Fishing Alone in Shark-Infested Waters
In Fishing Alone in Shark-Infested Waters, host Simon Reeve joins Bari for night fishing in the pitch-black waters, where Bari must go if he has an unlucky day of fishing. Simon feels nervous about the darkness and the sharks lurking in the water. Bari faces danger each time he fishes alone, but he only takes what he needs to feed his family. Unfortunately, commercial fishing has harmed the area, making it harder for Bari to catch enough fish during the day and forcing him to take these risky trips at night. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Wilderness With Simon Reeve, an epic adventure into the heart of Earth’s last great wild areas, where nature is at its most beautiful and fragile
An epic adventure into the unknown. Simon Reeve's toughest journey yet — into the heart of Earth's last great wild areas, where nature is at its most beautiful and fragile. Learn more.
Lesson Express
Q: How does the darkness of night affect Simon’s perception of the coral reefs and the fish?
A: Simon describes the coral reefs as becoming "ghostly" at night. The fish hide to avoid the sharks that come out in the dark; this creates a much more eerie and dangerous environment compared with the bright, beautiful daytime waters.
Q: What role do sharks play in the challenges Bari faces when fishing at night?
A: Sharks are a major danger for Bari because they hunt at night. This increases the risks of fishing alone in the dark, as Bari has to be cautious not only of the darkness but also of the sharks that lurk in the waters.
Q: What might be the long-term consequences for the community if commercial fishing continues at the current rate?
A: If commercial fishing continues to deplete the fish population, it could make it even harder for families like Bari’s to survive. Overfishing could lead to the collapse of the local ecosystem, leaving fishermen with fewer resources and possibly forcing them to take even more dangerous risks to provide for their families.
You Might Also Like
Kenya’s freshwater fish face extreme changes as seasonal waters recede, but the African lungfish has adaptations that allow it to survive in shallow, oxygen-poor pools. This clip from BBC’s Evolution episode "The Elephant" follows the lungfish’s ability to breathe air and use its fleshy fins to move, offering a glimpse into the evolutionary transition from life in water to life on land.
The video traces this transition through ancient fish such as Eusthenopteron, whose features foreshadowed the limbs and lungs of early land vertebrates. These adaptations established the tetrapod body plan — the four-limbed blueprint shared by elephants, humans, birds, whales, and countless other animals, despite the remarkable ways evolution has modified it for different environments.
In the Devonian, the oceans were filled with predators, making it dangerous for fish to protect their vulnerable eggs. This clip from BBC’s Evolution episode "The Ostrich" explores how some fish with strong, fleshy-lobed fins may have gained an advantage by venturing into isolated pools and streams where their eggs were safer from aquatic predators.
Over generations, those fins became increasingly adapted for movement on land, with bones, joints, and digits eventually forming the limbs of early land vertebrates. Fossils such as Seymouria reveal the emergence of the familiar five-digit hand, connecting the anatomy of ancient amphibious animals to the limbs of elephants, ostriches, lizards, and humans today.
The evolution of jaws transformed how the ancestors of bats and other vertebrates could feed and survive. This clip from BBC’s Evolution episode The Bat follows the ancient fish Metaspriggina, whose unusual front gill arches may have been an early step toward the development of jaws, allowing its descendants to move beyond filter-feeding and actively bite and capture prey.
Because the cartilage involved in early jaw evolution rarely survives in fossils, scientists also look to developing embryos for clues. The video shows how the same genes that control the formation of gill arches also help shape jaws, providing evidence of their shared evolutionary origin and showing how a structure once involved in breathing and feeding was transformed into one of the most important innovations in vertebrate evolution.
In A Real Life Finding Nemo, Sir David Attenborough explores the unique relationship between the clownfish and the sea anemone. Often poisonous to other fish, the anemone serves as a protective home for the clownfish. The male clownfish repays the favor by keeping the anemone clean and removing debris. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Blue Planet II, a natural history series that explores the world's oceans, the animals that live in them, and the threats they face, using modern filming techniques and equipment to capture previously unseen areas of the ocean.
Kenya’s freshwater fish face extreme changes as seasonal waters recede, but the African lungfish has adaptations that allow it to survive in shallow, oxygen-poor pools. This clip from BBC’s Evolution episode "The Elephant" follows the lungfish’s ability to breathe air and use its fleshy fins to move, offering a glimpse into the evolutionary transition from life in water to life on land.
The video traces this transition through ancient fish such as Eusthenopteron, whose features foreshadowed the limbs and lungs of early land vertebrates. These adaptations established the tetrapod body plan — the four-limbed blueprint shared by elephants, humans, birds, whales, and countless other animals, despite the remarkable ways evolution has modified it for different environments.
In the Devonian, the oceans were filled with predators, making it dangerous for fish to protect their vulnerable eggs. This clip from BBC’s Evolution episode "The Ostrich" explores how some fish with strong, fleshy-lobed fins may have gained an advantage by venturing into isolated pools and streams where their eggs were safer from aquatic predators.
Over generations, those fins became increasingly adapted for movement on land, with bones, joints, and digits eventually forming the limbs of early land vertebrates. Fossils such as Seymouria reveal the emergence of the familiar five-digit hand, connecting the anatomy of ancient amphibious animals to the limbs of elephants, ostriches, lizards, and humans today.
The evolution of jaws transformed how the ancestors of bats and other vertebrates could feed and survive. This clip from BBC’s Evolution episode The Bat follows the ancient fish Metaspriggina, whose unusual front gill arches may have been an early step toward the development of jaws, allowing its descendants to move beyond filter-feeding and actively bite and capture prey.
Because the cartilage involved in early jaw evolution rarely survives in fossils, scientists also look to developing embryos for clues. The video shows how the same genes that control the formation of gill arches also help shape jaws, providing evidence of their shared evolutionary origin and showing how a structure once involved in breathing and feeding was transformed into one of the most important innovations in vertebrate evolution.
In A Real Life Finding Nemo, Sir David Attenborough explores the unique relationship between the clownfish and the sea anemone. Often poisonous to other fish, the anemone serves as a protective home for the clownfish. The male clownfish repays the favor by keeping the anemone clean and removing debris. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Blue Planet II, a natural history series that explores the world's oceans, the animals that live in them, and the threats they face, using modern filming techniques and equipment to capture previously unseen areas of the ocean.