Natural World 18
1999-10-03 | Documentary | 17 episodes40 Seasons
Episode
Riddle of the Right Whale (1999)
A dramatic film about Right Whales, the rarest of all the great whales. There's a race on to save them and even US nuclear submarines are part of the effort. Dramatic footage above and below the water reveals these fascinating giants battling for mates, rearing young, sailing with their tails and meeting other whales, dolphins, seals and sharks. It's called the Right Whale because it used to be the right whale to hunt - big and full of blubber. Today it's baffling biologists who cannot understand why, in spite of total protection, it refuses to recover.
Directed By
- Rick Rosenthal
Hokkaido: Garden of the Gods (1999)
A look at the unique wildlife of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, and the island's few remaining members of the ancient Ainu race, who see all animals as sacred. Swept by winds from the high Arctic, Hokkaido is an island of towering volcanos and fairytale forests, where cranes perform dances in the snow, brown bears plunge for salmon in rivers and eagles plunder the spoils from winter fishing fleets. The unique wildlife of Hokkaido has long been worshipped by an ancient race of hunter-gatherers, called Ainu, a few of whom still survive among modern Japanese. Even today, they honour the natural world around them through ritualised dance and prayer.
Directed By
- Patrick Morris
Elephants of the Sand River (1999)
Beneath the forested flanks of an extinct volcano lies a cave with a mysterious secret. Kitum Cave on the slopes of Mt Elgon in Kenya is the only place on earth where elephants venture deep underground. They are forced to make the dangerous journey into the cave because of their craving for salt. Humans have been drawn to Kitum Cave for thousands of years, originally to harvest salt, but more recently to slaughter elephants, leading to local rangers Daniel and Mike being assigned to protect the survivors
Directed By
- Brian Leith
Writer
- Brian Leith
In the Company of Bears (1999)
Insight into Canada's black bears, mountain-dwelling creatures which have developed a mutually beneficial relationship with the local human population comprising skiers and snow-boarders
Directed By
- Jeff Turner
The Millennium Oak (1999)
Documentary charting 1,000 years in the life of an English oak, which would have existed from before the Norman Conquest, during the Black Death, Civil War and Industrial Revolution right through to the present day. Narrated by Tom Baker
Directed By
- Mark Flowers