BBC One/BBC iPlayer From 1 November
The trouble with making two incredible, groundbreaking television series about life in the oceans is that it sets a very high bar. Blue Planet III was always going to be good, but how good? I鈥檓 delighted to report that the BBC鈥檚 Natural History Unit has outdone itself. The latest series is better in just about every way, and yet another must-watch.
The focus for the third series was finding new behaviours to film. 鈥淚鈥檓 very pleased to say that, in Blue Planet III, you really have not seen it before,鈥� said series commissioner Jack Bootle at an early screening that also featured a Q&A with the production team. 鈥淭his series is bursting with novel behaviours, and even a few strange new animals.鈥�
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Based on the first three episodes, that last statement rings true. Perhaps the most striking example is a 40-year-old, pregnant dolphin filmed in Shark Bay in Australia. 鈥淲e called her Gambara after [an] Aboriginal word for clever,鈥� said Yoland Bosiger, who produced the first episode.
The team focused on Gambara because she is often seen with a sponge cupped over her beak. This sponge-carrying behaviour was first seen in dolphins in the area in 1984. It is known to be passed from mother to daughter, but why? The idea has been that the sponges protect the beaks of the dolphins as they hunt for fish beneath the sand. This may be true of some dolphins, but what Gambara does is far more impressive.
On Shark Bay鈥檚 sandy bottom are small outcrops of coral a metre or so across in which fish hide when Gambara chases them. She notes the hole where they enter. Then, when the fish have left their hiding place, she blocks the entrance with the sponge. The next time she chases the fish, they dash for the hole only to swim into an unexpected obstacle, making it easy for Gambara to snap them up.
In other words, this hunting strategy involves understanding how prey will behave and using a tool to set a trap. Clever indeed.
Gambara the dolphin blocks the entrance of the hiding place with a sponge, making the fish easy to snap up
鈥淭here have been inferences about what the hunting behaviour is, but nobody鈥檚 been able to see it with their own eyes,鈥� said Bosiger. Filming it wasn鈥檛 easy: being in the right place at the right time would be hard, so the team set up fixed cameras around some of the coral outcrops. But off-the-shelf cameras kept flooding and didn鈥檛 record for long enough. Instead, the BBC developed cameras especially for the task.
Indeed, the camerawork really stands out, thanks in part to technical advances like this. 鈥淭here has been a huge amount of development over the last 10 years since Blue Planet II,鈥� said series producer Lara Bickerton.
One scene features a Maori wrasse, with gorgeous close-ups revealing the dazzling patterns on the fish鈥檚 skin. When the wrasse breaks through corals in search of smaller fish, the scene is also filmed from inside the corals looking up. At one point, the camera even seems to enter the wrasse鈥檚 mouth.
Another extraordinary scene shows a sick female humpback whale, plagued by dozens of fish called remoras that are attached to her. Then the drone shot widens out: the whale is surrounded by hundreds of sharks, biding their time. In the oceans, you don鈥檛 get to die in peace.
Advances in technology also allowed the series to be made in a different way, said executive producer Elizabeth White. Where possible, producers worked remotely with local teams, cutting back on the need for flights. 鈥淎n awful lot goes into thinking about being sustainable,鈥� she said.
David Attenborough narrates this series again 鈥� it wouldn鈥檛 be the same without him. 鈥淗e鈥檚 still very much involved in working with our script. He basically changed every single line,鈥� said Bosiger. 鈥淗e adds so much personality and humour.鈥� But to me, he is starting to sound his age, so there鈥檚 a tinge of sadness on hearing his changed voice.
The first series of The Blue Planet was shown in 2001, followed by Blue Planet II in 2017 鈥� remember the pilot whale carrying her dead calf? The series were so influential in stimulating interest in ocean life and concern about marine pollution (especially plastic) that people began to talk of 鈥渢he Blue Planet effect鈥�. From what I have seen, this series will have a similar impact. It鈥檚 a stunning triumph. Well done, BBC.
