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  • 5 months ago
River.Monsters.S07E05.South.Pacific.Terrors
Transcript
00:00my name is jeremy wade biologist and freshwater detective i've spent years trying to make sense
00:20of deadly encounters in lakes and rivers identifying not only the perpetrators this
00:26is the fish that is responsible for killing people but also their true intentions these
00:32were fish used to grabbing morsels in the water now from a sun-kissed paradise come perplexing
00:42stories of attacks the question is what is causing the damage could be a quite intense experience
00:56hooking anything in this place and were the victims simply in the wrong place at the wrong time
01:04or were they the target
01:26for more than 30 years my search for freshwater killers has been a continental affair
01:33asia africa south america virtually all the beasts i've tracked down come from land masses where
01:44there are big lakes or seriously large rivers small remote islands are not normally on my radar but
01:52recent reports of freshwater attacks from a tiny speck of land in the south pacific are making me think
02:00again
02:04fiji with its alluring mix of idyllic coastlines and laid-back island culture it's a mecca for tourists
02:16beyond the postcard beaches though there have been disturbing incidents
02:20in a reservoir in the mountains far inland a commercial diver is apparently attacked by something from the depths
02:37they say that when his body is found his face is covered with strange circular abrasions
02:43because of this some locals blame an octopus but this makes absolutely no sense in fresh water
02:56a bit more digging revealed a second equally mysterious death
03:00nearer the coast amanasi naitoyunga one of fiji's top young rugby players is training with teammates
03:10on the banks of a river
03:12when they decide to swim across the water is calm
03:21but inexplicably amanasi vanishes
03:27and his body is never found
03:29by all accounts he was a strong swimmer and everybody else had crossed without a problem
03:38but in an instant he just disappeared
03:42these two tragedies are by no means isolated incidents
03:46there appear to be multiple cases of people being attacked in fresh water
03:51from the other side of the world there's no way of telling whether or not all these stories are connected
04:00which means it's time to head to the south pacific to find out what's causing trouble in paradise
04:11fiji is made up of well over 300 islands
04:17but the stories that have brought me here come from just one
04:21viti level
04:26the population is a mixture of indigenous islanders
04:29and the descendants of laborers brought in from india during british colonial rule
04:38i need to get an idea of what fish could be stalking the rivers
04:44but not surprisingly most fishermen are catching their fish out at sea
04:48and what you call it what balloon fish yeah
04:53it's a very tasty fish very tasty
04:55yeah it's like chicken
05:01okay to have a look at these yeah
05:03you don't have to be a professor of biology to work out that that's a predatory fish
05:12big eyes teeth this is a spanish mackerel so like the mackerel that i'm familiar with only scaled up
05:20somewhat none of the marine fish i've seen so far seems like a plausible suspect behind a fresh water
05:28attack is there any any of these fish from the river or everything from the sea
05:32the black one there that's the fresh water one okay i recognize these as tilapia
05:40they were introduced to fiji as a food fish and a clearly no river monster
05:45this one the only river fish here yeah that's it as far as fresh water fish goes
05:54so far i can see nothing dangerous resident in the rivers could the killer be sneaking in from the sea
06:03some sea fish are known to come into fresh water maybe there's fish that i don't know about
06:07that sometimes come into fresh water
06:08or maybe the culprit behind the attacks is not a fish at all saltwater crocodiles are known to move
06:19into rivers and fiji does lie within the known range of these deadly reptiles
06:25in singkatoka close to where rugby player amanasi mysteriously vanished i pay a visit to the police station
06:42sergeant messu knows about amanasi's disappearance but it's not the only one have there been other cases
06:49in the river in the river yes there's an incident is two ladies they went into the river to dive for this
06:59water muscle
07:02according to the policeman these two women were gathering fresh water mussels from the riverbed
07:07to sell at the market
07:12then just like amanasi one of the women simply disappears without a sound
07:19but this time a corpse washes up after three days then we managed to recover the body yeah
07:30and with all bruises and uh marks
07:36do you have any idea what might have caused them i could not tell you okay but we do have shark
07:42the only man eating shark that swims up rivers is the bull shark but anyone grabbed by a shark
