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 Video - FilmsRegional: Pacific IslandsNote: The title is followed by the length, producer, distributor (if different from producer), and year film was made. Unless otherwise noted, the videos listed below are VHS format. Many are available in Beta, 16mm and other formats. Some are on laser disks.
+ Indicates video sold or rented with teacher’s instruction guide.
"The Galapagos." Three one‑hour parts. Nature. PBS. Survival Anglia. WNET. 1986.
This series may be the best of the many films on these islands, which inspired Darwin's theory of evolution. The majority of Galapagos species are endemic to the islands, and Part 1, "How they Got There," describes the process through which species flew, swam, drifted or came as seeds attached to bird feathers to the Galapagos, then gradually evolved into distinct species. Part 2, "Cold on the Equator," visits the underwater world which, in spite of being on the Equator, is cold and harbors the most northerly species of penguin, the Galapagos Penguin. This bird is seen in long sequences swimming underwater. Part 3, "The Ocean Travelers," introduces some of the pelagic species that visit and breed on the islands, as well as the tourists who visit, bringing some benefits and also cause some problems. (Many of the native animals and plants of the Galapagos Islands are threatened with extinction. See the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.)
"Hawaii: Crucible of Life." 60 minutes. NOVA. BBC. WGBH. 1982.
"Hawaii: Islands of the Fire Goddess." 60 minutes. Nature. PBS. BBC. WNET. 1988.
"Hawaii: Paradise in Peril." 60 minutes. National Audubon Society. Live Home Video. 1993.
"Hawaii: Strangers in Paradise." 60 minutes. National Geographic Society. 1991.
These four films give various views of the Hawaiian Islands' native fauna, its people and conservation problems. The first two films show the geologic history of volcanic formation and how species colonized the islands thousands of years ago. "Nomads of the Wind," a series by Nature in 1994, also has much of the series devoted to Hawaii (see below). Of the four, the National Geographic Society film is the best in showing the remarkable evolutionary radiation in the native birds and insects and the efforts by the Nature Conservancy, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Hawaii and others to protect them. The National Audubon Society film focuses instead on the native Hawaiians and their threatened culture. It is surprising that this Society, so intrinsically involved in the conservation of birds, has so little of the film devoted to native birds, since the Hawaiian Islands have the greatest number of endangered bird species in the world, as well as an enormous number of avian extinctions.
"Land of the Kiwi." 60 minutes. Nature. PBS. BBC. WNET. 1987.
This film concerns New Zealand's wildlife, its evolution, and the effects of introduced species, deforestation and other changes on the incredibly diverse native fauna. Once home to the tallest birds that ever lived on earth, the moas, these islands still harbor a fascinating array of highly unusual animals. The world's heaviest parrot, the flightless Kakapo, lumbers about the forest floor and verges on the edge of extinction because of killing by introduced predators. Two species of tuatara lizards, relics from the early days of dinosaurs, survive in small numbers on small islets. Vestiges of the temperate rainforests have species of trees dating from the time when the islands split off from Gondwanaland, the supercontinent, many millions of years ago.
"Mountains of Water." 50 minutes. PBS. Survival Anglia. WNET. 1988 & 1991.
The mountainous and spectacular region known as Fiordlands on South Island, New Zealand, has a great variety of habitats, from high, snow-capped mountains, to alpine tussock grasslands, to temperate rainforest. The Takahe, a highly endangered and large flightless rail, lives in the grasslands, and this film follows conservation employees as they take eggs from nesting birds, candle them and, if both are fertile, take one for a well-run captive breeding program to reintroduce the species to portions of its habitat where it had become extinct. The lowland rainforest, silver beech trees draped in mosses and giant tree ferns, evokes images of landscapes dating back hundreds of millions of years. The beautiful and melodious birds native to these forests are seen, and most memorable is the Tui, a large honeyeater, whose voice sounds like piccolos and clarinets, haunting and melodic. Much of this region is protected in one of the world's largest national parks, covering 1,257,000 hectares (4,850 square miles), or 5 percent of New Zealand's area.
