Wonders of the Sea 3D

Hello.

Now throughout the years,

I've done so many different kinds of work,

but never this kind.

A narrator of a documentary film.

So why now?

Why this film?

Well, because it is an important film

with an important message

created by a man that I've admired for years...

Jean-Michel Cousteau.

Now, when I first saw the footage,

I have to admit, I was blown away.

So I knew I wanted to be involved in some way.

And that's precisely Jean-Michel's aim,

to get people involved.

Jean-Michel reminds us

that we all need to contribute

to the change that must come,

that the decisions our leaders make

and the choices we individuals make

will determine the future of the ocean

and our own survival on planet Earth.

As governor and now as a private citizen,

I, too, have been fighting for change

and for a clean environment

and to make people aware of this very important issue.

So, I am pleased to lend my voice

to this unique film experience.

Jean-Michel has created a declaration of love

to the living beauty of the ocean.

Because like his father Jacques Cousteau,

Jean-Michel believes that you only protect what you love,

and he's absolutely correct in that.

So let's get started and fall in love

with the "Wonders of the Sea."

Hmm?

He was Cousteau.

Jacques Cousteau.

A pioneer of the ocean.

Back in the 1940s,

when diving gear was clunky and confining,

Cousteau co-invented the aqualung,

allowing divers to dive longer,

deeper, and more freely...

free to discover and document.

He also made great strides

in the art of underwater filming.

Together, these innovations meant that Cousteau's team

could go where no one had gone before,

capture images previously unseen,

and share them with millions around the world.

We are all in debt to the pioneer work of Jacques Cousteau,

and in a sense, modern divers are all his children.

But I was his first.

I am Jean-Michel Cousteau.

I was only seven, skinny, like my dad,

when my mother Simone slid fins on my feet

and my father strapped a scuba tank on my back

and pushed me overboard.

And my life changed forever.

From there on, I, too, was a diver.

I, too, was a Cousteau.

And my children, Céline and Fabien,

without a doubt, they, too, are Cousteaus,

working to raise awareness to affect opinion

through their own expeditions and their own films.

But this time, it was important for me to invite them along,

to combine forces, you might say.

It's actually been years

since we did a project like this together.

It's big and ambitious

and important.

Who could say no?

Ahead, a voyage of over 8,000 miles

to explore some major ocean habitats.

And we start here in Fiji.

I think we're gonna have an opportunity to show...

Marine biologist Holly Lohuis

and cinematographer Gavin McKinney

round out the team

and are practically family as well.

Jean-Michel is really excited about the new technology.

That's a big part of his motivation this time around.

The aim is to capture not only large sea life,

but also the smallest creatures and tiniest movements

and behaviors that even divers have never experienced.

Here, and all around the tropics,

is the pulsating heart of the ocean...

the coral reef.

If we compare the endless waters of an ocean

to the endless sands of a desert,

then the coral reef is its oasis.

When the reef is healthy and thriving,

it is a haven full of life.

But what are coral reefs?

They look like stone,

but they are alive.

They look like plants,

but in fact, they are all animals.

Tiny sea creatures called coral polyps

huddle together in colonies

and form a common limestone skeleton

for protection.

Skeletons build on skeletons,

and over centuries, grow into great rocky structures.

We know of about 800 different species of coral,

and different they are.

Some build rigid limestone castles around themselves,

and some are soft and sway gently

like grass in a breeze.

And yet others, like these sea fans,

remind us of the leaves of some exotic vegetation,

or this curled up basket star.

But they're all animals.

They are, in fact, gentle predators

that move and hunt in their own subtle way,

not only to survive,

but to secure the survival of the ocean.

The variety of form and color of the corals is stunning.

Their motion may seem like the passive swaying

of straw in the breeze, but what you see

is in fact the deliberate reaching,

grabbing, and devouring of a hungry hunter.

We are so easily impressed by the larger species,

the darling dolphins, the scary sharks,

the whales and walruses.

But this time, I also want to capture the tiny wonders,

not only for their beauty,

but for their significance.

Meet the Christmas tree worm.

They are tiny and timid and flamboyant.

The Christmas tree worm,

like so many other sea creatures,

have a name inspired by their particular appearance.

But the Christmas tree worm

is more worm than tree.

For its meals, in unfurls its feathery plumes

and filters plankton from the passing current.

Plankton means "wanderer" of "drifter."

They're small, often microscopic organisms.

But for many of the stationary reef dwellers,

like the coral clam or these feather duster worms,

food that delivers itself is a necessity.

It's so large, it may be hard to spot

in its surroundings here on the sea floor.

Right before me is a giant clam.

The clams we eat for dinner

may each weigh one or two ounces.

But a giant clam can weigh over 500 pounds

and live for a century.

It's impressive that an organism

that can't hunt or gather

and that can't move around at all

manages to attain such proportions.

Two items are on the menu,

the plankton it filters from the currents

and the food produced by algae that lives

within its fleshy interior.

Although it's both male and female,

it can't inseminate itself.

The giant clam discharges both sperm and eggs

into the ocean currents

and never meets its mate.

Survival at its most fundamental level

is dependent on two factors,

eating and not being eaten.

Nature has provided its creatures

with survival strategies

of endless variety and creativity,

often involving unlikely alliances.

A sea anemone looks harmless,

even inviting, as it sits there on that reef.

But when small creatures venture too close,

they're quickly disabled by stinging tentacles

and then captured and consumed.

With the exception of this fish, the clown fish.

Clown fish wear mucus coating

that makes them immune to the venom.

In exchange for a safe haven,

the clown fish guards the anemone

and chases away fish that may try to eat its tentacles.

It's one of many mutual defense alliances

we will find on the reefs.

A similar symbiosis occurs

between another anemone species

and the colorful crustacean of the Atlantic

known as Peterson's shrimp.

This cleaner shrimp is not inherently immune

to the anemone's poison,

but rather works up a tolerance

by rubbing itself against the tentacles

for increasing amounts of time.

This cleaner shrimp sways on the deadly tentacles

as if to taunt anyone passing by

by saying, "My domain, your doom."

As a child, I dreamt of building fantastic underwater cities,

and even studied architecture to realize that dream.

But what can compete with the beauty of the reefs?

Of nature's masterful design