How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys
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0:26 - 0:28I must look rather strange to you,
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0:29 - 0:30all covered in spines,
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0:31 - 0:33without even a face.
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0:35 - 0:38But I've taken many forms during my life.
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0:39 - 0:41I started out just like you:
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0:43 - 0:45a tiny egg in a watery world.
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0:46 - 0:48My parents never knew each other.
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0:48 - 0:51One moonlit night before a storm,
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0:51 - 0:54thousands of urchins, clams and corals
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0:54 - 0:57released trillions of sperm and eggs
into the open sea. -
1:09 - 1:12My father's sperm
somehow met my mother's egg, -
1:12 - 1:13and they fused.
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1:16 - 1:17Fertilization.
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1:18 - 1:21Instantly, I became an embryo
the size of a speck of dust. -
1:22 - 1:24After a few hours of drifting,
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1:24 - 1:25I cleaved in two,
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1:26 - 1:27then four,
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1:27 - 1:28then eight cells.
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1:29 - 1:31Then so many, I lost count.
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1:32 - 1:34In less than a day,
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1:34 - 1:36I developed a gut and a skeleton.
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1:37 - 1:39I became a rocket ship,
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1:39 - 1:41a pluteus larva.
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1:43 - 1:45I floated through the world of plankton,
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1:45 - 1:47searching for tiny algae to eat.
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1:50 - 1:54For weeks, I was surrounded
by all kinds of organisms, -
1:54 - 1:55larvae of all sorts.
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1:58 - 2:01Most are so different
from their adult form -
2:01 - 2:04that biologists have a tough time
figuring out who they are. -
2:12 - 2:14Try matching these youngsters
to their parents. -
2:17 - 2:20This veliger larvae
will turn into a snail; -
2:21 - 2:23this zoea, into a crab;
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2:24 - 2:27and this planula, into a clytia jelly.
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2:30 - 2:33Some of my young companions
are easier to picture as grown-ups. -
2:35 - 2:38These baby jellies, known as ephyrae,
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2:38 - 2:41already resemble their beautiful
but deadly parents. -
2:43 - 2:45Here in the plankton,
there's more than one way -
2:45 - 2:48to get your genes
into the next generation. -
2:51 - 2:55Most Medusa jellies make
special structures called polyps, -
2:55 - 2:58that simply bud off babies
with no need for sex. -
3:00 - 3:01Salps are similar.
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3:02 - 3:04When food is abundant,
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3:04 - 3:06they just clone themselves
into long chains. -
3:09 - 3:13The plankton is full of surprises
when it comes to sex. -
3:15 - 3:17Meet the hermaphrodites.
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3:18 - 3:20These comb jellies and arrow worms
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3:20 - 3:24produce, store and release
both sperm and eggs. -
3:25 - 3:27They can fertilize themselves,
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3:27 - 3:28or another.
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3:32 - 3:34When you're floating in a vast sea,
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3:34 - 3:37with little control over who you may meet,
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3:37 - 3:40it can pay to play
both sides of the field. -
3:42 - 3:45The majority of species here,
however, never mate, -
3:45 - 3:48nor form any sort of lasting bonds.
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3:49 - 3:51That was my parents' strategy.
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3:54 - 3:56There were so many of us pluteus larvae,
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3:56 - 3:58I just hid in the crowd,
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3:58 - 4:00while most of my kin were devoured.
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4:04 - 4:07Not all parents leave
the survival of their offspring to chance. -
4:08 - 4:12Some have far fewer young
and take much better care of them, -
4:12 - 4:16brooding their precious cargo
for days, even months. -
4:18 - 4:19This speedy copepod
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4:19 - 4:22totes her beautifully
packaged eggs for days. -
4:24 - 4:27This Phronima crustacean
carries her babies on her chest, -
4:27 - 4:30then carefully places them
in a gelatinous barrel. -
4:38 - 4:41But the black-eyed squid takes the prize.
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4:41 - 4:45She cradles her eggs
in long arms for nine months, -
4:45 - 4:49the same time it takes
to gestate a human infant. -
4:53 - 4:56Eventually, all youngsters
have to make it on their own -
4:56 - 4:57in this drifting world.
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5:01 - 5:04Some will spend
their whole lives in the plankton, -
5:04 - 5:07but others, like me, move on.
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5:10 - 5:13A few weeks after I was conceived,
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5:13 - 5:14I decided to settle down,
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5:15 - 5:19and metamorphosed
into a recognizable urchin. -
5:23 - 5:25So now you know a bit of my story.
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5:26 - 5:29I may just be a slow-moving
ball of spines, -
5:29 - 5:33but don't let my calm
adult exterior fool you. -
5:35 - 5:37I was a rocket ship.
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5:38 - 5:40I was a wild child.
- Title:
- How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys
- Description:
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View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-life-begins-in-the-deep-ocean
Where do squid, jellyfish and other sea creatures begin life? The story of a sea urchin reveals a stunningly beautiful saga of fertilization, development and growth in the ocean depths.
Lesson by Tierney Thys, visualization by Christian Sardet (CNRS/Tara Oceans), Noé Sardet, and Sharif Mirshak (Plankton Chronicles Project, Parafilms).
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 06:02
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Darren Bridenbeck (Amara Staff) edited English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Bedirhan Cinar edited English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Bedirhan Cinar approved English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Bedirhan Cinar edited English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Bedirhan Cinar edited English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys | ||
Bedirhan Cinar edited English subtitles for How Life Begins in the Deep Ocean - Tierney Thys |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 10/12/2016.