washingtonpost.com > Photo

A beautiful movement

National Geographic Channel's new miniseries, "Great Migrations," brings nature to life with a visual and emotional wallop.

"Stunningly" beautiful? "Rapturously" beautiful? "Shockingly" beautiful? You can marry a dozen adverbs to "beautiful" and still not capture the compelling grandeur of "Great Migrations," a wondrous new jaw-dropper from the National Geographic Channel," writes The Post's Tom Shales.

"Stunningly" beautiful? "Rapturously" beautiful? "Shockingly" beautiful? You can marry a dozen adverbs to "beautiful" and still not capture the compelling grandeur of "Great Migrations," a wondrous new jaw-dropper from the National Geographic Channel," writes The Post's Tom Shales.

Carlton Ward Jr.-CarltonWard.com

Movement is the theme of the four-part miniseries airing on Sundays in November.
<br><br>
Here, a white-bearded wildebeest herd in Africa.

Movement is the theme of the four-part miniseries airing on Sundays in November.

Here, a white-bearded wildebeest herd in Africa.

Anup Shah

The often amazing footage captures animals in motion -- running, flying, fluttering, pouncing and, of course, chasing other animals.

The often amazing footage captures animals in motion -- running, flying, fluttering, pouncing and, of course, chasing other animals.

John Conrad-Corbis

Any nature film made these days -- especially a state-of-the-art undertaking like "Great Migrations" -- has to be compared with two especially notable modern classics from the BBC, "<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/03/21/VI2007032100702.html" TARGET="_blank">Planet Earth" and "<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031806282.html" TARGET="_blank">Life</a>," Shales adds.
<br><br>
Shown here, a small herd of around 200 pronghorn in western Wyoming follow their ancient migration, which is driven by the seasons, from the mountains to the valleys.

Any nature film made these days -- especially a state-of-the-art undertaking like "Great Migrations" -- has to be compared with two especially notable modern classics from the BBC, "Planet Earth" and "Life," Shales adds.

Shown here, a small herd of around 200 pronghorn in western Wyoming follow their ancient migration, which is driven by the seasons, from the mountains to the valleys.

Joe Riis

At Jellyfish Lake in Palau, five million jellyfish glide across the lake's surface each day to follow the sun streaming eastward in the morning and westward in the afternoon.

At Jellyfish Lake in Palau, five million jellyfish glide across the lake's surface each day to follow the sun streaming eastward in the morning and westward in the afternoon.

NGT

Following in the footsteps of Sigourney Weaver on "Planet Earth" and Oprah Winfrey on "Life," actor Alec Baldwin provides the narration for "Great Migrations."

Following in the footsteps of Sigourney Weaver on "Planet Earth" and Oprah Winfrey on "Life," actor Alec Baldwin provides the narration for "Great Migrations."

Paul Nicklen-National Geographic

Pacific walruses travel according to the movement of the ice. As the ice expands in the winter, they move south; as it breaks up and retreats in the spring and summer, they move north again.

Pacific walruses travel according to the movement of the ice. As the ice expands in the winter, they move south; as it breaks up and retreats in the spring and summer, they move north again.

NGT

And perhaps least violent yet most captivating of all, writes Shales, is the delicate and dizzying ascent of a zillion monarch butterflies taking off from Mexico for a trip through North America and back again.
<br><br>
No single monarch butterfly completes this migration. Instead, generations of monarchs make this journey; born into a relay race no one butterfly finishes.

And perhaps least violent yet most captivating of all, writes Shales, is the delicate and dizzying ascent of a zillion monarch butterflies taking off from Mexico for a trip through North America and back again.

No single monarch butterfly completes this migration. Instead, generations of monarchs make this journey; born into a relay race no one butterfly finishes.

NGT

Christmas Island may look like a tiny rock in the Indian Ocean, but it is home to more than 50 million red crabs that complete one of the most harrowing annual migrations.
<br><br>
Traveling from deep within the island's forest to the seashore, these crabs battle against acid-spitting yellow ants as they scuttle to the water and back once a year to breed.
<br><br>
National Geographic Channel's "Great Migrations" debuts Sun., Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET.

Christmas Island may look like a tiny rock in the Indian Ocean, but it is home to more than 50 million red crabs that complete one of the most harrowing annual migrations.

Traveling from deep within the island's forest to the seashore, these crabs battle against acid-spitting yellow ants as they scuttle to the water and back once a year to breed.

National Geographic Channel's "Great Migrations" debuts Sun., Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. ET.

NGT

Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Troy Witcher

Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content.

More on washingtonpost.com

• More Photo News

» washingtonpost.com

Network News

X Profile

View More Activity

© 2010 www.washingtonpost.com