Bertie Gregory's Favorite Moments | Animals Up Close | Disney+ | National Geographic
Devil Ray, Devil Ray, wow, it looks cool! Mother Nature has gifted me with so many incredible encounters and animals up close, and these are some of my favorite moments from this series. A real highlight for me in the Galapagos: but these guys can rack up enough body heat on land to survive a 60-minute swim. Any longer, and the cold will paralyze their muscles. And they're not just up against the clock; they're up against the elements. The best feeding grounds lie beyond the surf and out to sea.
I want to film the iguanas as they enter a set of breakers the locals call the washing machine. Down on the rocky seabed are thick carpets of seaweed; this is the prize awaiting any iguana tough enough to make the journey. They are tough little animals. For the six episodes we did, 219 days in the field. The longest period we did for any one episode was for the Patagonia Puma episode, and that was 51 days.
You see it? Oh, wow! Just did, yeah! Just, it just, it right here. That's Spaka. Spa wow, that is good to see her! The last time I saw her she was a cub, and now she is a massive adult with two cubs of her own. My favorite destination from this series has got to be Antarctica; it's big, it's wild, and it makes you feel very, very small.
They're lining up here. They come; they're making a way! Whoa, they're rolling it! They've just rolled it off. I thought wave-washing killer whales would just make a wave and wash the seal off, but they've got this whole set of different strategies. The B1s need all these strategies because in Antarctica, anything can happen.
Whoo! There's a hbag whale right here! Oh, wow, the hb's right in the middle of it! Two humpback whales just came out of nowhere. That can't be a coincidence that the humpbacks turned up now; they must be going over to try and disrupt the hunt. I mean, that has been recorded before—humpback whales trying to disrupt killer whale hunts in the Bosana wild dog episode.
My favorite moment for sure was when the pack would rally. So the pack was made up of 11 adults, and every morning before they’d go out to hunt, they'd be at the den where they had their 14 unbelievably cute pups. The little tails make my heart hurt when I think about them.
Okay, yeah, I've got dogs coming in, coming in fast! Greeting African wild dogs are super social and communicate through an array of unique and complex calls. Whoa, they're all very pleased to see each other. There is often a plan, but animals don't read the script, so that just completely goes out the window usually on day one.
Oh dear! Ah, don't get stung! Oh, this is just weird; it's like a giant jellyfish invasion. The current's changed, and it's brought with it just this wave of jellyfish! Feels like in some crazy computer game, and this is the Dodge the jellyfish level. Jellyfish have been around for half a billion years; scientists think the jellyfish population is booming because they tolerate climate change better than other sea creatures. It's a worrying sign.
Oh, there's a mate, and it is huge! Okay, let's go nice and slow. Well, these mantas are a bigger, bolder relation of the devil ray. Oh, it's letting me get really close! The name Manta comes from the Spanish word for cloak; you can really see why—it looks like a big spaceship turning around. Why, I can see its eye! They have huge brains, the biggest of any fish. It might explain why this one is so inquisitive.
Lantis is coming back around, belly up! One of the things I'm most proud of of Animals Up Close is that in each episode we celebrate a conservation success story. There are some incredible people around the world doing their utmost to turn this thing around and show that, you know, if you give nature the chance, it will come back on an unbelievable scale.
We're heading to Zanga National Park to film a forest elephant tusker. Look at that! Tatiana wants to show me what these elephants are up against. Jeez! Heavy! 27th of November this year—that was like a week ago! Second of October last year, you can see the machete marks where it's been cut off the elephant. Guess I didn't expect it to be so recent!
There's an elephant there that was poached last week, and that absolute beauty, less than a year ago, over 12,000 forest elephants are killed for their ivory every year. If this continues, extinction could be less than a decade away. Tatiana and the eco guards are fighting back. Over the past four years, poaching incidents have dropped by more than 80%. It gives me a small glimmer of hope.
This is one of the biggest and rarest elephants in Africa, a forest elephant tusker—huge males with tusks that sweep down to the floor! Look at the size of its tusks! A tusker this big is an incredibly rare sight. These elephants aren't just part of the forest; they are the forest. They keep it healthy; they shape the landscape.
It's magical to think this tusker has been secretly roaming the forest for over half a century, defending his territory and bading poachers. I hope people come away from watching Animals Up Close to learn more about the threats that we humans are causing on the natural world, but I also hope that they come away feeling excited and inspired.