MISSION: SUPERFISH
Marine biologist and award-winning filmmaker Rick Rosenthal set out to capture on film the biggest, fastest, most dangerous gamefish in the sea — the ancient creatures known as billfish.
The largest of all billfish is the marlin. They top speeds of 60 miles an hour on migrations that can span 9,000 miles. The largest, always female, weigh in at over 1,000 pounds, and are known as “granders.” Ernest Hemingway immortalized the grander in The Old Man and the Sea, the story of an elderly fisherman locked in a life and death struggle with this apex predator. To Hemingway’s great disappointment, he himself never landed a grander, although his novella captures the impact of this huge and graceful creature.
Rosenthal’s pursuit of these exotic fish unfolds in NATURE’s Superfish. Two years in the making, Rosenthal’s documentary travels to the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans as well as the Caribbean Sea in pursuit of these giants of the deep. In one extraordinary scene, off Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, Rosenthal is shown swimming with a stunning giant female marlin and two courting males.
Throughout his journey, Rosenthal encounters commercial fisherman, anglers, and researchers, who are also out looking for billfish. The search has become increasingly difficult for everyone due to over-fishing of billfish and their prey, as well as the environmental degradation of the oceans, which has resulted in a dramatic decline in their populations. The trajectory of population decline in all large fish has been precipitously steep, estimated at 90 percent within the last half century.
In the 1950’s, sports fishermen — like those who flocked to Cabo Blanco, Peru in the heyday of “Marlin Boulevard” — were known for testing themselves against marlin with rods and reels. Today, some fisherman are defending billfish against commercial fishing fleets that, while going after the seafood we eat, kill these increasingly rare sport fish in their nets as so called accidental by-catch. In major part because of the absence of regulations that limit such by-catch, marlin and other billfish populations continue to decline. In the case of marlin, some anglers, frustrated with governmental inaction, have pressed for local bans on the sale of such fish, and have sought commitments from local restaurants not to serve marlin.
Rosenthal’s difficult quest to encounter a giant marlin in the wild, rewarded by his exceptional footage of this fabulous creature, not only offers a rare aesthetic and learning experience for viewers but may serve to awaken people to the need to preserve these remarkable billfish in their native habitats.
To order a copy of Superfish, please visit the NATURE Shop.
Online content for Superfish was originally posted May 2008.
(33 votes)
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What stunningly beautiful and unusual marine imagery Rick Rosenthal has caught of a baby sailfish, as well as adult swordfish and marlin. A MUST SEE for any fisherman or admirer of marine life. Just incredible.
will this be available on DVD
This was a great show, I really enjoyed it (and not just because my name is Marlin!) I would love to see a book of this show. For that matter I am a librarian and I have found that there is a complete lack of children’s and popular books about billfish in general. We had a school class recently do reports on marlin and had to refer them to reference and Internet sources almost exclusively.
What a wonderful experience you had. I am from Thailand and live in Florida right now. Do you know that Sailfish and Marlin live in Southeast Asia too?
cooooooooooooooooool! 101!
since a long time i´ve decided not to eat aminals from the sea. i am not a vegetarian but there is no need to consume wild born animals. this wonderful and let me say lyric documentation moved me a lot and told me that this decision was the only right one. thank you very much for these wonderful pictures and this wonderful story! go on, more of these!
I enjoyed watching these overwhelming scenes in the blue water. I´ve seen Rick Rosenthals underwater experiences here on ARD (german television). Realy great. I´m a diver since 1993 and I must contribute that I can feel the reduction of big fish in our oceans while going on dive trips over the world. If everyone does think a little bit more about what he eats every day and where the food comes from, future human generations possibly get a chance what sea life looked like 20 years ago. Read Hans Hass (becoming 90 years these days) and see what he observed in the late 1940s when going for a simple dive trip in the Red Sea and compare with todays situation……..
