Blue Wonder Pacific – ZDFneo

Surrounded by a 40,000-kilometer ring of fire, the world’s largest and deepest ocean forces its inhabitants to use ruthless survival strategies and imagination. The Pacific Ocean is heaven and hell at the same time. On the one hand, endless vast expanses, huge coral reefs and feeding grounds, and on the other hand, armies of greedy mouths, hunters with unusual weapons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and violent hurricanes. Shot in Ultra HD, the two-part documentary series provides new insights into the lives of heroes old and young in the wild Pacific Ocean, which occupies a third of the Earth’s surface. The Pacific Ocean offers amazing insights into the history of life. Off the coast of Canada, a pioneer of deep-sea research dives into the darkness of the past: Phil Nuytten descends to a depth of 150 metres, where he discovers direct descendants of the first multicellular organisms in the hidden reef. Glass sponges – primitive creatures that really existed 500 million years ago. Other messengers from primeval times can also be captured on camera. Horseshoe crabs are members of a 440-million-year-old clan. For nearly 200 million years they have lived almost unchanged in the world’s oceans. Few animal species have survived the five mass extinctions that have occurred over the course of Earth’s history virtually unchanged. Nautilus succeeded – it is still a miracle for researchers. Many of these living fossils are now threatened with extinction due to dramatic human encroachment on their habitat. Too many Pacific creatures are now endangered, though their reproductive drive has led to a variety of unusual adaptations and strange but successful behaviors. In the spring, when there is a full moon in Toyama Bay in Japan, up to a billion luminous squid rise from the depths. It is the females that come to spawn and die shortly after laying their eggs in the bay. Great views are also held off the Samoan Islands between Hawaii and New Zealand. A week after the 11th full moon each year, one of the world’s largest mass reproduction processes begins – a simultaneous reproduction of lunar worms circling the moon. Over time, nature has developed these amazing survival strategies. Multiple camera crews traversed the ocean for months filming such behaviors in an effort to track down well-known sea giants, rare inhabitants, and previously unstudied species. The more important it is to document them, the more threatened the biodiversity, scenic beauty, and finely-tuned processes of the world’s largest habitat.