Filming Baja’s Natural Beauty – From the Air

A desolate stretch of sand dunes

No self-respecting nature documentary is complete without spectacular aerial shots, the panoramic desert and marine vistas, the impossibly clear skies and ever-changing moods offered by the Baja environment afford endless opportunities. The challenges, however, can be daunting. In our efforts to capture viable footage of the largest known creature ever to inhabit the earth, the magnificent Blue whale, an entire range of logistical problems present themselves. Firstly, locating the animal is problematic. The great Blues are in continuous motion at speeds of fifteen knots or more, their feeding habits may take them across several hundred miles of ocean in the space of just a few days. Realistically speaking, an aircraft is the only viable means of finding the animals. Once located, filming them from the air, without disturbing them, presents the next challenge.

Big Blue surging for the deep

Like most of the great cetaceans, Blue whales are generally at the surface for only a very short time, they dive to enormous depths to feed, sometimes submerging for twenty minutes or more. When they resurface it is usually a considerable distance from the initial dive location; once re-spotted, the aircraft must be once more maneuvered, time permitting down-sun, with cameras ready. A single filming run, the ‘dive n' drive’ as it is affectionately known by most pilots, will last only several seconds because of the camera-to-subject closure speed. (The actual pass is done at idle power, so as not to produce any noise that might disturb the subject) By the time a return maneuver is completed, the whale has usually submerged again, the spotting process once more begun.

a whale's point of view, we guess...

Resupply;  fuel, film and feed for the crew

As any seasoned aviator will say, maneuvering at very low altitudes requires intense concentration to avoid impact with the planetary mass. For all of the risks involved, the crew’s fascination with the Blue whale's watery world below makes the process intensely fulfilling. Not many of us can lay claim to quality time with such a magnificent and sublimely mysterious creature. In its otherworldly state of effortless grace, the 'Big Blue' has changed all of the Red Sea Pic's team's lives forever. We hope to transmit the essence of that awakening through this documentary.

Camera Ship 1 to bed, it's Margeurita time...