Are we interrupting the kinky sex lives of fish?
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0:01 - 0:02Right now,
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0:02 - 0:05beneath a shimmering blue sea,
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0:05 - 0:09millions of fish are having sex.
-
0:09 - 0:12(Cheers)
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0:12 - 0:16And the way they're doing it
and strategies they're using -
0:16 - 0:19looks nothing like what we see on land.
-
0:20 - 0:22Take parrotfish.
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0:22 - 0:25In this species, all fish are born female,
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0:25 - 0:27and they look like this.
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0:27 - 0:29Then later in life,
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0:29 - 0:32she can transition into a male
and she'll look like this. -
0:33 - 0:38But it's not just
a spectacular wardrobe change. -
0:38 - 0:43Her body can reabsorb her ovaries
and grow testes in their place. -
0:43 - 0:45In just a few weeks,
-
0:45 - 0:48she'll go from making eggs
to producing sperm. -
0:48 - 0:50It's pretty impressive,
-
0:50 - 0:53and in the ocean it's also pretty common.
-
0:53 - 0:57In fact, I bet nearly all of you
have at some point had a seafood dish -
0:57 - 1:00made up of an individual
that started life as one sex -
1:00 - 1:02and transitioned to another.
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1:02 - 1:04Oysters?
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1:04 - 1:06Grouper?
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1:06 - 1:07Shrimp?
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1:07 - 1:10Seeing some heads nodding, yeah.
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1:10 - 1:14But not all fish that change sex
start as females. -
1:15 - 1:17Those clown fish we know
from "Finding Nemo"? -
1:18 - 1:19They're all born male.
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1:20 - 1:23So in the real world,
-
1:23 - 1:26when Nemo's mother died,
-
1:26 - 1:30Nemo's dad Marlin
would have transitioned into Marlene -- -
1:30 - 1:32(Laughter)
-
1:32 - 1:35and Nemo would have likely mated
with his father turned mother. -
1:35 - 1:36(Laughter)
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1:36 - 1:37You can see --
-
1:37 - 1:40(Laughter)
-
1:40 - 1:41Yeah.
-
1:43 - 1:45You can see why Pixar
-
1:45 - 1:47took a little creative license
with the plotline, right? -
1:47 - 1:49(Laughter)
-
1:49 - 1:52So sex change in the ocean
can happen in either direction -
1:52 - 1:54and sometimes even back and forth,
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1:54 - 1:58and that's just one of the many
amazing strategies animals use -
1:58 - 2:00to reproduce in the ocean.
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2:00 - 2:02And trust me when I say
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2:02 - 2:04it's one of the least surprising.
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2:04 - 2:08Sex in the sea is fascinating,
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2:08 - 2:10and it's also really important,
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2:10 - 2:13and not just to nerdy
marine biologists like me -
2:13 - 2:16who are obsessed with understanding
these salty affairs. -
2:17 - 2:19It matters for all of us.
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2:20 - 2:23Today, we depend on wild caught fish
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2:23 - 2:26to help feed over two billion people
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2:26 - 2:27on the planet.
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2:27 - 2:31We need millions of oysters and corals
to build the giant reefs -
2:31 - 2:35that protect our shorelines
from rising seas and storms. -
2:35 - 2:40We depend on medicines that are found
in marine animals to fight cancer -
2:40 - 2:41and other diseases.
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2:41 - 2:43And for many of us,
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2:43 - 2:47the diversity and beauty of the oceans
is where we turn for recreation -
2:47 - 2:50and relaxation and our cultural heritage.
-
2:51 - 2:54In order for us to continue
to benefit from the abundance -
2:54 - 2:56that ocean life provides,
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2:56 - 2:58the fish and coral and shrimp of today
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2:58 - 3:02have to be able to make fish
and shrimp and coral for tomorrow. -
3:02 - 3:06To do that, they have to have
lots and lots of sex. -
3:07 - 3:08And until recently,
-
3:08 - 3:11we really didn't know
how sex happened in the sea. -
3:11 - 3:13It's pretty hard to study.
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3:13 - 3:16But thanks to new science and technology,
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3:16 - 3:20we now know so much more
than even just a few years ago, -
3:20 - 3:23and these new discoveries
are showing two things. -
3:23 - 3:27First, sex in the sea is really funky.
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3:28 - 3:33Second, our actions are wreaking havoc
on the sex lives of everything -
3:33 - 3:34from shrimp to salmon.
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3:35 - 3:37I know. It can be hard to believe.
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3:37 - 3:43So today, I'm going to share a few details
about how animals do it in the deep, -
3:43 - 3:46how we may be interrupting
these intimate affairs -
3:46 - 3:49and what we can do to change that.
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3:49 - 3:52So, remember those sex-changing fish?
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3:52 - 3:54In many places in the world,
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3:54 - 3:57we have fishing rules
that set a minimum catch size. -
3:58 - 4:00Fishers are not allowed
to target tiny fish. -
4:00 - 4:04This allows baby fish to grow
and reproduce before they're caught. -
4:04 - 4:06That's a good thing.
