March 2009 Archives

(4:39pm) Greg: Afternoon everyone. Over the next couple of hours Stacy Boots and I will be blogging our thoughts and impressions of a panel discussion we are having here in DC surrounding Explorer: Inside Guantanamo. It should be a lively discussion and will be recorded and available for streaming in teh next couple of days. Until then, please participate and leave a question or a comment for Stacy and I to think over during our event here tonight...

(7:35pm) Greg: Just finished up a round of interviews. Really really good stuff. Stacy and I will be posting some of the behind the scenes footage from tonight in the morning. We talked with military guards from the prison, a lawyer for a number of the detainees and some of the key filmmakers that made the show.

(7:37pm) Stacy: Oh and the food is pretty good too!

(7:44pm) Greg: General Manager Steve Schiffman takes to the podium and begins the night. First we will be screening the show and then move on to the panel. You should all know that Nat Geo got unprecedented access to the prison at Guantanamo. Its really one of the shows that we here take pride in making. Being who we are as a channel and a brand, this film is a great representation of what the channel is all about.

(7:50pm) Greg: "Guantanamo is the legal equivalent to outer space" -- Yikes. I knew it was a tough scenario for us, but comparing it to outer space kind of blows my mind. Have I mentioned that prison is a deterrent for me?

This Sunday, we'll premiere Explorer: Inside Guantanamo. Given exclusive access, director/producer Bonni Cohen & crew spent three months inside the controversial facility. The film features, among many personalities and options, Sergeant Jane Smith, who was stationed at Guantanamo Bay from January 2005 to January 2006.

So what do you want to know about Guantanamo? Both Bonni Cohen & Sergeant Smith will be visiting our offices this week and we'll be chatting with them. What questions do you have for them? Post your questions in the comments!

Also, on Tuesday night, we'll be hosting a screening and panel discussion about the film. The panel will be moderated by Fox News Channel's Chris Wallace and will feature a panel of experts including current and former Guantanamo officials, who will offer diverse perspectives on the prison. You can join us here at Inside NGC for a live-blogging event that night, where we'll cover the discussion.

The Mexican/Drug Cartel conflict is getting very serious. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is meeting the the Mexican government today to find joint measures that the US and Mexican governments can pursue that would stop the violence from escalating, while President Obama and his Homeland Security team consider sending more resources to the US/Mexican Border.

Tonight Nat Geo will be profiling one of the reasons why violence has escalated, the gang MS-13. The show is called World's Most Dangerous Gang. The show premiered a while back, but has never been more relevant than today. Narrated by and starring Lisa Ling, watch as she embeds herself with this crew of dangerous gang-bangers and shines a spot light on methods of violence and intimidation that this dangerous intercontinental gang affiliation uses.

Preview the clip below but be sure to check out the show in it's entirety tonight at 9p e/p.

Happy spring everyone. I can only speak for myself, but I am really over this wintry weather. As we wait to thaw from winter's storms and wind chill, I wanted to pass along shows that I am getting excited for you all to see over the next couple of months.

New Season of Locked Up Abroad: Absolutely one of my favorite shows on television. Its intensity, story telling and all around dramatic nature keeps me captivated throughout the hour. Trust me, once you watch one, you'll tune in again and again. Here in the halls of the DC office, its become one of the most talked about shows. Great film making all the way around and the authenticity of the reenactments mixed with the confessionals is fantastic. I don't have many things that I would change about this one. If you haven't seen this show, you should absolutely view the season premiere on April 1. Also if you have an On-Demand you can watch a couple of episodes on there under the News and Information Channel.

Explorer: Inside Guantanamo Bay: Now I haven't seen a final cut of this one yet, I'll be waiting until the night of the premiere to really engross myself in what should be a startling documentary. This show is likely one of last profiles of the prison before President Obama and his Justice Department shut the doors in the next year or so. For the news junkie, as I am, this will be right up your alley. This is really the pinnacle of all prison documentaries. I'll have more on this documentary as we get closer to the airdate. Before then, be sure to preview clips from the show ahead of time. The show premieres Sunday April 5 at 9p e/p.

Garbage Moguls: Eco-friendly Terra-Cycle allows Nat Geo to go behind closed doors to see how an environmental sound company innovates and turns a profit. Not only are these guys innovative in thought, they are young entrepreneurs that are trying to make a buck by turning trash in to new products.

