04: Monterey Bay | Nature’s Microworlds

Duration: 29'05''

Synopsis

Steve Backshall looks at the unique geography of California's Monterey Bay, its kelp forest bursting with life from microscopic plankton to visiting ocean giants.

Further Information

More clips from Nature's Microworlds

01: Galapagos | Nature's Microworlds

01: Galapagos | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'02''

The Galapagos is home to a myriad of bizarre and unique creatures endemic to these islands, but how did they get here and what is the ke...

02: Serengeti | Nature's Microworlds

02: Serengeti | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'01''

A look at one of the most famous habitats on the planet, the Serengeti in east Africa, a vast grassland that is home to some of the grea...

05: Okavango | Nature's Microworlds

05: Okavango | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 28'59''

Steve Backshall reveals the secret to the existence of the Okavango, the world's largest inland delta and home to one of Africa's greates...

06: Svalbard | Nature's Microworlds

06: Svalbard | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'00''

In the northerly region of Svalbard, Steve Backshall unravels the secrets that lie covered in ice for most of each year in the home of th...

07: Canada's Coastal Forests | Nature's Microworlds

07: Canada's Coastal Forests | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 28'59''

Steve Backshall reveals why Canada's coastal forest is home to huge trees and some of the greatest aggregations of top pr...

08: Great Barrier Reef | Nature's Microworlds

08: Great Barrier Reef | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 28'59''

Steve Backshall visits Australia's Great Barrier Reef to discover the conditions that let a tiny coral building block create Ea...

09: Namib Desert | Nature's Microworlds

09: Namib Desert | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'03''

Steve Backshall visits the Namib in Africa, where animals use clever tactics to combat the heat. He reveals the unique secret that al...

10: Yellowstone | Nature's Microworlds

10: Yellowstone | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'02''

In Yellowstone National Park, where wolves, bears, coyotes, bison and elk roam vast grasslands, wetlands and forests, Steve Backshall ...

11: The Deep Sea | Nature's Microworlds

11: The Deep Sea | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'06''

Steve Backshall plumbs the ocean depths to find an array of beautiful and bizarre creatures, from 40m-long jellyfish to grotesque ang...

12: Australia's Red Centre | Nature's Microworlds

12: Australia's Red Centre | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'07''

Steve Backshall reveals huge kangaroos, the world's most venomous snake and a burrowing toad living among the throng of ani...

13: Scottish Highlands | Nature's Microworlds

13: Scottish Highlands | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 29'03''

Steve Backshall shows how the two contrasting landscapes of open moor and Caledonian forest are both crucially important to the...

Amazon | Nature's Microworlds

Amazon | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 28'58''

Steve Backshall lifts the lid on an incredible world of intricate relationships and unexpected hardship in the Amazon rainforest, explores the ...

Keeping cool | Nature's Microworlds

Keeping cool | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2013 | 2'12''

The Namaqua chameleon has developed an ingenious tactic to avoid the heat of the Namib desert.

More resources about Ocean biomes

Episode 1 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

Episode 1 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

BBC One | 2015 | 58'06''

David Attenborough descends beneath the waves at night to meet some of the tiny coral animals that built the reef.

Episode 3 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

Episode 3 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

BBC One | 2016 | 57'40''

David Attenborough uncovers the ways in which scientists are trying to preserve the Great Barrier Reef and embarks on ...

01: Oceans - Into the Blue | Human Planet

01: Oceans - Into the Blue | Human Planet

BBC One | 2011 | 58'37''

Humans have always found ways to live an almost aquatic life so they can exploit the sea's riches. This journey reveals tales of in...

04: Revive Our Oceans | The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet

04: Revive Our Oceans | The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet

BBC One | 2021 | 58'12''

This episode explores how we might stop damaging the oceans and begin to enable their revival.

Restoring Our Reefs | Our Changing Planet

Restoring Our Reefs | Our Changing Planet

BBC One | 2024 | 58'01''

As part of a seven-year series on the planet's most threatened ecosystems, this third episode takes an in-depth look at efforts to ...

Episode 2 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

Episode 2 | Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough

BBC One | 2016 | 58'04''

David Attenborough examines the journeys made by the birds and whales that visit the reef every year.

02: Reef to Rainforest | Great Barrier Reef

02: Reef to Rainforest | Great Barrier Reef

BBC HD | 2012 | 58'57''

As well as coral, the reef is made up of jungle, hundreds of islands, mangrove swamps, mysterious deep-water gardens, vast sand f...

05: Ocean | Wild Isles

05: Ocean | Wild Isles

BBC One | 2023 | 57'36''

David Attenborough explores our seas, from the vibrant and surprising shallows to the abundant open ocean, and reveals some extraordinary and dramatic...

Sustainable fishing | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

Sustainable fishing | Scandinavia with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2025 | 6'52''

Simon investigates sustainable fishing practices.

01: Ocean of Islands | South Pacific

01: Ocean of Islands | South Pacific

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'54''

Documentary looking at the remote South Pacific islands, which are inhabited by some of the most curious and precarious examples of life...

03: Reef and Beyond | Great Barrier Reef

03: Reef and Beyond | Great Barrier Reef

BBC HD | 2012 | 59'00''

Monty Halls explores Australia's natural wonder. The Great Barrier Reef is vitally linked to the rest of the planet and creatures tr...

04: Cape | Africa

04: Cape | Africa

BBC One | 2013 | 57'56''

Southern Africa is a riot of life and colour because of two great ocean currents that sweep around the continent's Cape.

