River Monsters
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And when that happens, we’re not far behind.
REFERENCES & FURTHER READING
Boote, Paul, and Jeremy Wade. Somewhere Down the Crazy River: Journeys in Search of Giant Fish. Swindon, UK: Sangha Books, 1992.
Buffler, Rob, and Tom Dickson. Fishing for Buffalo: A Guide to the Pursuit, Lore & Cuisine of Buffalo, Carp, Mooneye, Gar and Other “Rough” Fish. Minneapolis, MN: Culpepper Press, 1990.
Butcher, Tim. Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart. London: Vintage, 2008.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. 1902; reprint London: Penguin Books, 1973.
Corbett, Jim. Man-Eaters of Kumaon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1944.
Ellis, Richard. Big Fish. New York: Abrams, 2009.
Fort, Tom. The Book of Eels. London: HarperCollins, 2002.
Goulding, Michael. Amazon: The Flooded Forest. London: BBC Books, 1989.
Grescoe, Taras. Dead Seas: How the Fish on Our Plates Is Killing Our Planet. London: Macmillan, 2008.
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Jeal, Tim. Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa’s Greatest Explorer. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.
Maisey, John. Discovering Fossil Fishes. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996.
Marriott, Edward. Wild Shore: Life and Death with Nicaragua’s Last Shark Hunters. London: Picador, 2000.
O’Hanlon, Redmond. Congo Journey. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1996.
Santos, Eurico. Peixes da Água Doce: Vida e Costumes dos Peixes do Brasil. 4th ed. Belo Horizonte, Brazil: Editora Itatiaia, 1987.
Spitzer, Mark. Season of the Gar: Adventures in Pursuit of America’s Most Misunderstood Fish. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2010.
Spotte, Stephen. Candiru: Life and Legend of the Bloodsucking Catfishes. Berkeley, CA: Creative Arts Book Company, 2002.
Thorson, T., ed. Investigations of the Ichthyofauna of Nicaraguan Lakes. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1976.
Vesey-Fitzgerald, Brian, and Francesca Lamonte, eds. Game Fish of the World. London: Nicholson & Watson, 1949.
von Humboldt, Alexander. Personal Narrative of a Journey to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent, 1814–25. Translated by Jason Wilson. London : Penguin, 1995.
WEBSITES
avaaz.org Transnational grassroots campaigns on environmental and other concerns.
elasmo-research.org Biology of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays).
fishbase.org Comprehensive information on fish identification and names.
fishonline.org More information from the MSC (see below) on sustainable fish stocks.
igfa.org (International Game Fish Association) The IGFA’s “all-tackle” records are now public on their website. However, this is not a definitive big-fish list because it includes only rod-caught specimens from the last eighty years or so, and not all “record”-sized captures are submitted.
iucnredlist.org (The International Union for Conservation of Nature “Red List” of Threatened Species) According to the IUCN, “The freshwater system represents the most threatened of all ecosystems.”
jeremywade.co.uk Information on upcoming programs and so forth.
