Nat Geo Marks Earth Day With Premier Of ‘Secrets Of The Whales’


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Happy Earth Day! It’s a fabulous annual reminder to stop and admire the beauty and wonder of the planet around us—as well as a call to action to recognize the ways the planet is suffering and determine what we—as a global population—can do to protect and save the environments and creatures around the world. One of the most impressive and fascinating creatures on Earth are whales, which is why it is very cool that National Geographic is premiering the new series “Secrets of the Whales” today.

According to the blurb on the Disney+ page, ““Secrets of the Whales,” from National Geographic, plunges viewers deep within the epicenter of whale culture to experience the extraordinary communication skills and intricate social structures of five different whale species: orcas, humpbacks, belugas, narwhals and sperm whales. Filmed over three years in 24 locations, throughout this epic journey, we learn that whales are far more complex and more like us than ever imagined.”

The series is narrated by actress Sigourney Weaver, but we owe the incredible videography and the lessons we learn about the whales to Brian Skerry, an award-winning photojournalist and National Geographic Fellow. Brian is one of the most accomplished photographers / videographers of marine life.

I had an opportunity to speak with Brian about the experience of traveling the world and diving with these whales to capture the footage for the show, as well as some of the challenges they faced and the technology that helped them get the job done.

I started by asking Brian how much he thinks we still need to learn about whales. I was curious because I have spoken to Brian a few times before and I know that he has been doing this for a long time. Whales aren’t a new thing, per se, so I wanted to know if Brian is actually still learning new things when he dives.

The short version is that Brian emphatically believes there is much, much more to learn. He told me, “I think it’s the tip of the iceberg, you know, we’ve just begun to scratch the surface about what these animals do.”

One of the reasons there is so much yet to discover is the conditions of trying to observe them for any period of time. Brian explained, “If you did a Venn diagram of all the things that have to line up to be able to get whale pictures, it’s a very small circle that remains, because the weather has to be good, you have to have a boat, you have to be able to get off shore. The visibility has to be good, even in the clearest of water I can’t use a 600mm lens. I have to get within a few meters of my subject. The whales have to be there, they have to let me close—they could easily swim away and often do. The sun has to be shining because I can’t light a whale, and then they have to be doing something interesting in terms of photography and science.”

That is certainly a daunting list of conditions to meet. He also pointed out that scientists have been studying the songs of humpback whales in earnest for 50 years or more and still are not sure why they sing. The bottom line is that there is apparently a lot left for us to learn, but the conditions must be virtually perfect, and the whales don’t seem to be volunteering any information.

I asked Brian how technology has impacted his work and whether advances in technology are improving his ability to do this work. He said that digital photography has been a huge game changer. “I mean I used to go away on assignment and shoot 500 rolls of film. I was relegated to 36 frames, I couldn’t change the ISO, I didn’t know what I had captured and underwater is so highly variable the conditions can change. So now I can shoot, you know 1000, or 1200 RAW files. I can look at it as I’m shooting, so if my lighting is a little bit off I can I can fix that. If I have a bad lens, I know it because you know the aperture is not closing down or something.”

Drone technology has been another huge benefit. Brian said they used to go to locations and have to hire a helicopter to get aerial footage. Now, he can easily bring a drone with a cinematic quality camera and shoot 6k motion picture footage. The ability to capture low light images and video is also a significant advantage.

For the episode on beluga whales, Brian worked with the team at National Geographic to design and build equipment to help them capture the footage. Brian explained, “Because I could place those underwater before the whales arrived—because you can’t go in the water there, and if you did, they would be frightened away. So, to be able to get brand new baby belugas and gameplay and the social behaviors—all stuff that technology delivered that, you know, didn’t exist just a little while ago.”

I love whales and I love great nature documentaries. I am looking forward to watching this series. Tune in on Disney+ to watch “Secrets of the Whales.” Brian and National Geographic also produced an amazing book to accompany the series, and National Geographic focused its May issue on Oceans and features the research and images from the show.

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