This is the incredible moment a family of clownfish work together to bring a heavy coconut shell back home.
Footage from Blue Planet II shows the fish using all their strength and cunning to move the shell across the ocean floor.
In the clip, one of the fish is seen inspecting the shell before trying to push it using its mouth, but to no avail.
Footage from Blue Planet II shows the fish using all their strength and cunning to move the shell across the ocean floor
Thankfully, help is at hand, and another fish comes over to help.
Working together, the pair manage to roll the shell all the way back to their anemone home.
Of course there’s a serious reason for this peculiar behaviour. Clownfish – or anemone fish as they’re also known – need a suitable surface for their mate to lay their eggs on.
So when objects such as coconut shells, or even a plastic bottle, arrive with the tidal currents, these little fish make the most of the opportunity.
Working together, the pair manage to roll the shell all the way back to their anemone home
Of course there’s a serious reason for this peculiar behaviour. Clownfish – or anemone fish as they’re also known – need a suitable surface for their mate to lay their eggs on
Using all their strength they will push large objects sometimes up to 10 times their own weight to their anemone – an incredible feat for a tiny fish.
Speaking ahead of the episode, which was dedicated to coral reefs, presenter Sir David Attenborough said: ‘Coral reefs are underwater cities crammed with life, with fierce rivalry for food, space and a partner.
‘To be able to film underwater and actually get into tiny crevices in the coral, as we do in Blue Planet II, would have been unthinkable in the 1950s,’ he says.
Once back at their anemone home, the female clownfish is able to lay her eggs
‘My favourite creature in the whole series is the clownfish, or anemone fish, that is surrounded by danger on the reef but finds refuge among the stinging tentacles of the anemone because it is immune to its poison.’
The footage was filmed by producer Jonathan Smith and underwater cameraman Roger Munns using ground-breaking probe cameras.
The lenses allowed the team to get right down onto the eye line of the clownfish.
In total, the team spent 120 hours filming the fish in order to finally capture their collecting behaviour.
The next episode of Blue Planet II will air on BBC One on Sunday at 8pm.