Killer whales have often been portrayed as an animal to fear. Their name conjures images of an aggressive sea creature. The fact they can grow up to eight metres in length only adds to their menacing aura. However, there’s more to the species, also known as orcas, than what people may think.
Orla Doherty has made it her personal mission to show a different side. Rather than expecting us to take her word for it, she has executively produced new BBC show, Expedition Killer Whales. As the title suggests it gives killer whales the starring role, which is different to the usual part they play.
Speaking to Metro about the normal on-screen appearances, Orla said: ‘They’re always the villains.’ In documentaries, more often than not, another animal is at risk of getting eaten when they swim into frame so viewers can feel scared. While Orla, 53, confirms it is correct that they are incredibly skilled at hunting, she added that there is more to them.
She described their ‘ridiculous intelligence’ and pointed out the strong matriarchs are particularly standout. After the females have gone through menopause, they will stick around for another 50-70 years to teach the generations below everything they know.
‘They work hard to keep their families together, alive and flourishing,’ she stated.
‘They should be admired, respected, loved and appreciated rather than feared.’
In order to understand the killer whales more, and educate people who may never get the chance to see them in real life, a group of scientists and filmmakers traveled to a remote corner of Antarctica. They spent five weeks at sea living in the hostile freezing conditions, and then it took around two years to analyse their footage so it could be transformed into an episode for us to digest.
Their research was focused on a special group of killer whales, of which there are only about 100, who call the continent their home. During their time at sea, plenty of discoveries were made. They recorded audio of killer whales’ communication during hunting for the first time. Drones were used to capture new angles of the killer whales working as a team to create powerful waves, to wash their seal prey off pieces of floating ice (the hunting technique is referred to as wave washing). We now have a greater understanding of how females teach the young thanks to this project, and Orla learned that if a mother killer whale dies, the chances of her son also dying are high, because he is entirely dependent on her.
‘No one’s filmed that kind of detail before,’ Orla proudly noted.
As well as learning about the animals, audiences will get to know the scientists who care deeply about them. Leigh Hickmott has a particular love for Gertie, a female killer whale that he has known for nearly a decade, and named after his grandmother, while Jessica Farrer’s passion for the job is unignorable when she becomes genuinely excited to find killer whale poo. ‘We thought that if we can show humans who care deeply about the animal, then it may make the audience care more too,’ Orla shared of the tactic. ‘They don’t have a voice, but we do.’
Although Orla wasn’t able to join the boat this time (as she was on a different one), she knows exactly what it’s like. During her career, she has spent 500 hours in a submarine submerged as deep as 1000 meters under water, and lived on a boat for ten years.
‘My world is the ocean. If I could, I would just live out there. To me, the open ocean, where you can’t see anything except water and sky, is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It’s such an important part of our planet,’ she said, as a smile overtook her face.
Orla knows the risks involved. When prevously doing her own coral reef research, she had three instances where a storm meant things unravelled quickly on the boat, and Orla prayed to get out of the situation alive.
Although these incidents can’t be completely prevented, thorough assessments are carried out to limit any risks.
While watching the episode, an average viewer may wonder how it can possibly be made at all safe for crew to deboard their big boat for a smaller vehicle and get within metres of the animal. Orla explained that killer whales are so smart that they know humans are not prey, but added that they had to take into consideration that they would wave wash a boat as a practice exercise.
Ultimately though, their concern is mainly focused on the animals’ wellbeing.
‘It is challenging to film animals in their natural environment, particularly when their natural environment is at the bottom of the world, but the scientists and entire crew are not thinking about what the killer whales would do to the humans,’ she outlined. ‘We’re putting ourselves at risk by going in the boat, but the driving concern is how human behavior could impact the killer whales.’
Orla is definitely a safe pair of hands at the helm having produced episodes of Blue Planet II. The series was of course narrated by Sir David Attenborough, who Orla has nothing but positive things to say about, as we’d expect. They say never to meet your heroes, but Sir David, 98, is always the exception.
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‘It’s nothing but pure joy to work with him. He’s just an amazing beacon of hope, wisdom, experience and passion,’ Orla emphasised. ‘What’s most amazing about working with him is that people will ask me about him, and I see how this one human has had such a profound impact. He’s woken up so many people to many important things.’ Because of this and her own experiences, although she is fearful of the future of her planet, she’s also positive that change can happen. ‘I would love to see things happen faster, but I do feel hopeful,’ she said wistfully.
Seeing the beauty of killer whales could lead to a few more people doing their part to reduce pollution, or perhaps limiting their plastic consumption to ensure animals like them don’t go extinct. If that happens then Orla’s job is done.
Expedition Killer Whale will air on BBC2 December 26 at 6pm
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