planet earth

planet earth
23-07-2006

is anyone else watching planet earth? or should i say is there anyone who isn't? i can't even begin to describe how amazing some of the footage in this doco is...and i have watched ALOT of documentaries.

and i had no idea there where freshwater seals in siberia!

24-07-2006

them seals are so kool, i have read heaps about them, amazing, i missed the second ep, but i have seen first and tapped third. sorry i was watching big grother, did anyone see that claire and krystal, both hotties out man i hate the aus public right5 now lol, back to docos, i love em and watch them all the time

planet earth is the most expensive doco sop far, tthey have shot 6 eps at a cost of 40 000 000 (40 mill) and the last 5 are to be shot next year, so a toal of 11

24-07-2006

yes i missed the second episode too. i had read a review of the series in the paper and it mentioned the snow leopard footage as possibly the most amazing thing in the whole series. after watching the first one, and being very impressed, i saw that next week was "high places" themed - no doubt the episode with the snow leopard footage. so i told everyone about it and told them to watch it, then completely forgot all about it myself, instead spending sunday night drinking beer at the pub, and have now listened to everyone tell me how the snow leopard was the most amazing thing they had ever seen and thanks for telling them about it. arghhhh!

24-07-2006

o mate i missed it to, im so upset, jeez bloody louise, o well, i loved the uinder water ele stuff in first ep that was so kool

05-01-2008

I just received the BBC "Planet Earth" series for Xmas, with all 11 episodes and a bonus 3 episodes that detail the future of the planet. My wife and I have sat down for 14 hours and viewed the entire series, and the footage is downright amazing for animal lovers. One of the best aspects of the DVD box set is that on each 50 minute episode there is a 10 minute making-of that shines a spotlight on the film crew behind the scenes. Whether it is spending a month in a cave with 3 million bats, facing a polar bear that is attempting to break into a tiny hut, or patiently trailing bactrian camels in snow...the footage in the 10 minute documentaries is almost as interesting as the 50 minute features.

The "Mountains" episode with a speeding snow leopard has to be seen to be believed, and the "Shallow Seas" episode with a great white shark thrusting its entire body out of the water in order to gobble up fur seals is arguably the greatest footage within the 14 hours. But there is so much more: crab-eating macaques swimming underwater, piranhas attacking a school of fish, a giant panda nursing its tiny baby, a starving polar bear tackling a herd of walrus, a herd of over 30 lions jumping on top of an elephant at night, lions in the desert wandering in a vast expanse of sand...the list could go on all day long. Watch it!!

05-01-2008

Over here, we got the ten minute making of at the end of each episode. We don't have adverts!!

05-01-2008

Those freshwater seals in Siberia, would those be Baikal seals, Twycross had a large group of them a few years back in an unremarkable pool, Edinburgh zoo are considering them as part of their masterplan. I think the only European zoo that has done reasonably well with them is Leipzig do they still have any? and an aquarium in Japan bred from a pair a few years back.

05-01-2008

Yep Planet Earth was full of fantastic scenes. Sharks and snow leopards were standouts but my favourite was the footage of African dogs hunting impala taken from a robot helicopter thing - The way the animals split up and seemed to be working to a plan was clear to see and truly remarkable.

05-01-2008

I was amazed at the wild Bactrian camels so similar yet different to regular domesticated bactrians and surprised when you think of them as desert animals i.e hot conditions, now so rare a prime species i think for captive breeding, i know of a wildlife park not far from me that could house a few in with their kiangs

05-01-2008

I loved the BoP footage. It was amazing.

05-01-2008

Over the Christmas Animal Planet screened "the last leopard" - documentary with shots of amur leopards and monk vultures from PE and more details of both species.

And - Hoorah! - a longer film about snow leopards is coming.

I hope we see more - I would dearly want to see full-length films about snub-nosed monkeys, baby giant panda, golden eagles hunting cranes and cannibal chimps.

BTW, "PE" is full of small mistakes. For example, Baikal seals are NOT the only freshwater seals. There are races of seals living in lakes Saimaa and Ladoga in Europe and in at least one Canadian lake.

06-01-2008

Those of you who loved the snow leopard footage in Planet Earth (and who wouldn't), look out for a documentary called "Snow Leopard: Beyond the Myth". It was shown in the UK yesterday, the first programme in the new "Natural World" series (which I highly recommend!) and is repeated tomorrow (Sunday 6th Jan) at 4:55pm.

Mark Smith, the BBC cameraman who filmed the snow leopard footage for Planet Earth, returned to Pakistan last year to try to film the animals again. To find a snow leopard again was a major breakthrough (they succeeded in the middle of winter but had no luck at all in summer), and to film it over the course of several weeks was beyond their wildest dreams. They had one very lucky break - a team of scientists working in the same valley managed to trap and collar the very same snow leopard that the BBC team had been filming, so they could actually follow its movements.

Here's a preview from Youtube:
Absolutely spellbinding programme, hope it gets shown in your part of the world.

06-01-2008

@Chris79: thanks for the snow leopard info, and I'll have to keep checking to see whether North America will receive the documentary in the near future.

07-01-2008

The two female Baikal seals at Leipzig Zoo are still alive.
@Kiang: You're sure it were Baikal seals the Japanese bred? And not the Larga Seals at Notojima Aquarium?
BTW: Jurek7-"Europe"? I think it would be better for non-European seal fans to specify that :
The Ladoga Ringed Seals live in the Lagoda Lake in Russia, the Saimaa Ringed Seal in the Saimaa Lake in Finland.
Saimaa ringed seal — Virtual Finland

Beijing Zoo has a wild bactrian camel.

08-01-2008

Wow the preview was amazing...

I've been to Melbourne and Taronga and never got a good look at theirs, at either...