"Nomads of the Wind." Five one‑hour parts. Nature. PBS. BBC. WNET. 1994.
The Polynesians colonized virtually every island group of the eastern and southern Pacific through their superb navigation abilities. This series centers on the Polynesian people, their customs and culture, while at the same time showing their relationship to native species and how their actions affected the natural world. The parts are entitled, "The Faraway Heaven" (Tahiti and the Marquesas); "Crossroads of the Pacific" (Fiji); "Burning their Boats" (Easter Island); "Distant Horizons" (Hawaii and New Zealand) and "The Pierced Sky" (Polynesians and Europeans). It has been revealed through archaeological digging that the Polynesians caused many extinctions, especially of native flightless birds in New Zealand and Hawaii, and turned Easter Island from a forested Eden to near‑desert. Many beautiful and rare species seldom seen in films are glimpsed. The Henderson Island Rail, for example, is the sole surviving flightless rail species of eastern Polynesia. More than a dozen have become extinct in the past few hundred years. The dazzling lorikeets and parrots of Fiji and neighboring islands in red, blue and green plumage are seen pollinating plants as they feed on the nectar and chatter animatedly. The Pacific or Blue Lorikeet, a threatened species, is among these rarities. One species of New Zealand's tuataras is seen as it feeds at night on a native grasshopper. The rare Fiji Crested Iguana apparently evolved from a Central American ancestor which somehow reached these islands. Means by which species colonize islands and the fragility of island ecosystems are illustrated, and much solid information on numbers of exotic species of animals and plants in New Zealand and Hawaii, their effects on native species, and the extent of loss of native forests is given. The Hawaiian Nene goose is threatened by the introduced mongooses, against which it has no behavioral instinct to defend itself; it symbolizes the plight of many island species. The film suggests that all Pacific native species might become extinct through the effects of exotic species and the bulldozing of their habitats. The new ecotourism in New Zealand and efforts to save species, such as the 34‑mile‑long fence that has been built around the remnant Nene habitat to protect it from exotics, give optimism. These films may spend more time on the Polynesian beliefs, festivities and agriculture than naturalists might like, but the threats to ecosystems throughout Polynesia are not ignored.
"What Darwin Never Saw." 60 minutes. New Explorer. Kurtis Productions. 1995.
This fascinating film is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Jonathan Weiner, The Beak of the Finch. A Story of Evolution in Our Time, concerning research that substantiates Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. Research on the many species of finches in the Galapagos Islands that probably evolved from a single ancestor species indicates evolutionary changes in less than 50 years. Over a period of many years, the birds' bills and other physical characteristics were measured, and changes were documented that were apparent responses to altered environmental conditions on the islands, indicating that evolution takes place in an even shorter period than was previously assumed. This film brings to life the theory of evolution in the very place that inspired Darwin.
"The Wild South." Series on New Zealand wildlife. Distributed by Wombat Film & Video. 1986. (Some are reviewed elsewhere in this list.)
Titles relating to endangered species: “As it Wasn’t in the Beginning" (Enderby Island destroyed by rabbits and cattle), 24 minutes; "Colony Z," 24 minutes (see Birds); "Island Eaten by Rats" (Big South Cape of South Island before and after ship rats came), 24 minutes; "Island of Strange Noises" (Antipodes Island's wildlife), 30 minutes; "Living Together" (Dunedin, city near fur seal colony albatross and penguins trying to co‑exist), 30 minutes; "Project Takahe" (see Birds); "Sealion Summer" (see Mammals); "Song of Protest" (see Birds); "Swan Lake" (see Birds); "The Black Stilt" (see Birds); "The Mangroves" (see Endangered Habitats); "Seven Black Robins" and "The Robins Return" (see Birds); "The Snares--Gift of the Sea," 24 minutes; "Up with the Birds" (Macauley Island in the Kermadecs as a sanctuary for birds, even parakeets), 24 minutes.
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