07:59or for that matter a crocodile would surely scream and create a disturbance before going down
08:06you wouldn't expect them to die without making a sound
08:14and sharks and crocodiles leave bite marks
08:21not bruises
08:28with little to go on i'm eager to get a line in the water
08:32and where better to star than at the river mouth where amanasi disappeared and the woman's body was found
08:42today the river is anything but calm
08:47fiji's cyclone season is cranking up
08:50the bait seems to be holding about 100 yards out i keep feeling these strong pulls on the line but
09:00they're slow pulls eventually they release and i think that's just the surge of the water
09:07so what i'm waiting for is something that pulls but which actually feels
09:12as if it's something alive that's got hold of the bait
09:25what's going on wait a minute wait wait wait wait
09:26in fiji in the south pacific there have been a series of freshwater attacks
09:45and my investigation has homed in on two mysterious deaths
09:49one victim simply vanished as he swam with his friends towards the far bank in quiet water
10:00the other a woman collecting muscles from the river bed appears to have been struck by something
10:05big enough to leave visible marks on her body
10:08at the site of these deadly incidents with a storm whipping up i'm hoping to hook a possible culprit
10:19oh what's going on wait a minute wait wait wait wait
10:20something's what happened there i thought i was snagged up well i think i was snagged up but i felt a
10:35a bump on the line and then something ripped out a little bit of line and i think it was something
10:40bumping in i think something did actually just hit that
10:43so something took that bait and then the main line just cut on something out there it felt
10:57it felt fairly sizeable
11:00whatever grabbed my bait was in mid-channel about 40 yards from the bank
11:05to target this deeper water more effectively and circumvent the waves i need to get out on a boat
11:16despite the worsening weather a fisherman named john agrees to take me back out towards the river mouth
11:25he's fished here before and we'll have some idea of what could be lurking in the water
11:29so what fish do you find at the river mouth trevally and uh bull shark they grow quite big yeah yeah
11:40oh really big and some of them are really aggressive too sharks are off my suspect list as there
11:48were no bite marks on the victim's body but this other fish has me intrigued the giant trevally what
11:56what kind of size do they get caught at the river mouth oh really big so they come right inside the
12:01the right inside the incoming tide and they go out
12:08the giant trevally is not a fish i've met before they are formidable saltwater predators
12:14weighing up to 180 pounds that's as big as me if such a fish is invading these rivers it could spell
12:24trouble do you think trevally would ever would ever hit a person suppose somebody's in the water
12:31splashing around you never know you know because it's so big the biggest one i caught one old man
12:36caught it like a five footer i'm curious to see one of these bruisers for myself
12:45and the mob of seagulls ahead is a clear sign that there's activity in the water
12:49all the birds out there feeding on something perhaps the smaller fish are being chased by something big
13:02while john quickly anchors the boat i race to bait my hook on 100 pound braided line
13:08but with the storm brewing time is not on our side all right
13:25and when our mooring snaps we've lost our anchor i'm forced to retreat
13:39change of plan um we now have no anchor that basically broke off
13:46in the relative calm inside the river mouth i can finally get my line in the water it's quite a
13:53serious place this river mouth i mean never mind what might be under the water
13:58just the water itself is is quite scary
14:00according to john predators use the tide to move in and out of the river
14:09but now the tide has been retreating for hours
14:13i suspect the monsters have already gone
14:16i get the feeling that what little activity there was it's kind of tailed off
14:21for now my best option is to withdraw and prepare to try again tomorrow
14:30in the meantime i'm keen to find out more about the giant trevally
14:38and i soon discover that this is a fish with quite a reputation
14:43it may lack large teeth but the giant trevally is an underwater battering rat
14:50stripping away its outer layer reveals its secret weapon
14:54a bony blade in its forehead that it uses to smash into and stun its prey
15:04scientists have even seen them ramming sharks
15:09according to one report a giant trevally battered the gills of a seven foot black tip reef shark
15:15with such force the shark died from internal bleeding
15:19and it's not just fish that come under attack
15:26in bali a diver reportedly suffered broken ribs after being struck by one of these fish
15:34this is clearly a beast that can land a knockout punch
15:37although they have been spotted up rivers my best chance of seeing one of these bruises
