Advanced Television

4KUNIVERSE sets premiere date for Blue World series

May 1, 2017

4KUNIVERSE, the first 24/7 4K Ultra HD general entertainment channel in North America has announced a new 4K underwater TV series titled Blue World starring Emmy Award-winner cinematographer Jonathan Bird licensed from leading 4K content provider Big Media.

The premiere 4K-resolution season features episodes on tiger sharks in the Bahamas, muck diving in Iceland, Florida cave diving, the Mayan underworld, scuba diving in Turks & Caicos, diving with NASA, a shark electrosensory experiment, flower gardens in the Caribbean and an episode featuring a giant Giant Pacific Octopus.

The 10-episode series premieres on May 18th at 7pm ET on 4KUNIVERSE’s cable channel and will debut on its streaming service the very next day.

Show Description

Jonathan Bird’s Blue World is an underwater adventure series hosted by dynamic naturalist and underwater photographer Jonathan Bird. It is co-produced by Jonathan Bird Productions and the non-profit organization Oceanic Research Group. Segments encompass a variety of subjects, including stories about animals, marine research and researchers, underwater exploration and recent discoveries. The stories always have an underwater theme and feature stunning underwater photography.

 

Episode Descriptions

 

Episode 1 – Tiger Sharks in the Bahamas + Crystal Cave of Abaco, Bahamas

In the series pilot, host Jonathan Bird travels to the Bahamas, where, in the past few years, diver interactions with Tiger sharks have become up close and personal. These large and dangerous animals are not only being hand-fed, but handled by divers. Jonathan learns how to flip a Tiger shark from experienced shark handlers. Next, Jonathan joins world-renown cave explorer Brian Kakuk to investigate the Crystal Cave of Abaco, Bahamas—considered the most highly-ornamented underwater cave in the world! The formations in this cave are simply stunning—and incredibly unique.

 

Episode 2 – Muck Diving in Florida + Iceland–The World’s Clearest Water

Jonathan travels to Iceland to investigate a giant crack in the ground filled with frigid runoff from melting glaciers. It’s rumored to be the clearest water in the world. But to find out, Jonathan has to brave some very cold water. Next, he heads down to sunny Florida, not to dive a coral reef or a spectacular shipwreck, but in fact to dive in shallow, murky water under a busy bridge. This secret spot is home to some of the ocean’s most remarkable and weird animals.

 

Episode 3 – Tiger Shark as a Camera Operator + Florida Cave Diving

Jonathan joins an expedition to recruit a new Blue World camera operator in the form of a 1,000 pound Tiger shark! Working with experienced shark handlers, he puts a camera on the dorsal fin of the shark to see what it can film all by itself. But will he get his camera back? Next, he joins an experienced cave diver to explore a famous underwater cave in Northern Florida (USA).

 

Episode 4 – Cave Training in the Bahamas

Cave diving is the most difficult and dangerous type of diving, so the training to become a certified cave diver is arduous. This episode documents Jonathan’s actual cave training in the Bahamas and follows along as he learns how to dive safely in the overhead environment of a cave in an attempt to earn his full cave diver certification.

 

Episode 5 – Mayan Underworld (Yucatan, Mexico)

Deep in the heart of Mexico’s Yucatan, Jonathan is exploring remote cenotes in the jungle that were once used for Mayan rituals. Just reaching the surface of the water requires rappelling down from the forest above. But then beneath the surface, he encounters strange alien life forms that live in total darkness, and the remains of humans and animal sacrifices from an ancient culture.

 

Episode 6 – Marine Biology in Turks & Caicos + Sea Hunt Forever Festival + Gulf of Maine, USA

Jonathan visits the School for Field Studies in the Turks & Caicos Islands to learn how college students conduct fieldwork in their pursuit of degrees in Marine Studies. He helps tag sharks, study conch and investigate marine protected areas! Then he heads over to Silver Springs for the Sea Hunt Forever Festival, celebrating the classic TV show Sea Hunt and the vintage scuba gear that was used on the program. Finally, he heads up to New England to showcase some of the marine life that thrives in cooler water like Wolffish and anemones.

 

Episode 7 – Shark’s “Tonic Immobility” in the Bahamas + Diving with NASA

In a shark-filled adventure, Jonathan travels to the Bahamas to meet Neal Harvey, a world-renown shark handler who will attempt to teach Jonathan how to put Caribbean Reef sharks into a relaxed state known as tonic immobility! Then, Jonathan heads to NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston, Texas (USA), where astronauts train for space walking underwater, in a giant pool about half the size of a football field. Jonathan gets a rare and fascinating look into this high-tech diving as he ventures underwater with astronauts.

 

Episode 8 – Shark Electrosensory Experiment + Oil Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico + Night Diving

Jonathan joins shark researcher Dr. Stephen Kajiura to test how well wild sharks can detect electrical fields in their environment. Then, he heads to the Gulf of Mexico to learn how oil platforms can actually become a healthy artificial reef and attract marine life from miles around. Finally, in a series of night dives, he shows why going diving after dark is way more interesting than spooky.

 

Episode 9 – Sand Tiger Sharks + Flower Gardens in the Caribbean

Jonathan heads down to the shipwrecks of North Carolina to observe how these wrecks have become home to thousands of animals, including Sand Tiger sharks. But instead of chasing all the fish, the sharks are protecting some of them! Then, in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Jonathan investigates some of the densest coral reefs in the Caribbean as they spawn under cover of darkness.

 

Episode 10 – Giant Pacific Octopus + Blue Sharks of the East Coast

Jonathan travels to Seattle (USA West Coast) to join the Seattle Aquarium dive team on an octopus survey. He meets the Giant Pacific Octopus, the largest octopus in the world, and discovers how clever this huge invertebrate really is! Then he heads to Rhode Island (USA East Coast) to dive with Blue sharks and learn how shark tagger Charlie Donilon is helping to shed light on the migration patterns of these amazing fish, which wander across entire oceans!

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