Chasing the call of nature
Planet Earth III goes on hunt for humpback whale's bathroom habits
Off the coast of Vancouver Island, producer-director Fredi Devas was patiently waiting for a humpback whale to poop. It's hard footage to get, but his work on nature docuseries Planet Earth III demanded it. Devas was overseeing the Human episode, and whale poop plays a big role in environmental health — which we depend on for survival.
“The poop is rich in iron, which makes phytoplankton grow and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This combats climate change on a major scale, so we needed to show a humpback whale pooping,” explains Devas.
“But does anyone know when a humpback whale poops? No one knows. We do know that they poop at the surface because it's really hard to squeeze one out when they're at depth. So we had to have a drone flying above the whale, just waiting for one to poop.”
Whether focused on whales enjoying potty time near Vancouver, rhinos mingling with pedestrians in Nepal or black bears foraging dumpsters near Lake Tahoe, the relationship between humans and animals is at the core of Planet Earth III. Building on the instalments released in 2006 and 2016, the docuseries debuts March 10 in Canada on BBC Earth, during the channel's free preview event running through April 28.
Canada features prominently — aside from humpbacks, B.C.'S garter snakes and spirit bears get a spotlight, as well as Nunavut's Arctic wolves and musk oxen.
“We will see how animals are adapting in extraordinary ways to survive the new challenges they face,” biologist David Attenborough, who narrates the series, said in a statement. “At this crucial time in our history, we must now look at the world through a new lens.”
Which brings us back to Devas and his quest for whale poop footage. After a seemingly interminable wait, finally success. “It took so long before we got our first poop shot,” says Devas, who's also worked on Planet Earth II and Frozen Planet. “Extraordinary.”
It's not the only rarely seen whale behaviour Devas filmed. He also captured a humpback using a trap-feeding strategy that scientists witnessed the whale develop over a decade ago.
In 2011, Jackie Hildering, co-founder of the Marine Education & Research Society, saw a male humpback named Congo behaving in a way she hadn't seen before — floating near the water's surface with his mouth open. So she and her colleague Christie Mcmillan took out a boat to investigate with a drone. Then, they understood.
“There wasn't a high density of fish in the water, so Congo couldn't lunge through them like he'd normally do,” says Devas.
So, Congo improvised. Seeing that diving birds were chasing fish through the water, he opened his mouth to trick the fish into thinking it was a hiding spot.
“They went in, and then Congo closed his mouth,” says Devas. “Now there are 30 humpbacks along that coastline that do it. To my knowledge, that's the only place that humpback whales do this type of trap-feeding.”
Whales like Congo have been returning to the Vancouver Island area after being overhunted in the past few decades. Last June, a marine naturalist told CBC News more than 800 humpbacks were spotted in the previous six months. Researchers only saw 293 in 2017, according to the Canadian Pacific Humpback Collaboration.
Still, their plight isn't easy. Devas says major challenges include excessive noise, boats striking whales, and whales getting caught in fishing nets. So-called “slow zones” can help.
“In southern Vancouver there's a slow zone, which means that vessels don't go faster than 10 knots. That's to protect the population of orcas — it's less likely that boats are going to hit them. Boats travelling slower also make much less noise.
The orcas that need quiet oceans to hunt their prey can be more effective,” he says.
Devas also travelled to the Amazon rainforest. Known as “the lungs of the planet,” the area helps stabilize the global climate by storing 150 to 200 billion tons of carbon. It's also home to one in 10 species on the planet. What Devas found there was alarming.
“It's really clear that right now the biggest issue that wildlife is facing comes from habitat destruction,” he says. “Climate change is an issue and it will become bigger and bigger in the future. But right now, it's just to do with destroying natural habitats that animals call their home.”
Under Brazil's previous president Jair Bolsonaro, who served from 2019 to 2022, rainforest destruction climbed to a 12-year high. In his final year, workers cleared 10,278 square kilometres of it. When Bolsonaro's successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, he vowed to end deforestation. In 2023, the rate dropped by nearly 50 per cent, space agency Inpe reported.
As for everyday global citizens, Devas is clear about how we can help. Since the rainforest is razed to make more space for cattle, as well as to grow soya for animal feed worldwide, humans need to adjust their diets.
“It's about thinking about what we eat, and thinking about the environmental impacts of the different foods. We're seeing more people choosing foods that have a smaller footprint on the natural world, and manufacturers are getting on board with this,” he says. “There's more and more choice for plant-based meals.”
Devas's thoughts turn back to the coast of Vancouver Island and its humpbacks. He recalls filming on the water one day and seeing waves from a cruise ship hit a male humpback named Merge. The whale inexplicably breached out of the water nine times in a row.
“He only stopped when Congo came up and swam beside him, and then they swam this massive loop for about 45 minutes,” says Devas. They kept looping, even passing large schools of fish that could've made for a tasty dinner.
“It made me think there's just so much about the natural world we still don't know,” says Devas. “And that's one key reason why we've got to protect it.”