Intro
While filming for Planet Earth III,
crews visited six continents and 43 countries.
They filmed the natural world from the bottom of the oceans
all the way to the tops of mountains.
The crews always try to only observe,
but sometimes along the way,
animals seemed even more curious than them.
Here are a few times where the crews
turned from the observers
into the observed.
Gonzalito
During a shoot in the forests of Ecuador,
the crew were trying to film treehoppers, a group of insects that
have evolved into bizarre shapes, when they had a surprise visitor.
It’s a very tame tapir,
who’s been named Gonzalito.
Despite being one of the largest animals in South America,
Amazonian tapirs are usually secretive.
And so the crew was shocked
when one turned up to watch and hang out.
The story goes that this tapir was taken as a baby by hunters
and then eventually released back into the wild,
but hadn’t forgotten being around humans.
So used to humans, in fact, he became a happy part of the crew,
sleeping and sitting around, content in their company.
Come rain
or shine.
It’s like he’s part labrador, part tapir.
And when the time came,
he would even follow the boat on the way home each night.
Sea Lions
From a harmless observer to one a little more problematic.
Another crew went to the west coast of North America to film angel sharks,
who spend their time hiding camouflaged under the sand.
But during a recce shoot,
another species decided to steal the spotlight instead.
The problem is sea lions. They’re absolutely everywhere.
And I have no idea how we’re going to be able to film with so much interest.
Time and time again,
the crew would have to try and avoid the sea lions invading their shots.
And, just like us, sea lions love to photobomb.
The whole time that you’re down there, the sea lions they’re following you and
sometimes they get so close
they whack you on the head, or swim right by, blow bubbles in your face.
It’s a little creepy at first, but now, now it’s pretty fun seeing them down there.
But they eventually got bored and left the crew alone
so they could film this bizarre predator.
Southern Right Whale
Another ocean dweller that also wanted to have a good look at the crew
was a southern right whale.
Southern right whales come to Península Valdés in Argentina
to give birth and raise young, a behaviour that the crew wanted to document.
These whales often interact with humans on boats,
and the crew took the chance to painlessly mount a camera on the whale’s back
to see a whale’s perspective on this watery world.
The whale retreated underwater for a while,
but then returned to the boat.
Despite not knowing the camera was even there,
it seemed as if the whale wanted to turn the camera back on the crew,
who saw an opportunity to say hello.
We forget that animals can be just as curious as us,
especially when we go into their world.
And sometimes the bolder among them
just can’t resist coming over to say hello.
