day,

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I'd return to the darkness,
where I'd join my bizarre companions.

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(High pitch buzz)

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(Flapping noises)

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Cannibals, like this
sea butterfly mollusk,

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that eats its next of kin.

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And comb jellies,

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that beat cilia like rainbowed eyelashes.

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Some of these snare
their prey with sticky tentacles,

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while others just take
a bite out of their cousins.

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And siphonophores

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that catch prey with toxic fishing lures.

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But my favorite would have
to be the crustacean Phronima.

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Its monstrous looks inspired
the movie "Aliens."

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It can catch tiny bits in its bristles,

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but prefers larger prey like salps.

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With two sets of eyes,
this female prowls the deeper water.

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Prey in hand,

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she performs one
of the strangest behaviors

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in the entire animal kingdom.

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With body parts from her victims,

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she delicately assembles
a barrel-like home

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feeding her young until they can drift off
and survive on their own.

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Best of all, they make the perfect
snack for a small fish like me.

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Here among the plankton,

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the food web is so tangled and complex,

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even scientists don't know who eats whom.

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But I do.

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At least now you know a bit of my story.

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There's so much more to me
than just a tasty meal.