1
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Right now,

2
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beneath a shimmering blue sea,

3
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
millions of fish are having sex.

4
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Cheers)

5
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the way they're doing it
and strategies they're using

6
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
looks nothing like what we see on land.

7
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

8
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Take parrotfish.

9
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In this species, all fish are born female,

10
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they look like this.

11
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Then later in life,

12
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she can transition into a male
and she'll look like this.

13
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But it's not just
a spectacular wardrobe change.

14
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Her body can reabsorb her ovaries
and grow testes in their place.

15
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In just a few weeks,

16
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she'll go from making eggs
to producing sperm.

17
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's pretty impressive,

18
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and in the ocean it's also pretty common.

19
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In fact, I'll bet nearly all of you
have at some point had a seafood dish

20
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
made up of an individual
that started life as one sex

21
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and transitioned to another.

22
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oysters?

23
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Grouper?

24
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Shrimp?

25
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Seeing some heads nodding, yeah.

26
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But not all fish that change sex
start as females.

27
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Those clownfish we know
from "Finding Nemo"?

28
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're all born male.

29
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So in the real world,

30
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when Nemo's mother died,

31
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nemo's dad Marlin would
have transitioned into Marlene

32
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

33
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Nemo would have likely mated
with his father turned mother.

34
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

35
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can see -- (Laughter)

36
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yeah.

37
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can see why Pixar

38
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
took a little creative license
with the plot line, right?

39
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

40
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So sex change in the ocean
can happen in either direction

41
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and sometimes even back and forth,

42
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and that's just one of the many
amazing strategies animals use

43
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to reproduce in the ocean.

44
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And trust me when I say

45
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's one of the least surprising.

46
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sex in the sea is fascinating,

47
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it's also really important,

48
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and not just to nerdy
marine biologists like me

49
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who are obsessed with understanding
these salty affairs.

50
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It matters for all of us.

51
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Today, we depend on wild caught fish

52
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to help feed over two billion people

53
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the planet.

54
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We need millions of oysters and corals
to build the giant reefs

55
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that protect our shorelines
from rising seas and storms.

56
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We depend on medicines that are found
in marine animals to fight cancer

57
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and other diseases.

58
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And for many of us,

59
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the diversity and beauty of the oceans
is where we turn for recreation

60
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and relaxation and our cultural heritage.

61
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In order for us to continue
to benefit from the abundance

62
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that ocean life provides,

63
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the fish and coral and shrimp of today

64
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have to be able to make fish
and shrimp and coral for tomorrow.

65
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To do that, they have to have
lots and lots of sex.

66
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And until recently,

67
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we really didn't know how sex
happened in the sea.

68
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's pretty hard to study.

69
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But thanks to new science and technology,

70
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we now know so much more
than even just a few years ago,

71
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and these new discoveries
are showing two things.

72
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
First, sex in the sea is really funky.

73
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Second, our actions are wreaking havoc
on the sex lives of everything

74
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from shrimp to salmon.

75
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I know. It can be hard to believe.

76
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So today, I'm going to share a few details
about how animals do it in the deep,

77
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how we may be interrupting
these intimate affairs,

78
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and what we can do to change that.

79
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, remember those sex-changing fish?

80
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In many places in the world,

81
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we have fishing rules that set
a minimum catch size.

82
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Fishers are not allowed
to target tiny fish.

83
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This allows baby fish to grow
and reproduce before they're caught.

84
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's a good thing.

85
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So fishers go after the biggest fish.

86
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But in parrotfish, for example,
or any sex changer,

87
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
targeting the biggest fish means
that they're taking out all the males.

88
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That makes it hard for a female fish

89
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to find a mate

90
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or it forces her to change sex sooner

91
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at a smaller size.

92
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Both of these things can result
in fewer fish babies in the future.

93
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In order for us to properly care
for these species,

94
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we have to know if they change sex,

95
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how, and when.

96
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Only then can we create rules
that can support these sexual strategies,

97
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
such as setting a maximum size limit
in addition to a minimum one.

98
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The challenge isn't that we can't think
of these sex-friendly solutions.

99
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The challenge is knowing
which solutions to apply to which species,

100
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because even animals we know really well

101
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
surprise us when it comes
to their sex lives.

102
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Take Maine lobster.

103
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They don't look that romantic,

104
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or that kinky.

105
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They are both.

106
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

107
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
During mating season,

108
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
female lobsters want to mate
with the biggest, baddest males,

109
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but these guys are really aggressive,

110
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they'll attack any lobster
that approaches, male or female.

111
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Meanwhile, the best time
for her to mate with the male

112
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is right after she's molted,

113
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when she's lost her hard shell.

114
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So she has to approach this aggressive guy
in her most vulnerable state.

115
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What's a girl to do?

116
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Her answer?

117
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Spray him in the face
repeatedly with her urine.

118
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

119
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Under the sea, pee
is a very powerful love potion.

120
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Conveniently, lobsters' bladders
sit just above their brains,

121
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they have two nozzles
under their eye stalks

122
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with which they can shoot
their urine forward.

