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S21 Ep5

Living Edens: Big Sur - California's Wild Coast

Premiere: 11/24/2002

California is the land of Disney, Hollywood, and freeway traffic jams. But on a much grander scale, it's also the land of natural marvels, including a coastal paradise where wildlife and flora thrive in an unspoiled environment.

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Coastal paradise is showcased in Living Edens: Big Sur – California’s Wild Coast, a special presentation of NATURE.

California is the land of Disney, Hollywood, and freeway traffic jams. But on a much grander scale, it’s also the land of natural marvels, including a coastal paradise where wildlife and flora thrive in an unspoiled environment. This magnificent region is explored in intimate detail in Living Edens: Big Sur.

On the 100-mile stretch of coastland south of the Monterey Peninsula, the filmmaker, Bruce Reitherman, reveals a variety of wildlife that has found refuge and hope here, including such rare and endangered birds as the California condor and the peregrine falcon. The return of the condor to Big Sur testifies to the success of one of the most ambitious captive breeding programs in history.

Ocean mammals too have found a hospitable haven in Big Sur. Thousands of elephant seals come ashore each winter, the females to give birth and the males to battle for the right to father the next generation. Sea otters are filmed using rocks as anvils to pry a rich meal from even the most resistant of mussels.

Inland, Big Sur encompasses forests of majestic ancient redwoods and oak woodlands, home to the acorn woodpecker, which is sustained through the winter by the oak tree’s nut-like fruit.

Production Credits

Television Credits

Narrated by
SALLY KELLERMAN

Executive Producer
ALEX GREGORY

Supervising Producer
ANN F. KIM

Written by
BRUCE REITHERMAN

Produced by
BRUCE REITHERMAN

Cinematography by
BRUCE REITHERMAN

Edited by
BETH GALLAGHER

Music by
LAURA KARPMAN

Associate Producer
ERIKA HILL

Additional Cinematography
CRAIG GEBHART
TOM FITZ

Assistant Camera
FLORAIN GRANER
JAMIE FITZ
ERAN HAYDEN
HUMMINGBIRD TAKAHASHI
GEOFF PHILLIPS
JIMMY SWIFT

Location Sound
DAVID RUDDICK

Series Associate Producer
LEIGH HARRISON HELBERG

Assistant Editor
JOHN GRETHER

Production Coordinator
DAVID LEY

Henry Editor
JAY SEGIMOTO

Re-Recording Mixers
MARK LINDEN
TARA PAUL

Sound Design
CLIFFORD HOELSCHER

Music Supervisor
NANCY SEVERINSEN

Map Design
View Studios

Producers gratefully acknowledge the assistance of:
Big Sur Land Trust
Fort Hunter Liggett
Friends Of The Elephant Seals
Granite Canyon Marine Lab
Hastings Natural History Reservation
Hearst Corporation
Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
National Marine Fisheries Service
Rana Creek Ranch
Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group
Unocal Corporation
Ventana Wilderness Society Condor Reintroduction Team
Joe Burnett
William Douros
Mimi Hahn
John Hunt
Donna Kneeland
Brian Latta
Vince Pace
Phil Sammet
John Smiley
Rick Starr
Bridget Watts

For Devillier Donegan Enterprises

Production Controller
ELIZABETH VALLENTINE

Production Manager
DENISE GLENNON

Supervising Producer
GREG DIEFENBACH

Executive Producers
RON DEVILLIER
BRIAN DONEGAN

For NATURE

Series Editor
JANET HESS

Supervising Producer
JANICE YOUNG

Producers
PATTY JACOBSON
JILL CLARKE

Associate Producer
GIANNA SAVOIE

Researcher
SUSANE LEE

Production Assistant
IRENE TEJARATCHI

Manager
EILEEN FRAHER

Production Manager
JULIE SCHAPIRO THORMAN

On-line Editor
BARRY GLINER

Audio Mix
ED CAMPBELL

Series Producer
BILL MURPHY

Executive in Charge
WILLIAM GRANT

Executive Producer
FRED KAUFMAN

A Malvina Martin Production for Thirteen/WNET New York and National Geographic Television

This program was produced by Thirteen/WNET New York, which is solely responsible for its content.

Web Credits

Producer
RONNIE GODEANU

Art Director
SABINA DALEY

Designers
LENNY DROZNER
KAREN MATTSON
RADIK SHVARTS

Pagebuilding
BRIAN SANTALONE

Writer
DAVID MALAKOFF

Production Artist
RUIYAN XU

Technical Director
BRIAN LEE

Content Consultant
Susane Lee

About the Writer

David Malakoff is a journalist covering research discoveries and the politics of science for SCIENCE MAGAZINE in Washington, D.C. His writing has appeared in a wide range of venues, including THE ECONOMIST, THE WASHINGTON POST, and ABCNews.com.

Thirteen Online is a production of Thirteen/WNET New York’s Kravis Multimedia Education Center in New York City. Dan Goldman, Executive Director, thirteen.org. Bob Adleman, Business Manager.

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