NatGeo’s Great Migrations: Move as Millions, Survive as One

We humans have a basic instinct to move wherever “there are greener pastures.” My thesis back at college about migration depicted it so. Human beings move from scarce to bountiful. Rural to urban, less money to earning more money, these are dictated by our instinct to survive and live. Now, think about the animal kingdom—ever wonder why whales migrate, butterflies flutter to Mexico, to moving red crabs carpeting the forest floors of  Christmas Island, and wildebeest went on the madness to swim with the crocs—survival. It is Darwinian at its finest.

National Geographic Society’s “Great Migrations” is a seven-part series, to be shown simultaneously in National Geographic Channel, NGC Wild and NGC Hi-Def. It is said to be the most ambitious project that the organization has ever embarked in its history. Three years in the making, it captures the vividness, drama and life on the move in the animal kingdom with state of the art imagery shot on land, air, and under the sea. Now, that’s how close you’ll get with the wild—in such awesome drama and picture that National Geographic has truly mastered.

Behind the stunning sceneries and cinematography lies the underlying search in understanding the massive movement in the animal kingdom—from breeding, to feeding and all the way to the science of communication and life—all chained within the bounds of survival. It also features never before seen images of animal behavior such as Mali elephants paying tribute to a dead calf that died in exhaustion and the “touchy” bonding of male sperm whales in the Atlantic. The program also leads the breakthrough in scientific research by attaching radio transmitters to elephant seals and the delicate butterflies.

Great Migration premieres on National Geographic Channel starting November 7, 2010 at 9PM (Philippine Standard Time). Marathon episodes will air on December 26, 2010 from 11AM to 6PM.