Gentoo penguins may be the fastest penguins underwater, but when they come ashore to breed in Spring, they can only travel as fast as their little feet will carry them. Unperturbed by Antarctica’s snow and ice, they journey up and down the slopes, taking it in turns to incubate their eggs. Antarctica Peninsula. Photo Credit: Netflix
Our Planet is a visually stunning adventure for everyone.
Netflix’s original series of documentaries, Our Planet, explores the different habitats of the natural world while emphasizing the importance of each of them. Produced in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and narrated by David Attenborough, it takes its viewers on a breathtaking journey across whatever naturally rich spaces are left untouched by man and are at the risk of destruction.
Along with stunning visuals, Our Planet incorporates the work of some of the best wildlife cinematographers in the industry, who along with the rest of the team, worked for four years, filming in over 60 countries. Among them, is Sophie Darlington, who has worked with both Disney Nature and the BBC Natural History Unit.
The series uses innovative drone technology for some never before seen footage from the seas and includes a range of information and visuals from all the continents of the world. Each episode of Our Planet focuses on a particular habitat, explaining the systemic dependence of the different species indigenous to the habitat. Each episode makes references to the consequences of the involvement of mankind in different areas and concludes with a plea to visit their official site for more information on what we can do to save these unique pockets of nature’s wonders.
Great Hornbill . With their large wings and varied diet , Great Hornbills are the true gardeners of the Western Ghats , flying across large ranges in search of fruit, and depositiing their digested seeds along the way . The resilience fo the forests is dependent on their interactions with the trees of the Western Ghats, India. Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 1: One Planet
The first episode of Our Planet serves as a broad overview for the rest of the series, starting with a brief history of the earth. David Attenborough gravely informs us how wildlife numbers have declined by 60% as the human population continues to grow, emphasizing on if the planet is to be preserved, action needs to be taken right away.
The episode takes its viewers on a journey, starting with an epic viewing of the birds on the Peruvian coastline and a stunning insight into their hunt for anchovies, along with dolphins. It then moves on to the life on the salt flat wasteland in Africa, transformed to a green space once in a decade, that becomes a lifeline to numerous animal species, particularly the flamingoes, that come here to breed. After a glimpse of the seas and the African salt pan, the series shows us a brief glimpse of the wildebeest and their quest for survival on the plains of Africa, ultimately concluding with the icy northern region of the world.
Our Planet explores how the animals struggle every day to live, facing trials in the form of drought, famine, and predators, primarily. Interdependency of said animals is also highlighted and makes for a very interesting first episode that proves to be the perfect gateway into the rest of the episodes that closely examine different landscapes and habitats across the earth. This episode is but a glimpse of what is at stake.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Needless to say, our planet is dying and we need to act. Fast. Despite the Boreal Forest not being the typical “green”, it’s supremely important in conservation efforts as its immense size is responsible for 40% of the oxygen on earth.
FAVORITE MOMENT: The flamingoes in the salt pan of Africa. There’s just something amazingly striking about the contrast of a flat brown and the vivid pink of the flamingo feathers.
A female walrus tenderly reassures her young pup as they try to find a place to rest on an overcrowded beach. Over 100,000 Pacific walrus gather together along a small stretch of Russian coastline. It is the largest gathering of walrus on the planet. Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 2: Frozen Worlds
This episode takes us to the poles and highlights the importance of these icy regions despite their near uninhabitable nature.
Giving us an insight into the lives of penguins in the Antarctic and the great importance of tiny krill to sea life, it narrates the connection between seemingly unconnected events, delicately balanced, being constantly disrupted by human activity. As the sea ice shrinks and our planet warms, these two areas, in particular, see multiple species in serious danger of extinction.
This episode of Our Planet explores the interdependency of various species despite being seemingly disconnected. The krill, the penguin, the dolphins and some species of whales, all form part of an intricately linked system. After we see an entire cycle of this food chain at play, we see how albatross chicks starve to death because the parents are unable to return with food due to the depleting stocks of fish. Polar bears while, under the threat of extinction, pose a great danger to the population of seals, who often lose their young to hungry polar bears; young that would otherwise hide in dens of ice, as is shown in footage of a baby seal becoming a victim of the polar bear as its mother goes underwater to hunt.
The final scene of this episode is what would most definitely stay with the viewers long ago, as we closely see the tragedy of the dying walrus as a result of receding Arctic ice. In graphic footage that garnered quite a bit of controversy for Our Planet, walrus can be seen falling to their deaths from an 80-meter high cliff.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Climate change impacts the smallest of creatures in huge ways and disturbs an entire chain of established sustenances. Even seemingly unrelated events are connected, and while it may seem like some animals are benefitting from climate change, it is only so in some aspects. Creatures like the krill, despite their size, play a really important role in, not to be cliche, the circle of all life.