123
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So the female approaches the male's den

124
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and as he charges out
she lets loose a stream of urine

125
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then gets the hell out of there.

126
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Only a few days of this daily dosing
is all it takes for her scent

127
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to have a transformative effect.

128
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The male turns from an aggressive
to a gentle lover.

129
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
By the week's end,
he invites her into his den.

130
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
After that, the sex is easy.

131
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So how are interrupting
this kind of kinky courtship?

132
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Well, the female's urine carries
a critical chemical signal

133
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that works because
it can pass through seawater

134
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and lobsters have a smell receptor

135
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that can detect and receive the message.

136
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Climate change is making
our oceans more acidic.

137
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's the result of too much
carbon dioxide entering seawater.

138
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This changing chemistry
could scramble that message,

139
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or it could damage
the lobsters' smell receptors.

140
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Pollution from land
can have similar impacts.

141
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Just imagine the consequence
for that female

142
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if her love potion should fail.

143
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
These are the kinds of subtle
but significant impacts we're having

144
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the love lives of these marine life.

145
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And this is a species we know well:

146
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
lobsters live near shore in the shallows.

147
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Dive deeper, and sex gets even stranger.

148
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Fanfin anglerfish live at about
3,000 feet below the surface

149
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the pitch-black waters,

150
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the males are born
without the ability to feed themselves.

151
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To survive, he has to find a female fast.

152
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Meanwhile, the female,

153
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who is 10 times bigger than the male,

154
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
10 times,

155
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
she lets out a very strong pheromone
with which to attract mates to her.

156
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So this tiny male is swimming
through the black waters

157
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
smelling his way to a female,

158
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and when he finds her,

159
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he gives her a love bite.

160
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And this is when things get really weird.

161
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That love bite triggers
a chemical reaction

162
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
whereby his jawbone
starts to disintegrate.

163
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His face melts into her flesh,

164
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and their two bodies start to fuse.

165
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their circulatory systems intwine,

166
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all his internal organs
start to dissolve

167
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
except for his testes.

168
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

169
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His testes mature just fine
and start producing sperm.

170
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In the end, he's basically
a permanently attached

171
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on-demand sperm factory for the female.

172
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

173
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's a very efficient system,

174
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but this is not the kind
of mating strategy

175
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we see on a farm, right?

176
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, this is weird.

177
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's really strange.

178
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But if we don't know that
these kinds of strategies exist

179
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or how they work,

180
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we can't know what kind of impacts
we may be having, even in the deep sea.

181
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Just three years ago,

182
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we discovered a new species
of deep sea octopus

183
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where the females lay their eggs
on sponges attached to rocks

184
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that are over two and a half miles deep.

185
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
These rocks contain rare earth minerals,

186
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and right now there are companies
that are building bulldozers

187
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that would be capable of mining
the deep sea floor for those rocks.

188
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But the bulldozers
would scrape up all the sponges

189
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all the eggs with them.

190
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Knowingly, and in many cases unknowingly,

191
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we are preventing successful sex
and reproduction in the deep.

192
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And let's be honest,

193
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
dating and mating is hard enough
without somebody coming in

194
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and interrupting all the time, right?

195
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, we know this.

196
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So today, while I hope you will leave here
with some excellent bar trivia on fish sex

197
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter)

198
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I also ask that you remember this:

199
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we are all far more intimately connected
with the oceans than we realize,

200
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no matter where we live.

201
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And this level of intimacy

202
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
requires a new kind
of relationship with the ocean,

203
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one that recognizes and respects
the enormous diversity of life

204
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and its limitations.

205
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We can no longer think of the oceans

206
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as just something out there,

207
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because every day we depend on them
for our food security,

208
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
our own health and wellness,

209
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and every other breath we take.

210
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But it is a two-way relationship,

211
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the oceans can only continue
to provide for us

212
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if we in turn safeguard
that fundamental force of life in the sea:

213
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
sex and reproduction.

214
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, like any relationship,
we have to embrace some change

215
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for the partnership to work.

216
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The next time you're thinking
about having seafood,

217
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
look for sustainable caught
or farmed species

218
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that are local and low on the food chain.

219
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
These are animals
like oysters, clams, mussels,

220
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
small fish like mackerel.

221
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
These all reproduce like crazy,
and with good management

222
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they can handle a bit of fishing pressure.

223
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We can also rethink what we use
to wash our bodies,

224
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
clean our homes,

225
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and care for our lawns.

226
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All of those chemicals
eventually wash out to sea

227
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and disrupt the natural chemistry

228
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the ocean.

229
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Industry also has to play its part

230
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and take a precautionary approach,

231
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
protecting sexual activity
where we know it exists

232
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and preventing harm in the cases
where we just don't yet know enough,

233
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like the deep sea.

234
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in the communities where we live,

235
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the places we work,

236
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the country in which we vote,

237
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we must take bold action
on climate change now.

238
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Applause)

239
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thank you.

240
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Applause)