Great Migrations

Great Migrations is an American documentary program which aired on National Geographic. The series premiered on November 7, 2010.

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.