Fascinating statistics abound in this third entry in the Planet Earth series, foremost of which is that all the fresh water in the world comprises only three per cent of the total water there is. One never stops to think about it, but if seventy five percent of the Earth is ocean, then putting it into that perspective kind of makes sense. Then there's the Amazon River - larger in volume than the next ten largest rivers combined! It's truly a wondrous world when you come right down to it.
By it's nature, the format of these chapters lends itself to a much too rapid coverage of a myriad of subjects. This 'Fresh Water' segment made it's way quickly from Venezuela's Angel Falls to Japan, the Grand Canyon, India, East Africa and Siberia. Every area explored is an adventure unto itself, and maybe it's a response to today's attention deficit lifestyle, but a more focused approach might have been in order for some of these topics. Then again, it's a big planet, so I don't know if my idea would have been better suited for such a broad topic.
The segment that literally had me jumping out of my seat were those nasty river crocodiles in East Africa's Mara River. There's no getting away from those bad boys once they clamp down on their intended victim. So you have to marvel at those Indian otters harassing mugger crocs in another part of the world like they didn't have a care in the world. Me, I prefer the placement a nice living room couch affords from a distance of several thousand miles. So call me crazy if I think those piranha divers were just asking for trouble in the Amazon. I like coming up with the right number of fingers and toes when I go swimming.
By it's nature, the format of these chapters lends itself to a much too rapid coverage of a myriad of subjects. This 'Fresh Water' segment made it's way quickly from Venezuela's Angel Falls to Japan, the Grand Canyon, India, East Africa and Siberia. Every area explored is an adventure unto itself, and maybe it's a response to today's attention deficit lifestyle, but a more focused approach might have been in order for some of these topics. Then again, it's a big planet, so I don't know if my idea would have been better suited for such a broad topic.
The segment that literally had me jumping out of my seat were those nasty river crocodiles in East Africa's Mara River. There's no getting away from those bad boys once they clamp down on their intended victim. So you have to marvel at those Indian otters harassing mugger crocs in another part of the world like they didn't have a care in the world. Me, I prefer the placement a nice living room couch affords from a distance of several thousand miles. So call me crazy if I think those piranha divers were just asking for trouble in the Amazon. I like coming up with the right number of fingers and toes when I go swimming.