Amazon Abyss - a visual treat for all Catfish people!

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 28 Mar 2005, 10:50

All members who live in the UK should definitely keep an eye on the TV at 7 p.m. from 4th April onwards. For the past 2 years or more the Natural History Unit guys have been planning and filming for a week-long series covering the fish found in the Amazon system, including many Catfish.
I know they were hoping to get some huge Loricariidae on film (they have also got some footage of smaller species under water), and I know they got film of Cetopsis feeding, plus many other highlights, so instead of watching a whole documentary for a glimpse of fish doing something cool, we get a rich banquet of images to sit back and enjoy.
I've known about it since 2003 when I was given the compliment of being contacted by the Beeb about good species to try to film, and recently again on some points over the script, but if there are any errors, they're nothing to do with me!
Everyone unable to receive the BBC will just have to sit back and let us tell you all how good it was.....
Pete

Durlänger · Post by **Durlänger** » 28 Mar 2005, 13:01

could you photograph the best parts

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 28 Mar 2005, 13:22

excellent. i've been looking foward to this kind of documentary all my life. lets hope it's not full of CGI cr*p that seems to be infesting natural history programmes recently.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 28 Mar 2005, 13:24

The beeb are usually pretty good about putting this kind of stuff out for sale on DVD. I'll keep an eye out for it.

Jools

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 29 Mar 2005, 13:37

you can say that alright.

recently I picked up the entire series of Walking with Dino's on DVD for about 10 euro.

Racoll; what is CGI?

kev · Post by **kev** » 29 Mar 2005, 14:43

dont forget the stingray's on there pete!!!!, i seen a clip of it yesterday, and cant wait till monday

. Any one fancy getting sum balaclava's on and storming the BEEB headquarter's and making them show it now??? my brother is a para trooper im sure he can assit, POWER to the fishkeeper!!!!!!!!!

Kev

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 29 Mar 2005, 14:44

sidguppy wrote:Racoll; what is CGI?

Computer generated image/s/ry - think jar jar binks.

Jools

kev · Post by **kev** » 29 Mar 2005, 14:47

Sidguppy "CGI" is the technology that they used on "Jurrasic Park" to make the dino's look real. I think it stand's for "Computer Generated Images".

Kev.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 29 Mar 2005, 21:42

i hate that kind of thing i'm afraid. it's bad enough in hollywood movies, let alone natural history programmes.

another disapointment is the choice of kate humble as presenter. i find her patronising tone deeply irritating.

i'm a bit of an old school purist. if it ain't attenborough, i ain't interested!

ClayT101 · Post by **ClayT101** » 29 Mar 2005, 22:01

If its like Walking With Dinos, does that mean that it will be on the Discovery Channel in the US?

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 29 Mar 2005, 22:46

CGI is everywhere and it's my living. About 90% of the time, I can work at home in my pajamas. I work on the architectural end, not the glamorous side. I understand what you mean with some of the new animation, though.

bunjiweb · Post by **bunjiweb** » 29 Mar 2005, 23:01

Sounds brilliant! Any idea what the program will be called so i can look out for it?

Ben

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 30 Mar 2005, 09:13

bunjiweb wrote:Sounds brilliant! Any idea what the program will be called so i can look out for it?

The clue's in the thread title

....
"Amazon Abyss"
For more details pick up a copy of the latest BBC Wildlife Magazine (it's a great read anyway, well worth any aquarist getting a subscription, over the past few months there have been little features on Gobies, Ancistrus, Hypostomus and Apistogramma amongst many others). You can also check out the BBC website for information.

racoll wrote:another disapointment is the choice of kate humble as presenter. i find her patronising tone deeply irritating.

I used to think the same, but our Geologist at work has had some dealings with her on a programme on Dinos, and apparently she's really enthusiastic about science, mucks in with everyone else and doesn't expect any special treatment, so I'm a bit more on her side now. Rather her than Alan ****ing Titchmarsh!

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 30 Mar 2005, 17:17

Rather her than Alan ****ing Titchmarsh!

too right!

i'm sure kate's a lovely person and all. she is very enthusiastic, but i find that enthusiasm irritating.

she doesn't have to spark my interest in the subject, i'm already interested, i'm watching the programme!!!

i understand they want to engage the audience with dumbed down "yoof" style excitement, but i much prefer the more formal, subtle, informative, factual approach of the david "the daddy" attenborough.

from the smile on his face you can tell how much he's enjoying himself, with resorting to saying how brilliant or amazing something is one hundred times!

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 01 Apr 2005, 11:18

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressr ... ions.shtml

and scroll down a bit...

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 04 Apr 2005, 21:04

well the first episode was just on. just to make you people that aren't in the UK drool, there were loads of catfish.

eg.
megolodoras uranoscopus
amblydoras
pimlodidae
opsodoras
auchenipteridae
hypancistrus
+
crenicichla
geophagus

can't wait for the next one tomorrow. this one was mainly setting the scene. they were hunting for the jau (zungaro zungaro) which has allegedly drowned fishermen!

i take back my words about kate, she was ok.

does anyone know which river they were diving in? i didn't catch it.

more science was definately needed, but i do appreciate not everyone are catfish geeks like us!

what did everyone else think?

