River Monsters

I'M JEREMY WADE,

EXPLORER, BIOLOGIST,

AND AQUATIC DETECTIVE.

GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!

FOR 30 YEARS,

I'VE BEEN INVESTIGATING UNDERWATER MYSTERIES,

TRACKING DOWN FRESH AND SALTWATER KILLERS

IN SOME OF THE MOST REMOTE CORNERS OF THE WORLD.

AND NOW IN THE TROPICAL WATERS OF SOUTHEAST ASIA,

REPORTS ARE SURFACING OF A MYSTERY CREATURE

THAT'S IMPALING SWIMMERS AND FISHERMEN,

CAUSING GRUESOME INJURIES

AND EVEN DEATH.

THE LETHAL STAB WOUNDS

AND THE BIZARRE WAYS IN WHICH THEY HAPPENED

ARE LIKE NOTHING I'VE EVER SEEN.

WERE THE VICTIMS JUST IN THE WRONG PLACE

AT THE WRONG TIME?

OR DO THESE WATERS CONCEAL A CORAL-REEF KILLER?

GO! GO!

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CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

**

OVER THE YEARS, I'VE COME ACROSS

ALL SORTS OF ATTACKS ON HUMANS

IN FRESH AND SALTWATER.

**

VICTIMS LACERATED BY SHARP-TOOTHED MONSTERS

LIKE SHARKS,

PIRANHAS, AND BARRACUDAS,

CORPSES CRUSHED, SUFFOCATED, AND DROWNED

BY ANACONDAS AND CROCODILES,

CASUALTIES SLASHED OPEN

BY SERRATED SWORDFISH.

BUT THIS IS SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT.

A REPORT FROM INDONESIA HAS REALLY CAUGHT MY ATTENTION.

JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO,

A WOMAN ON VACATION WAS SNORKELING

ON THE CORAL REEF

WHEN SHE WAS STABBED AND KILLED

BY AN UNSEEN ASSAILANT.

AND THE MORE I LOOK INTO THIS CASE,

THE MORE I UNCOVER.

SIMILAR INCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED ELSEWHERE

IN SOUTHEAST ASIA,

AQUATIC ATTACKS BY A MYSTERY CREATURE.

EACH TIME, THE VICTIM IS IMPALED,

LEFT WITH A DEEP STAB WOUND,

AND THE END RESULT IS SERIOUS INJURY,

PARALYSIS OR DEATH.

THIS NEW CASE COULD BE MY OPPORTUNITY

TO IDENTIFY AND FIND A KILLER

THAT'S STALKING THE REEFS OF AN ENTIRE REGION.

**

IT HAPPENED OFF THE COAST OF SULAWESI,

ONE OF THE LARGEST OF INDONESIA'S 17,000 ISLANDS.

THIS CORNER OF THE GLOBE IS NEW TO ME.

I MAKE A 7,500-MILE JOURNEY

INTO THE HEART OF EQUATORIAL ASIA.

IT WOULD BE EASY TO BE TAKEN IN BY THE BEAUTY,

BUT I'M HERE TO FIND A KILLER.

**

MY DESTINATION IS DONGGALA,

A FISHING COMMUNITY ON THE NORTHWEST COAST

THAT IN SEASON, ATTRACTS DIVERS AND TOURISTS,

DRAWN TO ITS BEACHES

AND PRISTINE REEF.

TODAY, THE DUSTY STREETS ARE EERILY SILENT.

THIS PLACE REALLY IS THE ARCHETYPAL TOURIST PARADISE.

YOU'VE GOT SUNSHINE ALL YEAR ROUND,

BEAUTIFUL SANDY BEACH, PALM TREES,

AND OUT THERE IS A CORAL REEF

JUST CRYING OUT TO BE SNORKELED.

BUT A SINISTER SHADOW

IS LYING OVER THIS SCENE,

AND THERE'S A VERY GOOD CHANCE

THAT THE KILLER IS STILL OUT THERE.

A KILLER IN THE CORAL IS BAD FOR BUSINESS,

AND FOR SOME OF THE BEACH MERCHANTS,

IT WOULD BE BEST FORGOTTEN.

MY PERSISTENCE EVENTUALLY GETS ME DIRECTED TO ABU BAKHAR,

WHO WAS SNORKELING HERE ON THE DAY

THE MOST RECENT VICTIM WAS ATTACKED.

CAN YOU START BY TELLING ME WHAT EXACTLY YOU SAW?

HE TELLS ME, "IT WAS THE NEW-YEAR HOLIDAY.

THE BEACH WAS PACKED WITH PEOPLE

ENJOYING THE WARM WATERS."

ALL OF A SUDDEN,

HE HEARD SCREAMING AND SHOUTING.

A YOUNG WOMAN SNORKELER HAD BEEN ATTACKED.

SO YOU WERE ON THE BEACH, AND PEOPLE WERE SAYING,

"IT'S SOME KIND OF FISH." BUT THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND.

YEAH.

HE DIRECTS ME TOWARDS AISHA,

WHO RENTED A SNORKEL AND MASK TO THE VICTIM.

SO YOU HEARD SOME KIND OF SHOUT, SOME KIND OF NOISE?

AND YOU ACTUALLY WENT TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED,

TO SEE IF YOU COULD HELP? -YEAH.

WHAT DID PEOPLE IMAGINE HAD HAPPENED,

OR WHAT DID THEY SEE?

SHE RECALLS SEEING BLOOD

RUNNING FROM THE WOMAN'S HEAD.

