River Monsters
River Monsters | |
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Poster from Season One | |
Genre |
Documentary Fishing |
Directed by |
Stef Dijkstra Charlotte Jones Barny Revill Luke Wiles Lucy d'Auvergne Duncan Chard Stephen Gooder Alex Parkinson Dominic Weston Ben Roy Doug Hope Charlier Bingham Daniel Huertas Daniel Rasmussen |
Presented by | Jeremy Wade |
Composer(s) |
Timo Baker Audio Network Musicotopia |
Country of origin |
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Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 8 |
No. of episodes | 51 + 39 Specials + 2 Additional episodes (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Harry Marshall Laura Marshall Lisa Bosak Lucas |
Producer(s) |
Andie Clare Luke Wiles Doug MacKay Hope |
Running time |
40 minutes (Original version) 50 minutes (Extended cut) 90 minutes (Some opening and finale episodes) |
Production company(s) | Icon Films, Discovery Channel, ITV Studios |
Distributor | ITV Studios Global Entertainment |
Release | |
Original network | Animal Planet, ITV, Discovery Channel, Discovery MAX |
Original release | April 5, 2009 – Present |
External links | |
Animal Planet Site | |
Icon Films Site |
River Monsters is a British and American wildlife documentary television programme produced for Animal Planet by Icon Films of Bristol, United Kingdom. It is hosted by extreme angler and biologist Jeremy Wade, who travels around the globe in search of the most fearsome freshwater killers. Looking for clues, eyewitnesses, and stories about people who were dragged underwater by these vicious predators, he tries to catch the biggest specimens and then release them back into the wild. His aim is to save these rare creatures from extinction and to help people understand the truth behind the horrific attacks on humans.
River Monsters became one of the most-watched, most successful programmes in Animal Planet's history, and one of the most-viewed series on Discovery Channel too. In the US, only the shortened version is shown and some animals Jeremy shows are simply cut off. These missing scenes are shown only when it premieres on ITV (originally on Sundays on ITV1) in the UK.
Series preview
River Monsters travels worldwide with Suffolk-born British[1] host, biologist, adventurer and extreme angler Jeremy Wade to explore rivers and lakes to uncover the creatures behind local folklore and harrowing tales of monster fish. The show has taken viewers to Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, Scotland, Iceland, Norway, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, India, Japan, Russia, Suriname, Brazil, Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa, the Republic of Congo, Mongolia, Guyana, and the American states of Alaska, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Vermont.
In the first season, Wade's weekly quest had him in search of piranha, goonch catfish (during his investigation of the Kali River goonch attacks), alligator gar, wels catfish, arapaima, piraíba, and a freshwater species of shark, the bull shark. All of them are supposedly deadly creatures shrouded with mystery. The show also focuses on explaining the creatures' feeding habits, behavior and conservation status. Rebroadcasts of the episodes with captions showing behind the scenes commentary from the host about the particular episode can also be seen on both Animal Planet and Discovery Channel. These episodes are going by the title River Monsters: Unhooked.
The second season of River Monsters began airing on 24 April 2010, although the first episode, titled "Demon Fish" first appeared on Discovery Channel on 28 March 2010. This season consists 7 episodes and takes viewers to the River Congo and other far-and-wide locations. In the episode, "Death Ray", Wade catches a pregnant female giant freshwater stingray, the largest fish he has ever caught. It later gives birth to two pups while it was being examined by Wade and a team of biologists. This season features the white sturgeon, Wade's another gigantic catch (although he said it's his biggest catch ever, the stingray he caught in an earlier episode was even bigger, so "Alaskan Horror" was probably filmed earlier).
Episodes
Season One (2009)
Episode | Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
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1 | "Piranha" | 5 April 2009 | 5 May 2010 |
![]() Red-bellied piranha Jeremy Wade journeys to the heart of Brazil, following reports in which a bus crashes into the Amazon River, and all the passengers are eaten by a pack of red-bellied piranhas. He investigates this and other stories in order to determine if the piranha really deserve its reputation and what exactly triggers a feeding frenzy. During his trip to remote regions of the Amazon river basin, he finds out that the bloodthirsty piranha is just as predator as prey. Finally he hears a chilling story about a child fallen into the river and after a few seconds, only the skeleton was found. He finally uncovers the truth that piranhas really can be dangerous to humans, but usually in the dry season when other food is scarce. Featured animals
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2 | "Killer Catfish" | 12 April 2009 | 23 May 2010 |
Mugger crocodile Jeremy arrives at the Kali River in India, where a number of mysterious drownings have occurred. He investigates the possibilities of the culprit being whirlpools or crocodiles, but determines neither fit. Wade eventually finds out of a little-known catfish species that can grow to human size or bigger, the goonch, also known as the giant devil catfish. He reasons that, since funeral pyres are done at the shore of the river, the fish feed off the burnt human remains. This would allow them to reach man-eating size, as well as giving them a taste of people. Jeremy then must face off against a large goonch, which may prove there are monsters of these species ready to eat people. When going after this fish Jeremy spends weeks trying to catch it, but the time eventually came when he had to take a risk and catch this elusive fish. This was the first ever episode of River Monsters to be made, but it only became a "Bonus episode" on the Region 1 DVDs and never released in the UK. Probably this is because the idea of making a whole series on monstrous fish came after shooting this episode (as explained in the 2014 special "Killer Mysteries"). Featured animals
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3 | "Alligator Gar" | 19 April 2009 | 9 May 2010 |
Alligator gar Jeremy travels to the Trinity River in Texas, USA to discover the truth behind the alligator gar, a massive predator blamed for horrifying attacks on people. Reports claim this fish is more dangerous than a man-eating shark. With huge jaws and two rows of needle-sharp teeth, the gar proves an elusive opponent. Throughout the years this fish was in the centre of humanity's misunderstanding. Large populations were killed by electric gar destroyers all around the country, bringing this huge animal to near extinction. Bowfishermen also kill this fish with spears (leaving the fish to die in painful ways as seen in some internet videos), but Jeremy wants to catch one gar alive and release it back safely. Finally hooking a large gar, Jeremy finds out once and for all if the alligator gar deserves its reputation as a river monster. Featured animals
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4 | "European Maneater" | 26 April 2009 | 26 May 2010 |