FAVORITE MOMENT: The humpback whales hunting for the krill is visually amazing to see. The poor krill are of course filled with dread, but the synchronized hunting skills displayed by the whales is a sight to behold.
Sumatran Orangutan. Adult flanged male – part of a long term study by international scientists. Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 3: Jungles
This episode offers a glimpse across the tropical forests of the world, full of life and teeming with vitality. It takes us through the greenscapes, as it attempts to follow the lives of some of the creatures of the jungle, and the trials and tribulations that they go through.
The gorillas and elephants reach a natural body of fresh water known as bais, a feature unique to the jungles of Congo. Around these, the gorillas find plants rich in the mineral salt, while the elephants use their trunks to mine the salt from the lake bed. It’s also an opportunity for the elephants to socialize as most roam the jungles on their own.
Emphasizing the vast variety of unique life that jungles carry, Our Planet then shows us some beautiful, but peculiar birds, each with their own unique routine of a mating ritual. A personal favorite is the manakin, little birds, each of whose variety has developed a dance routine of its own.
Our Planet also explores the connection between the varieties of pitcher plants and the different animals that are crucial for their sustenance. Following up with the rare Philippine Eagle and the leafcutter ants of the forest, the episode concludes with details on a fascinating form of fungus that infects some beings and controls their minds, driving them to kill themselves. It’s almost outlandish, but it only reiterates how much we don’t know about the planet we live on.
Ultimately, David Attenborough sombrely mentions how humans play a great role in the rapidly falling rates of diversity in these jungles thanks to the monotony created by the planting of the commercially beneficial palm oils trees.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Green cover may be helpful in terms of controlling the carbon dioxide in the air, but when wilderness is cut down for commercial plantations, it results in monoculture. A single species of trees dominating a vast area of land supports merely a fraction of the diversity – flora and fauna – that a full-fledged jungle can.
FAVORITE MOMENT: While it was a little dark, for me, the highlight of the episode was when a type of fungus is shown to be taking over an ant’s body. It’s almost alien-like as the fungus, initially completely undetectable to the naked eye, takes over the mind of an, driving it to kill itself. It’s fascinating to consider the endless possibilities of the variety of lifeforms that exist on this planet.
A sea otter chilling out off the coast of California. The otters spend a lot of time sleeping and wrap themselves in fronds of giant kelp so they don’t float out to sea. Filmed under US Fish and Wildlife Services – Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 4: Coastal Seas
Our Planet explores the richness of life that exists in the shallow water of the numerous coasts of our planet, where 90% of the marine life thrives in episode 4. It begins with a glimpse into the interdependency between different species of fishes with stunning visuals of the shoals of anchovies, the trevally, and the mobula rays. Then, the audience is shown a delightful chase of dolphins hunting the mullet in an astonishingly strategic manner.
Mangroves, forests of gold kelp on the coast of California, inhabited by a rich variety of fish and most importantly, cute otters, and reefs are among other habitats explored by the episode. This brings us to the highlight of the episode, a scene of sharks hunting among the corals in the dead of the night, in the French Polynesia, where sharks are fully protected.
The impact of industrialized fishing is also depicted through the declining stocks of herring, once abundant across the Pacific Ocean. These fish, that once thrived in these waters, are among the few species that have been so severely affected by the exploitative fishing. The herring is one of few such examples. This, in turn, has greatly affected the population of the jellyfish, growing in number, but providing no sustenance for very few living beings
Among the many things that the episode shows its viewers, it constantly puts emphasis on the interdependence of various species in the sea and everything that’s at risk if these delicate chains are to be broken. Along with this, it also connects how the health of the shallow seas is connected to that of the land and the life it sustains.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Despite all the damage and seemingly near hopeless situation, the seas have an amazing ability to recover. This is illustrated through an example of the coastal line of the Pacific, by the Atacama desert, which made a miraculous recovery after excess fishing in the waters led to the depletion of the seabird colonies that gathered in millions. Introduction of control measures have seen a rise in fish stock and after 50 years, the shoreline sees a gathering as large as 3 million birds.
FAVORITE MOMENT: The visuals of the Guanay Cormorants, taking flight off the coast at once, and diving into the sea to fish was so memorable. It looked as if the sea was being carpet bombed by these expert and efficient divers. The last ten minutes of this episode was memorable in its entirety.