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 04 Apr 2005, 21:53

We have to wait a year or more for the nature programs from the Beeb. Then it's sometimes shown on our PBS (Public Television)maybe. We get BBC America on cable, but it's only what the BBC thinks we want to see.

No nature shows. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, the nature shows find there way to the Discovery Channel on cable. I'd be drooling for this one in High-Definition.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 04 Apr 2005, 22:11

I'm not sure that was an Amblydoras and the Opsodoras looked like Hassar to me. Pretty cool stuff if you turned the sound down.

The trying to make getting sucked to death by a large pimelodid type chat was a bit amusing; but they did come up with some great stuff.

The auchenipterids were zamora cats I think and there with some really cool catfish eating other Pseudoplatystoma type things going on too.

There's going to be a huge Panaque tomorrow and I'm going to miss it as I am playing football. Doh! Can someone post where they dive and find the fellow as it looks a lot like LDA65 and I was under the impression that wasn't found in the amazon.

Jools

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 04 Apr 2005, 22:23

yes i should point out my ID's were base on a few seconds of footage, and are probably wrong!

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 05 Apr 2005, 09:11

racoll wrote:yes i should point out my ID's were base on a few seconds of footage, and are probably wrong!

So are mine & thus equally ropey!

Jools

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 05 Apr 2005, 10:56

Tonights episode is listed on the radio times website as:

2/5

Five-part series in which Mike deGruy and Kate Humble lead an international team of scientists and divers as they search for species new to science in the Amazon River. The team are on a quest to find a fish that talks and the candiru - a parasitic catfish notorious for invading the human body. Kate heads deep into the jungle to film a rare freshwater dolphin and track down the elusive giant otter.

I think they also will have a giant Panaque in it too.

Jools

coelacanth · Post by **coelacanth** » 05 Apr 2005, 17:13

Jools wrote:Doh! Can someone post where they dive and find the fellow as it looks a lot like LDA65 and I was under the impression that wasn't found in the amazon.

From what I remember they were planning to dive the Arapiuns, and they also had plans to dive the Negro at some point. I had suggested they tried the Trombetas so that we could see some cool new fish, but they didn't bite....

T · Post by T » 05 Apr 2005, 19:37

Whoa tonights was class, there was a tiger shovelnose and a huge panaque(anyone know what kind).

scolba · Post by **scolba** » 05 Apr 2005, 20:21

on channels here like the discovery and history channel, at the end of each show they say "If you would like to purchase a copy of the show you have just seen....blah blah blah blah blah blah...."

Was there anything like that???

WhitePine · Post by **WhitePine** » 06 Apr 2005, 06:29

No one has a Tivo? I am drooling just thinking about seeing this show... now if Linder would organize a trip...

bronzefry · Post by **bronzefry** » 06 Apr 2005, 13:51

I guess there's no OnDemand, either. Best invention of this century. IMAX movies, too.

mummymonkey · Post by **mummymonkey** » 09 Apr 2005, 00:47

They should have called this "The Pits". A big let down.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 09 Apr 2005, 09:58

They should have called this "The Pits". A big let down.

i agree.

i don't think they could get enough footage, so they padded it out with endless waffle about how dangerous it was, and how it had never been done before (about 80% of each programme!).

they endlessly repeated the footage they did get (which was great), and gave little or no information on the creatures seen.

i feel the 2.5 hours could have easily been condensed into an hour documentary.

they kept moaning about low visability. what did they expect? take one look at a white or blackwater and it's obvious to any fool. they could have given themselves a hope and filmed in a clearwater like the tocatins, tapajos or xingu.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 09 Apr 2005, 10:50

Well, I watched the second show and
ALAS!

haven't got a clue why everyone is so lyric about this;
it's just another crappy discovery/animalplanet show.....

a HUGE disappointment, yet another series with a very high "look at us being interesting/macho/tough here in the wild" ingredient.....

Obviously the massive ego's of the makers had to be licked, caressed, blown up beyond any proportions etc;
I'm looking for FAR too much time at talking heads and shallow jabbering, instead of spending time watching FISH.

for monkey's, birds, macho-idiots, snakes/crocs/spiders (WHY o WHY there's about another zillion shows on these, WHY? *tears hair from head*), there's already plenty channels and shows on TV........

This serie is obviously pointed at a US-show used audience* (not too difficult, folks) and for the IQ roomtemperature "Crocodile-hunter-watchers"
there is far too much of this in it, and I definitely won't spend cash on DVD's of this one; I can see more interesting fish on this site or going to a good Zoo.

another MISSED oppertunity.
where are the golden days of David Attenborough, and series like The Blue Planet or Life on Earth?

* before the elongated-toe-crowd starts flaming (whatever happened to people in this century?

too much inbreeding?), this is aimed at the very shallow "trailerparc-culture-consument" for wich about 95% of all TV shows seem to be made.

YouTube · Post by **Jools** » 09 Apr 2005, 11:11

It wasn't THAT bad, although it should really have been about a 45 minute to an hour or so. I did find myself cringing a lot but smiling also as I saw people affected in the same way by the palce as I was.

I've asked a few non-fish people about it and they thought the fish stuff was the best bet even though there was more about other stuff like playing with baby caimen and wandering around with anaconda and tarantulas.

I do think they fluffed it though; one comment I've heard was that Oliver Lucanus' self shot film was better then most of what we saw from a fishkeepers perspective at least.

Jools