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Letter From...: The Coelacanth

19/09/2009

The Coelacanth

BBC World Service - Letter From..., The Coelacanth

How a fish caused an international incident.

Veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough recalls how a fish caused an international incident.

Veteran British broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough takes us back to 1952 when, as a TV producer, he was dispatched to report on a fish that was causing a diplomatic incident. 

The fish was the Coelacanth – a supposedly extinct animal that was thought to be the fish ancestor of all creatures with backbones that, later in evolution, were to emerge and walk on land. 

Sir David describes the attempts to film this ancient creature in the ocean for his BBC series, Life on Earth. On that particular occasion he failed, but a future mission was more successful. 

He reveals how his programme became the first on television to film the Coelacanth alive.

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