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4:06 - 4:08So fishers go after the biggest fish.
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4:08 - 4:12But in parrotfish, for example,
or any sex changer, -
4:12 - 4:17targeting the biggest fish means
that they're taking out all the males. -
4:18 - 4:20That makes it hard for a female fish
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4:20 - 4:22to find a mate
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4:22 - 4:25or it forces her to change sex sooner
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4:25 - 4:26at a smaller size.
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4:27 - 4:32Both of these things can result
in fewer fish babies in the future. -
4:32 - 4:34In order for us to properly care
for these species, -
4:34 - 4:36we have to know if they change sex,
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4:36 - 4:38how and when.
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4:38 - 4:42Only then can we create rules
that can support these sexual strategies, -
4:42 - 4:46such as setting a maximum size limit
in addition to a minimum one. -
4:47 - 4:50The challenge isn't that we can't think
of these sex-friendly solutions. -
4:50 - 4:54The challenge is knowing
which solutions to apply to which species, -
4:54 - 4:57because even animals we know really well
-
4:57 - 5:00surprise us when it comes
to their sex lives. -
5:00 - 5:02Take Maine lobster.
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5:03 - 5:06They don't look that romantic,
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5:06 - 5:07or that kinky.
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5:07 - 5:09They are both.
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5:09 - 5:11(Laughter)
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5:11 - 5:13During mating season,
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5:13 - 5:16female lobsters want to mate
with the biggest, baddest males, -
5:16 - 5:18but these guys are really aggressive,
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5:18 - 5:22and they'll attack any lobster
that approaches, male or female. -
5:23 - 5:26Meanwhile, the best time
for her to mate with the male -
5:26 - 5:28is right after she's molted,
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5:28 - 5:31when she's lost her hard shell.
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5:31 - 5:36So she has to approach this aggressive guy
in her most vulnerable state. -
5:36 - 5:37What's a girl to do?
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5:38 - 5:40Her answer?
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5:40 - 5:45Spray him in the face
repeatedly with her urine. -
5:45 - 5:48(Laughter)
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5:48 - 5:51Under the sea, pee
is a very powerful love potion. -
5:53 - 5:58Conveniently, lobsters' bladders
sit just above their brains, -
5:58 - 6:00and they have two nozzles
under their eye stalks -
6:00 - 6:04with which they can shoot
their urine forward. -
6:04 - 6:07So the female approaches the male's den
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6:07 - 6:10and as he charges out
she lets loose a stream of urine -
6:10 - 6:12and then gets the hell out of there.
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6:13 - 6:16Only a few days of this daily dosing
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6:16 - 6:21is all it takes for her scent
to have a transformative effect. -
6:21 - 6:24The male turns from an aggressive
to a gentle lover. -
6:26 - 6:30By the week's end,
he invites her into his den. -
6:31 - 6:32After that, the sex is easy.
-
6:34 - 6:39So how are we interrupting
this kind of kinky courtship? -
6:39 - 6:44Well, the female's urine
carries a critical chemical signal -
6:44 - 6:47that works because
it can pass through seawater -
6:47 - 6:48and lobsters have a smell receptor
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6:48 - 6:51that can detect and receive the message.
-
6:51 - 6:55Climate change is making
our oceans more acidic. -
6:55 - 6:59It's the result of too much
carbon dioxide entering seawater. -
6:59 - 7:02This changing chemistry
could scramble that message, -
7:02 - 7:06or it could damage
the lobsters' smell receptors. -
7:06 - 7:09Pollution from land
can have similar impacts. -
7:09 - 7:11Just imagine the consequence
for that female -
7:11 - 7:13if her love potion should fail.
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7:14 - 7:18These are the kinds of subtle
but significant impacts we're having -
7:18 - 7:21on the love lives of these marine life.
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7:21 - 7:22And this is a species we know well:
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7:22 - 7:25lobsters live near shore in the shallows.
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7:25 - 7:29Dive deeper, and sex gets even stranger.
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7:30 - 7:35Fanfin anglerfish live at about
3,000 feet below the surface -
7:35 - 7:37in the pitch-black waters,
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7:37 - 7:42and the males are born
without the ability to feed themselves. -
7:42 - 7:46To survive, he has to find a female fast.
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7:47 - 7:49Meanwhile, the female,
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7:49 - 7:52who is 10 times bigger than the male,
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7:52 - 7:5310 times,
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7:53 - 7:58she lets out a very strong pheromone
with which to attract mates to her. -
7:58 - 8:01So this tiny male is swimming
through the black waters -
8:01 - 8:03smelling his way to a female,
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8:03 - 8:05and when he finds her,
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8:05 - 8:07he gives her a love bite.
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8:07 - 8:09And this is when things get really weird.
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8:10 - 8:13That love bite triggers
a chemical reaction -
8:13 - 8:17whereby his jawbone
starts to disintegrate. -
8:17 - 8:20His face melts into her flesh,
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8:20 - 8:23and their two bodies start to fuse.
