Silent Assassin is the third episode of the third season of River Monsters.
Episode Description[]
Jeremy Wade travels to the Paraná River in a remote corner of Argentina to investigate the death of a young girl. This creature is not armed with bone-crunching jaws or razor sharp teeth, but a razor-sharp blade tipped with tissue-destroying venom.
Episode Summary[]
Wade arrived in the remote corner of Argentina to investigate an attack. In the Parana River, a young girl went into the water. She was stabbed in the leg by something in the shallows. While she was able to run out of the water, she died soon after.
The clues all point to a stingray being the culprit. It would be difficult for another fish to attack so quickly in shallow water, and the wounds all bear stingray features. However, Wade is unsure of the exact species of ray he is pitting himself against.
He speaks with local fishermen to find out more about stingray attacks. They tell of a young boy who was killed while playing in the water, much like the girl. He also hears of horses dying from stingray wounds.
He decides to start fishing, but his bait keeps being taken by Palometa Piranha, a species that has adapted to the cooler waters of the Paraná River. These fish continuously steal his bait before it can even hit the riverbed, the place where stingrays typically feed.
He waits until nighttime when the piranhas are usually less active. However, this proves unsuccessful, as Piranhas continue to steal his bait. Wade stops fishing and decides to talk to a doctor and stingray expert to learn more about the fish he is chasing.
He learns that this ray has a relatively bulkier body than the Thai stingrays he went up against in an earlier episode. They also have a shorter and stronger tail, with brutal venom capable of melting tissue. Wade finds out that this is how the horses died. He meets a man who has been stung before. He says that it is very painful and that it took 6-7 years for the wound to heal.
He continues to fish but still has no luck as piranhas keep devouring his bait. However, on a dock near the river he comes across a macabre sight. A dead and bleeding stingray, which is the exact species Wade is hunting for. It is a Short-Tailed River Stingray. Jeremy estimates it would have been approximately 225 pounds when alive.
He continues to fish for a large specimen after seeing that they do exist. Instead, he continues hooking onto dorado, catfish, and piranha. Finally, he gets a bite, but it is extremely strong. Jeremy tries to reel it in but it is very difficult as the riverbed is full of snags. Finally, after a grueling four-hour battle, the longest to date, Wade manages to bring the fish onto the bank.
He inspects it and estimates it is 250 pounds, one of the largest specimens ever caught. It has a tail which he compares to a Medieval Club and it is very flexible. After having a good look at it, Wade releases the fish, and is left in no doubt that it is one of the most dangerous in South America.
Animals Featured[]
- Short-Tailed River Stingray
- Palometa Piranha
- Golden Dorado
- Various species of Catfish
Locations Featured[]
Trivia[]
- This episode is Jeremy Wade's longest battle with a fish to date, at four hours. However, in the filming of the episode Killers From the Abyss, he caught a Yellowfin Tuna off-screen which took 6 hours.