Freak or Unique Barney's Barrier Reef

Australia, home of the possum, strange lingo -

no worries, mate, fair dinkum - lots of sunshine,

and the bonza Barrier Reef.

It's the biggest, most spectacular coral reef in the world!

What's more, every creature is linked to another.

Just imagine one huge family tree dating back 18 million years.

From the miniscule, to the mammoth, to the miraculous,

they're all connected in Barney's Barrier Reef.

-What are you doing?

-I'm doing my party piece.

Everyone's got one. I know this guy that can bend his thumb

-right back to touch his arm.

-Bet he can't do this, though.

That's good. Can you do this?

-Eww, freaky!

-I know. Everyone's got their own freaky party trick.

The underwater world is no different.

From the bizarre to the hair-raising to the downright disgusting...

Ladies and gents, boys and girls,

welcome to the Ocean Cirque de Freak!

It is utterly, fantastically freaky. In fact, it's...

DONALD DUCK VOICE: Freak or unique!

That was "freak or unique".

Well, hello, Mr Spiky!

Is this where all the boy bands get their hairstyling inspiration?

I can see the resemblance,

but I somehow think Mr Sea Urchin is too busy

trying to coordinate his hundreds of spiky legs, by the looks of it.

Venomous, deadly, spiky legs, no less.

They have little holes around their bottoms, which suck up

water into their tube feet.

Imagine long balloons filled with water

and having to walk on them. That's how they move.

They also use their spines a bit like oars on a boat to move back

and forth, to cruise through the reef.

It looks complicated to me!

So far, not so freaky, though.

OK, well, let's take a closer look.

-Be prepared to be a little alarmed, though, Gem.

-Ha! As if!

Let me firstly introduce the luminous eye spots.

Ooh, that's pretty freaky - their own blue lighting system. I like it!

They're not actually eyes at all, just sensors that react to the light

-or darkness.

-What's that bulbous eye thing?

OK, this is where it gets freaky.

That bulbous eye thing isn't an eye at all, although it looks like one.

It's the urchin's very own gross fashion accessory.

That is a poo bag.

Ewww! OK, let me get this straight - that bag is full of the urchin's poo?

And he carries it around with him?

Yeah. Because his bottom is so close to his water pumping system,

to avoid sucking up poo, he keeps it separate in this little bag,

which he can then release away from his water supply.

You'd think most creatures would want to hide something like that,

-but the sea urchin carries it around with pride.

-Yeah!

And surrounds it by blue lights.

Freaky and disgusting!

Next!

Ewww! This is freak ugly!

Hey, it's my old pal, the sea cucumber.

A creature of many talents, it can poo sand, shrink and expand.

But it has another even more awesome talent to behold.

Is this one of those "don't watch and eat" moments?

Ah, yeah, possibly. And for his next trick, he will spew copious

amounts of sticky white gunge.

Dare I ask where that's coming from?

-His bum.

-Naturally. Nothing would surprise me with the sea spew-cumber!

Now, those sticky white threads are called Cuvierian tubules.

They're stored in the cucumber.

-You mean spew-cucumber!

-Stop it. It was bad enough the first time.

They're stored in the cucumber's bottom as a defence mechanism.

So when he's scared or angry, he releases his very own silly string?

Extremely sticky and smelly string

that would entangle their predators and allow the cucumber to escape.

Cool! If only we could do that!

'Now, you tell me that isn't cool!'

OK. I admit, although it looks disgusting, to be able to spray

silly string to distract predators is kind of awesome. Now, can we move on?

The bottom-spewing sea cucumber is linked to the poo-carrying

sea urchin because they both do bizarre things with their bottoms.

A bit like me granddad.

So, who else connects to our sea urchin?

Ahhh. I'm a little puffer fish, just minding my own business.

I look so sweet and innocent, don't I? Now, leave me alone.

No, I mean it, really, go away,

because you won't like me when I'm angry.

Seriously, you really won't

like me when I'm angry! Raarrrr! See what you've made me do?!

I warned you, didn't I? I am now a big, spiky ball in a bad mood!

Welcome to the reef's weirdest,

most ludicrous example of self defence - the puffer fish.

-Puffer by name, puffed up by nature.

-Whatever!

It's an amazing party trick.

-How does he do it?

-Well, a puffer fish can blow itself up to three

times its size by sucking in water.