Matriarch Desert elephant leads her family through barren lands, Namibia. Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 5: From Deserts to Grasslands
This episode covers two seemingly opposite habitats – the lush grasslands and the near barren deserts. Despite their barrenness, David Attenborough explains that it provides a vital refuge to creatures that are made to be able to adapt to the dire circumstances of the desert. This is illustrated through the example of the Socotran Cormorant that uses the barren lands of the Arabian desert, which is used by them as breeding grounds.
Our Planet includes footage of the rare Arabian leopard as it prowls a green pocket in the Arabian peninsula, and of a herd of elephants as they journey across Namibia in search of nutritious food and water. It’s a testament to their intelligence as they exhibit knowledge of geography through inheritance and are extremely resourceful with improvising for food where there doesn’t seem to be any. Their companions are the equally rare desert lions that refrain from attacking. There’s something very moving about the way these elephants react to the sight of water, the joy clear in them as they rush forth to take a dip.
The grasslands, supporting a vast number of lifeforms, are a complete contrast to the seemingly barren deserts. Wildebeest, deer, zebra, and cheetahs are among the many mammals that thrive in what remains of the prairies. 90% of it has been lost to agriculture and swathes of wild buffaloes were slaughtered by humans. The grandeur of the Eurasian grasslands, the steppes, is also depleting. Eagles, nesting on the ground in a land where there isn’t a tree in sight, once preyed on the saiga antelopes, that are now critically endangered and dotted these grasslands in millions once. Extinct in the wild fifty years ago, the Przewalski’s horses that live here are descendants of the few that survived in captivity, and are not as endangered as they once were purely because humans haven’t yet ventured into the Mongolian steppe.
Kaziranga in India is an example of one of the well-preserved grasslands in the world, home to elephants, tigers, and the highly endangered one-horned rhino.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: History has shown time and again that humans can sustain themselves without chipping away at nature. Evidence? Ancient hay meadows of Hungary, where farming is still practiced in the traditional way, and have become habitats of extraordinarily rich and complex lifeforms.
FAVORITE MOMENT: The entire lifecycle of the Alcon Blue butterflies in the grasslands of Hungary was a testament to the complex permutations in nature. They practically fool the ants into taking care of them like they would their own larvae, though this particular species of butterflies’ caterpillars are prey to these ants.
The Milky Way sets through the Tres Marias, or Three Marys rock formation, in the Valle de la Luna in Chile’s Atacama desert. Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 6: The High Seas
Easily my favorite hour of Our Planet, this episode delves into the less explored parts of the oceans, of which we know less than we do about the moon. This episode is visually mind-blowing and at times, feels like a sci-fi movie with all the outlandish creatures that appear on the screen.
This episode has a brilliant aerial shot of around 10000 dolphins, hunting lantern fish, the most numerous fish in the sea. The feces of the dolphins provide nutrition to phytoplankton, microscopic plants responsible for half the oxygen in the atmosphere and also for the formation of clouds. This is but an example of the intricacies of the life that the sea supports an urgent need to conserve and salvage what we can of it.
Darker regions of the sea, where light cannot reach it, are also explored by manually operated pressure resistant submarines. Contrary to initial belief, these dark areas have a lot more life than previously thought. Here, we see bioluminescent creatures, beautiful and almost alien-like in their experience. The oarfish, 10 meters long, hanging vertically, only been seen dead as they occasionally wash ashore, was captured on camera as it slowly moved upwards, glowing neon blue. The cystotome, a transparent, clear as glass deep-water crustacean was also spotted, as was a dragon fish and a deep sea angler fish.
These creatures, living in the dark and bioluminescent in nature create a sense of wonder and only furthers the question of how much more there is to be discovered on this rich planet.
The submarine reaches the deep sea plains, of which we practically know nothing about. Chimaera, 2 meters long and a relative of the shark, is one of the few creatures that thrive in this unexplored region. We know more of the moon than we do about these seemingly barren and dark plains.
A couple of miles off the coast of Florida, the series shows the ghostly lophelia, deep sea corals nearly 40,000 years old. They grow slowly but here, a rich community of marine life thrives and it acts as a nursery to many species. As with all good things, a large section of these corals has been destroyed by the fishing nets that humans drop into the sea, which drag across the floor damaging these delicate corals. They will take centuries to recover.
The bluefin tuna is then brought to our attention, as they hunt in hundreds for anchovies. The sea’s most impressive hunters, they grow up to 2 meters and are highly prized – almost to million dollars in Japan – and have therefore been hunted almost to extinction. Similarly, 100 million sharks are killed every year for shark fin soups and the rate of this industrialized fishing is causing a serious decline in fish stocks.