![]() Wels catfish The wels catfish is one of the largest catfish in the world. Medieval reports claim it is an aggressive man eater that will swallow people whole, even small children were found in one's stomach according to a legend. After new reports surface of attacks in Berlin, Germany, Jeremy Wade dives deep into the mystery of these fish. He finds out that these giants attack when they are protecting their nests in the breeding season. His investigation later leads him to Spain, where a group of catfish were introduced into the warm watered Rio Ebro. Numerous factors led to these creatures taking over the ecosystem and possibly growing to man-eating size, for example because of the fishermen's 'catch and release' policy. There, Jeremy finds that these river monsters have no fear of man, and faces a potential maneater. Featured animals
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5 | "Amazon Assassins" | 3 May 2009 | 28 April 2010 |
![]() Arapaima The Amazon has a huge amount of river monsters. Anacondas, caimans, piranhas and jaguars all call this place home. Years ago, Jeremy Wade travelled here looking for the arapaima, a 10-foot long fish that has been known to ram predators with the force of a car crash. The trip resulted in Jeremy feeling the full force of one of these blows as one arapaima's tail hit his chest. Now Jeremy has returned to Brazil to once again face off against this fish and determine if the arapaima deserves to be on the Amazon's already large list of monsters. Journeying to the few spots where fishing for these fish is allowed, he encounters an arapaima farm where the fish do something surprising. Jeremy then hears stories of the Amazon's other killers, the caiman. He searches for these, as well as a mysterious legend with its roots buried deep in folklore. Then, after finding the perfect spot, he finally comes face to face with the legendary giant, whose body could become a living missile. Featured animals
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6 | "Amazon Flesh Eaters" | 10 May 2009 | 2 May 2010 |
![]() Redtail catfish Following a report of a fisherman swallowed whole, Jeremy travels to South America in search of the Amazon's largest catfish, the piraíba. Arriving there, Wade not only tries to catch this monster, but discovers that it belongs to a whole family of Amazonian killers. He catches as many catfish species as he can to prove that these whiskered predators really are the ultimate monsters of this place. His mission is to try and catch the three largest catfishes until he encounters with the smallest ones. He finds the candiru, a tiny blood-sucking catfish that has entered a man's body in the most horrifying of places, and the candiru-acú, a catfish that swarms around and drills holes in dead or dying animals, including humans, eating them from the inside out and leaving only the skin and bones. Discovering the horrifying deeds of these fish only pushes him even further, until he faces off with the giant head of the murderous catfish family, 'the mother of all catfishes', the piraíba. Featured animals
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7 | "Freshwater Shark" | 17 May 2009 | 12 May 2010 |
![]() Bull shark Sharks are perhaps the most dangerous and feared of all fish, but these predators are confined to the oceans. Or maybe not... The bull shark, the most dangerous and aggressive shark, has been known to swim miles up rivers. Jeremy follows reports of attacks in rivers near the most populated shores of Australia to find out why and how far these fish swim upstream. He traces the trail of blood left by these monsters from bays and lagoons to rivers, until he finally zeros in on the lair of these sea monsters. After seeing the evidence that these predators can even attack race horses and drag people underwater in completely fresh water, he realizes that he faces a creature even deadlier than a great white shark. While fishing for one, Jeremy finds something even more shocking and terrifying than a fully grown shark. Featured animals
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Season Two (2010)
Episode | Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
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8 | "Demon Fish" | 28 March 2010 | 16 August 2010 |
Goliath tigerfish Jeremy travels deep into the jungles of the Congo in search of a little-known predator that may be the most terrifying monster of all: the fearsome Goliath tigerfish. This creature combines everything that made all previous river monsters deadly, and even more. Growing to 6 feet long with the jaws and teeth of a crocodile and an attitude of a shark, this beast is covered in armor plating and thick muscle. Basically a giant piranha, the tigerfish is believed to be responsible for gruesome deaths on humans, both in and out of water. The search for the elusive tigerfish pushes Jeremy to his mental limit as he uses everything he knows as a fisherman, as well as some luck from a witch doctor, to find this terrifying monster and uncover the truth behind a number of violent attacks. After several unsuccessful bites, he finally lands a true monster, but then he enters a dilemma to share this fish with the locals or let it swim away. Featured animals
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9 | "Death Ray" | 25 April 2010 | 20 August 2010 |
![]() Giant freshwater stingray Jeremy Wade ventures to the Mekong River in Thailand to find what may be the largest freshwater fish: the giant freshwater stingray. Armed with a 10 inch, venom-coated barb, this fish grows to 16 feet long and its venom has no known antidote. Unlike most South American freshwater stingrays (which usually don't get very big and deadly), this creature is a true monster. This behemoth can nearly glue itself to the bottom of the river, and once Jeremy hooks one, it may be his biggest challenge yet. In this adventure he also meets other giants of Southeast Asia: the gentle Mekong giant catfish, a close relative of the well-known iridescent shark. The giant barb he caught in this trip only appears on some photographs made during filming, but not in the actual episode or the extended cut. Featured animals
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10 | "Killer Snakehead" | 2 May 2010 | 9 August 2010 |
![]() Northern snakehead Journeying to Florida in the US, Jeremy encounters the invasive bullseye snakehead, which were introduced to the state from Southeast Asia. With razor-sharp teeth and the abilities to breathe air and "walk" on land, these aggressive predators soon spawned numerous rumors of being man-eaters. Proving to be incredibly violent and vicious, Wade gets to the bottom of their monstrous rumors, only to be unconvinced of their lethality. That is, until he learns of another species, the giant snakehead, which is reported to be the largest and most dangerous of all the snakeheads. Meanwhile, he travels up to Illinois and gets a taste of how much of an impact an invasive species such as the silver carp can have on humans. Arriving at Khao Laem Dam along the River Kwai in Thailand, Wade uncovers stories of attacks, one being fatal. With no luck in reeling one specimen in with a line, he then dives deep into a murky river right in the middle of a school of young snakehead, hoping to find their murderous parents. Featured animals
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11 | "Congo Killer" | 9 May 2010 | 6 August 2010 |