So they go from little, sweet and innocent

eye-fluttering fish, to spiky, big-eyed, scary fish in seconds?!

Raaarrrrr!

Only when they're really, really angry. It's cool, though.

Imagine if we could do that!

Well, it can be arranged, without the angry bit.

Thankfully.

They come in all sorts of different sizes, from our dog-faced puffer...

-..to our black-blotched puffer...

-Oh, la-la!

..to the star puffer fish.

-They can also be bad tempered when they're blown up.

-Raaarrrr!

They've been known to bite off diver's fingers who've got

too close. They don't get eaten much themselves.

Their appearance and shape makes them too much

of a mouthful for even the most adventurous predator.

I agree, that's a great party trick.

They'd be first on my party list.

They're linked to the sea urchins because they both suck up water -

one to move, and one to puff up to scare predators.

Is it a fish? Is it a newt?

Or is it a dragon fish?

You're looking at the gurnard, or the flying gurnard, to be precise.

-That's amazing.

-Uh-huh!

I'm loving his wing action. But when's he going to take off?

Well, they don't actually fly, they crawl along the sea floor with their

folded arm fans, and then, when they become scared, they open their wings.

It's the gurnard's way of saying, "I'm bigger than you thought!"

That's so cool!

So they go from pretty ordinary floor fish

to dragon-like super fish in a split second.

Yeah. Their extreme change in size totally confuses any predators,

a bit like someone beefing themselves up before a fight.

But what's the point of wings if you can't use them properly?

It might confuse predators, but is that all?

Well, their wings also help them to glide smoothly across

the ocean floor, away from danger.

Oh, so they kind of hang glide on the floor?

Yeah. It's odd they actually can't use their wings to fly,

but they have another weird trait. The name gurnard

comes from the French word grogner, which means "to grunt"

and they sound like this. GRUNTING NOISE

Doesn't sound as scary as he looks, though.

No, but the whole point is to look scary,

just like the puffed-up puffer fish.

The peeved puffer fish and the grunting, winged, dragon-like

flying gurnard are connected because they can change

their bodies dramatically to scare away predators.

Ooh, yeah!

These sea creatures certainly have some amazing party tricks,

which I think are a lot better than yours.

Whatever! It's time for a reef-cap.

Our freaky connection started at sea urchins

and took us to flying gurnards.

Our first awesome freak is the sea urchin.

Not sure their poo bag will catch on, though,

although I must say, it's pretty unique.

Unique or freak? Check out the sea cucumber.

Eww! Spew-cucumber!

They have their own version of silly string to ward off enemies.

What a bizarre method of self defence.

Imagine being able to blow yourself up like a puffer fish!

Surely they look too weird for any animal to want to eat them.

Raarrrr!

Or a bit like the flying gurnard, who actually can't fly,

but spreads his dragon-like wings to look fierce and freaky!

A bit like you.

And now, for my next party trick, I'd like to introduce the cuttlefish

and his amazing colour-changing technique.

Very cool, Barney,

but this is a bit of an obvious one, if you dont mind me saying.

Well, OK, we know the cuttlefish can change colour,

but what about this?

-They talk and signal to each other through their colour change.

-No way!

They're just doing it to confuse predators, they're not talking.

They are! No idea what they're saying, we should try and guess.

Hmmm. Think I might wear pink this evening.

-On second thoughts, I think white is safer.

-You looking at me?

-Who you calling spotty?!

-White is definitely the way forward.

I don't think we're ever going to speak cuttle,

but I wish I could change outfits in a split second.

They can change in between 20 and 50 different outfits,

or display patterns, to use the technical term.

What's even more amazing is that no-one really knows how they do it.

-They're colour blind.

-No way! Now, that is cool.

This zebra pattern is the male cuttlefish's way

of saying, "Hands off! She's mine!"

Now, that would be a handy device.

And they can put on these amazing body pattern displays,

which hypnotises their prey or camouflages them.

So it's like, "Look into my spots and swirls.

"You're under. And now, my dinner."

They can also display a false eye to confuse their prey or predators.

Is there anything these guys can't do?

-They can't play football.

-Moving on...

Told you. This is the party trick to end all party tricks.

Unless you have something better?

Haven't I always?

But first, the flying gurnard and cuttlefish both put on

dramatic displays to communicate - the gurnard to make himself look

tougher and the cuttlefish to flirt, attack and chat to each other.

