Segredos das Baleias

The footage is superb, and I welcomed the commentary by the divers. Perhaps half of the voice-over narration is informative but, sadly, much of it gets in the way of deeper understanding. Silence (and whale songs) are golden.

Each episode was beautifully produced and narrated but I was absolutely shocked that National Geographic presented an episode that refers to the Orca/"Killer Whale" as a whale. It's not a whale. It's the largest Dolphin, which is an entirely different animal.

I read a lot of the other reviews and noted almost every one of them commented on how much they learned. Wouldn't it be better to have said from the top that it's called the Killer Whale but it isn't actually a whale. Makes me wonder what else they put in the series that isn't correct.

National Geographic is known for it's gold standard. Why would you let this one slip through? Or did you reclassify the Orca without announcing it?

We watched this together as a family show. It was gentle enough for the little one to watch and not be scared. There were a couple scenes, one included a dead orca calf, which was a little to much for her to bare. But other than that it was fine for her.

It is very interesting, we learned a ton of new things about the different species of whales. Sigourney Weaver does a great job narrating. The pacing is really good, here it switches between footage of the whales and the scientists studying them, but it's mostly whale footage.

Totally recommend for anyone interested in nature documentaries.

Secrets of the Whales

With Sigourney Weaver's soothing voice, excellent cinematography, and education on these majestic creatures, this Nat Geo miniseries shows off Orcas, Humpbacks, Belugas, Narwhals and Sperm Whales up close and personal. They do show them feeding, but from a distance, and not the super gory way it truly is. I felt bad for those poor sea lions.

The footage from underwater is just so cool to see. The divers did a really good job for those shots.

I mean, it's a documentary about whales, so it's pretty straightforward, but I enjoyed seeing the creatures that are usually seen from a distance.

Enjoying every episode so far of this most excellent documentary. Others have covered it's high quality. I'll just add a couple of quibbles which didn't affect my score.

1- Sigourney's narration grew old. Way too saccharine at times. Also, don't call a mother whale "Mom". She's not your Mom.

2 - The "how they did it" segments were great but they don't always explain the under-water footage. Is that a photographer down there? Remote control device? Who are the belugas smiling at?

One concern is that they show pristine locations and I can just see tour guides taking people there and maybe ruining it.