Blue Planet II crew reveal walrus filming secrets in new preview clip
The behind-the-scenes video showed how they filmed the arctic animals – without getting a tusk to the head
We’ve yet to witness the full wonders of Blue Planet II with David Attenborough (airing tonight), but the latest behind-the-scenes clip already has us wowed.
The sneak peek of tonight’s show centres on the episode’s final sequence, one that will follow a walrus mother and calf in the chilly seas of Svalbard, Norway. To shoot the scene, the Blue Planet team had to employ a special super wide camera that works under very chilly waters. At 50kg, the camera weighs so much that it takes a team of three to get it into the water.
The video also outlines how the crew were wary of getting too close to the walrus calves and their protective mothers. “I’ve got a little anxiety here – they’re definitely big animals,” says underwater cameraman David Reichart before taking the plunge. “We don’t want one to stick a tusk into our head or something like that.”
Spoiler: Reichart survives the shoot and ends up capturing amazing pictures of two walruses on top of a massive iceberg.
We'll be able to see the full walrus scene, alongside a look at false killer whales, sex-changing Kobudai, bird-eating giant trevally fish and much more on tonight's show.
Blue Planet II is on BBC1 at 9pm on Sunday 29th October.
