5 minutes with... Blue Planet II

Its makers discuss locations and legacy

‘Greenland is unique. The plankton up there is massive – it’s like swimming with aliens’

The BBC’S Blue Planet II changed the way many of us view the world’s oceans, revealing hidden underwater worlds and the threats they face. Assistant producer/director Sarah Conner and researcher Joe Tredennick talk about why you can’t predict the public’s reaction and how locals were the key to capturing amazing shots… Blue Planet II won ‘Top TV Programme’ in Wanderlust’s Reader Travel Awards. It seems to have struck a chord beyond that of a normal wildlife documentary…

Sarah: We were hoping people would watch it and see how amazing the ocean is and how much there is still to learn. But we couldn’t make this series without showing the human impact (namely plastic). We wanted to share that with the audience and allow people to make their own decisions about how they felt about the ocean and their behaviour.

Were you surprised at all by people’s reactions to the show?

Joe: One of the episodes I worked on was ‘The Deep’, but what people seemed to love weren’t necessarily the big set sequences, like the sixgill sharks and the dead whale. Instead it was the little creatures, such as the flapjack octopus, that got attention on Twitter and social media, as did some of the weirder critters you get down there. Sarah: I wasn’t sure what people would take to, but I think a lot of the behaviour of the fish seemed to surprise viewers – the level of intelligence of fish that could use a tool to open shells or that could work out where a bird was flying, so it could jump out of the water and grab it.

How did you decide where to film?

Sarah: We spent about a year researching stories, talking with scientists, dive centres, boat operators. We spoke with them to see what was happening, what unusual things they’d seen, any different behaviours. Then we tried to work out a way – after splitting them into habitats – to tell something good about that habitat and their behaviour. Joe: For example, a cameraman who lives in La Paz, on the Sea of Cortez, came to us with a story. He’d seen mobula rays while diving at night off this particular island, swimming through clouds of bioluminescence, which looked remarkable. Without his expertise or insight, we’d just be swimming around. Sarah: It was the same in New Zealand with the false killer whales. This scientist had been studying them for 15 years, but he first noticed them because he worked as a boat operator. Nobody knew what these big grey dolphins were then, so he looked into it, living on his boat and educating the country as to what they were and what they looked like, so people could phone-in sightings. We were searching in an area the size of Belgium for something smaller than a football pitch (if the group was together). Without help, there was no way we’d have found them.

What do you say to travellers wanting to snorkel or take boats to see such sights?

Sarah: Make sure your boat operator has the appropriate permits and approaches wildlife and reefs responsibly. And snorkelling and diving can take you into a whole other world.

Where are your favourite places around the world for getting into the water?

Joe: For me, northern Norway is pretty special. There’s a huge variety of whales and orca there at certain times of year. There’s also an enormous herring migration, which is just one of nature’s great spectacles. Sarah: Greenland is unique as well. The plankton up there is massive – it’s like swimming with aliens – and diving around icebergs is always a unique experience. New Zealand was an amazing place to dive, too. And for tropical places, I love Indonesia and West Papua – that area has incredible sights.