Gannets - The Wrong Side of the Run

 

At the tip of Africa two oceans collide, creating one of the most productive

eco-systems on the planet. Here, one of the largest shoals of fish known to man form the basis of two food chains that split and extend for 100's of miles.

After the sardines part at Cape Agulhas, each shoal passes it's own critical point. On the west coast of Africa, this is Malgas Island, a traditionally energetic hub of life dominated by the presence of the supreme sardine hunter, the Cape gannet.

On the opposing coast, the shoals pass Bird Island, the eastern equivalent of Malgas.

Circumstances on the two bird colonies are very different; on the west we see dwindling numbers of sardine, whilst on the east, Bird Island is the inverse.

While the Malgas Gannets battle to raise chicks amid skirmishes by Kelp gulls and hungry seals, the Bird island gannets move to intercept huge volumes of sardines.

What transpires is one of the greatest marine feeding events on the planet, and in these two parallel scenarios, we see how one environment is mutating under pressure, while the other experiences a bumper season.

Will the gannets of Malgas island adapt to their changing world? Can the disappearing sardine stock survive, and in turn support the wide array of marine predators that rely heavily on it.

The breath-taking landscape, action and predation sequences are strengthened by solid natural history behaviour with an environmental comment.

Schedule

Director: Graeme Duane

Graeme is an experienced director of photography and has over 20 international documentary and natural history titles to his credit. He has had an extremely close working relationship with National Geographic Television since 1997. Titles of his include episodes of National Geographic's "Dangerous Encounters", "Great Migrations", "Megafish - Amazon" to name but a few. In his current role as creative director he has written and produced a 26 part series for Earth-Touch entitled "Epic Earth" and just completed the newest addition to Earth-Touch's slate of programs, "Gannets - The Wrong Side of the Run".

His area of talent is not only limited to writing and producing. Graeme is also one of the most experienced underwater cameramen in the world and his fascination with the sea translates beautifully into the footage he produces.

South Africa
2010
50 Min.
German
7
Director: Graeme Duane
Script: Stefania Muller, Suzy Quasnichka
Cinematography: Graeme Duane, Barry Skinstad, Grant Brokensha, Paul Myburgh, Pierre Minnie, Boris von Schoenebeck
Editing: Ruzzn Botha
Music: Dave Birch
Narrator: Dave Birch
Editor: Graeme Duane
Nominations: Best Marine Film 2011
Website URL: www.earth-touch.com