River Monsters

MY NAME IS JEREMY WADE...

AAH!

...BIOLOGIST AND FRESHWATER DETECTIVE.

I'VE SPENT YEARS TRYING TO MAKE SENSE

OF DEADLY ENCOUNTERS IN LAKES AND RIVERS...

YOU SEE IT, YOU SEE IT, YOU SEE IT?

...IDENTIFYING NOT ONLY THE PERPETRATORS...

THIS IS THE FISH THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR KILLING PEOPLE.

...BUT ALSO THEIR TRUE INTENTIONS.

THESE WERE FISH USED TO GRABBING MORSELS IN THE WATER.

NOW, FROM A SUN-KISSED PARADISE

COME PERPLEXING STORIES OF ATTACKS.

THE QUESTION IS, WHAT IS CAUSING THE DAMAGE?

AAH!

COULD BE A QUITE INTENSE EXPERIENCE,

HOOKING ANYTHING IN THIS PLACE.

AND WERE THE VICTIMS

SIMPLY IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME,

OR WERE THEY THE TARGET?

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS,

MY SEARCH FOR FRESHWATER KILLERS

HAS BEEN A CONTINENTAL AFFAIR --

ASIA...

AFRICA...

SOUTH AMERICA.

VIRTUALLY ALL THE BEASTS I'VE TRACKED DOWN

COME FROM LAND MASSES

WHERE THERE ARE BIG LAKES OR SERIOUSLY LARGE RIVERS.

SMALL, REMOTE ISLANDS ARE NOT NORMALLY ON MY RADAR,

BUT RECENT REPORTS OF FRESHWATER ATTACKS

FROM A TINY SPECK OF LAND IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

ARE MAKING ME THINK AGAIN.

FIJI.

WITH ITS ALLURING MIX OF IDYLLIC COASTLINES

AND LAID-BACK ISLAND CULTURE, IT'S A MECCA FOR TOURISTS.

BEYOND THE POSTCARD BEACHES, THOUGH,

THERE HAVE BEEN DISTURBING INCIDENTS.

IN A RESERVOIR IN THE MOUNTAINS FAR INLAND,

A COMMERCIAL DIVER IS APPARENTLY ATTACKED

BY SOMETHING FROM THE DEPTHS.

THEY SAY THAT WHEN HIS BODY IS FOUND,

HIS FACE IS COVERED WITH STRANGE CIRCULAR ABRASIONS.

BECAUSE OF THIS, SOME LOCALS BLAME AN OCTOPUS,

BUT THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE IN FRESH WATER.

A BIT MORE DIGGING

REVEALED A SECOND, EQUALLY MYSTERIOUS DEATH.

NEARER THE COAST, AMINIASI NAITUYAGA,

ONE OF FIJI'S TOP YOUNG RUGBY PLAYERS,

IS TRAINING WITH TEAMMATES ON THE BANKS OF A RIVER.

WHEN THEY DECIDE TO SWIM ACROSS, THE WATER IS CALM.

BUT INEXPLICABLY, AMINIASI VANISHES.

HIS BODY IS NEVER FOUND.

BY ALL ACCOUNTS, HE WAS A STRONG SWIMMER,

AND EVERYBODY ELSE HAD CROSSED WITHOUT A PROBLEM.

BUT IN AN INSTANT, HE JUST DISAPPEARED.

THESE TWO TRAGEDIES ARE BY NO MEANS ISOLATED INCIDENTS.

THERE APPEAR TO BE MULTIPLE CASES

OF PEOPLE BEING ATTACKED IN FRESH WATER.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD,

THERE'S NO WAY OF TELLING

WHETHER OR NOT ALL THESE STORIES ARE CONNECTED,

WHICH MEANS IT'S TIME TO HEAD TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC

TO FIND OUT.

WHAT'S CAUSING TROUBLE IN PARADISE?

FIJI IS MADE UP OF WELL OVER 300 ISLANDS,

BUT THE STORIES THAT HAVE BROUGHT ME HERE

COME FROM JUST ONE, VITI LEVU.

