Underwater Adventures (23 episodes) award-winning series of short documentaries broadcasted primetime by RAI

Underwater Adventures (23 episodes)

award-winning series of

short documentaries broadcasted primetime by RAI

1) The Emerald Sea (7')

(Canada, Vancouver Island)

In the labyrinth of fjords and islands of the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, the channels wind themselves like rivers and torrents among the woody hills. The icy waters, along with the swift currents, make the descent quite difficult in this astonishing underwater world, home of an extraordinary marine fauna. A giant octopus of huge dimensions advances in the depth, dimmed by a great quantity of sediments and plankton. We meet its disquieting glaze, while its tentacles blossom like gigantic flowers showing its big white suckers

2) Submerged Forests (8’14)

(Canada, Vancouver Island)

Beneath the tides of the Pacific northwest a mysterious world of wildlife lies hidden. In the frigid depths of a hostile sea, we find ourselves face to face with one of the biggest octopus ever filmed in the wild. Diving in turbulent and often murky waters, we discover a unique congregation of marine creatures: the wolf-eel, a harmless beast with a terrifying aspect, shoals of huge salmon, gathered together in the estuaries, otters, killer-whales, dogsharks, king crabs and codfish

4) The Giant Octopus (8'35)

(Canada, Vancouver Island)

In the frigid depths of a hostile ocean is the home of one of the biggest octopus ever filmed in the wild. This is the terrifying, tentacled monster of ancient legends and myths: the Giant Octopus of the Pacific. The octopus has had to bear the brunt of embodying the anxieties and apprehensions of mankind, the terror of that which creeps, seizes, and strangles. But here is a frail and gentle creature that willingly accepts our caresses, a silent ambassador from the world where life first appeared on our planet

5) Sea of Africa (8’)

(Red Sea)

For Europeans the Red Sea is the closest of the tropical waters, a diver's paradise. We follow the first underwater adventure of a eighteen-years-old French girl, elected Miss France Plongée at the Festival Mondial de l’Image Sous-Marine. The natural defences of the inhabitants of the ocean, hold no danger for divers who knows how to

approach with due respect a world far more ancient than theirs

6) Groupers-City (6’)

(Corsica)

This is the story of special deep-sea experiences: games with big groupers, attempts out of the ordinary at making "contact" with fish. We expected the largest inhabitant of the submerged cliffs of the Mediterranean to be a timid, solitary creature, but the groupers are actually quite curious and sociable! We're tempted to treat them like children. Not only are their perceptions more numerous and complex than ours, but each of them has a distinct personality of its own. There’s still much to be learned about these silent messengers from the world where the first forms of life developed

television, web streaming and in-flight broadcasting

3) The Wolf - Eel (6'40)

(Canada, Vancouver Island)

Along the western coast of Canada, northward as far as the gulf of Alaska, the crevices inside the rocky walls are the ideal habitat of the wolf-eel; nevertheless, an encounter with a couple of these animals is an infrequent occasion. Despite its rather monstrous appearance, the wolf eel is completely harmless. We’ve brought along a mirror to test its territorial instinct. Even on the ocean floor, living space is a precious commodity...

7, 8) The Sand Tiger Sharks

(2 x 8', or 1 x 12')

(SouthAfrica)

Near the town of Durban, during a brief period that came to be called Black December, 5 people were attacked and killed by sharks. We’ve found the shark that escaped being caught by a fisherman. The hook piercing the edge of his fearful jaws is made of steel. And now for a short but bumpy underwater rodeo! We capture the shark, but it seems he has no intention of submitting to the attentions of a dentist...

9) The Grotto of the Nautilus (8’)

(Micronesia)

Many islands of the Pacific communicate with each other through a labyrinth of grottoes and underwater canals. These grottoes contain many memories of this sea and the animals that inhabit it. In the heart of a cave, a wonderful surprise awaits us: out of the darkness an extraordinary creature emerges, an inhabitant of the deepest ocean abyss, unchanged after millions of years. The nautilus is a true living fossil

11) Nomads of the Ocean (6’)

(Borneo)

The turtles line up for a place at the top of a large rock. This is a true cleaning station. A team of black surgeon fish and cleaner fish take care to maintain the turtle’s shell in perfect condition. Marine turtles swam in the oceans of prehistory. Luckily, it seems they intend to survive for a long time to come in our seas! A male green turtle is about to mate with his companion. But in the free waters of the ocean it’s difficult to find a bit of privacy, and soon another male turns up, ready to try anything to substitute for his rival

