Original air date: 19 March 2006
Selected material
The otters and the crocodile
The otters form such a strong bonding they even harass a crocodile that dares to challenge them (18’10-18’30). As the snapshot on the left shows the crocodile is forced to retreat !
Otters joining forces to force out a mighty crocodile that has to retreat (left)
The flow of freshwater interrupted with waterfalls
The programme is about how water in a river changes during the course starting as raindrops falling from the clouds until it ends up in the sea if it doesn’t end up in some other destination, like a lake. Most of the time the river Amazon is followed and pointed out that its path does include waterfalls (coming from the Andes and flowing to the sea you would think that was unavoidable). Unfortunately, as Attenborough talks about its waterfalls he is actually talking about the Parana river which falls from the Iguacu Falls.
Despite Attenborough’s words (taken from the text file included with the video, but Iguacu spelling is mine)
“Even for giant rivers like the Amazon the journey to the sea is not always smooth or uninterrupted. Iguacu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina ..”
Saying those words while showing a sequence that is clearly not from the Amazon feels misleading.
The Parana river feeding the Iguacu Falls, on the border of Brazil and Argentina
The Iguacu Falls
The problem is that, as the snapshot sequence above indicates, the Iguacu Falls are fed by a different river system. It’s actually far south of the Amazon rainforest (maps below).
