THE ORCAS THAT HUNT LIKE HUMANS
From canny killer whales to charging grizzly bears, marvel at more breathtaking behaviour from Earth’s coolest creatures in Frozen Planet II
Critics called it ‘fabulous, beautiful, sumptuous’ and ‘the single greatest accomplishment in nature TV history’. Frozen Planet was hailed as the ultimate David Attenborough series, packed with extraordinary footage from both Poles, when it aired 11 years ago.
The sequel is even more ambitious – and even more breathtaking. Filmed in ultra-high definition and using the very latest camera technology, Frozen Planet II goes beyond the Poles to explore every icescape on Earth. Camera crews spent months in the Andes and Siberia, camped in the Gobi desert and the Himalayas, trekked across the far north of Canada and dived into the Southern Ocean. And the results are spectacular, so wrap up warm and prepare to shiver with delight...
THE ORCA TRICK THAT’S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE
To impress David Attenborough – at 96, the world’s greatest living naturalist and TV film-maker – takes some doing. But when he whooped and gasped with excitement to see film of previously unknown hunting behaviour of killer whales, the camera crews from Frozen Planet II knew they’d achieved their greatest ambitions.
The original Frozen Planet caused a sensation with evidence of a rare hunting technique by killer whales. The black-and-white predators used their tails to create waves that washed seals off ice floes and into the water where they could be snapped up. It is believed only about 100 killer whales in the Antarctic peninsula use this complex hunting technique, so filming it again would be an exceptional challenge. ‘Our dream was to find the same whales,’ says executive producer Mark Brownlow. ‘Seven of us set off from the Falkland Islands in a motorised yacht, taking the latest camera drone technology.’
Around two weeks later, to their joy and disbelief, the team found the same pod, identifying them from photos that showed their markings and scars. ‘The guides worked on previous sightings, some of which dated back years. It was a real cat-and-mouse game,’ says Mark. ‘It was remarkable to find this one pod in thousands of miles of ocean.’
The family of 14 orcas was led by a matriarchal female, who may be as much as 100 years old, who taught the younger members – probably leading by example, but also using a combination of complex vocal noises. To find their prey, the whales have perfected a technique called spyhopping. Their noses slowly rise out of the water, like torpedoes in slow motion, until one red-rimmed eye is able to peep onto the ice. If they spot a seal, they emit a rallying call, thought to be a summons to other whales.
What happens next has to be seen to be believed. The orcas swim away, turn and line up like sprinters at the start of a race. On a signal, they lunge through the water towards the ice floe and the seal – which has no idea what is about to happen. A few metres from the ice, in perfect synchronisation, the orcas beat their tails. A swell of water rushes over the seal, bundling it into the water. It tries to flee, but wherever it turns, there is a whale.
Then it tries to fight – and the whales produce another secret weapon. Diving down, one whale releases a stream of bubbles. Disorientated and unable to see through the froth, the seal is easy prey.
All that is remarkable. But the whales have yet another trick, one never seen before. Seals on broad ice sheets seem safe, because if they stay in the middle they can’t be washed off by even the biggest wave. Instead, the orcas dive under the ice and set off an underwater wave like a bomb and the shock breaks up the floe into a jigsaw of smaller pieces. The whales locate the segment with the seal, and nudge it with their noses through the scattered ice fragments into clear water. Then they create another wave and dislodge their dinner.
This is, quite possibly, the most sophisticated hunting technique recorded in any species other than man. The whales have developed it for their own survival, but
DAVID WHOOPED AND GASPED AT FILM SHOWING BEHAVIOUR OF KILLER WHALES
they also seem to gain satisfaction from co-operation.
How they devised this method, and how they communicate to work together, scientists are unsure. Studying the Frozen Planet II footage could offer crucial clues.
This expedition was one of the most arduous of all the ventures. Before filming was over, one of the crew became seriously ill and, with medical help needed, the yacht headed for the nearest outpost of civilisation – one of the British Antarctic Survey bases. From there, the team member was taken onto a passing cruise ship, and the yacht headed back to find the orcas once more.
But disaster struck again. ‘We overcooked the engine and blew a gasket,’ says Mark. ‘Without an engine, we were at real risk of getting trapped in the ice floes, as Shackleton’s ship the Endurance did 100 years ago. We had to turn back, very slowly. It took weeks to get home.’
But the exceptional film sequences of the killer whales made all the danger and hardship worthwhile... as did the reaction of David Attenborough. ‘One of the greatest privileges of the job is to be with David when he watches the results, and gauge his reaction,’ says Mark. ‘We always try to show him something he hasn’t seen before. He genuinely whooped and gasped when he saw the behaviour. That is the highest accolade.’
