Australia, home of the possum, cool surfer dudes, strange lingo, no
worries mate, fair dinkum. Lots of sunshine and the Bonza Barrier
Reef. It's the biggest, most spectacular coral reef in the world,
and what's more, every creature is linked to another. Just imagine one
huge family tree dating back 18 million years. From the
minuscule to the mammoth to the miraculous, they're all connected in Barney's
Barrier Reef.
Ah, my friend, the gentle Jenna, fellow
follower of nature and all its great joys, um, are you
OK? Ah, I have never been better here.
I've made you something.
Thank you. That is a deluxe apple core necklace. Been eating
those apples for 2 weeks. I've gone green, Jim, you know,
eco-friendly, and you're not allowed into my green zone unless you
abide by the laws of the bountiful Barney,
which are no MP3 players.
Try this. You can make your own music.
00 he. Hm, beautiful,
beautiful, yes, and, and, and are those plastic you're wearing on your
feet? No, no, not allowed. Here,
try these. OK, Barney, bounteous Barney,
bounteous Barney. Look, I really admire what you're trying to do, but don't you think you're going a
little bit too far? I mean, these are great for
living on a desert island, but can I really run for a bus and leave back home?
Oh, OK, OK, I guess you're right. It's just that I can't believe
these Barrier Reef animals beat us to it again. What do you mean? Well, of course,
they recycle everything, don't they? Just have a look at how far these guys go with their
recycling. Nothing, and I mean nothing goes to waste.
Waste not, want not.
They're squelchy, they're slimy, they're gem's most disliked animal in the whole wide world, but
they are the super keen green machine, the sea
cucumber. E, I wish someone would recycle them.
Gemma. Sea cucumbers have feelings too, you know.
Believe it or not, without these cool cucumbers, or cukes as their friends call them,
the ocean bed would harden and loads of species wouldn't survive. Oh, so
now you're claiming they're ocean heroes too. Just call me Cuke.
See uke.
Well, they're often referred to as the earthworm of the sea, because they're constantly
eating sand and anything else that sticks to it, and then they, well, they poo the
bits they don't want out, which is mostly sand by the looks of it. Yeah,
but this is pretty clean poo. The sand is always cleaner when it comes
out, and it's this constant digging, shuffling, eating and pooing that breaks
up the sea bed, keeping it well aired and oxygenated. And this sand
airing also stirs up the sand, allowing other animals to feed on any morsels
that come to the surface. Oh yeah. So,
you're saying that loads of animals rely on the sea cucumber to survive.
Exactly, I told you. Without the super sandy sea cucumber, we would have
lifeless hard ocean beds. In fact, just one sea cucumber
alone can nosh more than 2 tons of sand in one year.
Whoa, that's like.
500 bags of sugar. I know that is what's known as remarkable
recycling. Wow, next.
The tiger shark, sleek, cool, streamlined, fierce,
and the ultimate ocean garbage man. Yeah, but
surely the ultimate ocean hunter as well. Oh yeah, but for this greedy guts,
the fun is not in the hunting, but in the clearing up. He'll eat anything. Well,
he's certainly got the gnashes for it. Look at them. Yep, his teeth are highly specialized to
slice through flesh and bone, which makes him the perfect candidate for Ocean
dustman. They found all sorts in this garbage guts, license
plates, tires and bottles, tin cans, tennis shoes, plastic bags.
A human head. Are you serious? You name it, it's
been found in a tiger shark's belly. Yeah, so I see. Oh,
what is that? A rotting stinking turtle, to be
precise. Surely this is extreme, isn't it? I mean, couldn't you take his pick of the
ocean banquet? Why choose rotting turtles and tin cans? Well, why
bother chasing after live food when he's got a taste for waste? He's the
ultimate green machine. He doesn't let anything go to waste.
Yummy. So just like the sand chomping sea cucumber, our
gluttonous tiger shark has a taste for other people's waste.
I, I, I'm down. And
Do you come out and go in. You come out and go in. You go up and down.
Very good, up and down, and what are you doing? Isn't it
obvious I'm conducting Christmas tree worms? Silly. You come up, you go
down, you come up, you go down, out, out, up, down, up, down, the finale, up
and down. Thank you. I, I'm the silly one,
me. Right. Hm. Why are they
so shy? Well, they're just very sensitive to any movements and disturbances.