[...] fact, billfish are so popular that they’re disappearing. Estimates are that their populations have been reduced by 90 percent over the last 50 years. Even 10 years ago, billfish were labeled as “fully exploited” [...]
[...] Filed under: Uncategorized — alanszlosek @ 7:14 am The PBS Nature episode Superfish was enlightening on how much overfishing has occurred for sail-fish types: marlin, sailfish, etc. [...]
the most beautiful fish for me, billfish and to fish bill fishing,congratulation,lets take care the nature.
Cool!
What a great experience to see those Giant, graceful fish and also the great lessons of overfishing.
Thanks Rick, for this wonderful documentary. It is so personal and intimate. The fish are fear and awe inspiring. And the footage is incredible and moving. This project is very well done.
It didnt show last night! How can I be sure not to miss it again? My cable menu often doesnt line up with the actual shows…
I loved seeeing this fish in action, so gracefull. We as people need to do more to insure this wild animal lives on forever. Awesome.
KDelphi – To find out when NATURE is on in your area, you can check your local listings by clicking the Schedule link at the top of the site.
As a long-time catch & release fisherman (bill fish included)and a fan of Nature,congratulations are in order for this beautiful ,informative and enlighteneing episode.
I nearly fell out of my chair when I say the hotel at Cabo Blanco in this story. My brothers and I stayed there in 1973 for 3 months. We have no pictures of our trip as the only camera was stolen. I started watching the show at that point so I don’t know what was said or shown before taht. Cabo Blanco has a very unique history. There were walls full of pictures of prominant people from all over the world. The fins were still on the posts leadin up to the hotel. If anyone else has any info or pictures of Cabo Blanco please let me know thanks
[...] was watching a repeat of the PBS special Superfish last night, and they mentioned something I didn’t know – pilot whales and Rizzo’s [...]
Coolest documentary ever! So informative and educational, I was blown away by all the footage. Thanks
The greed of people are killing some of the worlds most stunning fish. Loved the documentary.
Watching “Superfish” second time this week–just came back from Baltimore Aquarium, excellent closer to the evening, my bf loving it too, baby sailfish unexpected bonus! learned so much and outside of Marlin, didn’t give cousins much thought, their just beautiful
–Twittering link to site, hoping others catch your show who already haven’t, we needs to relearn our human connection and importance to the sea–it covers 2/3 the earth!!
ABSOLUTLY WONDERFUL, ALL GRANDER TYPE FISH SHOULD BE PROTECTED, EVEN THE GIANT HALIBUT I CHARTER FOR IN ALASKA…TIP OF THE HAT TO RICK…
This was an awesome show. If you’re curious about the Cabo Blanco Club check out the SI issue from their vault (pg. 50 on the viewer):
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/edb/reader.html?magID=SI&issueDate=19560319&mode=reader_vault
Just a beautiful Docu! on the Sword fish! Is or will there be a dvd of the special? I hope so I have several friends who are salivating in the hopes for a DVD of this beautiful show. Could you possibly contact me via email if a DVD is available!!!!!
RC Eades
New Bern NC
For DVDs of this and other NATURE programs, please click the “shop” link at the top of the site.
[...] Superfish is an epsiode of PBS’ Nature about one man’s search for billfish such as the monster immortalized in Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. What he finds is horrifying depletion of the world’s swordfish, sailfish and giant marlins. Disturbing. Masterful photography. [...]
A superb Documentary! I was awestruck by the photography. Just a stunning visual experience. Thank you Nature!
Does anyone know where I can download the English subtitle of this film? Thanks
Rick, Thank-you…Thank-you…Thank-you. Absolutely breathtaking!!!
I have fished for billfish, and I am a scuba diver. Billfish move great distances at great speed–I am simply amazed at the footage Rick was able to capture. Fantastic job Rick! I liked the DVD so much, that after the first viewing, I immediately played it again, the second time with my wife and children watching. Great conservation message also.