It's as breath-taking in its scope, as it is in the incredible scenes of hundreds - no . . . thousands of single-minded animals from all the planet's species pushing forever onward in perilous journeys with a collective, relentless and motion-filled angst in their drive to survive. National Geographic's (DStv 260) incredible and awe-inspring new documentary series Great Migrations starts its journey this coming Sunday, November 7 at 21:00 and its simply have-to-see television.
Great Migrations follows some of the most resilient creatures in the animal kingdom across the globe in the biggest undertaking in the 122 years history of National Geographic. From giant sperm whales to colourful clouds of monarch butterflies; from red crabs to wildebeest; from the Pacific walrus and whale shark and pronghorn of North America and a flurry of fauna, Great Migrations tracks the incredible journey these animals make in a shrinking, yet still very vast world.
The National Geogrphic Great Migrations production team spent two and a half years across the globe, travelling 670 000 km across 120 countries and all seven continents to bring this wonderful and ambitious TV documentary series to television.
''So many places we filmed, there were no roads, no trails, no easy way to chart our course. We were in areas no camera crew had ever been before,'' says Great Migrations series producer Gavin Hamlin. ''Important was the expertise and instinct among our crew,'' he says, ''to intuitively know what an elephant could do … to be able to spot whales from a great distance by instantly detecting whale blows among the whitecaps – especially on a gray and windy day on the open ocean – only comes with years and years of experience of knowing exactly what to look for with the naked eye.''
''Sometimes our low-tech efforts yielded the result we needed. For example, we learned when we got on the water that whales are extremely sensitive to the near-silent engine we had on our dinghy. So we had to break out an inflatable kayak that used human pedal power.''
''We filmed a very difficult and dramatic zebra migration,'' says Gavin Hamlin, talking about a poignant moment for the production crew. ''The salt plans of Botswana are a true furnace of heat, dust and salt. A very difficult place to shoot, but Dereck and Beverly Joubert are two of the finest filmmakers on the planet and they dove into this inferno with great enthusiasm.''
''In Mali, we filmed the largest herd of Mali elephants doing the longest elephant migration. That gave us time and volume to study, watch and learn. We also believe we captured the most comprehensive footage of the red crab migration on Christmas Island, and we were the first crew in almost 30 years to film the kob in Sudan. We also believe we have filmed the most in-depth coverage of numerous migrations, including Botswana zebras, Mali elephants, red crabs on Christmas Island, flying foxes in Australia, army ants in Costa Rica and the Pacific great white sharks.''
''Finally, the footage we were able to capture of a great white shark attacking and consuming an elephant seal has never been seen in the detail we filmed, and is truly incredible to watch. National Geographic's Great Migrations was a three year odyssey for everyone involved,'' says Gavin Hamlin. ''As a team and as individuals it was a migration of sorts - an adventure that challenged us, exhausted us, and in the end, left us richer for the journey.''
