A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of sitting in on an editing session for the upcoming film, Crash: A Tale of Two Species. Filmmaker Allison Argo weaves an incredible story about shorebirds and horseshoe crabs that is utterly compelling. As she and I discussed, she initially thought one of the challenges of the film would be in the difficulty of generating a relationship between the human audience and the horseshoe crabs. The crabs are as distinct from humans as a species can get. With their hard shell and hidden face, there is very little for viewers to visually relate to. But, as I can attest, she accomplishes this feat with subtlety and grace. By the end of the film I felt a connection with the crabs that I really hadn’t thought possible. It is in instances like these that I am reminded how wonderful the tool of anthropomorphism can be; how it can enable a human to genuinely step inside the shoes of such a unique creature.

Please set your DVR and watch this incredible testament to the integrated, interspecies, intertwined relationships between red knot shore birds, horseshoe crabs, and humans.

Sunday at 8pm on PBS. Check your local listings (or click here) for more information.