The Secret of the Whales, “Orca Dynasty”, Review!

 The Secret of the Whales is a National Geographic mini-series that debuted on Earth Day!  Every Earth Day, Disney releases Disneynature specials, and this case it is the collaboration with Disney and Nat Geo.  Also, this teams up Hollywood filmmakers, here is executive producer James Cameron, and National Geographic.  Cameron gives a short final scene where he explains he is filming the Avatar sequels, but you sense he would rather be out in the water looking at the whales.  This documentary of course deals with orcas in the wild.  It is co-directed and written by Brian Johnson and Andy Mitchell with photography by Brian Skerry. 

The documentary is narrated by Sigourney Weaver who is in the Avatar sequels and the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife.  The Disneynature docs by the most part, try to focus and identify an animal to act as a character to follow its life.  Nat Geo has the wider look with the danger of anthropomorphizing the animals, but in this case, orcas do have what could be called human traits.  The documentary goes from New Zealand to Antarctica and other parts of the world over a three year filming period.  We see the pods of different whales, the team documenting them, and Weaver explains that “whales have culture.” We know that whales have distinctive sonar patterns, different groups, and behaviors.  

Weaver explains that the orcas are apex predators because of their families.  There is some nice time lapse photography that shows the scenic landscapes of New Zealand islands.  The five members of this pod are led by a matriarch.  It is fascinating to see the hunting techniques used and learned by the orcas.  In this case, to find rays, the mackeral bait balls formed in Antarctica with the yellow-tinged (explained as algae) orcas, and Patagonia to snatch seals without being stranded.  The kills are not bloody and we don’t hear the cries of seals.  It is important to learn and understand the behaviors of the animals.  The Secret of the Whales is a brilliant documentary series on orcas, humpback whales, belugas, and sperm whales! 

Four Baleen Plates out of Five! 

#TheSecretoftheWhales, #NationalGeographic, #BrianJohnson, #AndyMitchell, #BrianSkerry, #SigourneyWeaver