08: Great Barrier Reef | Nature's Microworlds

08: Great Barrier Reef | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2012 | 28'59''

Steve Backshall visits Australia's Great Barrier Reef to discover the conditions that let a tiny coral building block create Ea...

Secrets of Antarctica's Giants

Secrets of Antarctica's Giants

BBC News | 2024 | 26'14''

Humpback whales travel thousands of miles to feed in rich, icy Antarctic waters. Scientists who are following the whales reveal how that food ...

00: Great Squid | Inside Nature's Giants

00: Great Squid | Inside Nature's Giants

Channel 4 | 2010 | 1'03'51''

Comparative anatomist Joy Reidenberg and veterinary scientist Mark Evans fly out to New Zealand to join a team of experts and dissec...

01: Nature's Miracle | Great Barrier Reef

01: Nature's Miracle | Great Barrier Reef

BBC HD | 2012 | 59'05''

Monty Halls explores Australia's Great Barrier Reef, examining the vast, complex structure of the coral reef itself and the wildlif...

02: Castaways | South Pacific

02: Castaways | South Pacific

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'57''

A look at how every one of the 20,000 islands was colonised by the Polynesians, and at the varied local fauna.

02: Ocean | Australia: Earth's Magical Kingdom

02: Ocean | Australia: Earth's Magical Kingdom

BBC Two | 2019 | 57'07''

A natural history exploration of Australia's magical coasts and islands, where three oceans create the perfect environment for...

03: Coral Triangle | Wilderness with Simon Reeve

03: Coral Triangle | Wilderness with Simon Reeve

BBC Two | 2024 | 58'01''

Simon Reeve voyages across the Coral Triangle, a remote wilderness of tropical reefs and jungle-clad islands described as th...

03: Endless Blue | South Pacific

03: Endless Blue | South Pacific

BBC Two | 2009 | 58'52''

Much of this blue wilderness is a marine desert, where sharks, whales and turtles must go to great lengths to survive.

More from Steve Backshall

Devil rays leaping | Nature's Greatest Dancers

Devil rays leaping | Nature's Greatest Dancers

BBC One | 2015 | 1'19''

Devil rays do acrobatic leaps out of the sea at the edge of the shoal to encourage shrimp into the mouths of the other rays.

S01E01 | Our Changing Planet

S01E01 | Our Changing Planet

BBC One | 2022 | 58'05''

Steve Backshall, Chris Packham and Ella Al-Shamahi visit the Maldives, Iceland and Cambodia, charting the fight to save the planet’s most endang...

02: Great Barrier Reef | Blue Planet Revisited

02: Great Barrier Reef | Blue Planet Revisited

BBC One | 2020 | 59'02''

To find out what the future holds for the Great Barrier Reef, scientists monitor green turtles, follow families of breeding bi...

Bat Doctor | Lost Land of the Volcano

Bat Doctor | Lost Land of the Volcano

BBC Two | 2020 | 3'07''

An injured bat needs nursing back to full health and the team examine the rare adaptation of the striped possum.

S04E07: Borneo | Deadly 60

S04E07: Borneo | Deadly 60

CBBC | 2020 | 28'14''

Although we can't just stop using palm oil - farmers need to grow it to provide an income for their families and as a product it's highly efficien...

03: Mexico Part 1 | Undiscovered Worlds with Steve Backshall

03: Mexico Part 1 | Undiscovered Worlds with Steve Backshall

BBC Two | 2019 | 58'49''

Steve Backshall leads an elite cave diving team into the largest unexplored cave network on earth. Below a Mexic...

Japanese macaques have a lifestyle unlike all other monkeys | Japan's Northern Wilderness

Japanese macaques have a lifestyle unlike all other monkeys | Japan's Northern Wilderness

BBC Two | 2017 | 1'16''

Naturalist Steve Backshall and double Olympic gold medallist Helen Glover take a lo...

Episode 1 | Wild Alaska Live

Episode 1 | Wild Alaska Live

BBC One | 2017 | 58'38''

A new series on a spectacular wildlife event, live from Alaska with Steve Backshall, Matt Baker and Liz Bonnin. Bears, eagles and orca are gathe...

Live interview interrupted by a blue whale | Big Blue Live

Live interview interrupted by a blue whale | Big Blue Live

BBC One | 2015 | 3'08''

Steve Backshall's interview with whale expert Doris Welch is cut short when, against all odds, the team spot a Blu...

25: Antarctica | Deadly Pole to Pole

25: Antarctica | Deadly Pole to Pole

CBBC | 2014 | 28'28''

Steve's journey finally comes to an end at the land of extremes - the least inhabited, remotest, highest, driest, coldest and windiest c...

Keeping cool | Nature's Microworlds

Keeping cool | Nature's Microworlds

BBC Four | 2013 | 2'12''

The Namaqua chameleon has developed an ingenious tactic to avoid the heat of the Namib desert.

Secret Wilderness - Japan | Wild

Secret Wilderness - Japan | Wild

BBC Two | 2007 | 39'10''

Steve Backshall discovers Japan's wilderness, from majestic cranes dancing in subzero temperatures in the north to giant salamanders hanging...

Episode 1 | Expedition Borneo

Episode 1 | Expedition Borneo

BBC One | 2007 | 29'10''

Wildlife adventure series following a team of explorers in the heart of the tropical island of Borneo. The team search for the elusive clouded ...