The Big Blue and Killers In Eden

The Big Blue and Killers In Eden

Journey to Australia's southern ocean and uncover one of its best-kept secrets- a natural phenomenon called the "Bonney Upwelling" that sparks a feeding frenzy all the way up the food chain to the planet's largest living creature, the Blue Whale.

With a heart the size of a Volkswagen, a tongue that weighs more than an elephant and a mouth big enough to capture 50 tonnes of sea water, a feeding Blue Whale is a sight to behold. Filmed in high definition, this Blue Chip Natural History documentary captures for the first time the extraordinary spectacle of this unique event.

The Cine Golden Eagle awards from Washington DC recently announced nine winners in their Environment and Natural Science section. Three of the nine were for programs made by the ABC Natural History Unit- 'The Big Blue', 'Sex in the Bush: Rules of Engagement' and 'Killers in Eden', included here as a very special feature.

Killers In Eden examines a remarkable and mysterious partnership between killer whales and whalers. On the southeast coast of Australia, the town of Eden nestles along the shores of Twofold Bay. It was once a centre of Australia's thriving whaling industry, in part because it lies along the migration path of baleen whales swimming northward from the Antarctic. But residents say Eden's whalers got some unusual help- from orcas, or killer whales that patrolled offshore.

Locals such as Elsie Severs and Alice Oteen who witnessed the hunts say the orcas took the lead in the hunt, herding larger migrating whales into the bay. Once the whales were confided in the bay, the orcas would then attack their quarry to the point of exhaustion. Human whalers moved in for the final kill- then shared the spoils with the orcas.

Discover this extraordinary story of interspecies cooperation on Killer's In Eden.

The Big Blue:
For years fishermen have known of a unique spot in the ocean just off southern Australia, so bountiful that it has inspired tales of amazing catches, wild feeding frenzies and most remarkable of all, a huge luminescent blue creature of the deep. Now the truth behind the legend of THE BIG BLUE has been revealed. A feeding Blue Whale is a sight to behold. Its powerful body driving at speed into swarms of krill, its mouth - big enough to capture 50 tonnes of sea water and anything therein - filling like a gigantic pleated balloon, then it disappears beneath the surface, only to rise again for the next monstrous mouthful.

Killers in Eden:
Investigates the story of the most extraordinary bond ever forged between humans and wild animals. Near the small coastal town of Eden, Australia, Killer Whales and human whalers formed an intimate partnership to hunt the largest whales on earth. Can the legend be explained by animal instinct and natural intelligence alone, or did a true friendship develop between these two hunters of the sea?

The Big Blue and Killers In Eden
ABC Video
Price: $29.95