Kingdom of the Coasts

Project: Broadcast TV | Client: NHK / Discovery | Year: 1998

Filming this sequence in Indonesia in the weeks before President Suharto was ousted was surreal. We lumbered around northern Sulawesi with a tonne of underwater video gear that could only be moved with the application of copious bribes. Things got very tense with rioting locals protesting for President Suharto to resign and I had a local fishing boat booked to take us to the Philippines should the fried rice hit the fan.

Pygmy seahorses

In 1998 we were to first "broadcast TV" crew to film pygmy sea horses. At the time it was thought they were only to be found in the Lembeh Strait. Now we know they are pretty well everywhere if you look with the right kind of eyes! This clip from Kingdom of the Coasts: NHK / Discovery was shot over a week of challenging field macro work in very strong currents under the disapproving eye of a large daytime octopus.

Mandarin fish

Filmed inside a lava flow in northern Sulawesi. A secret ceremony performed most days on the cusp of dusk.