![]() Marbled lungfish Jeremy Wade travels to the Congo once again, the only river to ever defeat him. He had once travelled there, only to catch nothing. Now he's back, investigating reports of fishermen being dragged to their death by a malevolent river spirit. Wade suspects the Suni or Vundu catfish and the Kamba catfish, which are known to grow to large sizes. But he begins to wonder if there are any monstrous sized fish out there in these waters. While staying with local villagers, he faces their superstitious beliefs because they blame his arrival for the disappearance of the chief's brother. Even mosquitoes are deadly here. In the past, Jeremy nearly lost his life to malaria. After using traditional Congolese fishing methods, hearing of how one fisherman died, and finally facing a catfish, Jeremy begins to wonder if the real danger isn't the fish itself. Featured animals
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12 | "Alaskan Horror" | 16 May 2010 | 19 August 2010 |
![]() White sturgeon Deep in the Alaskan wilderness, Lake Iliamna is supposedly the home of a monster. Reports claim it grows 20 feet long and is responsible for the disappearance of many fishermen. Investigating the identity of this creature, Jeremy faces cold-water fishing for the first time during the series. He investigates the possibility of the monster being a pike or a beluga whale, but none would match the description. Wade then tries to find out a possible food source: salmon. This results in the first salmon he has on the end of his line, only to have it stolen by a bear. After hearing an eyewitness' encounter, Jeremy is able to determine the identity of the culprit: a white sturgeon. These fish grow to 20 feet long and are known to leap out of the water, which could result in people going missing. Fishing for sturgeon, Wade soon faces what may be the biggest fish he's ever caught (although this episode was shot before "Death Ray", which features his biggest catch in this season). Featured animals
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13 | "Rift Valley Killers" | 23 May 2010 | 19 August 2010 |
![]() Nile crocodile and Nile tilapia In the heart of Africa's Rift Valley, lives the Nile perch, Africa's largest freshwater bony fish. Growing to more than 6 feet long (according to some fishermen's photographs), this fish is considered a prize and is what many people brave countless perils to catch. Jeremy travels to the birthplace of humanity and the oldest and most dangerous fishing spot he ever visited to find this legendary creature. He faces off against deadly crocodiles, even deadlier hippos, and killer gangs to find the perch, and is amazed at the daily dangers people face every day in order to catch this fish. He then takes on these perils, even risks his life in order to land a monster perch. Featured animals
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14 | "Hidden Predator" | 30 May 2010 | 12 August 2010 |
Bull shark One year ago, Jeremy Wade was investigating the bull shark in Australia and caught a small pup, proving that the sharks were breeding in the local rivers. Around the same time, a group of scientists in South Africa made a shocking discovery: the largest bull shark ever caught, and it was found in a river. Now the team is back on business, and they've brought Jeremy with them in hopes of finding out if this was a horrifying fluke, or if the sharks have made the river their homes. Jeremy discovers that the largely populated river is full of sharks, yet nobody has ever been attacked. Wade realizes the reason why these fish are in this river as well as why there have been no attacks, and lands two of his biggest catches yet. Featured animals
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Special | "Killer Catfish (Extended Cut)" | 31 May 2010 | TBA |
Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle Jeremy arrives at the Kali River in India, where a number of mysterious drownings have occurred. He investigates the possibilities of the culprit being whirlpools or crocodiles, but determines neither fit. Wade eventually finds out of a little-known catfish species that can grow to human size or bigger, the goonch, also known as the giant devil catfish. He reasons that, since funeral pyres are done at the shore of the river, the fish feed off the burnt human remains. This would allow them to reach man-eating size, as well as giving them a taste of people. First he must enter goonch territory, when he faces smaller individuals in a national park and film them underwater with a professional assistant. After catching smaller ones, Jeremy then must face off against a large goonch which may prove there are monster goonch ready to eat people. Believing to have proven his point, he prepares to leave. Casting his line one last time, Jeremy hooks an even bigger monster and has a brief encounter with what may just be the Kali killer. This version of the episode was never released in home media. Not featured animals in the original episode: golden mahseer, Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle, gharial, South Asian river dolphin, Indian flapshell turtle. Featured animals
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Season Three (2011)
Episode | Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
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Special | "The Giants" | 6 March 2011 | TBA |
Biologist and extreme fisherman Jeremy Wade offers a retrospective of his harrowing attempts to reel in some of the largest freshwater fish in the world, including a man-eating catfish and a massive stingray in Thailand. | |||
Special | "The Deadliest" | 3 April 2011 | TBA |
![]() Giant grouper Jeremy Wade tells of the most dangerous of all the river monsters he's ever faced from the previous seasons. He relives the most gruesome, terrifying and shocking encounters with these creatures. Episodes featured
Featured animals
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15 | "The Mutilator" | 10 April 2011 | 29 May 2011 |
Red-bellied pacu Deep in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, two separate deaths have attracted the media: two men were found to have bled to death in the Sepik river as a result of a "ball cutter" attacking villagers. Jeremy Wade travels to this unexplored river to uncover the creature responsible for the savage attacks. While fishing for a possible food source, Wade makes an unusual discovery. A pacu from the Amazon river. These fish are related to the piranha and are from South America, where they use their strange, almost human-like teeth to actually crack hard-shelled nuts and fruits and eat them. Jeremy makes a terrible discovery about the seemingly-placid red-bellied pacu living in the Sepik. These animals here can actually have a taste for human flesh. Featured animals
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16 | "Flesh Ripper" | 17 April 2011 | 24 May 2011 |
Featured animals: New Zealand longfin eel ![]() New Zealand longfin eel | |||
17 | "Silent Assassin" | 24 April 2011 | 26 May 2011 |
Featured animals: short-tailed river stingray, speckled piranha, tiger surubi, golden dorado Argentina's Parana River, home to the short-tail river stingray | |||
18 | "Chainsaw Predator" | 1 May 2011 | 28 May 2011 |
Featured animals: freshwater sawfish, bull shark, barramundi, saltwater crocodile, black mangrove crab ![]() Largetooth sawfish | |||
Special | "The Most Bizarre" | 8 May 2011 | TBA |
![]() Amazon river dolphin Recalling an encounter with a mysterious animal he sighted on the Amazon river, Jeremy Wade relives his encounters with the world's most bizarre freshwater fish, and reveals the identity of his mystery creature. Episodes featured
Featured animals
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19 | "Electric Executioner" | 15 May 2011 | 23 May 2011 |
Featured animals: electric eel, black piranha, Bigtooth river stingray, redtail catfish, marbled swamp eel, common trahira, fidalgo. ![]() Electric eel | |||
20 | "Cold Blooded Horror" | 22 May 2011 | 25 May 2011 |
