The Coelacanth, a dive into our origins

The Coelacanth, a dive into our origins (2013)

November 2nd, 20131h 31min

Documentary
82%

Overview

Gombessa Expedition 1 To dive for the Coelacanth is to go back in time. In 1938, when it was known only as a fossil, a Coelacanth was discovered in South Africa in a fisherman's net. This species bears witness to an evolutionary bifurcation 380 million years ago, and bears the marks of a great event: the day the fish left the ocean for the open air. Does it hold the secret to the transition to walking on land? In 2010, a marine biologist and outstanding diver, Laurent Ballesta, took the first photographs of the Coelacanth in its ecosystem. In April 2013, divers and researchers set down their equipment at the Sodwana base camp in South Africa, in the club founded by Peter Timm (who died in 2014). Six weeks of extreme diving at depths of over 120 meters, in an attempt to film the Coelacanth with a double-headed camera, collect its DNA and tag a subject with a satellite-linked beacon...


Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!

Trailer

Similar Movies

Milisuthando

Milisuthando


Released on: 2024-10-18
Documentary

Set in past, present, and future South Africa — an invitation into a poetic, memory-driven explorati...

Dinolandia

Dinolandia


Released on: 2025-04-07
Documentary, History

A mechanic discovers the fossil of a huge carnivorous dinosaur, unleashing a war between scientists,...

Secrets of the Neanderthals

Secrets of the Neanderthals


Released on: 2024-05-02
Documentary, Mystery, History

This documentary delves into the mysteries surrounding the Neanderthals and what their fossil record...

Last of the Right Whales

Last of the Right Whales


Released on: 2021-09-01
Documentary, Drama

A differing group of people – a wildlife photographer, a marine biologist, a whale rescuer, and a cr...

Ocean with David Attenborough

Ocean with David Attenborough


Released on: 2025-05-08
Documentary

David Attenborough takes viewers on a breathtaking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for o...

Twenty Eight Feet: Life on a Little Wooden Boat

Twenty Eight Feet: Life on a Little Wooden Boat


Released on: 2013-10-12
Documentary

A short documentary about David Welsford, who has given up the luxuries of land in search for happin...

Antarctica, in the footsteps of the Emperor

Antarctica, in the footsteps of the Emperor


Released on: 2016-02-23
Documentary

Gombessa Expedition 3 Protected by an international treaty Antarctica has been spared the effects o...

Grand Canyon - Un voyage au centre de la Terre

Grand Canyon - Un voyage au centre de la Terre


Released on: 2025-02-15
Documentary

Whale Wisdom

Whale Wisdom


Released on: 2018-12-01
Documentary

Whales have long been a profound mystery to us. They live in a world so removed from our own that we...

Most Wanted Sharks

Most Wanted Sharks


Released on: 2020-07-15
Documentary, TV Movie

Whether it's the biggest great white, the most photographed tiger shark, or the shark known for jump...

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him

2 or 3 Things I Know About Him


Released on: 2005-04-07
Documentary, Drama

What would your family reminiscences about dad sound like if he had been an early supporter of Hitle...

Le mystérieux tigre à dents de sabre

Le mystérieux tigre à dents de sabre


Released on: 2024-02-15
Documentary

What Killed the Roman Empire?

What Killed the Roman Empire?


Released on: 2022-11-19
Documentary, History, TV Movie

Why did the Roman Empire, which dominated Europe and the Mediterranean for five centuries, inexorabl...

Le mystère Cléopâtre, la dernière reine d'Egypte
The Nobles of Prehistory: Ladies and Princes of the Paleolithic

The Nobles of Prehistory: Ladies and Princes of the Paleolithic


Released on: 2021-06-16
Documentary, History

In 1872, in the cave of Cavillon in Monaco, archaeologist Émile Rivière (1835-1922) unearthed an app...

Titanic : Le naufrage aurait-il pu être évité ?

Titanic : Le naufrage aurait-il pu être évité ?


Released on: 2023-12-11
Documentary, History

Troublemaker

Troublemaker


Released on: 2026-01-27
Documentary, History

Newly discovered audio interviews with Nelson Mandela himself delivers an honest, accurate and defin...

ZEF - The Story of Die Antwoord

ZEF - The Story of Die Antwoord


Released on: 2024-03-23
Documentary, Music

South African producer / director JON DAY spent the last 5 years making a documentary about the myst...

Coral Sea Dreaming

Coral Sea Dreaming


Released on: 1999-10-26
Documentary

Sit back, relax and dive into the spectacular undersea world of the Great Barrier Reef. Discover cry...

Coral Dreamscapes: An Exotic Aquarium

Coral Dreamscapes: An Exotic Aquarium


Released on: 2000-11-04
Documentary

Fascinating species bursting with color Gentle, meditative ocean water bubble away as exotic fish s...