When mating, a male opalescent squid grabs a female and his tentacles flush red. After laying their eggs, all the adults die. Almost everything will eat the dying parents, but the eggs carry toxins.
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TRANSCRIPT
- [Narrator] From the depths along the colder Pacific coast, opalescent squid rise toward the full moon.
A male grabs a female and his tentacles flush red.
(water swishing) He passes a sperm package to her.
(water bubbling) They drift inshore, and by the time they arrive, the females are carrying pods of growing embryos.
(water bubbling) They attached them to anything solid - even decorating a decorator crab.
Once their eggs have been laid, all the adults die.
Their purpose in the chain of generations is fulfilled.
Almost everything will eat the dying parents, but not so the eggs.
The egg cases carry toxins, and most animals only try them once.
Inside each carefully protected home, the squid are already growing.
The squid will all hatch together, and the eruption of life will trigger so much more.
The majority of larvae is swept away, and become part of the plankton, the biggest nursery on the planet.
The ocean itself looks after them, feeds and protects them.
