Every morning in the wild a gazelle awakens one thing is for sure for the gazelle that day as every other she must run faster than the fastest lion if she cannot she will be killed and eaten every morning a lion awakens for the lion two one thing is certain this day and every day he must run.
Faster than the slowest gazelle whether fate names you a gazelle or a lion is of no consequence it is enough to know that with the rising of the sun you must run and you must run faster than the day before for the rest of your.
Days or you will die we all have to run run the race of life surviving underwater takes a whole new set of skills some creatures use chemical weapons with colourful advertising telling attackers to back off.
Some choose to live with the enemy and have a clever technique to stay alive where others would die others fire off weapons like a machine gun and can cause death to humans in seconds to protect yourself against predators in the sea you need to be highly specialized.
Or extremely intelligent or a weird and wonderful mix of both the great oceans of the world contain canyons deeper than 10 kilometers and mountains just as high temperatures range from below zero to over 30 degrees centigrade many areas of the ocean have not yet.
Been explored and creatures are still waiting to be discovered nobody knows for sure exactly what is out there looking for its next meal underwater life is lived in three dimensions attackers can come from any direction up and down from behind or in front.
Or from either side often predators can strike with no warning they can travel at high speeds or stay well hidden for an ambush to win the race of life underwater you need to have the best self-defense the most colorful creature on the planet has a complex and clever way.
Of avoiding predators she lives in every ocean but is at her most spectacular in the rainbow world of the coral reef she comes in almost every color you can imagine the nudibranch she is small soft and slow moving the nudibranch runs her race of life.
With a clever combination of chemicals tentacles and stings this kaleidoscopic little animal is basically a sea snail without a shell the best way to see how these animals defend is to look at what they attack the nudibranch is using smell and taste to hunt for food the little horns on his head are called.
Rhino fours and they're picking up chemical signals to tell him there's food close by this rainbow nudibranch has found what he's looking for a tube in enemy anemones are covered in stingers so the nudibranch plans his attack it's a graceful race of life between two.
Strange soft-bodied animals the nudibranch has eaten the anemone for most of these creatures a weird and wonderful thing happens next the nudibranch digests the anemone but it will not be poisoned by the stings instead the anemone stinging cells will harmlessly move through the body of the.
Nudibranch to the surface of his skin the nudibranch is now defended by the stinging cells of the anemone anyone who tries to eat him will be stung and poisoned their wonderful bright colours are a warning to predators to stay away this cuttlefish is looking for a juicy meal.
If it does attack a second defense mechanism kicks in this nudibranch has detachable body parts the wrigley fronds on her back known as serrata will break off and continue wriggling to distract attackers some animals can still eat these crafty.
Creatures including other members of their own species but they have one more trick to beat everyone else around they can make double the amount of offspring these two nudibranchs are mating which is the male.
And which is the female the answer is they both are both these lovebirds are hermaphroditic they have male and female sex organs each will fertilize the other and they will both lay eggs and that doubles the nudibranch's chances of winning the race of life one of the smartest ways to win the race.
Of life against predators is to find a way of living with the enemy the animal who does this best swims in the indian ocean the red sea and the western pacific she has adapted a means of survival that would kill most other fish and by doing this.
She can get on with her life and let others do the defending the clownfish clownfish are famous for making their homes among the deadly tentacles of sea and enemies this is a dangerous activity anemones eat fish by trapping them in.
Their tentacles and releasing hundreds of tiny toxic stings but this clownfish is determined to make her home here as she dances she gently brushes the enemy she's getting stung amazingly the clownfish is not succumbing to the toxin.
Her body is covered in a protective layer of mucus by doing this dance the clown fish is gradually getting used to the toxin released by the anemone it is her dance of life to secure herself a safe home soon she can move in full time the blue finn trevally thinks he's found.
An easy meal will he risk being stung to satisfy his hunger no the clown fish has won his race of life and the trevally has to find food elsewhere this little fish keeps her house clean by nibbling parasites and food scraps.
From the surface of the anemone she also keeps it nicely aired by fanning oxygen around with her fins so the anemone gets a good deal from its new host both creatures are running their race of life side by side helping each other this feisty little fish will fight for.
It this clownfish is also looking for somewhere to live no hope here our fish aggressively defend so newfound territory now she needs a family and for this she allows a group of smaller males to join her.
In her home the largest male will become her partner and fertilize her eggs but there are a lot of big predators out there sharks eels and larger fish will try to eat our clownfish the matriarch has not returned but all is not lost for our fish family.
Something totally odd is about to happen the big male will turn into a female she will then select a partner from the remaining males and continue to lay eggs to carry on the family line the original mother fish may have lost but she has built a family that has a clever way of carrying on without her.
In this way the clownfish family wins its race of life the ultimate victor in the underwater race of life is a carnivore he moves silently and slowly but he is an efficient hunter and some of his kind produce the deadliest toxins on the.
Planet they conquered the seas long before sharks before dinosaurs and they are winning their race of life in every ocean in the world jellyfish this incredible animal has existed for over 500 million years this box jellyfish is out to kill he's.
Not drifting passively on the currents but using small jets to drive himself forward he's moving at approximately four knots his tentacles are sophisticated stealth weapons they are almost invisible but can be 3 meters long he has around 60 of them and each one is.