So they are connected by their over the top, show-off displays.

Whoa-wee! It's a bit breezy! Oh, I'm getting blown away!

Oh, that was close! These flippin' frog feet are useless.

Luckily, I have a cunning plan. Most people call me the "frog fish"

and tend to laugh at my unusual appearance and bad hair.

But I'm also known in more inner circles as the angler fish.

I look like a useless, hairy object, but I have a device

that has fooled many and earned me my reputation as quite a trickster.

Allow me to demonstrate.

My in-built fishing rod! That's why I'm called the angler fish.

Get it now? It's mostly hidden away.

Good for me, not so good for my victim.

On the end of my rod is this false worm.

Ah, you thought it was a real worm!

Well, that's exactly what my victims fall for, every time!

What a cunning plan from the angler fish,

and to think he looks so useless!

Oh, he's awesome all right, a pretty cunning fella.

In fact, he's up there with the cunning cuttlefish.

So, the cuttlefish is linked to the angler fish

because they use their appearance to fool others.

-Ahhh, pretty rainbow worm!

-Ah, you're looking at the Bobbit worm.

But don't be fooled by his rainbow coat.

Look at him go! Hang on - are they teeth?

Yeah, this guy is deadly.

What?

Since when did worms have teeth?

Is nothing normal in this ocean?

-Huh?

-Even the worms are scary!

It's another example of deceptive appearances.

Or, to put it more simply - "I look so sweet and colourful,

"but I'm actually deceivingly deadly. Ha-ha!"

Oh, no!

The hairy, clumsy angler fish looks like a bit of a loser

from a distance, but has a deadly fishing rod to ensnare his prey.

Like the Bobbit worm, who looks like an ordinary worm,

but don't get too close!

The angler fish and Bobbit worm are linked by deceptive appearances.

Deadly worms! Whatever next?!

Ahhhh. Look at this cute little cone shell, minding its own business.

-Ah, yeah, look at him, he's making friends with a fish.

-Ahhhh.

I know, look at him! He's lovely!

Although he does seem to be getting awfully close to that fish.

Hey! He's eating it whole!

That fish is a goner! You fall for it every time, Gem.

He may look sweet and innocent, but he's not.

He is one of the most venomous creatures in the ocean,

-capable of killing people.

-Of course he is!

If there are killer worms, why shouldn't there be killer snails?

This one is pretty hungry, too.

He's a true sea stalker. He hunts at night, purely by smell,

and as water passes through his nostril,

he can smell the scent of nearby snoozing fish.

He smells by inhaling water? Far out!

Yeah, he's always on the smell for dinner.

See his tongue? On the end, there's a tooth,

but no ordinary tooth - that is a barbed tooth that stabs its prey.

That's pretty deadly.

Bet he doesn't have many predators.

Not many. Rumour has it he can start digesting his food

before his prey have even died!

Ewwww! So he's chewing them and killing them at the same time.

All this from something that is basically a sea snail!

He may look sweet and innocent, crawling along the ocean floor,

-but speeded up...

-Exterminate! Exterminate!

-..he looks like a Dalek!

-There's something in that, I reckon.

-Speeded up, he looks a lot more evil.

-So, like the Bobbit worm,

the cone shell looks innocent, but is a killer.

Both of them use a ferociously fast speed of attack to kill their prey.

Oh, where is everyone? Hello?

I wonder if it was my singing.

Give it a rest, will you, love?! Me ears are bleeding!

If this gal is supposed to be

freakily outstanding for her singing skills, then you'd better re-think.

She's got many skills, but singing certainly isn't one of them.

-She's obviously not really singing.

-Yeah, I'd gathered that!

But she needs to gulp like that

in order to pump water over her gills so she can breathe.

You still haven't introduced me to this quirky lass.

Gem, meet the ribbon eel.

-Wonderful.

-Looks a bit like a ribbon, or maybe a party streamer.

I can see the resemblance, so what's her party trick,

apart from looking like a party streamer?

OK. Ribbon here has really bad eyesight, but to make up

for it, she has supersonic smell.

Pretty awesome. How does she do it?

She's got four nostrils, two front ones and two at the back.

Those are some whopping nostrils she's got there!

She relies on them so much that if they were blocked, she wouldn't be

-able to eat, as she uses smell to catch her prey.

-Room service!

Weird. It's like not being able to taste when we have a cold.

