Blue Reef Adventures

The dolphin has assumed almost mythical status. In this episode Peter and Stefania ride the waves off the South African coast to explore the watery world of the bottlenose dolphins, learn their habits and listen to their songs. These gregarious mammals exhibit remarkable intelligence and have complex communication and social systems.

The Great Rift Valley cleaves a deep furrow along the length of the African continent, creating immense lakes and culminating in the deep, narrow Red Sea. Used as a convenient trade route to the Far East for European and Arab seafarers, the Red Sea has seen many a ship floundering and coming to rest in a watery grave.

Peter Lmberti and Stefania Muller are drawn to the remote Bazaruto Archipelago off Mozambique in the hope of finding and filming the giant sleepy sharks - so called because of their extraordinary ability to breathe while at rest. Large numbers of these rarely seen sharks are rumored to inhabit the gullies and caves that riddle the reefs around the warm, shallow waters of the Archipelago.

This episode finds an unnamed and undived reef five miles east of Cabo San Sebastian. Peter Lamberti and Stefania Muller find some of the ocean's most fierce and elusive wildlife, and more sharks than they had ever seen before. Normally found during daylight hours, well beyond the reach of scuba divers, frisky and curious silvertip sharks show an unnerving interest in the divers.

The coral reefs off the islands of the Comores have ranked among the most breathtaking and magnificent that they have seen. But this once remarkable underwater world, teeming with fish and brilliantly colored coral has become bleached and lifeless. A once prolific eco-system is noticeably devoid of life - an effect of pollution and global warming. Peter Lamberti and Stefania Muller have documented the changes.

Turtles are among the most captivating ocean dwellers, yet their existence is in the balance. Their fight for survival begins before the small hatchlings break through their shells. The eggs are at the mercy of the winds and the tides, and are scavenged by jackals, red ants, monitor lizards and humans. Peter Lamberti and Stefania Muller visit the Maputaland Coast of South Africa to film this extraordinary story.

No other living creature has evoked such fear and awe as the Great White Shark. This episode travels to the southernmost tip of Africa to dive the treacherous waters of the Cape of Good Hope and delve into the life of one or our most powerful, mysterious and misunderstood predators.

The richest diamond deposits on earth are found in southern Africa. Over the course of millions of years, some of these diamonds have been swept away by the Orange River and carried into the sea where they lay waiting like a sunken treasure. But the divers who attempt to harvest these riches have one of the most dangerous professions on earth.

In the grassy highlands of South Africa lies one of the deepest freshwater caves in the world. Nearly 1,000ft deep, one man has spent 15 years exploring its black waters. Now, he attempts to do what no one has ever done before: scuba dive to the bottom.

Between the sands of Arabia and the Sahara desert lies a true oasis, a thin finger of water separating Africa from Asia. Here in the Red Sea, Peter Lamberti and Stefania Muller dive in search of enormous schools of hammerhead sharks.

With its sinister hunched back and a menacing mouthful of teeth, the ragged tooth shark is a fearsome looking predator. In colder waters, this could make for a dangerous encounter, but in the warm waters of the Natal reefs, the ragged tooth shark undergoes a dramatic change of personality.

Along the east coast of Africa, the largest fish in the sea follows the plankton rich current. Moving with the stately speed and grace befitting its enormous stature, the whale shark seems to be following a never before documented migration route. Peter and Stefania swim with the giants to uncover this little-known species.

Strung like pearls across the turquoise sea, the 2,000 islands of the Maldives are a diver's paradise. The ornate eagle ray, with its dolphin-like head and unique markings, is said to inhabit these reefs, but has never before been filmed in this part of the world.