15:50is just a hundred yards offshore
15:54on the coral reef
15:56the place where i'm most likely to see one is actually right on the edge of the reef
16:01so where the shallow water plunges away into deeper water
16:06you can imagine those predators down below looking up through the clear water ready to nail something
16:13fishing over coral though is an anglers nightmare lines are so easily cut on these jagged edges
16:23anything that hits in that place is going to instantly try and head for the refuge of the reef
16:30so i'm going to have to hang on to keep anything out of all that sharp coral so it could be
16:37a quite intense experience hooking anything in this place
16:41to provoke a strike from any lurking predator i'm using a brightly colored lure that imitates a bait fish
16:53where the waves are breaking over the reef smaller fish are likely to get tumbled around and find
16:58themselves a target and it's their struggling movements that i'm trying to mimic
17:05this is actually really tiring physical fishing
17:13jerking the lure like this my arm it feels as if it's about to drop off
17:17i launch cast after cast into the surf
17:28ah right something powerful has grabbed my bait
17:33i'm just trying to get clear of the motors there we go i saw that fish take i saw it take
17:45oh i can't let this fish cut my line on the reef but that makes for a brutal exhausting fight
17:59right let's try and get some line in i'm hoping it's clear of all coral and what i'm doing now i'm just
18:12in fiji's tropical waters i'm searching for a predator that could have battered at least
18:24two people to death my only suspect so far is the giant trevally okay an aquatic sledgehammer known to
18:34kill sharks and i think i've got one of these bruisers on my line
18:43almost hard attack material ah that was several hits several hits it wasn't as if it was a
18:51clean take it was a knock a hit i thought i missed it and then
18:57and then suddenly i'm connected to a heavy weight
19:07it's pulling down pulling down pulling down pulling down pound for pound the giant trevally is one of
19:13the most powerful fish in the sea here it is going to the surface going to the surface
19:19i don't think i've ever felt such strength i saw it grab and then it almost pulled me out the back of
19:33the boat when it took off it has crushing teeth in its throat which i can't see but i can certainly hear
19:42them it's making a sort of a crunching noise they don't have particularly big teeth but they are very
19:51predatory the modus operandi of this fish is to ram its prey with its head before engulfing it
19:59driven by powerful muscles its scythe-like tail gives it the attack speed it needs to stun its prey
20:06the impact force is concentrated through its narrow bony head a top speed underwater strike from one of
20:16these beasts could even hit harder than an arapaima the fish that once knocked me off my feet
20:27so it's the power rather than the teeth that we're talking about here and i can just imagine one of
20:31these if it were to ram you in the water with the power this has got that is going to hurt
20:35and it could even be fatal giant trevally probably attacks sharks out of self-defense when they feel
20:44under threat i wonder if this extreme approach to self-preservation could explain ramming attacks on
20:54people did they unwittingly stray too close to one of these powerful fish
21:00it's got the size it's got the strength it's got the aggression all we'd need to be talking about
21:10is a chance in a million just the wrong place at the wrong time and that would be enough
21:19if this fish slammed someone in the chest they could inhale a lungful of water
21:24and without a sound they'd sink and be swept away by the current
21:30but there's one problem with this theory this fish can't be behind all the attacks in fiji's rivers
21:41there are many incidents including the case of the diver who died in the reservoir
21:45that happened miles inland
21:52these attacks in the mountainous heartland are way beyond the reach of a giant trevally
22:02lurking in these remote highland waters there must be something else another creature capable of attacking
22:11people
22:16this sparsely populated interior is a world away from the palm trees and postcard beaches of the coast
22:26it wasn't long ago when these jungles were home to cannibals
22:30who regularly cooked and ate their enemies
22:32even in the 20th century there were still people living here who knew the taste of human flesh
22:49four hours in from the coast and i finally arrive at the reservoir where the diver died
22:54the monosavu dam was created to supply a hydroelectric power plant
23:04it's now a near deserted six mile long stretch of water
23:11it's quite spooky here is there really a beast living here with the power and aggression to take down a human
23:18the 19th century fijian chief ratu undrei undrei was the world's most prolific cannibal
23:30how many people did he eat