Covered in 5 000 stinging cells like all jellyfish this is what he uses to catch his prey despite the fragile appearance of the tentacles there is no struggle and no escape box jellyfish have powerful venom so the fish is killed instantly therefore the delicate tentacles are.
Saved from damage box jellyfish can be deadly to humans a sting instantly causes agonizing shock the victim may die from heart failure or drowning before he can reach safety it is not worth trying to beat these highly toxic hunters in their race of life.
It's no surprise not many animals eat jellyfish but two giants of the sea have become jelly eating specialists the sunfish this enormous fish can weigh a ton so it needs to eat a huge amount of jellyfish as the fish approaches the jellyfish tentacles look threatening.
But to no effect the sunfish's skin is too thick for the stings to penetrate he will be able to feast on this brood of jellies no problem at all one of the largest turtles in the world the green turtle when she's fully grown she'll be a herbivore.
But as a juvenile she's happy to nibble on a jellyfish for some extra protein this looks like a sea of danger thousands of golden jellyfish but these creatures couldn't be more different from the box jellyfish they are completely harmless they have lost their sting how do these fragile looking creatures.
Win their race of life without stingers the answer is they don't have anything to race against this lagoon has become cut off from the sea golden jellies have almost no predators so they do not need defense but what about catching prey they don't.
Need to do that either these jellyfish can make their own food they have a kind of algae living inside their bodies which converts sunlight to energy for the jellies all the golden jellies have to do to get a meal is relax in the sunshine and that's exactly what they do.
They follow the sunlight around the lake as the day unfolds the golden jellyfish has the most laid back race of life on earth one giant of the ocean appears in horror stories and terrifying dramas of the sea but they live a life so fast and hard.
Most never make it to adults they are jet propelled monsters that will only mate once or twice before they die they are known to attack fishing vessels and even sometimes swimmers the squid these bizarre looking.
Creatures are really giant mollusks who emerged into the world 60 million years ago like nearly all squid this one has eight arms and two tentacles these long tentacles can shoot out and catch a fish.
And then feed it into her mouth and she wins her race of life with speed she squirts out water through a tube by her head at high speed some squid can reach speeds of 24 kilometers per hour no live catch today so a dead squid will have to do.
She chews the food with a sharp beak which lies in the center of her ring of arms the caribbean reef squid enjoys a spot of sunbathing like all squid he has a soft body and no shell he is constantly trying to avoid being eaten.
His best defense is camouflage he can change color instantly to match his surroundings these squid are scared there's nowhere to hide they create a smoke screen to confuse the predators and escape undercover but most squid lose their race of life before they are.
Adults so they've come up with a clever way of making sure they survive huge numbers this is a squid nursery these mums have each laid their eggs and attached them to the rocks each mom is expecting 70 000 babies most will be eaten before they grow up.
But by the sheer force of numbers they make sure one or two of their brothers and sisters win their race of life one of the weirdest animals under the sea is also one of the smartest she can solve problems and use tools she has two eyes and a beak and three hearts but no skeleton.
And she has four pairs of arms the octopus the octopus is a cunning predator and a master of disguise and all of them are venomous this australian octopus is beautiful but deadly he's actually a shy creature and spends.
Most of his time hiding in holes and crevices but if alarmed he will glow bright yellow with luminous blue rings a threatened animal will naturally run for home but the veined octopus doesn't need to run anywhere she carries her home around with her she.
Will use almost any protective covering as a shelter a clam shell a coconut shell or even an old discarded spoon this one is out hunting something is moving in the sand a tasty looking flounder but the fish has seen the octopus coming.
She uses her camouflage to hide camouflage is the octopi's best defense this octopus has seen a predator she instantly blends into her background she can even change the texture of her skin to look like the rocks and seaweed but the octopus has many more means of defense in her bag of tricks this octopus has seen a reef shark.
There is nowhere to hide suddenly she disappears she has squeezed herself into a tiny crack in the rocks those amazing arms can protect our graceful friend by sacrificing themselves if one of these octopi is under attack an arm will break off.
And keep wriggling the predator will be distracted and the octopus can escape for his grand finale the octopus will perform one last feat the predator will eat this octopus he squirts a cloud of black ink the predator is confused.
The octopus escapes another daring escape in the incredible octopus race of life the brain boxes of the ocean use their intelligence to win their race of life they have the biggest brains on the planet some are excellent at working in teams others run.
Their race alone but they are all high speed the orca most of these graceful giants use their sheer size as their best defense some whales are equipped with teeth and for orcas that means they are apex.
Predators almost no other animals will attack them except perhaps one the ultimate ocean hunter is looking for a kill a great white shark the orcas group together there can be up to 40 whales in one pod a formidable force.
Teeth are clearly visible they're designed for capturing and tearing prey orcas can grow to nine meters long and these intelligent animals have one more advantage over the shark education from previous encounters orcas know that if they can flip the shark onto its back it will be helpless.
the orcas prepare for the attack the great white makes a rapid retreat the orcas have won their race of life against the most feared predator of the sea protecting yourself underwater is a game of invention aquatic animals have to create clever.
Ideas to stay alive they have an amazing toolbox to dip into color and camouflage toxins and teeth the result is an array of strange creatures nudibranchs clownfish squid octopi and whales are just some of the wonderful winners.
In the underwater race of life you