- 15 hours ago
Have you ever wondered what secrets lie hidden in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean? Get ready to dive into the ocean’s darkest corners and discover the incredible deep-sea mysteries buried beneath the waves. Grab your popcorn and join the adventure - this is one journey you won’t forget!
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00:00You know how they say it's better to just hand over your wallet if you run into a mugger?
00:05Instead of surrendering their wallets, sea cucumbers choose to spit out some of their
00:10insides to fend off predators like crabs and fish. It's a natural defense mechanism for them,
00:16and they quickly grow those organs back in just a few days, thanks to special cells inside their
00:21bodies. It's not the only weird thing sea cucumbers do. They can actually breathe through their rear
00:27end. They have this thing called a respiratory tree that connects to their backside and sits
00:32right next to their intestines. So when they suck in water from their behind, it goes into that
00:37respiratory tree, letting them absorb oxygen directly into their fluids. Plus, sea cucumbers
00:44are the janitors of the ocean. They munch on whatever gets stuck in the sand on the ocean floor.
00:49Once they've eaten, they manage to clean out the sand, leaving it nice and tidy after they do their
00:54business. As for the clean sand, the stunning white sand beaches in Hawaii are actually a product of
01:02parrotfish number two. These fish munch on algae from rocks and dead corals, and while they're
01:08chomping away, they also grind up the leftover bits of coral in their bellies. When they're done,
01:13they move their bowels, and voila, it all comes out as beautiful sand. Not only do they play a vital
01:20role
01:20in keeping the coral reef ecosystem healthy, but they can churn out hundreds of pounds of this
01:25white sand every year. Marine animals are seriously impressive when it comes to holding
01:31their breath. Just look at sperm whales and elephant seals. They can stay underwater for a mind-blowing
01:37two hours. Then there's a cuvier's beaked whale, which holds the crazy record at almost four hours
01:44underwater. When you compare that to the human record of 24 minutes and 37 seconds held by pro
01:52diver Budimir Shobut, it seems pretty insignificant. But what's the marine animal secret that helps them
02:00excel humans this much? Unlike us, these sea creatures have a ton of hemoglobin and myoglobin
02:06in their blood and muscles, allowing them to store way more oxygen. When their oxygen runs low,
02:13myoglobin steps up and releases even more. Plus, they can tolerate higher levels of CO2,
02:18so they don't feel the need to breathe as quickly. There's even a study that found their myoglobin
02:24molecules have a unique charge that keeps them from sticking together, which boosts oxygen storage.
02:29And on top of all that, they can slow down their heart rate and restrict blood flow to hang out
02:34underwater even longer. Rumor has it that about 540 million years ago, a meteor loaded with frozen
02:42octopus eggs smashed into Earth. Sounds like a delirium, but some scientists are entertaining a
02:49very questionable idea that octopuses and their cephalopod buddies, like squids and cuttlefish,
02:55might actually have some extraterrestrial origins. The thing is, cephalopods have extraordinary DNA that
03:02doesn't look like any other DNA on our planet. They've got around 33,000 protein-coding genes in
03:09their genome, which is way more than what we humans have. A recent study suggests that their evolutionary
03:15story shows some odd traits that might hint at a connection to space, like they could be from some
03:21super far-off past or even the future. The researchers went as far as to claim that modern
03:28octopuses could be the descendants of these frozen creatures that hitched a ride on comets and splashed
03:33down in our oceans. And why octopuses? Well, they really stand out in the animal kingdom. They can use
03:41different tools to build their own houses, and they can even solve everyday problems independently of
03:47their brain, as two-thirds of an octopus's neurons are in its arms. These traits seem to have just
03:54appeared out of nowhere during evolution. They even tossed around another quirky theory. What if an
04:00extraterrestrial virus crashed into early squid populations and gave them a crazy boost in evolution,
04:06turning them into the octopuses we know today? Anyways, these are just fun speculations without any hard
04:13proof. Now, this funky object is an animal, not a rock. It's called sand dollar. Just look at the
04:22shape of its shell. Once sand dollars are exposed to the sun, their shells lose their soft spiny covering
04:28and become bleached white. Back in the day, beachcombers thought these shells looked a lot like big silver
04:35coins, kind of like the old Spanish dollar that was about the same size. But if you prefer, you can
04:41call
