Great Migrations gives the word “move” a whole new meaning. This seven-part global programming event takes viewers around the world on the arduous journeys millions of animals undertake to ensure the survival of their species. Shot from land and air, in trees and cliff-blinds, on ice floes and underwater, the shows tell the powerful stories of many of the planet’s species and their movements, while revealing new scientific insights with breathtaking high-definition clarity and emotional impact. The beauty of these stories is underscored by a new focus into these species’ fragile existence and their life-and-death quest for survival in an ever-changing world.
The National Geographic Great Migrations team spent two and a half years in the field, traveling 420,000 miles across 20 countries and all seven continents to bring this ambitious production to television. Seven hours in total, Great Migrations includes four core hours chronicling epic animal migration, narrated by two-time Emmy, three-time Golden Globe winner Alec Baldwin. Additional hours include a special on scientific investigation of the mysteries of animal migration; a behind-the-scenes special on the advanced technology, dramatic challenges and passion required to capture these spectacular events; and an hour-long visual concert comprised of the stunning footage set to original music.
A global initiative unprecedented in the Society’s storied 122-year history, Great Migrations content will also be featured across the spectrum of National Geographic platforms, including magazine articles and maps, books, DVDs, mobile and iPhone apps, games, lectures, screenings, exhibits and tours, among others.
Great Migrations reveals new scientific insight, previously undocumented behaviors and the most indepth visual record of a diverse range of animal migrations, including Botswana zebras, Mali elephants, red crabs on Christmas Island (between Australia and Indonesia), flying foxes in Australia, army ants in Costa Rica and Pacific great white sharks. It’s a technical tour de force capturing the travels of microscopic ocean plankton and translucent jellyfish and documenting the attachment of radio transmitters to monarch butterflies and elephant seals to study their migration behaviors. Each animal’s fragile, yet majestic, existence will inspire viewers to consider what it is really like to move like your life depends on it.
The films reveal in detail animal behaviors never before caught on film, including the dramatic moment a herd of Mali elephants pass through the “La Porte des Elephants” – the elephants’ door – in West Africa, and a monarch butterfly flying with a radio transmitter attached. Off the coast of Guadalupe Island, observe rarely seen behavior as a great white shark devours a seal. Also see the unusual footage of a zebra stallion as he tries to herd an orphaned foal. Witness history as massive numbers of white-eared kob of the Sudan, thought to have been wiped out during more than two decades of violent unrest, are filmed for the first time, as well as a heartbreaking crisis for Arctic walruses confronting historic climate change.
Great Migrations: Born to Move
In the premiere hour of Great Migrations, witness the dramatic migration of Christmas Island’s red crabs as they travel from interior forests to mate on the beaches, braving battles with ferocious yellow ants; the heartbreaking moment a wildebeest calf falls prey to crocodiles, all part of the 300-mile journey the wildebeest make each year; the monarch butterfly’s annual journey that takes four generations to complete; and the sperm whale, who may travel more than a million miles in a lifetime.
Great Migrations: Need to Breed
In the second hour of Great Migrations, witness the awe-inspiring stories of species’ need to reproduce. View, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the white-eared kob performing a deadly mating ritual in Sudan. This episode also features stunning footage of flying foxes soaring across the skies of Australia with their young wrapped in their wings; hard-working ants on the floor of a Costa Rican rain forest; and the remarkable breeding behaviors of elephant seals in the Falkland Islands.
Great Migrations: Race to Survive
Every spring in Botswana, hundreds of zebras make a desperate 150-mile slog so their bodies can take in much-needed minerals. Shot by the award-winning filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert, the journey is documented as never before. Next, we’ll see the heartbreaking struggle of Pacific walrus that have become victims of earth’s changing climate. Watch a herd of pronghorn antelope follow its ancient migration through Wyoming.Then, journey alongside the mysterious whale shark.
Great Migrations: Feast or Famine
Witness the fortitude of Mali elephants as they undertake the longest elephant migration on earth – a vast, 300-mile circle around the heart of the country. See the great white sharks that cover thousands of miles of ocean each year from Hawaii to Mexico to reach an abundant feast. Witness close up the rarely filmed attack on a seal by a great white, shown in brilliant detail from above and below the water’s surface. And follow the golden jellyfish of Palau on a race to follow the sun.
Great Migrations: Science of Great Migrations
Borne of suffering, desperation, and starvation, every migration is a death-defying journey, filled with countless obstacles. Science of Great Migrations will go behind breathtaking images of migration and show how scientists learn from and study these magnificent spectacles of nature. The iconic migration of wildebeest in the Serengeti; the 1,800 mile flight path of the monarch butterfly; the two-month pilgrimage of the southern elephant seal off Patagonia; and the perilous journey of African elephants in Mali together give scientists a look into this dangerous world of migration. Advances in scientific technology and data collection are revealing a new understanding of animal decision-making, swarm dynamics and the inner workings of a herd, flock or pod.
Great Migrations: Behind the Scenes
Starting in 2007, National Geographic crews dispersed all over the planet to film the most amazing and unique animal migration stories ever told. Over the 2 years, the crew spent 350 hours in trees, 500 hours in blinds and 400 hours underwater. This behind-the-scenes story takes you to the depths of the sea and the far corners of the earth as you experience the dangers, difficulties and adventures of a National Geographic Cameraman.
Battleship Potemkin (1925) 
