Dr Theresa Rueger and Dr Melissa Versteeg have contributed to the first episode entitled, Tropical Seas. Within the episode is a sequence that illustrates how bleaching of the anemone causes the fish to get stressed and increase their risk of predation. It also shows the mutualism between fish and anemone, where fish aerate and defend anemones and anemone eventually recovers and regains its colour.

Drs Rueger and Versteeg’s collaboration with BBC Studios Natural History Unit builds on their previous research on the same population of clownfish in Papua New Guinea, which has shown how clownfish control their growth to match the size of their anemone host and how clownfish shrink to survive heat stress and avoid social conflict. Their work continues with new research due shortly on how clownfish and their anemone hosts respond to environmental stress, including anemone bleaching.

A glimpse of hope

Dr Rueger, Senior Lecturer in Tropical Marine Sciences at Newcastle University’s School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, said: “It’s amazing to be part of such an immense project and to see the fish we have been researching with for ten years on the big screen. Our partners in Papua New Guinea, Mahonia Na Dari Research and Conservation Centre and Walindi Plantation Resort, were absolutely crucial in making this project a success.

“While coral reefs and all their inhabitants are severely impacted by warming oceans, the cooperation we see between anemones and anemonefishes offers a glimpse of hope. If people could cooperate in a similar way to solve climate change, the future would look bright.”

Blue Planet returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer with Blue Planet III from Sunday 1^st November, 25 years after the original series transformed audiences’ understanding of life beneath the waves. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, the new series reveals extraordinary stories from some of the planet’s most important and least understood marine environments, filmed using cutting-edge technology, with an original score and soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music.

Blue Planet III, a 6x60’ series is a BBC Studios Natural History Unit Production, in partnership with The Open University for BBC One, iPlayer and BBC AMERICA co-produced with ZDF and France Télévisions in association with Skai Greece. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual and the Commissioning Editor is Tom Watt-Smith, BBC Head of Natural History. The Executive Producer is Elizabeth White. Series Producers are Lara Bickerton and James Brickell, Matt Cotton is the Line Producer and Dulcie Arnold is the Production Executive.