BBC & PBS: "Earth's Great Rivers: Amazon"
Executive Producer
This Amazon is the river of superlatives, flowing more than 4,000 miles from the Andes to the Atlantic. Its 1,100 tributaries drain the greatest river basin on the planet and along its incredible journey it collects and transports one-fifth of the world's fresh water. When the Amazon crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, the force is so great that you can see the resulting plume from space.
Due to its enormous size, it still hides secrets - one of its greatest lies in the Amazon basin. We launched submarines to explore a world never before witnessed in person and discovered beautiful reefs living at depths rarely thought possible. Technicolor fish, enormous sponges that reach 6-feet in length, some thousands of years old. These reefs and sponges feed on the nutrients the Amazon pours into the Atlantic, nutrients the river collected at its source in the Andes. Where once it was assured the powerful currents of the Amazon would prevent ocean life from flourishing, the opposite is discovered. The Andes build the Atlantic's oceanic reefs through the mighty power of Amazon.