Fight CluB

On the Arctic fringes, in Icelandic deep waters, lurks one of the most surprising new characters which will be introduced to the world through Our Oceans, encroaching deeper into the warming Arctic from the Atlantic. It’s the mating season and wolves are on the prowl…

Assistant Producer Alex Fennell, alongside Our Oceans series DoP Roger Munns and Camera Assistant Jason Isley, set out to uncover the secret world of the Atlantic wolf fish. The team had heard anecdotes from Icelandic commercial diver, Erlendur Bogasun, that wolf fish males fight for the females, in bouts that would leave the warring males bloodied and with serious battle scars. This has never been captured on film or even mentioned in scientific literature - until now! Guided by Erlendur, with his intimate knowledge of these elusive creatures, the team witnessed the wolf fish dating game unfold in front of them.

There were many challenges during filming. The fish were hard to access in burrows 25m deep in waters as cold as 44F. Alex recalls the team's frustrations: "For the first few weeks, we'd arrive at the dive site to find wounded wolf fish males fresh from battle, but always just moments too late to see them in action. We felt like we are always so close, and our time was running out!" But on one of the last days of the shoot, they struck gold: "We were dropped off by the rib and Erlendur and I went to scout the dive site, while Roger and Jason set up to film at a wolf fish den. Erlendur and I came across two massive males, sizing each other up, and we knew we were onto something. I stayed on the pair while Erlendur went to bring Roger and Jason to the action, which then led to the team filming a full on, 90-minute brawl. In that moment, it was so exciting knowing that we were documenting a world first!"