Silverwater, NSW, Australia - Feb 16, 2009 - 2009 sees two significant anniversaries related to Charles Darwin: the 200th anniversary of his birth and the 150th anniversary of his publication The Origin of the Species. In late 2008, a German documentary expedition retraced Darwin's voyage around the tip of South America, Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn. This expedition is commonly believed to have inspired Darwin's first theories on evolution and natural selection. To make the expedition as authentic as possible the crew of seven sailed much of the route in a replica of the HMS Beagle, an open rowing boat originally used for whaling.

Tierra del Fuego (Spanish for 'land of fire') is incredibly inhospitable with strong winds, heavy snow and ice and heavy rainfall. The camera crew, led by Ralf Brauner, opted for a complete Rode microphones set-up designed for operation in extreme environments featuring the NTG-3 shotgun microphone, Rode Blimp windshield, WS7 deluxe windshield and the Rode Boompole.

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