Even a little shadow is enough for them to play peek a boo. Well, why
bother coming out at all if they have a nice safe comfy hole to hide in? Well, they
still need to feed, so they catch little food bits in their mucus-coated feathery
arms. Ah, well, they certainly brighten up that piece of lumpy coral. They do more than
that, you know. These mini. Ether dusters deliberately find a piece of damaged coral
to settle down and make a home on. Well, why would they do that? There's loads of healthy
coral they can live on. Well, they can't live on top of living coral because it's already
occupied, so they find an empty spot to live in. It's a typical reef
waste not want not set up. See these big mouth parrot fish?
Ah yes, with a parrot-like mashes. Yeah, well, they are
coral destroyers. They have a strange appetite, all right. They eat
coral, they chomp and they go, leaving some of the coral a bit worse for wear.
Well, this is a perfect home for the Christmas tree worm. Give them a few centimeters
and they'll take it. They settle in the chopped bit and the coral grows back around
them. It's Christmas tremendous. Oh, that was truly
terrible. So was yours.
Yeah. So the tiger shark clears up unwanted rubbish
and the Christmas tree worm makes its home in unwanted space. They're
an unlikely connection right, but our waste disposal truck, the
tiger shark and Christmas tree worm are linked because they both make
sure nothing is wasted.
OK, let's do the crab dance. OK, you ready? Yeah.
Like you have leg hair. And
want to do.
Wave to Dave.
Ha together. Look at the weather.
No wonder empty crabster is chilling on the anemone carpet. All that leg and arm
waving is exhausting. Well, these little guys are called porcelain crabs.
Now they may look like they're dancing, but they're actually filtering the water,
taking all the debris out and noshing at the same time. They
must always be noshing them, they're never still. Well, that's why they have those
mucus-coated feathery hands. They comb them through the water, catching
passing bits of food, which they then scrape off and put into their mouth.
Yummy. Ah, a bit like having slot covered
net hands. Yeah, kind of, and while he's running his feathery feelers through the
water, he's clearing up waste particles and helping to keep the water nice and
clean. So like the Christmas tree worms, these feathery
filterers sort through the water, catching and recycling anything they can
eat, and at the same time cleaning up waste. So who else is
linked to our wormy waste lovers?
Whoa, spooky. Is this a shipwreck? I love those.
Yep, this one is called the Yongala wreck. It was a passenger and cargo
ship with 122 people on board that got lost in a cyclone
in 1911. But now it's a world famous wreck site which is home
to loads of different animals. Wow, hey, look, you can see the portholes there.
That's the stern. Oh, and the rudder. It's so eerie. Hey, I reckon that's the
mask. And those must have been the cabins or the cargo holds. And
there's an electric fan and the toilets. It's like a whole new
playground for creatures like our turtle. Oh yeah.
So the whole ship has been recycled into an ocean habitat. I must
say these ocean lot are true recyclers, aren't they? Yep, it's home to all sorts
of different Animals. There's a ray swimming alongside a school of
Trevally. Why do you reckon the fish like wreck so much? I mean, there's loads
of real reefs they can hang out in. Well, it's mainly because a wreck provides a solid
surface in which new species can attach and grow, like titchy
plankton, worms, baitfish and crabs. This attracts bigger fish
and before you know it, you have one big shipwreck party.
So like our cute Christmas tree worm, they're making the most of empty and derelict
space to create new homes and communities. Yep, another green star for
our ocean gang. OK, it's time
for a reefca. It's very seasonal, gem.
Well, you know, just keeping with the green theme, those ocean waste recyclers
are so cool, they're putting me to shame. Well, it suits you.
So how did we get from the sea cucumber to sea rex?
Our sea cucumber is extremely green. This is
recycling gone mad. He eats loads of sand and then
poos it out and cleans it at the same time. What about the
tasteless tiger shark? He'll nosh on literally anything,
including human heads. And like our wrapping porcelain
crab, we're. uses his feathery hands to comb through the water for food,
whilst at the same time helping to keep it nice and clean. And also connected
to our Christmas tree worms are our fun loving wreck gang. Now they don't let
a sunken ship go to waste. Gemma to Barney, Gemma to Barney, pick up your coconut phone
over. I got it. So who's our next refuse
lover? Over and out.
