Spy in the Ocean: Deep Thinkers (BBC One Sunday 4 June 2023)

Spy in the Ocean: Deep Thinkers airs Sunday 4 June 2023 on BBC One

A new generation of spy creatures explores the ocean in search of intelligent life and discovers unfathomable new ways of thinking. The world’s largest brain belongs to a sperm whale, which is filmed by the most sophisticated spy creature ever created. Spy Whale is about the same size as a newborn whale calf and is loaded with numerous cameras for surveillance. It’s equipped with a hydrophone to record their cries. Spy Whale has a surreal up-close encounter with a curious female who makes some remarkable attempts at communication. In a heartwarming display of tolerance, she even introduces Spy Whale to her calf.

The most intelligent invertebrate needs a different kind of spy, one that looks just like the coconut octopus it’s supposed to meet. The octopus is equipped with a central brain as well as individual brains in each of its appendages. The group figures out how to successfully steal a coconut shell from our spy. It hopes to use the shell as a gateway to its underground lair, where it can be safe from hungry sharks. It also uses its ingenuity to defend itself from an attacking octopus by fashioning a makeshift shield and firing off missiles. Its emotional side is on full display when it lingeringly embraces Spy Coconut Octopus.

While in Thailand, Spy Macaque often travels with macaques that dive into the ocean in search of food. Our spy camera records a historic moment as macaques eat fish they caught themselves. They use stone tools, such as our very own spy rock, to crack open oysters.

Spy Puffer travels to Japan to work as an assistant for a male Japanese puffer fish as he creates elaborate sand sculptures to impress potential females. Spy Puffer comes to the male’s aid when he runs out of shells to decorate his masterpiece with, helping him to find enough shells to satisfy the most critical viewer of all, his mate.

When Spy Sea Lion encounters the world’s fastest fish and the sea lions who hunt them, the intelligence of the group accelerates. The marlin work together to bring schools of mackerel to the surface, where cunning sea lions can steal them. Spy Sea Lion’s camera eyes show how the shoal’s swarm intelligence is pitted against that of the clever sea lions as it takes us on a wild ride inside the shoal. The film also makes a startling discovery about previously unknown behaviour when sea lions give marlin a portion of their catch.

Another secret agent meets the most interesting and entertaining members of the crab species on a Caribbean beach: hermit crabs. Despite their comedic demeanour, they are highly organised professionals. They form an orderly queue to trade in their outgrown shells for new ones. Everything is going swimmingly until a crab with bigger quarters knocks the Spy Hermit Crab out of its shell. The crab, unknowingly, operates the camera to record the orderly mayhem from its perspective.

Wild pigs on another Caribbean island enjoy the water so much that they bathe in it every day. Spy Pig participates in their routine of foraging for food dropped off by passing boats. Spy Pig is swept up in the chaos that ensues when people are attracted to their clever antics. Spy Coconut Octopus returns to the reefs and gives its shell to a resourceful group of clownfish. To lay their eggs safely among the poisonous tentacles of their anemone, the fish cooperatively return the shell to their home.

In this exciting premiere, our spies encounter marine life with many incredible intelligences, but none can compare to the sperm whales. Even more baffling, Spy Sperm Whale watches as whale families from all over the world gather together in a tight group and share news, in an extraordinary display of social intelligence that is eerily similar to our own.

Season 1 Episode 1

In Spy in the Ocean, a new generation of robotic spy creatures with camera’s set out to explore the ocean, encountering the ingenious and emotional animals that have made this habitat their home.

Spy in the Ocean: Deep Thinkers airs Sunday 4 June 2023 at 19:00 on BBC One

Featured image credit: BBC One