23:38chief undrei undrei is said to have eaten at least 872 people according to fijian myth if he had eaten a
23:46thousand he would have become immortal
23:56in fiji in the south pacific bruising attacks at a river mount could be the work of an aquatic battering ram
24:05but giant trevally can't swim up waterfalls
24:09so a tragic death in a high mountain reservoir deep in the interior must be down to something else
24:22a commercial diver has been employed to check the dam wall
24:28when his body is found his face is covered with mysterious circular marks
24:34leading some perplexed locals to suggest the culprit is an octopus
24:42this is the monosavu dam nearly two and a half thousand feet above sea level
24:48except for a few maintenance staff and security guards this place is a near ghost town
24:55these are the abandoned huts of the men who constructed the dam
24:59the incident that brings me here calls to mind a case i investigated in new zealand
25:12where a diver was pursued by a pack of gigantic eels
25:22further investigation revealed the longfin eel to be a bold beast with an aggressive attitude
25:29look at that look at that look at that look at that look at that in fiji there are no long fins
25:39but there is another kind of eel that lives here
25:43the marbled eel is a mysterious beast little studied by science
25:49born somewhere in the pacific they then swim in land where they spend decades hunting in the rivers
25:59but could an eel reach such remote mountainous terrain let alone grow big enough to threaten a human
26:07the only way to find out is to get a bait in the water
26:16i begin my search for a prime fishing spot
26:19it's quite spooky here all these dead trees just poking up out of the water
26:31i'm just trying to get an idea of what the landscape is like under the water
26:36oh this is interesting there's coloring of the water here there's clearly a waterfall or something
26:40around the side it's the kind of feature that could attract fish
26:44let's have a look at this incoming streams could be bringing in food and drawing in predators
26:54large eels hide in the deep so if there's a good depth of water this could be a perfect monster hangout
27:03this is promising this is promising
27:06oh oh
27:07end of this line is 50 feet we've got more than 50 feet of water these loose rocks are going to give
27:15lots of hiding holes for eels and that bank there is absolutely fishable yeah this place is very
27:23interesting lots of fish small fish in the margin loads loads loads this is good
27:31eels use their incredible sense of smell to find food
27:34and a pungent bait of smoked sausage and fresh liver will quickly create an enticing cloud of scent
27:44smells good to me
27:57when fishing for eels in new zealand i never had to wait long
28:04but here six hours drip by without even a twitch on the line
28:16i've just been sitting there and
28:30some small fish might have nibbled at that but nothing's taken it as such
28:35i reset a strong smelling bait for the night shift many eels are nocturnal hunters
28:50but these eerie waters are not ready to reveal their secrets
28:54this deserted six mile long reservoir could be home to monster eels
29:07but after such a quiet night i have to consider other possibilities
29:14so far the only freshwater fish i've seen in fiji is the tilapia introduced here in the 1950s
29:21i know from experience that introduced species can wreak havoc
29:35the south american pacu now terrorizes rivers in papua new guinea
29:40where it is known as the ball cutter this thing really does look like a giant piranha
29:45and i think you'd certainly know about this when this bit of you
29:48and notoriously aggressive snake heads from asia have now spread far beyond their native range
29:58while in spain introduced whales catfish are reaching man-eating proportions
30:05if that grabbed hold of your leg but decided not to let go and you were swimming
30:08you'd be history could fiji also be hiding a monstrous foreign predator
30:19there's no one here to ask but there are reports of people being attacked downstream
30:26some incidents happened right next to the village of nasevu
30:29somebody here must have an idea of what beast stalks the waters
30:43few outsiders ever venture this far off the beaten track
30:48and english isn't widely spoken but i'm eventually directed to the chief's wife carolina
30:56i've heard some stories about something in the river biting people one man go and have a fishing line
31:10and then they don't want to come so the line is stuck it's hard yeah and then they die
31:19before he can free his hook something strikes him hard in the stomach it was a bad bite a bad bite
31:31before disappearing into the murk but this is no one-off attack any other story here european
31:40one girl was traveling on the bush
31:48when they cross the stream
31:52bites the legs
31:59down on the feet
32:02perhaps the abrasions i heard about on the diver were in fact some kind of bite marks
