Big Pacific

Some islands are less than hospitable. In China’s Bohai Sea is a fleck of land called Shedao, also known as Snake Island. This is the home of 20,000 deadly Pit Vipers, and they are all poised to make a meal of the autumnal songbird migrations.

Violence is part of life in the Pacific and those that live here must choose whether to avoid conflict or rise to meet it. Surrounded by the Ring of Fire, the Pacific Ocean is the epicenter of natural mayhem.

In China, even humans are making the most of the violent power of the Pacific. In Hangzhou Bay, brave surfers wait for the annual return of an ancient sea monster: the silver dragon, a predictable yet potentially destructive wall of water that grows into the world’s largest tidal wave.

Nature creates her own battles. In the waters around Hawaii, Humpback Whales complete a mass migration from northern feeding grounds; they are gathering to mate. But males outnumber receptive females, and a testosterone-fueled event known as the heat run sees a brawl of gargantuan proportions as the males clash for the right to mate.

Beyond a coral reef, a tomb of lost turtles leaves more questions than answers. Skeletal remains of sea turtles line the underwater cave, some with stillborn eggs. But it is not understood why they are here. How could sea turtles, one of the best navigators of the sea, get lost in this cave?

Olive ridley sea turtles live most of their lives in the open ocean. But each year female sea turtles return en masse to their natal beach to synchronously lay eggs. Ostional, Costa Rica is one of their nesting locations. How half a million sea turtles find this same shore is a mystery.

Off the coast of Japan, the white-spotted pufferfish is at work creating a masterpiece. This three-inch long pufferfish is a male who is trying to attract a mate. He constantly shovels sand into a circle with intricate details. Then he decorates the pattern with shells. If a female approves, they will mate, and the circle will become a nest for the developing eggs.

Man has explored land, the ocean’s surface and large parts of the solar system. In the 21st century we are just beginning to explore the depths of the Pacific Ocean. We yearn to unravel the mysterious Pacific, but she does not give up her secrets willingly.

Plunge into the Pacific with researchers and cinematographers and see the ocean’s rare and dazzling creatures in a way never before seen on television. The program examines an ocean that covers a third of the Earth’s surface.

Follow behind the scenes with the Big Pacific film crew to Amami Oshima, off the coast of Japan. Cameramen Peter Kragh and Ernie Kovacs set out to film a mysterious pufferfish. They must find creative ways to film without destroying the pufferfish’s delicate sand circles.

The Big Pacific crew travel to Shedeo, or Snake Island, to film pit vipers preying on migrating songbirds. The essential shot for the story, or money shot, is the moment a pit viper captures a bird. Cameraman Scott Snider searches for that moment among 20,000 snakes. While under the concealment of a hide, cameraman John Betz captures an unexpected encounter instead.

With the best crews and the latest technology, the Big Pacific series travels to 20 countries, 77 different locations, filming an ocean that covers one third of our planet. Find out how the crews made this ambitious project possible.