msc.org (Marine Stewardship Council) Guidelines on how to eat fish with a clear conscience from certified sustainable sources.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My twenty-five years of mostly solo travel have been aided by too many people to mention individually, principally the fishermen of the rivers I have visited. My more recent involvement in filming has been very much a team effort. Kieron Humphrey was the producer at Carlton TV in London who first saw the possibilities of a documentary about an outlandish Amazonian fish and who touted the idea for over two years. Leonie Hutchinson was the commissioning editor at Discovery Europe who finally made Jungle Hooks a reality, and Gavin Searle was the director who put me through the mill in the making of it. Wildlife filmmaker Lucy d’Auvergne first recognized the potential interest of fish mystery stories to a wider audience, and Harry Marshall at Icon Films in Bristol made these a reality, together with Charlie Foley at Animal Planet. For the subsequent making of these programs, my thanks go to the following: Directors/producers: Lucy d’Auvergne, Duncan Chard, Steve Gooder, Doug Hope, Charlotte Jones, Alex Parkinson, Barny Revill, and Luke Wiles. Camera: James Bickersteth, Mark Chandler, Duncan Fairs, Brendan McGinty, Rory McGuinness, Rick Rosenthal, Robin Smith, and Simon Wagen. Other crew/support: Poppy Chandler, Holly Cue, Natalie Dunmore, Claire Efergan, Bryce Grunden, Joseph Hassell, Dan Huertas, Lorne Kramer, Andrea Lawther, Becky Lee, Sam Mansfield, Che McGuinness, Dean Miller, Belinda Partridge, Nia Roberts, Robin Shaw, Chris Stitchman, Racquel Toniolo, Solange Welch, Erica Wilson, and Abi Wrigley. Editors: Rama Bowley, Darren Flaxstone, Thomas Kelpie, Matt Meech, Glenn Rainton, Sam Rogers, and James Taggart. Executives: Andie Clare, Laura Marshall, and Lucy Middelboe (Icon Films); Brian Eley, Mick Kaczorowski, Marjorie Kaplan, Jamie Linn, Lisa Bosak Lucas, and Kevin Tao Mohs (Animal Planet); Jo Clinton Davis, Diane Howie, and Katy
Thorogood (ITV); and Bethan Corney (Five). For the safe delivery of this book I am indebted to my agent Julian Alexander, Scott Hoffman and Erin Niumata at Folio Literary Management, and my editors Renée Sedliar at Da Capo and Rowland White at Orion. My thanks, too, to the K. Blundell Trust, administered by the Society of Authors, which provided a grant toward one of my early Amazon research trips. Finally, special gratitude goes to Tim Marks, John Petchey, Martin Wade, and the late David Bird.
PHOTO CREDITS
Sawback lake monster © Jeremy Wade / ardea.com.
Jeremy Wade with car © Graeme Whiting.
Jeremy Wade with carp © Jeremy Wade.
Jeremy Wade with a fifty-eight pound mahseer © Jeremy Wade by Boda.
Zaire riverboat © Jeremy Wade.
Zaire village children with tigerfish © Jeremy Wade.
People’s Republic of Congo, fisher boys © Jeremy Wade.
Rio Purus storm © Jeremy Wade.
Rio Purus aerial view © Jeremy Wade.
First Amazon expedition, 1993 © Martin Wade.
Jeremy Wade with bent rod © Martin Wade.
José fishing on Lago Grande © Martin Wade.
Butchered arapaima © Jeremy Wade.
Amazon fishing canoes © Jeremy Wade.
Harpooned arapaima © Jeremy Wade.
Jeremy Wade with arapaima © Jeremy Wade by Gavin Searle.
Amazon plane crash revisted © Jeremy Wade.
Goonch © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Goonch underwater © Icon Films, by Rick Rosenthal.
Cuiu-cuiu © Icon Films, by Barny Revill.
Piraiba © Icon Films, by Barny Revill.
Sawfish © Icon Films, by Poppy Chandler.
Alligator gar © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Queensland grouper © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Daybreak on the Brisbane River © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
The Djoué Rapids, Congo River © Icon Films, by James Bickersteth.
Goliath tigerfish close-up © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Goliath tigerfish © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Five-hundred-pound bull shark © Icon Films, by Natalie Dunmore.
Half-eaten kob © Icon Films, by Duncan Chard.
Electric eel © Icon Films, by Alex Parkinson.
Stingray © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
Longfin eel © Icon Films, by Dan Huertas.
JEREMY WADE has a BSc in zoology from Bristol University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from the University of Kent. He has worked as a secondary science teacher, a newspaper reporter, and a senior advertising copywriter. He has written for publications including The Times, Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, and BBC Wildlife magazine. His previous book, Somewhere down the Crazy River (with Paul Boote), was published in 1992 to stellar reviews. Prior to River Monsters, Jeremy made two documentar
y series for Discovery Europe: Jungle Hooks (2002, set in the Amazon) and Jungle Hooks India (2005), both since shown worldwide. He lives in southern England.
See www.jeremywade.co.uk for details of upcoming series and other news.
Copyright © 2011 by Jeremy Wade
River Monsters is an ICON FILMS production.
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First Da Capo Press edition 2011
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