The Friendliest (And Funniest) Fish In The Sea

Introduced by George Monteiro, Jr., who developed the Sea-Cam Underwater video system, this comic half-hour contains footage, compiled over a five-year-period, of divers interacting with a wide variety of sea life. Viewers see groupers eating a favorite snack (Alpo); barracudas taking fish from a diver's mouth, the beautiful dance of the nudibranch, stingrays who "kiss", and a host of other unusual sights. The idea that even some of the fish that we normally associate with fear and danger (barracudas, sharks, eels) are really friendly is an appealing one--but it's a bit overstated. The novice who took heart from this program, and tried to approach a shark could very well become lunch. While the footage is consistently interesting, and quite professionally done, the accompanying "humorous" soundtrack is decidedly amateur. Much of the audio track is composed of various rude mouth noises to match the video footage of the fish. Libraries may want to consider this offbeat program, but it's strictly an optional purchase. (Available from: Sea-Cam, Inc., 7161 N.W. 48th Court, Lauderhill, FL 33319.)