“Cruel Sea” quotes from Walking with Dinosaurs

The most fearsome predator of the Jurassic is watching his prey. Peering through the water, the carnivore fixes on his unwary victim, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Under these azure waters lies the future continent of Europe. But now, in the Late Jurassic period, all that exists here are a few scattered islands. The breakup of the old continents has broken up the ocean floor and raised sea levels, flooding the lowlands and creating vast shallow seas. Here, dinosaurs do not rule. Instead, giant marine reptiles have evolved, perfectly adapted to life in these beautiful waters.

These rich sunlit waters are on the northern end of the ancient Tethys Ocean, the sea that separates the Earth's two continents: one in the north and one in the south. Once a year, they are the stage for a remarkable natural drama.

The newborn pups have just a few seconds to reach the surface and take their first breath. From the moment they are born, the little pups are vulnerable. These waters are full of predators. Even adult Ophthalmosaurus will eat the offspring of others to increase the chance of survival of their own pups. The only real safety is among the crags of coral.

Liopleurodon. At 150 tons, it is the largest and most powerful carnivore ever to live on the planet. This male weighs a colossal 25 meters, and is big even for his kind. His size means he is probably over a hundred years old. Liopleurodon has a directional sense of smell, two separate chambers in his nose work in the same way as a pair of ears, pinpointing where a smell is coming from. A sophisticated tracking device, steering the largest carnivorous jaws ever known.

[about the sharks] One day these will be the most feared predators in the sea, but in these Jurassic waters, they themselves are prey.

These islands are regularly ravaged by violent tropical storms from the east, that are strong enough to tear up the shallow seabeds, smash corals, and kill thousands of marine animals.

The Jurassic is a golden period for giant marine reptiles. It will be another 90 million years before they disappear from the oceans, along with the extinction of the dinosaurs on land.

Marine reptiles were one of the glories of this ancient time, even though turtles are the only ones left today. But there was another major group of reptiles that shared the dinosaurs world: the flying pterosaurs. And as we shall see in the next episode, they were just as spectacular.