Casey Anderson Project: Imagine having a Grizzly Bear as a best friend. Pretty cool huh? Well, Montana's own Casey Anderson has the benefit of having Grizzly Bear Brutus as one of his best mates. Casey and Brutus have been friends since Brutus was a cub and have been inseparable ever since. Literally. Brutus was there for Casey when he needed a best man at his wedding and Casey is always willing to pull up a chair for Brutus at his dinner table. In this beautiful natural history film Casey takes us in to the wilderness of Montana and shows us how Grizzly Bears survive through demonstrations that he and Brutus do together.

Cult On Trial: Last year Nat Geo went inside the walls of the Strong City Cult in New Mexico. Since the premiere last year, the cult's leader or their supposed prophet, Michael Trevesser, has been arrested and is being placed on trial. In this follow-up program, Nat Geo documents the events of the leader's trial and the ramifications that it will have on the rest of his followers. It is sure to be captivating.

Anatomy of a Hurricane: Just ahead of Hurricane season, Naked Science profiles the science and destruction behind hurricanes. New science is being discovered everyday about these natural disasters and its best for all of us to know as much as we can about them.

CIA Files: One of the most secret agencies in the US government, Nat Geo profiles contemporary CIA missions with input from agents and personnel within the agency.

Iran and the West: Since the Iranian Revolution the relationship between Iran and Western countries has been...well...volatile. The program profiles the ups and downs of the relationships with input from the very people that have been part of the struggle of ideologies.

PreserveOurPlanet.com

Our programs inspire people to care about the planet. Now we have a website that does the same.

We are pleased to announce the re-launch of PreserveOurPlanet.com.

It's a place viewers can learn more about Nat Geo's conservation-related programs, providing context to the issues and pointing people to where and how they can help. The site is video and information rich, leveraging resources from our core channel website and nationalgeographic.com. It also features the new PSA campaign, interstitial content and links to mission programs and other NGS efforts...showing how together, with Nat Geo scientists and explorers, we are making a difference in preserving our planet.

The site just launched and we are adding and fine-tuning it every day to make it as robust an experience as possible...so check it out and let us know what you think!

Hard Time: Tools of Control Premieres Monday March 9 at 9p et/pt

One year can be a long time; a year behind bars, though, can be an eternity. It's something I didn't fully grasp when our crew packed up our bags, kissed our loved ones goodbye and headed south for our new home in Georgia. I had never shot in a prison before and had no idea what to expect. All I knew was I had left my wife with a great line when asked where I was: "He's in prison."

Nothing can prepare you for that first moment of walking into a prison, especially where we started - the Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison - the first stop for most of the new inmates in the Georgia system. To get in, you have to drop your identification with the officer at the front gate, walk through a long underground corridor, head up some stairs through administration and then down a hall to a glass door, behind which is the main gate into general population. We would make this walk dozens of times in the coming months, but the first time opening that glass door is something I'll never forget. That's when it all hits you - the heat, the smell, and above all, the noise. It is loud.

"We got to know the power structure - who the shot callers were, who ran the hustles, and who controlled the inmate economy. All the while we attempted to document, not become part of, inmate life - a line that I unexpectedly bumped up against."

The prison is a series of double-tiered cell blocks connected by long corridors. The floors are concrete or tile and the walls are cinderblock. There is nothing to dampen the echo of 2,500 inmates yelling on their tiers, the loud clank of closing gates and the barked orders of corrections officers -- "single file against the wall!" "Hands behind your back!" It is a cacophony that over time drains you like nothing I've ever experienced. I left each day wondering how the guards can work or the inmates can live there.

That was Day One.

In the stunning clip below, explorers catch the first glimpse of a baby Blue Whale at the Costa Rica Dome.

And may I add, Tom Selleck's narration is fantastic throughout this documentary.

For more, be sure to check out the Kingdom of the Blue Whale site.

John Calambokidis is a senior research biologist who has studied marine mammals for more than 30 years. He has served as the principal investigator on more than 40 studies and co-authored more than 50 scientific papers and three books on marine animals. His recent work has focused on the impact of human activities on the status, movements and underwater behavior of blue, humpback and gray whales. His work has taken him across the North Pacific from Central America to the coast of Alaska. Over the last 20 years, he has created a unique photographic database of more than 2,000 individual blue and humpback whales from the U.S. West Coast. In 1999, he began working with National Geographic using a suction-cup-attached Crittercam to learn more about the underwater behavior of blue whales. Calambokidis is also a co-founder of Cascadia Research, a charter member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy and an adjunct faculty member at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Nat Geo: When did you know you wanted to study whales?

