Get in on the action of ‘The Hunt’
We were all glued to our TV's on Sunday evening watching the final episode of The Hunt on BBC One, entitled ‘Hunger at Sea’. Here, we reveal how to experience some of the action for yourselves.
Featuring incredible footage of the continual dance between predator and prey in our oceans; from the tiny sargassum frogfish to the mighty blue whale, it has been the talk of our office today.
Sometimes, getting to the heart of the action is a tough ask for your average diver or marine life lover. Finding a floating hotel of sargassum seaweed hiding a beautifully camouflaged sargassum fish is little more than pure chance, while access to the delights of the deep are beyond the reach of most.
It is possible to experience some of vey best moments featured in The Hunt for yourself however. Here, we reveal how you can get to the heart of the action.
Meet the mighty blue whale
As the diary sequence of The Hunt illustrated, despite being the biggest animal on the planet, blue whales have a habit of being one of the most elusive. Travelling from the tropics to the poles and clocking up 100 miles a day, these giant whales often slip below the radar.
There is one special spot, found relatively recently, where blue whales are seen consistently in season, attracted by the krill that gathers and breeds in the area. Where is this special spot, I hear you ask? Well, it is not as remote a place as you might imagine. From December to April each year, blue whales gather off the south coast of Sri Lanka to feed in these rich and calm waters and providing the perfect opportunity to witness the world’s mightiest hunter in its element.
The shark corridor
The program also featured some superb footage of hundreds of sharks hunting in schools on a reef overwhelmed with silversides. On this occasion, the silversides could not be coaxed away from the protection of the rocks, ensuring a victory for the hunted rather than the hunters. The spectacle was no less spectacular however.
There are a few candidates for where this was actually filmed, but we suspect Cocos Island, a remote outcrop in the Pacific Ocean belonging to Costa Rica; or Socorro off Mexico’s western coastline. Both form part of the shark corridor, an area that also encompasses the Galapagos Islands. This is true liveaboard territory and adventurous diving at its best. Nowhere else on earth are sharks seen so consistently and in such great numbers, including silky sharks, Galapagos sharks, hammerhead sharks and the mighty whale shark. Trips to these incredible destinations are a real once in a lifetime adventure for divers.
The greatest show on earth
Imagine being caught in an ever tightening ball while seals, dolphins, sharks and seabirds attack from every direction. This is the plight often faced by the sardines that travel up the coast of South Africa each year during the sardine run; the greatest migration on earth. In the awesome sequence filmed for The Hunt, those sardines that made it through the majority of the onslaught were engulfed in one mighty mouthful by a huge Bryde’s whale appearing suddenly from the depths.
This epic migration occurs in June and July each year and can be experienced by experienced divers and snorkellers who want a taste of the action for themselves.
If you would like to discuss a possible trip to any of these destinations, get in touch with our friendly Dive team today!