Ooh, don't look at me. I'm a hermit crab and I'm naked. Oh, I need to get
dressed. Of course I never get new outfits. They're so last
season. I always find a vintage shell lying around, like I always
say, why buy new when there's perfectly good secondhand shells available? Ah,
this will be a perfect fit. Ah home sweet home,
peace and quiet. Oh, just put the telly on. Uh oh,
not so peaceful. He's being cram attacked.
One shell.
crabs. Who will be the victim.
Heroic hermit crab is hiding from this ferocious sand attack, great
sand throwing technique, but isn't working. I think heroic is
staying put. He knows when to stay down to survive.
Having survived the sound attack, he's back on his feet. He's a tough cookie,
this one. He won't be giving that prize away easily.
Oh, and Combat crab is going for the back attack.
Heroic is showing immense strength carrying both him and combat.
That is quite amazing. Oh and what a turn up. He's thrown him
off with a spectacular move. What
strength, what agility, combat claims the grand
prize of the white shell. Leaving our
loser heroic with a poor consolation prize.
Oh dear, Contender 2 really has got the booby cries
of a bit of abandoned pipe. Poor guy. He put up a brave
fight, but he's not looking too comfortable. Ouch, I think
he's been driven round the U bend. Ah, that's
hilarious. It's starting to hurt your voice. Oh yes.
You know, it just goes to show that hermit crabs are so keen on reusing old
shells, they'll do anything to claim their prize. And although it's not an ideal
solution, they'll even make do with old bits of pipe lying around. Again,
our waste is their game. First there was the shipwreck and now bits
of pipe making homes for crabs. Just like our wreck loving creatures, but
the hermit crabs, someone else's trash is their home.
Does my hair look alright? I just can't get it right. I don't know, but I'm itching to stick this bit
of her on. Now, how do I look? Um, a little too green on side. Yeah, I
think I just need a little bit of white scraggy stuff here. A white ball of random fluff
here, just give it a clean first, health and safety. Oh, I love dressing up.
Oh baby.
I reckon these crabs have got a little carried away with the ocean dressing up
box. Hello. These crabs are called decorator
crabs, and the name says it all. They spend most of their time
decorating themselves in bits and pieces of the reef for disguise.
Whether they prefer the. The more traditional leafy green
attire, these stone like accessories, or the mad purple hair.
Whatever they pick allows them to skulk around unnoticed by their enemies. So they're
basically playing dressing up to disguise themselves with outfits that mean they
can completely blend in. Watch it. Yeah, clever,
hey, I wish we could do that. Think we'd look even weirder? You're
not right. And of course they're also recycling bits of the
reef to use in their outlandish outfits. Ah, looks like fun, yeah.
But shouldn't they be off scuttling around the shore or leg dancing
for food or searching for shells like our other crab recyclers. Not all
crabs are the same, Jeff, they all have their own unique personality, but they
do all have one thing in common. Introducing
the green tea.
less
in pursuit of his recycling and of course the decorator. He's the one, but in his quest for the perfect outfit, he cleans up debris.
Team crab, they're green, keen and never mean.
Wow, you're right, these crabs are all true
recycling superheroes. Although they both have completely
different tastes in outfits, our heroic hermit crab and decorator crabs both
use any opportunity they can to recycle spare bits of the reef.
Uh oh, meet the frightening frigatebirds, also
known as pirate birds. They take a rather
unscrupulous approach to recycling. In fact, they're really rather
scary. Whoa, so I can see. Although they
can't swim or walk or take off from the water, they're amazing
flyers. Yes, they're what I like to call swoop tastic, and their
wingspan is over 2 m. Wow, that's like 1 Barney
and half a Gemma. And they have a
real taste for already recycled food. Stand
by, this is grossly grosstastic.
Birds like these dozy boobies. No, hello,
swallow any food they catch, ready to uh
regurgitate it later on for their chicks.
What? What, in other words, they spew it up for their babies. That is like Mr. Gross from
Gross Road in Grossville. But it gets
worse, you'd think the fact the boobies have already swallowed the grub would
prevent anyone else from nicking the food, right? Yeah, uh
uh, not when it comes to these fearless and sneaky frigatebirds.