04:42them sand cakes instead. These quirky creatures have tiny spines on their surface, and they glide along
04:48the ocean floor. They use small tube feet that line the grooves on their underside to grab bits of food
04:55like plankton and algae, which they then send to their mouths. Inside, they have five triangular teeth that
05:02help them munch on their meals. In some Georgia folklore, sand dollars are said to represent coins lost by
05:09mermaids. Sand dollars have a unique talent for cloning themselves. They can do this for a bunch of
05:16reasons, like when a predator comes around. Some species of sand dollar larvae can actually split in
05:22half as a defense mechanism. It takes about 24 hours for them to clone themselves, and the new larvae end
05:29up
05:29being about two-thirds smaller than the original, which helps them hide from danger. Wait, is that a giant sea
05:36hot dog racing through the ocean? Sorta. Some scientists have joked that sperm whales seriously
05:42resemble enormous hot dogs. These massive creatures can take quick naps, standing up for about 10 to 15
05:49minutes. They only sleep about 7% of the time, mostly between 6 p.m. and midnight. Sperm whales also
05:57have
05:57a cool ability to retract and extend their eyes, thanks to a thick retractor muscle around them, but they can't
06:04actually roll their eyes in their sockets. Plus, they have the most asymmetrical skull of any mammal
06:10out there. Oh, and let's not forget, they have the largest brain of any living creature, weighing in at
06:16over 9 pounds. Unlike us humans, if dolphins went into full-on snooze, they'd stop breathing and could
06:24drown. So they figured out a genius solution. They let only one side of their brain sleep at a time.
06:30This means one half stays awake to keep them breathing and watching out for any potential
06:35threats. When they snooze, they only close one eye. If their right brain is resting, their left eye is
06:41shut, and vice versa. This unique sleep style is called unihemispheric sleep, and it lets them
06:48recharge without ever fully losing awareness. On top of that, dolphins might be using corals and sponges like
06:55their own little pharmacies. Scientists have seen them rubbing their bodies against specific types of coral
07:01and sponges, suggesting they might be treating skin issues. They've even spotted dolphins lining up to take
07:08turns at these spots, using corals like Gorgonian coral Romphella aggregata, leather coral, and some sponges.
07:16What's really fascinating is that researchers have analyzed these corals and found they contain compounds that could help
07:22with dolphin skin conditions, which can sometimes lead to infections and lesions.
07:27Now, the big question is figuring out exactly how each type of coral helps dolphins, and if it really
07:34boosts their health overall. Sea urchins aren't exactly the Usain Bolts of the ocean. They move slowly by
07:42crawling with their tube feet and occasionally give themselves a little push with their spines.
07:47These little guys have just 5 teeth, which they use like a beak to scrape algae off rocks, which I'm
07:54pretty
07:54sure is the ocean's version of an all-you-can-eat buffet. But since all that scraping wears their teeth
08:00down, they're in a never-ending dental replacement program. Scallops are the underwater equivalent of the
08:07world's most confused security cameras, sporting up to 200 tiny eyes on their shells. These eyes are
08:14high-tech. They can even adjust their pupils to light. Instead of working like ours, scallop eyes
08:21have a unique setup. Light goes through a pupil, lens, two retinas, and then hits a mirror made of
08:28guanine crystals that reflects it back. Scientists were puzzled about how they see, since their main retina
08:34often gets blurry light. But it turns out, scallops can change their pupil size by about 50%.
08:41Just don't expect them to do it in a hurry, as it takes a few minutes.
08:45Now here's something really neat about orcas. They're expert hunters, and they do it in groups
08:51called pods. A pod can consist of up to 40 orcas, forming a very effective hunting team.
08:58Interestingly, there are distinct types of pods, resident and transient. Resident pods are more
09:04into fish, while transient pods have a taste for marine mammals. But no matter what type of pod they
09:11belong to, all orcas have one thing in common. They are master collaborators. They work together
09:17using smart hunting techniques that are often compared to the teamwork of wolf packs.
09:23Almost 95% of jellyfish's body is made of water. For comparison, the human body is 60% water.
09:30It's probably not a surprise, since jellyfish don't have a heart, blood, eyes, or brain.
09:36The other 5% of their body weight is proteins, muscles, and nerve cells.
09:42Jellyfish have been around for more than 500 million years. This makes them older than dinosaurs.
09:48These creatures haven't changed much, and today's jellyfish are pretty much like their ancestors.