32:07when i ask what attacked the people here she gives me a name which i don't recognize
32:20what does it look like it's the big head thin body and big mouth the teeth is a sharp
32:29the
32:30one-off
32:32her description could be an eel or maybe a catfish
32:38both are capable of inflicting abrasive wounds
32:46so what is this beast they call the totom bali
32:51whatever it is it has a fearsome reputation
32:54and to find it i'm going to have to get in deep
33:10i'm in fiji in the south pacific on the trail of an aquatic beast that's stalking the island's
33:16mountainous interior my number one suspect is a creature they call the totom bali
33:25the thief is a shop
33:29yet revealing its identity has hit a stumbling block
33:34near traditional villages the rivers are protected by the community
33:39no outsider can fish here without permission from the chief
33:45until the elders consider my request i can't get a line in the water
33:50yet word of my interest in the totom bali is spreading
33:56some fishermen assure me they know where it lives
33:58and always here this is its house this this rock here
34:26i'm told that under this cliff there's a deep underwater cave
34:32it's a perfect place just to sit and wait for food coming down the current and it sounds like
34:36they've hooked something big here but it just breaks the line they've seen it down here
34:43and it feels like a really good positive lead
34:46it's a prime spot for something big
34:50but hooking this monster without the chief's blessing is strictly forbidden
34:54however there's nothing stopping me from attempting a face-to-face encounter
35:03my best bet of actually seeing this thing is to confront it under the water
35:10with no scuba gear i can only last underwater as long as i can hold my breath
35:15about a minute at the most in these conditions
35:17the cave entrance is seven feet down i just hope i see the creature before it sees me
35:33it really is quite spooky down there it's very important when your breath hold diving is to relax
35:45physically and also mentally but when you've got this mental picture of something that might lunge
35:50out at you from the shadows it's quite hard to sort of cultivate that inner calmness
35:54it's a dangerous labyrinth
36:08you know there's no there's no actual back to the cave it just there's boulders which then just
36:26fall away into another space and i can't see i can't get through that gap and this won't illuminate
36:33but it does look like a perfect hidey hole but i've not seen anything myself today
36:42all my hopes of progressing this investigation now rest with the village chief
36:48the elders are considering my request to fish in their river
36:51a ceremonial drink of kava root mixed with river water is prepared
37:12it's time for me to prove my worth by downing a bowl of this bitter intoxicating concoction
37:21with the ritual complete i'm given permission to fish
37:32and i'm told the totambali are so unafraid that i might find one near some rocks right next to the
37:38village
37:43i'm still not sure what i'm looking for but a chunk of dead tilapia should attract any large predator
37:50be it an eel a catfish or something else
37:58once again the hours slip by
38:00and the mysterious totambali refuses to reveal itself
38:15then deep into the night the sound i've been waiting for something's on something on something's on
38:22finally something has hit my bait
38:36i must net this writhing beast
39:06quickly and not given any chance to escape
39:09is it in the net no it's not
39:19the monster i've caught is a huge marbled eel
39:38what i'm trying to do is not grip it too tight because if with eels if you
39:42fight them they fight back
39:45the villagers confirm that this is a totambali
39:50this fish has really given me the run around and finally here i am middle of the night covered in slime
39:55just getting a bit of a look at the business end of this and that is a big mouth
40:08and it's got powerful musculature operating those jaws and when it opens its mouth
40:15i can see very clearly that it's got lots of teeth very very sharp teeth
40:19when they clamp down that's going to cause a bit of an injury
40:26this nearly five foot long marbled eel could maul a person
40:31what's more when eels feed they sometimes spin causing circular wounds
40:37maybe this is where the octopus theory came from
40:41now that i'm actually seeing a live one of these and handling it
40:46i'm pretty certain that those incidents i've heard about from the interior of the island
40:52this has to be the culprit
40:59i came here looking for a possible perpetrator behind a series of attacks
41:05and i found two both aquatic predators capable of inflicting serious damage
41:11the marbled eel stalks the remote interior while the giant trevally comes into the rivers from just offshore
41:22i don't believe that these fish hunt for human flesh but stumble into either one by accident
41:29and this idyllic south pacific paradise could become the scene of your worst nightmare