奇异而其妙的生物发光世界

奇异而其妙的生物发光世界0:15SoIwanttotakeyouonatrip

toanalienworld.

Andit'snotatrip

thatrequireslight-yearsoftravel,

butit'stoaplace

whereit'sdefinedbylight.0:30Soit'salittle-appreciatedfact

thatmostoftheanimalsinourocean

makelight.

I'vespentmostofmycareer

studyingthisphenomenoncalledbioluminescence.

IstudyitbecauseIthinkunderstandingit

iscriticaltounderstandinglifeintheocean

wheremostbioluminescenceoccurs.

Ialsouseitasatool

forvisualizingandtrackingpollution.

ButmostlyI'mentrancedbyit.

Sincemymyfirstdiveinadeep-divingsubmersible,

whenIwentdownandturnedoutthelights

andsawthefireworksdisplays,

I'vebeenabioluminescencejunky.

ButIwouldcomebackfromthosedives

andtrytosharetheexperiencewithwords,

andtheyweretotallyinadequatetothetask.

Ineededsomewaytosharetheexperiencedirectly.

AndthefirsttimeIfiguredoutthatway

wasinthislittlesingle-personsubmersible

calledDeepRover.1:29Thisnextvideoclip,

you'regoingtoseehowwestimulatedthebioluminescence.

Andthefirstthingyou'regoingtosee

isatransectscreen

thatisaboutameteracross.1:39(Video)Narrator:Infrontofthesub,

amessscreenwillcomeintocontact

withthesoft-bodiedcreaturesofthedeepsea.

Withthesub'slightsswitchedoff,

itispossibletoseetheirbioluminescence--

thelightproducedwhentheycollidewiththemesh.

Thisisthefirsttime

ithaseverbeenrecorded.2:16EdithWidder:SoIrecordedthatwithanintensifiedvideocamera

thathasaboutthesensitivity

ofthefullydark-adaptedhumaneye.

Whichmeansthatreallyiswhatyouwouldsee

ifyoutookadiveinasubmersible.

Butjusttotrytoprovethatfacttoyou,

I'vebroughtalongsomebioluminescentplankton

inwhatisundoubtedlyafoolhardyattempt

atalivedemonstration.2:35(Laughter)2:37So,ifwecouldhavethelightsdown

andhaveitasdarkinhereaspossible,

Ihaveaflask

thathasbioluminescentplanktoninit.

Andyou'llnotethere'snolightcomingfromthemrightnow,

eitherbecausethey'redead--

(Laughter)

orbecauseIneedtostirthemupinsomeway

foryoutoseewhatbioluminescencereallylookslike.3:01(Gasps)3:05Oops.Sorry.3:07(Laughter)3:16Ispendmostofmytimeworkinginthedark;I'musedtothat.

Okay.3:21Sothatlight

wasmadebyabioluminescentdinoflagellate,

asingle-celledalga.

Sowhywouldasingle-celledalga

needtobeabletoproducelight?

Well,itusesittodefenditselffromitspredators.

Theflashislikeascreamforhelp.

It'swhat'sknownasabioluminescentburglaralarm,

andjustlikethealarmonyourcaroryourhouse,

it'smeanttocastunwantedattentionontotheintruder,

therebyeitherleadingtohiscapture

orscaringhimaway.3:51There'salotofanimalsthatusethistrick,

forexamplethisblackdragonfish.

It'sgotalightorganunderitseye.

It'sgotachinbarbel.

It'sgotalotofotherlightorgansyoucan'tsee,butyou'llseeinhereinaminute.

Sowehadtochasethisinthesubmersibleforquitesometime,

becausethetopspeedofthisfishisoneknot,

whichwasthetopspeedofthesubmersible.

Butitwasworthit,

becausewecaughtitinaspecialcapturedevice,

broughtitupintothelabontheship,

andtheneverythingonthisfishlightsup.

It'sunbelievable.

Thelightorgansundertheeyesareflashing.

Thatchinbarbelisflashing.

It'sgotlightorgansonitsbellythatareflashing,

finlights.

It'sascreamforhelp;it'smeanttoattractattention.It'sphenomenal.

Andyounormallydon'tgettoseethis

becausewe'veexhaustedtheluminescencewhenwebringthemupinnets.4:41There'sotherwaysyoucandefendyourselfwithlight.

Forexample,thisshrimp

releasesitsbioluminescentchemicalsintothewater

justthewayasquidoranoctopuswouldreleaseaninkcloudThisblindsordistractsthepredator.

Thislittlesquidiscalledthefireshooter

becauseofitsabilitytodothis.

Nowitmaylooklikeatastymorsel,

orapig'sheadwithwings--

(Laughter)

butifit'sattacked,

itputsoutabarrageoflight--

infact,abarrageofphotontorpedoes.

Ijustbarelygotthelightsoutintimeforyoutobeabletoseethosegobsoflight

hittingthetransectscreen

andthenjustglowing.

It'sphenomenal.5:30Sothere'salotofanimalsintheopenocean--

mostofthemthatmakelight.

Andwehaveaprettygoodidea,formostofthem,why.

Theyuseitforfindingfood,forattractingmates,

fordefendingagainstpredators.

Butwhenyougetdowntothebottomoftheocean,

that'swherethingsgetreallystrange.Andsomeoftheseanimals

areprobablyinspirationforthethingsyousawin"Avatar,"

butyoudon'thavetotraveltoPandoratoseethem.

