The Regional Director for Sea Affairs welcomed today with the success of the documentary "Life at the Extreme - Deep / Azores" in the UK. It consists of a series of four episodes depicting life forms in extreme conditions and one of them, titled as "Deep," was produced on the islands of Faial and Pico.
 
In this documentary, with 52-minute duration, we can see British presenter Davina McCall, accompanied by Pico Sport team, meeting whales or diving up to 1,000 metres deep in the LULA1000 submarine; the latter is owned by the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation based in Horta.
 
The episode "Deep" aims to show the diversity of marine life in Azorean waters. It premièred in Britain on March 7 on iTV channel and will be broadcast on several television channels around the world.
 
Filipe Porteiro stressed that the documentary "has a very high quality in terms of image and communication and promotes, in a sophisticated way, the diversity and natural beauty of the Azores Sea, particularly with regard to the oceanic environments surrounding the islands."
 
The Regional Director emphasised that the Azores have become, in recent years, "a destination of excellence for audiovisual productions on marine and ocean themes." They are developed by professionals working for the most important television stations in the world, including NHK, National Geographic and the BBC, among others, in partnership with local companies and organisations, which offer "a high quality service."
 
Filipe Porteiro also noted that this documentary "is a unique tourist attraction for sea and wildlife lovers," adding, however, that diving with large cetaceans in the Region is only permitted to duly certified communication and audiovisual professionals.
 
An excerpt of the episode "Deep" can be viewed online at www.youtube.com/watch?v = 3HWfGV8ux0U.