Never-before-seen footage of 3,000-5,000 dolphins filmed by 'spy creatures'
These extraordinary pictures show a never-before-seen gathering of thousands of dolphins swimming together off the coast of Costa Rica. The so-called superpod of dolphins is thought to include anywhere from 3,000-5,000 creatures. In the footage, the animals can be seen propelling themselves out of the water before joining scores of others swimming deep under the water's surface.
Some of the footage was taken by cameramen both in and above the water, using long-lens and slow motion techniques. But the most amazing, detailed scenes came from cameras installed 'spy creatures' - fake animals with cameras built into their mouths and eyes.
Filmmakers created the underwater cameras - which are capable of going at least 25 meters below the surface - in turtles, tuna, and squids to produce the footage, which shows ocean life in more detail than ever. In these pictures of the dolphins, footage from above the water was filmed by 'turtle cam' and below by 'tuna cam'.
The remarkable footage was filmed as part of a new natural history documentary Dolphins - Spy in the Pod, aired for the first time last night on BBC One. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, series producer Rob Pilley said: 'It is about the animals accepting the cameras. 'First of all, if you want to get close to them, you have to look like things that are familiar to them.
'The close proximity that these devices gave you is something that a cameraman or woman could not get. 'About 40 to 50 per cent of the footage has never been seen before, let along never been filmed.' However, some of the spy creatures didn't make it through the filming process.
'Squid cam was eaten by a giant fish,' Mr Pilley added. As well as showing the animals in amazing detail, the documentary makers discovered some, perhaps surprising habits the dolphins had. Mr Pilley said, just like humans, dolphins visit a sort of day spa to remove any dead skin.
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These extraordinary pictures show a never-before-seen gathering of thousands of dolphins swimming together off the coast of Costa Rica. The so-called superpod of dolphins is thought to include anywhere from 3,000-5,000 creatures. In the footage, the animals can be seen propelling themselves out of the water before joining scores of others swimming deep under the water's surface.
Some of the footage was taken by cameramen both in and above the water, using long-lens and slow motion techniques. But the most amazing, detailed scenes came from cameras installed 'spy creatures' - fake animals with cameras built into their mouths and eyes.
Filmmakers created the underwater cameras - which are capable of going at least 25 meters below the surface - in turtles, tuna, and squids to produce the footage, which shows ocean life in more detail than ever. In these pictures of the dolphins, footage from above the water was filmed by 'turtle cam' and below by 'tuna cam'.
The remarkable footage was filmed as part of a new natural history documentary Dolphins - Spy in the Pod, aired for the first time last night on BBC One. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, series producer Rob Pilley said: 'It is about the animals accepting the cameras. 'First of all, if you want to get close to them, you have to look like things that are familiar to them.
'The close proximity that these devices gave you is something that a cameraman or woman could not get. 'About 40 to 50 per cent of the footage has never been seen before, let along never been filmed.' However, some of the spy creatures didn't make it through the filming process.
'Squid cam was eaten by a giant fish,' Mr Pilley added. As well as showing the animals in amazing detail, the documentary makers discovered some, perhaps surprising habits the dolphins had. Mr Pilley said, just like humans, dolphins visit a sort of day spa to remove any dead skin.
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That is so amazing !! Please keep up the great work !! Seeing all them dolphins was so wonderful. Thank you for sharing this...