They'rethingslikethis.5:56Thisisagoldencoral,abush.

Itgrowsveryslowly.

Infact,it'sthoughtthatsomeofthese

areasmuchas3,000yearsold,

whichisonereasonthatbottomtrawlingshouldnotbeallowed.

Theotherreasonisthisamazingbushglows.

Soifyoubrushupagainstit,

anyplaceyoubrushedagainstit,

yougetthistwinklingblue-greenlight

that'sjustbreathtaking.

Andyouseethingslikethis.

ThislookslikesomethingoutofaDr.Seussbook--

justallmannerofcreaturesalloverthisthing.

Andtheseareflytrapanemones.

Nowifyoupokeit,itpullsinitstentacles.

Butifyoukeeppokingit,

itstartstoproducelight.Anditactuallyendsuplookinglikeagalaxy.

Itproducesthesestringsoflight,

presumablyassomeformofdefense.6:50Therearestarfishthatcanmakelight.

Andtherearebrittlestarsthatproducebandsoflight

thatdancealongtheirarms.

Thislookslikeaplant,

butit'sactuallyananimal.

Anditanchorsitselfinthesand

byblowingupaballoonontheendofitsstock.

Soitcanactuallyholditselfinverystrongcurrents,

asyouseehere.

Butifwecollectitverygently,andwebringitupintothelab

andjustsqueezeitatthebaseofthestock,

itproducesthislight

thatpropagatesfromstemtotheplume,

changingcolorasitgoes,

fromgreentoblue.

Colorizationandsoundeffects

addedforyouviewingpleasure.

(Laughter)

Butwehavenoideawhyitdoesthat.7:37Here'sanotherone.Thisisalsoaseapen.

It'sgotabrittlestarhitchingaride.

It'sagreensaberoflight.

Andliketheoneyoujustsaw,

itcanproducetheseasbandsoflight.

SoifIsqueezethebase,

thebandsgofrombasetotip.

IfIsqueezethetip,theygofromtiptobase.

Sowhatdoyouthinkhappensifyousqueezeitinthemiddle?

(Gasps)

I'dbeveryinterestedinyourtheoriesaboutwhatthat'sabout.8:10(Laughter)8:12Sothere'salanguageoflightinthedeepocean,

andwe'rejustbeginningtounderstandit,

andonewaywe'regoingaboutthat

iswe'reimitatingalotofthesedisplays.

ThisisanopticallurethatI'veused.

Wecallittheelectronicjellyfish.

It'sjust16blueLEDs

thatwecanprogramtododifferenttypesofdisplays.

AndweviewitwithacamerasystemIdevelopedcalledEye-in-the-Sea

thatusesfarredlightthat'sinvisibletomostanimals,

soit'sunobtrusive.

SoIjustwanttoshowyou

someoftheresponseswe'veelicited

fromanimalsinthedeepsea.8:42Sothecamera'sblackandwhite.

It'snothigh-resolution.

Andwhatyou'reseeinghereisabaitbox

withabunchof--likethecockroachesoftheocean--

thereareisopodsalloverit.

Andrightinthefront

istheelectronicjellyfish.

Andwhenitstartsflashing,

it'sjustgoingtobeoneoftheLEDsthat'sflashingveryfast.

Butassoonasitstartstoflash--

andit'sgoingtolookbig,becauseitbloomsonthecamera--

Iwantyoutolookrighthere.

There'ssomethingsmalltherethatresponds.

We'retalkingtosomething.Itlookslikealittleofstringpearlsbasically--

infact,threestringsofpearls.

Andthiswasveryconsistent.

ThiswasintheBahamasatabout2,000feet.

Webasicallyhaveachatroomgoingonhere,becauseonceitgetsstarted,everybody'stalking.

AndIthinkthisisactuallyashrimp

that'sreleasingitsbioluminescentchemicalsintothewater.

Butthecoolthingis,we'retalkingtoit.

Wedon'tknowwhatwe'resaying.

Personally,Ithinkit'ssomethingsexy.9:42(Laughter)9:44Andthenfinally,

Iwanttoshowyousomeresponsesthatwerecorded

withtheworld'sfirstdeep-seawebcam,

whichwehadinstalledinMontereyCanyonlastyear.

We'veonlyjustbeguntoanalyzeallofthisdata.

Thisisgoingtobeaglowingsourcefirst,

whichislikebioluminescentbacteria.

Anditisanopticalcue

thatthere'scarriononthebottomoftheocean.

Sothisscavengercomesin,

whichisagiantsixgillshark.

AndIcan'tclaimforsure

thattheopticalsourcebroughtitin,becausethere'sbaitrightthere.

Butifithadbeenfollowingtheodorplume,

itwouldhavecomeinfromtheotherdirection.Anditdoesactuallyseemtobetrying

toeattheelectronicjellyfish.

That'sa12-foot-longgiantsixgillshark.10:29Okay,sothisnextoneisfromthewebcam,

andit'sgoingtobethispinwheeldisplay.

Andthisisaburglaralarm.

AndthatwasaHumboldtsquid,

ajuvenileHumboldtsquid,aboutthreefeetlong.

Thisisat3,000feetinMontereyCanyon.

Butifit'saburglaralarm,youwouldn'texpectittoattackthejellyfishdirectly.

It'ssupposedtobeattackingwhat'sattackingthejellyfish.

Butwedidseea