THE VICTIM WAS CARRIED FROM THE BEACH

AND RUSHED TO HOSPITAL.

NOW, YOUR HEAD IS A PRETTY SOLID STRUCTURE.

IT HAS TO BE.

THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THE SKULL IS TO PROTECT THE BRAIN,

SO MOST OF THIS IS THICK BONE.

THERE ARE A FEW WEAK POINTS,

PRINCIPALLY THE EYE SOCKETS,

BUT THE VICTIM WOULD'VE BEEN WEARING ONE OF THESE.

I KNOW THAT BECAUSE I SPOKE

TO THE WOMAN WHO HIRED IT TO HER.

SO HER EYES WOULD'VE BEEN PROTECTED.

THE THING IS, TO PENETRATE THIS OR THIS,

YOU'RE GOING TO NEED SERIOUS FORCE,

SERIOUS MOMENTUM, SOMETHING SERIOUSLY SHARP,

ALL OF WHICH SUGGESTS THAT THE PERPETRATOR WAS

A LARGE POWERFUL FISH.

**

NO ONE I SPOKE TO SAW THE ATTACKER.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT POTENTIAL KILLERS

COULD LIVE IN THESE WATERS,

SO CLOSE TO SWIMMERS.

IF I JUST ARRIVED AT THIS PLACE

WITHOUT KNOWING VERY MUCH ABOUT HAPPENED HERE,

I'D BE QUITE LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING IN

AND HAVING A SNORKEL AROUND ON TOP OF THE CORAL,

BUT I HAVE TO SAY THAT I'M NOT TOTALLY RELAXED

ABOUT GETTING IN THE WATER.

**

RIGHT NOW,

I'M AS VULNERABLE AS THE WOMAN WHO WAS KILLED.

I'M NOT SEEING ANYTHING OVER A FEW INCHES LONG,

AND NONE OF THESE FISH HAS THE TEETH OR OTHER WEAPONRY

TO SMASH A HOLE IN SOMEONE'S HEAD.

THERE'S CERTAINLY LOTS OF FISH OUT THERE,

BUT BASICALLY JUST SMALL COLORFUL AQUARIUM FISH, REALLY,

EXACTLY WHAT YOU'D EXPECT TO SEE ON A TROPICAL CORAL REEF.

I'VE DRAWN A BLANK UNDERWATER,

SO I DECIDE TO HEAD TO THE PORT

AND SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THESE WATERS BEST --

THE LOCAL FISHERMEN.

THEY TELL ME THIS IS NOT THE ONLY ATTACK

THAT'S HAPPENED IN THE AREA.

I'M SENT TO SEE AN OLD FISHERMAN,

KNOWN AS PAPA CHUCHU.

EVERYBODY HERE TELLS ME YOU WERE ATTACKED.

CAN YOU TELL ME, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

HE WAS OUT ON A SMALL BOAT

CALLED A SAMPAN,

FISHING OFF THE REEF WITH JUST A HANDLINE.

PAPA CHUCHU WAS PULLING UP TUNA

WHEN, ALL OF A SUDDEN,

HIS BOAT WAS STRUCK FROM BENEATH

BY A BIG MARLIN.

SO YOU'RE FISHING FOR TUNA,

AND THIS MARLIN JUST CAME FROM NOWHERE?

THE FORCE OF THE MARLIN SMASHED THE SAMPAN IN HALF...

AND WORSE.

AS HE HIT THE WATER, PAPA CHUCHU REALIZED

THAT HE'D BEEN IMPALED BY THE FISH'S SPEAR-LIKE BILL.

HE HAD TO WRENCH IT OUT OF HIS BOTTOM

BEFORE OTHER FISHERMEN COULD HAUL HIM TO SAFETY.

YOU STILL HAVE A SCAR?

DO YOU STILL HAVE A MARK?

OH, IN HERE?

IN THERE...

-YEAH. -...AND OUT HERE?

RIGHT.

WELL, THERE ARE DEFINITELY MARLIN IN THESE WATERS HERE,

AS PAPA CHUCHU KNOWS ONLY TOO WELL,

AND WHAT MAKES THEM POTENTIALLY SO DANGEROUS IS THIS.

YOU'VE GOT THIS HARD, ELONGATED, POINTED BILL,

AND BEHIND THAT, YOU'VE GOT A LOT OF MASS.

I MEAN, SOME SPECIES,

YOU'RE TAKING UP TO OVER 1,000 POUNDS,

SO YOU CAN HAVE AN AWFUL LOT OF ENERGY

CONCENTRATED ON A FAIRLY SMALL POINT,

AND IN THAT SITUATION,

IF YOU HAPPEN TO GET IN THE WAY OF THAT,

THAT CAN END VERY BADLY.

**

BUT MARLIN ARE PREDOMINANTLY AN OPEN-WATER FISH.

COULD THEY REALLY BE A THREAT TO SWIMMERS ON A BEACH?

I'VE HEARD THAT ONE TYPE OF MARLIN

CAN FREQUENT SHALLOW WATER,

BUT ARE THEY HERE?

TO FIND OUT, I ENLIST THE HELP

OF A RENOWNED GAME FISHERMAN,

MR. HUANG.

THIS IS ALL MARLIN?

MARLIN.

HE CATCHES PRIZE-WINNING MARLIN ON NOTHING BUT A HANDLINE

AND RELISHES THE CHALLENGE

OF THIS KIND OF FISHING,

HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT

TAKES THE ROD OUT OF THE EQUATION.

I'VE FISHED MARLIN BEFORE,

BUT THAT'S WITH ROD AND REEL.