09:53Electric eels have small eyes that are not so effective in environments with no light,
09:58so they mostly rely on their electric organs. Those consist of 6,000 cells. Eels use them to
10:05stow power, similar to batteries. These creatures use electricity, like bats use their radars or
10:12dolphins their sonar. An eel can also produce enough electricity to power a panel of light bulbs.
10:19There's a small tropical archer fish that can learn to recognize human faces. This fish has an
10:25interesting ability to spit small jets of water from its mouth. Researchers showed the fish the image
10:32of two different faces placed side by side. One was unknown, and the other was familiar. The fish was
10:38supposed to spit water at the familiar one. The creature took the right guess more than 80% of the
10:44time. There's such a thing as a sea unicorn. That's an animal called the narwhal. Its horn is actually a
10:51tooth that can grow up to 10 feet long. Manatees, also known as sea cows, are distant relatives of
10:58elephants. Their weight can go up to 1,000 pounds. These creatures are vegetarian and need to eat
11:04around 10% of their total weight on a daily basis. That's lots of sea salad. In some cases, manatees
11:12share
11:12space with alligators, but they get along pretty well. You can even find a photo from Florida where an
11:18alligator rides a manatee's back. Frogfish have special fins that help these creatures walk along the
11:26sand. They're very useful in shallow waters. A ghost pipefish is hard to see, but once you spot it, you're
11:34bound to get really surprised. Its head makes up over 40% of its body. Crabs don't feel like wasting
11:41time on
11:42such formalities as putting foods in their mouth. That's why they taste it with their feet, which is where their
11:48taste buds are. Marine iguanas are the only lizards on our planet that like spending time in the ocean,
11:54even though they mainly live on land. They're herbivores that feed in shallow waters and swim
12:00like snakes. Iguanas use their long claws to hold onto the bottom when they need to graze. Green turtles can
12:07cross over 1,400 miles when migrating. They try to find the perfect spot to lay their eggs. Penguins
12:15sort of fly when they're underwater, reaching a speed of 25 miles per hour. More than 5 million
12:22years ago, I've heard deep sea worms and humans had a common ancestor. So we still share 70% of
12:30our
12:30genes with these creatures, and with sea stars, squid, and octopuses. Now, octopuses are in fact
12:39incredibly old. The oldest known fossil belongs to an animal that lived almost 300 million years ago.
12:46FYI, this is before our dinosaur buddies roamed the Earth. Wait, there's more! Octopus arms have a
12:53mind of their own. That's because two-thirds of their neurons lie in their arms, not in their heads.
12:58This means that their arms can problem-solve how to open a shellfish, while their owner is worried
13:04about other stuff entirely. Talk about ninja-level multitasking. Oh, and like other animals, such as
13:10chimpanzees and dolphins, octopuses have proven to be good at maneuvering tools, like picking up old
13:16shells and using them as a temporary home. Now, of course, the most intelligent animals on our planet
13:23are humans, according to humans. But we don't seem to give pigs enough credit. Pigs are so smart they can
13:30play video games. No, not Minecraft. But in a recent academic study, scientists had four pigs
13:37play a joystick game. They had to manipulate the stick so that the moving ball would hit the wall
13:42and then they would get a treat. All four pigs did great in the test, which was surprising even to
13:48the
13:48scientists. Now, pigeons also aced an impressive test. They were trained to differentiate a Picasso painting
13:57from a Monet one, which they had no trouble learning. Then, they were able to apply this
14:02knowledge, identifying works of art they had not previously seen. Meaning, they really understood
14:08the difference between each painter. Poor things are always seen as a nuisance. Now, if we placed
14:14kangaroos in an animal's most amazing ability contest, they'd win.
14:20It's mainly because they break the four-legged rule. A special species of kangaroo, the red kangaroo,
14:27uses its tail to help propel it forward. Now, visually, it has four limbs. But in practice,
14:33it uses five. They're biologically built to use their tail as a fifth limb, since it's packed with
14:39articulated vertebrae and thick muscles. Of course, it had to be an Australian animal.
14:45Deep within the Sahara Desert, you'll find a little creature known as the fennec fox.
14:50This huge-eared animal adapted perfectly to survive in its hostile environment.
14:56The huge ears help them to dissipate the unbearable heat of the desert,
15:00as well as help them to hunt for underground prey.
15:03Now, meet this guy. Unlike what its name might suggest, the red panda is closer to a raccoon than it
15:10is to a giant panda. You'll find a lot of these cat-sized creatures in the Himalayan region,
15:15hopping from tree to tree and bundled together trying to keep warm in the harsh weather.
