The Mating Game (2021): Season 1, Episode 2 - Oceans: Out of the Blue - full transcript

A male humpback whale

singing as he hangs
in the vast blue emptiness of the ocean.

He's proclaiming
his presence to females.

If he gets a response,
he will have solved a major problem

faced by all animals
that live in the ocean.

How to find others
who have to play the mating game

in the largest and least
populated habitat on earth?

Every year, humpback whales leave
their cold, rich feeding grounds

and swim nearly 3,000 miles

to assemble in Hawaii.

These warm waters are a safe playground
where mothers can give birth.



Not all females here have calves.

This one is announcing
that she is here to mate.

It's a signal that the singing male
has been waiting for.

But he is not the only one
who has heard it.

He has rivals.

This may be his only chance
to mate this season.

The female takes the lead

And the males chase after her.

The more males she attracts,
the greater her choice.

There are now over
20 males chasing after her.

They race to take pole position
alongside her.

Only the strongest are able to keep up.

They bellow and blow huge curtains
of bubbles to intimidate one another.

She slows down.



That forces her pursuers
closer together.

And the chase explodes into violence.

The 35-tonne males,
barge into one another

as they try to force
their way to the front.

A larger male pushes a rival aside.

Then, without warning, she calls a halt.

Fewer than half her suitors remain.

They circle her keeping their distance.

All except one.

She allows him to caress her.

He has won the right
to be her close escort,

and he makes sure
that the others stay back.

Their mating game appears to be over.

These intimate scenes
have never been witnessed before.

We still don't fully understand
what is happening.

She may have made her final choice.

Or this may be just the first stage

in a longer courtship.

What is certain is that
the most private moments of her life

have yet to be documented.

No one has ever seen
humpback whales mating.

The world beneath the waves
ls one we ourselves can visit

only fleetingly.

And for us,
it's still filled with mystery.

But in a few special places where
we can spend time below the surface,

the secrets of the seas
are at last being revealed.

The mating game,

indeed, all life began in the ocean.

And still today, there is no place

where it is more visible
or more varied than on a coral reef.

Creatures living here
enjoy one of the most stable

of all marine environments.

And one that contains
a diversity of species

unequalled anywhere else on Earth.

Here, it's nearly always
the breeding season for something.

The reef may look like paradise,
but its beauty hides a violent side.

One that determines the mating
strategy of many reef fish.

These bump head parrotfish,
over a metre long,

are among the largest of the reef's
permanent inhabitants.

Despite their size,

when it comes to breeding,
bump heads face the same problems

as other, much smaller fish.

Adult females release their tiny eggs
into the water

for the males to fertilise.

But many other creatures

are waiting for that to happen
with arms and tentacles outstretched.

For many reef inhabitants,
fish eggs are excellent food.

If the next generation of bump heads
Is to survive,

the adults must get away from the reef

and out into the open ocean.

The approach of a new moon

provides the best conditions
for doing so.

The high tide creates powerful currents

that sweep out to sea,
exactly what the fish need.

Bumpheads come from all the nearby reefs

and assemble together
in a super-school, a thousand strong.

They head into deep water,

leaving the reef's
egg-hungry creatures behind.

Now the males develop white faces
and striped flanks,

their breeding costume.

The mating rush begins

and soon each female
Is surrounded by males.

As she releases her eggs,
so the males eject their milt.

The strong tide now ensures
that the bump heads' fertilised eggs

are carried away
from the dangers of the reef.

It seems an excellent strategy,
but it does have a flaw.

Huge schools of fish
inevitably attract predators.

This solitary bull shark,
however, is too late.

The spawning rush has ended.

But there are others for whom sharks
present a far greater danger.

These little striped fish
are convict tangs.

They too have gathered
in huge schools to spawn.

And they too
must get away from the reef.

But it's not just their eggs
that are at risk.

They have attracted grey reef sharks.

Hundreds of them.

With hungry sharks above them
and predators of all kinds

lurking in the coral,
the tangs are trapped.

But these convicts have an escape plan.

The first to spawn attracts
the attention of the sharks.

The moment the sharks attack
one spawning party,

another takes its chance.

The more tangs that join in,

the greater the confusion.

In the dazzle of flashing stripes
and swirling clouds of spawn,

the sharks find it difficult
to select individual victims.

The spawning tactic has worked.

The sharks go hungry

and billions of tiny fertilised eggs
drift away from the reef.

But in the open seas,
there are other dangers.

