A TREAT FOR SIR DAVID

For one of the last shoots on Blue Planet, David Attenborough (below) was to do a piece to camera... ideally with a blue whale in the background. To achieve that in three days, we took with us a scientist named Professor Bruce Mate who had implanted satellite trackers onto blue whales to learn more of their lives. His satellite feed gave us a rough fix on the whales’ location.

Soon we were right alongside a blue, close enough to see the mottled texture of its skin, the clouds of spray that shoot upwards with its breath and the ‘bow’ wake they make as they drive through the water. It’s a thrill to see a blue whale close up, and for a documentary director an even bigger one to see your presenter in front of it as the proof of the animal’s existence.

‘I can see its tail just under my boat here,’ says David, looking into the water at the huge blue triangle. ‘It’s coming up, the blue whale!’ He’s shouting, excited, like a boy with the best birthday present. ‘The biggest creature that has ever existed.’

When the shoot was finished it fell on me to take out the whole team, scientists, film crew, boat crew and David for a good meal. I overheard the professor ask David how he got his knighthood. ‘For slaying dragons!’ n

Extracted by Christopher Stevens The Whale In The Living Room by John Ruthven is published by Robinson, £14.99. © John Ruthven 2021. To order a copy for £13.34 go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3308 9193. Free UK delivery on orders over £20. Offer price valid until 7/8/2021.