Will Robot Spider Crab Be Able To Protect Crab From Stingray?

Spider crabs rise up from the abyss in their thousands to shed their protective shells but, as our Spy Crab soon discovers, this makes them an easy target for hunting stingrays. But there’s protection in numbers & those still with armoured shells form a crustacean fortress that protects the vulnerable crabs inside. Spy Crab finds itself alone & unprotected and an easy target for the rays.

Clip taken from episode 3 'Deep Relationships' of our series Spy in the Ocean. Spy in the Ocean is available on iPlayer in the UK & will be available on PBS in the US in the autumn.

You can watch it now in the UK on BBCiPlayer:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...

In this episode our Spies reveal the extraordinary relationships that exist among the creatures of the ocean. Sharks have a reputation for being solitary killers, but when Spy Hammerhead joins a huge gathering of hammerhead sharks it discovers they can be surprisingly social. This mechanical marvel, propelled by its undulating tail, discovers why they meet together at a remote island off the coast of Colombia. A place where the laws of the food chain don’t seem to apply. Here they take a break from the rigours of the ocean & are groomed by king angel fish. When Galapagos sharks arrive, they are welcomed by pilot fish who swim close to their jaws, using the shark as their personal bodyguard. The fish may be dicing with death, but in this place of apparent harmony, none are ever eaten. Spy Moray Eel joins the gathering to explore the incredible hunting partnership between leather bass groupers & moray eels. The groupers find where the fish are hiding, while the eels flush them from their coral hideaways. Elsewhere we discover that dolphins are more sociable than ever imagined and provide more proof of their fun-loving nature. Spy Dolphin & Spy Pelican discover they don’t just play among themselves they also encourage whales to join their games. In incredible scenes they leap playfully together, but in the end a whale is no match for a dolphin. In the Caribbean, Spy Manatee films the uneasy relationship manatees have with remora fish. These hangers on hitch a ride on the manatee’s backs, feeding on parasites as well their poo. The manatees also visit a spa staffed by sergeant major fish. The attention they receive sends them into a state of bliss until rays & sharks appear. These predators can’t resist taking an exploratory nibble from our Spy. Of all the relationships found in the world’s oceans, few can beat the spinner dolphins. Off the coast of Costa Rica, a team of Spy Creatures find out how essential communication is when hunting. Their astonishing leaps are a signal to other dolphins and they use their clicks & whistles to communicate at close range. In one of the most incredible sights ever seen, groups of spinner dolphins come together to form a megapod numbering thousands. As they set off to hunt, Spy Dolphin & Spy Frigate discover a surprising partnership between tuna and dolphins-one that takes them to a school of flying fish. In incredible scenes, the dolphins drive the flying fish from below, while the tuna pursue them in the air. On the pacific coast of North America, Spy Tunacrab arrives just in time to witness another rarely seen spectacle. Tuna crabs, a type of squat lobster, rise to the surface in their millions to feed on the plankton that gather in these nutrient-rich waters. As storms build in the Caribbean, spiny lobsters prepare to migrate to calmer and warmer waters using an ingenious way of traveling-a lobster conga! Spy Lobster joins a procession of over 50 lobsters as they march in single file to deeper safer waters. There’s safety in numbers and before long they go their own way as some find shelter in a shipwreck. Finally, our Spies travel to the Galapagos to discover the rich community of sea creatures that live there. Marine iguanas huddle together on the volcanic rocks basking in the morning sun ready to take on the day. Spy Iguana joins them as they leap into the ocean to search for food beneath the waves. Here our Spy also encounters the wondrous mola mola who arrive to be cleaned by angelfish & hogfish before they vanish back into the deep. Our Spy has one last inhabitant to find…a colony of damselfish. They are meticulous gardeners who work together to maintain their lawns of algae which they use to catch the eye of a mate. To succeed they must dispatch any trespassers. The worst of all are sea urchins who can graze their lawns to the ground. To remove them requires skill and cooperation. It makes a fitting end to our Spies’ ocean voyage. One that shows how sealife is interconnected in ways we could hardly imagine, an undersea world built on extraordinary relationships.

Narrated by David Tennant
Music by Will Gregory
Directed by John Downer