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NEWS
June/July 2013 www.esb.ie/em
The Secret Life of the Shannon
» ESB sponsors major new television series that explores the wildlife of Ireland's great river.
Bats squirrels and the humble Irish pike were for the Hollywood treatment in a ground- breaking documentary to hit RTÉ One. The documentary, sponsored by ESB, featured Emmy Award winning wildlife presenter, Colin Stafford-Johnson, paddling his canoe over a two year period on the River Shannon to explore its little-known islands, lakes and tributaries.
The two-part film follows the river from dawn to dusk through four seasons and captures the changing moods and atmosphere of the river -as well as the acrobatic antics of our red squirrels, magnificent whooper swans ending their migration and the exquisite orange tipped butterfly.
With technology previously used in Christopher Nolan's Inception, a small Irish film company, Crossing the Line Productions, has captured an intimate portrait of Irish wildlife in never-before-seen slow motion detail. Snapping kingfishers and dragonflies at 1,000 frames per second, the two-part documentary uncovered surprising secrets about the private lives of Ireland's wildlife.
Scored by Ronan Ó Snodaigh of Kila, the series revealed new animal behaviour, showing for the first time water bats hunting at night and remarkable underwater footage of the mating dance of Shannon's great predator, the pike. The elusive kingfisher is shown hunting underwater and slowed down by 40 times is seen in all its vivid colour and grace.
“We have filmed on seven continents and honed our techniques and technology over the past 20 years,” says cameraman and director John Murray. “So it's great to be bringing all that knowledge back to the banks of the Shannon, where we've found just as much mystery and beauty as anywhere around the world.”
Speaking about the documentary, ESB Chief Executive, Pat O'Doherty, remarked: “ESB is very proud to sponsor this production, given our historical roots in Ardnacrusha and the Shannon Scheme and our ongoing relationship with the Shannon. We have been generating electricity on the Shannon for generations, and the river continues to be an important resource in terms of meeting Ireland's renewable energy targets. This extraordinary documentary gives us a unique insight into the lives of wildlife found along the river, and makes us all aware of the environment we need to protect.”
Broadcast as part of the RTÉ Goes Wild season - a month-long season of wildlife-themed programmes on RTÉ, The Secret Life of the Shannon is set to cast a whole new light on the trials, struggles and surprising domestic dramas of Ireland's rich riverside wildlife. The first programme was broadcast on May 26th, with the second on June 2nd. Both were broadcast on RTÉ One at 6.30pm.