Featured animals: Japanese giant salamander, Chinese giant salamander, Chinese/Japanese hybrid salamander, giant Lake Biwa catfish, Amur catfish, tiger pufferfish, turtle ![]() Japanese giant salamander | |||
Special | "River Monsters Goes Tribal" | 29 May 2011 | TBA |
![]() Gray reef shark Featured animals:fringelip mullet, gray reef shark, crocodile needlefish Jeremy Wade travels to the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific to put his fishing skills to the test. Living with an island tribe with ancient customs, he learns of their traditional and even unusual fishing methods using bows, vines, and spiderwebs. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway's novel, The Old Man and the Sea, read nearly four decades earlier, Jeremy finally achieves his lifelong dream of landing a shark simply with a baited handline...and in a dugout canoe, no less! | |||
21 | "Jungle Killer" | 30 May 2011 | 1 June 2011 |
Featured animals: giant wolf fish, redeye piranha, redtail catfish, common trahira, black piranha, spectacled caiman Giant wolf fish |
Season Four (2012)
No. in series | Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
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22 | "American Killers" | 1 April 2012 | 21 May 2012 |
Featured animals: bull shark, Atlantic tarpon, Atlantic Goliath grouper, alligator gar, longnose gar, American paddlefish, blue catfish, flathead catfish, channel catfish ![]() Bull shark Jeremy Wade has travelled all over the world looking for killer freshwater fish. He has been down the Amazon, deep in the heart of Africa, in the murkiest swamps, in the Alaskan subarctic, and everywhere in between. But are there dangerous killers lurking in the lakes and rivers of the United States? Travelling to Florida, Jeremy once again encounters the bull shark, a species known to swim in freshwater, which he has faced before in Australia and South Africa. Bull sharks are believed to have been responsible for the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, which inspired the 1974 novel Jaws. Three of the five attacks that occurred took place in a freshwater river. Following reports of sharks prowling the freshwater canals of Florida, Jeremy once again reels in a monster shark, as well as a little extra. Alligator gar Next, Wade returns to Texas' Trinity River, for a rematch with the alligator gar. In season 1, he had caught a 7-foot female gar and concluded that the fish had no interest in attacking people. Now, reports have surfaced that gar in Texas are once again reaching lengths of up to 14 feet, the perfect size for a potential killer. Having already experienced their impenetrable armour and razor sharp teeth, Jeremy follows reports of giant gar all over the Trinity, only to find possible evidence of giant gar in a very unexpected place. Then, Jeremy turns his attention to the Lake of the Ozarks, America's 3rd most dangerous lake, to investigate stories of catfish growing to man-eating proportions. Local divers have allegedly witnessed giant catfish and been too scared to dive in the lake again. Jeremy uncovers unbelievable stories of catfish eating already deceased humans, but he wonders if a catfish could ever be big enough or strong enough to kill a person. He finds his answer in Oklahoma, where people catch catfish in a very unusual and dangerous method. | |||
23 | "Pack of Teeth" | 8 April 2012 | 21 May 2012 |
Featured animals: African tigerfish, redbreast tilapia, African sharptooth catfish, African pike, great egret, Nile crocodile ![]() African tigerfish | |||
24 | "Invisible Executioner" | 15 April 2012 | 22 May 2012 |
Featured animals: vundu, brown squeaker, African tigerfish, African sharptooth catfish, hippopotamus ![]() Vundu After hearing reports of fishermen disappearing in the Zambezi River in Zambia, Jeremy Wade journeys there to uncover the truth behind their deaths. He hears tales of a man getting pulled in and drowning in the rapids after hooking into a monster fish. The natives believe it to be the work of a large, serpentine fish the size of a man. They also tell Wade of a snakelike river spirit called Nyaminyami, who is angry at the Kariba Dam for blocking its river. Believing Nyaminyami to be inspired from the killer fish, he travels to Lake Kariba to find the beast. After nearly being capsized in a storm, Jeremy hears reports of small toddlers and children being eaten by the fish, known locally as "Mazunda," as well as a fisherman being dragged to the depths beneath the dam. Interviewing a witness of the "Mazunda," Wade learns of the vundu catfish, southern Africa's largest fish. Travelling all over the Zambezi, Jeremy gains access to the prohibited waters directly beneath the dam, where he finally hooks into a monster. Note* The vundu catfish was also featured in the Season 2 episode "Congo Killers"; no mention was made in this episode of ever having caught it before. | |||
25 | "Asian Slayer" | 22 April 2012 | TBA |
Featured animals: sareng catfish, golden mahseer, Asian redtail catfish, Amazon redtail catfish, Chinese seerfish, Mekong giant catfish, Asian elephant, tiger ![]() Mekong giant catfish Jeremy Wade's journey into extreme fishing started in India, where he caught large mahseer, and where he later caught a massive goonch that had been killing bathers. Now, he returns following reports of a new predator, capable of taking pets and small children. Looking around, he uncovers its identity: the sareng catfish, a streamlined predator with long jaws and sharp teeth. He also finds a problem: the sareng is sacred in India's Hindu religion and harming it is believed to curse you with bad luck. Almost immediately he encounters problems when the lake where he is fishing is closed and tries his luck in the wilderness of Corbett National Park, sharing the territory with man-eating tigers and wild elephants. The monsoon comes early and the fish are not biting, forcing him to leave the river. In order to escape what appears to be the wrath of the gods, he travels to Thailand to a lake inhabited by sareng, as well as countless other introduced river monsters. Despite not being a Hindu country, Thailand offers no protection from the gods as Jeremy seemingly catches every fish, especially red-tailed catfish, in the lake but the sareng. Deciding to face his demons instead of running from them, he returns to India to take part in a Hindu blessing, in order to appease the gods and convince them he means the fish no harm. Returning to the river, Jeremy finds he may have finally met his match. Note* The sareng was caught in the Lost Reels episode "Himalayan Giants", but was not mentioned here. | |||
Special | "Killer Sharks and Rays" | 29 April 2012 | TBA |
Featured animals: white blotched river stingray, short-tailed river stingray, speckled piranha, gray reef shark, bull shark, freshwater sawfish Jeremy Wade relives his most memorable encounters with deadly sharks and rays. Episode featured "Electric Executioner"- Jeremy reels in an unusual-looking stingray. "Silent Assassin"- Jeremy hooks into a massive river stingray in the longest battle on the show to date. "River Monsters Goes Tribal"- After gaining the tribe's trust, Jeremy lives his dream of reeling in a full-grown shark, with his bare hands. "Freshwater Shark"- Jeremy discovers that bull sharks not only live in rivers, but breed in them. "Hidden Predator"- Jeremy lands an enormous bull shark, in a heavily populated river. "Chainsaw Predator"- Jeremy finds an elusive species of ray that swims up rivers, and wields the most terrifying weapon of all time. | |||
26 | "Russian Killer" | 6 May 2012 | 24 May 2012 |
