TVREAL
NHK and NHK Enterprises teamed up with ZDF, ARTE and OceanX for Deep Ocean: The Kingdom of the Coelacanth and succeeded in capturing the world’s first video images of coelacanths and possible reproductive behavior.
The coelacanth was long believed to have perished alongside the dinosaurs until a fishing vessel hauled one up off the coast of South Africa in 1938. Due to its unchanged form over 400 million years, it is dubbed a “living fossil.” The filming team found a group of coelacanths and managed to document numerous instances of interactions between the creatures previously unseen.
Prior observations of the coelacanths had not revealed any behaviors indicating awareness of other individuals. With this expedition, the team was able to document numerous instances of interactions, which were observed between individuals presumed to be male and female, as well as between males, suggesting a connection to reproductive activities.
Furthermore, analysis of the 8K high-definition footage revealed the flexibility and large range of motion of the coelacanth’s muscular fins. This provides crucial insights into how our distant ancestors might have used their muscular fins during the evolutionary transition from water to land around 400 million years ago. Future analysis is expected to shed light on animals’ water-to-land solution.
The currently developed documentary Deep Ocean: The Kingdom of the Coelacanth is a co-production with ZDF, ARTE and OceanX, in collaboration with the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment (CMMAI) of Indonesia. Like the other Deep Ocean documentaries, this too will be narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
The team on the expedition included Dr. Masamitsu Iwata and Dr. Kerry Sink.