John Calambokidis:I began by studying seals when I was in college and initially focused exclusively on them. But then I quickly became interested in whales since I was encountering them in my work with seals, and even less was known about them.

Nat Geo: What was the most challenging aspect of the expedition?

John Calambokidis: The long period at sea, and traveling to such a remote location was hard on us. The research boat we used was small, and we faced inclement weather. And working so close to such large animals is always challenging.

Nat Geo: Was there any part of your voyage that was dangerous, where you put your life at risk to conduct your research?

John Calambokidis: Most of my work is conducted from small boats often far offshore, and working close to whales can lead to some unpredictable encounters. A blue whale is much bigger than the boat itself.

Nat Geo:What was the most memorable day of the expedition?

John Calambokidis: One day we were able to not only deploy several of our suction cup tags and gather the first data conclusively showing feeding, we were also able to see something very unique. We came across some larger groups of blue whales engaging in courtship behavior -- that was different from anything I had seen before.

Nat Geo: Why is the study of blue whales important? What role do they play in the ecology of the ocean?

John Calambokidis: As the largest animal that had ever lived, blue whales were being hunted to the brink of extinction, and many scientists were not sure they could ever recover. To think we drove earth's largest animal to extinction and none of our children would ever get to see such an animal would be terrible. We still do not fully understand the way blue whales interact and affect the ecosystem as a whole, so we really don't know how their disappearance would alter things.

Nat Geo: What measures are currently being taken to protect the blue whales?

John Calambokidis: There is a moratorium on commercial whaling, but several nations exploit loopholes to get around this. Fortunately, none have resumed hunting the blue whale species. They are protected from intentional or negligent harm under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Their "endangered" status means that U.S. agencies have to consider the impact of any actions that might hurt them.

Nat Geo: What advocacy groups do you work with to help protect the whales?

John Calambokidis: The Natural Resources Defense Council is the primary conservation group we work with.

Nat Geo: Is there legislation you think we need to pass to allow for greater protection of the whales?

John Calambokidis:Current threats to blue whales include underwater noise, climate change and ship strikes. Five blues were killed by ship strikes off the Southern California coast last year alone. Legislation dealing with any of these threats would be helpful.

Dr. Bruce Mate is the director of the Marine Mammal Institute, as well as a tenured professor of fisheries and wildlife and an adjunct professor of oceanography at Oregon State University. He has studied marine wildlife for more than 40 years. Dr. Mate pioneered the development of satellite-monitored radio telemetry for tracking marine mammals, especially whales. He has tagged and tracked a wide variety of marine mammals, including harbor seals, pilot whales, gray whales, right whales, bowhead whales, humpback whales, sperm whales, fin whales and blue whales. His groundbreaking research determined the migratory routes of sea lions along the West Coast of the United States and revealed the presence of heavy metals and organochlorines in seals. His recent work has focused on using tracking data to identify the critical habitats where endangered whales breed, feed and calve. His work promotes marine mammal conservation and contributes to developing best practices for wildlife management. 

Nat Geo: When did you know you wanted to study whales? What drew you to blue whales in particular?

Bruce Mate: I worked with seals and sea lions for about 10 years and then I started focusing on whale work in 1978. I developed an attachment mechanism and tagged my first whale, a grey whale, in 1979, using conventional radio tags (line-of-sight technology). I pioneered the development of satellite-monitored tag technology. We tried it first in 1986 on humpback whales that spent summers feeding close to shore, but started in 1993 using it on blue whales that move much further offshore.

Nat Geo: How long did it take to organize this expedition, and how was the crew assembled?

Bruce Mate: I've wanted to do this for 14 years. Once National Geographic came through with critical assistance, it took only about four months to pull together a two-part expedition. Part one was in September 2007 to get the initial tags on the animals off the coast of California. Then we tracked them by satellite and three months later, made an expedition to the Costa Rica Dome to relocate them.

The trip grew out of a natural collaboration between two other researchers in the specialty -- John Calambokidis and Erin Oleson -- and me. John and Erin are experts in whale photo ID, suction cup tagging and acoustics, while my group's expertise is in satellite tagging and tracking.