00:00The Amazon is famous for its piranhas, bulldog sharks and other creatures that you would like to avoid at all costs.
00:10But there are even more dangerous watercourses around the world.
00:13The Congo River, the deepest of them, reaches depths such that sunlight cannot penetrate certain sections.
00:21It is also the only large river to cross the equator twice,
00:24and it pours a sufficient volume of water into the Atlantic Ocean every second to fill more than 13 Olympic swimming pools.
00:31Even the most skilled navigators encounter difficulties in crossing the powerful currents of the river,
00:36the rapids of its upper part as well as the waterfalls and gorges of its lower section.
00:41The tumultuous waters of the Congo are so fast and powerful that they create a natural barrier between species,
00:47like mountains or oceans.
00:49Fish evolve separately along each bank, unable to cross to reproduce, giving birth to new distinct species.
00:56Among the most formidable creatures of these waters is the tiger fish Goliath.
01:01These impressive predators, reaching up to 1.5 meters in length and being able to run at a speed of 40 km per hour, are close relatives of piranhas.
01:10Their jaws are filled with sharp teeth like razor blades.
01:14Females lay hundreds of thousands of eggs, and their offspring are hunters from birth.
01:19This creature is worthy of fear.
01:21It is the only freshwater fish in Africa known to attack crocodiles, and even sometimes humans.
01:26Needless to say, it is better to avoid swimming in these waters.
01:31Throughout the river, there are dense jungles and a hungry fauna,
01:35composed in particular of snakes and hippos, particularly aggressive.
01:39Despite these dangers, the river is an essential transport axis of Central Africa.
01:44The barges that sail there for weeks often host up to 2,000 passengers and sometimes cross.
01:50According to local folklore, another danger could arise, the one that stops the course of the rivers.
01:56This creature, described as an animal similar to a dinosaur, would live in the basin of the Congo River.
02:02Although there were more than a hundred testimonies during the last century,
02:06no tangible evidence of the existence of this beast has ever been brought.
02:12At the turn of the 21st century, a series of mysterious and terrifying events took place on the Kali River, in India.
02:19An animal described as a water pig, in the color of mud,
02:22dragged swimmers by the bottom under the eyes of horrified witnesses.
02:25The British biologist Jeremy Wade undertook to unravel the mystery.
02:29He observed that all these disturbing incidents were concentrated in a very specific area,
02:34extending for about 6 km.
02:36The inhabitants of the surroundings explained to Wade that this creature was getting bigger and bigger and more aggressive as it fed.
02:43Wade used a probe to examine the waters and assumed that the phenomenon could be linked to a whirlwind.
02:49However, the monster ended up catching a water buffalo.
02:52Given their size and impressive weight, the responsible creature must have had extraordinary strength.
02:59The marine crocodiles did not venture so far into the land,
03:02and the most common local crocodiles could not stand the cold waters, these hypotheses were ruled out.
03:07In addition, no bulldog sharks were present in the region.
03:10Finally, Wade noticed several devil catfish in the depths.
03:14Some specimens reached the size of an adult man.
03:17They could not be captured with a simple fishing rod, but a special construction made it possible to master a few.
03:23The largest fish was 2 meters long and weighed three times the weight of an average catfish.
03:28Its size allowed it to attack a human or an imposing animal.
03:32However, Wade stressed that there could be even more gigantic specimens in the waters of the Kali River.
03:41The Orenok, in South America, is particularly dangerous due to its abrupt curves and its powerful underwater currents.
03:48Even with a GPS, it is easy to get lost.
03:51This danger is accentuated by the many unforeseen waterfalls that flood its course,
03:56forcing sailors to remain constantly on alert to survive.
03:59This river is the only natural habitat of the very rare Orenok crocodile,
04:03and also houses fish of just as formidable character.
04:07Among them, the Payara, known as Tetra Vampire,
04:11is distinguished by its long, sharp teeth, similar to daggers,
04:14and two imposing claws that emerge from its lower jaw.
04:18A good orthodontist might be able to improve its appearance, right?
04:21Constantly on alert, it mainly attacks medium-sized, even imposing, fish.
04:27When a human tries to capture it, it defends itself vigorously, inflicting bites and scratches.
04:33Fortunately, no fatal attack on a human has been reported.
04:36An information that, let's face it, has something to relieve.
04:42The Yellow River, in China, owes its name to its characteristic color,
04:46although it has not always been of this color.
04:48Formed at least 30 million years ago, it has changed course more than 30 times over the centuries.
04:54Its current muddy appearance results from yellow sediments transported from a distant plateau.
04:59These fine particles settle at the bottom of the river, thus forming natural dams.
05:04The immense volumes of water transported by the river must inevitably reach the sea,
05:09but this process caused, through the ages, devastating floods that cost millions of lives.
05:15To remedy this, the inhabitants erected higher and higher dams.
05:19However, these infrastructures aggravated the situation,
05:23preventing the water from finding its natural bed, elevated in relation to the surrounding land.
05:28This even led to a displacement of its mouth.
05:31And today, gigantic dams and dikes cross the river in the hope of mastering this capricious colossus.
05:38The Rio Parana, second longest in Latin America, receives many floods from high plateaus near the Andes.
05:45During the rainy season, the waters flow en masse, creating ideal conditions for a feared inhabitant, the piranha.
05:52These waters shelter between 30 and 60 species of these terrible fish.
05:56At the end of 2013, on a suffocating day, piranhas attacked swimmers who came to cool off.
06:02Surprised by the sudden bites, people fled the river on all fours.
06:06And although no life was lost, this event remains one of the most daring piranhas attacks ever recorded.
06:13Biologists concluded that piranhas palometas, probably disturbed in their breeding area, were at the origin of the attack.
06:20In addition, the Rio Parana is distinguished by its powerful current, often formidable for swimmers and boats.
06:27These frequent creeks are also a danger to the riverine populations.
06:32The Nile, the longest river in the world, crosses 11 countries before throwing itself into the Mediterranean.
06:38For centuries, explorers have tried to identify the source, but its origin remains surrounded by mystery.
06:44And to make matters worse, the river makes an unexpected turn in the heart of the Sahara.
06:49Scientists attribute this phenomenon to a vast underground rock formation dating back several million years.
06:55The Nile has been, through the ages, an essential navigable route for many civilizations, but it is also the home of formidable predators.
07:04Among them, crocodiles, which can reach 6 meters long, slightly exceeding the size of an average giraffe.
07:10These impressive creatures, capable of sprinting at nearly 50 km per hour on solid ground, cause the death of several hundred people each year.
07:19Hippos, also present in the Nile, sometimes attack boats, and venomous snakes such as the Black Mamba or the Egyptian Cobra add to the diversity.
07:29However, one of the most sinister dangers remains the mosquito, carrier of diseases that affect hundreds of thousands of people.
07:38In Asia, the Brahmaputra River carries the water of the majestic mountains of the Himalayas.
07:43When the snow melts, it causes huge floods, causing landslides, moving millions of people and decimating hundreds of animals in neighboring national parks.
07:55These massive floods also occur during the monsoon, from June to October, aggravated by torrential rains.
08:01Over the last two and a half centuries, the Brahmaputra River has considerably changed its course.
08:07Erosion is another major danger.
08:10The banks of the river, mainly composed of sand and uneven limestone, cause the loss of many lands, although the rate of erosion has slowed.
08:21The Brahmaputra is also one of the rare rivers in the world where a masquerade occurs.
08:26An imposing tidal wave that goes up the course of the river against the current, where it reaches the ocean.
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