Galapagos: The Islands that Changed the World

Galápagos WOW Factor! • The production filmed on 10 of the 13 main islands and were allowed access to many of the most remote areas rarely seen by visitors • When Sierra Negra erupted, we got so close to the eruption that the legs of Paul’s tripod melted. • The eruption of Sierra Negra was also the first eruption in 25 years – and we had access that no one else had – and the result is amazing footage. • To obtain the aerial footage from around the islands was an enormous undertaking. o We had access to incredibly remote areas. o Part of all natural history filmmaking includes extreme or creative logistical planning. o We had to ship a helicopter out from mainland Ecuador to the Galápagos Islands and then bring the special gyro-stabilized camera mount and operator from Los Angeles. We requested special permission from the National Parks for the route we would take through the islands. • Three of the events we witnessed and included in Galápagos have never before been caught on film. o The first was the short-eared owls stalking and hunting the nesting storm petrels on Genovesa Island. People had discovered it decades ago and scientists had written about it, but no one had properly caught it on film. o The second was filming the deep ocean plankton several miles off the island of Fernandina in the middle of the night. Our cameraman Richard Wollocombe filmed some of the most bizarre plankton ever caught on film. o Third was the October 2005 eruption of the Sierra Negra Volcano. The largest of all the volcanoes in Galápagos, it last erupted 26 years ago. We were filming on a neighboring island when we saw this enormous plume of smoke heading up into the sky. We rushed over and were granted special permission by Galápagos National Parks to film right on the rim of this erupting volcano.