THE POPULATION IS A MIXTURE OF INDIGENOUS ISLANDERS

AND THE DESCENDANTS OF LABORERS

BROUGHT IN FROM INDIA DURING BRITISH COLONIAL RULE.

I NEED TO GET AN IDEA

OF WHAT FISH COULD BE STALKING THE RIVERS.

BUT NOT SURPRISINGLY,

MOST FISHERMEN ARE CATCHING THEIR FISH OUT AT SEA.

Wade: AND YOU'VE GOT WHAT, BALLOON FISH?

VERY TASTY, YEAH.

OKAY TO HAVE A LOOK AT THESE

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY

TO WORK OUT THAT THAT'S A PREDATORY FISH.

BIG EYES, TEETH.

THIS IS A SPANISH MACKEREL.

SO, LIKE THE MACKEREL THAT I'M FAMILIAR WITH,

ONLY SCALED UP SOMEWHAT.

NONE OF THE MARINE FISH I'VE SEEN SO FAR

SEEMS LIKE A PLAUSIBLE SUSPECT BEHIND A FRESHWATER ATTACK.

IS THERE ANY -- ANY OF THESE FISH FROM THE RIVER,

OR EVERYTHING FROM THE SEA?

OKAY.

I RECOGNIZE THESE AS TILAPIA.

THEY WERE INTRODUCED TO FIJI AS A FOOD FISH

AND ARE CLEARLY NO RIVER MONSTER.

THIS ONE THE ONLY RIVER FISH HERE?

THAT'S IT AS FAR AS FRESHWATER FISH GOES.

SO FAR, I CAN SEE NOTHING DANGEROUS

RESIDENT IN THE RIVERS.

COULD THE KILLER BE SNEAKING IN FROM THE SEA?

SOME SEA FISH ARE KNOWN TO COME IN TO FRESHWATER.

MAYBE THERE'S FISH THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT

THAT SOMEHOW IS COMING TO FRESHWATER.

OR MAYBE THE CULPRIT BEHIND THE ATTACKS

IS NOT A FISH AT ALL.

SALTWATER CROCODILES ARE KNOWN TO MOVE INTO RIVERS,

AND FIJI DOES LIE WITHIN THE KNOWN RANGE

OF THESE DEADLY REPTILES.

IN SIGATOKA,

CLOSE TO WHERE RUGBY PLAYER AMINIASI MYSTERIOUSLY VANISHED,

I PAY A VISIT TO THE POLICE STATION.

SERGEANT MESU KNOWS ABOUT AMINIASI'S DISAPPEARANCE,

BUT IT'S NOT THE ONLY ONE.

HAVE THERE BEEN OTHER CASES IN THE RIVER?

YES.

ACCORDING TO THE POLICEMEN, THESE TWO WOMEN

WERE GATHERING FRESHWATER MUSSELS FROM THE RIVERBED

TO SELL AT THE MARKET.

THEN, JUST LIKE AMINIASI,

ONE OF THE WOMEN SIMPLY DISAPPEARS WITHOUT A SOUND.

BUT THIS TIME, HER CORPSE WASHES UP.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THEM?

OKAY.

AND THEY COME UP THE RIVER?

THE ONLY MAN-EATING SHARK THAT SWIMS UP RIVERS

IS THE BULL SHARK.

BUT ANYONE GRABBED BY A SHARK...

...OR FOR THAT MATTER, A CROCODILE,

WOULD SURELY SCREAM AND CREATE A DISTURBANCE

BEFORE GOING DOWN.

YOU WOULDN'T EXPECT THEM TO DIE WITHOUT MAKING A SOUND.

AND SHARKS AND CROCODILES LEAVE BITE MARKS...

...NOT BRUISES.

WITH LITTLE TO GO ON, I'M EAGER TO GET A LINE IN THE WATER.

AND WHERE BETTER TO START

THAN AT THE RIVER MOUTH WHERE AMINIASI DISAPPEARED

AND THE WOMAN'S BODY WAS FOUND?

TODAY, THE RIVER IS ANYTHING BUT CALM.

FIJI'S CYCLONE SEASON IS CRANKING UP.

THE BAIT SEEMS TO BE HOLDING ABOUT 100 YARDS OUT.