Featured animals: kaluga, chum salmon, Amur catfish, Soldatov's catfish, Amur sturgeon, bearded seal ![]() Kaluga | |||
27 | "Mongolian Mauler" | 13 May 2012 | 25 May 2012 |
Featured animals: taimen, Siberian dace, common lenok, Arctic grayling, Halys viper ![]() Taimen | |||
28 | "Phantom Assassin" | 20 May 2012 | 23 May 2012 |
Featured animals: northern river shark, bull shark, barramundi, freshwater sawfish, freshwater whipray, winghead shark, king threadfin, saltwater crocodile, black mangrove crab ![]() Northern river shark | |||
Special | "Killer Weapons" | 22 May 2012 | TBA |
Featured animals: freshwater sawfish, red-bellied pacu, electric eel, New Zealand longfin eel, bull shark, candiru, short-tailed river stingray Episode featured "Chainsaw Predator" - Jeremy goes through and gets a dangerous sawfish. "Electric Executioner" - Jeremey finds the utuimate eel. "Flesh Riper" - Jeremy fishes an eel in New Zealand. "Hidden Predator" - Wade finds a camouflaged shark in Australia. "Amazon Flesh Eaters" - Jeremy goes to the Amazon River and catches the candiru. | |||
Special | "Lethal Legends" | 23 May 2012 | TBA |
Featured animals: Japanese giant salamander, white sturgeon, sareng catfish, taimen, New Zealand longfin eel, vundu Episode featured "Cold Blooded Horror" - Jeremy caught a Japanese giant salamander by hand. "Alaskan Horror" - Jeremy caught a white sturgeon "Asian Slayer" - Jeremy encounters problems when he tries to fish for the sareng catfish, a fish sacred in Hindu religion. "Mongolian Mauler" - Catching taimen in Mongolia is considered bad luck so Jeremy visited a shaman to appease the spirit of the river. His offering paid off and he managed to catch a taimen. "Flesh Ripper" - Jeremy caught a New Zealand longfin eel using a technique he learned from a local fisherman. "Invisible Executioner" - Jeremy investigated the legend of Nyaminyami, a snakelike river spirit. He hooked a vundu after he was given permission to fish in a restricted area, located directly beneath a dam. | |||
Special | "Deadliest Encounters" | 24 May 2012 | TBA |
Featured animals: giant wolf fish, arapaima, flathead catfish, giant snakehead, gray reef shark, Nile tilapia, sockeye salmon Jeremy recounted some of his closest call with forces beyond his control that nearly turned danger into disaster. Episodes featured "Jungle Killer" - Jeremy and his crew were struck by lighting while fishing for giant wolf fish in Suriname, Brazil. "Amazon Assassins" - Having once being injured by arapaima, Jeremy tried to overcome his fear for the fish by helping some arapaima fisherman at a fish farm. Out in the wild, Jeremy managed to catch a giant 150 lb arapaima. "American Killers"- Jeremey tried hand-catching for flathead catfish in Oklahoma. "Killer Snakehead" - Jeremy travels to Thailand and hunts for giant snakehead in a murky river with his guide using a rusty hand-made spear gun. "River Monsters Goes Tribal" - Jeremy dives into a reef full of sharks without getting bitten. "Rift Valley Killers" - Jeremy encounters crocodile and hippopotamus while helping the local fisherman tend their fishing nets for Nile tilapia. "Alaskan Horror" - Jeremy travels to Alaska to fish for sockeye salmon. The first salmon he caught was stolen by a grizzly bear cub. | |||
Special | "Untold Stories" | 25 May 2012 | TBA |
Jeremy Wade is renowned for tracking down freshwater beasts, yet it's the untold stories of what happened along the way that are often the best. In this special 'Behind-the-Scenes' edition, Wade reveals how reeling in the big fish is often the easy part! | |||
Special | "Deadliest Catfish" | 27 May 2012 | TBA |
Featured animals: goonch catfish, piraiba catfish, blue catfish, flathead catfish, wels catfish, vundu catfish, sareng catfish, candiru catfish, candiru acu catfish, Jeremy remembers some of his encounters with the catfish family over the years. Episodes featured "European Maneater" - Jeremy investigates wels catfish where medieval accounts reported a aggressive maneater that swallow man whole. "Amazon Flesheaters" - Jeremy catches the redtail catfish. He also find the candiru which has entered a man's body through his urethra. Finally, he investigates the candiru-acù, a small catfish that dills holes in dead or dying animals before eating them from the inside. "American Killers" - Jeremy catches blue catfish and channel catfish at the Lake of the Ozarks. "Amazon Flesheaters" - Jeremy catches the Amazon's largest catfish, an 80 lb piraiba catfish. "Asian Slayer" - Jeremy investigates the sareng catfish in India. "Killer Catfish" - Jeremy attempts to catch a goonch catfish which has reportedly grew to man-eating size. | |||
Special | "Lair of Giants" | 28 May 2012 | 28 May 2012 |
Featured animals: laulao catfish, Barbado catfish, payara, redtail catfish, red bellied piranha, jau catfish, common pacu, giant wolf fish, arapaima, black caiman, green anaconda, Goliath tarantula ![]() Black Caiman |
Season Five (2013)
No. in series | Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
---|---|---|---|
29 | "Face Ripper" | 7 April 2013 | 20 May 2013 |
Featured animals: black piranha, largespot river stingray, flatwhisker catfish, red bellied piranha, payara, speckled peacock bass, arapaima, piraiba, black caiman ![]() Black piranha | |||
30 | "Atomic Assassin" | 14 April 2013 | 17 May 2013 |
Featured animals: wels catfish, northern pike, European perch, Volga zander, European chub, marsh tit ![]() Wels catfish | |||
31 | "Killer Torpedo" | 21 April 2013 | 23 May 2013 |
Featured animals: Atlantic tarpon, Horse Eye Jack, Serra Spanish mackerel, black vulture, crab, shrimp, catfish, mullet Tarpon | |||
32 | "Colombian Slasher" | 5 May 2013 | 24 May 2013 |
'Featured animals]], discus ray, thorny river stingray red bellied piranha, ocellated river stingray, cuiu cuiu catfish, fidalgo, piraiba, arapaima ![]() Thorny river stingray | |||
33 | "Vampires of the Deep" | 12 May 2013 | 26 May 2013 |
Featured animals: sea lamprey, Pacific lamprey, longnose gar, bowfin, greater redhorse, European carp, lake trout ![]() Pacific lamprey Wade learns of a series of attacks on swimmers in Lake Champlain and sets off to uncover the truth. After discovering countless fish in the lake bearing the signs of this ancient predator, he learns from a victim that the attacker is the sea lamprey. Unable to catch the fish using a rod and line, Wade offers himself as bait to test the lampreys' abilities and then travels to the Pacific Northwest to catch lamprey by hand with a native tribe. Note: A reference to the events of this episode is made in Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys, a 2014 horror film in which Jeremy Wade makes a cameo appearance. His character, a lamprey expert consulted by the film's main character, mentions that he once received a hickey on his neck from a lamprey; in this episode, Wade attached a lamprey to his neck to test its abilities. | |||
Special | "Year of Beasts" | 20 May 2013 | TBA |
Jeremy recounts the exciting adventures of season 5, as he faces never before seen stunts in search of true monsters. Before Jeremy caught radioactive catfish in Chernobyl and killer stingrays in Colombia, he didn’t think Season 5 would bring any new or unusual river monsters. | |||
Special | "Top Ten Beasts" | 24 May 2013 | TBA |
In this special edition of River Monsters, extreme angler Jeremy Wade brings together the ten biggest and baddest catches of his career. His battles with them have drawn blood, nearly ripped off his arms and become obsessions. | |||
34 | "Legend of Loch Ness" | 27 May 2013 | TBA |
Featured animals: Greenland shark, European eel, Atlantic cod, coalfish, European plaice, haddock, Arctic char, brown trout, Norwegian skate, blackmouth dogfish, Atlantic wolffish, bottlenose dolphin, Plesiosaurus, minke whale. ![]() Greenland shark | |||
