火山列岛 11

Of all the formations in the Pacific,

these reefs are by far the richest in life

There are hundreds of different kinds of coral

And all are made up of millions of tiny creatures called polyps,

each covered in a hard skeleton

Reefs are home to thousands of specialists,

like these razorfish that blend into the staghorn coral around them

But not all animals here need to blend in

Grey reef sharks

The reef's top predators,

these sharks patrol the waters on strong currents

But without all the life on the reef here,

they could never exist in such numbers

They may be idle right now,

but they won't remain this way for long

As night falls, it's feeding time

Needlefish stalk the coral shallows in search of food

Predators by day, at night they become the prey

Speeding away at 20 miles an hour,

the needlefish give the chasing sharks a run for their money

But it's hard to escape from so many