A manta ray is waiting
with its huge mouth open wide.

And this female is not alone.

Mantas are among the most social
and intelligent of fish,

and they're very skilled
at finding the floating eggs

and other tiny organisms
on which they feed.

When food is scarce,
they swim in small groups.

But where the currents
create a really rich soup,

mantas gather in immense numbers.

Over 150 have found
this particular feast.

An assembly like this one is rare,

but when it happens, the mantas produce

one of the most graceful ballets
to be seen anywhere in any ocean.

Despite their numbers,
there is more food here

than the mantas themselves can eat.

Only when the surviving eggs
have developed into tiny fish

that can actively swim
will they make their way to the reef.

But not all of the reef's inhabitants
are able to leave in order to breed.

And those that stay here have developed

some of the most ingenious
mating strategies of all.

This is one of the commonest
and most familiar

of the reef's permanent inhabitants,

a clown fish.

She spends most of her time

surrounded by the writhing tentacles
of a giant anemone.

She is head of a family
and the biggest of them all.

Her family is growing fast

with well-cared for young
who are clearly thriving.

What could be more perfect?

But all is not as it seems.

As the largest in the family,

she is clearly in charge,
but it wasn't always so.

Before she became head of this family,

she was a he.

It was the disappearance
of the previous ruling female,

that triggered this change of sex.

This middle-size fish is a male,
her breeding partner.

But he is only biding his time,
waiting for the moment when,

for one reason or another,
she disappears.

Then it will be his chance
to turn into a female,

and become the new head of the family.

The smallest fish is a newcomer, a male,
the lowest in this line of succession.

While he remains small he will not mate.

The dominant pair
want to maintain their rule

and they constantly bully him.

This stress produces hormones
in his body,

which prevent him from growing larger
and upsetting the breeding hierarchy.

So long as he sits third in line,

his mating game
ls more of a waiting game,

and it may be so for quite a while yet.

She might rule her household
for nearly 15 years.

Changing sex is not uncommon on the reef
but there are others here,

who have even stranger
breeding techniques.

These flamboyant creatures
are nudibranchs.

Their vivid colours
and elaborate patterns,

are certainly not ways of attracting
the attention of the opposite sex,

for nudibranchs are, in fact blind.

Their colours, instead,
are warnings to predators,

that their bodies are packed
with poison.

So, stay away.

Since appearance is no help
in bringing individuals together,

they have to rely on scent or taste,

which underwater,
ls more or less the same thing.

And they play a special version
of the mating game.

Nudibranchs are neither male nor female.

They're both at the same time.

So when they do find a partner,
they neither fight nor flirt.

They simply peacefully and more or less
simultaneously, fertilise one another.

If only it was always
so straightforward.

This is a flatworm.

Flatworms, like nudibranchs,
are also both male and female and blind,

finding their way by smell.

But that is where the similarity ends.

This one,
called the Persian carpet flatworm,

because of the elaborate patterning,
ls a voracious predator.

And when it comes to mating,
it's also somewhat aggressive.

It has sensed the presence
of another flatworm.

A potential partner.

To start with,
they seem wary of one another,

and with good reason.

Each of them is trying to avoid
the lab our

of looking after the fertilised eggs.

It's better not to become pregnant.

Rearing up, each reveals
its two-pronged penis.

And now, they fence.

Each tries to stab
and inseminate the other

without being stabbed first.

A strike anywhere on the body
will fertilise.

A successful strike
and sperm is injected into the rival.

The duel is over.

The impregnated flatworm
is left with a scar,

and the lab our of laying the eggs.

It's only solace,

its young will carry the genes
of a master swordsman.

Coral reefs are more than just
hot-houses,

for trying new versions
of the mating game.

They're also excellent places
for meeting others of your own kind.

The mantas are back.

They're well-fed and preparing to breed.

These giant fish do not produce spawn.

They breed in a more complex way.

A fish is more likely to meet
others of its own kind here

then wandering around in the open ocean.

And while they wait for someone
interesting to turn up,

cleaner fish give them a going over.

Removing any parasites
or bits of dead skin.

They're quite choosy.

Only a partner
with the right abilities will do.

Young mantas, not yet mature,
flirt with the others.

The adults mate belly to belly.

Getting into the right position
requires practice and coordination.

They don't necessarily
get it right first time.

An adult female arrives
and she is seeking a mate.

Any interested male
must now get down to business.

Rehearsal time is over.

Several males fancy their chances.