One-third of fishing stocks have collapsed, and this has taken a toll in many species of fish. With no competitors and no top predators prowling the sea, the squid has become abundant and their numbers are growing fast, causing creatures like sea lions to adapt to eating squid instead of the energy-rich anchovies and sardines they need.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: While plastic is dangerous and toxic to marine life, industrial fishing has caused more harm. Fishing on that scale has caused depletion of either predator or prey fish, which have in turn caused a decline of species that were dependent on the same. Eventually, this will become an issue for humans as well and much like the sea lions, we’ll have to make changes as well. But oceans, like every other habitat of nature, can recover quickly if just left well enough alone by the humans. The recovery of humpback makes is a good example.
FAVORITE MOMENT: Shot of a blue whale with her calf. A rare moment, never captured on the camera before. This is one of my favorites in the whole series because the gentleness of the blue whale shines through, and it’s so much more mind-boggling when you try to fathom the size of the blue whale. There’s something very calming about watching that calf appear shyly from under the mother to surface for a few seconds. Everyone say ‘Thank you, drones.’
A green turtle glides over the pristine reefs of Heron Island, on the southern section of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 7: Fresh Water
Freshwater is a vital factor for the sustenance of life on earth. Two-thirds of the fresh water on earth is frozen on the poles while 30% is under the earth. With climate change creating increasing unpredictability in the availability of fresh water, ecosystems everywhere are rapidly changing and possibly, for the worse.
The Central Australian desert, where the existence of life is impossible, sees a transformation once a decade when rainfall transforms it into the largest lake in Australia, Lake Eyre, which become breeding grounds for pelicans thanks to the abundance of fish. This transformation is vital for the pelicans and for this process to start, 2000 km away, where moisture-laden clouds start to form and burst over the Australian continent.
Supply of fresh water across the earth involves intricate systems of dependencies, and small aberrations can impact different species of animals very differently. Damming of rivers in northern regions has inhibited salmon supply, which in turn has caused depletion of a food source for the Alaskan brown bear. Manatees in Florida are losing their winter homes thanks to the pollutants in the natural freshwater springs that Florida has an abundance of.
Among the many things, this episode show us the rigor of torrent ducks as they brave powerful, oxygen-rich currents, the jaguars hunting for the capybara and crocodiles in the tropical wetland, Pantanal, in Brazil and the amusing tale of the callipterus cichlid, that sometimes resort to thievery of shells from their fellow species to attract females. Elephants struggle for water in the East African plain and rely on the water retention capacity of the Baobab trees.
The Mekong River, with the widest waterfalls in the world, is rich with sediment and is important to 60 million people for their livelihood. While it has the largest inland fishery, the people practicing fishing here, set up their nets across only half across the length of the river, leaving the flow on the other half free to allow some fish to continue their journey upstream. Despite this, damming of the river has restricted its expansion to its full size in the rainy season.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Our Planet gives the impression that fresh water is increasingly threatened, because nearly every source of fresh water we see in this, is deterred in some form or the other by human beings. Damming and industrialized fishing are causing drying up of rivers, only because of the scale, and yet, it’s not too late if humans just practiced a more restrained and sustainable form of development.
FAVORITE MOMENT: The Caño Cristales, the rainbow river, located in Colombia, is breathtaking. Thanks to the little bit of sediment and sunlight, plant life is rich in this river and is a sight to behold in the sun owing to the striking colors.
Red Fox . The fall out zone around Chernobyl has become a refuge for wildlife in the absence of humans, despite high levels of radiation . Ukraine – Photo Credit: Netflix
Episode 8: Forests
Forests are a place of mystery where life thrives in all its glory. It supports unique species and sustains many complex cycles of existence. Among the many types of forests explored, are the boreal, redwood, Western Ghats (India), the Miombo (Africa) and forests.
The Boreal forest in the far north extends thousands of kilometers and contains 40% of the carbon dioxide on earth. The short days and little sunlight here means that growth is slow, and it comes to a complete standstill in the winter. Though it is eerily quiet, the forest still teems with life. It’s the home of the borderline mythical Siberian tiger, which roams territories of nearly 2000 kilometers, and survived a near extinction, only beginning to recover again in the 1980s. The rivers flowing in this forest have the most nutrition, and therefore, are depended on by many of the forest creatures. The Alaskan bear and the bald eagle rely on the nutrition laden river for food, i.e, fish. Pine nuts are also an important source of energy for the creatures in this forest
Further south, the redwood forest, that once dotted the coasts of the Pacific Northwest, stands tall and strong, but only 5%of what once was, remains. Rough-skinned newts are among the creatures that are shown to live here. These forests, however resilient, are susceptible to massive forest fires caused due to the sun-baked dryness, which increases temperatures to nearly 700-degree Celsius. But the forest fire, that burns acres and acres of vegetation, is vital to the growth of this forest as it kickstarts germination of new life from the dormant seeds in the forest soil. The canopy of forest, now burned away, allows sunlight to fall to the earth and therefore, allow the growth of new life. The forests recover in a matter of months.
