A lone green turtle, wandering the currents of the Sulawesi Sea, makes landfall on Malaysia's only oceanic island. Sipadan is the coral summit of an extinct volcano, but it can be a place of life or death for her or the hawksbill turtles that reach this reef on a mountain in the sea.

1 x 1 Hour
SYNOPSIS •  CREDITS •  RIGHTS AVAILABLE •  SPECIES LIST
IMAGES • AWARDS

SYNOPSIS
As much variety and abundance of life floods Sipadan as fills the rainforests round Kinabalu, the highest mountain on the nearest land, Borneo.

Arriving here, the turtle enters a colourful world of hunters and their prey where, day and night, 'disguise and surprise' are one key to survival, 'co-operation' another.

See an octopus transform into 'coral', a fish that mimics dead leaves, dramatic shoals of barracudas and jacks seeking safety in numbers while turtles drift in a trance-like state to attract a company of cleaners.

Eavesdrop on a 'basket-star' feeding at night and moving across the coral on its strange tendrils with uncanny speed. Swim with a reef 'demolition squad' - humphead parrot fish that bite at coral rock, feeding their huge bodies. They pass out coral sand that will itself be sifted by a 'goldrush' of hungry diggers.

Out from the island's sand also come young turtles, hatching from nests in thousands every day - and the visiting turtle is herself mated, in a spectacular chase, by the many male turtles that live on Sipadan's fabulous reef.

But why, in a flooded cavern under the island, do many turtles die? Their bones lie scattered there. What is the dark secret of Sipadan's turtle tomb?

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CREDITS

Photographed and Produced by MICHAEL PATRICK WONG
Written and Narrated by BARRY PAINE
Driving Assistant ANTHONY HOLLEY
Music Composed by OLIVER LEDBURY
Played by THE CITY OF PRAGUE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Conducted by ALLAN WILSON
Sound ANT BOHUN ROWLAND JONES
Film Editors JON EVERETT ANGELA MADDICK
Colour Grading JON EVERETT
Supervising Producer MICHAEL ROSENBERG
Post Production PINK HOUSE POST PRODUCTION, BRISTOL, ENGLAND

The producer wishes to thank
MALAYSIA AIRLINES
SABAH TOURISM PROMOTION CORPORATION
BORNEO DIVERS SDN BHD
SABAH AIR Pte Ltd
APEKS (UK)
SCUBAPRO (USA)

Special thanks to TAN SRI AZIZAN ZAINUL ABIDIN
DATUK CHONG KAH KIAT
TENGKU DATUK DR ZAINAL ADLIN
CARL HALL
RON HOLLAND
CLEMENT LEE
LEE YEN PHIN
DAVID BLACKHAM

Distributed by HIT Entertainment PLC

© Michael Patrick Wong 2001

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RIGHTS AVAILABLE

Worldwide All Media excluding Publishing and Video excluding non-theatric rights in Malaysia

SPECIES LIST
Fish Invertebrates Reptiles
Batfish
Alcyonarian soft coral
 Green turtle
Bicolor cleaner wrasse
 Barrel sponge
 Hawksbill turtle
Black and white snapper
 Basket star
Black and white striped wrasse
 Cushion star
Blenny
 Fan worm
Blue fin trevally
 Leather coral
Blue lined fusilier
 Octopus
Bluestreak cleaner wrasse
 Orange cup coral
Bream
 Porcelain crab
Brown tang
Slipper lobster
Bumphead parrotfish
Soft coral
Chevron barracuda
Spawning coral
Clark’s anemonefish
 Spiky sea cucumber
Crocodilefish
 Spiny lobster
Damselfish
Sponge crab
Dot and dash goatfish
 Squid
Double saddled butterflyfish
 Starfish
Giant frogfish
Giant moray eel
Giant trevally
Horse eye jack
Lyretail anthias
Lyretail grouper
Moorish idol
Napoleon wrasse
Oblique banded sweetlips
Ocellated dragonet
Ornate ghost pipefish
Palette surgeonfish
Peacock flounder
Rabbitfish
Robust ghost pipefish
Rock mover wrasse
Sailfin tang
Scorpionfish
Seargentmajor
Striped catfish
Surgeonfish
Titan triggerfish
Trumpetfish
Warty lipped mullet
White tail damselfish
White tip reef shark
Whitespotted garden eels
Yellow damselfish
Yellow fin goatfish

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AWARDS
Michael Wong recieves his award at Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival
Marion Zunz Newcomer award

24th International Wildlife Film Festival
Finalist Award

US International Film and Video Festival 2001
First Place - Gold Camera Award - Oceanography/Fisheries category

© 2001 HIT Entertainment Plc