The Blue Planet: Season 1

2001 · 8 episodes · ★ 7.9

The Blue Planet

What Season 1 of The Blue Planet

The series opens with the blue whale, the largest mammal ever to inhabit the planet, and travels through the oceans from start to finish across eight fifty-minute episodes. David Attenborough narrates and guides viewers through every facet of marine life. Film crews are spread across the globe, from the most crowded coasts to the deepest zones, to capture animals and behaviors never before recorded. The stars are the creatures of the water: whale sharks, walruses, manta rays and bioluminescent beings. The great challenge is that much of the ocean remains a mystery to science.

8episodes

Sep 12, 2001premiered

Oct 31, 2001final episode

6.7 hrtotal runtime

Season 1 Episodes

1x01 Introduction
Sep 12, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 7.5
Experience the power of the blue whale - the largest mammal ever to grace our planet. Learn how the sun and moon help control and tame the ocean. Travel far and wide - from the Eastern Pacific to Alaska, from the Bering Sea to the shores of Southern California - and begin to understand the complexity and power of our oceans.
1x02 The Deep
Sep 19, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 8.5
A place of mountain ranges, perpetual night, pressures extremes and cold... and the weirdest life forms on our planet. Dive into the depths of the ocean, an eerie world where predators with teeth so large they can't even close their mouths, chase bio-luminescent creatures of the deep. Discover the spectacular smoking chimneys of the hydrothermal vents. Go deeper down than you have ever been...
1x03 Open Ocean
Sep 26, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 7.8
In the immense space of the open ocean the sea bed is a staggering five miles below the surface and the nearest island is over 300 miles away. Yet here live many of the most spectacular predators in the ocean. Marvel as you experience ruthless and beautiful battles between hunter and prey.
1x04 Frozen Seas
Oct 3, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 7.9
An environment where only the toughest survive, the Arctic and Antarctic are unrelenting habitats. Only in spring does life begin again. Plankton blooms and feeds fast hordes of migrating fish, walruses rake the seabed for clams, and minke and humpback whales gorge themselves on gigantic swarms of krill. But it is a brief spring feast - the ice soon returns and pushes life back into the ocean.
1x05 Seasonal Seas
Oct 10, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 7.7
As the days grow longer, billions of microscopic plankton bloom under the blazing sun. Here in the temperate seas, three-ton basking sharks graze among forests of giant kelp - the fastest growing plant in the world. The forests harbor thousands of other animals, including sea otters, brilliantly colored anemones, squid, and exquisite leafy dragons. But as the year wears on, storms rage in the icy sea... a desperate challenge for the animals that remain.
1x06 Coral Seas
Oct 17, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 8.0
Bathed in bright sunlight and warm clear water, the coral reef is a rich oasis of life - the rainforest of the sea. Bizarrely adorned harlequin shrimp carry off a starfish several times their size, while haunting songs reverberate around the reef, heralding the arrival of humpback whales. Shimmering schools of brightly colored fish battle for territory in this competitive world where you have to stand out to survive.
1x07 Tidal Seas
Oct 24, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 7.9
The sun and moon move billions of tons of water with every turn of the tide. The strongest tides empty entire bays, smash trees on riverbanks, and strand sea creatures on suddenly dry land. Weaker tides control the movements of huge numbers of fish, coaxing stingrays though astounding underwater arches. And as the water recedes, the tide can create unbelievable landscapes - like a sparkling world of salt crystals inhabited only by tiny shrimp and bright pink flamingos.
1x08 Coasts Season Finale
Oct 31, 2001 · 50 min · ★ 7.9
From rocky cliffs to gentle dunes, the coasts are always changing. Day in and day out, they are battered by crashing waves. Seabirds come here by the thousands to nest, while baby turtles hatch and race to the sea, pursued by hungry predators. Young sea lion pups are born and play on the sand - until a killer whale attacks, crashing in on the surf. But when breeding season is over, life returns to the sea and the shores are empty once again.