12) The Barracuda's Great Shoal (6')

(Borneo)

Perhaps it is strange to speak of streets and borders underwater, but, in fact, the shallows that circumscribe Sipadan island mark the favourite routes of the giant barracuda… You cannot predict an encounter with fish that are among the fastest predators of the ocean and whose domain is the free waters of the sea. They are so numerous and compact that they manage to cloud the sky of the underwater world. As if possessing one collective intelligence, the shoal forms ever new figures. The fish swim in close-knit files, like millions of arrows

13) Hammerhead Sharks (6')

(Colombia)

In the heart of the Pacific Ocean, a crossroad of oceanic currents is so heavily frequented by hammerhead sharks that local divers calls it "ferreterìa", which means "hardware store". The army of hammerhead sharks that patrols these waters is an impressive spectacle. According to the accounts of some divers, hammerhead sharks use their heads during attacks, to push larger prey - even the big mantas - down toward the seabed. Hammerhead sharks are considered dangerous, even though actual attacks are rare. But certainly, in this island, such judgement are not based on large numbers!

10) The Island of the Turtles (6')

(Borneo)

The first light of the morning wakens the reef. A turtle spent the night in a small grotto, lying on a cushion of gorgonian that sways with the current. It’s time for this turtle to take a mouthful of air. His ancestors adapted to the sea 150 million years ago, but the turtle remains tied to his history as a land animal

15) The Kingdom of the Moray Eels (7’)

(Colombia)

The current has made the water murky: we can barely see the shadows of the sharks from a great shoal, at a short distance. Approaching an underwater mountain that arises to within twenty meters of the surface, we witness a disquieting spectacle: a great gathering of moray eels. A multitude of these serpent-shaped fish has assembled around this reef. The reason behind this congregation remains a mystery

16) Jelly-fish Lake (8')
(Micronesia) Just north of the equator, the waters of the Pacific Ocean penetrate the heart of the Palau Archipelago. Resting on the peaks of an underwater mountain-chain that stretches from Japan to Papua - New Guinea, these coral islands hold hundreds of lagoons within them. These lakes of salt water are true "undersea worlds", each one different from the next; most are still unexplored. The waters of "Jellyfish Lake" are inhabited by an immense population of jellyfish. They swim from one side of the lagoon to the other, following the path of the sun

17) The Coral-Eaters (6’)

(Colombia)

White-tipe reef sharks are the absolute lords of the reef. Even so, theirs are not the most powerful jaws; the fish that feed off coral claim that distinction. Bump-head parrot fish are able to detach egg-sized hunks of coral with one bite. Their stomachs digest the coral, assimilating the nutritive substances it contains; their waste is dispersed in the sea in the form of coral sand. The beach, like many others on tropical islands, is composed of very fine powder of coral which, for the most part, is the result of a true activity of demolition. It’s a detail

18) Life and Death Among

the Coral Reefs (6’)

(Micronesia)

It’s not easy to tell how many islands make up the archipelagos of Micronesia. Some are simply boulders that appear and disappear in the play of the tides. Others keep on growing, thanks to the work of the coral or to the activity of underwater volcanoes. These pearls of the Pacific appeared on maps only three centuries ago, yet war and nuclear experiments have

profoundly influenced the natural environment. We come across the wreck of a Zero, one of the most famous fighter-planes from WorldWar Two, guided by Japanese kamikaze pilots on their suicidal attacks. Uncaring to the dramas of the past, the inhabitants of the sea annex sunken ships and aircraft. It might be difficult to believe that this tropical paradise was the setting for some of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific during the war

19) The Underwater Painter

(1 x 4', or 1 x 13’30)

Close friend of Jacques Cousteau, André Laban has been one of the pioneers of the odyssey of the Calypso. A highly cultured, artistic man - chemical engineer and writer - he is the designer of Cousteau’s submarines. He loves to paint under the sea, and, if he could, he would also play his favourite instrument there: the violoncello

OCEANI IN CASA
The documentaries of the series "Tales of the Sea" and "Short Tales of the Sea" have been broadcasted primetime by RAITRE on Saturday evening, and aired again on Sunday morning with great audience ratings