The longest production we ever did lasted ten years. Each summer we
would go to various locations and film whales. Whales are as elusive
as they are mesmerizing. As we used to say, `so much ocean, so little
whales.` Seeing our first was truly love at first sight. We filmed most of the great whales, from finbacks to humpbacks and
even belugas. Sadly, our beluga footage which shows large plentiful
numbers in groups and baby belugas (gray before they turn white) are
rare shots now. We went to the Maritimes to film the rare right
whales, but despite a week on the water and spotter planes, found none
where they were supposed to be. The project began with a radio documentary on whales that interviewed
Mr. Gerald Iles, head of the Zoological Society of Canada. It sounded
fascinating, and I met with him and that began his close involvement
with the ten year project as well as a good lifetime friendship. The ultimate goal was, of course, to film a blue whale, the largest
animal that ever lived, even larger than the biggest dinosaur. In the
last days of our final season we were in a small motorboat as opposed
to our usual larger boat when suddenly, right beside us a blue whale
surfaced. It was the first any of us had ever seen. It slowed down to
keep pace with us, on the surface, and then a second fully-grown blue
whale surfaced on the other side of us and did the same. We estimated
they swam beside us for thirteen miles. It was the highlight of the
film`s shooting. A fully-grown blue whale is approximately 80 feet in
length. All I know is that at times the head was way in front of us
while its tail was far behind us. Of course this was the highlight of
the film`s shooting.
would go to various locations and film whales. Whales are as elusive
as they are mesmerizing. As we used to say, `so much ocean, so little
whales.` Seeing our first was truly love at first sight. We filmed most of the great whales, from finbacks to humpbacks and
even belugas. Sadly, our beluga footage which shows large plentiful
numbers in groups and baby belugas (gray before they turn white) are
rare shots now. We went to the Maritimes to film the rare right
whales, but despite a week on the water and spotter planes, found none
where they were supposed to be. The project began with a radio documentary on whales that interviewed
Mr. Gerald Iles, head of the Zoological Society of Canada. It sounded
fascinating, and I met with him and that began his close involvement
with the ten year project as well as a good lifetime friendship. The ultimate goal was, of course, to film a blue whale, the largest
animal that ever lived, even larger than the biggest dinosaur. In the
last days of our final season we were in a small motorboat as opposed
to our usual larger boat when suddenly, right beside us a blue whale
surfaced. It was the first any of us had ever seen. It slowed down to
keep pace with us, on the surface, and then a second fully-grown blue
whale surfaced on the other side of us and did the same. We estimated
they swam beside us for thirteen miles. It was the highlight of the
film`s shooting. A fully-grown blue whale is approximately 80 feet in
length. All I know is that at times the head was way in front of us
while its tail was far behind us. Of course this was the highlight of
the film`s shooting.
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