15:20They're gentle and friendly, like their big panda cousins, and occasionally enjoy eating some bamboo
15:25sticks. And then there are bees. Compared to humans, bees' brains are the size of pinheads,
15:33yet they are capable of astounding things. Let's say a bee is running low on energy after a long
15:39search flight. This bee desperately needs a drop of honey in order to continue flying.
15:45But smartly enough, she doesn't need to go back to the hive to recharge.
15:49She can ask a fellow beehive mate for a drop of honey directly from this other bee's stomach
15:54and continue flying. This type of decentralized system allows them to build highly effective
16:00societies, one that bees don't need to push to the cues in front of the honey cells, for example.
16:05Every year in the winter, great white sharks that live along the California coastline disappear.
16:11It feels as if they take a vacation for 30 to 40 days. The animals go to a point halfway
16:17between
16:18Hawaii and Mexico. They might do it to get some food, relax, or hang out with their buddies from
16:24other areas. The spot is now called the Whale Shark Cafe. Some types of sharks, like makos, whale sharks,
16:31or white sharks, breathe in a very specific way. It requires them to swim all the time.
16:37They also need to move quickly and with their mouth open. This way, the oxygen can enter and
16:43reach their gills. Sea sponges are some of the most primitive animals. They're immobile, don't have a
16:49mouth, eyes, bones, brain, heart, lungs, or any other organ whatsoever. And still, they're alive.
16:57There's such a thing as a sea unicorn. That's an animal called the narwhal. Its horn is actually a
17:03tooth that can grow up to 10 feet long. Manatees, also known as sea cows, are distant relatives of
17:10elephants. Their weight can go up to 1,000 pounds. These creatures are vegetarian and need to eat around
17:1610% of their total weight on a daily basis. That's lots of sea salad. In some cases, manatees share
17:24space
17:24with alligators, but they get along pretty well. You can even find a photo from Florida where an
17:30alligator rides a manatee's back. Frogfish have special fins that help these creatures walk along
17:37the sand. They're very useful in shallow waters. A ghost pipefish is hard to see, but once you spot
17:45it, you're bound to get really surprised. Its head makes up over 40% of its body. Crabs don't feel
17:52like
17:53wasting time on such formalities as putting foods in their mouth. That's why they taste it with their
17:58feet, which is where their taste buds are. Marine iguanas are the only lizards on our planet that
18:04like spending time in the ocean, even though they mainly live on land. They're herbivores that feed
18:10in shallow waters and swim like snakes. There's something known as the orange cat behavior, and
18:16apparently, it's not just a meme. So far, scientists have been able to understand that coat color is
18:22connected to a feline's gender. And since orange is an X chromosome, orange cats are usually males,
18:29like Garfield. The so-called orange cat behavior describes ginger cats as agents of chaos. Again,
18:36pretty much like Garfield. However, there haven't been any conclusive studies on whether coat color
18:42and cat behavior are truly linked. In terms of vision, mantis shrimps probably have the most
18:48psychedelic vision out of all animals. These funny-looking creatures have a whopping 16 varieties
18:54of photoreceptors, with 5 of them reserved for the ultraviolet or UV spectrum.
19:03Ultraviolet rays are really short wavelengths, which are invisible to humans. The thing science
19:08still doesn't understand is how exactly these mantis shrimp view the world around them. Sure,
19:14they can perceive a bunch of colors, but they can't necessarily distinguish all of these colors
19:18among themselves. It can be that they just see a lot of really vivid, really blurry colors.
19:24But we haven't figured out a way to check that out.
19:28Now, to say sloths are cute is an understatement. They may be one of the friendliest animals in the
19:33jungle, but there's more. If you look closely at their fur coat, you'll notice hints of green.
19:39These greeneries are actually tiny little algae that grow alongside sloths. They help sloths to
19:46camouflage better in the jungle, but they also nurture them. The little cracks inside a sloth's
19:52fur create the perfect environment for algae reproduction, and scientists have found species
19:57of algae that don't exist anywhere else in the world. They do get by with a little help from their
20:02friends.
20:05Deep within the Sahara Desert, you'll find a little creature known as the fennec fox.
20:11This huge-eared animal adapted perfectly to survive in its hostile environment.
20:16The huge ears help them to dissipate the unbearable heat of the desert,
20:20as well as help them to hunt for underground prey.
20:23We'll see you next week with Re Central Mansion.
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