She starts to twist and turn
while they follow.

She is assessing their stamina.

The courting males
imitate her every move.

This performance may go on for hours.

Some males eventually start to tire.

And now, she ups the tempo.

Once she's made her choice,
she slows down.

And they mate.

The genes that gave them
both such speed and agility,

are now passed to the next generation.

After mating,

the male mantas play no further role
in caring for their young.

It's a strategy common
to many ocean creatures,

but not all

The coastal lagoons of Portugal.

Here live fish that form
long-term partnerships.

A seahorse.

This is a female,
and she's looking for a partner.

The choice is an important one

for the partnership is likely
to last for years.

Could he be the one?

He's turned pale,
a sign that he's interested.

But she needs time to get to know him.

Once she's certain,
she too changes her colour

to match his.

Over the next few days,
they barely leave each other's side,

imitating one another's every move.

Their synchronised swimming skills
will determine the success or failure,

of the next stage in their partnership.

Her belly is now swollen with eggs
ready to be fertilised.

On his belly, he has a pouch.

For in seahorse partnerships,

parental responsibilities
have been exchanged.

So now, she's going to pass
her precious eggs to him.

The crucial act the transfer,
is about to happen.

They position themselves
with great precision.

And she transfers all her eggs
without losing a single one.

The pouch on his belly
now contains about 300 eggs.

It's now up to him to look after them.

And she is free to start producing
the next batch of eggs.

Three weeks later,
and his pregnancy is almost at an end.

His body starts contractions
that slowly increase in intensity.

And then...

Release.

Many fish give birth to live young,

but seahorses are the only group
in which it is the males who do so.

The young are just ten millimetres long,

fully formed, and ready
to make their own way in life.

Each a perfect miniature of its parents.

This male's pregnancy has given him
a guarantee of their paternity.

And by producing live young,

he has given them
an excellent chance of survival.

Nowhere is the mating game more hectic
than at the margins of the sea,

where water disappears twice a day,

and reveals mud.

Here in the mangroves,
fiddler crabs start the action

Just as soon as the water disappears.

There's no time to lose.

A male.

His burrow could make
an excellent family home.

All he has to do
is find a willing female.

And he must do so
before the water returns.

His large yellow claw weighs
as much as all the rest of his body,

and is completely useless for feeding.

But its colour
does catch a female's eye.

And if she needs more convincing,
the wave should do the trick.

The tide turns,

the clock is ticking.

He needs to up his game.

She seems distracted.

Competition has arrived.

Lots of it

All with the same desire.

And all with moves just like his.

Every time he waves...

so do all his rivals.

She is spoiled for choice.

His time has almost run out.

At last she makes her choice.

But it's not in his favour.

He'll have to wait until the next tide,
and then try again.

Many ocean animals only play
the mating game once a year.

So for them, the stakes
are particularly high.

To win, a player must be
prepared to risk everything.

A colony of South American sea lions
in Argentina.

Every summer, for a few weeks
they gather on the shore.

Heavily pregnant females
close to giving birth

arrive in search of a place to do so.

These safe places give the mothers time
to bond with their new-born young.

But such prime real estate
does not come rent free.

A beach master.

Over 300 kilos of muscle.

The females have landed on the territory
that he had to fight hard to establish.

Now, a week after giving birth,

they're ready to mate again.

And he aims to be the one
to father their next pups.

The trouble is,
he's surrounded by other males.

They all want females
and, just like him,

they all fought
to establish a territory.

Squabbles are common...

but as long as each male
stays in his own patch,

they won't come to blows.

But a crowd of fertile females
inevitably attracts attention.

A younger, smaller bachelor
ls on the look-out

for just such an opportunity.

On his own, he's no match
for a battle-hardened beach master.

But he's not on his own.

Other bachelors are watching.

Each would like to steal a female
from the beach master.

But none of them wants
to make the first move.

Edging closer, they test
the beach master's defences.

One breaks ranks.

And then, they all invade his territory.

As he tries to retain his panicking
females, and fight the intruders,

the raid spills over
into neighbouring territories.

Now the bachelors get their chance.

Using others as cover,
a bachelor grabs an unguarded female.

Another targets
one of the beach master's partners.

He charges to her rescue.

One on one, the beach master
has the strength to stop any kidnap.

The raid is short-lived.

But the beach master
will have to face many more

before the breeding season is over.

Each battle will sap his strength
and so shorten his reign.

But bachelors who fail
are even worse off.

