- MUMBAI — The
upcoming series ‘Secrets of the Penguins’ is set to delve into the world of
penguins, and their behaviour. The three-part series is narrated by Blake
Lively, and is executive produced by National Geographic Explorer-at-Large and
James Cameron.
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- Emmy and BAFTA winners Ruth Roberts and Martin Williams from
Talesmith also serve on the show as executive producers.
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- This also marks the first time when penguin behaviours are
captured on film. The Talesmith’s team, led by wildlife filmmaker Bertie and
over 70 world-class scientists and filmmakers, embarked on a two-year,
globe-spanning adventure, from the rocky beaches of Cape Town and the icy
shores of South Georgia Island to the tropical Galapagos and Namibia’s desert
caves, capturing the penguins. Pushing the boundaries of wildlife filmmaking, a
three-person crew set on a journey of 274 days of filming on the Ekstrom Ice
Shelf in Antarctica, home to a colony of 20,000 emperor penguins.
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- Facing one of the planet’s harshest environments, they
captured never-before-seen moments like a bonded pair of emperors practicing
egg transfers with a snowball to hone their skills for the moment they would
need to transfer a real egg, tenacious chicks navigating brash ice amid climate
change, and young penguins using their beaks to hoist themselves out of a
crevasse.
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- The series captures “rockaroni” chicks, a rare hybrid of
rockhopper and macaroni penguins, offering a fascinating glimpse into potential
evolution and adaptation. Other remarkable scenes include a brave rockhopper
fending off a southern sea lion, the first-ever footage of a hidden cave colony
of African penguins, and clever Galapagos penguins teaming up for a daring
heist: stealing fish straight from pelican beaks and skillfully herding sardine
bait balls.
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- The series taps into the expertise of scientists and
conservationists, including National Geographic Explorer and marine biologist
Dr. Pablo Borboroglu, conservation biologist Dr. Michelle LaRue, African
penguin expert Dr. Andrea Thiebault, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Gustavo
Jiménez Uzcategui, penguin expert Dr. Jessica Kemper, and marine biologist Dr.
Katta Ludynia.
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- The series is set to drop on April 22 on National
Geographic, with all episodes streaming on JioHotstar.
