The answer depends how you measure it: Shanghai is home to the most people at 25 million; New York covers more than 5,000 square miles; Tokyo is widest at about 100 miles across.
asserted
Tokyo → depend → miles
But they are all dwarfed by the cities under the sea.
asserted
they → dwarf → sea
Blue Planet III took us into the tropical coral reefs, unimaginably vast structures thousands of miles long, built by trillions of tiny inhabitants called polyps – a sort of miniature jellyfish that feeds on seawater nutrients and excretes them as particles of limestone.
asserted
that → take → limestone
Water covers almost three-quarters of our planet – but that doesn't begin to convey the immensity of the habitat.
asserted
that → cover → habitat
On land, we all live at ground level, whereas the seas can measure miles from waves to bed and teem with life in three dimensions.
asserted
seas → live → dimensions
It is mind-boggling.
asserted
It → boggle → ?
'There are many more animals in the ocean than anywhere else on earth,' declared the unmistakeable tones of Sir David Attenborough, introducing the first episode of this six-part series – filmed across 100 expeditions, spanning four years and thousands of hours of high-definition video.
asserted
tones → be → video
Blue Planet III took us into the tropical coral reefs, unimaginably vast structures thousands of miles long, bigger than any of the large cities on land
His delivery is as sure and confident as ever, his timing perfectly weighted so that we have time to take in every fact.
asserted
we → take → fact
The script informs and entertains, giving context and meaning to what we're watching, but never obtrudes on the images.
asserted
we → inform → images
He sounds like a man half his age.
asserted
He → sound → man
What shines through is how fascinated he is by all kinds of animal behaviour.
asserted
he → shin → behaviour
He is genuinely enthralled by what he's seeing, as much by the harlequin shrimp as by the sharks.
asserted
he → enthral → sharks
A pair of them went to work on a starfish, gnawing off one of its arms and carrying it back to their lair on the reef.
asserted
pair → go → reef
It simply grew a new arm.
asserted
It → grow → arm
If scientists ever work out how it does this, hip replacements might become a lot less bother.
uncertain
replacements → work → this
A dolphin had a devilish trick.
asserted
dolphin → have → trick
She picked up sponges off the seabed and stuffed them into the crevices of the coral where her prey liked to hide – blocking their escape routes.
asserted
prey → pick → routes
But the most surprising technique was perfected by a shoal of slow-moving nurse sharks.
asserted
technique → perfect → sharks
These placid predators gather close to the shore, in groups of up to 40, and pretend to go to sleep.
asserted
predators → gather → sleep
Sir David Attenborough's delivery is as sure and confident as ever, his timing perfectly weighted so that we have time to take in every fact
Throughout his career, Sir David has sought new and unseen behaviour from the intrepid film crews, and once again the Blue Planet teams have delivered it
asserted
teams → weight → it
Great clouds of herring and silversides gather, oblivious to the danger as the tide goes out.
asserted
tide → gather → danger
With a sudden lunge, the sharks wake up and form a line, driving the little fish to the water's edge.
asserted
sharks → wake → edge
All the hunters have to do is open their mouths and let their dinner jump in.
asserted
dinner → have → mouths
Filmed from drones, the scale of the spectacle and its amazing choreography was revealed.
asserted
scale → film → spectacle
Throughout his career, Sir David has sought new and unseen behaviour from the intrepid film crews, and once again the Blue Planet teams have delivered it.
asserted
teams → seek → it
Shots are chosen that seem to show ocean life reacting in very human ways.
asserted
life → choose → ways
When a fiddler crab wakes up to the lurking danger of a scarlet ibis patrolling the sands, it appears to throw up its pincers in horror.
asserted
it → wake → horror
Its eyes, naturally standing out on stalks, make it look all the more alarmed.
asserted
it → stand → stalks
My eyes were standing out on stalks too.
asserted
eyes → stand → stalks
Every time you think Attenborough the Extraordinary has shown us all the wonders in the world, he presents us with even more we could never have imagined.
uncertain
we → think → more
The Aporia