I KEEP FEELING THESE STRONG PULLS ON THE LINE,

BUT THEY'RE SLOW PULLS.

EVENTUALLY, THEY RELEASE,

AND I THINK THAT'S JUST THE SURGE OF THE WATER.

SO WHAT I'M WAITING FOR IS SOMETHING THAT PULLS

BUT WHICH ACTUALLY FEELS AS IF IT'S SOMETHING ALIVE

THAT'S GOT HOLD OF THE BAIT.

WHAT'S GOING ON? WAIT A MINUTE. WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.

AH!

IN FIJI IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC,

THERE HAVE BEEN A SERIES OF FRESHWATER ATTACKS...

...AND MY INVESTIGATION

HAS HONED IN ON TWO MYSTERIOUS DEATHS.

ONE VICTIM SIMPLY VANISHED AS HE SWAM WITH HIS FRIENDS

TOWARDS THE FAR BANK IN QUIET WATER.

THE OTHER, A WOMAN COLLECTING MUSSELS FROM THE RIVERBED,

APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN STRUCK BY SOMETHING

BIG ENOUGH TO LEAVE VISIBLE MARKS ON HER BODY.

AT THE SITE OF THESE DEADLY INCIDENTS,

WITH A STORM WHIPPING UP,

I'M HOPING TO HOOK A POSSIBLE CULPRIT.

OH, WHAT'S GOING ON?

WAIT A MINUTE. WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT.

AH!

SOMETHING'S -- WHAT HAPPENED THERE?

I THOUGHT I WAS SNAGGED UP.

WELL, I THINK I WAS SNAGGED UP, BUT I FELT A BUMP ON THE LINE,

AND THEN SOMETHING RIPPED OUT A LITTLE BIT OF LINE.

AND I THINK IT WAS SOMETHING BUMPING IN.

I THINK SOMETHING DID ACTUALLY JUST HIT THAT.

YEAH.

SO, SOMETHING TOOK THAT BAIT,

AND THEN THE MAIN LINE JUST CUT ON SOMETHING OUT THERE.

IT FELT...

IT FELT FAIRLY SIZABLE.

WHATEVER GRABBED MY BAIT WAS IN MID-CHANNEL,

ABOUT 40 YARDS FROM THE BANK.

TO TARGET THIS DEEPER WATER MORE EFFECTIVELY

AND CIRCUMVENT THE WAVES, I NEED TO GET OUT ON A BOAT.

DESPITE THE WORSENING WEATHER, A FISHERMAN NAMED JOHN

AGREES TO TAKE ME BACK OUT TOWARDS THE RIVER MOUTH.

HE'S FISHED HERE BEFORE

AND WILL HAVE SOME IDEA OF WHAT COULD BE LURKING IN THE WATER.

SO, WHAT FISH DO YOU FIND AT THE RIVER MOUTH?

THEY'LL GROW QUITE BIG?

SHARKS ARE OFF MY SUSPECT LIST,

AS THERE WERE NO BITE MARKS ON THE VICTIM'S BODY,

BUT THIS OTHER FISH HAS ME INTRIGUED.

THE GIANT TREVALLY,

WHAT KIND OF SIZE DO THEY GET CAUGHT AT THE RIVER MOUTH?

SO, THEY COME RIGHT INSIDE --

THE GIANT TREVALLY IS NOT A FISH I'VE MET BEFORE.

THEY ARE FORMIDABLE SALTWATER PREDATORS

WEIGHING UP TO 180 POUNDS.

THAT'S AS BIG AS ME.

IF SUCH A FISH IS INVADING THESE RIVERS,

IT COULD SPELL TROUBLE.

DO YOU THINK TREVALLY WOULD EVER HIT A PERSON?

SUPPOSE SOMEBODY'S IN THE WATER SPLASHING AROUND?

I'M CURIOUS TO SEE ONE OF THESE BRUISERS FOR MYSELF,

AND THE MOB OF SEAGULLS AHEAD

IS A CLEAR SIGN THAT THERE'S ACTIVITY IN THE WATER.

PERHAPS THE SMALLER FISH