B.C.’s very own humpback whales were featured on an episode of Planet Earth III.
The show is a BBC series focused on showcasing landscapes, newly discovered behaviors, and the challenges animals face, all narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
Episode 7 had a segment on humpback whales, with the Marine Education and Research Society assisting the team on that episode.
The society works on education, research, and response on Vancouver Island, with the goal of understanding and reducing the threats that marine wildlife face.
Humpback researcher Jackie Hildering says they were chosen because of their research on trap feeding, a strategy that at least 32 humpbacks learned to do.
“Once we had initial contact it was very clear we were unified with the filming team, with the producer Fredi Devas in terms of ethics,” said Hildering.
“Once we realized the magnitude of it, that we would be able to bring attention to the vital importance of whales globally and that the estimated audience of Planet Earth III is one billion people, I don’t know that it has sunken in.”
Trap-feeding is used by some whales in specific conditions where if juvenile herring are in small schools, they set up a trap by staying beside the fish with their mouths open.
Hildering says their first contact with Devas was back in 2018 and it had been back and forth about the ethics of the segment, adding that the society wouldn’t have been interested if it was only for pretty footage of humpbacks.
She says the last thing they wanted to do is increase pressure on the whales.
“It became very clear that it would be about really big-picture messaging around a second chance of humpbacks, and that by having them back what they are doing is fertilizing the ecosystem,” said Hildering.
“In realizing that, it became secure that it would be about conservation and that the gains would be greater than the potential disturbance of the whales.”
She says Devas came to the Island in 2019 and was surprised by how well the team knew the whales, which Hildering says would lead to better filming and less disturbance of the whales.
Because of the pandemic, filming began in 2021, continuing into 2022 to capture the feeding.
The episode aired on Sunday on BBC Earth.
“British Columbia used to kill humpbacks until 1967, now we care about them as individuals.”
