Blue Planet

Ben has been involved in the BBC production Blue Planet.

  Overview | Russia | Australia | Falkland Islands | Costa Rica

The BBC series Blue Planet caused a sensation in the UK when it hit our screens in September.

This series has genuinely taken wildlife film-making to spectacular new limits. Ben was heavily involved in shooting production stills for the programme about coasts.

His images were incorporated into the Book, DVD and Video packaging. They were extensively used in publicity material for the series.

He accompanied film crews to a number of remarkable locations:

 

Not the first place that comes to mind for seabirds but there is a tiny island in the Sea of Okutsk that is the breeding location for millions of puffins, auklets, kittiwakes and guillimots. It also supports Stella’s sea eagles which cruise the cliffs and feast on the seabirds as they fly off in panic.

The island is uninhabited by humans except during the summer months when a small reasearch team stay there to study seabirds. It is a heavenly place and boasts one of the best wild suanas in the world (made of huge driftwood logs). We spent a month in this beautiful location, recording the return of the birds for the breeding season.

 

Another month spent on a deserted island in Queensland Austrailia - deserted, that is, by humans.

Crab Island is, however, inhabited by large salt-water crocodiles and by flat-backed turtles. We were there to record the interaction between the two (an interaction in which the turtles reputedly end up worse off).As it turned out, we never saw turtles being munched but it was a fascinating place to work and the crocs were very spectacular. We worked alot at night (scary) and fished during the day (fun). A month in the sun - can’t be bad !

 

Back in the South Atlantic but this time stopping short of the Antarctic.

The Falklands are a naturalists paradise with huge seabird colonies, good marine mammals and plenty of very approachable wildlife on land. We spent a total of six weeks visiting several different islands, the highlights being New Island and Steeple Jason Island.

On Steeple Jason Island our camp was battered by the worst storm to hit the Falklands for six years - and that is saying something in the Falklands. Thanks to Wild Country for making such brilliant tents. The good bit was the incredible waves that hit the coast over the next couple of days. Spectacular.

After the storm…..it was time for a rest.

In Costa Rica we sat and waited for an “arribada” of Ridleys turtles - this is the time when they all come ashore and lay eggs.

It is a major event which happens most months of the year but the exact timing is not always predictable. So we waited, drank coffee and waited some more. Then it started and for five days we worked round the clock (helped by more coffee) filming the turtles at sea, arriving, laying eggs and departing. Most of this happens at night and the filming was done by moonlight.

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