Special | "Worst Nightmares" | 31 October 2013 | TBA |
Jeremy relives the encounters that have haunted him over time. Angler Jeremy Wade recalls haunting encounters with freshwater creatures in Vermont, South America and Papua New Guinea. |
Season Six (2014)
No. in series | Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
---|---|---|---|
Special | "River Monsters LIVE!" | 6 April 2014 | TBA |
Welcome to River Monsters LIVE! The conversation with Jeremy Wade continues right here, after the Season 6 premiere episode "Amazon Apocalypse" and the first half hour of the live Aftershow on your TV. Join River Monsters Executive Producer Lisa Lucas as she sits down with our favorite angler to answer every burning question from fans and give intimate insight into the new season to come. | |||
35 | "Amazon Apocalypse" | 6 April 2014 | TBA |
Featured animals: redtail catfish, piraiba, silver tetra, red bellied piranha, cuiu-cuiu, candiru-acu, piracatinga, flatwhisker catfish, black piranha, black caiman, Amazon river dolphin Redtail catfish | |||
36 | "Jungle Terminator" | 13 April 2014 | TBA |
Featured animals: electric eel, red bellied piranha, tiger surubim, redtail catfish ![]() Electric eel | |||
37 | "River of Blood" | 20 April 2014 | TBA |
Featured animals: golden dorado, boga, speckled piranha, spotted surubi ![]() Golden dorado | |||
38 | "Man-Eating Monster" | 4 May 2014 | TBA |
Featured animals: piraiba, basha, redtail catfish, blinker catfish, dawala, black caiman ![]() Piraiba | |||
39 | "Bone Crusher" | 18 May 2014 | TBA |
Featured animals: green anaconda, smoothback river stingray, redtail catfish ![]() Green anaconda | |||
Special | "Monster-Hunting Secrets" | 18 May 2014 | TBA |
In this special episode of River Monsters, Jeremy Wade reveals his own hard-won trade secrets: the tactics and techniques that help him land the biggest and most unpredictable fresh-water predators. Jeremy shows how using the wrong rod to catch a giant stingray in Thailand taught him a valuable lesson, the hard way! He demonstrates the line he used to bring in a man-eating piraiba in Brazil; how catching the fearsome Goliath tiger on the Congo River required a special rig of hooks; and how the torpedo-like Tarpon in Nicaragua demanded a radical approach. But how did he manage to bring up the elusive Greenland shark from a depth greater than the height of the Empire State Building? | |||
Special | "Killer Mysteries" | 20 May 2014 | TBA |
In this special episode of River Monsters, Jeremy Wade relives some of the toughest and most baffling cases of his career. He turns detective to unravel the truth behind the mysterious legend of an ancient child killer in Japan and devises an experiment to finally reveal the killer of a young bride in Colombia. In some cases, it’s not the fish but the location itself that becomes his greatest adversary. In The Republic of the Congo, Jeremy fears for his own life in his hunt to track down a river monster. And in the Amazon, he faces his most daunting challenge, putting himself directly in the firing line to prove that a perpetrator with no motive belongs to that sinister line-up of fresh-water killers. | |||
Special | "Lethal Encounters" | 21 May 2014 | TBA |
Jeremy Wade has placed himself in more danger than he cares to remember during his 30 years of traveling the globe. In this special edition of River Monsters, Jeremy relives some of his most lethal encounters and looks back at the cases that took him to the brink of disaster in the most hostile environments on the planet. Whether he encounters a plane crash, a lightning bolt, a predator with an invisible weapon or a radioactive landscape, Jeremy reveals how the hunt for a true river monster can take him to death’s door at any moment. | |||
Special | "American Horrors" | 22 May 2014 | TBA |
For three decades, Jeremy Wade has traveled the world to find the biggest and most fearsome river monsters on the planet. But not all monsters live in remote jungles - there are fearsome fish much closer to home. In this special edition of River Monsters, Jeremy relives the biggest and most surprising catches of his career, right in America’s backyard. Jeremy reveals the powerful and potentially lethal fish that lurk across much of the United States, before he exposes its most destructive and devastating monster of all, an ancient fish that threatens to take over America’s largest bodies of fresh water. | |||
40 | "Body Snatcher" | 26 May 2014 | TBA |
Featured animals: arapaima, redtail catfish, black piranha ![]() Arapaima |
Season Seven (2015)
No. in series |
Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
---|---|---|---|
41 | "Canadian Horror" | 5 April 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: Muskellunge, Lake Trout, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Green Anaconda, White Sturgeon, Bull Shark ![]() Muskellunge | |||
42 | "Mekong Mutilator" | 12 April 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: Fang's Puffer, Mekong giant catfish, Giant barb, Giant snakehead, Cantor's Giant Softshell Turtle ![]() Mekong river | |||
43 | "Prehistoric Terror" | 19 April 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: Xenacanthus, Alligator gar, Xiphactinus, Indo-Pacific sailfish, Leedsichthys, Whale shark, Megapiranha, Red bellied piranha, Helicoprion, Dunkleosteus, White sturgeon, Rhizodus, Saltwater Crocodile Dunkleosteus | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 1" | 26 April 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy looks back on his encounter in the Congo River with the notorious Goliath Tiger Fish. | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 2" | 26 April 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy looks back on his journey to South Africa in search of a monstrous freshwater shark. | |||
44 | "Alaska's Cold Water Killer" | 26 April 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: Pacific halibut, Chinook salmon, salmon shark ![]() Pacific halibut | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 3" | 3 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy looks back on the time he learned the gruesome truth about a Mongolian killer fish. | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 4" | 3 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy relives his journey through the Amazon rainforest in search of a legendary creature said to swallow men whole. | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 5" | 10 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy Wade looks back on a mysterious man-eating eight-foot beast said to be legend over 200-years old. | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 6" | 10 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy Wade looks back on his mission to track down the famous monster of Loch Ness. | |||
45 | "South Pacific Terrors" | 10 May 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: Giant mottled eel, giant trevally, narrow-barred Spanish mackerel, spotfin balloonfish, bull shark, saltwater crocodile ![]() Giant mottled eel | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 7" | 17 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy looks back on his European quest in search of an aggressive man-eating predator. | |||
Special | "Jeremy's Favorite Moments 8" | 17 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy reflects on the Central American quest that took him to the breaking point. | |||
46 | "Africa's Deadliest" | 17 May 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: African tigerfish, Blackspotted Squeaker Catfish, Humpback Largemouth Bream, Blotched Catfish, Nile crocodile, African Fish Eagle ![]() Nile crocodile | |||