I really don't like that.

But what's even weirder is this -

Hello, can I help you? Who are you?

You're invading my space. Oh, it's my other end. Silly me!

Her bad eyesight also means that she confuses her own body for a friend.

So she might have super-sensitive smell, but she's a little bit dozy.

And don't forget the cone shell and his smell power.

So the cone shell and the ribbon eel are linked because they both

have a great sense of smell.

Freaky or uniquey, all right!

My party tricks look lame compared to these guys.

I told you so. Time to look back over our freaky friends so far.

Look into my eyes, not around my eyes!

Actually, look into my skin!

The cuttlefish can talk, hypnotise and chat up girls,

all through his amazing colour change talent.

What about the angler fish? On first glance, he's a bit of a loser

until her strikes with his fiendish fishing rod!

Talking about deceptive looks, this is a worm and it bites pretty hard!

It's the bizarre Bobbit worm.

Or the not-so-sweet and innocent cone shell with his lasso

and venomous spear, no little fish is safe around this freak.

But for the biggest mouth and the noisiest nostrils,

you can't beat the blue ribbon eel.

She can't see a thing, but has super smell-o-vision instead.

Cool, sharks. They're always awesome in my book.

But what on earth are they doing?

These aren't just any old sharks, I'll give you a clue.

That's easy, they're hammerheads.

They have to have the most bizarre head shape in the Reef.

They're sizing each other up, or maybe they need to circle because

their eyes are so far apart they have to keep turning to see each other.

Can you imagine if we had to do that?

They may have the most ludicrous head shape in the ocean, but I don't think

you'll hear them complaining, as it comes complete with six super senses.

With their extra strong smell,

they can detect one drop of blood in 1 million drops of water.

Remind me never to go into the water with a nosebleed!

-They have amazing hearing.

-All the better to hear their prey, no doubt.

They have electrical senses spread across their super snout,

which allows them to sense weak electric fields given off by prey.

Er, what do you mean by weak electric fields?

Could they pick up a human heartbeat, for example?

Yes. Scientists have proven that they can detect an electrical current

100,000 times smaller than a normal AA battery.

-So they've got metal detector heads?

-Quite similar, actually.

-Funnily enough, they don't have many predators.

-Surprise, surprise.

From super smell to super electric senses.

Our blue ribbon, or party streamer eel as I prefer,

is linked to our hammerhead shark because they both have super senses.

Quite a display going on here!

Schools of fish are amazing.

They're so graceful and well co-ordinated.

I mean, how do they do it? Is there a leader fish going,

"And left, and right, and make a crazy ball"?

It's all about who you hang out with.

Some schools do have leaders who lead the way, a bit like

the lead majorette or cheerleader.

But the difference is they're usually moving like this to stay alive.

It must be confusing for their predators.

They don't hang out with any fish, they choose their classmates well.

-But they all look the same!

-Exactly.

Fish that look different, even of the same species,

would stand out from the crowd, so they choose fish that fit in.

How cliquey. How do they know how to move in the same direction, though?

Some do it by eyesight, but most fish have lateral lines

on either side of their bodies which are sensitive to movement

and allow each fish to know where the others are.

Their lateral line is like a sixth sense,

which links them directly to our hammerheads.

But our big-headed sharks also have another unusual connection.

Now, this is freaky.

I say, I say, I say. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.

There'd better be a good reason for that joke. That was your worst yet!

Thank you. Of course there's a good reason, but I bet you can't guess.

-Are you OK?

-Yes. I bet you can't guess.

Freaky eyes! Why I had to endure a string

of bad jokes, I just don't know.

So, what are we looking at? I can't wait.

Meet the flounder. Wake-up, mate, we're talking about you.

As I was saying, one eye, two eyes.

Don't most fish have two eyes? What's the big deal?

Imagine if, as you started growing,

one eye started to move to the other side of your head.

I'd think I was on extra on Dr Who!

This is exactly what happens to our flounders.

They're born with eyes on each side of their face,

but as they grow older, one eye moves,

until both eyes sit together on the same side of their heads.

That's amazing. But why?

As you may have noticed, they're rather flat.

You're telling me. That one looks like he's been stood on!

They live on the ocean floor and their bodies

have adapted to this, even to the point where their eyes move.

So this eye thing certainly stops them floundering around?

Like the hammerhead, the flounder's eyes are weirdly spaced out

to enable them to adapt very cleverly to their surroundings.