But most forests cannot recover on their own and need animals to help them survive. This dependence is best illustrated in the forests of the Western Ghats, India, which contains a third of all animal species of the country. This forest thrives thanks to the eating habits of the Great Indian Hornbill as well as the monkeys, both of which play a significant role in the dispersion of seeds.
Africa’s largest forest, the Miombo, named after the trees that are predominant here, it stretches for thousands of miles across the continent. Elephants roam these forests, depending on the Miombo leaves for food while the Miombo tree caterpillars, hatching in millions and simultaneously, feed on the leaves of these trees and within months, strip the forest bare. This induces a second growth of leaves in the trees, which attracts elephants. The hunting dogs are among the top predators here, experts in co-ordinated hunts as they move in packs and take care of their young as a community; they’re among the endangered species now.
The Madagascar forest, filled with baobabs, supports some of the oldest life forms owing to its isolation of nearly over 80 million years. This makes it one of the most precious forests on the planet because there is quite a lot to conserve and preserve. Here, dwell 40 different kinds of lemurs, all endangered and crucial to the forest. Madagascar’s top predator, the fossa, also live here and are seldom seen in the wild as they only assemble for breeding and live solitarily for most of their life. The nights in this forest also see a burst of activity from certain species, namely the immature leaf bug, a white featherlike insect indigenous to Madagascar, which feeds on tree sap. They secrete a substance known as honeydew, which is food for a small (and really cute) particular species of lemur, they grey mouse lemur, only 15 cm in length. Distressingly, Attenborough concludes with the information that since the footage in the episode was taken, only 3% of the forest remains.
IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Forests, despite their rapid depletion, are persistent and can recover quite quickly if given the chance. It is still not too late to regain all that we have so recklessly destroyed. It is of utmost importance we do so because they’re our best bet in the fight against climate change and can play an important role in reversing the damage we have caused.
FAVORITE MOMENT: Possibly my favorite in the entire series, this episode gives us a glimpse into the radioactive site of Chernobyl, deemed uninhabitable for 20 years, but now teeming with life. It looks like concept art, with abandoned buildings in the middle of a dense forest, greenery seeping out of their cracks. Some of these buildings are inhabited by animals, and in the streets of the city without humans, animals roam freely.
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 10: Jamie McPherson, Sophie Lanfear and Sir David Attenborough attend the “Our Planet” Special Screening With Sir David Attenborough at the Smithsonian National Museum Of American History on April 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Netflix)
BONUS EPISODE: BEHIND THE SCENES OF OUR PLANET
This episode takes the viewers on a journey that the cinematographers undertook for some of the amazing footage we see in series. It gives a clear insight into the thinking of these experts and the difficulty of actually filming in the wild.
It shows the Our Planet cinematographers embark on their journey in the tropics, the icescapes and the high seas, and their expertise in carefully setting up their equipment to get the perfect shot but also to minimize any disturbances that they could potentially cause the animals. It goes into detail about the innovative use of drone cameras in capturing aerial shots of sea life, as well as the perils of shooting underwater at night; in this case, sharks hunting in the corals of French Polynesia.
Aside from the shark hunt, Our Planet features behind-the-scenes footage of the tragic walrus deaths, the rare Siberian tiger, the chase of the orangutans in Sumatra and the cleaving of a glacier face. This episode also shows how the rare footage of the interaction between a blue whale and her calf were taken.
It’s an emotional and nerve-wracking journey, and even includes footage from one failed expedition, which occurred owing to the unpredictability caused by climate change. Somehow, this only reiterates the urgency with which climate change needs to be dealt with, not helped by a population of people that chooses to believe either that climate change is natural or just unreal.
The series especially helps understand that climate change, while a natural phenomenon, in the form we see today is a problem. The rate at with which is happening is clear indications of human involvement, which makes it anything but natural, and also shows the dire consequences of this involvement.
Our Planet is a must watch for people, and though it’s been compared to documentaries like Planet Earth, the tone is that of warning rather than merely just passing on information on the cycles of nature.
What did you think of Our Planet? Be sure to tell us in the comment section below!