Special | "South American Killers" | 17 May 2015 | TBA |
Extreme angler, Jeremy Wade, is on the hunt for freshwater fish with a taste for human flesh. This rip-roaring ride through the dark side of nature mixes action and adventure with mysteries, edge of the seat chase and a battle of wills between man and almost supernatural beasts who lurk in the serpentine waterways of the planet, mooching murderously underwater, growing to truly awesome sizes. Watch as Jeremy Wade deconstructs exactly how these river monsters are constructed to kill. | |||
Special | "Canadian Horror - Alternate Cut" | 17 May 2015 | TBA |
From Canada’s waterlogged wilderness come stories of a twenty-foot lake monster that attacks humans. Freshwater detective Jeremy Wade tries to track down this shadowy predator with a mouth said to resemble a bear-trap. Features the extinct whale Basilosaurus cetoides. | |||
Special | "Killer Treasures" | 18 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy shows off various treasures he has acquired - from lucky charms to penis sheaths; from knife-proof gloves to yak-skin; Jeremy shares the bizarre stories behind each one. | |||
Special | "Size Matters" | 19 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy looks back on seven specific blockbuster catches with the largest and scariest beasts of his career. | |||
Special | "African Horrors" | 20 May 2015 | TBA |
Jeremy relives his encounters with record-breaking sharks and a super-sized Congo tiger-fish in African waters. | |||
Special | "Jurassic-Sized Prehistoric Terror" | 24 May 2015 | TBA |
Featured animals: Xenacanthus, Alligator gar, Xiphactinus, Indo-Pacific sailfish, Leedsichthys, Whale shark, Megapiranha, Red bellied piranha, Helicoprion, Pacific hagfish, Spotted ratfish, Dunkleosteus, White sturgeon, Rhizodus, Queensland lungfish, Saltwater Crocodile This extended two hour special of "Prehistoric Terror" features new footage of Jeremy investigating prehistoric monsters and their modern day counterparts. |
Season Eight (2016)
Promoted as a special season under the title River Monsters: Mysteries of the Ocean, this season sees Jeremy Wade shift his focus from freshwater to oceanic fish.
No. in series |
Title | Original air date | Unhooked air date |
---|---|---|---|
Special | "Into the Ocean" | 7 April 2016 | TBA |
In this special episode, Jeremy charts the journey that has taken him from freshwater rivers into the heart of the big blue and revisits the extraordinary and deadly monsters he has encountered along the way. | |||
47 | "Deep Sea Demon" | 7 April 2016 | TBA |
Moray eel Moving his quest for monster fish to the world's oceans, Jeremy Wade seeks the truth behind one of the most enduring legends of all time: the sea serpent. His search initially begins locally in his home of England with a man's horrifying story of being attacked by a conger eel while diving. However, after fishing off the British coast and catching one, Wade is able to discount the conger eel due to its lacking of common characteristics with the sea serpent. Next, Wade travels to Thailand, where the serpentine Nāga is widely seen as a deity. Using the Nāga as a base for his search, Wade learns of multiple attacks on humans by the moray eel. He joins a local tribe who traditionally hunt these eels, and though they find morays with great size and monstrous behavior, Wade is not completely convinced that the moray eel is the sea serpent. While investigating the Nāga further, Wade meets a monk whose temple holds an alleged photograph of the real-life Nāga; in an instant, his quest changes, as the picture is of a creature he had never even considered - the oarfish. Immediately seeing the similarities between the oarfish and Nāga, Wade searches for a way to encounter this rarely-seen fish, eventually coming into contact with a diver in France who encountered one during a dive. Despite the mortal risk posed by diving in the vast, deep waters, Wade attempts the dive, only to find himself unable to last underwater. As his time for ideal conditions to make the dive runs out, he decides to take a night dive and try again. During the dive, not one but two oarfish appear, coming so close that Wade can touch them. As a result, Wade becomes one of the very few people in history to witness a live, healthy oarfish. | |||
48 | "Death Down Under" | 14 April 2016 | TBA |
![]() Queensland grouper Wade investigates the deaths of six men whose plane crashed in the northern seas of Australia, with only a single severed leg left behind on a beach as evidence. First, he looks into the most obvious possible culprit, the tiger shark, only to find that tiger sharks do not generally attack humans unless mistaking them for other animals, such as turtles. The Queensland grouper is similarly ruled out, as it is typically an ambush predator on the seafloor. Saltwater crocodiles come into focus, but they also could not be the sole culprit because they do not typically go far out to sea. Wade learns that the men actually made it to the beach, meaning whatever killed them struck on the shore, and the bodies were likely subsequently dismembered by crocodiles. He discovers a new candidate: the stonefish, a small, camouflaged fish that can deliver a deadly venom if stepped on. This could explain one of the deaths, but unlikely all six. Finally, Wade discovers the most likely killer of the bulk of the men - the box jellyfish, a nearly invisible creature with the most deadly venom on the planet. While working with a scientist who studies these bizarre and dangerous creatures, Wade suffers a minor sting but recovers to capture a box jellyfish with his bare hands. | |||
49 | "Razorhead" | 21 April 2016 | TBA |
![]() Great barracuda Wade travels to the Florida Keys, where an ocean kayaker was torn open by an attacker that leapt from the water, cracking her ribs and puncturing a lung. After meeting the victim, who survived the attack, he deduces that sharks were not responsible. Meeting local fishermen reveals a second incident, in which a fisherman working on his dock had his foot sliced open. Fishing in the area reveals no monsters, so Wade leaves and returns to fishing in the ocean, where he lands a small barracuda. Suspecting the barracuda may be the attacker, he seeks out further information and learns that barracuda can cut through flesh and bone with minimal actual biting thanks to their great speed and body shape. Furthermore, they are known to leap from the water and have been documented attacking people in a similar fashion to the attack on the kayaker. Wade dives to bait out barracuda in their natural environment, observing their speed and accuracy when hunting. Armed with this knowledge, Wade lands a series of large barracuda, culminating in a showdown with a barracuda big enough to break bone out of water. | |||
Special | "Deadly Superstitions" | 28 April 2016 | TBA |
Wade revisits some of his previous adventures and investigates the spiritual and mythological events behind them. Featured Episodes:
| |||
50 | "Terror in Paradise" | 5 May 2016 | TBA |
