For much of our planet’s history, the world seemed like a barren wilderness. A toxic atmosphere and violent volcanoes ensured that life on land was almost impossible. But elsewhere on our planet, something was stirring. Beneath the waves, shielded from the storms, life had found a way. Single cells existed in the primordial soup until the first major breakthrough: photosynthesis, whereby plankton evolved an incredible way to harness the sun’s energy and grow! This would change everything, as oxygen, a byproduct of this curious chemistry proved to be the missing ingredient for complex life to truly take hold.
By 600 million years ago, our planet was so well stocked with oxygen that life exploded. All sorts of weird and wonderful creatures soon appeared, living in harmony on the ocean floor – until evolution showed its dark side and created the first true predators. So began an “arms race” that has remained with us to this very day. In response to the new hunters, animals evolved novel defensive strategies. Some grew armour, like trilobites; others began to swim, like jellyfish. Others, like Cameroceras, became outright gigantic. But just as life was thriving, disaster struck.
Out of nowhere, an ice age hit, bringing life crashing to its knees. 85% of all species were lost in the first ever mass extinction event. Many of those that survived had sought refuge in the deep sea, including our vertebrate ancestors. This was their chance, and by 370 million years ago – with the ice age long gone – they were now the dominant life form, not least the infamous killer fish, Dunkleosteus. While the seas had turned into Hell’s Aquarium, something even more remarkable was happening on land. A revolution was coming.
Key moments
Cameroceras – At every turn, the Life on Our Planet team sought to shake up expectations for a natural history series and always find fresh ways to engage the audience. Chapter 2’s opening sequence, which took inspiration from various horror films, exemplifies that approach. Set in a prehistoric storm, the camera drifts underwater. As lightning flashes, a group of terrifying sea monsters gradually drift closer.
Ancient Earth – 2.4 billion years ago, earth was an alien world. 90% of its surface was water, yet this was no blue planet. Instead, its atmosphere was tinged yellow with methane (oxygen was almost non-existent). On the ground conditions were worse, where violent volcanoes had been erupting for millions of years. The volcanoes in this scene are all real, shot in the Canary Islands and Iceland. At first, the team worried that heavy VFX would be required due to somewhat reduced volcanic activity during production. Then all of a sudden, two erupted almost simultaneously, answering their prayers.
Plankton Kick-Starts the Story of Life – 2.4 billion years ago, life had already existed for hundreds of millions of years, but its progress had been mostly limited to single cells co-existing in the ocean. A real breakthrough occurred when one type of cell evolved the ability to photosynthesise, using energy from the sun to grow. This feat came with a surprise byproduct, a gas which had previously been rare on Earth: Oxygen. Oxygen was the missing piece of the puzzle for animal life to advance. Over more than a billion years, phytoplankton produced more and more oxygen – which also created the ozone layer, the shield which protects our planet from harmful solar radiation. So, in some ways, we do owe our existence to plankton.
The Evolution of Predation – Two sequences – nudibranchs in California and baby jellyfish filmed in the UK – illustrate the evolution of predation, one of the biggest “and everything changed” moments in the story of life. The nudibranch, though a relatively modern lineage, were chosen for their clumsiness as a representation of the world’s first predators. The jellyfish, which have been around for 500 million years, serve as a living example. Just 2 mm across, they were brought to life in a way that makes them feel much bigger thanks to the expertise of underwater cameraman Doug Anderson.
The Mass Extinctions – Chapter 2 features two mass extinctions, each dramatically different from the other. The first, the Ordovician, drastically lowered temperatures and plunged the world into an ice age. The Devonian Extinction, by contrast, occurred as plant life that had overtaken the land was swept into the sea, releasing nutrients which caused plankton to bloom like never before. But when the nutrients ran out, the plankton died. In their place, bacteria moved in to feed on the decay. Their numbers skyrocketed to the point that these tiny creatures used up much of the ocean’s oxygen, killing off millions of animals. At the start of the episode, plankton creates life. By the end, it’s partly responsible for destroying it.
The First Fish…ish – One of the recurring themes in the story of life on Earth is the rise of the underdog. An animal dynasty destined to be but a footnote in history is given a chance to emerge from beneath the dominant species and plow ahead. Arandaspis, one of the first fish, is one great example. Living in the Ordovician seas amongst trilobites, sponges, and Cameroceras, a giant shelled cephalopod, tiny Arandaspis is seemingly helpless. But he has a backbone and can swim. When the ice age hits, he’s able to survive in part because of his small size. 470 million years later, we exist because of him.
This sequence was filmed in Saint Lucia. While trilobites were added in with VFX, the location was chosen because of its prevalence of sponges — a true ancient relic. When the team arrived, there weren’t just sponges, but dozens of other species, most notably fish. In what may be a first for natural history, every single shot had to have its beautiful coral reef fish painted out, because at the time of Arandaspis, they hadn’t evolved yet!
Dunkleosteus – A powerful-jawed member of the arthrodire placoderm family of fish, Dunkleosteus was the largest predator in the sea during the Late Devonian period, about 382–358 million years ago. The terrifying sea creature shows off how evolution paired a backbone with powerful jaws, which Dunkleosteus puts to use with terrifying effectiveness, easily crushing the armored shell of the ammonite he pursues. But Dunkleosteus’ reign wasn’t to last, as the dynasty fell victim to the toxic waters of the late Devonian extinction. The undersea environment of the Dunkleosteus sequence is the only environment in Life on Our Planet that was completely CGI.
The Evolution of Sharks – The shark sequence within Chapter 2 best illustrates Life On Our Planet’s unique balance of ancient creatures brought back to life with VFX (Cameroceras and the legendary Dunkleosteus) and a world-class natural history focus on those that are still with us. Today, sharks dominate our seas in very much the same way that they have for 400 million years, and the story of sharks working together off of Western Australia to herd a bait ball into the shallows, expertly captured by camera operators Andre Rerekura and Alex Veil, shows how they’ve been so successful for so long.