Back in 2022, during the middle of the pandemic, I had the unique opportunity of filming for a new series that would feature the different oceans around the world, the magnificent creatures that live within them, and some of the threats us humans are imposing on the oceans, such as plastic.
My task was to film one of the ocean’s most charismatic creatures, and one we see frequently on our snorkeling safaris here in Indonesia—manta rays. It wasn’t the manta’s unique cleaning or courting behavior the production team was after though, it was their feeding behavior they were interested in, more specifically, how they congregate and feed in bays full of plastic waste pushed into the sea after heavy rains.
Mantas feed on plankton, and plankton is pushed around by the ocean’s currents. These currents will inevitably push plankton into certain bays where it collects and the mantas can feed more easily as the plankton density is very high. Unfortunately, these same currents also push all the ocean plastics into the same bays where the mantas feed. This is what I was tasked with filming.
While some of the imagery might be an abrupt reminder of our impact on the oceans, the vast majority of the series is about the unique behavior and serene environments our oceans host. This series will no doubt go down as one of the greatest achievements in wildlife filmmaking as there are some extraordinary sequences in here that have never before been filmed, or even seen before up until the time of filming. For example, while filming an octopus with an already unique way of building its den, the film team discovered that the octopus was also collecting small stones in its siphon to shoot at inquisitive fish, like a pea shooter, so they wouldn’t blow the octopus’s cover!
Alex’s footage is featured on the Indian Ocean’s episode as is the clever little octopus!
