WildSide Teaser Trailer
About WildSide
WildSide is a series designed for PBS exploring National Parks and Protected Places from the United States to far off regions of the world examining the science, the economics, and the emotions of preservation. The name represents not just the wild environments of our planet, but that place in all of us that longs to follow our inner free spirit – our wild side.
Nick Mollé shares his love of storytelling and passion for biology to investigate and prove the statement “If we show people the most beautiful places in the world, they will want to protect them.” With a hefty dose of science and a touch of humor, Nick engages the help of local experts in each location. Exploring on foot, land vehicles, airplanes and boats brings the viewer along with a sense of awe and inspiration reinforcing the relevance of a natural environment.
Motion Picture Industry distribution manager John Wade says;
”Nick Mollé films are vastly superior!...
it’s difficult to find better outdoor films on television today.”
WildSide Australia:: Australia's Northern Territory Teaser Trailer
Episode One: WildSide Australia: Australia's Northern Territory
Thousands of square kilometers have already been destroyed by changing sea levels in these wildlife rich flood plains east of Darwin. Higher salinity levels reach further and further into the marshes and billabongs. This is home to hundreds of species of birds and numerous other animals including the notorious saltwater or estuarine crocodiles that also brandish another official name, “man-eating crocodiles”.
Nick connects with Kat, an incomparable guide who happens not to be Australian but Scottish. Together they explore and discuss the habitats of painfully cute wallabies, termites or as Kat says, “tairmites”, countless birds, the introduced brumbies and water buffalo as well as the ubiquitous crocodiles. Kat teaches Nick a few local traditions like munching on tasteless bush apples and licking the butts of aggressive biting ants – with actual medicinal value.
As we revel in this unique fascinating ecosystem, we listen to the scientists who remind us that as the climate changes so does the evolving coastal water encroachment. As salinity rapidly evolves some life will suffer and some like the man-eating crocs will thrive at least temporarily.
Episode Two: WildSide Australia: Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park
We are permitted to visit Australia’s spiritually sensitive Arnhem Land. Here our guide Haimish introduces Nick to Wilfred, an indigenous tribal leader. We learn not only to speak slowly but to listen slowly as Wilfred and elder Jacob reveal how little we understand about this civilization—a civilization in a serious modern-day crisis involving cultural crossroads, crossroads where traditional burning now must be studied as rising temperatures can tip the balance with devastating consequences. Scientists point to what happened in another part of the continent in 2019.
Local legend, Sab Lord “appears” in the wilderness among the cliff drawings and expresses his powerful environmental philosophy. Sab, a buffalo hunter, rancher, and man of the earth “tough guy”, has given his family ranchland back to the aboriginal tribes and dedicates his life to assisting the native people who helped raise him.
More giant menacing crocodiles enter the story as we explore Kakadu National Park. Haimish explains intentionally set fires that plague the area, tells about a local fisherman who “lost his head” over giant crocs, and talks Nick into taking a swim where he himself wouldn’t think of jumping in.
WildSide Alaska Teaser Trailer
Episode Three: WildSide Alaska: Prince William Sound
The incomparable Prince William Sound is famous for its pristine inlets, bays and islands, and infamous for the Exon Valdez disaster still affecting the biosystems of the shorelines. Though sport fishing is a healthy part of the economy, commercial fishing is dominant in Cordova–a remote picturesque village complete with classic typical Alaskan characters.
Nick visits Prince William Sound Science Center. The Director explains research being done to save the natural fisheries. A local commercial fisherman/researcher details the delicate balance of preserving the environment in order to ensure a future for the extensive fishing fleet that shares Cordova’s harbor. On a research boat studying the food supply of herring populations Nick gets a crash course in plankton and its importance to the Sound’s pyramid of life.
Longtime friends and Outfitters, Tom, Katie, and Dan provide unique accommodations and transportation. In a 1964 vintage Beaver float plane, Tom delivers us to a remote floating cabin where Nick notes that a bear would have to “swim for its dinner”.
Nick and John catch salmon and halibut as they mingle with seals and sea otters, and contemplate plankton. As Alaska warms, and it has profoundly, what will be the effect of glacial melting both here in Prince William Sound and on the rest of the planet?
Investigating a curious assembly of stuff across the bay we discover a crabby oyster farming gentleman who wants to be left alone. Relenting to Nick’s questions we learn more about this fascinating ecosystem. A failed engine forces the exasperated but accommodating “hermit” into embarrassing Nick and crew with a tow home.
WildSide Costa Rica Teaser Trailer
Episode Four: WildSide Costa Rica: Tortuguero National Park
Michael Kay, a mysterious and passionate environmental entrepreneur, invites us to an Amazonian watery maze on the eastern coast of Costa Rica. This is the home of countless species, many endangered or threatened. Bull sharks and crocs also call this home. We do not swim here.
Nick is emotionally moved by Michael’s remote school where English is taught to children so they may have the opportunity to work in the country where the word “ecotourism” was born and is now more relevant than ever.
Ever present reptiles from massive crocs to stunning emerald Jesus Christ lizards to a cute, colorful and deadly eyelash viper join exquisite birds and menacing monkeys in this biological diversity dream come true. Even the diminutive poison dart frogs greet us in full red and blue attire. While kayaking through the lowland rainforest, our guide Luis is moved to tears by a sighting of the rare and endangered Emerald Macaw.
As Nick witnesses an intriguing dog, chicken, cat and kids chase, he learns from the locals that this is a two-season community; the rainy season and the less rainy season; seasons that scientists agree could be experiencing alterations. Then Nick’s fascination with large reptiles almost ends in disaster as a giant “sculpture” comes to life.
Is tourism a plus for the jobs it offers or a minus for the environmental damage? We speak to the expert, the man who coined the phrase, “Eco-Tourism”.