So the connection is odd eyes.

The mudskipper. One of the weirdest, boggle-eyed,

mud-loving animals in the Barrier Reef.

He'd outstare anyone, this geezer.

OK, you win, mudskipper.

What's even weirder is that when they do decide to move,

they're super quick. Where has he gone?

They're very weird. Like statues one minute and gone the next.

In fact, they're multi-talented.

They can jump, skip, walk and climb.

On land, they use their fins to move about in little hops.

Or skips, like their name.

So are they fish, or froggie-type things?

They're fish, but they've adapted to being on land.

Some of them spend almost all of their time living on land,

returning to water just to fill up gills so they can breathe.

So they carry around their own little oxygen water tanks? How cool.

What on earth are they doing now, and what's with the tail?

They're flirting. The males try to out-jump each other

and raise up their dorsal fins at the same time.

So it's the mudskipper's way of saying, "Look at me, look at me!"

It's funny - they don't look the romantic type.

The flounder and mad mudskipper have both adapted their eyesight

to live in their surroundings,

so super eyes connect the flounder and mudskipper.

Hang on, cut! No, Gemma.

No can do, these are birds, birds aren't freaky or uniquey.

Sometimes, the best stories are the ones that are the least obvious.

OK, Mystic Gemma! I can't wait for this humdinger.

Once upon a time in the Barrier Reef,

there was a Mum bird, a Dad bird and a Baby Bird.

Basically, a happy bird family.

-It's not bedtime, Gem!

-Mum and Dad work really hard to make sure

-Baby bird has the best start in life.

-This is making me sleepy.

Stay with it, not all stories have happy endings, Barney.

Seabirds work all day building nests,

keeping watch for things that might eat them

and finding lots of food, so Baby can grow big and strong.

Hurry up! You're sending me over the edge!

The mums and dads will do anything to make sure Baby bird is happy.

Including the most disgusting feeding method ever heard of.

OK, now I'm interested.

They find food, eat it, but store it in their gullet.

That's like the sac area in the bird's stomach.

When Baby bird is ready to eat, they regurgitate their food

into their mouths, which the babies then eat.

Oh, gross-a-rama!

So they eat, keep the food in the belly

then bring the food back up, or pukage, as it's known,

-which the baby eats from the parents' mouths?

-Basically, yes.

They're puking up their food and feeding it to their babies.

That's the grossest of disgustings.

Disgustingly freaky?

Yeah, you win this one.

Mudskippers and regurgitating birds

are connected because they're both Barrier Reef land and sea dwellers.

That's quite freaky. A bit like our awesome line-up of ocean freaks.

They were freaktastic! Let's run through our unique connections.

One accessory that won't be on the catwalks this year

is the sea urchin's poo bag. It looks like an eye.

While we're talking bottoms, what a form of defence

this geezer has, shooting sticky silly string from his bum.

Not scary, but it's gross.

Moving away from the grossness,

the puffer fish has the coolest party trick in the ocean.

From this to this in seconds. Who would want to eat him now?

Like the flying gurnard, he can't fly,

but he can do an impression of a dragon.

What about the outfit-changing, colour-talking cuttlefish?

He can flirt with one side of his face,

-and argue with the other.

-Or the deceptively clever angler fish?

Looks ludicrous, but has his own in-built fishing rod.

From a distance, a bright, colourful worm.

Up close, he's got teeth that can bite through a finger.

What about this cone shell?

He's got a spearing tooth and deadly venom.

Pretty awesome. But what about the not-so-tuneful ribbon eel?

With her four nostrils, she's got an amazing sense of smell.

For senses extraordinaire, look no further than the freaky

hammerhead shark, with a head like a metal detector.

They call it a sixth sense, and these sensational schools of fish have it.

But you'd better look the part it you want to be in their gang.

I spy with my normal eyes,

a flounder and his freaky migrating eye.

That's one party trick I'd like to try.

Talking of eyes, the mudskipper can outstare anyone, even Barney.

Your bedtime story didn't convince me at first,

but vomiting into a baby's mouth is weird.

Not for the babies, it's not.

That's gross! What a line-up, though.

These ocean wonders have got party tricks for any occasion.

-What are you doing?

-Sending the party invites out for my next party.

I'm going to invite the ocean lot.

You can't have a party without them, they're trick-tastic!

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