When they spot a bird carrying food home to the nest, they chase and harass
it to make it spew up this already chopped food. Well, that's even more
gross. That's Mr. Gross on Gross Road and Grossville on the planet
Gross. Look, he's a true pilfering
pirate. Oi, frigate bunny bird, get off him! Hey!
Well, they're also linked to the more heroic hermit crab because they both steal the
hard work of other animals. Yeah, except that the hermit crab
recycles a spare and empty shell while those pilferous
steal needed food from the mouths of baby chicks. It's not quite the
same thing. So not all recyclers are heroes,
it seems. Let's hope our next contender is Akina greener.
Ah, it's an ocean snowstorm. Yep, this is called
coral spawning. It's basically the coral laying eggs into the water for the
eggs to be fertilized by other corals. It's spawning time, it's spawning time, it's
spawning time. Oh, it's spawning time. They release thousands of
eggs, and they're not the only ocean spawner. Reef fish like this surgeon
fish here. And the colorful
cuttlefish are also egg laying. Uh, oh, sorry, just
distracted by those butterfly fish playing football, or should I say nose
ball. On your head shunt. It's mine. Um, they're
not playing nose ball, Jem, they're pinching a cuttlefish egg.
Why? To eat it? No, the mummy cuttlefish is just
there, that's not fair. Well, you know how it is in the ocean.
Nothing bobs along unclaimed for very long, and eggs are no different.
This cuttlefish egg will make a very tasty snack for the butterfly fish, and they're not the only
ones enjoying an egg feast. The porcelain crab will nosh on a coral egg or
10, and these snappers are having a bit of a feast on this surgeonfish
spawn. Oh man, poor mummy fish. Well, actually,
they don't mind too much. The coral, fish, and cuttlefish all lay hundreds or
thousands of eggs, some as many as a million. Mm
mm, that is a lot of lunch boxes to pack. They know that
some of them will float away or get eaten, so they lay loads and loads of eggs to
make up for it. So it's a bit of a bargain giveaway. The fish allow for the
fact that some will end up as fish food and lay extra, but they're so clever. It's another
waste not want not moment. Nothing in the ocean goes to waste and fish
allow for that even when they're spawning. And just like the
swaggot birds, these egg gobblers are pinching someone else's belongings.
OK, it's time for a recap of our radical
recyclers.
Empty shells are precious objects in the crab recycling world, and I don't blame
them. I mean, who wants an end bit of pipe for a home? Decorator
crabs are constantly updating their home, but they're always sure to
recycle in the process. The frigatebirds are so not interested
in conservation, well, apart from their own, that is. They only qualify as
recyclers because they eat recycled food. Gross,
and the rest of the ocean community don't seem to mind nickking other fishes eggs
either. At least the fish know that extra eggs mean they can't nick them all.
It's my love
Good morning. Ah, as we all know, the reef is a pretty
and cheery place most of the time, with fish going about their daily
business. But like all communities, it does
have a dark side.
Yikes, where's the happiness gone, Jen? With the
naked isopods.
The what? Ned isopods, otherwise known as
deadly parasites. They swarm around the
coral looking for healthy fish blood. Dent ooh, that's
gross. Well, where are they? I can't see any deadly things. Well, they're almost
invisible, but put a super duper mega microscope on them and
they look something like this. What,
uh, they're like warriors. And what does happen when
these isopoddy things find some healthy fish blood?
They're doomed. Oh no, but surely there must be
someone who can help. Enter the superhero
cleanerras. Yay! What you mean this little fish?
Hey, this is no ordinary little fish, you know. These
little fish are the reef's courageous cleaners. This is their
superhero dance. Their fishy friends. are covered in parasites,
but luckily they won't have to wait long for the cleaner fish to rid them of all
evil. Uh, OK, so how do they do that then?
Well, they're not called cleaner wras for nothing. They nibble the nasty
parasites from their fishy friends. Hang on a minute.
No fish is going to go around cleaning other fish for nothing. We all do
things for money and food. What do the cleaner rats get out of it? They get a right old
feast. What do you mean they like eating parasites? Yeah, they
love them. I mean, why else would they munch on more than 1000
isopods a day? Wow, that is a healthy appetite. Without the
cleaner rass sucking up these evil nasties, there'd probably be a lot of poorly
fish in the reef. And like all those reef egg eaters,
the rats survive by eating stuff from other animals, but in the case of the
cleaner rats, their fishy friends are very grateful to be nibbled on.
