June saw the arrival of top BBC presenter Steve Backshall and crew to Sabah to film several programs for the BBC's new 60 Most Deadly 22 part series. Yet again Scubazoo handled all permit approval, ground handling and production management for their 2 main shoot locations. The whole team, headed by our very own Borneo Wildman Eric Thien, first travelled to East Sabah and one of the worlds most smelly locations - Gomatong Caves - where thousands of Swiftlets and millions of bats roost and call the caves home. Over the course of the first week Steve was filmed hanging and abseiling down from the cave ceiling bringing the viewers right up close and personal with these feathery and furry residents. Once down on the cave floor or should i say the cave dung heap as the cave floor itself is now covered with many 10's of meters of bird and bat droppings which form incredibly pongy piles of Guano. If the smell wasnt bad enough the sight of thousands upon thousands of cockroaches swarming all over the piles of guano and walls made even the strongest stomachs lurch a little! Also on the creepy crawlies wish list were the predatory Scutigera . These cave dwelling centipedes can give unwary humans let alone their more natural prey a very nasty bite which can cause extreme reactions and even hospitalisation in some unlucky cases.

In between visits to the cave the crew took to the river in search of bigger local residents such as Proboscis Monkeys, snakes, riverine birds before disembarking at the forest edge of the near by ox-bow lake for the last creepy crawly challenge - Leeches. The team, presenter Steve and crew - James, Rosie, Nick and Johnny, all had to walk along a recent animal track through the dense jungle brushing against the lush vegetation without removing or reacting to the swarming leeches. After ten minutes of walking they were then allowed to stop and inspect their bodies and clothes for leeches - the winner was the one with the most undisturbed leeches. Steve won with a couple found feeding on his nipples but in total there were well over 20 leeches on all the crew!

Following the success at the Gomatong caves and Kinabatangan River the crew then packed the bulging van and 4WD and headed down to Semporna to meet with Simon Enderby (1st underwater cameraman) , Andy Chia (Dive supervisor) and Chris Tan (2nd underwater cameraman) before catching a speed boat out to Mabul. Time was tight and although the Scubazoo underwater team knew these waters like their own backyard - the target animals they searched for are not always willing to play to the cameras and show their faces let alone any natural behaviour. however with some strategic planning, great support from Sipadan Water Village and senior dive guide Jimmy, Simon was able to film Steve face to face with many of the programs target animals as well as catch some great lionfish feeding sequences on camera with steve only a few feet away narrating the whole scene to camera. It was a weary team that finished filming at 11pm that first night.

The following day brought more settled weather and visibility and the true magic of Sabah's East Coast underwater treasures came out on mass parade. Schools of snappers and jackfish, which in turn mobbed passing white tips, cruising grey reef sharks followed by the famous tornadoing school of Barracuda pretty much completed out wish list by midday on the second day of filming. Incredible. However the Simon and Steve continued to dive and film to gain even more behavioural footage. Top of the list was capturing a spear mantis striking out at potential prey and whilst night diving just in front of the SWV dive centre thats just what they saw. In just an area the size of a full sized snooker table Steve and Simon managed to find not just one active spear mantis but 4! Over the course of the next 30 minutes Steve was able to explain the spear mantis's formidable ambush strategy and finally its killing thrust with the help of a few raw prawntails. Finally climbing the dive centers steps both Steve and Simon donned immense face splitting smiles - with over 6 Mantis strikes on camera with Steve only inches away narrating the whole scene as it unfolded the team were very much in celebratory mood. However on the third and final day of diving when we all thought things could not get any better - they did! The sun shone and the waters cleared to 40m visibility. The dogtooth tuna, white tips, turtles, batfish schools and finally a huge herd of feeding bumphead parrotfish all came out to put on a show for the cameras - it could not have been better! With everything and then some already in the can Steve then suggested that we film the "Gannet dive" sequence, for another show, from the top of the Seaventures Dive Resort and so with cameras positioned above and on boats below as well as underwater Steve made the 25m dive - not once but 3 times hotly followed by soundman Nick.

Our final night on Mabul saw crew member Rosie celebrating her birthday in true island style. With Cameraman Simon acting as barman the crew and resort guests partied on late into the night. With sleepy eyes, throbbing heads the team paid up their impressive bar bill (which also included a glass table!) and Director James was heard to say "Thats the most "Rock and Roll" i've seen a wrap party for a long while!". However it wasn't yet all over - after arriving back in Kota Kinabalu later that afternoon Steve still had a very important rendezvous with a 17ft reticulated python - as you do!