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- ON THIS EPISODE, WE'RE GOING TO TAKE YOU DIVING AT NIGHT
IN THE FLORIDA KEYS TO WATCH ONE OF NATURE'S GREATEST SPECTACLES,
THE CORAL SPAWN, WHICH IS WHERE IT ALL BEGINS FOR CORAL.
CORAL REEFS ARE AMONG THE MOST DIVERSE COMMUNITIES
FOUND ANYWHERE ON EARTH.
THEY SUPPORT A DAZZLING ARRAY OF LIFE,
FROM THE SMALLEST FISH TO THE LARGEST PREDATORS.
WE KNOW SO LITTLE ABOUT LIFE ON CORAL REEFS,
WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN TO CLASSIFY
ALL THE ORGANISMS THAT LIVE HERE.
CORALS ON THE REEF CAN EITHER BE SOFT CORALS,
WHICH MAY LOOK LIKE PLANTS BUT ARE NOT,
OR HARD CORALS THAT GIVE THE REEF ITS SOLID STRUCTURE.
BOTH ARE INDEED ANIMALS.
WHEN YOU LOOK CLOSELY, YOU CAN SEE
THAT THEY ARE INDIVIDUAL ANIMALS CALLED POLYPS
THAT LIVE TOGETHER AS A GROUP.
THEY COME IN ALL DIFFERENT SIZES AND SHAPES,
EACH UNIQUE TO THE TYPE OF CORAL.
THE COLOR IN THE CORAL
COMES FROM AN UNUSUAL MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL RELATIONSHIP
WITH AN ALGAE: ZOOXANTHELLAE.
- IT'S KIND OF BROWN IN COLOR.
AND THESE LITTLE FRECKLES ARE DUE
TO SOME ENDOSYMBIOTIC PLANTS.
THEY'RE CALLED ZOOXANTHELLAE.
THEY'RE ACTUALLY LITTLE SINGLE-CELL PLANTS
THAT LIVE WITHIN THE CORAL TISSUE.
THEY CONCENTRATE IN THE TENTACLES.
THE TENTACLES CAN BE HELD UP TOWARDS THE LIGHT.
AND IN THIS WAY, THE PLANTS PERFORM PHOTOSYNTHESIS
THE WAY THAT ANY PLANT DOES.
AND THE CORAL IS ACTUALLY ABLE TO GET MOST OF ITS FOOD
FROM THESE UNICELLULAR PLANTS.
- TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW CORALS GROW AND SPREAD,
BIOGISTS SET UP TENTS OVER THE CORALS TO CATCH
THE CORALS' *** AND EGGS WHEN THEY SPAWN.
SINCE CORALS ONLY SPAWN AT NIGHT,
THE SCIENTISTS HAVE TO WORK UNDERWATER AT NIGHT!
AND THAT CAN BE A BIT SCARY.
- I THINK THE FIRST TIME YOU START DOING NIGHT DIVING,
IT CAN BE VERY SCARY.
AND I HAVE FRIENDS--SCIENTISTS AND NON-SCIENTISTS,
INCLUDING WELL-KNOWN MARINE BIOLOGISTS--
WHO HAVE SAID, "FORGET IT, NOT ME.
I'M NOT GOING OUT THERE AT NIGHT."
THERE IS THIS, YOU KNOW...
[IMITATES "JAWS" THEME]
IDEA THAT YOU'RE OUT THERE AT NIGHT
AND YOU CAN'T SEE WHAT'S GOING ON,
SOMETHING'S GOING TO EAT YOU.
AND YOU'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO PUT THAT OUT OF YOUR MIND.
ONCE YOU GET OVER THAT,
IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE.
THERE ARE A LOT OF ANIMALS
THAT ARE HIDDEN INSIDE THE REEF IN THE DAYTIME,
COME OUT AT NIGHT TO FEED.
- THE REASON THE SCIENTISTS ARE ON THE REEF THIS NIGHT IS
FOR THE ONCE-A-YEAR SPECTACLE-- THE CORAL SPAWN.
DURING THE SPAWN, EACH CORAL HEAD RELEASES
MILLIONS OF GAMETE BUNDLES THAT CONTAIN BOTH *** AND EGGS.
THIS AMAZING SPECTACLE IS HAPPENING
SIMULTANEOUSLY ALL OVER THE WHOLE REEF.
EACH CORAL POLYP PUSHES ITS OWN BUNDLE OUT INTO THE OCEAN,
WHERE THEY BREAK OPEN AND FERTILIZE EACH OTHER.
THE SCIENTISTS WILL GATHER CORAL GAMETE BUNDLES
SO THEY CAN FERTILIZE
CORAL EGGS IN THE LAB
AND STUDY HOW CORALS BEGIN LIFE.
THIS HELPS THEM BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW REEFS ARE FORMED.
- WHAT YOU SEE OUT THERE NOW IS THE RESULT
OF HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF SETTLEMENT ACTIVITY.
AND WE DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN WHY CORAL REEFS EXIST
WHERE THEY DO
AND WHY THEY DON'T EXIST WHERE WE DON'T FIND THEM
BUT WE MIGHT EXPECT WE SHOULD FIND THEM.
THE ATTACHMENT OF THESE LARVAE IS
WHAT DETERMINES WHERE A REEF WILL BE.
THAT'S THE FIRST STEP THAT HAS TO TAKE PLACE.
SO IT'S AN IMPORTANT ONE TO UNDERSTAND.
BUT I THINK FROM THE HUMANITARIAN POINT OF VIEW,
YOU KNOW, WE ARE PASSENGERS ON THIS EARTH
ALONG WITH ALL THESE OTHER ANIMALS AND PLANTS.
AND WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEM BOTH FOR OUR OWN SATISFACTION
TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE
AS WELL AS TO BE BETTER PARTNERS WITH THEM
IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, PROMOTING THEIR HEALTH.
AND THEIR HEALTH COMES BACK TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH.
PEOPLE GO AND SPEND HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR
TO GO DIVING ON CORAL REEFS
BECAUSE THERE'S SOME KIND OF AN EMOTIONAL HIGH THAT YOU GET
WHEN YOU SEE THE BEAUTY,
YOU KNOW, THE COMPLEXITY OF THE REEF.
IT BRINGS TEARS TO PEOPLE'S EYES.
AND YOU WANT TO TAKE PICTURES.
AND YOU WANT TO RECREATE IT IN AQUARIA--
NEXT TO YOUR DINING ROOM TABLE
SO YOU CAN WATCH THIS, AND IT BRINGS YOU A SENSE OF PEACE.
AND THESE ARE ALL LITTLE REASONS
THAT WE NEED TO STUDY THESE ORGANISMS
AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE ALL ABOUT.
- CORAL REEFS ARE BEAUTIFUL, COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS
THAT ARE VERY SENSITIVE TO MANY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES.
UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE ON A DECLINE WORLDWIDE.
THEY ARE DISAPPEARING BEFORE WE FULLY UNDERSTAND THEM.
THERE ARE THINGS ALL OF US CAN DO TO HELP PRESERVE
THESE SPECIAL PLACES.
SO PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE
TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN BE PART OF THE SOLUTION.
BE SURE TO ALSO WATCH OUR SHOW ON WHALE TAGGING,
WHERE WE GO OUT WITH A BIOLOGIST TO TAG
THE LARGEST ANIMALS ON EARTH--BLUE WHALES.
HE'S TRYING TO FIND OUT WHY
THEY'RE HAVING COLLISIONS WITH SHIPS WHEN THEY'RE FEEDING.