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8:23 - 8:27Their circulatory systems intwine,
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8:27 - 8:31and all his internal organs
start to dissolve -
8:31 - 8:35except for his testes.
-
8:35 - 8:37(Laughter)
-
8:37 - 8:42His testes mature just fine
and start producing sperm. -
8:42 - 8:45In the end, he's basically
a permanently attached -
8:45 - 8:48on-demand sperm factory for the female.
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8:48 - 8:50(Laughter)
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8:50 - 8:52It's a very efficient system,
-
8:54 - 8:56but this is not the kind
of mating strategy -
8:56 - 8:58that we see on a farm, right?
-
8:58 - 8:59I mean, this is weird.
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8:59 - 9:01It's really strange.
-
9:01 - 9:04But if we don't know
that these kinds of strategies exist -
9:04 - 9:05or how they work,
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9:05 - 9:10we can't know what kind of impacts
we may be having, even in the deep sea. -
9:10 - 9:12Just three years ago,
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9:12 - 9:15we discovered a new species
of deep sea octopus -
9:15 - 9:19where the females lay their eggs
on sponges attached to rocks -
9:19 - 9:21that are over two and a half miles deep.
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9:22 - 9:24These rocks contain rare earth minerals,
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9:24 - 9:27and right now there are companies
that are building bulldozers -
9:27 - 9:32that would be capable of mining
the deep sea floor for those rocks. -
9:32 - 9:35But the bulldozers
would scrape up all the sponges -
9:35 - 9:37and all the eggs with them.
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9:39 - 9:42Knowingly, and in many cases unknowingly,
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9:42 - 9:47we are preventing successful sex
and reproduction in the deep. -
9:47 - 9:48And let's be honest,
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9:48 - 9:51dating and mating is hard enough
without somebody coming in -
9:51 - 9:53and interrupting all the time, right?
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9:53 - 9:54I mean, we know this.
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9:54 - 9:57So today, while I hope you will leave here
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9:57 - 10:01with some excellent bar trivia
on fish sex -- -
10:01 - 10:03(Laughter)
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10:03 - 10:07I also ask that you remember this:
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10:07 - 10:12we are all far more intimately connected
with the oceans than we realize, -
10:12 - 10:14no matter where we live.
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10:15 - 10:17And this level of intimacy
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10:17 - 10:21requires a new kind
of relationship with the ocean, -
10:21 - 10:27one that recognizes and respects
the enormous diversity of life -
10:27 - 10:28and its limitations.
-
10:29 - 10:31We can no longer think of the oceans
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10:31 - 10:33as just something out there,
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10:33 - 10:37because every day we depend on them
for our food security, -
10:37 - 10:39our own health and wellness,
-
10:39 - 10:42and every other breath we take.
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10:43 - 10:46But it is a two-way relationship,
-
10:46 - 10:48and the oceans can only continue
to provide for us -
10:48 - 10:53if we in turn safeguard
that fundamental force of life in the sea: -
10:53 - 10:55sex and reproduction.
-
10:56 - 11:00So, like any relationship,
we have to embrace some change -
11:00 - 11:01for the partnership to work.
-
11:03 - 11:05The next time you're thinking
about having seafood, -
11:05 - 11:09look for sustainably caught
or farmed species -
11:09 - 11:12that are local and low on the food chain.
-
11:12 - 11:15These are animals
like oysters, clams, mussels, -
11:15 - 11:17small fish like mackerel.
-
11:17 - 11:19These all reproduce like crazy,
-
11:19 - 11:22and with good management,
they can handle a bit of fishing pressure. -
11:23 - 11:26We can also rethink
what we use to wash our bodies, -
11:26 - 11:27clean our homes
-
11:27 - 11:29and care for our lawns.
-
11:29 - 11:32All of those chemicals
eventually wash out to sea -
11:32 - 11:34and disrupt the natural chemistry
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11:34 - 11:36of the ocean.
-
11:36 - 11:38Industry also has to play its part
-
11:38 - 11:40and take a precautionary approach,
-
11:40 - 11:44protecting sexual activity
where we know it exists -
11:44 - 11:47and preventing harm in the cases
where we just don't yet know enough, -
11:47 - 11:49like the deep sea.
-
11:50 - 11:53And in the communities where we live,
-
11:53 - 11:54the places we work
-
11:54 - 11:57and the country in which we vote,
-
11:57 - 12:02we must take bold action
on climate change now. -
12:02 - 12:03(Audience: Yeah!)
-
12:03 - 12:06(Applause)
-
12:06 - 12:08Thank you.
-
12:08 - 12:09(Applause)
- Title:
- Are we interrupting the kinky sex lives of fish?
- Speaker:
- Marah J. Hardt
- Description:
-
The ocean plays host to a peculiar party of wild, marine sex life that's perhaps quirkier (and kinkier) than you can fathom. But is human behavior interrupting these raunchy reproductive acts? Take a deep dive with marine biologist Marah J. Hardt to discover what exactly goes down under the sea -- and why your own wellness depends on the healthy sex lives of fish.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 12:22
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