FACING DOWN A CHARGING GRIZZLY
Filming musk oxen in the Canadian north, the danger of attack by grizzly bears was constant and a tent at night did not offer sufficient protection. So the lone cameraman towed a shed behind his snowmobile, setting up camp in a different location each day as he followed the herd.
The portable fortress kept him safe, until one day he was setting up his shed and turned around to see a bear behind him. They stared at each other for a few seconds... and then the bear charged. ‘Luckily, this guy is a seasoned field biologist,’ says Mark, ‘and he knew the thing to do was to stand his ground, look big and make a noise. When the bear was about 6ft away, it stopped. Then it turned and left. He’d done enough to scare it, but filming out there is not for the faint-hearted.’
IT’S PENGUIN PARENTS WHO FLEE THE NEST
Emperor penguins are famously some of the most loving parents in nature. The adults waddle dozens of miles to bring food to their colony, regurgitating fish for the hungry chicks before taking over babysitting duties from their partners. But there is another side to the doting penguins. When the next generation is old enough to fend for themselves, the adults simply leave, heading to the sea and leaving the fledgling adolescents to follow as best they can.
‘Emperors are the most charismatic and iconic of all penguin species,’ says producer Elizabeth White, ‘but they’re also the most inaccessible. That’s why the story of the fledglings has never been told before.’
It nearly wasn’t told this time either. Due to an outbreak of Covid in their quarantine hotel in South Africa, the crew had to isolate for over 40 days. ‘There are stringent rules about not taking Covid to Antarctica, so the team spent 42 days in quarantine in South African hotel rooms, quietly going stir crazy.’
The worst of the ordeal was knowing that the sea ice could break up at any moment. By the time they reached the colony, the adolescent penguins might already have set off and the opportunity to film their journey would be missed. ‘We were incredibly lucky,’ says Elizabeth. ‘They got there as the chicks were starting their trek. It took them 10 days to reach the sea – and that first moment when they leap into the ocean.’
THERMAL LONG JOHNS ESSENTIAL!
‘Wanted, wildlife film-makers. Must be able to cope with the cold. Own thermal underwear an advantage.’ Producer
Elizabeth White jokes that this is how the job ads were worded as the BBC embarked on a venture lasting more than four years, and completing more than 102 icy shoots all around the planet.
To achieve this took some very hardy film-makers. One cameraman spent eight hours floating in a survival suit in freezing water close to an ice shelf in the Southern Ocean. On the ice itself, hundreds of young Emperor penguins were gathered, working up the courage to take their first leap into the seas. But the birds were cautious, knowing their first swim could be their last if leopard seals or killer whales were lurking. The cameraman’s only hope of capturing the perfect shot was to lie very still in the water and pretend to be a chunk of ice. That’s the kind of dedication demanded by Frozen Planet II.
To prepare the teams, producers sent one group to Svalbard, an island off the north coast of Scandinavia, in January – where they practised jumping into ice holes in the pitch dark and hauling themselves out, while another team were sent to the Cairngorms in February to learn about avalanche safety. ‘In these remote places, the best chance of rescue is by other members of the team,’ explains Mark. ‘They have to be completely self-sufficient. You’ve got to get yourself out of the mess.’
Without conventional means of staying warm, most of the crew had to stay warm the old-fashioned way: with lots of layers of woollens and padded jackets. Thermal longjohns really were essential. ‘Eating plenty of hot, high-calorie food is also a good plan,’ adds Elizabeth. ‘But that isn’t always easy. In the Gobi desert, the team filming Pallas’s cats had to stay motionless for hours at a time inside their hide. One cameraman put his lunch on the ground. By the time he was able to pick it up again it had frozen solid.’
HIDEY-HOLES FOR HIBERNATING BEARS
Brown bears preparing to hibernate in Siberia face an added survival problem. They have to make sure that while they sleep, they don’t fall prey to tigers. One trick is to climb a hollow tree and crawl down into the trunk. But the tigers sometimes sniff them out and will climb in after the bears.
The safest place is at the back of a cave, wedged into a crevice so small that the tigers can’t wriggle in. Learning of this trick from Russian scientists, the team hid camera traps in one cave. The tigers were wary of fixed cameras, even ones that had been in place for months. Probably, their exceptionally sensitive noses can pick up the scent of humans on the plastic casing.
But the allure of a hibernating bear might be enough to make a tiger forget about being camerashy. Sure enough, one device in a cave captured a tiger pushing its way through the narrow gap. A few minutes later, it emerged backwards – still hungry. The clever bear had made certain its
winter hidey-hole was too tight for tigers.
■ Frozen Planet II airs tonight at 8pm on BBC1.