Azores are hotspot for filming in open and deep ocean, says Regional Director for Sea Affairs
The Regional Director for Sea Affairs welcomed the fact that the new series produced by BBC1 "Blue Planet" features "several scenes shot in the Azores Sea," adding that this new series will be released "later this year".
"The Azores are a hotspot for filming in open and deep ocean," Filipe Porteiro said, adding that "we need to explore the potential" of the Azores Sea as "a privileged place to shoot wildlife documentaries."
With a total of seven episodes, this series took four years to be produced and features the narration of famous British naturalist David Attenborough.
Filipe Porteiro stressed that this is "one of the best documentaries ever made about the sea," stressing that it displays "scenes shot in the Azores," namely on "the importance of a sperm whale's body to the deep ocean ecology."
"When an animal of this size dies and reaches the ocean floor is a food source, firstly to sharks and then to a myriad of small fish and invertebrates, such as deep-sea crabs and bacteria," said the government official.
The Government of the Azores, through the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs, "facilitated the entire process," said Filipe Porteiro. He added that the shootings involved the participation of the Rebikoff-Niggeler Foundation, owner of Lula 1000 submarine, the Atlantic Ridge Production, underwater documentary filmmaker Nuno Sá and the maritime tourism company Pico Sport; the latter has been providing this type of activity for some years.
The University of the Azores has followed several phases of these activities that simultaneously provided images of rare ecological phenomena and allowed the development of scientific knowledge on deep-sea ecosystems of the Region.
Filipe Porteiro also stated that "the Azores may become a type of "Oceanwood"; however he warned that underwater audiovisual activities with large cetaceans "can only be performed by professionals duly licensed" by the Regional Directorate for Sea Affairs."
"The Azores have become in recent years a destination of excellence for audiovisual productions on marine and ocean themes," the government official said, adding that "the interest of wildlife lovers is a way of disseminating the Region internationally" in addition to being an activity with economic return.
The images of the second series of "Blue Planet" were collected through the use of ultra-high definition cameras which enable the visualisation of underwater scenes with a previously unattainable quality.