![]() Giant Pacific octopus Wade travels to Andros, Bahamas after hearing stories of swimmers and divers disappearing with no evidence ever recovered. The disappearances are said to center around blue holes, including an eight-year-old boy being snatched from the surface while playing with friends in one. Locals immediately identify the attacker as a legendary monster called the lusca, an alleged giant that is said to be half shark, half octopus. Believing a shark to be the true culprit after seeing a lemon shark near the entrance to one of the tunnels connecting the sea to a blue hole, Wade joins a shark research team on a remote island. Wade manages to catch a reef shark before diving among them, then gets up close and personal with a large tiger shark captured by the researchers. However, the tiger shark quickly leaves after being released, prompting Wade to rethink his approach to the mystery. He begins to investigate the octopus half of the lusca legend, realizing that octopi - which lack bones - could easily navigate the narrow tunnels between the ocean and the blue holes, a feat impossible for a large shark. Wade travels to Puget Sound, where he meets a man who survived a terrifying octopus attack after disturbing it while picking up sea cucumbers. Now convinced that his target is a giant octopus, Wade dives to investigate Puget Sound and has a startling encounter with a Giant Pacific octopus, observing that when an octopus begins swimming instead of "walking" on the seabed, it could easily be mistaken for a hybrid of shark and octopus. This and the extreme flexibility octopi possess, potentially allowing them to navigate the tunnels to the blue holes, lead Wade to conclude the lusca legend is at least partially true and the blue hole attacks were carried out by a monstrous octopus. | |||
Special | "Invisible Killers" | 12 May 2016 | TBA |
After several of his crew members suffer parasitic infections during their shoots, Jeremy decides to submit himself for testing by a prestigious Liverpool medical lab. While awaiting the results of his tests, he travels to the Amazon to look into various types of parasites he may have fallen victim to. | |||
Special | "Killer Discoveries" | 19 May 2016 | TBA |
Jeremy revisits some of the many scientific projects he has worked with over his career and presents new information discovered since his time with the researchers. Featured Episodes:
| |||
51 | "Devil of the Deep" | 26 May 2016 | TBA |
![]() Humboldt squid Reports of the corpses of five fishermen being found with strange mutilations, allegedly caused by a mysterious sea creature, bring Jeremy to Mexico. Attempting to track down the alleged marine biologist who supposedly studied the corpses proves fruitless, but soon more stories of such attacks in the Sea of Cortez emerge. Local fishermen are unable to provide information on the initial five deaths, but describe other victims suffering similar wounds from attacks in deep trenches. Initial fishing in the trenches reveal skipjack tuna, which Jeremy uses in the hopes of finding a larger fish, however something bites the tuna and leader clean off Jeremy's line. A second tuna is sliced completely apart aside from the head, leading Jeremy to believe a shark is biting his lines, but sharks have already been discounted in the mystery due to the lack of their signature bite marks on the bodies. Suddenly, one of Jeremy's lines is taken, and he reels in a striped marlin. While marlin have been known to kill fishermen when captured, they only leave one wound, not the numerous ones reported on the corpses. Later, at the docks, Jeremy is confused by the complete lack of sharks within the fishermen's catch. A fisherman tells Jeremy that if he wants to learn the truth about the area he must visit a place described as a cemetery. The location turns out to be littered with skeletons of dead fish, and Jeremy discovers multiple mutilated shark corpses, leading him to believe that criminals may be illegally fishing for them. A local man confirms the decline of sharks in the area and claims a predator dubbed "The Red Devil" has invaded the local waters. After considering and discarding whales and manta rays, Jeremy becomes intrigued if the Red Devil may have a real-life connection to the mythological Kraken, which is sometimes described as a "devil fish." A fisherman who once tried to capture the Red Devil and was attacked by them displays a wound similar to the wounds inflicted by the puffer fish Jeremy investigated previously, then confirms that the Red Devil is indeed a squid, but then claims that they fled the area just as quickly as they appeared. Concluding that the Red Devil is the Humboldt squid, Jeremy learns that they are presently being caught in Peru. In Peru, Jeremy joins a group of professional squid fishermen. They travel for days to reach the deep seas where the squid can be found, bringing Jeremy and the crew great stress, and Jeremy's nerves only worsen when he realizes how easy it would be to fall overboard and be dragged under by converging squid. Despite his fears, Jeremy manages to catch multiple Humboldt squid, witnessing their deadly weaponry and vicious behavior. With no evidence, Jeremy is forced to conclude that the initial story of the five dead fisherman was a hoax, but the Humboldt squid attacks were very real. | |||
Special | "Secrets at Sea" | 2 June 2016 | TBA |
Extreme angler Jeremy Wade heads into new territory - the open ocean. Go behind the scenes as Jeremy and his crew face stormy seas, deep-water dives, dangerous creatures and extreme hardship as they produce an entire season at sea. |
Season Nine (2017)
On March 31, 2016, within Animal Planet 2016-2017 Upfront Programming Slate it was announced that "River Monsters" had been renewed for a ninth season, which is scheduled to debut on Animal Planet.[2]
Additional episodes: The Lost Reels
No. | Title | Original air date |
---|---|---|
1 | "The Lost Reels: Amazonian Giant" | 27 May 2011 |
Featured animals: arapaima, river stingray, black piranha, redtail catfish Jeremy Wade ventures to the Amazon to face the legendary arapaima, but gets more than he bargained for when his plane crashes and he feels the full force of these powerful animals. | ||
2 | "The Lost Reels: Himalayan Giant" | 27 May 2011 |
Featured animals: goonch, golden mahseer, dwarf snakehead, carp, Indian flapshell turtle, mully catfish, flathead catfish After reading about monster fish in India, Jeremy Wade travels to the Himalayas to catch a monster himself. After hearing stories at the local fish markets, he encounters predators, giants and one chilling story about a monster fish that has an appetite for human flesh. |
Reception
Broadcast ratings
Season one
River Monsters had the best series premiere in Animal Planet's network history by delivering 1.3 million viewers. It was also its most watched regularly airing primetime telecast in over six years.[3] The second episode of Animal Planet's River Monsters delivered a 39% boost in total viewers (1.866 million) compared to the series premiere. Those numbers made it the best performing regularly scheduled primetime telecast in Animal Planet's history.[4] The first season of River Monsters made it the best performing show in Animal Planet's history with every episode averaging over 1 million households. The season finale delivered about 1.47 million households.[5]
Season two
Its second season premiere episode became the network's best season premiere ever. It drew in 1.7 million total viewers.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ Marshall, Harry (23 July 2009). "'Presenting' Natural History". TBI Magazine. Informa Telecoms & Media. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- ↑ "'River Monsters' Season 9 Confirmed on Animal Planet — Release Date". Release Date. 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
- ↑ River Monsters Delivers Best Premiere Numbers In Animal Planet History Broadcasting & Cable
- ↑ Cable Ratings: Animal Planet's River Monsters A Ratings Monster Broadcasting & Cable
- ↑ River Monsters is TV ratings hit Times of the Internet
- ↑ Cable Ratings: River Monsters Brings Record Haul To Animal Planet Broadcasting & Cable