Only those with the size
and strength to defend a territory

and the females within it
will win this mating game.

His dominance may last
for only a few years,

but during that time,
he will father dozens of pups.

Among them,
the next generation of males,

including those with the genes

that gave him the strength
to become a beach master.

For all those who play this mating game,

there is only one measure of success.

A healthy new-born whale calf,
is living proof

that both his father and mother
had game plans that worked.

Many aspects of those strategies
remain a mystery.

One thing, however, is clear.

The success of any species anywhere
depends on the skill

with which its members
manage to play the mating game.

The Humpback singers are just amazing.

Just being next to one whale underwater
is incredible,

but then add the sound of those things.

It just inhabits
every pore of your body,

every nerve cell in your brain,
you just...

Everything feels like...

sensory overload.

There's just a weirdly
difficult to describe feeling

associated with being
so close to something

that's, you know,
500 times your own weight.

It's an incredibly exhilarating,
demanding, exciting place to be.

Filming a singing whale
was the first of many challenges

The Mating Game crew had ahead of them.

Cinematographer Doug Anderson
and team, are attempting to film

the spectacular mating contest
of humpback whales.

It's known as a heat run.

100%, yeah.

You're good to go in the water.

No one really knows
what happens on these courtship chases,

and the crew hoped
to be the first people ever

to document humpbacks mating.

This thing is such an overt,
massive piece of behaviour.

What are the details of this?

What other behaviours
are happening in there?

Is there mating?

Can we follow this chase
to its conclusion?

That was the bit that's exciting
from a photographer's point of view.

We're going there with a bunch of
new kit to just find out what happens

and to do that, we had to make
a fancy pole cam.

Doug's "fancy pole cam”
is a stabilised camera

fixed to the side of the boat.

Do you wanna just run on that?

7he plan is to position
the boat alongside the whales

during their courtship chase

and use the camera to try and understand
what the whales are doing.

The team is working
with experienced scientists

who want to use this technology
to learn more about whale behaviour.

We had to get close,

and even though they are massive
animals, they have an incredible ability

Just to swerve and miss and create space

and we became a part of it.

Whales are at 20 knots.

-Okay.
-All right.

Well this ls a good speed,

we're matching the whales here, anyway.

Okay, get ready to
go round to the right.

Three, two, one, go, go, go, go.

Got it?

Okay, they just went underneath the bow.

Going right and left.

What speed are they going?

The noise of the whales

hitting each other on the surface
it's like, it's powerful.

The crunching
of these bodies coming together,

it's visceral and violent.

You could see individual whales
and their strategies and whales

bottling out and peeling away.

It just felt like such a privilege
to be... being allowed

to be closer and in
a more intimate position

with this massive event
than any filmmaker ever has.

It was incredible to see
these extended shots

of whales bashing into each other,
competing for space and everything else,

but we weren't seeing anything new.

The pole cam provided
on unparalleled view

of one of the greatest battles
in nature.

But it didn't get the team any closer
to revealing how a heat run ends.

After following the chase for hours,
the whales come to a halt

and Doug takes the chance
to get in the water,

right where the whales have stopped.

We'll just try and get down
on the edge of it,

like to whatever depth it is.

What he then witnessed
was truly remarkable.

We got in and she was just there

hanging in the water.

I think what was going through my head
was, "If not now then when?"

Will I regret not just trying to become
a part of this scene?

I mean, adrenaline was high
and excitement was through the roof.

These animals are so large

and I'd never even heard
of anything like this.

In the moment I felt like
I had an invitation to become

as much a part of the scene as I could.

I thought this is mating.

He's won.

I'm as close to mating
as anyone has ever got.

The male came over her back
and drew his chin

so delicately over her back,

almost like a caress
across the top of her head.

It was just such a tender moment
between such enormous animals.

The male beat its tail towards me.

I didn't even find myself flinching.

It was just a part of the moving off.

And I was left bewildered.

I thought I was going to see something
that was an end to this

but actually, all I saw was another bit,

another chink through a window
into what the heat run is.

We have to go now
because it's going to be dark.

But I'm guessing that, I don't know,
that's it, that's the point.

If I could have stayed there that night,

and filmed in the dark,

You know, or under moonlight or...

If we had the ability to do that,

then it's in that space
that we find the next

piece of the puzzle of what this is.

For all of its bluster,
it's the prequel to the main event.

We have just picked up the first tiny
piece in the puzzle of what that is.

And that is great,
but I would love to see the rest of it.