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The Blue Planet - Open Oceans
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An unfortunate shoal of sardines is first attacked by three-metre-long striped marlin with metre-long, needle-sharp javelins on their heads. The commotion attracts juvenile yellowfin tuna and then a 14-metre Sei whale scoops up the remains.
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The Blue Planet seeks out the fastest fish in the sea in the open ocean.
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David Attenborough says: "Predators and prey are locked in a deadly three-dimensional contest of hide and seek, played out over immense distances." None are better at tracking down food than dolphins. A school of spotted dolphins herd mackerel, but the noise of their sonar attracts one of the most glamorous fish in the sea, a sailfish. With a top speed of over 120km/h, it herds the fleeing fish with its unique sail before gunning them down with ease.
Human flotsam and debris polluting the sea, sometimes becomes a floating home or nursery for small fish. Patches of giant seaweed also become mobile cleaning stations. Giant sunfish queue up, waiting for small cleaner fish to pick off their parasites. For the more stubborn parasites they summon passing seagulls who dig out the bugs with their savage bills.
Ocean life is not all hard work. Spinner dolphins gather in their thousands, putting on a stunning aerobatic display as they while away the daylight hours. Common dolphins meet a passing school of pilot whales, chirping and rubbing together as they head towards their summer breeding grounds, flirting as they travel.
Travelling is the key to success. A pod of common dolphin reaches the Azores, off the Portuguese coast, in early July. They are looking for mackerel but are not alone - 400,000 Cory's shearwaters have already arrived. These elegant gliding seabirds are superb divers - reaching depths of 15 metres they snatch food from right in front of both dolphins and yellowfin tuna.
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