![]() "The Blue Planet" īroadcast 12 September 2001, the first episode looks at how ocean life is regulated around the globe by currents and the varying position of the sun. David Attenborough, from episode one 1. This series will reveal the complete natural history of our ocean planet, from its familiar shores to the mysteries of its deepest seas." ![]() You can fly across it non-stop for twelve hours and still see nothing more than a speck of land. The Pacific Ocean alone covers half the globe. "Our planet is a blue planet: over seventy percent of it is covered by the sea. Upon its first transmission on BBC One, over 12 million people watched the series and it regularly achieved an audience share of over 30%. One of them enabled the crew to dive over a mile into the San Diego trench, where the carcass of a 40-ton grey whale had been placed to attract a large variety of scavengers. Filming in the deep ocean required the use of special submersibles. Meanwhile, in Monterey Bay, orca were documented trapping grey whales and killing a calf. Near the coast of Natal in South Africa, the team spent two seasons attempting to film the annual sardine run, a huge congregation of predators such as sharks and dolphins that assembles to feast on the migrating fish by corralling them into 'bait balls'. Off Mexico, the behaviour of a flock of frigatebirds guided the cameramen to a group of sailfish and marlin: the fastest inhabitants of the sea. After six weeks, the crew chanced upon a school of spinner dolphins, which in turn led them to a shoal of tuna. The open ocean proved more difficult and over 400 days were invested in often unsuccessful filming trips. The camera team spent three years on standby, using a microlight to land on the water nearby when they finally caught up with the creatures in the Gulf of California. The producers were helped by marine scientists all over the world with state-of-the-art equipment.īlue whales - whose migration routes were previously unknown - were located by air, after some of the animals had been given temporary radio tags. ![]() Besides witnessing animal behaviour for the first time, the crew also observed some that were new to science. The fact that most of the ocean environment remains a mystery presented the production team with many challenges. It could use a good remastering but I think the BBC would rather refilm the same using better gear than squeeze blood from a stone.The series took almost five years to make, involving nearly 200 filming locations. ![]() BP II extreme clarity clearly shows how obsolete BP 1 is in terms of video technology.ĭisks run quick and easy to navigate, no frills menus make response fastīP 2 on BD is clearer than streaming or via cable materialĬlearer BP 1 on BP than the official DVD release, which I own and comparedīP 1 source material is old and dated, but can't minus a star given that's as good as it got back then. A GoPro or cheap clone today, can take better video that most of the pro gear taken to water before 2008. 18 years since, I've seen many of the creatures and oceans shown on BP myself, live, in the oceans, and can attest how difficult it is to drag old style cameras in the water prior to 2008. I do own the original DVD of BP 1 and the good news is its better on BD than the original DVD. Unfortunately, on HDTV the source material shows its age, much of it upconverted from SD material they must have on master, and this is written in small print on the rear of the box. At the time their film and video were shot, Jacques Cousteau was alive, and after he died his series was still shown in re-runs and was the best there was, until BP, which just blew every documentary about the oceans away. I saw BP 1 live on old style analog TV when broadcasted in 2001 and it was breathtaking.
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