Talking of recycling body items, be prepared for the
strangest example of recycling you will ever hear about,
guaranteed. Meet the sea squirt. Yo, what's up?
A squirt. Yep, they're tubular creatures that hang out on the reef,
pumping in water and bits of food. What does it do exactly?
Well, not much to be honest, it just stays in one spot for its whole
life.
It's a lazy squirt. Reminds me of someone.
Right. Well, actually, as it
happens, you're onto something there, Jen. I am kind of related to him, but
then so are you. What are you talking about? OK, this
creature may look like the most basic of all creatures, but according to
evolution, there is a big family. that goes back millions of years,
and on this tree, humans are related to the sea squirts. Huh?
Yeah, when they're babies, they have a little spinal cord, which puts them in the
same family tree as us, although they do eat it when they become adults. What what
what? Hang on a second. I don't know which
I find the strangest, the fact we're related or the fact they eat their
spinal cord, and their brain and their tail. Waste not, want
not. Oh man, now that is extreme
recycling. But there's not much squirting action going on.
I want my money back. Yet another yucky
body part recycling connection, the ras with their penchant for parasites
and the sea squirt who eat their own brain.
Boy, pretty Boy, what a.
The parrot fish, by day, reef rock chompers.
By night, serene snot sleepers.
You know what time it is, know what time is it?
It's bedtime. you
Snart sleepers. Yep, see that cocoon surrounding him? Yeah. Well,
that's the parrotfish's very own deluxe snot sleeping bag. It
looks more like a cobweb. Nope, it's not right.
This is the parrot fish's bed for the night. Once they've found a nice little space
to snuggle into, they actually produce their very own mucus sleeping
bag and kind of camp out for the night. Mm
They then get left alone by predators because their sleeping bag conceals their
smell and tastes gross. Well, it's a cool trick, but
um I think I'll stick to traditional methods. Yeah.
But you haven't heard the best bit. When they get
up, they have to eat their way out. Just
like the squirtless sea squirt, the sand pooing and snot sleeping bag eating
parrot fish eat their own body bits. I mean, why
waste all that snot when you've spent all night sleeping in it? Uh,
I wasn't going to really. That'd be gross. Yeah, parrotfish are
gross.
Hey Jim, Warren the pufferfish blush. Because the
seaweed. Oh, you know it. Oh, you're a true recycler,
Barney. I exceptionally bad jokes.
They don't let anything go to waste in this ocean world. Poo,
snot, brains, tin cans, human heads, they reused the lot.
First up, the sand noshing sea cucumber. Weird. They eat the
sand that was formerly pooed from the rock chomping parrot fish. Now that
is recycling. How about this ocean waste disposal
machine? The tiger shark will chow down on anything that floats his way,
even rotten turtles. Ew, ew, double ew.
Thank goodness for the cute and clean Christmas tree worm who filters the water and makes a
home in damaged coral. Has in the air like you
have leg hair. All together now for MC crab stuff, wicker
wow. He's not just dancing, he also filters the water with
his feathery feelers. But for a true reef party atmosphere, head
on down to the rocking wreck. One man's waste is an ocean's playground.
Try telling that to the hermit crab that ended up with a bit of corner pipe.
Our hermit crabs will do anything for someone else's thrown away shell. Ooh,
wanna swap? The
decorator crab, no of fluff, coral, or algae will go to waste
with this dreamy dresser. But some recyclers take it a
step too far, like the piratey frigatebirds nicking
regurgitated food from the mouths of baby birds. The ocean is
full of food pinches. Loads of creatures sit back and wait for spawning time,
knowing they'll get a free meal with all those eggs floating around, but luckily there are
thousands of them. And thousands of the deadliest, nastiest
evil parasites, but luckily for the fish, the cleaner wrass
love to feast on fishy skin. But the most extreme example of
waste not want not you'll ever find is the not very interesting apart from this
fact, sea squirt. They eat their own brains and the
spine and the tail. When they finish with it of course.
At least the parrotfish knows he gets a good recce when he wakes up and eats
his uh snort sleeping bag. You see, Jem, we're never gonna be able
to compete. Not even an ounce of snort or deadly parasite goes to waste in that
watery world. Well, I'll stick to my Apple necklace, thank you.